Might be a Record

Nothing too unique to report around here, but thought I'd check in. We're wrapping up some activities, lots of others are getting cancelled due to weather, Caelan is *frantically* accumulating drive hours for her license, and our little garden looks like it's growing (we cheated and bought already growing plants :) Our seeds and strawberries haven't popped through yet, but we're hopeful the copious amounts of rain and stray beams of sunshine will do their job. The baby chickens are still alive and increasingly hard to wrangle. Another set of neighbors is moving in a month--we're getting to be the old guys on the block!

Speaking of old guys, we had the dog's teeth cleaned for the first time ever . . . they suckered me into it with talk of extending his life and keeping his health secure for years to come :) I guess they were right. He ended up having the three bottom teeth he'd worn to nubs pulled before the skin could grow over them and cause a more expensive surgery. I can swing a hundred bucks in doggie dental care every eight years. That averages about $15/year which is far better than actually brushing his teeth (which we've never done).

Oh and Buck and I went to a marriage conference at our church last weekend (our three older kids provided childcare and enjoyed reaping the rewards in the form of a check :). Buck and I went on a post-conference date. Our first destination was a newish home goods store that was having a sale on pots. Buck gave me two plants for Mother's Day, and they were not looking cute in their black plastic greenhouse containers. Buy one get one 50 percent off is my jam! We ended up getting cute antiquey-looking pottery ones with our initials on them. Awww! And my favorite find, a happy wooden clearance whale that conveniently holds all of Buck's shaving accoutrements (it is supposed to hold candles, I think). It makes me smile, too! Whales are so cute!

Mother's Day

I'm glad Mother's Day is on Sunday. At church there are friends to greet and mothering skills to admire among my friends and family. There are neighbors out in the cul-de-sac, and opportunities to rest in the house. I tried to read a book, but couldn't keep my eyes open. I couldn't take a nap, because I'm weird about having all the kids accounted for while I'm sleeping. Normally, they watch movies or read a book or something if I need to nap, but on Mother's Day, our retired neighbor needed Brennen's help with some lawn and garden projects. All told--he was there nearly five hours!! This cuts into a mom's nap time ;) However, it increases her ability to have a solid night's sleep, which I did . . . despite eating about a million of the chocolate-covered raspberries that Gabby hand-made me for Mother's Day (yum!!)



Buck worked, so after church, we let out the chickens, gave the baby chicks a chance to semi-free range in the freshly-tilled, enclosed garden, and Graysen did the next round of planting. We've decided that the majority of our leftover seeds from last year are going into this wide-open "chicken garden." If it grows, great! If we get to eat any of it, super! If the chickens get it all, oh well :) Less stress this summer. I think G$ planted corn, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkins, and a variety of lettuce--not properly, but hey, the seeds are in the ground, and that's good enough for me in the chicken garden :) The chickens also made sure that some of his efforts were immediately uncovered and devoured, but that's just how chickens roll.






In the midst of this relaxing, I could see B across the fences mowing the steepest corner of the neighbors' lawn. We wouldn't let him do it last year when they asked, but this year he's taller and stronger and can handle the dramatically-angled mowing situation.


Also, the girls came up to help me watch the chickens and to work on my selfie game. Buck knew we planned to be outside, so when he said good-bye at church he also said, "Wear your hat." So I did :) And the girls showed me on the phone where there are all these selfie settings to make your eyes big and your face thin and to correct distortions?! Oh give me strength. Then it's not a selfie at all, it's a somebody-elsie! I did like the skin tone correct (which I think the does automatically, anyway) and the spotlight, because often the lighting is terrible in selfie situations. Anyway, here are some of the results (lol!!)




It was a very low-key, relaxing day. I enjoyed my card from G$, my candle from B, my kitchen utensils from C, and my plants from Buck. I pretty much avoided all responsibility (well, I tried :) and did my best to enjoy the day. There was sunshine and rain, busy kids in the neighborhood and everyone landing back in the nest. Graysen says my last selfie is scary, lol!!

Choir Time

Choir should have some sort of acronym . . . children hoping oratory interactions recur? Basically our kids love to hang out and TALK with their friends! That music is involved is a plus :) 

Friday, they had their final rehearsal of the semester and it took forever! But, that's okay. They got to bring two friends home with them, and that was like the best thing ever :) 

Later, my new good friend collected all her kids from the various homes that, like us, took them home after choir (she is a photographer and set up a bunch of baby/spring animal photo shoots, not realizing her kids would have choir practice the same day as their final concert). 

Ultimately this worked out great, because I'd already thrown a huge hunk of beef in the crockpot, so I just invited them all to join us for dinner. I don't know how they would have made it home (in a neighboring state), had time to eat, and to change and get back to the church before the concert started. It turned into a little party instead. 

We even got to benefit from her photography skills for pre-concert pics by our neighbor's fence (I knew all Gabby's test shots would come in handy one day!)

The concert took place at the same church we attend and where choir rehearsals happen. It was PACKED! We weren't sure if we'd find parking, much less seats! Graysen and I dropped the treats the girls had made off at the snack tables and the older three went to take pictures with their friends. So many pictures (yay!)

For the first time, the attire was required to be long black dresses for the ladies, white shirts, black pants and ties for the guys. They looked very elegant for their performances. Caelan finally got to wear the dress she dyed, and Gabby wore my dress from 20 years ago :) Brennen wore his dad's tie. They looked good and sounded even better! It's amazing the amount of volume 70 kids can produce in song! Caelan had a solo at the beginning of the girls' ensemble. They chose not to do special music this time around, which was fine, because several other students did. All-in-all, I'd say it was a very impressive and special night for local homeschool families and friends. Buck was in tears, like the WHOLE time (even when our pastor's daughter did HER solo :) It's just so sweet how well-loved these kids are, and talented, and excited to share their skills and gifts with others.

Chicken Introduction Day

I know, I know. I get excited about quite unusual things. But I LOVE chicken introduction day! All the baby chickens get to run around free in the enclosed garden. They are still easy to catch and hold because they are not used to being caught or held so have not yet learned evasive maneuvers :) The Barred Rock babies are like stuffed animals, their feathers are SO soft! Caelan helped me get all their wings clipped--it took like five minutes, compared to last year's hours of research and then careful process, plus lengthy documentation. These babies' feathers are so pretty it was sad to cut them, but it sure didn't take long :)



It was a full-on working outside day! I had a long list of things for us to accomplish and I bet we got 80 percent of them done. Obviously *chickens* was big on the list, the coop got cleaned, the older chickens only pecked a handful of beaksful of the babies' feathers (bad chickens!!). 

Buck borrowed our neighbor's tiller and got the gardens turned up. Graysen and I secured five bags of cow poo to work into the enclosed gardens. We relocated the parsley (which regrew itself) and the chives (which have been relocated from maga's house, the pot we brought them home in, the garden boxes, our enclosed garden, a part to our neighbors' garden, and then to a different box garden this day). He and I also bought 40 strawberry sets, and with Caelan's help (after we weeded) we planted all these. They were on sale, hopefully they grow! We planted another asparagus cluster, too. Last year's never made an appearance, although we have quite a few leftover onions that are already a foot high!




So many chickens! Fourteen (currently :)



The boys mowed, Buck ran the (smoking) weed eater until the thread ran out. He tried to fix his chainsaw, but it is going to require professional help. We spruced this place up, let me tell you!!



And then we watched the second Lego movie on Redbox, because we're too cheap to go to the theater. And I'm glad. Did not like this sequel much. But, I got a hefty round of grading and paper filing done, during the colorful, animated, extravaganza of eh . . . Gabby and Brennen are done with English, Caelan and Gabby are done with Government and Econ, Gabby is also done with Geometry, and the other subjects are wrapping up quickly (well, except Spanish and Biology those are gonna take a while :) The school year is wrapping up! Yay for spring things :)



And randomly . . . I noticed while we were parked at church, the "new" van reached a mileage milestone (aren't you glad you read the blog and these are the images and tidbits of information that fill your free time, ha! :)

Worship Time

Each week, the kids try new things . . . maybe a ukulele, maybe a drum, guitar or piano. This week, Gabby did harmonization with a microphone! 



Also, this is a sound board. Sometimes they ask me to increase their specific instrument or mic volume. I am not good at this, so I took a picture of where everything is supposed to be, so that I can SEEM good at this :) I'm a band mom. That's how I roll.

One More Birthday

Our dog loves birthdays more than the kids do, I think! He is fascinated with gift opening and cries if he's sent downstairs while others are opening them (which he usually is, because he drives us bonkers getting in the middle of everything :) Well, on his birthday, I had Buck bring home a bundle of dog toys just for Chauncey (they were on coupon). In general, Chauncey doesn't play or notice toys, so we really don't buy him any. Treats he swallows whole. But, for $8 . . . which also happens to be his current age . . . he got to be part of gift opening for himself :) Happy dog, happy birthday!









Although I think his favorite gift was when we came back from our three-hour drive minus the fluffy one :) BTW, we found out Linus is being adopted by a teacher from the Dakotas who plans to make him an edu-pup in her classroom! He's great with kids, so this will be a good fit :)





And because Chauncey's birthday happened to fall on a day we could mostly rest at home, the kids were finally able to watch the Mary Poppins returns movie that Caelan found in her Easter package a couple weeks ago. They know all the songs thanks to Spotify, so it was quite the sing-a-long, which continued after the movie! They all trooped out onto the back hill and played on the swingset while singing about leerys (leeries?) and lost things and such. Sweet moments in the sunset, makes a mom and dad (I texted him pictures) feel all tenderhearted and such.

Prom

And so we arrive at the arrival of Caelan's prom date, Mr. H. It's funny because at karate, the black belts refer to each other by Mr. or Miss or Mrs. plus last name. When Mr. H appeared at our door, he looked very dapper. B was impressed with his vest and bow tie, which matched Caelan's dress. Mr. H came up the stairs and complemented the boys on their testing just an hour before. Graysen said, "Thank you, Sir!" As his instructor, he also calls him "sir" by instinct. I thought it was great!

When Mr. H's parents arrived after him, he was eager to greet them. I said, "Go ahead and welcome them in, just pretend you live here." His mom laughed as he opened the door and  he said, "They told me I could let you in!" Then he did a sweeping gesture with his arm and said, "Approach the stairs of destiny." I'm not sure if the goofy mood is his personality or the fact that he had been helping with testing (including being the self defense dummy for the Krav guys) since 10 o'clock that morning! His mom and dad were just laughing.

They are very nice people, we talked easily together. We both tried to take pictures of Caelan and Nick trying to figure out the flowers, and kept getting in each others' way. Mr. H Sr. said, "Suzy, get out of the picture." I said, "Oh, no, you're fine!!! Graysen . . . get out of the picture!!" Ha!













While our neighbors peered over fences and through windows (and texts rolled in about how pretty and happy Caelan looked), I led the parade to my first picture destination--the one blooming lilac :)



I also thought it would be fun to do a sparring gloves picture, since that is a bit more typical of how these two spend time together. Along with Gabby, they have a great time working together at the karate school.



You'll see from the pictures below the problem with my test photo lighting and background schemes . . . Gabby fit the picture perfectly, Mr. H is a whole lot taller! Ha! I though the fence would be a great place, until I saw the sun shining through on his face, making odd shadows. Didn't have that problem with Gabby's nice photos ;)




















So . . .

So we decided at the last minute (and it really was because
they had 10 minutes to get to their dinner reservation) to go find the pretty trees blooming everywhere but in our yard. Just down the street there is a church whose parking lot is lined with them! I tried calling earlier to get permission, but the offices were closed on Saturday. Surely they wouldn't mind :) I am happy we took the extra time to do an on-location shot, these trees to me are just so memorable! The one time of beauty in this otherwise industrial, railroad town.








Mr. H was quite the gentleman, helping Caelan into the car, opening and closing the door for her. It was all very sweet :) I stayed and chatted with Nick's parents for awhile in the parking lot, and got his mom's number. They volunteered to chaperone after-prom, so it was nice to have another contact there if needed. But, it's not like I needed it . . . not only did Caelan text me every time they arrived at a new location, but so did Nick! It was great to be well informed (and I tracked them on google maps, too :) 

Caelan said she enjoyed her lasagna dinner, and that they were the first to arrive at the dance. She liked seeing all the girls follow in their fancy dresses. As it turned out, she was the only one with a short dress (and here she'd had her heart set on a long one :) She said Nick didn't know how to slow dance, so she was able to teach him what she'd learned with Brennen earlier in the day. And there was only one slow song the entire night, so not too much practice was needed. She thought there were about 50 people at the dance, it was decorated with flowers and gold accents. There was a dj and some snacks and a photo booth. She said the photo booth guy was on his phone the whole time, so she helped the others figure out how to take pictures and print extras (well, the photo booth guy might have added some input for the extras).

She met lots of Nick's friends, including the German foreign exchange student who could not wait to meet her! She said this girl ran up and gave her a huge hug :) Must have been the DNA talking, since Buck's family has German heritage. By all accounts, she had a wonderful time at prom! 




Caelan said the after-prom was even better . . . there were trampolines, and dodge ball, and foam pit battles, and virtual reality opportunities to walk the plank from 80 stories up! She likely would have stayed until the 2:30 a.m. end time, but Buck and I could not keep our eyes open. I actually fell asleep at midnight, and set an alarm for 12:45 to go get her at one. Buck ended up insisting on doing the pick up, which I was grateful for :) We're too old for this staying out all night stuff ;) 

Our original plan included church at 8 a.m., then nursery service at 9:30 . . . but we decided we needed a bit of sleep, so we did do nursery and all the classes the kids are in (Gabby was lead teacher to a zoo of children, and Buck and I had a dozen babies, who seemed to cry in a domino effect pattern!). Buck left for work, and the rest of us stayed for the late service. Prom on Saturday, church on Sunday morning. It was a tradition when I was in school; I'm glad to see it last to another generation :)