PINE HILLS/ NOW CALLED CRIME HILLS

PINE HILLS

THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD


So do I miss Pine Hills? Of course I do! I will always have some fond memories of that place. That where my kids spent their growing up years. Walking my children to the corner bus stop to catch the school bus, taking them to school when it was pouring down rain, the pool that the kids loved , the deck my dad built one year when he came to visit, everyone pitching in and building a playhouse, first for my kids and then making it nice for Kristen in later years, the screened in patio a gathering place for family dinners, our ping pong table where Todd & Bump would challenge each other.

Todd jokingly said he remembered seeing the Ghetto-copters and remembers Randy jumped the back fence out into the the field until the spotlight found him and then proceeded to run back to the house quick as possible ,, memories, ha.

Then there was neighbors Elizabeth & George. She that said when we move they will move and they did just a couple months after us.

You kids grew up with, the Stoners, Pahuski ,Jeraulds. Sandy Ellis, the Evans, Jason, the little red head that played with Todd, there was Bobette Ethridge with Shannon & Heather, also Carolyn right next door. Dad remembers Todd catching a big bass in the lake behind the house, neighborhood kids helping us dig ground for our pool, the goats and horses down the road, measuring the kids height as they grew on door trim and then forgot to rip it off and take it with me when we moved. darn!

Building in garage for more room and dad projecting Batman , Wonderwoman , Spiderman up on wall for the kids to see and paint it. they was huge and likely still under the paneling to this day. everyone pitching in and helping dad build his new shed.

Dad's favorite of all his memories was having everyone over for roasting hot dogs outside under the stars with everyone setting around the fire and chatting late into the night. Do we miss all that ? YES we sure do! but you can't go back, but thanks for the great memories guys! mama

MUSIC

MY KIDS LOVE MUSIC!

DAD LOVES MUSIC!

I LOVE MUSIC!

FROM THIS to the cd player

Music has a way of taking you away from your everyday troubles and into another place and time where you can find peace , happiness, sadness, excitment, you name it! Music brings about many different emotions. I can't remember when we didn't have music in our home when the kids were

growing up . Records were played in abundance on the old 78RPM turntable and then along came more new technology and who would have thought,today a cd compact disc that you can take with you everywhere, music wherever you are. Technology has come a long long way. I was setting in church and this girl beside me was showing me this handheld device and all this unbelieveable things you can do with it. She had everything on there you could possibly want.

Well as I said , dad loves all kinds of music and introduced much of it to the kids. It worked , today all the kids enjoy good music. actually all kinds of music. Our daughter Leslie started to sing in our church at age three and she captivated everyone with her voice. Later when she was just out of high school she was in a group called " REAL" which they traveled and sang . Later the group broke apart but Leslie still will sing her heart out today if given the chance. Wow, what a voice, what a gift!
Today I will still hear dad say " Dottie come in here, I want you to hear this" then I go and listen and watch as the emotions swell up in dad's eyes and I often see a tear or two. We will both be taken away and just relax and listen to the music for awhile.

SO I SING:

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it I ask you honestly, what would life be?

Without a song or a dance what are we ?

So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me!

AND THANK YOU THOMAS EDISON FOR GIVING US THE BEST TIME OF OUR LIFE!

CAN YOU?

OK, this is different!

CHECK THE SKILLS YOU CAN DO: getting old yet? I am feeling it! mamashap

CLIMB A TREE

RIDE A BIKE

RUN A MILE

JUMP ROPE IOO TIMES

THROW A BALL

SHOOT A BASKET

HIT A SOFTBALL

SWIM 30 FEET

ICE SKATE

ROllER SKATE

PLAY TENNIS

DO 15 PUSH -UPS

FRONT ROLL

DO 5 PULL-UPS

JUMP OVER SAWHORSE

CATCH A FRISBEE

BROAD JUMP 3 FEET

ROW A BOAT

SKATEBOARD

CART WHEEL

The Scariest Milestone

I taught all my kids to drive , yes I did and dad didn't teach a one of you and not sure why? I took each one to get their beginner permit and then BOOM we were off! After that well, anytime we went anywhere , I became the passenger.
Now I would feel the anticipation and sheer fear that WHAT IF! You feel like you are driving but your not! Someone else is in control! Our foot goes down when its time to brake, we cover our eyes and look up , we keep tight hold on the door handle and think we are in the drivers seat but we'ar not. Now I think of the sign in my living room that says" YOU CAN"T SCARE ME I HAVE CHILDREN." ha. Well in this case you can! Like it or not they say our children learn by watching us. I think do I drive like that! ha! Children learn from how we act and not usually by what we say. this can be both a good thing or bad especially now. So when and if I ever get a chance to drive again , I try to drive carefully hoping they pick up on it. Now the years have dwindled away and one day they will be teaching their own children to drive and I hope they will take caution and set a good example. I did my best guys!
And after the test they will look at you and say HOW DID I DO? and of course you are proud and say , YOU DID GREAT! of course knowing some improvements are coming. ha.

Seven Wonders Of My World

Seven Wonders of My World


I found this cartoon in the newspaper years ago. It was called the "Family Circus" and they
always had something about family. In this cartoon there were only maybe four children and I got busy and made it seven to equal my seven kids. Many people coming to visit always notice this on my wall. I was so proud that I could make it look like five girls and two boys with a little trickery.
the quote is:
How do you divide your love between
SEVEN children?
I don't divide it, I multiply it!

ANGIE / MY LAURA INGALLS & ANNE SHIRLEY

NEVER BETTER SHOWS THAN THESE!
Little House on The Prairie/Anne of Green Gables

When Angie was about nine I guess , I was all into the movie "Little House On the Prairie." and later came Anne of Green Gables." To me Angie was my Laura Ingalls and Anne Shirley. Angie had that same personality as Laura. She would rather be wearing jeans and a t-shirt than a pretty frilly dress. She loved spending time outside and still does today.

In the growing up yrs. she became my" Anne of Green Gables." Anne was a redhead however and a little high strung with a little crush on Gilbert Blythe. She could talk endlessly as my Angie could and still can today. ha.

Both Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls were girls with a mind of their own and a love for life! Very sweet and tender stories of special times in the lives of these two girls. You have got to watch each of these if you have never seen them before.

A special era when life was more simple. I feel my daughter Angie could have played either one of these young girls and that alone delights me!

Their favorite quotes :

Laura-"Its the sweet,simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

Anne- "Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it."

Are We There Yet?

Valerie, Randy, Angie and Todd/Indiana here we come.

Going to visit the grandparents in Indiana was a really big deal and the kids were planning for weeks what they would take till the big day finally arrived. Packing suitcases and getting stuff together to keep them busy in car was always fun. They were so excited!
Here are our kids at Indian Mountain . This is the same hill I played on as a kid growing up. Two of the kids aren't mine. A newpaper man was there this day and he took this picture showing the kids playing after a summer drought.
Here also is a picture of the boys getting ready for the trip to Indiana and how excited they were! It wasn't that often that we got to pack up and go on a trip so they were so looking forward to it and Todd and Randy were our navigators. they had it all planned out. Yes, a fun time for these kids.

Girls Night !

These three lovely gals loved to spend time together! Staying up late was an exciting treat for them if no school next day. Always popcorn, and a special movie with lots of laughs and giggles. I miss those days , they grow up too fast!

STACEY AND JENNY

LOVE THIS PICTURE! This is Stacey trying to give Jenny a sweet kiss. She loved her baby
sister so much! She was so helpful with caring for her little sis. Stacey had such a sweet spirit for loving our little one!
Will also add pictures of Stacey here taking care of her little nephews, Marc and Jacob. They loved Stacey and she was so good with them! They listened to her when she spoke. I remember once when they were not wanting to mind me and were being sassy and Stacey spoke up and said " you don't talk to your grandma that way!! Right away they said they were sorry. Today she has her own little boy. I am hoping he will have the same respect for his mommy as those little boys gave her so many years ago. Aidan gets lots of attention from his mommy right now and Stacey' life centers around this energetic little guy every day. Good luck mommy!

SNOW BOOTS IN FLORIDA!

Aunt Donna's Garage Sale

Here we are doing another garage sale! This was Donna and my way of getting together now and then when our kids were younger and make a little spending money too. My boys Randy and Todd were enjoying playing on a rope swing that was hanging in her front yard. I recall that Donna and I had alot of G.sales back in those early years. We also went to many. I recall once when we went to this one house and the lady had left her handsome hubby in charge and to take care of the G. Sale that day. He was so much fun , making us laugh, trying to sell all this stuff and then he brings out these snow boots that he was trying to get Donna to buy them. What! Snow Boots in Florida.!
We cracked up! Donna actually bought them ! ha! Donna said as we left , he could have sold us anything!' ha! we left their laughing so hard. It was the most fun garage sale we have ever been to. What a memory,still brings a smile to our face when we think of it. No doubt about it , he will have that stuff sold in no time! ha.

Leslie

This picture is at a church function. Not sure of Leslie's age
here but know she is older than the one with her dad and I.



Want to devote this blog to Leslie. Here she is at the Evans middle school for reward night. We were so proud of her. She was being honored for her good grades, an A student. It ment alot to me since I was never an A student in school. Far from it, but dad on the other hand was, and perhaps he wasn't walking on a cloud this night as I was. Anytime any of the kids made A's I was so happy and many of our children did! Have to mention here also that Leslie was the most loving child even up into her teen age years. Never was embarrassed to give you a hug no matter where you were. tks. Leslie!

Maggie /Holloween

Will put Maggie in her rooster costume here also .

Roscoe and Carol

This is my brother Roscoe that I wrote about earlier and told about his Tree Trimming Business. He is near eighty now and his wife passed away last year. A sweet guy , a hard working guy, has a home out in the country and works still today with his son Steve in there tree trimming business. He had a earlier marriage years ago to Lillie and that ended, he later married Carol and remain with her up till her death this pass yr. Between his and hers they have about six children. Roscoe is eighty now . ? will check this.

more on his life later.

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with:

criticism, they learn to condemn.

hostility, they learn to fight.

ridicule, they learn to be shy.

shame, they learn to feel guilty.

tolerance, they learn to be patient.

encouragement, they learn confidence.

praise, they learn to appreciate.

fairness, they learn justice.

security, they learn to have faith.

approval, they learn to like themselves.

acceptance and friendship,

They learn to find love in the world!

Miss McCool's Grocery!

McCool's Grocery Store

Miss McCool was our neighbor who owned this grocery store across the st. down from our home. She was a widow lady with five kids that were married and lived away and the store was her only means of her lively hood for many years. We kids grew up with this store being their for us if we needed anything. We would meet at the store every morning to catch the school bus. It had a high concrete porch where we all congregated while waiting for the bus. Rain, snow, or whatever we were covered and Nellie would even let us stand inside if it was too cold. As far as I know , no one ever took anything without paying for it. think they would have feared for their life if they had. Miss McCool was a no nonsense kind of person but also had a heart for those in need.

I'm not sure if the store is still standing today. I can't remember when she closed the old place for good but that store was as much a part of our childhood as was the old neighborhood. Her name by the way, was Nellie McCool but we always called her Miss McCool . Not sure why? respect I guess. She never was afraid to tell us if we were doing something wrong. We kids didn't misbehave around her and when she said stop that , you did! She wouldn't put up with no nonsense.

People just seemed to care more about people back then and they looked out for each other. Bump said he recalled once when he found a cigarette on the ground outside near store and picked it up and started to put it to his lips and Miss McCool hollowed " BUMPER" and he said I dropped it like a hot potato! ha.You know he never picked up the habit of smoking. I reckon she pretty much kept a eye on all us kids. We all respected her and knew she was there for us and meant business if she spoke. Sat. morning was donut time and mom let us go over and get a half dozen donuts. They were so yummy and cheap, only a nickel each! today its almost a dollar for one donut. ugh!

Well,everything closed down on Sundays , even our little grocery store. It just wasn't done! if you needed something you had better pick it up Sat. evening before closing . Sunday was church day and family day. So unlike today when nothing closes. It was nice then and all over the neighborhood you could see families spending time together. Seriously! We went to my grandma's every Sunday it seemed. neighbors were on their front porches watching their kids play, adults would talk. It was nice , seemed no one stayed inside.

With lots of girls in the family we often ran out of the feminine things that girls need and my sisters would write a note to Nellie telling her what they needed and send Bump to the store. he hated it but did it. He handed over the note to Miss McCool and she would put the goods in a sack so he wouldn't have to be embarrassed. ha. so much a part of our lives was she and that little neighborhood store. tks. Miss McCool for sharing your life with us Todd kids.

Welcome Jayden

Welcome to the World!
Jayden Colin Shappard

Some cutie! I will add a poem here later that his daddy wrote just for him!

Born Nov. 4th at 12:20 am

Weighed 7 lbs. 8ozs.

Length was 20 and 1/2

elections

NOVEMBER

here we go again!

VOTE!

Love To Drive

Driving is something I love to do and get great pleasure out of. I told my sister Donna they will have to pry my hands off the steering wheel when I get older for me to quit driving! My daughter in law Sherry is same, she loves driving. Dad is a stay at home guy, I want to be on the move! Driving is my passion and give me a car with a full tank of gas and I am "out of here" on another adventure!

The Old Clothes Lines

In the old days there were no auomatic washers and dryers. There was however a wringer washer and you dryed your clothes by hanging them up on a thin rope, called a clothes line! This was how they dryed their clothes. My mom took great pride in hanging out our wash. So funny, now days we would die before letting anyone see our underwear hanging out in the breeze.ha. So here is a story that is about hanging out the clothes and judging.

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast , the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside. That laundry is not very clean, she said. She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap. Her husband looked on but remained silent. Everytime her neighbor would hang her wash to dry , the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her huband, Look! finally she has learned how to wash correctly!! I wonder who taught her. The husband said ," I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows". And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the window through which we look. No one sees our wash now days but I do remember my mother hanging out the wash every wk. People loved and took pride in the fresh smell of their clean clothes hanging on the line in the bright sun!
We certainly are spoiled today, and doing the wash has become a breeze! ha!

Here I am , expecting my first child Valerie and hanging clothes out to dry! Thank goodness for modern technol0logy! Such was the way of life back then. mama

Runners /Jen & Angie

Thats my Jen in the yellow shorts!

My two daughters Jenny and Angie enjoy running. I think lots of people enjoy this sport. Especially in Ca. I might enjoy it myself if I were a few years younger. The girls run in all kinds of events. So far no injuries, thank goodness. I remember Frankies daughter loved to play tennis and finally after two operations on her knees she gave it up I think.

As for now Jen and Angie have no wounds, no damage, no hurt, no impairment, no harm,and above all , no Trauma! Some people end up having all kind of feet and leg problems but from what I hear you have to have the BEST pair of running shoes ever and lots of stamina helps too! fortitude, backbone, constancy,grit, and all are good qualities to have if you gotta run. If done properly its suppose to keep you slim and in good health. But will have to say dad's niece 's husband was out running and just dropped dead. Sad but true! Personally I hear walking fast is just as good and leaves no after effects! Coming down on your knees is not the best thing from what I hear but run these girls must! Run Forrest Run! ha!

soooooo Run Girls Run!!

Here I am trying to keep up!

Wait for me!!

Sleepy

Hey guys , remember this one?

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs!
I know you all heard of sleepy in the story of "The Seven Dwarfs." Well for the most part that describes me lately. I been staying up way to late answering email and learning about my computer and looking up this person and that and doing my blogs. Ok, tonight I plan to go to bed early and will no longer be like Sleepy! He sure is cute though. So now guys who is your favorite? ha.

Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy , Happy, Sleepy or Sneezy?

kids nicknames

when kids were younger, they like to tease each other and came up with these nicknames.
All in fun!

Valerie=valwee
Randy=RandMcNally, Ran the man,
Angie= Agathea
Todd= smurf butt, toad and bubba
Leslie= lay lay
Stacey=Noxema Girl and Afro
Jen= was called Jen Ben /Jen Blossom

Heathers Baby Shower

So here they are, the happy parents to be!Everyone is anxiously waiting as we are approaching the birth of our 10th grandchild on the Shappard side and the first on Heathers side of family.

Life is good!

A baby is God's way of saying that the world should go on!

YOUNG LOVE

When I was a young girl in my junior and senior year of high school , I fell for every missionary it seemed that came through our little town. Something about those guys drew me like a magnet! ha. Think its called hormones!! We like to call it young love! It was crazy back then but today the rules have totally changed regarding missionaries, they keep them pretty busy. Today they have a schedule to follow, report in and waste no time and move right alone in their duties of teaching the gospel to those who will hear. I used to set up and talk late into the night with a couple and my dad would finally shut me off. . Infatuation , crush, puppy love, it was wonderful and I felt it was for real! they came and went but only one really sent my heart rushing!
Funny the things you think are so real when you are young. I came later to realize that those tingly funny feelings I was having were called hormones. I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I liked this one missionary sooo much , his name I do remember! it was Elder Burton. So handsome and stayed in our little branch for what seemed an eternity. I was in love! no doubt about it! but then everyone was in love with him. and I was no different. I would clean his apt. and just do anything to find an excuse to be around him. . He liked me too, I just knew it! likely just " hormones ." We teased and talked the hours away. If ever a girl has fallen hard , it was me! I even told him I would be the best wife ever he could find. Funny, I wasn't shy , would let him know I was ment for him. He was likely only two or three yrs. older than me, think I was eighteen. Well, he came back right after his mission was over, my mom brought him over to see me. She knew how much I used to like him.

We casually gave each other a hug and ask how each were doing. It felt strange.

Well, I never will know if it was just a visit or was it really for me that he came back for? that will forever remain a mystery! It was awkward. In just two years, I had totally forgot this man of my dreams! I had gone on with my life. I am sure everyone in that branch told him I had married a really nice guy for they all liked dad alot. however they knew at one time I had given my heart away. So that is my story of YOUNG LOVE and this poem fits the story well!

That though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now forever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.... by William Wordsworth