Heirs of the Magi News Flash!

***Heirs of the Magi News Flash!*** Winter has, for the most part, been mild so far - or awesome for the month that Cassie and Michael spent in summertime-Australia! They are home now and will be working from home for most of the time until Easter. The hometown work will include getting ready for their next trip, but there will be a lot of fun to get in on and share with their favorite people - including their March Break trip to Florida adventure. All of your favorite Magi Masters will continue to work and play while their future plans unfold; so... ...Visit Witch Falls often to keep up with all of their latest stories; and Happy Reading!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Cassie's Journal - August 31, 2013



Congratulations, Heather and Adam Green!

They won’t know why they should – and will – be celebrating yet; but Mom and I bumped into Heather today; and there is going to be a new addition to the Green family next spring.

We – Landry’s Leopards – won our division Championship today too; but new babies deserve top billing in my updates.  Before I end up mixing the events of the day around; let’s just start from the beginning.

Tai Chi by the river was a nice, quiet way to begin the day, and I liked having Michael with us for breakfast before he needed to go home again and get started on his to-do list.  While I’d finished most of my chores, there was still other work to do around the house and yard; and I helped Mom and Dad with all of that until it was time for me to grab a shower, meet up with Rowen, and get to the park for our team warm-ups ahead of our big game.

Palmer’s Panthers were the home team, so they had that advantage; but there wasn’t any doubt as to which team had the best cheerleading squad – thanks to my aunts, sister, and cousins.  Aunt Leanne wasn’t doing much jumping around in the heat, but Aunt Grace had some help with junior cheerleader support; and even Rowen’s Mom joined in for a while when she stopped in to catch the last half of the game while taking a late lunch so she could do that before getting back to the busy store.

Other than having a pair of very fired up leaders, there isn’t anything special to report from the warm-ups.  The action on the field warmed up fast; and my hit helped Carolyn with half of the two RBI’s she earned for our team with her first-pitch double – though those were the only runs we scored in the top of the first.  We were happy with that until the Panthers scored three in their half of the inning; and then we knew that they’d come to play to win too.  We took the lead back in the second; held it until the bottom of the fourth; and earned it back to keep in the top of the sixth after tying the Panthers in the fifth, before they took the lead again in their half of that inning.  Our two-run lead didn’t look all that safe when the Panthers started their last at-bat; but Rowen caught a pop fly for the first out; we gave up two base hits; and then I helped turn a double play on a bouncing line drive that shocked all of us a bit with how suddenly that play ended the game.  Final score:  seventeen to fifteen!

Rowen and I did and didn’t have time to celebrate our championship game with.  We did the team meet-and-greet with the Panthers; and I spent some time consoling our disappointed friends – and getting razzed a bit about being too responsible for their loss.  We stayed for the on-field celebration with our team, and had time to thank our cheerleaders and families; but then we grabbed drinks and snacks from Mom’s dwindling supply and hurried over to the other ball diamond in time for the start of the Wranglers-Ranchers game.  We didn’t have a cheerleading squad with us because my sister and cousins had had enough of baseball and hot for a while by then; but Rowen and I did our best to motivate Michael and Tim – starting with good luck hugs and kisses before the game.

Yes, Rowen was in on those hugs and kisses; though she only went with kisses on the cheek for both boys after following my lead.  She and Tim both teased Michael and me about why Michael’s good luck kiss from me was so much more personal than the kiss I’d given to Tim; but then we’d also earned some whistles and teasing from the players on both teams and a handful of spectators too.  I can live with all of that because Michael and Tim were happy to have us there; and they were definitely fired up and ready to play too.  Missing our own team celebration was worth that; and the Wranglers and Ranchers played a pretty good game too.

Our cheerleading was a bit muted at first as Rowen and I rested up a bit after our game, but we were still up and cheering for the Wranglers with every big play.  They were the home team, so being able to take that break was an option for us during a fairly quiet first inning.  The Ranchers only managed to score one run in the top of the inning; and the Wranglers could only manage to match them during their first at-bat.  I don’t know if having Rebecca join Rowen and me for a while helped our team or not; but they were ahead five-to-three by the end of the third inning when Rebecca went back to the Inn to help with the dinner rush.

Rowen and I were on our own until the top of the fifth inning; when Dad dropped Ehlana and Ethan off with us so they could catch the end of the game while he and Mom went to help out with the pre-dinner work for the family barbeque.  The Wranglers had added three more runs in the fourth; and were temporarily ahead by three runs until the Ranchers pulled to within one run during their half of the fifth.  Having Ehlana run over and give him a big hug and kiss when the Wranglers were getting ready for their turn at bat definitely helped Michael get fired up again – proven by the double he belted deep into right field when it was his turn at bat – earning an RBI; and then scoring from third on a base hit after being advanced by a sacrifice out.  The Wranglers scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth; and the game ended when the Ranchers could only manage one more run in the top of the sixth.  Final score:  eleven-to-eight for the Wranglers.

In addition to Michael’s contributions to the team score in the bottom of the fifth, he had a total of three hits; and played some role in four of the runs scored.  He also was in on the defensive plays for five of the outs they earned against the Ranchers.  Tim’s game stats were fairly similar, though he was in on one more earned run; and one less defensive out.

Rowen and I waited with our junior cheerleaders while Michael and Tim did the usual post-game, on-field celebration; and then we were able to spend a few minutes with them before they needed to go with their team; and we needed to get to the family barbeque.  That was a too-short little blast of fun; but I still loved getting to share even that little bit of time with Michael before we’d be apart for the rest of the day.

We were the last members of the family to get to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house for dinner; partly because we made stops at my house and Rowen’s on our way there.  Dinner was basically ready by then, but she and I hopped into the river to cool off and get rid of the worst of the baseball dust and dirt first while the parents and grandparents were getting the younger kids rounded up and ready to eat too.  They were using Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s back yard too; and cooking had been going on at both houses; so it felt like the dinner action was spread out tonight while groups of people moved between the two houses and around the back yards.

Rowen and I were put at a table with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, Nicole, Ehlana, and Naomi.  The Seagers were on the guest list with the other members of the Ayres’ family; and Liz was not working late after a busy morning and afternoon at the salon with Vicky.  Liz was really happy today because she’s basically done with full-time work at the salon for a while now except for helping out with the holiday sales on Monday that will be more about selling products than styling hair – though there will be a bit of that too.

Patrick and Scott were there too, and sat at a ‘guys’ table with Ethan, Jayden, Eddie, and some other guys.  Rowen’s parents weren’t able to join the party until a bit after seven; but Aunt Leanne kept food hot for them; and they ate while the clean-up crew was working after dinner and the grandparents were busy with kid control.  Since Rowen and I had escaped all of the afternoon work, we were willingly drafted to help with that work; and spent nearly an hour doing everything from washing and drying dishes to putting tables and chairs away.

Before I get on with the report on the evening entertainment and campfire; this is probably a good spot for a family update.

Let’s start with babies and pregnant women.  Robyn Johnson is now six months old; and she’s really growing fast!  Her cousin, Leah, is just a bit more than two months behind her, and that’s a lot at their ages; but they still spent a lot of time together – and with their parents and grandparents.  I’m sure that closeness in age will be as cool for them as it is for Ethan and Jayden.  Aunt Leanne and Liz had fun talking babies tonight, and while Liz may be due first; Aunt Leanne is only half-joking about wishing that she could move her due date up a month too.

We can’t have that – it would totally mess up all of the early birthday present jokes if my cousin gets here too early! (The nine months ago kind of early birthday present.)

I can appreciate that the hot weather hasn’t been as much fun for any of my favorite pregnant women lately, and that’s why Aunt Leanne and Liz spent most of the post-dinner evening indoors; relaxing in the living room; and being waited on hand and foot – literally, if you include the foot massages.

Moving on to the rest of the family news; Rob and Trish hadn’t come this weekend; but we got the latest updates for them – and most of the news from the McEwan family too; though I get a lot of that from Christina with her email updates.  Rob and Trish are happily plugging away in the junior ranks for their respective employers; and enjoying the married life.  Tory and Kyle have started their Masters Degree year at college, and will be busy with that – and getting ready for their wedding next June.  Michelle is in her third year at college; has definitely picked teaching as a career; and there may be a serious guy in her life now.  There isn’t any new news for Christina; but the Johnson family girls are quite interested in her blossoming romance with home-town boy Josiah Palmer.

For the younger kids, Kaitlyn and Kara were probably the most excited about school because they’re both starting Grade One this year.  Jaimie will be in Grade Three; and while they’re not here this weekend, I know that Martin is as fired up about starting high school this year as Rebecca and Jenny are; Dawn and Jillian are ready for Grade Seven; and Chris is more interested in driving cars than starting Grade Eleven now that he’s counting down the weeks until he’ll be sixteen, and hopefully will pass the test so he can drive on his own.  There will not be a brand new car in the driveway for his birthday; but rumor has it that the Rice family may be adopting a used car this fall for the boys to use that will be somewhat better than the bumper cars Uncle Rick keeps joking about getting for them.

There was the usual adult news too, but let’s just skip all of that boring and get back to the fun parts of the report.  Rowen and I went for another swim after the clean-up was finished; and we had lots of kid company for that.  We had a bit of time after that to run around and play until the campfire started; and then I was ready to settle down and enjoy the stories, music, and toasted munchies for a while.  Some cuddle time with Michael would have been nice too; but he hadn’t planned on trying to add some late-night campfire action to his day after getting done at the Inn; and his parents and sister didn’t come over either.

We weren’t having a late night with that anyway; mostly because Rowen and I were among the oldest kids at the campfire.  Mom and Dad started getting ready to go home by shortly before eleven; and Rowen and I helped to get Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Jayden, Kara, and Nicole ready to come home with us for their sleepover.  That included getting overnight bags packed and doing goodnight hugs and kisses with the adults; but we managed to be home before eleven-thirty.  Mom and Dad took care of Ethan, Jayden, Ehlana, and Nicole from there while Rowen and I had custody of the older girls.  It took until after midnight to get them changed; take turns in the bathrooms; and have them settled onto the sectional sofa with pillows and blankets.  I put a movie on to watch; but Kaitlyn was sleeping by twelve-thirty; Jaimie and Kara weren’t far behind her; and Rowen and I were able to move into my room and climb into bed with Mandy by one o’clock.

After all of the work, baseball games, and play time; we’re tired too, but needed some girl chat time while I got started on my nightly computing.  Rowen mostly wanted to talk about what we’re going to do tomorrow afternoon and evening – especially in relation to whether we’ll get to spend much time with Michael and Tim.  Doing that while juggling family plans for all four of us may not work out very well; but I do hope we can find some time to play together – and go to the dance together tomorrow night too.

Hopefully that will all work out for us, and make for as great a start to September as today has been for an end to August.  That is all I have for tonight, and we really do need to get some sleep so we’ll be ready for another big family play day; so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!