[Editorial note: We are pleased to feature Grandma Marlene Kaiser as a guest writer. She has 17 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild, and stays connected with them through her personal blog.]

I started a blog as an older grandparent, to express to my grandchildren my beliefs, and the family stories. This is a wonderful way to share with them, since everyone is so busy. They all have very little time. I try to add to my blog every Sunday. I currently am talking about miracles I have seen. This has been a journey for me. In pondering and thinking about miracles, I have come to appreciate the world so much more.

Expressing my thoughts has required I think about those I am writing for, and also those I am writing about. I try to write just two or three paragraphs and keep it to one subject, so that it isn’t too much reading at any one time.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. ~Charles R. Swindoll

I still work, but we have 5 wonderful children, grown grandchildren and we now have one great grandchild. When I was growing up, I knew my grandparents, and one great grandmother, plus much more extended family. This is not so with the younger generations, so a blog is a great way to connect. I encourage other grandparents to jump in and blog too. It is work and takes some study, but get started and watch it grow as you grow and learn. My blog is rgkaiserfamily.com. Visitors are welcome!

Grandma Kaiser

Visit Grandma Kaiser’s blog.

We want to here from you. Tell us about your blog our family website where you share your life with your grandchildren? Please leave a comment below.

Share this with family and friends. Email a link to this page, or use this bookmark button:

Welcome to our blog! Please take a moment to subscribe to our RSS feed. It's a great way to get updates.

Technorati Tags: blogging, family, grandchild, grandparent, technology

Snapfish.com is offering The Oprah Winfrey Show viewers a free 8″ x 11″ photo book! It’s a 20-page custom-cover book, printed from your own digital photos. You upload photos to Snapfish, organize them the way you want. They print the book and mail it to you.

Here’s a quote from Oprah’s website about what to do with the growing piles children’s art projects. “Take digital photos of their artwork, upload them to Snapfish.com, and they will send you back a beautiful, bound book of the kids’ artwork. So, over time, you can build a library of your children’s artwork—let the pieces go, but keep them in this form forever.”

Now I’m putting my “Grandparent glasses” on, as Shayne likes to say. I’m thinking, “What’s in it for me as a grandma?” You know all those digital photos of your cute grandkids you get by email or on family websites? Why not create a photo book from those photos? You could give it to your grandchildren’s parents or your spouse as a Christmas present — or give yourself a gift. You could also use Snapfish’s suggestion to create a photobook of children’s art. For me, that means grandchildren. I’m making a photobook this weekend.

If God had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers. ~Linda Henley

So grab your computer, have fun, and be creative! Here’s how to proceed…

1. Collect the best digital photos you’d like to use for the project. If you like, you could create a temporary with a copy of them, and trash the folder when you’re done.
2. Sign up for your free Snapfish account. (Other services work in a similar way.)
3. Read Snapfish’s tips for working with children’s art.
4. Start your project online and choose a page theme.
5. Upload your photos.
6. Create your book online.
7. Preview it and check out. (You pay for shipping.)

There you are! You’ve just made a one-of-a-kind photo gift.

Now, to receive this free offer, you need to act fast and sign up before midnight (PST) tonight, November 14, 2008. Then you need to create your book this weekend, by Sunday, November 16, 2008, before midnight (PST). *

So click here to over to Oprah’s site and read the (short) details. Then click on the “Get your free book” link there to create a Snapfish.com account or log in to your existing account.

Have fun! - Grammy Tanda

[ * UPDATE: Receive this notice from Snapfish: Due to the amazing popularity of our free book offer, we've extended the time you have to create your free book to 11:59pm PST on Saturday, November 22nd.]

Technorati Tags: artwork, creativity, grandchild, grandparent, oprah, photobook, photos

Do you like surfing the web to find articles and tips about grandparenting? There’s a lot of useful information on the WWW. Grandpa Shayne and I are always looking for fun way to connect with the grandkids. We’ve collected some of our favorite Halloween web pages for grandparents.

Halloween is a wonderful time to share with the family. It’s especially fun to see the grandkids all dressed up in their favorite costumes. Here’s a photo of our 6 month old grandbaby in the cute costume I bought at 60% off. Hey, I’m like my mom, always looking for a bargain!

A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween. ~Erma Bombeck

I teach family and consumer science, I’ve always admired Erma Bombeck. She was such a practical homemaker.

Shayne is a Cub Master, and one of his Weblos is a budding artist named Zac Willberg. He draws comics and publishes them on Zac’s Cartoon Cave blog. Shayne commissioned Zac to draw a special comic strip for today’s Halloween post. Boo is the main character (a ghost). Ancient is his girlfriend (a mummy). Today, there’s a special guest appearance by Boo’s Grandma.

Halloweenies by Zac Willberg

One of our favorite cartoons by Zac is his Charlie Brown Halloween.

Before you leave, be sure to subscribe to our Grandparents TLC feed.

Favorite family-friendly web pages with ideas for grandparents

Nana’s Corner - Halloween recipes and poems

Nana Finds - Special halloween books for grandchildren and Ideas for homemade Halloween costumes

Joan Adams - collection of fun Halloween songs and lyrics. (Joan says “I hope you all have as much fun with this site as I have! We love to sing with the grandchildren! Our two are 5 and 6 years old, so they are the perfect age for learning all the fun Halloween favorites! Enjoy!”)

Grandma Ideas - Halloween ideas for grandchildren

Grandmother Wren - Family Alternatives to Halloween

SandwichINK - Sharing God’s Love on Halloween

LoveMyGrandchild - Halloween ideas

FamilyCorner - Lots of Halloween ideas

ParentHacks - Best Parent Hacks (tips and ideas that work for grandparents too)

GroupCard - Free Halloween ecards (the whole family can sign an ecard)

Bluemountain - Free Halloween ecards (free month trial)

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids - Halloween Activities for Children (halloween coloring pages, printables, worksheets, craft projects, games and puzzles, online games, pumpkin carving patterns, recipes)

Babble - Just in Time for Halloween: How to Make Your Own Slime

Radiant Ideas - Tips for going green this Halloween

What are some of your favorite Halloween web pages? You are welcome to add your family-friendly link in your comment.

Have a fun Halloween! - Grammy Tanda

Hey, I’m on twitter now!

Please help us reach more readers by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

Technorati Tags: activity, cartoon, connect, ecards, family, family-frendly, grammy, grandbaby, grandchild, grandkids, grandma, grandmother, grandpa, grandparent, halloween, tip, website

Recently, Grammy Tanda and I have been wondering and discussing what all of us can all do to help encourage more grandparents to get online — particularly elderly grandparents. Several of our readers have written insightful comments lately about this concern. They have given examples of grandparents who use computers and technology to connect with their family, and those who don’t. See the discussion -

Connecting with grandchildren: Technology brings instant gratification

Technology-Love-Connection - “Reaching out” using the internet - part two

One reader tells of her 93 year old friend “who is on her computer everyday emailing her family.” Another reader reports that her “94 year old mother will not allow anyone to [help her get] on a computer. If she would, she could see her great-grandkids.”

Perhaps you are a grandparent who is privileged to have one or more of your parents still living. Or maybe you are a parent who would like to facilitate a healthy relationship between your children and their grandparents and great-grandparents. In any case, it’s a fact that many older grandparent are left out when it comes to using the latest communication devices. Sometimes this is of their own doing.

Why doesn’t everybody welcome new technology?

Lack of desire? Lack of knowhow? Lack of money? Fear of the unknown? It couldn’t be stubbornness?

Would you agree that much of the problem has to do with fear? What is it about technology that is so intimidating to some folks?

Throughout history, some folks have been slow to embrace new inventions — the horseless carriage, the automatic washing machine. (Do you know anybody who still had an icebox years afters the refrigerator was invented?) I’m not trying to be critical here, just pointing out human nature.

Is it important for grandparents to accept new technologies for communicating?

We’re not just talking about conveniences that make life a little easier; we’re talking about communicating with our family, with our grandkids! Hey, isn’t that what life is all about — love and family? If technology can help bring our family together, then let’s find ways to use it! Let’s help older folks see what they’re missing out on, and help them get set up.

When we refer to technology here, we mean good technology — newfangled gadgets and devices, websites and services — that can bring joy to families and bring them closer together.

Do you realize if it weren’t for Edison we’d be watching TV by candlelight?  ~Al Boliska

More readers’ comments: Jody says “Just a little hello via email can really keep your relationship alive.” Joy wrote, “Internet communication [is] great for video calls, sharing pictures, emails, etc. Grandparents need to keep up with the times and communicate with the younger generations on the media the kids are comfortable [using].” Do you agree?

The benefits if communication work both ways. Grandparents have so much wisdom, life experience and love to offer. Grandchildren crave and deserve to know them better. Don’t you think so?

What can we each do to help?

We live in a marvelous age where technology abounds. We need only to find it, adopt it, and enjoy it’s benefits. That’s our mission here at GrandparentsTLC, to help grandparents discover technology and show how to use it.

Often what I’ve seen is that folks just don’t know what they are missing. There have been times that I wanted to convince someone that they just had to try something new, but they resisted. The more they resisted, the harder I tried. (Sound familiar?) I’ve found that it’s better just to show them what they’ve been missing without trying to “sell” them on it. Pretty soon they’ll say, “I want that!” Take a lesson from the car salesman: don’t tell them about the features, show them the benefits. Then let them test drive.

Here’s an idea I was thinking: Take your laptop over to their house. Show them emails from family, digital photos and albums, family sites, etc. Imagine their delight when they say, “Oh, how adorable!”

We would like you, our dear readers, to help brainstorm solutions by commenting below. Let’s come up with ideas for helping more grandparents get online.

As always, we will continue exploring more websites, digital tools and devices that can have a positive impact on our family relations.

We appreciate you! Grandpa Shayne

Please help us reach more readers by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

Technorati Tags: cartoon, communication, computer, connect, elderly, family, fear, grandparent, internet, off the mark, online, technology, TLC

[Editorial note: This week at Grandparents TLC, we are pleased to welcome our featured guest author, Grandma Edna Henke. She is an author and popular blogger, who enjoys the instant gratification technology brings to stay connected with her grandchildren.]

There’s a tiny little plaque sitting on my shelf that reads:

If I’d have known that grandchildren were going to be so much fun, I’d have had them first. ~Bill Laurin

Grandma Henke and family

How much better can it get than having 17 grandchildren? Being a grandmother has been the best thing since the invention of penicillin … not that I was around that long ago … but you get the drift. It took about a minus twenty seconds for me to be madly in love with the squirmy little bodies that came to this earth yelling for their NaNa. But, of course, with all the good there had to come some bad and that took place when two of my children moved from Utah to Seattle with half of my litter. I don’t think I would have survived the empty feeling in my heart had I not had the powers of the Internet, cellular phones, and a new digital camera that didn’t even take film!

The magic of those three items has taken an unbearable situation for this Grandma and sort of (not quite but sort of) erased some of those hundreds of miles that separate us.

When my son and his wife had their first little baby girl (six weeks early) while students at the University of Utah I was in the middle of an audit at work and there was no way I could dash up there in time for the welcome to our family celebrations. I sat at my desk anxious to hear everything was fine with mother and baby when I got a flash indicating I had mail. I clicked on the box and suddenly there before my eyes was a moving, true to life picture of our little girl kicking her arms and legs and crying loudly. I can’t begin to explain the thrill that went through me just before the tears of gratitude started pouring down my cheeks. I didn’t have to miss it after all.

Nothing thrills me more than to get a beep from one of my grandchildren - an instant message on my computer. The older kids and I have real life conversations. With the younger kids it goes something like this:

Luca: Hi Grandma, XOXOXOXOXO HAHAHAHAHA

Me: Hi Luca! I love you too, XOXOXOXOXO, HAHAHAHAHA

[XOXO = hugs and kisses] Luca then sends me all kinds of icons of smiley faces, dancing pigs, and broken hearts.

I love it … we are communicating and having fun. Sometimes we tell knock knock jokes.

My older grandchildren from Seattle have also talked me into adding text messaging to my phone so they could send me little messages. (They are now unaccustomed to talking on the phone as their fingers are so used to doing the walking). Typing on a cellular phone keyboard isn’t my favorite mode of communication but you have to keep up if you want to stay in touch with on the go teenagers.

We send photographs back and forth all the time, by email, instant messenger, or telephone. It keeps us in close contact and helps so much with the homesickness on both sides. I was unable to attend Luca’s 3rd piano recital after having been there for her first two. As soon as they got home her dad sent me the video and there she was … just as pretty and proud and smart as can be … playing her little heart out. I was so proud of her!

When my first baby was tiny my husband was stationed in Georgia in the Army. It took two weeks to send a letter and get an answer. I wished so many times Mom could see the cute and unique things he did every day. We took pictures but had to wait until we’d used the whole roll, then send them off to be developed … then make doubles of the ones we wanted to send. It wasn’t a very fast turn around. I feel so lucky to have instant gratification when it comes to staying in touch with my children and grandchildren. My motivation for learning about the new technology is because it keeps me close to my family but there are many other benefits as well. Nothing like trying to learn a new trick even if you are an old dog.

There is one more thing I do for my grandchildren that I probably would not do otherwise. I get on the Internet and find the cheapest airplane tickets I can find that will take me from here to there with no layovers.

Grandma Henke

Visit GrandmaHenke’s blog.

We want to here from you. What do you do for your grandchildren that you would not otherwise do? Please leave a comment below. 

Show us a little “TLC”. email a link of this page to a friend, or use this bookmark button:

Technorati Tags: cartoon, communication, computer, digital camera, grandparent, internet, off the mark, technology, TLC

[Editorial note: This week, we are pleased to welcome back our featured guest author, Grama Barb, a popular "Lensmaster", who has authored over 150 articles at Squdoo.com.]

Photo by lyzadanger

Reaching out to family through the use of the internet has been one of the biggest blessings of this age of technology online. All grandparents should be online just for the ease and speed of communication. The internet certainly is a big factor in my life for staying connected and reconnecting with family and friends. I am not a very good telephone communicator and therefore email has improved communications in my family whether it is just across town or half way around the world.

Sharing family pictures is a really important activity in my life as a grandmother, especially when you factor in the other piece of technology that is a must – the digital camera! That little camera is perfect for all photograph-fanatic grandparents. Now we can take 100 pictures without going broke developing them. And the best part – we can share them almost instantly on the internet. Case in point – my husband’s sister just became a great grandmother to twins. I already have seen an adorable picture of them!

Don’t forget that by being online, you are making it much easier for your children and grandchildren to reach out and share with you. A few weeks ago there was an open house event at my granddaughter’s school that I was looking forward to going to, but my health was not very good at the time and I had to stay home. My son had his cell phone with picture taking capabilities with him and he took really cute pictures and sent them “instantly” from the school. It was almost as good as being there! Talk about experiencing TLC – Technology, Love, Connection! Reaching out is a two way street.

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard

Technology, Love and Connection is a great way to ward off depression that often accompanies growing old and the feeling of being left out – cut off from friends and family. I see it here where I live at a seniors assisted living complex all the time. Those who have a computer and are online are doing much better as they are busy emailing family and friends all the time. Those who don’t are often sad that they don’t see their grown grandchildren very much anymore as often they are now living in other parts of the world. Even one “You’ve got mail” a day would cheer a grandmother and grandfather’s heart! It takes so little TLC to Reach Out!

Grama Barb

Part one: Technology-Love-Connection - How it all began in Grama Barb’s life

Read Grama Barb’s informative article on digit cameras and digital photo frames.

If you enjoyed this article, we invite you to bookmark it and email it to a friend!

Technorati Tags: communication, computer, digital camera, grandparent, internet, online, technology, TLC