A beautiful last day in April ...

Since Brendan's mama was at a craniosacral massage therapy class in Florida this week and Dylan had a local conference to attend, I got to have my Little Fellow all to myself for awhile Thursday, the very last day in April ...

It was sunny and even reached 70 degrees! I got out a few outside toys and we played in the dirt in front of my house for a little while ...

Brendan was quite intense about the dump truck and bulldozer getting all the necessary work done ...

Brendan really puts himself into his task too … you would almost think he was an expert at moving dirt around!

And Brendan enjoyed this very much!

But Brendan seems to enjoy almost … everything!

And he loves his Grandma Carol ...

Once inside, our constant companions Paco, the Pig, and Cocoa, the Cat (two hand puppets) are our constant companions. Brendan found my little stuffed pig last week and announced that it was "Baby Paco."

Brendan calls this light in my bedroom the "Lighthouse light." I guess it COULD remind me of a lighthouse, even though it is just a rod-iron lantern of sorts ...

I love you, sweet little boy.

Brendan was showing Pacquito (long story about this name) how much fun this lighthouse light was so look inside ...

Dylan arrived earlier than expected and joined in our play. Dylan does a very good pig I must say! He animated Paco quite wonderfully, to the delight of his little cutie.

I love the expression on Brendan's face (below) ...

These next few pictures are of Brendan yelling, "Dinosaurs!" (very loudly) and then Paco diving under the blanket on my bed, hiding for cover from the hideous monsters to come ...

And cracking up with Paco's tail sticking up and out from under the blanket ...

Paco hid very well this time and Brendan is trying to see if any body part is sticking out from under the blanket ...

Oops! There is his tail!

On his way out, Brendan requested that he and his daddy sing "Christ is Risen from the Dead" (the Orthodox version), and started right in singing ...

Brendan sings very enthusiastically ...

And he managed to sing it both in English and in Greek … quite impressive … but then I adore this little guy!

I can't get enough of this little face ...

It's not like I didn't already have enough pictures of Brendan enjoying his Brown Cow ice cream; but Thursday night Brendan and his mama and daddy came over for dinner and I had just enough Brown Cow ice cream left for small sundaes all around ...

Brendan was VERY pleased ... 

These are the adoring expressions I receive after my little Fellow has finished a bowl of chocolate ice cream … "I LOVE ice cream, Grandma Carol" is what this little face is saying I think! Perhaps he is saying, "I love YOU, Grandma Carol!" 

Whatever he is saying, it says love to me! I asked him: "Where is your smile, Brendan?" And starting with the picture above, this is what I got! 

 You little sweetie! Such expressions!

Brendan loves to chase me around the house with his tool cart … growling like a dinosaur … with me screaming in terror and running from him ... 

 It is a very fun game ...

 And we play it ...

 every single time ...

… Brendan comes over! Sometimes I hide around the corners and jump out at him--that's when he really cracks up!

Brown Cow ice cream ...

My Little Fellow is very serious about his Brown Cow ice cream ...

 Brendan is very good with a spoon! And SO HAPPY TOO!

We had plenty of whipped cream on top … that was the first thing to disappear!

 Sweetie!

He had surprisingly little chocolate on his face in the process ... 

 Just enough chocolate to cover his face in happiness ... 

You are the BEST, Brendan.

Sunday afternoon ...

It had been three weeks since the kiddos had been over to my house. This week, it finally worked out, even though it meant just a Sunday afternoon. But you would be surprised how much you can cram into six hours if that is all you have!

We ate a BIG breakfast kind of a lunch with scrambled eggs, sausage, and french toast, along with lots of fresh fruit and a yummy fruit dip. 

 We played a few games of MEMORY, which I forever lose because of my LACK of memory … but Christopher won the first game and then Ems won the second. Matthew and I came in a distant … last. The kiddos did better at losing this week because I told them NO MORE GAMES if it meant crying or getting all angry about it. So they tried real hard to be good sports … and it worked!

Our Bible story time was wonderful--it is always wonderful. We continued learning about Jacob and Esau. This time, we traveled with Jacob back to the homeland of his mother to find a wife. I love this story. I love how God worked good things into Jacob's life and changed his heart, by humbling him and turning him towards God. We read about how he was tricked into marrying the wrong sister, and how he eventually had FOUR wives and 11 sons!

 We also learned about the dream of Jacob's ladder. This happened as Jacob was traveling to his mother's homeland. We learned that Jacob SAW THE LORD at the top of that stairway to heaven and that he named the place, "Bethel" which means "house of God."

I have loved reading and studying through Genesis. I love these beautiful stories of how God called out a people for Himself, blessed them, and changed their lives forever. The children painted these illustrations while listening to the story. So thankful for these hours with the children!