Freddy woke up around 5 the next morning to smell his mother's homemade bread baking. Usually, for breakfast, they'd have bacon, maybe ham sometimes, eggs, fried potatoes, and coffee or milk. And sometimes Frances would make a German breakfast, lunch or supper depending on the day, and if it was a certain holiday, they would celebrate and eat like the Germans would. Otherwise, they ate what Fred and now more frequently, what young Freddy would hunt.

"German style breakfast!" He exclaimed, putting on his deer-skin moccasin slippers. "Oh boy!" Freddy got up and left his room and made it to the kitchen, taking a seat at the table.

"Morning Freddy." Frances smiled at her son. "You ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah Mama! Bring on the Weisswurst!" The eleven year old grinned. It was his favorite German breakfast sausage made of minced veal and fresh pork bacon, both ground together.

"Freddy…." Frances laughed. "I'm just getting the water ready to boil now, you know they won't be ready till the second breakfast!" Much like the German people in Bavaria, where Frances' family was from, they would have a second breakfast or Zweites Frühstück….The first breakfast at 5 when they awoke, and the other at about 10:30.

"Aw shucks." He said.

"You'll get over it." She chuckled. Frances leaned down and gave her boy a kiss on the cheek. "You'll just have to settle for my homemade bread for now."

"Can I have butter on it?" He asked. "And a slice of smoked ham."

"Cooking it up right now." Frances smiled, as there were slices of ham on a sheet in the oven, so it would reheat the smoked ham. "Good morning, Helen." She said, as her daughter walked in and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Morning, Mama…" The nine year old yawned.

"Still tired, huh?" Frances said, and began to rub her daughter's back.

"Ah huh…" Helen yawned.

"Breakfast will wake you up, I bet." Frances said, after setting a slice of homemade buttered bread with a slice of ham on it in front of her.

"I thought that was mine!" Freddy chuckled.

"You get one too, my boy…" She laughed, ruffling his reddish brown hair.

"Where's Papa?" Helen asked, biting into the open-faced sandwich.

"He went to work at the brewery about the time I started getting breakfast ready, made him a cup of coffee and he left….he'll be back for Zweites Frühstück, then he'll go on back to work…"

"Can I have some coffee, Mama?" Freddy asked.

"No…just because children do in Germany, doesn't mean you have to…"

"But….we're German, Mama." Freddy said.

Well, he got her on that one! They were German! "Well, all right then…." She chuckled at him. "…...but let me stir in some milk and just a little bit of sugar, I don't want you getting all wound up…"

"All right!" Freddy grinned, as she laid a cup of coffee in front of the young lad. "Thanks Mama!"

Frances chuckled at him and shook her head a little. "You're welcome…now you two eat your breakfast and then get dressed."

"Can I go huntin' then?" Freddy asked.

"No sir…" Frances chuckled, laying her hands on his slim shoulders. "You'll both do your chores, and come back and then we'll have our Zweites Frühstück ….and…"

"And then can I go deer hunting?"

"No,…Nona's bringing the girls over at 12." She told him. "I promise you'll be able to hunt afterwards, all right, son?"

"All right." Freddy smiled.

Frances smiled and kissed his cheek. "Now,….eat your breakfast." She grinned and went back to the stove.

"Aren't you gonna eat too, Mama?"

"No….I made myself a few hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee after I woke up….I'll wait until Zweites Frühstück."

"Weißwurst mit bayerischen süßem Senf und eine Brezel werden wir!" Helen said excitedly in German. She and Freddy loved speaking the language with their parents, and they caught on quickly. The English translation of what she said was, "We will have white sausages with Bavarian sweet mustard and a pretzel!"

"Und Weissbier!" Freddy said, grinning devilishly. Which in English, meant, "And wheat beer!"

Frances shook her head and chuckled at her son and spoke in German to him, "Nein, Sie nicht trinken werden Weissbier!" ..."No, you will not drink beer!"

Freddy chuckled. " Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, dann?"..."Black forest cake, then?"

"Wenn wir haben Kaffee und Kuchen." Frances grinned. "If we have coffee and cake."

"Can I have coffee then too?" Freddy asked.

Frances chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Ja..." She said in German, which meant, "Yes..."

They both went back to eating their breakfast. Helen had finished eating and went into her room to change out of her nightgown and into her little brown day dress. Freddy had soon finished his breakfast and his cup of coffee and went into his room and got dressed into a blue and brown flannel shirt and a pair of brown trousers. While the kids went out to do their chores, Frances busied herself getting the German sausage ready for the second breakfast, large soft pretzels covered in salt were baking in the oven. She grabbed a few jars of the sweet mustard she had made previously, but thought to make some more for another time, so she stood at the stove stirring the mixture of sugar and cider vinager. When it had carmelized, she brought it to a bowl filled with brown and yellow mustard seeds, salt, and ground cloves, and she stirred it till it was grainy. Frances poured the hot mustard into jars and sealed them tightly. She picked up the hem of her navy blue skirt and walked down the steps to the cellar to the back wall. There was the apple barrel in the middle of the two sets of shelves, where Fred and Freddy had put it. The set of shelves on the left was Fred's space, and the ones on the right were her's, so she put the jars of sweet mustard on the bottom shelf, so it would be able to mature for 5 to 6 weeks.

All the food for the second breakfast was soon ready, so Frances began setting the kitchen table, placing a large pretzel, three Weisswursts and a dab of the Bavarian sweet mustard on each plate. Helen came in from the barn after feeding and watering the animals, and she took her place at the table.

"Freddy still out chopping wood?" Frances asked.

" Yes Mama...Want me to go get him?"

"Please and thank you, Helen." She smiled and watched her daughter run out the back door. Helen went through the summer kitchen, down the steps, and near the little rock wall where they stacked the wood and where they would wash clothes in the summertime.

Freddy looked up from his wood-chopping and saw his little sister. "Mama wants me inside?" He asked.

"Yeah, food's all ready."

"Can't wait!" He grinned. "I love the Weisswurst!" Freddy said, walking up the summer kitchen steps with his younger sister.

"You like any kind of German sausage, Freddy!"

"I know!" Freddy laughed. "I like the Black Forrest Cake, too."

"Me too!" Helen exclaimed.

"Can I have your cherries?" Freddy grinned as they walked into the house and sat down.

"No!...I like the cherries, Freddy!"

"Well, so do I." Freddy grinned.

"You will both have cherries on your cake!" Frances laughed at them. "But...its not time for coffee and cake right now..."

"It's time for, Zweites Frühstück!" Freddy grinned.

Frances chuckled, smiling at her son. "Ja, das ist richtig."..."Yes, that is right."

Helen took a piece from her pretzel and dipped it into the sweet mustard and took a small bite.

"Helen...what do we do before we eat?" Frances smiled.

"I forgot to pray..." Helen said softly. "Oops."

"Its all right. Let's just remember to next time...I'll pray since I think your father's running a little late..." Frances said, and the three of them bowed their heads and she prayed, a hand on her son's shoulder, and the other resting on her daughter's..."Dear Lord, thank you for our day so far...thank you for this good food and may it strengthen our bodies...and help us have a good rest of the day as Fran and Snooky come over for awhile. Help Freddy and Helen..." She prayed while rubbing their shoulders gently when she said their names... " to set a good example for their cousins as they play together today,..In Jesus' Name, Amen..."

"And help me get something when I go hunting today!" Freddy added.

"I think He'd grant you something since you prayed and asked Him for it." Frances chuckled.

"Good God in Heaven!" She exclaimed, as she felt hands around her waist. It was Fred. He had snuck in when they were praying. "Fred!" Frances laughed. She felt him kiss her cheek and down her jawline. "Fred!...Fred, sit down, will you?" She laughed, spinning around to meet his face. "The way you're carrying on!...My word, its not like I'm seventeen again!...You know I'll be 30 in five months..."

"Coulda fooled me..." Fred smiled at her. "Plus...30's still young..." He grinned, holding her closer to him.

"Oh hush up!" She laughed, squeezing his arm and gave him a quick kiss. "Now sit down!...Sit, sit, sit!" She said, rushing off to get herself a cup of coffee.

"Do you have my Weissbier, Frances?" Fred asked, taking his seat at the table.

"Yes, I do..." She said, placing the tall glass of foming German beer in front of him. "I know you work at a beer factory, honey,...but I don't think your boss would like it if you were drunk on the job..." She laughed.

"I'm not going to get drunk..." Fred laughed. "And I only have a German beer once in awhile."

"Yes, but you also have whiskey once in a while too...And you said you'd never drink again." Frances chuckled.

"Can I have a sip of that, Papa?" Freddy asked.

Fred chuckled. "Nah, son you don't want this...not yet." He said, swallowing a gulp of his German beer.

"Your father's right...you don't." Frances said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Now you eat!"

"Sure Mama..." Freddy said, slicing his sausage down the middle, length-wise and picked up a half and dipped it in the sweet mustard. Helen was also enjoying her Weisswurst just as Freddy was.

"I think you kids like the white sausage, just because you get to eat without silverware!" Frances laughed.

"Well, yeah..." Freddy nodded and then grinned. "But it tastes good too!"

"I agree!" Helen chimed in. The kids finished their second breakfast, having their chores done, Freddy went into the parlor to read his book for a while, while Helen went into her room to do her weekend homework.

"Each and every one of them solemnly declared that he was firmly resolved

to be unusually careful.

Finally they reached the cabin.

In the afternoon Old Jim skinned the three musquash, and showed the boys

how he fastened the hides on stretching boards, which would cause them

to retain their shape while they dried.

"We never put skins in the sun or near a fire to dry," he observed,

seeing that most of the boys were anxious to learn all they could….."

Freddy was just about to read the next line, when Helen came in shrieking at him.

"Freddy! Freddy! I'm learning about cowboys in my American History!"

"Yeah…so?" He said and went back to reading his book awhile…..until she interrupted him…again.

"I'm learning all about the cattle ranchers! They worked 20 hours a day and made between $25 to $40 a month!..."

"I heard cowboy's wear trousers made of something called denim…." Freddy said. "Been wanting to ask if I could buy some to wear when I go hunting….."

"That'd be neat!" Helen said excitedly. "To look like a cowboy!...You should ask Mama and Papa sometime!"

"I might…..Its strong fabric. I think they'd be better for hunting than my other trousers…." Freddy said and started grinning at her…"Is that what I think it is?"

A smile crept across Helen's face. "Black Forest Cake!" They both said excitedly. They could smell it! It was all ready!

"C'mon!" Freddy grinned and they both ran into the kitchen to enjoy a little coffee and a slice of cake.

(

"I brought a couple feeding bottles and some cloth diapers and anything else I thought she might need…." Nona said, passing her two month old daughter off into her sister-in-law's arms.

"I believe I can handle it, Nona…" Frances smiled. "Don't worry…"

"I'm not….oh, who am I kidding, I am!" Nona exclaimed. "I've never been away from my girls since the day they were born! I just hope they'll be alright without me…."

"They will….Now calm down, you worried mother." Frances chuckled.

"I can't help it, Frances!"

"I know you can't…Believe me, I went through it too…"

"Nona, let's get going now…." Joe said, laying a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"All right….All right, just let me say goodbye to Fran….." She said, getting down on her knees in front of her three year old daughter. "You be good for your Aunt Frances while we're gone…We'll be back later, Fran…." Nona said, giving her a hug and a little kiss on the forehead.

"You're sure you can handle them?" Nona asked.

"Yes, I'm sure….Now get going!" Frances laughed and watched them leave.

"I think we can handle this little one…." Frances said softly, smiling down at the two month old baby in her arms. "She'll be sleeping most of the time she's here, I bet. Yes…..She's already nodding off." Frances chuckled. "Freddy, could you and your sister get her old cradle from the attic room?"

"Sure Mama…" He whispered and he and his sister headed upstairs.

"Fran, that's a nice little necklace you're wearing." Frances smiled at the little 3 year old, wearing a beaded necklace.

"Pretties…" Fran said quietly.

"Do you like pretties, Fran?" Frances grinned at her little niece.

"Yes…" The little girl said quietly.

"You're so cute, Fran…." Frances smiled…The toddler reminded her of her own daughter at that age. Fran's hair was just like Helen's, but a deep brown, her eyes just the same.

Freddy and Helen came down with the little baby cradle and set it in the parlor, and Frances placed baby Leonona, otherwise known as Snooky, into Helen's old cradle. "There we go…" She said softly, and smiled, lingering there awhile.

"You look so natural with a baby…." Fred grinned as Frances got up from where she was kneeling at the cradle.

"I do, hm?" Frances looked at him, hands on her hips. "Why do you keep bringing this up?" She chuckled.

"Because I wouldn't mind another….what about you?" He grinned, touching her shoulder.

"We can talk about this later." She gave him a look, but smiled at him. "Now don't you need to get back to work?"

Fred smiled and kissed his wife on the lips. "I'll be back for supper…" Frances walked with him to the back door, her hand on his back. Before he walked out the door, she kissed him on the cheek. "See you later." She smiled, and stood at the door as she watched him leave. Frances went back into the parlor to see what her two children and her little niece were up to.

"Mama! Fran's getting tired of playing with her toys she brought…." Helen complained.

"Well, we'll just play something else, now." Frances said.

"I know!" Freddy exclaimed. "Let's play, 'Button, button, who's got the button?'!"

"Yeah!" Helen grinned and then turned to her brother. "But not you! You always find the button first!"

"Hey!" Freddy said, feigning like he was hurt.

"Helen…was that very nice?" Frances asked.

Helen just looked at her mother and didn't answer.

"Was it?" She asked calmly.

"No Mama…." Helen said quietly. She looked over at Freddy. "I'm sorry, Freddy…"

"It's all right…." He said, laying a hand on his little sister's shoulder and laughed slightly. "I'll try not to find the button."

"I have a better idea, Freddy." Frances chuckled. "How about you hide the button for the girls?"

"Okay!"

"Can I pick out the button?" Helen asked.

"Yes,…you can." Her mother smiled, and brought her sewing box, filled with all sorts of buttons. Helen picked out a little white button and gave it to her older brother. "Freddy, you hide the button somewhere's….and Fran and me, we'll close our eyes."

"Fran…" Helen whispered. "Go like this!" She whispered and covered her own eyes with her hands, she peeked at her little cousin to find her with her little eyes shut and her little hands covering them.

"No peeking, Helen…" Frances chuckled, joking with her.

"I'm not, Mama." Helen giggled.

"Okay! It's hidden! I hid the button!...Go find it!" Freddy exclaimed.

Helen grabbed Fran's little hand and went searching for the button. They looked all over the parlor and it wasn't there. She started to take Fran into Freddy's room.

"Nope Helen….You're ice cold!" Frances said.

"It must be in the next room!" The nine year old exclaimed. "C'mon Fran!" And so they began looking all over Frances' sewing room for that little button. Helen started look in the drawers of Frances' treadle sewing machine.

"You're cold…." Frances said. "Oh you're freezing!" She laughed as Helen and Fran went into Helen's room. "You're ice cold!" Helen and little Fran started to go near where the little button was hidden. "Oh, you're not as cold now! You're getting warmer!...You're even warmer!" Frances said as they inched closer and started looking in the buffet table. "You're really warm now!...Ouch you're hot!" She laughed.

"You're burning hot!" Freddy exclaimed as the girls looked in the drawer. "Button, button, who's got the button?" He chanted.

"Fran does!" Helen said, quickly placing the button into her little cousin's hand.

"Yay Fran!" Frances smiled, picking up her niece. "Did you like it? Was that game fun?"

Little Fran grinned and nodded her head. "Again!"

"Okay, we'll play again!" Frances grinned.

"Mama…" Freddy spoke up.

"Yes Freddy?…."

"Can I go hunting now?"

"Yes, you can…." She chuckled. "Just be back for supper…I packed you a bag of deer jerky and a few slices of bread though, and filled a couple of jars with water for you….They're on the kitchen table."

"Thanks Mama. Makin' me hungry already! I love your homemade bread!" Freddy smiled, hugging his mother. "Hey, I was wondering! At the mercantile, there's these trousers made of something called denim."

"Yes, I think I've heard of those…. Two men named Levi Strauss and David Jacobs patented them in 1873." Frances said.

"Can I buy a pair sometime?" Freddy asked. "I think they'd be good for huntin'." He nodded, sure of himself.

"If you raise the money, I don't see why you can't buy a pair!" She smiled.

"Thanks!" Freddy grinned.

"You're welcome." She smiled. "Now go get your coat. It's getting chilly….Winter's nearing."

"All right, Mama." He said, grabbing his brown leather and fox fur-lined jacket and 12 gauge 1887 shotgun that used to be his father's, and his provisions, and started out the door…

"Freddy…" Frances went outside before he left. "Here's an extra flannel shirt! You never know when you might need it….and for now, you can keep your provisions wrapped in it."

"Thanks Mama!" Freddy grinned. "Good idea!" He said, wrapping them in the brown flannel shirt.

"You're welcome!" She smiled. "I hope you get something!...Be safe!" Frances called as he walked up the slope to the woods and began his little hunting journey. He walked through the woods behind his little house, the fall leaves crunching at his feet, sticks and little twigs snapping as he stepped on them.

He thought he passed a few rabbits and a fox or two in the little holes, but that wasn't what the young eleven year old lad was after. He wanted a deer. Any type of deer! Buck, doe…maybe not a little fawn, but otherwise, it didn't matter to the boy, he was just wanting to get a deer…..So he walked some more until he came to the little clearing deep in the woods where he set up a salt-lick, and he waited in the bushes for deer to come to it. He waited until he thought he heard something, but his head snapped upward and saw it was just a couple of squirrels running along the branches of the trees surrounding him. Freddy waited for hours it seemed, and not a single deer came. The sky was turning the colors of orange and red now….the sun was setting.

Freddy Lay wasn't about to head back home without shooting anything, so he went deeper into the woods and went searching. He soon came across a rub, where a deer had used its antlers to mark its territory. He saw a good-sized buck by a tree over yonder, rubbing his large antlers against it. The eleven year old quietly took a few steps forward, making sure he couldn't be heard or seen. He was stalking the buck, moving inch by inch closer so he could get a good shot at it. It was almost dark now, it was getting a little hard to see the deer, but yet, Freddy was able to. This was his chance to land that buck! So, he placed the butt of his gun on his right shoulder, the stock of the gun in hand, aiming it at the buck, he pulled the trigger and fired, but it just missed him, so Freddy prepared his gun again and fired, and saw the buck drop to the ground. A good 'ole neck shot he saw it was as he inched closer to the fallen buck. He saw it was in fact, dead. "All right!" He exclaimed, right proud of himself.

Freddy looked around and finally realized it was dark, too dark to drag that buck down through the thick woods and down the hill to the house. "Guess I'll….I'll just camp here for tonight…." Freddy said, a little nervously. He did camp out in the woods with his dad, he knew what to do, how to build a shelter and everything,…but he never did it all by himself!

"Oh suck it up!" He told himself. And started gathering large fallen branches and came across some pine branches and other brush and made himself shelter against a sturdy tree, for the night. He put some more brush on the floor of his little 'place' so he was off the cold ground. Freddy undid the flannel shirt he used to keep his provisions in and spread the shirt on top of it. He took a few slabs of the deer jerky and the bread his mother packed for him. "Guess this is supper…" He said, eating a little and took one of his jars of water and drank some. He sat there awake, listening to the sounds of wild animals. An owl hooted from afar….Freddy thought he heard some raccoons or some fox or maybe some deer scurry around in the distance. He was a bit nervous that he was all by himself….but he knew how to take care for himself in the woods, though always with supervision... Right now, it was just his time to experience it by himself! He put the bags of provisions in his coat pocket and the jars of water next to him, and wearing his coat, he laid down on his little 'bed' and soon fell asleep for the night.

(

"You think he's alright out there?" Frances whispered, looking out the back door window towards the woods. She didn't see her son return, and she was really worried about him.

"He'll be fine, Frances…" Fred answered her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "He knows what to do in the woods….Freddy's able to take care of himself."

"Is Freddy gonna be okay out there, Papa?" Helen whispered. She had come out of her little room. The nine year old was also worried for her older brother. "I'm scared for him."

"Your brother will be just fine….You don't need to be afraid." Fred reassured her. "Now, you get back into bed…"

"Alright….Night Mama, Papa." Helen whispered and went back to her room.

"How 'bout you come back to bed too?" Fred whispered, laying a hand on his wife's shoulder.

Frances shook her head. "I'm waiting up for him…"

"You'll be waiting up all night for him, honey."

"I don't care…." Frances said, sitting down in her rocking chair, a blanket covering her legs. "I want to make sure my boy returns safely. Even if I have to stay up all night…."

"Want me to stay up with you?" Fred whispered.

"No, you go on to bed…" Frances told him. Fred leaned down and kissed her goodnight.

"You….are going to be one tired lady in church tomorrow morning…" He chuckled.

"I think I'll be okay…" Frances laughed a little. She accepted his lips in another kiss. "Goodnight…." She whispered and he went upstairs to bed.

A/N: Levi Strauss: Mr. Strauss came to America from Bavaria in 1847 with his mother and two sisters. They arrived in New York where his half brother ran a wholesale business selling, among other things, various types of fabrics and clothes. After working for his brother for a few years, Levi decided to travel West to San Francisco and partake of the benefits of the Gold Rush. His original intent was to open a branch of his brother's wholesale business. Levi did this diligently for the next 20 years, acquiring a reputation as a quality supplier to small stores throughout the West.

His fate and the history of clothing would change forever when in 1872 he received an offer from Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno Nevada. Mr. Davis, in order to improve the durability of the pants that he made for his clients, had been adding metal rivets to the highly stressed seams. The idea was successful and he wished to patent it. Lacking the money to do so, he turned to Levi for financial backing, and of course, a partnership. In 1873, the new partners received a patent for "an improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings", and thus the history of blue jeans as we know them begins. They started making "waist overalls" out of denim and cotton duck. They knew that the selling point of the new product was its durability, making it more appropriate for work clothes. Eventually, the cotton duck was dropped for the more comfortable denim.

The History of Blue Jeans and Denim: The company grew in size and fame. By the 1920's "waist overalls" were the most widely used worker's pants in America. The name "jeans", however, was not officially adopted until the 1960's. Levi Strauss and Co. recognized that it had no choice, as this was what the product was being called by the young, leisure loving teenage boys. The history of "waist overalls" continues as the history of blue jeans. "Jeans" is now generally understood to refer to pants made out of a specific type of fabric called "denim".

"'Button, button who's got the button?'" is a game my mother and her siblings would play when they would go over to Frances' house. There's many variations to the game, but in this chapter was exactly how they played it.

Interesting how the Germans eat, huh? Lol. They have the two breakfasts as I mentioned, lunch (depending on which part of Germany. Some don't eat lunch at all.) , supper…and during some part of the day, they will have a time where they sit down and have coffee and cake.