Wow! I thought it was hard enough being a grandparent living so close to my grandchildren that we could visit anytime. How close is too close? My son and daughter-in-law have moved into our home with three small children. I love them all dearly. That being said – talk about biting my tongue. (more…)
Here is a simple and environment friendly hint for your summer bonfires or for those cozy fires in the fireplace during the long winter months. Save the peels from oranges and lemons. (I have not tried lime peels but I suppose they would work just as well) Dry them in a jar and use them as kindling. Not only do they smell good but they do not contain any creosote and our safe for the environment. They work just as well as kindling or newspaper to get those fires started. A good way to recycle.
How much fun is dancing? What a great gift to give our grandchildren. I have hired a young couple to teach my grandchildren how to swing dance. It will be a one hour lesson with one hour of d.j. music after the lesson. No special place is needed. We are going to dance in the back yard. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Everyone is excited and they have already chosen their partners. After our lesson we will have our own dance contest.
My niece Mary e-mailed me today with a great idea. After hanging her daughter’s preschool drawings on the refrigerator for a week, she takes a photo of them, prints it and puts the photo in an album. She suggests you pick the best or most interesting ones. Your child or granchild will be thrilled to receive this album when they are older. Keep those great ideas coming. Thanks Mary.
Who came out of this house? Not the mouse. Who came out of this hole? Not the mouse. Not the mole. Who came out of this nest? Not the mouse. Not the mole. Not the duck. It’s a pest. Can you guess? What a mess.
by Sophia
In the Windy City, April was living up to the name. Grammy and Charlie were in the yard picking up toys. “Stop that,” Charlie said. “What?’ asked Grammy. “He’s touching me” said Charlie. Charlie had five brothers so Grammy thought he was kidding her. “Let’s pick up the balls in Uncle Mike’s yard” said Grammy. “Okay” said Charlie who was three “but he keeps touching me.” “There is no one here with us” said Grammy. “But he keeps touching me and pushing me,” said Charlie. “Who?” asked Grammy. “The ghost.” said Charlie. “I don’t think there are any ghosts in our yard,” said Grammy. “But I can’t see him” said Charlie “and he keeps pushing me.” All of a sudden Charlie’s hat blew away. “See, Grammy, now he took my hat.” Grammy smiled at Charlie. “I think the ghost has a name after all,” she said. “What’s the ghost’s name?” asked Charlie “It’s called the wind,” Grammy said. “I don’t think I like the wind,” said Charlie “he doesn’t play fair.”
It was June 2nd and it was Elena’s second birthday. Elena ran to see her cousin Ben who had turned two on May 1st. Elena and Ben were the best of friends. They always played together. “Let’s go see Grammy, said Ben. Grammy lived next door to most of her grandchildren. Only Abby lived in another town. Grammy was always happy to see Ben and Elena. They were almost like twins. “Hi Grammy said Ben and Elena. “Hello to both of you and a happy birthday to you, Elena, said Grammy. “I have a wonderful surprise for you today. We are all going sledding for Elena’s birthday. “No snow, said Elena. “Of course there is no snow, laughed Grammy “it is June. (more…)
In early April Grammy began preparing the ground for her garden. She needed to turn and fertilize the soil to get it ready for spring planting. Grammy called the older boys to help. It took all day for Grammy, Michael, Nicholas, Mac and Sam to get the garden ready and to put up the little white fence that was necessary to keep Tucker, the dog, out of their garden. The boys had many suggestions for planting the garden. Nick wanted to grow popsicles. Michael wanted to plant bubble gum trees. Grammy always kept bubble gum in her pocket for her grandchildren. The next morning Jaye, Sophia, Grace and Emma came over to help Grammy decide what to plant in the garden. “Tomatoes and peppers for sure, said Grace “they are my favorites. “Beans,” said Emma “they always grow fast.” “Melons are my favorite, said Sophia. “We need to plant our pumpkins now, said Jaye “so we have then in time for our Halloween party, “What do you want to plant?” they asked Grammy. “Potatoes,” said Grammy.“The boys and I decided on potatoes. “Potatoes?” asked the girls. “How do you grow potatoes?” “You plant the eyes of the potatoes in large mounds of dirt, water the mounds every day and keep the weeds away. When the plants grow tall and start to wilt, you dig up the potatoes,” said Grammy. (more…)
“Nine is a wonderful age,” said Mom.“Great,” said Sophia. What was she going to do all summer? Swim team would be fun but it wasn’t everyday and was over by the middle of July. Sophia needed something important to do for the summer. Taking care of her sisters or walking the dog was not what she had in mind. Sophia knew Mom would think both of those things would be great ideas. “I need a plan so Mom will see I am too busy to watch three little sisters or play with Bruno,” Sophia thought.
Sophia’s twin brother Nick had already promised Uncle Mike he would put his garbage cans at the curb every Tuesday and bring them back to his garage after the garbage man had emptied them. Uncle Mike was going to pay Nick two dollars every week for this job. “That’s what I need,” said Sophia “a job with responsibility so I can earn money.” (more…)
Grammy had many things to do on Mondays. She had to do the laundry and buy groceries. She had to water the flowers and pull the weeds and feed and walk the dog. Grammy made sure that all of her chores were done by three o’clock. At three o’clock her grandchildren would get off the school bus and run home to change their clothes and meet Grammy in the backyard. Only on Mondays could they do their homework after dinner instead of after school.
On Mondays they flew kites with Grammy. Sometimes Grammy helped them make homemade kites from old newspapers with rags for tails. Grammy bought kites from many places when she traveled. She had a large barrel in her basement in which she kept bright colored kites, dragon kites, princess kites and kites with stars and stripes.
Grammy had a lot of grandchildren. On some Mondays only the boys flew kites with Grammy. Michael, Nicholas, Mac, Sam, Ben, Jack and even baby Graham loved the Mondays that they flew kites with Grammy because on those days Grammy brought out all of the dragon kites. (more…)