Granny's visit

My mother came to visit on Saturday and her arrival couldn't have been better timed. She worked so hard to ease my burdens and connect with the kids. She was a most treasured guest! Granny has only been gone two hours and there is a giant hole in our home and hearts.

Granny spoiled the kids while she was here. I was in bed when she distributed gifts, but cries of glee summoned me from my room. "It's PERFECT!" "I love it!" "Thank you, thank you!" I just had to take a few pictures.




The Littles have watched their new movies over and over again. Tyler built his Lego water plane immediately, and Zachary has enjoyed adding three unique Bakugan to his enormous collection. Granny brought Garry and me chocolate and the Punky Brewster TV series (what a kick!). I was also touched by the sweet pregnancy care package that my sister sent along. What a lovely gesture....thanks, Angie! Granny also treated us to dinner twice. Yum...

Frigid weather brought two days of school closures to our little city. With the wind chill, the overnight low was -50! Crazy!! We were super thankful for our faithful furnace (age: 25) and warm blankets at night. The fireplace was stocked and ready for use, just in case the power went out (like it did elsewhere in our neighborhood!). We woke up to this one morning -- ice inside the house! A few windows looked like this, too.



During the day, we tried to keep busy. The boys made Valentines for their classmates one day. Tyler had a class list to go by, but Zachary made a list of his classmates from memory! I'm glad to have that project off of my to-do list!



Then there was the time that the boys learned to hang spoons on their faces. In the pictures below, you might also notice the boys wearing pajamas inside-out and backwards. This was part of the boys' "snow dance." With pajamas properly worn, they danced in the basement and flushed ice cubes down the toilet. They were successful two out of three nights in bringing about a snow day!



Despite the whole family's efforts, the house had fallen into a rather tragic state over the last month. Granny worked her fingers to the bone to catch it up. She scrubbed and cleaned and did tons of laundry and ironing. She helped me sort through my closet (to accommodate my lovely new figure) and through Lexi's drawers (the girl's a-growin'). She handled all things smelly and unsavory. She let me sleep in and go to bed early and nap as long as I could. All of that help was such a boost!



But all good things come to an end. My sweet mom had to go home today. She has a very busy life in Arizona and a very large family circle who needs her. I feel lucky to have had her all to myself for a few days!



Love you, Mom. Thanks for coming!