Milestone Birthdays

Wow this weekend was crazy! November is a crazy month for us here we have three of our four kids with birthdays in November. They line up very nicely for my horrible memory the oldest first and so on. Since the boys are first and only 7 days apart we celebrated both their birthdays this weekend.

I've always wanted to be the kind of parent that could give a car for a kid's 16th birthday or a new computer for their 18th you know the type of person who has a money tree in the back yard. Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, that's not me LOL.

I invited the boys to come home from college for a birthday celebration but made it clear to them since neither has found a job yet in this economy and we are paying all their bills that their birthday presents would be gas & grocery money to survive another week.

My baby boy turned 21 last week so the first conversation we had after hugs for everyone and time to settle the dogs down was about how he celebrated. He was so cute, I knew he didn't have money to go to the bar or anything because I give them the money they need and there is only enough to survive, I figure if they want to have fun they need jobs ;-)

He said his friends all pitched in so he could join them at a bowling fundraiser for their school and it was on the evening of his birthday. Being a guy he didn't say anything like us women do about it being his birthday, thankfully a young lady he knows told him Happy Birthday at the bowling alley and then a friend bought him his first beer. I've always said beer is nasty, I don't like it at all never have, sorry if that offends any beer lovers out there. My son said it wasn't near as bad as I make it sound LOL.

What makes me feel good though was that we had a great conversation about him turning 21 and how so many people thought he should have been obsessed with the idea of getting drunk. He wasn't, isn't and I'd like to think that our open honest conversations about drinking and the effects of having drunk to much alcohol are part of the reason why. I'm not a prude, but I have always wanted to share my thoughts honestly with him and shared that if he wanted to drink more than a drink he should do it somewhere that he could stay the night such as a friends house or at his own home, he agrees with that concept.

My younger son turned 19 not such a landmark event as 21 but equally as celebratory in my mind so we had a great dinner with cake and ice cream for desert. The entire family laughed and chatted at the dinner table The boys stayed until late in the evening (when their laundry was finally done lol) and went back to their home in Saginaw.

All this is making me a little nostalgic, remembering his first birthday but I guess that is what happens when you have a child turn 21 that "one" just brings those things to mind. My boys are growing up and I feel privileged that I am not just mom but also a friend and confidant to them. They are great MEN, I'll try hard not to call them boys any more. Whoa, I never thought I'd have three MEN that I love so completely in my life.

My 19 year old comfy in his trailer he shares with his brother in Saginaw. :-) They are still waiting for an oven but at least they got a fridge. It is a nice trailer and as Jake the 21 yr old says much better than living in the dorms with strangers that don't clean up after themselves. Since the younger sibling doesn't cook he cleans up from the meal and they share household chores.

   The oldest 21 with his baby sister and her friend at camp this summer - couldn't find anything more recent, he seems to disappear when the camera is out lately.

Have you recently celebrated a "milestone" birthday with your children? Are you feeling as nostalgic as I am or am I just a sentimental momma? Please comment & let me know. I enjoy reading them.                                                            

Pink Robes & House Fires

Just kidding, this isn't our house it wasn't this bad. 

Our old farm house had the kind of heaters that were not forced air but ran along the floors attached to the walls the length of the room. In some rooms they were on all the walls in others only some. I think they had water running through them. Hopefully you get the idea anyway.

I kept my beautiful fluffy pink robe hanging in the bathroom about a foot or so above the vent, it never got hot from hanging there but one day while going to the bathroom I noticed that the bottom of my robe was turning grey. That puzzled me. I got the boys ready for school and off on the bus then went to confront my husband about the robe because I was sure he had something to do with it.

He looked at my robe, got down on his hands and knees and then looked at the vent, then he put his nose right up to the vent and sniffed. He got up and calmly said, "There is smoke coming up out of the vent."

I couldn't see or smell any smoke, I thought he was crazy. He went outside the bathroom and pulled up the carpet on the floor. Under the carpet was the removable door to the basement, just a Michigan basement but for some unknown reason the heater was down there. Then he lifted the door and flames shot up to the ceiling from down below. I shrieked and he threw the door back down, grabbed my hand and we ran outside. Stay here he said and ran off around the other side of the house. He is such a smart man, to smart sometimes. He ran to the back of the house and turned off the gas at the tank. Then he came back to me and told me what he did and that he was going to check to see if that did the trick or if we needed to call the fire department.

He went in and came back to get me. The fire died when he turned off the gas. He then called a friend's dad who worked on heaters and he said that it wasn't properly ventilated down there and we were lucky to be alive. The heater was trashed so we installed a new one up above the basement and made sure that it was properly ventilated.

I said he is to smart because I often think, that old house could have burned down if we would have just went outside and called the fire department and I would have been fine with it. Oh, but we would have missed so many adventures that I've yet to share.

I do think that we have had an angel looking out for our safety though and he was working overtime in that old house.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Have you ever had a house fire? Even a small one?

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

Pushing the Bus

It was a typical Michigan January. The snow was deep and the wind was blowing. Like usual when that kind of weather hits the roads were getting some pretty good snow drifts.

Jim was home from work that day because of the weather but the kids still had school. The storm had stirred up really good about the middle of the day and by the time that we were expecting the school bus the roads were very nasty. Jim had gone out to use the snow blower to clean out the drive way and the drifts that had gotten quite big in front of our house. I was inside making supper so I didn't actually know any of this that had happened until all the excitement came in the door.

With all four kids now in school the youngest being in all day Kindergarten we had enjoyed our day and looked forward to their arrival from school. The bus was coming down our road towards the house but the drifts were to high and it became stuck just past the neighbor's house still a quarter mile from us. Jim noticed and stopped working in the driveway, grabbed his shovel and started walking down to the bus. He promptly started digging out the tires only to find that the bus was on a patch of ice too. He walked back up to the door and told the bus driver that he would give her a push to start rocking it back and forth a little.

You can imagine the excitement of the thirty kids on the bus all ranging in age from high school seniors to our little Kindergartner. Most were telling our sons that there was no way he would ever be able to move the bus. After just a few minutes they were on their way and the entire family was back at the house everyone talking over one another as they took off their snowsuits and boots to tell me what had happened.

"Mom did you see that Dad was awesome!" Alicia said as she burst through the door.

"No one thought he could do it! You should have seen their mouths hanging open as he pushed the school bus!" Justin added as he was unzipping his snowsuit.

"I told them my dad can do it he is stronger than he looks, he does construction for a living." Jacob proudly exclaimed as he was hanging up his little sister's snowsuit.

"Dad was strong! He pushed us out!" Alannah added as she wrapped her little cold arms around me and buried her cold nose in my neck giving me my usual after school hug.

"It was nothing we used to get stuck in the snow all the time and push the bus back when I was a kid." Jim said as he was coming in. "Now who wants mom to make us some hot chocolate?" he added.

I was glad everyone was excited and four years later, my children still talk about how their daddy was so strong that he pushed the school bus and how all the kids were amazed. They said all the kids were in awe and said "Don't mess with Mr. Howe he's strong." The kids insisted that I include this story in the blog.

Happy Father's Day to my fabulous, strong husband from all of us. We love you.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there have a great day!

Painting Sun Catchers

Yesterday morning I was shopping. While strolling along I noticed some little sun catcher kits that were on sale. I thought what a great little activity to do with the girls and I could hang them on the large window in the kitchen that doesn't have a blind.

When I got home I decided to make it a bribe.
I did my best presentation of the fabulous mysterious something that I purchased for them and all they had to do to get it was to clean ~ not all, ~ but a portion of their bedroom.

My older daughter immediately said "Well, what is it because if it isn't something I want, I don't want to clean."

Hmm, my idea of bribing was sliding down hill fast...
So I told her that I had bought Sun catchers and how we could hang them in the kitchen and send some to loved ones and friends as little gifts in our letters. Trying desperately to talk them up to be much better of a bribe to her 11yr old pre-teen coolness.

Her reply to my bribe, "Do you still have the receipt? Could you take them back and get something else?"

Well that wasn't happening and little sister was all on board for my bribe so she was going to be coming along for the ride like it or not.

After a couple of hours had passed little sister came to me and said that she had done some cleaning and would like to paint her sun catchers. So, I got up from working on homework to enjoy a much needed break. The two of us got them out and we both started painting. It didn't take very long for big sis to find us and join in. She didn't clean but she does most the cleaning for both of them anyway. She admitted she had never painted sun catchers before and it was fun.

That little comment really made my day. Because me and little sister were enjoying ourselves too.

This morning we got up and hung some of our treasures in the window.

Have you tried to bribe your kids to clean? How did it work and what did you use? Leave me a comment and let me know. Thanks and have a great Friday!

The Kitchen

The Kitchen in that old farm house was hand built by the homes first owner and had never been updated. When we first moved in the refrigerator was in the entry room, a weird room off the laundry room.

To describe it best I'll walk through from the driveway with you. The first door you enter from the driveway went into the laundry room a 6ft by 14ft room that did not have a single straight wall. I think it was space between the house and garage that they just decided to make part of the house one day. the laundry room was four walls with four doors one on each wall that led to the driveway, garage, backyard and the entry room.

The entry room was another weird little room some in MI called them mud rooms. A place where you could land your muddy shoes that also had the refrigerator and led to the only small bathroom in the house. My theory was, and when we remodeled there were indications, that the house was built a little at a time over many years.

From the entry room you enter the kitchen. All of the cabinets were on the left side of you as you were walking through with the sink in the middle and the door going to the dining room on the opposite side. A straight shot right from one doorway to the other.

I decided one day while in town that those ugly cupboards could use a coat of paint and picked some up at the hardware store. Then when my little guy fell asleep for his afternoon nap I started taking all the doors off the cupboards and painting the base. When my husband finally got home for supper, there I was sitting on the kitchen floor painting the doors and our little guy was sitting by the gate in the doorway playing with his toys.

I knew that there wasn't much I could do to make that old house my own and look good without his help, but I knew how to paint and could do at least that much. I was so proud of myself when I finally finished and put it all back together the next morning. It was my very first home remodeling project.

We continued to live in that house for the next 18 years and that poor kitchen never did get any more done to it, but we had always dreamed of remodeling it and turning it around creating our dream kitchen. In the end we had lived the dream without needing a "dream kitchen".

Isn't it amazing how when you look back on things, what seemed important then really wasn't. It was all about the time we shared, not the place we shared it in.

I Brought a Date to Our First Date

Ha! Ha! Right. No joking I really did bring a date to our first date. In my defense I was an unknowing party that it was supposed to be our first date.

So we met on Halloween and bumped into each other a few times after that because we obviously hung around the same people. Then a friend of mine invited me to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. It went something like this:

Friend, "We are having some people over for Thanksgiving, not family, just friends. Would you like to come?"

Me, "Sure, that sounds like fun who all is going to be there?" Then she lists off couples that I know but fails to mention that Jim will be there. So, I'm thinking I better bring a date so I am not the odd man out. I ask my friend that I had drove up to Michigan with from Florida to come along and be my date for Thanksgiving dinner. He was happy to oblige me.

We show up with a bottle of wine for the hostess and she gets a little flustered and asks me if I can help her in the kitchen. After taking me into the kitchen she explains that she was setting me up with Jim that I wasn't supposed to bring a date.

That would have been nice to know ahead of time. LOL Oh, well we sat down for dinner and I was seated between Jim and my date. Not really awkward at all because after all my date was really just a friend. Then after dinner my date took me home and Jim came and picked me up from home. We drove around all night talking, watched the sunrise and he took me home. (At that point we still hadn't had our first kiss.)

So, now I have a funny story to tell about how even the worst of beginnings can lead to wonderful things, 4 kids and twenty years of marriage later, I only love him more.

First House Fire

Once back at the farm, we woke up to a house full of smoke are oldest was 4 and we had a 2 yr old at the time. We grabbed the kids put them out in the car backed it up to the end of the driveway and called 911.

My husband went back in to try and figure out what was causing all the smoke which was so thick you couldn't see but we saw no flames.

He came out as the volunteer fire trucks arrived grabbed a stick out of the yard and went right back in then came walking out as the firemen were opening the door with a t-shirt in flames at the end of the stick. Threw it down in the drive way and the firemen stomped it out.

They teased him because they went to school together (small town) and said it was the easiest fire they ever put out. Then they went through the house to make sure that was it.

What happened was the 4 yr old went down to the bathroom during the night and thought the light was to bright it was a bare bulb because I had broken the cover changing it that day so he threw dad's
t-shirt from the hamper over the light then proceeded back to bed and left the light on. Scorched the wall a little but no real damage. Crazy huh.

Texas Gardening

Here we are planting our first garden in Texas. What an adventure. I had bought some tomato plants about a week ago, just couldn't resist. Then this morning my husband brought my two very sad looking tomato plants inside and said, "Dear did you forget about something?" I felt horrible. Since we had both finished are school semesters yesterday, it was time to get the garden planted.

I finished cleaning up from our usual Sunday brunch and my husband started working up the garden. A little while after I went out then our oldest daughter came out to pitch in. Finally, when we were nearly done for the day our youngest daughter also came out to help a bit.

I'm not one to force anyone into helping me with the garden, I was forced when I was young and I hated it. So, if they want to help fine, if they don't that is fine too. I like picking it and eating it myself way more than working the soil and planting it, but all in time. The wind was blowing like 40 to 50 mile an hour gusts today too. The temperature was a fabulous 87 degrees. We all got sunburns and enjoyed a job well done.

Band Secrets

This simple family story is just a cute little incident involving a secret.

My oldest daughter is finally in band for the first time and she is so excited and happy. Since we don't have a lot of money and certainly no extra money for a new instrument she took up clarinet and borrowed her big brother's old clarinet to play.

I usually pick her up from school on Friday afternoons because the student council sells concessions (candy and pop) after school on Fridays and the line is so long she'd miss the bus if she went. So on this particular day she comes to van walking quickly and smiling from ear to ear. A sure sign that something went right during the school day.

So, being the curious mom that I am, I ventured a guess and said,"So, looks like you had a good day today, what happened?"

She was more than willing to share that her band teacher had said that she was one of the best sight readers in the band and doing fabulous for a first year musician. He had invited her to stay after school and practice with the intermediate band and to go to contest and play with both the beginner and intermediate bands. She was bubbling over with pride and joy to be so honored.

My response was just, "Wow, that is great! He really thinks your a great player! Did you tell him that you had three years of piano lessons, so you know how to read music?"

My darling little daughter turned and looked at me with a huge grin and glimmer in her eye as she said, "No way mom! What he don't know won't hurt him!" and then started to laugh with me.

I had to agree it wasn't hurting anyone for him not to know and it sure made her feel special that he thought she was such a great beginner. :-)

No thanks

This simple little family story is one that really warmed my heart.

I set my mind on opening my own store and after a year of researching and convincing crafters to sign leases for a store that I didn’t have an address for yet. I finally found a building with gracious owners who were willing to let me buy on a land contract and to allow me to set the monthly payments for what would fit our budget. My little family story starts inside the store as we were tearing out the layers of old walls.

The girls and I were at the store and were working on tearing the drywall down. My oldest daughter received a phone call from a friend that didn’t live far away asking her to come over and play. She politely refused the offer and then starting ripping drywall off the walls again.
A few minutes later the same girl and her mom (a friend of mine) knocked at the door of the store. We let them in and they again invited her over to play. She again refused politely saying that she wanted to stay and help. Then the mom asked her why she would rather work at the store tearing down the drywall than go play with her daughter.

I’ll never forget her answer; it brought tears to my eyes. My daughter responded to her by saying “I want to stay here and help my mom. This is her dream to have this store; she has been working on it and planning it for a long time. I want to help my mom make her dream come true.”
Those were the words spoken by my eight year old daughter who would rather work with her mom than go play and have fun with a friend. Those moments, they are the ones that I cherish.

No Order

Just so that anyone knows reading these Simple Family Stories, they are not going to be in order. I am going to write things just as they happen to come to memory. I think it would be very boring to just start at the beginning of my 20 years of being a mom and give a history. So, as I think of a particularly funny, moving, emotional, romantic, horrific or interesting story, I will share. I am going to attempt three per week, we will soon see how realistic that is. Thanks for reading and please take just a moment and leave me a comment when you read a story to let me know that you were here and what you thought. God bless.