Kelly O's special day!

We celebrated Kelly's birthday Monday over at Pietro's. We shared lunch together. I love Kelly so much. She is a warm and wonderful person.

It was great to be able to share her day with her ... and Dylan ...

... and Little Fellow too!

Brendan was being a bit of a stinker during lunch--I have never seen him behave quite like this! Ah, I guess he IS a normal child after all! :)

Oh my word ... what a face! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR KELLY!

We review the Creation story

For our Bible time Sunday afternoon, we reviewed the Creation story. This was Emma's request from the prior week. PLUS, she wanted me to type out my notes to add to their binders full of painted illustrations. So that is what we did!

As the kiddos painted, I reviewed what we had learned about God creating everything. We learned a new 10-word verse: IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. This is the very first verse in all of Scripture!

We talked about what God made on each of the six days of Creation, how Jesus Christ was actually the One who did the work of creation (He merely spoke and voila' ... everything appeared), how Christ made us for a relationship with Him, and that He holds everything together by the word of His mouth.

We also watched a short 7-minute video by Louie Giglio about God making the stars and how tiny the earth is compared to the mammoth universe God has made. 

We had a very nice Bible time. I am so thankful we do this each week. It is so wonderful to prepare ahead all week long and find just the right illustrations as well as cross-referencing throughout Scripture the topic or particular story we are studying. I love Bible study!

The kiddos did a wonderful job painting their pictures of the earth and their newest memory verse.

These are the kinds of memories that are the very BEST.

We have a blast at AJ's

The kiddos look like little gangsters in this picture! I had my camera on the WRONG setting (again!) but thought I had snapped about a dozen pictures at this site (in front of the race car). As it was, the setting I had my camera on, does not take multiple shots, so this picture (below) was the only option.

This was Matthew's very first time riding the go-karts. You see, this is his special birthday year where he turned TEN on the 10th ... his GOLDEN birthday year; and I promised that before summer was over, we would stretch his birthday out one last time and go to AJ's.

Matthew looks VERY ready to drive. And Chris? Well, he is an old pro at this! He was completely confident and SO excited to be behind the wheel.

I have no idea what happened to the picture of Ems in her car ... perhaps at the end of this post.

The kiddos drove their go-karts first and then we went into the Arcade. I always struggle with the Arcade because there are so many "games" that are such a rip off! But each of the children had 25 tokens to do with as they pleased ...

This game was actually the sanest one there ... at least it made sense!

These pictures kill me ... such glum faces on these beautiful children. I think the Arcade is a little bit overwhelming ... kind of like a casino-effect (although I have never been in a casino and never plan to!). It's just that there is SO much to attract with so little return!

Emma and Matthew on the "dance machine."

When all of the tokens were spent, we went back to the go-karts for one last drive ...

All three of the children did really well.

They followed the rules, kept their go-karts ON the road, and were not mean to each other!

I could see by Emma's face that she was counting down the years until she gets her driver's permit ... not very many more years!

Christopher looks like one of those NASCAR dudes ...

We had a fun time at AJ's. I am glad we went! I love these guys so much.

Penny Pony

Brendan and I were on our way out of Meijer’s this week and walked past the penny pony ride. So, of course, I gave a shiny penny to Brendan and he put it in the slot as I boosted him up for his exciting ride. But nothing happened: no sound, no movement, nothing! 

Seeing Brendan’s puzzled and disappointed expression, I began to push the pony up and down, back and forth, with my hands to simulate a pony ride while humming (loudly) “The William Tell Overture” (try to picture this). After several pathetically animated moments, I noticed two very small girls waiting their turn to ride and informed them sadly that the pony had broken. The older of the two little girls asked me if I had pushed the green button, because that was what made it GO. I didn’t know there WAS a green button because it was hidden under pony’s reins (and Brendan's chubby legs); but we pushed it, pony went, and … well, it was one of those grandma moments. 

My reward? Huge smiles from three small children.

Just a few hours with Little Fellow ...

I knew Brendan would love my LEGO lighthouse! During his careful inspection of it and play, I was able to fix us a yummy-healthy dinner. We only had a few hours together, and we were just planning to hang out here at The Beach House. We had gone grocery shopping together before coming to my house and had so much fun at Meijer … Brendan is a good little helper in the store.

 I did not take my pictures this day (shock) because we were just playing with every little thing in my house. We used our scissors to cut paper up, we stamped and punched out little pictures together ...

But the real highlight was when Brendan asked to put my headphones on and then proceeded to entertain himself (and me) while playing and experimenting with the different sounds my piano can make. 

 Brendan is naturally musical. My favorite thing is when he will sing a little ditty, i.e. while we are driving somewhere and I will try to imitate him and repeat the song. He will listen carefully to me and then sweetly say: "No. It goes like this …" And then he will sing it correctly!

 Below is Brendan singing a bedtime song that Dylan and Brendan have written titled: Brendan and Michal. It's a sweet little song for Brendan and his doll, Michal, so that they can go to sleep properly.

Brendan's face! He is actually looking at the music to Fur Elise that is on my keyboard--no, he cannot read music at this point; but I predict that some day he will excel at it!

More birthday fun ...

Several weeks ago when we were ordering LEGOS for Emma's birthday, she reminded me about the LEGO lighthouse that she had seen in the catalog, and wanted me to order it. I had told her last year that I would purchase it one day for MYSELF. It turns out that Emma's mom found a really nice deal on this very LEGO set and got it for EMMA'S birthday.

 Now both Emma and I have a LEGO lighthouse. The kiddos came over last Sunday afternoon for a little while. We opened up my LEGO set and Emma, Matthew and I put it all together. Emma wasn't sure I would be able to do this without her help. There were a LOT of steps to the construction, but we did it!

 Emma directed the whole project ...

 Emma is an excellent builder and always has been. The boys are great at building too. Aren't LEGOS such a wonderful toy?

 We made room for my lighthouse over on my shelves (which need cleaning in the worst way!)

I think it looks perfect there on a nice white shelf in my Beach House. 

 The kiddos made cards for me while I was fixing all of us something to eat. Below is the front of Matthew's card.

 And below is the inside of Chris's card. He even drew me up in the very top (which he knew would be my favorite spot!)

 This is the poem on the inside: Roses are green (?!?!?), you are so pretty, you make the boys scream. Well, that certainly is not true but I will take that as a compliment anyway, Christopher.

 The back and front of Christopher's card are showing his Panther school spirit ...

Below is the inside of Matthew's card: Dear Grandma: "I hope you won't get lonely in your house. Happy Birthday." That is so sweet, Matthew. I am NOT lonely in my dear little house, at least not often.

 The inside of Emma's card: "I love you, Grandma. I hope you have a good birthday. Have fun at the beach with friends. I love you." XOXO  Thank you, Emma! I love the wavy lake you colored and the beautiful clouds too!

 Emma used my stamps to decorate the front and back of her card. 

These are the real treasures of a birthday, aren't they?