A Cookie Toast

A Cookie Toast to Grandma by her 9 Grandchildren

5 + First, there were the original 5 grandkids growing up together.

2 + Then, we added 2 Roe boys who we got to watch grow up.

2 + Finally, we took in 2 Shreves kids as the family grew some more.

= 9 Grandkids

9 grandkids Grandma had.

90 times the Tupperware container in the frig was opened by each grandchild.

900 batches of chocolate chip cookies were baked with love and joy.

9000 chocolate chip filled cookies enjoyed by everyone.

9 chocolate chip cookies remain from the last batch baked with love and joy.

9 very sad grandchildren gather to share Grandma’s love one final time.

9 final lifts of the creamy white Tupperware container that stored Grandma’s love.

Grandma's Chocolate Chip Cookies

All my life, for as long as I can remember, there has always been a creamy white rectangle Tupperware container in the bottom of Grandma Edith's frig.  That is where the most coveted of all treats for us grandchildren have been kept - the chocolate chip cookies. 

So what is so great about this container of cookies in the frig?  It has held love and hugs for 46 years, ready for anyone to have.

Everyone has their traditions, their memories of things from their childhood.  This simple rectangular Tupperware container holds in it my entire childhood.  Even as an adult, the simple act of yelling out to Grandma that I am here as I come in the door, I am taken back to being a kid and the first place I stop is the frig to grab a chocolate chip cookie as I walk through the kitchen.  It is like a step back in time with every bite.

Since moving back home, I have had the rare treat of coming to Grandma's house to find a fresh batch of cookies warm, just out of the oven and cooling, ready to refill that wonderful container.  A few weeks ago I had, unknown at that time, the last opportunity to relish in one of these fresh baked chocolate chip cookies made by Grandma.  It was the last batch she made. 

In the past week as the family was cleaning out the frig and we were having a leftover meal, out came the last of the chocolate cookies, just laid out on a plate like they were store bought.  Up to this point, only some of the grandchildren, 9 not counting the great-grandkids, have been here for their last chocolate cookie from the creamy white Tupperware container.  So naturally, as the oldest grandchild and the only grandchild at the table, I got very defensive about the lackadaisical treatment of the final batch of chocolate chip cookies.  When I finally got it across to my aunts, my mother, and the rest of the family how important these cookies were, there were exactly 9 cookies left.  I managed to secure these 9 cookies and they are safe until they can be shared by the 9 grandchildren at Grandma's funeral dinner. 

I hope my story has given you a chance to find your own memory of your grandma.

An early Christmas message. . .. . .have a very merry Christmas and a blessed new year!

Just a quick note to those of you you check in here regularly.

I am not sending out cards this year so this is it.  My grandmother is on her last days having been diagnosed a couple weeks ago with an aggressive pancreatic cancer.  The family has gathered and more are on their way if the weather cooperates.

Grandma always loved the holidays, especially Christmas because of the joy and wonder she got to see in her grandkids and great-grandkids faces as presents were opened.  The table is always buzzing with stories as we eat way too much great food.  Grandma is not doing the cooking this year but that does not mean we go without.  Friends have stopped by for a visit, some have brought us whole meals.  We are not losing any weight this holiday season with all the cookies and chocolates and nuts that seem to be readily available.

This is my last remaining grandparent.  When she is gone that means no more coffee with her, no more sneaking out for lunch in the middle of the week, no more chocolate chip cookies in the frig (watch for that story coming soon), and no more mocha balls or chocolate sheet cake.  So many things leave when your grandma passes on but I have 46 years of memories to last me until I see her again in Heaven.

The void after Halloween. Time for that other holiday!

On December 2nd at 8 p.m. I finished taking down the last spider that you see hanging from the ceiling in this picture.  Everything else is put away in its containers in the closets.  I appear to be lacking a plastic storage bin for the last of the ghost sheets, as they are still folded and in a pile on the end of the couch.  On Dec 3, I dismantled the graveyard and put all the ghost heads and headstones away.  Even took out all the spider webbing that I could reach - one is very high up - and have put that all in the trash or washed it and put it away (in the case of the cheese cloth). 

The only Halloween that remains is the boo ghost light you see in the upper left hand corner as it is a year around beacon of light but takes on the elements of the holiday season. 

There is a large ceramic jack-o-latern under the cabinet and 2 ceramic smaller ones still outside at their post on the edge of the deck.

So that brings us to December 4th, today.  I decided last night I did not want to put up the big tree as there will be minimal presents under it.  So I started to gather the decorations for Christmas only and there they are on the recently cleared dining room table.

I have taken a few things to the office to spruce that up just in case someone comes in and needs a little Christmas cheer.  I have the outside tree ornaments ready to go, just waiting for a less windy and hopefully less cold day to hang those but I will likely get them out this weekend no matter what the temperature is.  I like having something hanging on the blue spruce outside the picture window as it provides an outdoor element to enjoy from the warmth of inside.  Actually, you have to be inside the house to see the decorations as they do not encompass the whole tree, just that portion viewed through the picture window. 


Yes there are lights on the skinny, odd looking Christmas tree, and so far just the one ornament but I have some others to add if I so choose.  In fact, I have enough ornaments to decorate probably 3-4 trees.  Some are from my daughter's childhood and stay tucked away in the back of the closet in her room neatly under everything else, never coming out for review.  I have 2 table top trees, one that sings carols and one from my cousin's wedding in the colors of K-State.  The cats like the K-State tree so I am debating not taking that one out this year, too many lost ornaments, that is what the cats seem to think they are allowed to play with.

So this is the chaos currently.  I have to figure out where to put all the stockings and where to place the multiple Santa hats that I also have acquired.  So check back for picture updates, but for now, here is what we have.