Horack's Judging Rated High At State Contest

Since we are writing about our folks high school years, I thought this might be a good time to interject a little story about Daddy.
Apparently when Daddy was in High School, he was in the school Farming Association (FFA I’m thinking), and as part of the requirements they learned about livestock, how to care for, and judge it.
Following is a newspaper article that appeared in (what paper, Mother and I never knew). Apparently, Daddy was good at what he did in FFA, read on………………

Horacks meet Deets (cont. from Watch God Work)

Notice the signature, A.J Deets, that was Leonards Dad
1937 graduating class of South Haven High School. Mother, first row third from left, Leonard behind and to left, Katherine, third row, third from right.
When Anna Mae was in high school, there was a boy a grade ahead of her named Leonard Deets. His mom was Anna Mae's Sunday School Teacher. I think it was her Junior year in high school that a girl came to their school named Katherine Kirk. She moved up from Oklahoma to live with her brother and attend high school. He lived where our Uncle Henry and Aunt Betty later lived and still owns.
One day Ernest came home and told Anna Mae that he heard the place across the road west had sold to some people named Deets. Anna Mae replied that she wondered if they would be related to the Deets she had known in high school. She was thrilled to learn that it was Leonard and Katherine.
Katherine & Mother in St. Louis
Leonard & Daddy at New Salem Park
Ernest and Leonard first met when Leonard got a phone call to grab a bucket and meet Ernest at the end of his driveway because Rigg's barn was on fire. Leonard later put two and two together when he saw Ira's threshing machine in the machine shed at Horack's. He recognized it as the machine that had threshed his Dad's wheat years earlier.
Stories with the Deets would be a complete other Blog. They have been such a big part of our lives and still are. There is not a doubt in any of our minds that God put out families across the road from each other. For which, we are forever grateful.

In Remembrance

I was reminded as I was paying bills yesterday that it is one year ago Sun. that Mother passed away. The 8th is when she fell. In remembering those days, I was reminded of the great “going home service” my sisters planned. I thought it would be fitting to put two of Mothers favorite songs on our music box. These two that were played during the funeral service. Tennessee Waltz, (I really liked this rendition as it is a piano solo and made me think of times when Mother would request that we girls play something she specifically liked on the piano), I think she would have like this rendition. The Orange Blossom Special, which closed the service, causing everyone to leave the sanctuary with a smile on their face isn’t the Flatt and Scruggs version I prefer, but you can’t go wrong with Charlie Daniels either.

New Years with Aunt Doris and Uncle Harold, Jean and Donna

Alane called yesterday and we started talking about New Years and our wonderful memories of spending it with Aunt Doris (mother’s oldest sister), and Uncle Harold Haines in Wichita. We talked of the similar things we remembered, and with Alane being older than me she was able to more clearly remember how we spent our time after those delicious meals. This will no doubt be the first of many blogs to include our Aunt Doris and Uncle Harold. Their influence in our lives was enormous, and as we write about them you will understand why. Jean and Donna, their two daughters are our “other” sisters. Times at their house were always “the best”, or as my kids say “good times, good, good times.”…………



I woke up New Years Day I started thinking about our New Years Days we spent with the Haines family. We would get up early enough to get to Wichita in time to watch the Rose parade on TV (in black and white no less). Of course we didn't know the difference and the announcers did a really good job of describing the floats. After the parade we always had a wonderful meal. This included black-eyed peas with ham. That is always a necessity for good luck.

We would play pinochle with Uncle Harold and Daddy and I think Mother and Aunt Doris were in the kitchen visiting & and I’m sure cleaning up the kitchen. When Daddy and Uncle Harold would decide to watch football or take a nap, all the girls went downstairs. We would sharpen our skills at ping-pong and then listen to records and dance. Jean and Donna had a great Connie Frances record collection and we would sing along. (I'm sure that is why we were in the basement) :)
Andrea remembers Aunt Doris' house (ALWAYS) smelling like ham and coffee. I remember the coffee. I always thought it smelled sooo good and I couldn't wait until I was old enough to drink coffee. What a disappointment!! Oh well, it is an acquired taste.
I'm not sure when or why the New Years tradition started, but I'm sure glad it did. It makes it easy to understand why Jean and Donna are just like our sisters. I think our Mothers were hoping for that and I am sure they were very happy with the outcome.
Jean, Anita, Donna, Alane, and Uncle Harold
Donna, Jean, Anita, Amy
We still have black-eyed peas on New Years Day. This year Steve found a recipe for Black-Eyed Pea chili. We tried it and it is really good.
You will find the recipe below if you would like to try it. We will be having it more than once a year. I double the sausage but the rest is the same. It makes it extra thick and meaty, the way Steve likes it.

Black-Eyed Pea Chili

1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, un-drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced unsalted tomatoes, un-drained
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, un-drained
2 tablespoons chili powder

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until
no longer pink, stirring constantly. Drain sausage on paper towels;
discard all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings. Add onion and celery to
pan; cook until onion is translucent, stirring constantly.

Add black-eyed peas, tomatoes, tomatoes with green chilies, and chili powder.
Stir in sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
Serves 10. This makes a large amount and I froze the leftovers in zip-lock bags.

Hope you like it.

(just an interjection at this point--Andrea isn't in the picture above, cuz ahem.....she wasn't here yet ;)

For Kids.....large and small...Merry Christmas!

I inherited the nativity scene that we grew up with. I remember rearranging the figures, and playing out the Christmas Story of how Mary and Joseph came to be in the stable. I love nativity scenes, now with Mother's we have two. They are the central focus of our Christmas. I found the following both amusing, and touching, and know the younger crowd will probably enjoy this short "cartoon". Oh, you'll need to pause the music.

Hot Ham Sandwich Recipe

Who can beat a hot sandwich in weather like this? My sister Alane called the other day and requested a recipe that is a hit with our entire family. A friend made these one time, they were soooo good I asked for the recipe, and then found out how easy they are to make, that they freeze, and are a hit every time I serve them. I try to keep them made up and in the freezer all the time, as they are really handy to have on hand for those cold evenings, and by the way, they go great with the Golden Onion Soup.

Ham Rolls
3 pkg. Hawaiian Rolls (I find these usually in the deli at Wal-mart, some stores they are in the bread isle)
1 lb. boiled ham (shredded)
1 lb. Swiss cheese slices

Sauce:
3 sticks of butter or margarine
2 med onion, finally chopped
6 T. Worcestershire Sauce
8 T Prepared mustard
A T or so of poppy seeds

Melt butter in sauce pan, add onion, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and poppy seeds, heat thoroughly. Leave rolls intact, (partially frozen is best) and split in half across the entire set of rolls. Spread butter mixture on bread, layering ham and cheese, and wrap in heavy duty foil.
Heat for 15-20 min. (thaw thoroughly if frozen) at 350 degrees till hot and cheese melts.
YUMMMMM!

Christmas Differences

When I started this blog, it was with the intention of sharing some things about what life was like after kids, and caregiving. This is one of those blogs..........
All the blogs I look at every day are featuring what their writers and their families are doing in preparation for Christmas. Lovely pictures posted of peoples homes, and their family decorations, and traditions show the excitement and anticipation of the holiday. One woman has had shoulder surgery, and her husband and kids are still doing all the decorating! Some of the homes are absolutely beautiful!

I haven’t decorated a thing for Christmas this year. The only Christmas decoration I have in my house at this moment is the calendar picture in my office.

I had convinced myself that since the kids were not going to be home for Christmas this year that there was no reason to “drag” out all the Christmas decorations. Oh, I would put up the Nativity scene, after all isn’t that what Christmas is REALLY about?

Then I talked to Audrey the other night and she said she wasn’t going to put their Christmas tree up, the apt just wasn’t big enough. I thought “You have to decorate! It will be depressing for you if you don’t put up some Christmas stuff!”

Ryan has a phrase for Audrey and I that he coined early in their relationship and it is right on the money “Pot, meet Kettle, Kettle, meet pot.” as he looks back and forth between us. In other words we are A LOT alike.

As I heard my daughters reason for not decorating this year, and didn’t deem it worthy of denying them the festiveness of the holiday, simply because of space, I heard myself in her voice, only the reason was just a different one.

I realized that I needed to get to the bottom of this “not NEEDING to decorate” excuse and determine where it is coming from.

Granted my children live a long way away and won’t be home for Christmas, and my mother passed away in Jan. and this is our first Christmas without grandma. Yes, Roger and I will be home by ourselves……… These are what many people would deem legitimate reasons for not decorating and getting into the holiday festiveness by putting up a bunch of Christmas decorations. However, as I was making the bed this morning, and pulling the covers up on my husband’s side of the bed, I was reminded I am not the only one missing our kids over the holiday, and missing that little short woman we called Granma, and Mama.

Roger and I have reached a stage in our lives where we are probably going to be spending a lot of holidays, Christmas included, by ourselves. Am I going to simply stop celebrating the birth of my Savior and all that it implies because there isn’t a crowd around and because my circumstances have changed? Am I going to, as my mother would have said, “throw the baby out with the bath water”?

After a little “come to Jesus” meeting, I had to apologize, and tell Him that I would be getting ready for his party just like usual. I came to realize that even at the age of 53, I was still making Christmas about me. Oh yes, I could celebrate it in a grass hut with no decorations or in a beautifully decorated house on a hill, but what would be the motivation and attitude of my heart in either circumstance? Now I know that Christmas isn’t in the decorating, and the baking, and the gift giving, and tree trimming, but all those things are a representation of the preparation for the coming of our Savior. He was the biggest and best gift; ours are simply cheap reminders of what God did for us. But all these things done in the right heart attitude (yes I said ATTITUDE!!) are symbols to the outside world of the party we have every year at the birth of our Savior.

I’ve also decided that I am going to view my decorations that I have put out the same way year after year in a new light, and maybe shake things up a bit. Maybe I won’t put the entire tree up, but that doesn’t mean I can’t display some favorite ornaments in a fashion that will make us smile and remember who is coming.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians in the second letter to them: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

After all, by myself or in a crowd, Jesus is my Savior and THAT is worth being joyful, giving thanks and celebrating.

P.S I'm still trying to find the song Tijuana Christmas by the Border Brass to add to our song list, in the meantime hope you enjoy the Christmas music :)