Grandma's Underwear Drawer

I was 26 years old when I lost my Grandpa H. 

Grandpa K, Grandpa H

He was the first of my grandparents to pass away. 

I was 34 years old when I lost my Granny H.

Granny H & one of her 17 great-children

She was the last of my grandparents to pass away.

I was lucky to have them with me for so long. I was lucky that they played a central role in my life from the day I was born until they left this world.

I was devastated when they were all gone. I still am.

Granny H, me & Grandma K

As I thought about it being Grandparent's Day today, I thought about what they meant to me over the years. They were my (and my sisters & cousins) biggest fans. I don't think I will ever experience the unconditional love like I did from them - especially my Grandpa K. 

Grandpa K knew we were the smartest, prettiest, most athletic (my younger sisters, not me) girls around. He never said it, but we knew. I miss that.

I had a hard time putting my thoughts into words here tonight. So, I grabbed a pen and notepad and wrote a list of memories I have of my grandparents. 

Spinning in granny's green chair until I was dizzy.

Putting on talent shows (actually my older sister & cousin played the Gong Show) in grandma & grandpa K's living room that made the floors bounce and the china in the cabinet rattle.

Making homemade Valentine's Day cards with paper doilies and stickers at granny's table.

Sitting on grandma's step at the farm watching dad go home for lunch (he forgot us sometimes).

Sneaking in grandma K's bedroom and eating M&Ms from a butter dish hidden in her underwear drawer. (What? Your grandma didn't keep M&Ms in her underwear drawer? Maybe she did and you just didn't find them!)

Learning what indian burns and "milking the mouse" meant when grandpa H tricked me into giving him my arm. 

Finding a dollar bill in my birthday card from grandma & grandpa K each year.

Driving granny to the nursing home the summer when grandpa was in rehab from a broken hip.

Sitting on the porch with grandma & grandpa K just visiting.

Taking Chinese food to granny's for supper and leaving with a list of CDs she wanted.

 Granny & Grandpa H and me

I still think about them daily.

I wish I could let them know how much I love them.

I wish I could go grab some M&Ms from grandma's underwear drawer.

Celebrating Mom and Missing My Grandmas

Happy Mother's Day to a mom who raised four daughters.

From the years of posing us for the annual Christmas card shot. (I'm the one sporting the ultra-cool sweater vest.)

To the years celebrating the milestones like graduations, weddings and births of grandchildren. (I'm the one rocking the denim dress.)

My mom has been a great role model, strict taskmaster, good sport (we tend to tease in my family), and ultimately a wonderful mother.

Happy Mom's Day!

While this weekend has been fun, celebrating Mother's Day with a relaxing cookout at my sister's house last night (look for my pasta salad recipe later this week), it's also been bittersweet.

Not only is it the first year of my life when I don't have either of my grandmas here to celebrate the day. Tomorrow is also the second anniversary of my Grandma K's passing.

I miss them every day, but I am always thankful that they were a part of my life for 30-plus years.

 Granny H

Grandma K

My Grandmas and Me

So, to all of the moms out there, I hope you have a wonderful day. You deserve it.

Easter Traditions Through Instagram

Easter is just around the corner and I was lucky to have Good Friday off of work. 

I probably should have used the day to do laundry, put away my laundry, clean my floors or even put away the boxes of Christmas decorations that are sitting in my dining room!

Instead I spent the day with my family doing some of my favorite Easter traditions. 

While at Blissdom, Hershey's asked us to share our favorite Easter traditions, tips or tricks on our blogs as part of their virtual Bunny Trail. I will admit right now that there might be some not-so-virtual Hershey's Easter candy in the house right now...Yummy!

There have been some great posts shared on Hershey's Bunny Trail and a couple of my pals from over at The Real Farmwives of America and Friends are even featured in a video on Hershey's website - www.CelebrateWithHersheys.com. Be sure to check it all out.

As I said before, it was a day full of activity. It started at my parents' house with my mom and me in the kitchen preparing for my FAVORITE Easter tradition. More on that later...

Another Easter tradition that I enjoy but rarely do now that I am an adult is coloring Easter eggs!

My two oldest nephews had early dismissal from school on Friday so I picked them up and treated them to ice cream before heading to the farm to color eggs.

On our way home, we stopped by the local greenhouse and the boys picked out some Easter flowers from their mom (my older sister) and grandma (my mom).


It was great to see how seriously they took their task and I think they chose beautifully.

My two younger sisters met us at the farm with the rest of the nephews and nieces and we got down to business. The first half dozen eggs were carefully lowered into coffee mugs filled with colored water. We got a bit more creative with the second half dozen.

I loved to dip the eggs in multiple coffee cups as a kid and I introduced my nephews to this tradition and we got some very cool colored eggs out of it!

After we dyed the eggs, I sent the nephews outside with a couple baskets of plastic eggs to "practice" hunting them in preparation for a Saturday Easter Egg Hunt at church and Sunday's main event.

While they were outside, we got down to business on my FAVORITE Easter tradition - my Grandma's Butterscotch Rolls. Every Holy Saturday during my childhood (and into my adult life), my grandma would make these gooey, cinnamon rolls and we would eat them warm out of the oven the evening before Easter Sunday.

My mom has taken up the tradition in recent years and I made them for the first time last year. So we decided to make them together this year, and they were WONDERFUL.

Now, I know what you are thinking...if you always have them on Holy Saturday, why were you eating them on Good Friday? Good question!


The family is heading to an Indiana Pacers game tonight because two of our favorite former Purdue University basketball players are on the opposing team and we hope to see them play in the NBA. So we decided to bump up the tradition a day instead of not doing it this year.


I think Grandma would approve!

Grandma's Bread Pudding

I'm excited to be competing in A Latte With Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge Bake-Off sponsored by Taste of Home. I'm competing against the other winners of previous Iron Chef Challenge's over on her blog.


We were asked to create something new using Taste of Home's Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe.


Since I won a challenge making something for my dad, I decided to go with the same theme in this challenge. My dad loves bread pudding and my grandma would make it for him a couple times a year. So, I pulled out my folder with grandma's favorite recipes and used one of the loaves of Cinnamon Raisin Bread (we ate the other one straight out of the oven) to make bread pudding.


Here's the final product. Yummy!

First I took a loaf of the Cinnamon Raisin Bread that I had baked earlier in the week.

 And cut it up into bite-sized pieces.

Then I put it into the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes to dry it out.

Then I added the chunks of bread to a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and - per my grandma's recipe - "enough milk to soak up bread"(I used about 2 cups) and stirred it together.

I put the mixture into a large glass baking dish. Put it into a 375 degree oven. Grandma's recipe says to bake until brown and thick. I left mine in for about 45 minutes.

I served it warm with some French vanilla Cool Whip. My dad enjoyed it, as did the rest of the family. Thanks to Taste of Home for sponsoring this challenge and Amy over at A Latte with Ott, A for hosting another great competition. Head over to her page to see what my competitors created. p.S. Amy will be posting all of our links tomorrow morning but I have to be at work super early and don't trust my scheduler to post this on time tomorrow...so mine is up a bit early.

Tribute to My Grandma

My Grandma...

Raised eight children.

Ran a home, milked cows AND raised eight children - all without ever having a driver's license.

Helped us make the best Valentine's cards with paper doilies and construction paper.

Had a green chair that you could spin around in until you were dizzy.

Made the BEST Barbie clothes and even made jewelry to go with the outfits.

Helped me make a skirt for 4-H (well, she sewed most of it, don't tell my mom).

Made the BEST beef and noodles and Boston cream cake.

Saved her Kool-Aid points to get her grandchildren a nifty Kool-Aid truck which her great-grandchildren still play with.

Always had a dish of M&Ms on her counter.

Didn't like her photo taken so we don't have enough photos of her kind, wonderful face.

Had great taste in music and always shared her CDs with me.

Loved watching the Cubs and NASCAR.

Told me a few years ago to stop giving her gifts associated with birds.

Got a laptop to go online to read my blog (well, she didn't get it just for this blog but she did read it).

Could shop with the best of them and LOVED jewelry and purses.

Could be found watching Cash Cab with my uncle every evening.

Loved sharing Chinese food and listening to me ramble (well, I pretended she loved listening to me).

Was loved by her family, friends and neighbors and will be missed by all.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

--Revelation 21:4

21 Day Organizing Challenge...Day 1 Continued

Well yesterday, I decided to take the 21 Day Organizing Challenge over at A bowl full of lemons.

Since yesterday was technically Day 1 of the challenge, I jumped right in and tackled my junk drawers and my countertop which I hate to admit is more of a junk drawer than a workspace!

Here are a couple of before photos...

My dad refinished the great dry sink above a couple of years ago. It was languishing in my grandparent's shed when Dad found it. Now it looks great in my kitchen...when it's not covered in STUFF. Unfortunately that's not often!

The drawers aren't much better. I keep my kitchen towels in one of them but the other two are my official junk drawers.

Here's a shot of my kitchen counter.

Now, I just did a quick sweep of the counter a couple of weeks ago so it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. But it's amazing how quickly it can get cluttered again.

As I was cleaning out my junk drawers, I found that I had put several of the pieces I brought home from my grandparent's home months ago when my grandma passed away. It's not that I don't value these pieces but I think I just didn't want to deal with them at the time.

I LOVE the blue knit purse in the back. We think Grandma or one of her friends made it. My boss even borrowed it to look at the pattern!

The box in the middle is one I brought back for her from my semester abroad in Poland during college. It still has two decks of cards of hers in it. She and my grandpa LOVED to play cards. She was still an awesome Euchre player in her late 80s.

I also realized that I have a slight obsession with notepads...

and chapstick, pens, bandaids and sunglasses. It's a bit scary!
Here's a shot of the finished project...

Notice the full trash can...in addition to organizing I even managed to get rid of some stuff!

It feels great to mark off one task of the Challenge! I don't really have a computer desk so I need to decide what to tackle in its place.

Remembering My Grandma

I pulled a memory stick out of my purse yesterday (yes, I have at least 3 of them in my purse at all times) to transfer a file for a coworker. I came across a folder named "Kathryn" and it made me pause.

This is the folder I created the day after my grandma passed away on May 14, just 13 days before her 95th birthday. While she'd been in the nursing home for several months and in declining health for a few years, it was still a surprise and a great loss in my life.

I was lucky enough to grow up within 5 minutes of BOTH sets of my grandparents. My sisters and I spent many days on my grandparents' farm while my dad was working. If we weren't outside playing in their yard, we were in the house putting on shows for my grandparents or playing cards (mostly UNO, Old Maid or Skip Bo).

I was also very fortunate to have all four of my grandparents in my life until my late 20s when I lost both my grandpas in a year. And I'm still lucky to have my maternal grandma to stop by and chat with - though I don't do it often enough.

Here are just a few snapshots of my Grandma Kathryn's life.

On her wedding day...

The happy couple...

On the farm with her family...doesn't my grandpa look jaunty?

With a couple of her 17 great-grandchildren...

This final photo is from the last family gathering where my grandma was there with us. She's holding the youngest of her great-grandchildren at the time.

I miss her unconditional love. I miss her cookie jar filled with gum. I miss her.