Giving Thanks 2013

Today I am thankful for my family and for these six

healthy, happy, and active grandsons!

Thankful that the boys were able to fill their tummies

from our bountiful Thanksgiving buffet.

Out of all of the selections the only thing that made it on every

child's plate was my homemade dinner rolls.

One child feasted only on dinner rolls and plain jello. Another just turkey and a roll.

While others a big pile of mashed potatoes and gravy and rolls.

Thankful for a son who can make the best buttery and creamy mashed potatoes!

Thankful for a husband who is the best helper in the kitchen.

He baked the pumpkin pies this year, kept the pots and pans washed up, watched the rolls bake,

helped set the tables, and countless other things both little and big where he 

can see the need and always pitches in to get the job done.

Thankful for a son in law who is able and very willing to follow

through on Thanksgiving assignments and in the care for his three boys while 

my daughter spent her morning at urgent care and in 

bed the rest of the day with strep throat.

Thankful for my daughter who recently made us empty nesters 

(except we're not really empty nesters since we share our home

with my mother in law who has Alzheimer's.)

who spent Thanksgiving in another state. She texted her dad and told 

him that I needed to plan on her coming back home to help in 

decking our halls for Christmas.

Thankful for a daughter in law who loves family gatherings,

our family traditions, and who makes our family time a priority.

We made a plan on Thanksgiving to share in a leftovers feast on

Sunday. Two of my daughters who missed our

Thanksgiving feast are very happy about that and

will be here for our do-overs.

So very thankful for that too!

Thankful for Kabella, she was the only girl in the

bunch that could wear the Pilgrim Bonnet in our photo shoot.

So thankful for the fun and love that is shared in our family.

I missed those who were not with us but I am so thankful for

the gift of memories of the mind and heart.

Note to self: Must make fresh rolls for the do-over. You know why!

Benjamin Franklin Costume DIY

This is an idea for a do-it-yourself Benjamin Franklin costume.

My grandson was preparing for a wax museum program at school.

He called upon me, his grandma, to be his stylist!

Such an honor.

I made this costume for a total cost of $3.75 and the use of some supplies that I had on hand. Ben was able to supply the pants and shoes from his own clothing.

1st stop.... a good look in your own closets (because re-purposing is the best) or nearby thrift stores for a jacket. I found this one in a thrift store (my first stop....grandma magic you know!) that happened to be having a 50% off all items that day. What a bargain at just $2.75. It is a ladies small, black velvet, with a white satin lapel.  It had some beading on the front near the jacket closure that I removed. Papa was with me and questioned my selection but I could already vividly see where I was going with this little project.  After our first fitting, I turned the front of the jacket inward, tacked it down with hot glue and needle and thread to make the chest opening smaller and to bring in the waist to fit. I then hand stitched about six inches of the front of the jacket together at the waist.

I cut some length off of the sleeves and tacked them up with needle and thread for a custom fit! Not a hand sewer? Sure you could use hot glue.

For the chest "Dickie" I cut a piece of heavy white ribbon 1" wide to fit his neck and allowed an extra 5 inches for a 2 1/2 inch Velcro overlap in the back.

I used a scrap of white fabric to cut a rectangle of fabric two and a half times the length of his neck measurement and twice the length that would fill the entire chest opening of the jacket plus another 12 inches. The extra 12 inches is going to allow for an ample tuck into the jacket. Fold the rectangle in half by matching up the two neck lengths. Stitch or hot glue closed to create a 1/4 inch seam with all cut edges hidden on the inside.

Create two more white rectangles as above but cut at different lengths depending on the size of the costume. My Ben is about a size 12. I cut one at about 5 inches finished, and the next at 8 inches finished. (These are going to create more ruffle to the neckline.)

Hot glue or stitch 2 1/2 inches of Velcro to each end of the neck ribbon. Make sure to put it on the right sides so that when brought around the neck it will over lap and stick!

Stack all three finished rectangles. Longest on bottom, shortest on top. You can now add lengths of flat or gathered laces and trims if you choose by stitching or hot gluing into place.  Once you have it how you want it run a gathering / long  basting stitch to gather all three top edges together. Pull to gather so that it fits between the two pieces of Velcro.

Stich or hot glue the gathered fabric into place matching top edges with ribbon. That's it you're all done with the "Dickie".

(You could also add fabric and lace ruffles to a white crew neck t-shirt or purchase a thrift store ruffled shirt.)

Powdered Wig:

Purchase a painters hat  from your local building supply store. $1 at Home Depot. Cut off the brim. I placed a couple of stapled pleats on each side of the back to get a custom fit to Ben's head.

Now your are free to style your wig anyway you like. I used leftover quilt batting to first cover the entire hat. Nip, cut, trim, and hot glue as needed. Create curls and shape by rolling desired lengths of batting cut at approx. 1 1/2 inches wide and hot glue into place. I used a band made from the cut off velvet sleeve to hold his ponytail curls in the back. (Another student used cotton balls to create the curls. That worked well too!)

Pants, Socks, and Glasses:

Papa removed the lenses from a pair of his old glasses and donated them to Ben. His pants were a pair of sweats rolled up to length. White socks were added to cover his legs and pulled up under his pants.

Shoes and Buckles:

I made buckles for his shoes from textured black card stock with gold glittered buckles also cut from card stock scraps. I hot glued one side of a  large paper clip to the back of each buckle. Folded the paper clip back over so that the paper clip/buckles could be slid and held onto the tops of his black Sunday shoes.

He looked great don't you think? Best of all he could sit perfectly still just like a wax statue and he when he came to life to perform he knew his stuff!

We really enjoyed the wax museum presentation. Each student had a sticker on their hand. Once you pressed on the sticker the statues came to life and they each performed perfectly memorized speeches on the history of their amazing lives.

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!

4th Of July Goodie Boxes

Make the little firecrackers you love these easy and festive one of a kind

4th of July

holiday favors!

All you need is their favorite movie box of candy,

papers in red white and blue, scissors or a paper cutter,

and a glue stick. I added some fun holiday POP 

with an explosion of dazzling curling ribbon

to finish them off!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

You Gotta Love It!

My birthday fell on one of the days that my husband and I took three of 

our grandsons to our mountain cabin for a week while their mom 

was away as stake camp director for the week.

On my birthday the boys woke very early, pulled secret stuff from

 their belongings, and whispered quietly between themselves.

They borrowed some yarn, tape, and scissors from my craft supplies

and they all worked together to create a special birthday surprise for me.

Papa was instructed to keep me indoors.

Once they were ready I was invited to go out

to the deck. They were all very excited!

They had hung a birthday banner that they had made themselves,

set out board games to play, and they had hung a sheet to create 

more shade for the "birthday grandma" chair.

So thoughtful.

Don't be fooled. He is a very strategic checker player.

Even if it was my birthday!

They were as good as gold at our Red Robin birthday lunch.

I loved the handmade gift with the sliding lid.

He had told his mom that I would really 

like his gift because it was useful. 

He was right!

The youngest told me that he had forgotten my gift at home

but I was going to love it because I would be able to go

to Dollar Tree with it!

One of his favorite stores.

Hmmmm....

I wonder what it could be?

Once home, I was given the belated birthday gift.

It was a handmade card with a picture of the cabin drawn

on it with money from his own piggy bank

tucked inside.

Being a grandma is the 

BEST!!!

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?