post memorial day weekend post

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend, even with the extreme wind and high humidity. I’m ready for summer, just not the Kansas summer temperatures!

On Saturday, I went with my mom and grandma to the cemeteries and decided to document this part of our family history with photographs. I decided that if I didn’t post them now, I’d forget everything I learned. This just covers my mom’s family. I’ll have to take another road trip someday to learn about my dad’s family.

You can’t hardly read this, but it is the Blankenship Cemetery and it was our first stop of the morning.

This is my grandma’s grandparents. Her father’s parents.

And this is my grandma’s great-grandparents.

This is the back of their headstone.

This is my grandma’s Aunt Shirley, her favorite aunt.

This is my grandma’s grandpa, her mom’s dad.

And her maternal grandmother. You could barely read the headstone. Her grandma’s name was Lydia Nicholas (pronounced Nichols).

Two of their children.

Another son who fought in the Civil War and later was a mercenary.

Next we headed to Little Walnut Cemetery. This is where my grandpa is buried. He fought in Germany in WWII.

This is their first baby who was stillborn. My grandma told us about the little nightgowns she had hand-sewn before he was born. He was buried in the blue one with an embroidered elephant on it.

My grandma’s parents.

Her sister who died of Tuberculosis.

Another sister.

And her third sister. They had 4 girls in their family. My grandma was the baby and is the only one who survives.

George Naugle was first married to my grandma’s sister Ruby. He later married Ruth.

Our last stop was Severy, KS. This is my grandpa’s dad.

My grandpa’s mom.

Their child who died of whooping cough and meningitis.

And another of my grandpa’s brothers.

This is my grandpa’s grandparents.

With all the driving we did, I heard some great stories about my grandparents when they were young. I wish my grandpa were here to retell them. He was a great story-teller! I really ought to write them down before they are forgotten forever.

After our cemetery stops, we ate at a cafe in Piedmont. You can read about our previous adventures in Piedmont here.

I found this interesting:

This is the owner and cook, enjoying a smoke break. What you can’t see is the no smoking sign posted behind her. Classy!

They do have some good, greasy food though!

my first project of the summer…

My mom came over one afternoon a few weeks ago and helped me clean up my flower beds and gardens. That inspired me to tackle a huge project.

We have an old shed on the south side of our house. It has our lawn mower and a bunch of old stuff from previous owners, so I rarely even go over there. And behind this shed a jungle has been growing:

 

This was after a couple of hours of work, believe it or not.

I had a vision of putting a children’s garden back there, once it was cleaned up.

And low and behold…it was once a garden! It’s edged all along 2 sides. And I even found a stepping stone path that had been completely covered up by overgrowth!

The next phase was painting the back of the shed.

Then I painted these flowers using a stencil (borrowed from my mom). By the way, she was instrumental in completing the clean up! She and I spent several hours Monday morning working back there. I ended up with poison ivy on both arms. Ouch!

While we were stenciling the flowers, Delaney wanted to paint. So I let her paint a rock. This made her day!

This is definitely a work in progress. Hopefully I’ll have more to post next week.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

sweet 16

Today Allison is 16 years old! Her day started with 6 am dance practice. Followed by 10 hours of babysitting (her summer job).

But I think her gift made up for the exhaustion! Yes, we caved and bought her an iPhone.

We had chicken tacos and chips and salsa for dinner. Followed by a family favorite…double decker chocolate chip cookie from Sam’s Club. I actually joined today just so I could buy the cookie.

I also made some amazing cherry limeades. They were every bit as good as Sonic’s, if not better. Another pinterest recipe. I substituted Diet Sierra Mist for the Sprite. Check out the source link for the recipe. Easy and yummy…a new summer favorite, I believe!

 

source

Shockingly, Allison opted to spend the night with a friend over hanging out with the family. I guess she’s a pretty typical 16 year old.

Happy Birthday, Allison! I love you so much!!

mother’s day 2012

3 reasons I love being a mom!!! Nate is under the weather this Mother’s Day, so he couldn’t join us.

I got new patio furniture for Mother’s Day this year. Last summer I scouted yard sales and estate sales and clearance sales for something and came up empty handed. I’m so happy to start the summer with some backyard furnishings!

I need something for the coffee table…a new mission for this summer!

I also bought flowers today. I went with my mom, Allison and my brother Scott. We had a great time and I came home with some fun plants and flowers!

Bridal’s veil

Various succulents

Waterfall Begonia

School’s out this week. I’m soooo ready for summer!!

yummy no-bake treats

I tried out a new recipe this week and it was a hit with the family. It was a recipe I found on pinterest, but then I made several changes, so I suppose I can call it my own.

I started out by making my mom’s delicious “Devil’s Treats”. That’s her recipe for Rice Krispy Treats. 6 Tablespoons of butter, 6 cups mini marshmallows and 6 cups of Rice Krispies. You know, 666. Get it? The perfect proportions for the most amazing Rice Krispy Treats. EVER.

Here’s what you’ll need for my Reese’s Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats:

6 T butter or margarine
6 cups marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, diced
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Melt your butter or margarine over medium heat on the stove and then add the marshmallows.

Pour that over the Rice Krispies and diced Peanut Butter Cups.

If you’re wondering how many P.B. Cups to use…I used one regular package of the Fun Size minus the 3 I took out to eat (and share).

Mix well and spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Melt the peanut butter in the microwave for 30-40 seconds. Then drizzle over the top. You could get all fancy and pipe it in a bag. Or you can just drizzle with your spoon and save some time. We’re not terribly fancy around here. Especially on a work night!

Melt the chocolate chips in 30 second intervals, stirring. Drizzle the melted chocolate.

Put in the refrigerator for a few minutes to set the chocolate and peanut butter.

Enjoy!

Yum!!!!