I know I wrote about Laela’s cute drawings the other day, but I wanted to put out there that she is still very much a reader, and that she excels at it. Once she found some chapter books that she really liked, she burned through them on her own, but recently, she has gotten back into reading for the littler ones, and I just LOVE it. They also LOVE it.

It usually just starts with her reading to Wavy, and the others flock.

While this is happening, the house is noticeably more peaceful, and I can do things without interruption. When she’s done reading a couple of books, I always thank her, and she always accepts it, because she knows she’s giving me a hand by doing this 💜

I sure appreciate this not so little girl. She is growing up incredibly fast, and I know I’m supposed to dread the aging, but I am LOVING what I am seeing! I love you, Laela!

One of the big things we had on the books this last week was yet another routine MRI for Brady. His ninth.

Remember how hard it was to get ONE???

Brady had his eight scan in summer, where it showed there was no recurrence of his tumour!

This scan was slightly different, but also quite positive. It confirmed there was no recurrence of the tumour, for which we are SO grateful! It did note some nerve enhancement, which could mean a couple of things. It could be indicative of a pain disorder, which feels unlikely at this point, because Brady doesn’t have pain in that area. Much more likely, its simply scarring from his surgery.

Every MRI thus far as noted “post surgical changes” which could have meant the nerve enhancement. It could have always been there. We just don’t know specifics in that area, and our doctor has a call in to the radiologist to ask for a little bit more detail on that vague statement. But no one is worried, because some nerve enhancement is normal.

Thats something we’ve learned along the way. We never expect a perfect report, because with Brady’s new condition of paralysis, his back and alignment won’t be flawless. He has some compressed discs. Some “blood tumours.” Some twisting. But those things have been noted in the past, with the general impression of the scans to be really good, and completely normal in these circumstances.

For Bradys health and wellness, we praise the Lord! 💜 If we learn anything new and exciting about the nerve enhancement, I will absolutely update everyone, but for now, we are content!

We officially have our second set of hand controls installed!! ✅ We picked up the minivan yesterday as a family. I could’ve organized picking up the van myself but Brady really wanted to be there in person to make sure it all fit nicely and worked well for him. And it was a success!!

He was also super handsome yesterday 😍

The hand controls fit this van a little differently, and after driving it home, Brady is thinking he may call about some small adjustments. It does still work, though, and he still LOVES the minivan.

It was pretty disappointing that we couldn’t get funding for them, but we are very grateful for our complete sets of hand controls in both vehicles 💜 Its just another way that Brady can feel normal and not as restricted in comparison to how things used to be.

This a little bit of a fail on my part, lol! But I am SO grateful that my kids are such good sports!!

Dekker and Laela each needed to bring a pumpkin to school this week. And I didn’t get into the city until Wednesday night, but I was able to get a couple. Then, I forgot to get them to school with them on Thursday, because they were still in the garage. My mistake, totally. Anyway, today was the cut off. They had to bring them today.

And today happens to be the ONE day in the recent past where I am without a vehicle 😅 I cannot drive them and their pumpkins to school. Walking with them, pulling a wagon would’ve been another option, except I have one little sickie that spent the early morning crying. So that was a no-go.

My last ditch effort could’ve been asking someone to drive them, or to borrow a vehicle. I know my mom or Cher would’ve happily jumped in to help! But when I talked to the kids about it, we reached the decision that they could totally pull it off. It helped that today is hot lunch! No one needed a lunch kit! Each kid grabbed a granola bar and a cheese string and was totally set up! So Dekker and Laela managed to fit their pumpkins in their backpacks, and I tightened up the straps good and proper, so as to save their shoulders. Their backpacks were WAY heavier on the first day of school.

On top of ALL the pumpkin stuff, Rowan’s class has a movie/pj/cozy/stuffie/snacky class party today, and the kid opted to bring the BIGGEST blanket he could find, hahahaha!

To his credit, he insisted on bringing this giant king sized throw just in case his friends didn’t bring a blanket and wanted to share 💜 I LOVE this kids heart SO much!

So I had three kids carting MONSTER backpacks to school today, but as you can see, no one was too terribly upset about it! And I’ve received no calls from the school so I assume they all lived, lol!

The day is not done, there is still more to do, but first – a nap for both Wavy and I! She isn’t feeling well, as I mentioned, and I was up for a few hours in the night with heartburn that refused to quit, despite all my best efforts. So we both need rest, and we’re going to get it!

Have a great afternoon, friends! And if you see my children struggling underneath a pumpkin or a backpack bigger than their entire person, please take a picture! 📸💜

This week has been gigantic. Bigger than last week even. You guys don’t know the half of it, but I’ll fill you in shortly on ALL the things we’ve been busy with!

Today, I was the helper at preschool. Twas dress-up day, since their next day is aft Halloween already. They could either dress up in jammies or a costume. Wavy opted for both, lol!

Princess Pajamas.

Post-preschool, she went down for naps, and I’m taking that precious time to a) eat a sandwich lovingly left in my fridge by the every-loving sweet Cherice, and b) crocheting in bed. I’ve been working on some really cool new blankets, and I took a break to do a super mindless, super festive Christmas blanket! So stay tuned for those! And if you’re in the market for a blanket, I’m your girl!

The afternoon holds homework and lego, and then driving to the city, becauuuuuse…

Today is the day we drop off the minivan for hand controls!!! 💜 Brady is SO excited to get to take the new van to work every day, and I’m really excited for him to have full use of both vehicles. The days I’ve needed to take the bus, he’s driven the minivan with the portable controls we use on the golf cart. They are legal, but a lot less stable, aaaaand I hate them. So this is WAY better, and we’re both ready to be able to use both vehicles equally between us.

Its is another full today, but I am grateful for this reprieve to crochet and put my feet up 💜

So. My bookends. My oldest and youngest. They are an absolutely incredible pair.

They have such a love and affection for one another. And it is SO crazy, because at the same time, they both are still so small, and also both growing like weeds. My heart is pulled in a lot of directions, haha! Oof. I love them.

Yesterday was a terribly cute reminder of how little Waverly still is 💜

Positively drowning in one of Brady’s work shirts. The tshirt sleeves went all the way down past her wrists. She is so young still. So small. But so much bigger than where she started. Man. She is SO lovely.

And then there’s Dekker, looking like a teenager. Half asleep. Wearing his backpack. In the pantry.

He is so physically strong all of a sudden, and completely capable of bigger things. He gives me piggyback rides, and we share socks. He can roll more off his back and comprehend more information. Meanwhile, he is the second smallest boy in his class and still rocks adjustable waist pants. I am just smitten with this kid! Ack!

I love all of my children, don’t get me wrong. But the oldest and youngest have different emotions connected to them. All the firsts and all the lasts 💜 I am immensely proud of who all of these kids are becoming! But I’m not ready for age to move quite this quickly.

So.

Stop it.

Today was the first gigantic Costco shop I’ve done in a while. But let me tell you – we earned that shop. We were out of evvvvverything, it seemed. Just yesterday, Brady had hit Coop after work for the basics – fruit, veggies, milk, butter, bread, etc. We’ve been needing a Costco shop for a long time, and that day was going to be yesterday, finally, but I had a sick kid home from school yesterday so I couldn’t. Today, my counselling appointment was reschedule so time freed up, and it was spent at Costco!

Time, but also money. A lot of it.

We were out of everything. Big Ziploc bags. Sandwich bags. Toilet paper. Kleenex. Laundry soap. Dish soap. Dishwasher rinse aid. Shampoo and conditioner.

Giant bricks of cheese were on sale, so we got two. Also cheese strings. Also singles slices. All the cheese, lol!

Perogies. Taquitos. Pizza. Lasagna. Fish sticks. Fish filets. Chicken nuggets.

Three big boxes of cereal. Two big bags of trail mix. Two boxes of peach cups. Four boxes of granola bars.

Plus the huge bag of sugar. Plus a birthday present for a party Rowan is invited to. Plus pants for Brady that might be awesome.

And SO. MUCH. MORE.

I would be SO happy if I could go for a super haul like that once a month, and have Brady grab necessities here and there as needed! I am out of practice shopping for our family. My back hurts, haha! What a beautiful problem to have 💜

Thank you, Brady, for working so hard so we can feed our family, and for doing it with joy.

Thank you, mom, for being with me and pushing a second cart. Running back for prices. Asking employees where things were. Keeping tabs on Wavy when I was staring at shelves.

Thank you, Wavy, for being such a bright light. For staying by the cart. For smiling and waving at all the cute old people who could not get enough of you. For helping me load butter and cereal into the cart.

Thank you, Lord, for providing for us in this way. We are so grateful to be able to afford food for our family. Both healthy things and also convenient things. We are so fortunate.

I’ve written and deleted paragraphs about how exhausted and overdone I feel more than once this morning already.

As I resist the urge to just whine about my emotions and my busyness, I’ll show you some fun strides Sol has made!

My mom brought paints over yesterday. Dekker opted out, but the other kids were eagerly in there. I could show you what everyone painted but Solly’s stood out the most to me. Firstly, I think he is finally handed!

He hadn’t chosen a dominant side during kindergarten, and I was starting to carry some concern. He wasn’t ambidextrous. He wasn’t doing especially well with either side, and I didn’t want him to fall behind. Thankfully, he seems to have finally settled in to being right handed, and it was evident as he painted. This first picture is a slide. 👆 Can you see it?

And these are a rainbow and a house. With his name, written with the S facing the right way!! 🥳

I’ll miss the little backwards S but I’m sure it’ll still make some appearances here and there 💜 Its sad to see that cute little stuff go, but development and growth is always a positive thing!

Except if its a tumour… 😬 #whoops #cancerjoke

I’m very proud of this little guy. I have seen so much growth in him already this school year. He is more independent. He is more confident. He takes more time to work on things. Last year, if he had been chosen to throw a pie at someone at school, he would’ve curled up in a ball and cried. I kid you not. He crumbled under pressure. And while we all do that sometimes, it is clear that he is coming into his own, and it is really fun to watch.

I have to laugh. So often, when people pop in, they greet the kids and ask “Is it pajama day? Because my kids are virtually always in pajamas. Come on, people. Every day is pajama day over here. People who spend regular time here have come to know that, and their kids will come in jammies as well. I love that, lol! You can view it as lazy if you want, but we view it as comfy, and I view you as jealous, lol!

Anyway. Saturday at home still feels foreign. We’ve been home from the lake for a while now, obviously, but it was our usual for so long to wake up there rather than here. So Saturday jammie days are really fun 💜 A newfound novelty, I suppose.

This Saturday was full of onesies…

And one kid still missing his summer look 😆

It was a day of lego and music and crafts and costumes. And crocheting, of course.

Saturdays without Brady are something to adjust to after being so fortunate to have him home with us for so long 💜 But I know we have it much easier than many others in terms of schedule, so we are incredibly grateful.

Yesterday, the kids’ school reinstated family reading lunch! I am so happy its back – not because I necessarily love sitting in the hallway for a half hour, but because it is GOOD to have school activities back in action after the half of covid and sickness and all the fear surrounding those things.

We are SO grateful that Brady works nearby and could sneak away to join us for a half hour! Dekker may have been uninvested, but he was invested in the reading part 😆

It was really good to see the teachers, meet the kids friends, and put some more names to faces. Brady had to leave after a half hour or so, but the families were invited to join for the school assembly after recess. So Laela kidnapped Wavy for lunch recess, and they played hard! It was really nice to meet Laela’s usual recess buddy, too! He followed Laela’s every move. It was a very cute recess.

We settled in for the school assembly and Dekker, being in the oldest grade, sat furthest to the back. Right in front of us. Sooooo it wasn’t long before she joined him. It was a LOUD assembly!

I can’t post too much from the school, with there being other peoples kids in the backgrounds, but the assembly was a LOT of fun. Their earlier fundraiser earned the kids the opportunity to pie some teachers and students, as well as shaving a head and a beard. Solly was randomly chosen to throw a pie plate of whipped cream at Dekker’s closest friend, which was hilariously cute. Solly LOVED it.

Almost as much as I loved family reading lunch.

Thank you, Brady, for taking this 💜 Its a very special memory for me.