Funny Grandkids

Macy is easy to spot in this picture of Kids' Choir at their church. They had an outdoor concert at Family Night a week ago. She looks like she might be the daughter of one of the Blues' Brothers!

Here's Marshall in the back of his dad's truck at Movie Night after the concert. They had a huge outdoor screen to watch "Horton Hears a Who," and everyone sat in lawn chairs or in the back of trucks. He fell asleep with Gavin's older sister snuggled next to him!

Bicycle Rodeo, 2009

Just a few bicycles awaiting their owners!

Marshall had just received his inspection paper and was eagerly awaiting his turn in his first Bicycle Rodeo.  His training wheels had just come off two weeks ago, and he was full of confidence.

A proud boy with a blue (participation) ribbon! The smile on his face says it all!

Now, it's time for the first graders. Macy waits for her turn with her Disney Princess helmet and bicycle. She was decked out in pink and purple from head to toe!

She's listening to her mom, "What's the most important thing about the Bicycle Rodeo? Not winning...but..." and Macy said, "HAVING FUN!"

Her cheering squad on the sidelines chanting, "Let's go, Macy, let's go, (clap, clap)!"

She was beaming with excitement.

It's hard to stay in the lines when someone is talking to you!

She's also a winner of a blue ribbon! Oh, I dread the day that one of them wins a better award than the other one!

Marshall and The Mustard Seed

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like." He said to them, "It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky." Thomas 2

The parable of the mustard seed is mentioned many times in the bible, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Thomas. Macy and Marshall have attended a Christian Day School at their church since they were three months old plus Sunday School and Kids' Choir as well. They were both in Awanas for a year, where they were rewarded for learning bible verses. You still just never know what sinks into their little brains.

A few days ago, Macy, Marshall and I were working on a craft project. Macy took to it very easily and enjoyed it, although it was a little tedious. They had to put little tiny beads on a plastic form in a certain pattern, and then we fused them together with an iron.  Marshall started working on it, and said, "No, this is too hard. I don't want to do this." Macy and I continued to work, while Marshall went on to play with some trucks. Later, he came back to where we were working. I said, "Come on, Marshall, I'll help you." I got his project going and then he began to work hard at completing it. I praised him for his hard work and in a little while, he said, "If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can do anything. I didn't think I could do this, but I had the faith of a mustard seed, and I did it!!!"

An Acorn Hunt With Second Cousins

This is Marshall with my brother's grandson, Kollman. They are both five years old, and enjoy playing together. They came over with my brother and my niece and her husband last weekend to have lunch and play. We are so happy they moved back to Texas from North Carolina! It was a hot day, but they enjoyed going to the little park across the street from our house and feeding the fish and looking for acorns. Acorns? We take them so for granted, but to little kids, they are pretty cool! They are definitely dropping early this year, I guess because of the drought. Marshall and Kollman began collecting them in a bag and then Macy and her cousin, Madeline began collecting them also, and before you know it, the race was on. It was boys against girls. Who could find the most? It was like an Easter egg hunt!

The girls ran all over the park looking for big groups of acorns. They finally realized what oak trees looked like and would cluster under them, so they could get more acorns than the boys.

Julie began helping the "Boy Team" who got easily distracted with feeding the fish hamburger buns!

My great-nephew, Ryan, age 2,  was not too interested in the acorn hunt, but he picked some pretty flowers for his mom, niece Becki.

We hope to have many more "Second Cousin Get-Togethers" in the future.

Who Is She?

Picasso?

Beyonce?

Cinderella...? But this shoe doesn't fit!

She's looking at herself in the mirror!

Another Fun Weekend with Ainsley

This past Labor Day weekend, I went to Houston to visit John, Colleen, and Ainsley. One of the things we did was go shopping at the IKEA store! Ainsley had a ball when we got to the children's area. She loved this cool little chair that had a cover that came down over it!

Peek-a-Boo!

Colleen attempted to put her hair in a pony tail, but it didn't last long!

One of her favorite things to do is ride on her Mickey Mouse truck! It's just her size!

We went to the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon Kick-off Party, which Colleen was involved with this past Labor Day weekend. At first, Ainsley was a little scared of the clowns and the loud music, but then this cute clown made her a butterfly balloon and she warmed up a little.

This is one of the funniest pictures I've ever seen. Ainsley was dancing so fast, her arms almost disappeared in the blurriness! She had such fun at this party and danced so hard that at one point, she fell down on the floor and just stayed there kicking her feet around to the beat of the music! She slept well that night! It was another great visit with this blessing of a granddaughter!

It's Finally Time For School!!

The countdown paper chain is finally down to nothing. They have been counting the days all summer long using a paper chain with a link for each day of summer. Macy looks a little apprehensive here, but she was pretty excited! She looked darling with her new Gymboree dress with the Scotty dog on it and matching socks and bow in her head, all with Scotty dogs.

Julie had laid out a shirt for Marshall to wear, but he said, "No," that he had something else in mind and picked out this button-up shirt. He loves his new Sketcher shoes and couldn't wait for school to start, so he could wear them. I pick them up after school every Monday, and when they got in the car yesterday, I asked, "Well, how was your first day?" Marshall said, "AWESOME!" Macy said, "Kind of sad and kind of angry." I asked why and it was because the teacher took up her little pencil sharpener (which she wasn't supposed to be playing with), and because she didn't get to sit with Marshall at lunch! She told her mom later that night that she wanted to be "home-schooled" from now on! The second day was much better, and she announced she no longer wanted to be "home-schooled!" Yea!

Now, what in the world will I do with my Mondays? I've kept Macy and Marshall every Monday, since I retired in '04. Macy was just one and Marshall was an infant. Last year, when Macy started kindergarten, I just had Marshall which was different, but fun too. I felt extremely lonesome all day yesterday, thinking about all the things we used to do on Mondays. Here are just the ones I can remember: coloring, drawing, painting, Play-Doh, baby dolls, dress-up, jig-saw puzzles, Candy Land, building with blocks, taking walks with the baby doll stroller, looking for leaves and flowers, feeding the fish in the pond by my house, watching the squirrel in their backyard, cooking all kinds of things, Marshall driving the John Deere Gator with Macy in the passenger seat in their back yard, as he took her to "work," watching videos, going to McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A to play on the playgrounds, going to Dynamoze, playing kitchen and cooking pretend meals, building forts and setting up tents, playing with hotwheels and Thomas the Train, going to various parks, riding tricycles, scooters, and bicycles, and playing hide-and-seek, going to the library and book stores, making up dances, playing on their swings/fort in the backyard, blowing bubbles, playing all kinds of ball games, and reading lots and lots of books---some favorites were "Stuart Little," "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," (and all the pigeon books), "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," and all the others in that series like "Moose/Muffin," "Pig/Pancake." Wow! Five years sure goes by fast! In five more years, Macy will be starting middle school! And five years later, she'll be in high school, then college. Time just travels way too fast when you're having fun with grandchildren!