We usually spend Sundays with my mom, but with all of our sickness, we missed her :/ Such a bummer. But as grandma would do, she still popped by with treats and some little gifts for us to enjoy in the impending sickie week.

I parcelled them out, and today was a craft morning. It was SO fun.

I have to say on record here, Rowan had the BEST attitude of any of them!! If the glue wasn’t sticky enough, he would giggle, and find another way to secure his items together, while the others would be a bit more whiny. I don’t mean to point fingers in a rude way, but its often the other way around, and it was a pleasant surprise when Rowan was SO good natured about it!

Once crafts were packed up for the time being, the little treats came out! And my goodness, it was as if the kids had never had candy canes before!! They were VERY enjoyed and appreciated!

Our beautiful crafty morning ended with an adorable, unprompted snuggle ❤️ The best kind.

Happy Friday, friends. Enjoy the snow, or being out of it.

This whole week has been repetitive so rather than telling you in further detail that the Christmas lights are on, Hamilton is playing, and the kids are coloring, I’ll show you a few funnies from the last couple of days! Just some memes, but sometimes thats really what we need. A light laugh.

First is actually something Rowan drew! He’s been taking TONS of time on his pictures recently. Usually they’re very detailed trucks, but this was a super elaborate teddy bear!!

Cool hey?? I wish I was one of those awesome moms that figured out a way to make this teddy bear for him, but we’ll just have to remember it on paper!

Next up – a boy band joke. Because there are never enough.

Third funny joke is SO my humor, which doesn’t exactly speak highly of me, but I’ve decided to be less ashamed of my horribly dry humor. Behold – the real me.

Aaaaand my favorite one. It won’t make sense to everyone, but for those who have a very real love for Lin-Manuel Miranda, its pretty good.

Goodness, I love a good laugh, especially these days. The snow is flying, we’re out of a lot of groceries, and everyone in my house is grumpy. Yaaaaay!!! Hahaha!

If you want to look back at some other good laughs, I made a post or two earlier this year 🙂 Part 1 and Part 2 are clickable! But I want to be clear – they will ONLY be funny if you share my sense of humor!

I hope some of you enjoyed a little giggle with me 🙂

It was not our smoothest kickoff to the day! These poor kids desperately need a change of scenery, but these colds are hanging on for dear life! Thankfully, at least ONE kid will be able to go to school tomorrow, so, win. Down to only four kids! Hahaha!

Between refereeing and diffusing bombs, I’ve been working on our Christmas card, which I am SO excited for!! Making our list, checking it twice, but not actually, haha! We have good music going, and iced coffee is tasting goooood. These mornings have definitely had their benefits. I could get used to them! Except for all the fighting…

Also, its become clear that I am short materials for some Christmas projects I’m working on. So that feels like something I need to urgently get sorted out. And by “I” I mean Brady, because he’s already in the city for work! Hopefully he can find what I need!

I feel todays post is very much like yesterdays, haha! I’m sorry, friends. It won’t always be this way! I have some things underway that I can’t talk about yet, and they’re a bit consuming. Beyond those things, these kids being sick really takes up a lot of headspace and makes our days boring and the same. One day, things will be more exciting! Haha! But that day is not today.

If you want the same relaxed, nothing day as I have, turn Hamilton on through the house, click on all lighting that isn’t ceiling lights, and reintroduce the smelly markers! Day = made!

There are pros to everyone being home with colds. While its a hassle, and the kids are itching to be out the door, I’m not mad at getting up a little later in the morning. I don’t mind letting them doddle hard over breakfast. I don’t mind everyone wearing jammies all day long. And by not having to leave the house, I’m getting things done!!

Eek! I have our family pictures in hand! YES!!! I’m so eager to send them off to be designed and printed into Christmas cards! Who wants one?! If you’re not confident you’re on our list, please speak up! I’d love to send you one!

I’ve also been madly working on Christmas gifts and expanding my knowledge and skillset, and I’m truly loving the outcome! Its clear there is always more to learn, and my goodness, crafting is my happy, restful place. The wheels for next Christmas are already turning 😆 Because lets be real. If I want to make all five kids something awesome, its going to have to be a plan for next year!

Another thing I’ve been putting off is purging the photos and videos off my phone. I have thousands and none of them are backed up on iCloud. For whatever reason, my photo program on my laptop isn’t working, so my photos aren’t transferring the way they normally do. I’ve been waiting to transfer everything until I know the program will work, but my phone is suffering under all the stuff and its time. So I’ve been working on downloading everything to the laptop and I’ll just store it in a folder on the desktop until the program is ready, and that way I can wipe my phone and start fresh.

While I do these things, the kids are coloring ALL together at the island!! Isn’t that awesome?? Music is playing. Christmas lights are on. Coffee is yummy. Its probably warmer in here than some would prefer, but its great for us.

Meanwhile, Brady is off at work, keeping his head up, working hard for us! We are SO grateful for all he does, in the midst of his body not doing all its supposed to do. He does not complain, and still offers me breaks from the kids when he can see they would be useful.

Thank you Lord for our family, and the people who put into us in all the different ways. Thank you for keeping us running as a strong unit, despite some efforts to take us down.

I call it “sickie week” because of the guidelines put forward by the health authority and school division. My children must be symptom free for a full 48 hours before re-entering the school. Because of this, Dekker will absolutely be out all week. Laela is almost done being snotty, but even so, the absolute soonest she could go back would be Thursday. I’m not confident about Rowan and Solomon yet, but Waverly is definitely still sick. It looked about like this all weekend.

Unlike other years, that means they will be expected to complete schoolwork at home. Which I know isn’t a huge deal, but its hard :/ My kids like school. Its not hard to get them there. Laela is SO sad she can’t go, because she feels completely fine. And Dekker has ZERO issue going, either. The work isn’t upsetting…

But doing it at home is!!! The lack of separation between home and school destroys them. Dekker had to practice handwriting Ms and Ns the other day, and he bawled, because he just hates doing schoolwork at home :/ Laela cried over counting by 5s. It sucked. But they made quick work out of their pages, and life continued.

Today has been ok in terms of school stuff. Specifically because they didn’t really do any. Maybe thats wrong, but especially Dekker being in those really gross, drippy, snotty days, his crying becomes just SO uncomfortable, and he should have a break! So rather than homework, I left the two kids cuddled up, reading good books in/above their levels, and they eventually moved over to lego. But they read for at least 45 minutes. If they don’t get to their assignments today, so be it.

Dekker has read almost all day. Laela has coloured, too.

They’ve both been doing some kids cross stitch that my mom gave them. Rowan has also been colouring, and he’s been doing a lot of complaining, also! Lol! Thats mostly why I wonder if he’s secretly sick 😉 His attitude blows. But, we’ll figure that out. Solomon has been playing in the Halloween costumes for most of the day. And Waverly has alternated between yelling the word “no” and playing costumes with Solly.

At least Brady is able to work! And so far *knocks on wood* I have managed to stay cold-free! Pray for our little family, if thats something you do! The sooner the cold is gone, the sooner normal can begin again!

*sigh*

Remember when we had a band almost? Carrie, Brady, and I used to play coffeehouse gigs roughly every two months. We were tentatively scheduled for at least four gigs (that were not coffeehouses) that were cancelled when Covid got trendy. We’ve all felt loss in different ways this year, and while its not the most important loss we’ve suffered in 2020, Covid took Rule of Three from me. From us.

I think we need to instigate practices through winter, and you guys can expect some outdoor gigs in the spring or something.

I make no promises it will not be a Hamilton heavy set of songs. You’ve been warned.

All of this being said, if you can think of any way we can play for people in the meantime, please get in touch! There is an added motivation to practice when we’re working towards something, and I miss that.

💔

I miss this.

We did a gourd thing over here the other day. You may remember, but we hod ornamental gourds laying all around over here through the fall season. We had way more than we knew what to do with, but they were a super cute touch. The kids loved them. But some of them were getting a little soft, and it was just time to graduate them out.

Cher and I got it into our heads that we should open them up and try to cook something out of them. Ornamental gourd soup. Something super dorky. However, thanks to a quick google search, we learned that many decorative gourds are poisonous and should not be consumed. Sooooo we dodged that bullet and decided just to hack them up, in case there are any other weirdos out there who want to know whats inside ornamental gourds.

Observation number one is that they are WAY harder than you’d think to cut into!!

It became less of an attempt to saw through the shell and more a hack with an axe, kind of. My poor knives. I sharpened them specifically for this activity, but you’d never know.

Observation number two is that nothing especially exciting lives within these gourds. Like normal gourds, they have seeds. Thats basically it. They smell pumpkiny.

Some split better than others.

It did get a little too personal at one point…

Don’t worry, he was still happy, even when it was all over!

When I found a way that worked to get into them, I got a little too excited, and we had a couple of little explosions. Seeds and gunk everywhere. But man did we laugh!!!

It was all in all an entertaining afternoon, to say the least!

A shame I couldn’t cook them into some bizarre meal, but this was good too! 😆

Cher and I did not have the pleasure of being childhood friends. We knew of each other here and there, but never ran in the same circles. She has two tiny memories of me floating around high school, but thats about where that ends. I knew her name, but that was pretty much the extent of it. With all of that considered, we never got a shot at all that fun stuff you do as kids with your friends! Now, in our 30s, we’re doing it.

Our latest undertaking has beeeeeen…

Braids!

I remember being SO jealous of the girls who had their hair braided in all little braids! Ack! I wanted that SO BAD! Those around me were paying to have theirs done, which was not an option for me. Meanwhile, Cher has vivid memories of girls doing it for one another, or for themselves, regularly. She is a mad braider, though! You’ve probably noticed, if you’ve been around me much, that she’s kept my hair in cute french braids in the recent months. This time around, when she pulled the last one out, she opted to go ham and do that teenage girl ritual of aaaaall braids!

It was an undertaking. Two big days of braids!

That was day one! It was super productive! Day two started just as dorky…

But turned out to be even more productive!! Eek!

She is so meticulous, making the hair pattern super cute and intentional. I felt pampered and special and important, which while she enjoys braiding, I know was secretly her goal. She is a very loving person. I love you, Cher!

It was finally done!!!!!

We left the ends all crispy and kind of dreadlocked rather than elastics, which I’m really happy with. My hair is clearly desperately in need of a tune up, and a trim is a BIG part of that. We could get these out, but we’ll see. I may end up just hacking the ends off.

This just finished up yesterday, and I am already truly enjoying it!! Its low maintenance. I don’t shed. I can tie it up with itself, lol! But mostly, I enjoyed the relaxed hanging out with Cher, while the kids observed very closely, hahaha! Its been a cute couple of days! We’ll see how long they last!

I wonder whats next on the teenager catch up list…

I’ve been waiting, but we are here. We finally have sickness in our home for the first time since March.

Let me clarify. Wavy had that absurd rash in the summer. But in terms of a solid cold, we have been a picture of health. And while thats been lovely, I’ve been living with the nerves surrounding it, worrying about how the kids will respond after not being sick in SO long. Never being sick means their immune systems aren’t being pushed or exercised, really. Also, their mental tolerance for the discomfort is down. So, I’ve been nervous.

And here we are.

Laela came home on Friday with a runny nose, but her spirits were still up. Waverly quickly caught her cold, but she was just a little more tired. Everyone was fine. But it became clear that it wasn’t going to be a quick one, and I told Laela yesterday that she wouldn’t be able to go to school the next day – today. She understood.

This morning, when I went to get her up, she assured me amidst her sniffled that she felt so much better and could definitely go to school. Regrettably, I told her she wasn’t allowed at school with a stuffy nose right now. She broke down and cried. It sucked. She was SO disappointed. Wavy was all stuffy and hoarse, too. And because two wasn’t enough, Solomon was raspy, coughy, and sweating like a beast. And all three were GROUCHY!

I called Laela’s school, and texted her teacher directly, as well as Solomon’s preschool teacher. Then I triple checked with Dekker and Rowan, and confirmed that all was well with them. It was, and they were excited to go to school together!

Its not my favorite being sick over here. It changes plans and options. Its something to preface everything with. I’m already over it, but I’m assuming its not over us just yet. Le sigh.

Luckily, they’re terribly sweet kids, and pretty easy to have around, grumpy or not.

Stay healthy!

Today seems like an appropriate day to share with you what Rowan knows about Remembrance Day. The information is iffy, but the blog post will be short and sweet, just like him.

*

A few years ago, back in the olden days, there was a war. All the daddies and grandpas had to go, even if they didn’t want to. Lots of big brothers, too. Some of them even died. It was so sad. They had to have guns, and they didn’t want to use guns. They wanted to use their swords instead. They usually used swords. But they had to use guns this time. (Friends*) daddy died in the war… Maybe it was her grandpa… Or someone else. But it was so sad, mommy.

*

I say again, details are iffy, but I really liked the bit about the swords, haha! Perhaps he’s picturing a more “Lord of the Rings” style war.

Kids are cute. That’s really the moral of this story. Good try, Ro!