Happy Second Sunday of Advent! My senior mom and I returned late this week from visiting family. It was so wonderful to see family members we rarely see and we were thrilled with all the wonderful hugs and love. Then we got to come home to even more wonderful hugs and love from family we are blessed to be close to. Talk about a wonderful HIGH for the week.

It wasn’t all happy and roses though as we had to deal with some health issues for a close senior relative, including a CAT scan to see what, if anything, was causing some stomach discomfort. After a lot of prayer and concern, the doctor said nothing major was showing up and that hopefully the discomfort would pass, otherwise more tests would follow in the coming weeks.

So far, praise God, the pain seems to have vanished and our dear kin is doing much better. I was so encouraged by all the prayers from our family, including one grandchild who even asked her class to pray. It is such a blessing to see the fruit of our teaching blooming so wonderfully in the next generation! And it is so encouraging to see God’s hand at work, even in dark situations. This time, it looks like He is giving us a reprieve. I know another time He may allow us to go through “high waters.” I also know that, even then, we can rest solidly on His promises including one of my absolute favorites from Isaiah 41:10:

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Surely I will help you,

SURELY I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

I LOVE that second SURELY, don’t you! What a wonderful verse to give us hope during difficult situations! And what a blessing to be surrounded by family and friends who God often uses to encourage us.

One of my online friends who is great at that is Denise Brown from Caregiving.com. Today, she is kicking off a “Caregiving Holiday Progressive Blog Party” for care givers. To any and all who are visiting from that party, WELCOME! The goal of SandwichINK is to provide information and words of encouragement to all care givers, with a focus on the Sandwich Generation. The Sandwich Generation is made up of those who are providing senior home care to aging parents while still caring for kids at home and/or even helping extensively with grandchildren. Many of us are also in the Baby Boomer Generation.

I’ve been a member of the Sandwich Generation for over ten years, helping with senior parents, including my father who is now in heaven after battling with Parkinson’s Disease for over 15 years. I also help care for four of my many wonderful grandchildren, and deal with a wide variety of issues in that arena including special needs. Life is always challenging, never boring, and definitely rewarding and I am so grateful to God for that! I enjoy helping others, both through hands-on care and through my writing. SandwichINK, along with SandwichINK Real Estate Info (where I combine my love of real estate with the needs of the Sandwich Generation), both give me a chance to do just that!

I’d love for you to sign up SandwichINK’s free email. You’ll get regular updates on all that’s going on here, including fun projects for grandparents, great resources for senior home caregivers, tech tips to keep your computer working well, happy holiday ideas like Advent wreaths and fun Christmas tree ornaments, and so much more!

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed Christmas season! Don’t forget to click on Caregiving.com’s Party Widget to find more interesting Progressive Party sites!  And check back tomorrow for A Pause for Advent!

My whole family loves to celebrate Advent. One of my oldest and favorite traditions is an Advent wreath. When my kids were young, I bought a lovely handcrafted Advent wreath made by a friend and we used that for many years. The pottery held five of the thin taper candles. We then “built the wreath” around it using Christmas tree branches. This same friend introduced us to the joys of beeswax candles. She made them by purchasing various candle making supplies including sheets of pliable beeswax and candle wicks. She cut out the sheets, rolled them tightly around a long wick string, and pinched them together. This would definitely be a fun and fairly easy project to do with the grandkids. Countrywide Magazine has instructions to help you make your own Beeswax candles. Or, if you want more detailed information and all the candle making supplies to go with it, Discount Candle has a complete kit. One thing I was surprised to find when I was looking at Advent wreaths today was that most only hold four candles, instead of the traditional five. My pottery wreath had five spaces but it was handmade. Since I had to put it in storage when we moved, I now use five big fat candles on the fireplace mantel, still surrounded by Christmas branches. I noticed that some people had made the beeswax candles several layers square which enabled them to stand up on their own. We’re going to have to give this a try this year, time and health permitting. If we succeed, I’ll pop up some pictures. If you beat me to it, I’d love to see photos of your creations. Whether we make our own Advent wreath and candles or buy them, we, along with our grandkids, will be blessed as we use them to help us celebrate the joyous Advent and Christmas season.

For more interesting Advent ideas from around the world, enjoy a great article by Floss about keeping our priorities in the right order during this Advent and Christmas season. Then head to her Advent article, Sharing a Pause in Advent, to find links to other interesting ideas and thoughts for Advent by writers from all over the globe.

We, Your people

and the sheep of Your pasture,

Will give thanks to You forever;

To all generations we will tell of Your praise.

Psalm 79:13

As a Sandwich Generation Grandmother, this is one of my favorite verses.

It reminds me to encourage

my kids, my grandkids,

my great-grandkids (well, not yet, but someday )

in God’s love.

And it’s also perfect for a Word-Filled Wednesday that’s only a week

before Thanksgiving. Joining you in giving thanks to God FOREVER!

For more inspirational Bible Verses and photos to encourage your heart, visit Forever His.

Have a blessed week!

Swine Flu Updates for Caregivers:

It’s going to be very important for caregivers to monitor the Swine Flu situation. WHO (World Health Organization) raised the pandemic flu alert level to 4 .

Grandkids and Grandparents:

For all those who are helping with homeschooled grandkids, you’ll find this quite interesting – 10 Homeschooled Celebrities .

Here’s a great list of car contests . Wouldn’t it be fun to enter them together with an older grandkid ? Bet they’d think you were the best grandparent in the world!

If your grandkids are more into dollhouses, there’s a fun project for them as well at Grandma Wren’s .

Eldercare:

Five Tips for Preparing a Traditional Eulogy . Good advice from @cemeteryspot. In addition to his great ideas, I like to share their favorite Bible verses, hymns, etc.

What it means When Someone With Dementia Says “I Want to Go Home ” Thank you to @caring4seniors.

Caregiving.com has several podcasts of interest to caregivers including “Cooking with Mom “–tips on how to make cooking a caregiving activity to enjoy.

Pesticide exposure Found To Increase Risk Of Parkinson’s Disease .

Are you interested in HBO’s, “The Alzheimer’s Project ” but don’t get HBO? Alzheimer’s Reading Room has a great solution for you – a free copy of “The Alzheimer’s Project. ”

Alzheimer’s Disease – This article, with facts and figures about this disease, includes the 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease . Thanks to @ alzheimers98 .

Encouragement:

The Lord God is my strength.

General Interest:

How many of you enjoyed the movie, The Sound of Music ? Here’s an interesting interview with one of the real Von Trapp kids, Maria von Trapp, talking about her new book, My Favorite Songs . Thanks to @ ActiveGeezering :

Bible Money Matters has an excellent article on what types of insurance we should have.

If you or an aging parent need help buying a new toilet, Terry Love’s Consumer Toilet Reports is the BEST site I’ve ever seen on that subject. I’ve used his site as a resource several times. He has reviews, recommendations, and a great forum with even more information and help

AARP – As a member of the Sandwich Generation and a Baby Boomer I qualified for AARP a couple of years or so ago. I wasn’t thrilled to know I was old enough for it, until I discovered that my optometrist gives a generous discount for AARP members AND Borders gives a great discount off all books to AARP members. Now I’m thrilled I qualify! 

Finally, as a special gift to all my fellow Sandwich Generation caregivers , I am ending this post with a big smile. Take a look at these photos. They were taken for a special event,  Extreme Grooming of Poodles – The dogs have been groomed into camels, Clydesdales, and more! That’s what you call a different kind of caregiving!

Autism Awareness Day was April 2, but Autism Awareness Month continues through the whole month of April. Autism continues to increase and to make news headlines every month but April is a time to really focus on the issue. I thought it would make an excellent topic for this week’s Thursday Current Events Meme as many of us may have grandkids who are directly impacted by it.

Medical News Today has an interesting article with the headline, Early Diagnosis Of Autism To Maximize Positive Outcomes . I can certainly agree with that. I have several friends dealing with this and each one has commented on what a difference it made getting the diagnosis early. Over and over I’ve heard different ones explain that because their children were diagnosed early and got started with the special therapy each child needed, the families were seeing major progress. And because they come into contact with so many other families with autism, they also have sad stories of kids who didn’t get diagnosed until much later and what a difficult time they are having.

Finding out your grandchild has autism can be difficult. But ignoring the very real possibility doesn’t make things any better. Instead it frequently makes things worse. It’s so vital that we, as grandparents, choose to deal with this situation in a positive manner and encourage our adult kids by being supportive of whatever choices they make. There are a lot of differing opinions out there. They are the ones who have to make the hard choices and we just have to be there to encourage them. We can also help with babysitting the other kids so the parents can take our grandchild into therapy appointments and have time to talk to the therapist. Alternatively we can take the grandkids to the therapy appointments, giving their moms and dads a much needed break.

Being a caregiver to an autistic grandchild is definitely a challenge, but it is a tremendous blessing as well. Age Of Autism has a delightful article showing the positive impact two grandparents made and the various ways they supported their family including their grandson who was diagnosed with autism.

Another excellent gift you can give your kids and grandkids is the gift of knowledge. Read up on autism so you can discuss it knowledgeably with your adult kids. As I mentioned earlier, it’s important for us to be aware that there can be considerable variation in the treatment options available. Since specialists are still learning about autism, that is not surprising. What’s important for us is to be supportive of the direction our adult kids and their doctors take. Some resource sites include:

Autism Research Institute

Autism Society of America

Autism Spectrum Disorders Site – This page has a compilation of radio programs that cover the autism spectrum on a variety of topics and issues.

Autism Today

CARD

Unlocking Autism

Here are two books that might be useful:

Raising a Child With Autism: A Guide to Applied Behavior Analysis for Parents

The Autism Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping, and Healing–from a Mother Whose Child Recovered

Whether our grandkids are on the high end of the Autism spectrum or the low end, they and their parents need our love, our support, and our caregiving. What a blessing it is to them and to us when we are in a position to provide that.

Can you believe it? It’s Valentine’s Day on Saturday! Seems like just yesterday my grandkids and I were singing Christmas carols. Another year is flying by. Holidays are a great time to make some special memories with our grandchildren as we create special craft projects, work on kids coloring pages, word puzzles and mazes, and play fun holiday games together. Here’s several links to some Valentine fun and games for all ages.

Amazing Moms has several adorable Valentine projects including a Hershey’s Kiss Mouse, a traditional Swedish heart basket, and even a cute Valentine made from leftover Christmas candy canes! How frugal is that one!

DLTK is always an excellent source of coloring pages to print, work papers for homeschooling programs, etc. and Valentine’s Day is no exception. From a “Bee My Valentine” Muffin Flower Card that the littlest grandchild can work on, to Valentine anagrams and mazes for the older set, you’ll find plenty of fun projects for you and your grandchildren to enjoy! There’s also plenty of school projects for regular classrooms or homeschool classes, as well. Your grandchild’s teacher will love you if you volunteer to bring some fun Valentine worksheets to the party this Friday!

Danielle’s Place has simple as well as simply adorable Valentines your grandkids can make for their parents, great-grandparents, and you! Who knows, they may even talk you into helping them make these for each of their classmates. They’re really cute. Being a teddy bear lover, I’m especially partial to the Paper Plate Valentine Bear Craft.

Grandparents.com has three interesting projects. A fairly simple Bucket of Love for the little grandkids using marshmallows, a somewhat simple one for the older grandchildren, making a mosaic out of eggshells, and a fairly complicated Heart Keepsake Box that is beautiful.

Family Fun is always an excellent resource. Here you’ll find projects, crafts, kids coloring pages, and even games for Valentine’s Day –

Speaking of games, whether to help with a party for the day, or just to enjoy on the next grandkid visit, here are a couple of other fun links. First head back to Amazing Moms – for a tower race using candy hearts, and a fun story game for the older grandkids.

Then pop over to About.com which also has some useful links for grandkid games and more.  They even have a fun online trivia game about Valentine’s Day. I took part 1 and got an 85! Then got a 95 on part 2. I decided I need to get back to writing this before I tried Part 3, but you can try all the parts and have lots of fun with those grandchildren as giggle and guess while working on the computer! If you take it, be sure to leave a comment and tell us what your score was

Well, time to set out the kids coloring pages, construction paper, and crayons. Let the Valentine games, and crafts, begin!

Over the hills and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go… During the holidays many adult children go home for Christmas. Parents and grandparents also may leave home to visit their adult children. I’ve enjoyed both these types of visits. In November, I wrote some tips for “taking home with you” as you travel, perhaps on business or even pleasure – http://www.sandwichink.com/take-a-bit-of-home-on-your-travels . Here are more travel tips for those times when you are traveling to visit family or friends you see often, or vice versa.

When I first went to visit my daughters’ homes, I bought a big plastic tote (like ones made by Rubbermaid or Sterilite). I filled it with items I normally use, such as shampoo, conditioner, a bath sponge, hand soap, and other toiletry items. There are small bottles of my vitamins, pain relievers for headaches, etc. I have coloring books, crayons, and a couple of favorite children’s Bible song CDs in there for a special time with my grandchildren. I also packed a copy of my favorite study Bible. Now when I go to visit them, they pop that tote out from storage and I have all my favorite items without having to run to the store. We all use different soaps due to allergies, dry skin, etc., so it makes it really easy to visit them without adding to their busy schedules or mine. Trust me, when I’m visiting, I’m constantly moving, because there’s so much to enjoy and so little time to do it . This also results in lighter luggage and fewer headaches in the security line at the airport. We even bought one extra booster seat for my visits with the grandkids. That way I can take one grandchild at a time with me on errands for some one-on-one visiting, and their parents don’t get stuck without a car seat when we forget it’s in the back seat.

When regular guests, including grandchildren, visit me, I have the same type of tote waiting for them as well. I have filled this tote with a special sponge, a wash cloth, slippers, a bathrobe, favorite lotions, manicure goodies for the gals, and aftershave for the guys that we purchased together at various times. The day they arrive, I put the tote out on their bed, along with a fresh towel, new box of tissue, and a bottle of water for each.

Some other ideas for welcoming guests can include:

Stocking up on breakfast items they enjoy, like cereal, fruit, milk, and yogurt

Putting a few books and magazines you know they’ll enjoy into their room

Providing an alarm clock and making sure there are enough available outlets for their needs, including cell phones, laptop computers, etc.

They say you can never go home again. That’s not true, for which I’m quite grateful. But it is certainly different. These ideas help to make it seem less different and more “at home and homey."

Multi-tasking is a popular buzzword and one I am particularly fond of. People who work with computers think they were the originators, but all of us caregivers know that we’ve been doing it long before someone invented a word for it. One way I love to multi-task is as a grandmother. I enjoy taking my playtime with my grandkids, incorporating some educational bits and pieces, and often wrapping it all up in a bow with Scriptural truths, or vice-versa – thus doing two or three things at once which is the perfect definition of multi-tasking. “How?” you ask. Read on and join me in this fun plan.

1. STORY-GO-ROUND – We enjoy doing this in the car, but it works anywhere. One person starts a story, tells a few sentences of it, then stops. The next person continues on and adds to it with anything they want. Then they stop, and the third continues, and so forth. I’ve done this with four year olds, and suspect even some three year olds might have fun with it. Generally, the younger the child, the shorter their part of the story. Then again, some toddlers can amaze you with how long they’ll go on. Older children can really have fun being creative and telling longer stories. You could even do this at home and write the story down. Then type it up and add hand-drawn pictures or family photographs. If you do something like that, I would suggest using Smilebox – http://www.smilebox.com/ . It’s quick and easy and something like this would make a great gift, especially for their parents or elderly relatives. For that matter, it would be a great gift for the children who created it. Think what a great motivator it can be for a child to see their words in print. We may be contributing to future famous writers!

2. RANDOM RHYMING – I pick a word and each of us takes turns rhyming it. Lots of fun with a great educational thrust. Then go a step further and add Scripture and Scriptural truths. For each word that is rhymed, give the meaning of the word. Whenever possible, give a Bible verse or Bible word meaning. For example – Kite, Might – “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6); Height – “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39); and so on. Now I have to admit, I don’t have those exact words at the tip of my tongue. Well, I do have the Zechariah one at the ready, thanks to a song from the Psalty kids’ Christmas album which my children loved when they were young. But for the Romans verse, I’m more likely to say that “ God loves us so much that nothing can separate us from Him, no matter the height nor the depth.” It gets the point across simply and easily. Now you’ve got English, Bible and fun all rolled into one.

3. HIDE AND SEEK AND COUNT – We love to play hide and seek. It’s one of my grandkids’ favorite games. Instead of counting the normal way, 1-2-3-4-5, I started counting really loud by different numbers. For example, 2-4-6-8, or 3-6-9-12-15, or 5-10-15-20. It gives them a chance to hear the different ways of counting, and the more you do it, the sooner they’ll learn to count that way as well. I was thrilled when my four-year-old grandkids counted by 2’s to 20 the other day! Of course, they’ll also be learning this in preschool, kindergarten, and/or homeschool. But this is a fun way for us to reinforce what they’ve been learning.

What fun, educational, and multi-tasking games do you play with your grandkids? Please tell us about them in the comments below or by sending an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com . Have fun! And here’s the link for the Psalty Christmas album – http://psaltyskidsstore.stores.yahoo.net/bcachcodi.html 

Many of us in the Sandwich Generation are racking up major mileage on our cars, taking both young and old to a wide variety of appointments such as doctor, haircut, therapy, grocery shopping, etc. We may also be toting our crew around to gymnastics, basketball, soccer, bridge, and mall-walking. Many of these trips may combine both generations at one time. Sometimes that works well. Sometimes that works poorly. Most of the time, it’s just an extra layer of juggling. The noise level of the happy, bubbly (sometimes squabbly) younger generation can sometimes collide with the older generations’ tendency to jump at too much noise.

Granted these are generalizations but I’m sure many of you recognize yourselves in those descriptions. Is there any help to be found? I have a few suggestions.

Music soothes the savage beast and often the raucous toddler. Classical music is a great brain stimulate for all ages, something the grandparents often enjoy, and even the younger set like it. Christian praise and worship is my personal favorite, though my parents lean more towards the older hymns. My grandkids enjoy both of those so that is great. Kids’ Bible songs are fun for all ages. Many cars allow you to adjust the music to play primarily in the back and I often use that when traveling with all.

Audio stories capture the imagination of all, promote excellent language and speaking skills, and even assist in a child’s learning to read, or improving their reading. Depending on the stories, the grandparents might enjoy listening as well and remembering reading the stories when they were children, or they might prefer to have the sound be in the back so they can quietly chat with you.

Educational CDs can be a big help for your grandkids or kids as they learn by listening to math facts set to music (we are having fun with several different multiplication sets right now).  You can also purchase a set of cds called Schoolhouse Rock! These were short TV segments produced in the late 70’s through early 80’s that introduce kids to different subjects including grammar, history, and more. Conjunction Junction has been a favorite in our family for over 20 years now.

Then there is my favorite – a DVD player for the back seats. I got one a few years ago and have been so grateful for it time after time. I have a wide variety of Bible story DVDs, Christian videos (we LOVE Hermie and his friends), educational videos like Leap Frog, and more. I pop one of those in, my grandkids start learning, and peace and quiet reigns in the front for the grownups. You might even keep a couple of old movies or TV shows that your elders might remember and enjoy sharing with the younger bunch. Did you know you can buy DVDs of many of the old TV shows such as Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, and Leave it To Beaver?

You can purchase a portable set with one or two screens for under $200 but research those carefully. Many of them are a bit on the delicate side. I would recommend an extended warranty and purchasing from a store you trust. If you are at a point where you are looking to purchase another vehicle, you might want to consider adding a built-in DVD player. It is more expensive but it will most likely last longer which should even out the cost. While this may seem like an unnecessary luxury, it can be a tremendous blessing to the multigenerational travelers – for both short and long trips.

Traveling together can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a bit noisy, and sometimes stressful. These ideas can all help to bring families together to learn or sing or just have fun in a relaxing atmosphere.

P.S. Many of the above items are available for free or very inexpensive fees at your local library. You can find many of them used at thrift stores, used book stores, and online sites such as Half.com and Amazon.com’s used options. I like to purchase them so we can use them over and over and I don’t have to worry if we get a scratch on them. Amazon.com is my favorite resource because of their great prices and fast shipping. If that’s your choice as well, you can click on these links to go there post-haste:  

Father Knows Best and other Oldie Goldies Schoolhouse Rock . Hermie and Friends Leapfrog

Because of health, expenses, etc., it can be hard to visit all your children and grandchildren as often as you like. Fortunately there are lots of fun and creative ways to keep close to them in spite of the distance. One of my ongoing plans for this blog is for us all to share different ways we have discovered that make the distance seem not so far away.

My grandkids who don’t live close love coloring pages. They’d keep their parents printing them out and buying them at stores all day long if they could. Naturally, that’s not an option. But it does create a great opportunity for a grandparent to help in that area.

Periodically I have fun preparing an email of coloring pages and projects for them to enjoy. I use public domain coloring pages I’ve found on the net along with coloring pages I’ve purchased. I’m primarily a computer-oriented grandma, but once in a while, I’ll even prepare a GRANDMA CARES package for the snail mail route. In that, I will usually tuck in stickers, coloring books, activity sheets, and other fun goodies. The Dollar Store is a wonderful help with that, although I am very careful about what I buy for the younger ones because of all the warnings lately about unsafe toys that go into little mouths.

The nice thing about these emails and boxes is that they are as much a gift for my adult kids as my grandkids. They enjoy watching the little ones open the boxes. They also enjoy the peace and quiet that ensues as little ones grab their crayons, scissors, and new coloring pages and get creative. Granted said quiet only lasts a short time, but it’s still sweet.

Some great resources for clipart include: Dover Publications – This company is famous for high-quality artwork that is public domain – free to use and reuse within certain boundaries. I have purchased two of their coloring books with computer disks. The pictures are great and the cds are easy to work with. You can find the books listed in my Amazon Book list for Grandparents on my Favorite Books and Music page (see Resource-full Links on the right) -  You can then print them out or email them to your grandkids to enjoy.

They also offer a wonderful sampler email that comes out every week. This links to their site where you can find great sales and more than a dozen sample pages from different books. Most samples give you two printable, copy-able pages that kids will enjoy coloring as well as some simple mazes, dot-to-dots, etc. Some are black and white, some are color, all are high quality. I especially love the turn-of-the-century colored pictures. They are so cute. Those are great for kids to cut out and glue onto pictures with glue sticks. Old fashioned stickers for free!

A great Christian site is ChristianAnswers.Net’s Kid Explorers . They not only have printable coloring pages, they have online interactive coloring pages, plus a whole bunch of other cool stuff for kids and grandparents to do while learning more about God and His awesome world. For those grandkids who are far away, you can both get on the computer at the same time, look at the same pictures and have a great time comparing colors as you work together, yet separately. You’ll notice I have added them to the sidebar along with the word search option. Now you can check your news, then print out some fun activities to do with your little ones – be they your children or grandchildren.

It probably comes as no surprise to you that the world’s best crayola maker (in my personal opinion ), also has a very snazzy website complete with great coloring pages – both for printing out or for coloring online, along with some other fun activities. You can find all that that at www.crayola.com . Their copyright specifically allows personal use so it should be ok for you to copy and paste these coloring pictures into an email to send your grandkids – and do let them know it’s thanks to Crayola’s great site.

Have a colorfully fun time and leave a comment or send an email to let us know your favorite sites for coloring pages.