I survived hosting my first holiday cookie swap! Whew … it was a whirlwind of getting the house cleaned up, decorations put up, and cookies baked. Oh, who am I kidding … I barely got the Christmas tree decorated in time! Such is the life of busy women eherywhere, which is why coming together for…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 5 challenge is “In the Census”. When I was a kid, it was hard for me to think of my grandparents as anything other than grandparents. My grandpa was 55 years old when I was born, my grandma was…
On December 20, 1815, the Kings Mountain Herald newspaper in Kings Mountain, North Carolina published the following story from the New York Press about the first Christmas day. It is a reminder that Christmas isn’t about getting … or even giving … gifts, but celebrating the life of a man many consider their Savior. It…
Christmas morning is a madhouse … it certainly was when I was a kid and it still is now that I have a kid … and dogs! The last thing a mom wants to deal with is breakfast. Okay, at least this mom. Try this easy Christmas tree made from cinnamon rolls to make the…
Between 2006 and 2011, we lost my mom’s parents and my dad. It seemed just as we were moving forward from the loss of one, we would lose another. I was 36 when Daddy died. Noodle was 4. I have vivid memories of the last conversation I had with each of them. Grandma, who had…
One of my character flaws as a hobby genealogists is my desire to learn everything I can about certain eras in history and the people who lived during them. I’m fascinated by the Jacobite uprising in Scotland, 16th century English royalty, Colonial America, flappers of the 1920s, and anything from the 1950s and early 60s….
When I was a junior in high school, my French teacher had us create a family tree. It was a fun assignment for someone like me … I was already a history nerd, but had never really thought about tracing my own family history to any great extent. My dad was ecstatic because he was…
Week 20 of the 52 ancestors challenge is themed “black sheep”. I come from a family of doctors, politicians, preachers, and a lot of farmers. I’ve not found a black sheep among them. Okay, the politicians might be questionable. So, instead of writing about skeletons in closets or general bad behavior of black sheep ancestors,…
Stormy Weather is an apropos theme for the Week 10 52 Ancestors Challenge. It’s March and, in southern Illinois, we would normally be headed into spring and well on our way to “tornado season”. Not this year … our only two snow storms of the winter have happened in the last two weeks. They’ve been…
Yikes! I just noticed the new 52 Ancestors challenge that Amy Johnson Crow gave us on her blog No Story Too Small … and I’m behind already! I love how she has added weekly themes. Week 1 was a fresh start … and that’s where I’m starting even though I’m a teeny bit late. I have…
From the moment I first read the New York Sun editorial written in 1897 by Francis Church in response to an 8 year-old’s question about Santa Claus, I was in love. I was in love with the idea of Santa Claus and the idea of writing … and sharing that writing. I don’t even remember how…
Over the weekend, a friend from college posted a Christmas memory on Facebook about being “dirt poor” … his words … as a child and how that impacted Christmas for him and his seven siblings. Christmas stockings were filled not with trinkets and “stuffers”, but with fresh fruit and hard candy, both being treats for his…
In honor of Wishful Wednesday … Have you ever been asked, “If you could sit down with anyone in history and have a conversation, who would it be?”. I have … several times. I always have a different answer, too. Sometimes it’s Eleanor Roosevelt, sometimes it is Mary Queen of Scots or Robert the Bruce….
Why is it that people remain a specific age in our minds no matter how old they really are when we lose them? My grandpa was 89 when he died in 2008, but he will always be in his mid-60s in my mind. That was the age when he raced me across the yard and let me…
It stormed really bad this morning and well into the afternoon. The kind of storm that makes you wonder what’s coming next. When it quieted down a bit, Mom, Noodle and I made a break for our favorite museum and resale shop. Upon our return, I noticed the power had gone out at some point…
I’m writing about something a little different for my 52 Ancestors post this week. Earlier this summer, a brick honoring three men in my family was placed at the veteran’s memorial at Riverside Park in Murphysboro, Illinois. I stopped by a few nights ago to take some photos. It was bright; the sun was setting…
We’ve just passed the 70th anniversary of D-Day. My family has been watching WWII documentaries on the History channel, including The World Wars series which is one of the best I’ve ever seen. We’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI. It doesn’t seem like these events should be so far…
Table etiquette is just as important for kids as it is for adults … we have to learn somewhere, and at home is a safe place! I have been teaching Noodle how to set a proper, albeit informal, table for dinner. This is something that my mom taught me when I was little and, as…
My grandpa was a firm believer that people come in and out of your life when you need … or no longer need … them the most. Sometimes they’re around for a little while and quietly slink away when you no longer rely upon them. Others become more of a mainstay … they’re the ones…