Friday, September 23, 2011

Grandparenting

I’ve been a grandparent since 1992, and anyone who is a grandparent knows the absolute overpowering joy that comes with that role. I used to have a plaque that said: “If I had known how wonderful grandchildren are, I would have had them first.” I can’t even find adequate words to describe the joys of grandparenting.
However, I have tried not to blog about specific grandchildren because I’m always afraid I will accidently favor one or the other. Writing too much about one and perhaps leaving someone out. But since it’s September and Grandparents Day was on September 11 (it’s always the 2nd Sunday), I’m sharing this picture of me, Russ, and our 19 grandchildren.

Our Grandchildren - July 2010


We have many, many, many pictures of them all about the house.  I’ve even devoted an entire corner of the kitchen counter to displaying their pictures.



Various family members have given me nice “sayings” that express how my husband and I feel.  Here are a few:
     

 
Since Trey was my first grandchild, his parents got to decide what I would be called, and they chose “Grammy,” which I love.  We are Grammy and Grandpa.
Just one quick story that reminds us all how truly wonderful it is to be a grandparent. Our 2nd youngest grandchild, Afton, slept over one night.  She slept soundly in her little toddler bed upstairs.  Because our bedroom is downstairs and we wanted to be sure we would hear her if she needed us in the night, we plugged in the baby monitor.  We didn’t set an alarm for the next morning, knowing Afton would wake us up.  We expected to hear crying or even shouting to us to get her up the next morning, but instead we woke to the most beautiful sound in the world:  Afton singing.  Yes, no annoying alarm clock, no yelling child, just this sweet, sweet voice of an angel singing one song after another.  We jumped up and ran upstairs to give our little angel a big hug and “good morning.”  Grandchildren!  We are blessed.
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President Jimmy Carter first declared Grandparents Day as a national holiday in 1978. Who knew? For more information, go here.

Also, if you want to see what I published about grandparenting in the magazine LDS Living, you'll find my articles in the March/April 2007 issue, page 26, "Over the River and Through the Woods, Staying Close to the Grandchildren." And in the November/December 2006 issue, page 70, "Traditions for the Grandkids."

Saturday, September 10, 2011

The winner is........................

Congratulations to Lydia who has won our give away.  I thought it was quite ironic that someone going to school for the very first time (kindergarten) won the back to school give away.  And as a thank you to all those wonderful comments from the rest of you, I’m sending each of you a little something.  We loved reading all the comments. They were so telling into the personality of each child.  Happy School Days! Here's that Target commercial one more time.  I could watch it every day. 
Note: Lydia is even wearing her school T-shirt.
Congratulations, Lydia!

 

Friday, September 2, 2011

School Daze Give Away

Joel’s comment on my last post reminded me that it is probably time for another give away. But, sorry, Joel—it won’t be an air fare and football tickets—no can do. However, September always reminds me of the beginning of school, even though most kids start in August now a day. So in honor of all those cuties going back to school, this give away is for kids. Any child up to the age of 18 may enter. If you don’t have a blog account, ask your parents to enter you in the contest listing your name. If I don’t know where you live, leave me a contact (e-mail, phone, address, etc.) in case you win.


In entering, please list what your favorite part of school is this year. If you’re a pre-schooler and just learning to talk, that’s fine, just let Mom or Dad know what you like best about pre-school and they'll do the rest.

From a random drawing, the winner will receive a $30 gift card for Target. I LOVE their back to school commercials. This one is my favorite.

Contest ends FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 at 6 pm EST. Oh, I'll also throw in some Silly Bandz.

Here are some “school-daze” first-day-of-school pictures from our family archives:

1973 - Troy's first day of Kindergarten
    



1975 - Lisa's first day of Kindergarten

 

 

 


 1976 Joel and Julie join Lisa and Troy for their First Day of School Picture

1977 - Joel joins Julie- first day of Kindergarten; Troy 4th grade; Lisa 2nd grade

Getting off the bus: Julie had a good first day



1976 - First Day for Lisa and Troy
1979 -First day of School....Troy in 6th, Lisa in 4th, Julie in 2nd, Joel in Kindergarten - I love that Brad and Lori are in the stroller being part of this photo shoot. I also loved that I had four children all attending the same school: Bancroft Elemnetary. You have to look closely, but Lori is in that stroller--about 4 months old
  
1981 - Lisa, Joel, and Julie on the First Day
                              

  In 1982 we moved to Knoxville and Brad started Kindergarten - First Day pix - Five in School

1984 - Lori's first day of Kindergarten; Brad & Joel
1986 - Joel - First Day of School
1986 - Brad & Lori's First Day of School
1987 - Brad and Lori's First Day of School
1988 - Joel & Brad - First Day
1988 - Julie and Chester - First Day
1989 - First Day: Lori, Brad, Joel, and Julie 


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like..............

A while back I blogged about the sad fact that my state of Tennessee was listed as fourth in the most over-weight state. Since that time, I’ve found some pretty nice rankings for my state and city of Knoxville that I’d like to pass along.
How about being ranked number five as a “Best Value” city?! Pretty good, eh? And Nashville was ranked number three. These rankings were published in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Their rankings were based on the city that provides the best value, based on low living costs, strong economies and great amenities. Not too shabby.

If it’s team spirit you want, nothing beats the University of Tennessee football season. Now that UT classes have started and the local schools are into their second week, it’s “Football time in Tennessee.” Orange decorates our stores. At first glance, you might think it’s Halloween, but it’s the big orange rolling through town getting everyone ready for a season of UT Football. Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like football in Tennessee. Go Vols!!

And after all, we are the volunteer state, so we must be good for quite a few things.

One more thought: “The game of football is beginning to gain a foothold in Knoxville,” the Knoxville Journal, November 20, 1891



 
 Our stores are well stocked...........................



Neland Stadium seats 102,455 - Go Vols!


Monday, August 8, 2011

Bowled over...............

The first plan for the back-to-school party this year was to go miniature golfing. But when the temperature was 98 the day before the party, with a promise of more hot, humid weather, we switched to bowling. I think it was a hit and much cooler. School starts August 15 in Knoxville, TN. When does it start where you live? Hope the air conditioners are tuned up and running when they kids arrive on the 15th.

I forgot to take pictures of the kids eating their super-duper homemade sundaes back at our house. Another “cool” idea for a hot day. 

We're ready to bowl!


















Don't forget your school supplies!




Happy Back-to-School!