Our happy play day ...

The grandchildren (and Nick and Rachel too) came over to play this morning ... and I realized yesterday that I had not YET held tiny Liam ... not once! So first thing, I made sure to take this sweet baby in my arms and hold him for as long as he would let me!
I'm not real confident with newborns ~ especially teensy tiny ones ... but Liam and I did OK! He is a very warm, snuggly, cozy little fellow! I loved every minute I held him ... what a little miracle he is!
Lottie came into the house kind of grumpy this morning, but you would never know that based on this picture, would you? She just lights up when she sees a camera. She's a natural! Such a smile she has!
Rachel, calm and collected (and isn't her new "do" so pretty?), sipping her Starbuck's ... ah, the life of ease for a mother of FOUR! (joke)
And couldn't you just kiss this chubby little face forever? Nia is so adorable.

Our man, Nathan, however, is all finished with that baby stuff. He and his dad engaged in an all-out WAR in the playroom. We had opened up the game closet and Nathan spied these really old and essentially broken light sabers and ... you should have heard the combat!


It was like the Clash of the Titans! Nathan was just a bit outsized and overpowered by his daddy ... but he has a good strong swing and I had to duck and swerve a couple of times to avoid being knocked out!
The girls had a quieter time of it upstairs. Nia found the lacing cards and she and Rachel sewed for awhile.
And where was Grandpa Jones? There is nothing quite like a newborn baby and Grandpa Jones. He is just a little short of heaven when he is holding one, and he took full advantage today.


It's been pretty soggy in W. Michigan the last few days. All last week it was gorgeous here with temperatures in the upper 60's and low 70's, clear sunny skies, etc. I had really hoped we would be able to walk up the road and meet Mr. Lyle's horses and feed them some carrots. We did finally play in the kind of wet back yard for awhile this afternoon.


Lottie and I played game of roll-the-ball. Every time Lottie rolled the ball in my direction, she would clap her little hands together with joy. Can't show you that picture, though ... because I didn't take one!Nia kept losing her soccer ball down the edge of the deck ... she kept Nicolas busy retrieving the soccer ball from all sorts of places.
And Nathan is a regular monkey outdoors. He climbs and jumps and is absolutely fearless of heights. He has very good balance (whew!) and a lot of confidence. His game was to throw his ball as far as possible and then call out for Nicolas to find it and throw it back.

Between chasing down balls for Nia and Nathan, Nicolas had himself a pretty good workout this afternoon!
It was good to be outside, even if for just awhile today. The air was so fresh and clean. Our back yard is a wreck right now ... we have so much work to do back there ... but it's only April and we'll get busy on it next week!Our time with Nick's busy and beautiful family has gone by really quickly. We are so glad we got to see them this week. It's one thing to travel down to Bandera and visit them at their house, but it's extra nice as a grandparent to have everyone over to OUR house too! Tomorrow, they are heading back to Texas ...
It was especially wonderful to see this littlest of grandsons, hold him for a little while and give him kisses. God is very good to give us so many little folk to love, isn't He?