choices

CHOICES

My leg to stand on
With teeth marks visible
Was left behind
In a steel trap

Unpacking

I read this quote on a photo on facebook.

I loved the quote but thought the picture was dumb.

Found my own pictures.

Did some photoshopping.

I have a favorite but I'm posting all four.

I didn't find an author for the quote, so if someone knows who it was, let me know.

This quote makes me miss Glade; unpacking over the internet just isn't the same...

frogs

FROGS

I've admired them for years.
I look in the mirror and see one.
I once kissed a prince in vague hope...
But he deserved a princess.

Then I went looking for a French chef.

Note to Anita Stansfield

The book club ladies convinced me to read your books.
I actually like them.
I have to say one thing; rich people in England got married by license, not by banns.  The rest of the anachronisms I'm ignoring, but this one you've tried to pass off one to many times.
I told myself if one more wealthy landowner informs his bride-to-be that they just need to post the banns I was going to have to take my disgruntlement public.
So there you go.
Check the Parish Registers if you need to.  1700's, 1800's, it says right in there, whether by license or by banns.  Rich = license, other status = banns.
Don't worry, I've banned myself from posting this three weeks in a row.  One crack at your artistic license is going to suit me fine.

New Improved Blog

The other night I sat down to try to think of something to blog about and I noticed some of the blog labels had been forgotten on some of the past entries I made.  So I started fixing them.  Then I deleted some old posts.  Then I decided the posts from last year with the weekday labels needed to be fixed so I didn't feel like I had to fit a day to an entry.  I did new labels and organized them a little better.  I think I still might need a label for politics and possibly for things I have written that weren't blog entries when I wrote them but ended up in the blog, like poems I wrote.  Not sure.  Decided to table the idea.  Still need a new family picture and possibly an update to the picture on my blog profile and my Google profile but I know how hard it will be to get a good shot of the entire family and for some reason I get very frustrated trying to use the Google connect account.  Mostly because it doesn't seem to work on my computer.  Anyway, I messed with my blog and now it's got kind of the same stuff but I'm a little more happy with it.  Oh, also, just to let you know, I don't always post stuff the day I write it, sometimes I schedule it to go back to when it happened or to appear in a couple of days.  That's about it.

Four Generation Picture

Front Row: Andrew Stone, Jessica Stone, Kylie Stone, Krista Stone
Back Row: Amy [Bauman] Stone, Beth [Hughes] Bauman, John Bauman, April Stone

Wildlife In The City

I've mentione before that we've lived in this house since 2003.  This is the first time I've seen animal tracks in my yard for anything beyond dogs, cats, and birds.  Last night it snowed and today the kids and I found some tracks in the backyard, around the side of the house, and to the front yard near the trash cans.  I'm a city kid so I Googled animal tracks which narrowed my options to raccoon or skunk.  Then I had to ask for help from my facebook friends to decide what the tracks were made by.  The verdict - RACCOON .
My four year-old has named it Wild Krat after the Krat brothers who do the TV shows on PBS.

Tracks with size-referencing materials ;o)

Tracks coming from under the back fence

Toms Shoes

We got a flier about a shoe party at a house down the block.  My eleven year-old was very excited about them being Toms.  Apparently Toms are the trendy thing right now.  My kids are always growing out of their shoes so I figured, why not?
Here's what we ended up with:

April got these

Kylie got these

Krista got these

I love how the personality comes through in the shoe choice.
Of course they didn't have my size (12s are a LOT hard to find).
Everyone seems very pleased and I hope they don't grow out of these for a couple of months at least.

Even the AP can't find TRUE dirt on Ron Paul

So they made some up.

http://youtu.be/Vcn15iZSjQo

6 minutes.  Even the reporter admits he wants to have dirt on Ron Paul but can't find it.  He refutes the AP report and expresses disgust.

Adoniram Grover marries Margaret Bechtel

Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928:

Adeniram Grover of Blenheim Township, age 25, born in New York, parents George and Anna, marries Margaret Bechtil of Dumfries Township, age 17, born in Dumfries Township, parents Jacob and Mary, marriage date 6 May 1863 in Paris, Brant, Ontario

WOOHOO!! Found the marriage :o)  This record is indexed on both familysearch.org and on ancestry.com but the names are slightly different in each index.  I'd like to see an original to make up my own mind but that will have to wait until I can get up to the library in Salt Lake and take a look at film # 1030055 .  That is unless anyone wants to scan the image and send it to me...?

Pearl D LaPress (1884- ?)

1900 US Census, ancestry.com, 3rd Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, ED 21, sheet 6A, line 4
Lapress, Louis L, head, w, m, May 1851, 48, married, born in Canada as are both parents, immig 1870, Engineer
", Jane A, wife, w, f, Oct 1856, 43, maried 29 years, 7 children born 4 living, born in NY as are both parents
", Henry L, son, w, m, Oct 1872, 27, married, NY
", Frank R, son, w, m, Jun 1880, 20, single, NY, fireman
", Pearl, daughter, w, f, Dec 1884, 15, single, NY
", George, brother, w, m, March 1867, 33, single, Canada, immig 1887, RR laborer


1905 New York State Census, familysearch.org, 3rd Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, page 41
Grover, William G, Head, w, m, 22, born in US, Glass Worker
", Pearl D, wife, w, f, 20, US
", William R, son, w, m, 2, US
", Louis B, son, w, m, 1, US
sharing a house with:
LaPress, Louis L, head, w, m, 55, born in Canada, in US 40 years, Engineer
", Jane A, wife, w, f, 49, US
Newton, Chloe, lodger, w, f, 76, US

1920 US Census, 4 Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, ED 36, sheet 19A, taken 19 Jan 1920
Grover, William G., Head, age 36, Widower, born in New York, Stationery Engineer
", William, Son, age 17, born in New York
", Louis B., Son, age 15, born in New York

Still haven't found the 1910 census for them.  Different sites have bits of information posted on Pearl but they LACK DOCUMENTATION!!  which drives me nuts because without proof it's just dates and places they could have come up with anywhere.  One site has a daughter for Pearl that is only 9 years younger than Pearl.  Think about it... yeah, not likely.  Since Pearl is only related to my husband's Grovers by being the first wife and the mother of the half-siblings I am not interested in tracing her lines back very far.  I would like to see her real relatives get their story straight though.

The Kids - Yesterdays Pix

I'm Sure It's Good

Me - Would you like to read what I've been working on?
X- No.  I'm sure if you wrote it it's good.

I think it was meant as a compliment.
It felt like a knife in the back.

Tired ~ Adele

I love Adele's songs.  When I hear her songs I think of the lines from Killing Me Softly -

Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words

  This one goes on repeat in my head all the time.  It's my favorite from the CD 19.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3RMO_MWZIg

This one, Someone Like You, well, it's my favorite from the CD 21 but it's made me do the ugly cry... I like the version on my CD better but here's a live performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY

Why I can't vote for Romney

I'm only leaving this one up on my facebook short term because it's maybe a little like Romney bashing even though it is all taken from his own speeches.  Maybe some of it is out of context, maybe some of it needs some other evidence to back it up.  I don't know.  I just don't have enough time to go over all the times he has changed his mind and why.  I do know the only issue Ron Paul has changed his stance on that I am aware of is the death penalty.  He has explained why he no longer votes for it the way he did and why he changed his mind.  Not a flip-flop, something he decided after years of experience being in a position to see what was going on in the prison system.

Here's Romney demonstrating to me how he is working towards being our next President.  He's willing to say what needs to be said at the moment and people who don't do their homework will elect him.  It's what politicians do.  I don't think he's a bad person for it, I think he's working towards a goal.  I just wish he didn't have the 'Mormon' label attached to what he is doing.  Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are taught the Constitution is inspired by God and that this country is established on divine principles that need to be upheld by its citizens or they will lose the blessings of freedom they have been given.  It's a major theme of The Book of Mormon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQwrB1vu74c
Mormons aren't perfect.  I'm certainly not.  I don't expect Romney to be.  However, I do expect some pretty high standards from someone who wants to lead this country.  I believe Romney has good personal standards, I know people who know him and from what they say he's a great guy, he just isn't showing it in his willingness to take a stand on issues even when the wind shifts and the flak comes his way.

Wahoo! Dancing books, this is so cool :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVcQnyEIT8

My kids and I love this one.  We have watched it over and over.  I'm considering doing some kind of stop-motion film of the kids toys just to see if I can.  Of course I've got no time to do it in so there's little chance it will happen but it's a cool idea.

Why I Love Country Music

Right now he's probably slow dancing
With a bleached-blond tramp
And she's probably getting frisky
Right now, he's probably buying
Her some fruity little drink
'Cause she can't shoot whiskey

Right now, he's probably up behind her
With a pool stick
Showing her how to shoot a combo
And he don't know

I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up 4 wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seat
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
And maybe next time he'll think before he cheats

Right now, she's probably up singing some
White-trash version of Shania karaoke
Right now, she's probably saying, "I'm drunk"
And he's a thinking that he's gonna get lucky

Right now, he's probably dabbing on 3 dollars
Worth of that bathroom Polo
Oh and he don't know

That I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up 4 wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seat
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
And maybe next time he'll think before he cheats

I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl
'Cause the next time that he cheats
Oh, you know it won't be on me!
No, not on me

'Cause I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up 4 wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seat
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats
Oh, maybe next time he'll think before he cheats
      Before He Cheats ~Songwriters: Tompkins, Chris; Kear, Josh

 
I finally asked you to dance on the last slow song
Beneath that moon that was really a disco ball
I can still feel my head on your shoulder
And hoping that song would never be over

I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are
For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful
And dancing away with my heart

I brushed your curls back so I could see your eyes
And the way you moved me was like you were reading my mind
I can still feel you lean in to kiss me
I can't help but wonder if you ever miss me

I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are
For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful
And dancing away with my heart

You headed off to college at the end of that summer
And we lost touch
I guess I didn't realize even at the moment we lost so much

I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are
For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful
And dancing away with my heart

~LADY ANTEBELLUM ~ Dancing Away With My Heart

Watch Judge Andrew Napolitano, you'll learn something every time

This short 4 minute video is from a few days ago.  It's this kind of stuff that makes me want Ron Paul to be elected and to actually serve a full term or two as president.  Our country is so messed up and the people in charge are trying to fix it by putting more people like themselves in charge.  Local levels have their hands tied by higher-ups until no one can use their own common sense anymore for fear of something landing on them from above.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1378331826001/

I wonder if they called him 'Big Al'

     Al...something Grover, Horace and Betsey's son, born in August of 1848 and married 14 Mar 1870 to Mary Ann Jefts in Halifax, Windham, Vermont.
     They had SIXTEEN children (egad!!) if the 1900 census information is correct, and then Mary Ann either left or died (who wouldn't?) and he marries Maud S Johnson about 1905 and they have more children, at least two, before Mr. Grover is in his late sixties and I don't find anything else about him.
      I would think, with that many children, and all the census, birth, marriage, and death records this man appears on, we could find some kind of agreement on what his name was.

Nope.

Here are some of the ways it was spelled:
Almison Grover
Almann Grover
Almeron Grover
Almium Grover
Almusson Grover
Almarion Grover
Almerion Grover
Almeran Grover
Almirin Grover
Almeurein Grover
Almerian Grover
Alma Grover
Almiran Grover
Oh, yeah, and sometimes he used his middle initial 'M'. I dont' know what it stands for, but if he couldn't go by his middle name it makes me wonder what could be harder to spell/pronounce than his first name.

         Just goes to show how creative you need to get in finding information on people. Spelling wasn't even that important back that far, not many people could read and write so they didn't worry about it as much. Creative spelling is back in fashion these days, texting, people who want their kid to have a 'different' spelling for their name, and of course people like my husband who just can't spell worth anything, have brought back the 'good ol' days'.

Whack-A-Mole

     You know that game? The one where you have the big hammer and you have to hit the heads that pop up out of the box? I've seen it at arcades and the Chuck-E-Cheese here has a version with shark heads...
     Anyway, it's sort of my mental image of my husband at night.
     Let me explain.
     We have five kids. For some reason my kids are not the best sleepers. My husband, on the other hand, is an EXCELLENT sleeper. My kids will wake up at night needing food, drinks, comfort, diaper changes, someone to clean up the barf, etc. and I will be the one to handle it. The kids or I can try to wake up my husband but it just doesn't work. His head will come up, then it falls back onto the pillow. Hence, Whack-A-Mole.
     Very few times have I given in to the temptation to actually whack him with anything. I am super proud of the restraint I have shown. The few times I did whack him it was usually with a pillow. The whacking has never had any effect. He has no memory of any of it the next morning.
     Also, I've decided it's safer to just get up with the kids and handle it myself rather than forcing my semi-conscious husband to get up. See, there was this incident shortly after the birth of our second child... Well, it all turned out fine but after the ER visit I decided the peace of mind was possibly more important than the sleep.

Fire in the fireplace

We moved into this house in Dec of 2003.  Today we have the first fire in the fireplace.  There have been maybe three aborted attempts where the smoke got a little out of hand but I'm not counting those.  We could tell the fireplace, well, it's sort of a wood burning stove thing, has been used often by previous owners but getting it started ourselves was a problem for some reason.
It's major issue is apparently our basement location.  Cold air falls so it has farther to fall and more to displace for a two-story chimney.  I've been told we had to roll up a long 'wand' of newspaper and stick it up the chimney to get the air to 'draw' upwards.  Ummm, holding a burning stick in my hand with my arm up a dirty chimney just hasn't seemed real appealing.
My motivation today?
Well, Jared is cleaning out his office.  WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE!! and he wants me to sit here and shred paper.  My husband has like ten file boxes of old papers and taxes and forms and etc. and we have one of those shredders that says 'no more than 6 sheets' at a time on the side of it.  Yeah, I'm in the mood to burn something.
I rolled up this weeks adds in a long 'wand', lit the end on fire, stuck it up the chimney, relit it, relit it, relit it, relit it, relit it, got out matches because the lighter was getting hot, and lit it again and the smoke clearly began to flow away from me and up the chimney.  SUCCESS!!!  Then I lit a bigger stick and a bigger stick and got the log to start burning.  (I know, seems simple but I never had a fireplace before this one and I already mentioned how often we have used this one.)
Now we have a cheery tax scented blaze going.  Jared shows up with piles to feed the blaze and I keep an eye on the little people to make sure no one 'helps' throw things in, like unwanted siblings.

Horace Grover born about 1819 in Vermont

My mother-in-law's sister asked me to help find out if we were related to some Grovers she met a while back.  I'm trying to find the connection between the two Grover lines.  So far I'm back to Horace Grover and his lovely wife Betsey Gallop.  No connection yet but I'm having fun so I'll keep going.  The thing is, if I can't find a connection I end up with all this research I'm not sure what to do with.  I want to find someone in that family who is interested and give it all to them.  That will be the next research problem after I work on this.

RIP Ella Kathryn Grover 1925-2011

I just found out this week that Great Aunt Ella passed away back in September.  I never met her, and only got a couple of cards from her years ago but it makes me sad to see the last of the Grover siblings pass away.  My husband's grandfather was Miles Allen Grover.  Miles had two younger full-siblings, Kaleel and Ella, and some half-siblings from his father's previous marriage that I'm still trying to sort out.  Ella was my last hope of someone who actually knew some of the people I can't seem to find information on, like Miles's first wife, Jeanette?  Joanne?  something?... My mother-in-law is the daughter of Miles and his third wife.  Anyway, the family doesn't appear to have been real close in life and Miles didn't talk about his family very much that anyone remembers.  I've heard from the family that Ella wasn't well and wouldn't be able to help with information.  I wrote to her a few times but didn't hear back.  I wish we could have connected.  I know she's at peace now.  Maybe she can help me out a little from the other side.

Here's some of what I have found about the family (as always, I welcome corrections and additions!):

William George Grover - born 30 Mar 1883 in Eden, Erie, New York, died 13 Aug 1946 in Buffalo, Erie, New York
first married- about 1901 to
 a mystery woman who I would love to find out more about.  If you find them on the 1910 census, please, let me know!  (PS- some people believe her name was Pearl LaPress but I've got some evidence this is a mistake)

children:
William Roy Grover - born 10 Jul 1902, anyone know when he died?  the last I hear of him was the 1920 census...
Louis Byron Grover - born 27 Apr 1904 in Buffalo, died 11 Mar 1938

second marriage - 26 Jan 1920 in Buffalo to
Vera Helena Hevner - born 25 Jan 1902 (a few months older than his son?!) in Hyner, Clinton, Pennsylvania and died 1 Apr 1969 in Los Angeles

children:
Miles Allen Grover - born 9 Feb 1921 in Buffalo, died 13 Nov 1994 in Greenville, South Carolina
Kaleel George Grover - born 21 Sep 1922 in Buffalo, died 25 Sep 1981 in Odessa, Texas
Ella Kathryn Grover - born 20 Nov 1925 in Buffalo, died 26 Sep 2011 in California

Baby Shoes

Jessica grew out of the little soft-soled baby shoes.
She has about 6 weeks until she starts Nursery.
She refused to take an afternoon nap yesterday.
It's looking like she's more interested in potty-training than Andrew is right now.
Not so much a baby anymore.

Iowa Caucus

Yup.
I'm still supporting Ron Paul.

Spinach and Potato Casserole

After 3 tries I think we have a winner.  Even my picky one year-old likes this one and no one has even questioned the presence of the green bits in there.
This is one of those 'write down what you did' recipes.  Kind of a variation on 'funeral potatoes', I had a big bag of fresh spinach we intended for one of those spinach and cranberry salads but then the kids ate all the cranberries but we still had spinach.  I felt like something warm and casseroley so we experimented.  The first one with the spinach in raw was way too bitter.  The second one with the cream of broccoli was good but some kids could definitely detect vegetables in there.  The third try with the cream of chicken was really good and even my husband (who usually eats, grunts, and leaves) mentioned it tasted good.

SPINACH AND POTATO CASSEROLE
8 medium potatoes - peeled, diced, boiled, drained
1 cup cooked spinach - chopped up into smallish bits
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cream of ________ soup*
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tblsp lemon juice
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1/4 cup milk
1 Tblsp onion flakes
CHEESE - grated cheddar

In a mixing bowl combine the spinach, soups *(we have tried it with both cream of broccoli and cream of chicken and liked it) mayo, lemon, salt, pepper, milk, and onion.  Use a 9x12 baking dish, put in the diced potatoes and pour the mix over it.  Stir it together a little bit so the potatoes are coated with mixture.  Top with grated cheese.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes until it's all bubbly.

Guacamole Bacon Burger from Carl's Jr.

We got a coupon for a free burger at Carl's Jr. so my husband bought me the guacamole bacon six dollar burger.  It was delicious.  I did pick out the raw onion but I licked the extra yummy guacamole off the wrapper and all my fingers when I was done.  My mouth was just a little bit on fire, but pleasantly so; I suggest a drink to go with this tasty meal.  I found it to be just the right size to fill me up.  I am not going to check the nutrition information on this one, somehow I feel that would just damage the happiness of the glow of the after-burger.

Happy New Year

One, one blog post!  ha ha ha!  *distant thunder, flash of lightning*