Garage Transformation

The derecho left a mess, and my oldest younger brother and his friend did an amazing amount of outdoor work at my mom's house. They pulled down what was left of the fence (not much), moved the swingset to bless some neighbor kids, and dropped 800 lbs. of stuff off at the dump. Quite a busy afternoon :)

He also left a hitchable trailer to continue the process of cleaning out the grand collection of two adults' and five children's *stuff.* Mom rented a second dumpster, this one 20 feet instead of 30. Gabby earned a bunch more drive hours (we're so close to sending away for her license permission!!), and along with the two boys, we took over where C left off. 

Mom got a huge head start and set all of this out overnight (no chance of rain) for a pop up garage sale the next day. Most of what we were going through on this trip was boxes Buck didn't get to when he worked on the garage while we were working on the basement last fall, and the stuff mom pulled out of the storage shed (with my youngest brother and his friends' help) a month or so ago. 

It was a hot day and the kids worked hard! Mom kept us fed, which provided a refreshing, air-conditioned break, broke out the party mints from the graduation party that didn't happen due to covid, and at the end of the day, the boys jumped in the hotel pool to have a little splashy fun :) They also found all kinds of "antique" handheld electronics devices--things I didn't let them have when they were little. So items like a Didj and a personal DVD player held great fascination for them as big kids ;) They watched half of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie (another garage find) on that tiny, tiny screen, before I declared bedtime for all, and lights out.

Here are a few other treasures we found in the boxes . . . houseboat pictures, even the interior! Buck was super excited that I brought home my dad's wooden steering wheel from the houseboat. It's pretty cool! Also, Brennen claimed that pick axe in the picture above. What nearly-15-year-old doesn't need his own pick axe?

There were a few *art* pieces drawn by my junior high friends. I sent one signed drawing to my friend, who is now a lawyer, and she and I got a good giggle out of our junior high selves :)

Graysen was quite the salesman at the *everything must go* sale! He found that white hat, had a cane to swing people in to the yard, and even did some sign spinning with the garage sale sign in his hand :) There wasn't a huge turn out, but someone from church saw the picture I posted on fb and asked about the baby stuff. Her family is renewing their foster care license and plans to take care of babies--but has almost all teens, so no baby gear. Mom hooked her up with all things baby! We had a full vanload driving home, so it was probably good Caelan and Buck had to work; we needed to fold the seats down to bring home our treasures :) Oh, but why two of the same picture in a row? It's a "spot what's different" challenge. Something is missing in the second photo . . . who can tell what it is? :)

This was as much as we could fit in the dumpster with the back door still open. Amazingly, we filled it to the brim before we left! Mom did a good job letting go of things that have been in storage for ages--unfortunately often covered in mold from cardboard boxes. We threw out the second half of dad's collection of inherited theological books (the first half went to our pastor and we kept a few Greek books for Gabby). The boys also helped carry down (from the bedrooms upstairs) a couple of furniture pieces that had served their time. That capped off the capacity of the dumpster. Some of the remaining baby gear can be donated to a foster care closet (a recourse for foster families at low or free prices) and mom plans to sell the big strollers online. I would say some nice progress was made! Mom has a lot more space to move around in and to prepare for whatever the next phase is--she's hoping to move to a newer, one-level home. Hopefully, that works out well and soon :)

Here's a little throw back to the late 70's . . . baby hat, baby blanket . . . I've still got it ;) Lol!

And we are digging this *keep Muriel out of the kitchen* gate! She's a bit tall to fit through the doggie door, so we usually just swing an edge open, but it is so nice to not have to yell constantly, "Muriel get OUT of the kitchen!" Chauncey just accepts all new hindrances with a sigh :) He was always good about staying out of the kitchen, this just slows down his ability to go outside unnoticed. Muriel likes to attack him whenever he leaves the deck--like a mountain lion ready to pounce. Ahh, little sisters :)

Braces Complete!

It was Gabby's initial wish to have her braces on before she turned 14, so she could have them off before she turned 16. She followed all the rules (except for water pik flossing) and wore her bands almost too well . . . and yet the braces remained. As it turns out, she has some slooooow-growing molars. Her 12-year molars are just now coming through on the bottom! X-rays show that her bottom wisdom teeth are tipping these way-back dentals just a bit forward. 

I requested a visit with the orthodontist (this is a challenge given parents weren't allowed in the building until a couple of weeks ago due to covid concerns) to find out where we were in the process (it had been six months since I'd seen the orthodontist in person). She explained they were just working on straightening those far back bottom molars; everything else was done. Wait, what? We don't care if her back, bottom, 12-year molars are straight . . . no we do not! Her top teeth and bite were our only concerns in the first place. The orthodontist said it could be spring of next year before the molars were fully in place and corrected--that would mean three full years with braces! 

With Buck's agreement, Gabby and I decided now was the time to free her teeth from their mandibular metal (okay, technically that would be the jaw bone, and there's no metal there, but it worked alliteration-wise, so I'm keeping it :) Gabby's braces removal appointment just happened to fall on the same day we were all getting our teeth cleaned (that process was another chaotic, complicated system of phone calls, locked doors, temperature scans, hand cleaning, hygienists that looked like a hazmat team, etc.). Scheduling was more than a bit tricky that day! But, we made it happen :) Gabby actually got her teeth cleaned of all the extra cement, etc. before she went back to pick up her retainer that afternoon.

Hooray for straight, healthy teeth! (and yes, she found the same outfit she was wearing so the comparison pictures of before and after would be spot on :) That day, she happily ate popcorn, caramel, and is having corn on the cob tonight. Oh, and she's a week out already, so doesn't have to wear her retainer 21/7 (she got three hours off per day), only at night. It's nice to see the results of all those months of broken brackets, pokey wires, sore gums, achy jaws, and inconvenient eating finally pay off! Taaadaaaa!!

Teacher Appreciation

Buck and I set out to complete a crazy-long list of tasks and errands--we call this a date day. I was pretty excited to see my neighbor post that Scooter's was doing a teacher appreciation offering of any drink, any size. I actually didn't know about the any size part, and the pictured drink looks ginormous, but it's a small :) Normally I get chai at coffee shops, but I don't like Scooter's chai. Instead I got a peach smoothie, yummy! Technically, Buck's big coffee ended up being the free one, but we'll still pretend it was teacher appreciation for me :)

At karate, the instructors are having a difficult time coming up with karate training that includes social distancing. So, they pulled the idea of kali stick defense out of the archives. Well, Caelan got a free set, because she needed to teach other classes how to use them. Gabby can borrow. Brennen decided to buy his own, and Graysen got creative. We had a snapped long staff that is about the same weight and thickness as the required equipment. Cut off the two ends, cut down the middle--viola! free kali sticks :) He also added the cute happy faces to encourage his opponent . . . I'm sure that was his reasoning . . . with some help from the wood burning kit we bought the boys a few years ago. Unfortunately, the jimmy-rigged kali sticks did not survive the entire nine-week training season. Oh snap!

Back in college, I took a summer literature class . . . I can't remember what it was called, maybe cultural literacy? Anyway, one of the books we were assigned was Uncle Tom's Cabin. For 20 plus years, I couldn't figure out how this book was so powerful and monumental in our nation's early history . . . I had read the tan pamphlet on the left. This summer, I cracked open the kids' high school American history books and--Uncle Tom's Cabin grew to much greater proportions! Turns out, my assignment was a stage version/play. All these years, I thought I'd read the real deal. Well, I am reading the real deal now. It's just so hard to be motivated, because I know bad things are going to happen to nice characters and I don't want to find out what happens next. It's been weeks and I'm on page 24 :( I'm sure I'll get back to it soon . . . probably . . .

These are my roses replacements! Buck and I picked them out on our errand day. Aren't the sunflowers happy looking? I like fresh flowers :) Maybe I should do my school reading at the kitchen table . . .

Dogs and Chickens

Update on Muriel's kennel situation . . . relocating her to the side of the couch, where Chauncey's bed used to be, seems to have helped a bunch with her anxiety drooling. She is even kept fairly quietly in the kennel while we're watching television and prefer not to be licked or to break up growling battles between her and Chauncey. Chauncey's new bed is super fluffy and cozy, but he won't use it because it is in the "spot of shame" (maybe in the dogs' thoughts?) in the laundry room where the kennel was before. 

We have a short out-of-town getaway coming up, and were debating leaving Muri home for our neighbors to care for or putting her in the vet's boarding facility. She can't run free, because she still potties on the floor, but that much time in a kennel could be her max stress . . . so we decided to have her fixed when we leave and her recovery will be under the careful attention of our vet clinic staff. Hopefully, she won't dread the vet's office in the future. Seems like a good solution, albeit expensive for Caelan.

This is my artistic still life entitled, "Waiting for Dinner." Isn't it funny how she sits on the steps? Chauncey does this too, but his posterior is not quite so comfortably accommodated ;)

And speaking of Chauncey, I decided that the convenience of just opening the door and letting Muri run in and out would be a huge benefit in Chauncey's case as well. Currently, he whines to be let out, has to be chained up, whines to be let back in, has to be unchained, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat x 1 million. When he was a little puppy, we had an invisible fence that he would run through, yelping. We've never tried the one that came with our current house, figuring the same would happen. We tried to explain this to the fence company when we showed up to purchase the very expensive collar . . . three times Buck had to go back and say, "Turn it up please." Chauncey didn't even feel the first four levels they tried. He would walk right through the flags and look at us like, "Why is everyone looking at me? And why am I on the leash?" Otherwise, nada. 

Finally, this last time, Buck said crank it two levels (we cannot do this ourselves, we have to drive 40 minutes to have it done for us--eye roll). Caelan took Chauncey out to train and he felt it! It's sad to hear him yelp, but he will have so much more access to the yard if this works. It seems like his old guy pain avoidance is kicking in and he's getting the hang of avoiding the flags, stopping at the beep, etc. He's also kind of forgetful, so I'm not sure if this will register long term. We only have five days (after all the messing around with the zap level) to figure out if this is going to work for him or if we should get a refund. Caelan's training time today resulted in a very reluctant Chauncey nearly having to be dragged anywhere near the flag line, and when he was off leash, he just wanted to go back into the house--like a stubborn horse who wants his stable :) I'm sure hoping this plan works! I think everyone, including Chauncey, will be happier with easy indoor/outdoor access and the run of the entire yard.

A few weeks ago, Buck bought me two dozen really pretty roses. When they faded, I scattered their petals around on the table next to the vase. Then I got to thinking. "Hey Google, can chickens eat rose petals?" Google basically said, "Heck yeah! Not only can they, they SHOULD eat rose petals for the antioxidants, etc. etc." So I grabbed Graysen, my handy helper, and he tossed rose petals in the air (from an empty ice cream bucket) while I did a photo shoot for my chickens. They are SO fancy :)

(But overall they were pretty disappointed in the offerings of Graysen's bucket, lol!)

 

Bikes

A few pictures Gabby took on the the trio's bicycle adventure! They rode all the way to our pastor's house to visit their friends. After a dip in the pool and a few hours of getting stickers on their shoes from the weeds, they completed their eight mile loop on wheels. More energy than I have! Especially in the heat, whew! Glad they had fun and got home safely :)

Also, they promptly ordered water holders for their bike frames. Nice job taking water along the first time! Next time will be more convenient :)

Taking Zero Turns

The boys decided to volunteer with their buddy C, our pastor's son and their former flag football teammate, to mow the expansive church lawn. Actually it was Graysen and C's idea, but Brennen offered to do the weed whacking to complete the look. Their hope was to help reduce the workload of our youth director--an older man, who is in the process of retiring from his physically demanding job at which he recently broke his leg. Not good.

I didn't realize this offer had been accepted, until we were making arrangements for the boys to spend time with C. His mom said, "Well, he needs to get that lawn mowed with Graysen"  . . . oh! Okay :) So our pastor texted and said he'd pick the boys up, I had them pack sunblock, bug spray, water, and calories, because we figured it would take a couple of hours (it did!)

Gabby was at work, so Caelan offered to pick her up and then the boys. They had to wait a little while for the boys to finish their landscape grooming, so I told Caelan to be sure to get pictures. She not only did, but also got video of the zero turn radius lawnmower race across the parking lot. My oh my (I guess they had permission). Now they're debating who gets the next turn on the fast John Deere and who gets Brennen's job weed eating. Take turns with the zero turns, boys! :)

They said they had a lot of fun, and that they may end up getting paid (although they were pretty sure it was a volunteer position when they offered). Either way, they make a good team. It's good to see this trio of young men wanting to help their youth director and each other to keep the church grounds looking nice :)

Salon Day

Way back in November of last year, Caelan started asking about getting her hair fancied up professionally. The idea struck while we were in Arizona, and we even checked with my friend Jen's stylist to see if she had any availability (clearly she did not :) We got home, Christmas, New Year's, covid . . . and then we discovered a stylist at church who sometimes helps with the youth group (she also cuts all our pastors' hair, except the one whose wife is his stylist, and the one who is bald :) Making an appointment, due to backed up cuts, styles, and trims from covid-cancellations bumped the special style time out more than a month. But Caelan's excitement grew as each day brought her closer to the THREE HOUR hair appointment. Whew!

We took some quick before pictures outside as rain drops began falling from the sky. Masks are still required in salons, so we wanted to be able to see her face in the before photos, lol!

What a complex process! First a trim, then the foils--Caelan's hair was too long for the longest foils, so the stylist from church had to double up; she was so honored to be the first person to work on Caelan's hair, that--even after 20 years of experience--she was concentrating so hard that she barely spoke a word :) It was very sweet! Then a wash, a condition, a blow dry, and a curl . . . viola!

Caelan is very happy with the result! And also happy that she gets a large paycheck this month, because she paid for her balayage/ombre/summer sun-kissed style with her own earnings :)

Perfect timing for senior pictures--first round happening early next month!!