Babysitting to the Max

We committed to son Ben and his wife, Jessica, long ago that we would babysit their children for a week while they took a trip to New York, to celebrate Ben's 40th birthday.  That job came up this past week.  Layne and I flew to California a week and a half ago to begin our babysitting assignment.  The BJ household consists of eight children beginning at 2 years and moving up to 14 years.  Our energy-filled daughter-in-law, Jessica, has all of the children involved in various lessons and activities that would make a normal person's head swim.  Jessica handles it all.  But we needed help to keep up her pace.  Layne did the running around and I maintained the household.  Grandson Scott (son of our son Reed and his wife Dorothy) spent most of the week with us and helped a ton.  Working together we managed to keep up Jessica's pace, plus keep the house in good order and prepare endless meals for the masses.

You may think it is crazy to take on such a demanding job.  Admittedly, it is exhausting.  But it is also rewarding.  We got close to each child and became acquainted with their interests and some of their thoughts and dreams.  For this, I would do the job again, and more.  Relationships are so very precious!

There were fun times.  Here is a selfie with the youngest two, Victoria (Tia), and Olivia.

Tia is a high energy little gal who loves attention and affection.  Here she is getting her share from Grandpa Layne.

Feeding this gang is perhaps the greatest of challenges.  They are in the habit of grazing continually.  I foolishly thought that if I prepared a good breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner I could make a dent in the grazing.  Silly of me.  They simply turned the snack into a lengthy process...finishing it off as the afternoons wore off and then, surprise!  They weren't hungry for dinner.  Hum.  Try as I might I could not change this pattern without locking up all food everywhere.  That being impossible, I made smaller and smaller dinners with low expectations for consumption.  That seemed to work best.

Here is part of the eating gang.

"Oh mom and dad let us play on the computer and watch TV when we got home from school," I was assured.  So when Zach's buddy Ivan showed up EVERY DAY after school, minecraft marathons ensued.  And a little TV too.  But when I told their Dad, it all changed.  He shut down the computers and the TV remotely!  Wow, the power of technology!  The days that followed were a bit quieter.

Here is some of the gang watching the forbidden TV before their Dad interfered.  Note Ivan on the right end of the couch.  Here's William, Zachary, Tia, Jonathan, and....Ivan.  They look pretty innocent, don't they?  No idea here that there is a family rule against watching TV on a school day!

Jessica has season tickets to musicals in San Francisco and one of them came up on the Tuesday we were there.  So she suggested that Alexis and I go.  "Just Uber there," she told me.  Easy as pie.  I've never "Ubered" so I was a little nervous, but I downloaded the app and made the arrangements.  Alexis and I Ubered to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theater to see "Into the Woods."  "It's a tragedy Grandma," Alexis said.  Hum.  I don't like tragedies.  When I seek entertainment, I like to be cheered up; to see happy endings.  But we went.  I liked the whole Uber thing.  Our drivers to and from were very nice men; both immigrants with interesting stories.  

Once there, Alexis, who loves all things theatrical, began reviewing some of her favorite musicals and singing the songs, while we waited to be let into the theater section.  With great enthusiasm she sang and talked and I listened.  Until the theater attendant approached us.  "You have a beautiful voice," he said.  "And lots of people are listening to you sing, so, please stop."  Hum.  What a very nice way to tell her that she was too loud, I thought.  Alexis does have a very nice singing voice, this is true.  

The play was very good; we both enjoyed it.  And although it can be seen as a tragedy (everyone on the story loses someone in death) the ending was a bit uplifting.  Or so I thought.  I worked to explain this more positive spin to Alexis on the way home, but it was a hard sell.

Here is Alexis, the day after out night out.

With the help of Scott, and house cleaners, we got through our week in good shape.  The week Ben and Jessica planned in New York took a rather different turn.  Google called Ben back to work on Monday, in spite of their careful plans to be gone.  He returned to work until Thursday and Jessica stayed in New York, in their accommodations there.  Since they could not get a refund, they flew daughter Jacqueline out to spend a couple days with her mother.  They did in the town and returned Thursday night.  Then Ben and Jessica finished up the week in a local hotel.  So they did have some time together, though not as originally planned.  It pays to be light on your feet!

We are home now.  I took a very long nap on this Sabbath day and am feeling pretty normal.

Ponderings

There are times when things feel muddled.  I'm going through a muddled frame of mind at the moment.  As a result, I've had an unproductive week.  I hate being unproductive!  Perhaps it is due to the diet that Layne and I are on.  We have our last meal of the day between 2 and 3 o'clock, then don't eat again until the next day.  It's great for losing weight.  But maybe it is a mind muddler.  I'm not sure.

I have recently discovered, while at the doctor's office, that I have lost 1 and 1/2 inches in height.  I'm shocked and a little sad not to be 5' 6" anymore.  Somehow it just isn't right!  As a result I've decided that I need to lose a little weight to be right for my new, shorter self.  Another old lady thing.  Slowly, we are called upon to surrender pieces of our youth.  Off it trots, without our permission.

Happily, my muddled self is losing some weight.  I'm even getting used to less food.

Growing older does bring some blessings.  There is time now to do things that I didn't have before.  But it is also a time for losses, it seems.  One of our dear Fremont friends, Benjapon Mellblom, just died of cancer.  I feel so sad to see her go.  She was one of those especially soft, kind and loving people that you so enjoy having in your life.  Even though I haven't seen her for awhile, the world feels less somehow without her.  Here she is with her daughter, Sarah.

On a brighter note, spring is upon us and Layne is getting yard fever.  He finds himself outside these days, planning the garden and repairing winter damages.  The bulbs are sending out shoots.  That is our only sign of spring as the rest of the yard still looks quite dead.  It is magical to see what appears lifeless come back to life with buds turning to a warm, soft green.  It is the joy of spring.  Here is a shot of our coming spring and our only green patch, so far.

Layne is on our HOA board now and so is privy to the latest news for our development.  We have enjoyed lots of open space here.  Part of it is Land Management property but part is privately owned by a company that hopes to develop it.  They are once again offering a development plan to the city of Star in hopes that they can build more homes on some of the open land.  One of the spots they own and want to develop is located behind our place.  Right now it is an open field, behind quite a few other homes as well as ours.  It's lovely to look out beyond it to the hills and the sunset.  It's a little sad to think of homes being there instead.  But the company has the right to develop their property so we will adjust, if it comes about.  My form of adjustment is to plant trees in the back of our property to create some privacy.  I've suggested it to Layne from the time we moved here, but he wasn't interested in doing it.  Until now.  I'm getting my hopes up for trees!

Here is our open field.  Open for now...

A Gendreau Project

Awhile ago, my daughter Jessica asked if we would come and work on a painting project for her.  Since she is a working girl, she has little time to do much in the way of home improvements but she has an artistic eye and visions in her mind for changes.  I love doing home projects, so we agreed to visit her and family and work on some of her room plans.  Layne and I thus flew to Seattle this past week for that purpose.

We worked for three days, pretty much non-stop, painting the dining room and kitchen, and all the cleaning that goes along with that.  We transformed the red dining room into a warm, golden white.  It made quite a difference in the brightness of the room.  Even though I hated to cover up the red (you know I have a passion for that color!), I have to admit that it looked very nice when we finished.  Seattle has lots of cloudy skies and rainy days, so it makes sense to lighten and brighten inside the house, to make the best use of the duller light that cloudy days provide.

It was fun to spend time with our Gendreau family.  They are all good to be around.  The kids are doing well in school and spend their time doing school work and home projects.  We visited a lot and even spent a little time in their hot tub one night.  I remember, once again, how fun that is.  Being in a warm tub on a cool night, sharing that warm, wet space, brings out sweet conversation and relaxes every part of the body.  When we finished tubbing, I fell asleep in minutes, warm and relaxed.  I'd love to have a hot tub of our own.  But that is unlikely, it seems.  I'm having difficulty talking Layne into my greater priority of a gazebo, or a pergola.  I'd settle for either one.  But, so far, he will not be moved.  But I have hopes of wearing him down.

I'm sad to say that we were so busy with our painting that I totally forgot to take any pictures!  That is unlike me as I always like to have a visual record of our adventures.  So instead, I'm inserting the kids' school pictures.  It will have to do for a Gendreau visual.

Gemma is now 17 and driving.  She is an exceptional artist and is generally made of amazing creativity.  Her imagination seems to be unending.

Miles is 15 and has a passion for science.  He belongs to a science club, loves to learn how things work and is very inventive.  

Peyton is an energetic, social girl, very observant of people and interested in them.  She is on a winning soccer team and is a very good student.

We returned home yesterday.  I realize my age most when physical demands are high for a few days.  We are tired.  But naps and time will cure that.  I love spending time with family.  I still miss being physically close to them.  But we aim to make the best of our time with family when we get it.  I'm thankful for that!