A First Visit with New Granddaughter, Esme!

Isn't she a sweetie? I just got back from my five days in North Carolina. Terry and I drove down and Terry stayed for a day and a half and drove back and I stayed for a couple more days. Esme is just so precious! She is still under six pounds and just perfect! Her little hands and feet are so cute and soft. She has very dark brown hair, but light eye lashes and eyebrows, so she may end up with lighter hair. She looks very much like Shari looked as a baby. Shari says she thinks Esme has Mark's mouth, and she may. She has a very expressive mouth - very nicely shaped and cute. She still sleeps much of the time - except at night!

I LOVE this picture! It shows just how little she is and how expressive! Mark and Shari are so proud of her. 

Here is Esme with her proud grandma.

What a little angel!! So innocent and sweet.

Mark is very good with Esme and likes to cuddle with her - she likes it too, and falls right to sleep! Mark actually gave her a sponge bath one day while I was there because Esme had messed herself up and needed a bath. She was so funny! She LOVED it! She never made a peep, but was awake the whole time and really loving all the attention. She got her hair washed and fluffed and baby lotion and baby oil rubbed into her hands and feet - a real spa treatment! She knew she was in the right home!

Here is Terry holding Esme. Notice the ice cream cone on the T-Shirt? This is a shirt that Mark found for Terry to wear in place of his own. Terry picked up Esme for the first time and sat down on their couch - Esme immediately pooped and it went through everything she had on and all over Terry's shirt! It was so funny! But he just took her back as soon as they were both cleaned up. Grandpa's are like that.

Shari looks great here! She is actually very tired. Small babies like to nurse a lot all day and all night and it does take its toll on a new mom, but she is so happy! Esme actually had her eyes open here and looks all content. I hated to leave - I love her already and will miss holding her and feeling how soft and warm she is! Granddaughters are just wonderful!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!

A TRIBUTE  TO A LOVING SISTER

My sister is a wonderful person! She is godly,

 loving, caring, and sweet! 

She loves her family and lets them know it

 in so many creative ways.

Her grandchildren mean the world to her!

She is a talented photographer and makes beautiful,

 meaningful cards with her pictures.

She wants to serve the Lord with all her heart.

Anyone would be fortunate to have her for a friend

 (and she has many!)

She is a precious sister and friend to me,

and I love her dearly!

5TH ANNUAL SISTER GET-AWAY!

Carol and Ruthanne

OLD MISSION POINT LIGHTHOUSE

August 2008

I am very late in posting about this trip with my sister. My daughter Shari had our first granddaughter as soon as I returned and I have been in a fog of excitement and anxiousness. (Wanting to be there and waiting to go) 

For the last five years my sister and I have taken a trip together to reconnect with each other and relax and enjoy the state of Michigan. We have stayed in Frankfort, Charlevoix (twice), Manistee, and this year in the Traverse City area. I say area because we actually went to Mission Point, drove around and shopped the whole Leelanau Peninsula, shopped in Traverse and went to the sand dunes this trip. It was so beautiful and we had a great time! 

The weather was absolutely beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking. We shopped, took pictures of lighthouses and the lakes and beaches and the sand dunes. Carol had never been to the sand dunes before. We took the scenic trip by car and stopped whenever we wanted to spend some time at a certain place.

I have always loved being by the water - it isn't a vacation otherwise! Isn't Lake Michigan so beautiful? It is calming and peaceful to me to watch the water!

We stayed in Traverse City which was central to the spots we wanted to visit. I could actually live in the Leelanau Peninsula - no problem! At night we walked along the marina in Traverse. I love to see the beautiful sailboats. There were a lot of them to see this trip.

We actually had time to spend on the beach this trip! It was relaxing to sit and talk and just hear the sound of the water and the birds and be with each other.

We went to see three lighthouses. (Carol's passion) We have actually thought of being lighthouse keepers for a weekend or a week. We met four ladies who were doing just that at the Traverse City lighthouse in this picture. That would be a great experience! Anyone interested?

We had a little trouble finding the lighthouse at Mission Point because we used a Mapquest map that showed it to be on the west side of the island right in the middle! Well it wasn't! That island had a lot more roads than the map showed also! Don't trust those maps. We finally found the lighthouse up at the very top of the island. It was a bit overgrown and it was not a currently working lighthouse, but it was a beautiful area!

Doesn't this look peaceful and happy? I love this picture. The water was so clear and the day was just beautiful! It was great to be with Carol and I will always remember this time away as a wonderful, happy time. We had good fellowship and friendship. Who could ask for more? We are blessed by our heavenly Father with each other and a beautiful state to explore and enjoy!

Esme Arabella Fields

Welcome to our new granddaughter! We can't wait to actually see you and hold you! You look like a sweetie!

This picture was taken shortly after her birth and sent to us email by Mark. Thank you, Mark! It felt surreal knowing that we had a new granddaughter, but not knowing what she looks like. Can't wait to know her - we already love her! I decided to choose a verse for her:

I Timothy 4:12

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

She is a little young to live out that verse yet, but I will pray that verse for her that her life will be an example of this verse as she grows up.

I am going to NC this weekend. I will take lots of pictures to post! 

A GRANDDAUGHTER!

Today is special because it is the day our new granddaughter is born! We haven't seen her yet, but have heard all about her. Her name is Esme (with an accent over the e) Arabella. She was born in North Carolina at 11:45 a.m. on this beautiful Sunday morning, August 17, 2008. She is tiny - only 5 lbs. 11 oz. and 18" long. Shari says that she has about 1/4 to 1/2" of hair on her head and Mark says that she looks like Shari. 

I won't see her until this coming Saturday night when Terry and I are driving to North Carolina, and then I will be staying there for a few days to get to know her and help Shari and then flying back on Wednesday. Her birth seems surreal because we can't see her yet. Hopefully Mark will send some pictures by email this afternoon. What a happy day!

A Glorious Day!

Today was just a gorgious day - sunny skies, low humidity, beautiful clouds, a nice breeze, and I

had Matthew today! :)

We had the whole day to play and we started out using play dough for over an hour! We made this little train and Matthew was in charge of making all of the wheels. He did a great job! Trains are his favorite thing, so that is what he asked for us to make. The picture below shows his thoughtful determination in stamping the holes in the wheels.

Then we decided to make his new baby (coming in December) drinking a bottle. He thought the blanket was pretty funny, but was excited to put it on the baby. He told Shelley that the baby will probably just mess up his trains!

After we cleaned up the pay dough we worked on giving Mr. Potato Head some funny faces. These were empty pictures of Mr. Potato Head's face that we put stickers on - like eyes, nose, ears, mouth. It was fun.

One of the most fun things we did today was play with my beanie babies. I have a huge bag of them and Matthew knows all of their names. (I always have to look at the tags) So we used the table leaf that we had been using for play dough and put the beanie babies around it for a party.

We decided to use the blocks for their food and drinks. We spent well over an hour feeding them, talking to them and having a great party. Several of them had a birthday and we sang to them and had special cake. We had a great time doing this - Matthew loves to pretend and use other voices making the animals talk.

We also spent a lot of time outside today. We gathered up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some chocolate milk and water, some apple slices, and some cookies, a ball and bat, a playground ball and Matthew's hat and headed for the school playground down the street. The playground equipment is  a little old for him yet, but we used some of it and then played ball. Matthew doesn't like swings for some reason (My favorite thing!) so we didn't use them at all.

But we sat under a shady tree like last time and had a nice time eating lunch and then we played for a long time. I think Matthew's favorite part was kicking the playground ball around the parking lot and on the grass. Grandma was very tired after all that running and kicking! That is when I really feel that I am getting older - don't have the stamina as much anymore. I was tired!!

When we got home we got out the bubbles and blew some big ones in the backyard. Then Matthew asked to use the hose (he thinks this is great fun!) and squirted the bubbles as I blew them. He had so much fun using the hose that we ended up playing with that a long time.

Back in the house to get Matthew in some dry clothes and rest a while, we watched a program about some sextuplets for a while and America's Funniest Home Videos. He fell asleep on the floor one time while coloring and watching TV. It was so cute - his hand started slowing down and he was lying on his side and his eyes kept closing. But he forced himself to sit up and got a second wind.
We ended up the day by drawing and coloring with markers which Matthew LOVES to do!

He would sit there an hour and just use all different colors. He makes a great picture of fire works! I was impressed! Then when Mommy came, we went to meet Grandpa and Great Grandpa at the Beach Grill on Jefferson for dinner. That was our day - I loved it!

Mommy's Working

Shelley needed some time to get some of her drawings done yesterday uninterrupted. Not that she minds the interruptions by Matthew; she can just get more done in a shorter amount of time when she has some alone time. She is working on deadlines for two books that she is illustrating. So Grandma got to spend some time with Matthew! We had fun - but I was exhausted!

I decided that I wouldn't even bother him with pictures yesterday, so I went about the day and tried not to even think, "Wow! I wish I had a picture to remember this by!" It worked most of the day, but when he was running through the sprinkler with pure joy, I couldn't help myself and he was so busy running and laughing that he didn't really care that I was taking pictures.

We started the day by coloring in a big coloring book of Thomas the Tank Engine pictures. Then we used an assortment of markers to do some drawing. Matthew loves anything having to do with art, so we had fun drawing many things. He watches very carefully when we draw things and tries to copy them. By then it was time for lunch, so he climbed up in a chair and watched while I made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bagged some grapes and cheese cubes, and got some napkins and something for us to drink. Then we packed it all up in bags and took off with the stroller to the school playground down the street. We laid out a tablecloth on the ground under a nice, shady tree and ate our lunch. It was a hot day so the shade tree was nice, and we had a nice time talking and eating. We cleaned that up and then played on the swings, slide, and threw a ball around for awhile. We were going to run around the bases on the ball field, but there were several gigantic hornets flying around home plate, and if you know me - I hate hornets and won't go near them! So we scratched that idea!

When we got back to the house, we went into the backyard and blew some little bubbles and some big bubbles for about an hour. Then I asked if he wanted to run through the sprinkler and he was enthusiastic about that, so we got everything ready and he did that for about 45 minutes just running and giggling the whole time. When he got done and we had dried him off and changed clothes, Grandpa stopped by for a few minutes to see some new golf clubs that he had purchased on ebay. They had come with the mail earlier. So Matthew watched Grandpa hit some balls into the pool and thought that was very fun. But Grandpa had to go back to work, so we built with blocks and made up stories while building things to go along with them. Then we played with play dough on a big table leaf on the family room floor. We used little plastic knives, forks, a huge wooden meat pounder, toothpicks, etc. to make all kinds of things. When we tired of that we decided to use watercolors at the family room table. We had just gotten started when Shelley walked in. She stayed for a while so Matthew could paint and then they went home! See why I am tired? But it was a very rewarding time spent with a grandson that I love very much! I love days like this! 

What could be better than spending my day with such a sweet, innocent little boy who loves doing so many things? I offered him some watermelon yesterday because I was going to have some and he said, "No thank you, Grandma." I wanted him to try it, but what could I say to that sweet answer? Kids are fun.