Haunted Gingerbread House

We got "boo-ed" last week with a fun Haunted Gingerbread House kit.  We put it together for Family Home Evening this week.  We had a lot of fun - and took lots of pictures!

We are all saying "oooohhhhh - scary!"

Our finished product!

So thanks to whoever shared our "Boo" treat with us - we had a blast building our house!

Mad Lego Skills

 We recently purchased a new Wii U game for our family - Yoshi's Wooly World.  We love it!  The entire game is made of yarn - the characters, the worlds - everything.  We have so much yarn in our lives these days we knew we had to play this all together.  We were able to also get the knit Amibo Yoshis in pink, green, and blue - our family's favorite colors.  

The day we bought it, Dave and I needed to finish up a project in the garage.  Conni chose to play legos while we worked.  She said she made a surprise for us.  This is what we found when we were all finished:

Conni worked super hard to spell "Yoshi" out of legos.  She was stuck on the 's' for a bit, but figured it out.  Then she set it up like this to show off to Mom and Dad.  

I love that her little brain is figuring out how to do all of this!  She loves legos, she loves video games, and she loves cute knit critters.  And we love her!  

Grandpa's Keys - Key #9

Key #9: Everey problem can be solved, sometimes you just have to look at it a little differently. 

My grandpa loved logic puzzles and brain teasers. He would challenge us and we would do our best to stump him. I would get frustrated and give up and try to get him to just give me the answer or show me how to do it. Instead of just giving me the answers, Grandpa would always show me some different perspective on the problem, or work through it with me and make sure the logic was sound. He wouldn't let my sisters just show me what to do. When something broke around the house and there wasn't money to replace it, Grandpa would work at it until he solved the problem or found a way to work around it. He never gave up!  

Grandpa's Keys - Key #8

Key #8: Remember to laugh. 

When I hear all the stories, I think my grandpa sure had a hard life. He was in the Navy for WWII and the Korean War. He lived through the Great Depression, and all sorts of other challenges.  He never liked to talk about those times.   But my grandpa was a happy man. He loved to tell jokes - even if I wasn't always old enough to hear them. And he loved to make us all laugh. Such an important lesson in such a rough world!

Grandpa's Keys - Key #7

Key #7: Schooling is important. Education is more important. 

My grandpa’s formal education ended after the fourth grade. It was the Depression and he was needed to help at home. However, my grandpa was one of the smartest people I knew. He could do complex math problems in his head like nobody's business. He was super good with mechanics and engineering. He ran his own successful business and handled all the paperwork, taxes, and finances himself. He could sew, cook, and clean just fine. I never heard him say he didn't know how to do that. He loved to learn and always tried new things. I remember how excited he was with his first computer. He would sit there and tinker until he figured out what he was trying to do. He loved a challenge.  He encouraged us to all do our best at school, and he was so proud of each of us when we were able to graduate high school and college.  I understood the value of education from Grandpa.

Grandpa's Keys - Key #6

Key #6: Everyone is capable of doing something, even if it's just holding the flashlight.

As I've mentioned above, Grandpa was a hard worker. He was so patient when he was working on a project and the grandkids showed up and wanted to help. Well, there's only so much a five year old can do when Grandpa's installing or fixing something. But, he always would say, "I'm so glad you are here. I really need more light here. Will you hold the flashlight for me?" And you can imagine the pride we each felt when we were "helping" Grandpa. I remember one time when I was in high school we were watching out the picture window and we saw the widow across the street trying to figure out how to change her taillight. Grandpa headed over to help while we watched. It was broad daylight out and we knew it would take Grandpa about two minutes to fix the light. Well, two minutes in, we suddenly see the neighbor standing by her car holding a flashlight! We all knew how important her job was! I love that my grandpa chose to spend time with us and incorporate us into his work and always made us feel important.  Shortly after Grandpa died, Dave was fixing something in the garage and Conni wanted to help.  I handed her a flashlight and wished I could call Grandpa to share. 

But, I know Grandpa saw and he was so happy.  I love that now my husband knows to ask Conni to hold the flashlight so she can still be involved with him too. 

Grandpa's Keys - Key #5

Key #5: Have some chocolate for the road. 

Grandpa always had a candy jar, and it was always full of the good candy - 3 Musketeers, Reese's Cups, Butterfingers - you get the idea. We just had to give Grandpa a hug and a kiss to get one. My mom would always say we could only have just one piece. But every time we told Grandpa goodbye, he'd give us one for the goodbye kiss, then he'd shove more in our hands for the road. There was always room for one more for the road. He spoiled us like crazy and loved to do what my mom (his daughter) had just told us not to do. I guess that's the prerogative of a grandpa, right?  It made me feel special that Grandpa “broke” mom’s rules and said yes when she said no.  Just as grandpas should do!

Grandpa's Keys - Key #4

Key #4: Work hard.  

This ties in with Key #2.  But my grandpa worked hard at everything he did.  He had several rental properties, and he owned a cabin that he spent many hours at.  When they purchased the cabin, it was a one story, two bedroom "shack".

Grandpa lifted it up and out a garage/basement underneath. He added a second floor bedroom, and an attic above that. He was always doing some project at the cabin. We have many family traditions that revolve around that place too.

But, Grandpa worked until the project was finished, or he didn't have any more light. I loved working with my grandpa because he would try to make it fun or teach us something new and useful. I miss decorating his house for Christmas or helping him in his garden, but they are also some of my most cherished memories.  He made work fun, but he also made sure it got done.

Grandpa's Keys - Key #3

Key #3: Watch out for double-uglies.  

My grandparents had a huge picture window in their front room.  Whenever we would go visit, we would sit and talk and just watch the people walk by.  They were around the corner from a 7-11, so we would see some interesting foot traffic.  When my sister and I were getting close to dating age, Grandpa would start to ask us if the boys going past were cute or not.  If we said yes, he would holler out the window in a feminine voice, "hey cutie!".  If they weren't our type, they would be classified as uglies.  (Sweet and simple, right.).  Well, one weekend after one of us had been dumped or something (I forget the details), Grandpa was asking us about boys.  When he heard about the breakup, he classified the former cutie as a double-ugly for his choices.  Later in life, when we would share experiences with people when they were not quite at their best, they would be classified as double-uglies.  When we each got engaged, he made sure our fiancés were all hey cuties.  So double-uglies are the people who are the bumps in the road, so to speak.  You've got to watch out for them!  

Grandpa's Keys - Key #2

Key #2: Pay your debts.  

My grandpa owned a body shop in Murray.  This story happened before my time, but it made a huge impact on me when I heard it growing up.    When Grandpa first opened the shop, he had another guy as a business partner.  This partner embezzled funds and disappeared with most, if not all of the company money.  Grandpa was a hard worker and refused to declare bankruptcy, even though that would have been easier, and definitely justified considering the circumstances.    He contacted each of his debtors and just let them know the company had run into some financial troubles.  He didn’t go into detail about his former business partner’s actions.  He worked out a deal with each debtor for payment terms and stuck to them until all debts were repaid.  And it wasn't even his fault!  This took YEARS to do.  He didn't complain about it, he just did what needed to be done.  He paid each debt to the penny that was agreed on.  I have always loved this story and the integrity my grandpa had.

Grandpa's Keys - Key #1

Key #1: Take care of your family. 

 Growing up, when we would get together with the grandparents, it would be Grandpa Glen, his wife Grandma Annie, his mom Grandma Zelda, and his Aunt Reola (Aunt Rea).  Aunt Rea was a widow and never had any children of her own, so she was a second grandma to our whole family.  Grandpa Glen called his mom and his aunt every day to just check in.  He always took care of their house/yard maintenance, helped with finances, and anything else they needed.  He always checked on his kids and made sure they had what they needed to.  When my aunt fell on hard times, he moved her into a rental property that he had and took extra care of her too.  He was always just a phone call away and would drop whatever he was doing if he was needed.  Family always came first, and even if he didn't agree with the choices you were making, he still loved them and was there for them.  I never doubted that my grandpa loved me.

Grandpa's Keys To Life

Today is my Grandpa Glen's birthday.  He was the only grandpa I really remember, as my other grandpas died when I was still pretty young.  He passed away five years ago.  After he died, my mom came home one day with a box of his random stuff from the garage.  My siblings and I were invited to take anything that might strike our fancy. I found a set of keys on a clip that I fell in love with.  I remember most of his life my grandpa always had a set of keys hanging from a belt loop.  Then this idea for the shadow box came to me.

I spent a few months working on the best way to some up what I learned from Grandpa in just nine statements to match the keys.  Once I finally had my statements, I couldn't find a picture I liked.  I even bought a shadow box and just watched and looked for a picture that showed "my" grandpa.

Today my aunt posted some pictures on Facebook with a happy birthday thought.  There was the picture I wanted!!!  Once I got home from work I immediately put the shadow box together.

I wanted to journal my thoughts for these statements.  It was turning into a giant post, so I made each Key its own post.  Lots of ready and stories from my youth, but its important to me so enjoy my trip down memory lane!