June 23 Nine to Six

Tuesday:  I know that it is ridiculous to "title" this post "Nine to Six", but I'm trying to stretch myself you see. ?? Nine hours with four grandchildren can be quite challenging. BUT challenges are good for me! It gives me a chance to put faith into practice. When the Lord tells us to "lean on Him", He means it. It also says in His Word that "tribulation works patience" ... not to attribute nine hours with these beautiful children as a trial or a terrible tribulation. It does, however, test my abilities, fortitude, creativity, unconditional love, and unhealthy self-love. I remind myself that I am their grandmother NOT their parent. Grandmothers can be indulging without spoiling! They can just relax about behavior and rules, etc. and just ENJOY who these little people are. Yes, it's difficult when at least two of the four are at the same time talking to me about completely unrelated topics, expecting my undivided attention and meaningful response. And I'm rather lousy at anything chaotic. And certain noise levels are bothersome to me too. Good grief. I sound like an old fuddy-duddy. I don't want to be that. So, I ask the Lord to change my heart and my mind and give me the kind of love and wisdom I need to make lasting and happy memories with these beautiful children.

Yesterday was a good day! The weather was mild. We even "played" outside for an hour! Let me show you the pictures I took.

Before picking up the kids, the early morning began rather ODD. You see, while I was blow-drying my hair in my back bathroom, I was also using my space heater full blast to warm up the main room of the house. Right in the middle of drying my hair, the power went out! I was baffled. There were NO storms, NO wind ... no reason for us to lose power. However, as I walked through the house, the light was ON in the front room, the oven overhead light was on, the microwave was registering the time, etc. WEIRD. I told all of this to the kiddos as we were driving to my house. Oh! Also, my computer monitor would not go back on! And my CD player was dead too! I finally concluded that I must have triggered a partial fuse failure and that somehow, if I could figure out HOW to trip the fuse back into working, our problem could be solved.

As it worked out, I finally called Monty (our neighborhood fix-it person), and indeed it was a tripped fuse. He was able to figure out which one and fix it.

SO ... the children were able to continue making home movies with my Photo Booth program. Here is Cal watching his recent "movie" with Oscar puppet and our cat puppet having another karate' war. Look how pleased he is! Brendan was also amused watching Cal's production.

Erin was super excited about a new marker set her mom had picked up for her, with a nice new notebook of paper on which to draw. Erin is growing very artistic! She really enjoys sketching and coloring.

Here is Erin with my little finger puppet, "Lamb Chop". She is sketching her! I have the finished product hanging on my refrigerator. Erin gets a lot of joy applying herself artistically. She comes by that one naturally, as quite a few of us in the family have that tendency.

Dear Brendan LOVES Great Wolf Lodge. The last time I was there, I think it was to celebrate Brendan's SEVENTH birthday. I purchased this puzzle there at the gift shop. Brendan still enjoys putting it together and telling the other children (who were too little to remember going) all about the fun stuff to do there. Erin later took the puzzle apart and tried to re-assemble it. Actually, she asked Brendan for help as long as she could put that LAST piece of the puzzle in.

I got out the fire truck puzzle too, and Erin did this one all by herself. Cal (somewhat) got in on the action too.

I love these of Aidan. For some reason, he just loves to come to my house. I am so thankful he does!

After we ate our lunch, I coaxed all of the children to the Leisure Village playground--a few blocks away. I was going to have us walk there, but then I wanted to bring a bunch of stuff for us to do there so I drove us instead. We blasted our stomp rockets for quite awhile! It was fun to have so much space to launch them.

Brendan is quite "old" for playgrounds now, but he never complains. He has the sweetest heart and I love him to pieces. Thankfully, I had a few comic books (Charlie Brown, as well as Garfield) in the car; and Brendan retreated there and read for awhile. We opened up the car windows so that he didn't get stuffy.

I remember when each of these four kiddos were in their 2's and I would have a 1-on-1 with them. We would often come down to this playground and chill out for awhile.

And look! Look what the Lord gave us to examine and enjoy! Our very own caterpillar! Erin fell absolutely in love with her. Brendan too, except not the same as Erin did. The other boys were interested, but wanted nothing to do with actually TOUCHING it! We played with it very gently for quite a long time. When it was time to do other things, I suggested we find a leafy place to transport our little fuzzy friend. Erin INSISTED that the leaf be PINK! And look! She found some pink leaves especially for it. We watched it for quite awhile making itself comfortable in its new pink home.

I brought a bunch of paper airplanes that we tossed around too. Too bad that the wind picked up and we didn't get a very good flight out of any of them. That's okay because the stomp rockets weren't bothered a bit by the wind.

I also keep some really old plastic trucks in my shed, so I brought those too. Cal still likes digging around with them, and Erin enjoyed them too.

I told the kids that we had to play outside for ONE HOUR before returning back to my house, and that's exactly what happened. We came home and I scooped everyone a mint chocolate chip ice cream waffle cone, and had one myself.

We decided to try a round of "Apples to Apples (Junior)" and had a lot of fun doing it.

Look at these two beautiful children!

We also built for a little while with our MagnaTiles and Cubes.

Gregory requested that we get out "OuiSi" ("Oui" = "yes" in French, "Si" = "yes in Spanish) once again and make up stories with our designated cards. He really really enjoys making up stories. Perhaps someday, they will not always be WAR stories! Erin joined us in this game. She is so sweet making up the next part of the story.

Look at little Gregory. He studied each of his six cards to determine who was going to fight WHO and WHERE. He started one of the stories. When it came around to my turn to ADD to his story, I always tried to resolve whatever conflict Cal had created in his little brain. He cracks me up.

We hardly watched any videos today--just a few short "reels" of funny animals and babies that I shared with them. . Brendan did play some basic video games on a site on my computer--pretty harmless and basic graphics, and he seemed to enjoy himself. He also did quite a bit of reading.

We also enjoyed eating French toast (for breakfast), corn on the cob, Ramen noodles, hot dogs, and various chips for lunch, and all kinds of snacks in between--some healthy and some not so much. All and all, it was a very good day!

After returning home from bringing the kids back to their house, I picked up the main rooms, refused to do the sink load of dishes, pigged out on "X" for awhile, got caught up on emails, and went to bed super early. I was pooped. But happy.

June 20 Wedding Shower Card

This is the card I made for Chris and Ella for their wedding shower. I post these cards because ... I work hard on them! Once I give them away, it's handy to be able to use my blog to remember just what I put on each card. Disclaimer: I did not take these pictures, but "stole" them from FaceBook.

These pictures were taken by Ella's sister the afternoon Chris proposed to Ella at Roselle Park. I love this verse from Romans 12.10. If only we all followed this command! I surely pray Chris and Ella will do this in their marriage. 

This photo was on the back of their card. I hope they will find time to read the verses and believe them.

God's best to you two, Chris and Ella!

June 20 Wedding Shower

Saturday:  For weeks now we've been anticipating the wedding shower for Chris and Ella. It's been a very long time since I have been to a wedding shower ... maybe 30 years! 

The shower for Chris and Ella's upcoming wedding took place at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm. Having never been at this location, I looked it up on MapQuest, only to be MISled by the directions given there and as a result was almost late for the occasion. It began at 11:00 in the morning with yummy food served in a little white barn, decorated for the occasion.

When I arrived, Chris's other grandma (Judy) was already there and had saved places at a table for those of us on our side of the family (a total of FIVE of us). I estimated that there were 40+ of Ella's side of the family, plus some personal friends, which quite filled up the little barn we were in. I sat across the table from Diana and Judy, right next to Kaity. 

There was no "dress code" for this event and people wore whatever they chose. I think Ella and her bridesmaids dressed up fancy for the occasion, but most everyone else was casual. The food was very delicious--pancakes, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, quiche ... I don't think I have eaten a pancake in 20 years or more. I had forgotten how yummy they can be!

The temperature was in the low-to-mid 60's, and I was dressed in layers (the summer kind), but I found myself chilly throughout the entire shower. It was actually colder INSIDE than out--mainly because the sun would come out every now and then and warm the outside up.

Since this venue is a farm, there were lots of pretty flowers available ...

Aren't they pretty?

The very last "event" of the shower was that everyone was invited to make their own take-home bouquet of these flowers. I hesitated doing that because Ted supplies me with flowers almost every week--but as I watched girls making pretty bouquets, I finally couldn't resist. I don't have a picture of my bouquet, so you will have to trust me when I say it is exquisite.

Ella has two sisters (one older and one younger), both of whom are her bridesmaids. I believe the lady in the pink floral dress is Ella's older sister ... something has totally cracked Ella up as they were talking.

Ella's younger sister is in the picture below. All three girls look amazingly alike--facially at least. Their eyes! Their smiles! Their expressions! They also have a younger brother.

Aren't Ella's shoes pretty? I think I might order a similar style to wear for the wedding.

Since the shower was very casual, as far as activity, and the eating went on for quite awhile, I walked outside where it was warmer and took a few pictures. I really want to come back here and explore sometime. What a nice place this is!

The shower was inside "The Corn Crib Barn". I can't believe how many women they squeezed into that little barn!

Kaity and Emma took a few walks as well. They completely missed the game all of us played. The picture below is of Diana and her mom writing down their "guesses" as to what kitchen utensil was in each bag that was passed around. 12 bags. 12 separate kitchen utensils. No peeking in the bag!

Once we had all written down our guesses, Ella opened each bag and showed us the item and announced it's proper name.

Here is my "Guess" sheet. I only guessed four of them correctly. Sheesh. #1 was actually an apple cutter. Duh. I should have known that one. #2 was actually a COOKIE scooper, but I think it could have been used for melons anyway. I have no idea what #3 ended up being. And #4 was called a "soup spoon"--yikes--it was HUGE. I felt sure it was a gravy ladle, but I was wrong once again. #5 alluded me completely, as did #7. Anyway, you get the drift--my score was pretty much an F.

After the game was finished (there were actually TWO women who guessed all 12 items correctly!), the gift opening began. Since there were so many gifts, this took quite awhile. I retrieved most of the ribbons and bows and fastened them to a paper plate so that Ella could throw it to her bridesmaids during the rehearsal (the night prior to the wedding) for a practice run of her REAL bouquet toss the next day. That's the traditional thing to do with ribbons and bows from showers. When it is a BABY shower, however, when you open the present, you have to be careful not to BREAK the bow into pieces because that is supposed to indicate how many children you will eventually bear.

After all of the gifts were opened, the ladies began assembling their free gift bouquets and Ella posed at the flower backdrop for pictures. I don't know who this little girl is, but aren't her boots cute?

This is a very pretty picture of Ella -- She is holding the bouquet I made out of the ribbons and bows.

I think the shower was officially finished by about 1:30. I snapped a few pictures of the farm ...

I definitely want to return and drink in the beauty of this place.

Congratulations on your wedding shower, Chris and Ella!

June 19 Mary's Garden

Friday morning:  My phone rang this morning as I was sitting at my computer trying to choose a few pictures to make a birthday card for Kaity ... I wasn't really in "the mood" to pick up, but then I saw that it was one of my neighbors (a few blocks over) who I haven't talked to in quite awhile. Gloria is a wonderful lady--but she talks 100 mph (!!) and it can be hard to end a call from her. BUT--as I said, she is a very nice person and a wonderful gardener. I haven't taken pictures yet this year of her flowers, but I will! She was calling to ask if I had seen Mary's garden yet; and since I had NOT, we decided to walk on over so that I could get pictures. Gloria said I would be amazed at the beauty. She was totally right!

Evidently, Mary "seeds" these flowers every year, but she got a surprise this year. She picked up some wildflower packets at the dollar store and just planted them here and there along the back of her fenced garden. She said she bought several packets and just planted them willy-nilly kind of (!!). What happened is that as they germinated, they also cross-pollinated and the poppies came out multi-colored, etched and bordered in another color, etc. They are stunning, absolutely. I love flowers. Perhaps if you are not inclined to admire flowers, you will not be impressed by these. Remember ... these started as tiny seeds ...

Naturally, I worked on making Mary a card last night after I had uploaded all of the pictures. I love this verse in Isaiah that speaks of righteousness and salvation sprouting up together--the LORD created them!

Look at this dainty little one! Etched in pale pink. Look at the detail inside!

This poppy has seen better days--Mary said that all of the wind and rain we've had the last few days damaged quite a bit of the poppies ... but I still think they are lovely.

Two kinds of pink on this one!

Mary was telling me all of the names of each different flower, and one day I will have to make myself actually LEARN them so that I don't appear so ignorant; but there were too many names for me to remember as I was listening to Mary.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Look at how GREEN the foliage is, how beautifully shaped the leaves, how intricate each plant is. How can anyone not worship God who made all of this?

Don't you love the climbing plant? I wonder if those "pods" bloom out into flowers, or if they just grow bigger and remain leaves?

In the background of this picture, you can see Mary's back porch/deck. She and her husband moved into Leisure in 2014. They changed many things on the house the year they bought it. The first thing was to put in a doorwall facing the rear of their "lot" because there was not a single window looking OUT to the beauty in their back yard. The next year, they added the deck. They have cool bird feeders that hang from the deck. Mary's husband has dementia. She finds that he sits on that porch most of the day watching the birds, squirrels, rabbits, and deer. I would too!

Behind the fence, Mary grows all manner of vegetables and cans them too. She has to have this fenced off because of the deer. She also has special caged enclosures to prevent the rabbits from gobbling up all of her veggies and flowers. 

There is an open field behind their lot. This is where they see most of the deer. Leisure Village has quite a difference in lots. MY lot has zero views that are beautiful. I can see next door in both directions ... almost INTO my neighbor's homes. I'm not complaining actually, but ... what a difference!

Do you see this blue leaf? Mary made it! Out of cement! Isn't that cool? She has a few others, but I don't think I photographed them.

This tree sits smack in front of Mary's house. This picture does not show how HUGE it is. Mary says it is a pain to clean up after. I DO have a lot of huge trees around my house too. I love every one of them.

This is Mary and Gloria--Mary is facing me. Mary is a dear lady, who not only takes care of her failing husband, but has had cancer four different times. In the past eight years or so, she has undergone more than 11 operations. She struggles a lot with pain. At the end of this month, she is evidently undergoing a very powerful chemo treatment that docs say might just knock the rest of the cancer out of her. She asked that we pray for her. My heart aches when I think of all she has experienced. Surely the Lord knows every single sickness she has faced and promises to be with her.

Believe it or not (!!!), I only posted a portion of all of the pictures I took. After all, one can only look at so many flower pictures in one post.