Ehlana:
I’m getting two bed buddies tonight with
Valerie and Brianna; so I’ll leave this update to Ethan – and he can handle it
because Marcus is already asleep after a too-busy day for our rugged little
friend.
If Ethan misses anything important; I’ll
comment on that tomorrow night.
This is Ehlana Proctor; live from the
hidden home of the Magi of the Light!
***
Ethan:
There is a lot of news to cover for the
past two days; so I’ll start from the beginning and try not to leave anything
out.
For me, the highlights from the school-time
parts of Valentine’s Day included every moment I got to spend with Naomi. She loved her gifts, the roses, and the
special lunch and dessert that Aiden and I collaborated on, but it was the
connection we share that makes everything we do feel so special – and it makes
a difference when we’re apart too – like when we were busy with our own classes
and parties for so much of Friday.
Naomi and Aiden had to make side-trips to
the bakery, salon, and their homes before coming over to our house after school
yesterday, but Ehlana and I headed straight home to get in on the fun already
in progress by then with our cousins and the Malloys. Our youngest cousins were already there; it
wasn’t long before Zack and Leah caught up with us; and then we had fun while
hanging out until the pizzeria pizza orders were delivered. That was a second feeding of pizza for some
of us, since there were pizzeria deliveries to the school, daycare, and
elsewhere today, but that wasn’t a problem for any of the kids in our group;
and Zack and Eli were even scarier than usual during that meal – especially when
they had Jayden and Marcus to impress.
Jaimie and Kaitlyn ended up with quite a
gang of kids for the babysitting tonight, but there was also some parental
support until they needed to head for the Inn and the Valentine’s Day dinner;
and then Ethan, Naomi, Aiden, and I were their junior helpers for the rest of
the night. All of our hometown cousins
were with us for the night; Hailey and Eli were added for Leah and Zack; and
Sophia was invited so that Jayden wouldn’t be a fifth-wheel with our quartet –
though he was more-interested in video games than watching movies or cuddling
with her. The parents escaped the house
once the pizzas and sides were on the table and the desserts were set up and
ready; so they missed out on the worst that Zack and Eli could do with their
feats of eating, drinking, and the rest of their games that seriously grossed
out the girls. Aiden and I led the
post-dinner clean-up while Jayden took the younger guys up to the lounge for a
video gaming session. That wasn’t really
much work, since we used disposable plates, cups, and utensils; and then we
joined in on the gaming while the girls hung out in the living room and watched
shows there.
Zack and Eli made fun of the main movie
entertainment of the night, but everyone still enjoyed the new Zombies
movie-sequel from Disney; and Brianna has already planned her ‘revenge’ on Zack
that will include a playlist of her favorite songs from both movies that she’s going
to play over-and-over-again – possibly for months. There are never any suggestions that Zack is
anything like Dad was as a kid, but I do wonder whether Aunt Leanne did things
like that to him when she was Brianna’s age! ;^)
Moving along, by the time that movie ended,
Valerie and Marcus were running out of steam, so I helped to get Marcus off to
sleep while the older girls did the same with Valerie, Faith, and Brianna. Sebastian and Caleb lasted longer because
they didn’t want to take the hit to their reputation around Zack by going to
bed too-early. They did still crash
eventually; so I helped out with another round of work then before getting
around to some cuddle time with Naomi while watching a last movie of the
night. When that ended; the fight was on
to get Zack and Eli to go to bed; and the only reason we got that done before
Mom and Dad got home was because they were late doing that after helping out
with being two of the designated drivers.
That’s also why some of us didn’t get much sleep last night.
Moving on to today, there were only five of
us for Tai Chi this morning. Mom and Dad
slept in for the extra forty minutes or so instead; so Brianna was the only
extra exercise buddy with Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and me today. That was a fun start to our day, and then we
only got the grumpiest kids up and moving after that with promises of a special
breakfast buffet at the Inn. We had four
aunts and uncles helping us out with kid control to get everyone ready and to
the Inn for eight o’clock; we met up with most of the other parents there –
except for the few that were already working by then; and our morning meal was
another adventure and blast of fun.
I’ll take a little side trip here and
congratulate Brock and Karla. They got
married today, and while Cassie and Michael couldn’t come home for their high
school classmates’ wedding; we’re all happy for them – and for the Benton and
Cassidy families as they’ve been celebrating today. I’m bringing that up in this part of my
report because it was discussed while we were at the Inn; and Miranda and
Stephanie were multi-tasking the buffet with getting the private dining rooms
set up for that wedding reception that is still going on as I write this
update.
Moving along, after breakfast, it was time
for Uncle Blaine and Terry to get to work.
Dad and Aunt Leanne went along because they’ll be involved in the
project that is going to include a major overhaul of their building and offices
as well as the other buildings involved in the shopping galleria project. We’ve mentioned it before, but Terry will
handle the structural engineering for the job; while Uncle Blaine will do the
architectural designs – including for the walkway between two of the
buildings. While they got to work, the
Moms and daughters opted for some shopping while it was still colder
outside. Aiden and I ended up wandering
around some of the stores and by the falls with Jayden and some of the other
guys; and then we eventually had a snack-lunch at home with most of the parents
and kids. The temperature climbed to
around fifty this afternoon, and for mid-February, that was perfect for a
biking and play day at the park. Our
visiting cousins and friends loved that; there was parental support for the
younger kids; and we all had a blast.
Add in an Olde Bakery treats and drinks picnic snack at the park; and it
was a really awesome afternoon!
Naomi and Aiden had to go back to their own
families by dinner time, but then that was true for Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Jayden,
and their parents too; since they’re spending the evening and night with the
Everetts. Aunt Grace is especially happy
about that, but Jaimie and Kaitlyn miss their favorite aunt a lot too. We only had the Malloys with us for dinner,
so Ehlana and I were paired up with Valerie and Marcus while the parents got a
chance to chat and then hang out with us tonight until Terry and Angela headed
back to the hotel for the rest of the night.
Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and the kids came over after dinner for a while
too, but that was in-part a work-related visit that we – the kids – weren’t in
on at all; and then they ended up leaving Brianna behind so that she could stay
for the sleepover with Ehlana and Valerie.
We had some more video gaming tonight and
an encore of the Zombies sequel, but Marcus fell asleep before that show ended;
and I didn’t have as much fun without Naomi to cuddle with – even though
Brianna tried to help me out with that while Valerie cuddled under a blanket
with Ehlana. Brianna is adorable, but
cousin cuddle time is just not the same as with Naomi! The girls may be awake for a while longer,
but I’m tired now after a fun, busy day and the lack of sleep last night. Overtly healing ourselves isn’t an option
with our guests in the house, and self-healing takes longer when it’s done
passively; so I really just need to get the sleep now to help out with that.
There isn’t anything to add for now; so I’ll
wrap this up and go do that.
May the Magi Force be with you!
