I planned to write a blog once the evening was done, and I could show everyone in costume, out in the cold, red cheeks, happy. But I full anticipate being exhausted after trick or treating, so instead, I’ll show you their costumes that they put on for school this morning! Its almost as good, haha!

First off, we have BRADY! Apparently there was a costume contest at work today. He went in early and stole the name take of one of his colleagues, haha! So Brady was Lauren for Halloween 😆

But that worked out because Dekker is trick or treating as Brady! 😂 If I had to guess, I’m thinking the crutch won’t last long, but this is the goal anyway! 🩼

Ok, so, Laela wanted to be a witch. But then he was gifted a beard, and she couldn’t resist wearing it on Halloween! So this wizard was born! 🧙‍♂️

Rowans look is my favorite. He wanted to be a skeleton, and I am no face painter. But he was VERY happy with the way his face was done up, and he thought he looked AWESOME. Which he does 💜 ☠️

Solly is a tiger. Again. Forever. I don’t know what he’s going to do next year when he can’t get that costume on, but he LOVES being a tiger. So enjoy him while this costume lasts! 🐯

Waverly is an unnamed witch/princess 🤷🏼‍♀️ You’ve got me. But she is insisting on going in her “bat dress.” So if you ask her what she’s dressed up as, the answer may change, haha! 🦇

The kids came home from school with a rush of emotions, so it may be a looooong evening!! 😅 But I’m here for it!! Rowan managed to bring his very heavy pumpkin home, and I thought it was very fitting with his costume!

See all you other chilly locals out there!! 🥶 Happy Halloween!

I got an email from our girls ballet teacher today, reminding me that it was “fancy dress” day. It said to wear your favorite dress or costume. Now, two things.

One. I had NO idea it was fancy dress day. Where did we see that?? Ack! Nooooo clue. So good thing I caught it in time.

Two. Neither of my girls chose a dress they actually wear or love. They both went to costumes, and I love that!

They’re total hams, and not especially polished, but goodness they are CUTE!

Good thing for these pictures, because my evening pictures were not so clear, hahaha! But the kids clearly had a lot of fun!

Like last fall, Zak’s brought in some bouncy houses for the kids to play on! We almost missed them, as tomorrow is the last day! These pictures don’t capture much, but I see them capture the speed at which they were racing back into the fun. They had a blast! But then it was positively freezing and Dekker and I took the morsel inside for some warmth. It was fun, and quiet, and relaxed. I got to chat with one of Brady’s colleagues that I’ve never really connected with before, and to catch back up in depth with another employee who rocks a hard exterior but has SUCH a soft spot for children 💜 It was nice.

Finally, we left, got supper, and I ran into a couple more stores for a couple more things. We got home late and everyone was grumpy and went straight to bed. Whew!

A bath is running for me, and I am so looking forward to finally warming up. I am cold through and through!

Sleep deep, all 💜 I say it now, because I imagine I’ll beat you to dreamland 😴

Today was particularly delicious, so I feel inclined to share the yummy things I made with you. If you’ve followed long enough, you know I haven’t always felt especially confident (or at all confident) in the kitchen, and I’m truly enjoying celebrating some successes, as well as building some skills in the meantime. Anyway. Todays food.

I ended up staying back from church. One of our kids wasn’t going to make it, unfortunately, so me, plus aforementioned child, and the morsel made three! We stayed home and I realized I hadn’t planned lunch. In an effort to use up things that I forget about, I pulled out my tart shells and decided to make mini quiche for lunch. I realized a bit too far into the game that I was out of milk, but there was cream I could defrost out of the fridge, so it still worked out. I skipped frying bacon and chopped up leftover sausage instead. And I have to say – they came together pretty nicely!!

I made WAY too many in hopes of having leftovers to try out as breakfasts or lunch things to grab and run with. So we’ll see how those go over in the days to come.

In the afternoon, Brady finished up the yogurt he had started yesterday. It needed to sit for 24 hours, and it alarmed once that wait was over. It turned out beautifully!!! Almost no whey to scoop out! He just stirred in some vanilla and honey, and it went to the fridge! Boom! Four litres of yogurt! We do really need to get a thermometer. Thanks, Moodys, for letting us borrow yours!!

For supper, I had it in my head to make something with ham. I found ham on a good sale so I bought a few and I was quite determined to use one. I found a pretty basic meal on Pinterest that claimed to be “an easy Easter meal” but I’m pretty sure I can eat ham, potatoes, and green veggies the rest of the year as well, so I did. And it turned out!

It was supposed to all fit on one pan, but perhaps the person making the recipe for their blog didn’t cook for nine people. Even with this, almost every bite was gone. Two tiny ham pieces survived to see another day.

It was a positively delicious day, and I feel pretty happy about it. I am definitely ready for a good nights sleep, though. Someone tell the morsel. 🥱

Yesterdays post was about Wavy carving her pumpkin. Well today is about MY pumpkin!

PumpkinS*

I asked on Facebook the other day where I could still find pumpkins, and the win seemed to be Coop! Rowan needed one for school anyway, so when Brady hit Coop after work for one, I asked for a few for myself. He came home with three for me, and today I decided to cook them all and get them packaged for the freezer. Pumpkins take a good long time to cook, so it became an all-day project. It turned out to be an epic day of multitasking!

In this picture, you’ll see a handful of pumpkins – one carved, two still to carve, one cooked down and straining, one cooked and cooling, and one waiting to hit the oven! Plus lego. And a pair of slippers, lol! And some greek yogurt to parcel into starters for us to start making our own yogurt again. Its been a WHILE since we did that!!

A few hours later, ALL the pumpkin was processed!

And the yogurt was started! But at this point, that just looks like an instapot sitting on the counter for the next 24 hours, lol! I’ll show you that better later.

Anyway, when the day was done, I came out with nineteen bags of pumpkin.

Believe it or not, this will not last as long as I want it to. Ack! With the amount of baking I’ve started doing, I’m going to need a pumpkin dealer. Where do the ugly, unwanted pumpkins go??

I guess I’m going to start hitting PBR for those giant boxes of dying bananas! We’re going through those like wildfire as well, but the pumpkin is the heavy favorite 🎃

It was a very productive Saturday. And I imagine there is still more to do. Brady and I have committed to getting back into all of the training we still need to do, so hopefully we’ll do some of that today. And church tomorrow!! Its a nice weekend 💜 I’m very very grateful.

Wavy got to carve a pumpkin at school yesterday with her care buddy. Her buddy is pretty sweet and brought two pumpkins for her! They only had time to do one at school, but she insisted Wavy take the second one home so she could still carve it 💜

The one that came home carved is worth a share on here, for sure! A self portrait pumpkin, if you will.

Her name looks VERY much like a face to me, but I am absolutely loving it! 😍 She is a goof, and I’m SUCH a fan.

She is loving school, and she’s super jazzed for Halloween! Its going to be a very cute time!

Enjoy your Friday, everyone! 🎃

Laela has always been my little note fairy, leaving me cute little messages through the house. Sticky notes stuck to my headboard. Scraps of paper on the island. Artwork with words hidden in the picture. Everything laced with love and gentleness. I have LOVED her notes.

Yesterday evening, Rowan stayed up a bit later, and Brady was tasked with tucking him in while I went upstairs for a soak in the tub. Unbeknownst to me, there was some disappointment that I wasn’t there to give Rowan a hug goodnight. Thus was born my first thought out intentional note from Rowan!!

I found it this morning.

Hi Mom, I love
you so much,
I hope you
have had a
very good
sleep (tell the morsel) Heehee
Love Rowan 🤍

It warmed my heart that Rowan took time to write me a note. He is my child who asks me every single morning how I slept. He knows the morsel affects my sleep, and he really cares about it! Unfortunately, last night might have been one of our worst nights ever 😅 Right up there with the choppy nights at camp. I have not been this level of tired in quite some time, but tomorrow will be better already, I’m confident 💜 These well wishes always translate into Rowan’s nighttime prayers, as well, so I can carry my confidence in Christ that I will, as usual, have everything I need to make it through tomorrow!

Thank you, Ro, for your softness and your love 💜 I feel it, and I love you, too.

Welp.

It didn’t snow again. Buts its stinking cold. So it seems like things are going to stay this crispy kinda way whether I like it or not!

I drove to an appointment this morning and even in a covered parkade, it was clear it was wintery. And chilly. And breathy. And icky.

I shouldn’t complain. And I won’t. I accept the situation at hand. But man. Its just not my favorite seasons. And guys, if our house ever sells, we’re going to move IN WINTER!!!

😩

I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose.

I suppose today wasn’t actually the first snow, because, you know, January… But you get it.

Its fall! The cold season is upon us. And today marked the first snowfall of the season! What promised to be a beastly winter storm left merely a skiff of snow on the ground this morning. That being said, the kids had mixed feelings about the snow upon waking up, but WOW were they all jazzed to get out in it!!! 😍

GOOD THING Brady and I sorted winter gear yesterday because today was definitely the day we needed it! I’m not sure how we would’ve managed without it!

It was a VERY cute, colourful morning 💜 And I was proud of their positive attitudes, especially of those who rallied and accepted the day for what it was.

The day was peaceful. Iced capps and crafternoon with Cher 💜 Thank you Lord for keeping the sun out, making the day feel pretty.

Since Brady worked on Saturday, he had today off. We aimed for rest and relaxation, but as usual, it didn’t take. It rarely does 😅 Over coffee this morning, we decided there were three things to accomplish. Only three!!

We needed to get the winter tires out of the shed.

I needed to make muffins.

And we needed to dig out outerwear for everyone.

So while the morsel slept, I defrosted pumpkin and crocheted a bit. Brady and Wavy went outside and got the tires loaded into the van to bring in for a balance. Do you guys all balance your tires before changing them over? I thought we put them on rims so we could avoid hitting up a tire shop altogether, but it seems I’m mistaken!

I got the pumpkin defrosted and put together a big batch of muffins. After I put the first load into the oven, I decided I had the time and pumpkin to make another batch, so I went for it. And 149 muffins later, we were done.

Whew! Behold! Breakfasts for two weeks!!

Then, in the last hour or so before kids came home from school, we tackled outerwear. Have you heard there is a winter storm brewing? Well. I have. And I’m not stoked. The naive side of me wanted to avoid digging out all the winter stuff until we moved, but if we even get to move, it’s still a ways off. Of course we need it sooner than later. So we dug through all of the storage in the furnace room, as well as the garage, and made some final cuts on what to keep and what not to.

‘Twas an exhausting job, but goodness we are getting rid of SO much. Things we used to love and don’t anymore, or that we’ve simply worn out. We chucked some, and have lots to donate. Thankfully, we found LOTS that is relevant to the season and also fits!! The only holes left to fill are boots for Laela and Rowan, and toques for Rowan and Solly. And maybe neckwarmers. I should do those, too. But, we’re on our way. No one is lacking anything to get the season started.

It has been a HUGELY productive day, and tomorrow will be very relaxing and fun! You’ll hear about that then, though.

Rest well tonight, friends 💜 Dream warm dreams.

We finally found ourselves back at church today! Its been months, and it was just SO nice to be back 💜 We were received so warmly, and our morsel was welcomed as one of our own. It felt so nice and homey.

A few things I can show you from before we got to church, however –

The morsel clocked Dekker in the teeth with a fidget spinner, which made him laugh hysterically and cry just a little 😆😬😩 Don’t worry, he wasn’t wounded too deeply, and rallied pretty easily.

Laela asked to have her hair curled this morning. While I am by far an expert at hair, she accepted my haphazard methods, and let me do my thing. Lucky for her, she is terribly beautiful no matter what her hair is doing. But it wasn’t a total flop.

And then there’s Rowan! He recently discovered our nativity lego, and has been building it the last couple of days. He and Laela use the characters and act out the scene over and over, with their own special tweaks 😆

It was a cute morning, and we are now home and settled and ready to kick our feet up for a bit. I have crocheting to do, and hopefully some staring and chatting and resting.

Happy Sunday, friends! Enjoy the last hours of the weekend! 💜