Friday, March 28, 2025
HAPPY SPRING!
Right?
Our calendars say spring has sprung
and today it’s supposed to be 70 degrees here in Minnesota!
Pure bliss!
BUT
we’re also expecting our winter weather to return very soon!
What can we say...
Our very own version of March Madness!
Whichever way the weather goes,
we’ll be ready to welcome spring whenever it decides to stick around!!
🤗
Welcome to this edition of our WEEKLY SNAPSHOTS!
Last week was a busy one in our worlds,
and our regular Friday post just didn’t happen!
OOPS!
We missed the opportunity to share our Friday Favorites with everyone
These snapshots give us the chance
to document moments from our week (or two weeks for that matter)
while also recalling a few FAVES from our mutual love, Our Grand Lives!
And, while we love that this space is our happy place,
we also want to keep it real at the same time!
Not every moment in our lives is a GRAND one!
In fact, some days and weeks are rather quiet and uneventful!
Yet, somehow we find GRAND nuggets of joy in the midst of it all
and for that, we are grateful!
Keep on reading to see what we’ve been up to lately!
Laurie experienced a full circle moment last weekend
and has spent time recalling special memories with family and friends!
Little D is Growing Up!
My Little D attended her Early Childhood Screening last weekend. This no cost program is state mandated in Minnesota for entrance to school and needs to be completed between age 3 and the start of kindergarten. This appointment includes vision, hearing, height and weight checks and it also notes developmental and emotional progress. If there are any concerns, this screening can provide resources and learning opportunities for families.
I’ve had LOTS of experience over the years with this screening in my role as a Kindergarten teacher BUT this was different! I REALLY wanted to go with Little D and her mommy to the scheduled appointment!
My daughter wisely and firmly said, “No!”
and then sent me this photo as she waited during Little D’s screening, instead!
Do you see our BIG girl!
More Egg Drop Memories!
In last week’s post, A GRAND Egg Drop!,
I highlighted many memories of
a special Easter tradition shared with family and friends!
While writing the post and in the days since,
I’ve been looking through old scrapbooks and I’ve spent lots of time
remembering when…
A Rite of Passage!
Whenever a Little turned 12, they could enter their own entry as part of our annual Egg Drop! New rivalries emerged and more fun was had as many of our kids reached this milestone!
Trophy Time!
We used to have a trophy for the Free-Style competition and another one for the Compulsory event, too! Each trophy would go home with the winning family and they would proudly display it in their homes. The trophies were two recycled softball trophies - we had simply glued a plastic egg to the top of each! There was also a piece of paper attached to each trophy that listed past winners by year. Each year, the winning families (or individuals if they were 12 or older) would be required to do a victory lap around our cul-de-sac with the trophy in hand as they yelled, “We are the champions!” for everyone to see and hear!
Our neighbors have always loved the Egg Drop, too,
as they had a front row seat to our annual competition!
A Chocolate Bunny!
Some years before the competition began, we would all vote for the entry that we thought would win. We’d also vote for the container we thought had the best design overall. The people who picked the correct winner would get bags of candy. The person who won the best design would get a chocolate bunny!
Safety First!
As I looked through the photos in old scrapbooks, I was reminded that some years we were really stupid! We do not recommend dropping eggs from the top of a two story home! What were we thinking?
We were so lucky, too! Over the 15+ years of holding our annual Egg Drop, we only had one rainy day! Pray for a nice sunny day!! But if rain persists, do not go up on the roof! Please use a ladder instead!
If you didn’t get the chance to read last week’s post
and you want to learn more about our annual Egg Drop and its history,
you can find the details here!
Such fun memories for us all!
Laura has had a few lowlights and lots of highlights
that made for a busy few weeks!
Gotta Do What You Gotta Do!
Last week, my hubby had his scheduled colonoscopy.
What a trooper!
The prep really wiped him out as he needed to follow the GoLYTELY protocol…
Twice as long and twice as fun!
Thankfully, all went well and Hubby got a good report!
Unfortunately, he needs to repeat this process every two years!
Not so GRAND, huh?
At least he doesn't think so!!!
Round 2 of Our Declutter Journey!
Last fall we completed Round 1 of our GRAND home declutter project!
Last week, we continued with this task by taking on Round 2!
We cleaned out our bedroom, bathroom and entry closets and cabinets!
This pile had been growing near our front entryway for the past several weeks!
YIKES!
We took three full loads to our local thrift/donation center
and we also scheduled a pick up with a local junk removal company, too!
So worth it!!!
We love that this company recycles and donates, too!
Next step? Round 3… the kitchen and living spaces!
A Favorite Things Bridal Shower!
You may recall that we have two nieces getting married this spring/early summer and,
with help from two sister-in-laws,
I offered to host bridal showers for each of them.
One reason we needed to clean up our decluttering mess so quickly
was because I hosted our first bridal shower last weekend!
The newlyweds will be moving to Arizona for work soon after their wedding. Since they will have limited space when driving across the country, the bride didn’t have typical gift requests for the shower. With that in mind, I asked our guests to bring A Favorite Thing as a gift - small items they absolutely love and think our bride would, too! Our bride received kitchen gadgets, personal items and home goods! It was so fun to see what everyone came up with and this activity added a welcomed personal touch to the day’s festivities!
I made three salads
- a sampler of sorts -
as part of the lunch we served!
And we played fun games, customized to things our bride loves!
She’s graduating with a degree in Elementary Ed this spring,
so we played Wedding A to Z!
Since she also loves to cook and bake,
we played “The Apron Memory Game”
We had lots of fun showering our bride with love!
(I plan to share more details in a post later this spring,)
And lookie here!
These two young guests joined in the festivities, too!
In fact, they and their mama were with us for a long weekend visit!
DEFINITELY A FAVE!
🩷 🩷 🩷
Did you happen to see yesterday’s post at Our Grand Lives?
We shared 10 GRAND Pranks Littles will Love…
just in time for April Fools’ Day!
So, whether you are a GRAND (like us), a parent, a teacher, a caregiver
OR anyone else with a special child you spend time with,
check out our collection of ideas including…
A Surprise Wipe!
Juice Time!
Going Buggy!
It’s a Spider!
A Plate of Brownies!
and more!
If interested, check out these ideas and more here!
More Silly Inspiration!
In addition to the 10 ideas we’ve already shared,
below you'll find a few more simple and fun ways to celebrate with Littles,
especially for those of you who love April Fools’ Day as much as we do!
We love to giggle and laugh with our Littles
whether on April Fools' Day OR any day!
Look Who’s Watching!
Add googly eyes to fruit in a fruit bowl. This pack of self adhesive googly eyes has lasted Laura for a long time! Set out the bowl on a counter and send your Little to find an apple (or orange or banana) from the bowl to eat. Wait for the giggles that follow!
Short Sheets!
Short sheet your LIttle’s bed! You basically just fold up the top sheet halfway from the bottom (or half way according to their height) and tuck the sides in tight. Their legs will get stuck trying to get into bed. Follow these directions if you need more info!
A Never Ending Maze!
Print out an April Fools’ maze (one with no solution!) for your older Littles. Laurie found this FREE one on Teachers Pay Teachers (the resource we highlighted a few weeks ago).
Extra Passengers!
Young Littles especially love this one! Put a bunch of your Little’s stuffed animals in the car and buckle them up! Your Little will be so surprised when you all jump in the car on your way to daycare or school or to run an errand!
Spider Cookies Anyone?
Make a batch of your favorite cookies - put scoops of dough on a cookie sheet to bake. Push down on each mound slightly. Then add 1 or 2 chocolate chips to each and eight brown jimmies around each (four on each side for spider legs).
YUM?!?
We’ve always got new content popping up on our social media sites!
You'll find lots of great ideas there!
We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!
Feel free to comment at the end of this post or email us directly at
We’ll be back next Thursday with a new post.
We hope you’ll join us!
Our Final Thought for the Week!
Here in Minnesota, March is known for its “rollercoaster” weather,
with dramatic temperature swings and unpredictable conditions.
Despite what one local weather reporter calls our “whiplash” conditions,
we know that spring will soon be here to stay!
Just like in life,
we'll embrace it all...
the low moments, the highlights and everything in between!
NO FOOLIN'!
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Thanks so much for stopping by!! Wow, this was an action packed post....All very interesting!!
I like the idea of the screening..NEPA weather here has been all over the place wih temps. in the 70's and then down to the 20's some mornings!! Typical though.... I hope you are having a good week!!
Hugs,Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
The weather is so very true here too! Your egg drop event is a fantastic idea- love it!
I love your "despite the forecast" poster! Always so much fun to read about when I visit. Thanks so much for sharing all you do, today I am visiting from #MMBC! PS do you have Pinterest button for sharing your posts? I have yet to find it, when sharing from SSPS. Have a great week ahead. Melynda @scratchmadefood!
The screening sounds like an excellent idea. There is nothing like that over here. Glad your hubbie's colonoscopy went okay. Not fun!
What a fabulous post full of fun, ideas and memories. Thanks Laura and Laurie for sharing all these wonderful experiences.