​Texas was the 28th state in the USA - it was admitted on December 29, 1845.
 
State abbreviation = TX
State Capital = Austin
Largest City = Houston
Area = 268,601 square miles (Only Alaska is bigger than Texas)

President Dwight D Eisenhower was born in Denison on October 14, 1890 - he was the 34th US President, served from 1953 - 1961.

President Lyndon B Johnson was born near Johnson City on August 27, 1908 - he was the 36th US President, served from 1963 - 1969. 

Main Rivers in Texas - Rio Grande, Red River, Brazos River
Highest Point - Guadalupe Peak @ 8,749 feet above sea level
Number of counties - 254

The Caddo Indians of Eastern Texas called their group of tribes the "Tejas" - meaning "those who are friends". 

State Nickname - The Lone Star State
State Motto - Friendship
State Song - "Texas, Our Texas"
The State bird - Mockingbird
State mammal, large - Texas longhorn
State mammal, small - Armadillo
State mammal, flying - Free-tailed Bat
State insect - Monarch Butterfly
State reptile - Texas horned lizard
State fish - Guadalupe Bass
State shell - Lightning Whelk
State flower - Bluebonnet
State plant - Prickly Pear Cactus
State tree - Pecan
State grass - Sideoats grama
State shrub - Chinese Crepe Myrtle
State fruit - Red grapefruit
State vegetable - Sweet onion
State fiber - Cotton
State dinosaur - Pleurocoelus
State stone - Petrified Palmwood
State gem - Texas blue topaz

​...There are 5,ooo types of snakes - and 4,998 live in Texas.
...There  are 10,000 types of  spiders - 10,001 live in Texas! 
...If it grows - it sticks. If it crawls - it bites.
...Nothing  will kill a mesquite  tree - or a 4 o'clock bush.
..."Onced" and "twiced" are words.
...It is NOT a shopping cart - it is a BUGGY.
...Fire ants consider your flesh a picnic.
...People actually grow and eat okra.
...Whenever the world ends - only cockroaches and mesquite trees (and don't forget 4  o'clock  bushes) will survive.
..."Fixinto"  is one  word.
..."Backards and forards" means
that I know everything about ya'.
...You work till you are done, or till it is too dark to see.
...The difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit.
..."Gimme som sugar" does not mean pass the sugar bowl!
...How good a cold Grape Nehi and cheese crackers are at a country store, while  sitting in the sun on the tailgate of a pickup.
...Real gravy does not come from a store.
...Where "by and by" is.
...The difference between "pert near" and a "right fur piece".
...Rocking chairs and swings are guaranteed stress relievers.
...People walk slower here.
...What a "mess" is.
....At least one kinfolk named "Bubba" or "Bo".
...That a good lock keeps most people honest.
...Sees no good reason to end a lot of words with the letter "g".
...When Momma says frog -  you better be jumpin'!
...You can always make room for one or two more at the supper table.
...That peanuts in your coke are gooooooood!!!
...That "ain't" is a perfectly acceptable word.
...That Moon Pies and a R.C. Cola  are the perfect ending to ANY day.
...We are from "God's Country"!!!

God Bless TEXAS!!!

Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. 
And you would too, I imagine, if you had to do it.
For Jesse was a chicken plucker. 
He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn't have to.
It wasn't much of a job. 
But at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.
His father was a brute of a man.
His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill and treated Jesse rough all of his life.
Jesse's older brother wasn't much better.
He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up.
Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. 
Life was anything but easy.
And he thought life didn't hold much hope for him.
That's why he was standing in this chicken line,
Doing a job that  few people wanted.
In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that Jesse was always sick. 
Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was all in his head.
He was a small child, skinny and meek.
That sure didn't help the situation any.
When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the playground.
He was a hypochondriac of the first order.
For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to.
But, he had dreams. 
He wanted to be a ventriloquist. He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy.
When he got old enough, he joined the military.
And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the military did recognize his talents and put 
him in the entertainment corp.

That was when his world changed.
He gained confidence.
He found that he had a talent for making people laugh,
And laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes.
Yes, little Jesse had found himself.

You know the history books are full of people who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of the few I know of who didn't overcome it. 
Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of the best-loved characters of all time in doing it! Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmy's given in a single category.    

The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us 
...Barney Fife

Was Jesse Don Knotts                

​

These parents are AWESOME!!! LOL ... so thankful that we have 2 kids that are wonderful parents to our grandkids - all with very vivid imaginations! Don't ever let the child inside die ... keep the imagination and the wonder of LIFE alive!!!