We sat at our round table under the funky, fun lights with the tasteful textiles and big pictures of Sweden and ate our meatballs. And they were good. So, so, so very good.
Then, because it was Monday night and obviously "family home evening night", we proceeded to have what I think was our finest family night in 10 years. We dropped the 3 kids off in the fabulous kiddy land where they could frolic in the balls and climb the fake rocks and watch DVD's in the loft to their hearts content and Chris and I held hands with smiles on our faces as we leisurely strolled through the IKEA showroom and touched things and sat on things and didn't worry about shattering glass. Everyone was happy, everyone was being "fed" exactly what their little hearts and souls longed for...and isn't that really what family home evening is about? (Just so you know...we really are good about having FHE every single week. But I just don't remember the last time FHE ended with so many positive, happy, non-screaming feelings!) To make it right, we bought a bag of Swedish fish and a roll of delicious lemon cookies for refreshments and had J. quote the scripture he has just memorized. Did we miss anything?
Anyway, as we were strolling through IKEA, I was telling Chris the dilemma I was having with "decorating" HB's room. She is a girl...and for many years her bedroom has been "gender neutral" to keep our baby options open. But seeing as it has been almost 5 years since anything but a girl has slept in their, we decided it was time to swing that direction. She has the most adorable white picket fence headboard with wooden red apples on the top (thanks grandma green!), a great red dresser, yellow walls, and accents of green and blue. I love the color scheme. But I haven't been able to find her bedding...and I've looked. Every store in 2 counties, ebay, internet...you name it. I was telling Chris has frustrating it was that they don't make girl stuff in anything but pink, purple, or Hanna Montana. And then we rounded the corner...and there it was. The answer to all my questions. The solution to this problem. Right in the place I should have looked first. I'm sorry I forgot Ikea! It was like I was drifting and then I was found. All roads lead back to Ikea...
I dare you to tell me these aren't the cutest curtains and bedding you have ever seen.
Can you see the felt flowers and red rick-rack on the curtains? Can you tell there are fairy tale animals with cakes and fairy wings on the bedding? And did you notice the bedding is red gingham on the back? Oh my goodness. My heart melts just looking at the pictures. (And for those of you that heard Carmen tell my pathetic story in RS yesterday about provident living...these were in the budget. Anything this cute moves right to the top of the priority list and beats out groceries and utilities for the next month. You don't argue with cute!) There are also vinyl wall decals, a lamp, some throw pillows and cute storage boxes that match the theme. You will notice we used restraint and didn't purchase all these items at once. That will be the next month...and maybe the month after that. There's a reason we're told to have a 1 year supply of food...right?
So we finally picked up the kids and headed for a little more browsing on the main level. HB loves to get her hands on the little pencils and maps. It is her IKEA passion. By the time we reached the check out stand, HB had filled out her wish list and handed it to me. I didn't know she was doing a wish list...my 4 year old wrote the following list all by herself: (I will send you a box of zucchini if you can decipher all the items...I will send you zucchini even if you don't get it right.)
1) flaowr laptop
2)stoufd dog
3) bedcuvr
4) pictur fram
5) plat
6) vas
7) flawr pot
8) toy
9) crib
She makes my heart smile!
It was a good night. Very good night. We had lots of fun meandering and eating and playing in the ball pits and swinging on the rope pine trees. I feel reconnected to my soul. I feel reconnected to the homeland! Ah, blessed Ikea.
