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Tag Archive for parents

Have you Met The Super Six?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Renee Spindle

This is the Super Six.

They have been together for a lifetime. Let me introduce you to my four kids, and their cousins ( my brother’s son and daughter). Starting from the left, Naomi is the oldest, and I’m pretty sure at this point in her life she’ll remain the shortest of the bunch. Next is Jim, my brother’s son, he’s the tallest one in the crowd these days, and then Hilary, Mary (my brother’s daughter), Bryan and Zachary.

The layout style of this picture became a tradition with this bunch many, many moons ago. We would shoot this group shot from oldest to youngest, and then from tallest to shortest. My grandma (great-grandma to the Super Six) lives out-of-state, and would always ask to see a picture of the kids together. She wanted to see how tall each of them were in relation to one another. So that started the tradition of the Super Six photos. And I’m fairly certain my Grandma coined the phrase “Super Six” for this gang.

Over the years we have taken quite a few Super Six pictures. I just love, love, love a walk down memory lane like this. When Tom’s son, Ryan, was living with us the group expanded to the Super Seven.

Scan

As you can see in the pictures below, when Evan got old enough he honed in on the photo line, and made sure he got himself included. These pictures should be called “The Super Six” plus one, since Evan is the next generation!

This bunch has been fortunate enough to live near each other growing up, pretty much until everyone started working full-time or took off for college. There were lots of Friday night sleepovers, chances to do fun things together, family beach parties, cheering each other on at school events, or at a sports game. Just all round having cousin fun as often as they could. I think my brother and I subconsciously made a point to get the kids together as often as we could.

Now that they are all a little older it’s not easy to get this picture, but we are still doing it. These shots were taken at Zach’s wedding this past August. I may be partial, but I can feel a lot of love and happiness coming from these pictures.

This group of amazing young adults have been through a lot of life stuff together. Graduations, milestone birthdays, 4th of July celebrations, Halloween’s, family reunions, weddings, divorces, cancer in the family, and the loss of their Grandpa. They have experienced all of the ups and downs of life. They are positively surviving the roller-coaster ride together, and have come through it all with smiles on their faces.

My one hope for this great group is that they stay in touch and support one another for eternity. (That’s my Mom voice shining through.) My quest with this bunch is to continue capturing the Super Six line up for many years to come.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

No comments Posted in Family

A Parent’s Admiration

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Over this past weekend, my sister and her husband were visiting from Montana. The Party House was completely a buzz because Dooney (my sister Laura) and Stevo (Laura’s husband, Steve) were in the house. Also, my nephew, Jim was here from San Luis Obispo. Saying the Party House was a little packed was an understatement. Although, we were without Travel Man, and our youngest son, Zach. They were both working for a living.

We had great times, great conversation, and great food from Wednesday at lunchtime until the last meal yesterday at lunchtime.

But there was a moment that not everyone would have seen or heard, that was filled with such love I could not help but share it with you all. My parents were sitting in our family room, kind of off to the side of the room, in these two comfy chairs I have there for reading. The girls (myself, my sister, and Elaine) and I were getting the enchiladas rolled and put together for baking. And I could hear my parents in the corner talking about all of their kids and grandkids, and now Evan, the great-grandchild all in the same place at the same time. I just caught bits and pieces of what they were saying, but their conversation was filled with such love and pride, it’s one of those “moments” for me that I will always be able to recall. It was one of those “moments” that is so filled with love and family that you feel as though “your cup runneth over”. Sometimes when we are fortunate to get everyone together like this my Mom will say to my Dad, “Yo Rocky (even though his name is Jim), I can’t believe we done dis!”

Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner together, filled with wonderful, loving toasts all around the table. We are so incredibly fortunate to have such a loving, soulful family. I am just feeling thankful today. Blessed and thankful. My hope will always be that everyone gets to have this kind of family experience, at least once in their lives.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Food

Kreativ Blogger Award

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Renee Spindle

A big huge thank you to Diane at Pleasant Valley Sunday. She kindly nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award today. Diane left me a nice comment on my List-o-holic post today, which made my day so much brighter. I enjoyed reading Diane’s stories about baseball. That’s how I originally linked up with her blog.

I have been blogging regularly since last August, and am just giddy at receiving my first blogger award.

So in the spirit of the award here are 7 things you may find interesting about me:

1) I just discovered how much I love writing in this past year. So far it has been a pretty eye-opening experience for me.

2) Chocolate is one of my best friends.

3) Becoming a Grandma is one of life’s experiences that you can’t really explain in words to someone else. You just having to experience it!

4) I love trying out new recipes from Pioneer Womans’ website.

5) There is no one word to describe how incredible it is to be able to help your parents with anything they need, when they have ALWAYS been there for you.

6) Painting any room in my house is a hobby I love, love, love.

7) I once won a trophy for a sewing demonstration. It was a 4-H thing!

These are the top five blogs I enjoy following:

1) Meg Travels– Meg has great pictures of her travel adventures, and I love reading her tips and tricks for great travel experiences.

2) Creative Noshing– Great variety of recipes, easy to follow, and wonderful pictures.

3) Grandma’s Briefs– Lisa’s intriguing stories of the Grandma life are very relatable, as I have one grandson, and another grandchild on the way.

4) The Suburban Cook– Kim has an amazing way of writing about her cooking, and intertwining her life happenings with her food experiences.

5) Joan on the Road – This is my Mom’s blog page. My parents live in their RV fulltime, and my Mom has a wonderful way of drawing you into her stories.

Here are the rules for those nominated:

Copy the Kreativ Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
List 7 things about you that people might find interesting.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Kreativ Blogger Award.
Leave a comment on the blogs you nominate to let them know about the award.

Thanks again Diane for including me in this nomination. Happy writing everyone!

6 comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Family

It was Hug Time when we got to Reno!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Renee Spindle

On our continuing travel saga from last weekend, Travel Man and I made the drive from the Oakland airport to Reno on Saturday at lunchtime. We were on our way to see my Mom and Dad. My Dad is having some chemo treatments as an outpatient, and we just wanted to give them some moral support. My Mom’s blog-Joan on the Road explains all of the details of the treatments. Take a look at her stories and you’ll get the jist of what they have been going through. My Dad’s been battling his lung cancer and some complications for over 2 years now. He is a shining example of perseverance, and refuses to give up or give in. The best thing that has happened to me this year to date, was seeing my Dad this past weekend. His coloring was so much healthier looking, and he is getting his appetite back. I just love, love, love seeing my Dad feeling better.

The road to Reno was delightful. It was a rainy Saturday, but I had never traveled on this stretch of I-80, so I was glad to be the passenger taking pictures. Here are a few of my favorites along the way.

A cool bridge!

The local Ikea!

The highlight of this drive was the trip over Donner Summit at 7200 feet up in the mountains. We stopped and got a great picture of Donner Lake, and a few other sites!

The worldly travellers.

The train tracks through the mountain

Donner Lake

A snow plow - what an unusual sight.

The views were really great all the way through the mountains. When we got to Reno we checked into our hotel, and then I called my parents to let them know we had arrived. We quickly got over to their hotel, and that’s when I gave them the HUGS. No better medicine than a good hug to soothe your soul. My Mom and I got a little teary-eyed, as we hadn’t seen each other in about three weeks. That’s a long time for us. I gave my Dad a huge hug and told him how great he’s looking.

Everyone was hungry so we headed to PF Changs for dinner. My Mom and Dad have taken up residence at the PF Changs during their stay in Reno. My Dad lovesssss the crab wontons, and we had a really great dinner. Too much food of course, but wonderful company and conversation. I’m so glad Travel Man and I were able to get this trip put together, just for the hugs.

No comments Posted in Family, Travel Man, Travels

Can you just set your electronics aside?

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Travel Man and I have had the good fortune to be able to go to the Disney Parks this year quite a few times. We have annual passes, which for a Southern California resident makes a whole lot of sense. The parks are close by, and with a schedule like my husband’s we can take the little mini-trips between his business travel trips, and feel like we’re escaping from reality for just a bit.

I have two pet peeves when I go to Disneyland these days; stroller drivers who don’t pay attention to where they are going, and parents glued to their cell phones. Now we don’t have small kids at home any longer, but we do have a grandson so I am always observing, ie. people watching, what people are up to with their kids. The kids get so excited to be at the amusement parks, they just want to have fun!

There have been numerous times (more than I can count on one hand) where we will see a family walking along, and both parents have theirs noses glued to their cell phones. What! Put your phone in your pocket or purse, and don’t touch it again, unless you have an emergency phone call. We were sitting in a small snack area one evening, and I will never forget this, a mom and her two sons were sitting next to us. The sons were eating their ice cream, and their mom was fiddling with her phone the entire time. There was no conversation, no true interaction. They didn’t say anything to each other the entire we were sitting there. I felt really sad for the kids.

There is no app, or game, or Facebook post that is so important that you can’t just leave it alone and interact and play with your kids. Did you pay the big bucks to be at an amusement park and play on your cell phone, all day? I honestly don’t think so, but I do know that time with your kids is precious. Play with them, talk to them, listen to them, teach them, hug them, just be with them when you have those moments together. I will step down off of my soap box now.

No comments Posted in Family

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