The Baby Boomer Generation is often in the news now. From brain exercises, to boomer fitness, to boomers and business, to boomer crafts, we're also all over the internet.

I enjoyed visiting a variety of blogs recently, primarily written by fellow members of the baby boomers generation. I read some new boomer and senior gardening ideas, got some fun inspirations for upcoming activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, and loved seeing a bicycle built for FOUR!

I also popped in to read an interesting baby boomer news article with the intriguing title, "Baby Boomers are Getting Sputnik'd by Tech and Social Media," by Sheila Scarborough. Her premise is that many in the Baby Boomer Generation seem to be getting left behind with all the newest tech advances like tiny phones, Facebook and Twitter. 

As I pointed out in her comments, "I'm still a very tech-savvy member of the Baby Boomer Generation but each year it does get a bit harder as more new things come out. And the print keeps getting SMALLER but my eyes don’t get better. I’m still having a lot of fun with it, but it’s definitely a continuing challenge."  

After all, for many of us who are juggling caring for elderly parents and helping with grandkids, keeping up with new tech advances takes more time than some of us can spare. You all know I love Twitter, but Facebook has been harder for me to get a handle on just because it takes more time than I have. And tiny things are getting a bit trickier to read.

All in all, I'm still ahead of many of my peers, and in many areas, I'm even still ahead of my kids, though they have out-distanced me in other areas. That's probably pretty normal for any age.  Not only that, I know plenty of seniors who are actively blogging, tweeting and on Facebook. Some are more active than others, but still and all, they do have an active presence. How about all of you in baby boomer generation, juggling right along with me? Do you think you are keeping up with tech as much, less, or more than 10 or 20 years ago?  How about your senior parents?  We'd love to hear.

Kaye

Looking for fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren that beat the late summer heat? How about roller skating?

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I grew up with roller skates and ice skates. I'm no whiz kid, but I am thrilled that I still rarely fall (unless I'm brought down by another skater ), and can even skate backwards pretty good.

My granddaughter and I, along with two of her friends, had a delightful time at the roller skating rink recently. They had a blast! There were a couple of other grandparents skating with their young grandkids, but thanks to my 5th metatarsal fracture, I decided to just watch this time. And that was quite fun as well.

So even if you didn't grow up skating on childrens roller skates (or have ended skating for this season of your life), it can still be quite enjoyable sitting and watching. Or follow my example and sit, watch, read, watch, compute with my handy dandy and tiny Toshiba Mini Notebook NB, watch, write, watch…  

What summer activities for grandparents and their grandchildren have you been enjoying? We'd love to hear. Also, be sure to pop over to Sweet Shot Tuesday at My3Boybarians for more fun photos and tips to help us all create delightful family memories with our easy to use digital camera. (And don't follow my bad example – be sure to take the camera AND the pictures. I forgot mine so these are on my backup – the AT&T iPhone. ).

As a busy member of the Baby Boomer Generation, caring for elderly parents and regularly involved in fun and educational activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, I don't often get time to just sit and read right now. When I do, I prefer things that educate and inform me – quickly. Womans World Weekly Magazine is one of my favorite resources. I don't think I've ever read one that didn't have several pages with my underlinings and notes in it. And both my senior mom and my cooking buff kids love to check out their great recipes.

This week's issue, August 16, 2010, is no exception! I picked it up at the grocery store yesterday, just for YOU! Among several other things, it had a very interesting and informative article, Stay Stroke-Free! Definitely good news and info for all of us boomers AND our beloved seniors!

If you have symptoms of high blood pressure the article includes information for some natural ways to lower blood pressure as well as tips to lower your risk of stroke. One that especially encouraged me was, Lowering Your Risk 30% by Strolling Slowly! I'm a fast walker normally, but when I walk with my senior mom, we have to go slower for her sake. Plus my arthritis will be fine one day, and the next I'll have those "twinges in the hinges" that slow me down. (And we won't even mention my 5th metatarsal fracture!)  I was so excited about this possibility, I had to research it further.

First I found an article at USA Today, Your Health: Strokes Can Be Prevented, that seemed to contradict Womans World. It stated, "Women who walked more than two hours a week or took their walks at a brisk 3-mph pace were significantly less likely to have strokes than non-walkers or slow walkers, researchers reported recently in the journal, Stroke." Oh no – does that mean all our slower walks aren't helping our health any?

Then, I found a second article at USA Today that cleared things up and put the smile back on my face. Study: Women who walk 2 hours weekly at 30% less risk of stroke explains that "Women who said they walked briskly had a 37% lower risk of stroke than those who didn't walk. Women who reported walking at least two hours a week at any pace had a 30% lower risk, according to a study published online Tuesday in the American Heart Association journal Stroke."

Now granted, brisk walking is obviously best, but 30% is still GREAT! And as Womans World Weekly Magazine pointed out, that's an average of about 17 minutes per day! Not only that, the same article also extolled the benefits of Dark Chocolate! It's no wonder I love this magazine. In fact, I'm heading down too savor a couple of yummy and relatively healthy pieces of dark chocolate as soon as I finish writing this! And you'll need to head straight for the grocery store ASAP if you want this particular issue – or check with your local library to see if they carry this magazine.

This is definitely great Baby Boomer news as well as terrific info for our beloved senior parents. It means that our walking with them, no matter how slowly, not only blesses you with your sweet family memories, but it also benefits both you and them health-wise – both for working to prevent stroke as well as being great exercise for prevention or treatment of osteoporosis! 

P.S. I like to buy Womans World Weekly Magazine in the store, since I don't get it every week. But if you'd like to try a home subscription to make it easier on you and save some money, just click here.

The next portion of the 1 Corinthians 13 Love is… series for your Bible memory verses activities for grandparents and their grandchildren…

Love…it is not easily angered.

1 Corinthians 13: 5b

I thought these tigers were a great way to illustrate another of these important and inspirational Bible verses from 1 Corinthians 13 – great for helping children and granny nannies learn more about the Biblical definition of love. 

For more terrific photos and uplifting Bible verses for the Sandwich Generation, visit Word-Filled Wednesday at Internet Cafe Devotions.

P.S. Looking for Bibles for your grandkids? How about these two?

Kaye

Last Friday, I wrote Southwest Airlines Online Check In Tips For The Sandwich Generation – Part 1. I had so many tips for all of you in the Sandwich Generation traveling with senior parents and/or grandchildren, I had to save some for this week. Last week, we discussed the Southwest Baggage Policy along with the early check in option.

Here's another tip I wish I'd known about - If you have a Southwest iPhone app, you might still be better off logging directly into Southwest from the Safari (or other) browser in your iPhone. I tried this app on our last flight. For some reason, I could only confirm myself, not my grandchild. Frustrated, I quickly went to my Safari button, logged into Southwest and their early check in online option, and then I was able to confirm my grandchild.

Kaye

The Sandwich Generation issues of caring for elderly parents while raising children and/or helping with our grandchildren can sometimes seem overwhelming. There are days when we may feel we are surrounded on all sides by tidal waves! Those are the days we need to draw even closer to God through His Word.

In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed;

In Your righteousness deliver me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly!

Be to me a Rock of Strength. A stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress.

For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me.

Psalm 31:1-3

Aren't those wonderfully encouraging and uplifting Bible verses! When I am struggling, I try to focus on these, reading them, speaking them out loud, and using them for "praying Scripture." I can testify that it definitely makes a difference. God is AWESOME!

For more inspiring Bible verses and pictures to encourage all of us in the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents while staying busy as Granny Nannies and Pappies, be sure to visit this week's Word-Filled Wednesday hostess, Christy, at Critty Joy.

Twitter is an excellent resource for the Sandwich Generation as there are frequently useful articles for those caring for elderly parents, as well as all of us Granny Nannies and Pappies, not to mention our never-aging Baby Boomers Generation.  If you're not on Twitter, you can get a good flavor for it, along with some great resource links, in my Twitter column on the right. Once in a while, however, I like to have a Twitter Tuesday to spotlight something extra interesting. Today I have a Tweet for our senior parents, ourselves, and most especially our grandkids, as it would be perfect for cooking activities for grandparents and their grandchildren.

Many thanks to @njfamilymag, who is, herself, a great resource – especially if you are in New Jersey. She tweeted, " Knock Knock. Who’s There? ChopChop, the new food magazine for children."  Following her link to the ChopChop Facebook site, I read "ChopChop is a quarterly magazine and website packed with nutritious, family-focused, ethnically diverse and price-sensitive recipes—plus food facts, Q&As and games."  I also read plenty of raves from various Facebook fans who have already tested some of the recipes and loved them.

I was interested to read that you can't purchase the Chop Chop Magazine in stores but you might spot it in the waiting rooms of  pediatricians, children’s hospitals, and youth-based community organizations, as well as at selected schools, farmers markets, and grocery stores. If you don't want to wait to for a visit to one of those to check it out, you'll be happy to hear it is available by subscription, which is for a real live paper magazine subscription that comes to your house in the mailbox – always a thrill for any of our grandkids. It's $3 for one copy or $9.95 for a one-year 4-issue subscription.

My senior mom is a total foodie, as are several of her grandkids and great-grandkids! She also loves to give magazines as grandkids gifts, as they are fun, educational, and provide mail for the grandkids all through the year. In the past, she has favored either a Ranger Rick, Your Big Backyard , or Preschool Playroommagazine subscription. All great educational choices for grandkids, by the way.  I am headed downstairs, next, to tell her all about this brand new kids cooking magazine. Guess what those grandkids may be getting this year for Christmas? (Shhhhh!)

In the meantime, if you are looking for fun grandkids gifts that will also lead to interesting and educational cooking and healthy food activities for grandparents and grandchildren, you might want to take a peek at ChopChop. Definitely a yummy magazine resource for the Sandwich Generation.

Kaye

Have you had a chance, yet, to visit the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom? It's a ton of fun with lots of great resources, but it can be a bit overwhelming for many of the busy members of the Baby Boomers Generation and Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents, including those with dementia symptoms, as well as preparing fun and educational activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. I do want to make sure you get to at least sample of small bit of the Blog Party, with a focus on those sites of special interest to all of us in the Sandwich Generation. After more fun blog-party surfing, SandwichINK has a few more sites just for you:

• Two moms,  Melinda from ParentingConfessions and Kristen from Hands House and Heartfull, are writing about all sorts of things of interest to all of us who are looking for fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. On top of which, for those of us in the Sandwich Generation who are blogging and tweeting, they have started a fun meme, Tweet Me Tuesdays, which I just participated in for the very first time this week! In addition, Melinda has also had plenty of experience with many of the Sandwich Generation issues we all face, while Kristen has a heart for kids with cancer, which some of us in the Sandwich Generation may also be dealing with (we have friends going through that and do a LOT of praying for them!). I will be looking forward to reading more of what both of them are writing and tweeting about.
• I have found that many of the "mommy blogs" are great resources with loads of ideas for those of us looking for educational and interesting activities for grandparents and grandchildren. Helping Little Hands is written by a stay-at-home mom who was a chemistry and math teacher and loves to do crafts. She has some great ideas at her site including tutorials of how to do the projects. I am always on the look-out for math tips for my grandchildren (and myself), plus there are so many fun-looking crafts. Very interesting!
• Another current mom of young ones and a former school teacher, The Activity Mom has plenty of great ideas and activities for grandparents and their preschool grandchildren. 
• Here's a fellow grandmother of four who also loves the Beth Moore Womens Bible study workbooks and books - Teresa at Grammy Girlfriend. Be sure to read her ABOUT section. It's a great intro with plenty of "I know just how she feels" chuckles.
• Sandra is a fellow member of the Christ-following Baby Boomer Generation who is about to become a grandmother. How fun! She writes about a wide variety of subjects from family to God to seasons of life to empty nests to MOPS for whom she is a mentor and you will find plenty of sweet inspirational Bible verses and words of encouragement on her site. 
• Susie from Susie's Homemade is another member of the Sandwich Generation who also loves chocolates. Not only that, she makes luscious-looking chocolate goodies to sell at her Etsy.com Shop – Susie's Homemade Chocolate Shop. And yes, she is giving a chocolate goodie prize at the Ultimate Blog Party - US9. 
• Here's another set of business bloggers – multi-generational style! Grandma and Moms are working together to make the cutest clothes for kids and grandkids at MiMi's Babies. You can find their Etsy Shop at MimisBabies where they make customized baby clothes, accessories and even crocheted goodies!
• One more Granny Nanny to keep me company – Bailey's Granny blogs at My Life as a Grandma. Having just earned my own AA a few years ago, I was thrilled to see she is currently working on a college degree as well. You know what they say about us never-will-be-aging Baby Boomers Generation! We are redefining just about everything, including college!    

Well, that's it so far for the Sites of Interest to the Baby Boomers and Sandwich Generation at the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom. If you find anyone else (including yourself ) who would be a great resource, leave me a comment. In the meantime, you have two more days to register, visit and comment at 20 blogs, and then be eligible for a TON of prizes! And for more fun sites of interest, be sure to visit Saturday 2010 Ultimate Blog Party Site-Seeing for the Sandwich Generation and SandwichINK Welcomes you to the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party….

As a Sandwich Generation Granny Nanny of girls and BOYS, I fully expect to have a frog handed to me any day. When it happens, I am pretty sure I know what my reaction will be.

SCREAM AND RUN!  

In spite of that, though, I really do love those little frog critters. Particularly the Webkinz spotted frog stuffed animals, of which we have a few floating around! Why? Because they remind me to:

FULLY RELY ON GOD!

Isn't that a cute little critter? God made its eyes so awesome. And being the grandmother of boys, including twins, I will sic all the boys on it to get it if it ever jumps into my house so they can run it out into the grass where it belongs. BUT I will keep enjoying them in pictures and and as a cute Webkinz Tree Frog Plush Toy, and keep letting them remind me that, no matter where the Sandwich Generation journey of caring for elderly parents and grandchildren may lead me…

You are my strength, I sing praise to You; 

You, God, are my fortress, my God on Whom I can rely. 

Psalm 59:17 TNIV

For more encouraging Bible verses and pictures for all of us in the Baby Boomers Generation, hop on over to Lori at All You Have To Give.

Ribbit.  

Looking for cute Bibles full of encouraging Bible verses, study aids, and words of encouragement for your own grand girls or grandboys? How about these two?

Kaye

Have you had a chance to check out the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom? It's wonderful! As of Saturday morning at 10 a.m., there were over 1400 sites on the list and that didn't even count all the Facebook and Twitter links!  And it's not to late to join up and have fun visiting! Too busy dealing with the Sandwich Generation issues of caring for elderly parents and grandchildren to get to them? That's OK. SandwichINK is here to help!

I'm visiting as many Ultimate Blog Party 2010 sites as I can and looking extra hard for fellow grandparents including those of twins, Sandwich Generation senior home care givers, members of the Baby Boomers Generation, and other sites with words of encouragement specially suited to all of us at SandwichINK and will be writing about the ones I find today and later this week. So keep your web "dial" set on SandwichINK and we'll have a fun Sandwich Generation / Baby Boomers Generation time together.

I discovered some good friends while out site-seeing, including:

Twin Happy Jen. All of us who are are grandparents of twins can really appreciate Jen's Twin Happy site, along with her Twitter #TwinTuesday fun and the upcoming Twinstock '10 in August.  

Penny Raine is a great resource for all of us granny nannies with plenty of ebooks of ideas for activities for grandparents and their grandchildren - cooking recipes, homeschool ideas, coloring books with Bible verses and more. She is currently offering some great giveways in honor of the Ultimate Blog Party 2010. She also stays busy sharing plenty of encouraging and inspirational Bible verses and it's thanks to her that I discovered Word-Filled Wednesday at…

…The 160 Acre Woods, written by Amydeanne, who is also out and about for the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party. Her site is loaded with great graphics, book reviews, and inspirational Scriptures to encourage all of us in the Sandwich Generation. She is currently giving away a great book for us to share with our grandchildren, This Little Prayer of Mine. Very fun!

Donna Webb is in the throes of the Sandwich Generation issues as a senior home care giver to her mother who has Alzheimer's Disease, while also enjoying her grandchildren. She and I "met" through the Caregiving Christmas Progressive Party. She has such lovely graphics at her site!  

I've also found some interesting new friends:

I had so much fun visiting with and tweeting with Christine from Live Laugh Love and Bloggings, where she is giving away a $25 gift certificate to Amazon at her site! (Bet Amazon LOVES the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!  :)  :) )  A soon-to-be-grandma with lots of experience dealing with many of the aspects of the Sandwich Generation (check out her comment – #27 ) , we also share a love for a lot of the same TV shows, including NCIS and Numb3rs!

Speaking of Numb3rs – here's a quick request – PLEASE DON'T CANCEL NUMB3RS CBS!!! While I may not agree with everything on that show, it's an enjoyable mystery as well as showing a multi-generational family in a positive light! My whole family loves it – from the 20-somethings up to this happy member of the Baby Boomers Generation!

Grammy Janets Place is written by a grandmother with a fun site where you can find reviews, contests, and freebies. While I was looking at her list of Freebies, I discovered some very cute ebooks written by a big sister and illustrated by a little sister, who have since grown up. Since reading is one of the best activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, this is a great page to check out.  

Simple Acts of Love is written by a delightful team – mom and daughter. To quote them, "Pat Whitaker raised four girls as a stay-at-home mom. She is now very involved with her grandchildren and has a servant's heart…Cindy Golden has over 27 years experience serving children with Special Needs as a teacher, a psychologist and now as a supervisor of Special Education….Cindy has been involved in Missions for years and loves to be God's hand extended to orphans, widows, homeless, and those with special needs." What an awesome ministry – I'll definitely be following them. They are currently giving away an upside down tomato plant – what a fun project to add to my senior mom's gardening plans.

Nana's House is written by a fellow grandmother who also loves one of my favorite Bible study ideas, using the Beth Moore Bible studies and workbooks. When I visited her site, I discovered such an encouraging article about waiting on God for prolonged periods. That is definitely one of the many Sandwich Generation issues we often deal with!

Dolores writes at Moving Forward with Alzheimer's about  dealing with her husband and his Alzheimer's Disease and I found such wonderful words of encouragement there, such as "We do not always understand Why things happen as they do, But I am very sure of one thing. My Lord will see me through." 

For all of us in the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of blended families, Forgetful One is written by a 40-something mom of twins. I enjoyed her Ultimate Blog Party post and just laughed and laughed at her post, I am NOT Forgetful! (Well…), as I could SOOOOO relate. Definitely reminded me of my article, Memory Activities and Tips for Baby Boomers, Grandparents, and Grandchildren! How about you?  

imPOWERage is an online magazine dedicated to celebrating and inspiring Seniors. I loved their mission statement, "Why age gracefully, when you can age powerfully?" Doesn't that go so well for all of us in the never-going-to-admit-we-are-aging Baby Boomers Generation?  We actually "met" while I was working on the upcoming Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival which will be at SandwichINK this Tuesday, April 13, 2010 (be sure to come and visit ). As a result, they found out about the Ultimate Blog Party 2010 and came back to visit me through that. Don't you LOVE the internet – so much fun running into people you "know" everywhere!  

The Grammie Diaries was written by a work at home grandmother with a ton of geek and photography skills that can bless all of us in the Sandwich Generation working online. She has the coolest graphic at her site – pictures of her family shaped into letters! I asked her how she did it and she graciously and speedily replied, "I did the photo collage with ShapeCollage ~ you'll just have to choose a bunch of pictures and you can choose shapes or letters or words. I'm sure you'll have fun with it" And the best part – it's FREE. And for those of you who are less Facebook-challenged than me, you can even use it there!  

For all of us grandparents of twins – have you reached a point where THEY CAN DRIVE! Yikes! I hadn't even thought of double drivers til I visited Scraps of Life, whose twins are going to be starting soon! I'll have to take lots of notes from her in case I get drafted to help with that. I do have a while for them, but my grand-tween is only about 3 years away. AAAAAHHHHHH  :)  :) She is also doing a fun giveaway at her site for the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party. Be sure to check it out. 

Are you looking for fun activities for grandparents and grandchildren? Check out @JoeAndBridge at their site The Groschen Goblins. They are giving away a KNEX building set. Perfect for our grandkids!  

You can also find more members of the Baby Boomers Generation and Sandwich Generation + at SandwichINK Welcomes You To the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party.

Well, that's all for today. But I am sure there are plenty more grandparents as well as members of the Baby Boomers Generation AND the Sandwich Generation out enjoying the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party and when I find them, I'll let you know. Keep checking back at SandwichINK for more updates, both in posts and in the Twitter updates in the right column. And if YOU hear of any Sandwich Generation compadres, do let us know in the comments.     Until tomorrow, have a fun time at the Ultimate Blog Party and a blessed weekend!

Kaye