Ramblings...

I went for a two mile walk yesterday on the route I showed in my photos, which means I walked 1/2 a mile farther down that road. There is a very steep hill section that I had forgotten was there. That was good for a little challenge. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to the top, and it was even a little hard walking back down because it was so steep! I'll take my camera sometime to get some shots of that hill.

Gretchen, I read your comment over at GM's about the neck exercises. I actually found the book through my library, which is a rare happening! It's on board the bookmobile, so I'll have to wait until it gets back to the library. I'll try the exercise you mentioned in the meantime.

And, Granny, sorry I haven't posted more pages of Radical Hospitality. I couldn't find the excerpts I wanted to post because I had read so much by that time. It's so hard to look things up on a Kindle! I finished the book, and it was pretty good. I would recommend it.

Here are a couple of cute photos I found on my camera. 

 This one is actually sideways. Micah posted this on Facebook. She said she wakes up to this every morning. These two like to sneak into her bed. :)

 Short and sweet today! Everyone's gone right now. Nathan's at school, Josh took Jess to work, and I think he's going to get in a good long run while he's got a bit of down time. He really needs that nature and solitude.

Y'all be good! I'm coming over to read your blogs! :)
Shalom, everyone!

Christmas joy among the munchkins!

We had a nice Christmas breakfast compliments of Adam. He's a willing and good cook. :)

After breakfast we opened gifts.
Bedheads and Christmas pajamas abounded. The big hit of the morning was a play kitchen. Dad Adam spent 7 HOURS putting it together. It took him all night! And this is a guy who's mechanically gifted. I told him that's a "classic Christmas memory". ;)

Della preps fruit.

Sully sautes veggies...

Ole "Blood and Guts" Hazel was excited to do a little operating.

Audrey got a puzzle for age 10+. She's 7. Grandma shouldn't have been so confident about her abilities, but it will wait for later.

She was a good sport about it.

Lots of Legos and Magnetiles were received. They were actually for the kids, but Adam couldn't resist.

Mama Micah and Thatcher watched the frenzy from afar.

Here are a few of the little decorations I put up for Christmas. I'm sort of a minimalist...

There's a tiny, blurry little nativity in there somewhere.

 I couldn't resist this cute little Christmas tablecloth at Walmart. :)

The next two days I'll be babysitting the four youngest for a few hours a day while Micah goes to chiropractor and midwife appointments. Then, maybe we'll be done with those for a while! There will be heavy use of Netflix and iPads. Sorry, this granny can't take the chaos for too long, lol. And that's why they love me! :)

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'll let you know when the moving begins. Not quite yet! :)
Shalom!

Still here!

I noticed it's been a while since I've posted. I've mostly been doing my computing from Micah's and often with grandkids running around. It makes it difficult to concentrate enough to compose a post. But that's okay. I don't  really have a lot of new news anyway!

My furnace hasn't been working well, so I've had guys in a couple of times. They're coming again next week to crawl underneath to see if some critter may have made a nest in the duct work which would decrease the airflow and make the system heat up, causing it to shut off prematurely. (Before reaching the set temp.) So, between the furnace (which works, but off and on) and a space heater I'm able to keep the temp up to 68* when it's in the low teens outside. Hopefully, this will be fixed this next week.

Meanwhile, I'm going to buy some totes and get some boxes and begin clearing out cabinets and packing stuff for moving. The actual move is still several weeks away, but this activity will keep me from thinking too much about the furnace situation. If it looks like they can't fix the furnace for some reason I'm going to request that they set me up in one of their motel rooms until it's time for me to move. (My landlords own the RV Park and a small motel.) In that case, I'll move my packed stuff into Micah's barn (which is heated) until I can actually move into the trailer. Just another growth and learning experience! All will be well!

I just purchased myself two books as a birthday present to myself. Yay! I'll be 62 on the 13th. ;)

Della has developed a mysterious limp in the last few days. Micah took her to the walk-in clinic and they dismissed it as something to do with a growth plate above her knee. Micah then took her elsewhere for a second opinion. The second doctor couldn't believe they just sent her  home the first time! She has a temporary cast (removable) to wear for a week to keep weight off of it. I'm sure it's probably something like a hyper-extended knee. (They took x-rays of her leg and hip, but couldn't see anything like a fracture.) These kids spend all of their time diving off of couches and windowsills, acting like superheroes, so this sort of thing is inevitable. She did enjoy her one-on-one time with Mom! :)

Subway with Mom after the doctor visit!

A recent selfie of Micah. Due at Christmas!

AWANA picture! :)

And now, I'm off to Walmart! (This epistle has been brought to you from the library...)

God bless all, and have a great weekend!
Shalom!

I'm back home!

Hello, all! I'm back in my apartment after about 3 WEEKS living with my daughter and her family. They are such troopers and saints to put up with me that long!

The exterminators came last Friday (April 7) and I moved back in that evening. I have a few new bedbug bites, but they tell me that's normal. There will be a few bugs that live for a while. They will come and re-inspect the place in 3 weeks. I hope this is it for the bugs!

I enjoyed the time with my family, though all of that youthful exuberance can be taxing when you're not used to it 24/7, lol. Two year old Adele is going through a phase of being moody, so she was the main challenge. I also got strep while I was there, and, of course, you don't know you're contagious until it's too late. A couple of the girls got sick later, though not with strep, thank goodness. Audrey missed four days of kindergarten, but her teacher has also missed some days being sick. It seems this year is particularly bad for folks getting sick. Are you guys getting that?

But I do love those kiddos...

I took Hazel's picture...

...and then she took mine!

Adele on the new bike/scooter she got for her birthday.

Audrey home from school sick.

Bouncy little Sullivan, aka Bubba.

 

And here's my baby holding her baby.

As you can see from the photo of Micah and baby Sully above, things haven't greened up yet in our neck of the northern Minnesota woods. We do have a tinge of green grass and some buds. I think a little rain and some sunny days will cause all to bust out in greenery very quickly. Birdies are finally coming to visit my feeder again. I've seen blue jays, a robin and a purple finch, along with various sparrow types this morning.

Here's my high-tech bird feeding system...

Yup, it's a shoe tray. I can get by with this because I'm on the second floor and squirrels can't get to my balcony, lol. I also have a hanging bird feeder right above it for the shy birds. I'm still deciding on whether I want to bother with a hummingbird feeder. It's more stressful than pleasant to watch them fight over it, and they totally ignore the flowers. Speaking of which, I'll soon be emptying the flower pots you see above.

I used a sheep manure mixture in my pots last year. Just trying to be different, I think. Many of my plants turned yellow. So, this year I'll try something else. Potting soil? Topsoil? What do you guys recommend for containers? I'm going to stick with some simple annuals. I do use Miracle Grow, but I'm probably not consistent enough with it.

I brought home a couple of thrift store items this week. A little patio table...

...and a little chair which I thought would be good for doing chair yoga. My other chair has arms on it and doesn't work so well for the yoga.

I've finally begun walking on the trail near my apartment. I have one route that is 2.2 miles long and another that's 2.4 miles. I'm alternating and walking every other day. I hope to do some yoga and small weights on the other days. I'll also find some other good walks around town. I like to have some variety.

Otherwise, I'm trying to catch up on some ATC swaps. My new one-month-long job starts tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes.

I don't know about you all, but I don't know how anyone does this thing called life without Jesus. He is our only real hope and the only thing that makes it all worthwhile. Yes, our kids and family are so precious, but without Him we would have no hope to share with these loved ones. I'm so thankful for Him and I have to keep my eyes on Him when everything seems to be going wrong. Keep your eyes focused on Him and keep your thoughts on things above. Satan will try to pull you down with everything he can think of, but don't listen to him. God is good and faithful. Keep on following Him!

It may not be Easter yet, but He's already risen! Woo hoo!

Love y'all! Shalom to all!

Bug update...

Really?!? Yeah, I figure everyone is sitting on the edge of their seat wondering about my bug situation. After all, it's what I mostly think about, lol.

Well, anyway, I actually found a genuine bedbug crawling on my shirt at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning. Now we know it's not just my imagination! I talked to my building manager and gave her a little piece of paper with the bug taped to it. Evidence. She's taking swift action and sometime in the next few days the exterminator will arrive on the scene. Unfortunately, a few of my neighbors will have to endure the same treatment just in case this thing has spread.

I know I'll have to give all of my clothing a heat treatment in the dryer, but I'm not sure what else I'll need to do. It will be some work, but worth it if it does the trick. I'm concerned about things like grandchildren's toys and books. Will they have bad stuff on them after the fumigation? Hopefully, I'll find out soon.

I haven't been up to a lot art-wise. All of those itchy spots and my apparent allergy to bedbug bites have zapped my creative energy. One article I read online said that bedbug bites can cause some people to have symptoms similar to PTSD. I really did have a few days that I felt that bad. I'm glad to report that that part is behind me. I am feeling a little better and did some painting yesterday. It also makes me feel better just knowing someone is doing something about it!

Other than my drama, Audrey has been having some excitement in her little life! My daughter, Micah, has been homeschooling Audrey for the last couple of months, but last week Audrey declared that she didn't want to be home schooled. She wanted to go to REAL SCHOOL. Mother and child have been butting heads about this for quite some time, so Mom and Dad decided to let her try it. I'm so glad she got a teacher who believes in keeping things relaxed and fun. (Mr. Durham is a fishing guide during the summer!) She's having a blast and it takes a lot of pressure off of Micah, who is the first to admit that she isn't a natural as a teacher, lol. This is a small school and Micah and hubby Adam know all the teachers and lots of the parents. Audrey's cousin, Cali, is in the same class and there's also a little boy she knows from AWANA. I'm sure she has tons of friends by now. Audrey is so outgoing and curious. It would be hard to meet all her needs in home school, especially when Micah has three other little ones to wrangle. You really have to be called to home schooling for it to work. It's an extreme sport!

Audrey on the left and Cali on the right in both pics...

 Della enjoying a breakfast smoothie...

 Sully, just home from trick-or-treating...

 And Hazel, who misses her sister when she's at school. Awww... But I think she'll like school, too. Next year!

Just checking in. Hope you're all well! God bless and shalom, troops! :)

Re-do!

"Mom, don't buy any onesies that say, 'Hi, my name is Zeke!'" Those were my daughter's words the other day. The day after announcing the name they'd chosen for their new baby boy. I'm told that the new choice is really "it"! This has always been Micah's favorite, but Adam has finally climbed on board the bandwagon. :)

 Sullivan Loren Yliniemi...Sly for short. Well, we'll see if it sticks. It's a long time 'til September!

Meanwhile, I received this cute little book in the mail today.

Images from the internet.

Somehow, during the last thunderstorm, something happened to my computer so that my memory card no longer works. I guess this will require a tiresome trip to the computer geek store. Anyway, I found these pics on Google. My copy has an inscription in the front from 1978!! It was inscribed to "Mary Ellen" and the handwriting is hard to decipher, but it's signed "As one Gnome to another!" Fortunately for me, Mary Ellen never got around to writing in the book. I have no clue what I will use it for, but I've wanted a copy ever since I saw one...was it on Pom Pom's blog? Maybe I'll draw gnomes in it!

Well, it's beddy bye time for me. Up early tomorrow.

Have a splendid week, all you gnomely friends and family out there!

And...shalom.