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, April 6, 2014

Cassie's Journal - April 5, 2014



We have a house full of kids and teens here tonight; and while that might not be fair for Mom and Dad when so many other parents get a kid-free night; there aren’t that many houses with as much space as we have, and Mom and Dad don’t actually mind having a whole gang here once in a while.

It was much quieter here this morning for Tai Chi and breakfast.  Michael came over for both today, and starting and ending our day with hugs and kisses was great; though he went home after breakfast to do his chores before helping out at the Inn during the lunch rush while I was busy working with Mom and Dad anyway.  We’ve had fairly nice weather today once it started warming up; but it was a bit chilly working outside this morning.  The spring clean-up to-do list is getting smaller now, though we need some consistently warmer days before we’ll be able to plant the gardens.  Today, I split my time between working in the yard with Dad and doing housework with Mom; and we kept busy until stopping for lunch at around one o’clock.

I was set free for a few hours after helping with the lunch clean-up; and went biking with Michael, Rowen, and Tim while Michael was on his afternoon break.  We went out into the valley to the west of town and just wandered around for a couple of hours and touring random country roads.  When Michael needed to be back at the Inn, Rowen and I headed to my house to help out with pre-dinner work; and Tim went on to play some football – though he joined us for dinner instead of waiting to come over with Michael once he was finished for the night at the Inn.

Alicia and Erin were both at the house by the time Rowen and I got there; and it wasn’t long before the kids began arriving too.  Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia Bassett were first; followed by Naomi and Aiden.  Leah and Zack are with us tonight too; though they weren’t dropped off until shortly before the parents were meeting for dinner at the Inn.  With five toddlers to feed, our meal was appropriately kid-friendly, and while Erin supervised; Rowen and I did most of the work while taking turns helping Alicia with the kids.  Mom and Dad were getting ready for their date while we were doing that; and they were just getting ready to leave by the time we were ready to feed the troops.

The low-mess, all finger food dinner was a hit – even with Tim; since he couldn’t exactly get away with happy face fries and other little-kid food in just about any other situation without risking damage to his reputation with the guys.  We did need to make quite a bit more of everything than we would have without Tim there; though some of the extra was because we guessed that Ryan would need to try and keep up with Tim.  Watching all of the boys eat was just a little scary; though they kept us entertained too.

Alicia and Erin had date plans tonight with their boyfriends; but they stayed until after Michael came over and mostly helped with Leah and Zack while Tim, Rowen, and I kept the rest of the kids entertained.  By the time they left, Zack and Leah were either both sleeping, or we only had one of them to deal with at a time.  Jessica was easy to watch, and she helped with the babies nearly every time Rowen or I were taking care of them.

Tim easily kept Ryan, Ethan, and Aiden entertained with video gaming action in the lounge, while Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia were happy to play some music for a while and then play games in my room that included everything from playing with dolls and toys to a round of hide-and-seek.  It was time to get the younger kids ready for bed when Michael joined us, but once they were changed; we all moved into the lounge to watch a movie so they could wind down first.

Cuddling with Michael, Ethan, and Aiden while we did that was one of my favorite parts of the night; though I also needed to feed a bottle to Zack and change two diapers during the show.  It was easy enough to get the five two and three-year old kids into bed once the movie was over – especially since two of them were already sleeping by then anyway.  It took all four of us to get that done with some more bonus help from Jessica; and then we only had Jessica and Ryan with us after that – not including one more round of baby time with Leah and Zack.

The feeding with Zack conveniently gave Michael and I an excuse to be downstairs because Jessica and Ryan were in bed by then too, so we gave Rowen and Tim the alone time in the lounge while we gave Zack his bottle while cuddling in the living room.  That wasn’t exactly romantic for us; but Rowen and Tim definitely appreciated the break in the babysitting action.  We had Zack back in bed and were in the lounge again when Mom and Dad got home from Sheldon’s.  Rowen had dozed off for a while, but was awake when they stopped into the lounge to check in on us.  Michael and Tim headed to their rooms on the second floor after we’d done the mini-update for both our babysitting and the night out at the Inn and pub while Rowen and I went with Mom and Dad to do a bedroom check before they went to bed for the night.

Rowen and I might have checked in on our boyfriends too before coming up to my room – just to make sure they were comfortable and had everything they needed, of course; so that’s when Michael and I did our goodnight hugs and kisses.  While I still wanted to do my usual bedtime computing, Rowen didn’t stay awake for very long once we were in bed; and it’s been very quiet since then – especially compared to earlier when the kids were all busy and fairly noisy.

There isn’t any news to report on from my computer checks or email, and it is getting very late; so I’d better wrap this up.  Leah may not wake up again tonight, but Zack probably will; and I’ll try to take that feeding too so that Mom or Dad don’t have to get up.

Maybe Michael will wake up too, and we’ll manage a bit of alone time after all!  A girl can dream; and I’m going to do just that starting right about now.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!