Noah is in the newspaper!

Noah's picture is in the newspaper! Check out www.othelloindependent.com and look at the flipping paper. In last weeks issue, 2-18-2009, check out page A6 in the top right corner. He is in the red shirt next to Captain Zero. He & his class were so thrilled. Mrs, Whitney, his teacher is standing in the background.

Spring is right around the corner

Another column of: Another Gray Hair.

A few days ago I bundled up my boys in their coats, hats and gloves and sent them into the backyard to play. They needed to run & I needed a break from them.


It has been getting nicer ever so slowly. I am too impatient for the spring to come - when will it be here? What did the groundhog & his shadow say about the spring - why do I even listen to or think that he can really calculate the actual coming of spring?


On one of my many trips outside to check on my boys, stop them from fighting, rescuing one or two from climbing to high or kissing an “owie” - I discovered something! Or one of my boys discovered it and pointed it out to me - my bulbs were beginning to grow.


There they were, little growths beginning to peek through the earth. I immediately began lecturing and questioning my boys.


“These are Mama’s flowers,” I said. “Do we step on Mama’s flowers?”
“No,” came the reply from Noah with his head shaking back and forth. His brothers watched him and began to do the same.
“Do we touch Mama’s flowers?” I asked.
“No,” they all chimed in this time with the head movements again - all looking at each other and back at me.
“Do we pick Mama’s flowers?”
“No.”
“Good boys!” I said with glee.

While examining them and the ground all around I saw many breaking through and other places that looked like many are still to come. This spot is protected on three sides and is always the first to bloom of my garden. They have often bloomed and gone before my front yard even begins the same process.

“What kinds are they Mom?” Noah asks.
“Daffodils and tulips,” I explain.
“Which ones are your favorite?” Kade asks.
“Daffodils are Mama’s favorite.”

I began peaceful thoughts of what spring & summer mean to my family. I can send my boys out to run, play, climb and be themselves while I can either enjoy the outdoors myself, finish a few chores inside, or even work on the love of my life - scrapbooking.

I envisioned mud pies, bugs caught, three baths a day for my boys, being so tired that naps occasionally take place - for both boys & Mom alike and water almost constantly running from the outside hose.

I can look outside and all three will be just fine, then - just seconds later - all are naked playing in a mud hole they just made.

I can hear them through the screen door and faintly hear one calling for Mom with an edge to his voice. After checking I find him in a tree with branches about to break - just in time for a rescue.

I have watched Noah climb the wood pile, walk along the top edge of the wooden fence - all to go play with a friend on the other side. Boys are great!

I saw a photo once of three brothers, all young, with their pants around their ankles, in a row, peeing in unison. A mother of girls would be horrified. A mother of boys just laughs and wonders how long it will be until she see the same from her boys. I just hope I have the camera handy!

Who Remembers Granddad?

Twenty years today is when Grandpa Crane passed away. It was a tough but the healing and peace came after the natural process of time. No one knows how it will affect them until your turn is here. Depending on who it is and the circumstances surrounding, you do the best you can to cope.

Here's a few things I want you to know about Grandpa:
1. The one talk he gave in church was about keeping your family name clean by honoring your ancestors and representing them the best you can.
2. Waking early each day, he would wake us up to do our chores before school because he wanted us to learn the value of work.
3. He liked to help with his big blue two ton truck and brought loads of gravel and top soil for our yard. His stock trailer moved our belongings many times.
4. Loud laughter was his signature and he didn't hold back. I loved to say things which induced him to bring it on.
5. I have his nose, chin and personality. He encouraged me to share my talent of acting.
He loved each of us and may you remember him today.

Family Fun Fridays- I Guess

1. In an effort to do a trick, this person flew off the deck, hit the swing set & landed on the ground below scaring all of us to death.

2. A sibling didn’t want to go on a trip with us, so Dad packed up her things and we kidnapped her kicking & screaming. Fortunately no one reported us to the DCS or we’d be in jail still.

3. A once in a lifetime opportunity to shake the hand of this famous person & your sibling pulled her hand back. Dad shook his hand. Who was the world leader & frightened child? November 1979 was the date.

Oh Where, Oh Where are Those Stories now?

Just looking and hoping, and waiting for stories from you. Jenn has sent me the first stories. I'm sure you wanted to know that. Here's an example of what I'm looking for: Trip to Hell.....ooo!

We were headed to Nevada on Highway 6 via Delta, Utah, to spend the 24th of July holiday touring Lehman Caves. Leaving about 5pm after Allan got home from work, we ran out of daylight and both drivers were tired. There isn’t much along that lonely stretch of road from Delta to the National Park. Pulling off the road at Confusion Range thirty five miles from the border, we found a flat quiet spot to put up our tent amongst the sage brush and boulder fields. Claiming too a sore back to sleep on the ground, Allan took Jory, about 2 years, climbed into our minivan and fell asleep.

That left the five women to fend for ourselves below the towering mountains to the west, waiting to drop their overload of boulders on some unsuspecting soul. I lay there in our feeble, solitary abode, visualizing being crushed flat if just one mammoth fell. I fanticized that was why 'someone' chose the van to sleep in. All night as everyone slumbered, I worried myself into an instant death, with nightmares and little sleep, even planning my funeral. Basically, I was petrified. Morning came none to soon, and we arrived at our destination alive, no doubt.

Days later, heading home after a fun time hiking and touring the underground caves, another question surfaced. What type of house should we build on our lot at 1292 Meadow Ridge Lane. The sprawling rambler Allan had drawn wouldn’t fit the acreage. Together we talked about and voted on another plan. We were all in this project together and have enjoyed the decisions we made and protected trip taken. Does anyone remember this trip? Just give me some ideas to work into a story. I'll be happy.

Top Ten Ways to Stay on Their Good Side.

The Day of LOVE has arrived. Here are some ideas from Dad’s little black book. I found shoved in the back of his nightstand, because he has them memorized. I guess.

Top ten important things to remember about your spouse:

1. She’s/he's your partner, so stand up for her/him.
2. Practice patience on a regular basis.
3. When your wrong, admit it.
4. Some things might not be a big deal to you, they are to her/him. Respect their feelings.
5. 'See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.' Pope John XXIII
6. When there is nothing left to be said, sometimes a hug goes a long way.
7. Learn to be tolerant. It will reduce your blood pressure.
8. If you want to know what’s inside of them, listen to what they says & they'll unfold.
9. Give them neck rubs, when she comes home from work.
10. Give them praise. “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Mark Twain

Most of all tell them you love them, every day & every way. Have a great day.

Friday Family Fun-For Kids & Friends

Today is Friday the 13th. Here are some events that match a day like this:

1. Coming home from a party late at night this driving daughter was sleepy, drifted off the road and ran into something. What sister was with her, what did they hit? The police officer asked them if they had been drinking. What was the answer and drink of choice?
2. It was a foggy day as I pulled onto 90th south taking the children to school. Out of the haze appeared a new yellow car I couldn’t miss hitting even though I steered away quickly. What kind of car was it & did we know the driver?
3. Just before Christmas a call came from the school stating that two of our children needed to be picked up, because they carried on their person items that were banned. With tears and humiliation in their eyes, I took them home to resolve the problem. What was the culprit and who endured this trial?

The Twelfth of Never

Not so long ago I was waiting until the twelfth of never. It began just thirty six years ago in 1971 that Dad went into the MTC. He left two weeks later to the Texas North Mission. Since it was just a few days before Valentines, he gave me a tiny silver heart necklace with a pearl attached. I looked for the necklace (it's somewhere), but couldn't find it. These are our pictures that he kept of me on his night stand & his official missionary photo.

The two years he was away seemed like forever. Our theme song became, "The Twelfth of Never" which I often sang while driving to work, school or where ever.

I remember going to the first Home and Garden Show the week he left. I joined a missionary club of other gals waiting for their guys, and even became the president. Finishing college, working, dating, and keeping busy passed the time away until he returned home the end of January 1973. Grandma & Pa Schmidt picked him up, touring Carlsbad Caverns and other sites along the way.

It's been a great journey with my true love these many years. It certainly has flown as we married, had a family, build two homes, made many friends, was blessed tremendously, traveled the country and stayed close to our Heavenly Father. I can truly say I am so much better for having married your father 'until the twelth of never, and that's a long long time.

Friday Family Fun-For Kids & Friends

Here are this weeks "do you know your famiily facts?"

1. One spring morning two years ago four children went on an adventure finding hundreds of these little guys. We turned over every pile of leaves, clump of dirt and tangle of trash in the gutters of this tiny town to find family feuds going on below our noses. Left after days of rain and moisture what a bounty was discovered. Ask your children if they remember what it was, where we were & who went.

2. On a hot summer day I hauled a bunch of kids & our jet skiis to a reservoir to have fun. At the end of the day both machines were not working, but the kids had a good time. Cost to repair them $900, time together with friends: priceless. Who’s friends & where did we go?

3. Once we drove a vehicle for a week that had Colorado license plates. We were the only ones with that state’s plates & often got comments from people. Where were we?

Not Your Average "Once Upon a Time"

Ridin' binkies & Cowboys

There was four in the tub and the little one said, "Blub, blub".

I'm really getting into writing my life history & reading about my ancestors. It's humbling to discover things about them. I feel a kinship and closeness as I study their words. My goal is to write something about my own life every Sunday. As I sit doing this, it's amazing how sharp and clear my memory becomes and I'm able to recall much.

For Easter, which is April 12th, I want to present each of the grandchildren with a family storybook. It would include fun, scary, mundane, 'learned your lesson' type blurbs about all of us. Write anything you remember about your youth, your parents, your kids, that will be put in a bedtime book. It needs to be in story form or just give me the facts & I'll do it. Each one personalized for every grand child.

This means I need your help!!! Send, email, blog, call or in person tell me your experiences. If I don't hear from you, you guessed it, the books for your kids will be pretty thin. I'll include both grandparents, parents & child's own personal stories as well as a few from their cousins. You can even tell about funny things you remember about us or any of your siblings. Get your parents (Aaron, Dave, Mike, Jed) to help you. They can even email me.

Bound like the family calendars with your child's picture on the front, we can add more pages at Christmas. Specifically speaking, Brayle's book will focus on her. It'll have stories about Aaron & Mauri's youth, marriage, her birth, Hunter and many stories we remember about her. There'll be stories in the back about her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents etc. Written simply some stories will be easily read by the child others will be read by you. I'd like to include a picture with every page.

Twenty five pages per book is the minimum goal & I have 71 days to complete them. This gives you 60 days total. Every ten days I need 2 stories about anything from you. Here are the dates: Feb 11th, Feb 21, Mar 3, Mar 13, Mar 23 & Mar 30th. Breann & Jed we need your help, too. I need compilers, proof readers, scanners, picture finders & pests to remind us, as well as your stories.

If you disagree, don't want to do it or think this is crazy, let me know now! I can opt out before burying myself in 175 pages of pure insanity for posterity.

P.S. Breann & Alicia won the Family Fun contest. Correction to when Jory got Zero: Christmas.