playground

 

Why you should read the blog from the bottom up

I started reading (skimming) at the top and saw congrats to Mark and Monica as well as Andy and Kim.  So I immediatly scrolled down to see if we were getting new additions to the family, only to realize it is only their anniversary.  I was a little disappointed!  Congratulations anyway on your anniversary! 

Tim and Cindy, Congratulations!  I knew why conrats were in order for you two!  LOL 

Is anyone surprised that MSHA is all over Cobalt?  They are probably part of the huge fan base, just like we are.  Fortunatly, they made enough money from this production that they can afford to pay any fines that may come up.  Haha 

Pocket Dialing Cell Phone Lands Would-Be Thieves Behind Bars - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com

Pocket Dialing Cell Phone Lands Would-Be Thieves Behind Bars - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com Check out this news report! Tanner went to school with the Nolan kid and played football with him.

Congrats, to Mark and Monica ,and to Andy and Kim, Hope you guys have a million more .Love you All.

Sorry I double posted

Monica, Kelsey sent me and her dad a pic of her and uncle Tim. Sorry but they didn't post that one on the blog.

Also as of 8:00 Friday evening me and Steve finished installing our kitchen cabinets. We just need to put the hardware on and put the shelves in. The appliances and counter top are coming Monday morning. We also have crown molding and light rail to install on the cabinets.

Congrads Monica and Mark!!! Andy and Kims first anniversary is April 17.

Monica, Kelsey sent me and her dad a pic of her and uncle Tim. Sorry but they didn't post that one on the blog.

Also as of 8:00 Friday evening me and Steve finished installing our kitchen cabinets. We just need to put the hardware on and put the shelves in. The appliances and counter top are coming Monday morning. We also have crown molding and light rail to install on the cabinets.

Congratulations Timmy & Cindy!! Your pictures are pretty. I didn't see any with Kelsey in them, Teresa what were you referring to? lol Today is our anniversary. It has been 5 years already. It's went by quick. Love to all :)

Welcome to the Family Cindy,Hope you and Tim will be very happy. Love you both.

Welcome to the family Cindy. Good luck and God bless to you both. Tim, I liked the pic of you and Kelsey. Isn't she soooo cute.

Welcome to the Family..You can't say you didn't know what you were gettin' in to! Is that Pilot Mountain, NC? It looks like it. Timmy, you know what they say...The Third time is a charm.
Blain watched "Coal" for the first time last night. The first thing he said was, "They ain't wearin' their Safety Glasses." and from there it went on and on. When they started runnin' out of the mines at the end, he came off of the couch and said, "Now that's Drama." It is fun to watch it with him bc he explains alot. But he said, most of it was the real deal!

Mr & Mrs Timmy Dean Treadway

Trish, I KNEW when I was watching coal that would happen!

MSHA cites McDowell mine after watching 'Coal' - WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and Sports

MSHA cites McDowell mine after watching 'Coal' - WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and Sports

Steve's watch dog!

Emily~  You are a natural!  Those pictures were great and better than anything I could have gotten anywhere else.  I plan to do some advertising for you when I show off these pictures that your mom made me. 

Trish~  I love the Easter basket and thanks for "enduring" my kids yesterday. 

For all of you "COAL" fans, Matthew works on the jacks that go on that miner and the scoop.  I didn't know this until last week.  I wasn't really sure what he did~  LOL!   Anyway, is anyone else out there thinking that Andy should just run the mine by himself?  Next week...drug testing!  Should be interesting. 

Thanks to all of you that were praying for us yesterday.  It was so much harder than I imagined it could be.  Teresa, Steve, and Elliot, thank you for being there.  Steve, I especially appreciate you wearing suspenders for my benefit.  It was very moving:)   

Love to you all!    

Janet

Click on Olivias picture and it will take you to pictures of them I took on Sunday!  They are so cute, actually Emily took the pictures, but she did use my camera!   We borrowed the tractor!

Olivia and Kaiden

Rita, let Blain know we love him and are still praying for all of the family. Emily, I loved the pics. Yal look like 2 peas in a pod lol. Janet, I want a pic of Steve with suspenders on and explain some more on this jungle gym? I fixed lasagna today and used Paul's sauce recipe. It was good :P We watched Coal tonight as well. Did anyone watch "Extreme Couponing" on TLC? It came on at 8pm, 9 and 930. All different episodes. If you're wondering, it's about people who are a little on the obsessive side ( I think) of using coupons. These people go and spend $600-$1200 (just the episodes tonight) using in-store sales, in-store coupons and clipped coupons and pay most of the time less than 10% of the retail value. One lady paid $6.97 of $687 worth of groceries. I couldn't believe it!! She had a box with her that had 2500 coupons in it. They also buy alot of bulk so that means they have to have a place to put it. Looks like they have a small grocery store in their house. It seemed like most of them were shopping at Kroger's. I'm going to have to check into their in-store coupons and sales and may have to do some checking into this myself. Monday evening while I was getting Marleigh's bath water ready I noticed that when I would breathe I would have a sharp pain in the center of the right side of my back. We had played outside that evening so I thought I might have pulled a muscle although I didn't recall having any pain while outside. I put her to bed and tried to lay down on the couch but that didn't help. I took some Excedrine and went to bed at 930 hoping it would go away. It didn't. I couldn't lay on my back or my stomach because that seemed to make it worse. I tried laying on my left side with my arm and leg on top of a body pillow and if I didn't hold my limbs the right way it would get worse. The only relief I seemed to get was laying on my right side but I still couldn't take a full breath without pain. This lasted all night, I got no sleep. I did pray at some point in the night and I think I might have got about 30 minutes of sleep at that time. I finally got up that morning a little after 8, took a shower and called the dr. He's thinking that the bottom of my right shoulder blade is digging into the outer lining of my lung causing irritation and inflamation thus causing the pain. He said that it may have come from carring Marleigh and maybe turning the wrong way. He told me not to be carring her for a few days :( Well that only lasted a few hours that day. I have tried not to pick her up as much and if I have to I try to put most of the weight on my left arm. He put me on an anti-inflamitory and it feels so much better now but I still feel a little glitch near the bottom of my shoulder blade. I had never heard of such before but I'm glad to be feeling almost back to normal :P When I got my prescription filled that morning I just wanted to get the meds in my system so the pain would go away so I took the first pill with a glass of milk like he told me. We then headed to Christiansburg, had lunch, then went to the mall to walk around a little bit. My stomach started cramping something awful, I was almost in a sweat. I took off to the restroom and for the first couple minutes nothing happened. I was so confused and started thinking the dr had the wrong diagnoses. Then it hit me..........I have not had the runs like that in some time, I can't even remember when. And it wasn't just once but twice and then as soon as we got home. Needless to say I told Mark we were going to have to leave the mall early lol!! I got home and read the information that came on my prescription and it said to take with food (which I didn't at first) and that diarreha could be a side effect. Thus, the lesson of that day was " read the instuctions and information before taking medicine no matter HOW much pain you are in" LOL!! By the way, does anyone know if we are going to have an Easter Egg hunt that weekend?

Olivia and Kaiden came and stayed for a while at Mommy's Sunday while Zac and I were there. We painted nails and did hair and read books. Olivia really liked taking pictures with me on my computer. =D

Rita, tell Blain we're praying for him.

I'm off to watch Coal and get to bed...I have a physics test at 8 tomorrow. =P

Night everyone!

The new background is sooo pretty. The funeral was beautiful. Blain's Dad picked out her dress and it was so springy. There was a lot of people there...with visitation and the funeral together...some came and went and some came and stayed. Blain's mom's church and Janet's (Cindy's) church went together and fed everybody afterwards and they had sooo much food but it was sooo good. Blain didn't want to go eat after we left the cemetery so he just came home and he has gone back to the cemetery alone. He is having a hard time, still pray for him.
Elliot, Steve, and Teresa...thank you for coming. It meant alot to Blain and for those of you who couldn't, we know your thoughts and prayers were with us today.

Trish ,I love the new background, Looks like spring and good old country., we will be praying for every one today . hope all is well.

Our new background is called Come To The Table.  When I think of Easter, I always think of our get togethers and eating.  Mommy would start right after Christmas practically with her store list and who was coming and what are we going to EAT! That was always her worry.  So I thought this background was fitting.  The little blinkie on the side is  for fun!  LOL

I know what grandpa would say, "Where are all of my clocks?"  Lol  Grandma would love it:)  

I forgot to post this on the blog for a few of you who took part in the teasing of Steve (Tanner, Emily, Monica, Andy, ect.)  I went up there the other day and YES he actually had suspenders on.  He sure is doing a good job filling grandpa's shoes.  It drew me back to reality when he talked about taking two of those trees and making them into a jungle- gym.  I quickly realized it was still Steve.  If he has us all out there picking up rotten apples, we'll have to tell him he has gone too far! 

Trish~  Matthew called me this morning and said that he was telling the kids good-bye, but they just kept on trucking it through the house.  He said that Olivia talked the whole way there about their "secret" for Easter.  Guess they were excited.  Hope they went back to bed for you.  I'll call you later to let you know what the plan is. 

I am at school and getting ready to go to the funeral.  Please remember my dad, Vanessa. Chet, the girls, and grandma & grandpa in your prayers today as well as the rest of the family.  I know today will be hard for everyone.  

As I was reading what Trish wrote, I thought about the time (or times) when Cindy, Trish and I were on the Ferris Wheel at the Fair.  I think we went to the "The Whites"?  

Anyway, Hope you all have a good day!  Love to you all:)

Janet 

Teresa the house looks really good! I think mommy would love it. You did her proud. Not sure what daddy would have to say:) lol

It's unreal about Cindy. She and I became good friends when rita and blain hooked up. We were close in age and we liked a lot of the same things. Of course as we grew older we grew apart but whenever we would see each other at ritas and Blains for get togethers we would always catch up. She truly loved her family. I am so glad they came back to the church. Chet will really need them now and cindys family too since he doesn't have many of his own left. Not sure if many of you know this but chets aunt is married to Juanita Treadways brother, Lawrence. Her name is Norma and they moved back to the Patterson home place several years ago but then sold it to Donna and murrel.
Looks like Cindy will have a beautiful day to go home to heaven and I bet mom and dad will be there to show her around and will put a big spread on the table. I am pretty sure dumplins will be on the menu, because as I recall, Cindy liked home cooking:)

I have the pleasure of being entertained by Olivia and Kaiden today. They just got up and we are all in my bed watching COAL. They are finding it quite interesting.

Michelle I am enjoying all of your family on facebook. I can't wait to see more pictures of Joe in Afghanistan. And seeing Tarin in prom dresses? I didn't realize until I saw how grown up she is going to the prom that Tanner is only a year and a half older than her! Will Joe get to come home after his accident? Is he still recuperating? Back to work?

Monica it sounds like your "little one" isn't so little anymore. Already a toddler, walking and talking, next thing you know SHE will be picking out her prom dress!

Julie how are you doing? My feet are giving me fits but seems to be tendons and muscles, not so much bones. I have been doing physical therapy and that seems to help.

Well better get breakfast, we are having chocolate chip pancakes! Yum

Vonda- my islands top is glass tiles they are small little squares that are random in color but they are put on a backing that makes them a 13" x 13" sections so it wasnt as hard as it looks. Steve just put a thin set on it and put the tile sections on and dark grout on it. I think it turned out great. Hope everyone is doing ok. Love you all!

Teresa, the pictures of the house look really pretty, love it, what kind of top did you put on the island table? was it granite tiles?It sure looks pretty, I love it, you did a good job.Rita your 4 kids look like they are having too much fun! Hope everyone else is doing ok as for here the things are the same .

Here are a few updated pics. Been doing a lot of painting!

My 4 Kids!

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Janet, can't you just hear Gramma laughing! She probably at one time ask God to not let her forget to give that picture to Janet! He was just answering another of her prayers! Congrats to you Tim and Cindy!

Monica, I forgot to answer your question...yes, those two little girls in Janet's wedding were Cindy's daughters. The oldest one, Nicole is now 13.

Obituary

Cynthia Dawn 'Cindy' Roach

DANESE — Cynthia Dawn "Cindy" Roach, 41, of Meadow Bridge Road, passed away early Sunday, April 3, 2011, at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital, following a sudden illness.

Born April 19, 1969, at Beckley, she was the daughter of Charles Hubert and June Carol Martin McClanahan of Danese.

Cindy attended the Faith Freewill Baptist Church of Danese. She was a LPN, working in obstetrics and gynecology field. Cindy loved animals, fishing, and riding horses.

Those left to cherish her memory are her husband, Chester Lee "Chet" Roach of Danese; her parents, Hubert and June Martin McClanahan of Danese; two daughters, Nicole and Megan Roach, both at home; a sister, Vanessa Hamrick and husband, John, of Loops Road, Rainelle; brother, Blain McClanahan and wife, Rita, of Backus Road, Meadow Bridge; and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.

She will be sadly missed by many friends and extended family.

Services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, 2011, at Faith Freewill Baptist Church, Danese, with Pastor Allen Whitt and Pastor Milburn Pack officiating. Burial will follow in the Harrah Cemetery on Backus Mountain, near Meadow Bridge.

Music will be provided by John Hamrick.

Friends may call two hours prior to the service at the church.

Arrangements entrusted to Wallace & Wallace of Rainelle.

Rita

Matthew & I told Olivia and Kaiden about Cindy the other night and Olivia being the worrier that she is, looked very concerned until I told her that Cindy was in Heaven.  She pondered for a minute and then smiled and said, "I bet she is with Grandma Treadway.  Maybe they are having dumplins:)"    

I wanted to share another miracle with you all that happened the other evening.  I had gone up to Steve's to get some furniture the other day and I am pretty sure that he stuffed as much as he could in the empty drawers as I was leaving.  He denies, but I am not so sure.  Anyway, we were all having a good laugh at all the things that papaw kept.  Several days later, I was going through the thousands of greeting cards that ended up in the drawers, and out fell a picture.  As most of you know, I only knew my biological grandparents for a short time and have very few keepsakes or pictures of them.  Well, guess what that picture was of?  My grandpa!     

Cindy's Services

Services for Cindy will be Wednesday at the church in Danese.  The funeral will be at 2:00 and the viewing is from 12:00-2:00.  She will be buried at the Harrah cemetery on Backus Mtn.  I will post the obituary when it comes out in the paper...should be tomorrow.

--

Rita

Rita, tell Blain we are sorry to here about Cindy as well. Was it her daughters that were in Janet's wedding? We love you and will be praying for you and the family. Timmy and Cindy, congratulations!! Your picture looks really nice and comfy by the fire :P

Blain's Parents

If any of you would like to send Blain's Mom and Dad a Sympathy card their address is

 

Charles & June McClanahan

HC 61 Box 910

220 Fleshman Cemetery Rd

Danese WV  25831

 

If you send them a card, and they may not know you, tell them your relationship to Blain.

They have gone to make arrangements.  I think they are only having one service..visitation an hour before...at Janet's church/the old Roger's Bestway.  I'll post them when Blain's mom calls and confirms.  She will be buried up here on the mountain.

Rita

Rita and Blain, I,m really sorry to hear about Cindy let us know if we can do anything. I'll get Steve right on cooking you anything you may need. Ha/Ha Really if you need anything just let us know and please blog the wake times and place. We love you all and hope to see everyone soon.

God Bless

Rita, we hadn't been on the blog in a while. Please know you are all in our prayers. Please extend our condolences to Blain and the family, Timmy & Cindy

We would like to announce our Wedding to the family. We are to be married Thursday April 7th, 2011. We have planned a small informal ceremony at the church in Radford which Tim and Steve helped build. Pastor Dallas Vines is going to do the ceremony.

At this point in our lives, we didn't feel the need for a big ceremony, it will be just the two of us with Kelsey as a witness. Keep us in your prayers as we start out on this wonderful journey together. We love you all, Timmy & Cindy

Email From Goldie

Hey,
I read the blogs,and yes Belzene was David and your Dad's cousin.She was married to Grandpa's brother Frank's son .They called him junior I think.He proably has come up for apples.
I was so sorry to hear about Cindy.

Rita

Cindy passed this morning at 6:45. Her BP had dropped through the night continuously and the family went on to the hospital and Chet decided to go ahead and take her off of the ventilator. The family was all with her when she passed. I will let you know when the arrangements have been made. Thank you all for the Prayers.

Thank you for the prayers for the family. Cindy's husband, Chet, rededicated his life to the Lord last weekend. They both had recently gotten back in to church and were serving the Lord. Thank God. Chet has made the decision to end the life support around 9 in the morning. He wants to spend the night with her. He wants the family to all be there. Blain's Mom and Dad are holding up amazingly well. I'm sure it is due to all the prayer support. Remember Blain and Vanessa and numerous cousins. I was amazed at all the cousins that were there when we got to the hospital.

Rita and Blain , just know that you all and Blain,s family will be in our prayers In this hard time Love you both.

I think Chet is having trouble making that decision so they are doing a brain scan, more for Chet than anything.  Please keep Chet and the girls, as well as the rest of the family in your prayers.   

Mom wanted me to post an update on Cindy.  There is no brain activity and basically no hope.  They just need to decide when to turn everything off.  Please continue to pray for the family. 

Rita, we'll be praying for Cindy.

It snowed here this morning...then the sun came out, not it's gone again. I thing it's supposed to be in the 70s on Monday. Welcome to WV I guess.

Here are a few pictures I've been meaning to put up.

Here is our beaker of wool, cotton and grass. It made a really pretty green color in the water.

And here are the final products...the color is kind of weird on the picture, but as you can see it's pretty pale. The wool is on the right, and it dyed the best in all of the beakers.

This is the first good pan of biscuits I've made (since switching to Hudson Cream, lol). I cheated with the browning though, I had to turn the broiler on for a little bit at the end to get them to brown. I put oil on top of them like Grandma did but they were still white before I broiled them...any suggestions?

Blaine, Rita, yes we will pray for Cindy. So sorry to get this report. God is able to intervene, to heal, and to comfort when no one else can.
Love you both.

Blain's Sister

Please pray for Cindy, Blain's Youngest sister.  They took her to the hospital last night and she is on life support.  Blain's mom said they lost her 3 times and they got her back. They don't know what's wrong, they said something about it possibly, being her heart.   I'll keep you posted but we appreciate you praying.
 

Rita

yes, it does make you appreciate Daddy's struggle to make a living for us even more after seeing the story about the coal mines. Dad would never had made it if it had not been for mommy's prayers. I can remember him coming home and telling mommy how bad something had been that day ,and remembering mommy praying at that time for him , and staying up at night waiting to see his headlight's coming up the road , then she knew he was safe at home again.praying and reading her bible, that the Lord would take care of him, and he did.It had to be a very hard life for them as young parents, with all of us kids to care for. and Daddy was a very proud man. But I think they did a great job in all.

I recall the days when Daddy would take the little Radio Flyer red wagon to the mines with him. He used it to haul his dynamite in, if my memory serves me right. The coal was so low that he would carry his lunchbucket in his teeth and crawl into the mines pulling the little red wagon with his charges and his little pick, which I assume what for digging the holes for the charges. I remember, even as a kid, thinking how difficult his job must have been. Seeing Coal made me appreciate even all the more all that he did to make a living for us, because I thought the program was quite scary. I do not know if I would have had the courage to work in the mines. When you try to put yourself in those men's shoes, you can kind of understand it when they say: You do what you gotta do! And even after terrible disasters, they go right back in and Do What A Man's Gotta Do to provide for his family. I do not know how the wives of miners have any peace at all if they do not know God.

Mornin Ya'll
Everyone must be busy

MP3 and Zac and Emily, so glad you got to have a lunch date. I know that was fun. Isn't Marleigh just the cutest, happiest, baby you've ever seen. I don't think I've seen her cry...ever.

Bobbie, Janet DVR'd (Ha) "Coal" so Blain could watch it. He had to go out at 2 this morning. He'll get 13 hours today and has to work tomorrow too. At our house, it has always been either "Feast or Famine".

In Daddy's early years of mining coal, they would Dynamite it out and then hand load it onto buggies. They didn't have a roof bolter, they would set timbers to hold the roof up. That was before the machines. Before Daddy left the mines, They probably had some of the machines by then, but most of his mining was done by hand. Can you imagine???

Blain said that he has roof bolted 10 cuts and as much as 500 ft a shift (He became a member of the 500 ft club) and yeah, they had pizza and it was quite a big deal. They were running 2 Continuous Miners and When they would shut one off to be serviced or moved to another section, they would start the other one. One Bolt crew (2 men) would bolt all the top. Would you believe, he said that was his favorite job underground. The last bolt machine Blain ran was the kind that 2 men could Bolt at the same time. I think it was called a "Double Headed Fletcher"? I might be wrong about the name.

It snowed here last night, just enough to cover the ground, but it is pretty. However, I hope it is our last. I want to see flowers!!

Yes Rita, We did see Coal, one of the most dangerous jobs! And yes it was most interesting! Made me appreciate Dad all the more for the life he carved for us out of the coal. Did Dad do all of those jobs in his lifetime or was he good at a certain something? I don't know. I wish I did now. Ask Blain if he knew through their conversations, what it was Daddy did specifically. I want to catch it next week too, so remind us again on that day OK. So, Blain's job was a Bolter for the top? And everyone's safety in there depended on the job they did, is that what I heard? Thank-you Blain for the job you did all those years! And seven cuts a day is a really good day?

Hey All
I loved the videos. Those 3 can really sing. I see a Bus in their future.

Coal was really good. Blain was taking a shower abut 9:30 getting ready to watch it (He is usually in bed by 9, Up at 4) but as he was getting out of the shower, his work called and they needed him out at 2:30 this morning. Sooo, he didn't get to watch it. It was real interesting to me though bc I've heard Blain talk about all that stuff. He operated the roof bolter side-by-side with his dad for years, he has ran the continuous miner underground AND outside by remote control...I've heard him talk about guys running over the miner cable and it stopping production...all of that...The bad top...flooding of the mines (that is coming next week). I am sooo glad he is not underground anymore. If you missed it, you need to tune in next week.

I'm out the door to go to Janets and keep Olivia and Kaiden. They are both sick.

Hey, Everyone! Hope you are all great; we are. Loved the pics of the table, Teresa. Did you do the top? That must have taken a long time. It is beautiful. Emily, hilarious videos, I found them on youtube and put them on my facebook.... speaking of which, I am jumping into facebook. All of the cousins out their, and anyone else on it, look me up. Michelle Roberts, look up in Germany....there shouldn't be too many. I realized I don't even know some of your last names! How out of touch am I?! But of course, there are so many of us....LOL. Tarin has made up her mind she wants to teach AP History for high schoolers. How cool is that? We will see if she changes her mind before graduation, ha ha, she is only a freshman. Joe's stitches came out, his headaches are gone, and the scars are minimal. Thank God. Love to all of you, Michelle and girls

I liked that video Emily, the Today Show had it on there this morning. I don't recall the boys ever having any conversations like that when they were babies, however, it sounds quite familiar now a days LOL!! :P They would coo to each other at times though. We watched "Coal". It was very interesting. A few things seemed familiar to me probably from David's book. Rita, what did Blain think about it? Mark was wondering how often the tips had to be replaced on the 'continuous miner'?

twin baby boys have a conversation - part 2 ORIGINAL VIDEO

This video is hilarious...Bobbie, Monica, were Adam and Corey like this?!

I posted that video from youtube, first time I've done that before (Mark helped me LOL) so if you go to youtube and search for them that's where you'll find their website and info :) I remember seeing an advertisement last week about "Coal", I told Mark we was going to have to watch that tonight :) The Midkiff obit., is he Vera's husband?

Sorry, If you have Direct TV, it is Channel 241 instead of 308.

Amazing Child Singer - Daves Highway performs "Jesus Messiah" by Chris T...

Carol sent us a video the other day of a baby laughing that was from godvine.com. I came across these siblings on the same website. They have such beautiful harmony. I cried the first two times I watched them and still get a little teary eyed. They have a CD available if you go to there website, it should be listed under the video. We had a great time with Emily and Zac yesterday!! :P Love to all and hope you are blessed by this video as much as I am :)

Coal Runs Deep

Rita, I had seriously just opened the blog to post about the same thing when I saw your posts about it. Here is a link to the trailer for it...I think it should be interesting.

Coal Runs Deep

Monica texted me yesterday saying that her, Mark and Marleigh were going to be in Princeton and wanted to know if we wanted to meet them for lunch. It just so happened that Zac's day off got switched this week from Thursday to Tuesday and I had a break between classes from 12:15-2:30, so we were able to meet up at Cracker Barrel. It was goooood...and Marleigh was so cute and funny! She really liked her brown beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. She is so good at saying 'apple' too, lol!

I dyed wool and cotton yesterday in my med plants lab. We got to choose any type of plant we wanted to try. One group used black berries and it made a really pretty pink. Red onion turned out really yellow (which I thought was weird) and carrots made the wool orange and the cotton pinkish. The grass did dye it, but it turned out to be a really pale green. I will post pictures of it later.

10 Episodes

Spike TV's new reality show "Coal." Ten one-hour episodes will debut at 10 p.m. March 30. Producers say the show details the extreme conditions and underappreciated work of underground miners. 

 

"Coal" in WV

If you have Direct TV, it is channel 308.  This mine is owned by Cobalt Coal.  Thought you might be interested in seeing something from WV and how we are portrayed.

WELCH -- McDowell County will be featured in the latest reality series coming to Spike TV. It's called "Coal" and took place at the Westchester Mine at Big Sandy.

The show will be nationally broadcast at 10 p.m. starting on March 30.

Rita

Elmer Midkiffs brother

Evert Ray Midkiff

RAINELLE — Evert Ray Midkiff, 87, of Crag Road, passed away Monday morning, March 28, 2011, at Heartland of Rainelle, following a long illness.

Born Jan. 13, 1924, at Blue Sulphur Springs, W.Va., he was the son of the late Jarvis C. and Minerva Elizabeth Holcomb Midkiff.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Dale Lee Midkiff; and four sisters, Eva Crookshanks, Sarah Persinger, Ina Persinger, and Leatha Midkiff.

Evert was a coal miner and had also worked for the Department of Highways.

He was of the Baptist faith.

Survivors include two daughters, Kathy Tuck of Welcome, N.C., and Brenda Roberts of Plantersville, Texas; a son, Bobby Joe Midkiff of Peru, Ind.; a sister, Kitty Cleva Callahan of Oak Hill, W.Va.; a brother, Elmer Lee Midkiff of Dawson, W.Va.; seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

There will be a graveside service only at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 31, 2011, at the Sewell Valley Baptist Church Cemetery on Crag Road in Rainelle, with Pastor Clay O’Dell officiating. Burial will follow immediately.

Arrangements by Wallace & Wallace of Rainelle.

Daddy's Cousin's Wife

I think this is Daddy's cousin's wife...Carol or Goldie might be able to clarify...If it is who I am thinking of, he came to get apples whenever they "hit".  He was at Daddy's viewing.

 

 

Cora 'Bel' Treadway

Cora Belzene "Bel" Stover Treadway, 77, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

She was born January 5, 1934, at Ameagle. She was the daughter of the late Newman and Norma Stover.

She attended the Advent Christian Church at Artie and was retired from Pinecrest Hospital in Beckley.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Don Stover; three sisters, Maxine Lutterloh, Gurtha Toney and Mary Williams.

She is survived by her husband of 61 years, James "JR" Treadway; and three sons, James Taylor and wife Sharon of Peterstown, Michael Treadway and wife Judy of Clear Creek and Charles "Corkey" Treadway and wife Barbara of Artie; three brothers, Ray Stover and wife Ruth of Ocala, Fla., Ancel and wife Karen of Auburndale, Fla., Eldon and wife Marilyn of Dorothy; and one sister, Beulah Peyatt of Easley, S.C.; grandchildren, Charles Taylor and wife Annie and their children, Christopher and Matthew of Beckley; Jimmy Taylor and children, Bridget and husband, Cole Boothe, and Tiara Taylor of Peterstown; Andy Taylor and wife Cheryl and their children Cheyenne and Cordell of Shady Spring; Michael "Mike" Treadway and wife Patty and their children Christopher Treadway and Shane, Katie and Andrew Tomlin; Jodie and husband Jimmy Bristow and children Brian and Andrew of Clear Creek; Carie Lynn Stover and children PFC. Corey Stover (Fort Benning, Ga.), Tyler and Keely Stover of Clear Creek, and Cathy Jo Shrewsbury and husband James and their children Nicole, Jackson and Emily of Beckley, three great-great-grandchildren: Victoria "Tori" Shrewsbury and Levi and Trinity Boothe. Special nieces Sonya Basham and Peggy Caffro; special friends Glen and Margie Williams and Marilyn Massey.

Funeral services will be held 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2011, at the Advent Christian Church, Artie, W.Va., with the Revs. Cecil McClellan and Joe Barnett officiating. Burial will follow in the Wriston Cemetery, Artie.

Visitation will be from 6 to 9 Tuesday at the church.

Armstrong Funeral Home, Whitesville, is in charge of arrangements.

I do! I do! I recognize the table! Who could forget those legs! I used to eat my dinner on the back side. It's beautiful. I thought we had distressed that table enough Teresa! One question, that top doesn't look conductive to making biscuits. Just where are you going to make those Steve?

Love the pics Teresa, can't wait to see it!!!!

We got a good start on our new kitchen. Cabinets and appliances won't be in for a couple weeks. We have been painting and making our island. Anyone recognize the table?

One more thing, I think Ruth sent a clip from the Today show last week of a little boy that had gone to heaven during surgery. I got that book and finished reading it last night and IT WAS AWESOME!!! "Heaven is for real" is the name of it, written by Todd Burpo (his father) and Lynn Vincent. I highly recommend it to everyone. I'm going to give mine to mom so yal can pass it around if you like. Love ya :)

We woke up to pouring snow this morning!! I couldn't believe it. The weather man said we got 2 inches in our area. It stopped sometime between 10:30 am and noon. Not exactly sure because I fell asleep on the couch while Marleigh was taking her nap lol. It was also interesting to see on the news at noon that we had a 2.5 earthquake this morning around 2:30 am. They said it happened 4 miles down in the earth and was a few miles WNW of Pulaski. That is a town right beside us, 5-10 minutes down the road. We never felt anything though. If my memory serves me correct I'm thinking that Giles County sits on a fault line somewhere. We go through Giles when we go to WV. Speaking of WV, I caught a glimpse of Grandpa in Mark this afternoon. I was cleaning house this morning while it was snowing. I had already vacuumed all the carpeted areas and was working on my rug in the bathroom when the vacuum started making an awful noise. I thought it was eating the power cord but it wasn't. I turned it off, unplugged it and checked to make sure it wasn't going to catch on fire because the odor that was coming from it was a little alarming. I saw a little vapor of smoke but no fire. I took it down stairs and Mark looked at it. The rod thingy that has all the bristles on it had started to melt on one end thus deforming it somewhat. It was a total loss :( We went to get groceries after lunch and also got a new vacuum. When we got home I put Marleigh down for her nap, Mark and I put up the groceries and I started on supper (Mom's chicken pot pie :P ). I heard Mark in the living room opening the box of the new vacuum. About 10-15 minutes later Mark hollered for me to bring him a snack baggie. When I turned the corner to take him the baggie I could not believe what I was looking at in my living room floor!! Mark had completely disassembled the old vacuum cleaner, took all the screws out and had them in a pile by their self and had each part on the vacuum laid out in the floor. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was getting any thing we may need later from it. He ended up only keeping the screws and a furry duster buster attachment. I just grinned, turned around and went back to my chicken lol. Marleigh is finally off of formula and baby food. I put some of the chicken pot pie in the food processor for her and she loved it. Smacked them little lips the whole time :) Her daddy gave her ice cream for dessert and she was loving that as well.

Bravo! How true! How true Rita! Say a prayer for Adam, he starts his new job today!

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. "One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. "The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."  The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Rita

Emily~  I have had that lecture about Hudson Cream flour as well.  I hate to write it on the blog because then it will be documneted, but this is one time that they were right:)    Whatever you do, just ask Andy, MAKE SURE it is self-rising.  I know that several of us have had to learn that the hard way, myself included.  Your breakfast sure looked good.  Wish I could have chowed down with you!  Love ya    

I like the gummy ones too. Zac, Tanner and Jacob all like the fluffy ones though so I have to make a lot of fluffy ones when I make them.

I have been having the hardest time making good biscuits. I knew I was doing it right though, I mean I only saw Grandma do it about a thousand times. I told Mommy about it and she asked what kind of flour I was using. I had been using the cheap brand. She told me that flour was not the place to save money, lol. So I got some Hudson Cream and ta-da...gooood biscuits.

Zac and I went to a cafe last night in downtown Princeton with some friends. There was a band playing called The Corn Grinders. Stand up bass, mandolin, guitar, harmonica, banjo...they were really really good!

Have a good Sunday everyone...love ya'll!

Wow, you guys have been busy!

David~ Thanks so much for sharing the letter.

Michelle~  Glad that Joe is safe.  Praise the Lord!

Happy Birthday to everyone in March.  I am terrible with dates!

Greg, I talked to you on fb, but I did not realize about your loss.  So sorry and praying for peace and comfort. 

Vonda~ Hope you and your family are feeling rested and David is feeling better.

Monica and Mom~  (In the words of Colin) "Don't even think about it!"  LOL

Just wanted to share this with you.  I was in the kitchen making dumplins the other evening and of course thinking of grandma.  She would have been so proud because I made a whole pot of sad dumplins.  She always saved the bottom of the pot for me since I like them gooey.  Which one of you cousins did i have to share the bottom of the pot with?  I can't remember:) 

Just to let everyone know that Sue's Dad had a blood clot removed from his brain on thursday. She said he is better today but still sedated , and that his swelling is going down. They said the clot was from a fall may be in December. He is in a Wilimgton hospital, currently still in ICU. Sue's number is 910-612-3182 if anyone would like to call her.

Dwayne and Lorie both have the back thing going, so I don't know if it's a Treadway thing or not

Yes, Happy Birthday to you Marchians! And yes, 39 does look good on you Alice!

Michelle, Corey also has scoliosis. I think he has his from carrying his book bag full of books all through middle and high school. His locker was never in a convenient place, thus he didn't use it :( I'm sure his back was doing a growing spurt at that time.

Happy Birthday to all those who have a Birthday this month. Sorry, I'm not good at keeping up with everyones birthdays. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with my family.

Michelle, I'm sorry to hear about the girls. Kelsey also had to go for PT to help her out but, she doesn't do her exercises like she should so she still deals with a lot of pain when she's on her feet all day. Unfortunately, with her job she is always on her feet. I forgot to tell everyone but I have a praise report. You all know the trouble Kelsey has been having. She had complex cysts which do not go away on their own. They can be controlled with birth control or surgery if that doesn't work but, when she went back for her ultra sound there was no sign of them. Her doctor was amazed! She had an evangelist that came to church pray or her healing before she went to have her ultra sound and sure enough she got it. The birth control seems to be helping her endometriosis also. God is good!!!!!!

Love you all

Emily has scoliosis too. Her back bothers her a lot.

Hey Michelle
Glad to hear all is well. Praise the Lord for Joe's safety. I know that Kelsey also has Scoliosis.

We have missed some birthday's this month. Alice and Presley on the 23rd (I forgot Presley because I always associate hers with Easter) and then Kimberly Thomas and Timmy Wayne on the 18th. Happy Belated Birthday. I believe Alice told me she was 39 and holdin' AND ya'll know how important that one is, so don't forget to wish her a BIG one.

I'm going to order the bench as soon as I get a free day to run back up to Union.

Monica, you and Janet need to get together and that's all I got to say about that!!

Uh-oh, Monica!!!! Looks like you have been bitten by the bug again, you know us Treadway's generally like big families.....LOL. It won't be long, and we'll hear news......just kiddin'.
All is well here. Hope all is great with all of you!
Question for all of you. Curious about how many of us have back problems. Victoria now has scholiosis, Tarin does and did PT to improve it, I had a bad back at age 11. Is it a Treadway thing?
Love, Michelle and girls

You Know It's Funny!!

Best friends graduated from medical school at the same time and decided that, in spite of two different specialties, they would open a practice together to share office space and personnel.
 
Dr. Smith was the psychiatrist and Dr. Jones was the proctologist; they put up a sign reading: "Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones: Hysterias and Posteriors". The town council was livid and insisted they change it.
 
So, the docs changed it to read: "Schizoids and Hemorrhoids." This was also not acceptable, so they again changed the sign. "Catatonics and High Colonics"......No go.
 
Next, they tried "Manic Depressives and Anal Retentives"....thumbs down again. Then came "Minds and Behinds"....still no good. Another attempt resulted in "Lost Souls and Butt Holes".......unacceptable again! So they tried "Analysis and Anal Cysts".....not a chance. "Nuts and Butts".....no way. "Freaks and Cheeks".....still no good. "Loons and Moons".....forget it.
 
Almost at their wit's end, the docs finally came up with: "Dr. Smith and Dr.
Jones--Odds and Ends". Everyone loved it.
 
 

--

Rita

Michelle, I'm so glad to hear that Joe is going to be ok :) Praise the Lord!!! Greg, I realized that I forgot to send condolences in my previous posts about your Grandfather. I pray everyone is doing well and being comforted as only the Lord can. Well, today the weather has definitely changed. It is 48 degrees :( The last two days were beautiful. We took Marleigh outside without her jacket Tuesday and she loved it. She fell down on her bottom a few times in the grass and when she did she was trying to lift her legs up off the grass. I'm guessing she didn't like it poking her, it was too funny!!! She cried when we came inside. She went for her 1 year checkup Tuesday morning. She weighs 22.4 lbs and is 29 inches tall :P She is growing up to be a beautiful little girl, kinda makes me sad she's not my little baby anymore. That fact also gives me a hankering for another one LOL!! Hold your horses there Nellie, nothing serious in the making, it's just a thought in the back of my mind :) I hope everyone has had a blessed week and it continues, love to all.

Food For thought

A Bible that is falling apart, usually belongs to a person who isn't!

Rita

Michelle, I am so glad to hear that Joe is ok. God is good

Julie, I did tell Michelle what style my home is. Also, are you and David or any of your family coming in for Easter? I haven't heard anything, so I wasn't sure.

I'm also getting very excited about Easter and being able to see everyone. I cant wait!!!! I hope my kitchen will be installed by then. I have already painted the kitchen walls, now we are just waiting on the cabinets and appliances to get here. Me and Steve are going to install everything and if we don't get it finished Andy is going to try to come in the weekend before Easter and help his dad finish up. Have I told you that I'm excited to see everyone!!!!

Love you all

Hello, Everyone! Joe is fine, just got thrown around due to an explosion close by. A lot of the men got cuts and bruises, nothing worse than a concussion. Joe got stitches on his forehead, and should be fine in a few days. Thanks for your prayers. More later, love, Michelle and girls

Riding Faith to New Limits

A traveler, hiking through the wilderness, comes to the edge of a canyon. Seeking a way to the other side, he discovers a big rope stretched over the canyon. As his eyes follow the rope toward the other side, he is surprised to see a man coming toward him, confidently pushing a wheelbarrow. Arriving on his side of the canyon, the traveler exclaims, “That was truly amazing!”

The man with the wheelbarrow asks, “Do you believe that I can do it again?”

“Oh, of course,” the traveler replies. “You walked across with such confidence.”

“Do you really believe I can do it again?” asks the man with the wheelbarrow.

“Definitely,” replies the traveler.

“Very good, then,” says the man with the wheelbarrow. “Hop in and I will take you across.”

Many of us look at God the same way we look at the man with the wheelbarrow. We say we have faith that God can do anything. Yet, when it comes time to get in the wheelbarrow, our faith begins to dwindle. Haven’t we seen enough of His promises to trust Him to carry us across?

By Michael Belk

Praying for you all Michelle.

We will most certainly keep them in our prayers , and God is ever present with them . We will be thinking of you all Michelle.My grandson David is headed to Afghanistan and should be there soon also. We will be praying for God to protect ALL our service men and women.

Please pray for Michelle, Joe and children today. I will leave her to tell the details however, Joe was hurt today, though not killed, Thank God. We pray daily for them and God was merciful as usual. Nonetheless, I wanted you to know. Family ties are so important to all of us....if one is so blest to have such, but it is especially wonderful to military families. (Of course, I say that seeing we were military for 25 yrs. 11 months and 15 days.
Your mother used to send Michael and Michelle little cards and stuff and to this day Michelle has some of her treasures).
I send love and daily prayers to all of you today.
(Oh, Teresa, did you ever tell Michelle the name of your style 0f decor)?
Love and Prayers,
Julie

Thank you David for sharing your letter with us, it gave us a look into dads heart and how he felt, about his savior and his family.It is so precious.

Please make me a copy David and send it to me! This here is too small for me to read! Sounds like Dad wanted to be sure you knew to trust your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for anything you might need over there! I'm so glad you shared that.

 

 

 

This is Bobbie's kids. Landon is on the R, Shawn Michael in the Middle and Marleigh is leaving the pic. LOL In the walker is Lakin, Landon's brother.

 

This is Marleigh's "tired" walk!

Hey Everybody,

I just got caught up with the blog from this past week! I have been reading here and there just haven't had a chance to post. I think the bench is a wonderful idea! Can't wait to see it! I have a prayer request. One of my students cracked his skull last weekend while skateboarding. I know he was in ICU all week and I'm not sure if he's still in the hospital or not. He's ok but he may have to go on homebound for the rest of the year because of his injuries.

Thank you David for sharing that with us. I needed a good cry before going to bed tonight. Knowing that they are together again does my heart good :) I think I will print that out. Did he always sign his letters with a heart? I think that is sweet. What year did you go to the gulf? I am excited for spring this year too. I'm hoping to get my flower bed cleaned out this week while I'm off. I can't wait for Marleigh to be able to help this year. Last year I was not feeling it LOL.........so we just let grow whatever popped up out of the ground. I did have a beautiful morning glory vine sprout up at the bottom of my shepherd's hook and grew up it all summer. I'm hoping it will return this year. Love to all, MP3