Valentines Day Box

Each year our class would celebrate Valentine's Day at school. It was a big time and took a lot of thought to which Valentine would go to whom. You had to make sure you included everyone in your class, including the teacher. Then you didn't want to send the wrong Valentine to the wrong boy. Heaven forbid.
I think, however, that the best time was preparing our crepe paper boxes so it would be ready for the day. We were allowed to drop our Valentines into the various boxes just before we had some treats from the teacher. It was fun to open our box and see how many Valentines we got from our classmates and which one came from whom. Sometimes you'd get lucky and find a lollipop valentine in your box. It was always great fun and we were happy to take our filled box home to show our siblings and parents.
Fun times.

Our Christmas Tree - 2011

This is our tree for 2011. It was done in gold and silver with a white angel on top. It was very pretty, we worked hard to make it so. I like it a lot. It came out beautiful and everyone was happy with it. I love the bigger ornaments, how they show up and glisten. Thought you might like to see this years tree.

I have no clue how my siblings trees look, but it would be fun to take pictures and put them side by side to see how each of us decorate our tree and the memories they hold.

Blessings all.

What Does Your Christmas Season Look Like?

The Christmas season is upon us. We made it through Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Now we get busy and decorate the house and tree. Buying/making gifts for everyone is the best part of the season. I grew up in northern Illinois and Christmas meant cold weather, snow, sliding and having fun spending time outside. Those are memories I cherish, but I moved away from the area twenty-five years ago.

Christmas now is warm weather, green grass, sunshine, and palm trees and sometimes beaches. What is your Christmas season like - weather included? Are you someone who thinks Christmas isn't Christmas without snow? Does Santa come down your chimney or does he arrive through your patio door?

Sinnissippi Park

When we were growing up, our family went to Sinnissippi Park often. It has beautiful rolling hills leading down to the Rock River and there are some caves at the bottom also. We were not allowed to go to the caves as small children.

The west end of the park was a lookout area on a bluff that allowed you to view the bend in the river and it was always a beautiful area. On the bluff was a series of mounds that later were excavated and found to be graves from the Hopewellen Indian Tribes. The National Historic Park District put them on the Historical Register. Our family still spends time at this park. It is the park mentioned in our book, "Kaleidoscope Memories: Childhood Stories That Celebrate Family Life."

As a little tidbit - author Terry Brooks is from Sterling and has set his book, "Running With The Demon" in this town and the park. You might like to check it out also.

Our Reward -- Drive-in Movies

At the end of the school year we would put our report cards on the dining room table. When Dad came home from work, we'd all gather round to watch his face and see if he was happy with our grades for the year. We knew we had passed, but as small children do, we needed his approval. After checking the last one, he'd look at each of us and give a big smile.
"Well," he'd say. "I guess this means we'll be going to the drive-in as soon as a suitable show comes."
"Yeah!" we shouted, looking forward to claiming our reward for woking hard at school. We were a happy, excited group of kids. Then on top of that excitement Dad motioned for us to listen to him.
"Because all your grades were so good this year, I think we can manage getting everyone a milkshake on the way to the drive-in. We'll stop at The Ice Cream Shoppe." He turned and winked at Mom. We just stood in the dining room looking at each other, smiling from ear to ear. This was a very special addition to our reward. We were all in our own little heaven.
A few weeks later at the supper table Dad caught Mom's attention. "I looked in the paper for the movies at the drive-in and there's a couple that will be playing all weekend," he said. "Do you think the kids would like to go tomorrow night?" The room immediately got so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. We couldn't believe our ears. All eyes turned to Mom.
"I don't know, you think we should ask them if they'd like to go with us?" she winked at Dad.
The six of us called out, almost in unison, "Yes, we'll go, we'll go!"
Our parents chuckled at our enthusiastic response. "Then I guess it's settled, we go tomorrow night," Dad said. We were so excited to be going that it just didn't matter what the movies were we would be seeing. No one even asked.
About an hour before dark the next night, we all piled into the car. I do mean piled in, as there were eight of us total. Off we went to The Ice Cream Shoppe. All six kids tumbled from the car and went in with Dad. They had so many flavors to choose from but we usually got our favorite.
"What kind of shakes do you want?" Dad asked us. He heard a chorous of chocolate being called out and one lone vanilla. After getting our shakes, we got in the car. As few minutes later Dad came out carrying shakes for Mom and him.
At the drive-in, Dad would back the car into the parking space, open the tailgate and let down the back seats. Jen, Cin, Kel and me would lie on the tailgate and Gabe and Gwen would sit behind us. All was quiet as we settled in to watch the show. I don't remember if everyone stayed awake for the second movie, but the next morning we agreed that everyone had a great time enjoying our reward. Those were wonderful times for us. (Written by Vicky)

Our Christmas Tree

I thought you might like to see how our tree looked this year. We used the same decorations back in 2008 and decided to do so again this year. The purple and green make such a pretty tree. I hope you like our angel on top in her green robe.

While going through my boxes of decorations in the garage earlier before we decorated the tree, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a carefully wrapped item that brought tears to my eyes. Inside the wrapping was the old, hand carved metal star that my dad had made years ago that we used as the topper for our tree. It's glitter had long ago diminished but still clung to the metal. The hand fashioned clip on the back was still strong and sure. Holding it in my hand I could feel the love we shared from the Christmases long ago when I was small as we stood looking at and praising the beauty of the tree. The star was always there reminding us what the holiday was really all about. Every now and then the light in the room would reach the glitter and it would sparkle holding us in awe at the beauty.

My parents eventually stopped using the star, but lucky for me, I was the one to choose it as a memento when they passed.

I'm thinking I'll do a second tree in 2011 and use that star making the tree with the multicolored lights so the star can sparkle anew and hold my family in it's spell. I may even use all the ornaments from my childhood and my childrens to make it a generational tree. One thing for sure is I have almost a year to work on it. Merry Christmas to all of you.

Our Parents!

The picture on the left is the closest one we can find of my parents shortly after they were married. My mom was 21 and my dad only 19 years old.

The picture on the right was taken in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. How different they look.

These are the parents that taught us how to be the people we are today. My dad was a painter all his life. My mom was a stay-at-home-mom until my twin and I were in our second year of high school when she went to work in one of the local factories.

They took us to church and instilled in us our faith, how to be parents, what a loving home was all about, being a family and respecting each other. Love was the most important element in our home. There were six children and we all knew we were loved by both of our parents. We had rules to obey, chores to do, bedtimes to be observed and homework done nightly. We always had the evening meal together and it made for a cohesive family unit.
You will find stories about our lives in our book, "Kaleidoscope Memories:Childhood Stories That Celebrate Family Life". I hope you'll read more posting in this blog and then pick up one of our books and share in our stories. It is our desire that by reading our stories you will remember some of your precious memories and want to share them with your family, friends, or the world.

I wanted you to see the beautiful people who were our parents and know a little more about them. I hope you've enjoyed this posting.