Month: January 2019

Vehicle Troubles, Y’all

Yesterday was a full day of working on our stupid bus. We finally got the thing started this morning, thank the Lord! We spent today visiting with Cher, and wrapped up the evening with more vehicle trouble! Grrrrr! Can winter just be over already?! Its not all to blame, but it sure doesn’t help!

Tomorrow will hold yet a little bit more vehicle work, but with Brady home, the timing is actually kind of perfect for things like this. Our week is slowly filling, but some good things are getting accomplished without being completely slammed busy. So far, at least, we have a nice mix of work, relaxation, and productivity this week.

On a separate note, Miss Waverly cut her two top teeth!!!! One surfaced nicely yesterday, and the other just this morning! She is a CHAMP!

A drooly champ, but a very happy one! Wavy, we are just as proud of you as you are of yourself!! 💜 You are such a happy part of our day!

Wish us luck tomorrow!! 🤞

All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go

Our van died again.

Sigh.

Do you remember when this happened over Christmas? And the fuel lines had frozen? It was a really long story at the time, yet we figured it out, not without a handful of ridiculous arguments and a few tears.

So I admit, when the van turned itself off just a few blocks from home on our way to church, I was instantly nervous. Brady, too. He coasted it to the side of the road where we tried to restart it. No dice. Very reminiscent of our Christmas vehicle trouble.

I called my mom and she came and shuttled us home.

Brady’s working on making a plan with one of our amazing neighbours, yet again, to bail us out and limp our vehicle home. Its possible the fuel lines are frozen again from being parked outside yesterday, but it was there for only a few short hours. It can NOT be this temperamental. If this kind of thing happens every time its cold outside, we could easily get stranded in Saskatoon or anywhere else. Once we get it home and thawed out, it should be fine to run again. But Brady will call our mechanic tomorrow and see what we can figure out. If our fuel pump is going, the sooner we can get that sucker replaced, the better!

So thats how we ended up in our Sunday clothes, washed and brushed and looking nice, at home. Well, I say “looking nice” loosely, haha!

The moment after this picture was taken, Dekker was in sweats and a tshirt, and Wavy went down for a nap. Everyone is playing and happy. It should be a smooth, normalish morning for them at least. Meanwhile, wish Brady and I luck! We need a vehicle that operates well, and fits us all in it. We do not care to relive the minivan rental from November!!

Now That Brady’s Home

We’re entering a time where Brady will be home from work for a while. I started writing a post about the last time he hit a slump at work, but its tricky to talk about that kind of stuff on the internet. So I won’t. But I will say that our last slump from work was long and difficult, but well timed. God provided, and we learned a lot. It was a good learning experience, and a time of high anxiety, also. Lol! And now we’re coming up on another! Thankfully, this one is much shorter than the last, and its not a total work hiatus. There is still enough here and there that we’ll be taken care of. We’re less afraid of this one. Now we’re just laying out what needs doing while we’re home together!

We are just itching to work on the basement! However, as logic will tell you, we may have the time now, but we have less disposable income to actually make it happen! Haha! We had some money we could’ve used in theory, but when Brady’s van died on the side of the highway and needed replacing ASAP, that money went kaput. So while I anticipate we’ll putter on the basement and do little bits here and there, it won’t be a grand time of crushing that project.

I haven’t caught the Marie Kondo bug just yet. I imagine I would if I watched it, though! While I don’t know all her methods and specific ideas, I definitely have a strong urge to throw everything in my house away. Like everything. Hahaha! So I think my goal while Brady is home is to do a bit of a purge/clean/I’m not completely sure what. I want to get into all of those little corners and clear them out. Just today, I was sorting laundry downstairs and noticed a corner of our furnace room. It had two of those tubs that roll under beds stacked on top of each other, covered in dust bunnies and old curtains. Super gross, super useless. What do I do, guys? Just chuck it all? Try to sell it? Donate?? I just want that stuff gone! My garage, too. I swear, a third of the stuff in there is toys that no one has seen since we left Radisson three years ago. Can I just get rid of it all???

We need a hefty clean and reboot about here. I’m getting a decorating itch, as well, but now isn’t exactly the time to start spending money on home decor. So I’ll hold that in check for now, but I want to get everything ready for when I can!

I have a few personal goals as well for the next month or two, and I’m planning a whole post around those, but there’s just so much to sort through in my head and heart, it’s hard to type it all out in a way that makes sense. I’ll get there soon 🙂

What are the things you need do to around your house but consistently forget or put off? Help me make my list of things to make our house feel more like a home and less like a dumping ground! I need some new routines around here.

The Entrance of the House

When we built our house, the entrance wasn’t something I put much thought into. We picked the tile color, but beyond that, it was just the entrance. We didn’t care. What do people really think about in that area?

A lot, actually. It seems like most houses have this teeny tiny entrance, and without really knowing about it, we ended up with a decent sized entryway! Its not huge, but it could be a LOT smaller. There isn’t a lot of room for people to move to the side once shoes are on, but it can hold a lot of people. I hold the memory of our entrance on the day of Wavy’s party. It was covered in shoes. You could see where the first few people had tried to line them up, but before too long, it was just a free for all. I loved it. I loved seeing how many people had come through our house that day.

This morning, as many of you know, it was frigidly cold outside. Like BRUTAL cold. As has been the theme this week, it was clear I needed to drive Dekker to school. It wasn’t reasonable to expect him to walk, though he’s such a tough cookie, I’m sure he would have. But no way. So when the time was drawing near, I asked the kids to head into the entrance to get their coats and boots on.

Thank goodness, only one kid was dressing for school that day. Dekker was trying to get into his snow pants and all the pieces, and that takes up some space. Laela was getting her boots and jacket on, and Solly was working on his boots after dragging his jacket from the closet to the middle of the entrance.

Pretty quickly I noticed that Rowan was wearing neither socks nor a shirt. Sigh. I hustled him up the stairs and convinced him to wear socks. He has brand new socks, so he was easily talked into it. A shirt, not so much. Ok fine. He wouldn’t be leaving the van anyway. I got him back to the entrance, where he swung his jacket around, “trying” to put his arm into the second sleeve.

So while they were doing that, I went upstairs and woke Wavy up. I moved her right from her bed into a thick onesie that she can wear in her car seat. I carried her down, strapped her into her seat, and carried it into the entrance. Laela was zipping Rowan’s jacket up. Solly wasn’t letting anyone near him, but his boots were on.

Shoot! I forgot Wavy’s blanket! Ran back up the stairs. While I was up in my room, our doorbell rang.

Who could that POSSIBLY be?!?!

Was someone coming to offer to drive Dekker? Because thank you, but also, you’re too late.

But of course not. I ran down to open the door. It was a FedEx guy, dropping off Brady’s replacement phone case. When I let him into the house, he just stared. As if our “decent sized” entrance wasn’t full enough. He looked at the kids and just whispered “wow…” under his breath. We shared a two second comment about the weather, and he was gone.

I couldn’t close the door right away. Would’ve pinched a kid in it.

It was pure chaos for that ten-ish minute span of time this morning, but it keeps up close 🙂 Me, my five kids, and the FedEx guy.

There’s the Wavy I Know!

We’ve been missing our Wavy over here.

She has been such a calm, content baby girl from the start. Always such a peach to have around. We barely have her on any schedule because she just rolls with whatever. SUCH an easy baby.

Until recently. Her sleep has tanked, she’s stopped drinking her bottles well, and she cries a lot more unless we’re holding her. I know she’s fine, though. She’s still growing like a weed (A very, very chubby weed,) hitting milestones, developing curiosity, and is generally herself. We’ve just been rolling with the changes, because as we all know, people change constantly, no matter the age or stage. She’s allowed to have opinions, and push for what she wants. Its a natural thing.

Yesterday evening, she woke up around 10pm. This is far from our “usual” that try to have, but since she doesn’t drink her milk well anymore, she hadn’t drank much before going down for the night. It made sense for her to get up to drink, except it was different. She wasn’t sad. She was giggling!

We were SO thrilled to have OG Wavy back!! Brady brought her to bed so we could change her diaper and feed her, and she was all laughter! We tickled her and she positively lost it! She ate a little, not a lot, and then we broke the rules of parenting and sat her up in bed with us to play, tickle, and watch some Netflix. We just couldn’t imagine putting her to bed while she was so happy. I forgot what her good, free giggle sounded like, but guys its like MUSIC. She is just SO sweet! I haven’t seen her like that in so long, and it did my heart good to know that chipper, warm, happy little soul was in there! Not that she isn’t still all of those things, but this was next level Wavy!

Eventually, she had to go back to bed, and she did. And then she woke up two more times in the night, just because. And then I had to wake her from a total deep sleep because its too cold for Dekker and Laela to walk to school. Poor tired baby! However, we have an explanation.

Those top teeth are SO CLOSE! The one actually looks like it through, but it isn’t. It’s trying, though! Hopefully when those puppies make it out, Waverly can be much more settled and content! Until the next ones start moving…

Kissing Ouchies

I know we’re not the only family out there who kisses ouchies. Brady and I can kiss most things better. However, a long time ago, the kids implemented the same concept between themselves. Its not specifically mommy or daddy’s kisses that fix the problem. Its the kiss itself, apparently. Its been SO cute to watch them do that on their own that its sort of become part of the apology when they accidentally hurt each other.

I have a memory from a few years back, where Dekker accidentally hurt Laela in some way, and she wanted him to kiss it better. He got all huffy about it and retorted “I’m not the captain of kissing, Laela.” We laughed SO hard about it, and thats now a known story between the kids that we all can laugh at.

Back to today’s blog story. Yesterday, we opted to wrap up the evening with some music videos. The kids dance and get their sillies out, and it usually means no arguments or disputes for the last half hour ish before bed. We had just begun, and Dekker and Laela were dancing beside each other. It was getting pretty lively, and Dekker accidentally kicked Laela in the knee.

So here’s the thing. These two fight more than any of our other kids. They LOVE each other at school,

and the moment they set foot in the door, they snap at each other, nitpick at each other, and generally try to get at the other. Whether its trying to take a toy because they know the other wants it, or taking a particular color of plate because the other wants it, or just straight up tattling, my two oldest battle it out all day, err day. It loses its charm fast, let me tell you. So if one even kinda sorta maaaybe seamed to hurt the other, they milk it hard.

Laela jumped away from Dekker, but her angry, accusatory eyebrows quickly wrinkled up before she started to cry. She was far more sad than mad. So we knew he had actually hurt her. But a TOTAL accident! They were both dancing rowdy.

She stood tipped over and cried, and Dekker finally worked up the courage to try and help her.

Dekker: Do you want me to kiss it, Laela?
Laela: Ya… (she pointed to her knee) Its this one.
Dekker: (kisses her knee) You know its not actually going to help.
Laela: Yes it did!
Dekker: Its just like, I’m kissing your knee…
Laela: Ya but it goes IN! In the skin!
Dekker: It works better in the jeans that have holes in the knees.
Laela: (looks confused)
Dekker: (looks mischievous)

And then they laughed like maniacs, and all seemed to be resolved.

I liked it, though 🙂

They sat together on the couch after a while, and everything was right with the world. Uuuuuntil the next thing wasn’t. But as I’ve said before, he’s the oldest kid, but she’s the oldest girl, and I think they’re fighting for that spot to be the leader. I can’t wait for them to settle some of those differences out and be just the best older siblings!!

DONE!

I have officially wrapped up blog saving for 2018! All things considered, last year resulted in just over one thousand pages of writing and pictures. Three big fat books! Plus I had half of 2017 that needed saving, and one other book I had previous assembled but haven’t ordered yet. So I have FIVE big delicious hardcover books sitting and waiting to be ordered!

However, they have to wait a little bit. To purchase them outright is decently expensive, and the shipping isn’t exactly cheap either. I’ve previously ordered my books at 40% off, plus free shipping. Promos come around often enough. So now I wait. Which may or may not kill me, haha! Hopefully it doesn’t. If that ridiculous program didn’t kill me, nothing can.

I feel solidly accomplished.

Now what to do with my idle time… 🤔 I guess I’ll change my header photo finally!

Just Call Me Butter

I’m on a roll!

See what I did there? I’m very funny, in case you missed it.

I’ve been catching up on saving my old blog posts for a while now. Not sure how long. Maybe a week-ish? I was hung up on August 2017, when Jamin passed away. You guys encouraged me, and I pushed through it! I believe it was the day after I mentioned it here on the blog that I saved that month of posts and kept on trucking.

In all honesty, it was pretty easy once I passed the initial post announcing his passing. That one was long. But after that, they were easy to just copy and paste into my book format. I was very low and sad, so they were short posts with fewer pictures. I usually have a book for January to June, and then another for July through to December. I quickly finished the second book in 2017, thanks to the shorty posts.

I got pregnant quite quickly after Jamin passed, and I had my series that I maintained throughout the pregnancy. Do you guys remember that? Womb in Bloom, I called it, though Jerilee was the one who coined the name. Those posts were SO long and SO fun to relive as I saved the first half of 2018.

I hit a snag the other day as I was saving posts. I was working with last June, and was adding more pages to the template I was working with when I remembered, in the past, there had been a limit to how many pages a book could hold. Rightfully so, as you need a dependable binding. I scoured the website for the number but I couldn’t find it. So I hopped on to the live chat and asked.

She assured me the program would stop me before I added too many. I was relieved. She went on to ask what kind of book I was making and how many pages I was at so far. I told her.

Long story short, she said the program should’ve absolutely stopped me, and I could NO WAY add as many pages as I had added. I had room for six more pages, and I had twenty more blogs to save from the month of June.

I. Was. So. Mad.

I cried and pouted and cried some more. But as you can imagine, it didn’t exactly solve my problem. Every year has been two books, without fail, and I didn’t want my beautiful system overturned and messed up! I decided to go at it from another angle. I know what really takes up the space in my books is the pictures I add. So I went through, month by month, and counted the pictures. The first half of 2018 had about 450 pictures, and they couldn’t fit into one book. Maaaybe the second half of the year had way less?? And maaaybe we could fit that extra month of June into the second book??

Who was I kidding? July and August alone held about 300 pictures.

So I cried some more unproductive tears and decided my system didn’t have to perfect, and I could just have three books to represent 2018.

Guys. The year of 2018 will be THREE books worth of memories! Because what a year its been! Of COURSE it fills more space than an average year! My pregnancy with Waverly was easily the most well documented pregnancy I’ve ever had! So many beautiful pictures! Plus her birth. Plus our trip to Waskesiu this summer. Plus all the other countless events we took part in! We are SO fortunate to need three big books to keep all of the memories!

I almost feel selfish, having loved 2018 so much. A couple of very important people in my life have suffered great losses this year. Yet I know some people who I also love who revelled in 2017 while we floundered and struggled. So hopefully we can all understand and love each other, no matter the circumstance.

One of these days, I’ll talk to you all about my goals and intentions for 2019. But first, I’m going to finish out saving 2018 into books. I just passed Jamin’s first birthday and am wrapping up summer! Mmmmm. Summer is welcome over here aaaaanytime!

Too Many Things to Talk About

I have at least four totally unrelated things I want to blog about, but that would turn into a very scattered, VERY LONG post. I’m going to save the slightly heavier stuff for another day and focus on the more fun stuff. (I should clarify, the heavy stuff isn’t heavy. I just can’t think of the right word. The stuff that’ll take a bit more thought to lay out in words. Deeper stuff, maybe?) So rather than four unrelated topics, I’m going with two.

Topic number one! One of our many exceptional friends/neighbours came by yesterday and offered our kids quad rides!! He was taking his son out, and they wanted to include us! Quads are a pretty new thing for our kids, but they were excited to try! For sure Dekker and Laela were all for it! Brady helped tie a couple more sleds to the back of the quad, and off they went, one man towing three kids. And WOW did they squeal and laugh as they drove off!

They came back and offered Rowan another chance to go. And he agreed!!! Ro is usually a bit slower to warm up to stuff like that. Brady and I were both surprised he went, but he did!

Meanwhile, Solly hung out with Brady in the passenger seat of his work van while Brady worked on a few things. Did I tell you guys I got him remote start for Christmas? Well, I did. So he’s working on installing that while he has a few days off.

And Wavy and I folded laundry and watched Crazy Rich Asians inside. No pictures of us, though. I promise, she’s still cute.

Yesterday’s quad afternoon just felt like such a win. I love where we ended up building, and the neighbours we have surrounding us. Our kids are well loved by many, which I feel SO fortunate to say!

Topic number two! Sunday is often a day we spend with my mom, but it wasn’t going to work out this weekend. However, she called me this morning and asked if it was too late for her to run to Tim Hortons and bring breakfast over. Just a quick morning date. Knowing that our kids will happily wait for breakfast if they know something special is coming, I agreed, and asked if I could tag along!

We had a nice morning drive together, and brought home a big stack of breakfast sandwiches, hashbrowns, chocolate milk, and a couple of coffees. The kids were thrilled. It was such a delicious morning, and the good company didn’t hurt either. 💜 Thank you for breakfast, mom.

Well, I’m off to continue the job from yesterday of mad amounts of laundry, organizing, and blog saving. Enjoy the last day of the weekend, friends!

Crushing it on Saturday

Thanks to a busy errand day yesterday, we aren’t spending today grocery shopping for once! However, we are in no way sitting ducks. We haven’t stopped moving until juuust now. Well, Brady is still moving. He’s getting lunch moving. And I’m blogging, clearly.

Last night, Brady and I reminisced about our life before kids, and how we’d waste an entire Saturday on the couch, watching tv. Literally doing nothing else. Just watching tv. All. Day. While somedays I wish we could relax a little bit more, I rarely miss those nothing days. Brady suggested that, had we not had kids, we’d likely keep quite busy on weekends anyway, with life stuff and house stuff. But I countered that, wondering if we would’ve even built this house if we didn’t plan to have kids! Who knows where we’d be if things had played out differently! I’m tempted to add my “ten years ago” photo that so many are posting on Facebook, but I have something like that coming up soon 😉

Rather than laying around today, we’ve been busy! We are not only desperately behind on laundry, but we’ve gotten to that point where the kids can’t even choose their own clothes because so little in their closets fit them. They need a shuffle. Its time. Its such a fun job, but when its five kids, its more of an undertaking than it used to be. Most of the kids still had a handful of good clothes that fit, except Rowan. Solly has started to wear Rowan’s stuff, so his closet was dwindling, and nothing was being replaced. Wavy, also, was really starting to need some better fitting clothing. So we decided to make a day of it.

We’ve started laundry. It seems like our dryer has never dried slower, but I think its just because I want it to so badly.

We’ve also dug through tubs for Rowan and Waverly. The things we pulled out for them are waiting in the laundry queue.

Rowan’s stuff moved to Solly’s closet. Dekker and Laela’s closets are still decently well stocked, but we may keep an eye out for a couple of extra shirts here and there over the coming weeks.

This is a job that just feels SO good to get done! But seriously, guys, laundry for daaays!

I’ll leave you with this: a photo of Wavy post-pony.

Because its just too cute not to share.

Have a happy Saturday!