"Oh Grandma, would you like to listen to the song I played for my piano recital?" my granddaughter excitedly asked over the telephone. "Absolutely, honey," I replied with a big smile. Then I heard lovely piano music in my ear, with nary a mistake that I spotted. "Grandma, did you like it!" "That was GREAT, Sweetie! I can tell you really PRACTICED hard. I'm so proud of you!" 

For those of us in the Sandwich Generation, whether we are still raising our children or helping with the next generation by babysitting grandkids, PRACTICE can be a familiar word. Reminding them to practice their piano, work on practicing their multiplication tables, practice their cursive handwriting… The list goes on and on, doesn't it? And the most important thing to put into practice? Those spiritual disciplines God is teaching us. Which is why we love to encourage them to PRACTICE their Bible memory verses – like the 10 commandments – great ways for our grand kids to PRACTICE what God teaches, isn't it?

This has been my practice: I obey your precepts. You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words. Psalm 119:56-57 (NIV)

Isn't it a joy to work at leaving a sweet spiritual legacy in the hearts and minds of our grandchildren!  

For more uplifting and inspirational Bible verses and pictures to encourage the Sandwich Generation, be sure to visit Internet Cafe Devotions. And…

Kaye

"Grandma, grandma, this looks cool – and easy too!" exclaimed one of my grand-twins when we were at Michael's. Holding up a package of autumn colored craft supplies for making cute spiders, it was full of pipe-cleaners (at least, that's what this baby boomer USED to call them. ), sparkly things, and tiny puff balls for fun fall projects. He was right. It did look easy AND was priced very affordably, so… "Sure, sweetie, let's add that to our cart," and off we went.

A couple of weeks later, when we were finally ready to work on that project, everyone's mood had changed a bit. One brother was at the doctor's, the other two weren't feeling great, and this Sandwich Generation granny nanny was definitely looking for creative ideas to keep them productively busy even though not feeling great. 

As I was pulling out the bag, they spotted it and immediately cheered! "Spider web!" they cried. "Let's make a spider web all over the living room!" That was NOT what I had envisioned and it wasn't even my living room. But after a fast check with their mom, who happily approved, and a quick division of pieces in order to save some for the brother who was gone, to work they went. That left me manning the easy to use digital camera, recording their earnest endeavors.

For those of you who don't have boys right now (or at least boys involved in these particular interests) those are not red and blue dog food dishes. They are Hasbro Beyblade Vortex Battle Stadiums which my grandboys LOVE. Kind of like high-tech versions of the tops from my childhood – pull the string, let them go in the stadium, and they "duke" it out. The winner is the last one spinning.  Now you'll be more educated than I was if your grandsons show them off to you.

Here's another picture I took of their ginormous web creation. I applied Picnik's easy to use sharpen tool on this photo from my iPhone digital camera. Because of the coloring, it came out really grainy – but really cool, I think. Almost like a painting? Or is that just my aging eyes? What do you think?

It turned into a delightful afternoon, in spite of grandkids not feeling well. I left their brother's set for him and he added to the creation after I left. By the time I returned in a couple of days, it was all gone again – but the sweet family memories lingered as they excitedly told me what he had done. 

A fun afternoon for the Sandwich Generation granny nanny and grandkids, a fun and easy crafts idea for kids and seniors alike (though senior parents might have more fun making flowers and spiders out of it ), and some cute pictures for Rednesday, thanks to their Beyblade Stadium and Sweet Shot Tuesday, thanks to my easy to use digital Canon Powershot camera. Join us, won't you.  

Kaye

My east coast grandkids are getting over a round of the flu coupled with colds so today was another non-church day for them. Their folks and I did the round robin with them. They went to early service while I babysat. Then it was my turn for late service – and a VERY good service it was. If you didn’t make it to church and would like notes, write me and I’ll type them up and send them to you. It was so encouraging!

I wanted to do a Sunday School with the grandkids but wound up not sleeping much last night so opted for a singing Sunday School instead. After I finished all my old favorites and they were busily playing with their toys, I started thinking, “I need some new songs to add to my repertoire!” So off I went on a hunt for new songs and I I found some good ones, right in my own bookshelves.

In one bookcase I found a book I’d picked up for a song at a yard sale. “100 Action Songs for Toddlers” by David C. Cook Publishing isn’t available straight from Amazon, but you can order it from them via a second party either used or new. It’s part of an older series that I really like. This particular book has 100 songs with actions and they are all set to familiar nursery rhyme tunes. It’s great for at home, but also for a school or Sunday School. One example from the book is:

Who is Jesus – set to the tune of Are You Sleeping?

“Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?

Shrug shoulders

He’s God’s Son. He’s God’s Son.

Point up

Jesus is my Savior! Jesus is my Savior!

Clap hands

He loves me! I love Him!

Hug self”

It’s small enough to tuck into my purse and the hand motions will help hold their attention.

In a second bookcase I found a book I bought at the Christian bookstore and love. It’s part of a two book series and I really want to buy the second one as well. This one is “Pray & Play Bible” by Group Publishers. The writers have taken several Bible stories, retold them in a simple yet interesting manner with large and bright pictures. After each story there are simple songs, crafts, snack ideas, and prayers to go with the story. One example is from the story of Abraham and Sarah:

Trust the Lord – also sung to the tune of Are You Sleeping (Honest, I didn’t do that on purpose )

“Trust the Lord, trust the Lord

Every day, every way.

Turn to Him and pray.

Trust Him and obey.

Every day, every way.

Along with that song are several others, as well as a game to teach our grandkids how God keeps His promises, a science experiment to look at the starry sky, a footprint project, making a praise altar and several other fun ideas.

Both of these books would make excellent additions to your library or your grandchildrens’ libraries, as well as to your church or school libraries. Even more important, the Scripture truths you will instill into their hearts by singing these songs will grow wonderful fruit in their hearts.

Writers love to write and I am no exception. I’ve decided to expand my writing universe and include writing for other sites as well as this blog. My first adventure has been to start writing for eHow.com. eHow is an interesting site where people explain how to do a wide variety of things. If you need to know how to do something, it’s an excellent place to start your search.

I’ll be writing on a wide range of topics there, from caregiving to grandparenting, from computering to dog caregiving, and more. You can find the general site at www.eHow.com . You’ll find my first two articles there at:

How to Use Dog Treats, Time, and Love To Save You From Losing a Friend’s Dog

How to Prepare to Reformat a Computer

You may also have noticed that I have added an eHow “widget” to the first column on the right. Now you’ll be able to keep track of my top five articles there, as well as being able to click on it to go find any of my eHow articles easily.

I do hope you’ll give it a try and that you’ll enjoy the articles. Be sure to take a peek at the pictures as well. I used some darling dog photos from Flickr.com for the dog article and several adorable cat pictures from Flickr.com for the computer article. They are really cute! So cute in fact, that I’m ending this article with two of my favorite ones!

This canine charmer helped explain the steps to take to train a dog to love you so much she won’t try to escape when you open the door.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/265003937/

This little cutie helped explain all the steps needed to get ready to reformat a computer.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/53088165@N00/682390157/

Flexibility is a great thing to have. For the Sandwich Generation, it can be absolutely essential. When we are juggling the needs of more than one person, not to mention ourselves, schedules can and often do collide. Using resources with flexible options can ease those schedules and lower our blood pressure.

In one week, a friend of mine had to deal with cataract surgery for an elderly relative who was fighting a cold; a bad case of the flu with the possibility of hospitalization for an immune-compromised child; and her own cold complete with runny nose and coughing. She was blessed to be able to deal with a great staff at the surgery center, who assured her that they could cancel the cataract surgery as late as the morning of, in case the patient was coughing too much or she was unable to assist due to one of the other situations erupting. Just knowing that relaxed her tremendously. As it turned out, God timed everything wonderfully and the surgery went smoothly as scheduled. The sweet child did have to go to the hospital for a few hours but came through it just fine, and they all got well within a week.

As stressful as that week was, we learned a valuable lesson. It never hurts to know your options. It’s always worthwhile to ask. The worst anyone can do is say no. If that happens, you are no worse off than before. But if they say yes, you have new options to help you deal with many of the different things going on in your life.

Really Woolly is a cute line of greeting cards by Dayspring. The cards feature a cast of adorable little lambs, cute little sayings, and Bible verses as well. They have recently started a website for children, which I just discovered today when I was Christmas shopping for my children and grandchildren at Lifeway Christian stores. (This is the Twitter Tweet I sent that you can see in the column to the right of this article.)

Lifeway was selling the kids’ DVD, Really Woolly Christmas, for only $5! That is an excellent price for a Christmas DVD. I haven’t watched it yet, but the story looks good. You can read more about it at http://budurl.com/Lrwd . (The sale is going on through tomorrow, Saturday, 11/29/08, and you can find several more Christmas books and DVDs on sale for great prices, in the store and online.)

This evening, I had a few minutes to look over the Really Woolly website – http://budurl.com/RWfr . I had been told it was going to be similar to Webkinz, but it doesn’t look like it. It does seem to have some interesting and fun options, games – http://budurl.com/RWgm – , and it is free. It is connected to another kids’ site, The Fraboom Network, http://budurl.com/CWSf . My grandsons will especially like that one as it is planning on having little videos featuring The Horned Avenger, from a Christian kids’ video they absolutely love! These two sites definitely won’t replace Webkinz for us, but it does give us two more fun, kid-friendly websites to bookmark. That’s always a major plus for grandparents and grandkids!

Happy Thanksgiving! “What,” you say. “Halloween just ended. It can’t be Thanksgiving yet!” While it’s true we have 3 1/2 weeks until the actual date, now is a great time to have some fun with your family in doing preparation projects. Not just the grandkids either. Here are some fun ideas I’ve enjoyed as well as more ideas I’ve discovered from others to help you all get into that thankful Thanksgiving mood.

These are fun art projects that are also easy. They require paper such as cardstock or construction paper – lots of colors. You also need crayons or markers, and adorable little and not-so-little hands.

Thanksgiving Wreath – Gather up everyone, grandkids, great-grandma, and even yourself. Start tracing everyone’s hands. You will need several handprints for this one. I used 15 ranging from tiny to small. Cut them all out. Then tape, glue or staple all the hands together into the shape of a wreath, with the wrists on the inside of the wreath and the fingers all facing out. I used double-sided tape and loved how it worked. I was even able to peel pieces off when I wanted to rearrange them. When the wreath is done (if you used glue – make sure they are all dry), have each  person write different things they are thankful for on each hand. (I actually did most of the writing and did it before putting it together. It’s easier to write that way, but you will wind up covering some of the writing up. You could also make a second wreath and on that one, write one or more “thanksgiving” Bible verses around the wreath. We chose to mix it up with favorite verses, hymns and things we were thankful for. It would be fun to make a variety of these Thanksgiving wreaths to share as a sweet Thanksgiving gift with each family member. If you will be visiting at a nursing home this season or have elderly neighbors, you could make several of these as special Thanksgiving gifts.

Thanksgiving Tree – I found a cute variation of this idea at Family Corner. They put the handprints on a predrawn tree trunk to create a family tree. Be sure to take a look at their results. (If you don’t want to draw the trunk free hand, you could trace around your arm and your hand on brown paper. Cut that out to be the trunk and branches.) The handprints became the leaves. The children then wrote what they were thankful for on each leaf. You could also expand this idea by making a tree with Bible verses on the leaves. Another fun idea would be to make a “family tree.” On that one, you would write the names of different family members. Then, throughout the holiday season, pick a different name each day to pray for that person.

Thanksgiving Turkey – Nana’s Corner has a cute poem and idea for using one handprint to make a turkey. Full directions and pictures can be found at eHow. Combine these two sets of directions and you have a delightful Thanksgiving decoration. If you enlarge the turkey (drawing freehand), you could even use it as a placemat.

If you want to use any of these projects as Thanksgiving placemats, purchase clear vinyl contact paper found in the shelf paper section of the store. Cut out a rectangle the size you want for a placemat. Place the project centered on the sticky vinyl. Cut another rectangle the same size, and place it on top of the project with the two sticky sides facing each other. Smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles. When it is just as you like it, trim around the edges to make sure there are no sticky sides and it’s even. Contact paper IS hard to work with. Be very careful as it is easy to damage the creation in this part of the process and we all know how sad that can make a little one. Once done, you will have a lovely placemat that can be reused each holiday season. Think how fun it will be to save these. Not only that, you can then make new ones each year as well. Watching those hands grow through the years will add to the delight of this tradition.

November 19, 2008 – Since these crafts are fun AND frugal, I am entering this post in Frugal Upstate’s “Frugal Thanksgiving Mini Series.” Check out their site today for more fun and frugal Thanksgiving crafts and decorations for you and your grandchildren to enjoy.

Fall foliage – don’t those words just give you a cozy feeling. Driving along, looking at the gorgeous colors, stopping for some apple pie and hot cider along the way. That sounds so heavenly. Sadly, I have a nasty cold so I won’t be doing that anytime soon. For those of you who are feeling healthy and perky though, click on weather.com’s fall foliage guide – http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/fallfoliage/?from=secondarynav – and start planning a lovely trip. Whether you take an elderly parent out to enjoy the crisp air, bundle up a grandchild or three to go looking for pumpkins, or just take some precious time off to recharge your caregiver batteries, you’re bound to enjoy yourself. I’m looking forward to it in a couple of weeks when I’m better and time permits. I just hope those leaves keep hanging on.

If the grandkids are visiting and you can’t get out to the mall to walk or you’re looking for something a little more active to “shake the wiggles” out of them and keep yourself in good shape, here’s some grand fun ideas. Now I do have to preface this with saying these are intended for those of the Sandwich Generation who are in reasonably good physical condition. If you are not sure, ask your doctor first. My doctor would tell me I’m not doing them enough!

DODGEBALL – Works for all ages from 2 on up. Have all but one person stand in front of some kind of wall. We like to do it in front of the garage door. Have the person who is IT take a ball (One of my favorite ways to save money – I use the grocery store plastic balls of any size. They are soft enough they rarely hurt, cheap, and great fun for a variety of games.). IT tries to throw the ball at one of the other players. When they get hit, they are then IT. It’s important to remember with the little ones that they have very short attention spans. So it’s up to grandma or grandpa to make sure all get to be IT regularly.

I get in a little aerobics exercise and give my grandkids a sporting chance by trying to get them as if I was playing handball. I whack at the ball with my hand and it goes all over the garage wall. This requires more exertion than just throwing the ball. Thus I get more exercise and my grandkids don’t get out as quick. Just be careful not to whack too hard in their direction.

TAG – There are several variations of the old beloved game from our childhood. Our current favorite is a takeoff of a game we play at our Awana’s meetings which is a take off of the video game, PacMan. The person who is IT has the ball. He has to try to touch one of the others with the ball. No one is allowed to run but walking fast is fine (there’s those aerobics again). You must, however, walk only on the agreed upon lines. We have enough lines and cracks on our driveway we just use those. If you don’t have enough, you can use outside chalk to draw your own lines. You can make them in a circular pattern, a square pattern or any pattern you want. Then everyone has to walk on those lines to get anywhere. Of course, the younger the child, the more often they’ll get excited and forget to stay on the lines. Depending on the child and how the game is going, you may choose to exercise a little grace there. One of my grandchildren has added an extra dimension to our game. He prefers to ride his little scooter car around in the area we are playing. If he is in our path, we have to turn around and go back the way we came, just like the video game. It definitely makes it more fun and challenging.

Hairy Ball CATCH – My granddaughters and I love to play Hairy Ball Catch. Amazon has a couple of different urchin balls similar to what we have, though ours is rounder and more ball, less hair. If you click on the words Hairy Ball, they actually have those in stock. The one below is no longer available at Amazon, but you might be able to find it elsewhere. Any of these would probably work well.  I got mine at Target or Wal-Mart for about $6. The great thing about this type of ball is that it is much easier to grab onto than most normal balls. So even the 2 year olds can usually catch this ball. We have so much fun throwing it to each other. Generally they like to throw it to me and I then throw it to the next one. That keeps us all on task and makes it easier for the little ones to catch it. When you do miss the ball, I highly recommend running to get it. Thus you get in some extra exercise while having lots of fun .

FLYING DISCS – All my grandchildren and I love a good game of tossing a flying disc around. There are so many varieties available now, starting with the most famous one, the Frisbee, and, for the most part, they are all very affordable. One of my favorites, which I picked up at the airport (not so affordable there!), is a soft rubber flexible one that is only about three inches in diameter. It is great for playing in the house on a rainy or snowy day. It’s soft enough it would be very difficult to break anything. Again, most of the exercise with this game comes from chasing it when you miss catching it.

GRAND TIMES AND GRAND EXERCISE – I remember reading an article when my kids were young that recommended playing with your children to help you stay in shape. That is just as true for grandparents as it is for parents. Not only that, these make a fun addition for your grandkids’ homeschooling programs. Have fun trying these out. Do write and share your favorite game/exercise with your own grandkids. Just leave the information in the comments below, or send an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com .

Standing in the post office in early September, I was amused at the shocked reaction the postal worker had to the customer’s request. “Christmas stamps! It’s too early for Christmas stamps!” The customer replied, “But I’ve finished all my Christmas cards and wanted to get them stamped so they’ll be ready to go right after Thanksgiving.”

I am not proposing that we as caregivers should plan quite that far in advance (though if you do – that’s wonderful!). I am suggesting, however, that the holidays are quickly approaching. Our duties as caregivers of elderly parents, coupled with helping our children as well as grandparenting rarely leaves us much time as it is. Throw holiday preparation into the mix, and we can all use some preplanning. Here’s a few ideas to get the ball rolling.

1. If you are going to be ordering any gifts, now’s a good time to shop. I’ve noticed a lot of discounts being offered to entice Christmas shoppers to start early.

2. I love to treat my children and grandchildren to a new Christmas CD each year. I usually opt for the Christian ones because there are so many great ones out there and more every year. That way we can enjoy the old songs we know so well as well as great new songs, all centered on the joy of our Savior’s birth. Last year my two favorites were Christmas Offerings by Third Day and Winter Wonderland by Point of Grace. I was interested to see that they have a new one for this year, Tennessee Christmas. Looking at the songs and listening to the samples, I think that will be at the head of my list. It has a nice blend of Christian and just plain fun songs done in an enjoyable, jazzy style. My favorite! How about you? What is your favorite Christmas music album? One great timesaver for busy caregivers is to shop for your Christmas cds at Amazon, www.amazon.com , or www.ChristianBook.com . You can usually listen to samples online, place your order, and wait for it to arrive. Saves time and, in my case anyway, money. If I go into the store, I will usually spend a lot more because there are just so many neat things there!

3. I love nativity sets and I love giving my grandchildren and children nativity sets periodically. One year, Sam’s Club had the most gorgeous Bethlehem City available for a great price. It was like the Dept. 56 Christmas Villages that you see all the time, only set in Bethlehem with camels instead of old cars, and the nativity scene instead of Christmas carolers. I love it as do my kids! I’m not sure if you can find that any more, but another great nativity set that is available and is great for kids is the “What God Wants for Christmas” set from Family Life. You can purchase this directly from them at, http://store.familylife.com/detail.asp?id=9878&p=&c=&g= . (Frugal Tips for Caregivers – ChristianBook.com also carries this. It is offered at a discounted rate of $13.99 and if you are purchasing other items you can save on shipping costs as well. http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=299313&event=51500NAT|1001399|87161 

In the past, I’ve usually given the cds and the nativity sets early, on Thanksgiving, so they can enjoy them during the current holiday. It makes a fun and festive addition to Thanksgiving Day and starts the season out focusing on Jesus!

4. I love to give Christian calendars with Bible verses as a way of encouraging and sharing God’s love with others. The really nice ones can get scooped up quickly, so now is the best time to shop for them. Most local Christian bookstores should have a nice selection now. If your time is very limited, though, you might want to call ahead to be sure your store has them in stock. You can also find them at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, but it’s not always easy. I usually have to find the ISBN, then look the item up with that. I generally buy in the store for calendars I’m giving to friends and relatives locally, but I like to order online for those I’m mailing. (Frugal Tips for Caregivers: By ordering calendars online, you often save on shipping costs. In addition, it’s really hard to find packaging for calendars as their shape is so big. Ordering online means you save on packaging costs as well.) One of my favorite calendars to give is the Thomas Kinkade Scripture Calendars. My elderly relatives love it, as do my kids, and everyone in between. You have to be careful when ordering this online as they also publish one without the verses. Amazon is currently carrying it at a great price and they are so easy to work with.

Well, that’s enough to get us started. I’ll have more holiday helps and tips in the upcoming weeks. In meantime, it’s such a gorgeously crisp, cool, autumn day. I think I’ll make myself a cup of hot chocolate, order some Christmas calendars, while I listen to some of my favorite Christmas songs and hymns. Merry Autumn!