Let the Fireworks Begin

"Firework season" actually began for us last night at midnight when Greg and his dog came into the house. I will call it "a season" even though it is a holiday to most families. We say the Christmas season (The reason for the season), because it actually lasts longer that a couple of days. It is only fair to say firework season because it will last more than a couple of days for our family. Next to Christmas it is my favorite time of the year.
This is either the sixth or seventh year for Greg and Randy to have a firework stand. We have watched this little stand that two college boys start, so that they could blow up fireworks, evolve to a much larger business. They now have two stands, and they get to put on two city firework shows.
For me I get to be with family and friends. Not only do we get to have family time, I get to cook for people who actually enjoy eating. This is a treat for me. By 9:30 this morning, I had already got to spend time with  Greg, Justin and his kids, and Jenna. After a lunch with Jenna and Di, I made my first dessert for the season. I chose a peanut butter cream pie. The recipe for this is on the Pass Your Plate blog.

So let the fireworks begins. If you are reading this and are in the area, come buy some fireworks from

  Davis and Miller Fireworks.

If fireworks are not your thing, then come by for a coke, a laugh or if we are lucky - a song with Greg on his guitar. 

Oreos and Milk - In Memory of a Great Lady

June 21, 1923 - Bennie Henderson Scoggins was born. What a great lady! Many posts have been written about her by Diana and I; so on this day instead of writing a post about how great she was, Diana and I chose to do something different.
We ate oreos and milk in memory of her. On Fridays when the kids were little, we would go to her house for oreo cookies and milk in celebration of surviving another school week or in celebration of the weekend. However you want to look at the celebration, it was a great tradition that was shared by a grandmother, her daughters, and grandchildren. This was another way to instill in our children that the love of a family is one of life's greatest blessings.

So mom, this snack was for you. We love you.

It is Finished - Almost

I have not blogged a long time about my kitchen. It is almost finished. We had Rick's birthday party at the house the end of May which helped move the process along faster. He is now waiting on a rainy day to finish!

 Cooking in the kitchen is wonderful.  The food does not taste any better, but it is fun to cook in the new setting. I am about to learn where everything is, and only a few things have been totally lost. It is hard to say what is my favorite, but it might be the countertops. Sorry Chad, I know you loved the old yellow countertop. The biggest difference is the convection oven. I still have not got that down. I have a tendency to cook cakes and bread too long, and I do not cook cookies long enough. I will just have to practice more.

I have talked about this and waited years for this remodel to take place. The wait has been well worth it. I have to give Rick the majority of the credit. Even though he called us the "inferior decorators" with lots of trips and returns to Lowe's and Home Depot, he did a beautiful job with his workmanship. He also displayed a great deal of patience with the project and me. Patience is not a virtue that we usually equate with Rick, but he was so good to go with me and look and look and look. Then he also allowed us to take back and back and back.

Miles to go Before We Sleep

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

This seemed to be the theme for our recent girls' trip. We covered 1300 miles in 11 days/10 nights being tourists in the New England states. I got stars on my US map for 6 new states to visit - Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island. We work at being tourists. Our goal is to see how much we can see and do in 18 hour days. Without boring you with too many details or pictures, I will give you a quick overview of the highlights.

• Boston - The Freedom Trail and lots of history
• Cape Ann and Salem Witches
• Maine - an old-fashioned Dairy Queen with the best ice cream blizzard
• New Hampshire - mountains and black flies that bite
• Vermont - The Von Trapp family with the hills filled with the "Sound of Music"
• a cog ride to the top of the mountain, Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory
• Connecticut - one of the United States largest casinos
• Newport - the Breakers, the Vanderbilt's mansion
• Providence, Rhode Island - history
• Hyannis Port and Nantucket - windmills and light houses
• Cape Cod - Provincetown
• Plymouth Rock - history

I assure you of three things:

• the trip was well-documented with many pictures.  
• great food was eaten.
• the Golden Girls have nothing on us.

Our Legacy Continues...Happy Mother's Day

Diana did such a fine job on her post about two mothers that had the greatest influence in our lives and our children's lives that I will just say "Ditto!" When the Deacon read Proverbs 31 this morning, I immediately thought of mother and the example that she left us to follow. So I have decided to write about our ongoing family project and dedicate it to all the women in our family's history.

I took off work Friday to meet a distant cousin and her husband, Nelda and Benny,  that I had never met except through email and the internet. Diana and I met them at the Tioga cemetery that morning, and then the journey began. By 5:00 PM we had visited Tioga, Collinsville, Ethel, Tioga, Hall, and West Hill Cemetery. We had visited atleast 100 graves of the Scoggins branch and I visited some of the other branches if they were in our path. They took 97 pictures; and I took many more than that. My thighs were sore from getting on my knees to get eye-level to take each picture.

We have had our great, great grandfather's marker made and set. Through Nelda's extensive research, she had proof of his war records so she did the paperwork to get him a war marker. She thought she was going to see it in a storage building; but thanks to Flesher Funeral home, they set it Thursday afternoon when they found that she was coming to Grayson county on Friday. She was "almost" speechless when she saw it at the cemetery. We had kept this as a surprise. For some reason he did not have a marker, and his wife did so this had bothered some family members. This fall we are going to have a military memorial service for this ancestor with all the family invited.

Nelda is a walking encyclopedia of Scoggin(s) history. She told many stories all day long of our family's past. As I reflected back on the day Friday night, I realized several things just kept surfacing all day long. One - we have been die-hard Baptists for many generations with strong Christian principles. She was thrilled to death, when she found out we were Baptist.
Two - the men were willing to fight for their country. I have some great war stories for later posts.
Three - the women were hard workers, and usually the mother of many children. Education was important.

With each step of this genealogy project, I am just amazed with the ability of some people to do such extensive research. Many, many thanks to Nelda for all the information that I gained on this day to pass on (or bore) my boys with.

Somewhere over the rainbow!

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, 

and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true”.


This is the view I had of the rainbow Monday night. During the rain, Rick and I went to the Sonic to pick up my gift that I had won in their 6 year anniversary celebration. I won a bicycle - not just any bicycle, but a very special bicycle. At 52 years old, this is the FIRST bicycle I have ever owned. Growing up on the farm, Diana and I had dolls and play kitchens to amuse us. We never owned our own bicycles. I do remember borrowing one or two on occasion, but we never had our own. 

This is a mountain bike with shocks and springs. It also came with a helmet. "So I guess dreams do come true" even late in life. Or as I really think about it and my coordination, the more accurate quote is "thanks for unanswered prayers". A bicycle in my youth might have been a catastrophe.

Take me out to the ballgame(s)

By marrying Rick, I inherited FOUR little ballplayers. Three of them had tournaments this weekend. They played a total of 15 games, which all three played for the championships. This weekend they won two second places and one championship. I have to admit Rick and I are not Nanna and Jack. We do not make every game, nor do we get there atleast 30 minutes before the game starts. Yesterday, we did see a segment of 5 different games in two towns over a period of time.

Cali got bored with so much baseball. She found a sand pile to destroy during Cade's game.


Saturday we took the day off from grandkids ballgames and went to a ladies' football game. A lady in Rick's Houston office plays on a football team. When they come to the Fort Worth/ Dallas area, we try to make her games. This is entertaining to see women play REAL football. This is not lingerie football.