Christmas 2008 at our House

Lee and I had a quiet Christmas at home, just the two of us. It was an enjoyable time and I must admit restful. In fact the writer of this blog, spent more time in bed resting than anything. I really liked that and felt like I needed it and apparently Lee didn't mind as his Christmas Poem to me indicated. I don't think he wasn't too upset by my restful day.

"Scamper's" Christmas Poem

- 2008 -

Springtime came and slipped away,

Summer arrived with a warmer day.

Fall winds blew pretty leaves all around,

Winter now is here with snow on the ground.

Christmas season has come, so they say.

December 25th is that wonderful day!

God gave us His Son our sins to forgive,

That in heaven with Him we forever could live.

So let us together, just you and I,

Spend this day together thanking God on high.

Pretty presents under the tree,

Some for you and some for me.

Can't guess what they are, so lets go and see!

Merry Christmas with Love,

Rob

My poem was written on a large piece of cardboard as is usual now that Lee has very diminished eyesight, but the effort he put in to creating it and putting it on that cardboard is something I shall forever treasure.

I fixed Lee one of his favorite things for our Christmas dinner. Split Pea Soup with ham. Not my favorite, but Lee was very happy with our 2008 Christmas dinner.

Hope all my blogger friends had a wonderful Christmas.

One TOWLE Birthday in December

I'm behind in some birthdays in our family and for that I apologize - no excuses like I have been too busy, my mind has been on getting ready for a surgery that was canceled, and probably the correct reason - I really am getting old (even though I try to think I am still young) and I just plain didn't get my act together until now when I am behind.

That being said - here I go....... On December 17th, Stephanie celebrated her birthday!

Happy Birthday,

Stephanie

So very sorry the day slipped by -

But better late than never!

This blog is bringing just for you,

The warmest wishes ever!

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Steph!

Love, Lee and Bette

Baby Chicks in the Third Grade

25 days ago, the third grade classes at Harris Elementary had incubators with 8 eggs in each one, delivered to 4 classrooms. We waited - some of us more patiently than others for the 21 days to pass before the eggs would hatch. The picture on the right was after a couple of eggs hatched and we were waiting for the others.

Finally the day arrived and we had baby chicks. Mr. Miller ended up with 4 chicks and Mrs. Wigger had 5. The kids were delighted. The chicks were an important part of the day for the 3rd graders.

Above are Mr. Millers 4 chicks, named Chubby, Chip, Sunshine and Fluffy by Mr. Miller himself. Below are the 5 chicks in Mrs. Wigger's room. I did not hear any names for these five. When we return to school on Monday, the chicks will all have gone to their new homes, on an unnamed farm somewhere here in Hancock County. But these chicks provided a lot of excitement and was a fun learning experience for 95-3rd grade students at Harris Elementary for 21 days.

After Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has been here and gone.

Just for the record....

I am thankful for my loving husband, Lee

I am thankful for 4 wonderful adult children,

Brett, Derek, Leanne, Nathan

and 3 daughters-in-law ( who are

a part of my sons, and not least-I am also

thankful for my son-in-law who makes our

family complete

(Christy, Lana, Jay & Stephanie)

~ ~ And then ~ ~

I am so thankful for 11 (almost 12)

grandchildren,

Jason, Jennifer, Ian (soon to be part of

our family), Kirstin, Brendon, Cindy,

Bryce, Jayde, Klaudia, Paige, Parker

and little Isabella Sue.

Most of all I am thankful for Christ who

came as a baby, died on a cross for my sins

and yours and lives today in my heart,

helping and guiding me every day!

Hope all of you

my family and friends

had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

And now........

It is time for Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Brett

It is November 18th and we want to wish our oldest son, Brett a very Happy Birthday.



Here is Brett and I this past summer during a Fire Department Training Fire ..................

Brett,
From morning till night
May your birthday be bright
And nicer than ever before……
And as years come and go
May your happiness grow
And your dreams be fulfilled
Even more

Happy Birthday to you!

Here is our favorite firefighter, Brett, #52 at Greenfield Fire Department. Have a very Happy Day. We Love you,

Mom and Dad

What are you missing?

The big day came. The one I had been waiting for since Fall Break started. So after I missed 4 days of fall break and 3 days of school (all spent in bed on a heating pad), I was more than ready for the doctor to do some sort of repair to my lower back.

Since I was told I would be unable to drive myself home, and I have a husband with only peripheral vision, my friends Don and Dorris offered to take me. We arrived, the nurse took me to a room for vitals. Then another nurse came and took me to THE ROOM. "The room" where they do all sorts of strange things with the patient, (me) lying on the cart (face down, I might add - looking at the floor), all that prep type of stuff was done. I can tell you now that I was more than ready by that time.

The doctor arrived and very carefully informed me of every thing he was doing. Looking at the floor, I couldn't see what he was laying on my back or doing to my back. The only thing I was sure of was the prick of needles, pain down my leg (good, he found the nerve) and then finally the injection.

After 20 minutes, both sides of my spine were "flushed, and injected with the medicine", the stuff that hopefully was going to take away my pain.

Well, I am home, feeling 70% better and planning on going back to school tomorrow. My principal suggested I take today off, since it is only a half day and I readily agreed.

I think of a friend of mine who recently broke her leg and has experienced REAL trauma and has endured with her usual cheerful personality. My experience has been sort of minor compared to hers and she is an inspiration to me.

Probably down the road I will have to have a more invasive procedure done, but for now I am happy to be able to cope with the small amount of pain I have. You never know what you are missing until it is gone. Like a back that doesn't hurt!

Easy as 1 - 2 - 3

Now that I am working, I check with Lee when I get home to see how his day has gone. I check to make sure he is being careful around electric saws, etc. I check to make sure he ate a balanced lunch. Diabetics should try to eat well - at least that is my thought.

Recently he has told me two different times that he ate two pkgs of hot oatmeal for lunch. I asked why, and his answer was he just felt like it. Normally when I am here, he will ask me to fix it. I have always thought that is because he can't see the line on the measuring cup to get the 2/3 cup of water to add to it before putting it in the microwave.

This morning I had a thought while fixing his breakfast - hot oatmeal - that is Lee's usual Saturday breakfast. I wondered how does he measure the water. This cup picture is the type of cup he uses.

When I asked, here was the answer.....

Bft: "Lee, how do you measure the water for your oatmeal when I am not here?"

Lrt: "Take the cup, put it under the water and count 1, 2, 3."

I turned the water on and took the cup and asked him

Bft: "Show me how."

Lrt: "No problem, you have to turn the water on hard, (which he did), put the cup under the water and count fast 1,2,3" ( which he also did).

I took the cup looked inside and it was exactly 2/3 cup of water just like the directions asked for. I looked at him, he smiled and said, "easy as 1 - 2 - 3".

And those are the directions for my Blind Man (AKA: Lee) fixing instant oatmeal!

Fall Break 2008

It is Fall Break from school. I was planning many delightful events for my extra two days off this week. Just not the events I am currently doing. Other than updating my blog, I am really not doing anything fun.

Yesterday, I went to see a new doctor - I'm trying to figure out the reason for all the additional lower back pain I have been experiencing. Well ..... long story, short. Hopefully I can make it short. You know how women are when they start to ramble and since there isn't anyone here at the moment to tell me I am rambling, I'll try to stay 'Focused' on short! I should know what that word means - focus - I probably say that at least 100 times a week in my favorite teachers class to various students each week. "Focus, pay attention!" Okay, I am aware now that I am rambling.

Remember that broken foot I had in March? I guess repairing that caused my lower spine to do crazy stuff. The latest MRI shows that I have a vertebrae 'out' on the right side now in addition to the one on the left side 'out' from last summer. I think 'out' must be a doctor definition of misplaced, geared for non-medical people to understand. That is my interpretation of this doctor's explanation of the MRI results. I have a friend who is a Physicians' Assistant-he probably understands that 'out' stuff better than most of us non-medical people.

Guess the moral of that part of this story is - don't break your foot. But, if you do, don't wear a cast boot for 5 months with old bones. The uneven walking was not a good thing for this old back of mine. Cured the fracture in the foot, caused a misplaced vertebrae in the lower back, L4-5 for you medical people.

So....I am spending my extra two days off rotating from flat on my back with the heating pad in bed, to carefully sitting in my blue recliner in the house. Boy if that isn't exciting, I really don't know what is. I tried to find a picture of a brown heating pad and a blue recliner when I googled them. Even that wasn't very easy. It seems to be my life at the moment. Not easy.

I have heard that all's well that ends well. Next Wednesday I will be getting a nerve root injection on both L & R. I thought - well that is getting two for the price of one. Except when I get the bill, it probably will cause it all to start hurting again, cause it probably won't be two for one with the price. I am only hoping and praying for good results. I am somewhat tired of hurting and causing all my friends and family to hurt by having to listen to me complain about my aching back!

And that is the story of "Fall Break at 3216 in Greenfield!

1951 ??? Yeah, 1951 - 57 years ago!

I rode the school bus today. The last time I rode a school bus was when I was in the 5th grade, 57 years ago. At that time I attended a Christian Day School, Temple Accademy in Royal Oak, Michigan and I rode the bus.

So today the third grade went to the Riley House in Greenfield. It is the house in which James Whitcomb Riley, the poet, was born and is now a museum of things from his childhood. They were originally suppose to walk, but the weather being somewhat cool, it was decided they would ride. That made me happy, since walking isn't one of the things I do very well these days. So I rode the school bus with 26 noisy third graders and their teacher.

It was a fun day!

This week at 3216! - Part 2

I'm back for part 2 of This week!

We had company at 3216 one day & night this week. An old friend of ours, John Copeland visited with us. John recently lost his wife Mary. She had suffered for a long time, but that doesn't make her passing any easier. But John is doing a great job of acceptance for what has happened.

We went to Bible School with John and Mary and were friends when out first children were born, our Brett on Nov. 18th and their Sharon on Nov. 23rd. Mary was excited because her baby was due two weeks before mine was and then it turned out, my Brett was born 3 weeks early. That made me happy and Mary not so glad, until it was all over and we had two healthy babies. That was almost 45 years ago, so John is a an old friend of ours. It was wonderful to spend those hours he was here with him.

With John came his little friend, Alabama. I tried to tell John that was too big a name for a little dog and I called her Ally. She responded more quickly to John's "Alabama" and Lee's "whistle", but I continued to call her Ally. I told Lee. If I ever have a dog again, I will only be happy if I have one as well behaved as little Miss Alabama. Check her out as she is sleeping in her bed.


Lee says we have to mow this 2 1/2 acres one more time, well 2 1/2 except where the house and the shop are, but a lot of area to mow when the wind is blowing and the temperature is hovering around that cold 40 - 50 degrees. Since my back has been hurting, Lee has been a sweetheart and has mowed some of the regular part that we always considered Bette's mowing. Maybe it won't be too bad. By the time I get home from school, it is usually 3PM and that is close to the warmest part of the day. We can only hope that will happen when he says it is the day to mow.

So there you have it folks, another boring 7 days at 3216!

This week at 3216!

As usual it has been a busy week at the Towle House. It is Saturday and my list is long of "Things to Do" - I haven't checked to see what is on Lee's list. He currently is sitting eating a piece of toast and reading a Tool Catalog. His lighted magnifying glass comes in very handy for reading for the blind man. Occasionally if I am sitting here at my computer, he will pass the catalog over to me and ask me to read the 'fine print' of various items that catch his eye.


I went to see the Neuro-Surgeon on Thursday afternoon. I learned news that I would rather have not heard. He says I need back surgery. I told him that really is not an option that will work at this time. So we came up with another possibility. He is sending me to another Physician who will inject "something" into my back to take away the pain. You medical people out there probably know what is is they inject. Dr. Hall says only 43% of patients respond positively to this....and I am trusting I will be among that fortunate 43%. For now that is the plan. I will see this other doc, he will hopefully inject my back and God willing I will be somewhat pain free in my lower back. I wonder.......would Yoga help....what about acupuncture??? Right now I am about ready to try anything. I just thought of something strange. Isn't it odd how if you Google back pain and go to Images, the only people experiencing back pain appear to be males. I guess that is why they want to just jump right to surgery - I am a woman and they figure they can get money out of me for this problem I am experiencing. Maybe being male physicians they figure - this woman needs to be able to cook, clean, do the laundry and perform various other jobs to take care of her man - We have to get this woman fixed as quickly as possible.


I'll be back for part two of this week at 3216. I am going to go work on that list of mine for a little while - my back is not hurting as bad at that moment. Later.......

Bette's Irises

Many years ago, (probably about 8), I had the most beautiful bed of purple irises and I absolutely loved spring knowing my irises would soon be blooming. You can see how beautiful they were. Key word here - WERE.

My loving husband, AKA Lee, decided he wanted to redo the front yard and my irises had to go. I sort of threw a little fit - I wanted to keep my beautiful flowers, so Lee consulted with one of my sons. They decided to move them to the back of the garden. Lee promised me they would find a new home the next spring. So sighing a lot, I agreed.

The next spring I had gone to the store one afternoon and when I came home Lee and the neighbor were plowing the garden. I yelled "Oh, NO - my flowers". Yeah, they were plowed under never to be seen again.

The years rolled by and I missed my Irises more each year. Finally I decided it had been long enough. My beautiful granddaughter, Paige, was selling items for a school fund raiser and there they were - a package of Irises. I immediately bought them and informed my aforementioned husband he better find a place to plant them. Here he is planting them.

The place he decided to plant them may not be the most perfect place, but I will once again enjoy my irises again in the spring.

I am now looking forward to the spring of 2009 and seeing beautiful irises.

One Cute 3rd Grade Boy!

I was in my usual place in the Gym at 7am. One of the boys in my class came running up and the following exchange took place between Hunter & Mrs. Towle.

Hunter: "Mrs. Towle, does my shirt look dork?"

Mrs. Towle: "Does your shirt look what?"

Hunter: Mrs. Towle. you know, dork!

Mrs. Towle: No, it looks great, I really like that shirt."

Hunter: "Good. My Mom made me wear it and I thought it looks dork"

All's well that ends well and Hunter made it through the day with a shirt that didn't look dork. So all you Mom's out there, make sure you don't make your son wear a shirt that looks dork!

This Week at 3216!

It has been a busy week at our house - as usual.

Third grade has kept me moving - not as fast as usual (I'll explain that later) - but I'm still moving. My mornings are not started very well until I get hugs from Kaylee, Elizabeth and Haley. Then I am ready for the day. The little ones and their hugs do make me feel good.

We have done some fun things this week in third grade. We played the Rounding Game two mornings - the kids and "Mrs. Towle" like that game. It still sounds strange to me to hear "Mrs. Towle, come here, please". Or as one of my teachers says -and he says it a lot- "Mrs. Towle is going to come around and check to see if you have ..... whatever it is at that moment he wants them to have in front of them.

You see this picture of my children's "Third Grade Mother" in 1949 when I actually was a third grader. Times have changed since that picture. I am now an old looking third grader, the picture of which I really don't want to share.

One girl transferred from our school to another one in the Greenfield-Central School system this week and on her last day, she gave me a hug and said, "I'm going to miss you Mrs. Towle". That made her teacher feel a little sad - she didn't give him a hug. I tried to encourage him by reminding him that he looks young and doesn't have an 'old grandmotherly looking face'. So you see - I really do look different than I did when I was in third grade in 1949. But I think the kids like this old Grandma looking woman.

Lee is keeping busy while I am away at school. This week he was able to get a lot of the fall yard work completed. We mowed today (Lee did most of that, I only helped) and then he finished cutting down all that decorative grass we have.

One last thing from this week. I had to go to see my family doctor on Wednesday morning. He thinks I have a pinched nerve in my lower back. Well now isn't that exciting. Unfortunately I am not moving as fast as I would like. Anyway, I am scheduled for a MRI on Monday afternoon to see if he is right. Until we can FIX it, I am relying on Motrin for pain relief - but somehow it isn't working as well as I would like it to. Therefore I am doing a lot of short praying throughout each day "Help me Lord through this day". And He is helping and I am grateful.

Hope you all have a good week ahead.

Happpy Birthday, Jennifer!

Jennifer became a part of our lives permanently July 7, 2007, easy for a Grandmother to remember ~ 07-07-07!

But today is her birthday and Lee and I want to wish her the happiest of days this year on her very own special day, October 2, 2008. Here is a picture of Jenny at our house this past June at the Towle Family Reunion.

For a very Special Girl!
A greeting on your birthday
For a very happy day
And then a year
That brings the best
Of everything your way

Enjoy your special day,

Jennifer

Love, Lee and Bette

I'm Back!!!

Have you missed me? I would like to think you have, but even if you haven't, that's okay ~ ~ ~ I'm back!

I started my job at Harris Elementary, Greenfield on August 28th ~ 25 days ago. Wow! It doesn't seem like it has been that long. How time flies when we are having fun. That comment could need some thinking about. The how much fun it has been. Fun - yeah the kids are great, but as with any job, there are some adults that you have to keep telling yourself - it really is fun Bette, there are the kids and they are great.

But back to what I do. I'm back in 3rd grade and as one of my own children calls me "his 3rd grade mother". Not only having to think as an 8 or 9 year old in writing, math, spelling, science and other subjects, I'm trying to learn the names and personalities of 56 (new to me) 3rd graders.

Life is different at the Towle House. Lee is still working and through trial and error, we have arrived at a workable schedule. I take him to work on my way to Harris at 6:40AM and he is picked up at 10:30 and returned home by different ones ~ Lana, Derek, Liggy ( his Asst. Manager ) and occasionally me, the Lee pick-up brigade. Hope that makes sense. Being tired makes a person's mind think and say things backwards.

It all ends for me at 3PM when I am once again home. Many days I collapse on the bed for a nap before I can convince myself it is time to do some housework and fix dinner. Everyone says it will get better. I'm waiting!

More about school later. Just wanted to let you know all is well and I have returned.

Going Back to Work!

-Going back to work- Those words by themselves don't sound too ominous. But then when you consider that the person Going back to work is me - what did I call myself recently? Oh yeah - it was, "An older reliable, responsible female" - then someh0w Going back to work takes on a whole new dimension. And whats even more interesting, I will be working with 3rd graders. Guess I better be on my toes now.

I start bright and early tomorrow morning - 7am - at Harris Elementary School here in Greenfield. I will be learning to function as an Instructional Assistant to the third grade teachers. Even the names of positions have become 20th Century. When I was in 3rd grade....well that doesn't even count anymore. But when my children were in 3rd grade, this position was called a "Teachers' Aide". Instructional Assistant sounds more important. I kind of like that. If I am still upright after the first two days, I'll report back and let you know how this is progressing. Maybe I should say, if I am still employed after the first two days. Anyway, catch you all later.

Bette's Stadium Chair

I love going to football games and watching my Grandson's play football. I really don't like sitting on the bleachers. Last year the G-CHS Booster Club were selling stadium seats. They are extremely comfortable for sitting at a football game. So I purchased one. I thought I was being quite an intelligent, informed Grandmother.

Well.....carrying it from the car to the bleacher is not FUN. I weighed it thinking it must be enormously heavy - only 7.5 pounds. But my story is that it must weigh 24 pounds, and I am sticking to that story.


So what to do....I found a shoulder strap that would work perfectly if only I could attach it to the seat without it looking dorky. I took the seat and the unattached strap to Lee's shop and left it on the workbench as you can see.



I didn't see the man of the shop immediately, so I went looking for him, told him what I needed and where to find the product and came back inside. A little while later in came my stadium seat with a shoulder strap and I will tell you, that 24lbs. doesn't feel at all heavy over my shoulder and behind my back. It probably feels more like 7.5 lbs. Doesn't it look good? I am one happy Grandmother.

I don't think it looks dorky, but if it does don't tell me. I would rather remain happy with my results. Now I can sit in comfort on the bleachers and enjoy watching my Grandson's as they play football.

Mr. Snapping Turtle is back!

Many years ago we met a turtle in our yard. Not just a turtle, but a large snapping turtle. You may wonder how we know that it was a snapping turtle. Well .... here is Gene testing to see if it will snap at him. Yep, it did




Several years later, I looked out the front window one fall day and there was that turtle again. I sent Lee's cat "Skippy" out to check it out. As you can tell, Skippy was just a tad bit hesitant about this strange creature. Shortly after this picture was taken, the turtle snapped and Skippy made a quick dash for the front porch.




Mr. Turtle appears to be looking for Skippy, like maybe he would like to check out that yellow cat a little closer.




Well. now 15 years after the first sighting of this snapping turtle, Lee came in to get me and told me to bring my camera that the turtle was back. Sure enough - there he is. Lee only touched the back of his shell and he snapped big enough to make me jump back and I had to take another picture, the first one was blurry - you know, due to the photographer jumping backwards.

But what an interesting creature.


There is a pond across the street in front of our house and a pond in the yard of the people behind us. I guess Mr. Turtle goes back and forth between the two ponds depending on the time of year, or maybe the amount of water in the ponds or the food available. Anyway, he travels. And I find it fun to keep track of his adventures.

Birthday Time!

August is a wonderful month for a birthday. Well there are other months that are just as nice, but, since August is my month, I think August is a great month for a birthday.

Lee and I have 3 sons, and 1 daughter as many of you know. That means that we are blessed with 3 lovely daughter-in-laws, but our one and only Jay. Here is Jay with our grandchildren, his wonderful kids, Jason and Jayde!

Today is Jay's birthday. Our wish is that you have a very special day, Jay. Don't know if Jay will have to work on his birthday - Maybe his boss will give him the day off, but if you work, Jay, we hope it is a special day for you.

You’re always very special
And you should know today
That you are wished the nicest things
That life can bring your way

Like warm and loving wishes
And happiness and cheer
And everything you need to start
Another happy year.

So Happy, Happy Birthday, Jay

Love,

Lee and Bette

Happy Birthday, Lee!!!!

If you see this man today, wish him Happy Birthday. This is 4 year old Lee feeding the pet deer at Baldwin's Store in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Yeah I guess that was quite a few years ago.

Just wanted to let everyone know today is the day - it's Lee's birthday.

Sooo, if you don't know Lee by the Pittsburg image, maybe you will recognize him like he is sitting here in my kitchen. Yes, this looks a lot more like the Lee I know and love and I want to wish him the happiest of birthdays.

You can wish him Happy Birthday too, - if you see him today -...

Lee, you have been the most patient, loving husband a girl could ever ask for and I am so grateful for that. You are the best inspiration to anyone facing a difficult day or situation. In all of the past 14+ years of (almost total) blindness, I have never heard a word of complaint in dealing with your disability. I am so proud of the example you live every day and I thank you for it.

So Happy, happy birthday, Rob. I love you!

August is here!

One day this week was August 7th. That won't mean much to a lot of people, but at our house it means the female in this particular house turned older. I know making the type smaller doesn't really change the effect, but it was worth a try.

I keep saying "it is just another day" and it really is. But in my journal from 2006, a quote I have says

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved"

Some people may know that Lee has written me poems since we were first married in 1960 and living in the Boston, Massachusetts area. In the last 14 years since he lost his eyesight, the poems have been more scarce, therefore they are that much more precious. This morning he brought in my latest poem shown here with some beautiful roses I received from my best friend.

As you can see, the poems come now on large pieces of cardboard, (Lee's favorite writing paper) and they can not be saved in my book, but are saved just the same. This particular poem reads......

-Happy Birthday-

-2008-

August 7th is here again

It's a very, very special day.

How many years have passed?

We are not allowed to say.

But one thing is quite certain,

Something has turned her hair grey.

But don't worry my dear,

It happens to all of us anyway!

Yet with artificial knees & a broken foot,

I am sure you won't run away.

So be happy, look up, & celebrate...

You see I love you, so everything is ok!

Love, Rob

Happy Birthday, Scamper!

Thank you, Rob. I love you.

Old Friends ......

We were honored to have friends visit us this week. When we went to Bible School 46 years ago this coming September, we met Darrel & Cathy Fankhauser. We have remained friends all these many years.

Darrel and Cathy now live in Green Valley, Arizona and were in Indiana for a family wedding and we were privileged to have them visit here for a short - 24 hours - visit, but what fun to reconnect with old friends. We spent the time catching up on all our family activities, looking at old and new pictures, sharing news of other Bible School friends and just being together. What a joy.


Thank you for visiting with us Cathy and Darrel. Thanks for letting us make more memories between us. It was great and we feel so blessed to have spent the time with you!

Happy Birthday, Lana !

It's Lana's special day and we want to wish her Happy Birthday. Lana has been an important part of our lives for a lot of years and we hope this day is exactly what she would like to have for her birthday this year.

Our wish for Lana

Because today's so special it really wouldn't do,

to send one simple birthday wish to last the

whole year through...
So this wishes happy moments,

a day when dreams come true,

and a year that's filled with all the things

that mean the most to you.

Happy Birthday, Lana

Love,

Lee and Bette

"Stay at home Mom?"

This past Saturday, I went out to weed the Oak Grove flower bed. Several years ago, Lee and I started naming our different flower beds. There is the Cape Cod, the Park, the Oak Grove , the Cemetery Plot, the Swing Park, the South Grass Garden Beds, the Deck flower beds, the North flower bed, and the Towle front yards.

So now that you know more about 3216 than you ever thought you wanted to know, on with the story.

When we had our Towle Family Day in June, a lot of the pictures that were made were taken on Lee's rock wall in the Oak Grove park. Unfortunately some of the wall became unstable and when Lee started to push the rocks back, many started to tumble down on the hosta's in that area as you can see in this picture.

Lee then had to get serious about rock wall repair. After he was finally able to get the wall to stand up straight again, we finished weeding the entire area. We collected almost a couple of buckets full of weeds.

Now Lee is happy again - here he is putting the last rock in - and the rock wall is standing straight again.

He made a comment to me after we had finished the Cemetery Plot, and the Cape Cod, that after I find a job and go to work, he will have to be the ~ "Stay at home Mom" ~

That is sooooo right, but I was quick to remind him that the "Stay at home Mom" would be responsible for keeping the flower beds looking good. When he readily agreed, I decided it is time for me to get serious about finding a job and let Lee be the "Stay at home Mom"!

This day is yours - Klaudia

Today is Klaudia's birthday and we want to wish her the happiest of birthday's. She joined our familly within the past year and we are delighed to have another granddaughter - Klaudia Ann.

Klaudia,
Hope lovely surprises
Are coming your way,
To make your
Birthday a
Wonderful day.

Happy Birthday, Klaudia

Love, Grammy Bette and Grandpa Lee

Happy Birthday to Christy

July is a big Birthday Month at our house. And today is another special day. It is Christy's birthday and we want her to know how much we appreciate her and we hope this is a very Happy day for her.

Hope all that you do
Turns out happy for you
And all that you wish
Comes your way,
So each hour will bring
Every wonderful thing
You could ask of a wonderful day

Happy Birthday, Christy

Love,

Lee and Bette

Happy Birthday to Paige Elizabeth!

July 13, 2002 was the day Paige came into our lives. What a joy it has been to watch you grow into the fun 6 year old you are today.

Paige on the left with her brothers - on the right with her brothers this year, posing both times in Grammy & Grandpa's back yard.

Today's a very special day,

Our Paige turns 6, what more can I say,

A Happy, happy Birthday for you,

And fun things to do

The whole year through!

We love you,

Grammy and Grandpa

Family Photo Shoot

I will not feel the slightest bad if you skip this post. But if you are brave, there are some pictures (well to be honest, MANY pictures) of our very special family day. I hope you enjoy it - we sure did.

Towle Family Day

Towle Family Day was June 28, 2008

Towle Family day occurred yesterday the 28th. A wonderful time was had by all. There were 24 of us present.

Derek took pictures for over 2 hours of everybody and various groups of people. I will post some of those pictures along with some of Leanne's and my own pictures. It was a lot of fun. Together we have more than 575 pictures of that day.

Brett did all the grilling of the meat for our feast. Everyone contributed some dish of their own and we all ended the day quite satisfied. It was a fun day for all of us.

The kids, along with Grandpa and other adults took turns traveling the grounds of 3216 checking out the various flower beds, garden and animals next door using the faithful "Bette's Buggy" golf cart. Sometimes I wonder "Whatever did Lee do without it"? It certainly came in handy yesterday.

God gave us a beautiful day between overnight rains and just the right amount of sun for beautiful picture shots. We had delicious food to eat and fun just being together as only families can be.

Happy Birthday, Brendon!

It's June 27th and a Happy birthday is being sent to our grandson, Brendon.

One of Brendon's very favorite activities is skateboarding. Here he is posing with his board on the left and showing his Gram a very cool move using that board on the right.

Brendon,

This comes to you with

many special thoughts

and warmest wishes, too.

Because it means so much to us,

to have a Grandson like you!

Happy Birthday

Love,

Gram and Grandpa

It's is birthday time at the Towle House !

June 10, 1996 was a special day at the Towle House. That was the day that Jessica Jayde Jackson joined our family. She is spending her summer days of 2008 with us while her parents are at work, and today we celebrate with her - her 12th birthday!

Jayde,
Because today's so special
it really wouldn't do,
to send one simple birthday wish
to last the whole year through...
So we wish you happy moments,
and days when dreams come true,
and a year that's filled with all the things
that mean the most to you.

Love and Happy Birthday, Jayde

Grandma & Grandpa

Jayde as our little girl on the left and then on the right there she is with her Grandpa this year.