I cannot believe my baby girl is nine. Wasn’t she JUST born?? No. Thats right. I just remember that day incredibly vividly. She is indeed aging and growing and changing and I’m not ready.

Oof. The difference between the first and last picture are HUGE.

Laela has matured greatly in this last year. It is unreal. Sometimes it hurts me to see it all, because I know a large part of her growing and changing has come with our time of struggle, and her deep desire to save me and make life easier for those around her, at her own expense. But the other side of me is incredibly proud of her beautiful qualities and her empathy and care for her people. I’ve worked to embrace her help and willingness while simultaneously actively praying that she remains the kid she is and that she doesn’t lose her childhood in the midst of all the change in our lives. I trust God with Laela.

Laela puts into her people so well. Far above her years, in my opinion. She offers to make supper when she sees a need. Puts Wavy down for naps. Helps her take a bath. She cleans without being asked. I even found her helping wipe a bum the other day. She is on it.

She is still being terribly cute with the boy she likes, loyal to her Jaxon, picking him flowers on occasion, going for bike rides, and planning to be a farmers wife 💜 They’re so cute lol!

She has excellent women to be close to who put into her and value her and teach her about what a strong capable warm woman looks like 💜 Grandma and Auntie love her, and are deeply loved by her.

I wish I had a picture of her with Rae 💜 Yet another strong, hard working woman in her life who loves her!

Tom is her strong male influence outside of her dad 💜 She loves to wrestle with Tom, and he will absolutely throw her around and be that person for her, while also being so soft and loving. She is NOT lacking in love in this category whatsoever! We are deeply grateful for our people who love our children and put into them without guilt or expectation!

Laela has proven to be someone who LOVES animals, and is not timid in the slightest!

Rory can lick her and jump a little, and Laela doesn’t flinch, but rather gently corrects her and loves her up!

She is braver with gross things that I ever was or ever will be, hahaha! She loves to catch frogs!

She is simply top notch. Growing so incredibly fast. She has big goals, and I am so excited to see her ride them out! She is loved by all, it seems, and she fits in everywhere 💜 She can be very quiet, and read for hours on end, and she can be super rowdy and silly and play pretend. Dare I say, my Laela Hazel has hit the sweet spot! 💜 Stay here just a little longer, Miss Laela. There is no reason to rush.

Sweet girly, you entered the world with a bang, and I felt strongly that you were going to shake things up. And that you have! But there is so much more to come, and I am honoured to be your mom and to be close to you! I pray regularly that I do right by you, and that God guides me as your mom, to know what you need along the way.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, Laela. Maybe His face shine upon you, and be gracious, and give you peace.

Happy birthday, beautiful Laela. I love you more than you know.

Today, while Waverly is at preschool, I am prepping for our official last weekend at the lake this season 💜 This is bittersweet, because we absolutely LOVE it there, and will miss the simplicity, the rest, the people, and the air. Being done for the season, however, will simplify our day to day life immensely, plus free up time for important things here that, now that Brady is back to full time work, we will only really have time for on the weekends. LOTS of things have been let go as we have enjoyed our beautiful summer, but now there is a LOT to clean up and organize! If you’ve been around us or in our house, you know things have just piled up, and there is real work to be done. And now, with the lake packed up, we will get into it finally!

But first, we soak up camp one last time 💜 See some of our lake people. Winterize. Have all-day fires. Celebrate a birthday. Enjoy the sunset by the water. S’mores. Cold nights. Hopefully beautiful fall colors. I cannot wait to get there!

Clothes are packed. Food is prepped. I just need to pack the van this afternoon, and choose what crocheting I want to bring. Once the kids are home, I’ll pack the cooler, and they will choose stuffed toys, books, and footwear. And then we’re out the door! Ack!

Let’s see if you can be more beautiful than last time, Kinasao. Thats some tight competition!

Its already been a full day today! A really nice day, thankfully! First, some quick snaps of the crazy beautiful sunset last night!

Not photographer-level pictures, but you get the gist. It was SO beautiful!

Today is also picture day for four of the kids! We don’t buy school pictures, so I’m not especially worried about what they wear or how well put together they are. Still, its fun 🙂 And they want to look nice. Some more than others…

Wavy couldn’t be left out, even though her picture day isn’t today.

Today was my first day with the minivan! And conveniently, Brady forgot something he truly needed at home, so I even had the chance to drive it somewhere! Cher and I had a coffee date scheduled, so she jumped in with me and Wavy, and we all drove to Warman together! Brady was very busy at work so I just ran in for less than a minute and left him to it.

Cher and I had a really good conversation over coffee. I love talking about REAL things with my best friend 💜 There is always a place for funny light conversation, but I love when we can talk in depth about things that actually matter. Thank you, Cher, for being close with me 💜 I loved this morning with you.

Time kept moving, however, and Cher went home to get to her very busy life, and I got Wavy lunching and (believe it or not) the blog written. Wavy eats a tomato every day for lunch, thanks to Rae and the awesome haul she brought us!

There is still lots to do once Wavy is down. I need to finish writing up a grocery list and pack kids clothes forrrrrrrrr…

Our LAST weekend at the lake 💜 This weekend is the weekend! So I need to pack for cooler weather, winterizing, and a birthday 😳 No pressure, Hailey, but don’t forget anything!!

I am so overwhelmingly grateful for the lake season we’ve had, and for the opportunity to get out there one last time! Thank you Lord!

Never before would I have thought I’d be SO happy to buy a minivan. But folks, it finally happened. Brady has been test driving some awful overpriced vans, and some really nice vans that were above and beyond what we needed or wanted to spend money on. Vans on their last leg, leaking everywhere, for 6K. Vans with dvd players and leather for 20K. Vans in that middle ground area just don’t seem to exist. The vehicle market is a nightmare right now. But we waited, and watched, and finally, found our van!

Ta-daaaaa! 🙌 Behold! The newest member of our family! A 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. It only has 130K on it, which is really really good for that age. It had some recent maintenance done, including a full brake job, rotors included. The interior is spotless. The exterior is not spotless but a couple of tiny dings doesn’t hurt anyone. It will only get more in our care, I’m sure. Best of all, everything works, lol! Dual climate control blows nice heat and also AC. All the doors are powered. Stow and go works well. Bluetooth is factory and works. Backup camera is clear. Cruise is strong and easy. Its all just really, really nice. The color is really nice, too.

Brady couldn’t resist taking it to show his friends at work, so the temporary hand controls went on it this morning, and he brought it in. Tomorrow, however, its mine until hand controls are installed! Brady is bummed, haha! He loves it. And he’ll get his shot at it soon 🙂 For now, we are both just SO relieved to have a second vehicle. And one that Brady will be able to get in and out of safely in winter. Thank you Lord for endlessly providing!

Cher and I celebrated our fifth friendaversary a little bit early this year becauuuuuse Anne of Green Gables ballet came to Saskatoon!!

First, though, came Value Village. Because we’re classy ladies. And because I have children with needs. And a mug addiction.

We followed VV up with Starbucks, because again – classy ladies. Also, I had free money on the app. We both got a pumpkin thing 🎃

Post-bucks, we walked Indigo for a little while. We love to Indigo together, and the last time we went, someone who was clearly trying to recruit people to their own little thing took up ALL of our time. Laaaaame. So it was good to go back and try again, even just for fun 🙂

And then supper was our last pre-event event! Summer Roll for the win! We shared the dinner for two. ‘Twas delicious. Asian food with Cher is always a treat.

We got to TCU nice and early, so we got really good street parking, and got in line pretty close to the front! Yes, we had reserved seats, but the lineup of people waiting to have their tickets scanned was LONG! We were VERY happy with our choice to show up early!

However, the theatre didn’t open especially early at all. Once the doors to the building were open and our tickets were scanned, the theatre still remained closed for a good ten minutes. Some very attractive selfie opportunities were taken.

We finally got in and found our seats. We paid for nosebleed, and thats what we got, but it was anything but disappointing.

The view was clear. The music was beautiful. The dance was smooth. The story was portrayed very well, and contained more humour than anticipated. It was a total win!

We got out pretty late, and drove home tired and happy 💜 It was a beautiful way to celebrate our five years of being friends. We have survived more bumps than many, I believe, but we keep God at the centre and that is how we succeed.

Happy early friendaversary, sweet Cherice 💜 I love you and I like you. Always you!

Our book collection grows and grows, and our kids just eat those books right up! We have been so fortunate to receive SO MANY BOOKS as gifts along the way, specifically since Brady had his surgery. People have searched for ways to put into our family, and books has been one of those ways that has really shown up. Very quickly after Brady went to the hospital, I had to buy another bookshelf. And recently, its been nagging on me to find another one. Not urgently, but to keep my eye out.

Anyway. Yesterday I came across the perfect bookshelf on Facebook Marketplace. It was an Ikea shelf very similar to what we already use in our house. It was vastly discounted, and came with the cloth boxes to store things. Now, we don’t use those for books, but our basement toy shelf is also from Ikea and we could really use the boxes down there. When I went to message the seller, I discovered it was being sold by a family just down the street from me! Thank you Lord for orchestrating such a smooth transaction!

So I wasn’t with it enough to take “before” pictures, beyond this one.

This is one of our bookshelves with two rows of other books from a different shelf that was going to move stacked on top. The brown recliner was also stacked HIGH with books we could barely keep from spilling off the sides.

Once we confirmed that my plan for placing the shelves was a good one, I gave Dekker and Laela the job of sorting books. Dekker was pleasant and willing, and Laela was AMPED. They worked on that job until bedtime, deciding where to put the all the different series’, board books, comic books, etc.

They finished that task today!

So first we have our original shelf setup. It used to hold everything. Now it predominantly holds younger kid books, both hardcover and paperback.

Not board books, however. Our kids are mostly through with those, but I’m not ready to get rid of them yet, so they live in this shelf 🙂 This shelf has replaced the little end table that was over here originally, so now Brady has an end table over by his comfy chair, and I still have a place to set my coffee from my comfy chair! Plus, the books directly behind me are used less often. So its a win.

This is the new shelf. It holds ALL of the chapter books, as well as the more delicate, older comic books. Family Circus is HARD to find nowadays, but we have TONS thanks to my mad garage sale skills.

Once the big task of book reorganizing was done, I moved downstairs! The toy shelf wasn’t in great shape, and now that we have the boxes, it felt like time to sort through things, throw away what was broken or missing pieces, and get things back where they belonged. Duplo with Duplo. Lego with Lego. Pet Shops with Pet Shops. Hot Wheels with Hot Wheels. Puzzles with their pieces. Barbies with clothes. Etc etc etc. There was a LOT to go through. So many piles like this…

But we came through!! And while its not perfect by any means, it makes a LOT more sense now!

It was a HUGE morning of work, but after those hours were behind us, I was greeted upstairs with coffee and toast. It was perfect.

Onto the next! A fantastic evening awaits! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow 💜 Real life kicks in again tomorrow!!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!

Today is so reminiscent of last year, for some reason, but in a nice way. I’m so grateful there are some positive body memories from then 💜

The kids are in jammies.
The Hamilton soundtrack is playing.
Everyone is playing together at the table or island, be it lego, playmobile, or crafts.
Occasionally, someone throws a brief line of a Christmas song in between the Hamilton songs.
Everyone is quick to laugh.
Everyone is comfortable.
Supper is started in the crock pot.
I have coffee.
I’m crocheting.

I am overwhelmingly grateful for a smooth morning so far. Today is Brady’s first Saturday at Zak’s, acting as something of a store manager. This will happen occasionally, as he is in a Saturday rotation now. Saturday’s with him away at work have always been a challenge, but we’ve adapted to a lot, so whats one more thing? I am very, very proud of him 💜

Happy weekend, friends. I hope your day is as peaceful as mine.

It was a very cute morning. Apparently, pre-covid, there used to be an all-day soccer tournament for grades five and six. When it was happening, none of my kids were that age, and then it stopped for a couple of years. Now, suddenly, Dekker has an all-day soccer tournament! Lol! News to me, but that was today!

I will admit that I completely missed the memo that it was an event to go watch! I was tipped off late yesterday evening, and I confirmed with Dekker this morning that, yes, people were welcome to attend. See, Dekker doesn’t care for sports. Its just not his jam. So he was not at all looking forward to the day, and therefore didn’t react in a “Hey, its going to be so much fun! You should come watch!” kind of way. And thats ok. He was happy about it when I told him Wavy and I would be coming, and bringing grandma. The $5 for the concession stand gained a bigger smile, though, lol!

So with all of that being said, Dekker is amazing. He found this beautiful balance where he would run off the field to sub, and he would come and snuggle Wavy, chat for a sec, and then rejoin his friends, and then go back to the game. He hit every mark every time. I was SO impressed. He loves Wavy so much and it really showed. And she loves his too! She waved and yelled for him multiple times! “Dekker I yike your shirt!”

He is NOT ashamed to love his little sister. I love that so much.

The unprompted smooch that absolutely MELTED my heart 💜

She tried to bite his nose, lol!

I was also incredibly proud of his determination and drive. As I said, he doesn’t care for sports. But he knew where to be and how to play, and he ran and ran and ran. He played defence, and he did really, really well! He wasn’t afraid to get in the way of the other player running, or to follow the gang up the field. One particular game, he only got called out to sub once, and within ten seconds, someone got hurt and he had to go back out. He was beat, but he ran and played and did his absolute best. I am SO proud of how hard he works, even when he truly isn’t invested.

Three games later, Dekker took off with his buddies for cheeseburgers, and mom took Wavy and I home for lunch. Wavy napped, and I had a bath to try to warm up, because brrrrr!

I am not firing on all cylinders at the moment so I think I’m going to push homework off until tomorrow and soak up some lego and music time this afternoon. Kids will be home soon 💜

🌲☕️🦌

We could all use a little letdown after a long week.

It has turned out to be a fairly full day so far, and its just barely into the afternoon! Ack! Lucky for me, my things have been fun, for the most part 🙂

I got the big kids off to school, and Wavy off to preschool.

In between there, I texted Dr. Guselle about some sketchy red spots on Brady’s bad leg. His particularly useless leg – the right side – showed up with bright red spots yesterday evening, only right beside where he gets swelling at the end of the day. We both had some blood clot concerns, so I sent a message this morning.

Cher found out her morning class got cancelled, so while Waverly was at school, she and I ducked into Saskatoon for a super speedy Value Village run. She had earned that two hour break in the midst of an incredibly busy time of studying! Plus, she wanted to help me. Remember that time I gained 40-ish pounds on my medication, and then switched back and started losing some of that weight again? Well, it keeps dropping and I keep not having clothes that fit. I also don’t have anything that would qualify as “nice.” I did manage to buy some tank tops for the summer, which is why you probably saw me in the same four shirts all season. But we went in today and I successfully found a pair of jeans, a cute soft plaid shirt, and a tshirt that I really like!

It was a great shopping success, and the company was pretty excellent also! 💜

We got back in time to sip coffee for a bit before picking Wavy up and bringing her home. Meanwhile, Brady drove into Saskatoon and took his lunch early to go test drive yet another van. No dice :/ Aaaaany day now, guys! Anyone have any leads? Stow and go seats, and power sliding doors! Thats ALL we ask!

Eventually, we parted ways 💜 Cher went home to do schoolwork. I put Wavy down for a nap. I also called Brady and heard about the van. It could’ve been good, except the doors weren’t powered, which is an important part of him not having to step on the ice to retrieve his chair. Also, it was rusted through at points. So, nope. Onto the next.

We heard back from Dr. Guselle as well, and she was able to alleviate some of the anxiety surrounding Brady’s leg. She pointed out that, when Brady had his pulmonary embolism, he had a lot of factors against him, and he has WAY fewer now. She is not concerned about him having reoccurring blood clots, and says much more likely its just an odd rash or at worst, leaky blood vessels. But likely not in this case. Win! She is so reassuring.

Once some of that was over, Wavy was wrapping up her lunch, and I tried on my Value Village clothes. Wavy made fun of me for undressing in the kitchen, but then reacted very sweetly and told me I looked “sooooo cute!” Lol!

Beard man for the win! 💜

Waverly went down for her nap totally easily and happily, and now, I will crochet in my bed and rest up a little before everyone comes home and chaos ensues!

Happy first day of Fall, friends!

After her first day of preschool, I had the pleasure of hanging with Miss Waverly this morning. We needed to make a drop off, so we decided to head out for a walk as soon as the big kids were gone to school, where as we more often end up going for a walk before lunch. Not today!

Last night was the first frost warning, and it was the very low plus temperatures when we left, so we layered up! Wavy has a pretty fly style, leaving her in a strawberry toque overtop of her cool flat brim hat. If anyone can rock that kind of thing, its her. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of her.

You can just feel her swagger, am I right?

I gave her some gum, which was a pretty big treat, considering she isn’t especially reliable in terms of spitting it out at the end 😬 But she did succeed at that today! Heyooo!

She told me today “I love holding your little hand! I like just us.”

I feel the same, Waverly 💜 I love these times of just us. I will not forget them.