While looking for information for all of us in the Baby Boomer Generation, busily caring for elderly parents, I discovered some interesting news and updates for the beloved seniors in our lives who are dealing with Parkinsons and / or Alzheimers Disease and their varied symptoms.

ARICEPT FOR ALZHEIMERS DISEASE

NPR brings us the good news that seniors who have been diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease can now get their Aricept in larger doses. According to the companies who manufacture the drug, "the higher dose improved scores on a patient test that measures cognition." The FDA said that "the larger dose is recommended for patients who are already taking smaller doses daily for at least three months." You can read the whole story at NPR – FDA Approves Larger Dose of Pfizer's Aricept.

PARKINSONS DISEASE

You may recall the very interesting story I wrote, Good News for Those Caring for Elderly Parents Dealing with Parkinson's Disease Symptoms. As you can imagine, my ears and eyes really perk up now when I read anything to do with Parkinsons and a bicycle. So I really enjoyed reading this article, Cyclists Climb Mountains in Parkinson's Fight. It's primarily about a Parkinsons Disease fund-raising bicycle ride that is VERY heavy-duty, but I found it especially interesting to read about one of the riders who is only 36, but is in the early stages of Parkinsons.

Speaking of Parkinsons Disease, do your senior parents have swallowing issues? My father developed major swallowing problems when he was in the advanced and end stage of his Parkinsons Disease. Enough to cause issues with aspiration that led to trips to the hospital on more than one occasion. We went to a specialist for this condition, which I have since learned is called dysphagia which is defined by WebMD as "difficulty in swallowing, with MedicineNet.com giving a more detailed definition of: Difficulty in swallowing, swallowing problems. Dysphagia is due to problems in nerve or muscle control. It is common, for example, after a stroke. Dysphagia compromises nutrition and hydration and may lead to aspiration pneumonia and dehydration."

My sweet dad definitely experienced most of these and had such a difficult time with it all. One thing that really helped him was stocking up on Vanilla and Chocolate Ensure to help supplement his regular meals.

There is a brand new book out on this exact topic and I so wish it had been available sooner. But it's great that it's available now – Swallow Safely: How Swallowing Problems Threaten the Elderly and Others. A Caregiver's Guide to Recognition, Treatment, and Prevention. I would recommend checking this out to all who are caring for elderly parents – with or without Parkinsons, as this condition can impact people for a variety of reasons. We did not know enough to recognize these problems immediately and I know it would have helped and encouraged us to find out about this sooner.

This book, which is carried at Amazon, is written by Roya Sayadi, Ph.D., CCC-SLP (speech-language pathologist), and her husband, Joel Herskowitz, M.D. The Amazon description includes the information, "Many people these days know about the dangers of falling in the elderly…Relatively few people, however, realize the danger of swallowing problems. They, too, take tens of thousands of lives every year through choking, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Swallow Safely seeks to erase this knowledge gap. The book presents in clear, non-technical language, with illustrations, how swallowing works normally, how things can go wrong, what symptoms to watch out for, and how to get help."

It sounds great! I'm going to have get this for my senior relatives! To read more information and reviews at Amazon, or to order the book in order to help you as you are caring for your elderly parents, just click here.

All in all, a good news day for our beloved seniors, as well as ourselves, at SandwichINK. I'd love to hear your opinions on any or all of these articles. And for more Baby Boomer and Senior Citizen News…

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Parkinsons and Alzheimers Disease News for Seniors and Boomers

I have to tell you, this Sandwich Generation grandmother is SO happy today! It's almost the end of July! I've seen "Christmas in July" blog posts, chatter about Halloween and Harvest items in the stores, have started to shop for cute new pumpkin and autumn leaves clipart, AND my grandchildren's school schedules are starting to show up. I am SO happy because all of that means that AUTUMN – my VERY FAVORITE SEASON, is getting closer. I'm actually hoping that, since summer started early and HOT, maybe, just maybe, AUTUMN will come early too!!!

Of course, with autumn and school getting closer, so is our Awana Bible Memory verses program for the grand children. Thus it's a good thing we're getting close to the end of our Love Is – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13 summer Bible memorization activities for grandparents and their grandchildren! Only a few more weeks to go and this week's is VERY short!

Love never fails.

1 Corinthains 13: 8a

How cute!!! But, while the photo of these scrunched little critters may be adorable, this is definitely one of those inspirational Bible verses that is VERY serious, VERY short and yet, VERY full!

Full of God's love for us that, truly, never fails! Full of the need for us to remember that – no matter how frustrated we may feel, how difficult the Sandwich Generation issues of life may be, or how scrunched we may feel – we need to rest in our Lord and ask HIM to fill US with a love that never fails. Full of the need to set that example for all our beloveds in our lives – especially those sweet little grandkids who are watching us!   NOT easy, yet SO worthwhile!

For more encouraging Bible verses and lovely photos to encourage and inspire all of us in the never-aging Baby Boomers Generation, caring for elderly parents and granny nanny-ing and pappy-ing grandchildren, be sure to visit Internet Cafe Devotions for Word-Filled Wednesday. Also be sure to check out the sweet stories and examples of love in our families at OneSoBlessed.

And…

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God’s Love Never Fails – A Loving Goal for The Sandwich Generation!

It's back to sharing fun photos on Sweet Shot Tuesday and this time I thought I'd also share some fun photo experimentation with you. I have been in "photo heaven" since I got my easy to use Canon Powershot a1100is digital camera! This small, sleek, silver camera is my "super-camera." It looks so simple (which it is) BUT it takes such great photos even a not-great photographer like me looks pretty good! That makes it wonderful for all those photo activities for grandparents and their grandchildren that we so enjoy. Perfect for saving your special family memories!!!

This week, though, I did not have it available so a dear friend loaned me her Canon Powershot sd1100 is elph digital camera and I was delighted to find it was so similar to my own camera it, too, was quite easy to use. In fact it came in quite handy for sweet senior gardening photos like this one to share with YOU and with my sweet mom:

Not bad! But sometimes it's fun to "gussy" a photo up. I've tried several software options, but the one I like best, that I keep going back to, is Picnik .com and their great photo editing tools for our pictures. It's great, it's easy, it's free for bare bones basics, and it's cheap for the yearly premium upgrade, which I have. Here are some examples of what I've recently discovered I can do:

This is a pretty simple fix - I just cropped it to remove most of the car and dead buds, and used the automatic lighting choice to make it stand out a bit more.

Wooo – isn't this cool! This was the gritty tool, giving it a bit of a metallic look, do you think?

The black and white tool is great for all those who want an old-fashioned look to their pix! I know that's popular with a lot of grand children's photographers.

Wow – this does not look like any kind of senior gardening project – more like grandkid scifi adventure activities for grandparents and their grandchildren! This was the infrared tool.

The sepia tool gives it a lovely vintage look – like it came from my senior mom's wedding photos over 50 years ago!

And, last but not least, isn't this pretty? It's from the Matte tool.

So, which of these fun photo tools did you like the most? Which would work best for senior gardening pictures and which for fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren? I'd love to know what YOU think! For more fun photos and great photo tips, be sure to visit My3Boybarians for Sweet Shot Tuesday. And don't forget…

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6 Ways to Have Photo Editing Fun With This Grandma’s Easy To Use Digital Camera and Picnik!

Welcome back to the third article in our series about Webkinz Stuffed and Virtual Animals activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. By now, I'm assuming you and your grandkids have gotten your Webkinz stuffed animals  – perhaps ones that go well with the love series from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13.  Teaching our grandkids that love is patient and kind while enjoying the Webkinz activities is a whole lot of fun! And it's such a great and educational way to add to your fun family memories.

Now it’s time to learn how to earn Webkinz money so that we can send Webkinz mail to each other, along with other fun activities. There are many ways to do this. I learned a lot from the book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Webkinz. Eventually I figured out my favorite ways, which are the quickest and easiest for me. They are:

1. Daily Kinzcare
2. Wishing Well – Daily Activities
3. Wheel of Wow – Daily Activities
4. Gem Hunt – Daily Activities
5. Growing Strawberries
6. Playing my favorite word game

Here's the step by step directions for 1-4:

1. Open Webkinz

2. Log on – wait a few minutes for it to totally open and work well

3. Click on the plus sign by your Webkinz stuffed animals' picture – you can see it in the lower left corner of this picture with an arrow marked 1:

4. Click on the tab that says DAILY KINZCARE – in the above picture it's at the top with the arrow marked 2 pointing at it.

5. Click on the day of the week (see picture above where it says Click 1). You will earn Webkinz food or money or both. Plus, if you do it daily, you are entered into a contest. I’m not in often enough for that. Even so, it’s an easy way to earn Webkinz money and food. It is vital to feed your pet occasionally by selecting a food item and taking it over to the pet. You want to be sure it stays at 90+ so it doesn’t get “sick.” Otherwise you have to spend time going to the doctor. The grandkids love that but it takes more time than I want to spend. Then again, if you are doing Webkinz with local grandkids, they might enjoy "saving the day" for granny nanny or pappy by "rescuing" your sick Webkinz stuffed animals and taking them to the doctors. My grandkids all love taking their own pets to the Webkinz doctor.  

6. Click X on the top right corner to close the box.

7. Now click on the tab in the lower right corner – Things to Do – where the arrow says Click Here.

8. In the left column, under MY ROOM, click on TODAY’s ACTIVITIES which puts you into hourly activities.

9. These can only be done at the times listed on the left (see photo below), unless they say all day. If you are eligible to play them, you'll see the orange arrow on the right (see #3). If you are interested, go ahead and click on them and follow the directions. Once in a while I'll play the balloon dart game (#1) as it's usually an easy way add Webkinz money or toys that I can either gift to my grandkids or sell at the store. #2 is for strawberries and those are great for feeding the virtual Webkinz stuffed animals. But #3 is for a game I haven't played. I got it this time and will try to mail it to a grandchild via Webkinz post. If that doesn't work, it's not worth my time to investigate UNLESS I want to teach a grandchild how to play its Pachinko game. Once I've checked all that's available to me when I go in, it's time to click #4 for Daily Events - meaning they can be played at any time all day long. Most are always the same, but occasionally there are special events here too.

10. One tip about an occasional and mildly irritating glitch once you click on Daily Events. If you click on hourly events, then click on daily events – sometimes (not always) it will SHOW Daily Events but it will still be on Hourly Events. Just click on the hourly events tab again, then the daily events again, and it should be fine.

11. Click on Make Five Wishes on Wishing Well 2, click Play (see picture above), click Make A Wish – 5 times – you can earn from 0 – 250+ on this one. Here's where another minor glitch has started showing up. Almost always now, when I click on this I get the blue screen (see photo below). I've learned to just click on the little X in the top right corner, repeat the whole process from step 7, and almost always I get the correct screen. I'm not sure why these glitches happen. Sometimes I get going too quickly and that seems to do it. Also, some may be due to the fact that they are just so popular and there are so many changes, it's really a miracle there aren't more glitches. But overall, it works better than some of my own software so I'm not complaining, and neither are my grandkids.

12. Click X to close the Box and then start over, either redoing the Wishing Well, if necessary, or moving on to #13

13. Click Things to do, Daily Activities, Daily Events, Take a Spin on the Wheel Of WOW. In that page, click SPIN. As you can see below, you might win KinzCash (Webkinz Money), a gift for your pet, food, or the Gak. Anything you don’t want can usually be sold in the Webkinz store – even the Gak. And, if you have already spun it, but forgot, you'll see the message I got below.

14. Click X to close the box and then start over.

15. Click Things to Do, Daily Activities, Daily Events, Search for precious gems in the gem hunt

16. Click on GEM HUNT (See arrow in photo below)

17. Click on START HUNTING (Middle of the page in picture below)

18. Click on any of the mines. Then click on START MINING

19. Click on the left or right arrow to make the screen move - #1 in the photo below.

20. Pick a rock, click on it to make the hammer hit it. (#2 in the photo above.) You can do this up to three times each day. Once you do, it will either say SLAG or tell you what precious gem you found – #3 in the photo above!  Lately, I’ve gotten a lot of slag. But often, you DO get a gem. You can sell your gem for anywhere from 5 Kinzcash up to $300+. Alternatively you can keep your gem to make a special collection. I always sell them but the grandkids usually enjoy collecting them. Be sure to explain to them to check on the left side to see if they already have that particular gem, as they only need one for the Crown of Wonder – #4 below. If they do, then they can sell the gem #2 below to earn Webkinz money – the amount shows at #1 below. And if they don't want to part with it, they can save it to make the Crown of Wonder by clicking Keep Your Gem – #3 below. Once done, again click the X in the top right corner.

21. Collect Berries at Jumbleberry Fields is also listed under Daily Activities. This is a longer activity and the younger kids don’t usually understand it so you might want to skip it. If you or they enjoy the dice game, Yahtzee, it’s very similar and a lot of fun. You earn fruit for your pet or save it to make jelly. It's not a huge amount for the time invested, so I usually skip it for myself. If I'm Webkinz-sitting for a grandchild (because they will be off-line for a prolonged period), then I may do it for them. If you'd like step by step directions for this game or any other Webkinz virtual activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, just leave a note in the comments and I'll add it to a future post.

22. Click Things to Do, Daily Activities, Daily Events, See if there is anything else interesting to play – they sometimes have new things that come and go so I’ve learned to always doublecheck. If not, I’m done with this for the day.

WHEW! That's a lot for one day! In reality, though, once you know your way around, it only takes a few minutes to do the basics.  By the way, one good resource is found right in Webkinz itself. Click on Things to Do, in the first column under MY ROOM, click on Webkinz Guide. I don’t use it often as I found The Complete Idiot's Guide to Webkinz was much easier to follow. (It's still available used at Amazon as well as for the Kindle – just click here!)  But the Webkinz online booklet can be useful at times.

The final things I often encourage my grandkids to do to earn Webkinz money is to plant a garden of strawberries. You can grow a variety of plants, but strawberries seems to earn the most Webkinz money. Plus they can use them to feed their virtual Webkinz stuffed animals!

They also have fun, learn, and earn with most, if not all, of the games. I especially love the educational games, like my favorite word scramble one. They pretty much like ALL the games, including the tournament ones we play together. You’ll find more directions in next week’s article of Webkinz activities for the Sandwich Generation grandparents and their grandchildren. And to be reminded…

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Webkinz Stuffed and Virtual Animals – Activities for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren – Part 3

Have you ever noticed that when you are dealing with the Sandwich Generation issues of caring for elderly parents and juggling all the various needs in your family, the path of life can seem to get more twisty and turny during difficult times?

When my sweet father was in the end stage of his Parkinsons Disease and he and all of our family was dealing with grief, hospice, and all the trials and tribulations that came with it, I sometimes felt like the path was so hard to see.

During one particularly difficult time in this whole period, the doctors had to try a couple of different medications for him and he went through such a hard time. I remember laying in bed at night, praying so hard, totally unsure of what to do and how to do it, and feeling like the walls were closing in on me. This photo above of a road covered with fog leading to a sandbar is also a good illustration of what I was feeling!

The one thing that kept me going, day after day, middle of the night after middle of the night, was knowing that God was there. Talk about a "light at the end of the tunnel!" For me, it was actually more like a flashlight that showed one footstep after another! I would get up in the wee hours to give my dad his medication, which he hated to take, then go back and pray more, and read God's Word. And ALWAYS, His comforting Bible verses would fill me with His peace that passes all understanding and give me the strength to keep on keeping on! The problems didn't go away instantly, but I wasn't walking by myself! And that was so crucial.

There were so many comforting and encouraging Scriptures God used in my life during that time period. One that I kept clinging to is one I've loved since I was a young Christian. It's still one of the first I turn to in times of grief, loss, trial, problems, or just plain "having a bad day!"

Proverbs 3: 5-6 is one the more famous promises of God in the Bible. It's also one of the most comforting of my favorite Bible verses as well as one I use for simple Scripture prayers when I don't have time for longer prayers:

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart

And do NOT lean on your own understanding. 

In ALL your ways acknowledge HIM,

And HE WILL make  your paths straight.

Isn't that powerful! Isn't that encouraging! Isn't that awesome of God to tell us that. Isn't that hard to do! Sometimes. But I encourage everyone to dig this one down into your heart and mind – make this one of your Bible memory verses for you and your grand children, if you haven't already memorized it. Read it, post it around the house,

buy a tapestry that has these encouraging verses on it, use Proverbs 3: 5-6 when you are praying the Scriptures for your children and grandchildren, talk about it to your grandchildren, say it out loud, listen to it in spoken word as well as one of the many praise and worship songs  written using it.

Let God bury it deep within your heart. You will be blessed and so will your family. I hope and pray that someday, when I'm safely in heaven, and my family is talking about family memories, this verse will be intertwined in those memories! (Along with about a zillion others of my favorites ). Talk about an awesome legacy!

I wanted to pick a new-to-us song for this week and I can't tell you what a blessing it was to go to Amazon, type in Trust in the Lord mp3 and discover so many wonderful songs – for all ages and music tastes. Click here to listen to the samples.   Since I had to pick just one, I selected, Trust In The Lord, from Overcoming Anxiety: Integrity Music's Scripture Memory Songs. I had never heard of this series before, but what a blessing for all and especially those going through a similar season of grief and loss! And by the way, if you have another song for Proverbs 3: 5-6 that you love, do let us know about it in the comments. We'd love to hear about it.

Isn't that a sweet rendition of such encouraging Bible verses from Proverbs 3: 5-6? As one of the never-aging Baby Boomers generation caring for elderly parents and helping with the grandchildren, I really appreciated its message for all of us and think it would make a great addition to your mp3 player.

For more encouraging Bible verses, devotional thoughts and praise and worship music, be sure to visit Spiritual Sunday, as well as enjoying the inspirational stories at I Owe It All To to Him. Also, don't forget…

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Comforting Bible Verses for the Sandwich Generation: Proverbs 3:5-6

Enjoying a pleasant visit with a dear friend in the nursing home where she lives, we were chatting away when one of the women in charge of fun activities for the elderly residents there came to get her for a word game. She invited me to come and join in, so off we went.

I was really glad for the opportunity to play a game with her and see a little more of her residence. They played one of their fun memory  games where the leader picked a letter and asked us to think of words that started with that letter. Some of the residents came up with a lot of words, some didn't try at all, and  others worked hard to come up with a handful. The daughter of one resident played for her senior mom and my friend and I enjoyed a lot of kibitzing as well.

As we were playing, I realized it would make for fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. I know that if one of my three oldest grandkids had been there, they would have thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. (And just think, it does double duty as being one of the phonics resources tools we can use if we are teaching a grand child to read! )

It can sometimes be difficult for older grandparents / great-grandparents and their grandchildren to find things to talk about. If your family is dealing with this or if you'd just like to enjoy some fun group activities for the elderly and not so elderly relatives in your family, this would be a good place to start. I'm planning on adding this to our list of car games, especially when we're traveling with their great-grandmothers! 

Interesting mental activities for the whole family – from the the senior citizens to the young grandkids, done in such a way as to make it comfortable and understandable for all ages, including the elderly relatives even if they may be at a season in life when they tend to get confused easily, are a great way to help each generation exercise their brains and add to your fun family memories. That's definitely a win-win for the Sandwich Generation issues of life.

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Word Game Activities for the Elderly Great-Grandparents and their Grandchildren Make Fun Family Memories

We are continuing to work through the various Bible Memory verses activities for grandparents and their grandchildren from the Love passage in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13. It's been such a fun way to "hide God's Word" in the hearts of our grandchildren and ourselves and build delightful family memories along the way. Today we are working on "Love…it always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:7b.

As I enjoyed visiting and reading all the wonderfully encouraging and inspirational Bible verses on Word-Filled Wednesday, full of visual delights from all the different photos and pictures, I found two sites that got my creative juices flowing!

Karen from Hallelujah Anyhow illustrated her Bible verse with a drawing done by her very talented nephew, Joseph Lorren. It's drawn with crayon or colored pencil in a style I've seen in some of my grandkids comic books, like The Secret Alliance in the photo above. My grandkids will love to see her nephew's picture. And how fun to help them make a graphic comic book of all the different segments of Love is… from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13 using this technique to the best of their ability. Isn't that a great way to imprint these awesome principles, like Love is Patient and Love is Kind, into their hearts as they use their hands and brains?

Cindy, from I Owe It All To Him, had another cute idea for showing off her Bible verse for the day. She had a gorgeous little bookmark, which I'm guessing she made herself as I know how creative she is.  I thought it would be fun if we use matching photos with each of the different Bible verses to make book marks for our family and friends for Christmas. We'd be getting a head start on the season, having fun with these activities for grandparents and their grandchildren AND helping our grandkids (and ourselves) learn these verses better and better. Not to mention creating some special family memories with these hand made gifts!

Such fun ideas for our Love Bible Memory Verses projects! I'm looking forward to working on these in the next few weeks! And, of course, we need some praise and worship hymn songs and music to accompany us as we work. Here are links to some of the Smilebox ecards and videos from previous weeks:

• If I Have Not Love by Matt Redman
• This is My Command by Rob Evans – The Donut Man
• The Golden Rule By Rob Evans – The Donut Man
• I Will Boast In God by Paul Baloche
• Love is Patient and Kind by Twin Sisters
• It's Love from Maynard's Groovy Bible Tunes
• The Fruit of the Spirit Song by Rich Nelson
• Fruit of the Spirit by Gary Strickland

Here's another fun one to remind us all to fix our eyes on Jesus, for the long haul of life on earth, followed by a glorious eternity with Him in heaven! It's a kids peppy song, Fix Your Eyes Upon Jesus, by Chris Medway from the album, All Aboard The Heaven Express:

P.S. Would you like to make a cute SmileBox ecard for your grandkids, especially those who live a long way away? It's simple!

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Christian Kids Music and Crafts Teach Our Grandkids Hope and Perseverance

As busy members of the Sandwich Generation, caring for elderly parents and helping with grandchildren, we frequently have mile-long to-do lists and barely enough time for half the items on them. Peace and quiet time to think through what we need to do and what questions we need to be asking to help us with our caregiving duties is rare. So when I can find a good resource to help me in that area, I'm always happy to read it and then share it to help you!

Dale Carter has written a good resource book to help all of us in the Sandwich Generation. "Transitioning Your Aging Parent: A 5 Step Guide Through Crisis & Change" is written for those who are beginning or need to begin transitioning their elderly parents from living independently to having help from family and friends – whether they continue to live alone, move in with us, or move into an assisted living or critical care facility.  Having been caring for elderly parents for some time, though, I was pleased to discover it also had plenty of great tips, tools, and resources for those, like me, who have been in the trenches for awhile.

Dale holds an MBA from Indiana University. She currently works as an advocate for the elderly and their adult children who are caring for them – whether up close or from a distance – through her site, Transition Aging Parents. Dale helps caregivers of all ages through her radio show, e-courses, articles, and presentations. She has been a great resource for me on Twitter and Facebook and is a regular contributor to the Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival full of Boomer and Senior Citizen news that I also contribute to each month and which is periodically hosted right here at SandwichINK, such as the July edition featuring Dale's interview by Patricia Grace, geriatric care specialist, on her Aging With Grace eldercare show.

So many of the books written for senior home care givers seem to be a bit on the clinical and dry side. Not so with Dale's book. I found it very easy to read. It was like sitting on a comfy couch with a good friend, a cup of tea, and a chance to get some wise advice and tips from someone who's already gone through it.

When she started the process of caring for her elderly mom, she took her years of business experience and applied it to caregiving. She developed what she calls the ADAPT process for caregivers. This provides the framework to help you Assess and Discuss As a family, come up with a positive Plan that provides for your senior parents' wants and needs, and then enable your aging parent to make the Transition to this plan. She explains the entire process and provides plenty of ideas and resources to help you with it. 

This seven-chapter book is very easy to understand and I'm looking forward to checking out several new resources from it. For only $14.95 from Amazon, I think Transitioning Your Aging Parent would be a very useful addition to your caregiving library. If you'd like to find out more about it, just click here.

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SandwichINK Book Review: Transitioning Your Aging Parent

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The hare was great for the short term. It took the patient perseverance of the tortoise – the stick-to-it-iveness he showed over the long term – to win the race. What a great illustration for our Bible memory verses activities for grandparents and their grandchildren from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13.

Love…it always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:7b

Not only is this tortoise a great help for our Bible memory verses for our grand children, it's a wonderful reminder for all of us to "keep on keeping on." Whether we are caring for elderly parents, helping with the grandkids, dealing with our Baby Boomers Generation health issues, or still raising our own little ones, it's never easy. But it's so worthwhile to always hope and always persevere! As I love to sing to my grandchildren,

Fix your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His Wonderful face,

and the things of the world will grow strangely dim,

in the light of His glory and grace!

Fixing our eyes means keeping them there – for the long term!

For more inspirational Bible verses about hope and encouragement for the Sandwich Generation, be sure to visit Internet Cafe Devotions for Word-Filled Wednesday. And…

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Encouraging Bible Verses for the Sandwich Generation About Hope and Perseverance

Looking for interesting Baby Boomer and Senior Citizen News? Welcome to the latest Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use Blog Carnival here at SandwichINK this month, full of great news and resource articles just for you! From caring for elderly parents, to the Sandwich Generation issues in general, to financial questions the never-aging baby boomers generation is often asking, to fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, you're bound to find news and articles with good tips and info just for you!

Caring for the elderly including our senior parents:

Dale Carter has written a great article, What is a Major Transition Really Like for Your Aging Parent? which you can find at her site, Transition Aging Parents. Not only that…

The resource-full website, Aging with Grace, is the online home for Patricia Grace who is a geriatric care specialist. But she has an online home away from home with her weekly eldercare podcast at Blog Talk Radio and there you can find out more about her AND Dale Carter as you listen to her interview of Dale Carter and learn Dale's steps for success in caring for elderly parents at home, along with information about Dale's brand new book! Just click on the arrow and enjoy!

Matt Johnson, from HealthBridge In-Home Care, asks the vital question, "How do you know if your loved one has Alzheimer's Disease?" in his article, At Last, A Trustworthy Way to Diagnose Alzheimer's Disease, with a very encouraging and hopeful answer!

Shelley Webb, an RN and family caregiver, writes an interesting article on her viewpoint of the HIPAA Law at The Intentional Caregiver, Why My Mom and I Hate the HIPAA Law! I am so in agreement with her! 

Raymond Fernandez20 presents the Top 50 Aging and Gerontology Blogs at Masters in Gerontology. There are some great and useful resources on this list and I'm looking forward to going through them and bookmarking several.

Nesher has some excellent ideas at Alzheimer's Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment for helping those caring for elderly parents with Alzheimers Disease or other dementia symptoms during a particularly difficult season of life, in the article, How to manage Alzheimer’s patient who refuses to eat?

Grandparents and Their Grandchildren

Webkinz stuffed animals and their virtual world offer a wide variety of activities for grandparents and their grandchildren to connect and spend time together. It's often educational and always fun. And it's even one of those great ideas for grandparents to stay in touch and close to grandchildren when living far away. Kaye Swain, right here at SandwichINK, has started a multi-part series to help grandparents learn how to use the Webkinz website and have fun with it, step-by-step, and you can find part 1 at Webkinz Stuffed and Virtual Animals – Activities for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren.

Bible Memory Verses activities are another fun way for grandparents and their grandchildren to have fun together in a multitude of ways. This summer at SandwichINK, Kaye Swain and her grandchildren have been enjoying memorizing 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 and 13 – all about that very important subject of LOVE.

Shayne Packer, a fellow member of the never-aging Baby Boomers Generation AND grandparent of almost as many grandkids as me, writes at Grandparents TLC. He is very much a techie grandparent and great when it comes to teleconferencing. That's an area I struggle with but he really has it wired and in his article, How to Videochat With Your Grandkids, he shares some fun ideas to help grandparents to stay in touch and close to grandchildren when living far away.

Shayne Packer is also the Technology Reporter for GrandMagazine.com and writes the monthly "Cyber-Savvy Grand" column. This month's article is Hottest Websites for G'Kids. As he puts it, "they'll love 'em and learn lots too!"

The Sandwich Generation Issues

One of the harder "joys" of the Sandwich Generation issues is caring for elderly parents who are still driving – particularly when you are beginning to suspect that they shouldn't be. Elizabeth Thielke wrote a very interesting article on just that topic, Seniors Involved in More Severe Car Accidents, at Seniors For Living.

Eliza Fayle has some fascinating facts and numbers for those of us in the Sandwich Generation, along with tips to help us sustain and nourish ourselves in How to Nourish the Sandwich That Is You, at Silver and Grace. 

Diabetes can hit at any age – from our grandchildren (usually Type 1) to the never-admit-to-aging Baby Boomers Generation (often Type 2) to our senior parents. It can definitely be one of the more challenging of the Sandwich Generation issues. Mia Taylor provides us with a great resource list, The Top 50 Diabetes Blogs, at Masters in Public Health. 

I have a lot of faults, but I'm very grateful that being lazy is usually not one of them. I suspect it probably isn't yours either. However, as fellow members of the extremely busy Sandwich Generation juggling the myriad of issues that come our way, Diana Dang has a very helpful post, 100 Healthy Recipes for Lazy People, at Nursing School Search Blog. It's full of quick and easy recipes and that's perfect for us in the Sandwich Generation. 

The Never-Aging Baby Boomers Generation

Would you believe, I was still going to school at 50! I finally earned my AA in Real Estate and had so much fun in my writing classes it helped jump start my blogging site. Boomerator has a great article at Seniors For Living about how much company I have with the too-busy-studying-to-be-aging Baby Boomers Generation. Check out Going Back to School When You're Over 40, 50, or 60.

And if you are caring for elderly parents and they want to get in on the education action as well, here's an encouraging article from Elizabeth Thielke and Seniors for Living, "95 Year Old Receives Her High School Diploma!"

Jeff Rose, CFP, has been very busy writing this month. He presents Medicare Part B Rules, Coverage, and Eligibility at Consumer Boomer. 

Jeff Rose has also written two interesting articles for those dealing with inheritances at Good Financial Cents. Understanding Inheritance Taxes is a vital issue for many of us who have been caring for elderly parents.  In addition, Jeff wants to let us know 3 Things You Must Know About Inheriting an IRA.

Speaking of IRAs, PT presents 5 Things to Know About Roth IRA Withdrawals at PT Money. This is important info for our senior parents as well as many of us in the Baby Boomers Generation. 

Marilyn Stowe presents a sad but important-to-know set of statistics in Silver Divorce: until divorce do us part?  at the Marilyn Stowe Family Law and Divorce Blog. The most important thing I learned from this? It's never too early OR too late to need to be proactive in working on all our relationships, starting with our spouses. My sweet husband is safely ensconced in heaven, but when he was here, we made weekly dates a high priority and I encourage each of you to do the same. Even if you are just walking around the block together or popping up to Dairy Queen for a sundae, it's so important to spend time alone, communicating, and enjoying each other's company. It's vital for your marriage and vital for the example you are setting for your family and friends!

Well, that's it for the latest Baby Boomer and Senior Citizen News at the Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use Blog Carnival. We're so glad you came to visit and look forward to seeing you at the next one hosted by Gina LaGuardia and the SeniorforLiving.com Staff on August 10, 2010. You can find past posts and future hosts on the blog carnival index page. And YES, we'd love to have you enter blog posts for our next issue. You can do that easily by clicking right here! 

P.S. In case you are wondering about the SandwichINK interview with Patricia Grace – Aging with Grace, it had to be postponed due to technological difficulties. As soon as it's rescheduled, I'll keep you posted.

Post from: SandwichINK.com

SandwichINK Presents: Baby Boomer and Senior Citizen News For You!