I spent the morning trying to get more things put away. It wasn’t especially successful, hahaha! The babies alternated naps pretty badly, lol, so I mostly just carried little things from here to there and made some storage plans. Everything goes a little slower with someone on your hip, but I truly wouldn’t trade it.

I had one pumpkin on my counter that I was suspicious was maybe going bad, so I decided to cut it up and check. All was well on the inside, but then it was open! Hahaha! So I got it into the oven to make some more puree. Its out of the oven and sitting in a sieve in the sink, getting ready to get blended up.

Besides that, I actually made some progress on some Christmas stuff! After yesterday’s large shopping trip, I flattened a bunch of smaller boxes, and this morning I realized I could use them for gifts. So I pulled out some of the gifts I’ve purchased already, and I boxed them up, labelled them on painters tape who they were for, and put them high up in my closet. Boom! I felt SO productive!!

I did a little bit of sitting and crocheting this afternoon, and then I had some visitors come by, which brought so much brightness to my day!! 💜 We miss you, Rae and Tom!! Ack!! One of these weekends we’ll all be in town, but until then, this visit was really, really nice.

The kids came home from school on time. Piano practice began. I started supper. Wavy helped me peel carrots. Kids put some laundry away, and I have a bit more in the dryer that I HAVE to remember to hide before any of the kids see it because, again, Christmas 😬 Don’t let me forget, guys.

Ok. Bradys on his way home. Supper is all rolling on the stove. I just have to clear the hampers off the table (lol) and we should be good to go!!

Happy Friday, all 💜

I hit it again, guys. A beautiful day with rest and productivity all rolled into one!

I spent a few hours in the morning with Cher 💜 We haven’t seen each other for most of a week, which is virtually unheard of for us! So it was VERY precious time to get to be back in each other’s space. Sipping our coffee and tea, and catching up. It was good for the heart. Hearts, I should say.

Once Cher was off for the day, I got babies eating while I got into some of the sorting from camp stuff. I forgot to reply to a comment on the subject the other day!! I’m sorry!! We do have doubles for most everything, but I wasn’t well organized this summer and I forgot to bring tubs. So while the towels would normally stay at camp, they came home. I’m scared to leave little mouse houses available in the camper 😬 I bring all the meds and liquids home. All the fridge stuff. But LOTS of duplicates stay out there. Just, nothing cozy enough for a critter to nest in… I’m not nervous, YOU’RE nervous!

Being that I have a bunch of babies, the sorting of the meds took up the rest of the morning and a portion of the afternoon. I insisted on some sit down time during naps, but our Lemon Drop flat out just sucks at sleeping :/ Like absolutely all the way just totally unequivocally sucks. So. I tried. But it wasn’t restful for anyone.

I left the house in time to pick the kids up from school, and took everyone in for a foster visit. We did another big Walmart shop and spent a few hundred dollars on pretty much just lunch stuff 😅 Goodness. Stopped for an iced coffee as well. Had a giggle at this amazing limited time offer where a small ice cream costs more than a big ice cream 🤣

Good job, McDicks 👍

Then, we picked up, went home, and tucked in. The babies are all quiet. Most of the kids are in bed. I myself am in bed, and I’m hoping to crochet an itty bitty bit before I truly have to shut the lights off. I feel so much more myself when I get a little time to crochet in the day. Its a bit of a goal of mine, actually, to keep my craft going a little each day. Maybe. I’ll try, anyway. So many ideas, and so little time.

On top of ALL these things, we’ve had plumbers over the last two days, installing proper ventilation in the basement and getting the garage fitted for a gas heater. We anticipated three days, but today – day two – they wrapped the job. Beautifully, I might add. So that wasn’t work I had to do, but it was work being done in the house. And, let’s be honest – a different amount of on-ness. You get it. The techs were amazing and so comfortable to have around, though. Like, less than zero complaints!! Leah the Plumber killed it. Truly. I have nothing bad to say about her and her company! Amazing!

It was a big day. But its almost Friday. Tomorrow will hold work, of course, but no big deadlines, meetings, appointments, etc. So at the very least, I’ll do my work in my sweats 🙂 Sounds cozy to me!

Yesterday was large and productive while also fairly relaxed and peaceful. It was consistently busy and comfortable.

Today was another day where I worked to clean up camp stuff that is spread all over the house. However, it was vastly less peaceful and much more chaotic.

None of the babies were settled today. I got one good nap out of them and otherwise, it was a huge struggle.

The baby who happily kills time crawling around the house, chewing on their hands and chasing down toys simply was not happy on the floor today, or in bed, or even being held for that matter. Crusty, crusty baby.

The two babies who are older and more active are both climbers now, which is NEW territory for me!! Whew! Today was the kind of day where I’d drag the piano bench across the house, only to have those little punks drag it back over to the piano and climb ONTO the piano! Ugh! Only one takes it quite that far, but they work together. It was the kind of day where my coffee got poured out on the floor. Noses ran. I said “no” a lot more than I prefer. Things were noisy. Toys were thrown. Everyone survived on crackers. We kind of just got by.

However, the laundry machines ran consistently. The tables slowly got more and more cleared off. Plumbers worked downstairs and in the garage all day long. Everyone was fed. Lots of smiles were shared. A new word was even uttered by our Morsel 💜 It was a VERY good day. Less productive. Less calm. But still a day to be grateful for.

Thank you, Lord, for providing endlessly for us.

…AAAAALLLLL that junk comes home 😅

All the sheets, pillow cases, towels, bed blankets, and outdoor blankets. And and all random leftover laundry.

All the kitchen stuff. All the food from the fridge, freezer, cabinets, and tucked in all the little places people leave snacks. All the meds. All the products.

And all the other stuff! All the baggage. All the stuff we use more at the lake but can’t risk leaving there for the next eight months.

This all, of course, was only some of it.

I spent the bulk of my morning moseying through the house with a cup of coffee, moving things from point A to point B. I got laundry rolling, and got the majority of the kitchen stuff put away. I got some things that are kid-specific moved into their rooms, but I left some for them to do on their own.

I then took a break and caught up with a friend of mine from the church we used to attend. It is not a secret that we switched churches a while back, being that there are only two churches here in town. I’m sure you can imagine there has been some awkwardness. But there are a small handful of people who have made their love for our family known, regardless of our change of venue. Spending time with one of them today just felt so much like home 💜 I was very grateful for todays visit.

Speaking of visits, after school, I hauled all the kids into the city for a visit for one of our babies! Once aforementioned baby was delivered, we ran over to Walmart, as we so often do, and stocked up on some pantry items, as well as some pants for the girls, shoes for Solly, mitts for babies, and a whole schwack of other things. We met up with Brady about halfway through the shop, and then all of us went to McDs for supper, and went to pick up the once again mentioned baby.

It was a loaded day, but I’m actually really happy with how it played out. Once in a blue moon, I feel like I strike that lovely balance between working hard and being at rest, and today, I hit it. I got lots done in the house, but it didn’t feel chaotic, and I even got to visit with a friend. Then I went out in the evening, and it was productive and the kids were happy and helpful. Baby was happy when dropped off, and picked up.

It was a nice day. I anticipate many more to come. Days of work and of rest. At least rest-ish. I’m not picky 😅