A Night at the Theater

The sun is shining, this sunburst bouquet of flowers arrived from Buck's coworkers, and the time finally arrived to see our Christmas gift show as a family!

First we awed The Olive Garden waiter with our polite manners and lack of rowdy rudeness--seriously, he kept going on and on about it. I don't know how we were any different than other diners, but in all his "three years of working here" he'd never encountered a table like ours. I'll take that as a compliment :) We utilized Grandma J's Valentine gift card in its entirety, eating through an impressive stack of pasta, overflowing baskets of breadsticks, and a mountain of Andes mints (our reward for good behavior from the waiter I guess :) Our kids are fun to hang out with!

Somehow I managed to sneak this picture of the gorgeous theater without the "no pictures" brigade shutting down my innocent efforts. I didn't realize pictures before the show were a no-no until another guy was definitely corrected for his erroneous behavior, lol! 

We felt pretty grand in the top corner of our Grand Tier seats, and Buck was thrilled to sit on the aisle. The kids enjoyed the rhythms and comedy of the show, and eventually the speechless cast taught the auditorium to clap in time . . . not an easy feat ;)

We fully enjoyed our Christmas gift from Grandma J and Mr. R and our Valentine, too :) A fun evening out together was just what the doctor (that I never did go see, despite Buck's strong suggestion that I do . . . ) ordered :)

Proud

While we were feeling under the weather, my nephew had a pretty amazing opportunity to wrestle as a Mack truck at state! :) Buck bought into the live coverage and we watched the online brackets and mat assignments for two days, cheering on the hard work and dedication of Cody's senior year.



We would have loved to be there in person, but are thankful technology (and Buck's sick day) allowed us all to watch Cody win his first match. Even thought the next day didn't move him forward in the competition, he's a winner in our books :)

Sunny Days

Caelan's former pup-in-training has been recareered as a future daddy dog. He's got such good structure for mobility support, that they decided to pull him from the service dog program and to focus him on fathering service dog litters. He's supposed to be moving to the mountains, but a picture yesterday indicated he's still in the flat lands. We kind of miss the big goofball :)



In the meantime, we've had Miss Sunny beamed into our home. She's four months old and very much a puppy! We've never cared for a girl dog before, so we're all a bit enamored with her sweet, adorableness. She's still got all her puppy teeth, licks and mouths constantly, jumps up when she gets excited, and eats like a growing horse, but she's got lots of potential. Sweet girl!















Chauncey is not a fan (no surprise there), but he is letting Sunny into his space a lot sooner than he let Newton into his space. He's like the grandpa she never had :) That growls at her when she wants to play, lol!



We've dealt with some transitionary potty accidents in the house (twice a day for the first few days). We've dealt with some digestive upset due to the new location, food, etc. That was a mess!! Thank goodness for Gabby and Brennen's willingness to help clean up when Caelan wasn't home. I think we're settling in now that a week has passed. Whew! Puppies, so many puppies :)

In Summary . . .

This is pretty much what the past couple of weeks have looked like around here . . . respiratory illness and schoolwork. We've been in full hermit mode (except Caelan, she's not sick--she's told us this 1.2 billion times :) I think everyone is on the upswing, yay! Finally.

Valentine's Day

Buck went back to work on Thursday. It was really nice to have him home and available most of this month. He's a good husband and dad. I would rather he could have come to small group with us that night, than heading over by myself--because my emotions are all over the place--but I knew if I didn't make myself go be around friends who loved me in a small quantity, there's no way I'd be able to face the love flood at church Sunday morning. There were lots of tears, prayers, encouragements, and due to these things we went two hours over our "normally" scheduled time. 

Buck actually got home from work, unloaded the groceries (since we hadn't shopped since January) by himself, and was just waiting for us to arrive. We decorated the kids' Valentine table before going to bed; nothing elaborate this year, just simple and sweet (like the giant candies we left at the kids' places :) I joked with Buck that the tuna packets I'd grabbed for him at the other grocery store were his Valentine . . . not very romantic :) He ordered me flowers.


It took awhile to get all the kids up and in the same space on Valentine's Day morning. Clearly they were awake enough to make silly faces at the camera (Gabby and Brennen :) Graysen made us all Valentines, including one for himself :) Gabby drew a cute family portrait, but told Buck she ran out of space, so didn't include herself. The dogs didn't make the caricature either :)






But of course they were very involved in Valentine photos . . . you can see how Chauncey STILL feels about the invader living in his house, lol. Newton just wants to be buds!








In the evening, the kids and I went over to our NGFs' house. They smoked an amazing brisket! The kids played, we talked, another four hours went by in a flash, Buck headed home from work and we barely made it to the house ahead of him. 



I am so so so tired today, I can't even explain it. I'm blogging to try to get my fingers and my brain warmed up enough to write the devotionals I have due for our church, and the writing my real estate agent employer asked me to get going for her last week (she understood the circumstances, so no real pressure there). The kids are over at our music director and his wife's house finishing up the downstairs renovations--painting, pulling carpet, trim, etc. The house is so quiet, and I would LOVE to curl up in a ball and nap. Unfortunately I have my annual "fine all day, lungs clog up when I lay down to sleep" thing going, so sleep is a major challenge. That's probably also why I'm so tired . . . and now rambling as I type. 

Oh look, an up-to-the-minute renovation photo moment or two, this just in . . .

Goofball

While Caelan is away, Newton will stare out the window until she comes back. He'll bark at plastic bags floating on the breeze, he'll growl low in his throat at a trash can rolling across the street, don't even get me started if there is a person or a stray dog about! But the flock of tiny birds less than a foot from his face . . . doesn't phase him :) Such a goofball!

First and Last

The "tooth fairy" really missed the boat on this one! We went to our dental appointments x six and I asked the dentist, "How many baby teeth does G$ have left to lose?" "They're all gone!" she announced. Uh-oh. We usually take a first tooth/last tooth side-by-side comparison photo for posterity. Would you believe that in all the chaos of the past two weeks that the tooth fairy threw that final tooth into a drawer in my bathroom instead of taking it back to fairy land? I was able to snag it (now broken in half for some reason) to take Graysen's last baby tooth picture--albeit a solid 2.5 weeks late . . . the second teething process took him almost seven years to the day (just one month short :) So I guess, really constant teething for 12 straight years. Wowza!




In other news, none of us had cavities, Brennen no longer needs braces (hip-hip, hooray!), Caelan has a shadow of one wisdom tooth upstairs, but won't need that addressed for a couple of years, Gabby's 12-year molars are 70% in (just in time for her 16th birthday), so the orthodontist will soon be able to put brackets on those and maybe we can get this tooth straightening process wrapped up, and Graysen is still our wild card . . . way less crowding, way more settling into the correct places than on previous visits. The dentist is holding out for a potential braces avoidance in his grill, too. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Getting Back to "Normal"

Buck has been making a billion phone calls, rearranging car insurance, home insurance, getting a water heater replacement set up, making doctor appointments, canceling this account, checking on that one . . . it's been impressive! We've done a little catch up work in school, and with some books we're reading for a class four of us are taking at church. The kids have started back to karate and the girls back to work. The new studio looks pretty neat, and it's so spacious!

The water heater wasn't an issue yet, but somehow it has lasted 20 plus years. According to all the reading I've done, that isn't possible. They have a lifespan of maybe 10 years, if you push it, but certainly not twice that. Yet, our label touted 1996 (although it wasn't probably installed until a couple years later). Buck convinced me that we should get ahead of a possible waterpark effect by proactively replacing the antique unit. It took me awhile. I'm stubborn about spending money when it isn't "necessary." But, I realized Buck was right, it really was the wisest thing to do, and God provided us with a pretty amazing deal through our church pastor's recommendation--half the price I was imagining from my internet browsing. So, that's our other "new" thing this week, so far. The dogs are going to feel spoiled eating by all this fancy new equipment :)

Saying Goodbye

Our family drove up early to help with whatever my brother needed. His church overwhelmed us all with kindness, food, and thoughtfulness. It's how God's church should react in a time of sorrow, it was really beautiful. Linsey's family filled the house and the church fed us all; it was good to be together, even if we didn't know each other that well.





My brother asked me to sort through some of Linsey's things to put on her memorial table--what an amazing life and accomplished young woman she was! It was sweet to get to know her better in this unexpected way. There are so many words I could write, but it's all so soon, and I still feel kind of numb. The house is quiet, everyone is at youth group. I'm still hiding out. I suppose I'll have to get back to it here soon. 

Here are some pictures, because I know sometime down the road, we'll be able to look back at them with a different perspective, less of sadness and more of honor and sweet memories. I think my brother did a beautiful job planning his bride's memorial service. It pointed to Christ, it echoed Linsey's heart, and it was filled with memories of a very special person.













Mr. M needed a break from all the strangers hugging and holding him. He is a sharp little guy, and he didn't forget their names once he was introduced. I spent my time tailing him, and Buck spent his time tailing me. We ended up in the playroom where the little ones would stay during the service. M didn't want me to leave, he's struggling with who comes back and who doesn't. I told him I was going into the big room with all the flowers, and that I'd be back in a little while. He started crying and said, "I want to go to the sanctuary, too!" What two-year-old knows that word? :) I told him after the service he could smell all the flowers and pick out whichever ones he wanted to take home. He liked that idea. I also mentioned the cookies later, he liked that idea too! But he still didn't want me to leave him. Buck had a brilliant idea; he went to get Brennen. M is a huge fan of Brennen, and B was kind enough to sit out the service with M in the nursery. He even got paid! Much to his surprise :) As soon as my brother picked M up and they found me in the cafeteria, M said, "You told me I would have fun, and I did! You were right!" Love that goofy boy :) And he did eat cookies, and we did smell all the flowers, and he did choose one basketful to take home. Promise kept.







That night a major snowstorm hit, dumping eight impossible inches of snow on the ground. My brother, the baby, and mom left early to make the three-hour drive to the burial site. 



We planned to leave just one hour later, and discovered our van could NOT make it out of my brother's neighborhood. We had the car and kids packed up, we took several runs at it, and then waited for nearly two hours for snowplows to arrive. With no time left, and no plows in sight, we loaded up again. Buck tried one hill three times, the other two, then went back to the original hill. Just as we crested the ridge, with just a car length to go . . . the van refused to move another inch, and the snowplow man rumbled by 10 feet in front of us. Buck backed down the hill again, and blasted up the opposite side--onto the freshly plowed street. That was the start of a very sketchy drive. Very sketchy.



We ended up missing the burial, it was very brief. However, we spent the afternoon with my cousins, walked over to the freshly covered grave, and said another round of goodbyes to my sweet "Sis." 

Seeing these two little guys play together was a crazy flashback to their two dads playing together 30 years ago--one with blond curls, the other with red :)

It's always good to end a difficult day with a giant smile :)