January 31

Friday:  Hey there, pretty bird! These are some random pictures of Matey from the last few days ... Aren't his colors so beautiful?  This last week, Matey has developed a rather annoying habit. For some reason, he seems enamored with my NECK. Yes. He'll perch himself on my shoulder and sneak his way over to my neck, just under my chin, and ... PECK, PECK, PECK! Yikes. I do NOT allow pecking on my neck, for goodness sake!

 I've taken to wrapping my entire neck in a scarf, which is fine during the colder weather. I hope to break him of this little fettish before spring! Look how innocent he looks!

 The picture below really shows how beautiful his colors are!

 Here he is this morning enjoying a banana peel. He nibbled at this for a solid 30 minutes!

You are welcome, Matey! I love you too!

January 30

Thursday:  Kaity came with her backpack prepared for my house today. She brought Baby Lily (naturally) AND two of her new LEGO figures from her new treehouse LEGO set--we already have an identical set here at my house. Kaity brought her two LEGO characters over to meet MY two LEGO characters ... and ALL of the characters played together! It was a happy occasion, enjoyed by one and all (including the First Mate who is perched on the LEGO tub).

 I'm so glad Kaity enjoys LEGOs. It was very small for the designers to make sets for girls, don't you think? Not that it HAS to be that way or anything, but Kaity really enjoys being a girl!

 Baby Lily got a new diaper made for her this evening. We made it out of some soft fabric that I had laying around. Kaity seemed pleased, and I am assuming (!!) baby Lily does too.

 We also spent quite a bit of time designing a birthday card for Kaity's cousin, Brendan, who turns the BIG EIGHT on Monday. I got out a bunch of my art stuff for Kaity and she went to town!

I forgot to snap a picture of the finished card before we taped the envelope closed, so I'll just tell you about it. We used all of my farm stamps and made a nice homey picture for Brendan and then Kaity colored some of it as well. On the front of the card, Kaity used pretty stickers, and then stamped: "To Brendan, From Kaitlynn" Nice work, Kaity! This was so fun to do with you tonight!

January 29

Wednesday:  Brendan remembered my NUMBER transformers today and wondered where I had put them. I showed him where they were back in the playroom. He decided he would make the 2nd robot that involves putting 5 of the numbered transformers together. I was SO impressed with his patience and calm persistence in understanding the pattern and pictures, etc. He did an excellent job.

 I introduced Brendan to "Battleship" today and we had a most interesting game of it! You see, about 10 minutes into it, Brendan decided he just could NOT stand the anticipating of NOT knowing where my ships were, so he made it a habit of sneaking around the table with his hands over his eyes and then peeking at my board! It was actually funny, but I wasn't sure how to get him to stop doing it because he was SO bent on looking at my pieces and then getting a hit. 

 If we ever play it again, I'm going to have to tell Brendan that we have to stick by the rules. It's a bad habit for me to allow him to blatantly break every rule like this. We did have fun playing it, but ... I should have clamped down on him before I did. You see, he kept sneaking around the table with his hands over his eyes telling me not to worry because "he couldn't see" when in fact, HE COULD SEE! Ha! 

 Anyway, after Brendan WON the game of Battleship, he went back to building his robot ...

 Brendan has a very active and sharp little brain in his head ... there is a LOT going on in there ...

He almost got the five numbers combined into the robot, but he decided to take a little "break" while we played some foosball, and then we forgot to get back to it. I put it away and kept the parts together that Brendan had so painstakingly figured out. He'll probably finish it next week. There is only FIVE days until Brendan turns EIGHT. For some reason, my heart hurts to think of him turning eight already ... time goes by too quickly, doesn't it?

January 27

Monday:  These two precious little angels came over to play this afternoon. Aidan was not feeling well--look at his darling face, especially his eyes. That sparkle is missing ... and he just looks exhausted (2nd picture).

 I was playing around with the large pretzels, placing one on my upper lip between my lip and my nose to make a moustache. Both of them tried to copy me ...

 Erin was super pleased with her efforts ...

 Aidan did not eat even one bit of his mac 'n cheese. He was listening to his little sick body!

 The two of them played very nicely this afternoon. Aidan was very quiet and subdued, which is unusual for him. 

 Erin was amused by Matey and she was into just about everything she could reach ...

 Erin has no apparent fear of heights. She seems happiest when on top of something. Doesn't she look cute on top of my piano bench?

 Her little scrunchy smile ...

 What a darling little pixie you are, Erin!

We made it through our afternoon, with me finally putting on a video at about 3:40 and sitting the kiddos back in their little chairs with snacks. Aidan had a whomping messy diaper and I just decided that putting them in front of a video for 30 minutes would not be the end of the world while I attempted to clean up the place. I'm thankful for these hours with Erin and Aidan today.

January 26, Grand Haven Lights

Sunday:  It's just a short drive from Rosy Mounds to the State Park at Grand Haven. I knew our time was limited, so we parked as closely as we could to get a few pictures of the channel ... which, by the way, I have NEVER seen the water SO HIGH here ...

 Then we drove through the parking lot to the other side where we had a better view of the beach--or what is LEFT of it--and the lighthouse/pier.

 The wind was really brisk out here ... and look how tiny the beach is! It has been almost completely washed away!

 I heard this week on the local weather station that they are expecting the erosion here to worsen right through spring. January is usually the LOWEST level of Lake Michigan. Presently, the lake is 20" higher than it was last year this time!

 Dear Emma enjoys a good adventure. I'm so glad she does. We have fun together--I'm not sure there are many people in my life I can say that about! I love her so much.

 Beautiful place, isn't it? Even with the gloomy skies ... it's just breathtaking out here.

 I have thousands (no lie) of pictures of this pier because I have a nearly 50-year history of coming out here and walking it, listening to the surf and seagulls, watching the fishermen, wishing I was on every boat going up and down the channel ...

 This is my HAPPY place ... I hope heaven is as beautiful as it is here ... I'm sure it must be!

It only took us 32 minutes to drive into Emma's driveway from here. I felt reluctant to see her go today. We talked about a lot of sad things last night--she expresses herself very well--and I am glad that we can talk and that she shares difficult things with me. Oh, Lord, please surround Emma with your protection--guard her heart and mind--give her eyes to see Your incredible love for her.