October 28 A quiet evening walk

Friday: I haven't taken a walk all week--mostly due to the struggle with vertigo. I truly felt 100% today and really needed to enjoy this beautiful day; so at about 5:00 I grabbed my camera, my phone, my air buds (so that I could praise as I walked) and decided Chauncey Avenue needed to be strolled!

It's such a great street to walk ... look how beautiful it is!

This little bridge is on private property. I swear that one day I will just trespass anyway so that I can walk on it--I've wanted to ever since I saw it for the first time.

We are a little bit past the height of our color here in Grand Rapids, but it is still SO pretty.

Jesus--what a WONDER You are! I am so thankful for the beauty You have made! How AWESOME You are!

I wonder who Jari Lynn Morris was and how on earth she died here on the side of Cannonsburg Rd. There is a curve in the road right here, but not a drastic one. So sad.

Nothing much on my mind tonight--just the usual stuff that I am learning to pray about instead of worry myself sick over. So many hurting people, and lots of personal friends who are going through very hard situations right now. And always, my family ... dear sons, Kelly, and all of the grandchildren. Praying all of them, despite my many failings to them, will walk with the Lord and follow Him. He is the only way to eternal salvation for those who have not received Him and the only way to true happiness. Please have Your perfect way in all of us, Lord.
 

October 27 with Kaity

Thursday:  Tonight is Kaity's last soccer practice--so--she did not oppose going (thankfully). We spent about 90 minutes over at my house first: eating and hanging out. I only took ONE acceptable picture of Kaity tonight. Several trees in my neighborhood were cut down during the week--one just across the street from me (on the corner), a 200+ old sycamore tree! I wanted to take a look at the stump and count the rings ... so Kaity and I walked over to see it ... only to find that they removed the stump and roots and everything! While outside, Kaity demonstrated how she could do three cartwheels in a row, but my pictures did not turn out. This is the first time I have actually seen Kaity do a successful cartwheel with her legs fully extended and her rotation good--she did THREE in a row, perfectly!

We went to her soccer practice afterwards. I waited in the car tonight--it was too chilly to take a walk. I brought a book with me and enjoyed reading it. We returned to my house afterwards and played a bit before returning to Jesse. Nothing monumental--but I am always glad to spend time with Kaity--she is growing up so quickly now!

October 25 With the kiddos

Tuesday:  After an entire weekend of pretty severe vertigo, I was a little leary about my responsibilities today; however, I figured I would try very hard to do the best I could do under the circumstances. I was still shaky--the worst part was the rubbery feeling I had in my knees and the fact that my arms felt disconnected from my body--but at least the headache and dizziness were very much gone.

Erin and Cal spent a few hours over at the Beach House. Nothing unusual about our time here. I only took a few pictures:

Cal really enjoys this little car garage. He zoomed cars down the ramps over and over again. At the bottom, there ended up being quite a pile up of smashed cars. He would say, "Oh oh, cars cwashed!"

Erin kind of skips from activity to activity -- I find it is sometimes difficult to keep up with her! She likes to have 100% of my attention. Good thing Cal plays really well on his own. I spend much more time with Erin than I do with Cal; but next year, Cal and I will have a 1-on-1!

Cal's "big boy" haircut really took the "baby" look away, didn't it? I miss his soft curls!

Erin! You are an imp! And a sweetie-pie!

We left my house at about 3:10 to drive over to Aidan's school. Cal fell asleep almost right away as we were driving--but not Erin! We were to their house in plenty of time to have the house unlocked for Brendan, who had his usual Tuesday writing assignment (homework). He sat down to work on that and I ran around with the other kiddos. I was quite tired, not doing the best physically--leftover stuff from the vertigo--so when Dylan and Kelly came home from work, I left pretty soon after to come back to my house. I enjoyed being with the kids today, but was not my usual self. Thankfully, kids don't notice that much when adults aren't feeling well--so everything worked out fine.

October 20 Soccer practice

Thursday:  When I picked Kaity up this afternoon from Jesse, it looked like Kaity's entire world had come to an end. Her face was SO sad, almost sadder than I had ever seen it. Jesse explained that Kaity lost her phone over the weekend (Sunday) at a "park" over in Newaygo, and that there was no hope to recover it. But this was FOUR days later ... could Kaity still be so upset about this? She also emphatically stated that she did not want to go to soccer practice tonight. Diana is the one funding her soccer "lessons", so I told Kaity we would call her mom once we were at my house. 

Kaity got into my car and hunched down in her seat. I asked her if something else was bothering her as well, and did she want to talk about it? She said she had already talked about it to her dad and that she would be alright. When we got to my house, I phoned her mom and put her on speaker. The three of us talked soccer practice over--well, Diana and I talked--Kaity was pretty silent, just making head motions for any answers to her mom's questions. Diana reminded Kaity of the commitment she had made to Kaity--she would pay for the lessons, but Kaity would DO the lessons--and Diana reminded her how important it was to keep commitments, etc. Kaity still shook her head "No." I told Diana that I couldn't make the decision for Kaity--and Diana already knew this and was OK with me NOT taking Kaity--but after I hung up the phone, Kaity and I had another talk. Nothing different than what her mom had already discussed with her. But I did tell Kaity that every single day of her life she needs to make herself do ONE thing that she doesn't want to do! "Why, grandma?" Kaity asked. I told her that doing stuff we don't want to do builds strength in us, and as we grow older, there will be lots and lots of stuff that we HAVE TO DO every day that we don't want to do. I told her I wanted her to grow up strong and that I would be really proud of her if she made herself do this practice tonight. Kaity went to practice! Go, Kaity!!!

Soccer practice is 90 minutes--so I decided to walk around. I thought this little path might take me into deep woods, but I only walked two minutes and I was in someone's yard ... so I walked back to the fields.

The soccer girls were getting ready to have a team picture! So I figured I would take a picture or two myself!

Kaity later told me that it made her nervous that I was out there taking a picture--she didn't think I was supposed to do that ... but I made no fuss, nor did I bring any attention to myself in the process ... so no harm, no foul.

I looked around for a way to get into the woods that surrounded the fields and snapped a few pictures as I did that:

Behind the playground at Pine Island Elementary is a nice woods ... you would think there would be pathway INTO it ... but no. I walked around and around a FENCE with no way to cross over! Frustrating.

I finally gave up on the woods thing ... and I walked back to the field.

I did snap a few pictures of Kaity practicing ... but she was so far away!

Anyway--Kaity went to practice, and it looked like she did a good job playing too. Thank you, Lord, for helping Kaity to do this one hard thing today.

October 18 with the kiddos

Tuesday:  Our Tuesday schedule remained the same as last week--so, Erin and Cal played here at my house until 3:00 ...

The kiddos ate a very good lunch of mac'n cheese, apple slices and apple juice ... 

... followed about an hour later by TWO pieces of cinnamon toast and more fruit ... and a few chips.

Cal was very pleased with the entire selection and ate more than he ever has while at my house.

This is Erin stating that she can "see me out of her one eye" ... she kills me.

We spent about 30 minutes fooling about with Playdoh, which is always fun.

I love watching little ones play, don't you? They are so good at exploring and enjoying simple stuff.

Erin made a tiny bear (from the little mold I have), then she rolled out a blanket for him and for some reason tried the blanket on her nose ... just because.

Cal wasn't sure what to do with the scissors ... 

... but he liked them!

I did not take another picture for the rest of the day! We left to pick Aidan up from school at 3:10--both Cal and Erin fell asleep in the car on the way to his school. He doesn't officially get out until 3:35 but it was raining this afternoon at just that same time--Aidan wasn't thrilled about having to walk to my car in the rain either. But he did okay. Cal woke up once Aidan was in the car, but Erin remained asleep.

We arrived at their new house with plenty of time to spare before Brendan got off his bus. We just spent some time playing in their basement and horsing around until Dylan and Kelly came home with pizza. The kiddos are enjoying their new house very much--so much more space to play. The unpacking continues! It was nice to see Aidan and Brendan for a little while. I sure miss having them come over to my house on Tuesdays.