Finger Puppets are the best!

I own a crazy number of finger puppets. I have collected them since my boys were little tikes, and for some reason, I have always loved them. I think perhaps it goes back even to my childhood when we used to make sock puppets. There is just something about a puppet that is so much fun. 

The PIG is playing the part of
the angel, Gabriel, announcing the
birth of Jesus ...

Friday night, while I was fixing dinner, Emma decided to get a puppet show going. The little puppet theatre was a birthday gift (several years ago) from my sister, Ruthanne ... to ME! I loved it right away, and I knew the grandchildren would so enjoy it.

Emma, getting the curtains in place ...
All of the puppets on the carpeting are arranged
just so ... to be the audience ... they
didn't make the "cut" to be in the actual play!

Emma's first puppet show was the Nativity Story ... see the STAR on top of the theatre?

Sadly, we didn't have any plain girl and boy puppets to play the part of Mary and Joseph, so Emma made do with a horse and a monkey (!) ...

As her story was going along, she noticed that I had quite a few "western" looking finger puppets, so for her next show, she did a "western." I can't remember the story because it was quite spontaneous, and Emma got laughing so hard in the middle, that I couldn't exactly figure out WHO was WHO and what exactly had happened in the narrative.

I loved seeing Emma have so much
fun with this puppet theatre ...

The boys were very patient out in the audience, but they wanted a turn as well. It's something how boys are so different from girls! Their play went immediately into warfare and bombs and all kinds of ... boy stuff!

I think this will be a good way for the children to work on storytelling, don't you? Telling a good story is a nice skill to have, and it's good for their imaginations as well. I'm glad I collected all of these great puppets and that they are finally being played with.

Searching for leaves ...

We have had a wondrously warm and beautiful first few weeks of Autumn here in West Michigan. I am 100% certain that fall would be my favorite season of the year ... if it wasn't that winter followed! It's not that I don't like winter, because as far as beauty is concerned, it just can't be compared. If only one could have winter ~ without the COLD. Yes, that would be perfect!

When I met the grandchildren after school on Friday, we drove right on over to the Marantha Bible camp grounds in Comstock Park because ... the trees were calling for us ... by name! Yes, they were! I heard them! Besides, we were on a mission. We were on a leaf hunt. We needed to collect all sizes and shapes and colors of leaves for a project we were going to work on over the weekend.

I brought a bag for each child (and one for me too) and explained our goal. The kids got right at it. They were very serious leaf collectors! 

Isn't this a great bridge? No railings! It crosses beautiful little Stoney Creek ... 

We hiked all the way through the woods, following the pathway to the right that led all the way to the train bridge (not pictured), and then since we had enough leaves for 12 children (at least) we wandered on back ~ we were treated with this extra special treasure on our return walk ...

I'm not certain, but I think this is a blue heron. I've got my zoom on for this picture. We were actually quite a distance from this beautiful creature and we stood very still and watched it for the longest time ... until ... quite suddenly it rose up and spread it's great and massive wings and with two flaps was entirely out of sight. I was so stunned by its flight that I never once lifted my camera to attempt a picture.

Matthew missed the entire flight because he was still diligently searching out leaves. So Christopher was kind enough (!) to show Matthew HOW WIDE those incredible wings were! 

Emma was very taken with the beauty of the moment ... 

You never know just what kind of magic you will find out in the woods ... the shadows alone will take you to a different world altogether if you let them ... and the memories made while rambling in the woods will be ones that I know will be delightful for a very long time.

The many faces of Little Fellow ...

Our Little Fellow is growing up too quickly! He is 20 months now! Thankfully, he still has his chubby baby fat ... and those soft, round, kissable, cheeks. I love him so. The following series of pictures are from today. He and his beautiful mama stopped by for a brief visit. He needed a little snack, so he sat at my little round table and ate some saltine crackers (his favorite).

Brendan is a climber and nothing whatsoever scares him one single bit. Kelly and I were cracking up at him standing on my chair while eating his beloved crackers. Doesn't he have the most expressive little face?

What we did on Saturday ...

Since Friday nights usually run rather late around here (!), it's always a happy thing when the children actually sleep in on a Saturday morning, which is exactly what happened this week. Everyone was nice and rested when we finally got up at nearly 8:30 a.m.

While I was in the shower Saturday morning, Matthew and Emma got out my containers of blocks and made roads, tunnels and bridges out of them on my little city rug in the playroom. Christopher was still engrossed in the Star Wars books, and he continued to read through those.

We try to spend some outdoor time Saturday afternoons. It's so good to be outside where the children are free to run and explore. Jesse and Diana hope to find residence in Comstock Park, so this week the children and I drove on over to some of the play areas they will soon be close to.

 This caboose is parked over at Marantha Bible Church, near their camp ground. We got to see a nice long train going down the tracks just before we arrived at the caboose.

We crossed to the other side of the railroad tracks where there are many paths into the woods. It's not a very far walk until you reach Stoney Creek, a busy little stream that winds around, under bridges, with little rapids and the loveliest shadows ... 

The sky was quite dark with clouds, and rain was threatening, so we didn't take a very long hike Saturday. But perhaps next week, we'll go further into the woods where I can show them the very handsome train bridge that was beyond us about 15 minutes or so ... 

Emma isn't crazy about wobbly bridges. Matthew doesn't like them either. But Christopher is another story altogether. He likes LOTS of adventure. So I made him wait until the other two had made it to the other side of the creek before I let him do his wild and crazy jumping. I do love Chris's enthusiasm! 

Rain was a constant threat, so we drove to Dwight Lidell Park where we could park closer to where we were walking. We checked out Mill Creek ... the mill doesn't seem to be in order! 

 The kiddos posed nicely in front of the war memorial ...

Matthew, roaring like a lion in a cage.
I'm not sure WHY, but I think he figured ...
WHY NOT?!

 Christopher, always monkeying around ...

Part of the playground at Dwight Lidell Park

Saturday always comes too quickly to a close. Our drive "home" is always rather sober. It's OK, though, because Friday will be here again sooner than we know it! 

Friday again!

The grandchildren and I are getting into somewhat of a Friday afternoon/evening routine, and I like it very much. They are dismissed from school shortly after 3:00 and I meet them nearby their school and then take them back to the Beach House with me.

I've been making a habit of visiting the Plainfield library on Thursday afternoons to pick out some good reads for our weekend. My niece, Shelley, has a blog entitled The Book Diaries which I use on a regular basis. Shelley reviews all kinds of books, most of them children's books, and even lists her favorite titles and authors.

I can't always find the exact title Shelley has recommended ~ so I have to go on-line and request those from other library locations. However, I find many alternative titles by the same author. This week, I picked out: (1) "Big Chickens" by Leslie Helakoski, (2) "The Odd Egg" by Emily Gravett, (3) "Wonder Horse: the true story of the world's smartest horse by Emiy McCully, (4) "The Bravest Knight" by Mercer Mayer, (5) "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" by Laura Numeroff, (6) "The Scarecrow's Dance" by Jane Yolen, and (7) "Hush, Little Horse" also by Jane Yolen. I also went over to the Young Adult section and picked out several Star Wars stories for Chris and Matthew. We do a lot of reading when the kiddos are over! I think our favorite read this week was "Big Chickens" ... we laughed and laughed at this funny story.

We also did lots of art and origami folding, along with piano playing ... but I didn't even get my camera out until it was almost bed time! I had, sadly, completely forgotten to take any pictures. The kids had been telling me all about a pep rally over at their school that day, getting all the children excited about the high school football game that night. They decided to show me some of their "moves."

 Matthew doesn't really aspire to be an athlete ... but he enjoys tumbling and jumping and kicking his feet in the air as well as any other child ...

 Christopher has a big-time aim to be a professional football player. These "moves" are how he gets his body ready to play a big game!

Ems hopes to be a cheerleader some day, so she has been practicing her jumps and stretches so that she can eventually do the splits.

Believe it or not, the children finally settled down, got into their pj's, and listened carefully to our Bible story about the woman at the well. We've been talking a lot about how Jesus came to rescue us from our sin and from the darkness of this world. We had a nice time reading about how kind Jesus was to this dear woman and how many people came to faith in Christ because of her testimony.

Afterwards, we got out our sleeping bags and snuggled down for the night. We watched the movie, "We Bought a Zoo," and then drifted off to sleep ...

Shopping with Brendan baby ...

It hardly seems possible that I have lived in the Grand Rapids area the last 42 years of my life and NOT remembered there is a Wolverine outlet ... in Rockford! Dear Kelly reminded me of this fact the other day, so we decided to drive out there together and see what we could see!

Little Fellow was quite pleased with his surroundings, promptly emptied this box of its boots and climbed on in. He fit just ... perfectly! 

 Brendan is completely fascinated with any knobs, keyholes, buttons ... ANYTHING that can be manipulated with his chunky hands ... so with all of his twisting and turning, he successfully LOCKED this main door to the store! The girls at the counter thought it was an excellent idea and wanted to go home for the day!

 A rock-climbing "wall" just perfect for our baby ...

Brendan, enjoying his shadow

Kelly was able to pick out a couple of sale shoes. I tried on a bunch of nice shoes, but nothing was quite right. Good sales, though! I'm glad I have been reminded about this place. And it's much more FUN to shop with Brendan than alone. He is so interested in every little thing. He is TWENTY months today. I'm smiling at you right now, Brendan!