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Memory – Trip “Out West”

March 6, 2014 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 2 Comments

Taking a trip out west could be very exciting. We did not actually go west, but we prepared to make a pretend trip. We drove to Grandma’s house and looked in her encyclopedia to learn about the west. In particular, we studied Montana. We learned about the railroad, the cowboys, and mining.

We set a particular night aside for our “Trip Out West.” Each of us dressed up in costume to represent some occupation we learned about in our study. We ate a cowboy supper of jerky, hard tack, and hash.

We topped the evening off with movies we got from the library. (These were real movies, I had to check out a projector, too.) Nowadays, videos and DVDs make a project like this a lot easier. One movie we saw was about Montana. The other showed us mountain climbing. We had a fun time.

There, now you have an idea of what we did. You can put on your thinking cap and pick a state or other destination your family might like to study. How about Hawaii? You could make grass skirts and leis out of streamers, eat a real fresh pineapple and real coconut and learn about sugar cane. Check out some movies at your library and see the beautiful scenery. Aloha!

Memory – “Beautiful Feet” Contest

February 27, 2014 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 4 Comments

One evening we decided to do something silly. So we got out my old make-up and some old socks, scarves, etc. We decided to have a “Beautiful Feet” Contest. It took a while and a little creativity, but we enjoyed it. Each of us had both feet of someone else to decorate. We enjoyed watching each other come up with ideas and carry them out.

When we finished we posed for a photo to commemorate the occasion. I do believe that this was a once in a lifetime event. The memory of our fun could have been lost without a picture.

So, who do you think won the “Beautiful Feet” contest?

At our house everybody got a prize – a nice, warm, foot bubble-bath.

photo credit:Randall Grabau

Memory – Supper at a “Restaurant”

February 24, 2014 in Family Ties, Smorgasbord with 2 Comments

One of our children delighted in serving. She got a dress that she used as a uniform. She donned a pretty scarf on her head for a waitress’ headdress. I had made her an apron that was just her size which she wore for her serving. She practiced serving many times and really enjoyed it.

So one night, for fun, we made a little restaurant. We set up the card table in our living room. The change of place made the occasion more memorable than eating in our kitchen. We spread it with a tablecloth, silverware and napkins. She set water glasses up for us. I made a sign to hang up in the room. I named it after myself, it read, “Wendy’s.”

She could not write yet, but she came to our table with pad and pencil in hand to take our orders. She and I agreed on a menu, so that there would be a choice for the guests at the table. She had the menu memorized.

I wore 2 hats that night. I played the head cook and a guest. I had to be a quick change artist. If she needed help in the kitchen, I would excuse myself to go to powder my nose. I gave her the help she needed and went to enjoy the restaurant scene. I don’t recall what we had for supper, but it could have been something easy like french toast or pizza.

We all had fun acting like we were out for supper.

You might enjoy trying this little escapade. You might even try tipping the waiter or waitress. I recommend paper plates so no one has to wear the hat of the dishwasher. Have fun!

photo credit:Wenda Grabau

A Walk Down “Memory Lane”

February 20, 2014 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 2 Comments

As I recall our lives on the farm with children, memories of fun times come to mind. When in business for ourselves, we invested a lot of our profits in the farm. Life revolved around the business. With the absence of much spending money, therefore, we looked for ways to have fun that did not cost a lot.

supper at a “restaurant”
an “outdoor movie”
a “winter picnic”
trip “out west”
the “circus”
a “trip to the bakery”
a “chicken pox party”
a “home-made Christmas”

These may sound like they could use up cash. But not so, we did this all at home. Our budget allowed for them all. The fun part of it, we could include other families in the fun. (Except, of course, we could not invite others to the “chicken pox” party.)

If you are looking for memory-making that costs very little, I hope you will enjoy walking with me down our “Memory Lane.”

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The Art of Crochet

February 13, 2014 in Family Ties with 0 Comments

I would like to share with you some more of the things that were put under our tree for Christmas. In my estimation they are works of art. Our mothers passed this craft down on to us. I am glad to see that my daughter has exercised and enjoyed the art of crochet over the years.

She made purses and handbags as gifts for several of her family members. She confessed that it took her two years to complete them all. If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, let me show you thousands-of-words-worth on two of her projects she left here.

Her gift to me.

Notice the detail.

Her gift to one of her sisters.

Detail on this purse.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these special gifts as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.

Crocheting is fun. If you have not tried it, I recommend it highly.

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

My Boot-Jack

January 27, 2014 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 2 Comments

We have had some blizzard weather recently. With all of the snow, wearing boots is a big deal. It has been a perfect backdrop for using the Christmas present that my husband made for me.

When I go out into the snow covered-landscape, I have to remove the boots when I come into the house, right? My boot-jack meets me at the door and pulls my boots off for me. I don’t even have to bend down!

My dear dad built a boot-jack for himself many years ago. A while back, my mom gave it to me. I could picture it being of great help to my husband on a daily basis. His farm shoes, I would call boots. He uses them daily, so I foresaw him using it often.

When he got the old one for his basement mud-room, it must have worked well for him. Secretly, he fashioned a more sightly one for me to use upstairs. His improvement on my dad’s design makes it a double-duty device. I really like it.

I just have to put the heel of the boot in the “V-shaped” notch. I step with the other foot on the floor end of the boot-jack to stabilize it. Then I simply have to pull my foot out of the boot. Voila! This jack really works.

My husband really gave me a practical gift. I have used it a lot so far this winter and so have my guests. I expect this is a gift that will keep on giving.

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

Creative Writing

January 13, 2014 in Family Ties with 2 Comments

I have not always enjoyed writing. I remember creative writing assignments in grade school and in high school made my blood run cold. But I have found over the years that even I am a creation in progress. I have changed with maturity. Today, I find great pleasure in those times when I have the time to write.

Early in our marriage, I think my husband assumed his new wife would have many characteristics like his mom. She kept a diary. She wrote daily in her diary from the days before her marriage until her final illness. That is a testament to a faithful, self-disciplined woman.

I tried to do that. It worked for a few years. But I found that I am a “wordy” person. I don’t recount just facts, but feelings. The diary took effort. It did not have enough space in its pages for me to say what I wanted. That noble effort ended.

Then the children came into our lives. Occasionally an opportunity to perform presented itself to our family. We could sing or speak at church, children’s Bible club, or the local care center for the elderly. With our young children in piano lessons and their ability to sing, we made a musical contribution to our world around us.

But even then, we needed spoken words or written ones to tie our musical packages together. That job fell to me. I saved some of them for future reference.

Yesterday, I found a file of some of those efforts tucked away and began to read them. What a fun time I had reading things I had written in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s. I even found a Christmas play I wrote. I laughed till I cried at things I did not even remember I had written.

The upshot of this little story is you, too, can jot down some of your quiet thoughts. Maybe you are good at rhyming and enjoy poetry. Take time to create pictures and stories with words. Some day, you will be able to look back at it in review. You may get to share it with your family when they are grown. Thoughts to ponder and humor will be tied up neatly in your writing.

Memories of Christmas Past

December 18, 2013 in Family Ties, Smorgasbord with 2 Comments

Looking back on my life, I have enjoyed several memories. Let me list a few of them for you. You may have experienced several of similar significance.

1. At Thanksgiving, aunts, uncles, cousins, mom and dad, my brothers and sister and I, and grandma and grandpa put our names in a hat. Each person drew the name of one person for whom to buy a Christmas gift. All gifts would be roughly the same cost. The name exchange proved to start the excitement for the coming Christmas party, a delight that stretched over the following month until we got together again.

2. At the Christmas party on Christmas Eve, we gathered in grandma and grandpa’s small house. I remember the trimmed and lit Christmas tree. Dozens of gifts, gaily decorated, lay in heaps beneath the tree.

3. The main course of the menu consisted of lutefisk and milk gravy. As a child I considered the lutefisk to be tasteless. I thought it compared in taste to that of unsalted, boiled egg whites. As I grew, I learned to like it. Even my dad of German descent became fond of the menu.

4. After dinner, Santa Claus came to grandma and grandpa’s house to hand out the gifts. I recall that Santa was a crabby guy. When he called my name to go up and get my present, he held tight to it and would not let me get it without a struggle. He scared me.

5. Every Christmas my Sunday School had a Christmas program. I generally had a recitation to say as my part of the program telling of Jesus’ birth. Sometimes, when I got a bit older, I sang a song with other children. When the program was finished, we left for home. The deacons waited for us at the church door and gave each of us a huge, sweet Christmas apple to take home. Mom and Dad promised that when we arrived home from the program, we could open one gift from them. The black night and the sparkling snow decorated the winter landscape, adding to the fun of the evening.

6. Mom particularly liked decorating our house with outdoor decorations. When I was a teen I remember mom got a job at a Christmas wreath factory. We had a patio door in our northern Wisconsin home. She got us a 60-inch balsam Christmas wreath for the door. It was painted white and adorned with only red decorations and Christmas lights.

7. Our family sang Christmas carols in the car as we drove during the holiday season. That is how those songs sank deep into my heart.

Do any of these sound familiar? Have fun recounting your fond Christmas memories.

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In the Olden Days

December 16, 2013 in Cards, Family Ties, Smorgasbord with 2 Comments

Christmas has been a holiday of importance for many years. The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus have affected all of our lives whether or not we realize it. If, in your case, you have a family celebration planned, you might take time to pass on to the younger ones, what Christmas meant to you as you grew up. What was your perspective on family, on life and on Christmas? Share this with your family. They will never know the dearest memories you have unless you tell them.

Be sure to include reading from the Bible. If Christ was not the center of your holiday in the old days, He can be this Christmas. He is central in the true Christmas story of the Bible. Find the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2.

Let’s not leave our young people clueless as to the significance of this holiday that has traveled down to us over the many generations of humankind. Be their link to the past this Christmas and share your story with them.

And may I wish you a

Merry Christmas!

The card in this illustration is available through our store. It is called, “In the Olden Days.”

Sketch by Wenda Grabau

A Love Letter

November 27, 2013 in Family Ties, Snippets with 2 Comments

Could it be in these high-tech days of computers, internet and cell phones that many people will never have the joy of communication by love letters?

I remember the joy of receiving letters from my husband when we first got acquainted. We lived in different towns and, at times, different states. The expense of long distance phone calls prevented us from calling each other. The letters brought us closer in heart and mind. In the early days of my relationship with my husband, I learned about him from the words he spoke and the words he wrote. I could tell what things he considered important and about his desires for the future. Better yet, I learned about his character. Outside of being there in person, what better way to get acquainted with someone, than to hear or read his thoughts?

Have you ever considered why God inspired His Word, the Holy Bible? He wants men and women, boys and girls to know Him. If you have a Bible, are you making time to get acquainted with God by reading and studying it? If you don’t have the Holy Bible, can you see why you need one? God desires a relationship with you.

I have been learning what God is like from His Word. I particularly have grown in my knowledge of His character by memorizing Bible verses. For example, Exodus 33:14 says, “And He said, ‘My Presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.'” God accompanies mankind.

The psalmist, King David, said in Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your Presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.'” The One, true, holy God is everywhere.

Thank Him for His Presence with you and determine to get to know Him more through reading and studying His Word, the Bible.

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