July 31 Mostly flowers ...

Thursday:  I stayed at home in my dear Beach House all day today. I took about a mile walk around the neighborhood and snapped a few pictures with my phone ... mostly of flowers. However, before I went outside, I caught one of my resident squirrels eating IN my feeders ...

There are several squirrels that live in the trees around my house. Some of them have more dexterity than others. This little one has NO problem whatsoever hiking itself up to sit in my window feeder ...

And a squirrel guard? NO PROBLEM. This one just scampered right over it and up to the food in no time flat! 

I forget the name of this unusual flower ... but I like it very much.

Most of these flower pictures are from my friend, Gloria's, garden. She has a real knack at growing things. Her husband, Rick, is a gardener too; so they work together to enhance the beauty of God's creation.

These are some kind of an Asiatic lily ...

I have never before seen this tiny flower! I haven't any idea how to identify it.

Around the corner from Gloria, one of the neighbors has an abundance of Black Eyed Susans. I had fun trying to catch a good "BEE" picture ...

I love flowers, don't you? I think they are amazing examples of the genius of God and His unmatched creativity!

July 28 Beautiful Souls

Monday:  Today I am on childcare duty from 8:30 am until Dylan comes home from work at about 5:00 pm. However, being a grandma to these dear ones is NOT a "childcare duty" (although there ARE times when it is hard work) but more of a privilege to be part of their young lives ... to witness their growing up and being privileged and invited to participate in it.

Since the weather has remained really REALLY sticky-hot, I ruled out the possibility of the children coming to MY place at all today. When I went to bed last night (at 10:30 pm), it was still 88 degrees in my little Beach House (with every single fan blowing on HIGH). I don't have air here and truly do not need it most of the time. However, we surely have had an extended few weeks of uncomfortable heat to bear. I generally like it HOT--my whole body is happy when I am warm. But this is a different kind of heat that just zaps the life out of me. I could not picture four more humans in this space for 3-4 hours today with me cooking for them and cleaning up after them. I am quite sure that I would not be "pleasant" in demeanor; so I dismissed that trial completely and opted to remain at their air conditioned house for the duration (with the exception of going downtown to play at the GR Public Museum for a few hours mid-day). Hopefully that idea will "fly" with the kids.

I had intended to take the kids to the museum in the morning hours; but then I changed my mind and decided to wait until after lunch. That gave me the morning hours to do a little clean-up in the kitchen and on the main floor of the house so that I didn't feel claustrophobic or unable to deal with the chaos. I don't do well with chaos--for some reason, it inhibits my ability to think straight. So the kiddos began their 30-minute "turns" with screen time while I did some tidying up.

After lunch, we loaded up my car and headed downtown to the museum. What a wonderful place! I could play there for HOURS!

Thankfully, Dylan and Kelly have a family membership here at the museum (which includes grandmas)! Otherwise, it would be rather costly for me to bring all four grands at once to enjoy this beautiful place.

On the main floor, there are many tables set up with kid-sized chairs and lots of varied building materials to see what kids will create. These little "blocks" were smooth and thin and all the same size. What could be made out of them? They truly didn't look that interesting to me! But wait until you see what Aidan built and what Brendan built!

Just around the corner, in close proximity to this table where Aidan and Brendan were "working", is a room full of dolls (the antique ones are kept behind glass) that children can interact with. Erin and Cal played here for a very long time.

Meanwhile, our very own architects were busy as could be out at the building table ...

Watching these two build was SO ... unbelievably WONDERFUL. Their patience, ingenuity, tenacity, creativity, and truly engineering minds were on full display!

I love these photos of them ...

Dear Aidan decided to build the Eiffel Tower, even though the "blocks" were all the same size ... he admitted to me that HIS tower would not be an EXACT replica ... but he was going to go at it anyway. Look at his dear little face ...

And Brendan was completely amusing himself making this circular work of art ... which did collapse a few times just because it's DIFFICULT to make blocks like this balance at this angle! But did Brendan give up? NO.

Here is a progression of Aidan's building of the Eiffel Tower. These pictures SHOW how bright this little boy is ... how determined ... patient ... skilled ... and look at his face in that last picture ... accomplished!

Brendan continued to try to get his oval stairway to go higher and higher and higher ... I am so impressed at how patient this child is ... how much pleasure he gets from his perseverance and what he creates. Both Brendan and Aidan have unique abilities and talents and the potential to be ... engineers and designers!

And almost the entire time all this creative building was going on, just around the corner Erin and Cal were pretending to live in this little doll house. It was so cute to listen to them talk everything out together.

Cal and Erin finally became crowded out by other children in the Doll room and came out to join their brothers at the block table.

This entire family of children have major skills in assembly and creativity. Perhaps it is partly due to all of the LEGOs they have received in their lives with the booklets of how to build each model. All of them do a really good job following the written instructions in the booklets--well, Cal is still too little to read--but he doesn't lack in patience to see a job done to the finish.

There was a cool station where kids could do "rubbings" on drawings of sharks to make patterns on them.

This entire main floor was full of cool games to play with kids. Cal and I did this bean bag toss for quite awhile.

When we climbed up to the 2nd floor (45 steps-ouch!!) and looked over the railing, we could still see Aidan's Eiffel Tower standing ...

I forget which game room this is, but it's on the second floor of the museum. They have giant-sized games to play, all of them very fun.

Mr. Cal, of course, LOVES to play with cars, so he did this race game for quite a few minutes.

Aidan and Cal played a game of chess. I never did find out who won the game; but my best guess would be Aidan. I will say, though, little Cal is learning the moves of this game quite well for being only 5.

Brendan and I played a game of Sorry. I've never seen a Sorry board quite like this--perhaps they've updated it since the one I bought back in 1985!

These two ... such darling kiddos ...

I was super glad we spent three hours here at the museum today. It was a fun and constructive way to play on this super hot day.

By about 3:30, all four of the kids were requesting we return home to their place; so we did just that. We ate a few snacks and goofed around until Dylan came home from work. Mondays are Kelly's "long" days at work; so Dylan is home first and makes dinner for the kids and then picks Kelly up. They are a one-vehicle family, and that's how it works when you have no other choice in the matter. I must say that I have the highest respect for their choice to remain with one vehicle until they can better handle another one financially. Not everyone would bow willingly to that restraint on their budgets. They admit that it is difficult to maintain all of the back and forth they have to do to make one vehicle work for them, but they have been committed to not accruing a ton of debt. 

It was a wonderful day with all of these beautiful-souled children ...

July 27 The nicest visit EVER

Sunday:  I was graced with a visit from my oldest grandson this afternoon AND his beautiful girlfriend! Chris had messaged me earlier in the week and asked if I would be home this afternoon and available for him to come over--YES! I was super happy that Ella could come too--actually, SHE was the driver and it was HER car they drove. Chris has had multiple car "tragedies", and presently his Kia (recently purchased from his dad) is somewhat out of service. Evidently it has been recalled from the manufacturer for a pretty serious problem. Kia's drive me crazy! I drive a 2016 Soul, and although it has been a good vehicle for me, the engine totally DIED at 120,000 miles. Thankfully, Kia replaced the entire engine because they KNEW it was defective.

But back to our visit. Chris and Ella stayed in my 87 degree house for over three hours just sharing their lives with me. I was so honored that they did this! It was absolutely sweltering in here! I had every fan available blowing on us--but with the dew point being what it was and having no air conditioning in this little house, it was mighty uncomfortable. 

I got to hear about how Chris's schooling is going. He is a senior at Olivet this year. He will graduate with a BA in physical training (I'm sure there is an official title of this degree, but it isn't coming to my mind right now). He told me he wishes he could go back and change to a Business degree--but doing that now would require at least two more entire years of college to accomplish. I don't blame him for not wanting to do that. Anyway, he will graduate in the spring of 2026 and has goals to coach football at either the high school or college level. He already has had an offer in the Comstock School district for the future, so that's very hopeful!

Chris has also been working in the building trade for two summers in a row. He's learned a LOT about the building trade and seems to enjoy the work. He told me he could kind of combine building and coaching and earn a decent living doing that. Ella is a medical assistant and makes a very decent income from her job as well. 

Ella is SUCH A NICE PERSON! I am so glad she and Chris are still together. They have been dating for at least 4-5 years now and ... they are very good friends. Chris is very close to proposing (!!) and they hope to marry after Chris graduates in the spring. YAY! I am so happy for them.

ALSO ... Chris is going to be baptized this coming Sunday (August 3) at City Church in Rockford. I wouldn't miss it for anything. Chris and Ella shared a lot about their striving to follow Jesus with all of their hearts and lives. Nothing is more important in all this world. Thank you, Lord, for hearing and answering the prayers of all who pray for these two beautiful souls.

July 25 Music Camp Concert

Friday:  I picked Brendan up from Music Camp (over at Calvin's Fine Arts Center) at 3:30 and we went back to his house to be with the other kids. Ella was there taking care of their business, and I joined her until Dylan came home at 5:00. Brendan is singing in a concert tonight at 7:00, so we had to be sure the kids ate dinner and were ready to go in time for that.

I didn't take any pictures before the concert of the other kiddos--these are only pictures of the concert. But here they are:

I had no idea this would be such a big deal concert! Brendan was part of the CHOIR (with 12 members only). There was a CONCERT BAND, an ORCHESTRA, a JAZZ BAND as well as a few numbers from the MUSIC THEATRE (Brendan participated in these songs/dances as well). I was frankly surprised at how professionally these middle schools performed ... VERY surprised actually.

They sounded wonderful and AMAZING! And look at dear, dear Brendan singing! Isn't he the sweetest kid you've ever seen?!?!?! (asks his very unbiased grandma).

I believe this (below) is the CONCERT BAND. Wow. They were SO well conducted. This summer music camp (5 days) was run so well.

Here is the choir Brendan sang with. I "lost" my program or I would list the songs they learned in such a few short days. Such talented kids. What wonderful teachers too!

I was so SO pleased to be here to see Brendan perform. I love him so much.

Here is just one picture from the Music Theatre. They did FIVE numbers, all from "Wicked." There was a LOT of choreography ... like a TON ... and Brendan struggled with that--but I think all of this was so good for him.

Look how exhausted he looks after the program! It was after 9:00 when everything was over.

I am so thankful for music and just how it has blessed me all throughout my life. I'm so glad for Brendan's obvious love for music and his God-given gifts in this field. God is SO good, isn't He?