Archive for Featured
Poppa and The Shwing Set – Take Two
Posted by: | CommentsOur granddaughter’s birthday is in August and last year we got her a swing set. In case you don’t remember the shwing set (her pronunciation) saga you can read about it here. http://nanahood.com/poppa-and-the-shwing-set
All last fall and though the winter the swing set looked like this….
My son and I finally came to the conclusion that while Poppa had the best intentions in the world, he simply didn’t have the time for such a massive project and so we hired a family friend to help my son put it together. For weeks there have been parts strewn throughout my basement. The instructions said it would take two men 40 hours to put it together. When I mentioned that to my son’s friend he laughed and pointed out that it actually said “two skilled men 40 hours,” and assured me it would take them longer, and it did but it was worth it. Yesterday I had my camera ready when Abby saw the swing set for the first time.
Priceless
I’m not sure my son or his friend will ever want to help put another one of these together, but that’s okay because this one should last awhile.
Looking through the telescope just to see what she can see
So, do you want to come over to my house and play?
“>Grandparents in the White House
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that Michelle Obama’s mother is not the first grandparent to live in the White House? I didn’t, but I was reading an article today and according to it Ulysses S. Grant’s father-in-law, Frederick Dent, lived there for a few years. Harry S. Truman’s mother-in-law, Madge Gates Wallace, moved in despite her dislike for Truman. Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, Edith, had both her mother, Sally Bolling, and sister, Bertha, live with them.
Marian Robinson, Mrs. Obama’s mother, lived in Chicago all her life and was reluctant to move to Washington, but now is enjoying living there.
According to AARP, Mrs. Robinson’s move to the White House puts the Obamas in the same category with at least 1 million American families in which the head of the household shares the home with both his or her parents and children.
Multigenerational living arrangements are becoming more common, rising to 6.2 million households in 2008, up from 5 million in 2000.
My grandmother lived with us for several years and the experience enriched the whole family. Do any of you have grandparents living with you? If so, share your story with us at Nanahood. We’d love to hear from you!
Nana’s Lap (Book Review)
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever known a child that didn’t wiggle…at least a little bit? Wenda the Wacky Wiggler by Christopher Aslan is about a little girl who loves to dance to music, but the town where she lives doesn’t like sounds or dancing! The mayor gets rid of all music. Even birds aren’t allowed to sing, but that still doesn’t stop Wenda because she learns an important lessons: she has the song of her heart inside her!
If you moms or grandmothers know a child that wiggles (and I’m betting you do). This is a great book to share with them.
Now a book for Nana
A few weeks ago a lady emailed me and asked me if I would read her book and review it. Last week I received it in the mail. The title is 70 is the New 40 and it was written by Barbara Penn-Atkins. I looked at the cover and immediately wanted to be friends with the author. She’s a beautiful lady who doesn’t look a day over 50 and she is driving a bright red convertible. I don’t know about you but I don’t know too many 70 year old women who cruise around in convertibles…but why shouldn’t they? (Besides the fact that it’s murder on your hair)
And that’s really the premise of the book. If you want to do something after you retire, why shouldn’t you? If you want to work part -time or start your own business, why shouldn’t you?
Ms. Penn-Atkins is a Certified Retirement Transition Coach, award winning speaker and she conducts workshops that offer insights to retirement readiness, life options and changing careers. For anyone nearing retirement or thinking about “What do I do next?” this book is a great guide and motivator.
What about you? Have you read a good book lately? What’s your favorite book from your childhood?
Let us know at NanaHood!
Random Thoughts from Teresa before Char Posts more Random Links
Posted by: | CommentsChar does Friday posts so I am sort of jumping into the water without her permission here but I am guessing she won’t mind if I go first today and she can follow later. We are, after all, in different time zones. I’m in Kentucky and Char is in Nevada and even though we work together….we have never met! We intend to one day soon but so far it hasn’t been possible. I had a few random thoughts I wanted to share and I am hoping you (dear reader) won’t mind two posts today. After all, who doesn’t love two for the price of one!
First random thought….
A few weeks ago I told you about taking my granddaughter to feed the ducks and all we had to feed them was french fries. Abby insisted on dipping them in ketchup before she fed them to the ducks. Last weekend Nick made pancakes for everyone and we had left over pancakes so guess what we fed the ducks that day?
Yes, those are floating pancakes and no we didn’t put syrup on them!
FYI- Ducks love pancakes.
For those of you who do not live in Kentucky and don’t know or understand March Madness and the importance of UK Basketball, let me caution you that if you ever go to a UK game and they were to lose (which rarely ever happens!) DO NOT MAKE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: “Oh well, it’s just a game.”
In Kentucky any game that UK plays is NOT just a game.
Kentucky plays today in the SEC Tournament and I can assure you that all over the state people will be taking a long lunch break today in front of a television set.
My friend Tricia's grandson Jacob is a UK fan!
We start them young in Kentucky. Before most little boys and girls can walk they are given a basketball, a UK tee shirt and taught to spell “CAT” as in “UK Wildcats.”
Go Cats!!! And thanks Tricia for teaching your grandson which team to cheer for!
Small Town Heroes
Posted by: | CommentsYears ago when my husband and I decided to move back to my home town I remember telling him that sometimes living in a small town feels like living in a fish bowl, everyone knows your business (or thinks they know) sometimes even before you know it. He laughed at my concerns and reminded me that the town he grew up in wasn’t much larger than mine.
Bill and I have lived here since 1981 and neither of us have ever regretted the move. What makes this community so special? A whole host of things, but for now I want to focus on the people.
My sons play basketball and this past season one of their team mate’s brother (who plays on the freshman team) was diagnosed with bone cancer. His name is Logan and he is 15 years old.
Logan and friends at blood drive
His parents are good friends of mine and when I asked what I could do to help they mentioned that they would like to have a blood drive in their son’s honor. Tuesday of this week the “Lots of Love for Logan” blood drive was held and it was a great success because of the wonderful people in this community.
Yes, small towns are fish bowls but when needs arise there is no better place to be than right here in this tiny town in the middle of south central Kentucky.
Big city folks sometimes underestimate the power of the people who dot the country side. When I called the Red Cross workers in Lousiville and told the gentleman there that we wanted to host a blood drive he said, “How many do you think you will have donate?” I replied, “At least one hundred, maybe more.”
There was a long pause.
“I don’t want to argue with you miss, but we have had blood drives in your county before and you will be lucky to get 50 people there.”
They set our goal at 50 and brought a few extra bags, just in case.
We had 50 donors before 4 o’clock and the drive just started at 12! To make a long story short they ran out of bags and we had to take names and phone numbers of people who came so we can invite them when we hold the next one. If they had brought enough bags (dare I say I told you so!) we would have had about 150 donors!
So let me say it loud and clear, SMALL TOWNS ROCK! Some of the kindest, sweetest, people in the world live right here in my little corner of the world and I am so very proud to call them friends and neighbors!
Yes, it is possible to text while you are donating blood!
The next time there is a blood drive in your community, give the gift of life and tell them Logan sent you! He’s certainly inspired a lot of people around here to donate blood and there are lots of kids (and adults) out there who need us to take a few moments out of our day and donate.
