Taking care of 5 year olds is not the same as taking care of a six month old. Gracie is helping out. Julie’s sister-in-law is visiting and the gang went to the Wildhorse to cavort and dance – Gracie and Ellie and Spencer went also, so the baby stayed here with us.
Now, it is not all bad. This baby just learned to sit up this week. It can’t walk, it can’t even crawl yet – so it lays there – what’s the trouble there?? Can”t remember but if it doesn’t move, it is okay with me!
It is interesting – just like my mother – women can love babies and wish there was one around. Janice reminded Julie, Grace was 42 when she had her last child. (And that went fairly well!). Julie was not impressed or humored by the thought!!!!
I moved last week to a new, smaller cube but…
That blinding light to the right is a window – how about that!!!!
I suggested having that tree cut down but haven’t received much support. It is nice having a window or, that is, part of a window. I can control the open and close but not the raise and lower. Some days the others like to have the blinds pulled up. We haven’t had such a day yet. It is warmer by the window – I have discovered that.
I spend most of my time here, back to the window but still it is nice – and the big difference – it is quiet!!
Note the clock – I usually arrive at work early – that little clock went with me on all my seminars – it sat on the speakers stand so I would never have to look at my watch. That, the “experts” said was a no-no. It prompted everyone in the room to look at their watches.
The clock even went to Europe with me – and it’s still “clicking.”
Gracie wanted to take some pictures so…
“Put your hands like this, Grandpa.”
Not quite sure why nor did I find out.
Same pose for Grandma – Ellie was a bit indifferent.
Ellie dancing – she wanted to dance but Gracie didn’t want to.
And Spencer with a smile???!! Sometimes it is so hard. The latest Reader’s Digest suggests that you put your tongue right behind your teeth and push a little. That will relax your face and give a nice smile. Janice and I both tried it but – well – maybe.
Then another self-portrait – holding the camera out and clicking away. Good of Gracie!
Smiling…
Not.
Ellie not.
They do look a little bit alike.
Sandy Jones commented on the Fourth of July Parade post about loving parades and we agree that parades are in our history…
Here is an early parade at Disneyland with ‘Uncle Dale’ and Craig. This was in 1971 – just the other day. We had two Rose Bowl parades under our belt by this time. And we were just getting started.
With all the hoopla surrounding Michael Jackson’s death and funeral, I vaguely remembered that the parental unit had been to see them. But no…it was that other group…
Mother’s Diary by Grace Jones
April 4, 1963
“Well, they don’t do it with microphone hocus-pocus or camera tricks. The Osmond brothers can sing, and they sell their music with enthusiasm and bounce. We drove clear to Spencer to hear them Sunday afternoon in the Barbershop quarter program and it was worth it. True, we see and hear them occasionally on Andy Williams TV program but seeing them “live” is something special.
I won’t say we saw them close up, because we sat in the rarified atmosphere of the second balcony but we had a good clear view and excellent sound.
After their interview with the master of ceremonies, I reflected that any family could have a nationally famous quartet of youngsters. All that is necessary is to have a regular Friday evening family sing with each member expected to contribute – and four boys who can sing like the Osmond brothers.”
***
Michael didn’t debut until 1968 and I don’t know if they ever traveled through Iowa. But there for a moment I thought…
Here is a picture of Craig and Great Grandpa Ching. Picture taken in Castlewood, South Dakota 1963.
This is a picture of Craig with Great Grandpa Frost, a picture I did not think we had!
And a picture with Grandma Frost, taken in Fort Pierre, South Dakota.
With the 50th class reunion approaching, there has been contact between members of the class of ‘60. I have these pictures from time gone by. The top picture shows Mrs. Macklin, our kindergarten teacher. In my mother’s column, there are many mentions of this lady and her husband. They were dear friends. They moved away from Manson to be near their daughter and their grandchildren – including a set of twins. My mother and father missed them greatly. We have moved away from dear friends and we miss them a lot. Most of them keep in touch and we have recently ‘found’ a couple. It is always nice to have friends.
(I can name most of the people in the pictures.)
This series of pictures from erupting mind, show how pictures can be looked at and how the “depth” can be interpreted.
Working with all the pictures that we have and trying to make some sense of them and who is in what picture and, good grief – the awful question – what year was this!!???, I noticed the quality of some pictures is better than others and the subject matter matters.
When taking pictures, you try to understand the background and the composition and what is where and who is where. You work for depth of purpose and of field. Visitng various web sites for info, I found this series of pictures.
Very interesting, I thought.
The people in the back of the photo are “real-sized” people – adult people – but when compared…
Yesterday was the last swim meet…
Gracie is ready. They write on each swimmer what they will participate in…
Gracie is entering the pool for her ‘lap’ of the relay race.
Ellie is ready – they write names on each child as well as the races. It comes off easily from the swimmer but the bath tub is another story.
Spencer is poised to swim – he missed first place by 1 second!!
He was a very improved swimmer over last year.
Gracie is in the lead here – she is a better backstroke swimmer than Ellie but Ellie is a better free style swimmer. What you want to do is jump in the water and help them. And it seems such a long, long way to swim – but they do very well.
