thankful thursday

I'm so thankful this week for my parents!

My dad spent much of Monday at my house doing some projects that have been on the back burner for months and months and really needed to get done before winter. One of our kids {who will remain nameless} broke our 1920's basement window with a ball last spring. We just nailed some sheetrock and wood over it and that's how it's been ever since. On Monday my dad put in a glass block window in it's place. It looks better, it's not broken and, I expect, will not let in rushes of freezing air all winter long {the old one was FAR from energy efficient!} He also made a little fix on our garage door so that our van can actually get in there this winter . . . which will be extra helpful since I can't even reach the windshield to scrape it off without and ladder! It'll be great to be able to put it in the garage. We've got about an inch of clearance on each side and front to back, but the problem was the mechanics of the garage door hung down a little too far and would not allow the height of our van to fit inside. But now, although still really tight, we can squeeze the van into the garage. Finally, you might remember {if you read this post} nearly a year ago when I complained about our toilet paper holder. Well, since that time basically ALL brands of toilet paper have narrowed the width of their rolls rendering our {ugly} toilet paper holder completely useless. But since it was built in to the tile on our wall, taking it out left a gaping hole in the wall. Well, my dad fixed that too by heading to the Reuse store and buying an old toilet paper holder someone wanted to be rid of and installed it in our bathroom. We now have a working toilet paper holder again. It's a little thing, I know, but what a blessing it is!

My mom spent much of Saturday over here with me {while Kirb, all 5 kids and my dad were gone for the afternoon} helping me "nest". We sorted through bins and bins and bins of clothes. We washed, folded and put away baby clothes {it's SO fun to get those little tiny things out again and freshen them up!}. We cleaned. We organized and we got the baby's room {which he or she will share with big brother Joe} pretty much in order and ready to go. It was fun to have that time together just the 2 of us, plus I was THRILLED with all the stuff that we got done.

I couldn't imagine having better, kinder, more generous parents. They are always so willing to help and to give. They love us so much and show it in so many wonderful ways. They are the best and we are so thankful for them. In all honesty, I have no idea what we would do without them. We are thankful to have them so close. What an wonderful blessing they are to all 8 of us!

Note::I have pictures of all the projects that I was going to include, but I lack the proper cords to get the pictures off of my fabulous new camera and on to my computer . . . I guess that will go on the weekend list::get cords and learn how to use them!