Allow Me to Share . . .

 Allow me to share a most satisfying before & after . . .

That is all.

😁

Week(s) in Review

Things have slowed down a little, I think. I guess it's been two weeks since I blogged or at least it's been two weeks since the last event I blogged? Let's see . . . Chase and Gabby came by for Sunday dinner; Buck grilled and it was yummy! 

The insurance guy came out and said our roof and gutters are "smoked" from that hailstorm last month, so we're waiting for the contractor to contact us on getting that fun scheduled. Our neighbors are getting their roofs done, one by one, so we knew it was inevitable. Interestingly, ten years ago last week was the last new roof due to hail damage. However, apparently we are nearly out of "roofing season," so we may be looking a spring re-do. Thinking about it though we probably should follow-up on that . . .

Buck had a rare weekend day off, so he joined the boys and the local newlyweds at a supercar show, which he really enjoyed! I was home sewing on baby quilts. They brought me lunch after the show :) We watched a lot of Olympics, but we were pretty worn out for the most part. When does the second wind of summer energy kick in?

BTW dogs are super helpful to the quilting process . . . said no one ever . . .

Sunday G$ was up early for tech booth at church. Brennen headed to join the newlyweds for their church, and the out-of-state newlyweds had Noah's parents in town after they helped move his little sister to college! I went to the second service, laughed with Hannah over how bad we both are at plant parenting, stopped home for a minute to grab lunch and the baby gifts, then headed to my friend's daughter's baby shower. I knew another little grandbaby was born recently, so I brought him a gift, too. They were running a bit behind schedule, so I got to see mostly family and helped a bit with the decorating, but couldn't stay too long. I had Auntie duties to attend to! :)

Mr. M planned to celebrate his birthday with buddies at a baseball game, so I got to spend the evening with baby H. She started crying as soon as I walked in the door, lol! I think she knew she was in for an evening without her mama :) For the most part, we had a great time. Crawling, walking, playing on the trampoline, and laughing at all the things. When bedtime came, we did our best to follow the routine, but the most important part of the process-her mama--was missing. So, we abandoned routine and she fell asleep in the living room in about two minutes, and then easily transferred into her crib. We had a great time, though! Sign me up for that job anytime :)

Let's see, what else? . . . I did some website testing for work, and wondered if there was a better place than the kitchen table set up and tear down each week. My friends all seem to be sending kids off to college. Laughing Brennen said, "You don't have to worry about that, Mom!" That's true, no one currently living here is heading off anytime soon :) But that's okay, there's plenty else going on in their lives to keep us on our toes. I did spend a day throwing together (as quickly as I could) a photobook from Africa. I figured it needed the least amount of zhuzhing of any in the line-up and the unlimited extra photo pages deal only lasted for one more day. I got it accomplished, but is it possible to have a shoulder injury from photobook making? Because I'm pretty sure I got one. Sheesh. Getting old is weird.

Anyway, I abandoned that project when Buck got home from his haircut, because it was puppy appointment day! Time to confirm what we believed to be true--puppies on the way next month! But, no. Somehow, Olive's behavior, Daisy's reactions to her, the extra eating, the laziness, the rotundness, etc. etc. all what we thought were sure clues to puppies . . . were not! Kinda sad. I guess we'll give her another chance at it in the winter/spring?

After the ultrasound, Buck and I stopped for a quick dinner at the restaurant Caelan and I tried right before she and Noah moved. He really liked it! Olive was very good at the eatery. She doesn't usually get to go out to eat with us, so was a little confused, but she also seemed a little bummed about the earlier news. Probably mostly because now she is no longer getting the bonus food in her dinner dish (that we both were giving her :)

It is pretty unusual for Buck to have two days off in a row, but it's inventory week, so the scheduler smushed them together. We dropped the red car off to get the air conditioner fixed (which turned out to be nearly a grand, yiiiiiiiikes!) and then Buck spent most of the morning beautifying the lawn. Also, the dogs are obsessed with the burn pile/grass clipping clumps which drives me, in particular, bonkers (but it also attracts deer--we had a big one up there that they chased off the other night, and then I could hear it stamping and snorting in the dark from not too far away--uh, yikes again!) So, Buck burnt the grass clumps, too, and then we repaired the chicken coop. We didn't realize the hail had basically bashed in the entire wire roof! Glad nothing winged (with talons) realized it either.

But I wanted to do something low key and fun with our day off (I moved my calling to the next day, so I had the day off, too). So, we decided to try to find Buck his tobacco pipe supplies at a reputable establishment (filters and mesh cages are hard to find when you don't want to go to a store that sells drugs--imagine that!) Then we went "window shopping" for couches and office furniture. The first, because we told the local newlyweds they can have our sleeper sofa if they want it for their new place this fall. The second because, well, kitchen table set up--not ideal. Buck certainly found some couch options which fit none of the parameters we were looking for other than they would be great to nap on :)

We also found a golden leopard? Because that's something everyone needs in their home, lol! Actually, our only purchase did end up being for my "office." I walked by and thought, "$129 for a lamp!!" and the gal at the desk nearby said, "Oh no, that's only $19.95" Clearly, $19.95 is a different story--especially when we're talking CHICKEN LAMP!! Buck heard me laughing across the massive store, so insisted on seeing why. Sure enough, we left with a chicken lamp for under $20 :)

There were more storms expected, so we grabbed dinner quick at the Irish place we like, shakes at Chik-fil-A, and then home. I made my calls the next day, then--with far too much help from the dogs--moved the dog accommodations out of the classroom/guestroom and the office stuff we already have (plus the 100-year-old sewing table we found in the cellar of our last house that I've tried to toss at least five times, but keep holding onto) in. It's kind of visually chaotic, but I think I can make it work :)

Daisy seems to approve :)

Weddin' Bells

I guess more accurately, Weddin' 'Lectric Guitar! Such a fun and special night for my sweet cousin, B. She's waited a long time for her Prince Charming--who knew he'd be an IT guy in a rock-n-roll band with a big smile, a good sense of humor, and heart for Jesus? Quite the package deal :) It was sweet seeing him get emotional when he made his vows. My cousin A, afterwards said he got some emotions going too, "It's L up there." I KNOW! Me too! I got some tears rolling, seeing the new Mrs. P sharing her smiles with the gathered crowd of well-wishers.

It was good catching up with my bro and mom from FL! My cousin Lin made 250 delightful cupcakes for the wedding tables--I feel like we could have easily taken home more than the two we grabbed if only properly equipped. What was I thinking? I know better. I should have brought proper cupcake transportation containment systems :)  Yes, plural.

Although the teens and twenties weren't feeling dance floor ready, I'm glad my sisters and nieces were! We had fun dancing with pockets, keeping the tired baby entertained, and taking selfies. We should have weddings more often . . . lol! :)

My grandma had two sets of Calico Critters in the metal toy drawer on her mudroom porch. They were gray mice and rabbits, I think. All I know is, they were hot commodities as kids, and we cousins KNEW if someone else had played with them by what outfits each one of them was wearing. Maybe that was just me? 

Well, the newlyweds--in their 40s--didn't really need much in the gift department, so requested none be given. I couldn't just NOT bring a gift of some sort, so my sister helped me brainstorm. She didn't put these critters on her memory list, but her her list got my wheels turning. Calico Critters aren't really sold locally in stores, so when Brennen got home from work (he has Prime), he ordered me some mice special delivery :) I found a picture of the groom's guitar online, borrowed a little tulle from Caelan's wedding leftovers, and printed off a realistic-looking ad for a frog dissection kit. The bride is a middle school science teacher who sent us plenty of dissection options during our homeschool science days.

Mrs. P opened this gift and laughed and laughed :) I'm so glad she enjoyed my personalizations and silly walk down memory lane. It was a fun little nostalgia project for my very special cousin. Cousins are just the best!! Happy wedding day to mine 😍

Photo Moment

There's just no way I can put Africa into words . . . a picture is worth a 1,000 of them anyway, right? ;)

Let's call this section: getting there. From the dozens of bags, to the emergency landing, to the 72 hours in airports (with 4 or 5 in a NYC hotel), to Brennen losing us in Kenya (not really, lol!), to finally arriving in Kigali a few days late, but at least no longer trapped in an elevator . . .

Things we did, places we went, ways we served, meals we ate . . .

Safari: all day on a bus, seeing the marvels God's creation in natural habitats, sneaking water in plastic bottles so we didn't dehydrate, hardly making a dent in our ridiculously abundant snack supply, introducing the locals to spray cheese (we're sorry Rwanda, lol :), and arriving back at the villas covered in uncountable layers of red dust.

I can't post many pictures of the kids for privacy reasons, but I plan to make a photo book--after the other five or so that I need to make. It's on the list! :) Praise God we finally got to go on this trip and that He sustained us through a very challenging adventure! We should do it again sometime💕