May 24 Last day of pre-school!

Tuesday:  Almost every Tuesday, I first pick Brendan up from his house and then we drive over to Mayflower Church to pick Aidan and Erin up from preschool at about 11:30. Since today was their last day of school, family was invited to come a little bit earlier and join in a popsicle party with the kids.

Kelly had a full client schedule today and regretably could not break away to come, so she asked if I could snap a few pictures of Aidan and Erin with their teachers. We were all invited to come inside the gated playground at the school where all of the children were playing. Here is Aidan showing me the very cool school bus he can climb on.

Near the far end of the playground, Erin's class was seated at a picnic table awaiting their popsicles ...

Erin didn't see us at first, she was kind of lost in thoughts (above) ... and then she saw us! "HI, Gwamma!" she shouted in her sweet voice.

Look at these adorable classmates ... Erin is VERY social and has enjoyed meeting these kids and becoming their friends very much.

Look at Erin's unicorn cap ... SO cute!

Oh Erin ... you are SO SO SO sweet! 

This is the best picture I took of Erin and her teacher (whose name I cannot recall). Erin was really INTO eating her popsicle at the time--but her teacher was very willing to squat down behind her for a picture.

Here is Aidan's entire class! I took many many pictures of the kids lined up like this ... but see the little boy standing right next to Aidan? He was a very enthusiastic little person and began jumping up and down and flinging his arms all over the place ... so the next 6 pictures, Aidan's face is completely obscured by this little guys waving arms! I'm glad I got at least one shot before the photobombing began ...

Here is Aidan's class with his two teachers ... again ... this was the only shot I got before aforementioned child began jumping hilariously and blocking Aidan totally out of the picture.

Here is a nice one of just Aidan and one of his teachers (again, I cannot remember her name).

This is Aidan with his OTHER teacher ... 

Each child was given a notebook filled with pictures and memories from the school year, made personal for each child. Such a nice school!

Aidan was quite thrilled with his red-white-and-blue popsicle.

When I mentioned that he was getting a BLUE face, he wanted proof--so I snapped this picture and showed him ... which resulted in his darling giggles.

Erin is learning to PUMP on the swing and she is doing a good job of it!

She doesn't quite have both legs coordinated yet ... but she is getting the idea at least.

Brendan stepped behind her for a little bit and helped to keep her high enough for a little while. I should have snapped the picture while Brendan was smiling--he was being very helpful--but I was talking to Aidan at the same time and took this picture at the last minute.

Pretty flowers thanking these wonderful teachers ...

One last shot of Erin on the swing ... look at her "clapping" her feet just for the fun of it. She kills me.

At my house:  We finally left the playground with all of their school stuff and drove to my house. We did our usual play stuff: puppets, stuffed animals, art at the table, legos ... and we even watched about 30 minutes of Youtube short videos of "The Secret Life of Pets 2", which was a movie the kiddos requested but that I do not own, nor could we find it showing on any of the stations I have.

We finished off our afternoon with a bowl of ice cream ... here is Erin enjoying hers right down the last drop ...

... and Brendan too!

"Gidget" [from "PETS"] and two of our sock puppets sat on the counter watching the kiddos enjoy their ice cream.

Since Aidan had not had a single bite to eat the entire afternoon at my house (he was busy making another book), in order to get his bowl of ice cream he had to eat at least a bowl of healthy cereal--which he did!

I love these pictures of these beautiful children ...

I am beyond blessed to be their grandma. BUT NOW ... it was time to pick Kaity up from her bus-stop and head on over to Altitude to play! 

May 22 Graduation Card for Chris

This is the card I designed for Chris's high school graduation. I handwrote a note inside the card, so this is not all that it said.

FRONT:

INSIDE OF CARD: Standing right next to Chris is his best friend, Tyler. Also, I really like this quote from Vince Lombardo ... it's so true--I think it is sad that hardly anyone strives for excellence any more.

BACK:

I worked very hard on this card ... I wanted it to be JUST SO! I am pretty pleased with how it turned out and I enjoyed the process of making it a lot too. High school graduation is a big deal! I want Chris to know that I am proud that he has accomplished this. I wanted to add a bunch more verses to this card, but I didn't! There are so many rich Scriptures about wisdom and what it looks like in a person.

Listen to this:

"The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all PURE. It is also peace-loving, gentle at all times and willing to yeld to others. It is full of wisdom and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere."  (James 3.17)

There is so much packed into those few words, isn't there? It would be a good one to memorize, for sure. I pray for that kind of wisdom for my entire family, my children, and their children. 

This passage, too, is so wonderful ...

"Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly."  (Proverbs 3.16-18)

Delightful paths! Satisfaction in life! Help us, Lord, to find this heavenly wisdom!

 

May 22 Chris's Grad Party

Sunday Afternoon:  Chris and Tyler's graduation party was this afternoon from 3-6pm. It was held over at Tyler's mom's house--she has a nice big yard and a beautiful woods (13+ acres!)--and these "boys" have been as close as brothers all through high school.

It was a bit cool outside, but not rainy ... so it turned out to be a perfect outdoor day. 

I didn't know many people at the party--which is OK--afterall, I am Chris's grandma and he doesn't share his life very much with me anymore; but it was nice to be there just the same. I managed to spend an hour there and never once took a picture of Tyler--but I only saw him briefly for maybe two seconds!

Diana did a nice job of putting up a display of pictures of Chris and some of his athletic awards.

Diana and Emma made 200 cupcakes! Tyler's mom made a bunch of food too, and there were burgers, dogs and chicken on the grill.

This is Emma telling a family friend (Elizabeth) about the gift she made for Chris (and one for Tyler too).

Kaity was there (naturally) and went with me to explore the woods; however, Kaity was wearing a dress so we didn't get very deep into the woods for fear of poison ivy ...

Since we've had so much rain in the last few days, the ground underneath these leaves was quite slippery ... I slipped (of course) and went sliding down, grabbed onto a very tall but skinny tree to stop my downfall and took the entire tree DOWN with me! The falling tree missed Kaity by about a foot. I was SO shocked that the tree fell down--I had no idea it's roots were dead or I would not have grabbed it.

It's super beautiful back here, isn't it?

I'm glad the party turned out well for Chris and Tyler. Chris is off to Olivet College in the fall and I think Tyler will be going to Central Michigan--both on football scholarships! They wanted to attend the same college and be roommates, but their scholarships did not work out that way.
 

May 21 Precious time ...

Saturday evening:  Kaity and I dropped the kiddos back off to Dylan and Kelly at about 5:30 ... Erin very badly wanted us to stay and play at their house, but I usually have a 1-on-1 with Kaity on Saturdays and I didn't want to miss out on spending that special time with her.

In truth, it's not that Kaity and I do such great things when we are together ... and often I wonder why on earth Kaity even comes over to my place when obviously I am SO boring and there is NOTHING to do at my house ... but she continues to come and I continue to ask just what the Lord would have me do with the time we have together.

As we were driving back to my house, Kaity looked over at me and asked: "Grandma, when you pray for me--what do you ask God to do?" Wow. Now there was a question I readily answered! I told Kaity that I ask the Lord to give her faith to believe and a heart to receive Jesus as her very own Savior and to know how much God loves her. Kaity's response: "Oh! That's good, Grandma!" I told her that God is AWESOME and wants to do wonderful things in and through her life.

When we arrived here, I asked if Kaity wanted to play "UNO" only I said it in French: "UN" which sounds kind of like a grunt--this has been a joke with us for many months now. Sometimes we play around with the very limited Spanish words that we know (mostly because Paco claims to be Hispanic and throws around a few Spanish words when we play with him), but then I always show off my FRENCH (the perhaps two dozen words that I can remember, other than counting to ten). It surprises me, sometimes, how amused Kaity will be at the sound of different languages. She is not a person who enjoys reading--although I HAVE caught her laughing at Mo Willems books (!!), and she actually reads almost to her grade level. Anyway, we played two games of UNO, both of which I won! Thursday, Kaity beat me three games in a row! Our second game tonight was one of the longest UNO games I have ever played--we kept slapping Draw4+'s and Draw2+'s on each other and it felt like I was holding the entire deck in my hands for a little while. We did a LOT of laughing as we played ... I enjoyed this time with Kaity so much. I love to see her crack up!

After our UNO games, I told Kaity I was going to wash dishes--I invited her to come into the kitchen with me just to talk while I was working. It didn't take very long before Kaity joined in on the washing. She has always enjoyed playing in the water, and even though she is a month away from turning TEN, she still loves playing in the water! I told her she could wash and I would rinse--and we had so much fun doing it. We were both sad when all of the dishes were washed and dripping dry in the dish drainer.

Afterwards, there was something being talked about between Kaity and Emma. Kaity became so sad that she had big tears rolling down her face. She got up off the couch and let me hold her in the nicest embrace while I spoke words of love and comfort to her. I can still feel her nestled up close to my heart ...

It's been almost two days since this time with Kaity ... but I want to remember it as best as I can; hence, this almost pictureless post.

"Lord, please do Your work of opening Kaity's eyes and heart to You. Comfort her in her sadness. Chart the path ahead for her. Shower her with Your grace, mercy and peace. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Kaity. Please, Lord, make her part of Your family."

May 21 A VERY busy day!

Saturday:  I got a text this morning from Dylan letting me know that both he and Kelly are sick! He asked if there was any way I could take "the older three" kiddos for a little while today. Whew ... good thing I designed and printed Chris's grad card last night! Being a grandma carries a certain weight ... but it is a good one. What better way to spend time but with grandchildren--especially if their parents are ill?!

I picked up Erin, Aidan, and Brendan from Dylan at 11:30 and decided to have us all hang out here for a little while before we picked Kaity up to play at Altitude (it's beginning to feel like a LIVE at Altitude!). We ate a nice lunch  together--Aidan even ate a small bowl of Mac 'n cheese! Oh my! I almost fainted. We read some books, made some pictures, played with puppets, and had fun. Erin and Aidan both brought over their Squishmallows today!

Our hours zoomed by ... and then it was time to pick up Kaity! Erin absolutely ADORES Kaity. These cousins had so much fun jumping today.

I attempted to keep up with the four of them without getting myself run over by children in the process ... I absolutely LOVE some of these pictures.

Here is Kaity showing the kids the flying trapeze ... Erin thought Kaity was SO brave!

Aidan was watching from a SAFE distance. There was no way in this entire universe that this little person was going to jump from that height ... he didn't even climb the stairs ... he has hoisted himself up inside the dodge-ball area and climbed up to the netting to watch Kaity's performance ... and Brendan's too!

Little Erin watched Kaity and Brendan do a few "flies" and then looked right at me and announced: "I am going to be bwave, gwamma ... I am going to JUMP!"

Here goes Kaity!

Brendan is next ...

Good landing, Brendan! 

Erin was next in line ... but she took one step forward and ten steps BACK ... she just turned her little body around and went down those stairs as fast as she could.

Kaity and Brendan jumped over and over again ... if I were a kid again, I would definitely do it! I LOVE heights.

Erin showing me the very last orange Skittle in her package ...

I could eat this little child right up ...

Aidan trying to look brave in the Foam Pit where the duels were taking place ... 

Erin met many total strangers who became her good friends in an instant!

This is SO Aidan ... gah! I love this child.

Mid-way through our time at Altitude, Brendan had a bloody nose. He handled it so well. And the staff at Altitude were super kind too. Brendan knew just what to do. He pinched his nose, I got tissues, and we just had him sit calmly until the bleeding stopped. He was able to resume jumping in about 10 minutes.

So thankful for this day ... and it's not over! I have Kaity until 8:00. We're going to take these three kiddos home and then return to my house. I'll post about my time with Kaity later ... it was a very precious few hours with her.