First Snow of the Season

We had our first snow of the season at our home away from home in Flagstaff, Arizona. I have never lived where it snows so this is a very exciting first for me. I have already enjoyed the beauty of the Fall colors for the first time as Summer turned to Fall. Beautiful!

I missed this first snow fall in person but I am very anxious to get back up there and experience a real winter. My kids and grandkids are all anxious to get up there to play in the snow. I can't wait to share in the fun and in the wonderful memories we will create!

Playing in Tents - A Kid Favorite!

Knowing that my grandchildren love to play in tents I just had to add these two small tents to my grandma bag of tricks for outdoor play! These small two man tents are perfect for children to play in. I purchased them at WalMart for just $20 each. They are easy to set up and simple to move around. They are small enough that they could be used for indoor play too.

The kids were indoors when it started to rain outside. They quickly ran out and sat the rainstorm out in their tents. The tents were a big hit and a great addition to my Trunk of Treasures!

String + Trees = One Big Web

This kid made web was created from over 1000 feet of yarn. The kids really enjoyed spinning their tangled green web through the forest. It was huge! It was a huge (temporary) string art craft project of sorts. The only rules I made were no knots and don't tie one another up in your web which I am sure was very tempting.

The follow up activity was to create a big ball of yarn as the web was removed. This web was done on private property. Caution would have to be taken if doing it on public lands. We would not want strangers to get caught in our web!

Outdoor Cooking of Sorts

This is a creative and fun activity that you can do when you are in the outdoors. I gave each of the girls a plastic plate and I asked them to use their imaginations to create a plate of food to serve me. They searched the forest floor and came up with some great meals.

We have a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with a side of salad, a hamburger and a side of fries, and a hearty serving of an all meat plate with chunks of beef and ribs.

Fort Building....the next generation!

It is so much fun to watch the next generation do the same things that their parents did as children. The grandkids worked long and hard to collect the wood and rocks they needed to create their fort. The children were very proud of the huge building materials that they had found and hauled to their building site.

The parents however thought it looked more like a fire danger since the "Fort" looked a lot like a huge bonfire ready to be lit. Don't tell the kids!

Checking Out the Big Outdoors

This little guy wonders around nonstop checking out checking out his new surroundings on his recent visit to Flagstaff. He loves chasing the lizards, chipmunks, and squirrels. He also keeps his eyes on the bigger kids and takes it all in. He is as very happy camper when he is playing outdoors at his grandma and Papa's house in the forest.

A Beautiful Display of Teamwork!

It was so much fun watching the grandkids working together to get this tree down. You should have heard all of the commands and suggestions that they were yelling out to one another. A lot of muscle, cooperation, and an enormous amount of energy was put into this challenging feat of determination. For grandma.....it was a beautiful display of teamwork!

Monkeys or Grandkids?

I won't kid you . . . . this very loved activity makes me very, very nervous. When these granddaughters visit there is no keeping them out of the Pine Trees! They are on the ground one second and the next they are yelling out; "Grandma, look at me!" I look up and they are half way up a Pine Tree.

The younger kids just look up in awe, wishing they too could be up there. These are very well rounded and very active girls. They are as happy climbing a Pine Tree as they are all decked out in a frilly dance costume covered in sequins with their hair and make up done for a Pink Carpet Premier!

Their Teachers Would be Very Proud

The cousins are out of school for the weekend. They and their parents came for a weekend visit to the cabin. The oldest cousin who is nine was the pretend teacher and she turned the back patio into a classroom and school was in session. They worked hard on their assignments and then played hard on on their very frequent recesses climbing trees and building forts.

I love seeing my grandchildren playing together as cousins and good friends!

Our Littlest Mountain Guest

This little guy (my youngest grandchild) stays busy and on the move checking things out when he visits us in Flagstaff. He loves being outdoors and seeing all of the forest animals scurrying around the yard. He has discovered the bunny's hiding place and he loves seeing the bunny run away when he heads that way. He likes to chase the Squirrels and Chipmunks and watch the birds eating from their feeders. He is ALL boy and his clothes and shoes prove it when it is time to come in to the cabin.

Papa Sharing Big Boy Toys

This was a very exciting activity for our three grandsons who were visiting us in Flagstaff. Their Papa had a water trailer at the house with a fireman hose attached. Papa gave them each a turn at holding and running the powerful water hose. A very simple everyday thing for their Papa....by sharing it with his grandsons.... created what will be a long remembered memory.

Helping Papa with Cabin Chores

Three of our grandsons each had a turn getting to climb the ladder and helping their Papa fill the bird feeders on a recent visit to Flagstaff. It was also watering day for the plants. The watering pan for the animals was also cleaned and filled with fresh water.

They had way too much fun with their Papa to even know that they were helping with the chores!

Yummy Fireside Treats

All of my grandchildren love helping to build a camp fire. It is a must do (and a well supervised) activity when they come to visit us in the mountains. This night we roasted marshmallows and the kids made S'mores for their treat. The adults enjoyed a really yummy pineapple upside down cake that my daughter and her husband baked in their dutch oven. It was perfectly baked and sooooo good!

Home Away from Home

Well here it is... our home away from home. This has been home for the last six weeks or so and it will be our home until my husbands job on the Navajo Nation is complete. It is a beautiful four bedroom home nestled among the Pines of Flagstaff, Arizona. Our view just beyond the Pines in the front is a very large meadow with a large pond. The backyard is a wildlife playground. The lot backs up to National Forest. At the end of our lane, just right of the house is an additional two car carriage house with an apartment above. The property also has a large fire ring for building big bonfires. It is a great place to do dutch oven cooking and the roasting of marshmallows for some really tasty s'mores.

All of the living spaces have large uncovered windows to invite the natural light and the beauty of the outdoors in. The breakfast nook in the back of the house overlooks two bird feeders and a bird bath. We have Squirrels, Chipmunks, lizards, and a wide variety of birds who have parties just outside our windows all day long! A couple of my favorite wildlife guests are a pair of large Jay Birds. They are bright blue with a black crown on the top of their heads.

The homes interior is beautiful and fully furnished. I only added a few items to the fireplace mantle to make it feel a bit more like home. The home also has a baby grand piano which has given me an opportunity to brush up on my very rusty piano skills. Just this past week a skunk was spotted hiding under our front walkway. All I could think of is the amount of times I have swept that front walk with the skunk probably being just inches from me!!!!

My very favorite guests are the two legged variety that come up from the valley to visit. Our children and grandchildren have been frequent visitors and it is they who have turned this home away from home and it's furnishings into a real home for us!

Look who Grandma Loves!

Two of my grandson's and their parents took a summer vacation to the beach recently. I had a request of them (the boys) before they left. I asked them to please write a message in the sand for "Grandma" and take a picture of it and send it to me as an activity for them at the beach.

It ended up being quite the task since the waves kept washing it away before they could snap the picture. They endured and got the job done just like Grandma requested. I love it! How can such a simple thing bring a grandma so much joy?

Invention Crafts - 2 liter Bird Feeder

This is a simple nature craft using a plastic bottle, a wooden skewer, twine, and birdseed. The young inventor first removed the label off the bottle using kid safe scissors.

Wash the inside and the outside of the bottle. Drain as much water as you can from the bottle. Place the lid on the bottle and dry the outside of the bottle.

About 3 inches from the bottom of the bottle draw a 3 "x 3" square or an arched topped square on both sides of the bottle using a Sharpie marker. Make sure the openings match up on opposite sides of the bottle. You could give the child a pattern to trace. Cut out the marked sections. I started the opening for my grandchild using a sharp knife. The child then used a pair of kid safe scissors to finish the cutting.

Make sure that there are no sharp edges on the bottle openings. Using a paper towel and the bottle openings dry the inside of the bottle. Tie a 4-5 foot piece of twine or heavy string around the neck of the bottle. Center the twine/knot on the bottle neck to leave you matching lengths of twine to be used to tie to the feeder to a tree branch.

Cut a small "X" one inch below the center of your bottle openings using a sharp knife. (This should be done by an adult) A drill with a small bit could also be used by an adult. Don't make the wholes or "X's" too big, you want the wooden skewer to fit tightly.

Push the wooden skewer through one "X", now push the skewer through the bottle and out the "X" on the other side of the bottle. Center the skewer in the bottle. This creates a wooden perch for the birds to sit on on both sides of the bird feeder. Snip off the sharp end of the skewer and add a bit of masking or duct tape to both ends of the skewer to help protect eyes and skin from any sharp edges.

Take the bird feeder outdoors. Hang the bird feeder on a sturdy branch in a tree. Placing it where it can be seen from an indoor window is really fun. Fill the bottle/bird feeder to just above the wooden perch with wild birdseed. Now, sit back and watch the birds discover this very special treat!

Interesting note: Three of my granddaughters saw the finished bird feeder hanging in their cousins tree just minutes of him being home with his finished project. I received a frantic phone call that they all wanted to make one too. I was too busy that day but promised we would do the project the next day. They all arrived the next day and were thrilled to create their very own bird feeders. They took them home and hung them in their trees which are right across the street from the cousins feeder they had seen the day before.

The feeders were quickly found by the birds. With the kids watching they discovered that the birds finished the seed from the girls feeders before the one across the street which was the original bird feeder made by my grandson.

My eight year old grandson made the observation that the birds preferred the girls feeders because they were more attractive! Turns out the girls had added decorations to their feeders using colorful Sharpie markers. Regular girls stuff like flowers and hearts. Not science, but a very good observation. Who knew???

Time Fly's

I had not realized so much time had past since I had last posted. I've had lots on my plate recently with an unplanned two plus weeks of being really sick, a six day trip out of state, and all of the planning details for a large July wedding.

Being well again makes me realize how thankful I am for my health. The out of state trip yielded a very happy young bride with her finding the wedding dress of her dreams in a bridal shop in Salt Lake City. The details of the large July wedding....still a bit overwhelming.

The trip to Utah also served as a chaperoned trip for my daughter to go visit her fiance in Orem, Utah were he attended school at UVU and plays on their baseball team. I had lots of free time while there while they crammed as many dates into their days together as they could. They had a great week together.

I really enjoyed myself as well. I shopped til I dropped. Ate where and when I wanted to eat. Took in a movie of my choice. Napped whenever I needed a nap. The only thing that got me out of bed a bit earlier that I liked was the pretty yummy and FREE continental breakfast at the hotel!

I had a beautiful view from my hotel room. The mountains in Provo are beautiful and to add to the beauty they were covered with freshly fallen snow! I spent so much of my time looking at the beauty and at the locals zipping by taking care of their business and wondered if they even noticed the beauty around them anymore.

One of my very favorite things were the trees that were in bloom that lined many of the streets. I called them Popcorn trees. I don't know what kind of trees they were but the blooms look just like beautiful white popped popcorn! The trees were just covered in yummy looking white stuff!

One of the Popcorn trees was just outside my 3rd floor window and it was in full bloom. We have a song that the children sing in church that says "I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on an Apricot tree. Spring has brought me such a nice surprise, popcorn popping right before my eyes!"

I know it wasn't an Apricot tree but for sure it was a nice surprise and I too saw popcorn popping right before my eyes.

Now it's time for me to look at my natural surroundings. What am I zipping around and taking care of my own business and missing???

Another Gift of Nature

I heard on the TV today that research has shown that time spent in nature is good for your brain. Those who spent time in nature or looked at nature pictures for one hour before testing scored 20 percent higher. Those who spent time outdoors on city streets showed no improvement.

The world that God created for us to live in is amazing. He thought of everything for us! So all of those camping trips, visits to the mountain cabin, the sites of waterfalls, streams, the ocean, and lakes, evening programs with the Park Rangers, the canyons, snow trips, watching for wildlife, and the family hikes they do more for our families than create wonderful memories, and good family fun. Who knew?

Camp Out Cake Walk of Sorts

The kids really enjoyed a game that I made up for one of the activities at the camp out. Last year we had had a unit on the animals of the Southwest. I first reviewed the pictures of the animals from the previous year. It created quite a conversation between us as they all shared the facts that they had remembered about the animals.

We then placed the pictures on the ground in a circle. I gave each child a paper sack for earned prizes. I asked the children not to step on the pictures but to walk in a circle around the pictures until the music stopped. When the music stopped each child had to name the animal that they were standing by. If they answered correctly they were rewarded with a prize from the prize bowl.

The same idea could be made a bit more difficult for older children by asking more challenging questions about the animals or the objects that you choose to use. We also made it more fun by having the children do different actions as they went around the circle or changing the direction of their march. For a few rounds we made certain animals wild, which doubled the prizes, and some animals that voided any prize at all. Everyone was great sports and they all enjoyed this very simple and fun learning activity.

Night Hike 2009

It is tradition that we go on a night hike at our Grandkid's Camp Out. I always change it up a bit each year. We all bundle up in our jackets and we put on our hiking shoes and socks before heading out. I always remind the children to stay together and what to do if a car is on the road.

This year I gave each child a glow necklace to wear. We headed out with just two flashlights this year that Papa and I had but we did not use unless needed. Papa had activated several glow sticks and placed them along the dark streets in our rural neighborhood. We hiked in the darkness under the stars looking for the glowing sticks along the way.

It created a lot of excitement when they spotted the glow in the distance. They really enjoyed the hunt and the thrill of being on a hike at night! Walking back home was quite the light show with seven energetic campers and fourteen fists of glow sticks!