More Important Moments

As the time neared for Brennen to start his northern adventure, we looked for a time we could all share a meal together--and celebrate Buck's birthday, too. Brennen said he and Gabby had just been talking about cinnamon roll pancakes, and that got them thinking about how long it had been since they'd eaten cinnamon roll pancakes, and that got them hungry for cinnamon roll pancakes, so when Buck asked what Brennen wanted to eat at his going away party, he immediately said, "Cinnamon roll pancakes!" So that's what he got :)

And while we were gathered together, even though it was a wee bit early, we also celebrated Buck's birthday with gifts, song, and lemon cake :) He was very excited about the Grandpa Vouchers that allow him to hold his granddaughter regardless of who got her in their arms first. He redeems these with her mama and they seem to be unlimited in the time category--so I told Gabby that she better plan on packing a bag and spending the night until his vouchers run out :) It is a sweet and fun gift!

I gave him a pipe carving kit, since he said his is beginning to wear out. I could not figure out how to order this gift, and it ended up that Caelan ordered it and shipped it to our house. He accidentally opened it, but didn't see what exactly it was until he intentionally opened it on his pre-birthday :)

Brennen found him canned oxygen, which he requested for his upcoming hike and our babyweds added a gift card, which he promptly utilized on his actual birthday . . . to be continued!

So, let's see . . . this was a date day that kind of evolved after a morning of doing lots of house projects. We stopped for lunch and their special appetizer was a charcuterie board . . . it was more like a plank! I've never seen so much appetizer! Even the waitress said, "There's only two of them--they are going to cancel their meal order, how can they eat all this?!" She said it is normally prepared on a much smaller board, so Idk why we got the bonus meat and cheese tray, lol :) We did discover my friend S's son, who went to Rwanda with us last summer, at the host position. So perhaps he put in a good word after seeing how much we enjoyed meals in Africa. We had to bring this mostly home in a box, so at least it provided a couple of meals for us. And yes, it was quite tasty!

After lunch, I think it was after, no, it was before! These are out of order. I guess that was supper, not lunch. All the daylight is confusing my timeline :) Anyway--several kids we know, including (we didn't know until the night before) our NGF's ever-since-she-was-little-this-girl-was-ready-for-the-stage daughter, were in a production of Joseph. And they did a fabulous job! They were "all in" for the songs, the dances, the music, the set and costume changes . . . it was a really, really fun show!

After the . . . dinner, yes, we stopped in at a thrift shop to see if we could find anything for Gabby's baby shower decor--we did, and the lady was like, "Whoa, how about $9.99 for all of this?" We said, "You bet!" Excellent deal, indeed. Then we went to the hardware store and got . . . paint and  . . . oh, the green stuff for under the deck, new chicken nesting boxes, and  . . . well, you probably aren't interested in our entire shopping list. We also went to the farm store to get coop and chicken supplies and NOT BABY CHICKS (but, oh how hard it was to resist! There were MANY kinds that I've wanted for the longest time!) But let's get out of the parenthesis and be reasonable--we've got a baker's dozen chickens right now, and I washed three dozen eggs just today, then went up and collected a half dozen more. Our youngest chickens are four years old, so they still have some egg years ahead of them. All of this practicalness, plus the recognition that we have a lot of coop work immediately ahead, got me out of the building with my very persuasive husband (that's how we got the additions we WERE NOT getting four years ago :) and no little fluffy, chirpy friends. Whew. But awwwwww . . .

On Buck's actual birthday, he decided he wanted to go out for dinner after all, so I suggested a few new-to-us places as he prepared to get off of work early. He chose BBQ and we ended up at this odd little food truck in a brick-and-mortar restaurant that shared space with an establishment that didn't serve food, just drinks. A mutually beneficial partnership, I guess! They put a candle in his cornbread muffin.

After our dinner, we went to spend Buck's birthday gift cards from his mom and the babyweds at a sporting goods store. He found just what he was looking for--salmon eggs painted pink, a waterproof sack for his sleeping bag, first aid additions, all the things! His total came out to $12, so I'd say he got a great deal on his upcoming adventure gear :)

We stopped by the local ice cream spot on the way home, as we hadn't since it opened a couple months ago. Daisy finished off Buck's birthday evening with cuddles--she misses her mom and loves Buck the mostest (well, when Caelan and Sarah aren't here ;)

Let's see . . . Olive headed west to begin her puppy countdown (which is why Daisy missed her in the above photo). They did an x-ray at the vet clinic and discovered five puppies, which is very exciting! Hopes were high that she might go into labor early, but they decided a c-section would be the best route, so that is happening tomorrow. I'll post puppy pics when I have them :)

Olive was very cuddly before she left and let me feel the puppies moving around and stretching in her tummy. Crazy experience, to feel that. This is her last litter, so my last chance. I'll be glad when she's just ours, but she does produce some pretty cute little fluffy creatures! Granted we did try to give Daisy away to both the schoolyweds and the "pretending to elope" duo. I told them their gift was ready when they returned, lol :) Crazy, Daisy.

Speaking of that cute duo . . . Brennen asked if he and Sarah could come to our house and spend the day before he left for his summer job. Of course! He helped me with a few projects, like measuring for wallpaper and attaching the steps to the double bunk. Sarah was not feeling well, but was as sweet as ever. She decided to go to a walk-in clinic after dropping Brennen off for a haircut. He came home with a fresh look, she came home with a sinus and ear infection + antibiotics. Still smiling :)

Buck grilled the wagyu burger meat he'd purchased earlier in the week--tasty! Sarah took a nap and then took one to go. But before she rested, she helped me help Caelan decide on colors for an upcoming yarn project she's planning. I'm excited to see the end result! And super thankful that Brennen and his sweetie spent the day with us (and returned the truck). We already miss him, as I'm sure Sarah does, too. Lots of prayers for our guy in the north!

Projects

Oh, how the projects stack up! Winter was rough on our wooden structures this year. Buck decided he'd need to take a chunk of time off of work to work on getting lots of things shored up around here, and that's what's happening this week (despite the storms). 

He's already fixed the chicken coop doors (they were sagging and the locking mechanisms were not working great), knocked the hay bin corner back together (the wasps loved this gap), and restructured the caving-in wall of the egress window (and discovered our classroom window toad is still in residence!).

You may recall that several years ago we replaced all the deck parts EXCEPT the support system. Buck noticed the deck had gained quite a slant as the posts and crossbeams rotted away below. Maybe you can tell from the roof picture of the backyard? The railings were pulling apart, the stairs were shaky, and the cute toppers crumbling apart . . . okay, the last one still needs some work AND we need to buy paint AGAIN! Every other year . . . oof. 

But it was great that Chase had the day off and he was happy to help. G$ ended up getting off work at 11 a.m. which hasn't happened in months! So the two bro-in-laws were a huge part of getting the deck shored up, and Buck enjoyed their company :) Buck said Chase gets special props for crawling under the lowest part of the deck to reattach the hardest part of the job. Good job, Chase!

I've lost track of the timeline, but Buck continued projects on the regular during his days off. Not exactly a vacation, a workcation? I helped him some with the coop. The roof was caving in from all the heavy snow in the past few years. We added a lot to the support system, swapped the rotted spindles, replaced a perching pallet, leveled out the ground some, cleaned out the food bins . . . there is still much to do to finish up, but it was a really good start!

We also pulled the old planter boxes that grew nothing but weeds--it will make lawncare much easier this year! (Our new neighbors added a similar system right before we took ours out; I hope they have more success than we did!)

Below is the final step in keeping the dogs from under the deck. Buck bought a bunch of trellis with Brennen and Sarah, but when he got the deck pulled apart, realized the green stuff already underneath still worked for 75% of the keepy-outty. We just needed to buy another roll to finish off the 4th side. Thus, we shall return the trellis and reclaim our lost fortune! :)

We've got a squad of new neighbor kids who play often on our back hill. I saw them headed into the treehouse and told them it wasn't safe to be in there, so to please stay out (not due to structure, but to possible unregistered guests at our unofficial airnb--pool still not finished, it's a process ;) Buck was determined to pull the whole thing down and it took a whole lot of work. Brennen helped some, G$ helped some, and eventually . . . Buck pulled it down with his bare hands! I'm a bit sad to see it go. There were some great memories built up there for the guys. G$ did an awesome job dreaming it up and making it happen. The wood will be repurposed for our chicken coop/run and the one Chase and Gabby have started at the farm.

As Brennen has slowly moved his things to his new apartment (and then into storage at his new apartment since he's now at a newer apartment up north for the summer), we've shifted furniture pieces around in the other rooms. It took all four guys--Buck, Brennen, Graysen, and Chase--to carry the staircase/drawers up the other stairs and down the hall to be resecured to the bunk bed--a reset to 12 years ago!

That opened up space to move the treadmill so it looks out a window and not at the wall; this will be a much better exercise experience. And I shifted my desk over, too, so I can look out the window, but also out the door behind me. This will make enough space for the queen air mattress, when needed, too. I got a crazy idea to browse wallpaper for the back wall--Brennen helped me measure and I got it ordered off of the 'zon. I think Caelan is going to help me put it up when she's back in two weeks! Woot!

In the meantime, there's a lot of little holes to fill and sand and fill again and paint (I'm going to have to get creative, since I don't have the lilac color--it came with the house). 

Another big project was shoring up the structure of the armoire and restoring it to the "tall" way. It's been on its side as a TV stand/dresser drawer for Brennen. I'm not sure it will stay in his room, but for now I'm stocking it full of baby shower gear :)

Taa-daaa! Reunited :) Gosh, we've done a LOT of work around here and there's still much more to be done. But, that's homeownership, so we shall continue on!