Ethan and Ehlana:
Happy 40th Birthday, Aunt Leanne!
Before we get into our own news of our adventures since the last report; we’d like to mention that the jokes and commentary about fortieth birthdays gets a bit silly – at least in our opinions. For Aunt Leanne, the fact that she looks closer to thirty than forty made the jokes ridiculous – just as was true with Mom when it was her turn for reaching that milestone. We are not suggesting that fifty is the new forty or anything like that either – only that the jokes and razzing about age is arbitrary in the first place; and that some people take the jokes a bit too-far. Trying to make someone ‘feel’ old instead of celebrating with them isn’t something we can get into doing; and we hope that we never change how we feel about that sort of thing.
Before we get to the birthday-related stories; let’s cover the rest of the news from last night.
The biking on the trails with our friends was fun; we had a spaghetti-and-sides dinner with Olde Bakery desserts soon after we got home with Naomi and Aiden; Mom and Dad had us take care of the clean-up; and then Mom joined us for some music and Halloween movie fun in Ehlana’s room and the lounge while Dad worked to get ready for his week in the city. The music practice was for Naomi and the Phantoms, and while going with the same costumes and act for a second year in a row can end badly for kids or teens; we’ve been talked into it by family and friends; so we shouldn’t have to worry about a hit to our reputations! ;^)
We are working up a new set of Halloween-themed songs, so that will be different; Mom enjoyed the mini-concert; and then we watched ‘Ernest, Scared Stupid’ because we apparently needed to feel dumber, and dumber, and dumber for a couple of hours. Yes, we thought that the movie was stupid-funny and laughed through a lot of it, but this might prove to be one of those cases where having perfect memories isn’t a good thing for us. If you’ve seen that movie – you’ll understand what we mean!
Mom left us to go hang out with Dad after that show; we watched another movie after that; and eventually had unconscious fun with our co-ed sofa sleepovers. Our Saturday began with another chilly Tai Chi workout by the river because it cooled off to near-forty overnight; Dad cooked pancakes and sausages for breakfast; and then we – the kids and Dads in our family-and-friends group got to work on the fall clean-up chores while most of the Moms were either working or helping Aunt Leanne out with some pampering and shopping for her birthday. We won’t get into the chores details, but we got everything done at every house – including mowing all of the lawns; final rounds of gardening; and getting docks ready for the winter. That last part might sound early for some people reading this in the future, but we don’t have a problem with doing that work sooner; since the river water will get much-colder to work in and around as we get deeper into fall; and we are not fans of polar bear swims!
We wrapped up the work by four-thirty; split up to rush around and get ready for Aunt Leanne’s birthday dinner; and then we headed over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house for that meal. Uncle Adam cooked up the main dishes, but had help with the sides, desserts, and drinks; so we had a bit of work to do helping Mom with carrying our contributions there and then with some of the pre-dinner work. Since then, we’ve been on junior kid control – through dinner and a bit of family social time through to now when we’re at home with the gang of kids that Mom and Dad are hosting for the night while the parents are continuing the birthday party at Sheldon’s Pub. We have four teen babysitters tonight – two couples; and they’ve had an easy time at the job so far – though they’re currently working on getting the younger kids to bed now; and we’re doing this update while taking a break before our last movie of the night while also taking turns getting ready for bed with our cousins and friends. The Halloween shows and video gaming fun we’ve had since getting home has all been really good; and we haven’t even had any issues with junior jokes or pranks so far. Let’s hope that we haven’t jinxed ourselves with that comment!
Finally, before we wrap this up and get back to the fun with our friends; let’s add a quick Cassie-and-Michael update. First for that is the news that Michael, Tim, and their team won again today – an away game against their biggest A&M State rival. They get next weekend off, but while that break will be good for them after a tough week of mid-terms and the game today; they will still be busy with the next round of studies and the hours-per-day of football training. Cassie has also been busy with her tutoring and exam grading as well as with the football and other fun with Michael and their friends; so she’s looking forward to a bit of a slow-down in her workload. Sure, that isn’t likely going to actually happen, but she can hope; and we’ll hope for that with her!
Okay, that’s enough for tonight, and we really do need to put our computers away and get back to the play time with our friends now; so, until next time...
...this is Ethan and Ehlana Proctor; live from the hidden home of the Magi of the Light – and May the Magi Force be with you!
