A little laugh - this one even made Dr. Chad Everson laugh!

Just saw this on a blog of a "blogger friend" of ours! Who knew that there was another "Chad Everson" out there - but his name is Chad "Grizzly" T. Everson and he is a conservative, Republican, homeschooling blogger from up North! We have commented on each other's blogs now that we know about one another - check out his sites if you get a chance!

Anyway, this was on one of his blogs this morning as a comment from another poster - I thought it was hilarious! It was titled: "Dear Friends and Family"

"Dear friends and family,With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.
Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote ” The Hokie Pokey” died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started….

“Shut up.” You know it’s funny.
Thats what its all about!

I thought it was important you all knew…"

Michele Everson
Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud Mama of two hokey pokey dancin little boys!

Merry Christmas from Bro. Chad and Michele Everson

Merry Christmas - no retro news here, just some fun! Enjoy this video of the kids, our boys and our nephews/niece. We love them alot and we thought this video was funny!



Michele Everson, Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson
and Proud Mama to two wonderful boys!

The Everson Home - Retro? Not this week!

Ok....so I have always wanted to "go back" to the "good old days" of when I was growing up - but not this week! I am so thankful for all of the modern conveniences - I am thankful for computers, email, cell phones and all of the other wonderful technologies! If it were not for cell phones - I don't know what I would do this week as we are getting ready for this move! Retro movies, toys and games - great! But give me my cell phone!

Michele Everson
Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud Mama to two wonderful boys!

The Everson Family Road Trip!

Road Trips are not the same as I remember them!



We recently took a road trip with our two boys - both of whom no sooner hit the seats than they have their headphones on and they are ready to watch! Road trips are no longer what we remember them to be! Remember when you got the floorboard, the older sibling got to lay across the seats and the youngest had the back window? I remember leaving at 2:30 am because my parents were praying that we would sleep most of the way! The real "good old days" were when we had the wood paneled station wagon and we could lay in the back and watch the stars as we travelled! Now, good luck getting a word out of them while you travel - the only times we get the headphones off are when they need to switch their movies or when mom and dad ask them to - wait for it - oh no, - Heaven forbid we ask them to TALK TO US! Aarghhhh!

Retro Girl Wants to Know...Does Pastor Chad Everson use Encyclopedias?

Ok...There is a segment on the Georgia Bulldogs weekly show called "Water Girl Wants to Know" and it is Mark Richt's wife (the water girl for the team), who asks him a question about the team that most people think of, but would never get to ask. I love the segment and, for some reason it was on my mind when I was writing this - so you get my ramblings and nonsense!

But, the question remains - Encyclopedias....how many of you have them? We were doing our school work the other day and the boys needed information on something dealing with early American history - so, what did we do? We went to the encyclopedia - NOT! We immediately went and googled our topic and spent the next hour fishing through all that it pulled up - more information than we could have ever needed! What about you - got an encyclopedia hanging around the house? (The boys asked if that was a book that you actually had to buy when we were little...I explained that it was a 26 volume set that held a fraction of the information that is currently online today. They were amazed and then, again - that familiar look of pity came over their face where they are actually feeling sorry for me having to grow up in such lowly conditions!)....Who knows, maybe I'll talk to them about a thesaurus tomorrow just for fun!

Michele Everson
Proud Wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud Mama of Two Wonderful Boys!

The Everson Family Wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Everson family would like to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope that your family, like ours, is taking time to simply be together and to remember just how bessed we truly are....the Lord has truly been good to us!

Happy Thanksgiving,
Michele Everson, Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud Mama of Two Wonderful Boys!

The Everson Crew is going to the Moon!

Ok...so maybe we aren't going to the moon for real - but we have been studying the planets, the sun and the moon and recently we had the opportunity to see a shuttle launch! Now....I am sure some of you are still questioning whether or not we have actually ever put a man on the moon or if it is one of the great media/government conspiracies - what do you think? Which will it be - one of man's greatest accomplishments or one of our societies most creative acts?

The shuttle launch this past week was incredible! As we sat on the hood of the car and watched the sky light up like broad daylight, the boys were dumbfounded! It was amazing to feel the rush of the engines heating up and then to watch as the fire lit up the sky....As we stood by waiting for the countdown to launch, we talked about what it must be like to be an astronaut at this moment - to sit and wait for that final moment before lift off - to see the Earth getting smaller and smaller and watch as you know that you have reached the "point of no return"....what must that incredible experience be like? What must it have been like to be a part of that first mission? Where were you? What were you thinking?

All this...just food for thought. If you ever have a chance to see a shuttle launch, make the most of it - it is over quickly but it is worth the effort!

Michele Everson - Proud Wife of Pastor Chad Everson and proud mama to two wonderful boys (possible astronauts? scientists? engineers?)

Everson crew goes to Cracker Barrel!

We were recently on a trip with the Senior Adults in our church and we stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat dinner. When was the last time you walked through the store in Cracker Barrel? It is like walking through the toy store when you were a kid! My boys were picking up wooden train whistles and harmonicas...looking at red flyer wagon toys and playing with checkers! They asked if they could have an orange RC and we all wanted some of the "stick candy"...Cracker Barrel...one of the best retro shopping spots for the whole family!

Michele Everson, Proud wife to Pastor Chad Everson and
Retro Mom to two incredible boys!

Eversons - On The Road Again!

We were driving down the road last week with the kids in the back seat of our mini-van, watching their tv of course, when the conversation turned to all that has changed since we were their age...

Do you remember traveling when you were a kid? I remember my mom and dad waking all of us up at 2:00 am to travel at night so we would sleep most of the way. They would put the bags on top of our station wagon (in the luggage carrier) so we could all lay across the back and sleep. Then, when we got rid of the station wagon we each had to choose new sleep locations - my brother (the oldest) got the backseat, I laid across the floorboard and my little sister (the "baby") got to sleep in the back window. When did seatbelts come along?

Do you remember playing "punch bug" and "I spy" while traveling? I remember my dad slowing down the car and telling us that if kept fighting he would put us out right then and let us find our own way home (and we believed him)...nowadays kids have cell phones and would probably love to be put out of the family car! (which is one of the 100000 reasons mine do NOT have cell phones despite their pleas!)...I also remember mom trying to make everything better by drawing an imaginary line in the middle of the seats to tell us not to cross or bother one another...and my brother putting one finger on the line and daring me to say anything! Yeah...you're smiling - you remember too, don't you?

Traveling has sure changed - albeit for the better in sooo many ways! Now we have to tell ours to put away the nintendos and turn off the tv that Santa brought them...we would actually like to talk with them while we travel! Who would have thought that we would go from "how much further" and "he's looking at me"- when our parents would have begged us to hush! - to now we have to beg them to talk to us!

Everson Family Memories

We spent some time with Chad's parents last weekend and, since they had just recently moved into their home, they were still going through some boxes they had set aside for us. As we looked through these boxes, we were confronted with just how old we have gotten! How does that happen? One day you are the young couple anticipating getting married, and the next moment you are looking at your old yearbooks and your kids are laughing at you! It is all such a blur...and after looking at so many of those pictures, it is probably a good thing!

Michele Everson
80's big haired wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud "to young to be your mama"
mom to two wonderful boys!

Retro in our House...

After several weeks of reading this blog - you know why we are retro folks...but what about you? What is your favorite retro memory? Your favorite retro notion that you are waiting for it to come back around? Do you secretly wear parachute pants and leg warmers at home? Do you still grin every time the theme song from FootLoose comes on? Do your kids giggle when you remind them that you didn't have the internet growing up? Tell it all! Post and share!

Michele Everson
Proud Wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Proud Mom of Two Wonderful Boys!

Retro Hair! Yikes!

Like everything else, hairstyles come back around...sooner or later we will see it all again! In some cases, this is not a bad thing - but lest we forget...

And men, don't think that you got away with perfect hair during the 80's - remember this look? You know, the pictures you hide from your kids now?


Before we laugh and claim that it was "not me", remember, there are pictures of all of us that our kids will someday find and use against us! Ok...you may not have sported the "rocker look", but how many of you tried the "wings" or men, the "mullet" or center part (affectionately called the "butt cut")? Yeah...I thought so...


Michele Everson
"Still living in the 80's style" wife of Pastor Chad Everson
and "my kids laugh at me" Mom of two wonderful boys!

Those Happy Days!

Remember this?...

"Happy days was filmed in front of a live audience" - it all started in 1974 and continues on late night schedules even today!

Happy Days was a part of my daily life! I would race through whatever things my mom had for me to do after school to make sure that I could watch Happy Days, The Love Boat (Hey - I'm a girl! I am allowed to like that show - it's all you guys out there that watched it faithfully that I'm worried about!),Fantasy Island, Remmington Steele, oh...the list goes on! What great days of television! I could glue myself to the TV and never get tired of Laverne and Shirley or Mork and Mindy...

We were doing something on the internet the other day (I was blogging for another site) and pulled up a happy days video on you tube. My boys loved it...they laughed at "the fonze" and I told them they were not allowed to laugh at him - he was "cool"! There is another one to record now! I am thankful for TIVO so we can actually find and record some of these shows for them to watch - we have made our kids into retro kids by recording all the older shows - you know, the ones you did not have to worry about bad language, drug scenes, homosexual agendas or mysticism junk - those shows! We have them hooked on The Andy Griffith show, Gilligan's Island, the Three Stooges (yeah - violence is ok in our household) and now, Happy Days will be added to the list...It's great to be retro!

Michele Everson
Proud Wife of Pastor Chad Everson and
Retro Mom to two wonderful boys!

Women's Roles...and Sarah Palin!

What a great "awakening" for our society and the role of women in it! In my last blog I wrote about the changing roles of women and how it all began, in the media at least, with that loveable Lucille Ball! While I am more in line and love the June Cleaver side of the road, I can't help but think that June would have had some trouble using the internet!



I think the answer lies somewhere in between! I believe women can be feminine and demure, while still being strong in character and integrity and handle whatever life throws at them. Submission to a husband and being a "stay at home mom" is a choice that is made, not a life of servitude that is forced! More and more women are choosing to be with their kids, enjoy taking care of their house and having the energy to spend "quality time" with their husbands when they get home in the evenings - by choice. (Wow, I'm beginning to sound like pro-choice - got to be careful on that one!) I choose this life of putting my family first because I believe that this is what the Bible teaches - 1. that women should be keepers of the home because we are uniquely gifted with an innate care and nurturing for children and we are by nature more relationship oriented than men. 2. That women should be submissive to husbands because while we have great ideas and intellectually we can come to great conclusions, we must guard the emotions that we bring to the table. By sharing with our husbands our insights/ideas, etc. and then allowing him to filter through the heart strings we also present, he can make a well-rounded decision. Most marriages are in trouble because we have fallen for the 50%-50% line instead of realizing that we are both in this 100% and someone has to give when we don't agree! If we respect our husbands (also in the Bible - his greatest need), then submission to him will cause him to walk a little smarter, thoughtful and keep him closer in tune with God. 3. That women should care for their children - not allowing some daycare center (amazing that "schools" start at 1 year old now huh?) to raise our children for us. Clearly, no one will love and care for YOUR child more than YOU...but yet we are satisfied with allowing someone else to teach them what they should believe in, stand more, develop their character, build their self-confidence and self-image, teach them social skills and guide them as they learn how to handle conflict. When kids start spending 6 - 8 hours a day with strangers and other kids at 6 weeks old, how can we expect them to grow up with convictions and a healthy idea of what family stands for! "Here's a radical thought: most of the perceptions we have as adults actually develop when we're children." (taken from http://www.syl.com/articles/theinfluenceofmediaongenderperceptions.html Moms...the call goes out to you! Parent your children - teach them when they rise up, when they walk through the day, when they face difficulty and when they lie down at night - you gotta be there! BY CHOICE! Ladies, I like Sarah Palin - she is strong in character, knows who she is and what she stands for and, while she is not perfect and I certainly don't know her well enough to assume that she is the model of a Christian wife/mom, at least in the media she presents herself as a lady...much different than the women we see everywhere today. What's the difference? Feminity? Class? Well, all of those things - but a lady is also someone who is comfortable saying "I'm a wife and a mom and I'm proud of it" and someone who is comfortable being feminine without seeing it as a sign of weakness...Let's bring back feminity - not feminism! By the way, read the book..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney if you want to study this subject a little more... Michele Everson Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson and Proud mom of two wonderful boys

Women's Roles...Are We Going Retro?

Much has changed since the days of June Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver - the perfect housewife and mother, vacuuming the house in her high heels! I know I am nowhere near this role - I'm happy if my house gets vacuumed at all (much less that I am in my sweats) in the middle of my hustle and bustle world! So, how have things changed? Is it just the hectic nature of our society now that has us jumping through hoops? The economy dictating our schedules? Or have we changed in our perception of women's roles and what we think about "little women in the kitchen" mentality? If you think about it, the feminist movement really began back in June's day - if not before...as the video voice-over discussed, Lucy was a perfect example! So, if we have "come so far baby!", are we really happier? enjoying life more? And, if we are happier, then we should be having a positive impact on our society and our children, right? Well, let's see...depression rates among women have soared, more women are now on psychotherapeutic drugs than ever before, more women are in psychological care than ever before and polls show more "dissatisfaction" with our lives among women than ever before! Where is it all coming from? Did you know that there is a growing trend among women to chose to become stay at home mothers? More women are finding their way back home - I know this is not popular among the feminist crowd to discuss because they would have us believe that this is a step backwards, but it is true. The rates among women choosing to stay at home and raise their children (even in the middle of a struggling economy) is growing. "This is significant because, for four decades, women's labor participation rates consistently climbed, from 40.8% in 1970 to 57.5% in 2000. The phenomenon caused profound changes in American family, culture, and economy. The shift in direction has some people wondering whether or not the sexual revolution at work is over and what may have caused the change....In a 2005 study, the U.S. Census Bureau reported an estimated 5.6 million stay-at-home moms. That is a 22% increase from 1994." (from an article by Dulce Zamora at http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/hard-choice-for-moms-work-stay-home ) So, what do you think? Why is it that women, in growing number, are choosing to stay home? Even in the economic disaster that is occuring right now for the American family, more women are choosing to be at home with their children - why? Let me hear your opinion on this subject - tomorrow I'll tell you mine!

Some things never get old!

Remember these guys? The chipmunks have changed - but they are still around and still pulling a crowd! What about the clothes? Remember when we wore the shirt dresses and wide belts the first time around? (Ok...rule of thumb ladies, if you were old enough to wear it the first time, you are probably too old to wear it when it comes back again - unless you are my sister-in-law who runs marathons and looks great no matter what she wears - she can wear whatever sytle she wants to at 80 years old!). Anyway, today it is your turn to blog! Tell the world what is your favorite style or "re-run" toy that has come back around or has remained "hot" today! I'll close with one more to think on...


Retro Mom,
Michele Everson
Wife of Pastor Chad Everson
and proud mom of two wonderful boys!

Retro Football?

Ok...so none of you will be worrying about toys this weekend - not with the beginning of the college football season! All of you will be sunk into your recliner with sweet tea in one hand and the remote in the other - hoping that your picture in picture will be working well enough to get a great view of all the games! Of course it goes without saying that you have your snacks and that you have already checked the weather to be sure that your dish service will not be impacted by anything...

But even football has changed... Are you a member of a fantasy football league? Have you subscribed to the new DirecTv fantasy football tool that keeps up with your team? Do you have a laptop or computer next to your recliner so you can watch your stats while you watch the NFL games? Are you texting, chatting or IM friends while the game is going on? Yes...football has changed - granted, it is probably for the better - but it is definitely not the same old "football experience".

Well, with all your technology and options for football fanatacism out there - Have Fun this holiday weekend! And try not to hurt yourself typing and texting too fast!
Go Georgia Bulldogs!

Remember this one?....When toys should remain a memory!

Ok... so not ALL retro toys are cool. This past year for Christmas, we did what we always do as parents - we looked at all the toys we would want and the toys that we had when we were a kid! (Don't act like you don't do the same thing!) So, how many times have you remembered how "cool" something was, you talk it up to your kids and you finally get it for them - only for it to be a dud!

Need an example? Electronic Football! Remember this guys? Remember how you spent hours playing with this - getting your guys to vibrate across the field? Yeah...well, not so cool! You may remember it being that way (in the same way you think it is still cool to wear your letterman's jacket when your 40) - But it is not! Ask my kids when their Dad eagerly showed it to them on Christmas morning! It was, "great dad...wow - I could see where this would be cool...sure"

Still not convinced? Raggedy Ann and Andy - Every grandparent in America has told their daughters or daughters in law that their kids "have to have Raggedy Ann and Andy - all kids love them". Not true - have you looked at these things closely - have you seen the creepy expression on their faces? Now I realize that the expression may be different based on whether or not you order an original, mint condition REAL Raggedy Ann or whether you do like most parents, get the cheap one from that weird lady that parks her car on the side of the highway in town and sells them out of her trunk...but still - they are just not that cool! (Don't shoot me for messing with an American icon)

Let's face it - some of our favorite memories of certain toys should remain just that - memories! Even the toy companies know it - some of the toys they are trying to bring back have some significant changes in them! Tomorrow's blog...what's coming back!

Anyway, post and tell me what your favorite toy memory is! What was cool for you?

Classic Toys are Better!

In an article entitled "Do We Need Bells and Whistles? Educational Toys May Be Coal In The Holiday Stocking" by Morentz at Temple University published in 2007, retro toys are evaluated against their modern counterparts and found to come out on top! It proves what we all knew - retro toys (OUR toys) are better! Yeah - we win!

Ok seriously, what the article does go on to point out is that toys of today think for your child in many ways - and the child simply responds. The toys we grew up on required our creativity and thoughtfulness to be ANY fun at all. “Your child gets to build his or her imagination around these simpler toys; the toys don’t command what your child does, but your child commands what the toys do.” says Hirsh-Pasek, the Lefkowitz Professor of Psychology at Temple and co-director of the Temple University Infant Lab.

And what about all of these new toys out there that promise us they will make our kids smart? You know, the ones that we buy constantly and force our children to play with so that they can grow up to be brain surgeons in order to support us in our old age - yeah, those...well, do they work? According to this study and article, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek says “If the toy is promising that your child is going to be smarter, it’s a red flag. If it is promising that your child is going to be bilingual or learn calculus by playing with it, the chances are high that this is not going to happen – even with a tremendous amount of parental intervention.” In other words...better start saving for your retirement!

So...what is the bottom line? Quit paying so much for all the "smart toys" and the ones with all the bells and whistles and make sure that at least some of the toys your kids are playing with are the simple ones - the ones that require them to think, create, imagine and well, be kids!

To see the article by Temple University in it's entirety: http://www.temple.edu/newsroom/2007_2008/11/stories/christmastoys.htm

Bring Back the Classics!

I don't know about you, but I am sick of the "new" toys that are on the market today! Kids today have tons of options for toys and things to do, but most of them stink. Sure, you have the cool PS3s and Nintendos, but even most of those games have to be filtered for all the language in them. Toys aren't simple anymore - they all have agendas and political messages, they are all trying to teach something or influence your child in some way - what happened to just playing?

Remember the Easy Bake Oven? It didn't bother us back then that there were girls on the box doing the baking - we assumed the boys were the ones eating the cakes! Not only that, but your parents let you play for hours with it unattended and you never once killed anyone with your oven - now they all have to have warnings and "parental supervision is required". Children today have to have toys that play for them - the superhero figures all come with prepared scenes and even scripted actions/abilities. Remember when we used to get a Superman or a Wonder Woman and you went outside to figure out where Krypton was going to be? We made up the scenarios and what each hero was capable of -sometimes we made up the heroes! And Legos...remember when you had to build from scratch - well not anymore! The kits come with instructions to build the exact city from the box!

Listen, there is nothing wrong with some of the new toys out there - but all in all, we have raised a group of kids with no imagination and no idea how to really play. They are so into all of these strange character toys (YuGiOh and all), that they have no idea what to do when you put them outside! I am ready to go Retro!