Lasting Memories

​I swore to myself that when I became a mother that I wanted to be remembered as a mother that went the extra mile for my children, trying to always make a lasting impression. Well, that has bled over to now as a grandma.This past week has been a very memorable week. I had 5 out of 6 of my grandkids, minusing the baby. Which is a very rare event to have them all at once. Those that may not know my oldest daughter  Bethany is married into the military life. She and her husband Dane have been station all over the country. Which has never allowed them to be close to home so that we could keep our grandkids. As my children were growing up, one of my main focuses was to bring history to life for them. I wanted them to respect it and grab ahold of it, along with seeing the beauty in every part of it. Well now as a grandma that has carried on into my grandkids. So for this week, I wanted to have a special day for my granddaughters and grandsons. It started off with the girls, Lord let me remind you all that there is three of them, one is 4 going on 14, and two 3-year-olds that are 4 months apart, which both are very strong-willed children. haha...Well after thinking about what I could do with them I decided to do "A day as a Princess". I chose to dress up with the girls, we all wore crowns. I had packed a special enchanted lunch for each special princess. We went to the Marland Mansion, after walking the grounds and talking about the life outside of the castle, we finally found a picnic spot and enjoyed our lunch. I had called ahead to the staff at the Mansion so that they were aware we were coming. I was sure we would be getting all kinds of stares, It's one thing to see little girls dress up but grandma was a whole different story. As we walk through the large wooden doors the girls were greeted with smiles as well as addressed as Hello Princesses. I watched as they smiled from ear to ear. As we walked through the halls they walked quietly and very gracefully. As I told them stories of each room they all looked at me with wondered and excitement in their eyes and I knew then that my point had hit home. I think the most favorite part for me was when we went to the ballroom. I had ballroom music playing on my phone, and I got to dance with each of my granddaughters as we talked about being princesses in a castle. To say the least we had a blast. Now as for the boys day it was a little different; but still just as memorable. I wanted to take them to the 101 Miller Brother ranch. Even through my grandboys had already been to the 101 museum I took it to be fresh in their minds when we went to the ranch just outside of Ponca City. When we got to the ranch of course they were expecting a real ranch, not just ruins. Yet, we walked the grounds and talked about every historical marker that was present. We talked about true stories of cowboys and cowgirls. I had brought some of my personal collection of pictures of the 101 ranch, which I pinned pointed the exact place which they were standing once cowboys stood. I could tell it was starting to hit home in their eyes. For lunch I had made a round up cowboy lunch. Just like the cowboys would have ate, beans, cornbread, fried potatoes. Again talking about history and keeping it alive for others. When we were finished they wanted to walk the sidewalks one last time and touch a few of the buildings that were still standing. I stood back a watched a sweet moment.I took them to cowboy hill where 3 graves stand of three special cowboys. Along with a marker that was recognizing the cowboys and cowgirls for all they did on the ranch all those years ago. After explaining it I started to walk away when I heard these words that brought tears to my eyes "Thank you, cowboys, for all that you did on the ranch and for making history." Looking back Mason was standing next to Kavin, with the same look in their eyes that once was in my childrens'. I knew my point was made. So, you may wonder why I blog this long story, It's simple to me history is important. If I have to dress up, make a traditional lunch, throw my pride out the window. Then so be it! For me sharing it with my children, which now sharing it with my grandkids they one day can share it with my great grandkids, all because we made it REAL.