Birthday Party Fun

Daughter and Son-in-law have a great backyard for kids.  And great kids too!  As you can see, they had A LOT of fun.

From Monday

 Oh, what excitement there was here on Monday!

A backhoe (i think, i'd have to ask my great nephew to be sure) and some guys wearing Bob the Builder hats.

And right outside the living room window!

Feintsje was the most impressed.

Then they noticed all of the interesting things that Hertsje threw behind the couch.

Just shortly after this it started snowing.

Wise Heroes

The kid-friendly nativity is down to Mary, Joseph, and two wisemen.
Kado was rather convinced that they were all superheroes based on the simple fact that they were wearing "capes".
I explained as best as I could that they were wearing robes, but really - now that I think about it - they certainly WERE superheroes.

Still More from Sunday

Good Grief.

I took 588 pictures Sunday evening.

It's taken me forever it seems just to LOOK at them.

Oldest Son has told me that I may only alter one out of every four pictures that I take but even that would take too long.

 Anyway...

We had a sprinkler, a tent, a pool, a bowling set, and food - lots of food, but when Oldest Son asked very nicely if he could play in the box of rocks I could not resist him.

Most likely it bothered him that there were cars AND dinosaurs, but - oh well.

A crowd gathered.

 Oldest Son amazed the niece and nephews with how he could swallow a handful of rocks and then knock them out of his ear and into his hand.

I fear tummy troubles in the future.

One $1.50 bag of pea gravel nicely fills an under-the-bed sweater box which I already had.

So I've Started in the Living Room

I'm rather fond of pine cones. Oh, and white vases and pitchers. And don't forget to note the four chamber pots on the wire shelf. Of course my 'new' ironstone pitcher has been worked in.

The ribbon on the lamps came from a small shop in Sutton's Bay. Such a pretty hand dyed color! And now there are two matching McCoy swans. The second one was found at my favorite antique mall in Elk Rapids. Even while on vacation in June I see "Christmas" in my minds eye. The swans have seam binding tied around their necks.

The mirror, the pair of lamps, just about everything on the mantle came from thrift stores. The wreath was $3.50. When I saw it in October I was already envisioning how it would look over the fireplace. The vase in the middle is a McCoy vase that used to belong to THGGM's grandmother.

Someday the lighting in this room might agree with taking a good picture, but for now just use your imagination. Oh, and imagine a fire. It looks sooo nice with a fire!

Treat!

Daughter sent me this picture.

I spent the day with the grand kids, but didn't actually SEE them in costume.

However, I sent along some really great candy from Cracker Barrel. Which, I might add, I did NOT sample.

All their lives they have been Trick-or-Treating with their good friends. Sooo happy that the tradition continues!

Sweet Kado

Not quite warm enough for water play yesterday.
But Kado remains ever hopeful.
He is, after all, wearing his Ladder 24 shirt.
And his sister's shoes.
On the wrong feet no less.



Yesterday I passed him in the tight hallway and heard him say, "Birdy going night-night."
I was holding a sleeping baby at the time on my way to put him to bed and replied with the Beppe standard of "OOooh."

Today I passed by and noticed a tiny salt-shaker bird resting peacefully on an ear-ache size rice pillow.

I'm not sure where either of them came from. But they are still there.
Just because Kado is sweet, and two, and the birdy is going night-night.

Other Bugs I've Caught

Well. At least on my camera.

It's helpful to surround oneself with people who are closer to the ground.

I haven't found a praying mantis yet.

But I'm still looking.

Grasshoppers

My friend Melissa knows how to kill grasshoppers and then bring them back to life.

I always knew she was amazing, but this just beats all!

www.gamestoysandotheramusements.blogspot.com

Scroll down a bit and be amazed. Be VERY amazed!

Oh, Charley

click on pictures to enlarge

Fenced-In Backyard Bliss

She Likes Bugs

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Busy Monday

Didn't have time to take pictures of my flea market finds yet. I'll be sure to do it soon, or I will forget what I got.

Saturday I bought a few visors at the craft store. There were still letters left from the coconut trees we made a few weeks ago.

Jonge and Famke found the letters for their names and I helped Kado find his. Although all he wanted were I's.

They seemed to have a good time. Feintsje was sleeping. So far, he does that a lot. Must be why he is sooo very smiley when he is awake.

It really doesn't take much to entertain the very young.

Earlier in the day I had them help me transplant my spider plants (Charlotte and her daughter). I had two crocks under my desk. Suddenly it just seemed like the PERFECT thing to use them for.

So Jonge, Famke, and Kado helped me add rocks and stones to the bottom. Next they shoveled in top soil. The last layer was a good potting mix. When I pulled the plants out of their old pots it looked like a basket, the roots were SOOO tightly knotted.

It made for a terribly messy morning, but messes are always the most fun.

The only thing hard about this was lifting the crocks to bring them inside. I seriously under estimated how heavy a crock full of rocks and dirt is.

Oh, and if you look veeeery closely, you might see that I found a few small blue flowers to sprinkle in to the vases. They just needed a small touch of blue, don't you think?

The Backyard Painters

FINALLY. It was below sizzling in the backyard and we were able to get out there and do at least ONE of the exciting things we'd planned to do this summer.

The backyard painters REALLY got into this. There were even a couple lesser known artists displaying their works.

Not until she had finished did it bother Famke to have her hair fall into her work of art.

Jonge might have looked happier had I hung his painting correctly.

Jonge's painting included the sky, a bridge, and a river with fish.

Details of Famke's work of art.

The backyard painters were swiftly carried off to Millienium Park for swimming and splash pad playing as soon as Pake arrived home from work. That certainly helped with the clean up!

And, again, I had the priviledge of having the 'little boys' all to myself while they were gone.