Little Brad and Little Grace at Christmas

Some very old Christmas pictures from the Stevens album.

Bradley checks his stocking.

Ooh! Train set!

Oh the burden of being the first born. Having browsed through many pictures of the large Stevens clan gathering for Christmas, I feel sorry for Little Brad made to carry the holiday all alone on his tiny shoulders.

The xylophone and tinker toys seem like harbingers of creative projects to come, but the proudly displayed shovel? Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'm getting a lawn mower for my birthday in a few weeks--probably part of the same hallowed tradition.

Lucky for Brad, he now has little sister Grace to share in the merriment, though its still looking like more siblings are required to make the celebration more exciting. Stay tuned...

Bluppy

I've just recently discovered that Mom is dog-obsessed. For some reason I always thought that she just tolerated the family dogs, but no, she's been attached to the creatures for much longer than I thought. Here we find her with "Bluppy" -- her toddler name for puppy. She confesses that she doesn't know whether perhaps big brother Brad might have had a different name for the mutt or whether the entire family embraced her bastardization.

Pete in a Tight Spot

I am late in posting this for Pete's birthday, but I thought of this picture when I heard that Little Max had discovered the joys of tower building using these very same 'bricks' supplemented by some oatmeal boxes collected by Grandma. I don't know if there are currently any pictures of Max's 'tawa' building prowess-- or of his sisters walling him in, but I'm sure we can arrange some in the near future. This picture is from 1972.

DeGeus Kitchen 1982

After Hattie passed away I dug through our slides looking for pictures but she was usually missing from the action at family gatherings. Luckily, someone (ahem, yours truly) had the sense to stake out the kitchen. Even our mutt Mickey had the sense to know that this was the place to hang out. And I am sure she was amply rewarded for her naughty begging. These pictures were taken in 1982 when Chris and Nancy were married in Milwaukee. Hattie and Con were kind enough to play host to Grandma and Grandpa Stevens who came to attend the festivities, thus we see Angelyn in one the pictures.

TerMaat Road

These pictures of Dad and Aunt Hattie were taken on TerMaat Road, not too far from Oostburg. Here is a Google Maps link. The pictures are from 1989.

Wren House

Here we present the wacky wren house and its occupants. The picture on the left shows the door knob "perch" slightly better, but obviously the wrens prefer the top of the shepherd's crook for singing their morning serenades. Feeding activity continues.

Wren's Egg

Mom has shared how a pair of wrens has moved into a crazy birdhouse visible from the deck (I'll try to get a picture of that some time when the light is on it). While doing a little yardwork in the vicinity, I noticed what I first took to be a berry but later verified was a wren's egg. The parents are still tending the nest and we can't figure any way an egg could have fallen out, so we speculate this one's fall is the result of some maternal miscalculation when out for a spritz in the nearby birdbath. Hard to believe an actual bird can hatch out of something this tiny!

Go Ginkgo!

All that ginkgo talk last fall and here's what started it! As you may recall, when Mom first described its installation, it had only a Charlie Brown leaf or two. It's been doing well even with the drought. I took some close-ups so you could appreciate the delicate fan-like leaves. Looking forward to its golden splendor in the fall.

Go Westside!

I'm reading Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, an account of how he came to devote his life to building schools in the remote regions of Pakistan. There's a local angle in that the first check for the first school in Pakistan came from pennies collected by students from Westside Elementary School in River Falls (where Greg's mother was principal). Westside is a few blocks from the TerMaat homestead and has some Distinguished Student and Staff Alums. (Remember to click on images for a better view).

I didn't attend Westside, which wasn't built until after I was elementary age. Instead, I stood on a corner a block from the site of the future school, knocking my knobby knees together in subzero weather, waiting for the bus to take me to the illustrious Greenwood Elementary across town.

(Above) Mom compresses herself into a kid-sized desk to enjoy breakfast with Westside second graders. The date on this is unclear.

Below, Mom with Vietnamese refugees in 1983. Not sure what happened to the other two kids, but Mom had a motherly relationship with Khiem for a few years and one of these days I will dredge up a picture of Khiem visiting Deer Lake. I believe there may even be some artwork of Khiem's on a wall in our basement which may need to be scanned at some point.

Below, Pete's spelling bee triumph. As best as I can recall, the first and second place winners aren't depicted because they were actually junior high school students, making Pete's achievement especially impressive. Or maybe first and second went to the superior Greenwood team, which would not surprise me, of course. Westside does seem to have good p.r., though.




I will have to dig up a full-color slide of Peter in the glossy psychedelic shirt depicted here. (I had a similar Mom-made blouse). Gotta love those '70s!!!

Port Sheldon 1954

Pictures by AK. Now this is my own personal hang-up, but I have a great deal of difficulty with pictures of Chris this small. As my big brother, Chris should always be, well, BIGGER! This Max-sized package does not compute. Also, who are these ridiculously young and skinny people posing as his parents? They still have that newlywed aura about them... Happy Anniversary (June 14) Mom & Dad!

Puppy Attack!

Puppies through the decades give Dad the big smooch. Since I can't be in River Falls for Father's Day, consider this post a virtual hug.

Brownie - 1940s


Fritz - 1962 (Back when Dad smoked a pipe!)


Bridget - 1965

More Bridget

Mickey - 1977

Shorpy

For fans of old photos here's a fun blog-- Shorpy: The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog.

A Boy and His Dog

These photos were taken by AK in 1958. What a little boy and what a teeny-tiny dog!

Trucks

Mom was reminiscing recently about little boy fascination with watching construction projects with big noisy trucks and 'dozers. Here is Chris with some toy versions. The first is Christmas 1955. The second is from 1959.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Here are a couple of photos from 1955 taken by AK. Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Martha & Mom

I meant to post these back in May, the month of Martha and Mothers. These were taken by AK in summer of 1959.

Happy May Day!

Nothing says May Day like a three year old in a tulip dress on a swing!