Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Grandma & Me: Celebrating My Grandchildren’s Birthdays

Waaaaay back in March my children and grandchildren came to live with my husband and I during the lockdown.  They arrived the day before the first lockdown started and stayed for three months.  The main reason they did this was because they live in a small apartment in the Chicago area and both parents had to teach from home once quarantine began.  They did not have any Internet service to teach on-line, and even if they did, trying to teach in a bedroom with two loud small children crying or screaming nearby was not practical.  So, they came to my house which not only had lots of room to teach on-line without being disturbed, but also fast 5G Internet.  There were other motivations to quarantining with us too:  a large home with a large backyard is far more tolerable than a small apartment if you're not allowed to leave your home for months.  Having Grandpa and Grandma around is also less lonely than being alone for three months as well.  

We made so many memories while they were here.  It was fun to have them so long, but it was also difficult at times with so many more mouths to feed and the constant mess toddler's bring to a home.  Between spending 6 to 8 hours a day in the garden, then coming in to the house to do dishes and cook supper for six, I was starting to grow tired, so once Ashley & Jason's on-line teaching commitments ended they returned home.  They left last Saturday for their home in Illinois, but they won't be there long because Jason got a new job!  He was hired to be the principal of a Christian school in Indiana!  They have three weeks to pack up in Illinois before they move to Indiana.  We were so happy Jason got a great new job and a wage increase.  We were also happy they could finally leave the state of Illinois.  Now they are hoping that they can finally stop renting and afford a home of their own next year.  

They are moving to a suburb of the Indianapolis area.  It will only add about another two hours to our drive to see them now, so that's ok.  We don't think the longer distance will change the time we usually spend together at all. However, because we just spent three long months with them in our home, we decided we would not drive to Illinois to celebrate their birthdays and we had a small private birthday party for them before they left.

We purchased the most delicious chocolate cupcakes and I put  1 candle in Atticus' cupcake for his first birthday, and 3 candles in Alethea's cupcake for her 3rd birthday.


For each grandchild I made a handmade card.


Alethea's card was made from an old digital image I had already sitting on my desk.  I did the card in all different shades of pink because that's her favorite color!


Atticus' card was made using a vintage retired stamp set from Crafty Secrets called "Birthday Kids".


I stamped confetti on the card base then repeated the confetti design by cutting out some confetti pieces using my Cuttlebug Machine and a die.  The balloon is stamped twice, cut out, then popped up on dimensionally.  I also stamped the number "1" and the ice cream cone onto separate card stock, then cut them out and glued them to the card.


The children loved their handmade cards.  Of course Atticus wanted to peel everything off right away.


I love the smile on Alethea's face as she "reads" her card.


One of the activities Alethea and I did together while she stayed with me during lockdown was to watch the Barbie show on Netflix.  The new show has come a long way since the Barbie of my generation.  It is more diverse and less focused on material things and appearance and more focus is on good values.  For her birthday, I bought Alethea her very first Barbie doll so she would always remember all the special times we had watching the show together.

Alethea was so excited to get her doll.  She recognized Barbie immediately!


For Atticus' birthday Ashley ordered a wooden push toy from Amazon.  He absolutely loved it!


Of course Jackson had to come and see what all the excitement was about too!


Finally I will leave you with this adorable video of my grandson eating sweets for the first time.  He was so excited.  He kept jumping to try to move his chair to get to the cupcake.  He is so cute!


Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

40 comments:

  1. Great news about your kids' new home and job. Take a long rest, Grandma, you deserve it!

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  2. Congratulations on Jason's new job! How wonderful!
    Glad you got to make so many wonderful memories with the little ones! The cards are both so sweet too with these vintage inspired images!

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  3. Congratulations on the new job for him...how exciting. And so many wonderful memories. I love these photos.
    XOXO
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

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    1. Thanks! It is exciting. Yes, we made a lot of memories.

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  4. It's so nice to hear about some of the positive things that happened during lock down. Many family traditions were born, or perhaps reborn. Families had an opportunity to spend time together and be present in the moment. As hectic as these days have been for many of us, I believe we will look back and remember the moments like these ones the most. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you. Initially I stopped blogging when the lockdown began; mostly because I didn't have the time anymore with a household of people to care for. But then I felt I should share some positive, happy news on how we were handling the pandemic, especially when we had to go through two holidays together.

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  5. I am not sure I was ever clear why the kids came home but it made perfect sense. What a blessing you, your husband and your large home (complete with 5G) must have been. But what a blessed time to be with your babies. I know it must have been difficult at times...it is chaotic enough when our littles and their parents are here for dinner!! But in the best way.

    Your cards are precious. The children on the cards look so much like your own beautiful babies. And Atticus and Alethea are looking more and more alike. Glad you can enjoy a little down time while the family gets settled in Indiana. Then maybe you can go for a getaway.

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    1. Yes, if you missed my first Pandemic post you missed the reason why. It was a blessing. I'm not sure I would have survived the lockdown without them here. I wish they lived closer so we could see each other more quickly and in "smaller doses". We do still spend a lot of time together, but it's always a long visit when we get together which can be overwhelming at my age. But I will take what I can get! We hope to visit them in Indiana in the fall.

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  6. What cuties! I sure hope they can afford their own home soon and that's wonderful news on the new job... though I do not envy them having to pack and actually move.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, they want to wait a year before buying a home so they can check out the area and buy a home in the neighborhood they want to live in. And yes, I heard from Ashley that packing has been difficult with two little ones underfoot.

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  7. Hi Amy - I wondered why you were lucky enough to have the family staying with you during lockdown (and a little envious) I missed ours hugely, but also admire you having them around for so long with all the extra hands on stuff that's needed - you must have been exhausted by the time they left. Great news about your SIL's new job and the possibility of buying a house for themselves at last. And that video at the end made me smile.
    Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I've shared on my SM 😊

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    1. Yup, you must have missed my first pandemic post where I explained why they were moving in. Yes, I was exhausted, I still am. I've been working so hard cleaning the house and trying to return it to normal. I cleaned all day yesterday and it's still not done. It's a large house. Glad you enjoyed the video. Atticus is such a cutie!

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  8. What a blessing that your children and grandchildren stayed with you during the lockdown and you could celebrate the birthdays together. The cards are so cute and will be special keepsakes because you made them. I'm happy to hear your son-in-law got a new (and better) job in Indiana! God is good! It will be wonderful for them to have a house of their own.

    ❤️carmen

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    1. Yes, it was such a blessing. We're so excited about their new job and home.

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  9. That was a very good way to see the children celebrate their special days. However, I also 'get' how 'tough' that would be 24/7 with the 3 generations in your house. I dearly love our grandkids too and our kids but everyone of us together..for a day or two tolerable. You did a wonderful, kind and heart-felt thing. Thanks so much for sharing. I loved reading this. I miss the young grandkids..our 8 are 23 through to 5. Denyse #mlstl

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    1. Thank you Denyse. Even with a big house and lots of space to get away, it was 'tough' at times, but we enjoyed our time together too. I wish they lived closer so we could see each other more often in smaller doses, but they don't. Thankfully God gave us this house so we could all congregate here comfortably.

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  10. I'm sure it was very tiring, but how wonderful that you got 3 months of time with your precious grandchildren. My grandchildren are 8 months old and 2 years old, so I love seeing ideas from grandparents whose grands are a little older than mine. Congrats to your kids on getting a new job!

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    1. Yes, it was wonderful. A lot of precious memories were made. Thank you.

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  11. Sounds like the lock down provided a unique opportunity for you and your kids and grandchildren to make some beautiful memories. Lovely post.

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  12. Hi Amy, homemade cards are very special and I'm sure your grandchildren will treasure them. Everyone looks like they had fun birthdays despite COVID-19. Thanks for sharing at #MLSTL.

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    1. Thanks Sue. Yes, we didn't celebrate their birthdays like we originally planned, but we still had fun.

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  13. It's nice you were able to spend time with family during Iso! Here it was hard as travel restrictions meant we couldn't be with our family, but as soon as the restrictions were lifted we were back seeing each other again - even if the first time my sister and I both had to travel to a middle point as we couldn't do the full distance to see each other at home, haha! My sister and I are going shopping together today which will be nice, even though I just saw my sister and parents last week I have enjoyed being able to see them any time we want! :)

    happy birthday to your grandkids!

    Hope you are having a nice week :)

    Away From Blue

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    1. We had travel restrictions too, they arrived in our home before the restrictions took place and stayed during the duration. That's great you're able to see your family again.

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  14. happy birthday to them <3 these b-day cards you've made are lovely :)

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  15. Your cards are both so sweet! What a special gift for your granddaughter ~ her very first barbie. Congratulations to your son and his family!

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  16. Your children are lucky to have such helpful parents! It’s a huge undertaking to host young children for 3 months no matter how much you love them. Many congrats to your son on his new job! And your handcrafted birthday cards are adorable! Glad you could have the birthday celebration before they returned home.

    Thank you for sharing with Creative Compulsions!
    Michelle
    https://mybijoulifeonline.com

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  17. Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 13, open June 1 to 26. All party entries shared if social media buttons installed.

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  18. Your cards are really beautiful and special. How cool would it be to save them all until they are older.

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    1. Thanks so much. They do save some of them, but not all of them because they don't have room to save them all.

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