My Easter peeps

My Easter peeps

My Easter peeps!

I had the privilege of spending Easter Sunday with Jim, Andrea, Brianna, Patrick, and James.

Based on the photos I nabbed, I'm pretty sure James had a good time despite being the only child in the crowd.

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Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops

Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published February 3, 2015 on Grandma's Briefs.

What you need:

20 large marshmallows

4 ounces or so vanilla candy coating, aka Almond Bark

festive decorative cookie sprinkles

20 lollipop sticks (popsicle sticks might work equally well)

What you do:

Have kiddos poke sticks into marshmallows, all the way...

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Throwback Thursday: How to tell grandkids 'I love you' in another language

Throwback Thursday: How to tell grandkids 'I love you' in another language

I tell my grandsons I love you a lot. Returning the sentiment to those who say it to them was one of the first phrases they learned, though it did sound a bit like a foreign language at first, one only family members understood. Phonetic translation of Camden’s first utterance of it: Wuh woo!

Such I love yous in a language foreign to all but family members can become a shared sweetness, carried on through the years. But have you ever said I love you in Finnish? Swahili? Russian? Or even Spanish, for those of you who — like me — have not even the most basic of foreign language skills?

While I love you sounds the very same in some languages — think Malaysian and Maltese — there’s a whole world of ways it can be pronounced in other languages.

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5 right moves I made (more often but not always) in 2017

5 right moves I made (more often but not always) in 2017

Like many people, in the waning days of 2017 and the first fresh few of 2018, I pondered the past twelve months in consideration of what I could do to improve the next twelve.

And, like most people, the negative events and actions that I personally experienced or had a hand in marking upon my days stood out most. My failures, foibles, moments of weakness, madness, self-interest, and paralyzing procrastination. Positive considerations were quickly, nearly completely, canceled out by the negative.

Now, being a Negative Nancy isn't my overall nature, yet it is human nature to recall...

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