just for fun - Today is, "Tell a Story Day"!

I love the "holiday" for today - Tell a Story Day! Around this grandma's house when my grands were younger, we LOVED telling stories! They were excellent storytellers and they made up some of the best . . . and funniest stories ever! In fact, for my birthday one year, my oldest grand gave me one of the best presents ever . . . an original story he made up and illustrated for me; "Super Josiah Saves Grandma from All the Robot Spiders in History"! 

Yes, most of our stories had Super Grands in them and you can pretty well count on at least one monster or alien showing up in the stories as well! After all, they were five, two, and nine-months at the time, so I suppose it is one of those inevitabilities of life!

Mother's Day & Teacher Appreciation - Mini Apple Pies!

It is the time of year when we think about helping our grandchildren make gifts for their moms for Mother's Day and for their teachers as an end of year thank you gift. When my grands were younger I asked the oldest one if he wanted to give his teachers a candy bar with a thank you note on it to thank them at the end of Wednesday night, Kids-'N-Action. My grand said, "For Christmas I made them melted snowmen ornaments. I think I should make my teachers something." I agreed and was trying to think of something for my grands to make when they said, "I think I should make them apple pies!"

I have to say, making apple pies had not occurred to me, but it is a good - and likely a tasty - idea! So, I stopped by the store and got foil pot-pie pans and three kinds of apples and then my grands and I made mini-apple pies!  

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About British Columbia

The past eleven days this "Lost Canadian" has been learning about the Provinces and Territories of Canada - there is one more Province and one more Territory, so today I'm writing about the last  Province - British Columbia, and I am very happy to share with you what I've learned about this amazing place!

Hand Down Confident Faith with the little answer book for children

  

I want you to know about Barna's and Gallup's recent polls - for a very important reason . . . because we must stand up and take action to stop the loss of the ones we love. If someone does not speak up and ask others to join them, how will grandparents, parents, and church leaders know there is a way to stop what is happening? 

Mother's Day Craft Ideas!

Mother's Day is just a couple weeks away . . . if you are looking for an idea or two which you could help your grandchildren make for their mother, check these fun crafts I found on Pinterest . . . 

grandma's cookbook - Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bites!

  

Today is National Pretzel Day, so I thought it would be a good day to share a recipe I found on Pinterest. After all, what could be more fun than making homemade ham and cheese pretzel bites to celebrate National Pretzel Day? 

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Alberta

When you think of Alberta, like this "Lost Canadian", you may think of the Canadian Rockies and be familiar with places in Alberta such as Calgary, Edmonton, and Banff, but as amazing as these places are, there is SO much more to discover about how incredible Alberta truly is!

crafting with grandma - Handprint Charms!!!

Mother's Day is just a couple weeks away, so if you are looking for a truly wonderful craft idea which you could help your grandchildren make for their mother - and for yourself, too - check this idea which I found on Pinterest  and absolutely fell in love with!!!!

crafting with grandma - Make Some Minions!

 

I made Minion hats and Crazy Minion stuffed toys for my grands when they were younger. They were soooo cute in their hats. All of the  Despicable Me movies were favorites around here, for good reason, as they are funny!

So, today I'm sharing a link for a pattern for making Minions, I thought it would be fun to share it with you!

Spread Hope

 

With all the challenges and corruption going on around us, it may be difficult to feel hopeful, but it is helpful for our own wellbeing to stop and think about the reasons we do have to be thankful and hopeful.  Since there are so many people in our families, neighborhoods, communities, and world who struggle to find hope, I wanted to write to remind us to do what we are able to do to  counteract the difficulties life brings by dedicating ourselves to spread hope around our neighborhoods, communities, and all around the world today and every day.

Consider the following ways to spread hope . . . 

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Saskatchewan

When I learned I am a "Lost Canadian", one of the first things I wanted to do was to learn about the country which I am part of - Canada. I have to say, as I've researched the Provinces and Territories I've been very surprised at all the interesting things I've learned! I always thought of Canada as the country North of us, which was even colder than Michigan (where I grew up), but I now know Canada is a truly amazing place and is so much more than I ever knew! Today I'm happy to share with you what I've learned about Saskatchewan - and just a "heads up" - it is so much more than just a place where there are lots of prairies!

Flashlights of Doom & Finding KittyKats!

Over the past few years I've shared some of the funny and sweet things my grands have said . . . of course, as their grandma I think many things they said when they were little were funny and  sweet! So, today I thought it would be fun to share a couple of the funny and sweet things they said. When my middle grand turned two they decided they had lots of things to say!

One day, this sweet child walked around with a flashlight, shining it up on their face saying, "I have a flashlight of DOOOOOMMM!!!" I can assure you the thought this grandma had at seeing and hearing them had nothing to do with Doom!!! This even got their aunt laughing at that one!

crafting with grandma - Mother's Day Gift Idea - Paper Flowers!

Do you have older grands? If so, you could teach them how to make these beautiful flower balls for their mother for Mother's Day! (They might also make a lovely, thoughtful and unique gift for an end-of-year teacher gift!)

I found these beautiful flower balls on Pinterest - of course - so, all you have to do is follow this link and you'll find complete directions along with a photo tutorial!

Your Name in Satellite Images . . .

Have you heard about "Landsat"? NASA’s  "Your Name in Landsat"  project which allows you to spell your name using real satellite images of Earth’s landscapes, such as rivers, forests, and deserts shaped like letters? The tool uses over 50 years of data from the Landsat program to generate these images.