Last-minute Fun: Lucky Shamrock Cookies

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Last-minute Fun: Lucky Shamrock Cookies

Seeking a last-minute St. Patrick’s activity to do with (or for) the grandkids? It’s your lucky day because you don’t have to search for the pot of gold under the rainbow for this winning recipe.

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Grandparents: 5 Heart Health Tips for the Holidays

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Grandparents: 5 Heart Health Tips for the Holidays

Food, drinks, gifts and time with family make the holidays a merry occasion for people across the country. However, all that celebrating can sometimes become a distraction from maintaining heart health.

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2020 Christmas

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2020 Christmas

I hope everyone managed at least a smidgen of comfort and joy during their holiday festivities. As with most families, Jim and I drastically limited our time gathering with our …

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July Fourth during Covid

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July Fourth during Covid

I hope everyone managed to eek out at least a little fun over the holiday weekend, despite Covid restrictions continuing to muck things up.

Jim and I spent the Fourth of July with this little firecracker…

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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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Hosting wee holiday guests? 7 safety steps for grandparents

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Hosting wee holiday guests? 7 safety steps for grandparents

If you’re one of the fortunate ones hosting a houseful of young’uns for festive fun, consider making the following alterations while putting out seasonal decorations to ensure holiday gatherings at Grandma’s are as merry and bright—and safe—as can be.

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Full, full, full!

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Full, full, full!

Full, full, full!

I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was filled with family and abundant blessings.

At my place, we had a full house, full table, and full hearts.

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My Easter peeps

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

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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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