Solly’s been sleep training for a while now, and its taken longer than we had originally expected. However, its only improving, and we’re very thankful for that. He usually wakes up sometime between 5:00-6:00, and instead of being up for the day, we give him a bottle and he actually goes back to sleep! That basically serves as his morning nap, which is awesome because then his afternoon nap falls beautifully in line with Rowans. This morning, though, he slept until 7:00, which felt so refreshing for Brady and I! Sure, we’d love to sleep in past 7:00, but its just so much better than 5:00! He drank his bottle, was super smiley and soft and adorable, and went back down to sleep. It was so nice. It felt like a nice morning.

When we went to get the big kids up, we were THRILLED to see Laela’s success! She had relinquished her pull up last night and agreed to wear underwear to bed instead, and she had stayed dry all night!! The backstory here isn’t too riveting. Laela pretty much potty trained herself recently. She wanted to go to bed in underwear right away, but peed in her bed the first time. It wasn’t a big issue for me, but she was quite distraught about it when it happened. She would still be able to identify which pair of underwear she was wearing that night. It really upset her that she had an accident, and she asked for a diaper at night instead. Since we really hadn’t intended to potty train her at that time, and she was doing such a great job on her own, we followed her lead and put her in the pull ups that Dekker had leftover from his potty training days. But in the last week, she stayed dry 6/7 nights. So she decided she’d give underwear a try overnight again, and she did it!! She totally succeeded, and was SO proud of herself! We all knew she could do it, she is SO in control of her body, but she just needed to take the risk. I’m so pleased it paid off 🙂 She is 100% DONE with diapers! Go Laela go!

It was such an encouraging morning, for which I am thankful. We went out for lunch with my dad in the afternoon, and had a quiet afternoon. I’m feeling a bit off my game, though, so I’m currently hiding up in our room while Brady plays guitar and hangs with the kids in the living room. It feels like a good way to start wrapping up the day.

Maybe tomorrow we’ll spit out the rest of the deck!! Wish us luck! What are you guys up to on the last day of the long weekend?

Our deck is SO CLOSE to being done! We hauled all of the kids out there this morning and intended to get a bunch of work done on it. We hung a little swing up for Solly, even, so everyone would be happy and entertained. As life tends to happen, though, the weather was just a tad windy and Solly was cold and unhappy very quickly. I didn’t even screw in a single screw before I had to pack it in and take him inside. It was disappointing for me, but the other kids were having fun running around and playing still.

Right around the time I was getting lunch ready for the kids, my dad offered to come by and lend a hand. He and Brady worked hard for a few hours and got all of the decking on! So technically, the deck can be used by adults, but we need those railings on as soon as possible so the kids can also enjoy the new deck. We have them in our garage, so hopefully installing them isn’t too far away. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Monday. Maybe not. Who knows. But its so nice to finally have all of the deck boards in place. I’m so glad we’ve made it this far. Home stretch!

We wrapped up our day by spending it with a friend from high school who is back for the summer. We ate a super simple but yummy supper, and the kids ate SO much! Solly ate more than we had ever seen him eat! It was a good food day, and then a nice relaxed evening with our guest. Nothing like sipping a coffee and talking in detail about the last ten-ish years of everyone’s lives! So much has changed since high school, haha! It was really really nice.

I have a chill I can’t seem to shake, of all things, on this beautiful day, so I’m off to hit up a soak and watch some Netflix. I hope you’re all enjoying your long weekend!

Once in a while, Brady and I very intentionally regroup and make sure we’re parenting how we want to be. Often we come to the decision that we’ve toughened up a bit too much, and we need to dial it back a bit. Not that we get more lax, but that we make a bigger effort to be gentle and soft with the kids. Its easy to get tough on them, and we do it all too often, so the regroup sessions are a really good idea for us.

We just had one of these discussions yesterday, and it reminded us just how incredible our kids are, how warm hearted they are, and just how hard they try to make good choices. We both agreed to make conscious efforts to be more gentle with them in the near future.

So I did. This morning, I got the kids up and just chose my “battles” a little more carefully. I spoke more politely to them, and I’m embarrassed to say that they noticed. Part of me wishes I didn’t have to share these stories about today because I’m humiliated about all of the things I’ve failed at, but today was a great success story, so I’d rather tell you about it and take a bit of an ego hit 🙂

Dekker asked me why I was talking to quietly. He even mimicked me, whispering “what kind of cereal did you want?” It was funny, but I figured I should be straight up with them. I told them I was thinking that if I talked to them a bit more politely, maybe they would be happier in the day, and maybe even speak more politely to each other. I said that I was sorry I sounded loud and mad so often, and that I wanted to try to be nicer and more gentle with them. Without prompting, the big kids were full of forgiveness, and assured me that it was a great idea.

It was a really sweet kick off to a busy day!

I took the kids grocery shopping this morning, to Costco and then to Superstore. Lucky for me, the kids love grocery shopping so I never find that to be too big of a task. Except that it was approaching lunch/nap time, so by the second place, Ro was getting pretty annoyed with Solly sitting next to him. We had too many things in our cart to be able to go through self check out, so we were at the mercy of the line, which is usually where the kids get a bit more twitchy. I was working hard to exercise my gentleness while being firm and maintaining my brood of hungry hooligans. It was while I was unloading the cart that one of those people who wander around and try and make you sign up for credit cards approached my cart. My heart rolled its eyes (yup, don’t question it) but I smiled at her when she greeted us. Usually these people take one look at our crew and keep moving, so I thought she was a bit ballsy to try to sell us on a credit card in that moment. But out of nowhere, she pulled out a container of bubbles and entertained my kids. Unbelievable. Where do these amazing people keep coming from? I feel SO amazed every time someone just jumps in and backs us up. I thanked her profusely. What a lifesaver.

So clearly, Costco and Superstore were a big win. The kids did SO great. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do next, whether go home or help a friend with a small move this afternoon. It turned out that timing was on our side, and we were able to be of use to her, so I went through the McDonalds drive-thru and everyone got lunch. Everyone asked for what they wanted and it was pretty much the same as usual. No problem there. I pulled into a parking spot once we had our stuff and Dekker came to the front of the van to help me hand out food. I love how easy it is to just move around the van as needed. He was very willing to help, and everyone just had better manners than usual. Seeing this was a fabulous motivation for me to keep up my gentle attitude and higher level of patience.

As we were driving, Dekker told me that Rowan wanted some apples, but Rowan hadn’t asked for apples. Dekker reassured me that he would share some of his with Ro. Then, later on, when Rowan finished his lunch, Dekker offered him what he had left. I was so thrilled to see his giving heart come before his defensiveness.

So here is the kicker. My kids sat in the (running) van for an amazingly long time while I loaded stuff into my van, drove, unloaded, drove back, loaded, etc. I think I did three loads back and forth, and the kids just sat and patiently waited. Once or twice I heard Solly wine, but someone would jump in and sing to him, baby talk, or whatever else, and it would cheer him up. They were CHAMPS! Like unbelievably awesome, and unbelievably patient! I would get back in the van for another trip and thank them for being so patient, and they’d assure me they were fine. When the last load was unloaded, I climbed back into the van and told the kids we could go home. They laughed at me and pointed out that the sliding door was still open. I went to close it and Dekker commented to me “It would be nice to leave it open, so we could hear the birds.” Now Dekker is SUCH a softy in general, but comments like this were made all day, and just reminded me of all of his beautiful feelings and thoughts. They are all just so amazing.

While we were driving home, Dekker asked “Do you think maybe we could have an easter treat because we are so patient?” And I really really did think so, yup. When everyone got home, the kids ran in happily and I turned on a show for them to rest up to. It’ll be an interesting evening as none of them really napped at all today, so the resting was necessary. They hung out inside while I dragged in two full grocery shops worth of food, and only once everything was inside and I started sorting through stuff and putting it away did they remind me about their hypothetical treats. I instantly plunked them all on a couch side by side and gave them each a bag of mini eggs. They were so happy and thankful. It felt great to me to see them so happy and satisfied with the great job they had done. It wasn’t a bribe. It was a special reward.

As I moved around the kitchen, I heard such positive talk, and very clear communication. Dekker was trying to tease Laela and instead of her usual siren screech, she said “please don’t tickle me, Dekker.” And he backed right off. No fighting. Not. Even. Any. There are still moments where they get snippy, but I’ve been able to just remind them to speak politely, and they do! Its amazing how, after such a big day, they’re doing so well.

Its often days like this that make me feel a bit guilty for underestimating my kids. Why would I expect that they wouldn’t do well? Its a realization of how much my attitude and mood affects them and theirs. I’m not in any way suggesting that now we’re just golden, haha! I’m sure I’ll have many days of failure ahead, but today has been great. And successful. To God be the glory, for giving me strength; for giving my kids intuition and good judgement; for giving me the opportunity to take them all with me and practice new skills.

I’m so grateful.

You guys should really come grocery shopping with us sometime. Its a blast.

Solly woke up super early this morning, and since its a school day for Dekker, there was no way I could go back to sleep once he did. Brady was still home when he woke, and lovingly brought me a cup of coffee in bed before he headed out for work. I have no issue with people who drink more coffee than me, but I almost never have more than one cup. Unless I end up going out and having coffee with someone, or picking up coffee in the city, I just have one cup. Well, this morning, cup number two was long gone shortly after I got home from taking Dekker to school. I didn’t feel like either cup even touched my fatigue.

On top of my general tired mood, the kids are fightier than usual. Yes, fightier is a word. Don’t fight me about it, because I’ve had enough. Its very likely actually a normalish day with some scrapping thrown in, but today it just feels a hundred times harder to get everyone playing happily. Lunch helped, and now the little boys are napping, and Laela and I are resting in the living room. She tidied up the toys and is stretched out on the couch, watching some tv. She keeps telling me she “just needs a yittle west,” which I’m more than happy to let her have. Down time is SO necessary.

Brady is hanging out with a friend this evening, so I’m thinking it’ll be a restful evening for me. I originally thought I’d play with makeup and watch YouTube to busy myself, but with the day feeling as it has, I may just lay in bed and watch movies, haha! Productivity is great, but so is rest, and I can tell I’m in need of some.

I hope you guys haven’t had fighty days. I hope they’ve been resty. Let’s hope for a restier day tomorrow!

The deck was a bit stalled out when Brady was back at work, and he managed to have a couple of fairly long sick days in the middle there. So for those reasons, its been almost a week since we last got out there and got our hands dirty. Today, we broke the cycle.

I got my legs waxed in the early afternoon, grabbed some coffees, and came home to Brady and Laela working on the deck. Dekker had opted to stay inside to play Lego, and the little boys were napping. I went inside and invited Dekker to join three three of us outside, but he declined. He insisted that he really wanted to play Lego. I got his jacket out of the closet and told him it was on the stairs if he changed his mind. Luckily, I hadn’t been out with Brady and Laela for too long at all before be decided to join us. Woot!

Due to the great desire for our deck to look as good as possible, I’ve been fairly intimidated to work on too much of it myself. My husband is the carpenter, literally, in the relationship, and I don’t want to mess up something he could do perfectly himself. But I’m getting sad that I haven’t played as much of a role in it as I originally had wanted to. Conveniently, installing the deck boards is something I am capable of doing pretty risk-free. We are using hidden fasteners to hold our composite decking on, so none of my screw holds will show, which is pretty comforting to me.

Dekker and Laela sat by the stairs, or played around in the dirt, and made up games while Brady and I set up a good system for me to comfortably work on the decking itself.

Of course, once I was confident in my role and was in a good groove, I made a quick stop inside to check on my nappers and both were awake. Because I can’t just put Solly down in the dirt, and its pretty windy and chilly on and off, I can’t revisit my post on the deck. I really like hanging out with Solly and Ro inside, don’t get me wrong, but I’m a bit sad to leave a job I can finally do. Merp.

The evening will only get better though! Jerilee is coming for the first time in at least three weeks, which is CRAZY but true. That will be a definite high point for the day. As was my leg wax with my fave waxing girl, my short chance at the deck, and hanging out with my family. Lots of things to be thankful for.

Hopefully that deck is done soon! We are SO ready for that! Just deck boards left, and the railings are all built and waiting in our garage to be installed. Its going to happen!!

Since I didn’t get to see my mom on Mother’s Day, it worked out beautifully that Brady had today off, because I was able to take my mom on a date. I had outdoor plans and indoor plans, so we wouldn’t be hooped with a weather change. I tried to be ahead of the game, anyway. And it worked!

First, Brady helped me put together a super delicious breakfast. It turned out gorgeous, and it tasted even better than I had expected. The picture is of the full product, but I only brought a chunk over to mom’s place for our breakfast, and left the bigger chunk at home for Brady to eat.

Seriously, it was amazing, and suuuper easy. Everyone should try this.

As we ate breakfast, I finally forked over our plans. It wasn’t raining like the forecast had predicted, so I figured we’d go with our outdoor plans, but when I confessed our indoor plans, my mom got SO excited! So we decided to do something we’d never done before and go paint pottery together!

Since I planned our date, I decided that we’d both paint a mug for each other. She was on board, and we ended up picking the same styles for one another. Because we’re alike. Which I like. I’ll admit that it was pretty daunting trying to decide what she might light and sorting through options and ideas. Neither of us had painted in years, so we weren’t confident in free-handing a design. We ended up doing silk screens, but I won’t show you what we made yet 🙂 Not in detail, anyway.

In five-ish days, they’ll be glazed and fired and ready for pick up! I’m so excited to see how they come out. I think they’ll be quite perfect. It was so much fun putting them together and putting so much thought into them. We’ll definitely be back!

When we were done and on our way out, we had about an hour left until our lunch reservation. We decided to run a couple of small errands, just because we could, and we didn’t have time to do any of my other outdoor plans. A quick stop at Walmart and one more at London Drugs left us at Red Lobster a half hour early, but there was room for us to settle into a cozy corner booth anyway. We enjoyed a delicious lunch!!

Red Lobster was the last stop on my list before picking Dekker up from school, but we had some extra time to kill, so we ran another errand over at Indigo. We grabbed Starbucks and did some perusing the gifties before getting on our way.

I took mom home and we visited until I absolutely had to go to the school to get my kid, haha! My mom and I could chat ALL day.

Turns out, we did! I bought my mom a spaghetti squash for Mother’s Day (Don’t judge it, she gets it, haha!) and we really wanted to eat it together. So Brady graciously suggested I go join mom for supper, which I did with almost no convincing.

My gosh, it was SUCH a good food day!! And the company didn’t hurt either.

To know my mom is to love her. I am so fortunate to have been raised by a woman such as herself.

Thank you for letting me love on you and celebrate you today, mom. I’d love to do it again.

There is a survey floating around Facebook encouraging women to share details about having their babies and basically how they became mothers. That’s what this post is going to be. And this is why.

Mothers Day weighed on me a bit. I love it, and I’m THRILLED to be a mom. On another hand, though, I’m not unaware of those around me who desire to be mothers but have no baby to hold in their arms. I had no idea just how much infertility/loss/grief there was around the subject of having babies until I started having them. Now, this year, I have experienced what I feel has been a great loss, and a huge blow to our family. We lost our baby. I loved my Mother’s Day yesterday, but I do have some weird, unresolved feelings that I’m still processing. So today, I’m keeping it light.

To the surveys!

1. Did you have an epidural? Yes
2. Was your husband in the room? Yes
3. Were you induced? Yes
4. Did you find out the sex? Yes
5. Due Date? August 19, 2011
6. Did you deliver early or late? 2 days late
7. Did you have morning sickness? No! None! It was glorious.
8. What did you crave? Corn dogs
9. How many pounds did you gain? 45
10. What was the sex of the baby? Boy
11.Did you have complications? No
12. Where did you give birth? RUH
13. How many hours were you in labor? 8 ish
14. How much did your baby weigh? 10 lbs 10 oz
15. What did you name the baby? Dekker Thomas
16. How old is your baby now? 5

1. Did you have an epidural? Nope. Nope nope nope.
2. Was your husband in the room? Yes
3. Were you induced? Yes
4. Did you find out the sex? Yes
5. Due Date? September 21, 2013
6. Did you deliver early or late? 8 days late
7. Did you have morning sickness? Yes, the most I ever had
8. What did you crave? fuzzy peaches
9. How many pounds did you gain? 35
10. What was the sex of the baby? Girl
11.Did you have complications? Do you count a precipitous labour? Otherwise no.
12. Where did you give birth? RUH
13. How many hours were you in labor? 1
14. How much did your baby weigh? 9 lbs 10 oz
15. What did you name the baby? Laela Hazel
16. How old is your baby now? 3

1. Did you have an epidural? Yes, a VERY controlled delivery
2. Was your husband in the room? Yes
3. Were you induced? yes
4. Did you find out the sex? yes
5. Due Date? March 2, 2015
6. Did you deliver early or late? one week early
7. Did you have morning sickness? Not much8. What did you crave? noodle bowls
9. How many pounds did you gain? 25
10. What was the sex of the baby? Boy
11.Did you have complications? No
12. Where did you give birth? RUH
13. How many hours were you in labor? 5.5
14. How much did your baby weigh? 8 lbs 6 oz (He was sooo bitty!)
15. What did you name the baby? Rowan Toby
16. How old is your baby now? 2

<3 We lost a baby VERY early in between these children, in September 2015. Baby was gone before we knew it had even been there, but is NEVER forgotten!! We will meet again one day. <3

1. Did you have an epidural? Yes, also very controlled, which I was so grateful for
2. Was your husband in the room? Yes
3. Were you induced? Yes
4. Did you find out the sex? Yes
5. Due Date? June 7, 2016
6. Did you deliver early or late? one week early
7. Did you have morning sickness? Yes
8. What did you crave? broccoli (about time I craved something good for me, hey?)
9. How many pounds did you gain? 22
10. What was the sex of the baby? Boy
11.Did you have complications? No
12. Where did you give birth? RUH
13. How many hours were you in labor? 4
14. How much did your baby weigh? 10 lbs 7 oz
15. What did you name the baby? Solomon Brady
16. How old is your baby now? 11 months! Almost a year! Not ok!

<3 We lost our little man Theo in January, 2017. I wish I could share his details, or even know them myself. I anticipate meeting him one day, as well.

I am so beyond thankful to be a mother to my children, both on earth and in heaven. BEYOND THANKFUL. I know we’re so fortunate to have who we have.

I hope you all had the happiest, most blessing-filled mothers day weekend, all of you mothers out there, whether in body or in heart.

I knew Brady had a bit of a plan for this morning, but I didn’t know for sure what it was. We were skipping church for it, and he had a timeline in mind, but not a hard, fast one. Also, we were just getting ready and going, without feeding the kids. I put two and two together and figured we were all going out to eat somewhere that wouldn’t take a reservation. And I was right!

Turns out we weren’t the only family trying to get into Cora’s for breakfast, and even though we were there bright and early, Brady ran in and waited for probably a good half hour. We texted back and forth about maybe going somewhere else, but the other location was just as full, and we reeeaaally wanted to eat at that particular restaurant. So we decided to wait it out. Brady was offered two tables for four across the restaurant from each other, which he politely declined, but soon after, a larger group left and they were able to make space for us.

We hauled everyone into the restaurant, past the long line of people waiting. Its always a bit chaotic getting everyone in and settled, but once they were settled, all was smooth. They looked at the menu and chose their breakfasts (waffles for Dekker and Rowan, pancakes for Laela, and banana slices for Solly) and Brady and I briefly glanced at the menus, but we already knew what we wanted, so ordering went quick.

It was a HUGE win that we stayed at the first Cora’s location because the balloon man was there!!! He’s the guy who was at Montanas when we went for Rowan’s birthday celebration, and he was SO good! I wasn’t as on the ball as my mom was with the camera the last time, so you’ll just have to trust me that his creations were, once again, amazing! Laela got a purple fish on a fishing pole, Dekker got a green dinosaur, and Rowan got a monkey on a banana tree. He was SO entertaining, and helped us pass the time quickly! Between joking with the kids, he spoke quietly to us about how he and his wife had four kids together as well, and how life changing it had been, and how he felt so fortunate. It was a nice little moment to connect with another parent who felt so smitten about having their many kids nice and close together. It was nice to relate.

Once the food came, the kids dug right in. They ate great, and tons, and were really relaxed and happy. We ended up sitting next to a family we know from our town, which was a nice surprise. Beyond getting to chat a little with them, we had people come up to us two different times to say how wonderful our kids seemed to be, and that we were a beautiful family. One woman even addressed the “ugh” moment that people sometimes feel when they see a big family coming their way in a restaurant or a similar setting, but that they were so pleased to sit by us and watch how sweet the kids were. My mama heart was bursting, truly, hearing so many wonderful things said about my precious children. Like I had to consciously remember to dial it back, and be thankful to my God who has lead us as parents, and also lead our kids. All glory be to Him!

Laela was finishing up her pancakes when things started to ever so gently break down, and by things, I mean the little boys. Rowan started crying without any real reason,

but it was nothing that a snuggle with me and a tickle of his bellybutton couldn’t solve. He recovered quickly. Meanwhile, Solly was getting twitchy in his high chair, but he chewed on empty creamer cups and was pacified, haha!

But it was definitely reaching go time. But while we had my leftovers boxed up, and everyone had their coats on, our server hadn’t brought our bill. So we waited a bit longer, and I kept reassuring myself that she knew we were ready to go, but it was a big morning, and she would come as soon as she could.

And when she did come, she said someone had paid for us already. All six of us. I was so overwhelmed.

I won’t lie. I am still blown away. That was in no way a small gift. It was huge, and generous, and totally unexpected! We would NEVER expect anyone to foot a bill for our family, ever! I don’t even feel good about it when its my parents wanting to treat us, because I know we cost a decent amount just based on how many of us there are. What an amazing gesture. What a gift of love. I can’t really comprehend it all, still. It was an eye opener, and a reminder to be generous as often as possible, whenever we feel at all lead to be.

This morning has been more amazing than I could have expected. I got to eat a delicious breakfast with my beautiful children and husband. I was given gifts and so many hugs and kisses. Strangers complimented us and showed us very real love. And the kids slept on the drive back home, thanks to a good old fashioned sugar crash. I am thrilled, grateful, and totally overwhelmed by today.

I couldn’t ask for a better Mother’s Day.

Today was a great success! I wasn’t sure it would be with the day starting out as grey and rainy and WINDY as it was, but sure enough, people were out and about, both on foot and in vehicles. So were we! We started out early enough, but unfortunately my family was pretty finished with the process quite early in the game. Garage sale day is one of my favorite town events of the year, so I was pretty disappointed with my group. I finally decided we’d all go home, but I was going to venture back out on foot, on my own.

I was out for an hour or two on my own, and ventured back for lunch. Or I thought I did. Brady ducked out and purchased lunch for us at a nearby fund raising garage sale. Taco salad in a bag is something I never had growing up but really really enjoy now. I’m still feeling somewhat ill, but it comes and goes in waves, and while I felt sick earlier in the day, I felt well enough to eat taco salad for lunch! I even got a donut soon after that.

Dekker had been invited to a birthday party this afternoon, so I dropped him off around 1:00 and continued shopping garage sales for an hour or so. I found a couple of wins for us, along with some duplo that I was keeping an eye out for on my moms behalf. I brought it over to her after buying it, and ending up visiting away the rest of the time before I needed to pick Dekker up. It was a nice way to break up the day and get out of the wind. While there, we made a spontaneous evening plan and I invited them over for a suuuper relaxed hot dog supper. Win for everyone!

The evening has now wound down. My parents on headed home and the kids are in bed. Brady is dealing cards for a game or two of Skipbo. I figured I’d share my haul with you quickly! Roughly, we came out of the day with three books, three busy books, a bag of clothing for the kids, a baby swing to attach under our deck, a birthday gift for Dekker (I’m on the ball with that one!), an elliptical, and a treadmill. So bear with me on the last two. I am NOT a good, loyal exerciser. Nope nope nope. But I’ve wanted to have ONE piece of exercise equipment for a few years now. I feared that I would never ever use it and I would be just like so many other people, selling a barely used ancient piece of equipment that I clearly did not use. But then, I found a nice elliptical for $20. And then a nice treadmill for $20. Sooooo I have both for WAY cheaper than I expected to pay for just one of those things!! Now to see if I use them… 😉

Well, my feet are chilly and my card game awaits. Have a fabulous Saturday, friends, and enjoy your weekend. Hug your moms, or the ladies closest to you <3

I’ve felt pretty gross with all of the grossness going on around here, and waking up early with Solly didn’t help. BUT I made a plan for the day early on. My plan was to plunk my kids (and myself) in front of the tv, wrap us all in blankets, eat boring convenient bland food, and be lazy, completely unapologetically. I really think there is a place for these kinds of days, and today seemed like a good one. Through text, Brady supported my plan to forego the dishes/laundry/household chores and encouraged me to just rest up. It was a pretty perfect plan, if you ask me.

And then Laela had a sick poop. All over her feet and down her wall. A good mental picture, right? You should have seen it in real life. Or maybe you really shouldn’t have. She was so distraught. But after a quick bath, all four kids were at the table eating breakfast happily. So while bathing a weeping child, doing laundry, and washing walls wasn’t on my to-do list today, it woke me up a little bit and helped me blow past my sickness. Which felt good! Because not only was I feeling less sick, but my kids were cheered up, and I managed to accomplish things, but I still had no real goals/expectations for the day. I love that kind of morning.

Being that I felt pretty good as the morning wore in, I started compiling a to-do list. We have been so wrapped up in both sickness and deck building that everything else has sat on the back burner. We weren’t skipping big important things, but just small things that really should get done but kept being forgotten. I made a very rough list of things to do today, and someday soon, and appointments to book. Just a big mess of things. And it got SUPER overwhelming very quickly.

Sooooo that list sits now, haha! I did the dishes, so thats one thing. I washed the laundry, but haven’t folded it yet, so I’m taking half a point for that one, and I booked an appointment for next week to get my legs waxed, so thats another thing. Woot! Everything else can wait, at least until tonight.

Tomorrow is garage sale day here in town! Pleeeaaase let us all be healthy by then, because I love garage sale day SO MUCH! I love shopping second hand, and I love the social aspect of the day, as well. It would be such a bummer if we couldn’t venture out for fresh donuts, tacos in a bag, and inevitable shopping for little kitchen gadgets and such. Eek! Something fun to look forward to 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone!