May 27 Random stuff

Tuesday:  I am posting these few pictures because ... I like them! They are rather random, but that's okay isn't it?

This is the gorgeous rhododendron bush in front of Dylan and Kelly's house. The bush itself is HUGE. I love rhododendrons! Their buds are amazing, and the flower itself is truly beautiful. Look!

I snapped this picture last night as I was walking the neighborhood ... I like the shadow of this huge tree and just the peacefulness of the setting.

And THIS is a female cardinal (see her?) at the very top of my wild bird feeding station ... which by the way, I destroyed today trying to get it to stand up straight instead of leaning (as it is in this picture). It's leaning even worse now, and the bottom pole (the most essential one) is bent now ... if a stiff wind picks up, this whole thing is going to blow over.

I get so much pleasure from watching the birds, that I researched on-line and found a feeder with a thicker pole (the thickest one I could find that still had "arms" on which to hang feeders is 1" in circumference--the one I have damaged is .7" in diameter). Hopefully, this replacement feeder station will work better.

May 25 Brendan sleeps over

Sunday:  I arranged with Brendan and his folks to have him overnight tonight--for a one-on-one encounter that I haven't had with him in years and years. I don't think he has slept over since he was 7 years old! 

Believe it or not, it took a bunch of nerve for me to ask Brendan if this is something he would like ... or would he think I was ridiculous, crazy, and that he was far too old to spend any one-on-one time with me whatsoever. I kind of eased my way into it over the last few weeks as the little kids kept asking to have a sleepover. I would always interject that I first wanted to check to see if Brendan wanted a turn, since it had been so long since he'd had one (this was usually within Brendan's hearing). One of the last times I did this, Brendan interjected that he thought it might be fun to come over and play games, watch a movie, eat popcorn, and eat junk food (!!); so this is how it came about that I picked Brendan up at about 4:00 Sunday afternoon and brought him here with me.

I hardly took any pictures--seriously! I didn't want to intimidate dear Brendan. He is 13--it's not like he is a little kid anymore. 

We played lots of games. First, we played two games of "Fox and Geese". I was the geese for the first game (and lost), and then Brendan was the geese for the second game (and he lost). It's very difficult being the geese in this game, even though they outnumber the fox 15 to 1!

We also played "Apple Scrabble" and Brendan beat me 171 to 162! We played a few rounds of a brand new game that had just arrived in the mail (via A'zon) that very morning--I was hoping it would come in time. It's just called "STONES." Each game is pretty quick. There are 20 magnetic "stones" and a "rope" that adjusts into various size circles. The object of the game is to get rid of all of your stones before your opponent does--but as you place each stone into the rope circle, if it attaches to another magnetic stone, you have to take all of the stones that are stuck together. It's very fun actually. Brendan and I were about even playing that game.

I also read Brendan "The Light Princess" which is my favorite fairy tale ever by George MacDonald. It's a short story, but reading it out loud took probably more than an hour. I split it up and read a few chapters and then we would play, and then I would read some more. I KNEW Brendan would find the story interesting and hilarious.

The crux of the story is that a king and queen tried to have children for years and years, and were finally able to have this princess. At her coronation, they "forgot" to invite the king's sister (who was a witch), so she showed up anyway and put a curse on the little princess which deprived her of all her earthly gravity.

It's really a very funny story, and the chapters are short. The story moves along well. Some of the chapter titles are: "Where IS she?", "What is to be done?", "She laughs too much!" (because the princess thought everything was funny and she never once in all her life ever CRIED), "Try Metaphysics" in which two palace "scientists" are consulted (by the names of Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck) who have extremely weird notions as to how to bring about a cure for the little princess. Anyway ... it's worth reading! Brendan truly enjoyed it. I was so glad. It has a delightfully happy ending.

I let Brendan choose the movie he wanted to watch. He was very interested in seeing a movie he had seen once before: "Speed Racer". I had never heard of it, but we watched a preview and it seemed harmless enough, so we watched it. It wasn't at all the kind of movie that I would ever enjoy--but I involved myself as much as possible for Brendan's sake. We ate popcorn throughout the movie, and Brendan seemed pleased.

We both slept well Sunday night and were awake at about 7:00 the next morning. We spent a few hours playing more games, listening to some music via Youtube, putting puzzles together, and doing some art stuff. I did sneak a few pictures of Brendan while he was sketching.

Soon, it was time for lunch. I decided to take us out to Culver's--it's where Brendan and I used to eat when he was a little guy. We brought along our STONE game to play while we waited for our food. We got home to Brendan's at about 1:00. 

Aidan and Erin were excited to show me the rope fort their mom is constructing for them. Look how cool it is!

Well ... it's Aidan's turn next to spend the night at my house. I am going to try to be more regular about this one-on-one time with each of the kids. They are growing up so fast. I don't want to waste this precious time with them. Thank you, Lord, for grandchildren--they are so precious.

May 22 Strength

Thursday:  This is sad to admit, but today was the first day in a very long time (years) that I worked a nine-hour day ... and it wasn't exactly WORK ... but it was responsibility and caregiving and physical playing and cleaning. 

I've come to realize that one of the reasons (of many) that I wake up afraid every morning is that I am afraid of being "overwhelmed." I am afraid something will happen that I won't be able to "handle" in a correct way. I fear "hurting" someone either by my actions or lack of action. Perhaps everyone struggles with feelings like this; but I have been plagued with them since becoming a mom 45 years ago. That's actually when it began! 

I could give you many reasons why this happened and try to excuse my anxiety; but I won't! The truth is, most of it lies in a lack of confidence in the Lord--that He will really do what He promises to do--which is, to give me strength when I am weak; to give me wisdom when I don't know what to do; to teach me how to love, when my first response is to not care one single bit; to teach me how to forgive when I harbor hurtful words said or actions done ... in other words, I mostly don't trust that the Lord is in control of everything in my life. I've been thinking on this for a long while and I've been praying that I will learn and grow in my faith in HIS strength, wisdom and provision.

The other thing I realized is this: I AM LAZY. Not dreadfully lazy ... but enough that it needs changing!

I picked up little Cal this morning at 9am. He was very happy to see me, which is always a wonderful thing as a grandma. He is a very amusing little person and I enjoy being with him so much. He's a little bit hard on me physically; so I keep reminding him that I am an OLD LADY. This helps somewhat, except he will respond with: "And you are going to die!" and then he laughs! Well, at least he won't mourn my passing.

Here are a few pictures of our time at my house:

We started out with a rousing game of basketball. Cal likes to shoot hoops! He's pretty good at it too! We have a little bell we ring when we get a basket.

Cal was hungry for some Mac 'n cheese at 10:15 this morning; luckily I had some already made and could just throw it in the microwave for 60 seconds and it was ready! He ate some pretzels while his meal was nuking ...

I read him "Brave Little Finn" while he ate his meal. He really really liked the story. So did Brendan at this age! I even bought Brendan a "Little Finn" book for his 6th birthday, if I remember correctly.

10:15 was too early for me to eat lunch, so after Cal finished his Mac 'n Cheese, we played for awhile in the playroom (racing cars) and then I him a hot dog more at the usual lunch time, and fixed a salad for myself. Cal really really is a good eater. I was eating my salad and Cal asked if he could have some salad too; so I shared with him and he put most of his salad on his hotdog.

Cutie.

We briefly played with some new Playdoh colors I bought this week. Cal made his usual MONSTER and was quite put out with me when I decided I would not make a monster out of MY Playdoh. Who was he going to war with, he asked? I told him I was not in the mood for war; so our Playdoh "play" only lasted about 15 minutes today. 

While I did a little clean-up around here, Cal watched a dinosaur program on Prime. We drove back to his place a little after 2:00. I had a few small cleaning projects I wanted to do around their house, and needed a little extra time before the other kiddos got home from school in order to accomplish that. I was able to get everything done that I had on my short list! Cal had fallen asleep in my car on the way to his house, and he was not at all inclined to wake up; so I just got to work and got it done more quickly than if I was playing with Cal at the same time. Brendan came home from school and we visited awhile during the time I was in the kitchen washing dishes. I think he is actually going to come and spend the night with me Sunday night! Yay!

The "littles" got home from school and we all enjoyed a nice snack together. Erin was showing me her grumpy face and asked me to take a picture of her so she could see what she looked like being grumpy.

Erin also was excited to show me how she can do the splits! She was very pleased with this picture.

Both Cal and Erin decided to make grumpy faces together ...

We also blasted off more rockets today in their great room with the very high ceiling. Cal really loves my stomp-rockets. He gets a real kick out of watching them zoom up to the ceiling.

Aidan spent most of the time in the basement, but occasionally came up to the kitchen for a snack. I bring a loaf of cinnamon bread each week to toast for them. Aidan is all about bread, so he is always glad to have a few pieces.

I was back home here by a little after 7:00 and I didn't even wash up my dishes before I sat down and did absolutely NOTHING for the next two hours! I was super tired, but happy to be loved and glad the Lord did indeed give me His strength for the day.

May 19 Rocket Blaster!

Monday:  I was asked to pick Cal up from preschool this afternoon, so I gladly did! The first thing he said to me was this: "Grandma, I'm FIVE now!" Yes, indeed. You ARE five! We drove to Cal's house and played out in their front yard for a little while; but then I was too cold (it was only 54 degrees!) so we ended up playing inside for awhile too. It was actually too windy outside to have the best luck with our rockets we were launching--today, at least, it worked better inside in their great room.

I've had this toy for years and years--actually, since Brendan was a little guy. He loved this toy when he was about Cal's age. I also used to take it with me to El Paso when I visited Jesse's family out there. All of his kiddos loved to see how high we could get these rockets to soar--it was much hotter in Texas!

Cal really enjoyed doing this--I was so glad! I loved to see him active like this. And his smile could cheer up anyone!

Cal is a very animated little person ...

The other kiddos played with this, but just while I was busy with other stuff; so I failed to get any pictures of them today. I'll see them again Thursday!

May 17 Cal's Party

Saturday Afternoon:  Today was Cal's 5th birthday party. Dylan and Kelly know so many nice people who have become their good friends--these friends also have little children who are friends with my grandchildren. It works out so nicely. What a gift it is to have good friends!

The kiddos got a bubble-making machine that they set up on their front porch. The bubbles would greet all their guests!

Aidan has his husky puppet to show everyone--I could hardly believe my ears when Aidan mimicked a barking puppy--it sounded super real.

This little girl is Mar-Mar. Her parents are Jeff and Theresa. She will be five in the fall--I think mid-September AND their new baby is due right around that time too. I am so happy for them about this new baby.

Brendan did a good job keeping the bubble machine making its bubbles and generally taking charge of it for the kids.

Erin was quite happy with a small container of "tic-tocs" she received from somebody ...

All of the friends finally arrived: Teddy (and their baby), Graham and his brother Everett, and Vivian too (and their baby). It was finally time for CAKE.

Look at Cal's happy face as he prepares to blow out his #5 candle while we were all singing to him. Isn't he the cutest?

Erin was thrilled to have TWO babies to look it. I think this is baby GUS (but I am not certain). Erin was deep in conversation with the baby's mom ...

 Erin was so pleased to be with a baby. She is so much fun to interact with--so grown up sometimes!

Here is Aidan barking like a puppy with his puppet, climbing up the wall ...

Cal received lots of nice presents from his friends. And they ran and played with balloons, etc. for such a fun time together.

How nice it is to have good friends! What a happy birthday party it was. My heart was made glad just from listening to these little ones play together and interact with their moms and dads. Thank you, Lord, for family and friends.