Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my blogging friends! I hope you have a beautiful weekend! I'm posting today ... about all the moms in my life! Hope you enjoy!

This is my favorite picture of my mother! I love it because she was being funny and her garter belt was showing! That look on her face is the "chewing gum" look! This was taken on Mother's Day before evening church. She had received the new camera used to take this picture ... as her Mother's Day gift!  My mother, Doris (Schuster) Raines was born on July 23, 1923. She raised 5 children and worked hard as a homemaker. She cooked 3 meals a day, because Daddy was a carpenter who was usually home for lunch ... and was hungry! Our elementary school was just a couple blocks away, so we always went home for lunch, too.

My mother gardened and canned. She made wonderful pepper relish ... and that recipe lingers on in my household! She was a fantastic cook and made the most incredibly delicious cream pies. Of course, when we were kids, the laundry was done one day a week, using an old ringer washer. Remember those days? I was the baby of the family, so I wasn't too old when she got an automatic washer ... but she still hung clothes outside for a few years and finally gave in ... and got a dryer, too!  She never had an automatic dishwasher.

This is my Aunt Evelyn, who was a second mom to me! She was my dad's baby sister and he called her Sissy ... so we called her Sissy! She is shown here holding my daughter and loving on her grandson, so he wouldn't be too jealous of the new baby in the family! Sissy was a mess! She had red hair and the temper to go with it. Sissy lived just two blocks from us, so it was easy to walk or ride a bike to her house. She is the reason I collect dishes! She taught me, early in life, how to have the most perfect tea parties!

The preceding picture is of my daddy's mother, Phoebe (Douglas) Raines (left). This picture was taken in 1919, and she is pregnant with my daddy! The woman on the right is my dad's sister, Leta, who was the oldest in his family. Leta is also pregnant in this picture ... with Phoebe's first grandchild! Funny? Not uncommon in those days.  My grandmother was born on September 12, 1880 and she died when my dad was a young teenager. Everything I know about her ... I know from stories he told, and he treasured her. She died from what was probably ovarian cancer, which was seldom diagnosed in 1933. Her illness was lingering, and Daddy was responsible for caring for her. I learned to sew on Grandma Phoebe's treadle machine ... Daddy put an electric motor on it, so I didn't have to peddle!

The name, "Phoebe" is unique and pretty. Some of my older cousins wanted to name their daughters "Phoebe" and they would ask Daddy's permission. He always told them not to use her name because children needed their own names. When my daughter learned that she was going to be able to adopt a brand new baby daughter, she asked her grandfather for permission to name the baby "Phoebe"! I was worried that he would tell her not to ... but just the opposite happened. Seems like he clearly understood Nicole's need to give this adopted angel a big piece of the family ... and you all know about our Miss Phoebe! My daddy adored her, too!

These are my mother's parents, George and Ida (Mueller) Schuster. Grandma Schuster was one stubborn woman and my dad had a love/hate relationship with her! They lived a block away from our house and Grandma would walk up the back alley (not the street) carrying a stick to shake at all the dogs that lived along the route! Ida Dora Mueller Schuster was born on January 10, 1898. She, too, was a really good cook and almost always had something simmering on the stove! My grandpa raised concord grapes to use making wine, but Grandma would fight him to get enough to make wonderful grape jelly! I had a close relationship with Grandma Schuster. I fixed her hair every Saturday when she got older. She would tell me the same stories over and over again ... and now I'm so glad she did. She sewed using a treadle machine Grandma had several grandchildren and we always received a birthday card through the mail ...with a dollar in it! She never missed a birthday. Isn't that a wonderful memory?

These beautiful pictures are of my Grandma Schuster's parents, Jake and Anna Mueller. Anna (Neumann) Mueller was born in 1873 to parents, also Jake and Anna!  I don't remember Great-Grandma Mueller, but I have a handwritten booklet filled with recipes that are hers.  In the booklet, we find her handwriting ... my Grandma Schuster's and my own mother's! I have modernized the recipes and made them over and over!  The picture on the left is their wedding picture and the one on the right is their 50th Wedding Anniversary photograph.

These women ... in some way ... impacted my life. They taught me how to ... and how not to ... behave. They gave me many of the mothering skills I have, the cooking skills I have ... and my "Sissy" made me love all things collectible and beautiful! I've passed it all on ... to my daughter, who has become a wonderful mother in her own right! She does it all "her way" ... but she does it right!

I'll be sharing this post with some of the parties I list on my sidebar! Make sure you stick around on my home page to see some of my other posts, before you click through to the blog parties!  Have a wonderful Mother's Day!