Nana Arrived

(Nana and Caroline)

Tonight James's mom (aka Nana) arrived. She kindly agreed to come and help me out as James will be out of town all week until Friday night. She can't stay the whole time, but any help is so appreciated. I am thankful that she and Papa live just a couple of hours away and are able to come here with relative ease. The kids were very excited to see her and are excited to have an adventure to the park tomorrow with her. I am so excited to have her help through the dinner hour, which has proven to be the hardest time of the day here. I also like the "visiting" time after the kids have gone to bed!

As I get older I reflect on my own parents. It is so funny how I can see things in such a different light now that I am an adult, and especially an adult who has children. These reflections make me so thankful for the parents I was given. They sacrificed so much in raising me and my siblings. I never had to be home sick from school alone. I never went hungry and was always well-dressed. One of my parents (but often both of them) was always at every play performance, choir concert, dance recital, sporting event, etc. They loved me enough to give me a curfew and a faith. They loved me enough to hold me to standards of excellence. They loved me enough to say no to things that they knew weren't a good idea, and to punish me when I defied their wishes. I was very lucky to have the upbringing I did. It wasn't perfect, but it almost was. Just like they were always there for me growing up, they are still there as an adult. My mom has been with me for the birth of each of my children. When I had a complication after Caroline was born, my mom changed her travel plans to stay with me an extra two weeks to ensure I was ok. My parents taught me how important family relationships are. I hope that I can do the same for my own children.

When I was little I LOVED going to my grandparents' houses. We went there every summer. I spent my time swimming at the country club, going to the neighborhood mom and pop market called Kleavers and playing outside. My favorite times were when my cousins were visiting at the same time. I adored playing with them. However, one of my favorite memories was of listening to my parents, my uncles and my grandma staying up late into the night laughing their heads off re-telling stories from their past. I couldn't wait to be an adult and do the same thing. I always hoped to have the kind of laughter in my life that they had when they were all together. My grandparents' house always seemed like a mansion to me. It had this wonderful, soft green carpeting in the living room that I loved the feel of on my bare feet. There was a box of amazing dress up clothes in the basement that I had so much fun playing with. Grandma even let us wear her high heels when we got dressed up. I loved eating radishes and tomatoes from my grandpa's garden. They were so delicious. Grandma had these funny tiny glasses for orange juice, and cool blue glasses for milk. My cousins and I used to love to play bartender at Grandpa's bar in the basement. This was when we were little and was strictly pretend- we weren't actually drinking.I loved sleeping at their house and hearing the sound of the trains go by. To this day when I hear a train I think of being in their house.

I never met my dad's mom. She passed away prior to my being born. I loved my Grandpa Arenz though. He was deaf and I took a lot of joy in trying to learn some sign language to communicate with him. I used to write him letters and was so excited when he would write back to me. We sometimes spent Easter in Streator with my grandparents. Although we always stayed at my mom's parents' house, when I would go over to Grandpa Arenz's, he always had Easter candies set out for me and my siblings. There was always a chocolate bunny for me and chocolate eggs. There were also peppermint candies, although those were a staple in his house no matter the time of year.  His yard had a statue of Mary in it that had marbles around the base. I loved to look at and touch those marbles. His house was fun because in the basement there were all kinds of fun toys from when my dad was little. I also loved to look around in my dad's old bedroom because I don't think they ever changed anything from when my dad lived there. I loved seeing his stuff. My grandpa also had really fun magnets on the fridge that I liked to arrange. Grandpa Arenz's house had an enclosed front porch that had a sleeper sofa on it. I always wanted to sleep on it, and I'm pretty sure I remember sleeping on it once. He also had a fun park across the street from his house.

I really hope that my kids will have wonderful memories of their grandparents. I think every day about how I can foster such relationships. After all, these relationships are what really matter in life. The rest of it is just fluff.

Papa and Daddy taking Ben and Natalie on a ride in Nana and Papa's yard

Grandma cuddling Caroline