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We thank you for taking the time to visit our blog.

My husband and I are a young, growing, Christian, military family. My husband is a Captain in The United States Marine Corps. I am a former Elementary school teacher. We are first time parents to a beautiful little two year old boy, with twin boys on the way! I am a stay at home Marine wife, who loves to bake, cook, sew and craft! I enjoy being a Domestic Engineer. The purpose of this blog is to document the story of our life and adventures as they take place.


We are honored to be serving our country and ask for prayer in our upcoming adventures. We have been blessed tremendously, and thank God everyday for all he has given us!

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Our Fall Afternoons


I just love beautiful, crisp, amber colored Fall afternoons... don't you? We have been having the most beautiful afternoons lately. Earlier this week, my sweet friend, Amanda, invited us to go to a preview day at The Cal Poly Pomona University Pumpkin Patch. The Pumpkin Patch didn't officially open to the public until Saturday, so we were thrilled to go early on Tuesday!

 
 
 We all had such a nice time! Robbie had a blast picking out pumpkins and the twins loved every minute of watching their surroundings.

 

Gigi went with us and she and Robbie had so much fun searching for the perfect pumpkin in the huge patch!

                                       Robbie loved climbing up the huge hay stacks.

 
It was a good day.
 
 



Our house is on a street that is home to so many little squirrels... in fact, we call it squirrel lane.
Robbie and I enjoy sitting in our living room in the mornings and late afternoons as we watch the squirrels run, play and climb the tall Oak trees and more.
 
 
This little squirrel is named Peanut, ( courtesy of Robbie), this is a picture of Peanut looking into our window. He is a bold little guy!

 
Last week, I brought out all of my paints and helped all three kiddos make a hand print Fall tree on a canvas. I  think it turned out pretty well!
 
 
 
Speaking of Fall afternoons, I would like to share another one of my Mother's stories from her book, "At Least A Thousand"
 
An Afternoon In Pasadena
By: Robin Sieverling
 
Since my mother did not drive, she and I frequently took the bus to Pasadena. My mother's sister, my Aunt Dora; worked in Pasadena. We would often spend an afternoon in Pasadena shopping and  having lunch with Auntie Dora. I loved these adventures! We usually had lunch at a restaurant called Beadles Cafeteria. I believe it still exists today.
 
"Shopping With Mother" ~ Vintage Children's Book
 On this particular day, we had just about an hour to kill before my Auntie was to meet us. My mother loved to sew, so we went to a fabric store called Maximes Fabric. On our way out of Maximes, we buttoned up our coats because it was cold and windy outdoors. It was mid-November, almost my birthday, and I was excited about the Fall weather. It started drizzling a bit, so my mother stopped off at a store called Kress'. We were looking to buy some rain bonnets there. My mother bought a red one and I bought a blue one. They only cost a quarter!
 
Just as we were leaving Kress', we noticed a crowd congregating around a table in the center part of the store. There was an extremely large, black woman. This black woman was making pancakes on a portable grill. She had a beautiful smile, with the whitest teeth I had ever seen. She was wearing a red and white checkered dress with a white cotton scarf tied around her neck, and a simple white apron tied around her waist. She had a bandana tied around her hair with a knot tied toward the right side of her very round face. I was mesmerized at how beautifully this woman prepared thick and fluffy pancakes with such ease. Because I was only about four years old, I was totally unaware of sales tactics. I guess I just thought the world was a place filled with good people who wished to share their talents in stores. Everyone kept calling this woman "Aunt Jemima". She answered to it and she encouraged the public to, "Try my new temptillatin' recipes."
 
 
 
My mother purchased  a box of Aunt Jemima's Pancake Mix from this woman. The woman known as, "Aunt Jemima", handed me a small booklet filled with recipes. She also said, "Child, now you and your mamma may choose any of those scarves for only fifty cents since you bought a box of my mix." I was so thrilled! I chose a Fall-colored scarf with yellow, orange and brown leaves all over it. I chose that particular one because it looked exactly like the weather outside. I tried putting the scarf on my head in exactly the same way Aunt Jemima was wearing hers. The incident took place in about 1959. People dressed up when they went to downtown Pasadena. Women wore gloves and high heels to town, and men wore Stetson hats and wing'-tip shoes.
 
Above is the scarf my Mother got that Fall afternoon, she still has it today.
 
 
While admiring Aunt Jemima, I overheard some women commenting on, "How fat that woman is" or "I wouldn't buy from her" or " Looks like she ate too many of those temptilatin' things." I wanted to put my arms around Aunt Jemima and hug and kiss her. I prayed to God that she did not hear those so called, "ladies." Dressed in her Mammy attire, the very fat and cheerful, black woman, stole my heart. The woman had a warm manner about her. She was kind and gentle, and she was very good at her job of demonstrating a product. She was earning an honest living, and she promoted nurturing and loving atmosphere at Kress' department store.
 
My mother read to me all about the legend of Aunt Jemima, from the little recipe booklet that Aunt Jemima had given me. According to legend, Aunt Jemima was a Mammy cook at Higbee's Landing. Even in those days. the fame of Colonel Higbee's cook, spread far and wide throughout the South. Guests flocked to the home of Aunt Jamima's master to taste the delicacy for which she was famous. Colonel Higbee would call Aunt Jemima herself in from the plantation kitchen and praise her before his guests.
 
With my childish expectations, I was unaware that Kress' Aunt Jemima was a hired employee, trained to create an illusion. This was a great sales-hype! Whatever the intention was, I was affected by it! I never heard the name Jemima again, at least without regards to pancakes.
 When I was forty years old and taking Bible study classes, I came across the name Jemima. I was thrilled and eager to learn about Jemima in the Bible. In Hebrew, the name Jemima means, "dove". A dove is a Pigeon, meaning the symbol of peace. In the Bible, Jemima was one of the daughters of Job, born to him after he regained his fortunes. The Lord had brought trials upon Job and finally, the Lord blessed Job at the end of his life more than at the beginning.
 "After Job's trials and tribulations, God gave him seven more sons and three more daughters. The following were names of his daughters; Jemima, Kezia, and Keren. "In all the land, there were no other girls as lovely as the daughters of Job." ( Job 42: 14-15). That cold and dreary, drizzling day in Pasadena, suddenly turned warm with Aunt Jemima's temptilatin' recipes.  In all of the stores, there was no other employee as lovely as Aunt Jemima!
 
Would you like to try Aunt Jemima's Pancakes at home?
 
 
How are you enjoying your Fall afternoons?
Blessings,

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fascinating reading and great pictures. Aunt Jemima was always what we ate during my childhood!

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