My Sunday

We headed out early to IKEA this morning. I have a soft spot in my heart for IKEA. I know that a lot of people hate the place and feel that they just sell a lot of cheap junk, but I love it. Part of it is the whole Swedish thing (I love that I can get lingonberries and Bilar and other assorted Swedish foods and snacks!), as part of my heritage is Swedish (the part I associate with the most). Part of it is that IKEA has the best stores for families - there's a family restroom (which we used today - R thought it was great!), the cafe sells jarred baby food and has microwaves for warming up bottles, and there are kids' play areas throughout the store. Plus, they don't seem to mind if certain energetic three-year-olds jump on every bed and sofa in the store. ;-)

Anyway, today we were there to get R a mattress for his new "big boy" bed, which we bought yesterday at a nearby furniture store. The bed is being delivered on Wednesday. (We spent way more than we planned to, but the bed we found was perfect - it has built-in bookshelves and drawers and was solid wood. The picture is almost the model we bought, but it's missing the under-bed drawers.)

I also wanted to pick up this bookshelf/cabinet combo at IKEA. We have a wine rack in our living room that doesn't quite work for us anymore - by that I mean that we don't use it to store wine or wine glasses anymore because of a certain little boy. We need something with more storage and room for our books (which are STILL in boxes in our basement after 4.5 years in our house!) and a place to display photographs and such. A and I both really like this shelf thing (and it's made of pine, not particle board), but the box was too big for our car. Actually, the box will fit as long as we don't have R with us. So we'll have to go back another day to pick it up. Argh. I don't mind at all having to go back to IKEA, but I know that I'll want to linger and browse and eat at the cafe, and A will want to get in and get out. Oh well!

(Goodness - it's embarrassing how much I can write about a silly shopping trip...)

The rest of the day was spent taking naps (heavenly!), watering the plants and grass, and being together as a family. Although, I did have almost TWO HOURS TO MYSELF! A took R down to the lake near our house to meet some of R's friends from school. One of the families just bought a kayak and let everyone try it out. A and R loved it!

I spent my time alone doing such thrilling things as changing the sheets on my bed, folding laundry, Swiffering the floors, mulching one of my flower beds, and watching an old (and not very good) version of Jane Eyre that my friend had lent me on DVD. But it was great! I feel like I accomplished something for once! And, after all that, I sat for awhile on our patio and watched the birds fluttering around happily in the spray from our sprinkler. One little sparrow came right up next to me to take a bath in a puddle. So sweet! And I just thanked God for all the simple beauty and happiness that surrounds me.

Hope your Sunday was peaceful and wonderful, too!

P.S. Today, R shared with me his thoughts about heaven: The little bird that we found dead in our yard is there. And so are many trains (including a diesel engine) and ice cream trucks. I think in R's mind God is an ice cream truck driver. :-)