When Little Boys Play House

We have a treat today, my kind mother-in-law has written this story about my husband when he was a little boy. I've heard it from my husband before and always thought it was a great story. I'm glad to read it in my mother-in-law's own words.

When I was a young mother of four little sons, I used to set up a couple of card tables, put a  sheet over the top  and encourage them to play " House"  in order to give them something to do while I did some household chores.  Crawling in and out under the  tables and playing their self-assigned roles was the order of the day.

Our oldest son, being the eldest, always chose to be the Dad, of course.  Our  youngest son, being the youngest, always chose to be the little Boy.  That left the two middle boys to  choose their roles.The younger of the two middle sons, always chose to be the Uncle.

That left the older of the middle sons [Eve's husband], to choose his role.  He was always most amiable and let his brothers choose  first.  I asked him who  he was going to  choose.  And you could just see his little mind working:  Gosh, who's left?  I can't be the Mom and I can't be the Sister.  I know! (he happily exclaimed).  I'll be the BUFFALO!!  So he chose to be the buffalo and gave his siblings rides on his back all around the house.Needless to say, the BUFFALO was loved by all!

the dinosaur

You know what we called my little brother when he was little?    Babe-er-shi-momp-shi-gen


Well, that's how we said it, we never spelled it and for some reason that name has stuck in my head all these  years.


He is the boy, the baby, the youngest after us three sisters. And we did baby him. We tucked him under the covers  in our doll's bed. He crawled around the floor playing the baby in our make-believe home... until he got old enough to say "I want to be the dinosaur!"

eggs II

So I finally tried the egg challenge: 

I really needed to find a better way to boil an egg, so I also followed the How To: Hard-Boil an Egg. 

...rollinG BOIL

Trying to make the first cut into the shell took me some time.  I was trying to keep the knife from sliding off the shell and into my finger.

I tried to be very careful scooping the egg out of the shell. It didn't come out pretty --but with practice it probably will.  I LOVED the way the yolk cooked --semi-soft. I'll most likely try it again.

the mud puddle

So, I've been telling you my stories, but here's one from the husband. He wrote it out last night for me to put on this blog. So, without further ado, I introduce to you my husband:

Growing up on 5 acres with horses, pastures and barns was a lot of fun for my brothers and I.  But not so much fun for my mother. 

For example, when I was about 5, my older brother discovered an exciting game.  My younger brother and I followed him as he climbed the wood fence by the barn, then climbed up on the sloping barn roof, which was about 8 ft off the ground.  Then we would jump off the roof into a huge, deep mud puddle.  After about a half hour, we went back to the house, covered in "mud".

We walked into the house, tracking mud, to get changed.  There were a few things we didn't understand at that age though.  For example, the "mud puddle" was just outside the horse stalls and dirt was not the main ingredient.  Nor was the liquid primarily water. And we had become accustomed to the strange stench we were giving off. 

So, my mother had the experience of having three clean little boys go out to play, only to come back into her house covered in horse manure and urine, stinking to high heaven.  That was the end of that game, but we soon found other exciting games to play.  But that's another story...

survival

A little patch of flowers started blooming at work. When I passed by it yesterday, sadly, it looked like this:

This morning as I walked by it, I found this:

Grow little flowers! Grow!

embarrassing

A co-worker just came back from lunch, red-faced, and proceeded to describe to us what had just happened to her. Her embarrassing moment brought back the memory of MY most embarrassing moment. Maybe not because it was THE most embarrassing, but I clearly remember my strong feelings at that moment. 

 I was 15 years old. I was in High School and all it's awkwardness. I dreaded every day of my P.E. class. I was so unable to do anything that expected me to coordinate my limbs. I ran the slowest, I jumped the shortest and couldn't throw a ball to save my life!


 So when we began playing baseball, our team went out on the field. I walked out the farthest I could from home base. I didn't want to risk the expectation of having to catch the ball! *CRACK* the sound of the ball against the bat reverberated in my head and I turned away to meander around my lonely end of the field. Then *THWACK*, my head jerked forward and i was dazed for only a moment. My senses came back to me as I felt everyone's eyes at my back. The sting of embarrassment started at my toes and burned it's way up to my face, where it stayed. Only the P.E. teacher dared to approach me. I didn't turn around. I didn't look him in the eyes. I just wanted the ground to open up and pull me in. 

And for the rest of the day, well, actually for a really long time, I truly thought everyone was pointing at me and laughing at 'the girl who got hit in the head with a baseball'. What's your most embarrassing moment?

birth day

Four years ago today my sister let me witness the birth of her second child. I had no idea what to really expect, but I was up for the experience. 

When i arrived at my sister's hospital room she was getting her second epidural (1st reason not to get pregnant). Then she asked me to keep an eye on her husband for signs that he might faint. He did just that at the birth of their first child and was rushed to the emergency room with a head injury (2nd reason not to get pregnant). Then her face contorted as the pain came quickly (3rd reason not to get pregnant). Then as I glanced back at her husband and then back at my sister, I saw one arm and tiny hand stretch out as if to announce "Here I am!". Then my heart swelled in my chest and no words could describe my instant love for this new child (Number one reason to get pregnant!-- don't worry, it won't be me).

 HAppy BiRTHDAy my little one.

eggs

Have I mentioned that I am not so ...shall we say, skilled in the kitchen? My best dish is probably butter & jam toast. 

So when was the last time I boiled and egg? --possibly last Easter so that my nieces could dye them. BUT when I ran across this No-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs , I want to try it. I'll tell you later if it worked.

the little things

It's a good night if I only wake up once during the night. 

Last night I woke up. I stayed awake. Sleep would not come. Then the husband rolled over and he began to rub my back. Oh so soothing and calming. In the morning when I thanked him, he had no recollection of it. He had massaged my back in his sleep! 

I love this man.

27 40 42

My lottery number?
My locker combination numbers?
My checking account number?


No.


I was 27 when I went on a date for the first time in my life. I'm not even kidding folks.


I was 40 when I had my first kiss. He asked me first. And I tentatively said "yes".


I was 42 when I got married. Yes, I married that guy who gave me my first kiss!