It's Been . . . Two Weeks Since I Blogged With You

I'm so songy lately, must be echoes of choir ;) It's been two weeks of . . . so many things . . . I'll try to go in sections, like when homeschoolers do unit studies (which we never did). Let's start with . . .

--Family! As the winter months kept us mostly in hermit mode, we really didn't get many opportunities to see my brother's family. Then--boom--it's spring and we bump into each other four times a week! Well, at least these two weeks it works out that way :) I'll say the kickoff was when I agreed to sub in the nursery. It worked out that that morning's volunteer could cover for me in June. It worked out even better that it was Baby H's first ever time in the church nursery! Her momma said she got a little teary-eyed walking away, knowing that H was getting to spend that time with her aunty. I loved having her in the room with all the other babies!! She loved the sparkly purple dress and rhinestone-decked Sketchers of another little girl :) It was a good morning!

Just a couple of days later, Buck joined me for Mr. M's spring concert. It was delayed a week due to heavy storms in the area when we arrived home from Utah. This timing worked out in our favor, and in his Grandma C's favor, because she (and we) got to see both the concert and the next day's first baseball game of the season!

Caelan and Noah joined us for that adventure, too! And we brought Daisy Baby, because to her, they are boss. And that is awesome. Daisy listens very well to Caelan, and being out in public in her vest (Rabbitgoo, not service :) makes every future attempt by us, easier. I like that :) A little five-year-old girl adopted Caelan and Daisy as her new BFFs and was arranging Caelan's hair before the live pitch game was complete. Mr. M played catcher (it runs in the family :), so when he got his at-bat as last in the line-up, he got to run all the bases home. Who wouldn't want to be the grand slam king of little league?!

Meanwhile, graduations and graduation parties are in full swing! I think we've gotten 12 invitations to celebrate this year's graduates. We started with our pastor's son, C's. Caelan and I went together, and it was an intense social experience. I forget what it's like to know everyone in a room and to have conversations with allllll of them, lol! We were both socially fatigued a bit after that one, but glad we went. I don't have any pictures, but I DO have pictures of the remote graduation ceremony (well, I was the remote one :) of my super awesome, super smart, super God-loving nephew, C! I remember watching him and Caelan run around in my mom's basement, when I was his two-year-old self's childcare provider. Fast forward nearly two decades, and he led both our boys on their first mission trip. What a cool cousin for them to have! While we didn't get to the ceremony in person, the wonders of technology helped us tune in to see the big moment!

After that, I headed to celebrate one of the kids' friends' graduation party at our church. This young lady was part of my Bible study small group, and we've watched her grow up over the past half decade--pumpkin parties, dances, youth activities; our kids were on several of her memory posterboards :) To my surprise, Gabby arrived from out-of-town, where she and Caelan helped set up Noah's youngest sister's graduation party! We ended up talking for quite a long time, then she stopped by the house to grab some eggs--we always have eggs (well, during this time of year we always have eggs :)

While all that was happening, Buck and the boys were out golfing . . . with cows! They spent their late morning sinking balls into nine holes of countryside course. They refueled at Panda Express, and then did some shopping for my special Sunday gifts.

Later that evening, as a pre-Mother's Day treat, I got to attend the ballet with my sister-in-law and her mom. We met to ride over together, enjoyed a nice meal in a very quaint, quiet hotel restaurant near the theater, and then off to the show! It really was so nice to share prayer, conversation, the comedy of the stepsisters (I didn't even know ballet could be funny!), the beauty of the dancers with curtains of snowflakes and glitter twirling all around them, the costumes, the music--a really special girls' night out!

And that brings us to Mother's Day! In the morning, G$ got up to go to church with me--early service, too, because Baby H was dedicated at first church. The same pastor who married Caeloah spoke all the Scripture and prayers over the princess-pink baby. Big brother, Mr. M got fully kicked in the face by a flailing baby leg during one parent transfer, and he just grinned and went with it. Such a good guy!

After church, G$ and I returned home (I forgot my van was sporting the gas light) and bumped into Brennen. I worked on my stack of graduation gifts and cards, until G$ said, "Well, we should probably go, the reservation is at 12:15." Oh! Okay! We stopped for gas, because we had to, but still made it to the restaurant for brunch with plenty of time to spare. Chase and Gabby arrived from their church, confirmed the reservation Chase had made (awww), and then we stood in the sunshine and visited--until it got too hot in the sunshine and the boys found shade instead :) Not too much later, we enjoyed a super yummy breakfast at the restaurant where apparently all four of them have "usual" orders, so I was the only one studying the menu, ha! It was a fun meal, captured in part by the daily BeReal :)

 

My neighbor let me borrow his mini chainsaw last year while I was trimming our Weeping Mulberry tree--I've wanted one ever since! So, yes, I got power tools for Mother's Day, lol! And a pretty crocheted bag that Caelan made, a cool book emblem maker with my name on it from Gabby, and a plant to fill the empty space in front of our slowly regrowing front bush from Graysen--which even *came with* former plant stump removal and new plant placement :)

--Daisy! This is actually a fairly full category. Daisy (formerly known as Fern) and Piper (which isn't still her name) didn't pass their hip test at a high enough score to become service dogs. We've always been a little attached to Daisy, as you might have gathered from previous blog posts. Caelan has, but I've not, seen Piper since her testing last fall. We found out they were both up for adoption, and Buck said absolutely, "Yes!" to Daisy. And then he said, "Well, unless she is crazy expensive." Well, she is crazy expensive, and we decided to not to. But weeks went by and no one else stepped in. We decided that ultimately, her costs go to help continue the service dog training program--it's not lining anyone's pocket. It covers her training, her recent surgery, her challenging arrival into the world, etc. etc. Olive loved having Daisy over to play, and would always look for her whenever a car showed up (or a car showed up with Caelan and the wrong dog, lol). We figured she'd enjoy having a buddy to play with and work out some energy, and as odd as it sounds, in reality, we've mostly always had two dogs in recent years. So, when the organization said they would take payments, we switched the answer back to, "Yes!" 

One of the trainers kept Daisy for us a little longer while she healed up from surgery and we went on our planned spring break trip. Olive was delighted to see us when we showed up at the center to get her post-Utah, and Daisy went into her happy whimper as soon as she realized it was us. She continues the happy whimper every morning when we are reunited (I bought her a kennel, because she actually loves it, and spends part of her day in it with the door open--Olive even pops in for a nap from time to time!)

Caelan came over the day after we returned to gather her luggage, wash laundry, help plan Brennen's grad party, and to start training Daisy on the buried fence. We jimmy-rigged Muriel's old collar (which was too small for Daisy's neck) and gave on-leash perimeter testing a try. It turns out, Daisy is really good at staying in the boundaries--when she's not running at an all out sprint. She's been retrieved by Graysen (he picked her up and carried her home from well down the street after chasing her--good thing he's got long legs!) and by Caelan (when Daisy ran next door to meet the neighbor dog without permission). As long as Olive is with her, she tends to stay in the boundaries--they dash in circles and up and down the hill and come in panting (sometimes with logs from the fire pit, but those are not allowed in the house).

All that to say, I forced myself into a marathon day to go get new collars at the fence place (Olive's was nearly worn through from holes Buck burned in it for Chauncey to make the old collar fit the zapper in it) and to turn Daisy's zap up a notch. I also went to Trader Joes to buy graduation gifts, Hobby Lobby to get cards and shop graduation party ideas, PetSmart to get Daisy a collar tag, the farm store to get chicken food, and grocery store to get human food! It was a loooooong day.

Buck and Daisy are still best buddies. He cannot lay down for a nap without her trying to climb up for cuddles (just like when she was a younger puppy)--he pretty much hugs her and says, "No, off!" Which she hears as "No off " :) and that's really what Buck means too, lol! Especially when it thunders outside, he has to make sure baby Daisy feels safe inside.

We took both doggos for a walk together, and it mostly went well! They certainly returned tired from their trek--and as we hear often, "a tired dog is a good dog." :)

--Concert! A friend from our former home town moved to a little town about 40 minutes north of here. Every once in awhile the boys bump into him at school events or the girls and I bump into his mom at work events or local shopping outings. We planned to attend his graduation party when the boys returned from work one recent evening, but they discovered it was their other buddy's final homeschool concert and decided to make that their special event of choice. I stayed home to work on all the things, but later saw they'd been invited up on stage for the final song . . . Brennen, Graysen, Chase, and Gabby are all on the far left in the photo, along with another friend whose wedding is fast approaching. Wow, so grown! And also the choir is huge, lol!

--Disaster Relief . . . you likely recall me mentioning the tornadoes that came through our area while we were in Utah, well, another came through after we returned. The organization, Samaritan's Purse, connected with Billy Graham, is an organization I've followed for many, many years. I read their newsletters and see the photos of the volunteers in their bright orange shirts, bringing hope, a helping hand (or dozen), and a listening ear to individuals and families affected by some unexpected turmoil in their world. I've wanted to be part of the ministry and to see it in action for many years, too, but not all of our Crew met the age requirements until fairly recently. I never expected to volunteer so close to home, but Buck and I wanted to help where our friends' church was destroyed. We were very impressed with the organization's compassion and work ethic. We even got to be part of signing the Bible given to one of the homeowners we helped--for just a couple of hours. It's very sad to see what the tornadoes did, in person. It's really unfathomable that much destruction can happen so quickly and completely. Keep praying for the families who have a long ways to go to regain a sense of normalcy.

That day also happened to be Buck's little sister, Z's, birthday day. We kept our hands and minds busy, helping at the two work sites, then we came home and baked a special lemon cake (which Z loved) and celebrated her in our own small way. Miss and love that girl!!

Speaking of birthdays, both girls brought Buck gifts and dropped them on the table for him to find. Gabby's was pretty funny, can you guess the theme?

He enjoyed Caelan and Noah's gift, which was inspired by a podcast that Chase enjoys (an ecstatic Chase got the same birthday present :) We sure had some unique gifts exchanged this year!

Let's see, I guess other big news is that I accepted a job! My brother's company hired me and I've spent a whole lotta time filling out paperwork. I haven't had a "real" job in . . . well, IDK. I have almost always worked for non-profits or as an independent contractor. This should be interesting! Also, my brother is my orientation leader :)

The boys are making progress towards finishing school! The skies opened and poured down a steady 18 hours of rain, which canceled both of their outdoor jobs. Three of their friends were in Colorado getting tattoos and camping in an airb&b (?), which meant our boys didn't really have anyplace to hang out while their indoor working friends were, well, working! And so, I checked with Buck and he agreed: if the boys could knock out a significant amount of their final chapters in science and math, we would spring for JJs sandwiches for a late lunch. It worked! And they worked, too . . . lots of tests taken, and we're officially a few steps closer to summer :)

And a few steps closer to Africa--our most recent Zoom meeting really seemed to lock some things in; planning, fundraising, and details seem to be falling into place. Pretty exciting!