DAY AT GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE . . .

A few weeks ago I took the little ones down to see my mother and my brother for the day. My sister had taken off work for a few days and so they were able to spend sometime with her as well. In order to keep them entertained we decided to take them to a park in Cleburne. Of course, it is Texas and you would think that at this time of the year (early part of June) that the weather would be wonderful - a perfect Spring day - but alas we never had Spring this year. We went right from Winter into Summer.

We decided to go early in the day so it wouldn't be so hot - off we went. Three ladies, one in their 80s, one in their 60s and one in their 50s with three children, 3-1/2, 2 and 9 months. Crazy women.

Baby Wesley loved the swing. She just sits a laughs the whole time and what little hair she has stands straight up.

Great Aunt Kathy had to take a little break from swinging her. Wesley could swing for hours if someone had the time and energy to keep pushing.

Kylie loves the slide. She delights in trying each one out to see which one is the best and most fun.

She also loves to climb but this play ground toy was a little too much for her.

She was holding on for dear life.

The little man didn't want to leave the swings and was a little upset by the whole thing.

 

However, going down the slide a time or two seemed to satisfy him.

Of course, he saw his big sister climbing on the dinosaur and just had to follow suit. Notice the dirty face. Mother said that the minute he got to the play ground he started throwing the dirt in the air and naturally most of it landed on his darling little face. He is all boy.

Luke so wanted to touch the ducks but they just didn't want to cooperate. The minute he got close to them off they would waddle.

Other than the swing there wasn't much for the little one to do but to sit in the stroller, suck her paci and watch the big kids have fun.

On the way out of the park we had to stop so that Luke could have his picture made with his auntie and the buffalo. All in all it was a good way to spend the morning with the people you love.

SCHOOL IS OUT . . .

Boy I didn't realize it had been almost a month since I had done any blogging. I sometimes wonder where the time goes but watching 3 little ones everyday makes me realize that I really don't have much time for anything else. MDO ended the last of May and each of the kids' teachers gave them pictures to remember the year by - I loved them.

This one is of Miss Kylie and her class. The last day they had what they called "Western Day" so some of the children dressed up in their western outfits. They had hay rides, petting zoo, pony rides and a picnic.

Miss Kylie's first pony ride and she loved it.

This is the little man, Luke, who the teacher say is always happy (with the exception of a meltdown once in a while) and loving. You can tell he really loves life and all that it has to offer him at this time.

Luke was totally fascinated with the goats and sheep. He delights in checking everything out for himself and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything.

This summer they are attending MDO for 6 weeks and could hardly wait for it to start again. The theme for this summer is children's books. The first week was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and they were to bring their favorite bear with them to school. The second week is "Make Way for Ducklings" and they are to wear their swimsuits. The third week is "If You Give a Moose A Muffin". The fourth week is "Carl's Afternoon in the Park" and they will have bounce houses to play in along with a picnic. The fifth week is "Goodnight Moon" and they will be watching a movie at the drive-in and they are to bring a decorated laundry basket to use as their car. The sixth week is "The Carrot Seed" and it is silly day at MOD. They are to wear something silly.

I love the MDO program at this church. The teachers are wonderful and the children learn so much, especially about Jesus and His love for them.

DEAR FRIENDS . . .

A month or so ago, my friend, Dory, called and invited me to meet her and her sister Ann for lunch one Saturday afternoon. Ann lives in the LA area and was here for the weekend. Dory and I worked together for several years before she moved on to something bigger and better. While we were co-workers Dory turned 40 and Annie decided to take her to Italy for her 40th birthday and I was invited to go along. There are no words to tell you what fun we had and just how thankful I was to be included on this trip of a lifetime.

I was very anxious to see Annie since it had been a year or so since we had had a chance to visit. Much to my delight Dory brought her children along too. Cade and Dani have grown up so much since I last saw them and what fun we all had catching up on all the events in our lives.

This is my friend, Dory and her daughter, Dani. Dory says that she is all girlie-girlie. Loves clothes, jewelry and cheerleading.

This is her son, Cade. What a little man he is. When Cade was about two and Dani was just a baby, I fly out to California with the kids and Dory so that I could help her on the plane. What a trip but what fun we had once we arrived in LA. As I sat and looked at Dani and Cade it was hard to believe that so much time had passed since I last saw them.

This is Ann (Annie) and what a dear person she is and a wonderful sister/aunt to Dory and her family. I was sorry that Annie's husband, Curt, couldn't be there with us but maybe some day soon I can go out to visit them.

What a wonderful time I had with these dear friends. Hope it isn't as long before we can visit again.

A LITTLE LATE . . .

The Sunday after the Easter celebration Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary, spoke about the ascension of Jesus 40 days after His resurrection and I thought it was very insightful and uplifting. Here are some bullet points from his sermon.

The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven . . .

• Validates the resurrection - giving the believer ASSURANCE for faith.
• Launches the global mission - crystallizing the core MESSAGE of the Gospel.
• Distinguishes the Trinity - providing helpful INSIGHT into their respective roles.
• Glorifies the Son of God - showing He is worthy of our WORSHIP.
• Distributes gifts to the Church - providing the ENABLEMENT to serve the body effectively.
• Affirms the intercession of Jesus - encouraging our CONFIDENCE to approach the throne.
• Promises the return of Christ - focusing us upon the HOPE of His coming.

What wonderful messages we can receive through these thoughts. We know that Jesus is coming again "in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven" and won't that be a wonderful day.

I have finished up my BSF study on Isaiah and have to say that it was so hard. I received such a blessing from the study and learned so much but I am now looking forward to a little rest from the intensity of this study and looking ahead to September when we study the book of Acts.

MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND . . .

Since everyone is so busy on the weekend (and especially with Mother's Day and everyone trying to spend time with mothers and mother-in-laws) we decided to meet for lunch on Saturday to celebrate with all the moms that were able to be there. My daughter and her husband were celebrating their 8th wedding anniversary so they weren't there and my son was in Austin for the weekend so I took the big girlie with me and we met my sister, her children and grandchildren and my mom for a Mexican lunch.

My sister hates to have her picture taken but she allowed this one.

Mother sure doesn't look her age (84 - but don't tell her I told you).

My niece, Lynley, and her boy friend, Blake.

My nephew, Ryan, and his "intended", Grace (they are getting married in November).

My nephew, Devon, and his big boy, Austin.

Devon's wife, Nicole, and their little girl, Casey.

We had a great time and, as always, love getting together to visit and catch up on everyone's lives. We all live in different areas of the Metroplex so special occassions are nice.

While we were at the restaurant I had to take the big girlie to the bathroom. While washing her hands she was carring on a conversation with a lady that went something like this:

Lady: "Where did you get that pretty red hair?"

Kylie: "From Jesus."

Lady: "Well that is a very special gift He gave you."

Kylie: "Did you know that Jesus died on the cross for us?"

Lady: "Yes, I did."

Kylie: "But He rose and went to heaven. Isn"t that nice."

Lady: "Yes, it sure is."

Children sure listen to what is being said and they aren't afraid to speak up and tell you all about what they have learned.

WEEKEND ACTIVITIES AND A SONG FROM SELAH . . .

This weekend is full - today I have a baby shower to attend and then off to help with a surprise 60th birthday party for one of my friends. Her husband is planning it so I hope she isn't too upset with him since everyone will know just how old she is now.

I found this song on You Tube and just fell in love with it and hope you do too.



Have a great weekend.

BOB AND LARRY . . .

I am sure that every parent and grandparent knows of or has heard of Bob and Larry of Veggie Tales. My grandchildren love to watch their DVDs and, I hope, learn something about the goodness of God and how we should obey Him and treat others. Well, a few weeks ago, I heard that on the 30th of April Bob and Larry were coming to Lifeway Christian Bookstore and, of course, they had to go seen them.

For a whole week our Big Girlie has been asking if it was time to go. Finally the big day had arrived. So on Saturday I met them, along with some of the parents and their children from a Small Group that my daughter and son-in-law attend, and stood in line to be one of the first to see (and possibly hug) Bob and Larry.

The excitement was building as the children could see them from a distance. They could hardly wait.

The closer we got to the front of the line the more the little girls, Kylie and Katie, did not want to get up close and personal with Bob and Larry.

But true to form the little man could hardly contain himself. He was climbing their friend's arm trying to get a better look at his heroes.

It is a good thing that Theresa is not only tall but strong. Luke was all over her. While the girls were being very proper standing in line with their purses and ignoring Kylie's brother and all the excitement surrounding them.

Finally, it was our turn and, of course, being a normal child, Luke decided he didn't want to get very close to them. You can see he didn't want his mommy to be very far away.

Our turn was over and as we were leaving Miss Kylie decided to cry because she wanted to "see Bob and Larry" so as luck would have it some of their friends were about to have their visit with our heroes so I took Kylie back to go up with them - knowing full well that she would never, never go up with the Anderson girls. And I was right.

Dad (a detective with our police department) and his three girls were the only brave ones to venture into the area of Bob and Larry.

As we said goodbye to our vegetable heroes it was off to McDonald's for my daughter and her friends and children and I was off to run some errands. As I drove away I thought to myself that this was a wonderful way to spend the morning watching the children, with excitement in their eyes, have such fun with some of their favorite characters.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY . . .

M... is for the million things she gave me,
O... means only that she's growing old,
T... is for the tears she shed to save me,
H... is for her heart of purest gold;
E... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R... means right, and right she'll always be.

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
--Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere and especially to my mother and daughter.

Enjoy the day!

BEAUTIFUL AND TOUCHING SONG . . .

I don't know how anyone could listen to this without shedding a few tears. What an awesome tribute to God.
My God is great and shows His love for us everyday.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

SUNDAY MORNING EASTER EGG HUNT . . .

Easter Sunday started out to be very dreary and windy. It looked like rain most of the morning and I didn't want to rush to hide all the eggs and other things until I knew for sure it wouldn't rain and the kids were on their way to our home. Lucky for us the rain held off and we were able to do our hunt without any interruption due to the weather.

The children (and their parents) came straight from church so they were all dressed up in their little Easter clothes.

They got right into looking for all the hidden treasure.

From the looks of things Mom and Dad enjoyed playing with some of the toys the Easter bunny left as much as the kids did.

Don't you just love seeing children running and having a good time, I know I do (by the way, please excuse the wall behind by daughter - that is my neighbor's garage wall and I sure wish they would repair and paint it).

I even had time after everyone had eaten and left for the afternoon to admire my hollyhocks that had just started blooming. I couldn't help but think about our God who created this earth and some of the beautiful things He gave us - like the hollyhocks and (the reason we were celebrating today) Jesus who died on the cross for our sins.

What a wonderful Lord and Savior we have.

EASTER WEEKEND . . .

Saturday morning I met my daughter and the little man and big girlie at the church where they attend Mother's Day Out. They were having a huge Easter egg hunt along with a petting zoo, and bounce houses and the little ones really wanted to go. There was so many children and parents on this windy morning but it seems like everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Little ones have such a hard time waiting for something to start and my grandchildren were no exception.

There were so many children at the 10:30am egg hunt that no one was able to get very many eggs. However, I think just enough was snagged that way no one overdosed on candy.

Next it was off to the bounce house after the egg hunt and they loved it. Luke had a very hard time standing up but Kylie was really going after it.

Face painting was next on the agenda but only the little man would let them paint on his face.

Next it was the petting zoo.

Luke had to get right in and try to pick up some little chicks.

What a precious little goat and Luke loved it. Kylie not so much. She did, however, like the little rabbits that were hopping all around.

After a little love was shared between brother and sister it was off to home, lunch, and rest before heading out to the soft opening of Fred's (more on that later).

Next stop for me was home, rest and then off to church. They had asked for volunteers who would be willing to attend the service on Saturday evening (so there would be room for those who only attend at Easter) and I decided to go. My son, his girl friend, Amy, and her two boys met me there and the service was wonderful - very uplifting and just what we needed in this world today. The sanctuary was absolutely beautiful and my picture (taken with my cell phone) doesn't even begin to do it justice.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as much as we did. I will share pictures of the Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning at my house another day.