September 28 Fall Festival

Tuesday Evening:  Since the little kids attend pre-school Mayflower Congregational Church, they heard about the outdoor Fall Festival and signed up for it. I met Dylan, Kelly and Callaghan there. I'll just run these pictures with a few comments ...

I love this little child's smile and FUN heart and her sweet little words and voice ...

Yay, Brendan! There was a super high inflatable bouncy-slide that all of the kiddos enjoyed. I was so surprised how none of them were afraid to go down--it was super fast!

Erin was practically ecstatic over the fun of it! Look at her!

Aidan too! Yay, Aidan! He exhibited no fear whatsoever! 

There were quite LONG lines to wait for a turn, but these three stuck together and I didn't hear them complain even once!

Here goes Erin again ...

She absolutely cracks me up!

Brendan! You are so brave!

Little Cal was TOO little to do the slides--but he sure wanted to!

Look at his darling little face!

Erin asked if she could ride "Princess" the tiny pony, so here she is ...

And then ... right back to the slides she went!

What a fun time the children had! There were tons and tons of kids there and all kinds of people Dylan and Kelly knew. I love that they have so many friends--anywhere they go, they seem to run into people they know and love. 

I returned home by 7:15, cleaned up my little house, washed dishes, and settled down to read before I went to bed. It was a very good day.

September 28 at my house

Tuesday:  I picked Brendan up this morning just after 11AM and we drove over to Mayflower to pick up the little kids from pre-school. They were waiting for us, sitting sweetly on the front steps to the church.

Erin goes to school TWO mornings per week and Aidan goes THREE mornings--Aidan is a year older than Erin. Both are now potty-trained (yes!) and so far, they absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE going to school. 

Here is the Beach House resident cat--Belle--washing her paws while watching out the window ...

The children were quite subdued today--which was welcomed, for sure! They were happy and busy and just a little less wound up than usual. Perhaps it's the whole school thing for the little ones that puts order in their day, along with following instructions at given times, etc. We had such a nice few hours together today and I was so much LESS tired. They really enjoy sitting around the table coloring and talking, looking at various books, and just making stuff. 

I checked out a book from the library for Brendan--it is a National Geographic Kids book, "Temple Run." Evidently "Temple Run" is a video game in which a person travels through ancient worlds to reach a particular goal. The photographs and illustrations are really beautiful in the book and Brendan was truly taken with it for a very long time. He says he has actually played the game before. I got out a few of my own books about ancient places for Brendan to enjoy too. 

Look at these two ... they are quite a pair ... very best of buddies ... they do everything together and this works very well for them actually. Erin is a tough little cookie, except she has a really BIG heart and gives in to Aidan quite a bit--always seems to be looking out for his interest instead of her own! I can't say that Aidan does the same for Erin, but I have noticed him being more gentle lately and not quite as bossy with her. She only takes it from him up to a point anyway, and then she lets him have it! But I will say it takes a lot to bring her to that point.

Brendan told me little bits about his trip to Austin, Texas with his mom and Callaghan. He loved traveling by airplane to and from--it was his first flight ever. I missed him last week!

Aidan drew all kinds of stuff for the longest time ... Erin was content to watch and listen to her brothers.

Here is curly-top blowing on my recorder while I had the piano on auto-play ... he was quite pleased.

We played and played today. The kids ate really well too. I love these guys so much. Treasures, all three of them!

We DID re-watch "American Tail" in the mid-afternoon and ate a bunch of popcorn while we were at it. At about 5PM we got ready to go and meet Dylan and Kelly over at the Fall Festival at Mayflower!

September 26 Wonderful Sunday

Sunday:  What a great worship service we were privileged to attend this morning. The singing! The teaching! Communion! All of it was so refreshing--so thankful. Emma and I worked together well this morning while volunteering with the 3's ... a challenging group of 27 of them--thankfully with enough help to survive the two hours. We came home from church, enjoyed a speghetti dinner, rested for awhile, and then I took a short walk over at Grand Rogue Park. Emma wasn't interested in walking today, and that was okay. I got a little bit up by mosquitoes while walking through the grass and woods ... but it was very worth it.

I saw only a few other walkers in these woods today ... I love to be all alone in a woodsy place!

The colors here in W. Michigan have not yet begun to turn ... perhaps a leaf or two, but nothing much yet. I love the trees so much, and the lushness of the grasses--don't you?

And look at these lovely trees! 

I don't think I took any autumn pictures at this park last year--probably because I didn't know it existed until mid-winter. I'm looking forward to seeing all the pretty colors this year!

September 24 Schwallier's and more

Saturday:  It was a little chilly and very breezy Saturday--but also super beautiful (no rain!), so Kaity and I drove up Alpine to visit Schwallier's. 

Kaity bonded with this cute little kitty ...

She climbed on a few hay bails ...

We visited the goats for awhile ...

We walked through their pumpkin patches ...

SUCH unusual pumpkins ... 

We strolled through the beautiful orchards ...

That is ... if you call this strolling ...

We bought a half dozen donuts to bring home (yum!) to share with Emma. The girls hung out for awhile as I fixed us something to eat. We sat at the table and sketched for almost an hour too.

Emma and Kaity were happy to be together today, and I was happy for them!

God heard and answered every request of mine today! Thank you, Lord!