Congratulations to Barbara Russell who is the winner of the Playskool Explore and Grow Musical Gear Center!  I hope that your grandchild will enjoy playing with this fun, fun toy!

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Here we are for the third holiday giveaway sponsored by Scholastic. Give the gift of reading to your grandchild this holiday season by participating in this giveaway! Scholastic books make the perfect stocking stuffer for any grandchild on your list.

Scholastic has a HUGE prize pack filled with the most popular children’s books in the marketplace that I am offering one of my lucky readers! Titles in this giveaway pack (valued at $89.75) include:

• CAPTAIN SKY BLUE
• IT’S CHRISTMAS DAVID
• OOK and GLUK
• TONY BALONEY
• ODIOUS OGRE
• I SPY CHRISTMAS

Here’s a wee bit o’ information about two of the books in the gift pack.

It’s Christmas David
Christmas is coming, and Santa Claus is making his list. David is trying to be good, but when the house is filled with candy canes, Christmas cookies and beautifully wrapped gifts, it’s very hard to stay out of trouble! From wayward snowballs to the sleepless excitement of Christmas Eve, best-selling author David Shannon perfectly captures the joy and laughter of the holiday season.

Captain Sky Blue
Santa brings Jack his best toy pal, Captain Sky Blue, a pilot. Sky speaks in Pilot Talk (“Roger! Wilco!”). After a thunderstorm separates Sky and his buddy (“Mayday!”), Sky is abducted by a whale, then left alone to wander a frigid ocean floor until he chances upon a very special place, a place where he’s been before (“Now I’m spooled up!”). Captain Sky Blue thinks he has finally found an easy way home, but first he must help Santa out on Christmas Eve –a challenge that puts his pilot skills to the test! From Caldecott Medal Winner author Richard Egielski.

Visit the Scholastic Store for more selections.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment (by clicking on ‘Great Grannies Remarks’ on the link at the top of this post) and tell me about a favorite book that you read as a child.

The giveaway will end December 3 at midnight and I will announce the winner on December 4.  So leave a comment now!

Don’t forget to come back because I will have one more giveaway contest. (Hopefully.  If all of the details get worked out . . .)

Hurry! This giveaway ends at midnight on December 3.  Leave a comment now to be entered to win.

Okay, folks. are you ready for the second giveaway that I am sponsoring for the holiday season?  I certainly am.  Let’s get started.

The great folks at Playskool are being very gracious to allow me to give away their Explore ‘N Grow Musical Gear Center to one of my lucky readers.  This colorful toy will keep your grandchild busy for a long time while stacking, spinning, dropping a ball down a tube, playing with the gears, and listening to the music.  This game is for children ages 9 months and up.  Go here to see a demo of how this toy works.

Imagine sitting with your grandchild on the floor, playing with this Musical Gear Center, and having quality play time together.  (Grandma, just don’t fall asleep while you’re on the floor!)  While you are playing, you can also help your grandchild learn her colors and how to count. Quality play time together if you ask me!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment (by clicking on ‘Great Grannies Remarks’ on the link at the top of this post) and tell me about a favorite toy that you had as a child.

The giveaway will end November 29 at midnight and I will announce the winner on November 30.  So leave a comment now — and thanks for reading my blog and participating in the giveaway.  You rock!

Don’t forget to come back because I will have two more giveaway contests.

Hurry! This giveaway ends at midnight on November 30. Leave a comment now to be entered to win.

During the holidays, the university where I work sponsors a “lean Santa” program to promote health, wellness, and a no weight gain. Well, they do allow you to gain two pounds. But not more.  This year, instead of having a lean Santa program, they are calling it “Giving Not Gaining.” That’s a catchy title. I like it.

So, Dear Readers, I want to give a little something to you because you are all so great.  I will be having four giveaways in the next two weeks — each succeeding one getting better and better and better.  (You just won’t believe what the last one will be!!  I’m so excited about it I can hardly stand it! You definitely won’t want to miss out.)

So, this is the first giveaway.  It’s a giveaway to absolutely every single reader.  Everybody wins!  You don’t have to post a comment or stand on your head while spinning plates on a pole. (The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960s would have similar amazing feats on the show . . .)

Carus Publishing is offering a $9.00 off coupon for a one year subscription to any of their magazines. These annual subscriptions normally sell for $33.95, so this is nearly a 30% discount!  With the economy in the dumps and the pressure budgets feel during the holiday season, price discounts are always appreciated.

This $9 off offer is good for all 14 of their magazines. Simply go to their website and use the following code to receive your discount.  You know, a magazine subscription is a great way to promote literacy — and be a gift that your grandchild can use all year long.  I’m all for promoting literacy and giving great gifts to grandchildren.

So, here’s the info:

Offer Code: N3003
Web Address: http://www.cricketmag.com/

Hope you have a safe and grateful Thanksgiving Holiday.

(NOTE: This is a guest post by Julee Russo.  A big thanks goes out to her! I’ve never thought about having a costume party at Christmas . . .)

Cherished Memories: They Grow up Too Fast

by Julee Russo

Tell me this is not ADORABLE! I dare you!

One of the most important things to remember when you have grandchildren is to cherish every moment — and to make an extra effort to insure many opportunities for creating long-lasting memories for them in the future. So you know what that means, Pictures, Pictures, Pictures! One of the ways to make wonderful memories that they look back on once they are older, is to make sure they have beautiful and creative kids costumes for birthday parties, school holiday parties and public holidays. Let’s take 4 holidays as examples: All-Saints Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

All Saints Day
Whether you celebrate Halloween or choose to celebrate All Saints day, these two holidays have one thing in common; costumes are involved. If you’re going to a church party for Halloween, dressing your child as an angel is always popular. Some churches have parties that ask attendees to dress as one of God’s creations, which includes animals and other fun things like flowers or butterflies. There’s also the option to dress in clergy clothing from different time periods as well such as dressing as a friar or even a monk.

Halloween
At non-religious Halloween and school parties children typically wear costumes based on popular TV and cartoon shows that the child may like. There are always a certain number of the evergreen costume ideas such as witches, devils, angels, Princesses and Princes. A child can also dress up in a costume that reflects what they want to be when they grow up, whether it be a doctor, lawyer or firefighter. Halloween is all about a day of fantasy.

Thanksgiving
This holiday is about having a great meal and giving thanks for the great year that you’ve had. Is your grandchild going to be a Native American or a Pilgrim? There are also Pilgrim and Colonial Era costumes that let you dress to fit the same time period as when the first Thanksgiving took place. Another idea is to dress them like a turkey or food that is served during the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Christmas
Lastly, it’s great to have a costume party for Christmas. Although, children will probably focus more on the gifts under the tree rather than Christmas dinner. Your child may also want to play a role in a presentation at Church or even at school that will require a costume. Some roles that children often play are angels, a Sheppard boy and one of the three wise men. If it’s a school holiday party, think about dressing your child as a baby Santa, a cuddly reindeer, a snow flake, an elf or a ginger bread man — or even a candy cane or sugar plum fairy.

ALWAYS focus on getting great photographs. Create these unique memories before they grow up, youth is fleeting and it is up to us, as their grandparent, to make sure they have great pictures to look back at when they are older (not to mention we will be sharing them with everyone we know!). Whether you’re celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas, each of these holidays provide great opportunities to create memorable events that you and your grandchild will treasure for the rest of your lives.

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Tomorrow starts the first giveaway so make sure you come back then!