Today, our kindergarten teachers did a little ceremony for the families of the students in their class. Brady took a little break from his work day, and my mom, Rae, and the babies joined in for the half hour presentation in the library.
Its hard to show you the pictures without putting other kids’ faces on the internet. But Brady go the winner 💜
They first did a song for us. And by “did a song” I mean they stood still as statues, did some mediocre actions, and did not sing along whatsoever. As five year olds tend to do when put on the spot in front of a crowd 😂 There was a slideshow, and a short little question and answer sesh. Wavy said her favorite part of kindergarten was playtime, and she is most excited to make new friends in grade one.
I would say she was most excited to eat a cupcake and chips in the middle of the day but 🤷🏼♀️
I tried to get some more polished photos but, you know Wavy.
She’s a little goof, but she’s my goof 💜 And I LOVE her. Grade one won’t even know what him them. She is amped and ready for the next adventure.
Congratulations on your first year of school! I could not be more proud of you! Until the next thing you do that makes me more proud of you 💜
A fun thing happened at school yesterday. Wavy WON a MEDAL!!!!! For TRACK!!!
My kids are pretty athletic, which is fun because its something that just showed up naturally for them. So track day is a lot of fun, because its a day out of class, where they can be outside with their friends, and in a lot of cases, they do pretty well in their events.
Waverly was a fun surprise this year. With it being her first year of track, none of us had any idea how truly athletic she was, and how much she LOVED it!!! She wore big smiles on her face while she ran and jumped. She enjoyed her day SO MUCH, and yesterday, she was rewarded in a special way in front of the whole school!!! Each grade recognized two children with medals – one boy and one girl – and Wavy took the kindergarten girls medal, acknowledging her mad athleticism and gusto!
I am SO proud of my little girly!! 💜 Beautiful job, Wave! You make it look easy 😎
Rowans first ever season playing soccer is done and done!
As a nice little cherry on top, our team even won! Each kid handed in their jersey, and walked away with a voucher for a free ice cream 🍦 Double win!!
Its been fun to watch Rowan be part of a team that he really enjoys! He runs hard, effortlessly, sometimes with his hands in his pockets 😅 But when he has a chance to run and really take off, his hands come out and he runs big, with his arms out and his game face on. His face gets especially growly and toothy when people cheer 💜 Its VERY cute to watch. He is very prancy and lanky in his running and jumping. He will slide and throw himself down to try to keep the ball in play, but if he happens to be the reason it goes out, or he makes any kind of error, he will laugh at himself, and keep on trucking. I will admit, I was afraid of Rowan’s sportsmanship, and how his competitive side would show itself, but its been lovely. I’ve been so pleasantly surprised but how graceful he is during soccer.
His last game was attended by Brady and I, as well Laela, Solomon, Waverly, and the three babies. Dekker was at a youth thing. Also, my mom, Rae, and Tom were in attendance. Auntie couldn’t make this one, but she hit many others 💜 Rowan was well loved and celebrated.
We all came home, and it took a while to get everyone wound down and put to bed. This morning, I woke every single one of them from a dead sleep 😅 So I’m not sure if that was soccer, or a bubbling sickness, or maybe a weird moon thing. Either way, soccer finished with a bang, and while I’ve enjoyed it, I am so happy to have ONE thing off our calendar!
Onto the next, folks! Today has held a doctors appointment, a phone call with a social worker, some back and forth with a social worker over text, and there is still a visit to come this evening! But that works, because the rest of us can get a big shop taken care in the meantime!
I feel like the weekend came and went SO fast!! Did I even have a second to enjoy it?? Wait. Yes. I think I may have enjoyed it after all 💜
*breathes in deep*
It was beautiful on the warmer day. It was beautiful as it poured. Kinasao holds an incredibly special place in my heart. I hope we have SO many more years there!
But as it happens, we are back home and entering another HUGE week.
The week holds a soccer game, two social worker visits, two other foster visits, three doctors appointments, and a school event. Plus all the other normal stuff, like the road work, aka not having proper access to and from my house, as well as a grocery shop, and getting ready for next weekend at camp! 😅
But I’m very fortunate! The ministry has funded me for some in-home domestic help, so my house is cleaned, and household jobs are much better maintained, even though I don’t have a second to do it myself. On top of that, this weekend at Kinasao, almost all meals will be provided for us!!! So that is significantly less planning than usual! I’m so relieved, hahaha! Aaaaall the rides and aaaaall the childcare is already worked out for the week. Its going to be a gooder, even if its super busy.
Thank you Lord for always providing for us, even when things are nutty.
This year, Father’s Day was greatly overshadowed by a birthday! A little one in our care celebrated a birthday today!!! 🥳 That birthday will not always fall on Father’s Day, and as it happened, it took precedence. Brady wasn’t hurt 💜 He agreed and understood.
Regardless, it is important to note that Brady is the best dad I have ever come across. Truly. He makes not a single excuse. Though he could.
Bradys brain stuff is not over. Not even sort of. He still battles the side effects of surgery and meds every single day, and very little of it is simple or nice. Almost all of it is really, really difficult. Yet, as a father of EIGHT children this year, he shows up for them. There is no bias. No favoritism. There is always, only love. Which is all have for him, also. Always, only love.
You are SO dearly loved by your family, Brady 💜 Absolutely every last one of us. Thank you for sticking with us though aaaaall the junk that has been thrown at you. We would not be us without you 💜
I could not have finished off my latest crochet project without all the backup I’ve had. From Brady shouldering some extra things around the house to loved ones taking babies for a couple of hours here and there, I finally completely the blanket I started so many months ago!
Kinasao has a celebration weekend every summer, and last year I put a blanket in for the silent auction. Once the weekend had come and gone, and my blanket had successfully sold, I felt like I could make another one for the next summers event. Insecurities aside, I made a beautiful foresty blanket, even adding the name “Kinasao” in the middle. Oh and I snuck some dwellings amongst the trees as well 🌲 I think it turned out really well!!
I love how it came together. On time. Here at camp. It turned out nicely, and while I’m actually quite taken with it, I’m glad it’s done! The timeline is off, and the other projects on my docket either have no deadline, or one that is months off. So the pressure is off 💜
But beautiful things are made under pressure, isn’t that the truth! 😍
I appreciate the input of those of you who gave your opinions about the laundry machine debacle.
I so love the idea of one big machine to rule them all, but it is very true then that I couldn’t start the second load while the first one dried, and that super sucks. So while we can swing the cost of replacing both machines, we should. And I think we will. Hopefully soon! Costco rarely steers us wrong, so I’m sure we’ll be heading in that direction sooner than later!
Maybe I can even get something fancy to tell me on my phone that the wash cycle is done….. #dreambig
Can you tell by the title what I want to talk about? Lol!
My washing machine is on the outs. Its spin cycle is less than effective, and its started to error fairly regularly and need to be restarted. I would put up with it longer except that I really don’t like the machine in general. Its front load, and possibly one of the first ever made 🤣 So while it claims to have an extra large capacity, it doesn’t even come close to the space we used to have. And that stupid front load door is a pain in the neck with our already very narrow laundry area. With these things, I would not at all be mad to retire this washer and replace it with a top load washer that I can grossly overfill without it spilling out onto the floor.
The dryer is ok still. Its big. Older style. Dries a lot faster than my old one, to be honest. Since we moved here, I’ve said I’m not opposed to replacing the washer but keeping the old dryer. I don’t care if they don’t match. However, recently, the dryer will run a whole cycle and nothing is dry. Not a lint trap issue. Likely an element or some small fuse that needs a bit of fixing. Which we’re not opposed to doing, except the question really is whether or not its worth the fuss.
So here are the options:
New washer + old dryer that needs some work
New washer + new washer
Orrrrrrr
One big fancy pants washer/dryer COMBO
Have you guys seen those things? They are REALLY tempting! They’re more money than a complete set, its very true, but if we could swing it, it would fit SO much better in our laundry room! ACK! I dream of such a beautiful appliance!
Today marks our first full year of being a foster family!
In the last year, we have had five placements, four children, and currently, we are caring for three. Plus the five we started with!
We spent months furthering our training to become a level three home!
We have navigated a mountain of medical needs that none of us expected, including tube feeding, helmet therapy, surgeries, scopes, scans, swallow studies, blood work on poor veins, feeding therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy. We’ve been in contact with geneticists, respirologists, paediatricians, dieticians, therapists. We’ve spent time in the NICU, navigated medications, and found ourselves on a first name basis with multiple specialists and medical professionals, as well as pharmacists who have started to make house calls.
Believe it or not, that stuff ☝️ is the extras! We have met and worked with many social and resource workers. People shift positions constantly, so they are ever-changing. We have met and worked with many birth families, building real relationships where possible, while keeping at a respectful distance with others. I have come to find myself in all kinds of new places for visits, events, drop-ins, etc. I know the city SO much better now, and if I don’t know, I’m braver to find my way around.
We’ve experienced new placements, as well as placements leaving. The children have navigated through those things as well, which is a pretty huge learning curve, but we have been well prepared thus far, and nothing has come as too big of a shock to them. We have been able to celebrate with our young ones as they make positive strides, and to love them even deeper through the inevitable sad steps backwards.
In the midst of all the new territory, you may or may not have heard, but we’ve had some really big unrelated stuff going on! 🏡 🧠
It has not been easy. Not for a second. But goodness, I have NO regrets. Not even ONE. This feels like truly answering a calling, not only for me, but for our family 💜
The number one question we get is how long our placements will stay. And we simply never, ever know. But it really makes no difference. They are with us for a time, as long as they need us, and we love them dearly.
Any strength you see is from God. There is no way we could come through all the challenges without Him. Thank you Lord for bringing these amazing kids into our family 💜
The last couple of days have felt pretty unproductive. Yet, if I can look back without looking at what I hoped to all get done, or what parts of me say I should have gotten done, I think I actually did alright!!
Yesterday, I had some goals, and I didn’t accomplish too many because a certain lemon drop decided instead of cry aaaaall the livelong day if not being held. So. While that was challenging, I had a few minutes here and there where the baby would doze in the swing, or flap on the floor for a short time, and I would work in the kitchen. And by the end of the day, I had made not only my big batch of banana bread, but a double big batch!!! EIGHT loaves!
Of course, surrounding them you can see laundry, jackets, amazon boxes, a wii controller, a cooler, etc. This place is a mess, but the banana bread is baked! Hahaha! I cute each loaf into ten pieces and that was that. Boom. Eighty items to be breakfasts, part of lunches, or snacks. Believe it or not, with eight kids, seven of which are eaters, that doesn’t last long!
Even though thats basically all I got done yesterday, it counted.
And then today, while my morning wasn’t especially busy with getting things done, this afternoon I went to my very last counselling appointment.
I had a beautiful setup with my counsellor as she went through her residency, and now she is moving on to her next adventure, taking a job in a new province, on her own. Only my BEST wishes for her moving forward! We had a really lovely thing, and I will miss our appointments, but she sure gave me a lot to chew on over the last couple of years, and some great help to grow me closer to the person I want to be. I will miss her. I have no regrets.
I rushed home from that appointment, scooped my family up, and rushed everyone back into the city for one of our babies to visit with their mom. It was a really lovely interaction at both pickup and drop off, and it left me feeling hopeful for what is to come for their family 💜 I’m not naive. I know how things go. Its not perfect, or foolproof, or even simple. Its brutal. All of it. But todays visit left a good taste in my mouth and a sweet end to the day.
And now, I am beat. And I have much to do still. But there is probably still, what, an hour before my eyes will finally give up and close for the night?? I’ll use it wisely!
Goodnight, friends 💜 Sleep deep. In an hour or three.
