a week with grandma and grandpa

We had a nice visit with my parents last week. The girls enjoyed coloring with grandma, while Anthony played with his new trucks. We spent a lot of time playing outside and the kids couldn't get enough of grandma pushing them in their swings. My dad helped Adam build toy storage cubbys and they also cleaned and organized the garage. Stephen got lots of time in grandma arms and I was able to get a few extra projects done as well as spend some time in the garden by myself. I was glad that my parents got a chance to see Stephen at this age, which is my favorite part of babyhood. He is in the process of discovering his hands, feet, and voice. He is excited to explore in his exersaucer for short periods, but still prefers to be cuddled and snuggled most of the time.

I was happy to get a shelf full of beautiful hardback books* passed down from my grandparents and parents as well as some of my other grandma's art books and magazines. We also received some beautiful curtains and a box of puzzles and books to pick from for the next few birthdays and Christmases for the kids. As always, my mom brought special snacks, including giant Hershey's chocolate bars, a huge bag of Haribo Gold-Bears, and some delicious Clif nectar bars. We made an extra effort to speak her language of love by preparing some special meals like grilled salmon, and ribeye steaks and taking them to our local Zesto for ice-cream. Yum.

I enjoyed going through all the preschool - 4th grade stuff that my mom had saved. She kept some of the (beautiful) Mother's Day cards that I had made for her. I've purged about half of it and need to go through everything a second time. Some things I'm keeping because they gave me some good "homeschooling" ideas as I plan to teach Catherine at home rather than sending her to preschool next year. Others I'm keeping because they're just too cute to throw away. Here is my favorite story, written in first grade, for your reading enjoyment:

"The Colorful Butterfly" by Stephanie
Once upon a time there was a very colorful Butterfly and it even had pink on it. It was a very beautiful butterfly and it got so old, pretty soon it died. Too bad.

*My new books!:
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien (paperback)
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Silver Chalice, Thomas Costain
Exodus, Leon Uris
Mary, Vladimir Nobokov
The Lincoln Reader, Paul M. Angle
The Apostle, Sholem Asch
The Seventh Cross, Anna Seghers
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tender Is The Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Last Tycoon, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway