My family

I am getting quite excited about going to SoCal for thanksgiving. I cannot wait to see all the women of our family. I can't wait to be tackled by children. I can't wait for our time together! Oh, yeah, the men too. Almost forgot them.

We actually have a rose growing on this last day of October.

Blogger has an app now. So get to blogging huyernancobmons (that is hoy hernandez Jacobs Simmons)

5 minutes to clean

So my mom and jessica helped spur an idea for me and you all can join me. All of us could get up five minutes earlier. I mean how hard is that? So I propose we get up five minutes earlier (or stay up five minutes in the evening) and do five minutes of housework. Next week you get up five minutes earlier than that. And so on. I am starting today. Its a five day schedule so I get the weekends off.

So week 1:
Day 1: change the sheets on your bed and throw the others in the wash. Don't have two sets? Then toss them in the wash and finish up tonight.
Day 2: make your bed and pick up your room with the remaining time.
Day 3: make your bed, pick up your room, and dust your room.
Day 4: make your bed pick up your room and vacuum/sweep your room.
Day 5: make your bed and pick up your room and finish up any other details so your room is sparkling.

Day 6 and 7 rest but make sure you still make your bed an pick up after yourself. Next week we will continue this and add the bathroom!

Maybe Someday :)

I'm always worrying, about my quilt, that Grandma made me. The daisy quilt as we call it. It's slowly falling apart. Used and loved. I know it has a few years left, but I know she will never be able to make me another one. I'm very sad about that. But it was during one of these worry sessions, that I came up with an idea, that may never take place, but I want to none the less. I want to come and stay at Aunt Turtles house, for as long as I can or need to, and learn how to quilt. I want to be able to just stay there until I finish one quilt. Wouldn't that be fun?? Maybe someday :)

Women Are Always Right - In the Kitchen

A common conversation in our house revolves around the kitchen. Eric is in charge of kitchen duty after dinner, but no matter what he does, he should've done it the way I would. He is to load the dishwasher just so, so that the little, light items are wedged in and don't end up upside down filled with dirty dish water. He's also supposed to leave the water running, so that he doesn't waste time turning the water on and off, though he says it wastes water. He's supposed to put the dishes away exactly where they go, instead of in random places usually in the highest place in the cupboard, so that when I finally find the item that I'm looking for, I can't reach it. Also, dirty dishes, shouldn't be left in the sink, because then I can't use the sink to rinse vegetables or pasta, they should be rinsed and placed on the counter to the right of the sink, stacked up nicely. And don't even try to cook in the kitchen, if you aren't going to do things the way I would, I will let my opinion be known. The ironic part is that Eric is in charge of keeping the kitchen clean, I will help occasionally, be he does the bulk of the work. Are other women like this in the kitchen? or is it because I went to culinary school, and the kitchen is where I feel most comfortable?

Mr. & Mrs.

Briana asked: "If you could give a woman getting married one piece of advice, what would it be?"

There is a phrase that we use around this house and it goes like this: "You should expect that the person you are dating is as good as they are going to get because when you're dating you're putting your best foot forward."  I have talked to many girls who have closed their eyes and hoped for change and just jumped into marriage.  It is a painful thing to watch and the consequences are lifelong.

My advice would to be to keep your eyes open and investigate before marriage and then squint them after!  When you still have the chance to gracefully depart from the relationship, find out if those nitty gritty details are ones that you can live with for the next 30+ years.  If so, and at the Lord's leading, proceed.

After you are married, let those nitty gritty details go and change your focus to serving and giving your all for your spouse.

A broken marriage is a painful thing and marriage is not something to get into without much thought and prayer!

- Julee

My big sister

Bev has pretty much bared her soul and she was way too hard on herself.
Bev was like a big sister, a friend, a mother, and sometimes my arch enemy. But I always loved her and knew she loved me.
With mom working so much and a lot of times working nights, Bev pretty much took care of me. I still remember her washing my hair for me. (remember those cheap gallon jugs of creme rinse we used to use?)

She did take me everywhere with her and never made me feel like I wasn't wanted.
Well, except for the play incident......do you remember that Bev? I think it was you and Cindy Bean that played a trick on me and made me really sad.

I remember one year at Christmas, Bev had bought me a present and had it wrapped and under the tree. It was weird shaped and I was sooooo curious about what it was that I snuck and peeked. I can't remember if she actually caught me or if I was just feeling guilty and confessed. But I sure felt bad for ruining her surprise. I still remember the present clearly. It was a Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer book....cut out in the shape of Rudolph. I loved that book....wish I still had it. It meant so much to me that she still gave it to me after I was so bad.

My childhood memories are very faded.....Hosimotos at work.....but I have a ton of fond memories from our adult years.
The one that stands out the most? When she was my champion to Keith. She stood up to him when I was overwhelmed and she protected me and told him to leave me alone....and he did! I will always be grateful to her for that!! Precious times.....grandpa Wilkerson's funeral, our cruises, this last trip with mom's fall.

One thing that my sister has always done for me that has been such a blessing is that she shares her grandchildren with me like they were my own. That is so precious to me.
I love my sis and I am enjoying growing old together.

Sweet little Cheryl

My sister Cheryl...oh the memories. Cheryl was always there for me. She helped me with everything. I really tortured her though. Like I told Timothy the other day, the one regret I have in my life is the way I treated Cheryl. I used her, abused her, blackmailed her and took her for granted. I hate that about myself.

But I loved my sister and tried to look out for her. I saved her from a black widow spider that I'm sure was the size of a baseball. :) I remember playing in the back yard with her and making swimming pools out of anything we could find, bricks and a shower curtain. I remember sleeping with her. I was always scared and made her sleep with me, with her arm laid above my head. ?? I don't know how that protected me, but somehow it did.

We spent hours and hours playing cards and board games and eating french fries and drinking iced tea. We papered lawns together, had sleep overs, told scary stories. We walked the streets of Norwalk, went to the liquor store for candy, and to George's market for mom. We were always barefoot. I always let her tag along with me.

Cheryl was my best buddy. We had a rough childhood and we clung to each other through thick and thin...and still do. I love you Cheryl and am so thankful to have you for my sister. Thank you for putting up with all my torture and not hating me.

(hee hee...I never hated you...) Remember that?

Love ya Sis! and I love how you call me sis.

- Beverly

Testing, testing

How come I'm not listed on the list?

Special Times with Siblings

My favorite memories with my sister are when we would play in our garage, late into the night. We would close the door to the garage, so it was kind of like our private place. We would spend hours playing office or school, or house. We had tons of fun office supplies that our parents gave us to play with, like a box of about 1000 checks. The funny thing is, according to Julee, we weren't allowed to use these because we might waste them. I never questioned her, I just took her word for it. Now looking back, I realize how faulty that reasoning was.

My favorite memories with my brother were the times we would hang out in our room, playing super nintendo and listening to adventures in odyssey.  We had a lot of fun, and tried hard to beat those levels.

- Jess

I am here

Okay, I finally remembered to come to the blog while I was at home. You see I get my email on my iphone. And I did something wrong and now I can't get on my email on my home computer. I sure wish I had a techno geek to show me what to do. Anyway, I saw the invitation, and was excited about a blog of us girls, but when I go on the blog on my iphone, it was too hard to read.
Anyway, the point is that I am here now and all of you can breathe easier.

Sunbathing

Jessica & Anthony
(& Concerned Faced Girl)
October 2010

I know this is a popular story, but I had the pleasure of actually witnessing this one first hand.

Jessica and I had been outside playing in the water on our front lawn. Looking back now, I am surprised at how much we used our front lawn since it was situated so far away from out front door and large picture window. It was a nice grassy area though and we did like to play in the water there. Jessica must have been about three or so and we were laying out on our towels.

A car went by with a man in it and he gave us an unusual look as he drove by. As I looked back at Jessica, she was laying out on her towel in the nude! I guess she didn't want any tan lines because she had decided to take it all off and get a nice even color! (:

Jessica has always been more bold than I am and has shocked me on a number occasions with the way her mind works. Like picking up dog poop for example, it would never occur to me to just scoop it right up with my hands!

She's a good sister and I am so blessed to have her in my life. I have been super excited to watch her become a wife and a mom.

- Julee

Let's Get This Going

Since no one else has posted but myself and Julee I think I will get this started. Since I wrote about sisters lets take this week and write a story about one of your favorite memories of one or each of your siblings.

One of my favorite memories of Jerry is when he saved my life. What's that? You don't remember that I almost died? When we were little we would play "Quicksand" in the garage. We would pretend like the ground was quicksand and we would go around and around and around in the garage by jumping from one item to the next without touching the floor. I remember several times not making it and ending up on the ground and Jerry would come swinging back to pull me out of the quicksand before I died. It was quite dramatic.

Sister

Grandma has a sister. I don't know much about their relationship other than the the story Grandma told me about when they were little and she would tell Aunt Verna stories. Right at the end when it was the climax of the story she would always say, "And they all withered up and blew away." Aunt Verna would get so mad!

I have spend this past week watching my mom get strength and courage from her sister. Watching them get each other in ways that few people can. Watching Auntie get silly and laugh through a stressful season.

I have watched Julee and Jess have that same connection. Their bond throughout the years has deepened and matured.

It makes me wonder what it must be like to have a sister. I imagine its like a best friend that never goes away. Someone who, in good times or bad, knows how to make you laugh and smile. Also someone who always knows what buttons to push when she chooses. Someone to share life's joys and trials. She's a gift.

Loving Generations

What a beautiful blog! I pray that this blog will be a gathering place for the women of our family.

The wisdom of the ages, the wonder of the fledglings. May our posts take flight and penetrate hearts.

Let this be a place of love and growth and caring. Of glory and honor to the One that binds us all.

Won't you share this space with me, women of the clan?

Let's see what the Lord will do!

- Julee