Pioneer Day!

 

I hope my kids remember that when they were smaller,
on Pioneer Day, I would make a "Pioneer Dinner".
This usually consisted of baked beans/pork and beans,
(canned, not homemade)
served up pioneer-style in old Marie Callendar pie tins.
I would put some burlap on the table for a table cloth,
and we would eat by the lite of our
kerosene lanterns, with wooden spoons.
If I was really feeling fancy,
I added hot dogs to the mix.
We drank water out of mason jars (????)
Sometimes we would even have
dutch oven peach cobbler, with ice cream.

Certainly not historically accurate, but...
very pioneer-y, don't you think?

 

P.S. Does anyone out there remember this?

Or, better still, how do YOU remember this?

Comments PLEASE.

Technological Difficulties

I had planned to have my entire trip
documented in beautiful photography,
and narrated with the
most amazing prose,
perching here on this particular
twig of a blog
by at least a week ago.
Once again the voo-doo
that is technology
has taken hold of my plan,
held it tight, and stuck at least
a thousand pins in it.

Hopefully, I will be able to find
that little doll soon,
remove all the pins,
and at last have a few entries here,
to record my lovely trip for posterity.

Posterity: thanks will be accepted in
the form of 'curly whirlys' and hugs.

I'd like to thank the person who made my trip to the UK and Paris possible...

the inventor of 'moleskin'...

deserves however many millions of dollars

(or pounds, as the case may be) they have made.

Moleskin made my feet fit for walkin, day in and out.

And walk we did.

Paris is not the city of lights, it is the city of steps.

422 steps to the top of the tower of Notre Dame

(I guess I don't have to say

that it was also 422 steps back down.)

At least twice as many steps to the entrance of the

'Sacre Couer' (Monmarte Cathedral)

at the top of the hill, a HUGE structure,

that softly glistened

 like an old, slightly worn pearl.

Topped with a huge dome-like roof,

it reminded me a little of the 'Taj Mahal'.

At the foot of the monument, a 2-story merry-go-round

 which, of course, Papa and Carson had to ride.

Then dinner from food carts on the cobbled streets,

crispy/chewy baguettes with cheese,

yummy crepes with nutella and strawberries.

Of course the real treasures of the day,

 my family, my little grandkidlets

.

So I'm greatful for moleskin, however,

it was Ron and the Grover family

who actually made this trip possible.

(But moleskin really does help!)

  

"I met a man with seven wives..."

Hello all;
Today we went to a village
named, 'St. Ives'.
Remember that verse?
"As I was going to St. Ives...
I met a man with 7 wives..
each wife had 7 sacks,
each sack had 7 cats,
each cat had 7 kits...
Of all the kits,
and cats,
and wives,
how many were going
to St. Ives???

Anyway, I thought I might
be nuts, but then I saw a
pub with the name painted,
"Seven Wives".

And I was validated.
For a moment, anyway.

We went to an auction house
where Mally bid successfully
on a hutch/sideboard for
her kitchen. It was fun.
There was a cart selling
sausage rolls, tea, and
'dinky donuts'.
Lovely british lunch.

And, in case you're
still multiplying,
the answer is one.
One person was going
to St. Ives.
I guess the
wives were headed home.

Not me!
Tomorrow we're going
to Paris.

au revoir

ENGLAND !

That's all.
I'm just going to ENGLAND.
TOMORROW.
That's all I have to say
about that.

I will be blogging from thence.
(is that right...thence?)
So keep checking my blog.
You better believe there will
be some pretty spectacular posts.

Carry On.

Blast From the Past !

Thanks to my sister Lisa
(who must have been going
through old photo files)
I received this happy pic:

My thoughts:

Right or wrong,
I do criticize myself,
about the way I look.
Today, I think I look awful.
But on the day this
pic was taken,
I thought I looked
awful too.
When I look at this
pic now, I think,
"I look OK and happy."
I would love to look
that good now.
I wonder,if I were to
see a pic of me
(the way I look today)
in about 5 years,
would I think,
"hey, I didn't look
so bad back then."

So... why don't I look at
myself today and think,
"I don't look too bad."

I wonder why can't I do that?

Oldies Day

"I am your child.
Wherever you go, you take me, too.
Whatever I know, I learn from you.
Whatever I do, you taught me to do.
I am your child.
And I am your chance.
Whatever will come, will come from me.
Tomorrow is won, by winning me.
Whatever I am, you taught me to be.
I am your hope,
I am your chance,
I am your child."

I just love these lyrics written by Barry Manilow.
Has anyone out there ever heard it?
The music (also by Manilow) is beautiful also.
Someday I am going to find the music for piano.
And play it. Alot.
I really, really like it. Sometimes it makes
me cry, 'cause I love it that much.
It would be a good Mother's Day song.
It's just simple and sweet and true.
It makes me think of my kids when they were little.
It makes my think of my grandkidlets,
and their mothers.
Who I think are doing
a MUCH better job than I did.
Thanks.

Egg Tails | Easter Hairstyles

Egg Tails | Easter Hairstyles

I dare you to try this hairstyle on someone you love this Easter!

Endings

I have a hobby of collecting lists.
One of those lists is "Endings".
I was reminded of this particular
ending the other day, and thought
I would post it here.
It actually comes from one
of my favorite books
(another list)
which was made into a movie
(another list).

Sheesh! It's really not
so fun after you have to
go through all that
RIGGAMAROLE
to get to it, is it?

Anyway, here it is:

"Tuck said it to Winnie,
the summer she turned 15,
'Do not fear Death,
but rather the Unlived Life.
You don't have to Live Forever,
you just have to Live.'
...And she did."

Book: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Movie: Tuck Everlasting 2002
List Collector: me

I love C.S. Lewis!

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and you get neither."

'nuff said.

Head's Up

Things are getting pretty hilarious over on the recipe blog, thanks to Ms. Brady, so you better take a little trip over there too!

I hope this doesn't present a dilemma for me about which blog I love more.
Then I might get into a custody battle with myself.
I'm not sure I'll be able to spend equal time with each of them.

Oh dear...

Clouds

2 minutes 38 seconds.
that was the duration of my phone call (skype) from Mally and the UK gang.

evidentally the ability for signals to get from their computer, out of their house, through the sky, across, the ocean, over the mountains, into the valley, and to my computer is dependant on there being no clouds...above their house???
above my house???
everywhere from their house to my house???

I still don't really grasp the idea of technology.
It honestly still seems mostly like magic to me.
Seriously.
I'm conflicted.
I'm still very thankful to be able to talk to them at all.
They're fine, in their new house, now they're just waiting for their furniture and belongings to arrive (also by magic, as far as I can understand).

I'm gonna need to learn to think and converse quickly, efficiently, and effectively.
Maybe if I keep a list??? Oh no. Lists are a topic for another day.

Today is about clouds.
And magic.
And being thankful.

When I put it like that, it doesn't sound so frustrating after all, does it?

I'm gonna try this again....really.

Well, it's only been a couple of years, it's still not too late for me to start blogging again, right?



I hope that's right



It's just that with me and my extended family being so busy and all over the place (literally),

I thought this might help us all to feel a little closer. I'm also gonna try to re-vamp the

recipe blog: http://www.rememberthoserecipes.blogspot.com/



So.....we've got that going for us.



Have patience with me. Even though I wanna stay in touch and all that, technology is still

pretty much my arch-enemy. My kryptonite. My vegetables.



OK. That's all for now.

Word Verifications

You know those little boxes at the bottom of the page when you leave a comment
on someone's blog? It says, 'Word Verification' and there are about
7 or 8 random letters you are supposed to type in the little box,
and somehow that gives you
(top- secret- agent- spy-type) clearance, and your comment is magically published.

I want that job. I want to be the person who comes up with those random letters.

(OK people, don't shoot me a comment telling me that a computer somewhere generates those letters and it's not a real people job. I already know that.
I just want to THINK that it is a job that I could have one day, you know, if I wanted to.)

Sometimes the letters spell something so great that I want to use it as my pseudo name.
I want to go to a restaurant where they ask for my name so they can call me
when my table is ready. Today I saw one that said:
"GREGHIR"
and later one that said:
"LENFRISH".
I'm serious, I'm gonna use one of those the next time I go to Olive Garden.
"Table for Greghir Lenfrish...party of one...Greghir Lenfrish..."

Want to come with me?

Can You Believe Your Eyes?

One of these things is not like the other...

No, No, I know I accidentally got a picture of Drew and Sadie on here too, but I couldn't figure out how to remove it, and I just couldn't wait any longer to post the rest of these. See the little girl in the sailor suit down there? Doesn't she bear a striking resemblance to the rest of the pictures of baby Brinlee? That's because little 'sailor girl' is Brinlee's mommy Claire when she was also about 9 months old. Can you believe how alike they look? Or is it just me?

I wish I could make this pic bigger, but I can't. Oh well, a less than perfect post is better than none at all, right? Better luck next time. So will somebody out there in blogland please leave me a comment and let me know what you think?

HAVE A HAPPY DAY!

Who says you can't have fun in little old Lehi, Utah? Well you can if Lisa and Paula are in town! We always have so much fun when we get together for our "sister visits". This is both of them drinking to our health (and let me tell you, our health needs some drinking to!) with homemade root beer in frosty mugs at "Emmett and Ethel's" a little greasy spoon here in town. Reminds me of the olden days when we went to A&W's and you could get a little baby frosted mug of root beer about 2 inches tall. For free! (now you know how old I am) Does anyone remember those? Matt once downed a whole (baby) mug when he was about 18 months old, and let out a burp so long that I swear we had started the car, thrown the car side tray on the ground, and were heading for the nearest ER before he stopped! One morning when we were getting ready, Paula brought this

piece of cinnamon toast to my attention

(and NO we DID NOT retouch, enhance, or in anyway manipulate

his features...see? I can read your mind)

His name is, "Mr. Happy-Smiley-Face". Can you see the 2 eyes, the curvy nose,

and lop-sided smile? It even looks like he has 2 REALLY high set ears

if you squint.

Perhaps his ears are like that because he's from the cat family...hmmm.

I almost saved it to try to sell on E-Bay.

Anyway, it's pretty hard NOT to have a happy day when Lisa and Paula are here to play...

...and when you are greeted by a breakfast pastry that smiles back at you!

That's all I have to say about that...

NEW POST!

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION...

Visited AZ in July - I got a pic of Sadie and Brinlee, but missed Drew...he moves too fast! We had fun shopping for Sadie's school uniforms and made quick dashes out to shop for hats and other 'accesories' for the famed dress-up box. It's always loads of fun with the Phill-bups fam.

Visited Sparks, NV for Carson's 2nd birthday. This is the amazing cake Mally did for the FUN Nemo party in the park. How did I not get a pic of Carson!?! I think Carson got about 100 gifts from the guests, ages 2 days to whatever age Ron and me are. (I know that's probably not proper grammer, but I just couldn't seem to figure it out). Of course Papa and Nana never travel without the 'bounce house', Matt's now famous Christmas present to Drew. The contraption lives at our house, but whenever we go 'on the road' we bring it with us. Loads of funny fun fun!
The big event of the summer(so far) was Sadie's 5th birthday party which we spent at the happiest place on earth, DISNEYLAND ! We wished we could've whisked Matt & Tara here from D.C. too, but the Grovers and Phillips were all there. 6 Adults and 4 kids is pretty good odds for having a safe and enjoyable time in the park. This pic is Sadie in her cinderella dress at her personal birthday party with Mickey and Minnie. She invited me and Aunt Paula to join her, and she decorated her very own bday cake and played some games w/ the characters. Meanwhile - Drew, Carson, Papa, Brad and Kurt rode the rockets, pirates, dumbo, and other "scary" rides that Sadie was not interested in. Brinlee was a cute little bug, riding in the front pac or in the stroller. Wish I had more pics, but I'm doing well just to get this much of a post up! I'll do better in the future. ..And summer isn't over yet! We still have lots of fun planned, starting w/ Paula driving up from CA today...We're gonna see how many movies we can cram into one day at my new favorite movie venue. Lots of yummy food delivered right to our seats in whatever movie we are in...fun! Maybe I can figure out how to document that!

OK, corny, sad kind of blog, but I'm just getting started again...be patient!

THE TURKEY BOX

OK, here's the tradition. For the past 100 years (give or take) the Thue Family has had a Thanksgiving Tradition called: The Turkey Box. Each year a different person constructs a receptacle that looks like a turkey (sometimes you have to squint your eyes to see it, but it IS a turkey,ok?)

Throughout the week before thanksgiving the Turkey Box is prominently displayed in the home, along with strips of paper and pencils. EACH and EVERY member of the family simply cannot wait to write on the strips of paper all the many things they are thankful for, and leaves them anonymouse. The 'thankfuls' are often funny, or sarcastic, or witty, and many times touching and meaningful. The papers are deposited into the box, and after dinner/before pie on Thanksgiving Day, Dad opens the box and reads the contents aloud. Everyone has fun guessing who wrote what, and it is always entertaining and fun. For the past several years, our family has been scattered at Thanksgiving time...from Saskatchewan to the Dominican Republic, from Arizona to Washington DC, from Nevada to Saratoga Springs; but we never fail to do 'the Turkey Box'. The honorary Turkey Box Creator this year was Sadie, the crafty masterpiece is pictured above.

So calling all Thue Family Members...Thues in DC, Grovers in Manhattan Beach, CA, Phillips in Mesa, AZ...enter your thank-yous here (on this blog). I will print them out and deposit them in said box and they will be read on thursday. I will also list them here on friday, and even tho we are all far apart, we will feel closer, because of "THE TURKEY BOX". Traditions keep our family close and I am thankful for that. Hey...that's a thankful...I'm gonna write that one down.

,

HEY! HOW COME NOBODY EVER POSTS ON MY BLOG???

I would just like to know...