Grandma and Grandpa Came to Town

We got home from our trip with our friends and the next day I got to work in order to get the house ready for a visit from my parents.  I got about fourteen more boxes unpacked over the course of about five days and Mike and I also put a few things on the walls which helped make it look a bit more homey.

Mom and Dad arrived late Tuesday so Eliana was asleep when they got to our house, but she did not waste any time putting Grandpa to work as her personal plaything the following morning.

Grandpa played about fifty-eight card games, read twenty-seven books, colored pictures, and went to the beauty parlor.  There is just something about Grandpa!

Now, Eliana loves Grandma very much too, but they have a different dynamic.  Eliana likes to tackle her grandma, leap on her, ram her head into her, and dig her elbows into her, all interspersed with hugs and kisses and hysterical laughter.

Clearly Grandma and Grandpa are the life of the party around here.  When they come to town they (and by they I mean Grandma) have a plan to do something different and fun.  This time LEGOLAND was on the agenda.  LEGOLAND in Dallas is just a few months old, and because of Christian's great interest in building things the Grands thought it would be a cool adventure to head over and check it out.

We received our tickets and waited for a few minutes for our group to get in (there is a short explanation of how LEGO bricks are made before kids and their parents are let loose in the explore-on-your-own part of the facility).

Following the demonstration we were ushered into line in order to get on a ride.  The ride was a train which made its way through a dark tunnel of animated LEGO places in which animated LEGO characters lived.  The people riding in the train cars had laser guns and were to shoot at the bad characters and save the good ones from imminent destruction.

(You will have to use your imagination regarding the dark tunnel.  As you might guess, it was too dark for pictures.)

After the ride we meandered throughout the rest of LEGOLAND at our own pace.  One of the first things we encountered was a mini-Dallas built out of LEGO bricks.  Pretty cool!  Here is the Rangers' Ballpark...

I believe there is a Master Builder who put these things together.  The LEGOcity included the airport, the Cowboys Stadium, the Southfork Ranch, and Downtown.  There was also a replica of the American Airlines center, along with the NBA champions this year, the Mavericks...

You can see Dirk Nowitzki in the center; he's the really tall guy.

The kids had a chance to build some things, ride another ride, and see a 4-D movie.  They loved every minute!

Another fun idea Grandma and Grandpa had was to buy Mike a grill for his birthday.  It has been many years since we had a grill, and we were all excited about the prospect of enjoying our deck and cooking outdoors (even though it's hot) (even Mom!).  The first meal attempted was barbecue chicken, and it was a hit!  Christian, the pickiest of meat-eaters, ate every bite of his moist and delicious chicken. 

I hereby deem Michael the cooker of chicken now and henceforth and forevermore.  (If I had a gong I would strike it, so go ahead and hear one as you read.)

To go along with our new grill we purchased a table and chairs.  The kids have loved having this set-up out there; as soon as we got everything put together and arranged they wanted to sit out on the deck, so we set them up with some paint and let them create until they began melting.

I gave Christian paper and I set Eliana up with a canvas.  (I really want her to cover the whole thing with color and then I am going to hang it in her room.  So far she has put pink and purple blobs as well as a handprint.)

Watching Michaela paint her sister's hand and then help her make a handprint on the canvas was one of the cutest things ever.

Christian was quite industrious.

 

As is often the case, he was critical of his work...I, however, thought it was pretty cool.

Speaking of cool, one of the most fun things for me while my parents were here was watching my mom get into baseball.  We get every game the Rangers play, so we had a game on almost every evening.  At first she was not very interested, but I blame that on the time change.  After several days she was yelling excitedly when anyone made a hit and saying things like,"That was a good pitch!"  I never thought I'd see the day when my mom actually liked watching this game.

As it turned out, the ladies would end up in the living room watching while the men were outside.  Cracked me up.  (Please excuse our disaster of a living room...we have a plethora of chairs which don't have a home yet.  We move them around like a strange game of Tetris.)

I don't have a ton of pictures, but I do have a ton of memories.  Mom and Dad both worked hard to help us continue to get settled.  We hung some more things, my dad did some yard work and made a path in the garage, my mom made me do a lot of laundry (and even put it away...blech) and clean my room.  They played games with the kids and once the kids went to bed we busted out Scrabble.  I've talked about playing Scrabble with my parents before.  My dad is hard to beat because of his wicked crossword puzzle skills.  He almost always comes up with a seven-letter word, which leaves us in the dust as far as scoring goes.  This time we gave him a run for his money, though (there is only so much one can do with six vowels and a "T" each round, even if it's him), and Mom and I put our share of seven-letter words down as well. 

The other day I told her that they left too early...what I really think is that they should come and not leave at all.  Even Mike said, just before they flew home,"I think you guys should move to Dallas.  You could stay here while you looked for a place to live." 

So, the invitation stands...at least for a visit if not a move.  Mom and Dad?  You can still come for Eliana's birthday; we would love to have you here!!  (And yes, I am going to send the pictures soon!  Sorry!)

Family Vacation Resumed

The evening that we returned from our boating expedition the fourth family arrived.  This brought the total number of kids up to twelve.  We tried to convince them that it was bedtime around 7:00 but they didn't fall for that.  They're getting too smart for us.  We ended up taking them for a late (for them) visit to the ocean. 

We hoped that would help get them good and tired, and ready for sleeping!  Most of the kids went to bed easily.  The big girls didn't put up a fight or anything, they just stayed up late talking.  They got that ability honest.

The next morning came bright and early, mainly because none of the bedrooms had real window treatments.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  In a vacation rental house?  Zero blinds, curtains, shades, or even storm shutters to close on the outside!  (In the interest of non-hyperbole, there were four windows in each bedroom [I think that's right] and two of the four had nothing; the other two windows had some kind of minimalist covering, like a sheery curtain or something else highly effective at (NOT) blocking out the morning light.)  None of us could believe it.  But believing was mandatory since the kids sensed the faintest glimmer of the smallest trace of the slightest rays of the forthcoming sun, and were up before it was even light outside.  I personally can't complain too much since I have a child who slept through the sunrise.  There were other parents there that were not as fortunate (I'm sorry to say I'm a bum and didn't get up along with those parents to join in their suffering.  I'm pretty sure their misery did not want my getting-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn company.)

Thankfully, the kids were happy early risers. 

And honestly, can one not be happy while sitting on a Twister mat?  I don't think it's possible.

One of the bummers about the place we stayed (ha, other than the windows not being covered...can you tell that bugged me?) was the pool that was not usable.  The pool had been the big draw for us because not only was the house large enough for everyone but there was private swimming!  Sweet!  Unless the pool is green.  Then...not so sweet.  So we ended up taking the kids down the way to a local splash park.  They had just as much fun.  It's amazing how adaptable most kids are...where there is water, there is screaming, laughing, and, of course, splashing.

The "ship's sails" which filled up with water and then suddenly flipped and spilled all over whoever was standing below were a huge hit.  The kids knew it was coming...waited and waited...waited some more...the anticipation grew...and finally SPLASH!  Hysterical laughter ensued.  Every time.

Before we left the park we corralled them onto this jungle gym and got a group shot.  Pretty good for twelve children, I think!  It makes me happy to look at it.  I hope we get to take a picture like this every couple of years.  (I'll settle for every few...I'm easy to please!)

That afternoon we let the kids chill and watch a movie.  Then they ran around just hanging out.  So fun to watch.

What was not fun to watch was Eliana screaming and jumping around until my friends realized that she was getting attacked by fire ants and started swatting them off of her while stripping her down to nothing.  The ants were in her suit, in her shoes, all over her ankles.  She was finally undressed and de-anted and I held her for a few minutes until she calmed down and her clothes and shoes were shaken out thoroughly.  I was impressed that she let us put them back on her!  After she was dressed again I couldn't help but think that while I was not glad AT ALL that she had been bitten so badly by those little demons, I was grateful that I had not been attacked myself...my getting naked in the front yard where everyone was hanging out was not what I wanted our good friends to remember about the last night of our stay.

The last night was here so soon!  We intended to soak up every minute of one another's company, too.

For our final meal the men gave the ladies a break and took dinner preparation upon themselves, from start to finish.

A shrimp boil.

And you cannot have a shrimp boil without these guys...

The shrimp and the deheaders.

The boys helped pull shrimp heads off.  I stayed around long enough to document it and then hauled booty back inside, where it was cool, and free from dead animals.

Christian had a great time helping prepare the meal, and took lessons on eating the shrimp from his experienced friends.

I think that life should be lived this way...all together.  I loved our time with these folks.

I don't have anything in particular to say about this next picture except HOW CUTE?!

As the sun began to drop we took advantage of the light one last time, as well as of the steps of this house.

After behaving (mostly) for several shots they were allowed to do their silly faces.  Where do they get this stuff?

Um...

Never mind that last question.

We stayed up too late playing Bananagrams and talking about and laughing at things that I can only imagine not many pastors and their wives bring up.  I'm so glad for these friends.  I am so blessed to know and be known by these people.  I am very grateful that our relationships are rooted in and grow out of the Lord and his church.  That means that they really are forever friends.

We Interrupt These Stories for a Stupid One Instead

WARNING!!  THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF TOO MUCH INFORMATION IN THIS POST!  CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Alllllrighty then.  Yet another tell-tale day that we are, in fact, who we are.  And since I am the main writer of this blog I will keep the story-telling to myself.  I mean, I will only tell stories on myself. 

This morning I went to the doctor for the first time in way too long to tell you for a physical.  I wanted to talk about several things; one of the most important things I wanted to discuss was my wacko hormones and ask if the nurse practitioner had a recommedation for an Ob/Gyn.  I also wanted to talk about my inability to remember things and...well, I know there was at least one other important item at the top of my list.  At any rate, I was left in the bathroom with specific instructions regarding leaving a sample.  (I'll just say it.  A urine sample.  Who wants to talk about peeing in a cup?  No one.  But sorry, there it is.)  In the time it took for me to get everything ready (write on the cup, blah, blah, blah) I forgot that I was supposed to do this one particular thing, and didn't remember until I was all done.  And the nurse had just told me to do this particular thing just four minutes ago!

Darnit.  That was only the beginning.  I also forgot to mention to the nurse practitioner anything about the hormones and didn't bring up birth control at all (ah, maybe that was the other thing I was trying to remember up there).  She told me to do self breast exams, go to the dentist, and remember I am normal when it comes to how I feel as a parent (i.e. that I am screwing everything up) (that I feel that way, not that I actually am screwing everything up). 

As I got in the car I thought to myself all of the things that I had meant to bring up but didn't.  I decided to make a list ASAP.  It turns out ASAP can take a lot longer than you might think.

I returned home and did the dishes since it looked like the entire neighborhood had come by and had a bite to eat and a drink while I was gone.  (That is what happens when you don't do the dishes before you go to bed...I don't recommend that.  I know you are grateful for all of the free advice you get here!)  Then Mike and I got ready to head out in order to pick up our new (to us) car.  Before we could do that we needed to secure financing.  (I don't know if that's the right way to say that, but it sounds good, doesn't it?)  We took both vehicles (the truck, which is ours, and the rental).  The plan:  take care of the money stuff ("secure financing" definitely sounds better), drop off the rental, go to the dealer together in the truck, pick up the van and go our separate ways (which actually would be the same way since we were both headed to the church, I-to pick up the kids, he-to prepare for a meeting). 

The first part of our plan went beautifully.  We left our initial stop and headed to the car dealer.  WAIT!  That is not right!  Mike called me soon after I had left and reminded me that we were actually supposed to go to return the rental.  Good call, Mike!  I made my way to the rental agency instead.  Mike met me there and the car was returned without a problem.  Nice!  I moved from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat and Mike got in the truck and we went to the dealer.

Now.  What is important to know is that I have been driving the truck.  Mike has been driving the small Honda that we were renting.  I liked being up high, and, well, I just felt cool driving the Titan.  (Yes, I know that how I feel doesn't always line up with reality, but does that matter?  Sometimes, probably, but not in this instance.)  My set of keys had the truck key and my house key.  Also one other key that doesn't come into this story. 

Speaking of this story...Mike drove us to the dealer, we went inside, signed the papers, and the car was ours.  Easy!  ("Ours" in the sense that we are now paying for it and one day in several years it will, indeed, be ours.  It's the already-but-not-yet principle applied to vehicle ownership.)  We transferred Eliana's carseat, I hopped into the driver's seat, turned the key and off we went. 

I have missed driving a van.  How cool am I now?

I drove to the church in order to pick up the kids; Michaela was at a summer program and Christian was playing at a friend's house across the street.  I pulled into a parking space, put the car in park, aaaand couldn't turn it off.  The key would not turn counter-clockwise in order to turn the car off.  I knew ahead of time that there was a trick.  The particular car we bought has a key that you have to push in and then turn.  Well, it wouldn't budge.  I tried again and again.  I depressed the brake and tried.  I tried pushing the metal around the keyhole with my finger - nope.  I called Mike to tell him that I was stuck in a car that I couldn't turn off. 

I never got a hold of him, but I knew he was coming to the church so I pulled around to where he would park and waited a few minutes.  He finally pulled into the parking lot and parked beside me.  I told him of my predicament, and he got out and tried to turn the key himself.  Wouldn't move.  He looked some stuff up on his phone, and called the guy from whom we bought the car, and nothing we tried would make that key turn. 

We bought the car-that-never-shuts-off.   I had had a funny feeling about us buying a car; I just knew that we would end up with a car that had problems.  This definitely fell into the "problem" category.  I told Eliana we were going to have to stay in the car forever.  She didn't believe me, but I was starting to think that was the truth.

I finally had to go get the kids, so I left Mike to keep trying.  When I came back I didn't see him in the car so I went up to his office.  He wasn't there, so I called and he told me the dealer was actually coming to help us.  I waited in the church until Mike came to get me, because three kids in the van while dude is trying to show us how to turn our car off?  NO.  I followed Mike out to the van and he told me that turning the key is just hard, and you merely have to push and turn harder than you think you do. 

Sigh.  So, it takes a little more elbow grease than I was putting into it at first.  In my defense, I certainly didn't want to break the key off while it was in the ignition. 

Although that, too, would have made a great blog post...

I headed home at this point and Mike went on to his meeting.  I picked up a few tacos for dinner (Taco Bell lettuce counts as a green vegetable, right?  Yes?) and then pulled up in front of the house.  I turned the car off (successfully!) and as I took the key out of the ignition it dawned on me that I had the keys for this new car.  And that Mike had the truck keys.  And that my house key was still on the truck key.

And I was locked out of the house. 

Sigh.

Since Mike was in a meeting I couldn't get in touch with him (cell phones don't work in the basement of the church...what I found out too late is that I could have sent him an email and he would have received that, but not a text) so we ended up eating in our backyard (yay for new deck furniture) (no way we're eating tacos in our new car) and the kids played for a bit.  I decided to take them to our friends' house; they live just around the corner and I thought they might not mind if we hung out there for a bit.  I was hoping that Mike would get my message and I wouldn't have to stay long.  When I showed up and explained what had happened they were very gracious and let us come in; actually, they have a pool and since the kids were in swimsuits (from the church program) our friends told them to jump in.  The kids had a blast and burned off any excess energy they might have had.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Christian burned off at least one-third of the energy he was supposed to have tomorrow morning. 

Mike got my text after the meeting; it was past 9:30, the kids had dried off, and had finished a snack of popcorn.  He called to say he was on his way home, and so I gathered up all of our stuff, gave our friend a hug, and thanked her several times for letting us spontaneously divert their quiet evening. 

On our way home Eliana said,"Can I have my grilled cheese sandwich?"  Oh.  Right.  I had forgotten to feed my youngest child dinner.  Since she doesn't eat tacos I had promised that I would make her a grilled cheese sandwich instead.  Two and a half hours earlier.  To cap off our ridiculous day, I made my three-year-old dinner at 10:00 p.m. 

I keep telling myself that the nurse practitioner said I was normal.  It's kind of hard to believe that's true.  But if it is, maybe I just need to tell myself all the time,"You are not the only one."

I'm not the only one, am I?  Please tell me that I'm not!  It might keep me out of a straight-jacket.

Now to make that list...

Family Vacation

Get ready for a pictorial extravaganza.  And because I'm chatty on the internet, also prepare for a lot of words.

The five Walkers met up with some of our best friends from seminary for a visit on the Gulf Coast.  We started out as a group made up of three families.  These ladies are some of my favorite people in the world, and here is how we spent our time:  laughing, feeding children, laughing, doing laundry, laughing, eating doughnuts, laughing, doing more laundry, laughing, driving, and laughing.

Did I mention that we laughed?

Speaking of laughs, this little one was full of them.

She was full of laughs herself and gave us plenty of cause for laughter.  She and Eliana hit it off right away and were very busy with many things (as you will soon see...remember-pictorial extravaganza).

This is her dad.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  He didn't mind me taking pictures of him.  In fact, he would smile for me!  Bonus!

While the moms were having margaritas the little girls went the more formal and ladylike route.  A tea party.

They had their tiaras on.  The three of us seemed to have forgotten ours...next time, I suppose.

After spending several days in the home of our friends we relocated to a house not too far away that accomodated all of our families, including one more that came in a little later than the others.  It's funny how comfy these kids were no matter where we were.  It was like they were best friends and saw each other all the time.

The three big girls have known one another since they were about two.  That blows my mind.  I'm pretty sure they had a lot of fun.  King size poster beds often lead to a lot of fun when you're a kid.

Probably when you're a grown-up, too, but this is a family blog, so...onto other things.

Hey!  We went on a boat!  There were doughnuts; that's always good. 

We were on a bigger boat and Mike and one of our friends (the one driving the smaller boat; also the one who knows people with boats) drove behind us to one of our destinations during this trip.

Mike really enjoyed that.  He hasn't been on a boat like that in a long time, and it was great fun for him to chop through the water again.

Once we got near this island where we were going to hang out for the day, our friend took several loads of folks over until everyone was transferred.

And then we had fun. 

I took pictures while everyone galavanted in the water.  Here are two of my beautiful friends.

They laugh at my stupid antics.  I love them.

The kids had a blast.  They were soooo busy.  The boys noticed this giant log in the water and determined to roll it onto the beach.

It was hard work! 

They got it to a certain point, but I think once it was on the sand it got very difficult.  A Strong Dad stepped in to help.

The sweet taste of victory!

There were all kinds of things for them to explore.  They never stopped; they found sticks, made piles, dug, threw sand, flung seaweed, made stuff out of garbage, and swam.

It's pretty cool to watch them be so creative.  (I just pretended I didn't know about the garbage part.)

They are cute, too.

I hope these girls get to hang out over the years and remain good friends.  How special will that be?!

After a couple of hours we headed back on the big boat to get back to the big house for dinner.  The steady rhythm of the boat cutting through the water lulled more than one person to sleep on our return trip.

The rest of us were enjoying the ride from the front of the boat.  I have such great friends!  And such big nostrils!

The kids loved their front row seats. 

Once we got back to our place, they immediately began to play.  What else would they do?

The fourth family joined us on that evening, and we geared up for another couple of days of catching up and partying hard.

Well, as hard as you party when you're in your mid-thirties and have a total of twelve kids to see to in the morning...

One Month

Goodness.  It has been one month since I wrote a blog post.  I cannot even believe that.  I have many things I'd like to document and share!  We went on a vacation with friends and then had my parents here.  We have watched a LOT of baseball (mainly because I commandeer the TV each night and do not allow anyone to change the channel) (the exception to that was during the NBA finals, which EXCITMENT!).

Mike and I need to talk about buying a new car.  I need to do the dishes (but I probably won't until the morning).  I just wanted to hop on here for a minute and say that if anyone still stops by from time to time I hope to have a new post (that is worth reading!) up soon. 

And I can't believe I haven't blogged in a month!