If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Happy Birthday, Harris!





Sunday, September 10, 2017

Hanging In There!

Everybody knows that when you have a new baby in the family, there is a little big of adjustment that everybody makes.

I called to check on the family of four the day after they brought Linley Rae home from the hospital and Daddy said she thought she needed to have a party to celebrate coming home that first night.  Mom was up with her till midnight and then Dad was up with her till about two o'clock, I think.

The next night was a bit better in some ways.  Then, the next night big brother, Harris, came home from staying at Granny and PawPaw's house and the night was a bit long and the sleep was a bit short.

So, yesterday afternoon we got a message from Daddy that included this photo...

It was captioned by this...

"It's tough being a big brother!"

and followed by this...


Saturday, September 9, 2017

Big Brother

We added a baby to our family this week and that means we also added a big brother.

Even though it wasn't his first choice, Harris wore a shirt designed just for the occasion.


Becoming a big brother is big stuff!


He was pretty proud to be sporting the button the hospital provided with her footprint, though.


Big brother had to hold her and give her a good looking over.


That was definitely serious business.


He had to make certain that his cousins saw that he was holding baby sister.


He made sure to give her a little reassuring talk when she did some wiggling and squeaking.


He needed a little bit of reassuring and support, too.


All-in-all, though.  We think he loves her and believes she's a keeper!  After all, that's what big brothers do.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Welcome to the World, Linley Rae!

Yesterday was a big day in our life!

Mike and I welcomed grandbaby number nine into the family.


She weighed in at eight-pounds-one-ounce and is nineteen-and-a-half inches long.


She was so alert and was looking all around and taking everybody in.  So, I cannot believe that most of the photos I got look like she has her eyes closed!


She went to work sucking on her fingers right away.  At one point she was trying to put both hands in her mouth.


We were all excited to meet her.


The entire family was doing well when I left late last night.


Big brother, Harris, was probably most excited of all!


We already love you little Linley Rae and are so glad to have you in our family!

Monday, September 4, 2017

Celebrating Labor Day


I spent a bit of time this morning doing some reading about the history of Labor Day.  It is a holiday for America's Workers commemorating the contribution they have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

I also stumbled across some information about the child labor laws that helped to change the working person's life here in America.  This article focused on how Lewis Hine made photos to show the conditions of child workers in our country.  It also led me to another webpage that will take me hours and hours to read from start to finish.  It intrigued me so, that I want to share it in hopes that you will read along with me.  Mornings on Maple Street is more than just a report on The Lewis Hine Project you will see.

To me, the website is also an inspiration.  It makes me wish that I had transcribed many of the stories that my father told of his childhood.  Like his walking across the arch of an old iron bridge that stood near where I grew up or how he and a co-worker's grandfather were taken to the State Fair and slipped under the fence to get in for free or how it came to light that what many thought was a married couple - a man and a woman - turned out to be two men when a fight revealed it to the community.

I also think of the stories my father-in-law told about when the local historic school was being built and he was attending classes in a tent right there on the school grounds.  Those stories are lost to me but many are not.  So, I hope to visit with some relatives and transcribe some of these tales about our local community to preserve them much like Manning and Hime have done!