Ode to Stomach Flu

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . I'd really like to eradicate you!

You came into our home and made our rugs stink,

You can leave again (and never come back), I think.

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . I'd really like to eradicate you.

The puke bowls and loads of laund-ry, 

The sleepless nights and loads of laund-ry . . .

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . I smell like bleach because of you.

I might have gotten a bit loop-y

And decorated a chicken coop-y. 

(But really, I just wanted to eat the walls), 

The kitchen fairy wasn't taking my calls.

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . why isn't frosting always used as glue?

I felt up to shop at the store

Unhealthy snacks for me galore! 

The sick ones got the crunchy food, 

But for eating it--they were not in the mood.

(The Peeps eyes are freaking me out!

Is it just me, or are they on the snout?)

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . why did you have to include poo?

No one has slept in a solid week,

I think there's still frosting on my cheek.

The carpet guy did the best he could,

But everything we own is now piled on wood (floors) . . . I tried . ..

Oh stomach flu, oh stomach flu . . . please don't come back in 2022!

Valentine's Day

It was quite a day. Buck was up at 4:30 a.m. to get to work to do inventory. He came home bleary-eyed, but had to focus on numbers for the big boss visit today. I fully intended to go out and get Buck a Valentine gift and card, even knew what I wanted to get him, but I was so tired, that I fell asleep for at least an hour. Day naps are disorienting! He had planned to take me to a fancy steakhouse (he got a gift card for Christmas), but had to cancel our date as his days off changed for the big boss visit. I went up to take care of the chickens and was out of breath and my sides were cramping; this four-week long head cold seemed to be out of my lungs, but so much coughing recently leads me to believe, maybe not. At the same time we were concerned about Muriel, puking. She ended up being okay, blockage free by pooping on the carpeted floor just after midnight. The girls got norovirus at about 3:30 a.m. and spent the night in the bathrooms. Ahh, the day of romance . . . :)

Okay, here's the *also* version of our Valentine's Day . . . I woke up ahead of all but Caelan (well, and Buck because he was at work already), and decorated the table with our traditional red tablecloth, heart-shaped boxes of candy, and Valentines from Grandma J. Gabby bought Caelan flowers, and Caelan bought Caelan flowers, so we have a pretty bouquet in the middle of the table, too (the bouquet gets smaller as Caelan harvests blooms to put in her hair--the reason she bought the flowers for herself :) As the kids rolled out of their rooms for the day, had some chocolate for breakfast, and opened Starbucks gift cards from Grandma, I took a pic to send in thanks. Here they are in roll out order :)

On Mondays, everyone needs to eat dinner at a different time. Caelan after college, but before her college group, Brennen after work, Gabby way late after work, and Buck any of those times in between. G$ and I are easy :) So, for Valentine dinner I put some chicken chili in the crockpot. Then I headed out to pick Brennen up from work. 

As I sat in the parking lot I started smelling a really bad, rotten-egg smell coming through the car . . . I googled it quick, and of course this is a real thing that means more really bad things about cars (this should be in the bad Valentine paragraph, but it fits better here :) I've joked about taking a car in every week with some major issue (we got the red car back a few days ago after getting a transmission leak fixed, which was discovered the week before when we were having the front wheel resecured after someone tried to steal it--have I already written about these things? IDK. Tired brain.) Anyway, after continuing to drive the car (we're brave like that :) for another hour, I decided the smell was likely the outside environment, because it didn't seem like that terrible aroma came from the vents again during our evening Valentine mission. Whew!

Back to nice things! So Brennen is getting pretty close to his driving hours to get his license. He wanted to surprise his sweetheart with flowers and a hand-written letter, so I had him drive out to her rural home. While I sat in the driveway, he delivered his gifts, and she was very surprised and very happy. Her mom had him step back and then called M downstairs because she wanted to "talk to her" for a minute. Brennen appeared in his Valentine-red work shirt, holding a fist full of flowers, and Miss M got a little teary-eyed (from what I could tell when they came out together to say hello to me). I took a pic with the moon shining behind them. Aww, so sweet! Brennen did a good job caring for his sweetheart's heart 💕

When we got home (after logging another 45 minutes of night-driving time), Buck ordered JJs sandwiches for two (we had a coupon!), and he and I had our "old-fashioned" date night, like we did in our last little town a decade ago--except this time, he ordered cookies :) We watched home improvement shows and he went to bed early, while the four teens worked on choreography for Caelan's upcoming show upstairs.

So, there's the pretty story and the behind-the-scenes story, I'm glad we all love each other no matter what the day or the issue. Pray that the norovirus gets gone quick and that the four of us who feel okay stay feeling okay. Gabby said she feels just like she did in CO, and I don't ever want to feel that way again!!

**Addendum** how could I forget that ALSO on Valentine's Day, my phone decided to do an update . . . the worst!! Everything looks wonky, but I guess I did get some weird new emojis. And how could I forget . . . while I usually don't brush my hair in the bathroom, on Valentine's Day I did. And my pick got caught in a tangle. And my pick went flying out of my hand. And my pick went *splash* into the toilet . . . the unflushed toilet . . . and there my pick floated, while I went to get plastic gloves from the kitchen. This would be a shorter story if my pick didn't have a hollow in it for the spray bottle function it once offered in the early-90s before I lost the button you press down to make the water come out. But the hollow is still there. I'm thinking a Valentine's Day redo might be in order :)

Valentine Dance

Brennen and Gabby gladly accepted invitations to a local public school Valentine dance! Brennen's sweetheart included him in the fun, and the other girls went as friends. First, Caelan decided she could be a little bit late to work to help Gabby (who just got home from choir rehearsal) with her base makeup. Gabby did the rest herself and looked lovely! 

Brennen realized the evening before the dance that he didn't have a red tie to match his sweetheart's dress, so his sweet sister took him shopping the morning of the dance (before choir . . . it was a jam-packed day). It was when they returned home that I realized we had read about ironing a dress shirt in Home Ec. but the boys hadn't actually practiced--Brennen wasn't even sure where the iron was located :) So, I ended up smoothing his ensemble, but also know what "homework" we'll be practicing in the near future. Guys gotta know how to iron a shirt!

Once they were all fancied up, we scooted out to M's house for pictures--we chose indoor this time as it was bitterly cold with the insane winds whipping across the land. Brennen is a good sport about pictures with three moms, four girls, and a dad who made fun suggestions, like photos on the staircase :)

Gabby and Brennen had to fight back the giggles to keep their faces straight for the serious/tough/intimidating pose :)

This series is adorable. M's mom told them to stand close, but apparently Brennen's hands were super cold from the walk outside to inside, ha! We eventually got a sweet pic, though :)

After photos, they drove away to an Italian feast at The Olive Garden, and then drove themselves out to the dance. My two said it was a lot smaller than the homeschool dances, but they recognized the group dance music (thanks again, Uncle C, for teaching them the Wobble . . . so very helpful in situations like this, lol ;) They arrived home as Graysen's last guest was leaving, and then Gabby popped up bright and early to take her second round of ACTs, this morning. Whew! 

A Graysen Blog

Looking through my pictures, I realized there were quite a lot of Graysen moments to share! So, he gets his very own blog post . . . I'm sure if he read the blog, he would be honored! :)

First up, he finally put our beloved Christmas gift to use! He told Buck he wanted to learn to shave--but just his chin, the 'stache stays. He also told me, without me having to ask, that I could take pictures as long as I didn't post them. I think he meant on Facebook, which I did not do. I figured for my readership of grandma, auntie, and siblings we'd probably be okay to share them here (but nowhere else :) Buck said in the second picture, "You're lurking." I am not lurking!! Well, maybe a little lurking . . . 

I also remembered to take a picture of Graysen's second piano lesson (possibly still a little lurking ;) He seems to like lessons; he's certainly got a fun teacher (his buddy's big sister). She's taught Caelan and Brennen, too. I think learning how to be a good teacher from a good teacher is as important as the music lessons, themselves.

One busy day, when Gabby had to work and Buck forgot his keys, I tasked Brennen with driving me (on the big roads!!) to deliver the keys. This left G$ home alone doing school . . . until Caelan invited him to college! He loaded up a backpack with (home)schoolwork and spent a couple of hours on campus with his big sister. Caelan said, "He doesn't look 14, they will never know." She was right! Another student brought his bird to school and was told to take it home. She brought her brother but didn't have to take him home! Buck wanted to know if it was show-and-tell day, presenting . . . Graysen! Ha! Glad they had fun doing college together (and posing exactly the same for my picture :)

Lately, Muriel has been very cuddly. She likes to give Graysen hugs :) She might be asking why he didn't bring Caelan home from college; Muriel is very big into serious discussions.

I saw on FB recently that our friends' mom lost her yard clean up guy to a jail sentence (although she later saw some info that he was not in jail, so she's not sure what happened, there, but it all worked out for G$ as I'll relate once I end this very long parenthetical aside). The guy who was supposed to be in jail recommended another guy who turned out to be a flake. In the flake's stead, the elderly grandpa was out cleaning up the three-dog back yard so the great-grandkids could come over to play. Afterwards, he instructed his daughter, "Tell your dogs not to poop tonight, okay?" Ha!

Well, I mentioned that G$ had been in the business for several years, and we were willing to expand his territory (since the kid wants a job so badly and can't keep up with teenager expenses with almost zero income), and our friends' mom was delighted! She knew G$ has been hoping to buy skates of his own and asked me how much such a purchase might be. I did some research and after A LOT of searching for availability in his size, found a good pair. When I told her the total, she advanced him two months' worth of earnings on his first day, so he could enjoy his skates before the winter season is over. Aww!! He was delighted to hand me a handful of money and to lace up his new hockey skates. Now we just have to get them sharpened and he's ready to glide!

Gliding on to the next topic . . . we are discussing the book of Ruth in youth group. Last week, the kids were asked to create movie trailers that summarized the Biblical tale. They broke off into age groups: high school boys, middle school boys, high school girls, middle school girls. Needless to say, they had to get creative with their casting. Somehow, G$ landed the starring role as Ruth. Perhaps you, too, can enjoy the powerful story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz through this short series of videocaptures . . .

In the land of Moab, the Israelite husbands tragically die. Ruth (G$), Orpah (Brennen in the clown wig), and Naomi (our pastor's son) are left to grieve their loss and make some big decisions about what comes next.

Although Naomi successfully convinces the surprisingly red-headed Orpah to return home to "her" family, Ruth decides to stick with Naomi (the falsetto voices and strange understandings of how women stand during conversation were highly amusing during this scene :)

Back in Bethlehem, Ruth impresses Boaz's fieldhands with "her" incredible work ethic and muscular strength (lol!!)

While Ruth needs to work on not sitting like a dude, "she" listens carefully to the odd instructions (pastor's son) Naomi is laying down for her. I actually stopped taking screen shots at this point, because the story becomes increasingly weird as staged by a group of high school and college boys. Lol! It had the same happy ending as in the Bible . . . Boaz accepts Ruth's proposal to redeem herself and her mother-in-law, a Princess Bride style wedding ceremony takes place, "Maiwwwage. Maiwwwage is what bwings us togevah today." And they live happily ever after as the room full of teens erupts into applause and laughter :) Ah, youth group.

Being the youngest, but running with the older kids, means G$ gets to do special things--like drive to lunch with his sister and a bunch of kids from church on Sunday--maybe a little sooner on the age scale than the other three would have been allowed to, but the kid goes to college, what else can we do? :) I'm glad the Crew has the friend groups that they do, and I'm glad that God protects them on their jaunts here and there. Currently, they are packing up bikes with our pastor's son (hopefully it doesn't rain) for a lakeside ride.

Update: it did rain, but not until they returned home after a brisk ride in the wind and fading sunshine :) And now moving on . . . with the other two attending a dance at a public school, G$ decided to become a party-planner once again and invite some of the guys over to play video games. He selected snacks from a photographic menu sent home by his dad, and arranged for two extra tvs, a play station?, and at least one Oculus to land in our little downstairs. 

His guest list fluctuated as various invitees decided if they could attend or not--with one's official return from vacation, another's car fixed, and one who decided video games sounded better than evening baseball practice, we ended up with six teenaged boys gaming in our basement. Also, they were almost completely silent . . . what?!! This is not what I expected! One stood quietly waving his arms around in the laundry room, Oculus glued to his face (okay, not actually glued :) Three crowded into the classroom, utilizing the space for the exact opposite of home education, ha! And the other two got the big TV and the hot mini tacos for snacks.

Another successful party for G$! He just said he wished it wouldn't have taken an hour to get everything set up. Also, our WIFI was like, "Whaaaaa???!!!" Lol :) So that's my Graysen post, pretty cool guy!