Welcome to a place where we can share ideas about grandparenting, especially ways to pass spiritual values and family stories to the next generation.

Mary is the co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart.
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Co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Making Sugar Cookies


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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

This year Pops and I started something new with the grandkids—spending individual time with each grand, either a weekend or an entire day.

Last Friday our oldest granddaughter and I had a wonderful day together. It began with a friend giving her an art lesson and ended with picking blackberries and baking cookies.

Baking the cookies took me down memory lane. I found the very recipe that my mother had taught me ... the one that her mother had shared with her. I told my granddaughter about Mom bringing a batch sugar cookies to Pops and me when our oldest son (our granddaughter's dad) was born. When Mom did that, she was speaking the language of love.

There's something special about passing down a family recipe to yet another generation!

Have you shared a family recipe with your legacy?


Mamoo’s Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
5 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 or more tsp. vanilla

Cream butter with sugar. Add eggs.
Shift flour and baking powder and add.
Finally, add vanilla. 
Chill and then slice. 
Bake in 350 degree oven.


Have a great week,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux

Article and Photo © 2012 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Lemonade Recipes, Smoothies, and More


Friday's Grand Connection Thought

Not too long ago I took a trip down memory lane when I had a cup of "free" lemonade recently in our neighborhood.

Well, I searched the Internet for lemonade recipes and crafts and found some links that I'd like to share.

My favorite discovery was a recipe for a Strawberry-Orange Smoothie that uses vanilla soymilk. A couple of our grandkids drink soy milk, and I was really excited to find this recipe on www.eatbetteramerica.com. I've adapted it slightly below:

Strawberry-Orange Smoothies for Two

1 1/2 cups vanilla soymilk
1 bag (10 oz.) frozen strawberries (partially thawed)
1 medium banana, cut in chunks
1/3 cup orange juice
Honey as desired

Place the above ingredients together and blend on high speed until smooth (about a minute). Sweeten with honey. Pour into two glasses and serve immediately.

Here are some more recipes or lemonade crafts that you and your grand may want to try:

Sparkling Strawberry-Lemonade Slush


Perfect Lemonade Recipe


Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade


Lemonade Stand Bank


Lemonade for Sale Poster


Lemonade Stand Sales Tracker

Have a great weekend!
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© Mary Mary Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Vladimir Mucibabic / Dreamstime.com

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

A birthday surprise

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

Heart-to-heart celebrations and making memories go hand in hand. I was reminded of this after I posted last Friday's Grand Connection, "A teaparty keepsake."

After reading it, my dear friend Rita sent me an e-mail that I just have to share with you. "On my 80th birthday," she began, my four daughters decided to come for a birthday surprise." Rita's husband told her to wear something nice, but she had no idea what her daughters were cooking up for mom.

After driving to several places in Rita's hometown, the "girls" took her to a local hotel known for its high teas. "When we entered," she said, "I saw four young ladies seated at the tea table. I began to recognize faces beneath their lovely hats. They even had a hat for me."

Rita said that it was a wonderful birthday gift, one that reminded her of her mother's afternoon teas many years ago. "Each day, upon our return home from school around four o'clock in the afternoon, my mother carried a hot pastry from the oven and served her six children and a few cousins hot tea with dessert."

She said that her mother was following the example of her own mother and grandmother, a tradition that she had repeated with her own children.

On Rita's special birthday her daughters recalled those long-ago afternoon teas with their mom, and they gave her a wonderful memory. One Rita says she will never forget. One that her daughters and granddaughters will always remember.

    "Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past."
                                                           (Deuteronomy 32:7)


Have a great week,
Mary
www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2012 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Liz Van Steenburgh / Dreamstime.com

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Big Mess

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

Not too long ago when Pops and I babysat for two of our grands, our granddaughter decided to go through the toy cabinet. She was really excited about all that she found there. Before I knew it, she had dumped out the puzzles—I think there were about twenty.

What a mess! And there was no way that she could put all of the puzzles back together without some help.

After a prayer for patience and a reminder that God can work out everything for good, I assured her that I would help. My job was to put the correct pieces with the correct puzzle. Her job was to put each puzzle together. We made a good team and eventually everything was back together, and the toy chest was neater than it had been in a long, long time.

As my little granddaughter and I worked to clean up the big mess, I thought of how my life at times seems like the pile of mismatched puzzle pieces. Sometimes I just don't know where to turn and need someone to show me the way.

I hope that our grandchildren will turn to Pops and me as they get older and need a little advice or an extra hand. What a privilege it will be to help them sort the pieces of life ... to point them to the One who knows the way. The One who has helped me sort so many messes in my life.

How has God helped you sort the messes of life?

Have a great week,

Mary
www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: © Anatoly Tiplyashin / Dreamstime.com