August 31 ONE little shoe

Wednesday:  Sigh. When Cal and Erin were here yesterday, I managed to LOSE Cal's little shoes! When he came inside my house to play, he was wearing a cute little pair of shoes--I was listening to Erin telling me something important, and Cal went to play. A little later, I noticed that he was still wearing his shoes, so I removed them from him ... and that is the last time I remembered seeing them! Yikes.

I took the kiddos to Altitude--they both fell soundly asleep on our drive over there, but I remember waking them up (after taking a long drive down country roads as they napped) once we were in Altitude's parking lot and then I put their "special" socks on while they were sitting in the car, thinking that I would not have to keep track of their shoes while inside. After we were finishing playing there, I brought them back to my car (still wearing their socks) and then drove over to their house.

I found Erin's shoes right where I had left them in my car (on the floor near her carseat) but I couldn't locate Cal's shoes anywhere. I turned my car inside out (practically) and still ... NO SHOES!

I gave up and brought the kiddos inside to Dylan and Kelly, explaining that I couldn't find Cal's shoes anywhere. I concluded that I must have left them at MY house. Yikes. Dylan and Kelly were very understanding about it and I agreed to bring Cal's shoes to them once I located them at my house.

I returned home, looked in every nook and cranny of my Beach House ... but NO SHOES!

So ... I started thinking of the options: What could I have done with Cal's shoes? They obviously were NOT in my house, they were NOT in my car--so where else could they be?

I concluded (correctly) that when I was bringing Erin and Cal out to my car on our way to Altitude, I had a handful of stuff to put in the back of my car (my camera, the kids' bag, Erin's shoes, CAL'S shoes, my keys, snacks for the kids) and I must have put Cal's shoes on the roof of my car (Note to self: DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON THE ROOF OF YOUR CAR!). We drove out of my drive, but I had forgotten the kids' water bottles, so I turned around and parked in front of my house, ran inside to retrieve the water bottles, and then drove out the SIDE entrance of our park onto Chauncey Avenue, never remembering that Cal's little shoes were on the roof of my car.

Not remembering the "roof" placement, I was really vexed about having lost a pair of shoes for darling Cal. I was super annoyed about it!

Wednesday evening, I went for a walk in our neighborhood (with my camera) and intended to do the two mile circuit in and out of the park here. As I was walking along Chauncey Avenue (right where the driveway from Leisure Village exits out to Chauncey), I spied a little shoe and my first immediate thought was: "How on earth did a cute little shoe end up HERE?" and then immediately recognized it as CALLAGHAN'S shoe! Oh.my.word. 

I walked back to my house because I desperately needed to use the bathroom; but afterwards I went back outside, retraced my steps in the hopes of finding the other shoe. I went to every corner that I had turned thinking that turning was what caused the shoes to fall off the roof ... but ... I was unable to find the matching shoe.

When I look at this little shoe, I see it is very used--not at all NEW ... did Erin wear these a year or two ago? Perhaps Aidan too? All I know is that this little shoe is precious to me. I see those cute, chubby little legs running with these shoes on! Perhaps I will find the other shoe yet! I will keep hoping!

August 31 Last walk in August!

Wednesday: I went for an evening walk, hoping to log in two miles perhaps. I took the straight shot to the far end of Leisure and as I was heading out to Chauncey Avenue, this beautiful sight was straight in front of me! I stopped walking and slowly took my camera out of its case. I wasn't very close, actually--these photos are all taken with my zoom lens.

I had my air buds in and was listening and singing to some beautiful songs about the Lord. I remembered my dear friend, Gela, saying that when she is out in the woods near her home in Ada--if she sings (she sings in her native language, German) the deer will come very close to her and just listen! I stood right where I was and continued singing softly--I wondered if they could hear me--they were SO attentive! I continued to slowly walk towards them, singing as I walked. These are the best of the pictures I was able to take.

Finally, the fawns walked away from their mom and she quickly followed ...

I think deer are one of the most beautiful creatures God has created. I love their color. I love the peaceful way they walk and the graceful way they run and jump. They disappeared into the woods shortly after this. I was so glad to have seen them and was able to snap a few pictures. I've seen deer on previous walks, but never this close or this still.

And look at these beautiful RED ... crab apples? I'm not sure what they are! They are growing on a large and very full tree on Chauncey Avenue ...

... I was almost finished with my walk when I KNEW I had to get back to my house quickly to use the bathroom (TMI) and as I was walking along ... I found a little shoe (see next post) ...
 

August 30 Cal and Erin

Tuesday: This is the SECOND week of having Cal and Erin come over to play on Tuesday. Aidan and Brendan are now in school full time--I MISS THEM!

I didn't take many pictures today my house. I was too busy trying to keep up with these two! They did enjoy fishing together except their fishing lines kept interlocking and needing untwisting, etc. I did this for as long as I could manage and then diverted one of them elsewhere so that the other could fish in peace!

Look at this chubby little boy! He absolutely kills me!

Dear Erin was not feeling well at all ... she needed to use the potty you see and she wanted her "little potty" to use for her more serious needs. She is fine to use my potty chair on top of my regular toilet for her quick use, but not for her serious stuff.

Erin did work on a little sticker picture for her mom's birthday ... but she asked if we could return to her house so that she could use "HER potty" at home. I sat her back on my potty for awhile and read books to her while Cal was tearing the place up and bringing interesting objects to me in the bathroom (like Emma's hairbrush, the doorstop from my bathroom, etc.) but Erin had no "luck" getting her serious business accomplished at my house. 

I was hesitant to take them to Altitude with Erin having a tummy ache, but she requested that we go there anyway, so we did. I followed Callaghan around very closely. Erin quickly found other little friends and ran around with them.

Cal had a difficult time getting his body UP this incline while carrying the ball ... so he let the ball go (regrettably) and managed to climb to the top ...

Cal really enjoys playing ball ...

Cal was VERY intent on making a basket ...

... and threw the ball with all of his might! If I had been able, I would have lifted him up to the basket for his attempt, but I can barely lift this little chunk of a boy.

I was able to lift him enough to "throw" him onto this soft place ... several times actually, to his delight.

The hour we spent at Altitude totally exhausted me. It's harder than I thought to keep up with this little boy AND keep on eye on Erin at the same time. But it worked out just fine--I think my body will ache tomorrow, though!
 

August 29 Storm

Monday:

 

August 28 Week two walking

Sunday:  I added up my "mileage" (ha!) from the week and ... drum roll ... I walked a total of TEN miles. It truly seemed much longer than that! I only walked around my neighborhood and down Chauncey a little bit--but I tried to do a minimum of one mile per day (that was the goal) and I did reach it, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Wednesday morning I walked early--7:30 or so. While walking on Chauncey, I saw SEVEN deer cross the road up ahead of me. They were SO quiet and graceful and beautiful. I stopped walking to enjoy them, but they were gone SO fast that it was just a brief moment of pleasure. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed my new airbuds that were given to me on my birthday. I can listen to great music the entire time I am walking. It takes the edge of having to walk! I don't often take my camera along with me because ... I don't walk at a very fast pace while shooting pictures. Since I have my phone, though, I do every now and then snap a picture of a pretty flower!

I forget what these flowers are called--but aren't they so beautiful? These blossoms were as large as my hand! Hopefully this week, I will add more mileage at a faster pace of walking. I'm trying NOT to be old at 69; but honestly, I truly don't like to exercise. Come fall, I will find it much more pleasant to walk in the woods. I don't walk in the woods during the hot months because I don't wear long pants, long sleeves and boots in the summer--and I am not a fan of mosquito bites or ticks either. Once the first frost comes, I will gladly return to the woods. Hopefully, I will continue to form a habit of daily walking ... at least until the really COLD weather hits.

August 25 with Kaity

Thursday:  I am days behind with posting in this photo-diary of mine. I've been distracted with the making of cards. August is a big birthday month, so I've been trying to create cards of meaning for the people I love.

I can't really remember much of what Kaity and I did on Thursday--except that I was LATE picking her up by almost an hour! I NEVER do that. I had gotten drowsy at my desk and went into my room to just lay my head down for a few seconds--bad decision. If Jesse hadn't messaged me wondering where I was, I might have slept on and on.

Thankfully, Kaity was NOT offended by my tardiness. On the drive to my house, she told me much about her first few days of fourth grade--stuff about her classmates and teachers, etc. Most everything she shared with me was positive. I've been praying that Kaity will have a good year of learning this year. I've asked the Lord to give Kaity teachers who know HIM and will love her.

I only snapped a few pictures while Kaity was here. Dear Belle loves Kaity, so it was nice that they got to spend some time together.

I will not be with Kaity on Saturday. She and Emma and her mom are going up north to Great Wolf Lodge for a fun two days. I am very glad for them! I can't wait to hear about all of the fun they had.

August 23 A New Chapter

Tuesday:  I've never been one who LOVES change ... SO ... I have super mixed feelings about this new chapter in my life. You see, Brendan and Aidan are returning to school--this year, FULL TIME: Brendan in the 5th grade and Aidan in Kindergarten--which means that neither one of them will be coming to my house on Tuesdays during the school year. My heart is so sad about it! They will change so much, so quickly--how will I even know them any more? 

Wee Callaghan, who has never been to my house without his parents--many reasons for this, but surely NOW is the time for Cal to spend time with his grandma. I picked Erin and Callaghan up at 11am from Miss Jen. Cal wasn't at all pleased about getting into my car--he typically takes a nap about this time of the morning and was clinging to Jen--she wisely provided a fruit snack to distract him from leaving her and coming to me. He did sleep all the way to my house and once he was HERE, he was pleased as can be with all of the toys--especially all of the little cars I have to play with. Here are some pictures:

Here is the new activity rug I purchased yesterday at Baker Book House--I had a $5 coupon, so I only had to pay $25 for it and it came with three little train cars too1 I added some track this morning and put the rest of the tracks away (since I have so many) ...

Cal was very happy to play with how I had it set up. He played with it most of the day that he was here--when he wasn't playing with all of the cars he kept finding in various places. I have a lot of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars stashed around this place.

I wasn't sure what this little one would want to eat. Thankfully, he ate almost everything I offered to him. He ate most of an apple (all sliced up and peeled), lots of red grapes, some cauliflower straws (which sounds gross, but they are actually yummy), sliced watermelon, apple juice ... and for a mid-day snack, he ate pretzels and more fruit, followed by a bowl of ice cream. He was very pleased.

Erin was here too! She spent a lot of time coloring an Anna and Elsa picture at the table. Look at her cute little face. I love her to pieces. She missed Aidan today, I could tell.

Once Callaghan discovered that there was a CAT in the house, he was entirely focused on being with Belle. He pursued her in each and every room she ran to.

Belle has gotten more used to the children in the last few months. She doesn't hide nearly as much. Erin is very good with animals in general--not one bit squeamish about them. Callaghan was downright BOLD with Belle ...

Look at Belle's face! None of the kiddos have been THIS aggressive with her yet! She didn't scratch him, for which I was thankful.

Look at that little face ... Cal is SO PLEASED ... delighted in Belle.

Belle finally got tired of all of the touching and grabbing of little hands and ran to escape into her little triangle scratching place ...

Undaunted, Callaghan followed her and kept offering her toys to play with ...

He tried EVERYTHING--musical instruments, little animal toys, cars ...

Erin and I colored for awhile together. And do you see TWO pig puppets? I KNOW! The pig on the left is RRRamone (Paco's cousin) and Paco is on the right. RRRRamone has been visiting over here from Kaity's house. Originally, I purchased RRRRamone for Emma when she was a little girl because she loved Paco so much. Emma gave her pig to Kaity a few years ago and we named him RRRRamone (you have to roll the "R") and now it seems he has come to live with ... ME!

It was nearly 5:45 before I drove into the driveway at Dylan and Kelly's house. Both Erin and Cal were fast asleep. Sweeties. I stayed and ate pizza with them and played a little while but then left to come back here at about 7:30.

What did I miss about today? 

BRENDAN! AIDAN!  I asked them about their school day and Brendan smiled and said it was "Awesome", so I was happy to hear that. Aidan showed me TWO stamps (one on each hand) that he had earned for being such a good helper in class. He was beaming as he showed them to me. 

I missed reading to the kids today. Cal is a little bit too young for the stories we read from the library. I'm going to have to adjust the kind of books I check out--younger ones for little Cal. Aidan and Brendan enjoy a good story so much, and I just love reading aloud to them. I love Brendan's passion for learning new things. I love how he remembers details and tells me about other things he is learning. I missed Aidan's laughter and cracking up.

BUT ... all things change ... they always do! My heart aches from it, but I will adjust and pray that I can still have significant time with Brendan and Aidan in other ways. They will be moving in the next few weeks into their "new" house. Perhaps they will welcome me to play there with them! I surely hope so.

I did love having Callaghan today. I need to get to know this little pistol of a boy. He is a gem for sure. And ERIN is as sweet as she can be. I am surely blessed to be a grandma.