Grandma's Little Pearls

Bird Nesting Craft

2013-05-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Last Spring we had a pair of birds that built their nest and raised their three youngsters in a floral arrangement that I had hanging on my front door. This year the floral arrangement isn't hanging on the door but what appears to be the same proud birdie parents have built their nest just outside our living room window (at perfect eye level) in a climbing rose vine.

It is very kind of Mother Nature to share this amazing lesson of devoted parenting and the nature of bird families to my grandchildren and I again this year. Last time we kept a spy cam on the nest so that we could enjoy a live feed on my computer screen anytime the grands wanted to watch the parents feeding and caring for their young. It was also fun to watch how quickly the babies grow! We even caught a glimpse of the babies flying from the nest.

This brings me to the Bird Nesting Craft that I created a few months ago. I now have proof that this bird nesting craft is appreciated and used by the birds! As I peeked into the nest above I saw multiple pieces of yarn, string, fabric strips, and shreds of batting tucked into the nesting materials. So where did those supplies come from you ask?

It was me! I have watched the bird nesting supplies slowly disappear from this bird nesting craft so it was way fun to learn that they had actually gone to the birds! This would be a super fun and easy project to do with the kids.

To make your own Bird Nesting Craft you could use:

String, yarn, twine, ribbon, thin strips of fabric, netting, and scraps of batting.

Cut the pieces into varied lengths and sizes.

I used some old wire cooling racks for the frame.

I used pipe cleaners to secure the racks together at the bottom.

You could use whatever you have on hand that would offer an

open frame work.

I loosely mixed up the variety of the scraps.

Then I loosely stuffed them into the frame. I used pipe cleaners

to wire the tops of the frame together.

Hang the finished "gift to nature" in a tree using twine or wire.

Maybe one day you will get a chance to find a nest

where your supplies have been used too.

If not, you can be sure that your contribution to nature has gone

to two hard working parents and their hungry brood of babies!

Merry Christmas from my home to yours!

2012-12-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

Home, sweet holiday home.

Grandkid's Christmas Camp 2012

My 10 little campers!

This future camper...

Number 11

will be one week old on

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-20T18:08:00.002-07:00

2012 Hallmark Christmas Give-Away

2012-12-04T10:15:00.002-07:00

Hallmark didn't ask me personally about my family Christmas traditions but somehow they pegged exactly how I feel about the HO...HO...HO...lidays! For me Christmas is not just a one day celebration but an entire season of festivities, giving, traditions, bonding time, and family centered fun. Building bonds, memories, and anticipation with the children I love truly adds to the joy and sparkle of the season for me.

Hallmark's 2012 Christmas line has been designed to better meet the holiday ideals of parents and grandparents. It is a fun way to help build Christmas anticipation for the kiddos you love. My father who is 93 in all of his hard earned wisdom has discovered over his many years that the biggest joys in life are the anticipation of things to come and the memories that we can relive forever. Hallmark has made the anticipation easy, super cute, and really fun this year. The 2012 interactive Christmas greetings are sure to create some special memories too.

This greeting would be a really fun one to give. It will be a very special keepsake to your all-grown-up grands one day. This interactive recordable greeting captures the child's wish list in their very own voice! It is then ready to mail off to the North Pole. As a grandma, I wouldn't mind getting one or ten of these in my mailbox too.

Anticipation.... How many more days?

Yep, what kid doesn't like counting down the days until Christmas?

We all know how much kids love getting mail.

Imagine the smiles upon opening this special little delivery!

These items are only available in the

Hallmark Stores.

You can check out these and other Hallmark greetings here.

I was lucky enough to receive a package of these products and a

collection of other holiday greetings for review in this post.

The Hallmark brand never disappoints!

Guess what?

This give away is now closed.

So sorry you missed it.

You have a chance to win your very own package from Hallmark too!

Your package will be very similar to mine including interactive holiday greetings for the kids and a collection of other Hallmark Holiday Greetings. It is a very nice prize package.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post sharing a Christmas tradition

that the children in your family anticipate each year or a favorite holiday memory.

For me it would be my Grandkid's Christmas Daycamp.

A full day of holiday fun for just the kids and Papa and I.

The kids and I anticipate it every single year!

And the memories created.... priceless.

Make sure I have a way to contact you in case you are the lucky winner.

You can email me your email address at

grandmashelleyatgrandmaslittlepearlsdotcome.

This giveaway will end on Sunday December 9th.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Disposable Window Shades for Crafting

2012-08-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

I save all kinds of stuff that just might be a useful crafting

supply for me and my grands. I had several short ends that

I had cut from the lightweight disposable window shades that you

can purchase from the home improvement stores.

When I had my grandsons just before Father's Day and they

wanted to do a craft project I finally came up with a fun use

for those shady pieces of scraps!

The boys each wrote long messages to their dads

by writing one letter per pleat with blanks between the words.

Once they were done we hot glued the two ends

to some hand cut outs.

We tied them up with a bow.

And, their daddy was treated to three

very long and very loving handmade

Father' Day messages!

The outside pieces could be any design for any occasion.

Watch yard sales and the thrift stores for

used disposable blinds. You can score a ton

of your own durable accordion crafting supplies for next to nothing.

You can cut them to the length and width of your choice.

Just think of the possibilities!

Cousin's Back to School Party 2012

2012-08-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have been celebrating back to school with my grandchildren for quite a few years now.

Back to School Party 2011

Back to School Party 2010

Back to School Party 2009

Back to School Party 2008

My back-to-schoolers this year are in grades

7th, 6th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 1st, kindergarten, and pre-school.

That is nine out of ten of my little pearls!

So, what makes a back to school party with

Grandma, Papa and the cousins?

The party plans can be as simple or as extravagant as you like but

regardless of how much money or time I put into them

our time together and the lasting memories we share

are a priceless treasure to us all.

It is a tradition that my grands DO NOT allow

me to forget!

For me the party always begins with pre-arranging a date

that works with all of the parents.

Party invitations are hand delivered a few days ahead of time.

This year's theme was Party Bus!

The invites had a bus schedule on them for the time

of pick up and the afternoon drop off time for each child.

Papa and I decorated our "bus" to add to the fun.

(Special thanks to my daughter and son-in-law for loaning us their eight passenger car.)

We decorated the windows and we tied long strands of brightly

colored curling ribbon to the side mirrors

to add a festive touch as we whipped and fluttered through the streets.

Once everyone was picked up and buckled up it was party time.

The "bus" was filled with chatter between the very

excited back-to-school cousins.

First stop included personalized lunch orders

and icy sweet Eegee's slushes!

There was sampling bites shared, laughter, conversations,

and lots of attention from the other customers.

One set of grandparents who's only grandchild

lives several hours away couldn't believe that this

party group of five only represented half of my grandchildren.

They also commented on how well behaved they were.

Grandma was proud!

They were all wearing matching name tags

around their necks with their new grade.

I made the name tags

to help create a little extra special cousin unity.

Once everyone was done eating and washed up

it was time to load back into our party bus and head to our next stop.

Instead of putting together party gifts bags as usual

we treated the kids to a shopping spree at one of

their favorite stores!

They all LOVE going to Dollar Tree.

Every single row was checked out and a whole

lotta' very selective and time consuming decisions were made.

The rule for the kids was that we all had to stay together.

They did a great job following the rule.

Papa and I had the rule to not rush their decisions.

We succeeded too!

After over an hour of very active shopping it was time to check out.

Everyone was thrilled with their

gadgets, goodies, and toys.

Our party bus then headed to Wendy's

for a round of chocolate Frosty's and seven cups of water

for the ride home.

We had a really cool bus driver!

(Thanks Papa)

Without rushing any part of our time together

we were able to keep the party bus on schedule

for our afternoon drop offs.

I use the word lucky a lot about being a grandma

but the truth is that I am just

very blessed and very, very grateful.

I can't wait until next time....

Celebrating Red, White, and Blue

2012-08-17T19:08:00.002-07:00

4th of July party favors for the grands

to snack on at the fireworks show.

Oh say can you see....

the red, white, and blue table decor?

We celebrated with , ribs, BBQ chicken,

and all the fixins!

I love pulling out my "resources" for all of the different

holidays and seasons.

Sweet buttery corn and sweet memories were made

over dinner, visiting, playing together, and a

spectacular small town fireworks show!

Back To School Traditions

2012-08-15T16:17:00.002-07:00

My daughter recently hosted a really fun Back-to-School dinner party for her three very lucky boys. Lucky for Papa and I, we were invited to attend at the boys request! The boys were super excited about the party and they had spent the afternoon decorating their entire front walk with "Welcome Grandma and Papa!" for our arrival. The boys met us at the front of the walk.

Once inside we were all surprised to see the special touches their mom had made to turn an ordinary family dinner into a celebration of back-to-school learning!

So cute!

1st day of Kindergarten photos hung above the table.

The boys are now in 1st, 4th, and 6th grades.

There were personalized place settings for everyone.

We all had a to do list.

Mommy had the longest list by far.

The boys lists were all the things that help to make students successful.

Papa and I are more than happy to do our lists!

Their bus stop is at the end of our front walk.

Lucky again!

Scattered school supplies made a perfect centerpiece.

(Notice the jar of unsharpened pencils)

The place settings were so cute!

The dinner was delicious. The boys had chosen made from

scratch spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and salad.

YUM!

After dinner the boys were asked to think of one back to school goal.

As they each shared their goal their mom treated them to a

back to school gift!

Once they had all opened their gifts their mom pulled out one more surprise.

It was another gift for the boys to share. The boys opened it together.

It was an electric pencil sharpener.

You had better believe that those unsharpened

pencils on the table were all super sharp in no time at all!

I got to bring the dessert.

Chocolate Long Johns.

The boys favorite!

Seeing my adult children create

special traditions for their children

makes my heart feel really good!

Photos courtesy of my daughter.

Thank you.

Can you believe I forgot to take my own camera???

More Birthday Pouches

2012-08-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

It has been DIY birthday pouches for all my grands birthdays in 2012

More pouch ideas here:

http://www.grandmaslittlepearls.com/2012/04/mailable-pouches-for-any-occasion.html

http://www.grandmaslittlepearls.com/2012/05/12-x-12-birthday-pouch-in-pink.html

When I first saw this idea they were made to be put in the mail.

A great idea for long distance grandmas.

I checked it out with the post office and yep they can be

mailed as is! No extra wrapping needed.

What kid wouldn't like getting such a personalized

birthday pouch in their mailbox.

I loved this idea but all of my grands live too close to use the mail.

So, they have each received a hand delivered birthday pouch!

All you need is a piece of card stock for your base.

Birthday scrapbook papers and stickers.

Fairly flat goodies to stitch up in the pouch.

A jumbo freezer bag approx. 13 inch x 15 inch

I found them in the dollar store (box of 5 for a $1)

A DIY or store bought birthday card.

Cash or gift card to insert in the card if desired.

Create the page like you would a scrapbook page.

Low tack tape helps to keep goodies in place.

If mailing, address the greeting card.

Once everything is in place slide the card stock

into the bag with the zipper at the top.

Use a sewing machine to stitch all edges and in between

each of the goodies.

Trim off the top of the bag so that it is flush with the

card stock top edge. Trim other edges if needed.

I'm getting quite a collection of leftover zipper bag tops.

I'm certain they will be turned into a fun craft one of these days!

Wouldn't these pouches be cute for holidays or back to school?

Milestone: First Grand to Summer Camp

2012-07-25T20:40:00.001-07:00

How can it be?

One of my grands is old enough for summer camp!

With at least ten summer campers to follow I know I had better think

about the traditions I begin..... BUT I just can't help myself!

I had a secret messenger at camp deliver one

small gift each day at camp so that my very loved

camper knew that I was thinking about her!

Everything yellow bagged up with a

You are My Sunshine tag.

A song that she still remembers me singing to her everyday as a toddler.

A pack of gum and a reminder

of just how extra special she is!

A scrapbook paper I knew she would love

with a notepad and a pencil for

writing notes to her camp friends.

A braided headband with beads and feathers

to wear at camp.

The camp theme was Warriors of Light.

I also sent up the supplies with her camp leaders so that

all of the girls in her tribe could make matching headbands.

Yea, camp unity!

I was also lucky enough to be her secret sister.

More to come on that!

Quality Time with Papa

2012-07-07T18:38:00.002-07:00

Picnic lunch.

Donut and Milk breakfast picnic on the school playground.

Invention crafts.

Holding on to Papa's every word.

Beating the heat!

Outing to the Prescott Courthouse

for an evening concert.

Time spent with Papa hiking through

the forest looking for the perfect sticks for

a bow and arrows.

Busy days makes for big appetites.

And, worn out little boys

who adore their Papa!

4th Of July Goodie Boxes

2012-07-04T09:54:00.001-07:00

Make the little firecrackers you love these easy and festive one of a kind

4th of July

holiday favors!

All you need is their favorite movie box of candy,

papers in red white and blue, scissors or a paper cutter,

and a glue stick. I added some fun holiday POP

with an explosion of dazzling curling ribbon

to finish them off!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

You Gotta Love It!

2012-07-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

My birthday fell on one of the days that my husband and I took three of

our grandsons to our mountain cabin for a week while their mom

was away as stake camp director for the week.

On my birthday the boys woke very early, pulled secret stuff from

their belongings, and whispered quietly between themselves.

They borrowed some yarn, tape, and scissors from my craft supplies

and they all worked together to create a special birthday surprise for me.

Papa was instructed to keep me indoors.

Once they were ready I was invited to go out

to the deck. They were all very excited!

They had hung a birthday banner that they had made themselves,

set out board games to play, and they had hung a sheet to create

more shade for the "birthday grandma" chair.

So thoughtful.

Don't be fooled. He is a very strategic checker player.

Even if it was my birthday!

They were as good as gold at our Red Robin birthday lunch.

I loved the handmade gift with the sliding lid.

He had told his mom that I would really

like his gift because it was useful.

He was right!

The youngest told me that he had forgotten my gift at home

but I was going to love it because I would be able to go

to Dollar Tree with it!

One of his favorite stores.

Hmmmm....

I wonder what it could be?

Once home, I was given the belated birthday gift.

It was a handmade card with a picture of the cabin drawn

on it with money from his own piggy bank

tucked inside.

Being a grandma is the

BEST!!!

Donut and Milk Picnic Breakfast

2012-07-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

We recently took three of our grandsons on an eight day outing to our mountain cabin. I had activities scheduled for each day of our get-away. The boys knew the things I had planned and they looked forward to the special outing for the day. Some of the outings were in the middle of the day and others were in the evening. There was just one that was scheduled for an early morning departure. The early morning outing was especially looked forward to by the boys as it was on our schedule as a "Donut and Milk Picnic Breakfast"!

The plan was to get up early and pack up our ice chest with ice cold milk and our picnic basket with napkins and cups before heading down the mountain to the bakery in town.

Once at the bakery each boy carefully picked out two donuts. As soon as I saw the gummy worm topped donut I knew there would be no way that all three little boys could possibly pass on that sweet gem. Yep, it was the first choice in the donut box although his choices had been sternly pre-determined to be two chocolate long johns. The pile of gummy worms were just too tempting I guess.

Once the donuts were purchased we had a short drive to a school playground that was open for summer play. We found a nice shady spot near the playground for our picnic.

The school had special meaning to the boys. Their great-grandpa worked on building the school some fifty plus years ago when I was just a young girl. As the boys played on some very old playground equipment (which they thought was very cool by the way) I noticed lots of horn honking at a nearby intersection and along the street we were on. I was very surprised with it being such a small town until I realized that just maybe that is how the locals say hello to one another. practice driving test I was feeling nostalgic hanging out at the old school and watching my grands play on the same kind of playground equipment that I did as a girl so my vision of small town honks of friendship just added to the beauty of the day.

It was a great little activity and a highlight of our week for the boys. The boys enjoyed unlimited play, the high sugar breakfast was quickly burned off with lots of running, jumping, and climbing and naughty grandma still had two more meals to square out their nutrition for the day.

Poof The Magic Fort

2012-06-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

Three of my grandsons came over to stay with me for a couple of hours.

They came prepared with a well thought out plan.

Within a few short minutes they had pulled out all of the supplies

that they had toted down to my house and my living room

was FILLED with their newest invention!

I had seen an idea like this just the day before on a blog but

the mom had created it out of a clear plastic drop cloths.

It looked fun but it wasn't for this safety minded grandma!

This is his moms old king size duvet cover.

Snap it up on the one end leaving space for the

fan. "POOF!" You have a huge breezy fort to play in.

But that's not all.

A twin size duvet cover was connected to the king duvet

at one corner. "POOF"! They had another connecting room

added to the fort. All with just one fan!

One thing is for sure. The clean up was way easier

than the piles of sheets and quilts that have to be folded

after the other kind of indoor fort building.

I usually post on things that are grandma tested and kid approved.

This time it was kid tested and grandma approved.

Great summer time fun!

You Gotta' Love It!

2012-06-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

"Grandma, these are called make a wish flowers!"

Can you guess what little brother calls them too?

Happy and dirty faced little boys on this day means

that we have had a full day of Grandma Camp fun!

Grandma Camp 2012 Craft Ideas.

2012-06-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Grandma Camp 2012 Starts Here.

After our gathering activities it was already snack time.

The following activities have been kid tested and grandma approved!

Next up was a painting project to create a sack lunch

for the picnic dinner at the park that I had planned.

We used bubble wrap as our "stamp" to decorate the bags.

I drew a big bubble letter (the first letter of their name.)

on the smooth side of the wrap with a Sharpie.

Other supplies needed:

Paint

Cotton swabs

(Mine had long handles with cotton on just one end.)

Lunch sacks or paper.

(Next time I would use white paper sacks.)

Dab on the colors of paint of your choice to on the bubble

wrap bubbles filling in the border and the inside of your

letter or object as you choose.

Once all of the paint is dabbed on (and before it dries)

transfer the design to the paper sack by laying the

bubble wrap paint side down on the sack.

Gently press entire back side.

The campers really enjoyed this simple craft.

They seem to love anything with paint!

Next we created cushions for Camp Stool Totes.

I always have some kind of tote for the kids to gather their

camp projects in.

This year it was a 5 gallon bucket that we turned into

a personalized camp stool and camp souvenir.

I made the camp labels ahead of time and laminated them.

Our craft was to create the stools cushion.

It was tracing and cutting the needed sizes of circles of:

Cardboard, batting, and vinyl.

Cut cardboard and batting to desired size of finished cushion.

Cut the vinyl fabric (I just a vinyl tablecloth) 5" larger.

While Papa started the next project with the kids...

I hot glued the cushions to cover the cardboard and

batting with the vinyl. It needs to be smooth and tight on the top but

it doesn't have to be beautiful on the bottom. Nobody will see it.

Hot glue the cushion (ugly side down) to the bucket lid.

Don't forget to write their names on the inside of the lids!

Heaven forbid, someone gets someone else's exact same lid!!!

I hot glued the laminated pieces to the buckets.

The buckets clearly stated who's was who's!

There it is our official

2012

Grandkid's Campout Tote / Stool!

The kids found many uses for them.

Breakfast table stools.

And, step stools to get a better look

at the Javelina that came by for a visit!

That was a first for grandma camp!

More to come.

Grandma Camp 2012

2012-06-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

I proved to myself this year that you don't have to work on preparing Grandma Camp the entire year! It has been a year of big changes for me. My husband retired nine months ago as in he is home everyday! That is a big adjustment to a 30 plus year stay at home wife and mom. It has been one year since my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and already seven months since she moved into our home full time. My youngest adult child moved back home a year ago too. So, my year of transition from being a stay at home wife and empty nester with a full time working husband has evolved into a full nest, added responsibilities in caring for my mother in law, little privacy, little alone time, thermostat challenges, TV remote sacrifices, and probably the hardest hit being far less time for my personal creativity time to bring me the joy that it once did.

Needless to say Grandma Camp was pulled together very differently this year and I did not began my camp with the 100% over the top organization that I usually do. But, guess what? If needed you can pull Grandma Camp together in two days and it seems everyone still has just as much fun!

Sadly, this year four of my grandchildren were unable to attend. Oh, how I missed them. So this year I had just six little campers and all boys! Another big change is that we moved the camp to the mountains this year! My adult children graciously HELPED me pull grandma camp off this time. We all (parents and kids) headed to our mountain cabin for the Memorial Day weekend. We extended our stay to include grandma camp. The kids were okay with mom and dad being there but they were very concerned about where they would be during grandma camp and where they were going to sleep to no intrude on our special time together. Traditionally, it is no parents allowed. Seems to be a tradition the kids really like!

To kick off the camp we all (as in parents and grands) headed into town for a pizza lunch and arcade games.

Following lunch the moms and dads stayed in town for the

day to play and Papa and I loaded up our campers and headed

back to the cabin for Grandma Camp!

We had six campers between the ages of 2-11.

Once we arrived back to the cabin we all worked together

to set up the tables and chairs we needed.

Our first activity was talking about keeping a journal.

I then gave them each a camp journal to

record when and where our camp was, who was there, what we did,

how they felt, and their favorite things about grandma camp.

They were given time following each activity to

write or color in their camp journals.

Next up.... Since slacking grandma didn't get personalized

water bottle labels created before camp the kids made their own.

Each child was given a strip of card stock that would

cover the store bought label with a 1/2" overlap.

Each child decorated their labels using colored pencils

and they wrote their names on them. Papa used clear packing

tape (with the kids help) to attach the labels and to waterproof them

to their camp issued water bottles.

Funny thing....

No one seemed to notice that Grandma Camp

had been pulled together in just two days!

What's next on the agenda?

Travel Tour From Home

2012-06-07T17:18:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite memories as a grandma is the time I cared for my grandsons while their parents enjoyed an extended business/pleasure vacation to Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand Tours. Oh how I wished I had pictures to share of this special memory. I had done my homework ahead of time using mommy and daddy's travel itinerary to learn all I could about the places they would be visiting. I checked out kid friendly books from the library on the animals, foods, cultures, and the maps of the areas that they would be visiting to use as teaching and activity resources.

I posted a world map on the front of the fridge door with my house drawn on the map as the starting and returning point. I had made small planes, trains, taxi's, and bus magnets. I also had pieces of yarn to mark their route. Each day mommy and daddy were gone we would find it on the map and learn about the place they were visiting that day. We read books, looked at pictures, made cultural crafts, and even tried out foods that were popular in the area.

The boys really got into our travel tour from home. I did not know how much the little sponges had absorbed during our special daily activities until their mommy and daddy returned from their trip. When their parents shared the things they did the boys were able to participate in the conversation and they had a good understanding of what their parents were sharing with them.

Who knows.... maybe one day my grandsons and I will visit those places together!

Quality and Mess Free Crafting

2012-06-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

The folks over at The Orb Factory recently sent me one of their craft products for review. They also offered to host a blog give away! Lucky you.

I learned from visiting their website that this company has been around for a long time

and that they have a long history of both young and old very satisfied customers.

The Orb Factory prides themselves on producing toys that not only

stimulates a child's mind, but their creativity as well.

That is right up my creative grand-parenting alley!

I requested a product for my review that would

be appropriate for both boys and girls.

They sent me A Sticky Mosaics Wild Horses kit.

I was very impressed with the quality of the product.

The three horse templates that the kit included were very large

and the quality of the materials were high.

The kit was large enough to be shared by three children.

The sticky mosaic pieces work just like a paint by number.

Except, there is no-mess, no smears,

and it is sure to get amazing results every time.

The reference guide makes following the directions

super easy!

Think of the conversations you could share with the

little ones you love while your mosaic masterpiece

comes to life!

Check out their products today.

They have a huge selection of craft kits for both boys and girls.

They also offer age appropriate and limited budget options.

They would make great thinking of you surprises

for your long distance grandchildren, nieces, and nephews

to receive in the mail,

They would also make great special occasion gifts to have

on hand or they could be shipped directly to the child.

BLOG GIVE-AWAY

This give-away has ended.

Yellow Grandma Wins!

This is a great craft project for summer break!!!

For a chance to win your very own Wild Horses Sticky Mosaics kit:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Shipment only available in the U.S. and Canada

3. Make sure that I have a way to contact you in case you are the lucky winner.

You can e-mail me @ grandmashelley(at)grandmaslittlepearls(dot)com

4. Give-Away ends on Tuesday June 12th, 2012

5. Good Luck!

I'm a Big Fan

2012-06-04T23:46:00.003-07:00

I am a big fan of cool containers. I am an even bigger fan of a good value. I am a huge fan of crafting with my grandchildren. The cost of any crafting project I do with my ten grandchildren is multiplied by eleven. Ten of whatever it is for the kids and one for me to make up as a sample project. It can add up quickly.

I love searching dollar stores for fun and unique crafting materials. I recently learned of a great site where you can purchase all kinds of glass bottles and a huge variety of other containers right from your home computer. When I checked out their website my creative juices couldn't help but to flow. Oh the things I could do! What was really cool about the site is that they have many items that you can purchase as little as one item and not an entire case of 2500. The prices seemed very fair too. I even noticed some clearance priced items. That ALWAYS gets my attention!

They also have vials and droppers. These items would make great little gifts for my science lab minded grandson. I really like the perfume bottles too. Wouldn't it be fun to make your own little labels and perfumes for a little girls birthday party. I will be bookmarking this site for future inspiration and resources. Many of their items could be the base for some great crafting projects, personalized gifts, for organizing, and even party favors.

2012-05-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

To busy creating memories to blog!

6th Birthday for #7

Learned to play happy birthday for his brothers birthdays.

Dance Recital

Event Planning

Grandma Camp preparations.

Preschool Graduation

End of school year music program.

My oldest grand heading to Jr. HIgh next year.

Big Tamale making project with my husband

Dance Recital

Kindergarden Promotion

College graduation for my daughters boyfriend.

Get away to Prescott, Az for my wedding anniversary.

Two week long DIY spy cam wild america documentary on my front door!

Loving his birthday pouch!
Older brother can't wait to get his.

Play dates with the grands.

Mother's Day

It's a simple life but I couldn't be happier!

Grandma Camp is this weekend.
Stay tuned for all of the fun details!

Frugally Speaking

2012-05-22T21:21:00.003-07:00

For those of you to follow me you know that I like to get the most for my money. In fact, I made it part of my stay at home mom career to work to get the most out of my husbands hard earned money. Now we are retired and I am so grateful that we learned to live well within our means throughout our young married years, the years of raising our family, becoming grandparents ten times over, and through to our retirement.

My husband no longer leaves for work each morning, we have no weekly pay check, weekdays has turned into movie matinees, lunch specials out, bike rides, and leisure projects around the house. With all of these big changes there is one thing that has not changed. We still live well within our means to protect our savings for our future needs.

I have always shopped the ads and used coupons. Now my husband does it with me. In fact, most Sunday mornings he has the coupons clipped out of the paper before I get out of bed. He has learned prices and how to best match coupons, store specials, and the doubling, tripling, and quadrupling of our cents off coupons.

In fact so far in May all of our groceries have been free! We had over $200 on one of our shopper cards from funds earned for transferring our prescriptions! You better believe we still got the best deals and used our coupons to stretch those free dollars! Shopping wisely for the needs of our household has become a hobby that we now do together.

Each week we glean the ads for the best prices, we clip and file our coupons, we take advantage of the gas points, gift card points, prescription dollars (which were recently $50 per prescription transferred!), and steer clear of impulse items. Our goal is to never pay full price for anything. We stock up on things when they are on sale and store them away in our pantry to plan our meals around. We love receiving the weekly grocery ads so that we can work our magic. Kmart offers weekly specials. The drug stores very often have great promotional deals too.

By the way we shop our two walk in pantries and our two freezers are like a grocery store with a large variety of items on hand. The best of all everything in the pantry and freezer was purchased at the best price possible.

For us, we would much rather save our money where we can on the cost of running our household for cushioning our savings, vacations, early retirement, special holiday traditions, and of course on spoiling the grandkids!

Schools Out for Summer

2012-05-19T23:40:00.001-07:00

I always looked forward to summer break when my kids were young. I loved the flexibility of taking trips any day of the week and the flexible bedtimes. There were no lunches to pack, no school clothes to have ready, we all got to sleep in a bit longer, no buses to catch, and no homework deadlines.

I miss the days of cheering for my kids at the summer evening t-ball and softballs games. Those games were always so much fun! I don't ever remember my kids complaining about being bored during their summer break. We had plenty on our "family time" schedules and they were all really good at keeping themselves busy. It didn't hurt that we had a total of 13 cousins living as neighbors and best friends.

While I did work to enrich their summer breaks I did not spend much time keeping them brushed up on their school studies through the summer. I am pretty darn amazed at the young parents today. My oldest daughter who is the mother to three little boys has planned a reading program for her boys that includes book reports! They also plan to learn all about snakes this summer. What little boys wouldn't love that? There will also be swim teams, Karate, Invention camp, and swim lessons for the youngest.

My kids always did well in school so I guess my negligence regarding academic skills through the summer didn't do too much damage. Today there are so many resources just a few mouse clicks away that can be used for teaching and enriching children. Pick a topic or an activity and chances are somebody else has already done all the work for you to copycat and use!

I have one grandson who is very gifted. His parents have to work extra hard to keep him challenged throughout the summer. School work has always come easy to him but his very bright mind has to be constantly challenged. While my daughter loves all of the same things I did about summer breaks her experience isn't as carefree as mine was. She takes her job of keeping her very bright son and his two brothers challenged and learning over the summer very seriously. While tutors are generally used to assist with problem areas of learning private tutoring services for this grandson in an area or two that he is interested in would be a dream summer for this particular grandson and a huge help to his parents.

How are summer breaks for you?

Bird Nest Update

2012-05-14T10:50:00.002-07:00

If you missed the beginning to this precious story

start here.

Well, my grandson has hooked me up with his Spy Cam equipment!

Above is the daddy bird feeding his little family.

Below is the mother bird taking her turn.

Classic camera install using tape!

Spy Gear adapter creates a thin cord

that can be thread through the door opening.

Through the entry and into my office.

Lot's more tape.

Then plugged into my computer and I have

live video feed on my computer screen!

I have one awesome eleven year old grandkid!

We are guessing the mother / father is a

House Finch

What do you think?