Well, this is my sweet Mama.....Ain't she somethin'? I am very blessed to have this woman, not only alive, but kicking and carrying on like she is in her late 70's....ha! She will actually turn 80 in June.....Wow....
I am pretty much crazy about her and the older I get, much to Joe's good fortune, I am sounding and acting like her more and more.
I was raised in Baytown, Texas....an oil refinery town...Mother stayed home.....had the cookies and milk waiting for us when we would get home from school...an ideal childhood....there was much love in the house and Mother was the heartbeat of the family...I was a bit of a pistol as a youngen(are you surprised?).....I would bite and spit (Lord only knows why I would do such a thing)...so Mother would go outside to the pepper bushes and get one and slice it open with her finger nail and give my tongue a good rub down....my tongue would catch on fire and after several episodes of that, I learned my lesson.....why didn't I learn it the first go around?
She is the best cook in town, and I learned everything from her....of course we fried most everything we ate, whether it needed it or not....and a dab of butter on everything that wasn't fried.....We would get a good spankin' when it was needed, went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.....and learned it was better to give than to receive....We learned all about God and Jesus and I was baptised July 8, 1964 in the baptistry with the painted scene of the Jordan River as the backdrop...I learned how to sing alto in that little church....I went to church camp every summer....we swam in the creek....there was NO MIXED BATHING....at least that is what they would call it back then, when the boys and girls swam together....which we would have none of that nonsense....always separated....I learned how to get along with others....we didn't have a whole lot, but I thought we were rich as could be...always had clothes on my back and food in the belly.....gotta love that....
I went off to college in Abilene, TX....that was 8 hours away from home....which might as well have been on another planet.....didn't go home much...didn't have a car until my senior year...but that made me appreciate Mother's cookin' every time I got to come home. Got a degree in teachin'....Mother would always tell everyone I graduated "O LAUDY!".....cause I wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer....ha!
I got married soon after, but always held a special place in my heart for my upbringin'....So Mother ..... I salute you for loving on me, holding me tight, crying with me, and always being there, like a good mama should do....if I could only do half as well, then I have done good on this earth....I love you more than you know!!!!!
Here we are on our favorite pew at church....don't get much better than that, for this mama! I must have done something right along the way....cause these three are the cream of the crop....love you guys!
Laura Jo loves getting in the pool with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Philip!
She is the best cook in town, and I learned everything from her....of course we fried most everything we ate, whether it needed it or not....and a dab of butter on everything that wasn't fried.....We would get a good spankin' when it was needed, went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.....and learned it was better to give than to receive....We learned all about God and Jesus and I was baptised July 8, 1964 in the baptistry with the painted scene of the Jordan River as the backdrop...I learned how to sing alto in that little church....I went to church camp every summer....we swam in the creek....there was NO MIXED BATHING....at least that is what they would call it back then, when the boys and girls swam together....which we would have none of that nonsense....always separated....I learned how to get along with others....we didn't have a whole lot, but I thought we were rich as could be...always had clothes on my back and food in the belly.....gotta love that....
There will be no more cabinets going amuck at the Sherwood's anymore!....Nothing 4 stitches wouldn't take care of....I got me a nice purple eye liner to boot....It is a bit of a Harry Potter scar gone bad....I was goin' to make up a better story about me fending off a bear who was ready to attack a girl scout troop, but that would have just been wrong....a flat out lie....which is nothing too low for me to stoop to......but I am taking the high road this time....which is all new to me...I am kinda likin' the view from here!...From the good eye I can actually see out of, that is......So no twirling in the kitchen and gettin' sideways....it's never a good thing....
I pray as they both grow.....that they desire to see Jesus in everything, and that they will always want MORE JESUS! ....Can we ever get enough of HIM? 
What's not to love?
Joe and I at the farm.....Joe is always horsing around...It was very moooooving!
And I thought I was the black sheep of the family!
My parents have been married 61 years!...That's CRAZY! I have underwear older than that!....ha! It was a joy & delight to have them come to Florida...They just came to warm up!
