School Days

I have a long list of ideas to write about, all good ideas, but it starts to look like a school assignment. Eventually I will write about each idea on my list, but that is for future reference. Why do school assignments seem so daunting? I was not the best student and often procrastinated writing those special reports that were so important. I actually ended up with neat folders with decent grades. I put a good last ditch effort into certain assignments. Some classes were fun, but others were a struggle for me.

Laura enjoyed some of the special assignments that she had to do. She was very neat and put a lot of effort into what she did. She has enjoyed writing as far back as I can remember. Like me, she did first grade twice. I think it was a good idea for me to repeat first grade and I hope Laura feels that it helped her to do the same. Some of us needed that extra help in learning to read and do first grade arithmetic.

Bill benefited from doing second grade twice, but I think that he started to shine in school when he was older and had new glasses. He went to an eye doctor once when he was three or four years old and nothing was found to cause concern. I should have taken him to our favorite optometrist to have his vision checked. When I finally took him to have his vision checked he needed special glasses. This helped him a lot. I think that is when he started doing real good in school. Bill and Laura, as well as their brother Griff, all do very good in math.

Griff did not seem to struggle with any subjects in school. In fact he was identified as gifted. His problem was that he may have felt that he knew more than the teachers at times. He may have been a challenge for the teachers in many ways. In high school he got to where he would not go to school after a while. When he was seventeen he got his GED and then he joined the Marines. He did the best possible on the test to join the Marines so of course they wanted him to enlist.

Our oldest daughter Kathy did her best and got good grades. In high school her favorite subject was probably homemaking. She had the opportunity to take four years of this class with one of our very favorite teachers, Mrs. Hanks. My sisters and I loved Mrs. Hanks and each of us learned to sew under her watchful eyes. I even visited this favorite teacher at school after I graduated. I took my baby Kathy to show off to Mrs. Hanks. It was a blessing for Kathy to also have this same homemaking teacher as I had.

Kathy was the third generation in our family to graduate from Coronado High School. Paul's parents, aunts and uncles all graduated from CHS. My Dad attended Coronado schools, but did not graduate. Some of Dad's siblings graduated from CHS. Paul and I, as well as his brother and my sisters, graduated from Coronado High School.

Laura graduated from Coronado Junior High (8th grade) and then we moved to South SanDiego (Otay Mesa). She went to Montgomery Junior High and then Montgomery High School, as did Bill and Griff. Laura had another Junior High graduation when she graduated from 9th grade at Montgomery. Bill and Griff were in 5th and 6th grades when we moved here. They attended Juarez Lincoln School near here. We can often hear the children playing in the schoolyard on the nearby hill reminding us of the good old school days.

"Reading and 'Riting and 'Rithmetic" are words to an old song we used to sing. There is a hickory stick in this old song, but none ever had to be used on me at school. That would have been a rare thing when I was growing up and was probably never done when my children were in school. I do remember my sister getting in trouble one time at the school we went to when we were on the farm. She was in first grade. All she had done was to refuse to eat something on her plate in the cafeteria. And when I made the mistake of mentioning it to my grandmother Donna got in trouble again at home. That's the way it was. I did not like some of the cafeteria food, but I choked it down.

Time on the playground with friends was one of my favorite things at school. I enjoyed jump rope, hop scotch and jacks. I did not do good at team sports. Playing on the monkey bars, or the bars you swing across hand over hand getting blisters along the way, is another memory. Those blisters were badges of skill.

We were lucky to have square dance classes at times over the years. There were other lessons in dancing too, all good old fashioned dances. I'm sure not everyone appreciated these lessons though. But I remember them being fun as I liked boys. We were still young enough that some of the kids probably did not care for the opposite sex. Not all of my children had these opportunities. Laura did not get to do this as she had a different class. I guess some of the children got to square dance. My husband Paul remembers these lessons from back when he was in school.

Paul and I never danced with each other except for trying to when we were first dating. I did a little bit of dancing when the opportunity was there with friends or classmates. Once in a while there would be a party at a friend's house. At one such party at my friend's house I was having fun, but must have eaten too many nuts or other goodies. The music was on and some of us decided to dance. I danced with one of the boys that was trying to enjoy his first dance. I so much wanted to enjoy this dance. Our dancing in those days was slow and together, with the music of the early fifties. It would have been fine if I felt good.

The dance was barely over when I started for the bathroom, but I did not make it. I threw up all over the floor right in front of my dance partner and the other kids there. Not a fun experience for the fine young man I had been dancing with a few seconds before. I felt so bad for him, not to ignore the fact I was embarrassed to have spoiled what should have been a fun evening.



Caroline's eighth grade graduation picture--Coronado, 1951

We Welcome Xola Jo To The World

We received the phone call from Elizabeth to let us know that she was a new grandmother. The first time she tried to call me I was not home and Paul talked to her. She didn't tell him what she had called to tell me though. The next time she called I said "congratulations" before she could give me the happy news. I had read Andrew's Facebook page sharing that he is a daddy.

Andrew's announcement reads "Xola was born 11:02 last night 19in. 6lbs 3.5oz. Shes beautiful =D"

This means that she was born on May 19th, 2011. We assumed that her name was Xola Elizabeth as had been mentioned earlier to Andrew's mother, my niece Elizabeth. It turns out that her name is Xola Jo. We are not sure yet if she has the last name Hamilton like her daddy or Martin like her mommy Natasha. We will see.

Elizabeth has step grandchildren, but this is the first of her own grandchildren. Although she calls Jack's grandchildren hers. He has a large family so between them there are a lot of grandchildren. I can only keep track of Elizabeth's children Andrew and Elijah and the children they will have. My sister Betty is not here to share the good news about her new great granddaughter so I will be excited for her. My sister Donna will also share in the happy event.

Elizabeth is my niece that came to visit in 1980 and stayed for five years. So she is like a daughter to me. My other niece Debra is also close to me even though there are miles between us. Elizabeth and Jack are in Missouri. Debra and Pete are in Washington state with their family. They also have grandchildren.

Families are part of God's plan. "God created man in His own image. He created male and female and blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply'..." These words are taken from Genesis 1:27,28. The Bible is full of stories about families beginning with Adam and Eve and their children. When the flood came upon the earth God saved Noah and his family. There are many precious stories of fathers and their sons in the Old Testament. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem He was part of a loving family.

I love my family and pray for each one to know the peace and joy that comes from knowing God. This includes nephews and nieces as well as my own children. May God bless Andrew, Natasha and little baby Xola Jo. May God bless Andrew's brother Elijah. May God bless Elizabeth's brothers Gary, Matthew and Mark. And may God bless each of Xola's cousins, especially Brittany and Michael (Bubba). I hope and pray for the very best for each one. Children are a gift from God. Hugs :)

A Mother's Love

As a mother it does my heart good when my children are on top of things. When they do those kind things that they each do it makes me smile with pride. The thoughtful cards and gifts help me to realise that maybe I did something right while raising them. When they succeed in life's challenges I give them credit for a job well done. Graduations are always a time for parents to be happy for their children. Birthdays are another time of celebration and a time to be thankful for another year well spent.

Mother's Day is a time to remember all mothers, grandmothers and those that are like a mother to us. I enjoy the fact that my children remember me on Mother's Day. Sometimes it is a card or a phone call. Sometimes it is something that comes with the card that touches my heart. Or maybe it is a special hug on Mother's Day that does the heart good. Sometimes we have to settle for a sweet memory.

Then there are the sad moments we have. My heart aches when one of my children is hurting. I hurt for that particular child. When one is going through the valley I feel like going through the valley with him or her. Thankfully I have Jesus to go through the valley with me and my children can also go to Jesus for comfort. He loves them even more than I do.

I'm thankful for my Mother who is now with the Lord. I'm also thankful for my grandmothers who meant so much to me. There were other mothers in my life that touched my life in a beautiful way. They are remembered with much affection. May God Bless all those special mothers I know.  Hugs  :)

Got Pets

Continuing the play on the "Got Milk" ads. Earlier I wrote "Got Memories" which I had originally planned to be about pets. We have always had a lot of pets. Ever since we got our first kittens soon after we were married our home has never been without at least one cat.

Paul and I also enjoyed many pets as children. Paul's mother had a soft spot in her heart for animals. There was always a dog in their lives as far as I know. They had two bunnies when I first knew their family. One was a little wild bunny named Ozzie that came from North Island. The other bunny was a large white rabbit similar to one our children had in the sixties.

Paul's mother had a darling parakeet that she let fly around their house. Pedro learned some words and could sing, or whistle, "Take me out to the ball game." He got out one time and she was able to call him back into the house. But when he got out again, probably on someones shoulder, they did not realize he was missing in time to get him back. Mom was very very upset about losing her little friend.

My sisters and I had cats that we loved as well as other assorted pets. I had parakeets and a favorite little turtle. We also had a pet hen named Susie Q that traveled from Coronado to Washington state with us in 1949. Mac, my turtle made the trip with us too. We left Susie Q on the farm when we came back to California later that same year. My turtle made the trip south with us along with a kitten. Then in 1950, after moving back to California, we got a puppy that my mother named BeBop. We had him a couple of years. We continued to have cats all through my teen years.

There were always farm animals when we lived with our grandparents on the farm. Besides the cows and chickens there were pigs and one work horse. I remember Grandma warming newborn piglets next to the old wood stove when the mommy pig couldn't care for so many little piglets. There were cats in the barn and on a rare occasion we had a pet kitten on the farm. There was always a farm dog. I remember my parents taking Buddy for a ride when we went to get ice cream cones. They bought the dog a cone too. That would be an amazing treat for a farm dog.

On the farm as young children we accepted that animals were mostly for the survival of the family. Cows were for milking, mostly. The chickens were for eggs or a good chicken dinner. I have always hoped Susie Q didn't end up in a pot of stew, but times were tough so who knows. The pigs were also used for meat. That is the way it was. The cats and dogs were not usually house pets.

I remember one of our first pet cats we had when I was ten years old and living at our grandparents' home in Coronado. He was a pretty fluffy kitty and my sisters and I loved him a lot. He died unexpectedly and we cried and cried about this loss. We went on to have more special kitties over the years. We continued to be sensitive to their needs.

My children grew up with a lot of pets, mostly kitties. It would take a book to share about each pet. We also had birds which doesn't always work with cats. We had Henrietta our first cute little dog. She was part Dachshund. She had one litter of puppies, and it was a difficult delivery for her so she ended up having surgery to have the final pup. That one did not survive. One other pup also died during her labor. She had four healthy pups and we found homes for each of them. Their daddy was a Dachshund which was appropriate.

I can't begin to remember all the kittens we had. But we got to where we were able to have all of our cats fixed so there were no more litters of kittens. Charlie was one of our earliest cats. Charlie ended up having kittens so we obviously gave her the wrong name. After her largest litter she went out and got hit by a car and ended up with a broken hip. She had surgery for this injury and we had to bottle feed some of the kittens. We eventually got her spayed so she got a reprieve from nursing kittens.

Other pets included guinea pigs which are a favorite of ours. There were hamsters, mice, rats and a chipmunk. We originally had two chipmunks but one got injured on their wheel and did not survive surgery. It was not illegal for pet shops to sell little wild animals in those days. Charlie the Chipmunk lasted a number of years. He was part of our collection when Bill's second grade class came to our house on Olive Lane to see our zoo. We also had a large white bunny that we got for Easter in 1966. He got into the neighbors yard and mated with their bunny so they had little bunnies. Several years later we had a little black bunny that we named Happy Hare. He ran around the house playing with the cats.

After we moved to our present home in 1973 we got a cute little dog that Griff named Nipper. She could have been a cockapoo. Later on a little poodle got into our yard and mated with her. She had three sons and we kept them all. We named them Doug, Sheldon and Herschel (Hershey). They lived a long time, especially Hershey who lived fifteen years. We had other dogs along the way too.

In 1980 my niece Elizabeth came from Montana to visit us after she graduated from high school. She ended up staying for five years along with her dog, Mouse. With Mouse added to our dogs we had five dogs in the house at that time. Actually her dog was the most well behaved of all the dogs.

Other dogs we have had over the years are Susie, Sam, Bear, Mandy and Sammy. I could be forgetting one. Each pet has a story to tell. We have not gotten any at the shelter as they seem to find us. The pups, Henrietta and Nipper, were acquired on purpose. The others found us in various ways.

We also had turtles at various times. Two turtles that we got while we lived in Coronado moved with us to our present home. They were originally very small turtles that lived in a bowl, but ended up in a little children's plastic pool in our back yard. We had them for more than thirty years until a raccoon came into our yard and injured them. We did not know there were raccoons in our area until then. We had to have them euthanized due to their injuries. We had box turtles when we lived in Coronado. We had a desert tortoise, that was found walking down the street, after we moved here.

One of our kitties was named Phantom as Paul found her at work where the Phantom jets were. Our Phantom was a tiny kitten when Paul found her. We had her for nineteen years. Griff now has a large kitty named Phantom. He is named after our original Phantom. We also had a kitten we named Temporary as we were not going to keep her. We had her for many many years. Early on we had a kitty named Goldwater that we had for many years. We had him when our boys were babies and moved twice with him.

If I forgot any pets they will be another story for another day. We only have kitties at this time, but there are more than I care to admit to.  Got pets!!  :)

images from Marvin family album

A Tub Full of Trouble

When our children were little we always had an assortment of pets. We always had cats and sometimes had turtles. We also had a little dog for a number of years. No home is complete without a purring cat or other favorite pet.

When I cleaned the turtle bowl I would often let the turtles swim in the tub for awhile. One day little two year old Laura decided to add some kittens, toilet paper and more water to the tub of turtles. Thankfully I found the kittens before disaster struck. But one of the kittens had a cast on its leg and did not need any more trauma in its life.

Children and pets are quite an interesting combination. You will never be bored with this mixture. When our son Bill was in the second grade we had so many pets that his whole class came to our house to see our zoo.

image credit: abcrumley