Grandchildren – Valerie's Voice

Santa Barbara

Many special memories were created on our recent trip to Santa Barbara. We went to meet our newest granddaughter, born in March. She is beautiful and so very precious. Being with her, and our other two grandchildren, ages 7 & 4, and with our son and daughter-in-love was the best. And we were able to attend grandparents’ day at the two older kid’s school which was a highlight.

We celebrated three generations of birthdays. All three birthdays fell within a week of each other, and within the time we were in California. Grandpa turned 72 on his birthday, and our son had a birthday, as did his daughter, our granddaughter. She turned 7.

We also enjoyed seeing our youngest son who joined us for a few days. We missed his two children and daughter-in-love who stayed back in North Carolina.

We stayed at a European-style villa, about a 9-minute walk to our son’s house. It was a lovely jaunt to begin each morning, and a nice stroll back at the end of the day.

Many flowers were in bloom! I didn’t identify them all with my app, but I did take a lot of pictures. So many interesting kinds and colors…

Succulents were a popular garden plant. I was delighted to see how beautiful they are, with such a variety of shapes and colors.

Of course, an ocean view never gets old. We ate lunch on the harbor a couple of times. It is enchanting…and so picturesque to see all the “boats” docked.

It was fun to see the pelicans fly by, and watch them dive bomb for their dinner. They circle high above the water, then dive straight down, head and beak first, when they spot a tasty morsel.

One afternoon Gary and I descended 200+ steps down Mesa Lane Steps to the beach and walked a mile or so to the next set of steps called One Thousand Steps. On our way up we counted about 150. Apparently the name dates back to a time when there were actually 1,000 small wooden steps.

One can only walk along this section of beach, bordered by sandstone cliffs that jut into the water, during low tide, otherwise water at high tide covers the beach.

Santa Barbara is on a 42-mile stretch of land that faces south on the Pacific Ocean. It is the longest stretch of south-facing coast between Alaska and South America. During a few months, you can see both the sunrise and the sunset in some places.

During our stay, April’s full moon waxed and waned to and from its fullness, shining in all its glory.

Square Dancers

My childhood friend, Diane, called me a couple weeks ago, to wish me a happy birthday. We have exchanged the same birthday card since 1979. It has become a treasure. Diane called to say I would be getting the birthday card late this year, because she was “snow birding” in Florida and forgot to bring the card along to send to me from there.

It was fun to chat with her awhile, and catch up on our kids. She told me this story.

In 1953, my father built this house that I grew up in.

When Diane’s mother passed away, several years after her father died, Diane’s son bought his grandparent’s house. So, he now lives in the house where Diane grew up, and across the street from the house where I grew up, in Northeast Minneapolis. It’s wonderful to know the house is still in her family. Her parents built their house in the early 1950’s, as did mine.

A special wall painting discovered under the paneling.

Diane told me her son has done a lot of updating and remodeling of the McKinley Street house, and currently he’s working in the basement. He began tearing the old paneling off the walls. Underneath he found the typical cement blocks, but also a surprise.

Taking care to preserve this special painting.

Back in the late 50’s, Diane’s father painted two life-size square dancers on the cement block wall. I had forgotten about them, but remembered them as soon as Diane mentioned it. A few years later, when her dad finished off their basement, he covered up the square dancers with paneling. Diane recalls that when her dad covered up the painting with paneling…he said, “it will be interesting for someone to discover these dancers someday.”

A moisture control was brushed over the wall painting, to help persevere the painting.

As Diane’s son was tearing down the paneling, lo and behold, he exposed the painting of the square dancers.

Little did Diane’s father know at the time, it would be his own grandson who would discover his special treasure on the wall, under the paneling!

March Celebrations

Our family has many reasons to celebrate lately.

Our fifth grandchild, Mila Hope, was born on March 19. A sweet, healthy baby girl.

I celebrated my 71^st birthday on March 20^th.

Gary and I are celebrating our 46^th wedding anniversary today, March 25.

Our two grandsons celebrated their birthdays this month.

And, we celebrate Easter early this year…March 31.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow….

Painting Rocks

On our recent trip to visit our son and his family in North Carolina, I brought along my rock painting materials. I had collected several smooth stones for the grandkids to paint, and I prepared them ahead of time by painting the background black.

We set up our work area by placing a cheap, plastic table cloth over the kitchen island. We put on old t-shirts to protect our clothing.

We took out the paints and put a few drops of paint in each indention of the little palettes I brought along. We set out our paint brushes, and a glass of water in a plastic glass to clean our brushes in-between colors. Then we sat down to paint.

We each painted about 6-8 rocks with non-toxic acrylic paints. We painted some designs but mostly words (and some design with words). Our intent was to bring them on our next hike and place each stone strategically along a path for others to find the painted rocks.

The kids loved that idea, although they did want to keep a couple rocks for themselves. I sprayed lacquer, to set the paint color, on the two they wanted to keep.

The next day we went to the near-by nature preserve, which we visit often. On our hike we stopped occassionally, to place a painted rock on the ground next to the trail, hoping someone would enjoy finding these special treasures.

I know I always enjoy finding positive messages in unexpected places. A good time was had by all, and hopefully for those who find the rocks.

Hiking

The grandkids have gone home and the Christmas decorations and beautiful Christmas tree have been taken down, and it feels too quiet in the house.

A brochure with a map was at one entrance to the trail.

Nature always offers healing energy and is good for the soul, so we have done some hiking to help move on and to take advantage of this mild December/January weather (and no ice).

Over the past few days, we have hiked at Big Woods Nerstrand State Park, walked the Dundas Trail and on paved paths in the north section of town, and hiked in the lower Carleton arb with the Faribo Flyers bike club. There is a lot of evidence of beaver activity along the river in the lower arb…well over 50 trees taken down.

Swirls of white snow and ice make pretty pattern on Heath Creek.

We also hiked on a trail in the St. Olaf College Natural lands. There is a well-defined, wooded trail that meanders along Heath Creek, and it is a hidden gem. The winter landscape is pretty for this time of year; there is light snow and ice forming patterns around the rocks in the creek, the forest floor is full of brown oak leaves. The water is flowing strong and you can hear the sound of the babbling brook as you walk along side it.

There are many mature oak trees on the trail, and some with unusual characteristics that is noticeable without its foliage. One has a branch growing straight out from the trunk, another tree has six sturdy trunks coming from one lone trunk. A very huge oak tree has fallen over the river…the enormous root system upended on one side of the creek, the trunk laying across the creek, and the upper part of the tree with its large branches on the other side of the creek…it almost could be a bridge across. (I couldn’t capture it on photo).

This oak tree has a branch growing out at a perpendicular level.

We had hiked this trail before, maybe a year ago, but now that we’ve rediscovered it, I think we will be hiking it more often.

I didn’t recognize this reddish tree. My app told me it was a red cedar.

It’s nice to have so many green spaces (natural spaces – as they are not so green in the winter) to access within such a short distance of Northfield. Each hike this week was enjoyable in its own way, and rejuvenating.

Good medicine for the soul.

A Gingerbread Manger Scene

When our sons were growing up we had an annual tradition, with another family, of decorating and assembling a gingerbread manger scene. Our friends had the cookie cutout kit that included cutouts for: a stable, Joseph and Mary, Baby Jesus in the manger, kings and camels and other animals. It was a fun activity for the whole family. Then, the five kids grew up and went their different ways.

When my friend moved from her home of 30+ years the gingerbread manger scene resurfaced. And she made the gingerbread manger scene with her grandchildren.

The first step…creating the stable from gingerbread…”glued” together with royal frosting ahead of time.

I asked her to outline the pieces of the set for me so I could try to recreate it with two of my grandchildren who were coming to stay with us for the holidays. I made the gingerbread dough and “royal” frosting (the glue) and cut out the stable pieces. Gary assembled the stable ahead of time to let it set.

Second step: After baking, we all helped decorate the manger scene cookies.

Then I cut out the paper figures my friend had given me, and placed them on the gingerbread dough and tried to cut around the outline. It was not easy, and when I pulled the paper up from the dough, some of it stuck to the paper. The pieces were a bit mangled, but then… Mary and Joseph were probably a little mangled when they finally got to the stable. I persevered, and continued cutting around the paper patterns.

Third step: Pasting the figures to the stable with the royal frosting.

The figures turned out ok – although I reduced the numbers to one king and one camel (not three), and two animals (not several… ) I baked them ahead of time so all that was left to do was decorate and assemble.

The finish: A very creative gingerbread manger scene.

We had a lot of fun creating our masterpiece, that depicted the wonderful story of Jesus’ birth.

Christmas Cards

The “old-fashion” Christmas card is not as prevalent as they used to be. Many of us have started sending photo cards, which we find are easy to create (after a time when they were not so easy to create) and now are readily available.

For a while we slowed down on sending Christmas cards, but when the grandchildren came along we decided to make photo cards to share pictures of them with our family and friends (since I think they are the cutest grandkids in the world)!

A fun favorite this year since I’ve been helping to feed horses on a farm, and discovered a newfound liking for these beautiful animals!

But, there are still so many traditional and beautiful Christmas cards. I enjoy looking at the myriad of designs: from doves to the Christ Child, Snoopy to Santa, snowmen to Christmas trees. A relevant message inside is welcomed too.

Christmas cards are hard to throw away, however I can’t keep them either. I already have boxes of cards and letters I’ve received over the years…from Gary, family and friends.

A three- dimensional poinsettia on velvety card stock.

This Christmas card is unique with a wonderful picture and an Irish Blessing on front.

One way I extend the joy of Christmas cards is by using them as name tags on presents the next year. They really do dress up a package. This year I’m using the pictures from last year’s beautiful cards.

I enjoy using last year’s Christmas cards for this year’s gift tags.

It’s fun to see them again. This was not my idea. My mother did this when I was growing up, and so I’ve continued the practice.

I recently used the picture from a Christmas card to write out a recipe. I cut the card to the size I needed and wrote the recipe on the blank side, the back side of the picture. The recipe was requested from a Christmas brunch so it seemed fun and appropriate.

I’ve used blank sides of picture cards for sending notes to others, too.

I hope I can think of more ways to use these lovely cards.

Fun Run

I planned to attend the annual Fun Run at our grandchildren’s elementary school in North Carolina. I was the solo caretaker of our two grandchildren for a couple of days during our recent visit. Gary, and our two sons, were on a scheduled hiking trip, and our daughter-in-law was out of town.

After I dropped the kids off at school, I was stopped at a traffic light waiting for it to turn green. Rush hour traffic was whizzing by. When the light turned green, instead of turning right or left like all the others, I drove straight ahead into the McDowell Nature Preserve, a lovely 1,100-acre sanctuary, along Lake Wylie.

I drove along the winding road through a canopy of trees that were starting to show their beautiful fall colors. I left behind all those people scurrying to and fro, and I was the only one on this park road.

Falls colors in the misty, morning light.

I stopped at the lake and enjoyed the morning mist hovering over the water, as I sipped coffee to pass the time until the fun run would begin. It was peaceful. After a half an hour I retraced my tracks and and crossed the busy street again. Traffic had slowed down by then.

A house on the other side of the lake becoming visible in the misty morning.

The Fun Run was getting underway and the kids were excited. I was happy to be there to cheer them on. I thought to myself, if only we could harness this energy… multitudes of 2 and 3^rd graders on a football field shouting and running and having a good time…that’s a lot of energy!

As I entered the field, I made a quick stop at a table set up to create posters to help cheer on your student.

While cheering from the sidelines, I was greeted by, and talked with, a family from our son’s neighborhood, who recognized me. A few minutes later I saw another “bus stop” mom (I like to walk with the kids to the bus stop in the mornings). As the kids were filing out of the field one of the students from their bus stop recognized me as Zoey’s grandma and said “Hi”. It was pleasant surprise to be warmly welcomed by more than one person, at this event, when I was not expecting to see anyone I knew. A fun run, indeed.

We enjoyed our quick visit with our grandchildren. It was hard to say good-bye; especially this time, since we were heading to a forecasted 30 degree temperatures in Minnesota, and leaving a forecasted 80 degree temperatures in Charlotte!

I Jumped In

My love language is quality time. So as I looked around at our two sons, their wives, and our four adorable grandchildren, gathered together “up north” at a house on Leech Lake, my heart was full. It was a blessing for me and Gary to have all ten of us together in the same place for a few days!

A beautiful metal design of Leech Lake on the wall in the house. Leech Lake is one of the largest lakes in Minnesota.

It was fun seeing the four cousins together (ages 8, 7, 6, and 3). They immediately connected and had a blast playing with each other: running around, creating secret forts, playing games, digging in the dirt and, of course, time on the boat; swimming and fishing.

The pontoon boat is tied at the end of the dock.

We enjoyed fires, one in an indoor fireplace the first night, and others outside in a fire-pit.

The nice, permanent fire-pit with comfortable chairs for everyone.

We were able to take several pontoon boat rides; this was one of my favorite things to do. I love being on the water. The kids fished off the pontoon boat and Gary, the biggest kid, caught the biggest fish.

We anchored the boat in a spot for swimming. And I jumped into the lake! I’m not sure when the last time I jumped out of a boat and into water. Jumping into the lake was a pretty common activity for me during my growing up years…but not so much now.

But I did it so I could go swimming with the grandkids. They were a great incentive, and it was fun!

Gathering around a big table each night, and eating dinner, was very special. What a wonderful thing to do, to set apart time and all sit down and eat good food together.

The large dining room table in the center of the “cabin”.

I will cherish the memories we created up north. I am so grateful for this undivided time we had together.

Ordinary Days

Our trip to North Carolina fell over our grandchildren’s spring break, so they were off school the ten days we were there. It was a special time, especially celebrating Easter with them, but it was an ordinary time too.

The kids watching the rafters and paddle boarders at Whitewater Center.

We didn’t do anything spectacular, it was nice just hanging out. We did visit Whitewater Center, a national training center for whitewater rafting, paddle boarding, kayaking, rock climbing and mountain bike riding.

The first hurdle in the children’s challenging obstacle course.

Mastering the children’s obstacle course at the Whitewater Center.

Whitewater Center was very interesting place, and the kids had fun tackling an obstacle course geared towards children.

We always explore the nature preserve that is close to their home, and this time we used walkie talkies that we brought along from Minnesota. That was a hit.

Before we left home, we asked the kids if there was anything they wanted us to bring from Minnesota and Ezra immediately said, “a snowball.” Although he was thinking the real thing, we brought a dozen soft, cotton-ball style snowballs and had a surprise snowball fight one warm and sunny afternoon!

Our outdoor workspace, creating fun pictures.

Another time Zoey and I sat on the back veranda and made paper-cut-out pictures. It was fun to sit and create something out of nothing. We both enjoyed it, and I think I want to continue doing more of that.

Displaying “my” picture on our refrigerator. 😉

I just need to give myself permission to sit down and do it by myself…either use color crayons or colored pencils, cut out paper, or use markers, try drawing…just being creative. It was fun, relaxing and fed my soul, and I hope to do more of it.