Parents Visit - Part 1

My parents visited us for a week over Thanksgiving.  Before they came, I thought we would tackle a medium-sized project with them: painting the kitchen cabinets white.  Looking back, I now know that was not a medium-sized project, but live and learn.  I absolutely love my kitchen now though and we're finally done with it:-)  I'll give it it's own post another time. 

We had a few pictures worth posting from before my parents came to visit as well.  Karina loves to play in boxes and was excited when Snoopy's dog food arrived in a box big enough for her and Lydia to both it in.  

My two favorite girls, both smiling:

We didn't get any good pictures that also included Karina in the following.  When Karina woke up that particular morning, she noticed I was wearing a pink sweater and jeans and she insisted that we needed to match.  So she also got to wear a pink zip-up and jeans.  Then when Lydia got up, Karina decided Lydia needed to match us too.

My parents took advantage of Southwest's generous luggage allowances and brought 4 suitcases up between the two of them.  They returned home nearly empty-handed. One of the items included in their suitcases was this doll bassinet that I had as a child.  Assuming I am remembering correctly, I have a distinct memory of when I got this bassinet for Christmas one year.  I remember being super excited and it taking my dad hours to assemble and I remember wondering why it was taking him so long because I wanted to start playing with it immediately.  I'll have to ask my parents if this is how it actually happened. 

My mother also brought up a wicker stroller that I had as a child.  I'll have to get a picture of it for another time.  UPS was going to charge her $78 to ship it, so my mother took off the wheels and gave it its own Southwest suitcase instead.  Karina immediately put her new-to-her dolls in it, because again, my mother had saved several dolls all these years, including Cabbage Patch ones, etc.  One of the dolls, Sadie, is in the picture below.  I think Karina was showing Morfar how babies like to be held, so that he could practice on Lydia:-)

Having fun standing on Morfar's feet while he walked was a fun activity many times that week:

Snoopy decided many visits ago that Mormor is a sucker for him and he was constantly seeking out attention and cuddles from her.  He seemed to always want to sit on her lap if she was on the couch.  

Anytime Karina sat on Mormor's lap, Snoopy would come running to claim back his proper place, on Mormor's lap. We would joke about it, but it happened so many times that week, that it was obvious Snoopy was jealous.  That is what happens when he is showered with meatballs, pets, and other treats by his Pack Mormor I suppose.  Snoopy didn't do it in a mean way at all - he is too mild mannered and sweet for that, but it was very funny.  As I was taking these pictures of Mormor and the girls having fun together, Snoopy decided to scoot the girls out of his way and jump up on her lap too.

Snoopy staking his claim:

Here he has just maneuvered Karina off of his territory.  He's a funny beagle baby.  Karina didn't mind though. 

Karina, my big princess:

 She is very sensitive to being called 'little' and will correct anyone who dares incorrectly characterize her.  She was constantly correcting Mormor and Morfar who would call her 'my little princess', or 'lille venn' (Norwegian term of endearment literally meaning 'little friend'), etc saying "I'm not little.  I'm a big girl.  Lala little."

Karina loves to play piano and often will sing the ABC song as she plays music.  She will sing the song over and over again and manage to bang keys in such a way that it actually sounds pretty good.  It is incredibly cute to watch and listen to her.  She and Mormor would play together as well while Karina sung.  Very cute.

Silly Morfar:

Karina and Morfar were playing a game of kicking/catch here, but she was sitting behind a table and didn't show up well in the picture.   Karina and Morfar had a blast, and Lydia thought it was hilarious, giggling hysterically.  Lydia tends to think everything Karina does is hilarious though:-)  Karina is easily her favorite person to look at and be with (when she isn't hungry). 

Kisses and tickles from Mormor are fun too:

Lydia is determined to start crawling soon. She is constantly on her tummy trying her best to squirm and move.  I think she is trying so hard to move around and be like her big sister.  

There are a lot more pictures from the visit to post, but I'll do that in a few days when I have more time.