Marcus and His 4th of July 'Sparklish'

Here you see us the first evening of the visit where Trenton and Marcus had made whipped cream together for the celebration of Marcus's 4th birthday. While 'the kids' did the art project, he 'played' a game. He does SO well entertaining himself.
Below is a picture of Alana (outside) taking a picture of Marcus and Grammy (inside)

watching the vintage car parade going by our house.

We strolled to the nursing home on the next block to watch the parade two of the days. There were a lot fewer people, so the kids could run into the street to pick up candy.

Marcus loved waving the flag at all the princesses.

Oh, he looks SO tired after the late night of whatever went on Saturday night. This is Sunday morning, and he had borrowed my little pink knife to cut up the front cover of the Netflix.

He did this for 45 minutes...completely quiet behind Grampa Jay working on his Sunday school lesson.

There were 4-wheeler rides of every kind and combination on Sunday, the 4th, out at the ranch. Here you see Evan checking the gas tank. Marcus and Cheyanne were in awe of Evan's knowledge and abilities. And, for a 7-year old, we are too!

Grampa always lets the kids 'drive' too.

Yum!

I love that I caught the fire on these marshmellows!

This was just before we went up on the hill with what Marcus called 'the sparklish'.

He is SO DANG CUTE!

That's it on the 4th of July...I guess, since this is the LAST day of July, it is good.

I found a real live cucumber in the garden this morning, so that will be my next feature.

I pray this blesses you, my son. I love you, Kelly!

More for Kelly..."The Kids"

These are the siblings Marcus calls "The Kids".

Marcus, being just 4 now, doesn't have the same needs or interests as 'the kids',

so they are grouped together watching videos, listening to mp3 players and such

while Marcus sits near Mama and plays with a small toy in the car. When they arrive at their destination "the kids" take turns being with and playing with Marcus, but they are really good at playing among themselves while Marcus is good at entertaining himself.Alana is drinnking tea with Grammy, Mama, and Auntie while playing a game of Rummy-O.

Alana's "Keep Away" project came together very well.

And this is Alana's friend from several years ago when she first began coming

to Grammy Camp.

They just 'happened' to meet at the playground when we all converged there.

Brianna, celebrating her 10th birthday.

Brianna watching the first of the 3 daily parades. Marcus was trying to be funny.

He sure is!

Here is Brianna's colorful "Keep Away" project.



Trenton, below, was busy climbing trees while he waited

for the first of the 3 daily parades to commence.

Here is Trenton with Marcus.

They were helping make the whipped cream for the Strawberry Shortcake dessert

that Marcus and Brianna chose for their birthday dinners.

And Trenton's "Keep Away project is embellished on the frame with acorns.

Cheyanne is interested in climbing trees too!

Cheyanne is very talented gymnastically!

And, below, Cheyanne's "Keep Away" project is equally as colorful as the rest!

I will focus on Marcus next, Kelly.

He is SO photogenic, and it is hard to stop taking pictures of him because he doesn't usually pose.

For My Son, Kelly

My son, Kelly, is gearing up in Texas for deployment to Afghanistan as a Chinook helicopter mechanic. He views this blog from time to time, and I want to share a visit his family had over the 4th of July holiday in my small town where the festivities abound.

His wife, Melissa, shares a cup of tea with me and Lovella as the kids play a game of Rummy-O in my studio.

Kelly has few pictures of Melissa, and he can download these to his computer for his viewing pleasure in Afghanistan.
I taught the five kids and Melissa how to do an art project called "Keep Away".
This is her final copy.

And, here she is working on the project as the kids worked beside her. She is a lovely woman, strong and wise for her young age...with three foster kids and three of her own. One of Kelly and Melissa's foster kids, after graduating high school, has come back to join the family and help out while Kelly is gone. She works next door to the family home and can help with the household when Melissa is in need. She doesn't replace Kelly, by any means, but she sure is helpful, Christina is!

For this project you draw three or four shapes in various places across the middle of the page, and then draw lines from the top to the bottom frame "keeping away" from the shape you initially drew. Outline all the lines in black permanent marker, and color the project using three colors. I'll do a post on the project later.

This is for you, Kelly, my precious son! I love you.

Baby Sister's Garden

This is my Baby Sister, Babs.

She is exceedingly creative, as you can see from the shawl she is wearing,

and she is a gardener extraordinaire!

Babs grows Cardoon (a relative of artichokes) in the narrow strip of her driveway,

and we were fascinated by the activity going on.

Aphids have set up colonies all over the plants,

and ladybugs are generating many eggs which, when hatched, will feast on the aphids.

This is something all gardeners love to see...nature working its best without us to interfere.

Below you can see in the middle of the picture some pale orange ladybug eggs on the underside of the leaf.

The ladybug larvae is lavender-to-purple with orange spots and kind of a 'lizard' look, and about 1/4 inch long.


I once had the opportunity to watch a Tricogamma wasp lay eggs into the body of a Tomato Horn worm which the lady whose garden this was occurring gave us for our own garden so that we would have the benefits of this fabulous wasp to the horn worms inhabiting our own garden.
The process was fascinating to watch!

Above and below you can see the wonderful display of flowers reminding me of Chicory, a daisy-like pale blue.

When traced to the ground we found they were a lettuce blooming all in the tomatoes and peas of my Sisty's garden.

This garden is located in Bellingham, Washington where the marine air cools things a bit for gardening. My sister is able to grow a great crop of blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, chard, peas, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and beans.

Babs is an extraordinary woman!

Thanks for the good time with you and Mom last week.

Now, I must go out and string up some support for my own beans...pole beans, which I've never grown before. It has come to me that I'm too old for bush beans now; the bending and stooping are too much, so this is my new endeavor.

The tomatoes are still 'just surviving", but the squashes are really thriving.

More on my own garden later.