Some of my favorite memories are making Christmas cookies with grandma over the years. The grandparents.com site has a great page for various recipes to try with children in the kitchen! Gluten-Free Recipes, Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, Marshmallows, Snacks! Check it out here! Tips for who should do what are here. Have fun!
Cooking with Children
December 18, 2009
Leave a Comment » | 
Routine Activity | Tagged: Baking with Children, child, Child Cooks, children, Christmas Memories, Cookies, Cooking with Children, family, fun, Gluten-Free Recipes, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Making Christmas Cookies, Marshmallows, Oatmeal Cookies, Routine Activity, Snacks | 
Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
The Regina Brett 50 Life Lessons
December 15, 2009My mom sent me the email version of Regina Brett’s 44 Life Lessons which made me google Regina Brett to explore the truth. Looks like email version ended up playing the Telephone Game (you know, where the phrase that started out ends up so different at the end of the line) – 44 dropped one of the 45 and then it became 50! Regina is a real person and a very remarkable one at that! Click on her name here and you’ll go to her website. She is not 90 years old! The list is now up to 50 – which she made into 50 when she became 50 years old. She is an award-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. She talks about this Life Lessons column on her website as it is her most famous column. I really enjoy her blog as well. Do check it out!
Leave a Comment » | People Who Make A Difference | Tagged: 44 Life Lessons, 45 Life Lessons, 50 Life Lessons, Cleveland, Life Lessons, Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Lower ArrowCreek Weather Station
December 14, 2009The Lower ArrowCreek weather station in Reno, NV, is now reporting online! Woo! Hoo! Check it out here!
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities | Tagged: ArrowCreek, Reno, weather | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Total 19 Inches of Snow in Reno Foothills
December 13, 2009We did not make it out of town today after all. We woke up to a totally white wonderland. The fir trees and evergreens were bending with snow on all their branches. The bare trees were all magically white from the pogonip if not a few inches of clinging snow. Even the weather station was covered in snow. There wasn’t any wind!
Grandpa Ron used the snow blower one more time to get another 9 inches off the driveway! The roads were slushy or icy. All of the roads to get back to LA were requiring chains, snow tires and/or 4 wheel drive. After checking the various weather forecasts, we decided to stay one more night here instead of chancing it on the road as we’ve done before. I think our close call last January made both of us more willing to stay.
So we got the suitcase back out of the car and settled back in. We’ll get out early tomorrow.
Here are four pictures from the gazillion I took. One is from last night (guess which one, ha!) and three from this morning.
Read more of my snowy blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities | Tagged: pogonip, Reno, snow | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Snow, Snow, Snow!
December 12, 2009We certainly are getting lots of snow! Grandpa Ron and I got outside and cleared the drive around noon but we can’t even see the house across the street at times because of the heavy snowfall! Lots of giant fluffy flakes! I guess we’ll be doing it again tonight or maybe we’ll wait till morning. Now the prediction is 3-7 inches more tonight. Grandpa Ron thinks we will still head back to LA tomorrow going out on the desert. Right now the NV DOT map shows snow tires or chains required there, too! I think we will be having another adventure!
Here is a photo of all the snow:
Read more of my snowy blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com
1 Comment | Routine Activity | Tagged: Reno, snow | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
We Made It To Reno!
December 11, 2009For those of you followiing yesterday’s adventure, we made it safely to Reno last night. We needed to get through the mountains by 9 pm. Armed with maps and printed weather.com and NOAA forecasts for the various touchpoints (towns) along our route, we got out of Los Angeles in record time.
After we passed two cars in lanes 2 and 3 going 55 mph along side each other (creating a long backup of traffic behind them like a police traffic break), we sailed on the highway. The 14 was no problem. At the fork in the road in Bishop (continue on 395 or break to the desert on 6), I called my daughter to check the latest weather reports. Everything still looked good to continue on 395 through the mountains.
We didn’t make our usual stop at the Indian casino in Bishop to save time. Highway 395 was spotless although signs were up to watch for ice and bumpers of snow lined the mountain roads. We drove through the entrance of our home development at 8 pm and then met our driveway of 8″ of snow.
Even with 4 wheel drive we couldn’t get over the first incline part of the driveway. So after several futile tries, we left the car at the street and walked up to the house. We got our snow shovels and made two tracks in the powdery snow down to the car. Then the car had no problem!
Grandpa Ron is out there snowblowing the rest as I write this. …and it is snowing once again! Can’t see beyond the houses across the street. It is supposed to snow all weekend!
Current forecast is 1-3″ today, 1-3″ tonight, 3-7″ tomorrow and the second storm arriving Saturday night with 100% chance of snow with no mention of how much. NOAA radio is saying LOTS! We just might not make it back to LA on Sunday! We’ll have to check out going back on the desert again via 95.
Hopefully we will get down the hill to check our mail because I’d love to pick up our expected package containing the logger piece of our weather station so we can go live on the internet! Then we’ll have really local conditions to check up on!
Stay warm!!
Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com
Leave a Comment » | Routine Activity | Tagged: NOAA, weather, Weather Report, weather station | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Today’s Weather Along 395
December 10, 2009This morning I have been trying to find out how much snow is already on the ground around Bishop, Mammoth, Bridgeport and Walker, CA. Another storm is supposedly moving in today but we are trying to anticipate whether we can romp through the region with a 4-wheel drive or if we should take the desert route of 95 to get to Reno. Anyone have any details for us?
Ah, BIGstLittleCity on Twitter helped me out with the forecast out of the Reno Gazette-Journal! And then I found super info on the NOAA site. You just click on the map and it gives you the 7 day forecast! Awesome!! Here is Mammoth, CA! Grab the map with the hand to pull in various directions along the route! 🙂
Here is the site to check CA Road Conditions (CA DOT).
Here is the site to check NV Road Conditions (NV DOT).
Here is SafeTravelUSA.com which is awesome for showing NV road conditions on a map – Here is the index for getting to other states as well. Looks like the various state departments of transportation map road conditions a variety of very different ways! This site is very useful for checking any travel conditions – well worth saving as a bookmark or favorite!
Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/
1 Comment | Places to Explore | Tagged: Bishop, Bridgeport, CA DOT, CA Road Conditions, Highway 395, Mammoth, Mammoth Lake, NOAA, NV DOT, NV Road Conditions, Reno, Road Conditions, SafeTravelUSA.com Road Condition Maps, snow, Walker, weather, Weather Report | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
2009 Seal Beach Holiday Parade
December 9, 2009This year’s Seal Beach Holiday Parade was just as much fun as it has been in the past. Fifteen reading therapy dogs from Beach Animals Reading with Kids (BARK) participated in the parade for the first time and handed out books to children along the parade route on the beautifully decorated Main Street of Seal Beach, CA. The Orange County Register reported that approximately 8,000 people watched the parade. It was a brisk night as reported in another article in the OCR so people cuddled up to stay warm. It still had lots of fun and enjoyment as the floats, dogs, cars and almost 100 groups participated – along with Santa at the end – in the 29th annual event! See OCR photos by clicking the photo tab here.
Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: BARK, child, children, children's books, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Holiday Parades, kids, Places to Go, Reading Therapy Dogs, Seal Beach, Seal Beach Holiday Parade | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
New Papa and Austi Portrait
December 7, 2009I just finished my new portrait of Papa and Austi from this last November. Austin is so content to sit with his grandpa on the balcony and watch for boats on the river.
Check out my other blogs on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com
Leave a Comment » | Special Moments | Tagged: grandchild, grandpa, grandson | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Christmas Gifts for Children
December 6, 2009Grandpa Ron and I went shopping for gifts for the grandkids today.
I was going to write about the experience but then I couldn’t get on wordpress tonight! So, I couldn’t write a blog! Now it is after the magic midnight somewhere (it is only a little after 11 pm in CA where I’m in front of my computer!) and I was able to finally get on! But then it didn’t work right…. So no blog for Saturday but here’s one for Sunday:
I found several websites that have good information about buying Christmas/Holiday toys for kids that are right for their age! That is so important when you don’t want something bad to happen because the kid did something you never dreamed that they would try! Here are the sites I found:
From Kidsafe Australia:
“Age guides for toys are linked to safety and to child development – they are not a measure of intelligence. Although it is tempting to think a child is smart enough for toys suited to an older child, it is safer and wiser to follow the age guides.”
dentalplans.com – a very nice, short, comprehensive blog about choosing safe toys
Hot100ChristmasToys.com by age
topchristmastoysthisyear.com Top Board Games
coolchristmasgifts.net by age
Best Toys Guide.com
fatbraintoys.com by age
christmastoy.wordpress.com on choosing gifts kids will flip over (from 2008)
Check out my other blogs on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com too!
Leave a Comment » | Toys | Tagged: child, children, Christmas Toys for Girls and Boys, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Holiday shopping for Toys, kids, Safe Toys, Top Holiday Toys, Toys, Toys by Age | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 