March 28, 2018

Seeds and sanguine expectations

March 28, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Last week, James and I tackled the springtime task of starting a vegetable garden at Gramma's—something I've never attempted in the past due to an egregiously non-green thumb. After seeing how well Brianna's garden grew last summer, I decided to give it a shot at my place.

So James and I planned, prepped, and planted with sanguine expectations seedlings would soon sprout.

Our eventual bounty will include...

March 19, 2018

Grandmas can change the world!

March 19, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

How grandmas can change the world!

Maria Shriver publishes a weekly newsletter, The Sunday Paper, that's chock-full of positive information and inspiration. I was once a diehard reader of the print Sunday local newspaper but nowadays The Sunday Paper is the one and only newspaper I peruse, nay, devour on Sundays.

In yesterday's The Sunday Paper was a quote that especially resonated with me, as I think it...

March 12, 2018

OT for Tooth Fairy

March 12, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

OT for Tooth Fairy

Last week I shared a precious pic of Brayden displaying his first missing molar. Mere days after that post, Megan shared on social media a photo of Brayden and Camden, who both lost another tooth.

One day later, Megan posted yet another photo, this one showing Camden lost yet another tooth.

February 26, 2018

A 'Disquiet Time' gem

February 26, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

I am a sucker for a good quote, as this post and this post attest. I recently checked out from the library Disquiet Time: Rants and Reflections on the Good Book by the Skeptical, the Faithful, and a few Scoundrels, edited by Jennifer Grant and Cathleen Falsani, and while reading Tracey Bianchi's touching (and truth-filled) essay "One Disgusting Mess," the following passage jumped right off the page and into my heart:

February 14, 2018

Introducing Grilled Grandma Amy

February 14, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

There's a new grandma on the grill!

A Grilled Grandma is a grandmother on whom I've shone the spotlight, grilling her with some grandma-related questions and she's graciously responded with answers and photos.

February 12, 2018

Snow at last

February 12, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Snow at last

Though much of the country has had far more snow this winter than want and know what to do with, the Pikes Peak Region — the place I call home — has had nothing measurable nor magical.

Saturday we got measurable, we got magical, we got happy thanks to moisture-filled snow that fell most of the day.

Of course, as is typical for Colorado, snowy skies Saturday transformed into sunny skies Sunday. Temps rose little, though, so the blanket of white stuck around and created an enchanting winter wonderland Jim and I — and Mickey Dog, too — enjoyed viewing from indoors.

February 08, 2018

Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops

February 08, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

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...

February 05, 2018

Final football photos

February 05, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Final football photos!

With Sunday's (spectacular!) Super Bowl marking the end of football season, I figure I should go ahead and share my favorite football photos of the season. Photos I forgot to share soon after they were shot.

My favorite football photos of this past season are — surprise, surprise — of my three desert-dwelling grandsons. Photos not of them playing football, but watching football. Well, even better than watching football, my grandsons were attending their very first professional football game!

February 01, 2018

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

February 01, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

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.

January 22, 2018

National Handwriting Day

January 22, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate all things cursive... and hand printed. Yes, my friends, January 23 is National Handwriting Day!

National Handwriting Day, a day created to honor all things related to penmanship, was designated in 1977 and is sponsored by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association. January 23 was chosen for the annual occasion as it's the birthday of John Hancock, whom we all know had quite the flair with signatures and such.