I thought I’d share my list with you of projects we have on the go for the spring, and what we’ve already done!

I should put in here first that I know our basement should come first. Finances have that currently on pause, so we’re trying to find things to busy ourselves with that are also productive but not costly. Here they are, in no order whatsoever. 

Deck stair railings. We’ve had our deck done for two years now, but have not put railings on the stairs yet. We’ve had our reasons, but haven’t known what to do to resolve the problem we find ourselves with. That being said, I juuuuust about have a heart attack every time my children use the stairs, so we want to install the railings this spring. If our problem can be resolved, and the railings need to come off, so be it. Just a little extra work. This way makes way more sense. We currently have one railing installed, so technically the second stair railing is on the list. 

Enclosing the underside of our deck. Now this one will likely have to wait, which is too bad :/ Its not the cheapest project on our list, but its still important and worth noting. The end goal is to close it in completely and use it as a shed! Its not a super tall area but its definitely an effective storage area. We really want to use that space to be able to store some of our outdoor stuff in a shed so it can be out of our garage. Which brings me to our next one. The BIGGEST job. 

We want to clean out our garage!! Like a BIG purge! Some of that stuff has been packed since we left Radisson about 3.5 years ago, and we haven’t missed it. Its tricky, because lots of that stuff does have a purpose. Some of it belongs in a shed, some of it belongs in the finished basement, and some of it belongs upstairs once the tv area has moved downstairs. So there is a lot that needs keeping, but a LOT that we could get rid of. I’m hoping to gut that place in the weeks leading up to garage sale day and sell a TON. But first, I hope to empty out ALL our toy boxes that our children have forgotten about, and offer toys out to our close friends and family who want to come peruse. Then, we’ve given what we can, sold what we can, and will happily donate the rest. I can’t wait!!!

We need to buy/build a toy box for our deck to hold the bubbles, pails, trucks, etc. We previous had just a big rubbermaid tub that was destroyed in the hail storm last summer, so we could just buy another one of those, but if we could, we’d rather have something that looked nicer and maybe could double as a bench. We’ll see!

Weeds! Oy. Our poor yard. Its clear that we’re still a little ways off from getting grass, which is fine, except our lot is loaded down with weeds! It looks a mess, we know this, and we don’t want to be the eyesore of the street. I’m hoping we can mow them down or even dig a bunch of them out, and have our property look just that  much better soon! One day we’ll have grass. Maybe next year.

Speaking of how our property is coming along, a concrete driveway is still a good ways off as well. We could use a load of gravel added to what we currently have, as our bus is heavy and our driveway sinks every year when the thaw happens. It wouldn’t be a big deal, except our bus is so tall, and the bump driving into our garage brings is dangerously close to scraping the roof. We need to order a load of gravel. 

We had some deck chairs gifted to us that need a bit of reinforcing. That’ll be a quick one. 

We need to waterproof the underside of our deck. We want it to last as long as possible, so as with the deck at our last house, we treat the wood elements with a waterproofing spray every year. We tried to buy the stuff for it just the other day, but being the season it is, the kind we buy was completely sold out. We’ll have to keep our eyes open! When we find it, we’ll buy enough for my moms deck as well.

Lastly, I want to buy some flowers for the pot on our entrance steps 🙂 Thats a simple one, but hopefully a really pretty one!

Thats all I have on our list this year! There’s lots more I’d LOVE to add, planting a garden being a BIG one. But that will come eventually 🙂 For now, we’ll work with what we’ve got, which is a lot!

Whats on your to-do list this spring?

After taking Laela to a birthday party yesterday, we spent the evening all together with my mom. It was SO nice. Remember what I said about Dekker wanting to read recipe books? He was insistent that he wanted to show my mom his recipe book.

It was adorable.

After supper and bedtime, I ran to the nearby Coop grocery store to restock a few of our staple items. For a family our size, our staples included four 4L jugs of milk, three 2L jugs of almond milk, three bundles of bananas (would’ve been more but they were ALL bright yellow) and two bags of apples. If you’re localish and you occasionally shop at Coop, did you guys know the milk is cheaper on the bottom shelf?? Its a different brand but still standard dairy milk! Check it out! Its literally the same price as Costco! I’m very excited to have discovered that.

However, when I went into my van to look for my green bins to keep my groceries from flying around, I found our stroller instead. We had put it in the back in preparation for the lake and had clearly forgotten to take it out. So I got creative.

They’re all belted in, if you can’t tell. I think I’m very funny, anyway. Oh, and don’t judge the dirty floor.

I spent this morning with Cher. We went out for breakfast and then she showed me around the university. I saw her classrooms and some of her usual places. Her Tims, her library, etc.

Plus I revisited a few places where Brady and I had wedding pictures taken way back in the day! Was fun to wander around campus, and see what was new and what wasn’t. I liked it.

Brady did some work on the deck while I was gone.

Cher bought Brady and I iced coffee, and we had a quick visit before she headed home for the day. Dekker is now home from school, Wavy is napping, and everyone else is up. I’m going to go join the crew riiiiiiiight…

Now.

I’ve been catching glimpse of what Dekker might be like when he’s older, and I’m truly loving it.

On Saturday, Breakfast Man (aka Brady) opted to make a batch of baked oatmeal for the morning. It went over well, as you’d expect. Dekker loved it more than anyone else. His serving was gone in seconds. He told Brady he wanted the recipe for himself. Brady held up the recipe book he had used so he knew where to find it. But that wasn’t enough.

After breakfast, Dekker went and found the recipe book for himself, found the right page, and copied it onto a page. So he had his own. I thought that was the sweetest. He brought it to show me afterwards and while I was looking it over, he said to me “I’m SO excited to make this for my kids!”

Guys. My heart!!

** I always feel the need to clarify that I do NOT teach my children that they have to have kids. Definitely not! That being said, at least Dekker and Laela both have expressed that they really hope to have a spouse and children. Its fun to look forward to that together 🙂 **

Dekker spent a big chunk of yesterday looking through a recipe book he had brought home in grade one, speculating about what would be yummy and what we should try to make. He would comment which meals they would suit, and always pointed out which ones had dairy in them, for Rowan’s sake. He was SO on the ball. And he is again today, perusing that book, wondering if “The Best Waffles” are actually better than our waffles, or if our cookie dough isn’t safe in comparison to the stuff that has “edible” in the title.

Dekker is an old soul, and I love that about him. I remember someone once telling me they were an old soul, and I wasn’t. I felt put down and at a disadvantage. I don’t think that was their goal, and I’ve realized since that its not bad to have different personalities. But I am very happy to have the opportunity to raise such a soul as Dekker’s, and while we’re different people, I’m positive God will equip me with all the tools I need to do him justice. These conversations with him about wanting to care for people have me thinking more about how I can teach him about these things. I’m excited to see where we end up.

I have pretty helpful, loving children. I’m very fortunate that way. This morning hasn’t been altogether smooth, but it had a very sweet moment that I want to remember.

I’ll preface the story by saying our night was quite broken up. Rowan has been giving us a run for our money recently, and was up harassing everyone WAY later than he should’ve been. He did finally give in to sleep, but Wavy was up a couple of times in the night, as well. She’s working on teeth, and added a cold on top of everything just overnight. This morning, shortly after Brady left for work, she woke up very sad. 5:30am ish. I got her a bottle, but she was so stuffed up, she couldn’t drink very well. I got some of it into her, and put her back to bed. She was SO trashed. She talked in her bed and scratched at the sides of it for a bit before falling back to sleep. It was well after 6:00am at that point but I was SO tired, I figured I’d try for just a few minutes more of sleep.

I feel like I had just dozed off when I woke up to my en suite door squeaking. It would not be the norm for a kid to be using my bathroom before I’m up for the day. Going with our usual theme these days, I immediately assumed who it was.

“Rowan, please go back to bed.”

“Well… its Dekker, mom.”

Sure enough, my oldest son was coming out of my bathroom. I asked him what he was doing in my bathroom, and he had been looking for me. Apparently I was well tucked in and he couldn’t see me in my bed.

“Mom, Rowan peed on the floor.”

*Sigh*

In my sleepy stupor, I asked what he needed from me.

“Nothing,” he replied. “I just thought you’d need to know.”

I thanked him and said I’d clean it up later 🙈 I have NEVER left pee on the floor (at least not pee I’m aware of!) so I was clearly in a daze. Dekker left.

I lay in bed, feeling sorry for myself for being woken up when I was still so tired, but the longer I lay there, the more clear the situation became. There was pee on my floor. Somewhere. And a wet kid in my house. Somewhere. Clearly this couldn’t just wait while I dozed in bed for another half hour or so. So I got up.

I made my way down to the bathroom to see the damage done, and lo and behold –

There were my three oldest kids. On the floor, a pee soaked towel nearby, wiping the floor with Lysol wipes.

❤️

My heart, you guys. MY HEART!

They saw me coming, and smiled up at me. They reassured me that they had it all taken care of. I gathered up the towel to put it in the laundry, but that was all they wanted from me.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “This is a pretty grown up job. I can help you!”

But they insisted. They told me to go rest for a little bit longer. I reminded them to wash their hands once they were done their job, and they promised they would. So up to my room I went!

I admit, I didn’t rest anymore. I creepily watched them out the crack of my door. I couldn’t see them directly for most of it, but I listened to them work together and encourage each other. I was able to see some of their efforts, as they carried the garbage can back into the kitchen and put the wipes container away.

It is SO important for me to record these little anecdotes. I find them so heart warming, but also reassuring that the lessons I’m teaching my little people are sinking in, ever so slowly. I feel like, lately, I’m working hard to drill into my kids the importance of showing love to each other and treating their siblings how they want to be treated. Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle, like many other lessons we teach. But that one time that it happens so beautifully and seamlessly proves to me that its working! Its in there! They do know the lesson! It just takes practice, and reminding, and consistency on my part. It encourages me and my heart that my efforts are paying off.

I’m not a mean mom, but a very intentional one. We’re all allowed to be intentional about different things, with kids or totally unrelated things, and I think we can all understand the victory in seeing something we’ve worked hard for pan out!!

So THANK YOU, my big kids, for jumping in and helping Rowan clean up a dirty, embarrassing mess. You were not responsible for it, but you took initiative and helped him anyway. That is AWESOME! What amazing people you are!

I had high hopes for this week to be spent outside in the sun, biking, playing in the yard, on the deck, getting dirty, and enjoying Spring. I believe I even said something about feeling the wind in our hair, in reference to the fresh air. I did NOT account for these bizarre winds, though!! The forecast is promising wind gusting up in the 60s today!!!

So rather than playing outside, things have looked more like this so far.

LOTS of reading. LOTS of coloring. These lovely children of mine are moving in groups, so they almost always choose the same activity and set up together. It sometimes means more scrapping, but it also lowers the noise, with them all being within earshot of each other. If Solly drops a pencil on the floor, someone grabs it for them. If Rowan wants an outline drawn so he can color it in, Laela is on it. If Dekker ducks off to the couch to read a story, they aaaaall follow. Which drives him crazy and makes him feel very important all at the same time. Its awesome 🙂

Shameless plug time! We’ve been listening to music just about constantly these last few days in preparation for our little coffeehouse gig on Thursday. We’re super excited for it! You can check out our little teaser on Facebook, and watch for a few more to come 🙂

We did not end up going to church this Sunday. We love Easter Sunday but it just didn’t pan out. Our kids were struggling hard yesterday. Baths weren’t happening, and good attitudes were nowhere to be found. We had to make the decision between rest and church, and we chose rest. It helped that we had gone on Good Friday, at least.

Our nights haven’t been gentle, with Wavy teething hard and Rowan feeling the need to inform us every time he has the urge to pee. I was up for at least an hour in the middle of the night, and then Wavy had us up at 6:00am. That is SO early for our house! Oy!

We did the morning all together, coloring, reading, playing, and putting away yesterday’s laundry. Kids got baths and took naps. Then we headed to spend the rest of the day at my moms with my brother and his family. It was lovely and rowdy and fun to bring everyone together again. We ate really simple, delicious food that the kids didn’t fight, and hunted for Easter bunnies. FaceTimed with those who couldn’t be with us. It was a good day!

Tomorrow should be a day off, but Brady is off to work for a HUGE week. That tends to be how it goes for him, though. I think its three years now that the weeks the kids are off are Brady’s busiest weeks. Merp. No day trip to the lake for us this week, I suppose! I’m sure we’ll get there eventually 🙂

Happy Easter, my friends. I hope you truly felt the love of God in your home. His grace has saved us!