Grilled Grandma: Vee

Vee sandwiched between her grandson and HER grandma.How many children do you have? I have two adult children: a daughter and a son.
 
How many grandchildren? What are their ages? My son and his wife have two little boys aged four and three. They're Irish twins born just one year and six days apart.
 
Any great grandchildren? Actually, I am married to a man who has two great-grandchildren born in 2009. The first is a little boy and the second is a little girl who has been featured on my blog here.
 
What do your grandchildren call you? Nonni...a made-up version of Nonna as my grandsons have an Italian surname. With a Nana and two Grandmas in their lives, I wanted a name for myself. "Nonna" was too easily confused with "Nana."
 
How often do you get to see your grandchildren? My grandchildren live less than a mile away, yet I make every effort not to see them all the time (and it's not easy). This is because their maternal grandmother lives just two doors away. It was a decision I made to allow the new family to have some alone time together. We visit, on average, once every two or so weeks for about an hour or two.
 
Vee's four-year-old grandson.What is the best thing about being a grandma? Well what's not to love about being a grandmother? It's everything that it is touted to be...all the fun without much of the responsibility.
 
What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? To remember my place as a grandmother and not to offer suggestions or advice unless it is requested. Probably because of this, I am asked for my input from time to time.
 
Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Now that's a great thing about grandchildren as they are always making me laugh out loud. Today, my littlest grandson asked me what the letter he was holding was. When I responded correctly, he said, "Excellent!"
 
Vee's three-year-old grandson.What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Play with them, of course. In the autumn, we jumped in the leaves. My oldest grandson told me that I was too old for that. We've built snowmen, sledded, and I always enjoy reading to them.
 
What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Play with their Thomas the Train sets, their pets, and just talk with them. And I always take freshly baked cookies so we can have a little snack.
 
How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? If calling, I'll ask to speak to the boys. But I seldom call either.

"My boys."What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Faith in their Heavenly Father and the knowledge that they are deeply loved and accepted just as they are.
 
What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Fun. Warmth. Good things to eat. Love. Happiness. All the things we associate with good grandparents. (I can't follow directions for beans.)
 
Learn more about Vee by visiting her blog, A Haven for Vee.

Grilled Grandma: Lucy

HankHow many children do you have? I have two children - son and daughter

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have four grandchildren...one is 6, one is 2, and one is 1.  All girls. One little darling didn't get to stay around long enough because of birth problems but she is always included in the count.  :)

Any great grandchildren?  I could if I'd had kids that got married sooner. :))

What do your grandchildren call you? They all call me grandma and I absolutely love the sound of it.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I see the 1 year old often. She lives in the Phoenix valley. My others live in Washington DC and I don't get to see them as often as I would like to.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Oh my gosh....too many joys to count. My ongoing joke is that I like them lots better that I did the 'real' kids.  Probably not nice but it is a whole different feeling.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Having them live so far away.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.  I should be able to rattle off something quickly, but I'm blank. I do know of one though on this past Saturday night. We were celebrating the one year old's birthday. We went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and she was in the high chair. I don't know what was so funny, but she got to laughing out loud. The kind of a baby's laugh that makes you laugh louder.  It's almost too bad they have to grow up.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house?  Babysit and take her walking with the stroller.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I try to spend all the time I can when I go to DC. I love to cook with the 6 year old and she loves to do that with me.  The little one....she's happy when anybody will do anything with her.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I call and talk to them often. I send them things in the mail. The 6 year old really likes that. Her sister doesn't really know what it's all about yet.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That I loved them dearly. More than anything.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? I want them to know they have a grandmother who loves them and thinks about them constantly.

Visit Lucy (and Hank!) on her blog, Arizona Photos.

Grilled Grandma: Karen

Karen and SpencerHow many children do you have?  I have three of my own, Seth, Becca, and Emily; and a step-daughter, Becky. They are all in their 30's now.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have The Fab Sarah, who is 10 and lives with my ex-daughter-in-law in Tennessee. The Fab Michael, who is 13 and The Fab Owen, who is 2. They both live with my son in Maryland. And The Fab Spencer, who is 7, and lives with his mommy in Georgia. And there is one on the way, due in May, a little girl who has not yet been named.

Any great grandchildren? No, I'm not that old yet!

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me Granny, and I just love it!
Spencer
How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Not very often. My son, who is the father of Sarah, Michael, Owen and the new baby, is in the Air Force. He spent 2 years in Guam and 7 years in England. The first year he was back in the states, my husband and I got a job in Pennsylvania for the summer so we could be close by. We visited with them every week on our days off and had soooo much fun.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing about being a grandma is that I get to do fun stuff with them and don't have to worry about being the disciplinarian. That job goes to Mom and Dad.

SarahWhat is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Knowing when to keep my mouth shut. And not sticking my nose in where it shouldn't be.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. A couple of years ago, all the children met me and my husband in California for a family vacation. We went out for dinner on the pier in Imperial Beach. All the adults ordered shrimp, but Michael, who was 7, said he didn't like shrimp, so his Dad ordered him fish instead. When the food came, my son put one of his shrimp on Michael's plate, and he ate it. He looked at his Dad and said, "what was that, it was GOOD!" and Seth told him it was shrimp. Michael sat there for moment, then looked at my husband and said, "Grandpa, are you going to eat all your shrimp?"

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Because they live so far away, when they come to visit they are usually here for about a week. On the last day, we sit together with construction paper, glue, pencils, etc., and make a scrapbook of their visit. We glue in pictures of us together that I have printed off, ticket stubs from places we might have visited, brochures they have picked up. They write a little paragraph in their own words about each place we went. It is an all day project, but they have a cool keepsake of their visit with me.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I love to cook for my children and grandchildren when we go to their house. I call ahead and "take orders" for what they want me to make for them when I arrive. That way, I know I can stay on my gluten free diet, and make them happy, too.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits?  I call, send postcards and books from places we go, and send little gifts when I can."Everyone" in 2007

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I hope they get my sense of adventure, and love of reading.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Fabulous!

Do you have a website or blog? Yes, I write FabGrandma, the story of living and loving a mobile gluten free life.  And I have recently completed moving my blog to a new website at http://fabgrandma.com.

Grilled Grandma: Annette

Annette and ShyleeHow many children do you have?
I have a single son who is 26 and a married daughter who is 25.
 
How many grandchildren? What are their ages?
One granddaughter, Shylee, who will be 2 in April.
 
Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you?
Grandma

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? My children live about 125 miles away, so I see Shylee every 2-3 weeks.

What is the best thing about being a grandma?
Having the patience and wisdom I didn't have as a young mother.  As a grandma, I know the chores can wait because nothing is more important than spending time with a child.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma?

The physical limitations!  You know...getting up and down from the floor, carrying her up the stairs, getting her in and out of her car seat, is just not as easy as it was 25 years ago!

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.
You know how a dog will perk up her ears and cock her head to the side when you talk to her?  Well, Shylee was walking across the room with a toy and just dropped it in front of the dog and kept going.  When the toy hit the floor it started playing music and the dog perked up and cocked her head and just looked at it.  Shylee had turned around and watched the dog and walked back, got in the dog's face and cocked her head to the side and started jabbering as if to say, 'why are we doing this?'.

 
What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house?

My favorite thing is when Shylee sits in my lap and we read a book or play with a toy.   

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house?

I love just watching her play in her own house.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits?

We've started talking on the phone! 

 

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren?

That God loves her and she can do anything she puts her mind to.

 
What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Loving 

Visit Annette's blog, So Many Memories, and her fabulous Etsy shop, also titled So Many Memories.

Grilled Grandma: Pat

How many children do you have?   
One son, one daughter

How many grandchildren? What are their ages?
One cherished grandson

Any great grandchildren?
No

What do your grandchildren call you?
Nonna (Italian word for grandmother)

How often do you get to see your grandchildren:
Sadly only a few times a year as he lives in the beautiful state of Colorado and I live in New York

What is the best thing about being a grandma?
Everything! It is such a blessing to hold your children's children and know that they are the future and that we will live on through them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma?
Living far away and not being there to see many milestones in person

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.
My grandson recently celebrated his first birthday and he had so much fun eating his own little cake! His hands and face became covered with icing and he made us all laugh with his excitement.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house?
Take him for a walk around my neighborhood and show him off!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house?
Playing and singing to my grandson and taking lots and lots of photos and videos of him.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits?
My grandson has a blog where his parents put up frequent photos and videos and we all have web cams and use Skype

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren?
That they will always know they were loved beyond measure by both their parents and grandparents.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you?
Cookies!

Find out more about Pat and see her stunning photos of New York City and beyond at Mille Fiori Favoriti, "A Blog About Life In New York City."