Little treasures in big packages

I got a knock at the door today...it was Brant arriving home at an unexpected time. He told me, "the boxes are here - right outside in a truck!" I excitedly rushed Eden into her room (to hide because I wasn't very guest-ready) while Brant ran back outside to get the boxes. It was so fun to be able tell Eden that Freddy and Heidi have finally arrived!!! Eden has been asking about them every other day for a while now, and I keep having to tell her they're on their way, but we don't know when they'll get here. Are you wondering who Freddy and Heidi are? Freddy is a stuffed scarecrow that Eden became attached to last summer at Grandma and Grandpa Wiens' house, and Heidi is Eden's new "build-a-bear" that she got right before we left for China. We didn't have room in our luggage for them, so they got to ride the slow boat to China.

So, we've been anxiously waiting for 3 big boxes that we sent way back in September right before we ourselves left for China. The boxes held a large portion of our collection of books as well as some games for us and the girls and a few toys and other miscellaneous items. I've been longing to read a good book again! It was like Christmas for us all as we opened the boxes and pulled out treasure after treasure. Eden took a bunch of her new books to her room and poured over them for a while. She wanted so badly to play the games that came for her, but we had things to do until after supper. Then we all sat down on the floor and had a good old time playing Hungry Hungry Hippos and Candy Land tonight! I think I enjoy Hungry Hungry Hippos more than Eden does! We are all getting to bed later than usual, but it was sure a glad and full day for all of us.

One really silly thing about Eden's new favorite bear Heidi is that she just canNOT remember her bear's name! I can't tell you how many times she asked us today what her bear's name is - perhaps 30 or more times! She reminds me of me in this area because there was one family member of mine who's birthday I should have remembered from year to year, but no matter how many times I was reminded of the date, I just couldn't keep the exact date in my memory. I think I've finally got that date down now that I'm 34 years old! Eden was also this way with getting "up" and "down" mixed up a year or so ago. Hopefully she'll remember Heidi bear's name before she hits 30! If not, I might have to tattoo it on her so she'll quit asking me. :D