In The Spirit of Halloween

In the spirit of Halloween, I would like to see what really SCARES people and what superstitions you practice:

1. What frightens you you the most? I am most afraid of someone sneaking up to me, unseen, or trying to hurt or kidnap me. I've seen too many TV movies of people being abducted and dying horrible deaths.

2. Have you ever seen a ghost or had haunting experiences? One year after just moving into our last house, my husband screamed to me to come downstairs late in the night as he ran upstairs. He said that while he was in the bathroom (using the throne) he saw the bedroom door knob across the hall was moving back and forth, AND HE CALLED ME DOWN TO CHECK ON IT! LOL! He must have been too scared to check it himself as he was already upstairs at the time and HE DID NOT GO DOWN WITH ME! As I rushed down the stairway I heard a loud boom from the front door, and I hesitantly checked the bedroom and found nobody there,I ran to the front door and saw no one outside! I'll never know what was there,if anything! We bought the house from a elderly widow, and I don't know if her husband had died there, but even my kids kept seeing things and were afraid there and there was a cold breeze in some areas of the house. I do believe that spirits do visit us from the other side, but as of yet, I have not seen one SO FAR!

3. Have you ever seen a UFO or believe that Extraterrestrials have visited Earth? Yes, I do believe they have, but I have never seen one,there was talk of a bright light moving across the sky, but I wasn't sure if it was a UFO. I do know a man who told me about the one he saw floating above his cabin up north. He said it hovered above the trees and had multicolored lights moving below its bottom. He said that it finally rose straight up and dissapeard in a flash. I had to make a questionaire up for college about this subject. Out of 100 people who filled out the paper, over half of the people said that they have seen a UFO, and several more said that they believe that extraterrestrials are visiting Earth!

4. Do you have any superstitions? The only one I practice at all is knocking on wood for good luck when I mention about something that I hope will come true! The number 13 is not scarry to me, either is a black cat crossing my path! I know many people have at least one superstition. I bet every one has at least one superstition!

5. Do you dress up for Halloween in SCARRY or NICE costumes, or at least when you were a kid? I was always something nice, like an Indian, a bum, a belly dancer, or something nice like that, never anything scarry.

Off to the cemetery

Yesterday, my daughter, Caroline and I went to the cemetery to visit all the family's graves and decorate them with mixed silk flower bouquets that I made up for them. First we stopped at the husband's grandfather's grave, he died in 1921 and all the big upright, stones have been burried in the ground and the grass had covered most of it over. Caroline manned the shovel and cut the grass and weeds back, and then we wiped the stone so it could be read, and then placed the flowers above the headstone. It's sad in that part of the cemetery, because there is very little decorations on the graves of those who died so long ago.

Then it was off to hubby's grandmother. Her's was easier to find, because the big stone was still standing above the ground and has her picture on it, although it was scratched up from the mowers. We placed a flower at her's and went to the newer section to find my mother's grave.

Her stone was really covered quite a bit with grass, so Caroline cut the edges and trimmed it away. I put a lovely yellow and white rose bouquet on hers, because yellow flowers were her favorite. About 4 years ago I brought back half the ashes from my father who died in Florida, and burried them in a tin under the sod on top of my mother's grave, so a part of him could be with her, even though he had remarried for 20 some years to another wife after Mom died. ( No offense Mommy) Then we stopped at the hill just across the way to clean up and visit my grandparents grave. (My Dad's parents)

Our last stop was my husband's parents, who are located near the back of the cemetery. We had to trim a lot of grass on his mother's grave, and we cleaned up a little of the Dad's. I put some lovely pink bouquets on theirs. We have been quite busy (with all my illnesses) since last summer, when Caroline and I planted live flowers on all the graves. I want them all to know that we, our family, have not forgotten them, and still remember.

I wonder, when my husband and I go, I think that my girls will think of us and care enough to place a little flower at my grave. I'm pretty sure my Caroline will, as it was her idea to do it this month for all the grandparents again. But, even if they never visit my grave, I will understand.

your an earth nymph! you love animals, and you feel
most comfortable around them. you are probably
a little shy around people, so some see you as
distant. your also very intelligent, and you
love to read.

what would you be in a fantasy world? (amazing pics!)
brought to you by

Italian town with our name

Above is a little town in North, West, Italy with our family name. It is high up in mountains and is a quaint little town with a very long history.

While I was looking up the family name in the internet, I came across an artist with the family name who made me stop and admire his art. I wrote him a short note about how much I admired his work and telling him about my search for family name. He wrote me back, thanking me in Italian. (I had a friend who reads and speaks Italian translate the note.) He told me that there was this town, in Northern Italy, with the family name, where it is believed that many of whom may have joined the army of Garabaldi and were transported as soldiers, to fight in the war against the Spanish to free Sicily.

I have not gotten any further than Sicily in my research, as I have not gotten dates or names beyond my husband's Great, Great Grandparents. It is a romantic chance that somewhere, years ago that a family member might have traveled from this quaint town to Sicily many long years ago. I find this fascinating! I wish I knew a little Italian so that I could search back further. I know there are geneologists who can be paid to do the searching for you, but money is NOT what I have plenty of at this time. Ha ha! We can dream, though, can't we?

I did find out that my husband's Great, Great Grandfather lived in Terracini and was a furniture maker by trade, and displayed his works in the lower level of their 3 story home. This was found out by a cousin who found me on the internet and have been also researching the family. She had traveled twice to Sicily and found the family home and took pictures. Her Grandmother had the same father as my husband's Great Grandfather. Exciting to say the least!

Grandma goes to school for Grandparents and Special Friends Day

< Sarah, age 8, (on right, front, Red shirt) with her girlfriend in the 3rd grade class.








Matthew age 5, in his Kindergarten class. Guess who's the biggest kid in his class. He has a crimson shirt on. Their singing a spider song along with a recording.

When I came in the class, Sarah's teacher had each guest sit behind the kids we were there to see, and each child interviewed us about when we were born, our favorite playground game, (mine was kickball), our favorite book, (mine was Peter Pan), and I told her that's why I nicknamed her Mother as Wendy- a favorite name from the book, and what school I went to, (which was Roosevelt).
The kids then introduced us and read one of our comments that they had learned about from the interview. Sarah showed me her class books and she gave me a cookie shaped like a apple that she decorated. They had punch for the guests.
Later my daughter, Wendy, took me down to the Kindergarten class to see Matthew's class and the snacks they made from a rice cake iced in peanut butter and decorated like a spider with pretzel legs and eyes made of a couple mini marshmellows and two raisins. He then put two red licorish strings for antenna. After they ate, the whole class sat in the front of the room and sang a spider song while demonstrating the spiders walking on their legs, stomach, throat, and face and head. How cute was that!
Both kids are born in January, so they had to wait another year for school, so they are older than most of the kids in their class.
I think all the grandparents and Aunts and Friends had a great time visiting the kids in their classrooms, I know I did, except the tiny little chairs were hard to get out of !!! LOL!

One student in Sarah's class had his Grandpa there, and his Grandpa had gone to the SAME school and THE SAME CLASSROOM when he was small, many years ago! How neat was that!





THIS is the PROUD GRANDMA (ME) with her two beautiful Grandkids, Matthew and Sarah, and the kids are smiling big that Grandma was able to come to this Special Day ! (thanks for Wendy and Mark for picking me up)
( if you look to the right beside my ear, there is a picture of Matthew tacked onto the drawing of hands he drew in class)

Grandma will go to school for Grandparents day.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Sarah and Matthew's school for a Grandparents day celebration in Royal Oak. I hope to get some good pics of my two youngest Grandchildren. Looking forward to it.

Amber Turns 10!

Amber turned 10 on Monday, September 26th and I am so proud of my big girl! She is so lively and loving, and we love her so MUCH! We took this pic at a neighborhood park, where we played with Sarah and Matthew. LOOK, she is almost as tall as ME! What happened to that little tyke that you could pick up with one hand? How the years are flying!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and many more young lady!

Double Vision??

I was watching the grandchildren one day until their father got home from work. I wanted to experiment with my camera, so I stood each grandkid in front of a huge mirror in my dining room and snapped a dual image of both kids. I had to black out the background images of the room and got these neat pics! This one is Darin, and below is Amber . What do ya think?

You weren't human in your past life, you were
magical. Now that you've been given a human
body you enjoy life very much and appreciate
people. You have a job to do and that's why you
were given a human body. Make sure you make
wise decisions.

How did you die in your past life? (for everyone)
brought to you by

OH! To be able to turn back the clock!

This is a copy of my high school graduation picture WAY back in 1967. How I wish I could turn back the hands of time and become that young looking face once more. The years have taken a tole on my face and turned me into a twin to my grandma. I look into a mirror and see someone I don't recognise as me. I've had a tough life, over the years, but the person I see in the mirror looks more like a 60 year old than a 56 year old woman. ALTHOUGH, in my heart, I still see myself this way, in my head, only I am much more knowledgable about life. The gray hairs I see now,are just not the me I pictured back then.

Any of my blogging pals feel the same way? I challege you to post your pictures of the best of yourself...............whenever that would be.

Sunday is Grandparents Day

To all those Grandparents (Like me)


Happy Grandparents Day!
Thanks to FLOWGO.com

AWW! Summer is leaving SOON!

I can't believe summer is almost over and I don't know how it snuck by so fast. I have been experimenting with my digital camera over the last year and got some good shots of the lovely flowers in my yard and around the little pond in my back yard. You will notice the little birdies and the variety of sweet fairys that have inhabited and enjoyed my gardens too. We can look at these and dream, when the snow is flying and making us miserable.

I've been so busy

Forgive me for not writing for so long. I have been working diligently on a family tree blog for my kids and grandkids for several days. I have documented my husband's family and mine as far back as we know so far, which extends to both our great, great grandfathers, with pictures when we had some. With the help of older Aunty's and cousins who had any information to add to what we have, and pictures they donated to us, we have found out a lot about our heritage. I am sorry that we know no other languages like French or Italian, otherwise I would pursue even further back into our heritage. I find that the information we have so far, is so exciting, that I would love to find out even more. We even heard from a distant cousin who lives in California, who was also researching the family tree and had found our name in a website. She provided both pictures from Italy, and further information about my husband's common great great grandparents. Even writing an Italian artist with a common last name, gave us information that there is a city in Northern Italy with our last name, that might indicate that his family might have originated there, long ago, and then migrated to Sicily later.
Does anyone have the same kind of interests in researching their past, and have any suggestions on how to proceed?
_______________________________________________________________________________

Moms
Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you’ve had a baby .......... Somebody doesn’t know that once you’re a mother, “Normal,” is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct ...
Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring ......
Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver’s permit.

Somebody said if you’re a “good” mother, your child will “turn out good.”
Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.


Somebody said “good” mothers never raise their voices .....
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hurt another child, or another child hurt her child.

Somebody said you don’t need an education to be a mother.
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with her math.

Somebody said you can’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first.
Somebody doesn’t have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books .......
Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery ....
Somebody never watched her “baby” get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back ......
Somebody never organized four giggling teens to a shopping trip to the mall.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married ....
Somebody doesn’t know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother’s job is done when her last child leaves home ....
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don’t need to tell her .......
Somebody isn’t a mother.

Pass this along to all the “mothers” in your life.

I borrowed this from Momma's corner blog with a few changes by me. It was so true in my opinion.

Do you believe in Reincarnation?

Let me diverse a little bit, and ask others if they ever has the feeling or had a fascination with certain people or places that seem so familiar. Could this be a sign of a past life way back in our hidden memories? Or maybe it's just a fascination of mine for information of what the lives of past history were like. But, mainly certain kinds of history are most fascinating to me.

I wonder, why I feel that once I was an Egyptian, I have watched shows and read everything I can about them. I feel a sense of being there once, I see myself walking the markets, seeing the temples, wandering near the pyramids and living in mud huts along the Nile. It seems like I was there, and reading and watching about it just brings me into a dreamlike movie like I am seeing myself in those pictures.

Another fascination or memory is of being a early American Indian probably in the days before the Europeans arrived to settle here. I see myself living in a stick hut with animal skins as a covering for it, and living in the woods subsisting on what nature provides.

Another memory is being a young person traveling in a wagon train, crossing the plains to the West. When I read about or watch shows about the hardships the pioneers lived by, its like a re-enaction of past memories of my own experiences.

I don't know if you experience the same as me, but when I read a book, article, or watch a movie concerning the above subjects, something inside me tells me I am watching or reading about experiences that I have had before. I see a story so familiar or my mind says, " I knew that." that it seems strange to me and I can't stop till the story's over. Reading or seeing shows about other things don't strike me the same way that the above subjects do, so, yet I wonder what is the connection?

Do others of you get a similar feeling about things experienced in their lives, I wonder? I think there might be something like past lives or re-incarnation.

Sunday - Darin's 11th Birthday Party

On Sunday we were invited to Darin's 11th birthday party at a local bowling alley. Caroline had entered his birthday and won a bowling birthday party. The two hours of bowling was free, we just paid for shoe rentals. The neighbors came along, and also my cousin's son, Steve, who has become a best friend of Darin's. My husband even bowled, and he hasn't done that in many years. I could not bowl as my right hand is not co-ordinated, or strong enough. We all had a great time. The kids had been learning a lot since they bowled in a family league last fall, and they did well. Caroline brought his cake to the party. Here's a little view of some of the fun we had.
Darin with cousin Steve toasting his birthday

Caroline with her Dad Bowling





Neighbors bowling









Amber was pleased with her

bowling score

Happy Birthday to a really great Young Man- DARIN !

A little about daughter #2 WENDY

I have been reminded by my daughter Guendalyn, who I have always called Wendy,(my favorite name) that I have not ever written in my blog about her. I am sorry for that! It wasn't intentional.

Wendy is Caroline's youngest sister, but only a year and a half younger. They grew up more like twins, but so different in personalities. Caroline was tough,a fighter,and fiercely independent at a young age, and Wendy was the sensitive and a devout church goer. Wendy being younger, would master anything her older sister did, at an earlier age.

In alliance with arrangements with her sister, Wendy comes over every week, mostly on Fridays and helps me tremendously with house cleaning, (like washing walls, floors and cabinets), caring for my garden beds, and generally fixing things up nice. She has even offered to paint the walls. She is the hardest worker and goes above and beyond anything we ask of her. She is so caring and has given me so much support through my illnesses and my recoveries. She's my youngest baby and I love her so much. I don't how I could have done as well without her help. (Heavens! Because I couldn't do too much for quite a while after my illnesses)


She is the mother of Sarah and Matthew (aka; Buddy)and has her hands filled with taking care of two young children. Matthew is only 5 years old and at the tender age of 2, could master games on the computer as well as her sister, Sarah, who is 8. Even without knowing how to read. He and his sister are very knowledgeable about Pokeman games and cards and have a vast collection of both. Matthew and Sarah are very smart and I love them very much and look forward to seeing them grow up.


I am so proud of the two daughters I have raised, I am so glad they care so much for me and their Dad. We cannot repay them enough!

These are cool!

You Belong in 1963

1963 If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

And.... I guess it's not too far off?

Try this!

Your Hidden Talent

Your natural talent is interpersonal relations and dealing with people. You communicate well and are able to bring disparate groups together. Your calming presence helps everything go more smoothly. People crave your praise and complements.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

This was fun!

BOOMERS GREAT ADVENTURE! (a children's story)

by Paula Bagnasco


DEDICATED TO MY GRANDCHILDREN:
DARIN, AMBER, SARAH, AND BUDDY

COPYWRITE 9/15/2004
Illustrations copywrite September 2004 to January 2005