Grilled Grandma: Diane

What is a Grilled Grandma? A Grilled Grandma is a grandma whom I've grilled with some grandma-related questions, and she's graciously responded with answers and photos. Here is Grilled Grandma Diane:

How many children do you have? 4 wonderful sons!

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 7 wigglies – that’s my name for them I use in my blogs, radio and such.

From Son #1 – 3 = Austin 11, Braiden 8 and Colten 4.

From Son #2 - 2 = Clayton 9, and Callie is 7.

Son #3 is still single.

Son #4 – 2 – Hailie – 7 (she is my bonus wiggliette brought in with her mama when they were married 3 years ago) – and Rylen is 15 months.

So I have 5 grandsons and 2 granddaughters.

Any great grandchildren? Nope

What do your grandchildren call you? It has changed – it used to be Gramie but now most of the time it is Grama

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? What their world would be like. Would they be safe? Would they grow up knowing and loving Jesus? Their future in general I think.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I am blessed to see them daily if I choose. Son #2 and #4 live on the farm with us and Son #1 lives 3 miles away. I rarely go more than 2 days without loving on them.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Making memories, celebrating the ordinaries with them and sowing the Gospel into their lives.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Trying to not overstep my boundaries. Giving advice only when asked.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. The latest is from wigglie #3. Little league is starting up again. He wanted to be on a team call the Tigers – badly – really, really badly. He came home and could hardly stay in his skin. He told his mom his team was the Tigers!!!! Grinning like crazy. Mom figured this was a good learning situation. So, Mom asked “Did you pray for favor to get on that team? Do you think God did that for you?” He shook his head yes and then added “Either that or I was really lucky.”

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We bake cookies, read and have a craft cupboard that we explore.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Check out their “stuff”. Their rooms and etc. Because we live so close and I see them frequently I think we have a little different relationship. It’s not like I go to their house just to visit – I drop in all the time, we work together on the farm, summertime Grama’s house is the go-to house with the pool. The fridge is always full of drinks and freezer has Grama’s cookies in abundance. We also have Sunday dinners here most Sundays – I am blessed beyond limits.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? It’s funny – even though we see each other we do “facetime” and message on mom and dad’s phone – but there really isn’t much in between time for us.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The love of family. The love of Jesus. Appreciating the ordinary blessings God gives us daily. To live out loud. To love hard and strong and never leave things unsaid. To be grateful and loving. You can not tell someone how much you love them and appreciate them too much.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I can’t really think of anything – other than to appreciate more.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? You can’t go back and do it over again. Take and make time to spend with your wigglies. We have such an amazing opportunity to teach them. There may come a time that they need advice and won’t want to go to mom or dad. If we can build a great connection with them, hopefully they will come to us and that will give us the opportunity to point them to Jesus in all situations.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about?www.randomramblingsof.com = blog about farm life, family, randomness.

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!

Grilled Grandma: Merci

How many children do you have? 1 daughter and 1 son.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? 2 - a girl, 5, and a boy, soon to be 2.

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Nunna (Maltese for Grandma)

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? The concern of the baby's health.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? 2-3 times a week

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Getting to watch every move they make with joy and pleasure, and knowing I am no longer the disciplinarian, I am the grandmother who gets to spoil them and send them home.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Taking the back seat in how the children are being raised. Opinion is not always welcomed, especially since the mother is my daughter-in-law and not my daughter.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. When Sophie dresses up like Lady Gaga and sings her songs, and Christian plays under the kitchen table, like he is on the monkey bars...so cute. Laughing out loud happens more often than not, the kids are so entertaining.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? I love to take them to our favorite ice cream place, Frosty's, and ask Sophie if she want rainbow sprinkles on her ice cream, and she always says, no I want colored sprinkles. We laugh. And it never fails, Sophie eats only the top with the sprinkles and Christian devours the whole thing.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Watching Sophie play dress up, with all her customs, also we go through all her books. Sophie has a chair in her room that she turns over and they both slide down the back, they love to entertain me.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? If I don't see them in a couple of days, which sometimes happens with our schedules, I call Sophie. The younger one is to young for the telephone.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That family is the most important people you can have in your life and having a grandmother is a blessing from God.

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

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Be the best Grandma you can and kiss, kiss,kiss them when ever you get a chance, or they let you...there is nothing like being a grandma.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about?Groovin Moms — that baby boomers are not your regular grandmas.

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!

Grilled Grandma: Cheryl

What is a Grilled Grandma? A Grilled Grandma is a grandma whom I've grilled with some grandma-related questions, and she's graciously responded with answers and photos. Here is Grilled Grandma Cheryl:

How many children do you have? Six children and they are 29, 26, 25, 24, 15, and 13

How many grandchildren? One

What are their ages? 17 months

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandmum (grandson lives in U.K.)

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? A good crib and good equipment such as stroller and high chair.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? 2 or 3 times a year for one or two months each.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The gift that they are from heaven and hugs.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Wanting to set an example of Christlike behavior that they can follow.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My grandson, Benjamin, likes me to hold him except when one of his pretty young aunts walks in the room, then he wants to go to one of them. He's smart!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Walks though the park in the pram (stroller).

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I have not visited Benjamin yet in the U.K., but I hope to do so soon.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Skype! I am working on several journals with special things he liked at each age each month. Like one month he was fond of doggies. I am just getting pix out of magazines, etc. Children like to know when they are older that you thought about them at each stage.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The Gospel of Jesus Christ

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Save everything and keep a day to day journal or keepsake box, since the little mommy does not have time.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Relax, encourage, and enjoy! Use a soft touch verbally with your daughter or daughter-in-law, there's more than one way to raise a baby to good health.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about?

Momlaughs — Laugh Your Way Through Motherhood

For Keeps Ministries — Connecting Two Hearts for Lifetime

Writing Mentor — Teaching Aspiring Writers How to Get Published

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!

Grilled Grandma: Liz

How many children do you have? 1 daughter, Vera

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? 2 - a girl, Natalie, 6 1/2; and a boy, Liam, 4 1/2

Any great grandchildren? no

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma Shoes—Natalie named me and it stuck.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? The well being of my daughter.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? 2-3 times a month

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Getting to hold babies again and the blessed opportunity watching them grow and remembering how much I love being a mom and now a grandma.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Keeping my opinion to myself unless I am asked—I mess up a lot and talk too much!!!

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. When they tell me knock knock jokes on the phone—they both take turns and Liam tries to repeat what Natalie said and then they both end up being silly and I act confused. they get such a kick out of it—I laugh out loud every time.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We play restaurant—they have a tea set here—they take my order and then serve me my tea and snack and I argue over the bill, then I play waitress to them and they do the same to me.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Making something in the kitchen (my daughters' kitchen)—smoothies are fun and so is baking cookies. Always time to color and put puzzles together.

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

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? How special they are and how much I love them.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? There is such little time. Time went so fast raising my daughter; I knew that, but I forgot.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Be there every chance you can.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about?Groovin Moms — (about) life as a baby boomer woman.

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!

Grilled Grandma: Sandy

What is a Grilled Grandma? A Grilled Grandma is a grandma whom I've grilled with some grandma-related questions, and she's graciously responded with answers and photos. Here is Grilled Grandma Sandy:

How many children do you have? I have two daughters, Kathleen and Courtney and one son, Joe. They were all raised in a military household and both daughters swore they would NEVER marry anybody in the military because they didn’t want to ruin their children’s lives by moving every three years. Both girls are married to pilots in the Air Force, just like their Dad, (Ha!) my son is not yet married.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I currently have four grandchildren, Courtney has two girls, Kate (4), Emma (2) and Kathleen has two boys, Jackson (4), and Gavin (21 months). However, in just a couple of months we will go from four grandchildren to seven as both girls are pregnant, Courtney is having another girl and Kathleen is having twin boys! We’ll have seven grandchildren all under the age of four.

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me “Honey”.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Actually, both of my girls were pregnant at the same time with their first babies and neither of them lived nearby. I live in North Carolina and one daughter lived in Spokane, WA, and the other lived in Pensacola, FL. My biggest concern was not being close enough to them to help out on a regular basis and get to play with the babies as often as I would like.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Currently they still live far away, for two years both daughters lived in Okinawa, Japan because their husbands were stationed there. One still lives there and the other just recently moved to California. We see each other, in person, at least twice a year for three to four weeks at a time.

If all goes as planned, I hope to be present for the upcoming births. “Operation Baby Drop” will have me flying to California for the birth of the twin boys, then on from there to Okinawa for the new baby girl’s birth, and then back to California to help out with the twins again, whew! I’m already exhausted just thinking about it!

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Getting to spoil my grandkids whenever they are around. We try to fit lots of adventures into their visits. However, I also have to listen to my own kids complain about how we NEVER spoiled them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Keeping my mouth shut. I try not to give unsolicited advice but sometimes it just slips out. Fortunately my daughters are very good about listening to what I have to say. It’s amazing how much smarter they think you are once they have children of their own!

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. The last time Kate and Emma were visiting we had just finished nighttime baths, pajamas were on, and they were sitting in bed, hair dripping and waiting for a bedtime story. I decided to make up a story instead of read another book so I made up an elaborate story about a little girl who went on a great adventure. Then I said, “Okay, it’s your turn to tell me a story.” Kate proceeded to tell me about two princesses “who were very beautiful, but not as pretty as me” she said. I couldn’t help but laugh. Apparently that child has no problem with self-esteem!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Right now we like to draw and color. I can’t wait until they are old enough to learn how to sew!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? We like to go on walks, more drawing and coloring, and do lots of puzzles and read books.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We talk on the phone two to three times a week and Skype about once a week. Thank goodness for Skype, I don’t think I would be able to survive the distance between us without being able to see them so often. When they were smaller they thought we were the “grandparents in the box” but being able to see us on a regular basis makes it easy when we visit because we aren’t really strangers.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Live life to the fullest and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t accomplish your goals!

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Fun! They will probably think I’m a little crazy too since I went skydiving for my 50th birthday and love to try adventurous things. However, I flew off the side of a mountain skiing a few years ago and ended up in the hospital so I’m a little more cautious in my adventures, now that I know what pain feels like!

One of my favorite quotes is, “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand – strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, ‘Woo Hoo, what a ride!’”

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Just like the saying goes, “If I’d known that being a grandparent was so much fun, I’d have had my grandchildren first!” I’ve always loved children and having my own was great but, man oh man, there is just something wonderful about grandchildren because the pressure in raising them falls to someone else and you get to be the good guy!

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy every minute, hold those babies as often as you can, close your eyes and memorize their smell, feel their skin, give them baths and drink in all the sights and smells that come with them.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? Yes, I have a blog and a website. I am a designer of applique quilt patterns and I strive to make designs that are whimsical and easy to make. My blog is about sewing, quilting and basically randomness of life. My website address is http://www.HissyfitzDesigns.com and my blog address is http://www.sandyfitzpatrick.wordpress.com. You can also “Like” me on Facebook at http://facebook.com/hissyfitzdesigns.

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!