Love you, Kaity-Girl

August 21:  Kaity didn't start her Readiness Kindergarten until Wednesday, so we had ONE LAST Monday afternoon together!

 These are just a few pictures of our time together. I had injured my foot/ankle over the weekend and so I had to take it easy ...

 This is Kaity dancing to some music on my computer ...

 Kaity has good rhythm and loves to dance.

We also played for quite awhile with my Playdoh and made all kinds of cute stuff with it. We snuggled and laughed and had a good afternoon together. Praying that school will go well for this little sweetie.

Paradise

August 20:  It's been an unusual weekend. I didn't realize I wasn't going to have the grandchildren, but actually, I am happy for them because they had a family day on Saturday and celebrated a late birthday for Emma by going to AJ's and doing some other fun stuff. BUT, this meant that Emma did not spend the night Saturday, plus it meant that she did not go to church Sunday morning. Since I had some "free" time Sunday, I drove up to Muskegon to enjoy Lake Michigan.

 I brought my beach chair, some refreshments, a few books, my camera (naturally), and parked myself on the pier that is owned by the Coast Guard, or what used to the Coast Guard and is now NOA. I love it there. Sunday was a super busy day on the channel. SO MANY BOATS! I love boats of all kinds. And I love this little lighthouse.

 This is one of my favorite piers because it usually is not crowded, you can see both lighthouses, you can watch the boats go by, and the seagulls do amazing stuff out here.

 I'm not sure if you can see in these pictures, but there are 4 seagulls all lined up on the pier posts ...

 The time of day was just about 5:00 ... not a totally clear day ... kind of misty. Beautiful. Moody.

 I love this little building. I think, but I'm not sure, that it used to house the lighthouse keeper, but don't quote me. I'll have to look it up.

 Sailboats are my favorite. This one was so lovely, even with its sails down!

I was truly thankful for the time out here last night. What made it extra special was meeting my friends, Gail and Dan, and the wonderful time we had together. Mostly Gail and I. We took a long walk and poured out our hearts to each other. They are on a tough, difficult journey, with Dan's Parkinson's and Alzheimers. Be a Rock for them, Lord. They are exhausted. 

My heart was made glad ...

August 17:  Date night with Little Fellow was NOT very outlandish or especially planned or anything; but do you know? Just about any time spent with Brendan is a sweet time. My injured foot has not been healing very rapidly, so I finally submitted to having some x-rays taken today. No broken bones--doc is wondering about some soft tissue damage and has told me to slow it down and take it easier. I based my plans with Brendan tonight on that advice.

 This is us at Schuler Books on 28th Street. I love this place. So does Brendan. Because ... what's NOT to love? Books are, naturally, everywhere. And very cool toys. And touchable displays. We like to play here because it is super cheap (i.e. FREE) and we have such a nice time together.

We probably read about a dozen books, interesting stories about first days of Kindergarten, some dinosaur stories, some picture books. This is Brendan reading to ME ... I think it is a Scooby-Do book. He is making it up as he goes, which is actually more enjoyable than the actual story. Brendan is not actually a full reader yet, although he certainly does very well for his 5-1/2 pre-Kindergarten years. 

 I also brought my Story-Cubes along. Brendan's stories were a scream. He was SO into it. I love him so much.

 At one point in his story, there were flying dinosaurs all over the world ...

 You dear, dear boy. You have gladdened my heart tonight.

 We did end up spending $4.99 for a DK Field Guide (!! like we're going to run into one while walking in the woods?) on Dinosaurs. Brendan was thrilled.

No more Monday afternoons?

Monday, August 14:  I spent a few hours with this pixie-girl today. First, we went to Meijer's to get some creamy chocolate milk (everyone's favorite). Kaity got to ride in one of those special carts that allows the child to sit on a bench behind the actual cart. Kaity doesn't do much actual SITTING on that bench, but she sure enjoys the ride. We were traveling down the "bath" aisle and picked up some Pawberry Paw Patrol bubble bath, body and hair shampoo. Kaity was in dire need of a thorough washing. She was very eager to bathe with all of the water toys and bubbles. She got squeaky clean.

Since our water fun took so much of our time today (and I can't photograph that), I don't have many pictures to post. After Kaity's bath, it took quite awhile to get a comb through her tangled hair--but we took a tiny bit at a time, sectioned her hair off, clipped it in certain places and managed to de-tangle her beautiful hair while Kaity watched a few cartoons on my computer. 

 THEN we decided to paint. It's been awhile since Kaity and I have done any painting. Kaity was very enthused today about painting. She actually (!!!) sat here at this little table with her paints and brushes and was completely INTO the experience. I loved watching her joy. I painted alongside her because Kaity likes my company I guess. I like hers too. I'm not exactly sure what cracked her up in the picture below, but something did!

 Her expressions ... and her concentration ...

Such a sweet time together. Thankful for every minute. This is our last Monday for a long time I think. Kaity starts school on the 21st. She is entering a "readiness" Kindergarten, five days per week, all day. So ... many prayers for this little one as she begins a new journey in her life. Prayers that she will be able to adjust and thrive and learn and grow and make friends ...

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