4/9/14

Randall's grandchildren all pitched in to buy him the first print in the series "Big Cats of the Serengeti," but unfortunately they proceeded to act up terribly until he found himself bursting the frame across Kevin's head so that his face poked through the mane of the lion...

Everyone was proud of the remarkable way Kippy did the dishes, though they reserved praise when it came to the way she dried, as there were simply too many hairs found on the plates and glassware.

A most inopportune incident at The Country Bear Jamboree when Todd decided to announce just exactly who'd been hanging around the house a year and a half ago when Russell was at sea on the USS Nimitz and little Coby was conceived...

Byron was thrilled to be able to enlist a houseboy like Ramon so soon after arriving in Costa Rica and figured there was some work to be done in the bedroom right off the bat!

Now mostly recovered from her calamity, Kerri demonstrated for everyone the move that cost her a front tooth and her father the original side-view mirror on his car.

Patsy and Spencer couldn't believe the dramatic results they'd achieved by merely switching out sugar with saccharine and using Blue Bonnet spread instead of butter.

4/7/14

Mary Lynn thought it was bad enough that Johnny had stalked her all up and down the beach, offering to buy her lunch and a Sno-cone, but now it was starting to become a little unnerving as even underwater wasn't free from his overtures...

Gladys thought it was positively filthy and disgusting that a nudist colony had been situated less than a mile from her farm and so she often relied upon Abner to help her keep an eye on what those abhorrent people were up to!

At least three or four times a week, Celia would pick up Brent's portrait and whisper little messages of love to it, often kissing it, until the sales clerk at the studio would come over and tell her to please put the picture back on its shelf where it belonged and to go continue her shopping elsewhere.

Raymond was usually down with whatever his grandma wanted in the way of a photograph, but somehow his baby-soft sleeper and the slick texture of this brushed silk chair gave even him a not-so-little bit of pause!

Although her daughter's room was officially finished, Connie couldn't help wondering if there weren't some way she could inject just a little more color and texture into it so that the place would really pop!

He'd missed at the target range all afternoon, but just as it was nearing the end of their practice session, Errol finally found a target that he felt sure would inspire him to hit a bull's eye.

4/4/14

As his mother Ella captured this shot, she couldn't help thinking that maybe NOW Arnie would listen to her and stop trying to crawl face first down the coal chute.

Arthur tried to offer Liza Marie a plate of food, but she made it quite clear that all she required was a bottle of beer and a nice tender jowl.  

Easter at The Buttered Bun Cafe was a festive time as Nan amply demonstrated with her bonnet.  However, customers in the know were well aware that ordering a hard-boiled egg around this time was ill-advised, for often she'd just pinch one from her hat and put it on the plate!

Carol Sue couldn't get over how plush and cushiony the seats were in Ralph's new car... until he pointed out that she wasn't just sitting on the seat and that his wife Thelma might need some help getting out now!

For Brenda, everything was a special occasion.  Even an intimate picnic with romantic music on the portable radio wasn't complete without a few Lawrence Welk bubbles added to the mix...

So in that split second, Brian realized that it wasn't such a smart idea to pose with Champ mere moments after wolfing down an Egg McMuffin!

4/2/14

What with lounge chair real estate being at an all-time high that summer on Scrod Cove Bay Beach, Evelyn and Harry found themselves being "convinced" to share with Harry's cousins, Chet and Myron!

Mr. Needlebaum having successfully made the drop of $50,000 to her cohort on the other side of the park, Patti could now release Harriet back to her concerned spouse, whereupon she'd receive a loving, but stern, warning about trusting strange youths in VW microbuses from now on.

Thus, Gertrude and Lil finally found out where that mysterious tunnel in the root cellar let out, though now they either had to turn around and crawl back or hitchhike along the highway in order to get back home.

Most ladies were lucky if they woke up and saw a squirrel or a deer in their front yard, but Joy Adamson was a lucky one, for she woke up on her wildlife preserve to the sight of domesticated lions like Clarence here.

Thanksgiving dinner at The Winstons was more than just a holiday.  It was a chance for Tara Sue and Ronnie to utilize every last piece of the Corning Ware Cornflower casserole dishes they'd listed on their registration when they'd wed eleven years prior...

Heidi's little hideaway started off so innocently when her father built it for her sixth birthday.  Unfortunately, about a decade or so later, she was still using it, but there were blackout curtains in the windows and one would often see a motorcycle, rather than a bike, propped against the outside wall.

3/31/14

Ramona Lou and Pete thought that little Lorri's expression was a result of the bliss that came with spending the weekend at their house, but in reality she was reacting to the permeating scent of Little Kings Cream Ale that oozed out of each one of her step-grandparents' pores.

Allison's birthday was permanently marred when she dropped one of her party favors under Esmerelda the Magypsian's skirt and happened to look up.  The entertainer was wearing thigh-highs and nothing else, which baffled the heretofore sheltered birthday girl...

The more she thought about it, the more disgusted Juleann became at the thought that, before she'd had his kid, she was the one who got to help open Bo's presents, not Missy...

Everyone liked to take Willa spelunking with them because not only could she fit through the slimmest of crevasses, but she also could sometimes merely step over some of the more treacherous sections of ground and help find a better way across the terrain.

The rest of the Rosenblums scoffed when Irving declined to gather in so close to the prize-winning family flower, but they later realized how bright he'd been when he was the only one among them to not have his poly-knit trousers irrevocably snagged on thorns as they broke apart from the pose.

While Kimberly's friends were watching her open all her presents, Dick thought it might be a good time to slip away and relieve himself in the cabana.  Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to wear his glasses, resulting in quite a little puddle on the rec room floor!

3/28/14

A snapshot taken of Valerie and Melody by Josie Jones during a get-together to mark ten years since the disbanding of Josie and the Pussycats.

At least once a month, Howard requested that his wife Tootie make her famous Broccoli Bran Cauliflower Casserole, a decision that sat well with some members of the family more than others....

The entire Slippenphall family was excited by the arrival of the new stereophonic console radio, but none more than Tammy, who turned the dial right to her favorite station and dove into a dance routine.

Valerie Geeson was one of Gainesville's most renowned female entrepreneurs and her dedication to beauty helped Crystal Neenocher reach fifth place in the Plum County Regional Junior Miss Pageant.

Folks traveled from a fifty-mile radius to look for car parts at Wilma Sue's Backdoor Barn, not only because she had every bolt, wire and sprocket imaginable, but also because she wore a mean set of coveralls and wasn't afraid to show 'em off!

Just as many people could recall where they were at the moment of the Kennedy assassination, Jerry and Cliff could pinpoint their whereabouts the very second that the Hindenberg exploded.  Sadly, the bull was so startled by the melee that it ran off with them for close to a mile away from their car!

3/26/14

Although it had been a full three months since Brett had rescued Stacy from her captivity with the Iroquois, her two and a half years of forced assimilation made it difficult to adjust back to life at their home in Bluegrass Apartments.

It all started out so wonderfully at Kay Lynn's festive bridal shower... until she opened the sixth set of place mats from her registration and realized just how chintzy some of her close pals really were.

Mamaw June had been so excited that Leroy had finally brought her grandsons out to see her in Serenity, Georgia that she, literally, couldn't contain her excitement. She wished, however, that Janet hadn't left the evidence in the snapshot...

A rare shot of the singing debut of Kris and the Kringlettes, a little-known music act that scored two Top 90 holiday hits until jealousy between Angela and Carol tore the act asunder.

And so big shot Melanie decided to get cute and "smoke" one of her birthday candles, resulting in a quick trip to St. Jude's where the physicians had to remove the wax from her esophagus.

Marcella learned the tough way how childish pranks can torment one when the kids at the vacation lodge replaced her Jergen's Cherry Almond lotion with Elmer's glue.

3/24/14

Little Celia Ravenscroft couldn't care less if her movie biz parents' house was located along the route of so many of the city's "See the Homes of the Stars" tours.  She wanted privacy was getting darned tired of having to live and play under a microscope!

Since she'd been a tiny toddler, Delores would climb onto her grandpa's lap and lovingly whisper into his ear exactly what she had in mind for Easter, Christmas, her birthday and other occasions, but after her first semester at Ball State, he wonder how many more of these encounters the pin in his hip was going to be able to withstand!

Having celebrated two whole years in her new house, Peg Dullardson could take pride in the fact that it now had that cozy lived-in feel to it...

With Randy getting so worked up after merely pulling in the driveway and finding Amelia hanging clothes on the line, she began to wonder if she hadn't gone a little too far in ordering that 4 ounce bottle of My Fascination perfume from the Montgomery Ward catalog.

Donna wasn't sure that cooking brunch with her mother-in-law Ramona was going to be such a great idea since Ramona was already beginning to tear up before she even started to dice the onions!

It took months and months of trying, but Denise finally came up with an ensemble that successfully shifted the focus back to where it needed to be, from the peacock feather wallpaper to her!

3/21/14

Archie was devastated by Lovett County's new law requiring a helmet while driving or riding a motorcycle, not because he didn't wish to be safe, but because he knew that there was no readily available helmet that could fit over his coiffure...

Johnny had always been told that leaving an apple on the teacher's desk was a good way to win favor, but he preferred a far more direct and personal approach.

Their portraits were never known to be the most frolicsome or heartwarming shots, but since Olan Chills was the only studio in a 55 mile radius, many of the folks in Mockingbird Grove patronized the establishment anyway.

And so just as Elaine had finished what she thought was the last of the dishes, Sally brought forth a huge stack from the temporarily-forgotten kiddie table...

Annalee had never really wanted the hair bauble that her mother-in-law had given her for Easter anyway, so she let Claudette wear it that Sunday, to the acclaim of the whole neighborhood.

Mary Jane loved being Carol's bridge partner at Carol's home because there Pierre would sit on Carol's lap, often indicating better cards to lay down than his owner did otherwise!