Yesterday, Brady opted to stay home for the day. Rather than attending Dekker’s track meet and going to work in the afternoon for just a couple of hours, he decided to spend the day at home and go in to work for a bit this morning. Turns out that was a great move, because he woke up before his alarm feeling refreshed and motivated. He worked very few hours, accomplished WAY more than he would’ve had he gone in yesterday afternoon, and came home happy.

The goal of today was to change the oil in the bus, but Brady had forgotten his wallet and couldn’t go buy oil or a filter. So plans changed a little bit, and we decided to make a quick trip into the city after he got home. He made it home while the kids were eating breakfast.

We dressed them and ran into the city for Costco and a few short errands. We did good, were fast, and got everything we came for. Now, the little boys are safely tucked away, napping, the big kids are playing Lego, I’m blogging (obviously) and Brady is about to head off to change the oil. It should be a nice, quiet, rest of the day here at home.

All thats left to do on my watch it water my moms flowers this evening. Maybe I’ll even walk over. The weather has been just gorgeous!! I hope you’re all enjoying the sun ☀️

Today was a fun new experience for our family, as we loaded our kids up and took them to school to watch Dekker take part in his first ever track and field day. Dekker was amped for it, and very excited that we were all coming. The other kids were pumped too, obviously not sure what to expect but happy to go see Dekker do something we promised would be exciting. Everyone got ready as slowly as possible (isn’t that how it always happens?) but we made it there with a bit of extra time, even. Woot!

The day began with a run on the track. I think it was the 100m track but the kindergarteners only went to the halfway point, I believe. I was SO sad when Dekker wiped out 🙁 He got overwhelmed very early and hit the deck pretty hard. He had lots of help right away, and was walked off the track and brought back to his class. I heard later than a kid or two had tried to run to him right away, but their parents/teachers had kept them back. Just knowing that made my heart feel a bit better for him. Shortly afterwards, he was walking around, helping his teacher do little jobs, slowly coming back from his experience. He was well cared for.

The race had been at the high school, so once that was done, the crowds of people began migrating back to the elementary school for the other events. I realized at the next even that, thanks to our last name, Dekker had to be first every single time. No one wants to be first anyway, but especially being so nervous in general, it was hard for him. But at his second event of the day – ball throw – he did great 🙂 His first throw was nice and far! Then, for whatever reasons, he switched hands, haha! So the last two throws didn’t go quite so far 😉 but he was happy with himself, and seemed more comfortable again.

Running long jump upset him again. I’m not entirely sure why. His first run was just a practice run but he ended it in tears, hanging his head down, walking to the back of the line again. The SWEET little guy behind him took him by the shoulders and stuffed his own face up under the brim of Dekker’s hat that he was hiding under, and pep talked him. <3 My mama heart just swelled. Dekker stayed in his line and did his three jumps like everyone else. At the very end, he asked to go again, which surprised everyone, but they let him, which I really appreciated 🙂 Its all about having a good experience at this age, so I could really see the efforts being made for him.

His last event was standing broad jump, and he walked right up to the starting board, ready to being the event. He was confident, happy, comfortable, and excited. Yay Dekker!! He did his practice jump and then waited his turn for his other three jumps. I watched him in the line with his friends. They would roughhouse a little, try and knock each other over, and eventually it would end in tickling. It was just s sweet and innocent and heartwarming for me. I’m SO sad I can’t post some of the best pictures of the day, because there are so many other kids in them and its just not my place, but seriously, it was SO cute! The whole thing. The whole day. A bunch of five year olds running, jumping, playing, wandering off, and proudly displaying their ribbons. I loved it!

Huge props go to our other kids, who waited patiently through the breaks in the day, and rooted for Dekker when it was his turn. I’m constantly amazed at my children, and today was no different.

What a fun, crazy day. I’m thankful the weather cooperated for us, even though it looked a bit touch and go there for a while, so the kids could really enjoy themselves 🙂 And so we could, too.

What has brought you joy today?

I’ve had a full morning already, but its been good. Solly was exhausted much earlier than usual, which is what happens when your leg gets stuck between your crib bars at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. When the baby is tired, the whole day feels tired. You get it 😉 But I managed to feed him little treats until he fell asleep in his high chair and I gave in and put him down. It timed out surprisingly well, though, and he and Rowan went down for naps pretty much right on time.

Now its just me and the girly, and she is feeling pretty sleepy as well. We’re both stretched out in the living room, watching a bit of tv. Now that the house is nice and quiet, I went to find myself some lunch. I suck at eating lunch, guys. My eating habits are terrible. But I’m trying hard these days to at least grab a handful of fresh veggies or something so I’m not completely sick to my stomach by the time supper rolls around.

Todays lunch brings me SO much joy! Guys, we have a case of nectarines! And they’re PERFECT! We splurged at Costco the other day when we saw all of the new fruit. I got a case of nectarines, my favorite, and Brady got a case of his favorite as well; peaches. The counter by our pantry smells amaaazing! I never want it to stop! But since I don’t want any fruit flies to magically appear and ruin everything, I will only get to enjoy the small/taste of my favorite fruit in the world for the next few days, while I eat the whole case by myself. Which I’m actually pretty ok with. Does anyone else have a weird thing with nectarines? Why are they SO GOOD???

Today has been a good day, and it will continue to be good, but today, my highlight is my nectarine lunch. I may even have two…

I’m not talking about big lofty dreams of travelling across the world. Those kind of dreams feel pretty far out of reach these days, and I’m content with that. I actually had a dream that we went on a trip, just Brady and I, to somewhere with an ocean. I don’t know much more than that, but I remember how refreshing it was. I woke up with the itch to make it happen.

As things are going, we are not going to be near an ocean anytime soon, but we have a lake trip planned in August that I am looking forward to now more than ever!! I’m anticipating some beach time, some lazy walking, some ice cream, and just soaking in the lake air that is somehow SO DIFFERENT than the air here at home. Its not even about the lake. Its about the lake life. The easy going, nowhere to be type of attitude we can carry there. I am SO ready to go!

We’re actually thinking we may try to drive up to the lake for a day next week. The kids can get reacquainted with our lake and surroundings, and we can get a feel for what they’ll enjoy most. I hope its the first of many day trips this summer.

As for trip trips, I decided a long time ago that I’m going somewhere hot for our ten year anniversary. Somewhere luxurious. Maui-ish. Don’t worry, I’ve told Brady my plan. He knows I’m going whether he comes or not, haha! So I’m never too twitchy for a trip when I know that one is coming up eventually 😉 We’re 8.5 years in, so its not too terribly far off. C’mon guys, support my beautiful fantasy!

Over the next year and a half, though, our beautiful lake life will have to do 🙂 I’m SO thankful for it!

When the little boys are sleeping, and Dekker is at school, I have some one on one time with Laela. Sometimes we just rest and watch a bit of tv, sometimes we color, sometimes she plays lego, etc. Today, I was thinking we’d duck up to my room and she could play while I cleaned our en suite up a bit. However, now that the boys are down, and the dishwasher is humming away, I feel like my work is done for the moment. Clearly, I’m feeling somewhat unmotivated, haha! But today, I am SO glad I wasn’t motivated!

VeggieTales is on the tv, and Laela and I were cuddled under some blankets when she asked if I’d paint her fingernails. For some background, I’ve painted Laela’s fingers and toes less than five times. Every time I do it, she’s sat patiently through it, and then immediately wailed and fussed for me to take it off. Its SO frustrating, because on one hand, sure, I can do that, and on another hand, NO!! So I haven’t initiated nail painting in a LONG time, and it hasn’t been missed. But Laela began asking a week or two ago to have her toes painted. I reminded her how it always went, and while she didn’t say she wouldn’t complain, she did understand that I wouldn’t be removing it immediately afterwards. So I painted her toes (Dekkers too) and she was happy with it. No complaints a few days later 🙂 Success. And now, this morning, she asked for her fingernails.

I explained to her that she’d have to sit and be patient while I painted them, and she said she would. I got a clipboard to lay on her lap and grabbed the color she requested from my bathroom. She was sitting on the couch, her fingers splayed on the clipboard in her lap, ready to go. So we did.

And she loves them!!

She sat so patiently, and even lifted each finger as I got to it to make it easier on me. As I sat in front of her on the floor, she on the couch, she said quietly “You’re great at this, mommy.” Its like she knew I needed the reassurance! It was SO sweet! 💗 I thanked her, and was done very soon after. She gushed that she “luffed” them, and gave me a kiss.

My little girly seems to be feeling pretty happy and breezy today, and I’m so thankful for that. Some days feel heavier than others, for a thousand different reasons, but the kids being happy makes ALL the difference!

Does anyone appreciate my plays on words? No? Just me? Thats fair. Dekker actually joined in my wordplay the other day, referring to cleaning up all the toys as “toydying.” So at least he supports my dry humor.

However, as the title suggests (if you understand me) I’m feeling pretty blah today. But I’m trying to be realistic about it, because we had SUCH an “up” weekend, I’m probably just coming down from it a bit. And I’m SO thankful for our wonderful weekend, so I’m trying to see my blah feeling as a good blah rather than a bad blah. Is any of this making sense? Moving on…

I got to sleep in pretty decently, which these days means past 7:00, and I’m ok with that. It is a whole new world having our room to ourselves. Brady and I sleep better, Solly sleeps better, and the big kids probably sleep a little bit less because they are so excited to share a room still, but they’re happy, so its worth it. So even when the days feel a little long or a little challenging, a good nights sleep makes all the difference.

The little boys went down for naps after lunch, and the big kids are hanging with me in the living room. We needed a tv break today, and I decided that Laela would get to choose their show today. She was elated, and Dekker didn’t even complain. Its as though he KNOWS he owes her one. He was in pretty rough shape this morning, and as a punishment, he had to go clean up the pieces of cereal from the dining room floor. They had rice krispies for breakfast, so there was a lot (Rowan is terrible at eating rice krispies, and all of the kids eat them dry) Anyway, Laela offered to help him with his punishment, and got down on the floor and picked up cereal with him. That was a definite high point for me. So when I suggested that Laela could pick the show, Dekker said “That makes sense” and buckled down to his Lego.

If the rest of the day feels difficult, or even just hem haw, THIS was a positive! Its good to remember the positives.

This all being said, I think we’re going to venture out this afternoon. We need some Costco staple items. Does anyone else constantly run out of milk, yogurt, and bananas at the same time?? Please let this not just be us! So we’ll load up on those things, some more fresh stuff (because our kids are devouring grape tomatoes right now) and then duck a bit further into the city for some makeup items for a couple of appointments I have coming up. Also Starbucks, because mango black tea lemonade is really working for me these days. Yum! So it seems like there are positive things yet to come!

I hope your Monday has been really good, despite my weird, downer post and the grey weather. Maybe it’ll drown some of the tent caterpillars! See, look! Another positive!

Today, Brady and I enjoyed a brief moment in the spotlight of the sun. We, along with our friend Carrie, played a set of songs at the local car show. It was SO fun, and SO worth all of the hours of work and practice that we put into it. We had a total blast. Thanks again, Carrie, for getting us involved, even though I know we bring a few complications into the mix 😉

We were so grateful to have my parents be willing participants as well, by caring for our kids during our sound check and practice, and bringing them to the event in our bus. Jerilee even came, and hung out with them, took pictures and videos, and supported and loved on everyone. We have SUCH amazing people in our corner.

Our town has been celebrating its centennial this weekend, which makes me feel quite emotional, if I’m being honest. I’ve not been feeling well at all this weekend, so I’m sad to say we’ve missed most of the events and goings on, but while this is a very important weekend for my town, its also a VERY memorable weekend for us. While our hometown celebrates its 100th year here, we celebrate our FIRST year here. We have officially been residents for ONE YEAR TODAY! I am SO honoured to be a part of this beautiful town. It has always been my home, but I’m confident that I can speak for the rest of my family when I say it felt like home to everyone the moment we set foot into our new house.

One year ago, so many people stepped up and helped us not only move stuff to our house, but arrange our things so they were usable and liveable. My closet was organized. My kitchen was set up according to my awkwardly specific map. Furniture was placed where I asked, and cribs were set up in the right places. I sat, and held my baby, and did very little to help, and it was AMAZING.

We have had such an immense year, loaded with SO much good and a pretty decent amount of hardship, if we’re being straight up. And I know we can’t always have the best thing, or the easiest thing, but I am so grateful that we’ve been able to live in this beautiful place during this time of life rather than so far away. What if Dekker had to start school out in Radisson, where I wasn’t happy with the system? What if we had the same problems from our rentals in our home, and couldn’t leave? What if, heaven forbid, we miscarried while in Radisson?? God would’ve seen us through, but it would’ve been so so much harder. Here, we’ve made closer friendships. We’ve become involved in the school and the town and in the church again, finally! We are part of a community that loves us and that we can shower love on too.

Today just really brought to light how far we’ve come. I’m so glad t it was finally our turn for this dream to come true.

I am SO proud to live where I live.

As I mentioned, this weekend is the annual weekend where our town celebrates itself with activities and events. And today began with a parade!

Unfortunately I was feeling pretty gross yesterday and it carried over into today. Brady did the whole morning with the kids and I slept until 10:00-ish. I got myself dragged out of bed and dressed, and we drove to my parents place around 10:30. There, we met my parents, my brother and his family, and a couple of their friends. We made it over to the parade path and picked our spot.

I loved the parade this year. The last time we went, there were a LOT of sirens and they really put Dekker off. I know lots of people liked the novelty, but just for our family specifically, that was the hard part of the parade. Enough that Dekker actually didn’t want to go :/ So I was very relieved when the emergency vehicles just waved and threw candy without blasting their sirens. It was really nice for us 🙂 There was one brief incident where Solly got nailed with a water balloon, though, haha! It was TOTALLY unintentional, and the thrower of the balloon was completely apologetic and looked to feel pretty sick about it. He recovered pretty quickly, and all was well, but it definitely a first! Lol! The kids pulled in a boatload of candy and got some sun. It was a good morning.

It was lunch time by the time the parade was over, and the little boys were ready for a nap. So was I, frankly. I have the body aches of a person who has been throwing up for days on end, even though I haven’t vomited at all! Just SO sore! So once again, Brady manned the kids and I went up to bed to rest my body, and eventually nap. It was exactly what he doctor ordered.

Brady woke me up when we had about a half hour before it was time to head out again. My mom had invited us to join the rest of the group for supper to celebrate Sollys birthday and all be together. We haven’t seen my brother and his family since Christmas, which is CRAZY, so it was definitely time. We had a great visit and supper, and the kids all ate their food super well. Solly ate an entire hot dog. As in a whole wiener and bun, plus some watermelon, and then about half of a sliver of cake, but at that point he was SO full! Pretty impressive eating skills, Solly Wolly!

The bigger kids all went downstairs to play after supper, and Solly and his littlest cousin sat upstairs at the table, playing with his new birthday truck. As is my moms usual, every single kid got a little present as well 😉 Can’t have anyone feeling left out!

Now, we’re home, because at least ONE of them is feeling finished 😉 Kids are down, bath is running, and we’re feeling pretty wiped out. Though if I’m being honest, I REALLY hope I’m awake and alive later this evening. Even if we can’t get to the fireworks, maybe we’ll be able to see them from here 🙂 Everything is just so much nicer now that we live here!

We didn’t get to the few activities we had hoped to today, but we’ll be somewhat out and about tomorrow anyway. I say again, car show, guys. You should probably come.

These last few days have been challenging with the kids. We’re in a fun new stage that is loaded down with arguing, lying, and flat out disobedience. Its SUCH a difficult time, and the days have felt pretty long. Yesterday, specifically, was unreal. Un. Real. Just unlike any other day I’ve ever had. This is out of the norm for us, and caught me quite off guard just how disobedient my kids were being.

By the time Brady got home, I was ready to high five him, run away to bed, and never ever surface. But once cannot simply tap out of parenting. To be fair, we come pretty close sometimes, when he gives me breaks to go hide in bed, watch some YouTube, and relax my brain a bit. In this case, however, Brady has been feeling nauseous with throbbing headaches for the last three days, and was in no shape to tap me out. On the contrary. I sent him right up to bed and he slept for a solid hour until I had to go get Dekker from school. We went to bed at 9:30 last night.

I won’t lie. I was pretty apprehensive going into today, for a number of reasons, actually. A big part of it, though, was based on yesterday and how incredibly hard it was. I didn’t want a redo of all of that I couldn’t handle it. I am SO thankful for a mom who spent almost the whole day with me, not because we had planned for it, but because she knew I needed the company. She stayed until Brady got home. Now that he’s home, he made me a passion tea lemonade and sent me up to bed. He suggested I try to find some positives to throw in here so I’m not a total downer. Don’t worry, my words, not his. So here are a few positives.

Company! I loved having my mom around, for my own enjoyment and also some solid distraction for my kids.

Passion tea lemonade, because its delicious.

I have less tent caterpillars than everyone else because we have no greenery. As an aside to this positive, don’t you find that wet splat sound they make when you step on them kind of satisfying? I do, but I’m in a pretty strange headspace right now…

I bought an old guilty pleasure song the other day and pumped it in thew van today, and I super duper enjoyed it 🙂 I highly recommend each of you purchase at least ONE guilty pleasure song that you haven’t heard in ages or are embarrassed to like. It feels great.

Our beautiful deck made for some fresh air this afternoon while the little boys were sleeping.

I still really like my purple hair.

I think thats about enough for now. Forgive me for being off my game. I’m trying to get back on it. This will be a busy week as our town celebrates its centennial! I recommend coming to the parade tomorrow morning, seeing the balloon guy tomorrow afternoon, hitting fireworks in the evening if you can, and definitely the show and shine Sunday afternoon! I hear the music is going to be pretty bomb 😉

We didn’t have any concrete plans nailed down for Solly’s birthday yesterday. I know that sounds bad, but we just didn’t. We didn’t know what the weather would be like, since the days have been insanely windy, and we had hoped to have a bit of a party out on the deck with ice cream and whatever else. But then yesterday, the day turned gorgeous and we had to pull something together last minute. I have to say, though, that I think it worked out!

Brady got home early from work, bearing Starbucks and Solly’s “birthday cake.” We’ll talk more about that later. He quickly got washed up and changed, and we ventured out on our first family bike ride! It was super hard to take pictures and everyone looks terrible, so I’ll spare you those, but I had Solly on the back of my bike, Brady hauled Rowan and Laela in the trailer, and Dekker rode his bike. It was a lot of fun 🙂 Though to be completely honest, I swear I haven’t sat on a bike since I was maybe fourteen, so that plus adding a kid on the back and driving on the lowest gear made it a bit tricky, haha! Against popular belief, apparently you can forget how to ride a bike! Or I can, anyway.

When we got back home, the kids wanted to stay outside, so we lugged some big Tonka trucks onto the deck and out we stayed. They LOVED the freedom and fun on the deck! The sun was BLAZING and the kids were turning red fast. I made sure they wore their hats, but they were just toasty. I knew they’d be devastated to go inside, so I opted for a deck supper. I ducked inside and put together plates of crackers and cheese, apple slices, pepperoni, and handfuls of fresh veggies. I refilled everyone’s water bottles, and brought everything out. This was an easy way to force them to sit still at least, so they wouldn’t be as sweaty.

When it was time to go inside, they were pretty sad, but recovered with the promise of Solly’y birthday treat! Not exactly the gourmet cake that Pinterest tells us kids are supposed to get, but still delicious 🙂 It also helped that Jerilee arrived right as we came inside, bearing balloons to celebrate Solly’s birthday!!

Everyone got a cake pop, though somehow I didn’t get a picture of one of the kids eating theirs, so we’ll just stick to the birthday boy. He didn’t hesitate even, really, and dove right in. Laela and Rowan definitely weren’t sure until I broke into them and proved there was cake in there.

A quick round of Snapchat with their Auntie Jerry, and everyone was off to bed!

It wound up to be a pretty awesome birthday! I had thought this was just a “for today” kind of lame party but I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome, actually, and I think my baby boy felt solliedly celebrated. (See what I did there?)

Yup. We party hard over here!