KNOW-VEMBER: Fun November Facts – “National Peanut Butter Lovers Month”

During the month of November, I will be sharing KNOW-VEMBER: FUN NOVEMBER FACTS from all around the world. Take a few moments from each November day and share the KNOW-VEMBER fun, knowledge, discovery and smiles with your kids and grandkids. ************************************************************************* Day 324 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids:  Fun, Easy & Do-able Daily [...]

How-to Have Grandchildren Fun Without Spending a Dime

There’s a little verse by Robert Louis Stevenson that goes something like this… The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings. I grew up in a simpler time.  I know.  I know.  You’ve all heard this from your parents & grandparents… But it’s [...]

Playing with the sun…

The early-morning Autumn sun came dancing into my windows today… like Mother Nature herself was inviting me to come out to play. I happily accepted Mother Nature’s invitation.  What did I find?  The SUN AT PLAY everywhere I looked as he painted l-o-n-g, magical shadows from everything he touched… This kind of magic doesn’t cost [...]

OCTOBER OBSOLETE: Reviving words that kids will LOVE, like CRINIGEROUS

DAY 274 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids. Obsolete words are no longer in general use and may have fallen out of favor for nearly a century, but who says they can’t be revived by kids who love words? Today’s word is crinigerous (yes, I know I’ve used crinigerous before, but it bears repeating!) [...]

If dogs could talk…

Barry and I are doggie-sitting for Jane and Brian’s two little angels for the weekend… and it’s kind of funny how they haven’t stopped talking since they got here: Ah… I wonder who’s in control here!? Do I really need to answer that? These pups have our hearts… hook, line and CHUCKIT!       [...]

You can give kids the world… but what do they remember?

I should know better. I’m the Mom of 4, a Grandma to 9… and I taught high school English and Reading for 30 years. But it happened again.  Just like it always does… the discovery that kids remember the simplest, the most spontaneous, the most unplanned plans. This time it happened with Alex, my 5-year [...]

Sunday Morning Football (with some in jammies)

What does Pop-up do early Sunday morning when asked to “baby-sit” for an hour or so for 4 grandsons… ages 3, 4, 5 & 6… who happen to be brothers? Why, Sunday Morning Football (with some in jammies), of course! … and yes, WATER BREAKS for everyone! Maybe this Sunday Morning “Jammies” Football will catch [...]

What do you do with 4 little guys on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon? Make Lasagna!

On Monday afternoon, I took my Mom to a doctor’s appointment.  The appointment was to discuss a possible surgery, and I that knew my Mom would benefit from a good dose of dinner at my home with a bunch of great-grandchildren afterwards. Audrey was delighted to bring over her brood and to visit with GrandmaRita, [...]

“Grandpa, how did you do that?”

There’s one thing about climbing a mile, just about straight up, on a gravel pathway and sturdily built staircases that wind in and around the most spectacular natural phenomena of waterfalls, deep pools and twisted trees… THE FLUME in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire… But there’s another thing about Grandpa climbing through a hole in what’s [...]

Being Huck Finn

OK.  It wasn’t St. Petersburg, Missouri or the Mississippi River.  And Tom Sawyer, the Widow Douglas and Jim weren’t there. It was Hale’s Location, New Hampshire and a tiny tributary stream… perhaps stemming from the Saco River.  And two of my grandchildren, Taylor and Andrew, and their Mom, Nicole, were there. Here… This tiny stream [...]

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