There was fresh snow on the ground this morning; so my
revised Saturday morning routine included some shoveling to go along with
helping Uncle Adam with Zack and having breakfast for two once my cousin was
fed and reasonably content. We skipped
Tai Chi, and I didn’t get to see Michael this morning; but those were the only
downs to an otherwise pretty good start to the day.
Before I get into the rest of the local report, I should
mention that Grandma and Grandpa have moved on from India
to Pakistan;
and are taking the weekend off for some sightseeing – and to celebrate
Grandma’s birthday tomorrow. They’ll
only be in Pakistan for a
bit less than two weeks; and then they’ll move on to Italy in time for a little
Valentine’s Day weekend holiday.
While sightseeing in Pakistan
– or a girls’ weekend away in California
– is more fun than anything going on around here; we’ve managed to get our work
done and enjoy some play time today too.
Most of the work happened this morning and afternoon; though Rowen and I
were technically working tonight too while Dad was out with the other guys and
we were babysitting at my house.
The snow shoveling only took a while because we had two
driveways to do; and one or more of us were watching Zack, Ethan, and Ehlana
while the outdoor work was going on.
Since Uncle Adam also cooked breakfast, I shoveled his driveway; and
then did part of ours before he and Dad sent me inside to watch the kids while
they finished up. It was housework time
after that; and it took until lunchtime to get everything except the laundry
finished. Dad just had his kids around
for lunch, and we went with soup and sandwiches to keep the work and mess to a
minimum. I took Ethan and Ehlana outside
for a bit of snow fun after that; and had Rowen and Tim join us for the last
fifteen minutes or so until Michael joined us when he was set free from the Inn
for his afternoon break.
We had a study afternoon today because we didn’t get our
homework done last night; and didn’t want to be doing it tomorrow while the
Super Bowl and parties are going on.
Ethan and Ehlana needed us to do a hot chocolate and snacks break with
them first, and then we headed up to the lounge and got to work. While using a little Magi power to get the
homework out of the way would’ve been nice, that wasn’t an option; so we ended
up spending almost all of Michael’s break on our computers. Tim headed out when Michael needed to get
back to the Inn, but Rowen stayed so that she could help me to get some things
set up for dinner and our evening babysitting duties.
Dad and his friends weren’t going out until after dinner,
but we had most of the kids we were babysitting tonight – and their fathers –
to feed. While their younger siblings
were getting grandparent babysitting services tonight; Naomi and Aiden were
with us for sleepovers, and brought their Dads along to have dinner with
us. Aiden was dropped off; and his
father came over after closing the bakery; getting here about the same time
that Rowen’s father did. Patrick was
already with us by then; and had come over with Scott, Lindsay, and their
father. I don’t see Abby’s husband
around town all that often other than at church; so I was glad that Dad invited
him to join us tonight.
That was everyone we had here for dinner; though most of the
other ‘weekend bachelors’ were invited to join us. Uncle Adam and Uncle Nick were having dinner
with their grandparent-babysitters; Uncle Mark was with Uncle Adam; Jacob was
working at the Inn; and Pastor John unsurprisingly
had plans for tonight that didn’t include going to the pub with the other
husbands while their wives are away.
Since the girls were outnumbered at our house, we went with finger foods
for dinner; including chicken wings or strips, potato skins, and onion
rings. There were a few snack and salad
sides too; but most of the younger guys avoided the salads unless ordered
otherwise by their fathers.
While Rowen and I did a lot of the cooking, we didn’t have
to do any of the clean-up because we were put in charge of the kids and took
them up to the lounge while the men in the house took care of the post-meal
work. Jessica and Sophia Bassett were
dropped off shortly after we’d finished eating; and were the last kids in the
group we had at our house for the evening while the guys were out. Our fathers had time to spare before they
were supposed to meet up with the other guys at the pub, so they made sure that
we had everything under control and even played a couple of video games before
heading for Sheldon’s at about eight o’clock.
Tim and Michael joined us shortly before they left, but Dad wasn’t
waiting for them to get here before leaving – there just isn’t much going on at
the pub before eight o’clock.
The next five hours or so were pretty much just a blur of
kid-rated play time and fun mixed in with bursts of work and zero teen couple
alone time. Rowen and I took care of all
of the girls and the younger kids while Michael and Tim kept Patrick and Scott
entertained with a video game mini-marathon.
Keeping up with our group wasn’t always easy for Rowen and me because
they often wanted to do different things.
Jessica and Lindsay plunked away at my keyboard and loaner guitar or
tried to play my saxophone for quite a while, and then watched a movie on my
computer while sitting in the window alcove in my bedroom. The younger kids played games on the floor;
had a lengthy round of hide-and-seek; bounced on my bed like it was a
trampoline; and generally managed to run their babysitters ragged trying to
keep up with them.
It was heading toward eleven o’clock by the time that we
managed to get the twins and their friends into bed for the night, and even
then there was some iPad action going on after they were tucked in for the
night. Once the five younger kids were
in bed, we still had another hour or so to go before Dad got home, and though
Patrick and Scott weren’t all that thrilled to have four girls invade their
gaming space; Rowen, Jessica, Lindsay, and I moved into the lounge; watched
videos on my computer; and spent that time chatting while the guys continued
their gaming. That was mostly because
Rowen and I were also able to cuddle with our boyfriends at the ends of the
sectional sofa while Jessica and Lindsay took the middle; but it was more fun
for all of us. Patrick and Scott would
never admit that, and Jessica and Lindsay were often annoyed by the two boys;
but even Rowen and Lindsay have to admit that their brothers have come a long
way recently, and are way more entertaining now that they’ve managed to find
some limits on their pranks, jokes, and teasing.
If you expected that my Dad and the other guys would take
advantage of the wife-free night and party until dawn; you’re obviously reading
this far enough in the future to never have met him. It’s Saturday night, we have church in the
morning; and will be getting five two and three-year old kids ready for church
in the morning. He was home by shortly
after twelve; and had all of the fathers who were picking up kids with him –
including Jacob; who was acting as their designated driver tonight. Rowen and I were busy for a while then
because Jacob took the Faulkner clan plus Jessica home; Owen collected Patrick
and headed to their house with plans for some father-son gaming or movies
before bedtime; and Tim needed to head home while Michael, Rowen, and I took
care of the lounge and kitchen clean-up.
Jacob and Michael are on their own tonight too because
Rebecca’s doing a sleepover with Jenny, so Jacob came back again and we ended
up doing a bedtime snack and drinks together along with an evening recap before
they headed home and Dad, Rowen, and I headed up to bed. I really would have liked some Michael and me
alone time tonight too, but since it was after one by then; that wasn’t going
to happen. I wonder if anyone would miss
us if we snuck up to one of the rooms at the Inn
during the Super Bowl festivities tomorrow?
That’s at least something to have some happy dreams about
tonight, and Rowen and I are both getting tired after winding down with some
girl chat time for almost an hour now; so I guess that’s it for tonight. Whether Michael and I get some alone time or
not tomorrow, we are in for a long, busy day that’s going to start really
early; so we really need to get what sleep we can now. Until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
