Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Life Isn't Planned

Life isn’t planned,

It’s an adventure.

Mistakes aren’t really mistakes,

they were meant to be.

Everything is meant to be,

but that’s up to God to decide what happens when.

I love the randomness in each day,

I love knowing that something might happen and take my breath away.

I hate knowing that tomorrow will be a Saturday,

or the 15th of July.

Why can’t it just dawn on us,

as the sun dawns on that day?

I love the feel of sand in between my toes,

and the sound of lapping waves.

I love the shimmer of sunlight,

on the newly fallen snow.

I love the beauty that shows,

on the breast of the horizon.

I love how unexpectedly it comes,

like a first kiss.

Rambling on, blushing,

then *Smack!* it happens.

I love how each day comes,

in a package differently wrapped by day.

One time it’ll be a shimmery silver wrapping,

with a pink ribbon tied in a bow.

The next time it’ll be wrapped up in black,

with a faint yellow.

Promising that,

this too shall pass.

Lastly, I love how music never ceases to amaze,

my wonders.

One word after another,

knowing it’ll end.

One note after another,

knowing what comes next.

But who really knows music?

Who really knows love?

Who really knows life?

God knows.

But we’re not God.

So live,

live with no expectations.
~written by my youngest daughter, Hannah :)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Grandma's Letter ( part 2)

The teachers handled all problems, if you got into trouble there was no Principal, just your teacher. They gave spankings then, HARD ones too. I saw them break more than one yard stick on a kid. Some had belts, some had wooden paddles they used, some used their open hand I don't ever remember a kid getting kicked out of school, but the worse thing a kid did was into a fist fight with another student. Kids got in trouble for things like; chewing gum, talking, copying from someone else, being too restless and not sitting still, not having work done, very few kids talked back to teachers then, giggling, daydreaming and staring out of the window ( my biggest problem). No one worried about weapons then, kids could bring their 22 rifles or pellet guns to school (nobody bothered things then) or gave them to the teacher to hold til the end of the day. Most of the boys carried picket knives, no one cared because no one even dreamed of using them as weapons to hurt anyone. There weren't many fights, if there was the teacher took the kid home and talked with the parent after school. So if someone wanted to fight they did it out of sight of the school on their way home, then usually they would be waiting for them with a belt when they got home.

Well, I think that just about covers it all without going into specific stories. I hope this will help you and not be so late thatit is no help at all.

Love,
Grandma

My daughter, Tamra wrote her a letter and asked her what her school was like.

Grandma's Letter

Look what I found from a box I sorted out. Grandma's letter. She wrote to my daughter, Tamra.

Dear Tammy,

I'm sorry that I haven't written to you about when I went to school. I'm not very good at getting letters written.

The grade (elementary) school I went to was different than what most elementary schools were then. Mine was a small country school, but it was bigger than other country schools in the same county. It was called the Clinton School. We had grades K-8th in our school.

There were two rooms, one was for K-4th grades, and one was for 5th-8th grades. We had one teacher for each room. That teacher taught everything; math, Lanugage, History, Reading, and Art. We did not have any Music or PE classes.

Sometimes there would be only one student in a grade level or there may have been as many as 8 students in a grade. Mine had Janet Shuster, Carol Jensen, Marcene SunBear, Ron Tauson, and me. Some years there may have been another kid for part of the school year, these were the ones I went to school with from Kindergarten through 8th grade.

We had one recess in the morning, lunch recess, and one afternoon recess. We did things like playing on the swings, slide, merry-go-round, or games ( soft ball, tag, running contests, etc) or jumped rope, hop scotch. The teachers wouldn't let us just sit and talk during recess.

Most of the years we had to take our lunches with us but the last few years we had a hot lunch program. We had really good lunches, my neighbor lady was the cook and she was realy good. She made things like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on a cob or some other vegetable and we always had cookies, pie, or cake for desert. We had fresh mik every day, too.

Almost everyone walked to school or biked, a few kids who lived on farms over a mile away were driven by their parents. I don't remember having any snow days, because our teachers would stay at the school during the bad weather days. There was a little apartment in the basement for the teachers to stay, if they wanted to.

We had a janitor, his name was Fred Fankhouser, he was such a nice man. He could fix anything. Kids would bring all kinds of toys and different things to him that needed fixed.
He was great about listening to problems too I think he helped a lot of kids by just listening to them.

The teachers were very strict You had to have your homework ready to turn in every day or you got an F for that day in that subject. There were no second chances to make up any bad grades on daily work or tests They would really let you know they were unhappy if you didn't get your work done. If you didn't understand something most of them were great about helping you, once in a while we would have a crabby teacher who would be kind of mean and make you feel like a dummy.

Continued......

My Daughter's Poem

My daughter, Tami wrote it when she was in high school. I found it as I cleaned up in the basment. It brought me a big smile!

Call It Writing
by Tamra Armstrong

Call it writing if you wish,
I like to think of it as a kiss.
Something so gentle and sweet,
Just like a person you'd like to meet.
You call it writing and I call it joy,
The kind you experience getting a new toy.
Or argument's sake, I'll call it pain,
The kind you feel when there's nothing to gain.
An outlet or a shelter
It just makes a person feel better.
So you can call it writing if you please,
I'll call it whatever suits me.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Mountains in Colorado~


this photo is taken by my friend, Trish~

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Nice Poem by Author Unknown



A new year is beginning to peak through
softly beautiful and different like new falling snow,
each day unique and shaped just for you.
Your life adding something as each day does grow.
My wish for your new year is beauty
and softness with surprises thrown in for delight.
Love for each day bringing happiness to you,
making your life a scene of sparkle and shining sunlight.
-- Author Unknown

Happy New Year~


Happy New Year and Best wishes to all!