Ethnic Scrapbooking

Scissor happy?

Going through the last box of items from my grandmother's house fire, I came across a handful of prom pictures that looked like this:

This is my mom at one of the three proms she attended while in highschool 1959-1960.  As soon as I saw the photo I said I know I've seen a copy of this image with the prom date.  You se emy grandmother cut the male out of all her prom photos.  I was too tickled.  My husband said, boy I hope it wasn't your dad LOL!  I couldn't wait to call my Grandmother and ask her about it.  She said..."Well, you know after you get married, sometimes these photos of old beaus can cause trouble, and I didn't want to cause any trouble"...we laughed...and then I called my Dad...he recalled my mom's dates quicker than she did LOL!  I'm glad my mom didn't do that to any of my photos...my kids love hearing stories about my life before their dad...not so sure he cares though...LOL

Yesterday|Today

I love now and then photo comparisons.  Although this wasn't my idea...I'm glad I got to contribute by printing out the photos using my color laser printer (Goodness knows printing these photos out on an ink jet would have cost the PTA over $100 in ink).

 

POPs Concert

Bowie High School's musical tribute to Michael Jackson was a fabulous show last weekend (and a photography challenge).

It was colorful and very well done.The Men's choir was awesome singing Man in the Mirror...my favorite song.

What was really touching was enjoying the atmosphere, the celebration of hardwork and 27 Seniors who performed together for the last time...it reminded me of the good ole' days with the Class of '82, our last parade, our last half-time show, our last everything. We had been together for 6 years in the same school and you could have never told us in the Spring on 1982, that we'd probably wouldn't talk to each other for nearly 25+ years, but that's exactly what happened.  Maybe we would have stayed in touch if long distance was free, there was e-mail and by golly Facebook and Twitter!

 

Lena Horne...Grandmother's favorite

My heart sank today when I heard about Lena Horne's passing.  She is just a year older than my Grandmother and was one of my Grandmother's favorite stars.  I called my Grandmother to see how she was dealing with Ms. Horne's passing and she shared a nice story with me about the first movie she ever saw was the Lena Horne's movie, Panama Hattie.  She saw it with her best friend Aunt Lucy and they both had fun watching the movie in the segregated State Theater in downtown Uniontown, PA.  I asked her how she felt about being segregated and she said it didn't bother her at the time because she was sitting in the section with all of her friends, everyone she knew.  (Funny that her school wasn't segregated, but the theater was.)

Here's my Grandmother around 1942 (the baby is my mom, a whopping 10 pounder delivered by my 5 foot,  barely 100 lb grandmother)...when Lena Horne starred in her first film.

Notice the similar hairdo.  My Grandmother never shhhh'd me unless Lena Horne was on t.v.  Everytime she appeared on television, my Grandmother would wipe her hands on her apron, stop what she was doing and sit right down in front of the t.v. to watch her.  I probably would not know who Lena Horne is if it wasn't for my Grandmother being and avid follower of this great singer and actress.

I thank the Lord today for giving me the opportunity to speak to my Grandmother and learn of this memory, I am especially thankful for my Grandmother's health and that she is making plans to vacation with us for 4 weeks this summer...can't wait!

2010 Census

With April coming to a close, I sure hope everyone has returned their Census document back into the government.  It was a special day here in the Sanford household when we filled our out.  The kids see how we travel to Virginia and research census documents on line and they understand the importance of the information.  So I actually had the kids fill out the portion with their information and read through all the questions.  Hopefully, one day their grand children will be excited over seing their handwriting on the electronic version of the 2010 census in year 2085.

CRE8

my word for the year...CREATE

CREATE...

...space between workdays

...peace

...new friendships

...potholders?

 

yes...I could win a trivia contest if they asked if anyone had CREATEd a potholder with old fashion cotton loops and holder.  One night Leah and I started on this project, it was quite the challenge to get her to understand the concept of up and down in alternating fashion, keep it tight and watch the ends don't pop off...she took hours to finish it, then bright and early the next morning she wanted to learn how to finish the edges...probably none of this makes sense to anyone under the age of 44...but Leah and I CREATEd her first potholder!

An old-fashio craft from YESTERDAY that can still be done TODAY. 

rarity

A rare moment happened in our house last month while we were snowed in, after days on end being trapped, after a very long stretch of staying in their pajamas for like three days, they worked together to use the last of the eggs and flour to make cookies...very little cookies.

I think scrapbooking everyday life photos are my favorite.  I long to see what everyday life was for my ancestors...shoot I'm having a hard time remembering my own everyday life from grade school.  There are so many things I could journal about this one photo.  For instance:

1. Jerin's love to make everyday special (use of the red linen tablecloth for dinner)

2. Jerin actually letting the younger ones help make cookies

3. The fact that we can make cookies...good ones too without an oven (long story) stop laughing Lisa Renee!

4. My love for Pampered Chef products

5. Jonathan wearing Jerry's old high school football jersey

6. A rare visit by grandson Tavien and how excited he is to be with us and how loud he cries when he leaves...poor baby.

 

snow...yesterday|today

The snow is no joke here in Maryland.  I’m sure my cousins in Erie, Buffalo, Denver and Chicago are laughing at us.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m from Southwestern Pennsylvania and love the beauty of snow, but when the newscasters tell you to stay off the roads so the trucks can plow and it’s a weekend, why on earth are the main roads so terrible three days later.  This area is so ill-equipped to handle large volumes of snow and it looks like we’ll be crippled another 3-4 days as another storm is heading our way.  I feel for those without power and heat, at least I’m at home warm and comfortable.

My sister did a post on her Facebook page about her childhood memories of snow and I keep thinking about it.  As a child I have nothing but fun and happy memories about snowfalls.  My husband remarked yesterday while we were digging out the driveway to imagine it being just as cold, but dark and there being a ceiling height of no more than 5 feet tall above us and that being our daily job…working in the coal mines.  Boy did that image jolt me.  I was sore and tired but wouldn’t quit, my ancestors who moved away from family in Virginia, all to work in the mines of Pennsylvania in hopes of a better life inspired me.  How could I complain about light fluffy snow and the bright sunshine (I did get sun burned) when my grandfathers and great grandfathers worked in filthy coal mines deep beneath the earth doing back-breaking work and jeopardizing their health each and every day for what I spend on coffee.  

I spent the next two hours re-living aloud the days I spent with my grandfather…a man who showed me nothing but love.  I was fortunate to live with him during the summers and in his two-bedroom house with my family for over a year. I watched him work different shifts and prep for work every single day and I never ever saw a speck of coal dust on him.  To this day I’ve never met a cleaner man…I can still smell the Noxzema on his skin and the Listerine on his breath (he could swish that mouthwash in his mouth for at least a half hour). I don’t think I’ll ever look at snow and a shovel the same way again.

 Later on in the evening, one of my neighbors remarked about my wonderful memories, as everyone could hear me talking to my husband because of the stillness of our winter wonderland right here in Bowie, Maryland.

Historical Gem

Yesterday, I posted on Facebook a link to the Washington Post article about an old letter written by Thomas Jefferson was found at an Alexandria, VA American Legion by a colleague of mine Candice Bennett.  Wow is all I can say, I've been on a high about it since I read the article and I didn't have anything to do with it.

I do have my own historical gem to share.  Last year, I hardly did any scrapbooking (a far cry from the year I did over 20 albums) and over the Christmas holiday I took some time to reassemble my Grandmother's scrapbooks.  The most precious item I found was a 1938 high school graduation announcement for my grandfather's brother.

First of all the design and quality and texture of the paper was exceptional.  It's cardstock weight, the fold along side the ribbon is scored, the ribbon is tightly done, there are three layers of paper, the green inside shadowing sheet has a satin-like finish and the year is gold embossed.  I love the Christian theme to it, see the fish symbol and the dove.  Check out the die cut window for the graduate's name and the raised lettering.  It's even tri-fold, I haven't seen that in a graduation announcement ever!  I can't imagine what the cost of this was back in 1938.

So here is the graduate, my uncle Henry.  I knew him as a child, he was short, slow moving and smoked cigars...I met two of his granddaughters for the first time this summer, I hope they enjoy this post.

A quick note about this photo,, first of all it's about the size of my thumbnail...it fell into the cuff of my pants while I was looking at old photos with my dad a number of years ago.  I put the photo on a tray in my closet and low and behold I uncover it on the tray while rummaging through old change on that tray.  It has finally made it's way to my scanner and now computer hard drive to be shared.

Here are a few of his granddaughters and great grandson.

God Bless U.S. Veterans

Today's remembrance of American Veterans just added another item to my "TO DO" List...gather photos of those who served in the military.

Here are a few photos I recently inherited this summer. 

Above photo:  My Dad, Joseph Mickens served in U.S. Air Force, stationed in Okinawa.  This photo is of him at age 17 at Fort Sampson in New York.

Clifford Mickens, I know he was stationed at Ft. Bragg at some point.

Leon Mickens served in Vietnam

The following are photos I scanned digitally back in 1998!  They were TIF files, but thankfully Picasa can convert them to JPG.

 

My Great-Great Grandfather Stephen Tarpley who served the Confederate Army in the Civil War as a servant, he made breastplates and swords.
 

Great Uncle George Abbott who served the Battle of the Bulge and definitely suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Uncle Randy Mickens served in the Korean War (I think).
 

I feel blessed that so many of my relatives have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, I am pledging to more vigilant about honoring them in my scrapbooks and preserving their stories and their place in American history (Yesterday and Today)