Halloween!

Prompt:
Have you ever participated in a Halloween event?
When was it?
Where was it?...
What did you dress as?
Trick or treat?


I have many fond memories of trick or treating as a child growing up in Aurelia, Iowa. I have no pictures that I am aware of from our costumes. I know they were homemade. I remember dressing as ghosts, witches, the usual.  We took large bags around town and got them full of full-sized candy bars! It was great. Then came the scare of people putting things in the candy, i.e. razor blades, drugs, needles, so on. Yuck.

I have pictures of my children dressing up -- theirs were mainly homemade also -- by me! I made the Raggedy Ann and the little Tiger costumes in this picture.
  I also made the "princess" costume and the little clown costume. As you can see another version of a tiger costume I made.

For many years my aunt had a Halloween party for all of us who lived in the country. These were always fun family events!  

I was an office in our local PTA for about a decade. We put on a haunted house for the area students and parents for years. It was really a pretty elaborate even and lots of fun. These were our costumes one year.

 

My parents that were Grand!

PROMPT:
What were their names?
Where were they from?
Were they related? – Cousins perhaps...
Where were they born, another Country or state/area
Photos
What did they do?
Did you know them?
What was your relationship with them?
If you didn't know them have you researched about them?

These are my grandparents at my wedding. Brian and I were married in 1978. My maternal grandparents are on the far outside. My Paternal grandparents are in the middle.

My mother's parents were Albert Phillip Edward Grashoff and Alma Ida Minnie Matzdorff. Grandpa Grashoff, or as he was known "Abby" was born in  Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois. When he was fairly young his family moved to Aurelia, Iowa, where he lived the rest of his life. Grandpa was a farmer, but also had many other jobs in his lifetime. He was also a carpenter and construction foreman. Grandpa worked for the ASCS for a while which had something to do with an agricultural service. Grandpa was a stanch family man and really wasn't interested in other people.
Grandma Grashoff was born in this area, Buena Vista County, Iowa, not far from the farm that she lived in her entire life. Grandpa was a farm wife and the mother of seven. She also had a huge garden and canned a lot of the food they lived on throughout the year. She had a root cellar where she kept the "fresh" produce. Grandma was an excellent cook and baker. Grandma also did a lot of work on the farm.

My father's parents were Theodor Jefferson White and Joyce Maxine Fogleman. Grandpa, Ted, was born in Cherokee County and lived there his entire life. Grandpa also held many jobs. He was a farmer for the first part of his life and then after he had to sell the farm when his dad died, he held other jobs including furniture delivery person. Grandma also helped on the farm and was the mother of four. She also had other jobs in the later years after they moved off of the farm.

We also spent holidays of course with the grandparents. We lived very close to my Grandpa and Grandma Grashoff and frequently went out there to play cards and have "coffee" after school. Also, most Sundays were spent at their house for Sunday Dinner (noon). We lived closer to the Grashoff Grandparents and spent more time there, however, I had a close relationship with all of my grandparents and even remember my great grandma and grandpa White.

 

 

Week 6

Do you keep a journal or diary?
How far back do they go? What do you record?
Where do you keep them?...

Do you always buy the same one or vary them?
Have you inherited any?
Do you intend to pass along your journals or destroy them?
Pictures
Do you have a favourite?
What do you use to write with – biro, pencil, ink or fountain pen?
I have intermittently keep a journal. I kept a few back as a youngster, I have no idea where they are now. I keep a very complete journal when I was pregnant with my first child. At this point, I really have no idea where that is either. They only form of journal I have is my research blog. "Teri's Queries" http://whiteandchaffinfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/   I will probably give my journal to my daughter she it is about her pregnancy.  This is short and sweet because I don't really do a journal or diary. I have had several family members who kept a journal of sorts by writing things on a calendar. I have not received any of these.

My Homes.

Prompt 5: Your Childhood Home

Your Childhood Home
When did you leave home?
Where was it?
Where did you move to?
Was it rented or owned? – with parents/Grandparents
Was it inherited
What was it like – describe it – each room.
Were there a favourite room?
Is there anything you particularly remember from the house?
Pictures
The road & area

My dad was in the military, the Air Force to be exact, so we moved around.

We lived in Altus, Oklahoma when I was born in a trailer house. When dad was transferred to Canada, we returned with our trailer house which we parked on my Grandma and Grandpa Grashoff's farm. Later we move to Dover, Delaware and still lived in a trailer house.

 

 

After Dad got out of the Air Force, we lived in rural Washta, near where my Dad was born and raised.

This is a current picture of the home, so it didn't look exactly like this, but still the same house. We moved around frequently and my brothers dubbed this "the dirty house", as they decided when a house got dirty we moved.

After this home, we moved to a rental home in rural Aurelia, I don't think that I have any pictures of this house. Then, we BOUGHT a home in Aurelia. My grandpa had actually built the home for my mom's brother. So It did mean something that way too. So, I have discovered, I really don't have pictures of the Aurelia house. This is a photo of my kids and nephews at Halloween in front of the fireplace my mom built, yes my mom built. We lived in this house when I graduated. This house had hardwood floors. We had bedrooms upstairs and down. It was a small home for six people. but we made it work. This home was in town about a block away from the school. It is a very small rural Iowa community.

After graduation, I moved to Spencer, Iowa, and lived in a dorm. Following graduation from business school, I lived in Spencer in an apartment for a while, but that didn't work out very well and I moved back home. I lived there until I got married. Since then we have lived in a farm house by Milford that belonged to my in-laws that we remodeled. Then we built a home in rural Cherokee County, Iowa. By built, I mean with our own little hands!

A change of seasons.

Prompt 4 - Favourite Season

Do you have one?
Why?
A Happy Memory or association

Close your eyes and imagine your favourite season – write down what you see, feel, hear.

This one is actually kind of difficult for me. I could more easily come up with a favorite holiday - hands down Christmas!!!

However, I favorite season is another story.  My least favorite season is winter. Once again easy!

 

I love the other three seasons. Spring is wonderful because it is the whole rebirth thing and warming up! Just love the whole spring thing!

 

then comes summer. I love the heat and baseball and softball. So I do really like summer too.

One of my favorite parts of summer is driving my Sebring Convertible around with the top down of course!!!

And fall .... I love the feeling of being basically warm with cool overtones. However, I do dread the onset of winter. Fall weather is the best with warmth and a little cool, bugs are declining, and there is football of course.

 

So, I guess I don't really have a favorite season. There is something I like about all of them. If I had to pick one out of all of them, it would be summer I guess.

my outside shell

Describe my physical self. that is an amazingly tricky question. I have been an evolving person over the years.

Baby Teri -- blond haired little girl with my Dad.

As a bride at 21 years of age.

 

as a new mother at age 26.

Not quite at my highest weight.

Not quite at my lowest weight.

 In a hospital bed after one of my "big surgeries" I have had approximately 12 feet of incisions in my life.

This summer with my three children and husband.

This summer - our entire family!

And as a grandmother.
As you can see, I have gone through many incarnations. I am now in between my lightest and heaviest. I have short dirty brown hair. Greenish-blue eyes. big "German" hands. Average height, 5'7.75" Average looking person, with absolutely beautiful children and grandchildren!

My Birth

I can't actually remember my birth. My parents lived in Oklahoma at the time as my dad was stationed at the Altas Air Force base. Mom came back to Iowa for my birth. I was born in Sioux Valley Memorial Hospital. My grandmother always said that she came down stairs and found mom lying on the floor because she was in so much pain and "didn't know what to do with herself."

Mom was in labor for a very long time because I was breech. Then according to family stories when they called the doctor, who was a new doctor, Dr. Richard Berg, his wife stated he would be over after breakfast. Apparently I did not wish to wait until after breakfast and my grandmother, Alma Matzdorff Grashoff, "grabbed" a doctor in the stairway, Dr. Lawler, and he delivered me. I was an average size baby, seven pounds. As you can see from this picture when I was two months old, I don't seem to have a lot of hair! I know I was breast fed for about six weeks.