This past week I have been seeing all of the Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel as well as the Hallmark Christmas Ornament Event on Saturday. This reminded me of a family event we had in 2011, celebrating Christmas in July. Continue reading CHRISTMAS IN JULY
It is common now for the expectant parents to both attend a cook-out or dinner to celebrate the shower.
Last week my husband Bob (alias Grandpa Bob or Papaw Bob) turned 60 and we celebrated with a 3 day party at a lake resort we love with 80 of our closest friends and family members.
My son and his family flew in from Co, my daughter and her family came from NC, and my brother and sister-in-law came from KY.
Two and a half years ago, Bob was going thru a serious illness and we are so thankful that our prayers were answered and he beat this. I wanted to give us something positive to hold onto, so at that time I started planning this party. There were a lot of behind the scene details I had to work out and I felt like I had planned a wedding, but I am so happy with the results.
Continue reading TURNING THE BIG “60” IN STYLE-WEEKEND PARTY
When I became a nurse, we wore white dresses with white hose, white shoes and our caps. Hair was pinned up, make-up was light and jewelry was only a gold wedding band. To people looking back at this, it may seem like the dark ages, but I remember how proud I felt. It was a real honor to be recognized as a nurse. We stood up at the desk when a doctor came on the floor and we carried the charts making rounds. I think it was a real show of respect. Continue reading RETIREMENT..TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY OF WORK
I love to make decorated sugar cookies and special treats for my grandchildren to help them celebrate a Happy Valentine’s Day. Continue reading HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family. Sharing some fun, food and traditions from our Christmas 2014.
We had our family celebration on December 13th.
As usual, it was crazy, busy and so much fun. We had lots of good food, talked and laughed, played some games, and opened gifts.
See some of our Christmas traditions in previous post.
Christmas Traditions..Creating New Ones as Grandparents.
I always make cookie trays, candy bags and Chex Mix for everyone to take home. I made double recipes of 10 different kinds of cookies and 30 dozen decorated sugar.
My husband, Bob, helped me cook and we worked on it for 2 days. Our Christmas 2014 menu was simple and had variety to satisfy the adults and children.
Here are some random pictures.
The first picture was the next morning when I was taking out trash. I looked behind me and my 2 yr old grandson, Hudson,was saying “me help” and dragging bags of trash. We are such a lucky family to have so many wonderful blessings. 
I think as grandparents we are now in a unique situation.
Many of the traditions can’t be carried on for different reasons. Some of our grown children have moved away and not able to get home for the holidays, and with so many blended families there are more schedules to try to accommodate. A few grandparents are lucky enough to have all of your children living in the same city. Another issue is that once our children are married, they need to share the holidays with their in-laws also.
I think the only solution is to try to incorporate some of your most favorite traditions while being flexible to make new ones. I want to share with you some of the things our big family does that seems to work.
My husband and I have a blended family of 8 children along with their spouses/significant others, 13 grandchildren and a few more from their blended families. Talk about difficulty in being able to coordinate schedules!!
Bob and I have our big family Christmas party the 2nd Saturday in December. This allows the children to attend events with their in-laws and still have their own family time on Christmas. I start all of my holiday tasks the weekend after Thanksgiving.
I decorate my house with family in mind. I have a tree upstairs that is decorated with Thomas Kinkade and handmade ornaments from my friend, Linda Bibbo @ L.B. Bear Christmas Ornaments, so this one is just for looking at. The downstairs tree is kid friendly and full of things they like. I add Christmas to every room in the house and outside. I do lots of shopping and baking non stop for 2 weeks.
We are very lucky because we have 2 big rooms downstairs that we can party in. One has the tree, and is where we open presents. The other is a big empty room that I am able to set tables up in to eat. I also make 20 cookie trays for family/friends. I line the trays up on these tables to fill them.
I still do a stocking for each grandchild. They are not stuffed full like the ones Santa does at their house but everyone enjoys this. Here are mine for this year. I did 18 this time.
Little Boys.. hand held stroble light, LED flashlight,stickers
Little Girls
Big Boys
Big Girls
One of the most fun traditions we started with the grandchildren is a game we play. Even the teenagers still laugh and enjoy this. I originally started it to stretch the evening when they open their presents so quickly.
We call it “THE RACING SANTA GAME”
I have a tub that I fill up with small gifts, cash, and gift cards. The prizes have evolved over the years and change to meet what I know they like.
Here are the prizes in this year’s tub.
To play this game, everyone picks out a Santa or Snowman, we set up a short track ,and the little wind up Santas race each other 2 at a time. The winner goes to the tub and gets a prize.. the loser plays the next person. Everyone wins! The poor little wind up Santa does not go too far and the kids are laughing hysterically at them.
These are a few of the traditions we do at our house. I will share some more in another post.
Bob and I just want special memories to come from the holidays at our house.
In 2006 I became interested in entering contests and truly have been very honored to be chosen as a finalist for the Pillsbury Bake-off 3 times. According to the rules for this, a person may only attend 3 times.
I attended in 2008 Mascarpone Filled Cranberry Walnut Rolls 
I attended in 2010 Peanut Butter Toffee Cheesecake Brownies
This is my final journey to the 47th Pillsbury Bake-off Contest. My recipe was Strawberry Mascarpone Hazelnut Chocolate Tart
Early last year, the contest rules were posted on the Pillsbury web site. There were 4 categories you could enter. I did enter a few recipes in each one. In June, I received an email stating that I was a potential finalist. After a screening process that all finalists go through, I was confirmed as a finalist.
The following months were filled with completing forms, media events, a photo session, hotel and travel arrangements, getting the lists of ingredients and equipment completed and lots of practicing my recipe. My husband was able to attend with me this time so there was also shopping for clothes for both of us. A facebook page was set up for those of us going to the bake-off, some that had been there previously, and ones who hope to get chosen in the future. There is so much support and well wishes from everyone. The excitement just continued to build.
The bakeoff was being held at the Omni Hotel in Nashville Tn this time. Pillsbury treats each and every finalist as royalty. They were so helpful with questions or concerns. Each finalist was given a Visa gift card and a new microwave before we even went. When we arrived, our hotel was beautiful and all of our lodging and meals were covered by Pillsbury. We also received gift bags with gifts from each of the sponsors.
This is a picture of the hotel as we drove up to it.
Looking out our window in downtown Nashville
When we arrived to register, the hallway was filled with excited people, the Doughboy, and a wall of the finalists recipes on a silk screen.
We then attended an orientation and a sneak peek at the grand ballroom that had been transformed into the contest site with 100 mini kitchens.
Group picture of the 100 Finalists
Next came a reception with our sponsor grocery store. Mine was Kroger. They gave each of us a card with a gift card enclosed. Afterwards was a dinner in another room that had been transformed with different stations for foods, drinks, and a live band playing country music. This was so much fun and a great time to connect with old friends as well as meeting new ones.
The next morning was breakfast and the actual bakeoff!!
The finalists were led into the room by a girl playing the fiddle and the Doughboy!!! A live band was playing country music inside. We danced our way around the room to our assigned kitchen units. The hostess for the event was celebrity Chef Carla Hall from ‘THE CHEW’. PLEASE NOTE THE FIRST FINALIST COMING IN….. she is a wonderful lady 89 years young!! So this goes to show you are NEVER too old to pursue your dreams and as grandparents….you can do this too.
We cooked and baked our hearts out, sampled each others recipes and talked to media, sponsors, bloggers and other invited guests. It was a whirlwind of fun and crazy activity.
We had a few free hours that day so my husband and I walked around Nashville. It was such a beautiful, clean town with so many interesting things to see.
The evening concluded with a Blue Carpet walk and pictures with the Golden Statue of the Doughboy, another very fancy dinner, and then the awards. For the first time in the history of the bake-off, America is helping to chose the 1 million dollar winner. The judges chose the 4 category winners and they were placed on the Pillsbury Facebook page for voting. The winner was announced on The Chew on December 3, 2014. I am so happy to say that one of my friends, Beth Royals won the million dollars!! She is such an awesome lady and so deserving.
I was not one of the category winners but this whole experience was nothing but a win!! I have met so many people that are now a part of my life and true friends.
This post was linked to Grand Social on Grandma’s Briefs.
It is hard to believe that 2014 is going so fast. AS THE SEASONS CHANGE………FALL FUN is about to begin. It is one of our family’s favorite times of the year. We are lucky enough to live in a part of the country where the seasons change and we get to see the real beauty of what God has created around us. Continue reading AS THE SEASONS CHANGE………FALL FUN
As a grandparent, I feel it is very important to have a space in your home that is designated for the grandchildren. Depending on the space available, the toyroom may be just a section of a room or it could be a whole room. My own grandchildren area has changed over the years.
The “toyroom/playroom” was now moved to an extra bedroom we have in our basement. It has been here for about 10 years and has provided many hours of fun.
Creating a space for your grandchildren does not have to involve a lot of expense. I painted the walls, added some inexpensive curtains, painted some shelving units, purchased paper posters, and added plastic covers over the electric receptacles. My toyroom is set up in zones for different activities.
I went to a store that sells used children items, Once Upon A Child, and found this kitchen set with a washer/dryer and ironing board for only $35 total!!!! It is a heavy plastic and the children of all ages, boys and girls, have loved playing with it. This was my favorite purchase. I like it better then the new ones which are just one unit. I purchased the table and chairs new. 
One of my daughters had a long wooden table she was not using so she gave that to me. I painted it, bought some small chairs, and created an arts/craft center. 
I bought some plastic tubs on sale to keep toys organized. I did buy some new toys over the years, but in the beginning, my own children and family members donated toys that the kids no longer played with. Amazingly, the children loved playing with the recycled toys because they were at my house. You could also pick up items at garage sales but I would clean them very well and make sure there are no safety issues. 
My favorite toys are the old fashioned ones like the Fisher Price pull toys…the puppy with the wagging tail, red ball on the end, and the telephone with the eyes that roll. The children really enjoy these priceless toys. (my puppy with red ball on tail, telephone, and the popcorn pull toy have gone home with some of the children over the years). 
I have also added a box spring and mattress from a twin bed I do not use to the room for extra seating. (Also used for jumping)
We have Barbie dolls, Polly Pockets, 35 cabbage patch dolls from my own daughters, stuffed animals, games and lots of baby toys. My teenaged grandson donated an older video game set with the games since he has an updated version. Our 13 grandchildren are between the ages of 2 and 16 years old. When the last one has outgrown the toyroom, we will convert the room into a guest bedroom/apartment type place for them to hang out when they stay.
I hope that you can find a place in your home to convert to this very special place and enjoy the memories.
