I was fortunate to know both of my grandfathers when I was young. They were an important part of my life. They both lived in the same city where I grew up. Over the years, I have grown to admire and appreciate both of these wonderful men.

They were true pioneers, born and raised in the late 1800′s. They were men of integrity. Hard work was their friend. They built houses, planted orchards and gardens and flowers. They hauled freight with horses and wagons. My Grandpa Packer was also a rancher and a farmer. My Grandpa Webb owned a saw mill. He also made hundreds of thousands of bricks by hand.

Both of my grandfathers raised large families. They were good providers. They were religious men who taught their children honorable character traits, reinforced through their own examples.

In their older years, family gatherings and family reunions were very important to my grandfathers.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~Abraham Lincoln

I love being a grandpa myself. I follow in the traditions of my grandfathers, my father and father-in-law in having a fun time with the grandkids. They loved being funny, giving “horsy” rides on their knee, and back rides too.

I also love to play musical instruments with the grandkids, especially percussion instruments. We read lots of stories. We make up stories with the grandkids as the main characters. We tell funny jokes. A sense of humor is an essential requirement for grandfathers.

What are some of the valuable lessons you have learned from your grandfather? What do you admire and love about him? We look forward to reading your comments.

Wishing a Happy Father’s Day to each of our readers, fathers, and grandfathers.

- Grandpa Shayne

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Halloween is a wonderful time to share with the family. It’s especially fun to see the grandkids all dressed up in their favorite costumes. Here’s a photo of our 6 month old grandbaby in the cute costume I bought at 60% off. Hey, I’m like my mom, always looking for a bargain!

A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween. ~Erma Bombeck

I teach family and consumer science, I’ve always admired Erma Bombeck. She was such a practical homemaker.

Shayne is a Cub Master, and one of his Weblos is a budding artist named Zac Willberg. He draws comics and publishes them on Zac’s Cartoon Cave blog. Shayne commissioned Zac to draw a special comic strip for today’s Halloween post. Boo is the main character (a ghost). Ancient is his girlfriend (a mummy). Today, there’s a special guest appearance by Boo’s Grandma.

Halloweenies by Zac Willberg

One of our favorite cartoons by Zac is his Charlie Brown Halloween.

Before you leave, be sure to subscribe to our Grandparents TLC feed.

Favorite family-friendly web pages with ideas for grandparents

Nana’s Corner – Halloween recipes and poems

Nana Finds – Special halloween books for grandchildren and Ideas for homemade Halloween costumes

Joan Adams – collection of fun Halloween songs and lyrics. (Joan says “I hope you all have as much fun with this site as I have! We love to sing with the grandchildren! Our two are 5 and 6 years old, so they are the perfect age for learning all the fun Halloween favorites! Enjoy!”)

Grandma Ideas – Halloween ideas for grandchildren

Grandmother Wren - Family Alternatives to Halloween

SandwichINK – Sharing God’s Love on Halloween

LoveMyGrandchild – Halloween ideas

FamilyCorner – Lots of Halloween ideas

ParentHacks – Best Parent Hacks (tips and ideas that work for grandparents too)

GroupCard – Free Halloween ecards (the whole family can sign an ecard)

Bluemountain – Free Halloween ecards (free month trial)

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids – Halloween Activities for Children (halloween coloring pages, printables, worksheets, craft projects, games and puzzles, online games, pumpkin carving patterns, recipes)

Babble – Just in Time for Halloween: How to Make Your Own Slime

Radiant Ideas – Tips for going green this Halloween

What are some of your favorite Halloween web pages? You are welcome to add your family-friendly link in your comment.

Have a fun Halloween! – Grammy Tanda

Hey, I’m on twitter now!

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So here I am, loaded with ideas of things to do with my grandsons this week. I’ve got my iPhone stocked full of fun little apps from the iTunes app store. (I’ll be writing about this in the near future.) I’ve got stickers. I’ve got crafts. I’ve got some play money I call “Grandpa bucks” that I’ll give them each time they chose the right or help clean up their toys. Then I’ll open up my “Grandpa Store”, my cache of goodies from the dollar store. We’ll go camping. We’ll be goofy. We’ll build a “fort” in the back yard. And maybe by the end of the week, I’ll understand why my wife felt so tired when she got home from her visit.

Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven’t thought of yet. ~Gene Perret

Boys – they’re so full of energy! As a young father, I learned it is best to be flexible, because sometimes, before we can finish one of my planned activities, these young’uns decide they want to do something else. Now, I wouldn’t want to run out of ideas on this trip. So I’m hoping to pick up a few tips and ideas for games, treats, activities, and so forth from you, our readers. Things that you’ve found particularly successful with young grandsons. We had such a wonderful discussion about what you grandparents like to do with your grandchildren in our Grammy’s back home post. Let’s continue the discussion here. What would you suggest for young grandsons?

Thanks, Shayne