This One Is All About My Mom and Dad

I can't believe it's been a week since my parents left.  I can't believe they did that, either!  I have furniture that needs to be put together!  I have walls that need to be decorated!  I have curtains that need to be moved!

Just kidding.  They tried to do some of that stuff, but making decisions just about kills me, so it's all my fault that the things that didn't get done didn't get done. 

Should there be a comma in there?

I've been looking at the pictures we took when they were here and remembering all the fun we had (remember all the fun we had, Mom and Dad?  Especially when you sorted through our six months of mail that had been stacking up on the bookshelves.  Or when you cleaned the garage, Dad.  Or when you got stuck outside of Kroger waiting for me, Mom, because I went to get a drink at a nearby drive-through and forgot to bring you one.  That was great, huh?).  My parents were such troopers while they were here.  They put up with a lot of my craziness, and offered to help out as we still try to get settled in this house, in all the ways they could. 

We put my dad to work as soon as possible.  In a previous post I mentioned the curtains that were hung that first night my parents were here.  That was to their advantage though, considering how the blinds with slats missing all the way across really didn't block out any of the sunlight first thing in the morning. 

The next thing on the to-do list for my dad was to organize our books.  Do you know how many books we have?  About 10,000.  Well, maybe not that many, and really, most of them are in Mike's office.  But the ones that are here got stashed quickly during the move on whatever bookshelf anyone saw first.  We have a lot of built-in bookshelves in a study/den kind of room.  We use the room for our computer table (which I have to say, looks GREAT!) (Please know that I'm being really sarcastic there.) as well as for a fun screen and projector we have for watching TV and movies.  I've jokingly called it "the dungeon upstairs" because it has had the unfortunate experience of being the room that got dumped in as we moved.  A lot of the dumped stuff has never found a permanent and reasonable home. 

Anyway, back to the books...they got shoved on shelves randomly, willy-nilly, in all kinds of chaotic ways.  Rows of books, stacks of books, piles of books and CD's.  It's actually an artistic talent to be able to fit so many things in such a small amount of space, without it falling over or off the shelves.  What can I say?  I'm gifted.

I'll tell you something else:  my dad is gifted.  With patience.  He plowed through book after book, shelf after shelf, CD after CD and managed to get a few of them organized.  I realize "them" is a dangling something or other.  That's because you can apply it to whatever you want-the books, the shelves, or the CDs.  It's sort of like those choose-your-own-path books.  I loved those.  Did you?

Speaking of paths, is there one in my train of thought?  I doubt it.  So grab some trail mix and make sure your hiking boots are comfortable; this might be a long one.

My dad also offered to clean up our garage.  This, too, was an area where things had been stuck quickly and without a great deal of thought.  Then time went by and we got busy with things inside and all of life that was going on, and soon the stuff in the garage was a distant memory.  Oh, we knew we'd get to it later or later.   I told my dad that he did not have to go in there and begin that project, but he said he wanted to do it.  He spent hours out there, in the heat (we did take him a little fan and some drinks), moving things around, trying to make sense of our stuff, using our shelving that's out there in a smarter way (he actually used them to store things!  I'm not sure what they were doing before...), and organizing the kids' outside toys as well as our yardwork stuff.

By the time he was done (which was dictated by the baseball game the kids, Mike, and my dad were going to attend) you could actually walk through our garage without stepping over or tripping on something.  It was quite impressive.  Seriously, he was so sweet to do that very hard work, very physical labor.  I know it was a labor of love.

Later in the week, after my mom, Michaela, Eliana, and I returned from Ikea (more on that in a minute), he got right to work putting furniture together.  We now have a new little table in our entry that makes it look so homey.  He also assembled a new desk and bed for Michaela. 

He hung curtains.

He cut the grass, too. 

And while he loves to do all this hard work around here, he also loves doing the Grandpa thing.  He hung out with Christian while the girls did a lot of shopping; he played games, and looked at books, and watched Star Wars so many times that he now has it memorized.

And then do you know what he did?

He thought he deserved a break!  I think he did, too.  I thought he looked as if he were dreaming of being an Olympic luge champion.  He ought to get a gold medal for something...like putting up with my nonsense.  I am his favorite daughter, though.  He tells me all the time.

No, I do not have a sister.  So what.

I've been talking a lot about my dad...let's switch to my mom.  She loves being a grandma. 

She loves being a part of the photo shoots...

getting the snuggles...

delivering the goods...

making sure the kids' toys work...

reading to crazy toddlers who won't go to sleep on their birthday even though it's midnight...

getting beat at playing Memory...

One of the things about my mom is that she always has a little bag of goodies and activities that slowly get doled out over any given visit.  Not everything at once, but a little project or present each day for the kids.  They love this tradition.  "Grandma, where's your bag?!", they implore.  This year she brought some lessons from their church's Vacation Bible School, with the crafts for the kids to do, memory verses, and some teaching.  They had a lot of fun doing their VBS; they got to write their names in heiroglyphics, make some funky headbands, and put a wall-hanging key organizer together.  We now have one for the front door and one for the back!  And no excuses for losing our keys.

Mom would read the Bible story and the lesson...

Then they would work on their craft...

She enjoyed this time with them, when they weren't breathing fire at one another.  For the most part, they had a good time.  You know how siblings are...

In the end, they had looked at several of the Ten Commandments, along with several Bible stories and verses; they had Dig Logs to record what they learned each day, and they had their completed projects.

Eliana thought she was part of it all.  Doesn't the world revolve around the two-year-old?

Another fun thing...my mom and I took Michaela and Eliana to...

We were on a mission; I wanted beds for the girls, a desk for Michaela, and a small (and inexpensive) something-I-would-know-when-I-saw-it for the entryway.  There were some other smaller items as well, but those were the biggies on the list. 

Even though this is not on the list, I'll take it!

(Wait, what?  Mike, what did you say?  We can't get this entire room?  Really?  But just look at how cute those red lamps are, and that ottoman...we could make it work with our denim sofa.  Oh, I hear you.  I hear you...but look, isn't it cute...)

They have these spaces set up and then you want to get everything.  Look at that rug.  It's adorable.  And actually, that little black table is the one I ended up buying.  It was one of the first things we saw when we went in the store.  Besides a slice of pizza.

We found the beds and wrote down their numbers (later you go through a self-serve furniture warehouse and get your boxes and then check out) and moved on to the desks.  Michaela is much more decisive than her mother.  She saw this desk and she said,"I like this one." 

I said,"But this one over here is bigger, and it might come in black, too."  She responded with a hearty,"No!  I like this one.  This is the one I want."  I wish I had that amount of certainty when I make decisions.  What should we have for dinner?  Meatballs?  Okay; no?  How about Meatloaf?  Sounds good.  Oh, what if we just have macaroni again.  Or maybe meatballs?

We went on through the store and got a small rug for her room, and a few other incidentals, then headed for the self-serve area.  Michaela thought this was neat and couldn't wait to ride this giant scooter push the boxes on the cart.

By now we had been at the store for about four hours.  I know!  I can't believe it either.  We got one thing loaded on the dolly and then Michaela said she was so hungry.  I knew she probably was, and I told my mom she should take the girls through the check out and get them some crackers that were right on the other side, where a small snack area was.  I could finish getting the furniture and then meet them.  They went toward the lines and I went about the herculean task of loading the boxes by myself.  I did a darn good job, too.  In fact, the lady who scanned my boxes said,"Did you do this yourself?" 

I looked at her, worried, and said,"Yes, is that bad?"  This was a self-serve warehouse.

She said,"No, it's just that all the boxes are facing the right way, with the label out so that I can scan them.  I figured you did it or the Ikea workers did, and they don't usually do that."

I said,"I read the signs!"  I felt like the kid who gets to wash the blackboard at the end of the day.  I don't know why that was a coveted job.  But it was.

I got through the line and saw my mom right then, all bug-eyed, holding a box of crackers.  She said,"You wouldn't believe the rigamarole we went through to get these crackers."  She couldn't go through the check out line without buying something.  She had to walk all the way back through Ikea and around to the other side of the check out area in order to get to the crackers; then once she tried to buy them, something went wrong with ringing it up.  They had to call a manager or something!  She finally purchased the box and met me as I was coming out of the line.  I didn't tell her that they sold the crackers on this side, too, so she actually could have checked out with them.  I had noticed too late.  Sorry, mom.

We got outside and the girls inhaled the entire box in ten seconds.  No, not really.  They had been very good during the whole visit; Eliana got fussy a couple of times, but I held her and then she was fine. 

We got our stuff loaded up and I asked my mom if she had fun at Ikea.  She said,"It was GREAT!"

Can you tell she had a GREAT time?  See the boxes shoved up behind her seat?  We were packed out.  Michaela had to ride home on top of the van.  She liked it, though.

What a visit.  They were so happy to be here. And we were happy to have them.

We celebrated Eliana's birthday together...

got to do some sewing together (remember those weird pins, Mom?)...

and just got to be...together...

Happy.

Comments

[meg duerksen]

hi christina.
you are always so kind to leave me comments...so this morning i am checking in on you.
and you post about IKEA....the motherland...the best place in the world? :) happy me.
i would also like that entire room please.

how fun to get quality family time together.
this post is warm and fuzzy.
love it.

have a great saturday...it's time for pancakes!

[Mindee@ourfrontdoor]

Next time you visit your folks you need to quietly put a "For Sale" sign in their yard. Those are some valuable people. You need them in YOUR city. :)

[Christina]

Mindee, I KNOW, RIGHT.
ooh, I'm supposed to be quiet about it...ooops.
ssshhhhh.

[mom]

Well, that was a walk down memory lane. How touching and you are such a (nit)wit! I had to chuckle at the VBS part. I thought I had two ninjas at the table when we were studying "Thou shall not kill". I think it came out of my mouth "Thou shall not kill each other!" Thanks for the sweet blog entry and the help with our memory banks! I love your blog...and you!

[Wendy]

Can you post some pictures of the new stuff you got? Did the girls get beds? And didn't you say Michaela recently got a new comforter? I'd love to live vicariously!

[Christina]

Mom, I love you guys, too. More than you can know. In fact, Mindee and I have a secret plan to move you all here. But don't tell anyone. It's a secret.

Wendy, those pictures are coming soon...there are some finishing touches, but we're getting there!

And I just want to say it's so fun to have Meg visit from her blog, which is awesome. I wish I lived near her so she could take pictures of my kids!

[Jessica]

Christina,
So loving your blog...whenever I visit I smile, or laugh or both!
So fun hearing about your parents' visit. Love the pictures of them with your family (esp the one of your mom after ikea! love that face!)
You have precious parents. I've always thought that. You are a blessed girl to have them!
Miss you and love you!
Ps my first post, i'll try to do more as I always enjoy yours.

[Jessica]

oh pps
i love the pic of you and your mom at the end. y'all look so sweet together there.
you're beautiful