The Magic Pouch Builds a Village

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Grandchildren in Chicago. I wanted a new idea for the Magic Pouch, something different. I finally decided it would be fun to build a Christmas village. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought all of the pieces that they had for a village including the snow. Because some of the pieces were too large to fit into the pouch, they had to go on treasure hunts to find them.
What fun they had!

The first time that they checked the pouch, there was a note saying "Lets build a Christmas Village together. Before we start, ask you Mom and Dad where we can put the village. "

Then : "Go to Miles' bed". There they found a note saying: "Go to the dryer".  They found two buildings (gift wrapped) and the "snow" inside the dryer - the fun begins.

Miles really got into this. In between the Magic Pouch discoveries, he started to use Legos to add his own parts, he made a hobo with campfire and a little newsie guy with a newspaper (that one really made Grandma proud). Walking across a bridge was Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and in the corner was the TARDIS with Doctor Who standing next to it. I think he covered many different angles.

Fall Leaves

I received a video, via email, of my grandchildren in Chicago jumping into a huge pile of leaves. They were having so much fun!  They were jumping from a step ladder.

It got me thinking that our grandchildren in Florida don't know what pretty fall leaves look like.

Grandma decided to fix that. Grandpa and I took a ride up the mountain in search of the brightest leaves. Grandpa pulled over and I jumped out to pull "fresh" leaves off the trees.  When I put them in the box, I realized that they would probably dry out and fall apart before they arrived. To solve that problem, I got out the iron and wax paper. Using a tea towel, I pressed the leaves between the wax paper with a hot iron. I then carefully peeled the wax paper off. This put a waxed coating on the leaves to preserve them.

I placed them in a Ziploc bag, then into a padded envelope along with a letter and some fall picture books.

They were excited to get the package.

Before waxing.

Grandma's letter

Long Distant Bonding with Secrets and Surprises

Our son and family spent a week with us last summer. I noticed that our seven year old granddaughter, Lucy, has become quite the helper. She especially liked setting the table for dinner. I taught her a new way to fold the napkins. Lucy thought that this was great. After they returned home, I decided that it would be fun to continue this long distance. I bought all different kinds of napkins: pumpkins for Halloween, turkeys for Thanksgiving, leaves for Fall, Snowmen, Christmas Trees and just fancy ones. I had the best luck finding them at an affordable price at The Christmas Tree Shoppe. I purchased a pretty box at Michael's that was just the right size. Before I put the napkins in the box, I unwrapped them so that they would be easy for her to sort them out. I enclosed a letter telling her to not open the box until she was alone in her room.I also told her that this was secret between Grandma and her.Hide the box under her bed and every night she could surprise everyone with a different napkin from her box. Her Mom told me that she took her favorite napkin to school the next day to show her best friend. It was fun finding this new way to bond with her. We went to their house for Christmas, I had fun helping her pick them out.I also learned that you don't have to spend a lot of money or buy what everyone else buys - you just have to be a little creative.

Knitting Fun Things

I crocheted for years and as soon as I found out that I was going to be a Grandmother I decided that it was time to learn to knit. I found a wonderful local yarn shop, Knitter's Dream and the knitting began. I also learned that the pastel pink and blue that my children wore as babies, was no longer popular. I dragged myself into this century and started to use the bolder, brighter colors.I just finished a sweater for Lucy, our seven year old. It turned out great but I was knitting in PA and she continued to grow in Illinois. When she received it and called me on the iPad, I saw that it just fits her, sigh. Lesson learned - next one will be made four sizes larger instead of two. I am working on two new major knitting projects that I will share as they progress. Here are some that I have completed:

Story Time - long distance

Hi, I'm back. It has been a long time since my last post. A lot has happened, I had surgery and got a new job but most important, I have figured out how be a long distance Grandma. I live in Pennsylvania and our grandchildren live in Illinois and Florida. More than anything, my husband and I want our grandchildren to know our faces and voices. We use to own The Children's Bookshelf, a bookstore just for kids. Reading to kids is so important-doesn't matter how young they are. I bought a favorite picture book and a bell. I read the story into the recorder in my laptop, when I came to the end of the page, I would ring the bell and the child knew it was time to turn the page. I then burned it into a CD, made a label, placed it in a clear CD envelope and taped it to the inside of the back cover of the book. Mailed it out-kids love to get mail! For Christmas, we gave them a portable CD player. It is fun to follow along and listen for the bell. Both my husband and I had fun recording these, something they will always have. Electronics has come a long way in just the last couple of years, we can now read them a story face to face. My son sets up his iPad on the bedside table in his daughter's room. I use our iPad and read them bedtime stories by using Face Time.. We can see and talk to each other!! Our 7 year old is now reading chapter books, we buy 2 copies one for me and one for her. We take turns reading chapters.