Party of Five

I love making connections when I lose myself in genealogy. Those little "Aha!" moments that connect me/my family with the distant past and brings it to a reality with us here and now. For me, it was discovering ol' Moses Hulbert living not so far from where I live now. I made another connection a few nights ago. Not having a specific plan in mind, I decided to research for more records on my grandmother. In the last census available, she would've been nearly 5 years old, so I started there...living in Indiana. A sad note, my grandmother's father was killed in a work related injury just before this time, leaving great-grandma a widow at only 23 years old with 3 small children. I wanted to know what made great-grandma decide to move to Indiana after the death of her husband. I'd seen the 1930 census before, but had only looked at the name listing that interested me...BINGLE. This time as I looked it over, another name, right above great-granny Bingle, hit...

Earlier this evening, I sat at a round table with a group of friends. It was a "post-Christmas" Christmas party, and before dinner we sat chit-chatting about this, that, and the other thing. Apparently, my reputation as a savvy facebook status updater has gone before me, and the conversation eventually turned to my most recent update regarding the events of my day. In a nutshell, my 3 children have been on Christmas vacation all week, my daughter had a friend over to play today...all day, and needless to say, it was all coming to a head today and grating on my nerves...just a wee bit. I had reflected on this ever-so-lightly with my facebook status. So when the conversation at our little round table turned to my thoughts and feelings as a mother this week, I opened my mouth and spoke. Words that 10 years ago, I never would've believed or even dreamed that I would dare speak. And yet, tonight...I did. "Sometimes, I wonder what in the world I was even thinking...w...

You may or may not recall that two years ago for Thanksgiving, I was delegated to bring the all important Cool Whip to Thanksgiving dinner . I was okay with that - one cannot have pumpkin or chocolate pie without Cool Whip, so I was pleased to be the bearer of the artificial dairy product for our feast. Last year...it was the dinner rolls or beverages...I don't recall which, but neither of which were a very important part of the menu. So here we go again. The family feast prepared by my mother-in-law that we look forward to all year long. It's only a few days away, and I'm already starting to salivate in anticipation of the meal that will be waiting for us. I asked her a week ago what I should bring for dinner. She simply replied, "I don't know yet." One week later I have yet to be given my assignment, and with the holiday just a few days away I'm not sure I will be given one. Nothing. I'm not sure if I should be offended or elated. I manage to...

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." I've come to realize over the past few days, that this is one of the dumbest phrases that I've ever read. The fact is that words said publicly or privately, whether they are said in honesty or in jest, can and will hurt when they are meant to. And I'm not just talking about a wounded ego. Sometimes the words can strike a chord so deep inside, it's a heartache that is second only to the loss of a lover. It's a devastation felt that makes your heart drop out of your chest and hit the floor with an audible "THUD". And don't forget the level of disappointment in the people we believed wanted only the best for us, but the words formed on their lips or under their fingers on a keyboard show a different side to their intentions. It makes me wonder what it's like for politicians during their campaigns. How can they just sit back and watch when their opponents drag their n...

Today marks the start of what turns out every year to be a very sad, depressing period of time. For my mother especially, but also for me as I struggle through my own memories & heartache. So forgive me as I blog my way through some sadness over these next few weeks. 8 years ago my husband answered the phone while I was reading a bedtime story to our son. I could tell from the conversation that something was wrong, but I had no idea. 8 years ago, my step-dad was driving home from the gym, down a road that he had been on more times than we could ever count. For whatever reason, his truck crossed the center line, and hit another car head on. My mom's world changed forever. Larry was her knight in shining armor, who treated her like the queen that she is. They had actually known each other when they were teenagers - my mom and her boyfriend at the time, had gone out on double dates with Larry and his girlfriend at that time. Years later, they became reacquainted when Larry s...

Today is a certain princess' birthday. Thankfully, we've already been through the whole "princess" party theme, but as I am the queen of my home, she is still and will always be known as the princess. We're keeping it pretty low-key this year with her party. Just the party-o-five, and her grandparents will be celebrating. Oh yeah, and a few hundred butterflies. Somehow she's gotten into a butterfly mode. I don't know how since it's fall, it's chilly, and butterflies won't be seen for months around here. Whatever the reason, we've got butterflies this year on presents, packaging, cake, and even the treats I made for her to take into her class to share today. Teachers frown on the cupcake thing - they're too messy. We did brownies last year for kindergarten, so being the non-crafty, uninspired mom that I am, we went with rice krispie treats. Then I got this completely remarkable idea to use a butterfly cookie cutter to cut them out...

Safe to say, we're all surviving! Day 1 (Friday) meant we were fasting sweets & desserts. In the mind of a 4, 5, and 10 year old this is a very big deal. Bagels for breakfast instead of Fruit Loops, and fruit was packed in the lunches for school instead of cookies or pudding. Amazingly enough, my kids - AGAIN - accepted, if not enjoyed, this new habit without complaint. I was handling my day without sweets fairly well...mostly due to major sinus issues that were kicking my butt for the 4th day in a row. I didn't want anything sweet, I only wanted soup, tylenol, and my bed. I hadn't been able to breathe for 4 days, my eyes felt like they were exploding out of my head, and my head seemed to be on the verge of exploding itself. On the eve of day #1 I found myself at home with the kids fast asleep in their beds, and I was ready to mentally break down over the horrible way I was still feeling, and had been feeling most of the week. That night I watched via live stream...