by Marlene Bumgarner | Apr 29, 2025 | Aging, Child development, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting
Spring Break in New Mexico Some time during the winter I confided to my youngest daughter, who lives in Virginia, that I would like to see New Mexico again in the springtime. In the 70s, the husband of my youth and I had traveled to Las Cruces, in southern New...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Jun 16, 2024 | Books, Child development, Family, Grandparenting
The LEGO Problem If you have children between 5 and 15 in your life, it’s very likely that somewhere in a cupboard or on a shelf there is something that looks like this: My seven-year-old granddaughter, who loves playing with LEGO blocks, recently requested a...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Mar 20, 2024 | Child development, Family, Grandparenting
Spring Has Sprung My favorite time of the year has finally arrived, and I’m already thinking of new crafts and activities to do with my grandchildren. When I took Kismet out for her first walk of the day this morning, it was barely 6:00 a.m. and barely light,...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 21, 2023 | Aging, Child development, Christmas in Yorkshire, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting
Mom’s Christmas Pudding My favorite holiday tradition would have to be baking for Christmas. My mother would come home from church one Sunday and announce – “Right! it’s time to make Christmas Pudding.” I didn’t know for many years how my mother received...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 20, 2022 | Aging, Child development, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting
Pumpkin Patch Traditions Long-time readers know that when I lived in Santa Cruz my oldest granddaughter and I enjoyed visiting a pumpkin patch each October. As the years passed, I watched little Bean progress in her relationship with the pumpkins. At first, she just...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Sep 16, 2022 | Aging, Australia, Child development, England, Family
God Save the Queen Standing by the railway tracks in 1954, waving an Australian flag, I began a fascination with the Queen that would last my entire life. My schoolmates and I had been let off school to greet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip as they embarked on a...