Happy Halloween 2012

I promised to not continue to share pictures of my grandbugs over and over.  I promise to limit the pictures so I will only post a couple more of Halloween and try to keep it to the holidays!

Here is Hadli Bug! And here are Laikynn and Titan (in Titan's word a fireman and his dog).

Would love to see posts of your grandbugs?  Feel free to comment or post pictures here to our Facebook Fan Page.

We Never Run Out of Kisses or Candy

Halloween is definitely a holiday for kids. As a child I loved to dress up and as an adult I have loved dressing my children as well as seeing the neighborhood kids in their parade of costumes year after year. 

I would have to say that it is to even more fun than I can imagine to watch your grandbugs in their costumes.  Reason= watching the kids AND watching your kids watch their kids.  It's just a fun time.

I will probably dress up more when the kids are a little older.  For this year I chose this cute little t-shrt that says, "Grandma's Never Run Out of Kisses or Candy".  Pick yours up today for $5.50 at your nearest Wal-Mart. Love it!

More pictures to follow as well as what my grandbugs will be receiving this year for Halloween!

Children Know Jesus

A grandmother from Herriman, UT shared this photo with me this week.  Her grandchildren had been over for a visit.  She was going about her normal routine around the house when she noticed something different on her table.  There stood the statue of Christ which was always in the same place.  However, something had changed.  It was a Hello Kitty Boo-Boo Band-aid that had been placed on the statue.  Yes, a child had seen the nail prints in the feet of the statue of Christ and wanted to "heal his wounds" with the best way she knew how...a band-aid. A sweet little four-year-old granddaughter named Pearl. What a tender gesture!

We think children do not understand the spiriutal things but they are filled with far more charity than the majority of adults.  They know Jesus.  Somehow I believe they have a little bit of memory left and especially the younger ones. 

The other thing that does a Grandparent's heart good is to know that these young spirits, our offspring too, are being spiritually fed by their parents, family members and teachers in Church.  It warms our heart to know that our values and teachings are being taught to the next generation and so on.  It is what these beautiful children will need in such a confused world.

Cheri leaves the band-aid on the statue as a memory of Pearl and a reminder of Christ's sacrifice for each of us.

Let It Snow, Let it Snow!

I am not overly excited about the fact that it is the end of October and already it is snowing.  I love to worship the sun! However as long as I can stay inside rather than make my daily commute to Salt Lake City, UT to work, I will be fine.

As long as it is snowing, let's have some fun!  I am giving away one snowman kit on October 31, 2012.  For everyone that posts a message to this blog AND likes us on Facebook (if you haven't already) AND shares this blog link or the Facebook Fan page link for Grandma's Little Snugglebug by then...I will enter you into the drawing for this snowman kit.  Kids love it and you can use it year after year as long as you don't leave it out all winter long.  It has wooden pieces which have been painted and sprayed with polyurethane for weatherproofing. 

If you are interested in purchasing I have only 4 left.  They are $19.95 plus shipping (Total of $27.00).  They are memory makers and keepsakes to have at Grandma's house for those boring snow days. You can also make a comment below and it will be first come first serve. Leave me your contact email to arrange shipping and payment.

The kit include:  Fleece scarf (1), Black Top Hat (1), Carrot Nose (1), Buttons (3), Coal for Eyes (2), Mittens (2), and coal for the mouth (5).  The also come in various colors.

Next, bring those kids inside for some hot chocolate and marshmellows.  Lastly, snuggle up and read a few story books together.  That's my idea of a perfect snow day!

Fall Leaves with the GrandKids/Kids

I love this fun idea to get the grandkids/kids active while the leaves are still falling and before the snow flies. 

Some of my greatest memories with my mom were our walks together. Nothing really special about what we did.  Sometimes we simply walked and other times we had a rock kicking contest.  Didn't take an ounce of money but it did take some of her time and attention.  That is what kids crave most! I also believe it is the simple things in life that children will remember. 

Follow this tutorial from one of my favorite bloggers "HowDoesShe.com".  Looks like a fun memory to take a camera along with you as well as a picture of the finished product for the scrapbooks. Here is the link

http://www.howdoesshe.com/autumn-tree-door/

Grammie Notes

How many of you have those cute little notes stored in a journal or scrapbook from your grandchildren?  I can't wait until my grandbugs are old enough to leave them for me. 

My great friend and co-worker, Cheri Sharp, shared one of those notes with me yesterday at work.  I thought I would share this darling story and note today.

She was babysitting her two grandchildren.  It was later in the evening and she had them watching TV just down the hall from her with all the doors locked at her home.  She laid down and dozed off.  She heard their parents come in to get them and so she was aware that they had come to pick them up and had left.  After a bit, she got up to turn off all the lights and head to bed.  She noticed this sweet, little note on the counter.

In case you need an interpreter, it says:

Grammie,
No robrs (Robbers) took me and Pearl  Mi (My mom and dad)

Isn't that adorable?  Please write and share some of your darling notes with all of us. I think they are so precious and worth cherishing.

Legacy of Strength

I wanted to share an idea today that gives me, and hopefully my daughters, great strength.  It's an interesting story how I came upon this idea. 

I had a great friend by the name of Darin Bettridge.  We became friends shortly after I divorced and have been great friends ever since.  His mother passed away and when attending her viewing I saw this beautiful collage of pictures of his mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and so on.  The framed photos went back for 4 or 5 generations.  I loved it! I told myself that I wanted to do this as a "cherish" gift for my girls for Christmas.  (The most interesting part of the story is that my friend Darin and his wife later introduced me to Darin's brother who was also at the viewing and funeral, of course.  He is now my eternal mate!)

Last year I started the hunt of finding the photos and collecting a few stories about my mom, grandmother, and back to my fourth great-grandmother.  It wasn't easy to find some of the photos and stories.  I made a frame for myself, my mother, my sister and my daughters.  I wanted a reminder for all of us of the great legacy of strength that we had as women in our family.

Here are a few examples of the process:

STEP ONE: I first went to Michael's and found frames which had the right amount of spots in the matted frame for the number of generations I wanted.  I picked seven (7) for my frame, six (6) for my mothers and eight (8) spots for my daughters.

STEP TWO: I purchased the vinyl from a vinyl cutter. I gave them the font, length and heighth of what I wanted it to say below the photos.  This is the message I wanted all of us to remember. "Legacy of Strength-Royal Daughters of God".

STEP THREE: In the front of the book, I included a family group sheet and the names and order starting with myself and working back to my fourth great-grandmother, Mary Fielding Smith.  Yes, another reason I wanted my children to know the type of strong and spiritual grandmothers they have.  It makes me want to be just a little better every day.

STEP THREE: I then started gathering stories which I later typed up with the photo of the grandmother and put the stories in acid-free sheet protectors. Their stories are ordinary in some ways and yet extraordinary examples of faith. All of the stories became testimony builders.

 I included other stories from other relatives as well as patriarchal blessings from relatives that we have passed down.

STEP FOUR: I picked out a 1" vinyl binder from an office supply store (or Walmart) to house the stories.  I found a quote and decorated the front of the cover with scrapbooking paper, ribbon and buttons.

STEP FIVE: I then added the pictures and wrapped both the frame and the book as their "cherish" gift last year.  I hope this will be one of the treasured traditions they pass on to their daughters.