April 18 A GOOD Tuesday

Tuesday:  It was such a GOOD Tuesday today and I am SO thankful for it! For once, I wasn't sick in any way at all--not even a headache! I prayed for strength and wisdom and confidence to do a good job taking care of the Littles, and God was good to give me all that I needed.

Thankfully, I went to the public library Monday afternoon and picked up a load of interesting books to read with the kids. I had forgotten how much even these little ones enjoy reading and looking through books. We did a LOT of that today, which really helped to stretch our time out nicely.

Cal enjoyed all of the cooking utensils for quite awhile today ...

He was cooking up a storm ... stirring and blowing the hot stuff, etc.

He refused ANY and ALL assistance from his sister, Erin.

Our Cal was a bit grumpy today. I learned later that since it was Orthodox Easter weekend, there were many late nights for these kiddos ... 

Erin asked for ice cream a little earlier than usual this afternoon. I had purchased these "Creamsicles" at Meijer, hoping the kiddos would like them.

But after just a few licks ... they both put them aside and didn't want any more. Note to Self: Don't buy these for the little kids again. Stick to CHOCOLATE.

We drove back to their house at our usual 4:00--both of them fell asleep in my car. I got Aidan off his bus, and Brendan came in two minutes after that. I moved the little ones into the house and onto the couches--but I could NOT wake them up. They slept for another hour until their folks returned home.

After dinner, everyone was refreshed and revived and so we played "Chase me, Gamma!" for a long time, read some books, laughed a LOT, and just had a nice time. Sadly, Kelly was exhausted from her seasonal allergies--but I was thankful that for ONCE, I had enough energy to stay later and be more helpful. I had some fun with Aidan and Brendan too. I love these guys so much.

April 17 Monday's walk

Monday:  I took a brief walk today--a bit of a different direction than I usually go. I walked along Canonsburg towards Blakely. I was actually looking for a farm house that a neighbor told me a mutual friend just recently purchased. I brought my camera along ... just in case something was pretty enough to snap a picture of.

With that super warm week last week, our spring has sprung a bit prematurely ... I'm not complaining ... but I hope that future frost doesn't zap everything to pieces.

These rows of trees are acting as a property fence of sorts ... several homes along Canonsburg have these planted in between other homes, from front to back of their properties. I like how tall and straight they are--and they are so much prettier than a fence.

I only logged 1.5 miles--but the wind was brisk and I was too cold to keep going! Oh well ... at least I walked today, which is better than NOT walking at all.
 

April 14 Signs of Spring

Friday:  I took a walk today, which I intended to be TWO miles but since I had my camera with me and it was actually HOT outside, I walked slower than normally I do ... and only ended up walking 1.6 miles. Good enough!

The buds ... new leaves ... blooming trees ... COLOR ... so refreshing! God always keeps His promise of the seasons coming and going. What an AWESOME Creator He is.
 

April 13 at Altitude

Thursday:  I picked up my Kaity-Girl from Jesse at about 4:30 this afternoon. Kenzie was over and they wanted to know if we could all do something together. Believe it or not, it was topping out at 80 degrees and gorgeously sunny outside! However, Kaity was rather in a "funk" and reminded me that she does NOT like to be outside in the hot weather. What?!?!?!?! Okay. I DO remember some complaints last year if we were out very long and there wasn't any shade ... or a lake or pool to jump in ...  and Kaity's skin does break out when she gets too hot. 

SO ... I suggested Altitude, and it was agreed that Kenzie AND Harper would come to jump and play with Kaity. They did really well. They are expert jumpers! They play lots of jumping games together and have a really good time. Here are some pictures--all of which were taken on my cell phone, because I neglected to bring my REAL camera along with me (however, I had no idea we would be doing anything out of the ordinary when I left my house).

This is one of their favorite activities at Altitude: it's kind of a "jousting" activity ... see who can knock each other off the beam and into the foam blocks. Harper went down quite quickly, but she was fine with losing; after all, Kaity IS quite a bit bigger than she is.

Kaity and Kenzie are better matched. The first two rounds went to Kenzie!

But then Kaity came back and won the next FOUR rounds ... but it was quite a struggle.

It wasn't very crowded here tonight, and that was a big plus for the girls. They didn't have to wait in any lines, and there were not many toddlers jumping either. 

We had invited Kenzie over to the house afterwards, but we didn't know that there had been an emergency in Kenzie's family--her dad picked the girls up from Altitude because he was ready to check on the family issue they had going on.

Sadly, Kaity did not want to come over to my house after the girls left Altitude. I didn't press her about it. She's growing up ... almost 11 now. Sigh. 

I'm asking the Lord to help me navigate spending future time with Kaity. How can I make our time together something she enjoys? How do I enjoy God's great outdoors with her when she will not go outside? How can I compete with video games and phone "shows"? This is pretty much out of my control; so I will do what I must do--I will trust the Lord to lead and I will keep praying.

April 11 Strength for each day

Tuesday:  Of all the days in my week, this one is the most stressful. Why, you ask? Well, mostly it's because I doubt that I can "pull it off", meaning I lack the confidence to "entertain" my dear grandchildren most of the day without ... running out of patience ... or becoming overwhelmed with chaos ... or just feeling every single one of my 69+ years! 

I remind myself that TUESDAY is the perfect day to empty myself completely OUT and give myself 100% to the needs of some very small, very cute, super interesting, extremely FUN, but also ... sometimes high energy, always talking at once (to me!), and one or more of them being oppositional. It's a good day to RELY on strength that is NOT MY OWN.

Every single Tuesday, the Lord helps me slow down, listen, pay attention to, accommodate, serve, PRAY, and attend to sometimes overwhelming situations. I am very thankful for this special day that He uses to stretch my faith a little farther, depend upon Him greater, and seek His wisdom. He has not let me down a single time. I will admit, though, to being really really EXHAUSTED at the end of some Tuesdays; but not always. As I look back on our day together, I can laugh at some of the funny things they've said, remember a warm hug or two given by a small child, and give thanks for the gift of grandchildren.

Cal got his hair cut between last Tuesday and this one. He looks like a little DUDE.

Kelly put Erin's hair in this darling "updo" and Erin was VERY pleased about it. Erin is quite a girly-girl, and I just love that she is!

Cal had a lot of fun playing with the treehouse today. He was not at all interested in sharing it with his sister; and finally, poor Erin gave up and turned to other activities. Erin is usually able to find something else interesting to do. If she really truly wants to play with something, though, she will put up an impressive fight ...

Erin was also super pleased with her new skirt today. She was so excited to show it to me.

Brendan had run a temperature last night, so he had to be kept home from school today; however, his temperature was normal now, so he came over and just quietly hung out with the rest of us. I'm always glad for the opportunity to spend time with Brendan. I could still just about eat him up ... because I love the sweetness of his spirit.

We returned back to their house a little after 4:00. Dylan was working from home today, and Aidan got off the bus a little after 4 o'clock; so while Dylan continued to work, we just played together right at their house. It worked out just fine. Since I had been sick four days last week (with strep throat), I was a little bit weary; so I didn't stay much past 6:30 tonight. I was very thankful for the strength God gave me for this day.

April 10 MATTHEW

Monday:  It's Matt's 18th birthday today. I was unable to connect with him over the weekend, so I drove over to Diana's this afternoon to hand deliver his card and $gift.

I don't get to visit with Matt very often. He has an "open" invitation to come whenever he would like; however, there isn't really much to do over at a grandma's house that has no TV or video game system--so I get it. And it's not just that--Matt is grown now and has an agenda of his own--ways to spend his time as he chooses. I don't expect him to come trotting over here every week. But I do miss knowing Matt--because it's just impossible to actually know someone you rarely visit with. That's just how it is. I remind myself of this often--because, well, it's like that with the Lord too. How can I possible KNOW the Lord if I don't spend any time with Him? He's given me an entirely TRUE book that teaches me all about Him--plus, I can talk to Him any time I choose. I often put Him very low on my priority list--I don't mean to, but it does happen. I imagine He feels sad about this. I am asking Him to help me spend priority time getting to KNOW HIM. I have so much available right at my finger tips--no excuses, grandma!

But back to Matt. I love that his name means: "Gift of God" OR "Gift FROM God" ... either way, it's very similar. God has given us a GIFT in our Matthew. Not to just focus on just his appearance or anything--but isn't he a handsome young man? 

I designed Matt's birthday card around the meaning of his name ...

I love you, Matthew! Perhaps you will come over soon and we can talk. I would love to hear what goes on inside your head. Seriously! Open invitation ... any time you would like. 

April 10 Flood Stage

Monday:  The Grand River once again is at/above flood stage. I always love to see it get this high--but have to remember that those living along the river probably are not at all thrilled!

I took these photos while walking down Chauncey toward the Imperial Mill. I love Chauncey Avenue most any time of the year--actually, this is probably my least favorite few weeks of the year while every tree is still bare, the ground is barren and the colors SO ... the same! Except look at this GREEN grass! We've had a LOT of rain in the last two weeks; so much so that the Grand River is at or above flood stage. The background water in the photo below is not usually there--out there is pasture land; but it is rather under water right now.

And the water behind the Mill isn't usually there either! It looks to be completely surrounded by water right now!

I have a million shots of this particular site (below), but I always want to take just one more. I love the serenity of this little spot.

I love this little Mill and always regret it is on private property ... because I would love to get closer to it and get better pictures.

All of this water out in the field ... does not belong there!!!

Later in the day, I drove ACROSS the Grand River to try and get some shots of how high it was ...

This "medical building" sits right on the edge of the Grand River and Northland Drive. Usually, people can park underneath the building with nothing to fear! There is usually a 4' drop off to the actual river.

Thankfully, we are looking at a dry week ahead and they forecast that the river will begin going down even today. That's a good thing. We do not need any more rain!