Monday, March 18, 2024

March 16 with KT

Saturday:  Kaity and I have a briefer time today because she has a birthday party to attend to at 7pm. I came by Jesse's at about 3:30; but KT and I didn't leave the house until close to 4:30. KT was finishing up her shower and combing out her hair, etc. Meanwhile, Jesse was showing me parts of an HBO movie he really wants me to do--and having viewed a bit of the movie, I want to see it!! Really badly!!

Kaity and I just hung out around my little house for awhile this afternoon. I worked on the puzzle for a little bit, while Kaity was doing stuff on her phone. But then, KT suggested we watch the next Jurassic Park movie: "Fallen Kingdom". So we did!

We didn't finish watching the entire movie--we'll finish it up Thursday evening. Kaity likes watching these movies with me because I become ... rather terrified during certain scenes. For some reason, Kaity finds this amusing. Hmmm.

I'll have a busier than usual week next week with Kaity because I will actually see her Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday evenings! More about that later.


Sunday, March 17, 2024

March 14 Kaity time

Thursday:  I am just going to post a few pictures I snapped with my phone before it "died" and then Kaity let me use HER phone to take the rest ... all at Altitude.

It was a "slow" night tonight at our trampoline park. Only a few of Kaity's friends were there! She had been telling me that earlier in the week she had shot a hoop with her back to the hoop and made it! So here she is trying to re-create that shot ...



First, however, she wanted to show me that she could finger spin the basketball. I'm sure there is a technical name for this maneuver, but I have no idea what it would be. And I never DID get a perfect picture of her accomplishing it either. She's pretty good at this!
Our friend Jace (aka as "Blueberry") was there and they shot hoops for awhile. Look at his face (below)!


Kenzie and Harper couldn't make it tonight. They had a family event that couldn't be interrupted. We weren't sure where Ayden was tonight either.


But it was still worth going to play for an hour. It's good for kids to get OUT of their rooms, OFF their screens, and move their bodies! Good stuff, Kaity!

Friday, March 15, 2024

March 13 Sweet grandchildren

Wednesday:  One of these Wednesday afternoons, I am going to have to remember to take a picture of Cal as he runs to greet me from the pre-school playground. He has such a HUGE smile! And that twinkle in his blue eyes! He introduced me to a few other friends today, but I have already forgotten their names. It's not like people use regular names anymore like Mike, or Nancy, or Laurie, or Doug--no, no, no. They favor names like Honesty, Olympia, Eli, Cooper, etc. So you can't truly blame me for not remembering the names two days later (it's already the 15th when I am writing this post). 

Cal and I sang all the way to my house today, in-between him telling me little stories of running races and playing tag with his friends. He did NOT fall asleep on the ride to my house today. When we got inside, we immediately began playing with what I had gotten out for him today--cars, trucks, little animals, the puppets, etc. We also played monster cars on the track in the hallway. Cal never seems to get bored of playing cars. This is good. We played cars for hours!

At about 3:00, I was worn out from chasing runaway monster cars here, there, and everywhere--and since we only had 30 minutes before we would have to get back in my car and drive back to Cal's house, I put on the "Hot Wheels" show that Cal enjoys. He watched while I picked up the toys and put them all away (mostly).


Cal makes engine noises as he watches the races ...
We left my house at 3:35 and within 5 minutes, Cal was soundly sleeping and slept all the way to his house. When we got there, he refused to wake up! The kiddos got off their bus at about 4:10 and we played for a bit outside. Erin and Aidan saw Abbott on his trampoline and asked if they could cross the street and play over there for awhile. I saw it as my opportunity to hoist Cal inside and wake him up!
BUT ... Cal had no intention of waking up. I could not convince him that it was a beautiful day to play outside! I couldn't coax him with food, with games ... nothing! So he slept. Look at his darling little face.
Erin and Aidan finally came in from outside and had a nice healthy snack of cantaloupe and cucumbers.

Aidan received TWO Uno games [both Minecraft] from friends at his birthday party, so we played a game of UNO. We nearly finished it, but then I received word that I was to bring the kiddos over to Holy Trinity to meet mom and dad over there tonight.


By this time, Cal was finally awake and was able to have a snack before we got buckled into the car. As we drove to the church, we played a little rhyming game. Rhymes absolutely crack Aidan up to pieces. Here are some examples:

"Abrakadabra, Alakazam, turn this car into a big HAM!"

"Abrakadabra, Alakazam, turn little Sarah [my stuffed sheep that hangs on my car mirror] into a CRAYON!"

We laughed for almost 10 minutes with different words that rhyme. We also did Palindrome words, which Aidan found fascinating. Brendan was with us too, only he is not in any of these photos. He was his usual pleasant and endearing self. So thankful for these dear grandkids.

Monday, March 11, 2024

April 11 Cards for Aidan

Monday:  HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY, Aidan!!!

I want to post the cards I made for Aidan's birthday. One was from me; the other one was made on behalf of Kaity for Aidan.

First, the one from MOI.

This is the BACK of Aidan's card:
The FRONT of the card:
The card opens up to this:

I had fun designing Aidan's card! The days of MY life are 10x that amount! 

This is the card I designed for Kaity to give to Aidan ... the first two pictures are the back and front of the card:


And these two are the inside of the card:


I picked Kaity up for Aidan's party and had her sign his card and design his envelope on the way over to the party. We had a fun time at Aidan's party!

Happy Birthday, dear Aidan. You are loved so much.


 

March 9 More party pictures

Saturday:  More from Aidan's birthday party ...

Most of the children at Aidan's party played in their basement, which is well-equipped with toys. Cal wanted Kaity and I to build a layout for "Big Green" (their battery-operated engine), so we did.

Cal was quite enthused!

Cal adores Kaity ...
Isn't this a beautiful photo of Kaity? I love her!
Here is Cal riding on his baby triceratops ...
... with much JOY, I might add.
We made a "Luigi bridge" for our train ...
Here is Cal being hoisted by Kaity. Cal is wearing a robot mask ...
Kaity spun Cal around and around and around ...
Then it was ERIN'S turn ...
Kaity did not struggle with lifting the kiddos like I struggle ... so it was very fun for the kids.


Everyone came upstairs for pizza, and then ice cream and yummy cake ...

 


Below ... some of the balloons for the party.
As always, Dylan and Kelly threw an amazing party for Aidan. He was so happy to have his friends at his house. I was happy to be there too!


March 9 AIDAN'S 7th b'day party

Saturday:  Aidan's ACTUAL birthday isn't until Monday--but his party was today. He had a TON of his friends and neighbor's over for the occasion. Dylan and Kelly always do such a wonderful job throwing birthday parties for their children. Everyone is welcome! Everyone has fun! 

Here are photos of Aidan at his party:

It's amazing to me how much children change as they grow (their appearance) ... with the loss of primary teeth, the little gaps, and then the permanent teeth coming in. This little boy has many facets to his personality. In one sense, he is super intense and a bit of a perfectionist. He loves to laugh. He is very creative. He has a LOT going on in his brain at one time. He is very expressive and articulate. He is an excellent reader!
I love to hear Aidan laugh. As a baby, he could entertain an entire restaurant full of strangers with his adorable giggling.

A most delicious chocolate layer Birthday cake (with the creamiest chocolate frosting EVER). I could live on this cake.
Everyone gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" to our birthday boy, and then Kelly lit the candles.


Look at Erin!




Erin was very helpful in blowing out Aidan's candles ... at least ... she tried to be.


Such a happy time!
Look at this little person enjoying his cake.

And THEN it was time for presents. I asked Aidan to open the ones from Kaity and I first--we had been at the party for two hours and this was just about Kaity's limit--so Aidan very kindly complied with my request.

Here he is reading the card I designed for him ...


Aidan loves Mo Willem books--pigeon is his favorite.

I also got him a LEGO Minecraft Ice Castle model.
Kaity got him a fresh UNO set of cards with a MINECRAFT theme ...
... as well as a large LEGO base plate.
I have many more party pictures to post ...