"Old Family Reunion"

These pictures were taken in 1925 when they had a family reunion for the four sons born to;
Tom Whaley and his first wife,Nancy Ellen Lucas Whaley.
She died after giving birth to their fifth son, and  the baby later died.
Tom Whaley re-married to Ella Wilbanks Montgomery and had a second family with her.

The abouve picture is of my great grandfather, Thomas Henry Whaley from Gainesville,Texas...He was a deputy US Marshall under the administration of Woodrow Wilson....later he was involved in local police assignments...He died of pneumonia in 1939...
..
These are my grandparents on Daddy's side...Harve Hilton & Beulah Marie Lucas.

This is a close up of...left to right...My Uncle Jack...Aunt Willie B. and my Daddy.
 I can still tell it is him in this picture.
~I hope you enjoy seeing my old family pictures~

And thats the way it is...
at our house today.

'''Debbie Sue"

Hello, I just got done reading your last blog about your family and looking at the pictures of your mom and dad and brother and sister. I remember your mom but I don't remeber your Dad .I didn't even know you had 2 sister's I remember you talking about your brother but can't remember if I ever meet him.

You sure are a very talented person, with all your hobbies I have none. I really think you should write a book you have so much to say and I love reading about it.
Wish we could be together over the holidays

Love you
Debra Sue
********************************************************************************
Now I ask you, is that not the sweetest thing to get....Deb is my niece, and she is precious....she has the biggest heart, and we have a good time when we're together...She has that million dollar smile, and when she laughs, it is pure magic.... We have always been very close, even tho she lives in another far away land. She has the sweetest husband you ever met....and a sweet little family that she loves so much. She doesn't know anything but how to love and take care of her family and lots of other folks too....grin!!!
I miss you too, Debbie doo...and we will get together again surely we will....soon!!!!
Much love, and Merry Christmas.....Aunt Glenda~

"Remembering Mom & Dad's Anniversary"

This is my parents anniversary, actually it was on December 6 they sneaked away and got married, with Uncle JT and Aunt Alta to witness it......
They were married on 06 December, 1941 in Oklahoma.
This picture was taken when Mama was pregnant with their oldest daughter, my sister Janet, she died shortly after she was born.
One year later, I was born close to the day she was born.....10 1/2 pounds of baby girl in Oklahoma,
My oldest sister was born in Texas.Her name was Janet Faye...
I have the nurses notes for the night she was born & died....so sad...but they mean a lot to me.
When I was six weeks old they caught a Geyhound bus and took me to Texas...
They went out there so Daddy could work in the oil boom that was taking place out there..

I always thought they were such a good looking couple, Mama was always so pretty, and my Dad was just so...so handsome....but sometimes he could be mean and cruel...I still loved him, tho.
They went and had their picture taken at a little studio in the town where they lived, and they went often....

In this old picture taken in Texas, Daddy has me, and it looks like she may be holding Glen ..Later down the line my baby sister Jeanne was born.. I am in love with my old pictures...let's me see part of my history...

Here we are again, just Mama and us here... Mama and I have the sungrins again, so do I, and Glen is struggling valiantly to keep his his eyes open...lol...
Jeanne is busy looking at something on Mama's coat...I love the Roman Sandals Jeanne is wearing....
Mama was always trying to find those for my girls, and I think our oldest girl had some, but then it got to where you could'nt could'nt find them anymore...sigh!!!

That's the way it is...
at our house today.

"Family Keepsake Ornaments"

I guess it was a couple of years ago, after I found these flat ornaments at Hobby Lobby, I thought it might be fun to make some family ornaments. At first I did De and I, his little boy picture on one side,and his army picture on the other. Hmmm...cute....maybe it was the uniform. sigh*

Then I made one of me at about 3 years old, and then older. I'm liking this pretty good, so I branched out (no pun intended)..grrin...

Did one of each of the girls....then a set for each family....that means the grandkids all had one.... then I started going back in time..

I finished one of Mom and Dad....remember I am putting them younger & older, so I spent a lot of time finding photos of all that.

So much fun, I am really motivated by this time to get this done.

Now I have my grandparents on my mom's side...and my gr-grandparents too. I have my grandparents & great-grandparents on my Daddy's side.

 I know the geneology of them way back, but unfortunately, no pics.

Then I happened upon this one of me and my brother and sister, so I worked on it and a few others.

Well, one of my girls birthday is in January, so between the two of us, we got her a set made...the oldest girl wanted a set, and I think the youngest wanted a set, too...That's a lot of pictures, brother....

I think these could be made with a lot of different backgrounds...

I like the ceramic, the only thing is they are kinda heavy, unless you have a fake tree, they may not work..

Since I have been blogging, I see that I could make them so much cuter,

so I am going to try to work them over a bit...add a bit of this and a bit of that...LOL

This is a four generations one, my granny on the left, mama, me, and our firstborn daughter.

I am going to be working on some soon, if you would like to have a tutorial on these...just leave a comment, and I can do that when I am working on mine... I did these at the last minute when I made them, so I didn't do as much work on them as I will now.

If you might want to do them, I can give you a list of the basic materials that I used...

I just need to hear from you,so I can start remembering what I did, and write it all out...

And that's the way it is...

at our house today.

"Our New Fireplace Heater"

I am so happy with the new stove....hubby and his side kick, Mike got it installed while I was at the grocery store this morning.Serendipity rides again...grin! Love it... love it...love it...I took a few pictures to share...that big blank spot is where my flag goes, but I have a long sign that is tin, framed...says "Merry Christmas". I think I'll get it out and hang it there. Hubby built me this fireplace mantel out of old fence panels and I love it....

This is where we display some of hubby's old guns, and some of the primitives we still love. Tho I don't use much pink or white in the house...I don't have much of it...hey, I didn't mean to make anyone hyperventilate there...I am just a nut for red, and I can never have too much... I still prefer that color...and I still love primitives!!! I want to paint again....In the honor of my pink loving friends, I am doing a small tree that I put snow and glitter on, and I found some little pink ornaments at a sale on Saturday. I am starting to think they are the old mercury glass, the pink is coming loose on the inside...I will take pics later.

A view of the full effect and I think this is about 14 kinds of pretty, I put a row of candles on top of it, and all the warm glowingness of it is great. I am all gaga over the open flames and logs look of it, fun...it's just fun!

So all there was left to do was put down the vintage Santa rug in front, and we are done. Thank you for spending a little time reading this blog, and I send you all warm thoughts....stay warm and when you think of me , you can know that I am warm, too. In every way....

Cause that's the way it is...
at our house today!!

"A Season of Lights & Joy"

It's such a joyful time, this Christmas time. We come together and celebrate the simple joys of just chatting, and playing with the babies, speaking in the soft tones we use with them...it never ceases to amaze me how a tiny bouncing baby can turn a roomfull of adults into blithering idiots....LOL We simply cannot help ourselves, can we.
We look into that tiny little face and we simply melt...and we forget that there is anyone else in the room. And we talk silly, and we just get lost in those little baby eyes. When I say we, I mean me.. But if the shoe fits, and all that. grin!!
And then if we should coax a smile, or a giggle out of them, or if they coo and goo back to us...well.....

The buying of gifts, and getting out into all the crowds appeals to me less and less the older I get. I am starting to like simpler times and pleasures...Our whole family is in that mode now, and we are beginning to do different things on Christmas. Using the kiss method...Keep it simple, sister.....
And nesting, doesn't that have a sweet, gentle sound to it...love that!
                                                                                                                                       

And since you mentioned nesting...
I remembered something that wounded my heart, ooh, probably 2 weeks ago....
Last year and the year before I had a mother cardinal make her nest in a tall bush right in the front of my window above the computer where I work. She would watch me warily as I went about my work, turning her tiny head back and forth...lol
Once she looked me straight in the eye as if to say..."What????
That first year I watched her in her nest as she tended it, the male would bring her food as she kept her vigil over her little eggs, and then her little babies hatched, but when I went back to my office one morning...the nest had been fouled, it was a cat or something, I think. It was taken from the bottom. It was so sad, sad....
Then this last year they were back, and raised a successful family. We were out on the porch when we saw a fledgling hop across the yard, hopefully to finding safety...

Well, a while back I had a project I wanted to do, and
I needed a birds nest, so I went out to find it, but it crumbled in my hands...it was so fragile.

Sooo...the other day I was back in that room, and I saw the male come in the bush, and he was looking everywhere in the bush for something. He would dart here and there....looking right where that nest had been....then a few minutes later the female came in...

I thought she might have been saying "Oh, it's there, just like a man, could'nt find anything without a map. But it wasn't there...
I had taken their little home from them...so I researched it some, and found out that they migrate every year, and they always come back to the nest they had the year before, do some repairs on the little nest, and make it stronger...then they raise a family there.

I so did not know that...and I was so sad when I found out the same birds come back every year. It's really heartbreaking when we see how the tiniest thing we do could upset the balance of nature...I hope they do come back...
I am going to try to get pix if I can without bothering them again....

But that's the way it is.....
at our house today.

"A New Heater Needed"

Well, I guess you might say that our Guardian Angel has been on the job lately. I believe that God sends angels to watch over us, and the bible says that "He will send His angels to watch over thee, lest thy cast thy foot against a stone." I think that means they will be there when we stumble....right????

Well,this all started with a simple call to get some propane delivered, we use the little electric stoves that look like radiators, and our electric bill is always reasonable...but sometimes the electric goes off when it storms or comes an ice storm...then all electric ain't gonna keep us warm...We need a back up system...
Wait just a minute, did I say reasonable....Ain't no way they are that..My goodness, I must be getting senile.
They bring the propane out here, and check the lines and regulator, and the regulator needed to be updated, which translates to replaced..so the first rattle out of the box...they* put on a regulator...65$....
They checked out the lines and our little stove, and of course, they find a leak...
Well, propane is something you don't mess with...dangerous stuff...So the hubby went and got new line and replaced it from the profane tank...to the house...Oh. 'Scuse me...I mean propane..... We are well aquainted with Murphy's Law around here...you know the one...If anything can go wrong....etc..etc.
Well, he calls them back to tell them we got it fixed, and they come dragging out here again, checked it out..you know it...still got a leak.
So now we gotta buy a new stove.....prof.....

I told hubby on the way to town..."Wouldn't it be nice if we could get one that looks like logs burning in it"...but in the past we had never seen one we wanted to pay the price. We had that old stove for 20 years or more...it had paid for itself.
But still, it's Christmas...and we do have things we want to do....

We went to Atwoods first...and the first thing I saw was "my stove" I almost pulled a Connie and squealled, but restrained myself . I knew when I saw it that it was coming home with me..It had me from Hello!!!
Oh, it was all vintage looking dull black, and stood on little old fashioned looking legs..had a thermostat to make it more efficient...and it was about 1/2 what I was afraid it would cost...and the open flame with those logs in there, I love it...love it...love it...
Well, hubby finds one that's a hundred dollars cheaper....bulloney...!!!

What's a hundred dollars when it comes to a girl's heart ???
I had wanted one of those kind of stoves forever...and I would not be satisfied with anything else.
He wasn't talking me out of this one...Ya know that he always gets me what I want, IF we can afford it. We have decided to stop with the credit card business.
So this comes out of our Christmas fund...but that's ok with me.
But babe, he says...this one will probably be more efficient.
Noooo!!!! I pouted till he got it....I wuz desperate. I want that one..Lord, let me be right on this one, please!
It's so pretty, hubby will install it tomorrow, and I will be taking pictures of it as he does.
I am so excited to have one that has some ta-da to it.
So anyway, I am waiting for the day he can have it going for me...and I can send some of this good old Okie warmth out there to all of you, my sweet blogger friends....goody..goody for me!!!

ps.this is funny..I read this to my hubby....and he said "You're making it sound like they are gonna do it..." "they" meaning the propane company...They ain't doing it, I am...so I gave him the credit for all this hard work, BUT....I am giving Mike co-credit, too. Thanks Mike, you always come thru for us..he is more like a son to us rather than a son-in-law......

And that's the way it is...
at our house today.