Thank Goodness for Grandparents!!

BRRR!! It is cold here in Kansas City. We are ready for spring!!

I am dedicating this post to our children's amazing Grandparents. They are always such a blessing to us, and this week has been no exception. Last Friday, we packed up the kids and took them for a special overnight stay in Baldwin City with Grandpa and Grandma Lori McKinney. The kids had a great time playing guitar and violin, watching movies, and playing with Oscar (a golden retriever). Here are some pics from the "McKinney Hilton" as my Dad likes to call it. :) Brandon and I enjoyed very exciting things like getting take-out for dinner (with a buy one-get one free coupon, no less!) and watching TV for 4 straight hours without having to feel guilty about our children watching too much television or constant interruptions for juice runs, potty runs, changing into jammies, and the bedtime ritual. It was HEAVEN.

Brandon then left on a business trip Sunday evening. He attended an IBM conference down in Lousiana. This usually happens in late January or early February, inevitably right in the middle of my busiest time at work. Enter the Grandparents again to come and save the day! Grandma Carlson flew in from Colorado Sunday night and stayed through Tuesday to help watch the kids while I worked and ran around like a complete nutball (Grandpa Carlson was in between trips for work and needed some time at home to rest and get geared up for the next go-around). It was such a blessing to know that someone was paying attention to my children while I was gone and it made it much easier to work knowing that actually, they were probably having more fun with Grandma than they ever do with me around. :) We enjoyed lunch out a McDonald's together, and even got a home-cooked meal--one of Rachel's recipes. Since my Mom and Grandma are gone, it isn't often that I come home to a meal that I didn't have to prepare. There's something about food prepared with a mother's hands, and it was wonderful.

My greatest sadness about my children is that they won't have the opportunity to know my mother during their time on this earth. I know that she, too, would have loved to be a part of their lives and would have derived great joy from watching them grow. I know that she is looking down on both of them from above, and someday, they will learn all about Grandma Beth and the amazing woman that she was.

Today is the last day of my Assessment course. We wouldn't have made it through all this without wonderful friends and family to support us. I am so thankful that our children have Grandparents that love them and desire to interact with them on a regular basis. Connor and Kylee certainly think the world of all of them, and so do their Mommy and Daddy!