June 30 Erin at Sara's pool party

Sunday:  Kelly is out of town for a few days, which presented a bit of a dilemma for Dylan. Erin was invited to her kindergarten friend, Sara's, birthday pool party which began at 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Erin's siblings were not invited to the party--because they don't even know Sara--and Dylan couldn't just "drop" Erin off for an undesignated period of time; so they asked if I would take Erin. Yes! 

We were one of the first of Sara's friends to arrive at her house. What a beautiful house she lives in! The party-goers spent the majority playing in the pool that was heated to 92 degrees! Good thing, because it barely made it to 70 degrees outside. But it was a perfectly beautiful afternoon for swimming in a warm pool. The kiddos played all kinds of games in the pool. I didn't even bring my swim suit because it was SO COLD at my house earlier in the day; I truly thought no one in their right mind would go swimming. I didn't know it was a heated pool ...

Erin is a little fish--when I told her that, she corrected me in the most FIRM voice. "No! I am a mermaid, grandma!" So there you have it!
 

There were all kinds of very fun pool toys and floatation devices. Erin had no problem climbing up on them and relaxing ...

Many of Erin's best friends were there from her kindergarten class: Olivia, Reagan ... and other kids with unique names that I can't recall.

There was plenty to eat and snack on. I lost count how many cookies and handfuls of caramel chocolate popcorn Erin ate. The snack table was not close by to where I could say anything about it to Erin--the only thing that concerned me was that she would make herself sick. But ... nothing negative came of it, and she even ate a half piece of cheese pizza and some birthday cake just before we left the party.

Sara's house was quite amazing. I didn't walk around and take pictures inside because that would have been ... odd. I was tempted, believe me, because it was interesting architecturally; but I restrained myself.

There apparently was no scripted events during the party--like gift opening or singing "Happy Birthday" but some kids were leaving, and we had been there FOUR hours so I asked Sara's mom if Erin could watch Sara open her gift that she had brought--that request got the events moving ahead. Erin was able to see Sara open her Barbie gift right after the cake had been served, and they even played with Sara's Barbie playhouse for a little while.

Here are Erin and the birthday girl, Sara.

The kids sure had a fun afternoon swimming in the pool and hanging out together. It was fun for me to see some of Erin's friends and meet their parents too. I was the only grandma there, but that was okay.

June 29 Kaity's Birthday

Saturday: This is the very day our Kaity was born TWELVE years ago in an Army hospital in El Paso, Texas. I was actually THERE when she was born--not in the birthing room--no, no, no. But I was in town and got to see little Kaity a few hours after she was born!!! 

I'm super thankful for these pictures of this precious time in our lives!

Emma, almost 10, holding her
baby sister

Well, Kaity has grown quite a bit in the last 12 years. This is her last year as a pre-teen. She is tall, athletic, funny, interesting, extremely SOCIAL, smart, mechanical, kind ... and I love her so much.

I picked Kaity up at about 3pm and we drove over to her dad's so that she could get a birthday hug from him. I love these pictures of them!

After visiting with Jesse for awhile and checking out his newly renovated 2nd bathroom, Kaity and I drove over to my house. The following pictures (all of them) loaded in backward order. I never know why that happens, but I'm going to just leave them as you see them. It doesn't really matter!

I bought an ice cream cake for Kaity, which turned out to be ALL ice cream with frosting on top. It was good, but I was hoping for ... CAKE too. I put some sparkling candles (which were difficult to light), and Kaity had fun blowing them out.
 

When we ordered Kaity's gifts a few weeks ago, she was completely intent on having an official NFL football. So ... here it is!

Aren't these great pictures of Kaity?

Kaity also wanted a CROSS necklace. I felt a little hesitant about this--because I think it's so important for people who wear BIG crosses (or little ones for that matter) to actually imitate JESUS--when friends look at them, hopefully they see attitudes and actions that represent Jesus. It's kind of like bumper stickers on cars that preach about Jesus, but the drivers of those cars (sometimes) drive like ... idiots--which gives the Lord a bad reputation. Anyway, I cautioned Kaity about wearing this cross. It should always represent Jesus and what His death on that cruel cross accomplished as He sacrificed His perfect life for our sinful ones.  

On one side of the cross it has Joshua 1.8: "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." It's a great Scripture from an incredible time in Joshua's life. Hopefully, Kaity will let me tell her Joshua's story one of these days.

The other side of the cross has a ... football. Hmm. Not sure what a football has to do with the cross of Christ--but hopefully, it means that Jesus is interested in everything we do and gives us the athletic ability that we have (or don't have, in my case). Kaity liked it very much.

The cross was wrapped in FIVE different plastic bags ...

Here is Kaity with her football. She really is a natural athlete. I hope that she follows through with athletics--it would be a shame to waste the gifts God has given her. 

Here she is opening the card I designed for her. I'll show it to you at the end of this post.

Kaity's card:

It sure was nice to spend part of your birthday with you! Diana took her out for lunch, with her siblings, to Outback Steak House. She received lots of cards and nice gifts for her 12th birthday. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITY!!!

June 28 The Birds

Friday:  My small side yard has become a flurry of activity in these past weeks--well, ever since I got my new bird feeding station that is. This first picture is shown just to demonstrate the reason I needed a different way to feed my birds--to somehow prevent the SQUIRRELS from eating all of the seed.

This bird feeder (below) is my next door neighbor's. His name is TED and he turned 90 years old two weeks ago now. He doesn't look or act as if he is 90--perhaps 80--he gets around pretty well using one of those three-pronged canes; he still drives his own car, goes to church twice on Sunday, and really enjoys feeding our birds. Ted told me that the bird feeder (pictured below) was squirrel-proofed. Hmm. I watched Mr. Squirrel walk that tremendously thin pole/arch and then slide himself down onto the feeder without falling even once, and then enjoy himself hugely eating all the sunflower seeds he desired.

My new bird feeder station has a little flat bowl where I put a small piece of fruit--I read somewhere that fruit will encourage hummingbirds and butterflies to come. However, I haven't seen a single one of those critters yet! But I have seen the birds drink the water and stick their beaks into the fruit.

Weirdly, I found this dove in my window feeder the other day, with its mate waiting for a turn to eat there too. Doves are usually bottom feeders, and there are always 2-3 walking around on the grass beneath these feeders eating what has fallen down. 

The other day I had a beautiful Bluejay and a Cardinal couple visit for quite awhile. The BIG black birds are a bit annoying--they come in flocks and clean me out of seeds pretty quickly. BUT ... just as regular as the black birds are the little finches and chickadees, which I really delight watching. 

All and all, I am very pleased with my bird feeders. I've gotten a good variety of seeds and treats for them to enjoy, and my side yard is becoming a real bird hangout. I am so pleased.

June 26 The JOY of these four

Wednesday:  Kelly brought these dear grandchildren to ME today! Thank you, Kelly! They arrived at 12:45. We ate our lunch and played, and played, and played. These guys do not need any entertaining. Of course, I have a TON of toys! They know where everything is. They need very little help with anything they want to do around here. I love it when they are at my little house.

The older Cal gets--he has just turned FOUR--I notice that he does better playing with Aidan and Erin. Perhaps it's because he is just as "bright" as they are, and nothing gets past him--I'm not sure, but they all seem to enjoy each other (when they are not "spatting" w/each other). Cal has become a little less possessive of toys, and less anxious when something doesn't immediately go his way. These are good things! Way to go, Cal! In the last few weeks, he has taken to "copying" me--just out of the blue, he will repeat something I've said or a gesture I have made. He does this totally seriously too!! It gives him such delight--which cracks me up. I told him I am going to start calling him "Herbie" if he isn't careful ... [Herbie is our little animated hamster--he is sitting on the shelf just to the right of Cal). Cal told me I was not allowed to call him "Herbie" ... so I reminded him (very seriously) that he is also not allowed to call his grandma, "Dummy". Unacceptable, little man!

We had such a nice few hours together here. The older three kids all love to draw and do art. I love how creative they all are, and I love to watch their JOY as they create. It's very heart-warming to me.

Erin wandered around a little bit, not sure what she wanted to do first ... but she did very well just playing with different toys, very content.

Look at Brendan. My heart! I love this child so much it makes my heart ache--does that make sense? You see, when he was just a "Little Fellow", he and I spent quite a bit of time together. He was completely delightful--interested in every little thing--almost never fussy--very easy to be with. He has grown up so much this year. Sixth grade was a good year for him in public school. He carries himself more confidently, and he seems more happy this year. I'm so glad.

I love the way you sketch, Brendan!

What's that mischievous look on your face, Erin? This little person has a great sense of humor, and is so much fun.

AIDAN ... has a brilliant mind. I say that with caution--truly. For just turning seven in March, he reads at an incredible level of maturity. I bet he reads at a Grade 9 or 10 level. He can read through instructions (ie LEGO) and understand completely and then construct the model without help. He likes to build and see how things work. I love to watch him at play. He is rather intense--but--not unreasonably (most of the time). When he is playing, he has a goal in mind (always), and sees it through until he has achieved whatever he set out to do. It's an admirable quality! I try not to worry about how "smart" he is--it's just that, sometimes very brilliant people do not know how to be happy--there is too much going on in their brains. I have a very average brain--the only thing I struggle with is "melancholy" and sometimes depression--but the Lord is working on me for both of those maladies. I almost never try to figure out deep unanswerable questions--Jesus is enough of an answer for me. I can set all my hope on Him.

Aidan had a lot of success making a cool track with magnet tunnels and hills. He had a very clear picture in his mind of what he wanted this to look like--and he was quite happy with the result. Me too!

The next thing I knew, Aidan had reached high on one of the toy shelves and retrieved the marble run. When I build with this thing, I use the pictured instructions--because I need them. Not Aidan! He just messed around enough with the pieces and figured out how to arrange them so that the marbles would flow in the direction he wanted them in order to go down each designated run he had desired.

Cal sat and watched his brother quite a long time. He had his turn to build a little later--and I did help him make his own marble run.

We watched a little bit of the movie: "Two Brothers". It's about twin tiger cubs and what happened to them when they were captured. We only watched about 30 minutes of it, and then it was time to get everyone to the car and drive over to Costco to pick up our pizza (for dinner).

Dylan and Kelly are both at a conference at Dylan's workplace this evening. My "relief" (in the person of Cassie) arrived at 6:30. The kids hadn't met her before (nor had I)--but we liked her immediately. What a nice person she is! She connected right away with the kids, and I felt confident in leaving them in her care. Dylan and Kelly know a LOT of competent, kind, and truly interesting people. I'm thankful they have such nice friends.

I arrived home at about 7:15 and as I pivoted to get out of my car, something twisted in my hip (!!!) and I could barely put any weight on my left leg the rest of the night. I hauled out mom's walker once again and used it! The pain was so intense I was actually gasping with each step. Thankfully, Thursday morning it had calmed down quite a bit. I am thankful for Physical Therapy and am praying that these sessions and home exercises with resolve this pain.