Another wondrous Wednesday

Wednesday, September 4:  I picked Brendan up from school today and we drove straight over to my house without any appointments to keep or errands to run. Perfect.

 Brendan read me the entire book, "Are You My Mother?" He did a very good job with his reading. I remember reading this book to my little brother (David) so many times I practically had it memorized. Brendan took quite delight in this story of the pathetic baby bird who did NOT know who or what his mother was.

 Brendan met Matey today too! Here is little Matey enjoying his swing and his toys. He is such a nice bird!

 Brendan played LEGOS right near Matey for quite awhile while I was fixing us a little something to eat.

 Afterwards, Brendan suggested we play a game of HEADBANZ. I love this game! Brendan does too!

 Look how grown up Brendan has become. He is now seven and a half. I can hardly believe it. His card says he is a zebra ... but he did not know what card was on his headband and had to ask "yes" or "no" questions in order to find out. It's a very good game to play with this age children. It helps them narrow down and describe their thoughts and identify groups and specifics. It's a very good communicating game.

 Brendan was very amused with Matey. I knew he would be! I think Matey was on his swing about 80% of the time Brendan was here today.

 Below, Brendan thought perhaps Matey wanted his swing to swing a little bit faster ...

 I had such a nice time with you today, Brendan. I love you so much, dear grandson.

 When I returned Brendan to his house, little Miss Irish was there in all of her sweetness. She is truly something else.

 Look at her darling face ...

 And those deep blue eyes!

 And her darling personality! She is seriously into sweetness. 

 Mmm. Love you little Erin Lucia. You are precious.

Miscellaneous pictures from today

Tuesday, September 3:  Today was the first day of school over at Trinitas Classical School where Brendan is now in the second grade. I was privileged to drive him over to school this morning. His locker is in a different place this year--down the row from where it was last year. His class and teacher are the same because last year Brendan was in a First/Second split as a first grader. This year he is now a second grader. Dylan and Kelly are doing a mixed home school/Trinitas program this year.

 I love you, Brendan! Praying this school year will be exciting and full of adventure for you!

 I also got to spend an hour or so with Aidan this morning over at HIS house. It is always fun to be with this little child.

 Aidan was showing me some of his interesting toys.

 Our little angel boy ...

 I loved every single minute of this hour with you today, Aidan!

 And look what I caught Matey doing upon my arrival at the Beach House! He actually FOUND HIS SWING in my absence and was gaily swinging on it! YES!

Way to go, First Mate!

Aidan meets Matey-Bird

Labor Day, September 2:  Today is Monday and Mondays mean AIDAN comes over to play! Yes! I just know Aidan will LOVE Matey.

 Aidan was VERY pleased to meet Matey. He grabbed the "noculars" to get a better look at our dear birdy.

 This child cracks me up so much!

 We had Matey on the main table so that he could look out and see the outside birds if he wanted to. He chirped several times during the day today--I noticed that any time there is running water (kitchen sink), he will chirp like crazy.

 Aidan started building a layout almost right away ... he would go back and forth between looking at Matey and then running his trains. He is a very dedicated train person.

 We moved Matey into the kitchen for a little while so that Aidan could build without too much distraction. Isn't Aidan a little darling? I love to watch him play. He's very good at entertaining himself and solving engineering problems.

 Every now and again, Aidan would come into the kitchen to have a little chat with Matey. They became fast friends.

 Aidan loves my toy room too, so he would go back there at different times during the afternoon to get out an entire bunch of cars and trucks to play with ... he even did some puzzles.

I love you, dear Aidan, precious little soul that you are!

Treasured time

Saturday/Sunday, August 31/September 1:  I dropped Kaity off at her house by 7:30, as planned. Emma and her friend Zach were ready to go. We took Zach home to his apartment, and then Emma and I came over here for the night.

We had a lot to talk about, as usual, and it was good to catch up on Emma's week. It was her first week back as a junior at Comstock. Friday and Monday are "off" due to the Labor Day weekend.

We were looking for a movie to watch. I had been checking on Netflix and suggested that we watch a series called "Designated Survivor." I had NO idea it would be THIS compelling. We sat on the edge of our seats throughout the three episodes that we watched! Super good writing. There are 21 episodes in the first season--and there are THREE seasons to watch so far. We really enjoyed watching this together. Emma is very smart! Sometimes I'm not sure what is going on and Emma will help me figure it out; other times, Emma doesn't understand what is happening, and I help HER out. So it's pretty even!

We went to church Sunday morning and worshiped at Calvary. We have begun a new series from Paul's letter to Titus. Titus is kind of our "base" for study for this whole year. We are using Titus as our subject guide, and then jumping off from Titus to other places in Scripture that teach the same thing. Sunday's message was on the difference between "teaching" and "preaching." I learned a bunch of things about those two words that I never knew before.

Emma and I continued our Bible study on the Kings and Prophets, continuing with Elijah confronting King Ahab about Naboth's vineyard. It's quite a story about repentance, mercy, but still the long-term consequences of sin. I loved studying it this week and then sharing it with Emma.

How thankful we are that God is: "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished ..." (Exodus 34.6-7).

Kaity and Emma meet Matey

Saturday, August 31:  Kaity Jane was SO pleased to meet Matey! Emma was too, but I did not take any pictures of Emma with our dear bird yet. In the afternoon, it was just Kaity and I and Matey. Emma had other plans. But then Saturday evening/night Emma was here with me and she loved this little bird too. 

 I'm happy I have a cage that can be lifted from room to room and set down on various tables around my little house. Parakeets are very social, and it is important that Matey be with people as much as possible. Matey warmed right up to Kaity, and Kaity (who is not a single bit afraid of animals) was very kind and patient with Matey. She followed my instructions completely and behaved herself like a gem.

 We switched Matey's cage into the piano room because Kaity wanted to show Matey her LEGO treehouse. It was great watching her explain the whole set up to this dear little birdy.

 Baby Bonnie got in on the fun too ...

 Matey climbed up on his own food dish today and ate quite a bit from it! Yes! Near the end of the day, he actually climbed up and drank from his water dish too. 

 A little while later, Kaity decided Matey would like a train layout surrounding his cage; so she set out to create just the right track. She ran "Lady" (the battery-powered train) around and around the track.

 Kaity was always gentle with Matey when she reached inside his cage to stroke his feathers. Good job, Kaity.

 I'm standing on a chair to get this view (hence Kaity's appalled expression) ...

 I'm very thankful for my very own pet--this is a first for me! Matey will be such a joy to the children.

Thank you, Lord. You are AWESOME.