😳Sometimes, I almost forget to blog. I’ve fallen into a nice habit of day blogging, but when I don’t have the time, I aaaaalmost forget at the end of the day! Yikes!

Today was busy for lots of really great reasons, though! I finished a crochet project I have been excited about for a long while. I went for a drive with Cher, and she bought me coffee. I ate pizza buns with Brady during quiet time. My mom came over with watermelon. We went for a walk in the grey weather. It rained! We roasted potatoes from the garden for supper, as well as sausage and green beans. Smile cookies for dessert, thanks to Cher, once again. Brady and I visited with mom after the kids went to bed. And now, the house is quiet, except for Meryl, who is putt-putting through the house, cleaning up dirt and cookie crumbs.

Its been a full, beautiful day. Hence, why the blog is short and also later than usual. No regrets! Happy last evening of the weekend, friends!

Sitting??? What is that even like?! The real question, though: Will it last?

So far today, I’ve sat. Mostly. I put a load of laundry in. Brady did the dishes. But I’m currently looking some things up on Pinterest, and he is playing a game on his phone. Kids are happily playing in the backyard. No one is currently crying, lol! What is this life?!

Brady seeded our front yard yesterday, so I guess we’ll have to get up to water it on and off. I’ll have to switch laundry out eventually. There are a few things to tidy and bring downstairs. I need to sign into the kids Seesaw accounts for school, because I still haven’t! Whoops! Kids need baths. I should plan supper. But really, thats all. Not so bad!

I need to decide, though. Maybe you guys can help me. I bought a cabinet off of Marketplace. I was expecting to get from Ikea for $400 someday, but I found the PERFECT alternative option for $10!!! We have had no income for about six months, and can justify next to nothing, but at $10, there was no way we could turn it down. The one problem is that its a refinishing project. Not really in a big way, though! Drawers need adjusting, but I have a Brady for that. That’ll be easy. And I wouldn’t mind the paint being beat up except that there is a bit of splintering on the front of it, and we’ll need to sand it smooth. So it needs a sand and paint. I have white paint, but there is a lot of white in our house, so we wanted a color. We have pink leftover from the camper cabinets, and no one is against it. But we know what color we want, and its not pink. If we painted it pink, we would want to repaint it down the road. We could even just do it white, and then repaint it. But I fear, once its in the house, in use, we won’t go to the bother of repainting it, and it would really be better with a different color. But we really can’t justify the cost of something we don’t need.

Help me, friends! Should I…

A. Paint it white and repaint later?

B. Paint it pink and repaint later?

C. Spring for paint?

D. I have an idea for cheap paint!

I’d welcome suggestions!! But I can’t hack the fact that the perfect cabinet and answer to SO MANY ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES is living in my garage because its the wrong color 🙄 Crazy, right??

Since I started writing this post, Brady has gone out to till the garden up. I guess its not a totally lazy day. I should go tend to the laundry. Meryl is even working downstairs. No excuses!

I feel kind of jumbled these days, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just, busy brained. Is that a thing? It is now. This is kind of a grab bag post, I suppose.

I have veggies to find homes for, but I’m SO thankful for them all!!! Eek! Have to get organized!

I have my second load of laundry going, and dishes are caught up! Woot!

A dear teacher/friend of ours left a gift on our doorstep this morning. ❤️ I truly fought tears when we found her gift. I LOVE our people!

Speaking of teachers, are we allowed to give teacher gifts this year? I’m already planning ahead, and I’m realizing if the kids can’t bring anything from home, can they bring gifts? 🤔 Huh.

Has anyone jumped on the Hamilton train? Its AMAZING! The soundtrack runs nonstop over here.

How can I busy Wavy’s hands while she’s tired to keep her from pulling her hair out?! Gaaaaah!!!

Someone gave us a Hello Fresh meal the other day! Guys, I get it. I only with it was feasible for our family, but nah. Made for a really tasty little date for Brady and I, though!!

Rowan took a head to the face the other day and bled like a crazy man. His mouth was FULL of blood and he was distraught. I stuffed his mouth with Kleenexes and smooched his cheeks until he giggled. Then I pointed out all the things he had bled on in my bathroom, and he kind of loved that. So, win??

Goodness, even covered in blood, he is SO handsome!

Wavy sang happy birthday to our ornamental gourds the other day. No joke. “Happy biiiiiirdday to… Gord.”

I wonder if we’ll be able to seed grass still. Its not too late, is it? Oy, have priorities changed this year!

I have to get my room tidied up soon so I can mess it up again with Christmas stuff!

I have a lot of things I want to can still. Tomatoes. Potatoes. Jam…

Aaaaand I’ll leave you with this little freak.

He’s not bizarre at all. Neither is this post. 😳 You came here willingly.

I’m sure a lot of you have seen this meme somewhere online.

Its very relatable in my case! Especially in parking lots. Anyone else? 🙋‍♀️ I never thought of it as that strange, because its about concentrating, and focusing better on what you’re doing! Right?? Right. Cool. Glad we agree.

Yesterday, I had a good laugh at myself. I attended a meeting about playschool this fall, and we all wore masks, except for the one person who did the bulk of the speaking, which I really appreciated. Its not a secret that masks muffle speech. Obviously. At one point, a person shared her piece with the group, and for those few minutes, I strained to hear her. And my FIRST response was to take my mask off. Hahaha! How silly is that?! It was like, somehow taking off my mask would help me hear her better! 😂 Goodness, Hailey, you’re SUCH a dork.

Aaaaanyway, that is my embarrassing story for the day. 💁‍♀️You’re welcome.

I recently posted about Waverly’s hair loss, and the post got a TON of hits. I take that to mean that a lot of people care about her, and the things that go on around here. So, friends who care about Wavy’s bald head, here is your update.

I took Wavy in her for a follow-up with Dr. Guselle today. My poor little dear was oddly extra shy, and even sitting in the waiting room, she insisted on turning around, and laying on my shoulder rather than facing out. She was just uncomfortable. Poor girl. We were called in to an exam room and still, she sat pressed into me, and wouldn’t look up.

Dr. Guselle was so warm and lovely, as always. I’m so sad about how many people have to choose between good medicine and good demeanour. I am SO fortunate to have both with her. We discussed how things had been over the last few weeks. Had things gotten better or worse. What had changed. Any attached concerns. She always asks me what my gut says, and I LOVE that!! Because sometimes, moms know. (I remember Dr. Guselle standing up for me once, saying “Not everyone knows whats good for them, but often, moms do. And Hailey is one of the moms that knows.” I loved that.) She touched Wavy’s head and hair, checked her all over good and proper for irritation, and even looked through the little photo folder I had compiled on my phone for this appointment. It went like this.

First, that crazy rash again…

Then, the first time I realized how awful her hair loss was.

This shows that she keeps getting little rash blob moments on her legs.

This was three different kinds of spots. A bug bite, a super full zit, and a spot that just showed up where her last rash started, under her eye. Oh, and sand, lol!

And an example of a hairball. Gross.

This is the NICEST I can make her hair look these days.

I mentioned that Waverly has been sticking her fingers into her ears a lot, and right away, Dr. Guselle got the otoscope and sat down on the floor in front of us. As she always does, she talked Wavy through it. She showed her the “flashlight” and offered for her to touch it and let her finger turn pink. Wavy would have none of it, but once both Dr. Guselle and I had both touched it, she tried it and laughed. Then, Dr. Guselle put the “hat” on it and we all touched it again. No problems! Wavy easily turned her head and kept still while both her ears were checked. She obediently opened her mouth to have her throat looked at too. She is all well in those ways!

We both kind of assumed the same outcome, though its not as much a medical answer as just a life answer. We think her hair all started coming out easier, thanks to her body response to her crazy rashes, and now its a bit of a habit that needs breaking. Which is going to be hard, because the willpower of a two year old is diddly squat, lol! My options are maybe trying to braid her hair, which would be suuuper ugly, lol, thanks to the fact there is only length on the sides now (😩#joeexotic) or maybe a haircut, which would be SO sad! Both of these ideas would make it harder for her to actually grip and yank her hair. If there is no improvement, we’re going to have to do something. In the meantime, while we wait for the derm referral to go through, I’m going to treat the few teeny tiny spots on her scalp with the same cream we used on her hands when they were at their worst, just in case there is some irritation there that she’s experiencing that I’m just not noticing.

My gut tells me this will likely get better with time. It just will. She is SUCH a smart little girl, and its already not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. But I just ache for her to feel total health and relief.

As suspected, the moment we were out of the office, she was a bundle of energy, chatting away about the doctor and the sticker she had been given. “Sticko! Puppies! My hair! The light! THE FLASHLIGHT!” She is such a faker. We all knew it all along.

I guess todays update isn’t really much of an update, but its something. Its a continued effort to find answers. She’s more than worth the work! Little Joe. *sigh*

Yesterday, between supper and bedtime, Brady and I drove the kids to a nearby acreage to get some fresh veggies! We paid in the form of a donation for the Bridge in Saskatoon. We got a green Superstore bin of potatoes, as well as some bags of big tomatoes (none of ours lived,) a bag of peppers, and a handful of table cucumbers. That was the plan, anyway.

The family that we were buying from had grown a pack or ornamental gourds for fall decorating, and somehow, no one was snapping them up! She encouraged us to have all we wanted, so none went to waste! So I grabbed a bagful, considering I would never afford myself to buy any in store. This was a fun way to acquire some!

Before we could leave, she realized we had the kids along, and insisted they each come choose a pumpkin! So we did that, too 🙂 They LOVED it!

It was very cute. Every kid was shining with excitement, as was the woman orchestrating our purchase. It was so fun! She insisted the fun couldn’t stop there, so the kids grabbed another group of those crazy decorative gourds, and then we left.

This is only part of our haul. It was so much fun to go buy veggies that way, and to contribute to an important cause feels good, too. How generous of that family. They donated ALL proceeds to the Bridge!! Amazing, hey??

I am SO grateful to have so many good fresh veggies in my possession! It meant the kids had garden cucumbers for their school lunches today. It means toasted tomato sandwiches til the cows come home. It means potatoes for months, maybe! Not to mention, we dug out our garden yesterday, too.

A far less impressive haul, but every little bit counts!

Thank you, Lord, for your blessings!

Getting home from the lake yesterday was a total whirlwind. Kids were exhausted, and I could’ve fall asleep standing straight up myself! We were all beat, but things needed to get done! Brady was so loving and did all of the unloading of the van while the kids played fought. We decided to feed them something quick and simple so we could keep unpacking, and then we’d eat later.

But it was shortly after 6:00 that I realized I had committed to going to a meeting at 7:00! Gah! I had gotten my times turned around, and long story short, I got home around 10:30, ate some leftovers, and cashed out hard for the night.

I had SUCH a long list of things to do! Brady is working, and I had goals, let me tell you! I have a mountain and a half of laundry to do, dishes from yesterday, a disaster of a bedroom to tidy, and some lists and plans to make. I have a few things to research, and whenever it shows up, I have a large haul of veggies to figure out how to store/save/can. I need to make a grocery list, plan supper, and I really wanted to pre-make lunches for the week. On top of that, I have potatoes and carrots to still dig out of the garden.

Aaaaand then the morning happened. It was smooth and cute. I was running a stitch behind, but the school schedule changed with Covid and bought me an extra 15-20 minutes in the morning! A Covid win! While breakfast was going, Laela asked if she and Dekker were walking together, or if we were all going again. I had assumed she and Dekker would go on their own, as they did all last year and the year before, but Laela really really wanted us all to go together again. I know she won’t ask for that forever, so I decided we’d make it happen. Everyone was on board.

Until they weren’t. *sigh*

I don’t want to get into it, but it was a very unceremonious exit from home, and took about halfway to school before we had peace. Its been two hours and I’m still a little rattled from it all, even though I’m home.

So. New plan for the day. I have a load of laundry in, and I plan to complete the kids laundry, so they all have clothes for school tomorrow. Boom. The kids clothes are the easiest loads anyway, because they just go from the washer to the dryer. No sorting or fuss. I do a load of boys clothes and a load of girls clothes. I know that won’t last forever, but it works for now! I have the dishwasher running, and will probably get it all emptied out while the kids eat lunch. If I can get a list together, I’ll send Brady for some groceries after work today, so I can appropriately make lunches, whether in advance or just day to day. It is HARD to make lunches when, at home, they eat things like peanut butter, trail mix, and Sweet and Salty granola bars. Merp.

I will hopefully dig the garden out today, but it might wait until Bradys home. Or my mom might come later in the day. Or I’ll just do potatoes and do carrots another day. Or I’ll do it all another day. I’m not sure yet.

I’m not sure if/when my big haul of veggies may or may not be ready, but I’m going to do some sitting, and researching, so I’m prepared when they do.

I think taking some time to sit and organize will really improve my week, especially while laundry and dishes are both running. My room can be messy for a few more days. I’d prefer to feel more orderly in my brain than in my house.

Wavy has the right idea. Let’s just take it easy today.

*** Aaaaand since starting this blog, I’ve already put in the second load of laundry 💪

We did it. We spent one last weekend at our beautiful new lake spot before heading home for the winter. We arrived on a hot day. We had Cher join us for our cold day, and we worked on the last day to winterize and pack up!

Here’s a quick breakdown of the weekend 🙂

While we unpacked, four of the kids ran to took over the playground. This kid snuggled up on our little chair and read. Because he fell in love with reading in the last year! I love that.

Once everything was set up, we hit the water. Or, rather, the beach, because it wasn’t warm enough to actually be in the water. But my goodness its gorgeous either way.

That first day was SO sunny and hot and easy! Everyone was happy!

Brady went forward with chopping a small tree down to make our site bigger…

And we ate spaghetti! Thank you, mom, for sending it! It went over beautifully, and was a really lovely gift not to have to worry about a meal!

We didn’t sleep great at night, but the few weekends we’ve enjoyed there, the first night is always a bit of a mess. You know, settling in and the like. They actually went down easier than I expected, but they tend to wake up pretty disoriented in the night and need help getting their heads back on straight. As the night wore on, with every wakeup, it was getting noticeably colder!

Still, we rolled on! Cher came to join us for the day, and she can vouch that it was cold.

We made the day great, though! We played at all the playgrounds! This one we lovingly call Tetanus Park 😳But look how strong Wavy is!!!

Laela managed to walk square into a tree at one point and almost got her eye stabbed out.

Ok not really but it was close enough.

And we took Cher around to the challenge course! We definitely took a couple of wrong turns and only found a few of the games, but it was still fun 🙂

Cher had to leave before supper, which was sad, but we understood. I think we showed her a good enough time that she’ll come again 💜

Hot dogs for supper!

And then a walk to the water to keep us from freezing!

It kinda worked, haha! A couple of us were colder than others…

It was worth it, though.

This morning, we woke up chilly, but ready to take on the day! We gave the kids an easy breakfast, and sat with them and the fire until it was time to get moving!

I got to work inside the camper, rolling up sleeping bags, digging things out of cupboards, and packing up everything that needed packing. Being that its our first year and we’re next to terrified of a mouse issue, we brought most of everything home :/ We just don’t know. I’m sure in the years to come, we’ll leave more there, but this year, just about everything came home.

Brady worked HARD on pretty much everything else. He blasted out the waterlines and filled them with antifreeze. He closed up a bigger vent that we don’t need but had left open for the season. He did further mouse proofing and hole filling.

The kids helped here and there, too, where they could 🙂 Solly collapsed all the lawn chairs and brought them to the van. It was cute. They’re about the same size as he is.

When I was at a standstill for what I could do, I took the kids to a different playground so Brady could just do his thing without anyone asking a billion questions. Lol! Rowan dug for treasure. He was specifically in search of gold necklaces for me. He did not find any. Maybe next time.

We did eventually get out of there in one piece, around 2:00pm. It took a LOT of work, but I imagine it’ll get smoother every year 🙂 This was just out first round. It wasn’t bad, just a bit of a mishmash of forgetting things and needing to run back for this or that. It did get done, however, and Brady and I had yet to even have lunch! So we treated ourselves to some crappy fast food, as you do when you have to move quickly…

Aaaaand we drove home. This kid has all the right vibes.

It was SUCH a beautiful, albeit short, season of camping. It has been such a happy time. We’ve learned a lot, pushed the kids and ourselves a lot, and we’ve truly enjoyed the change of life. I hope we always do this. I hope we always have our spot. God brought it to us, so clearly. We’ll keep it as long as He’ll let us!

*deeeeep breath in*

Man. The air out here is just so crisp and fresh. Yesterday was warm and windy. Overnight, the temperature dropped significantly, and we woke up chilly and ready to get our blood pumping! And by “blood pumping” I actually mean we were ready to get the fire lit and the coffee brewing! Thank you, Carrie and Braden, for lending us your big radiant heater! You saved our butts this weekend!

I am SO pleased that Cher joined us for the day! Naturally, we wore the same jacket.

She is SUCH a chill lake guest, I’ve gotta say. She contentedly sat by the fire for the bulk of the morning, sipped coffee, visited with everyone, and rolled with the punches of cold weather, smoke, whining kids, etc. 

We cracked out an extravagant (Ha!) lunch of sandwiches, crackers and cheese, cantaloupe, etc. Everything was SO low key. Brady, Cher, and I chatted by the fire through quiet time while the kids kids took off to do some exploring on their own. I am SO grateful to be able to let them go, within reason, and feel confident that they are safe. 

Once the little ones were up, and the sun had done a better job warming up the afternoon, we went for one last exploring walk. We wandered through the bush and looked at leaves, plants, mushrooms, and trees. We played a few games, and sipped coffee as we went. It was SO relaxing, and it felt SO special to have Cher along with us. 

We love it here. This is probably our last weekend here in 2020. We will winterized and pack up tomorrow. But, man, what a gift we were given in this crazy unpredictable year. Thank you Lord! 

Having next to no data left on my cell phone plan in the last billing cycle, I wasn’t able to share any pictures during our last camping weekend. So, here I am, showing you all the pictures I have! The weekend was frigid, but we still had a ton of fun! I love it there. We all do. I hope you enjoy our photo dump!

Our first day there, I unpacked, and Brady worked on a few more little fixes. Because there’s likely always going to be something to tweak and adjust 😉

That evening, we all walked down to the water and took pictures. It was SO pretty.

I don’t know which one I like best so you’re getting them all!

It was super cold and wet. We brought the kids jackets and splash pants, toques and mitts, etc. Wavy wore one of Dekker’s old coats and man, it was SO cute!

Everything was thoroughly soaked after our first day outside, and it wasn’t enough close to being warm enough to dry. We really need to get an outdoor drying rack or system next season, lol!

The rain did nice things for Wavy’s little mullet though!

Solomon is SUCH a Brady, but he was channeling his inner Uncle Simon this weekend. Hanging out in his shorts in the cold, lol!

Brady premade a baked oatmeal and we reheated it on the barbecue. SO delicious!

The pizza buns weren’t bad either!

The kids love to help with camping life. They bring wood, fill the water jug, take out garbage, etc. Its cute.

When Carrie and her family showed up for a day, they invited us to join them on a challenge course in the bush. They know their way around significantly better than we do, and it was such a treat for us to be shown around by such good friends. Carrie and her husband, Braden, have this beautiful knack for including our kids in their family, even though ours are more cautious than theirs. They don’t hold back with our kids, even when ours get worked up or upset. They love our children, and we love theirs. They’re an amazing family.

It was SO beautiful out, despite the temperature.

We got the go ahead to clear a few little trees out of our site, and I got some Christmas vibes, lol!

My mom came for a day!! Woohoo!!! She had such a riot with the kids, and they LOVED having her there.

We did lots of walking and lots of playing.

Our last full day there was just so cold and so smoky, and Wavy struggled SO hard. She finally calmed when I rocked her like a baby. I didn’t mind that one bit 😍

I was pretty in my element. We all were. I am so grateful for this opportunity we’ve been given to have a true home away from home. God knew what we needed. He always does.