Overgrown bushes to play hide-and-seek in

A chain-link fence to play "hot lava" on

Having the best sandbox in the world

A new swingset when I was 5, I think

A bedroom with a purple rug

Helping Dad sand the plywood doors for my closet

Getting a new room that was all mine

Mom reading fairy tales on the couch in the living room while it rained outside

Installments of "The Boxcar Children" at night in bed

Sneetches and their stars (upon thars)

Sarah toddling right into a table that she was suddenly too tall to go under

Susan, my identical twin in the mirror

A fat baby with sticking-up red hair who was too big to hold (but I tried)

A shriveled up baby who I decided was mine the day she came home from the hospital and held until I fell asleep

Dad making us hot dogs when Mom was in the hospital having Mary

Dad bringing us big sugar Cookies with decorations on them the night Mary was born

Fruit stripes gum in Dad's pocket

"Driving" the car up the street and into the driveway of the trailer

A long trip in the car and a hotel stay in the middle of the night

Mom’s accident on the way to the convention when her glasses were broken and we had to be driven home by someone else

Hopping over the hot grates in Granny's house

Mom washing my feet at night when we went to Granny's because they were so dirty from going barefoot all day

A whole formica table full of glass bottles of the old style Diet Dr. Pepper that we were allowed to drink as much as we wanted of

That soda with the horse on it that we sometimes walked to Lucky’s to get

Getting 10 cents to buy Lemonheads

Having an accident in Lucky’s because I was too caught up in buying the Lemonheads to realize I had to pee :-)

Getting a candy bar at Lucky’s every time it was field trip day

Popcorn popping in an electric skillet on Saturday morning that meant movies!

Watching Elvis movies at the library on Saturdays

Bringing home a stack of books and curling up in a corner on a Saturday when we came home from the library, with hamburgers frying for dinner

Watching Charlie Brown specials on the kitchen counter with popcorn and blankets

Sleeping on big bed in the living room with Mom who told us stories of the old days, which I envisioned to include huge ball gowns on everyone

Sleeping on that same bed with Dad, Arthur, and Sarah when Mary was born

Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches kept cold on the sunporch without a freezer!

A little mouse that ran into a hole in the living room while I was watching the electric company and then standing outside his hole with a piece of cheese to feed him

Vienna sausages after kindergarten

Walking all the way home from school by myself after first grade because I was too excited to remember that Arthur was waiting for me by the school door

Getting a new Barbie dreamhouse!

Dad bringing me home a Fisher-Price school bus

Dolls with soft bodies and pink outfits with white polka-dots

Oscar Meyer Weiner balloons in the trailer

Sharing pickles with Dad in the trailer while Mom said I was Daddy's girl

Learning to write my name in the trailer and not being able to figure out why my "n" looked weird (i know now I wrote an "h")

Dad bringing me home a crisp cotton nightgown with little blue and white clouds all over it that was size 6x and too big but I was happy anyway

Getting a pink lunchbox for first grade when I thought I would have to use a brown bag

Coming home from my friend's house to a room full of little presents of new underwear and t-shirts hidden around my room

A big yard sale we all went to, including Dad, and brought home a ton of board games and toys

Playing pingpong outside

Badminton in the side yard

Badminton this summer at our picnic

Drawing on the cement basement floor at Monard before Dad finished it

One-hand-let-go

Falling-off-places

A window that went from the living room to the porch and was great when we performed a play where I "fell" out the window

Having the biggest yard sale ever

Stringing clover flowers together to make a chain

Eating sweet clover right out of the grass

Sucking on the back of a honeysuckle flower

Walking to school during a snowfall with an umbrella

Miss Cashen

Going to Ridgeway when school was out and climbing trees

Going to Ridgeway when school was out and riding my bike down the sides of the steps

Dad taking us to Ridgeway after dark to run around and kick a ball when Arthur's blood sugar was high

Dad taking us to fly kites and getting them stuck in the power lines

Shooting off model rockets

Dad running faster than light and throwing a ball higher than a mortal person could

Sitting on the garage roof throwing rocks into the air so bats would chase them

Helping Dad feed leaves into a chipper

Planting 3 kernels of corn in each mound

Having my own flower garden where the pool used to be

Wisteria on the clothesline

Arthur tying the hose to the clothesline so it would wiggle around and squirt us

Climbing down the laundry chute

Getting paid 10 cents a day to do chores that I secretly liked

Getting up before dawn to can tomatoes with Mom

Watching the Great Space Coaster on TV in the morning before school

Mom saving the toys out of cereal boxes

Picking cereal solely based on the toy

Losing my tooth while doing a play in my room

Dad sneaking me chocolate pudding when I had to sit at the table until I ate my beef stew

Getting a new coat and Mary and Sarah getting ones that matched each other, all three with muffs for our hands

My kitchen set that was so real-looking

The clubhouse

Shopping for plastic food for the clubhouse

A box or can of Utz chips on top of the refrigerator in the trailer

Building a puzzle with a picture of a fairy tale cottage at night with Dad in the trailer

Mom taking me to get special pictures done

My huge doll with the peach soft body with white polka-dots

Getting lightsabers for the anniversary

Buying a black Barbie at Toys R Us while the cashier asked Dad if I was sure I picked the right one

Arthur buying me Miss America Barbie whose hair could be styled with a plastic curling iron

African violets in the window in the den

Pulling out the drawers in the den to get the love letters from Dad to Mom that were hidden there so we could read them

Storing each piece of candy I received in my closet so I could have a whole bowlful to eat at once

Taking brown bags of candy and popcorn into the movies

Friendship park

Another playground at a school I don't know the name of but it might have been Severn

Miss Joan from the trailer park taking Chickie and me to a park

Becky’s mom taking us to McDonald’s

Learning to ride my bike and not knowing how to stop so I rode all the way down the street until I crashed at the dead end, even though we weren't allowed out of the yard

Talking to the people who were working on the new house they were building next door

A German shepherd puppy who threw up after we brought him home in the car

A puppy named JoJo who was black and curly

Having a dream that I thought (and still think) was real and bigger than the trailer who liked to eat those little cushions off the inside of cabinet doors so I peeled ours off to feed to him but he already left

Having a bad dream about a black leather giant moose caterpillar who was standing next door and getting into bed with Mom

Arthur eating several bowls of spaghettios and then puking orange all over the huge pile of bubbles in the bathtub

Eating a ton of junk food every Tuesday night after the meeting

A Noah's Ark toy for the bathtub

Making Barbie houses out of my closet and cardboard boxes

Covering the Barbies up at night just in case they could feel cold

Sitting in my attic bedroom window reading or looking outside

Playing school in my bright yellow bedroom at Monard with the orange desk and mirror

Playing Mrs. Smith with Diane when she came to visit and using my pullout bed as our "desk"

Putting Mom's lipstick on and wondering why it didn't make my teeth big, beautiful and white like the lady who sang on TV

Dad buying Mom a TV as a surprise for their anniversary after we didn't have one for a year or two - I'm not sure but I think they returned it?

Watching Little House On the Prairie with my family

Watching Dukes of Hazzard and MASH with my family

Dad throwing a big wad of bills he had saved up into our little shoebox of money we kids were all saving up to buy a TV

Dad walking by and throwing a lit match on the pile of wood on which we were using a magnifying glass to try to build a fire

Bouncing on pogo sticks while it snowed and trying to bounce over and catch the flakes with my tongue

Roller skating on our long driveway

Playing hide-and-seek in our great yard

Mom buying me a special outfit for the first day of 6th or 8th grade - black corduroy pants, a striped shirt, and a gray corduroy blazer which I insisted on wearing even though it was hot out

Mom making me a fluttery 5th grade graduation dress

Mom giving me permission to wear the "heels" someone gave me to my graduation

Dad seeing the beat up heels and taking me to buy nicer ones

Wearing my first pantyhose and a long dress to a wedding when I was in 5th grade I think

Macrame'ing with Mom and the beautiful white curtain with silver beads

Mom teaching me to crochet

Learning to play Monopoly

Drawing Star Wars calendars as an art project

Making a carnival in the yard with the wagon as a roller coaster

Running to the swing set after the big two-seater thing had broken off and a bouncy horse was sitting there instead, jumping on the horse and using the springiness to bounce high enough to grab the top of the swing

Tricia coming to my new house and playing with me after kindergarten

Listening to my records after school at full volume while Dad was napping and getting in trouble �?"We are Siam-eeeeese if you pleeeeaaaseee," "Smokey the bear, Smokey the bear�?

Drinking a bunch of chocolate milk with Arthur in the trailer park and then throwing it all up on the walkway with him

A big pit of dirt behind our trailer that I think I only got to go to once

Someone saying there was a cow behind the trailer

The parachute all the kids played with at the trailer park that I almost suffocated in

Thinking that the new people who moved in to the trailer park must have been sitting in a big crowd of people who were camping out and waiting to move in because, of course, there was no world outside of there

The clothesline in the trailer park that spun around

Having a huge parade with coffee can drums down our street in the trailer park and Dad coming out briefly dressed as a clown

Dad making a beautiful train engine with cars and a caboose all out of regular-size Hershey bars and everyone coming over to eat some

Mr. Al

Mr. Jim and Miss Ginny

A baby bottle that really looked like the milk was coming out when you tipped it

Baby Joey

Getting cable TV

Getting our first computer, the Commodore 64

Dad buying us the Odyssey and taking us to the game store to pick out a bunch of games

My Little House On the Prairie lunchbox with Mary and Laura on the front

Having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, peanut butter crackers, or spaghettios every day for lunch because that's all I would take, plus usually a piece of candy

Not being able to eat the whole lunch I took in my new pink lunchbox before lunch was over on my first day of first grade

Getting up before dawn once in the trailer and sneaking out to the living room to play with my Fisher-Price little people ferris wheel

Miss Ginny giving me one of those packs of fake makeup and jewelry and also a cute umbrella

An tiny amusement park with a little plastic doll who had a hole in her back -–you stuck a plastic rod in and you could move her around and she could ride the rides

Cracker Jacks

Eating spaghetti at Mike's house and not knowing what it was

Mom making us each a Raggedy Ann or Andy but making me both because mine were the little ones (that I wanted)

Little carpet rectangles of all colors in the sunporch to make different Barbie areas

Frozen pudding cups from the convention

Tons of little pudding cans we could have whenever we wanted because I think they were free

A ham dinner where we all ate with the food in the middle of the table instead of already on our plates

Mixing soda with Koolaid so everyone could have some soda

Orange sherbet when I had pneumonia

Mary making me a huge plastic cup of warm water when I was so thirsty in bed with pneumonia and not having the heart to ask her to redo it, even though I couldn't bear to drink it - I think she was

Reading Reader's Digest

Reading the RD condensed books in the den

Looking in that little black pirate chest on the den shelf because it had such neat stuff in it

Mom giving me all the little samples of baby products when she came home from the hospital from having Mary

Making potato candy

Digging up sassafrass roots and boiling them for tea

Swinging from the grapevine and coming in to a platter of little triangle-shaped tuna sandwiches

Playing the soundtrack of Annie on my record player until everyone in the house was ready to kill me

Mary listening to the Tale of Dickie Dragon over and over

Arthur telling me the plot of Smokey and the Bandit because he saw it at the movies

Arthur coming home from a party with a flower that squirted water

Sitting on the steps to the attic, each of us with our own stair, reading and eating snacks, each in our own world

Our new bathroom with a shower!

Dad coming to get me when I got too dizzy to drive my car and had to park near La Fontaine Bleu

Mom coming to the hospital when I had my bladder infection and had to go there from work and later when Scott took me after my bladder surgery

Getting a Charms lollipop at the hospital when I swallowed a penny and sharing it with Mary who was in a highchair eating vanilla pudding

Mom saying "wanna go to a baby shower?" When her friends threw her a "surprise" one when she was pregnant with Mary

All the canned formula under the cabinet before Mary was born

Getting X-rays when I swallowed the penny and them not letting Mom stay with me

Going to Gino's after field service sometimes and getting little rectangular hamburgers while everyone else got chicken because it was also a KFC

Eating and playing board games at our little red picnic table Dad built

Pieces of coal (i'm not sure it was coal but we thought it was) that we dug up from the yard and used to write on the cement patio

Hiding in the corn stalks

Shelling peas

Breaking the ends off of green beans

Mom giving me a loan for my new Camaro so I could pay a lower interest rate

My parents driving me back and forth to Wendy's to work and making sure I had money for dinner

Moving into my new bedroom at Chalet

Buying lamps and dressers for the new house at Chalet since everything was built in at Monard

Getting pullout beds

Shopping with Mom to buy surprise stuff to decorate Mary's bedroom with rainbow stuff and her letting me buy two cute pictures for it

Going to see Kramer vs. Kramer with just Mom

Going to see Superman, The Black Hole, and Star Wars with Dad

Going to see Sleeping Beauty in the middle of the day with all the daycare kids

Going to Fantasyland

Going to the Washington Zoo

Uncle Melvin coming to visit

Bam-Bam pulling my hair

Eating at a real restaurant with Mom, Mary, and Sarah and getting a Steak-um sub and a mushy ice cream dessert that was so good!

A&P

Shopping for hand-held video games with Dad for Arthur when he got sick with diabetes

Dad taking me to the bowling alley with him the same night

Playing at the bowling alley when I was very small with a bunch of other kids on a black and white tile floor

Going duckpin bowling during school breaks

Mr. Jim and Miss Ginny coming to visit in our new house

Mr. Jim helping Dad build our kitchen cabinets

An orange painting with a black ship that had sails you could actually feel

Skating parties with the Witnesses

Getting to go to the Breakfast Club with Sondra and Sonja which was my first and probably only R-rated movie until I was old enough to drive

Dad crying at my real, courthouse wedding

Mom taking us to dinner at the Magic Dish after our courthouse wedding and then buying Scott and me and ice cream cake when we got home

Dad playing with Erik, who was about 15 months old, for the first time and being amazed by his little tiny hightops

My parents always making a turkey when we came to dinner with Erik because he said he liked it, and then later making shrimp for the same reason

Mom hugging me and crying when Braeden was born

My parents taking Braeden home with them when Chane was born so Scott could have a break and stay with me longer at the hospital

Mom watching Braeden while I was on bedrest

My parents coming to visit and buying us a pizza and then sitting and watching Braeden eat it - he wouldn't let us cut it up even though it was as big as his head, and he ate the entire piece

Mom holding Braeden when he was a newborn

Dad constantly straightening Braeden's head when he slept in the car seat because he thought it hurt his neck

Mom coming to hold Chane so I could wash his bottles

A new dishwasher arriving the next day from my parents

My baby showers thrown by my family

The sweet favors at each shower

Throwing baby showers for Mary and Sarah

Picking up limbs from the yard after a hurricane with Mom, Mary, Sarah, and Arthur

My parents coming over to bring Braeden presents every time they went yard-saling

My parents giving Erik a dinosaur computer game when Braeden was born so he wouldn't feel left out

Dad giving Scott a drill at Brae's baby shower so he wouldn't feel left out :-)

Seeing Mary try on her wedding gown at the shop and knowing it was the one

Watching Dad hold Erik on his lap during our wedding reception

Dad saying "go get him" after he walked me down the aisle

Hamburger rice

Dad teaching me to make meatloaf

Dad refinishing my hardwood floors because I didn't want carpet

How beautiful Sarah looked in her lace wedding gown with her hair all in curls

Singing "I Wanna Be Sedated" really loud in the car while driving to the hairdresser the day of Mary's wedding

Mom coming to get me the day of my wedding when my hair didn't turn out and I needed to go somewhere and get it done and fast!

Dad buying Erik a little bike

Dad holding Chane and saying he looked like Kermit the Frog in his green sleeper

Dad refusing to call Chane by his name and calling him "Ant-ne" instead

Dad calling Braeden "Dopey Opie"

Mom finding Braeden's bunny in the diaper bag and saying "see, your Mommy didn't forget about you"

Dad finishing the basement for Scott and me

Getting home from Florida and Dad had drywalled the coat closet for me and cleared the big weed pile from the side yard as a surprise for us

Mom helping me work on the trampoline safety net and then giving up with me

Going to Denny's with Sarah, Mary, Scottie, and Braeden and I think Chane

Watching Chane try to roll over while Mary cheered him on and ran her video camera during our trip to Disneyworld

Mary coming to the delivery room to tape Braeden's birth and not getting a chance to turn the camera on until he was actually coming out because I made her hold my leg

Mary coming to the delivery room to tape Chane’s birth but this time we knew in advance she’d be holding my leg!

My parents bringing dinner over when Braeden was born and then later with Chane

Sarah decorating the house for us when Braeden was born

The beautiful pooh outfit and blanket Mom bought Chane for his coming-home outfit

The two afghans Mom crocheted for Braeden when I was pregnant

Mom making all the fabric accessories for the nursery and throwing in a crib bag that held supplies as an extra