I Have a Winner!

I'm happy to say, Carol McDonald is the winner in my book give-away for The Garden Gate (you'll find the review at this link.) Thank you Carol for reading grandma's cookie jar (please message me your address by August 8, 2014 so I can have it sent to you) and thank you Christa and Zonderkidz for sending one for me to review and for making another available for me to give away!

grandma's bookshelf - Monster Party! - I'm Giving One Away!

I have young grandsons and so stories around this grandma's house often have "monsters" in them. I have accepted the truth there will not be stories about butterflies, rainbows, flowers and other such sweet things. Oh no. The "stories" we make up here have monsters - ginormous, humongous, cranky monsters - aliens, giant robot spiders and other such "boy" things! So, when Sterling Children's Books sent me one of their new titles and I saw it was about a monster, I knew my grandsons would enjoy it! I was right! As soon as Josiah saw it, he sat right down and read it for himself! (He has been reading now for several months and so I LOVE it when he reads books!)

crafting with grandma - Boredom Buster Jar!

Do you ever think you are, "in a rut" when it comes to the things you do when your

grandchildren are visiting? Do you ever wonder if your grandchildren might be "bored" at your house, or just in need of something interesting to do? Well, as I browsed Pinterest this morning, I found a great idea which would not only give you things to do with your grandchildren, but will also be great fun to put together!

If you follow this link, you'll find the specifics for making a, "boredom jar"! What is a, "boredom jar", you ask? Well, it is a jar filled with ideas on craft sticks for fun, interesting and engaging things you can do with your grandchildren! You can use colorful tape to color-code the ideas, so when you and your grandchildren are looking for something to do, all you have to do is choose a craft stick and let the fun begin!

Give-Away in Just Three Days!

In three days on August 1, 2014 I'm giving away a book you and your teen granddaughters will love . . . The Garden Gate! You'll find my full review at this link, but suffice it to say, this is a book with a story which will capture your attention; you will not be able to put it down!

This give-away is good news! And, more good news . . . you still have time to get in on the drawing for The Garden Gate as the drawing is in three days!

And, don't forget to check out all the free stories the author, Christa Kinde, offers on her website . . . you'll find it at this link. I LOVE her story; Galleries of Stone! In 2012 Christa wrote a new chapter each day using dictionary.com's daily word as a prompt for each chapter! The story is amazing, the characters are unique - it is one of my all-time favorite stories . . . and you can read it all for FREE! (check it out at this link.) These are the kind of stories we want our grandchildren to read . . . and ones we will enjoy as well!

Christa offers a number of other free stories - check out the information on all of these amazing, engaging, and fun stories at this link . . . and don't forget to enter the drawing for The Garden Gate at this link!

ElectroKidz - I'm Giving One Away!

I was recently invited to review a toy from WowWee which I think girls in particular, will enjoy . . . ElectroKidz! What is an, Elektrokidz, you ask? Well, it is a little troll with crazy hair which, "dances" to music! Like I said, it is something I think girls will enjoy in particular.

ElectroKidz come in six color and "move" varieties and are for children ages 6 and up. They also come with batteries - one set in the troll and a spare set to keep your troll dancing for some time! Josiah and Caleb helped me unbox the troll I was sent - they thought it was fun to make noises and watch the hair "dance". 

Reading is Fun & Cool!

My Josiah - will be six in September - and he is reading! And he LOVES it! I am SO happy! He has always been surrounded by books, both at home and at my house . . . and I do actually mean surrounded! He and his brothers have no shortage of books available to them; after all, their grandma does review a lot of books each year!

So I am very happy to see Josiah take such an interest in reading! He sounds out words everywhere and is very happy to be a, "reading boy"! I sincerely believe one of the most important things we can do for our grandchildren is to encourage them to be reading people who love to read! And you do not have to have a "mini-library" at your house to do this . . . make visiting your local library a regular part of what you do with your grandchildren.

grandma's chuckles - "Run!!! Run!!! Run!!!"

Last night two sweet boys were at my house for a sleep-over. Before bed we thought it would be fun to watch, UP; which we have not watched for some time. Apparently long enough for Caleb to basically not remember any of it! (He is just three years old)

As the movie got to the part where Carl and Russell are being chased by Charles Muntz (the bad guy) and the talking dogs, Caleb jumped up and told Carl and Russell to, "Run!!! Run!!! Run!!!" and told the bad guy, "No!!! Stop!!! NO!!!" Now, this may not sound very funny, but when he was saying these things it was very funny because he was sincerely concerned about Carl and Russell and extremely unhappy with Charles!

I love being able to watch as these boys experience new things - or things they do not remember! Their reactions are truly, priceless!

Birthdays and Children's Museums!

In my family the months of July, August and September mean we will be

having cake and celebrating sweet boys as my grandsons have their birthdays in these months. Since the three boys have birthdays so close to each other, their Poppa and I have been giving them a membership to our local Children's Museum as their birthday present. When you divide the cost three ways, you end up with an amount which is reasonable to spend on a boy for his birthday . . . I do give them a couple small items as well because they have to open something for their birthday from Poppa and grandma! So, today I thought I'd write about children's museums because if you have a local one, memberships make great gifts for grandchildren!

When you think about museums, you likely think about places where you go to see things, but where you are not allowed to "touch" those things. This is just the way it is with museums . . . unless you are talking about children's museums! While you certainly go to children's museums to see things, you are allowed to - and even encouraged to, touch, play with, explore, and enjoy the things you find at a children's museum! Talk about fun!!!!

crafting with grandma - Spray Paint T-Shirts!

Our 2014 Five-Days-of-Fun are over . . . and we did most certainly have five days of fun! One of the things we did was paint t-shirts with spray paint! This was so much fun! I bought plain, white t-shirts in packs of five and Simply Spray Soft Fabric Paint t-shirt spray paint. I put each shirt on a hanger and then hung them on our playground so the boys could spray paint them outside!

Day Five of our Five Days of Fun!

Today is the last day of our, Five Days of Fun! We have had a lot of fun, but it was also

a busier five days for sure! Josiah also had VBS at his church, so we worked our schedule around his!

Monday the boys "spray-painted" t-shirts (this was a LOT of fun and the shirts are unique!) I'll post photos of them tomorrow.

Yesterday the boys played in water - they hung a sprinkler from the top of the playground and had great fun running and standing in the water! They also tried breaking water-balloons which we hung from the playground - like a pinata! This was a LOT of fun and something we will repeat today!

We played games, watched movies and just hung out! Mostly we had a lot of fun being together! I LOVE our, Five Days of Fun . . . whether we do a lot, or not because the fun is from spending time together!

grandma's chuckles - re-run - You Have to be Brave to be a Super Hero!

I have lots of things planned for the second day of my Five Days of Fun, but I thought I'd take a moment to share another of my "grandma's chuckles" from my "archive" with you - enjoy . . . 

My sweet grandson, Josiah, is four years old and he is really into Super Heroes! He LOVES the VeggieTales movie, The League of Incredible Vegetables and he LOVES his Super Cape! He will "fly" around my house singing, "♫♥♪ Super Josiah is here ♫♥♪ to save the day! ♫♥♪" Josiah told me yesterday right now he just pretends to be a Super Hero, but when he grows up he will be a Super Hero for real! Did I mention he has a "super" imagination?

Yesterday he was being "Super Josiah" when he came over to me and said, "I'm Super Josiah and you can be Super Grandma!" I said, "Okay! My 'super power' will be Super Kisses and Hugs!" Josiah let out a HUGE sigh and said, "Okay, but you HAVE to have a super power for when you fight bad guys, too." I said, "I don't know if I can fight bad guys." to which he replied, "You have to be brave to be a Super Hero."  

grandma's chuckles - re-run - Watch Out for Those Fire-Breathing Basset Hounds!

While I'm enjoying my Five Days of Fun with my sweet grandsons, I thought it might be fun to "re-run" a few of my "grandma's chuckles" so you can "get to know" these sweet boys . . . and brighten your day with a smile, too! Enjoy . . .

I LOVE the imagination of four year olds! I LOVE the way they see the world and how some things are just "obvious" . . . at least if you are four years old! 

My sweet grandson, Josiah, was at my house yesterday and he told me the following. "Grandma, if we lived in a different world, we'd have to watch out for fire-breathing basset hounds!"  I smiled, and said, "Hmmm. I don't think I've ever seen a fire-breathing basset hound." To which he replied, "That's because they would only be in a different world!" 

grandma's chuckles - "A grandma's Lap is a Place for a Boy!" (re-run)

I initially wrote this about a year ago, but it is a great reminder, so I'm going to share it with you again today!

This grandma's heart is overflowing with joy! God is SO Good! Yesterday, when my grandsons were here, I was working on getting my posts up on my two blogs. Josiah walked over to me and said, "A grandma's lap is not a place for a computer . . . it is a place for a boy!" I smiled, set my computer aside and told him I completely agreed with him! He smiled and climbed into my lap and we had a wonderful time of snuggling!

grandma's bookshelf - The Garden Gate - I'm Giving One Away!

I have been delighted over the past year or so to review a series of books by Christa Kinde. Christa's Threshold Series of four books gives us the opportunity to see what Spiritual Warfare might be like and gives us a glimpse into what angels might be like and what they do.

Needless to say, her books are engaging and once you start reading, you will find it difficult to put it down!

So, Christa's new book; The Garden Gate, wraps up the story she has been crafting about the Pomeroy family and the angels who guard them. I enjoyed the opportunity to see what happened next to these characters and found the way Christa, "dealt with " Adin, the evil, fallen angel, to be surprising and an end which "fit" very well! I especially loved how Christa not only tells a great story, but in so doing, she challenges us all to make the choice to be faithful and hold on in difficult and confusing times as we fulfill the "jobs" God sends us to do!