Thursday, September 8, 2011

Third Grade Memories

“I was scared to go to 3rd grade”, my mother told me over the phone… “Why?”, I asked…

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My mother grew up surrounded by family…grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins by the score…

The O.S. Stapley Family in Phoenix

…most of the time, that was a wonderful thing…but sometimes……?

Mom’s Uncle Steve was just two years older than her…her cousin Jeannie, just one year ahead of her in school.

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“We sure hope you don’t get Miss Vickery”, they’d tell her, over and over again…”She hates us—she won’t like you, either!”

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First day of school, scared to death…”I DID get Miss Vickery!”, laughed Mom…

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{It was fun to copy both sides of her report card, shrink it down, and make a little book of it—it will open and you can read everything—even Miss Vickery’s comments!}

“Looking back 60-plus years, I can imagine that part of the problem was the fear and anticipation itself, but nevertheless…”

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“…my memories of 3rd grade are only ‘scary’ ones”, she said with a giggle…

hpqscan0006_edited-1 {I love that Mom gave herself a STAR on this workbook page!}

“…and maybe I shouldn’t have listened to my older uncle and cousin, because I’m sure they took great delight in scaring me…

hpqscan0005_edited-1 {My mother is quite an artist—so fun to see her artwork in her earlier years!}

“…anyway, I will NEVER forget 3rd grade!”

hpqscan0002 {Copy of Mom’s 3rd grade report card…signed by Miss Vickery herself!}

Not that fun and wonderful things didn’t happen for Mom that year, but as far as the classroom goes, it wasn’t all that great! (We’ll save some stories for other days!)

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A fun new collection of papers from Graphic 45, “An ABC Primer”, inspired this delving into Mom’s grade school memories today…

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I also happened to have brought some of Mom’s school composition books and workbooks home with me from our visit this summer…perfect timing!

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A scanned sample of her work, along with her school picture from 1947 (3rd grade) made the perfect focal point for my layout.

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Third Grade…..what kinds of memories do you have?

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See you soon with something new…

Julie

17 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I love this! and I have awesome memories of 3rd grade...My teacher was named Miss Poitier and she traveled all over the world and always showed us slides of her trips...It was great!!!

    XO
    Cindy

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  2. I love what you did with your mom's things...and she was such a cute little girl! :D

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  3. What a sweet story, and I'm sure we all have something similar to tell!! ;-D

    Love that you have some of your mother's papers and report cards to play with!! Even sweeter!

    XO,
    Jane

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  4. Love your family stories and your layout.

    My favorite memories are of my 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Shoemaker, who would put on the record Purple People Eater when we did something great as a class. I remember singing that so loud and then just laughing as she would dance and sing around the room.

    Have a wonderful week, dear friend.

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  5. I Love the stories you tell Julie! Hopefully it wasn't as bad as your mom thought!
    Great page your created of her 3rd grade experience!
    hugs Lynn

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  6. wow!

    i know i'm going to leave my usual comment but can't help myself -- i just revel in the fact that you have all of this family history and think it's so wonderful how you weave it into sweet storytelling and beautiful crafting.

    wow!

    xo
    elyse

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  7. BEAUTIFUL! What a great post and so nostalgic, and I love your photos of your books etc.
    Inspiring and heart-warming.
    Karen @ Lavender and Lovage

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  8. Julie,
    I am always amazed that you have these old items to work with. That your Mom/You have saved these things. Most people throw things away & later.... wish they had those memories. Great that you are doing such precious art with them. Your kids are lucky to have these family memories/stories all preserved so beautifuly. Have a great weekend.
    Charlene

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  9. What a cute story Julie, and so nice that you have some of your moms art work from school. Love the pages that you made too, their adorable!!!
    hugs~~~ Daphne

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  10. So lovely, so much fun to see your moms old school books!
    Mary

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  11. That's a wonderful layout and story of your Mom's adventure. You are so talented. I am so into sewing these days I have not gotten back to my scrapping, I need to do that this winter for sure and catch up.

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  12. What a treasure page layout, with so many original papers to scan in! Love your stories and LO that go with them! {such an adorable 3rd grade photo of your Mom!} I was tickled how your Mom colored all the girls with blonde hair and the boys had brown!
    p.s. thanks for visiting me!! loved hearing from you!

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  13. Julie, you share your stories like no one else. Sweet stories with just the right images. Beautiful post!
    Hope your weekend will be good:)
    Hugs Hanne

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  14. What a cute little girl and a sweet story.
    Hugs
    donna

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  15. Your mamma is sooooo sweet...i love that photo of her. Your layout is adorable with all the little details. cherry

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  16. I have missed sitting down and visiting with you! It was so nice to pop by this morning on my day off and catch up!
    I love this post about your Mom. I wish I had asked my Mom more questions about her childhood.
    Great post. Love the page.
    GIRL! You are just GOOD!
    HAGD! Karen :)

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  17. such a wonderful thing to have all those memories and things to look back on, my family didn't save that much stuff, so glad to see your preserving it for future generations

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