Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Grandma Karen's Visit

I tried to do some posting while my mom was here and I did an okay job at it. But now I have pictures to substantiate some of our projects/adventures. Grandma Karen was here from mid-March to Mid April, an entire month and boy were we busy!

The first project that I had major anxiety about and I am so grateful that I had assistance with was cleaning out the flower boxes. The people we bought the house from were really into gardening – seriously into flower gardening. There are multiple flowerboxes around the house. The lady must have spent a lot of money and certainly a lot of time putting in and maintaining it all. Due to my own lack of interest and certainly not because I hadn’t been taught in my youth, I didn’t have a clue of what to do. Honestly, I didn’t even know how to clean them out. I have even had a few people from church over to give me hints and ideas, the problem, no one ended up getting dirty with me and showing me how to do it. Mom came and…problem solved. She taught me, we were definitely dirty, sometimes bleeding and sore afterward. We had a mulching company come over and give an estimate on blowing in mulch. It was extremely expensive (but I didn’t know any better – definitely good thing mom was here, she saved us $500). She encouraged us to put in our own mulch and helped all along the way. Ryan and I agree it feels good to be homeowners and capable of making our yard look nice.


My mom is also very good at sewing, another trait that I was taught but never had an interest in on my own. While she was here she made Nathan two pair of pants (previously posted about) and Audrey a matching pair of pants. She also made curtains for Elysse’s room and began a coordinating quilt. On top of that she also cut off three pair of Nathan’s jeans, that all had holes in the knees, and converted them to perfect shorts for this summer – another money saver! There were other various mending projects that she happily conquered without ever laughing at my lack of ability.

The kids also kept her very busy. One night at dinner Grandma Karen was telling Nathan that during the day Audrey had a bath and they made believe that they were traveling all over the world. Nathan couldn’t wait to be finished eating so he could go have a bathtub adventure too. His idea was a bit different than the one described but Grandma went a long with it anyway. After about two hours of play I went into Nathan’s bathroom to see the three of them, fully clothed, sitting in the bathtub traveling around the world, taking pictures of their adventures! On a couple of occasions she took Audrey on picnics. They would walk to the entrance of our neighborhood and fully unload a picnic. Audrey’s favorite part was feeding the ants. The kids also had their first experience at flying a kite.



(I can't believe I don't have the picture with Grandma Karen in the bathtub too!)

3 comments:

tempppo said...

I love the clothed kids in the bathtub. What a wonderful Grandma visit, and a great blessing for you. I love reading your blog. Thanks for posting.

Carrie said...

Grandma's are the best! Sounds like you accomplished so much. How do you do it all? You are seriously my hero!!!!

maureen6545@gmail.com said...

Love the pictures of what you did in the yard. It's really coming along nicely. The curtains are pretty too. The "other" grandma sure has more energy than I do. :) Bathtubs, kite flying, picnics!