Grandmom

My sister visited this week and we shared with each other the things we remembered about our Grandmother.

My favorite - When there were big puffy white clouds in the sky, she would ask if I thought Jesus would come back on that cloud.

In church - She played the organ. When she was finished, she would sit with me and rub my arms during the sermon.

Nails - She had long, beautiful nails.

Poppy - She married the best man. He worked hard, several jobs. He could take a nap anywhere, anytime. He treated her like gold.

Flowers - She loved flowers. I remember her growing Morning Glories and Snap Dragons in her yard on Parrish St. She showed me how to "pop" the Morning Glories and she let me squeeze the Snap Dragons to make them open. I have both of these in my yard right now.

Shopping - When I was in Junior High School, she and Poppy would take me to Murphy's on Friday night to buy a 45 record. She bought me a case to carry them in also. Wish I had them.

Food - No matter when you went to visit her, food would appear.... it would cover the table. Even if you weren't hungry, you had to eat something.

Apron - She had an apron on most of the time. The kind that went around the neck and tied at the waist.

Temper - She had a temper. I remember her going after my brother with a hairbrush. She chased him up the steps swinging it at his bottom....he was fast, not sure she even got him.

Hair - She used to curl my hair with the curling iron. The kind that you put on the stove to get hot. Her hair was always perfect, NEVER grey until she became ill at the end of her life.

Selfless/Loving - She took in a young homeless girl that showed up at her work looking for a job. This girl became my Aunt and I never knew she wasn't my Mother's real sister until I got old enough to ask questions about the last name being different.

Again Selfless - She and Grandpop moved to Florida to care for an elderly couple (that used to be their Pastor and wife) who had no family to take care of them in their golden years.

Spend the night - I always begged to spend the night with Grandmom. When we were young we lived two row houses away, so it happened often. Then we moved, and I started school.... when she visited, I remember crying when she left because I wanted to go with her.

I could probably continue adding to this post ..... My Grandmom left a legacy of love. She loved the Lord and showed that in her life. I am blessed that she was my Grandmother.

Cousin Camp 2009 - Fifth, Last Day

Today is the day after the Last Day of Cousin Camp....I waited to do this post so we could relax, shower and then go out for a nice quiet dinner.

On the last day of camp we played games, went to the Nature Center, visited "the air-conditioned playground that also serves food" and went swimming. The weather was not the best, so we were glad the Nature Center and playground were both indoors. The pool was enjoyed in the pouring rain... which was nice -- made it different.

I wanted to mention the things we did this week that could never have been planned... some of the spontaneous happenings.

Tomatoe Picking - the kids noticed the tomatoe's were ready for picking at various times when they were in the yard. They really enjoyed picking them and one day we even delivered some to neighbors.

Rain Gauge Lesson - When it finished raining on Friday, I asked C. to go see how many inches we got. He wasn't sure how to read the gauge, so Camp Director went with him to explain it and all the kids joined the group and got a lesson about measuring rain.

Blackberry Picking - We stopped to pick blackberries which were on the side of the road when you enter our neighborhood. They were delicious.

Bug Collection - I keep a bug collection for the kids. One day during camp V. asked if she could see the bugs. Then she went out back and started looking for dead bugs to add to the collection. The others joined her. We added one... don't know what it was.

Queen Anne's Lace - We stopped and cut some Q.A.L. When we got home we put them in red dye and blue dye. The kids loved squeezing the dyes into the bottles. I now have red and blue flowers in my window.

White Fuzzy Caterpillar - Camp Director and I saw an interesting caterpillar on the backyard gate. By the time we gathered the kids from the trampoline to see it, a really ugly bug was killing it. We wouldn't let anyone disturb them, although they wanted to. We later learned (on google of course) that the ugly bug was an assasin bug, a rather nasty little critter. It can actually inflict a serious bite/sting with a toxic venom that can give nasty reactions. Glad we did not interact with that little bug.

Breakfast Foods - Breakfast is a pretty easy meal. Although we had meals planned everyday, we decided, at the last minute, that we could do short order cooking for breakfast, so each camper got whatever they wanted from the breakfast menu.

Swimming in the Rain - What fun....

Hair Brushing - Not sure this qualifies for a spontaneous event because hair brushing didn't happen this week. Only the one night that I washed the girl's hair because the chlorine was making it so stiff.

We've put away the games, given away the leftover kid food, and enjoyed our first quiet day together in a week. What did we talk about???? WHAT DO YOU THINK????