Three for two: Celebrating Benjamin's birthday

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Three for two: Celebrating Benjamin's birthday

My youngest grandson (not counting the one due in November) turned two years old on Saturday. Benjamin celebrated his big day in the most fall-like way with a visit to the Pumpkin Farm.

Being a fall baby comes with the benefit of fabulous weather for marking the occasion, and Benjamin got full advantage of that, with his official birthday outing to the pumpkin farm bookended by a couple other outdoor festivities.

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Summer 2020: What I didn't tell you

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Summer 2020: What I didn't tell you

July 25, 2020, marked the eleven year anniversary of Grandma’s Briefs. During many summers, I’ve taken a break from blogging from Memorial Day through Labor Day, to allow me time to enjoy summer fun without being obligated to publish anything.

This past summer, I chose not to take a break. I figured that with Covid restrictions and all, I’d have little to do and lots of time to write about the little I might do and see and ponder.

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Boy grandma!

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Boy grandma!

Boy grandma!

So, with everything that’s been going on lately (including my sister unexpectedly passing away), I just realized yesterday that I had not shared here the gender of Brianna’s baby.

Well …

Plus GRAND Social No. 401 link party for grandparents…

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On my big sister

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On my big sister

My big sister Becky (Rebecca to many) and her husband, Rick, visited me on May 28 ... despite minimal Covid restrictions in place at the time. We all felt safe about it; they’re pretty much part of our “pod.”

Becky brought me some homemade cookies that had relatively recently become a favorite of her kids and grandkids. She also brought me a jar of yeast. I’ve been baking bread nearly every single week for years, and the Covid craziness made it impossible to find yeast. But Becky found …

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Those I like!

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Those I like!

Those I like!

At the start of a new year, I — perhaps we — spend a lot of time and energy considering and planning ways to improve ourselves. This week I’m going to do the opposite: I’m going to remind myself it’s okay to not stress out about doing more, being more; that spending time with those who matter is what matters most.

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Winner Wonderland!

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Winner Wonderland!

Winner Wonderland

Long, long ago — back in 1992, to be precise — Jim and I and our three daughters recorded on a behomoth camcorder a Christmas program for Jim’s dad and stepmom, the girls’ long-distance grandparents. The special show recorded in our living room featured several songs, most of them lip-synced, by Brianna, Megan, and Andrea individually as well as as a group, plus a finale in which Jim and I appeared.

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Message from Mom

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Message from Mom

Message from Mom

Despite my penchant for getting rid of things when Jim and I moved to a smaller home last summer, I must admit to a semi-hoarder habit of holding on to things when it comes to my iPhone. Though I delete email from my phone regularly since it all comes through on my computer too, I do have on my phone old text messages and voicemails. Many from a year ago and more.

Today I’m especially appreciative of my semi-hoarder status when it comes to such things.

Today marks one year since my …

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Grand fun: A Bearizona visit with Arizona boys

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Grand fun: A Bearizona visit with Arizona boys

Hard to believe it’s been nearly a month since Jim and I visited our grandsons (and daughter and son-in-law) in Arizona.

Hard to believe, too, that I’ve not shared the stories of all we did (other than make bracelets) during that visit. But with Benjamin’s milestones to mark soon after our return — such as his first haircut and his first birthday — details on our desert visit to see Brayden, Camden, and Declan were put on the back burner.

With temps hovering just below freezing and a snowy scene outside my windows as I write this, today seems an especially ideal day to recap one particularly grand fun-in-the-sun outing we had our grandsons at the outset of autumn. That being the day we spent at Bearizona Drive-Thru Wildlife Park, located about an hour south of the Grand Canyon.

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Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

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Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

My youngest grandson, Benjamin, is bound and determined to mature and move on at lightning speed, seemingly so much sooner than the grandsons that came before him.

To wit: The kid marked two major milestones in the past week or so. Those being his first haircut and his first birthday. How can that be? Seems he was just born.

Alas, as I’m in no position to press pause on the growing boy’s progress, I merrily go along with his maturing. And take photos, of course. Lots of photos.

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Summer's end: Mark it with a B

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Summer's end: Mark it with a B

As Labor Day weekend signified the end of summer for most folks — despite there being, technically, three more weeks of the sun-filled season — I must say my summer didn’t close with much of a bang. It did, though, end with a few other B words of note. A few of my favorite B words, in fact.

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