I don’t go to the mall very often, but I was there this afternoon. After my waxing appointment, I headed there to meet my hair girl so she could practice a new skill on me 🙂

I love having a little piece of art on my body, and I’m excited to go back in two or three weeks to get another! I have all the right people in all the right fields.

But before I even got to the salon, I walked through the mall. I always park on the opposite side of the mall that I need to be at, just to make some extra exercise for myself. Folks, I regret to inform you it is officially that time of year.

** If you are someone who doesn’t want to hear about Christmas until December, that is fine by me, but realize that I’m pro-Christmas this early in the year, so no hating. **

My least favorite thing about this seasons is the kiosks. Or honestly, its actually the people who work at the kiosks that make me crazy. I’ve become a pro at avoiding them and their products, but today, I was completely caught off guard! Someone passed me a sample packet of something, and foolishly, I accepted it, and kept walking. He called after me and asked what I use for skin care. “I don’t,” I responded. He asked me to pause just for a second, and I called behind me “I’m sorry, I’m in a time crunch, heading to a hair appointment.” I was a good ways off already, and I finally just turned my ears off and kept moving, because he did. Not. Quit.

I find this extra off-putting, not only because I just want to be able to go to where I’m going without interruption, but because I hate ignoring a person, and writing them and what they’re selling off. But I know how it works! The longer I let that guy talk to me, and the longer I stood in front of him, all apologetic, I was a “sales opportunity.” So I had to leave. Otherwise, I’d still be there. So I left. But I felt crappy about it.

If anyone can relate to me, and wants to avoid the whole ordeal without confrontation, now you know they’re out! Use my trick! Take a fake phone call. I usually have my phone pulled out, and I talk mindlessly on it while I walk down the aisle. “Great to hear from you, I’m just pretending to talk on the phone to avoid all of these pushy salespeople…..”

Thanks to Facebook Memories, I was shown a very adorable picture of my children from last year, and I was completely blown away by the change that one year makes!

THEY LOOK SO DIFFERENT! Dekker is far more babyfaced in this photo. Laela isn’t making a funny face, and she has far less hair. And Rowan is a baby!!! We thought Ro had tons of hair then, and NOW look at him!!

Not to mention the obvious fact that we added a family member, hahaha!

My goodness, I am SO smitten with my kids today! They’re looking so cute and bright and friendly <3

I hope this shorty post finds you happy and feeling blessed, because I am sure both of those things. And clearly, I was both of those things exactly one year ago too 🙂

With today being Thanksgiving Sunday, I would normally list off as many beautiful anecdotes about my family and friends, and share everything I’m thankful for. Instead, I’m going to keep this short so I can spend a bit more time with my family before the littles go to bed.

If you’d like to know what I am most thankful for, just scroll back up to the header image. Those little ones bring me an immense amount of joy, and I am SO thankful that I can have them in my life. In that, I include my husband. I love to do life with him. We’ve had some interesting roadblocks along the way, but with God, we can weather these ridiculous storms. I am incredibly thankful for family.

If you want to know what else I’m thankful for, come over and see. 🙂  I’m thankful to live in the house I live in, in the town I live in, surrounded by exactly who I am surrounded by. This is our home, finally. I am so very thankful to have settled here.

So this year, we’re back to basics. Family and home are what I am most thankful for. I don’t think I could be happier than I am. And if I could be, don’t tell me. I don’t want to desire more, because it would make me thoroughly selfish. I already have way more than I need. <3 Thank you, Lord.

We had waffle brunch this morning in honour of Laela’s birthday last weekend! My parents came, as well as Simon and Grace, and their family. Instead of just syrup and butter, we had whipped cream and strawberries this time as well. We actually managed to get everyone eating at the table together for a while, and the food and conversation were great. The kids all finished up first and went to play while the rest of us visited for a nice long while. Eventually, Solly woke up, and Laela opened presents. She was very happy with the outcome there as well. Who doesn’t love birthday presents?? When everyone was ready to head out, we sang a big, loud, group “happy birthday” to Laela. As soon as it was over, she chirped “Sanks!” It was really really sweet. She loved being celebrated this morning.

Once everyone left, we took a breather. The kids had a snack and Dekker and Laela played Lego while Rowan and Solly napped. Once everyone got up in the mid-afternoon, we got them dressed and headed to the city for some grocery shopping. I truly enjoyed that part of the day. I wore Solly through Costco and then again through Superstore, and we just had such nice snuggles. I found that, even with him secure and stable in his carrier, I wanted to just put my arms around him and hug him tight. Best of all, when I did, he’d giggle. It was awesome.

After a very full day, we got home just a little late, and I managed to talk the kids into being a bit softer and slower moving during bedtime, which was SO nice. They were all more relaxed, the volume level was low, and everyone was very sweet, giving nice hugs and kisses before bed.

I feel SO thankful for these little loves, and the man behind the camera <3

I asked a while ago if you guys thought I should proofread my blog posts before I save them and have them printed. Almost every single one of you said not to, for lots and lots of good reasons. I am SO relieved that I didn’t fuss with that, because I am finding my groove in saving hundreds and hundreds of posts in a row, and I’m positive that proofreading them one by one would be discouraging and exhausting and I would have quit a lot time ago already. I’m ok with finding mistakes here and there. I don’t nitpick, and that will show years from now when (and if) anyone reads them.

However, saving these posts is bringing me back to these times of my life, and I catch myself doddling through the saving process, revisiting occasions and reminiscing stages of life. If I happen to find an error that I feel so inclined to fix, I fix it. Because I’m there, so why not?

Today, I found a post talking about being six weeks postpartum after delivering Rowan. In the first paragraph, I read a sentence saying I had reached the highly anticipated “sex week mark.” 😳 I BURST out laughing, terrifying my kids, and then annoying them by not really being able to explain to them what I had laughed at. “Mommy just made a mistake” finally sufficed, and I chuckled while I finished saving the post. “Good thing I caught that one!” I laughed to myself.

Aaaaand I forgot to fix it. And I’m not going back for it! For one, I don’t want to go back. I want to keep moving forward. And for another, I think it’ll be a great laugh later on in life, and for whoever else ends up reading it. Like its not untrue, hahaha! Just not especially socially acceptable to talk about. Oy.

I hope you guys appreciate this as much as I did. I think I’m funny, anyway…

Sigh. I know. It seems like a silly thing to post about. Dry lips. It is getting colder, therefore drier, and my lips are always the first to go. But the house’s humidity is where it should be. And this didn’t just start.

Its probably been two weeks now. My top lip, right in the centre, the cupids bow, is SO DRY! I’ve worn makeup maybe twice since it started, so I can’t blame the overuse of dry, matte lipsticks. I have been diligently lathering them in chapsticks, night repairs, oils, etc. I feel like I’ve tried everything! I’m starting to look like the little kids who lick their lips until they get red chappy moustaches. And I’m NOT doing that! (Please tell me its not just my kids!) I’ve done an exfoliating lip mask or two, and I’ve even gone as far as rubbing my facial moisturizer on my lips. You can imagine how good that tastes. Not very. And still, I have these silly dry lips. No. Lip. Dry lip. Singular.

I went out for supper last night and I really wanted to do my makeup. It feels like its been so long since I’ve been able to wear a full face of makeup. So I did, with lipstick. And the skin just beyond my top lip was literally flaking off around my lipstick. So that looks great, obviously. And felt worse, even more obviously.

WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO??? Any and all tips are greatly appreciated!

The snow started yesterday. I wasn’t ready. I mean, I’m “ready.” We all have winter gear that fits. We have our van in a garage for the first winter ever. Our new house is incredibly well insulated, and we are warm. In all of the non-emotional ways, I am totally ready for winter.

Of course, I’m not exactly thrilled that its happening. If snow had started falling yesterday, all soft and whimsical, I could have accepted that a little bit easier. Maybe. It would still create slush and ice, but it wouldn’t be so off putting. The current situation is blowing, swirling, yucky snow. Its COLD out. I feel like we kind of skipped fall altogether. I’m hopeful that it’ll come back, though. Its too soon to lose it. Far too soon.

We had the power go out this morning. Its not like its the first time its ever happened to us, but its obviously not our favorite thing. Today, though, it was more evident than usual just how much I count on electricity. I couldn’t use the microwave. I was scared to open the fridge. I couldn’t flush the toilet (more than once.) I couldn’t use wifi. I couldn’t turn on the tv. The list goes on. I was not a fan of all of this.

Just shy of three hours later, our power came back on. It tried a small handful of times over the last hour or so to come back on, so I knew someone was working on it. When it flickered and actually stayed on, the kids squealed big YAAAAAYs. It was starting to get chilly, and everyone was feeling a bit twitchy and on edge.

I am SO thankful for electricity! Especially on cold days.

It snowed today, in case anyone around here missed it. “What do you expect, living in Saskatchewan??” I know where I live, and I know it gets cold early and stay cold late, but we don’t often have snow before Thanksgiving. The morning was cold, but beyond the usual “crisp” cold that we’re all adjusting to. It was swirling and wet and really, really windy.

On days like today, I bundle Dekker up really really warm, and then they stay inside for recess anyway, because its that brutal wet cold that gets to your skin and freezes you out for the rest of the day.

Before I had a kid in kindergarten, I never considered what a lovely break recess is for the teaching staff. I never liked recess in even cool weather. I had in the bathroom. And when I couldn’t do that, I hid in corners and complained. I hated the cold weather, plain and simple. But now, I get it. Especially with kindergarteners.

Its not like they’ll just sit at their tables and quietly look at books while their teacher breathes for five minutes. Nope. Little kids need to be entertained!

When I picked Dekker up, I overheard his teacher speaking to some other parents about recess. “We kept them inside, obviously,” she said. “I pulled out the parachute again.”

The short semi-break the teacher MAY get during recess (but there is never a guarantee) was instantly gone, and organized games and activities were required!

I apologize to my teachers. Whether you taught me in elementary school, high school, or college. I apologize for not giving you the breaks you deserved and likely needed very much on many days. I’m sorry for my cabin fever, and neediness. The moods on days like today are not historically always the most fun to be around. I know this now. More than ever before, I appreciate what you do.

To Dekker’s lovely teacher who doesn’t know this blog exists, thank you for doing all that you do, and sending my son home SUPER HAPPY, regardless of the lack of playground time today. You are an exceptional woman!

If you’re reading this, you’re likely pretty aware of the fact that the template has changed. I, for one, am VERY happy with the new clean look. Its very bright, simple, and crisp. Is it just me or do the pictures even look better?? The biggest selling feature for me was how much better it is in mobile mode. SO MUCH BETTER! Am I right?! Yes. Yes, I am.

The template is, however, not too different from my last look. I debated completely changing everything, but it seemed like it was only going to get more complicated, and I was definitely not looking to do that. In fact, the main color of this new theme was red, but I wanted to bring it back to blue. I considered purple, because purple is my favorite, but the blue with the current header picture was just unmistakably correct. Maybe when the picture changes, the theme color will. I don’t know yet.

I have to say that unfortunately, it has created a giant pain in my behind for saving my posts into book form. I didn’t predict that, which was my oversight, obviously. I thought the biggest plus would be text color. My previous blog theme used a dark grey for its text, and I couldn’t get around that, but in this new one, I could specify that I wanted it black. That saved me a step in the saving process, because I no longer had to select the text and change the color! However, the font changed. So the step was added to changing the text back to match the rest of the book. I’ll likely go with the new font for the next book, but I’d like to finish out the one I’m working on with the same font, just for the sake of continuity. Not only do I had to switch the font back, but the fonts are different sizes. *eye roll* I know. So now, when I’m rearranging words to fit around pictures, I HAVE to switch fonts first. Otherwise, if I switch it after, its all wrong and jagged and I have to redo it. The last bonus (not really) about this issue is that, for some reason, when I copy and paste paragraphs of text from my blog onto the book template, it stacks the rows of text on top of each other. Spacing reads 016. So I then have to select all of the text again, put the spacing back at 1, and then its correct.

SO. MANY. EXTRA. STEPS. Just about every part of me wants to switch back to my old template, just to avoid all of these extra steps, but I’m trying to keep on moving and not lose motivation! Once I’m caught up, these little issues won’t matter as much, but I have weeks and weeks left of catching up, and the extra work just isn’t as charming as it sounds. But I remind myself again and again, it WILL be worth it! I’ll have the first four books in my hands in the next ten days or so. I’m hoping thats a BIG kick in the pants to keep moving!

All of my griping aside, I hope you guys like the new(ish) look, and that its easier to read on your phones, since I’m pretty sure the majority of you guys read that way. If I’m missing any big error or characteristic, don’t hesitate to let me know!

We made our way in to the city this morning for a big Costco shop, and to duck in quickly at another place or two. The kids were SO CUTE!

No pictures of Solly, as he was wailing every time my phone was out. Poor teething baby.

We had a HUGE haul from Costco, which included and new winter jacket for Brady. He and I both have had the same winter coats since we were dating, and now in the last two weeks or so, we’ve both picked up new ones. Yay for having little incentives to help anticipate the colder weather.

This little girl is committed to her duck lips.

We headed for lunch after Costco, but the kids insisted they weren’t hungry. So we headed to Walmart next, in search of Christmas lights! We had a couple of other things we could pick up, so we did a loop around the store. Brady and I both got a pair of boots. Getting ready for snow, I guess, because apparently people thats happening already! Yikes! We eventually made our way over to the seasonal department, and found an aisle of Christmas lights tucked in between all of the Halloween stuff. We found exactly what we needed and bit the bullet on spending a good chunk of change on a LOT of lights.

We convinced the kids to eat, and then headed home.

Upon arriving home, we discovered that there is a very real reason why we don’t much care for LEDs. I can barely look at them! They hurt my eyes SO MUCH! How does anyone look directly at LED lights?! Ack! Unfortunately, they are just too much for us, and we’ll be returning them. So while that was a bit of a discouraging end to the shopping chunk of the day, but it was still a very successful day. Happy to have gone out, and happy to be home.

Happy evening, everyone!