Today is National Candy Cane Day - Have a Candy Cane Hunt!

Today is National Candy Cane Day - according to Daysoftheyear dot com, "According to German folklore, the first candy canes were made in the 17th century when a choirmaster in Cologne, Germany, needed to find a way to keep the children quiet during the exceptionally long Christmas Eve Mass.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I celebrated last night with my family, so whether you did the same or are celebrating today, I want to say - Merry Christmas!

Make the Most of Being a Grandparent - Don't Worry: It Is Impossible to Spoil Grandchildren

I've been writing for several years about how important it is for us, as grandparents to hand down a heritage of confident faith. One way I do this is to let you know about resources to help you as you do this. This week I'll be sharing resources with you which you could read and use to hand down confident faith to your grandchildren!

The first resource I'm sharing with you is one I wrote . . . a book; Don't Worry: It Is Impossible to Spoil Grandchildren In this book, along with sharing some of my "cute-grandson stories", I talk about important things for grandparents to think about and keep in mind as they focus on handing down a heritage of confident faith to their grandchildren. I talk about -

My Christmas Carol for Today - Mary Did You Know - by Penatonix

I first heard this song a number of years ago - Mark Lawry wrote and sang it. I love - Mary Did You Know - and I LOVE how Pentatonix sings it - enjoy at this link. It seems like a wonderful song to include today in my Christmas Carols - enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Here are the lyrics if you want to sing along . . . 

Christmas in a Nutshell

On grandma's cookie jar you are able to find ideas for Christmas: including crafts, recipes, gifts, and reviews. It doesn't take more than a quick look at grandma's cookie jar to know I LOVE Christmas and look forward all year to celebrating it with my family! But, along with the "fun" of Christmas; crafts, cooking, celebrating - I also want to take a moment to point to the, "reason for the season" . . . Jesus.

My Christmas Carol for Today - Silent Night - by Acappella & in Sign Language

Today is Christmas Eve, so for my Christmas Carol for today I had to choose Silent Night. Yes, I did share Casting Crown's presentation of Silent Night a few weeks ago, but today I'm sharing Acappella's presentation AND a link for this song in sign language. In High School I had a deaf friend, so I learned some sign language - it is such a beautiful way to "sing" and Silent Night is one of the most beautiful songs to sing with sign language.

grandma's chuckles - Out of the Mouths of Babes . . .

Don't you just love it when your sweet grandchildren say something profound?  Something which gets your attention and makes you wonder how they ever came up with what they said? Something which you, of course, had to share on facebook?!!! Something which makes you laugh each time you think about it?

grandma's cookbook - Homemade Mini Pizza!

When you think about cooking with children, choose recipes they can have a real part in  helping to prepare . . . one great recipe is homemade unique mini-pizzas! The recipe is pretty straightforward, but it is one your grandchildren can literally "get their hands into" and really help prepare a meal for the family to enjoy!

All you have to do is mix the dough and then let them shape their own pizza into whatever shape they want. They will be able to add the toppings they want and then, when it is baked, they will be able to enjoy the pizzas they made! This is delicious so be sure to have a camera handy!

You will find the recipe and directions below so you can have fun with your grandchildren making mini pizzas! Enjoy!

My Christmas Carol for Today - It's the Greatest Time of Year - by Aly & AJ

We have almost arrived at Christmas - it is just two days away and this song "fits" with how I feel - It's the Greatest Time of Year - and I am looking forward to celebrating it with my family on Christmas Eve!

This video shows clips from the third Santa Clause movie, making it fun to watch as well! Enjoy it at this link!

And, if you want to sing along, here are the lyrics -

My Christmas Carol for Today - Everybody Loves Christmas

It is very easy to notice on grandma's cookie jar, I love Christmas! I love everything about it - the reason we celebrate and the wonderful opportunity it gives us to spend time with our families! So, this song, Everybody Loves Christmas, had to be part of my "Christmas Carols" - you will find it at this link - enjoy!

These are the lyrics if you would like to sing along . . . 

A Fantastic Gift - Tickets/Membership to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Christmas is just three days away. If you are still looking for a great gift for someone on your gift list, I have the perfect idea! Last year my husband and I decided to "treat" ourselves with a membership to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI. We got the Grandparents & a Guest membership - we are able to visit, bring our grandchildren and guest with us as many times as we want for a year. Let me assure you we more than got our money's worth out of this membership! 

grandma's chuckles . . . George the Bear and Josiah the Snowboy!

I've been going back and enjoying some of the funny things my grandsons have said over the years . . . my memory is terrible, so I decided when my first grandson was born, to be sure to write down the cute and funny things he said so I would be able to remember and enjoy them! I highly recommend doing this with your grandchildren . . . it is so much fun to go back and remember these special times!

At any rate, I am sharing a couple of the funny and cute things he said when he was three and oh, so cute!!! (Twelve years ago)

My Christmas Carol for Today - All I Want for Christmas - by the Piano Guys

Okay, once again, yes, I know for a song to be a "Christmas Carol" there should be some singing, but once again, the Piano Guys put together "All I Want for Christmas" with fantastic music (there is a cello so it has to be fantastic), and combined it with Lego animation of a number of favorite Christmas movies/shows in a "nutshell" presentation - watch it at this link and you will see what I mean and why I had to include this in my Christmas Carols!

Enjoy!

Today is National Maine Day & Some Silly Maine Laws

Today is National Maine Day, so of course it seems like the perfect day to look at some of their silly laws and enjoy wondering why they ever felt a need to make such laws. These laws left my grandsons wondering how and why they ever became law and there was some laughing around our table as we talked about them, so get ready to laugh . . .