Labor Day on the Prairie

I’m not sure how it happened – but it seems like yesterday was mid-July and now Labor Day week-end is over!

And once again we filled it full of family and fun – spending the weekend at my parents with most of my extended family at our 27th Annual Labor Day celebration.

We now have three generations making memories on the Prairie (as the grandkids call Papa Jim and Nana’s place).

Three generations that include our Indy, who was a rock star at her first Labor Day celebration! It seems like just yesterday that my kids were the littles on the prairie – and now I’m the Nana introducing Indy the wonders of Great Papa and Great Nana’s house.

With the official count at 51 – we had tents and hammocks and cars everywhere!

So much laughter!

So much food!

So much fun!

So many old traditions to keep up, like Annie Annie Over, massive bonfires, s’mores, making Puppy Chow at midnight and playing Peanuts.

And the annual trek to The Rock, with Papa driving all the little’s in a wagon.

Since it was 45 Labor Day weekends ago that my parents moved us to the prairie, into the big old farmhouse they had moved in and that was not yet finished…

…we celebrated 45 years of memories watching old videos on a red neck movie theater on the lawn that the guys improvised by hanging a movie screen on some 2 X 4’s from the bucket of Uncle Delbert’s tractor.

It was a beautiful reminder of the legacy my parents have built.

A home full of love and memories.

A place of belonging that brings us back year after year.

A family that is bound together by laughter and tears.

We are truly blessed.

Photo credits go to my sister Sandy! I was so busy being Nana that I did not take a single picture all weekend!

From a Baby Bubble to Graduation Hustle

It was a bit of mental whiplash – I went from a delightful baby bubble full of sweet Indy snuggles to the realization that Nate’s graduation was approaching at warp speed!

I hit the ground running as soon as I got home.

Thankfully the invitations went out before Indy was born.

But I had hours of baking to do!

Nate’s favorite cookies.

Batch after batch of them.

And yeast rolls. Hundreds of yeast rolls!

Over 25 pounds of flour.

Four dozen eggs. White sugar. Brown sugar. Butter.

Sheet after sheet in the oven.

On the cooling racks. In the freezer.

What a huge job done!

This week I’m on to cleaning.

Window washing.

Flower planting.

Two of my sisters showed up yesterday as much needed reinforcements.

Now my kitchen is so clean that I’ve decide we can’t cook until after the Open House!

Just a few more days and my last born will be a graduate!

But first – I have a few floors to mop!

Happy Belated Birthday, Poppa!

We gathered last weekend to celebrate Jan’s dad’s 89th birthday.

It was our third attempt.

We tried in both January and February – but were snowed out both times. We were almost afraid to try again – but thankfully the weather held and both the Minnesota and Chicago Shervheim’s were able to join us for a quick overnight and party.

it was quite the overnight as all three families camped out in the big house, in sleeping bags, surrounded by boxes and with little furniture. The four remaining chairs became a hot commodity, and we discovered that ice chests made great tables when sitting on the floor.

The actual birthday party was held in the Great Room at Poppa and Nana’s new Senior Living apartments, where there were actual chairs and tables!

We celebrated Poppa’s 89 years with cake and ice cream and pizza and presents.

And we listened to his stories.

Like the one when he was invited to Washington DC as an Eagle Scout and presented President Truman with a medallion and met J. Edgar Hoover.

His time working on the railroad.

His military years.

The first time he ate pistachios while stationed in Iran. (He still loves them!)

All our favorite stories.

Three generations together. Laughing, remembering, and celebrating.

Happy birthday, Poppa!

A Shower of Blessings

My wonderful sisters threw a baby shower for Laura and my new granddaughter.

Seeing dear family for the first time since before Thanksgiving, and enjoying the table full of family favorites (so much chocolate!) was enough to make my heart happy.

But there was more, so much more.

Each woman there personally handed Laura a gift, thoughtful and wonderful gifts, and with it, words of wisdom and encouragement.

Bible verses, stories, lessons learned, solid counsel, practical insights, hilarious true stories.

We laughed and cried and showered the expectant mama with love.

My heart was so blessed as I heard the women speak, and I saw their hearts and I felt their love.

Three generations of women.

Strong and faithful women.

All there for my daughter and grand baby.

Truly it was a shower of blessings.

More Costumes, Less Screen

The furnace guy came to service the furnace the other day.

Which would normally be no big deal – unless you’re me and have a dozen Rubbermaid totes full of dress -up clothes stacked in front of it that needed to be moved for access.

Yep. A dozen. That’s not including hats.

I will admit that as I pushed and pulled them all out of the way – I wondered if maybe my dress-up clothes were getting a bit out of hand.

I felt guilty for a few minutes when I saw how nice the basement looked without my massive collection.

But then I saw a post on Instagram of two adorable kids running around the room in costumes with the caption “What kids need today is more costumes and less screen”.

I felt instantly and immensely better.

Kids do need costumes. Not necessarily store bought fancy ones – but just an odd assortment of cast-off clothing that we call “dress-up clothes”.

A pair of bib overalls. A shiny silver shirt. A vintage prom dress. Hot pink platform heels. A leather vest. A plastic sword. Fake fur.

That’s the raw material the imagination needs to create and explore!

Oh the wonders that are hidden in a box of dress-up clothes!

Some of my earliest memories are of playing dress-up with my siblings both at home and in Grandma Griner’s upstairs bedroom. We would each find our favorites and set up our imaginary worlds under the sloped eaves.

The rule at grandma’s house was always that the dress-up clothes stayed upstairs. But when my mom became a grandma, that rule went out the window!

At her house, the dress-up clothes could go upstairs, downstairs, and even outside.

The grandchildren have spent hundreds of hours playing with the dress-up clothes, putting on shows, acting out stories and creating their imaginary worlds all over! There were wagon trains through the trees, princess tea parties on the lawn, and pirate ships on the trailer.

It was not unusual for one of the kids to dig through the piles as soon as they arrived until they found their favorite article and then wear it the rest of the weekend.

As a young college student I worked in a Daycare with the school age children after school and summers. One of the first things I put into my class room was a foot locker full of dress-up clothes that we would pull out every Friday morning and make a show or a play to perform for the other classrooms.

That same foot locker came home with me when I become a mom and it slowly expanded.

My kids spent hours pretending and dressing up and making stories.

Those dress-up clothes really got used as soon as Matt discovered that our digital camera could record movies. Some of the things they created at that time are priceless!

They introduced many friends to the power of a box of dress-up clothes.

I vividly remember one of their friends riding down the driveway on a skateboard wearing a bridesmaid dress from my college days. I don’t remember who she was pretending to be, but the grin on her face and sparkle in her eyes told me she was having a wonderful time!

Those same totes of dress-up clothes have been used for countless skits in Valentine Banquets and VBS.

And now that a grand baby is on the way, I have another generation to teach about the wonders of dress-up clothes.

I want pirates and princesses and firemen and cowboys.

I want to find a sunbonnet in the swing and a wooden sword in the sand pile.

I want to hear “Grandma, we made a show! Come and see!” And I will sit in wonder watching yet another generation explore create and imagine.

And someday I want my grand kids are going to say, “Do you you remember playing dress-up at grandma’s? Boy that was fun!”

No, I don’t think I have a costume problem.

I have a costume heritage to uphold.

The buckets stay.

A Different Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with my husband’s family was a little different this year.

There were fewer faces around the table and that table was sitting in a house that was slowly being emptied.

It has been a year of change and transitions which included a cancer diagnosis for Jan’s dad and several rounds of chemo.

And in just a few weeks, Jan’s parents will be moving out of their large four bedroom family home into a senior living apartment.

There has been a lot of cleaning and sorting and giving away.

Several rooms sit almost empty. Others have furniture noticeably missing.

But the dining room table was still there. And the fine china wasn’t packed. So Jan’s mom borrowed my roaster and did the turkey while the kids and I made sides and desserts.

We enjoyed one last Thanksgiving in the family home, just them and us and a couple of close friends.

It was one short day. No overnight. No extended family.

But we missed them.

There was no coffee run and Black Friday shopping. No late night Clue Game and pumpkin pie. No grand kids sprawled all over the family room.

And I missed spending time with my sisters-in-law; gals who are related only by marriage but have become some of my dearest friends. Bonded together by years of late night talks in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

It was a different Thanksgiving. Quieter. Shorter.

There were a few tears. But there was also laughter.

We’ll get his parents settled in the new apartment in the new few weeks and then we’ll find some new traditions.

It will be different.

But in the end, it’s not the place, but the people that matter.

And for them, I am very thankful.

Minnesota Memories

We did it again!

Somehow in the midst of crazy fall schedules, all of our kids were able to join us for several days in the North woods of Minnesota.

Why does it seem almost miraculous to have everyone together?

It was a gift to be treasured.

We shared picnics with laughter.

Rainy days snuggled in the cabin playing games, eating like lumber jacks.

Long hikes that lead to incredible views.

Really incredible views!

Views so beautiful they took your breath away.

And made you praise the awesome God that created it.

Views made even more special because of the dear ones that shared it with us.

And the laughter we shared along the way.

Waterfalls.

Lake Superior.

Palisades.

Baptism River.

Tettegouche.

Mount Baldy.

The vibrant colors of fall becoming more pronounced with each new day.

Days so warm we could ride the waves on Lake Superior.

And mornings so cold we snuggled in our hoodies, sipping hot coffee.

Precious times.

And even more precious people.

We made some truly beautiful Minnesota memories.

A Pause in the Blur of Activity

July rushed by in a blur of activity.

Just like always.

It seems there is a lot of living to be done between June 30th and August 1st!

But in the middle of the busy there were moments to capture, to cherish, to remember.

Like our annual family camping trip to Dolliver.

It was a time anticipated for weeks; circled on the calendar like a oasis in the busyness of summer.

Four generations gathered together. Remembering old memories. Making new ones.

Easily falling into traditions that were years in the making.

Slipping into the Dolliver schedule like a long lost friend.

Long hikes.

Naps under shade trees.

Water fights.

Creek wading.

Sparkler silliness.

A sock hop.

Playing games till all hours of the night.

Bonfires.

Talking, sharing, laughing.

Being with the precious people we call family.

It’s a tradition that defines our summers.

A weekend to pause and refresh and remember.

A blessing.

Wall to Wall Family

The last few weeks have been filled with back-to-back, wall-to-wall family time.

I’m talking far-away family. This was drop everything and savor the moment family time.

First there were cousin adventures here on the farm with kitties and hammocks and games. Eating mulberries from the trees, throwing rocks in the pond, and chasing chickens fun.

And then, we had one last family reunion at Poppa and Nana’s house before they moved into a senior living apartment. All of my husband’s siblings and almost all of our children gathered to remember times past and make new memories.

Cousins, friends from birth, had one last time to hang out in the basement family room they claimed as their own, to play games on the hill in the front yard, to look through toys and books and take home treasures from Poppa -Nana’s house.

Three generations for one last time at the “big house”.

We filled those walls with laughter!

So many memories.

Locations may change.

But love remains.

And all is well.

Showering the Bride

When you are part of a large, fun-loving quirky extended family full of inside jokes and crazy traditions, you feel kind of sorry for the young gals who choose to marry one of our boys.

Since we want to make them feel welcome and a part of the family right away, we throw them a one-of-a-kind bridal shower full of family traditions and craziness!

So when Jackie said yes to my nephew Stephen, we gathered the clan and dug out our infamous, homemade and unique Bridal Shower game.

We throw a dice and share memories, or Nana-Shirleyism’s, or embarrassing pictures of Stephen, whatever the space tells us to do.

And since the object is to introduce the new bride to the family, we had to have a space telling us to “Dress-up”! We dig out the dress-up clothes (just like the grand kids have for years at Nana’s house) and we all find something fun to wear.

And I do mean ALL.

Dressing up is a tradition that started in my Grandma’s spare room before I was born.

It is something we take seriously.

Very seriously.

Something else we take very seriously is food.

Everyone cheers when we get land on the “Eat” space!

Then we swoop down upon the table of goodies wearing out lovely dress up attire and fill our plates with deliciousness!

And I do mean fill our plate.

Such pretty food just begs to be eaten!

There is also a space for the bride-to-be to open a gift.

And even some of those are unique and full of funny stories.

Like this vintage cheer leading outfit that has been a gag gift within the family for 30 years or more. This sweet gal was such a good sport!

It was such a honor to bless her with gifts and laughter and traditions!

Welcome to the family, Jackie! You fit right in!