Beat the Winter Blues...just getting ready!

I talk to so many people that live in the Midwest just like I do. We can tend to have LONG winters with days upon days without sun that can start in Dec and go until March. BUT being in a extreme rural area makes it a little different for me, because so many other Midwesterners that I talk to live in a place where they little stores, coffee shops, and other interesting places to gravitate to during the long winter days.

I have always longed to have a cozy ‘knitting’ coffee shop to go to for a few hours to break up those winter dark days. There is nothing like that with in close driving distance of me. So it tends to make my mine wonder to what I DO!

I never think of myself as having ‘empty nest syndrome’ but must admit that my house is very quiet and inactive since all my children are grow and out of the house. My grandchildren have come into my life as my youngest daughter graduated high school and went on to college so there was not much down time, but my grandkids don’t live next door so looking for ‘stuff’ to do is still part of my mind set.

Talking to a close friend, we have both  have shared what we can DO about this winter dark day issue to keep our minds moving and feel we are doing more than just sitting in our houses day after day.

We have decided to set aside each Wednesday and do sewing for charity. Lucky for us, there is a Project Linus group in a town only 30 miles from us so we will have a place to drop off all the baby blankets we can make.

I don’t know if we will be very productive when all is said and done or if we can stick to our ‘every Wednesday’ schedule, but you can check back with me in March. I will be very truthful, if our Beat the Winter Blues idea worked!

http://www.projectlinus.org/

Following My Path

I never realized how lucky I was to know 3 of my grandparents, both grandfathers and maternal grandmother. As I have grown up, I talk to others that have no memories of their grandparents, lived too far apart to have be part of their lives, or they were separated by family conflicts.


I have thought so much about the things my grandmother taught me and how much she handed on by sharing her time and life with me.


As I was cleaning today, my mind started to wander and I thought of all the things I can DO because of her. It is certainly my goal to hand on these same things to my grandchildren too! Right not my three grand daughters are 3 years old, 2 years old and 5 months old. SO I have awhile to wait for them to grow into some of these projects, but hopefully they will be able to spend time with me in the years to come so we can have fun doing all kinds of things together that they will hand on to their children and grandchildren some day!


Here is just part of a list...but over the next few months I hope to blog about all these subjects and projects that my grandma did with me.

Gardening

Canning summer produce

Making jam and jelly

Baking German Christmas Cookies

Sewing

Darning

Baking Bread

Making Donuts

Embroidery

Making pies

Making noodles

Visiting

Volunteering

Remembering those that have gone before us

Huxley is not quite 2 years old, so I have will have to wait a little while to be doing lots of handed down fun things from my grandmother's list...but for now going to fun outings and watching her enjoy cotton candy is on the top of my list!

Smile for TODAY!!

I had just hit the post button on my post when my phone rang!


It was Annie [my 3 year old granddaughter] calling me from their campground four hours away! She told me they forgot their marshmellows and wanted to know if I could bring them on Saturday since they are having a campfire and they don't have marshmellows! How cute is that. 


She told me she has a big playground and she is having lots of fun. She loves it there! She had to go, since they were going to go swimming now! 

It made my day to hear her voice!

When you least expect it..you get a lift for the day! 

Saying Good Bye

I have not blogged since the end of June. I BIG no no in the blogging world. But for the past weeks, I was lucky enough to have my youngest son and his family living on our property in their new 'home on wheels'!


I was spending my time playing with my granddaughters and just hanging out with my son and his wife!


They had closed their apartment and stayed here for 3 weeks while they waited for their departure date for him to start his next job sight. He works for a wind power company and therefore works all over the country on large wind turbines. 


After the birth of their second daughter in March, he was offered 6 more weeks of work in the field. They talked it over and thought that it was best for their future to not give up that 6 weeks salary. At the time there was no way for him to know, being away as a 3 week old baby grew into a 9 weeks old would be so hard. By the time he got back home, she was smiling and cooing and he knew he had missed out on more than he thought he would. So they continued to move toward the plan of going on the road together as a family!


The lucky part for ME was to have them living a few feet from our house for 3 weeks! To be able to spend time with the girls [3 years old and 4 months old] was something I will have in my heart always! 


It also gave me a time to spend with my daughter in law. Since she lived about 3 hours from us, we did have a few days here and there. I would go stay with them after the baby was born and my son was still on the road and they would come here for a few days too. BUT to have them here for breakfast and evenings  for 3 weeks was just WONDERFUL! 


Finally the day come and it was time for them to pack up and leave. The job sight was closer to home this time and they are only 4 hours from us which will make it possible for us to visit once a month for sure...but saying goodbye was really hard. 


Just knowing they are all together is what is the most important part. And for a 'grandma' that is just another lesson in thinking of my children and my grandchildren first. Not to be selfish and put my feelings first. 

Seems putting your children first is something parents just DO! 

A new world

There comes a time, as a mother, that your children end up going on to college, jobs and marriage. It always is interesting how mothers react to these changes in their lives.


For me, as a mother of five, my house was always full of not only my own children but their friends as well. So we had lots of things going on almost all the time. There were sleepovers, school projects, movie nights and a list that just didn't stop for YEARS. Since there are 15 years between the birth of my oldest and my youngest. There were LOTS of years with LOTS of days with my house full of voices and laughter.


I had lots of people tell me I would have empty nest issues. I thought about it myself and wondered..........


In fact, my youngest did an online public school and spent everyday home with me from second grade until her graduation in 2010. SHE even worried about me missing her so much that I could not adjust!


Don't get me wrong...I miss my kids being in the house a lot! And would not trade the time I spent as a stay at home mom for anything......BUT


Yes, the big BUT...I knew that it was now time to move on. It was my time to find what I wanted to do with my time since the driving to fieldtrips, sporting events, PSEO classes and play dates were over. 


After my daughter's graduation in 2010, I didn't really know where to start. I didn't want to 'make a plan'. I didn't want to make any kind of a choice of what to 'do' next! 


Everyone always has LOTS of ideas to 'share' with me what 'they' think I should do....go back to school, get a job, and that list goes on and on. 


But in the end I knew I was going to have to see what direction "I" wanted to go with my life and as I sit here on June 23, 2011...I am getting closer to finding what "I" want to do each day!


One things I have been blessed with is being a grandma. My first born grand daughter, Huxley, was born on September 29, 2009. And soon after that, my son developed a relationship with his now partner that had a 2 year old daughter, Annie. On March 8, 2011 they added Bryce Marie to their family! So having 3 grand daughters over the last 2 years, has made me a grandmother!


These three little people changed my life so much, that all those 'what do I do now' thoughts have changed my direction.


I knew I didn't want to go back to college, get a 8-5 job or wander too far from home.

It is my new "Grandma's World"..and I am loving it!