Let's take a walk down history lane....

Good afternoon! Hope everyone is enjoying their day. The weather has been nice here in our town. A nice change from all the cold snow and ice last week. I was browsing the web for some farm pictures and I came across these that someone had took when they visited the Laura Ingall's home in Walnut Grove. There are some neat pictures and history facts here so I thought I would share with you guys. So-here's a little history lesson for the day

Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri. The home of Laura Ingalls-Wilder. This is where she wrote The Little House On The Prairie books

Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 when she wrote Little House series

Near Independence, KS. A reconstruction, of course. The Ingalls family lived here from 1869 to 1871.

This is the Ingalls' plot in the De Smet cemetery (L-to-R: Carrie, Mary, baby, Ma and Pa). Laura and her husband, Almanzo, are buried near their farm in Rocky Ridge, Missouri.

This is the where the dugout home was when the Ingalls lived on the Banks of Plum Creek (she wrote a book based on her life there. I had that book as a kid-I think I still have it somewhere). This is all that is left of the dugout. It caved in some time ago.

The photographer took these pics standing at the bottom of the creek. Looking up you can see the board which is where their dugout home was.

This is the museum in Walnut Grove.

This is an actual picture of the Ingalls girls. If you ask me-they did a pretty good job when they casted the girls that played them in the tv show Little House on the Prairie.

Laura Ingalls was born in Wisconsin in the 1860s. Her parents, Charles and Caroline, moved the family around the Midwest throughout the 1870s and 1880s. During their numerous moves around the Midwest, the Ingalls lived in a sod "dugout" on Plum Creek, near the town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

In 1880, Charles got a job for a railroad company on the barren plains of eastern South Dakota in what is today the town of De Smet and moved his family there. Laura, who was 13 when she moved to De Smet, finished high school there and became a school teacher, married Almanzo Wilder a few years later, then moved with him to Missouri.

When Laura was in her 50's, she began writing about her childhood adventures in the various places that she'd lived. She based her book, On the Banks of Plum Creek on her experiences of living in the sod dugout near Walnut Grove, and based another book, called Little House on the Prairie, on her experiences of living in a little house -- and on the prairie, no less -- in Independence, Kansas. She based several other books, including "The Long Winter" and "On the Shores of Silver Lake," on her later experiences in De Smet, South Dakota.

In the 1970s, NBC created a television series based on Laura's childhood experiences, although the producers took some liberties with her stories. Instead of having the family live in a dirt cave, they gave the family a wooden house, called the town "Walnut Grove" (which has a better ring than "De Smet," I guess), and called the series "Little House on the Prairie," though it wasn't set anywhere near Independence, Kansas. This was an amalgam of her experiences in Kansas, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

*to credit where I got the pictures and info here is the link*

http://www.delsjourney.com

I grew up watching the t.v. shows. It was one of my favorites and I still enjoy the reruns. I hope to own the seasons on DVD one of these days. Historical events fascinate me. I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson! I live about and hour and half from Laura's home in Mansfield. I've been to it as a kid. We took a class trip there in elementary. I hope to go back some day with my family.

Take care and God bless!

Happy Weekend!

Good morning everyone! Today is Saturday-hope everyone is enjoying the start to their weekend. Got any big plans? I'm not sure what I'm doing. I plan on calling my mother in love b/c both our hubbies are working today so I'm sure we'll get together.



I have joined Mary Janes Farm. I am now a farm girl! My user name over there is Crafty Chic so if you're a farm girl look me up over there and say hi! I can't wait until we buy a house out in the country (which we have our eye on one) and then I will be a true blue farm girl. I'm definitely a farm girl at heart. I can't wait to have my own garden, and chickens. We're going to have goats. I want to learn to make soap, lotion, all sorts of things. I can sew so at least I've got that already! If you're not a MJF gal then you should sign up! Just go to www.maryjanesfarm.org The website is awesome and I'm so glad I joined!

I "borrowed" this image from my mother in love (thanks Sue!). This weekend is Daylight Savings Time. So, don't forget to set your clocks forward. So, if we're SPRINGING forward, I sure hope that means Spring is just around the corner b/c let me tell you I am sooooo tired of the snow and cold weather. We had snow again this week. I'm sick of it! I want to be able to wear capris and flip flops!

Well-I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Happy blogging! God bless you all!

Pray for us please......

Well-I'm going to the doctor today to find out just exactly what is wrong with my stomach. A year ago I went to him b/c I was having trouble either with diarrhea or constipation. He said I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and to eliminate dairy from my diet. So, I did that and felt better and lost about 50 pounds. But, then I kind of got tired of not being able to hardly eat anything so I found this over the counter medicine to treat Lactose Intolerance and help you digest dairy. So, I was doing OK with that. But, then I got really constipated (sorry if this grosses you out!) for like a week and a half and Rob (my hubby) had me do a colon cleanse with him. Well-that lasted 3 days b/c it made me sick. So-I went back to no dairy. All I really eat now is fruits and veggies. But, it doesn't seem to be helping b/c now no matter what I eat I immediately go. I can't travel-even the 6 mile drive to church bothers me. I get on the road and my stomach bothers me and makes me think I'm going to go then I panic and get stressed b/c there's no bathroom and I feel I won't make it in time to get to a bathroom then I get nauseous. This has been going on about a month and a half. Yesterday was my great grandma's funeral. My hubby officiated it. It was his first sermon. It was just a graveside service. The cemetery is about 10-15 minutes away from town and once we got there-I knew I was going to have to go. Thankfully, there was a gas station about 2 miles up the road, so my cousin ran me up there. Only, I was there so long we missed the funeral. I feel bad b/c I missed Rob's first funeral and I missed the funeral all together. So-needless to say I'm sick of this. I pray that my doctor will not just push on my stomach and say it's IBS like he has in the past. I pray he will do whatever it takes to find out just what is wrong. I need to be healed from this. I can't keep going on like this. It's controlling my life. I can't do half the things I used to b/c I'm always afraid that after I've ate, I'm going to get sick and I just want to stay home and be by my bathroom. So, please pray for me that this will be taken care of and I can feel better. Chloe has been sick the last few days. She threw up the last couple of days, ran a fever, and has been coughing. I'm taking her with me so he can check her too and get her some medicine. Just keep us in your prayers! Thanks and God bless!

A Legacy Says Good-bye On Leap Day

First of all- I copied the pic off my mother in law's blog-Country Pleasures. Thanks Sue! So-it is kind of interesting that Leap Year comes only once very 4 years. Ever think about why that is so? I do. I wonder what causes us to have an extra day in the month of February every 4 years? I guess God knew that once in a great while, we could use an extra day in our busy lives. I sometimes wish it came more than once every 4 years-how about you?
Well-this Leap Year was interesting for me. My great grandma Faye passed away about 1:00 that morning. She was 93 years old. She had been in the nursing home for about 5 years now. She had Alzheimer's Disease so she didn't really know much or anyone the last couple of years. She was a very devout Christian. She is no longer sick, hurting or in pain and she is in Heaven with Jesus, her husband and my grandpa. She is my mom's grandma.
She was a good old fashion, down to earth, plain Jane. The most important thing to her was her family. She always fed you when you came over. I remember every time we went to visit she gave me candy. I always ate those peanut butter things you get at Halloween in the black and orange wrappers. I will miss her, but I know she's in a much better place.
The only weird and sad thing is that b/c she died on Leap day, we can only honor the day she died once every 4 years. But, her memory and legacy will be alive and remembered every day of every year. My husband Rob is officiating the service. This is his first funeral so be in prayer for him. A lot of my family that will be there aren't saved and don't attend church. I pray that God can use her remarkable life to witness to them so they will accept him as their savior and change their life. Keep our family in your prayers.
On a happier note-Happy Leap Year! God bless!

Another Ice Day

I haven't been on in a couple of days so I didn't do any Valentine's Day posts. I hope everyone had a good V-DAY and celebrated the day with the one you love. I told Rob I didn't want us to buy each other gifts this year. I had been doing little things each day-1 for every day of Feb until the 14th. He got me a really romantic card & he surprised me and took Valentine's day off (normally he would work 8:30am-7:30pm and we wouldn't have gotten to go out). This was the best gift of all b/c I enjoy spending time with him. Between him working full time at Alltel and being a pastor-I feel I don't see him much. He's been off the last two days so that was nice! He took me to Colton's that night for supper. I had the catfish-yum-o! We've had ice here the last couple of days. It's really slick out there. I've got some laundry to fold, dishes, beds to make and vacuum and then the rest of the day is mine so I'm going to do some crafting! If you've got some "nice" weather going on that's keeping you stuck inside-make a day out of it! Read a book that you never have time for, read a magazine (my two favorites are Woman's Day & All You), work on a craft project you've been wanting to do or curl up on the couch and watch a romantic movie that you know your hubby will never watch with you! At any rate-this is your day to do what YOU want-so relax and enjoy it! I know I'm going to!

Looks, like SNOW, but it's ICE!!!

Our slick driveway

The sidewalk in front of our house

It looks like snow but it's not-its a thick layer of ice. This was taken Monday morning, the day it was raining. We had a ice storm all day and night Monday night. It's still on the ground today. A lot has melted but as cold as it will be tonight, it will freeze again. The pics I took are looking out my front door. Chloe thinks its snow. It's a doozy walking on our sidewalk. It's really slick. I can't get my car out of our driveway b/c it steeps down. Well-I could probably get it out, but coming back in, I'd probably slide right into the house! The schools have been canceled Since Monday but I think they will be going back tomorrow. Chloe and I have just been hanging out here. A friend of mine from church and her 3 kids came over yesterday. We went out for lunch and the kids played at the house while Michelle and I visited. It was nice to get out for awhile after being cooped up inside the last coupe of days! Chloe has her valentine's day party tomorrow at school. We made her box earlier today. It was her first box. She's excited about her party tomorrow! I'm off to figure out supper, so everyone take care and Happy Valentine's Day!

Sweetheart Banquet @ church

Sweetheart's Banquet King & Queen 2008


The Newlywed Game Winners!

We had our Valentine's Sweetheart Banquet @ church Saturday night. It was SOOOOO much fun! The men cooked for the ladies and served us and did the dishes! I even have pics for proof! Rob & I were one of the 4 couples to play the newlywed game. Rob's mom & stepdad attend church there and they played the game too. And they won! They made a good comeback b/c in the first round they were losing but they made a comeback and won the game! It was so much fun! Rob & I were crowned King & Queen! Ahh! We also had categories for the hen-pecked husband, the man with the best hair (a bald man won that one!!!) and the most love sick couple! An older couple won that one! It was so much fun! I can't wait til next year! Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of the day Rob proposed to me :) I've been doing a valentine for him every day since the 1st so yesterday I gave him a valentine card that when you open it up it plays the song "At Last". I would say yes to him a gazillion times over! He's my best friend, my soulmate, the love of my life. He's the best valentine in the world! I got more valentine's in the mail today and when I get all of them, I will post a pic. It was fun participating in the V-day card swap. I want to do this every year! Well-I hope everyone is enjoying their day. We are having ice rain today. The roads are slick. There's another storm on its way now. I hope that it won't get too bad where we're without power. That happened to a neighboring town 2 hours away last winter and some parts of that town still haven't fully recooperated and that was a year ago. So-please keep our town and surrounding areas in your prayers. Have a good week and God bless!