Ehlana and Ethan:
It’s been a long day and Ethan would just like to offer the football report and call it a night, but while we’ll include that part of our story; let’s take the time to cover the rest of the news – including for our adventures in babysitting from last night.
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had us help them out with cooking up some side dishes too, but they opted for the Pizzeria pizza order for the main dinner option to go with the finger food sides that we had ready by the time that Uncle Adam picked up the pizza with help from Ethan and Aiden. By then, Aunt Leanne was also ready for their date, so they escaped and missed out on the food fun and games that Zack and Eli led and we tried our best to keep from getting out of control. I’ll give us the win for that one, but there was still extra work for the post-dinner clean-up, and since Ethan and Aiden helped; Zack and Eli had time to mess around in the game room while the teens and tweens in the house were busy.
I really don’t want to get into the rest of the details for the evening. The boys did their best to annoy us while also playing video games for half the night and beyond. The girls were better and had fun with the movies, mini-makeovers, and girl chat fun when not getting bugged by the pranksters in the house; and we had most of the youngest kids in beds and sleeping by midnight. That wasn’t true for Zack, Eli, and the guys they convinced to stay up late with them, but we eventually just ignored them; enjoyed the co-ed cuddle time in the living room while waiting for Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne to get home from the pub; and then we eventually split up for the night after doing a bedtime visit with them and one more check and clean-up of the game room.
Our Sunday morning was crazy-busy except for the bit of calm with had with Tai Chi before the rush to get everyone fed and ready for church. We had some extra parental support, but Mom and Dad weren’t part of that group; and we don’t need to mention why they might have been having more fun on their own. We did eventually meet up with them at church – and were ready to sit with them until we headed for Sunday school; since we were definitely ready for a Zack and Eli break by then. There was bonus Valentine-themed fun during the service and in our Sunday school class, so we enjoyed the love-themed music, messages, and crafting that we ended up helping the Grade One kids with making for their favorite Valentines. There was a bonus social time in the fellowship hall after the service; so we didn’t end up getting home until around noon.
By then, we were ready for a break; enjoyed a quiet lunch with Mom and Dad; and then we helped them out with getting ready for their Super Bowl party. This year, they pretty much left the invitations open to anyone that wanted to drop in for a visit or to watch the game or hang out for the chick flocks or kid-rated gaming. There are always a lot of parties going on around town – along with a few trips that some of the girls liked to do instead of being around the football-watching action that lasted for hours longer than the game. We ended up having more cameo visitors than guest for the afternoon and evening. Sophia and Aaron were two of those cameo visitors – mostly because Aaron’s parents were at the party being hosted by Lee and Sarah Landry. They also got in on the buffet-party at the Inn; since the Bassett clan had the option to be there and spend time with Jacob, Miranda, and their available kids and grandkids. We still managed to have around thirty for the pot-luck dinner that included a small order of Pizzeria pizzas for one of those pot-luck contributions, and while we helped with kid control for the younger cousins and friends in the house; we weren’t on official duty; and spent nearly as much time in the living room and sunroom as we did on the third floor with the video gaming and other games and music action happening up there.
I guess that brings us to the football story, and while Ethan is slightly more-interested in football than I am; we’re both a bit cynical when it comes to the big-money pro sports. For this championship game, the local fans had a bias toward Kansas City for the win, so they’re also happy tonight too, but I just can’t help seeing those games as theater when the lead changes back and forth; and it would be easy to picture the script for the show. in this case, that meant a lead at half-time for San Francisco; second-half comebacks and leads for both teams; a last-minute lead and then a come-back tie that then required overtime; and then another field goal, three point lead for San Francisco before the Chiefs came back yet again for the overtime touchdown and win! All of that only managed to add up to a twenty-five to twenty-two final score, and there are likely a lot of satisfied football fans around the country tonight as well as here in town; so I’ll leave that story there and you, future reader, don’t need more to know how I feel about the entire experience. Ethan will want me to add that Naomi and I had some fun with play calling, since Cassie couldn’t be here to do that instead; and I’ll add that I didn’t think that the half-time show was anything to write about in our journal or anywhere else. Don’t take that the wrong way, since there isn’t very much music that I don’t like – I just don’t enjoy the spectacle that goes along with that kind of show; and would prefer to just listen to well-performed songs without the glitter and glam.
Our Spotify account is also a lot less-expensive! ;^)
Moving along, thanks to the overtime, it was already later than we planned by the time our guests headed home. Ethan and I took Silkie for a walk and went along with our best friends to see them to their houses and have a bit of privacy for our goodnight hugs and kisses. We helped Mom and Dad with the final round of clean-up after that; shower or Jacuzzi time followed; and now it is pretty much time to crash and nap so we’ll be ready for school in the morning. While we do that, Cassie and Michael are still in-transit on the trans-Pacific leg of their flights home. They’ll be in the south-west in the morning, but have a layover; won’t get to our ‘home’ airport until early-evening; and then they are booked to spend the night in a hotel there instead of adding the hours of drive time to an already-long travel day. That does mean that we basically won’t have any news about them through until they get home on Tuesday, but we love knowing that they are on the way; and we expect that time to fly for all of us.
That isn’t even a good pun to end this report on, but I’m obviously too-tired to come up with anything better, so I won’t punish you in the attempt and just wrap this up and go get some sleep starting right now!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
