A very slow start ...

It's been more than a month since I've posted anything, and I thought I'd tell you why that is! Christmas was a busy time and we had a very happy celebration this year. But then right after Christmas, everyone in turn got sick ~ I had an intestinal kind of flu, Dylan and Kelly both had colds, and even baby Brendan was sick for a few days.

And to top everything off, I injured my right hand two weeks ago today. Would you like to hear how this happened? Well, it was a rather stupid accident. I was helping a friend with an industrial extension ladder and simply had my hand in the wrong place at the wrong time and ... crash !! ... my RIGHT hand kind of got crushed right across the bridge of my hand. So I've been wrapped up in a splint ever since, awaiting the verdict of whether or not I have any broken bones. I don't think I do because the pain isn't severe. It's just a nagging ache with a nasty bruise. I'm giving it a few more days before I break down and actually get an x-ray of the damage, hoping perhaps it will improve so much that I won't need x-rays at all to confirm that I'm on the mend.

Needless to say (even though I AM saying it), this has slowed me down considerably. I'm terribly RIGHT handed, and not at all ambidextrous ... so ... even typing is somewhat laborious, and playing the piano has been completely out of the question. And shifting gears while driving is also tricky, to say the least!

So for tonight, I'll just post some pictures of darling Brendan from the last time he was here ... which was about two weeks ago. He was just about taking steps on his own that night ... but not quite all the way there yet.

Everything about this chunky baby delights me ... I think he kind of likes his grandma too ... 

This is the hilarious smile he was giving my camera every single time he saw the light from my flash ... he would wrinkle up his entire face and show me those cute little toofers of his!

I love this one of Dylan and Brendan ... they are so sweet together.

Brendan, I could just kiss your sweet little face forever! 

Brendan is not crying in this picture ... he is actually cracking up about something ... I'm not sure what exactly, although he found that little blue rubber bouncy ball extremely funny for some reason. 

Brendan was just barely holding on to Dylan's hand as he walked all over my house. Kelly said the other day he took a 1/2 step on his own but never realized it because he was clapping his chubby little hands at the same time. Everyone is coming over for dinner tomorrow night, so perhaps he will walk for us then! 

What a GIFT this little fellow is ...

Monday afternoon, I got to babysit Brendan at HIS house. His folks were attending the Christmas party /dinner over at Acton Institute, so I got to come over and play with baby B. And what is this sad face, little sweetheart (above, bottom right picture)?

 Brendan was very aware that his parents were NOT home and he kept looking everywhere for them! So, at one point, I turned on my handy computer and got onto PhotoBooth so that Brendan could see himself. He was very amused that he could see another cute baby ... but WHY was grandma on that screen?!

 Kelly had instructed me to feed Brendan her homemade (and very yummy) graham crackers if he seemed a bit fussy or hungry ... so after about an hour of playing and him searching everywhere for mommy and daddy, I put him in his high chair and delivered the crackers. I was tickling his chunky little legs underneath his tray in this picture, which is why he is giggling uncontrollably.

I broke a cracker in half and ate one along with him ... which he thought was quite delightful and he is telling me exactly that! 

 And this picture? Well, this one just completely cracks me up (above) ... I haven't the slightest idea what his face is saying ... but doesn't Brendan have the most expressive little face ever?!

 And here he is today, wearing the little hat his mama made for him last weekend ... he looks so absolutely adorable in it ... doesn't he?

What an incredible gift this little child (and his mama) have been to me this year. I can't begin to give enough thanks for them. To have a grandbaby nearby, instead of 1600 miles away, has been such a mercy to me. LOVE you guys!

Home once again ...

The southern tip of Lake Michigan,
somewhere near Gary, Indiana and Chicago

The Chicago skyline from the air ...
isn't that the Sear's Tower in the center?

Lake Michigan ... but I am not sure where I am!
I think somewhere a bit north of St. Joseph ...

 With all of the hassle associated with flying nowadays, you would think I would be sick to death of it ~ but I'm not! I still cannot get over the thrill of being 5 miles up in the sky, looking out across God's vast creation. When I book a flight, I almost always choose a window seat. The one-hour and fifteen minute flight from El Paso to Dallas/Ft. Worth zooms on by with my face glued to the window! And the little-over two-hour flight from Dallas to Grand Rapids never seems very long either. Today, I was lucky enough to fly over Lake Michigan without cloud cover! I love seeing my lake from the air. 

 Kelly and baby Brendan were kind enough to pick me up at the airport this afternoon. We drove home and then spent some time together ... I have missed my chunky little grandson!

I think Brendan was happy to see me too! He had so many smiles and giggles today. Kelly and I and Brendan played for more than an hour.

Since I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. El Paso time and actually woke up 20 minutes ahead of time, got up and showered and finished packing ... I am a bit more than tired this evening. I'm going to work on doing my laundry and then retire early so that I am ready for my day tomorrow. My heart is sad to leave El Paso ... but it is always always good to be home again.

Wednesday, last day in El Paso

 My last day in El Paso was full of Plan B's. Let me explain. You know how when you make plans (Plan A) and you think certain things are going to happen in a certain way ... but then circumstances change? Well, today was one of THOSE days.

I have been meeting the children every day during their three lunch and recess periods, sitting with them and their friends while they eat, and then going outside with them until their bell rings for class. The last few days, my stomach has been a little upset and I've been hoping that I wasn't coming down with a stomach flu. Today, due to my stomach, I only made it through two of three lunches and recesses before I just had to excuse myself and go back home!

And then in the early afternoon, the people came to the house to fix the kitchen sink and proceeded to drill through the brick wall of the house the rest of the afternoon and all the way into the evening. When I walked up to school to pick the kids up, I told them about all of the noise happening at their house. Instead of playing inside (Plan A), we decided to drop off backpacks and ... go on an outdoor adventure (Plan B). 

Emma, showing me her "stuff" on one of the many
playgrounds we discovered today!

Christopher, giving me a nice smile
up on top!

A very HAPPY Matthew at the playground

 On our adventure, we found TWO playgrounds where we'd never played before, as well as playing at one we were familiar with. It was great to be outside! We've had a lot of wind and very chilly temperatures, but thankfully it was a nice mild afternoon and we were not too cold. 

We had to be careful not to get too far from home because the sun sets behind the mountain at about ten minutes to five ~ and when the sun goes behind the mountain, it gets dark so fast! We enjoyed our adventure and were back home by about 4:45. The workers had finished all of their loud drilling and had fixed the kitchen sink!

We enjoyed some pizza for dinner tonight, as well as another ice cream sundae for dessert. I ate nothing whatsoever, hoping that my stomach will settle down before my very early flight tomorrow morning. We spent some time playing together with my computer photo program, had storytime, and now it is after 10:00 and everyone is soundly sleeping. It was a very nice last day in El Paso, and I'm thankful that even though circumstances change, our love for each other remains constant! 

Tuesday in El Paso

This morning it was four degrees colder in El Paso than it was in Grand Rapids! BRRRR! After we ate our breakfast, we walked down to the school library ~ instead of waiting outside 20 minutes in the cold wind (!) for the bell to ring. We looked at some books together, happy to be INSIDE where it was warm!

Emma is in the second row, all the way to the left
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells!"

Tonight was the Christmas program at Logan Elementary. At the very last minute, they switched the location of where the children were performing ... it kind of made for a bit of a dilemma at our house because ... Emma and Chris were going to be performing in the school cafeteria at 6:00 while Matthew was going to be performing in the multi-purpose building at the very same time. The multi-purpose building is no where near the cafeteria. Yikes. What to do?

Since Jesse was still not 100% recovered from his head cold, he stayed home with baby Kaity. Diana attended Matthew's performance in the multi-purpose building, and I attended Emma and Chris's performance in the school cafeteria. There was a ton of people at both locations, parking was really a trick, but we managed to get through it! 

Christopher is on the top row, 2nd from the right
"Frosty the Snowman!"

Santa was in the lobby greeting all of the children, so our three munchkins agreed to pose for a picture. Pretty cute, you guys! 

I am too tired tonight to tell you any more about our day! I am just exhausted through and through. But it was another good day, one I am very thankful for.

Monday in El Paso

Do you remember me telling you that there is NO playground equipment at Logan Elementary? Well, I should have clarified and said that there were no swings or monkey bars or other climbing apparatus; because there is blacktop and a few basketball hoops, and if you are quick and lucky enough, you might even find a basketball that has air in it (!) and be able to shoot a few hoops during recess. Christopher really enjoys sports: football especially, soccer, and also basketball. During lunch recess today, Chris and I shot some baskets and he won, 6 to 4!

 When I came to see the children back in September, I had them design their own T-shirts. We used fabric markers and had so much fun doing art on shirts! So ... I found more sale T-shirts and markers a few weeks ago and brought them along this time too. After homework was completed, the kiddos got to work on their T-shirt project.

 We had tacos for dinner tonight and for dessert, we enjoyed huge ice cream sundaes ... to the delight of each and every child in the house ... well, not Kaity!

Above, the kids are showing me how their shirts turned out. They all plan to wear them to school tomorrow! I think, however, they might have to layer them. We woke up this morning, after a howling wind storm last night, to really COLD temperatures that never warmed up all day. 

Tomorrow evening is the school Christmas program ...

Sunday in El Paso

Emma showing me her completed LEGO
set of: "Olivia's Treehouse"

We had such a nice Sunday together here in El Paso! Since Jesse and Diana are both sick with head colds, none of us could attend church this morning, so the children and I had our own church. I reminded the kiddos that the Bible says that when people gather to worship the Lord, even if there are only 2 or 3 of them, He is right there with them. So we took almost an hour this morning and learned about the prophet Elijah. We had a wonderful time studying I Kings 17-19. I was able to get some coloring pages from the internet and we were able to color pictures that told most of the story. 

After "church" the children returned to finishing up their LEGO models. With a LOT of tenacity, each one of them completed their models with absolutely no help from me or any grown-up whatsoever. They were really pleased with their accomplishment too! Christopher is always especially dramatic when it comes to posing for a picture ... hence the expressions on his face! 

But again, Matthew was the child who surprised me most. His LEGO set was extremely difficult. I honestly do not think I could have put it together myself! But Matthew very patiently went step by step and completed his models. He was SO pleased that he could do this all by himself. There were several times when he was obviously frustrated during the process and I offered to be of assistance; but each time, he very politely said that he wanted to do it all by himself ... and he did!

Baby Kaity and I got better acquainted today. She is a sweetie. Look at her darling little face! She is teething presently and I think she feels quite miserable about it ... poor little one. But she was still smiling and cooing and giggling throughout her day. Emma and I brought her into Emma's room for some "girl time" this afternoon. We showed her how to build with her Christmas presents, a very simple block set, and then we showed her some of Emma's dolls. She especially liked Emma's baby dolls. 

In all of these pictures, Kaity-girl's hair looks red! But until I edited these pictures tonight, I never noticed any red in her hair whatsoever. So now I'm wondering ... will she be a redhead? As I look back on when Emma was a baby, I remember wondering now and then if her hair would be red ... but Emma is definitely NOT a redhead. 

I love these pictures of Kaity. I didn't have very many nice ones of her until today. I'm so glad I was able to get them! 

The weekend flew right by. Tomorrow, we return to school. We are in the middle of quite a wind storm down here tonight. I'm hoping that by morning, the wind has died down!