Cousin's Back to School Party 2012

I have been celebrating back to school with my grandchildren for quite a few years now.

Back to School Party 2011

Back to School Party 2010

Back to School Party 2009

Back to School Party 2008

My back-to-schoolers this year are in grades 

7th, 6th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 1st, kindergarten, and pre-school.

That is nine out of ten of my little pearls!

So, what makes a back to school party with 

Grandma, Papa and the cousins?

The party plans can be as simple or as extravagant as you like but

regardless of how much money or time I put into them 

our time together and the lasting memories we share

are a priceless treasure to us all.

It is a tradition that my grands DO NOT allow

me to forget!

For me the party always begins with pre-arranging a date 

that works with all of the parents.

Party invitations are hand delivered a few days ahead of time.

This year's theme was Party Bus!

The invites had a bus schedule on them for the time

of pick up and the afternoon drop off time for each child.

Papa and I decorated our "bus" to add to the fun.

(Special thanks to my daughter and son-in-law for loaning us their eight passenger car.)

We decorated the windows and we tied long strands of brightly 

colored curling ribbon to the side mirrors

to add a festive touch as we whipped and fluttered through the streets.

Once everyone was picked up and buckled up it was party time.

The "bus" was filled with chatter between the very  

excited back-to-school cousins.

First stop included personalized lunch orders

and icy sweet  Eegee's slushes!

There was sampling bites shared, laughter, conversations,

and lots of attention from the other customers.

One set of grandparents who's only grandchild

lives several hours away couldn't believe that this

party group of five only represented half of my grandchildren.

They also commented on how well behaved they were.

Grandma was proud!

They were all wearing matching name tags

around their necks with their new grade.

I made the name tags

to help create a little extra special cousin unity.

Once everyone was done eating and washed up

it was time to load back into our party bus and head to our next stop.

Instead of putting together party gifts bags as usual

we treated the kids to a shopping spree at one of

their favorite stores!

They all LOVE going to Dollar Tree.

Every single row was checked out and a whole

lotta' very selective and time consuming decisions were made.

The rule for the kids was that we all had to stay together.

They did a great job following the rule.

Papa and I had the rule to not rush their decisions.

We succeeded too!

After over an hour of very active shopping it was time to check out.

Everyone was thrilled with their

gadgets, goodies, and toys.

Our party bus then headed to Wendy's

for a round of chocolate Frosty's and seven cups of water

for the ride home.

We had a really cool bus driver!

(Thanks Papa)

Without rushing any part of our time together

we were able to keep the party bus on schedule

for our afternoon drop offs.

I use the word lucky a lot about being a grandma

but the truth is that I am just 

very blessed and very, very grateful.

I can't wait until next time....

Celebrating Red, White, and Blue

4th of July party favors for the grands

to snack on at the fireworks show.

Oh say can you see....

the red, white, and blue table decor?

We celebrated with , ribs, BBQ chicken,

and all the fixins!

I love pulling out my "resources" for all of the different

holidays and seasons.

Sweet buttery corn and sweet memories were made

over dinner, visiting, playing together, and a 

spectacular small town fireworks show!

More Birthday Pouches

It has been DIY birthday pouches for all my grands birthdays in 2012

More pouch ideas here:

http://www.grandmaslittlepearls.com/2012/04/mailable-pouches-for-any-occasion.html

http://www.grandmaslittlepearls.com/2012/05/12-x-12-birthday-pouch-in-pink.html

When I first saw this idea they were made to be put in the mail.

A great idea for long distance grandmas.

I checked it out with the post office and yep they can be

mailed as is! No extra wrapping needed.

What kid wouldn't like getting such a personalized

birthday pouch in their mailbox.

I loved this idea but all of my grands live too close to use the mail.

So, they have each received a hand delivered birthday pouch!

All you need is a piece of card stock for your base.

Birthday scrapbook papers and stickers.

Fairly flat goodies to stitch up in the pouch.

A jumbo freezer bag approx. 13 inch x 15 inch

I found them in the dollar store  (box of 5 for a $1)

A DIY or store bought birthday card.

Cash or gift card to insert in the card if desired.

Create the page like you would a scrapbook page.

Low tack tape helps to keep goodies in place.

If mailing, address the greeting card.

Once everything is in place slide the card stock

into the bag with the zipper at the top.

Use a sewing machine to stitch all edges and in between

each of the goodies.

Trim off the top of the bag so that it is flush with the

card stock top edge. Trim other edges if needed.

I'm getting quite a collection of leftover zipper bag tops.

I'm certain they will be turned into a fun craft one of these days!

Wouldn't these pouches be cute for holidays or back to school?

Grandma Camp 2012

I proved to myself this year that you don't have to work on preparing Grandma Camp the entire year! It has been a year of big changes for me. My husband retired nine months ago as in he is home everyday! That is a big adjustment to a 30 plus year stay at home wife and mom. It has been one year since my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and already seven months since she moved into our home full time. My youngest adult child moved back home a year ago too. So, my year of transition from being a stay at home wife and empty nester with a full time working husband has evolved into a full nest, added responsibilities in caring for my mother in law, little privacy, little alone time, thermostat challenges, TV remote sacrifices, and probably the hardest hit being far less time for my personal creativity time to bring me the joy that it once did.

Needless to say Grandma Camp was pulled together very differently this year and I did not began my camp with the 100% over the top organization that I usually do. But, guess what? If needed you can pull Grandma Camp together in two days and it seems everyone still has just as much fun!

Sadly, this year four of my grandchildren were unable to attend. Oh, how I missed them. So this year I had just six little campers and all boys! Another big change is that we moved the camp to the mountains this year!  My adult children graciously HELPED me pull grandma camp off this time.  We all (parents and kids) headed to our mountain cabin for the Memorial Day weekend.  We extended our stay to include grandma camp. The kids were okay with mom and dad being there but they were very concerned about where they would be during grandma camp and where they were going to sleep to no intrude on our special time together. Traditionally, it is no parents allowed. Seems to be a tradition the kids really like!

To kick off the camp we all (as in parents and grands) headed into town for a pizza lunch and arcade games.

Following lunch the moms and dads stayed in town for the

day to play and Papa and I loaded up our campers and headed

back to the cabin for Grandma Camp!

We had six campers between the ages of 2-11.

Once we arrived back to the cabin we all worked together

to set up the tables and chairs we needed.

Our first activity was talking about keeping a journal.

I then gave them each a camp journal to

record when and where our camp was, who was there, what we did,

how they felt, and their favorite things about grandma camp.

They were given time following each activity to

write or color in their camp journals.

Next up.... Since slacking grandma didn't get personalized

water bottle labels created before camp the kids made their own.

Each child was given a strip of card stock that would

cover the store bought label with a 1/2" overlap.

Each child decorated their labels using colored pencils

and they wrote their names on them. Papa used clear packing

tape (with the kids help) to attach the labels and to waterproof them

 to their camp issued water bottles.

Funny thing....

No one seemed to notice that Grandma Camp

had been pulled together in just two days!

What's next on the agenda?

Love was in the Air!

Last evening the calls to see if Papa and I were home began to come in.

Before we knew it we were surrounded by grandchildren who

showered us with hugs, hand made gifts, a heart shaped balloon,

 a plate of fresh baked cookies, and heartfelt Valentine's in all sizes!

Love was in the air. It was an evening that gave

this grandma's heart a great big squeeze!

On a funny note:

One grandson gave Papa a bag of Cracker Jacks 

as a Valentine's gift that he had gotten at his school

 Valentine's party earlier in the day.

Papa: "Are you sure you want to give this to me?"

Grandson: "Yah, I don't like them?"

Papa: Did you know that there is a prize inside?

Grandson: "There is???!!!!"

(mixed expression of surprise and regret)

Papa: "Yep, let's open it now so that you can have the prize."

Grandson: " Okay!"

(relieved)

The prize was a pencil topper

and a fun fact.

Did you know that a typical pencil can write 45,000

words or draw a line 35 miles long?

That is a very fun fact indeed!

Greer or Bust Memories

This is the second post of our family snow outing to Greer, Arizona. If you missed the first post you can check it out here. In the first post there are some ideas for making the most of your family vacation together. Caravanning as a family. two (four way for us) way radios, crafts, snacks, meals, and more.

On our second full day in Greer it was all about eating a hearty breakfast, bundling up in our snow gear, packing our lunches, and getting outside to play in the cold white stuff! The Greer Lodge loaned us all kinds of tubes for sledding. Once all of our vehicles were filled to capacity with the tubes it was a short drive to a great public sledding hill.

The snow was about knee deep and the day was sunny. 

A perfect day for snow play!

Trying a taste.

Snow and sunshine.

Where are your sunglasses buddy?

Three generations.

Cousins taking a break while crunching on snow.

All bundled up.

Learning to snowboard.

Flying down the hill!

Mom and Daughter.

Just before my camera and I were wiped out!

A tube just his size!

I can't wait to see what he captured!

Daddy/Daughter

My oldest granddaughter.

Father and Son.

All by himself!

Papa and Grand #1.

We were everywhere on that hill.

There was eleven more of us slipping and sliding

up and down the hill.

Everyone was having a great time.

The youngest sledder.

The wisest of our bunch!

As our day was coming to an end I was in the car with the wise one so that she could warm up. I watched from afar as our entire clan worked together to link all of the sleds, tubes, cousins, and parents together to create a sledding train. It was so much fun that they did it again and again.

It was a very symbolic way to end our day of family snow play.