Remember that time we bought that beautiful white cabinet that needed new paint and some adjustments? Remember when I told you it was done and just needed moving into the house? Remember how I promises I’d show you guys asap? Remember??

I did not remember 😂 My bad.

Our paint dilemma was worked out a long time ago! To refresh you, the cabinet had been white, and we could’ve just painted it white. But we wanted color. We had baby pink leftover from the camper, but we didn’t want that. We had some purple, but we already have enough purple floating around the main area. What we most wanted was a deep mustard yellow. But buying new paint would be about $60, and we are not exactly rolling in disposable income. So we split the difference, and Brady went to the Habitat Restore to look at mistints. While they didn’t have the color we were looking for, we dove in for something different!! Eek!

BRIGHT CORAL!!!

Isn’t it pretty?? 😍

Brady sanded the top smooth, and got all the drawers adjusted so they didn’t stick anymore. He put some material behind the drawers so they came out a little further and were easier to open. We loved that it didn’t have any handles and wanted to keep it that way. One less piece of furniture to hook clothes knees on. At my request, Brady also installed some leftover beadboard from the camper walls in the back of the cabinet! It gave it just a little something extra. We are both SO happy with how it turned out!

And as you can imagine, it fits in well around here!

It will absolutely fill as time goes by, but I’m not rushing it at all! Currently, the shelves hold the bible from my childhood that the kids like to read from, as well as a basket of masks that they take from every morning for school. At the top there is the book Cher made for us for Wavy’s baby party.

The drawers are exactly what I wanted! Shallow, but very strong, to hold a TON of the kids craft stuff! The previous location still holds the printer and all the white paper, as well as kinetic sand, play doh, and the schoolish work books. The cabinet holds everything else.

Top drawer holds pencil crayons, crayon crayons, and markers. One container was out being used when I took the pic 🙂

Second drawer holds fun stuff. Pipe cleaners, tattoos, and my old Fantastic Flowers and Spirograph. Anyone else still have that stuff??

Third drawer is ALL the coloring books, sticker books, dot to dots, color by numbers, etc.

The fourth drawer is all the paper that isn‘t printer paper. Construction paper, lined, graphed, and cardstock.

And believe it or not, there is a fifth drawer that is currently empty!! Eek! Room to grow, you say?!?!

It is SUCH a win to have our things in their homes. I know that sounds a bit silly, but the last year and a half ish have been worked around things finding their spots around here. With the yard and basement finally getting done, I am done with moving messes. I want things to be intentionally here or not here at all. This cabinet has been in our plans for a couple of years at least, and its finally here, seamlessly serving its purpose. And its cute, which is an added win! Eek!

Adulthood means being excited about furniture right?

Right.

I won’t lie. We put up our Christmas lights on Sunday. The indoor ones, anyway. The outdoor ones stay up all year. I know many people do not appreciate/agree with anything Christmas before Remembrance Day, and thats ok. We can exercise mutual respect and keep being friends 🙂 I have zero regrets adding some sparkle to the inside of our home as the mornings and evenings are darker.

We also put up our little decorative trees above the cabinets! We put them up every Fall/Winter, long before Christmas, and they stay up long after Christmas decor is put away. I guess they’re more winter decorations than Christmas. We LOVE our trees!

Every year, we try to find another one or two trees that we love to add to the grove, but not this year, haha! Money is tight enough 😆 There is always next year!

While we lighted and treed, the kids ate some Halloween candy, played with some holographic scratch art,

and occasionally pitched in.

It was kind of a super lovely day. It ended with bloody noses

lots of laughing

and soft, unprompted back scratches.

I’m so thankful for yesterday, and the family I shared it with. Thank you Lord.

It was a VERY cute year for trick or treating! I was pretty tossed up about it this year, for likely the same reasons as everyone else. Risk, fuss, and double standards. I decided to make it work for us, and to contact our usual hits directly. We arranged to go to about ten houses, and the kids were completely satisfied with that plan! If nothing else, I am SO grateful for my children’s thankful spirits. There were zero complaints with the smaller number of houses or the possibility of fewer treats. They were so excited to go at all, and that was wonderful!

We ate supper really early yesterday, and then got everyone into their costumes. A couple of kids required face paint/makeup, which I have to say was pretty fun!

Nothing about their makeup was professional or refined but I think they looked awesome! I was happiest with Dekker’s, for sure. The pale skin and red eyes! Then Laela’s bright pink, and Rowan’s whiskers and brows! They were so cute!

Finally, they were ALL ready!!

Dekker was a vampire!

Laela was a princess. Which princess, you ask? Princess Laela, lol!

Rowan was a tiger! Rawr!!

Solomon was Tom. Not a fireman. Tom, our across the street neighbour/friend/firefighter/honorary grandpa.

Waverly was a dinosaur. She did not care to choose a costume at all, but when we finally came down to the wire, we gave her the choice between a dinosaur, a lion, superman, or a princess, she wanted the dinosaur!

They were SUCH an adorable crew!!! Ack! We couldn’t wait to get going!

We wanted to walk rather than drive, but Brady’s numb legs were shaking within a block, so we opted to drive. It was the better choice anyway. It was cold out.

Our group hit our ten-ish houses, and honestly, felt SO loved and welcomed and cared about! The kids got heaps of treats! At least three different households took pictures of them.

They were made to feel like the most important people, and they were just on top of the world! I loved watching them be so confident and chatty and polite and friendly. I LOVE my children! At the end of the evening, I could completely truthfully tell them they had handled themselves beautifully and that I was SO impressed with their manners and attitudes! It is not always so smooth on a night filled with candy and excitement and aaaall the overstimulation! It was SUCH a nice evening this time around!

Thank you, friends, for putting in such special effort this year. I see you. I see your extra safety measures. I see your treat bags. I see your gifts beyond candy. I see your games. I see your added excitement for the children coming to your door. You made it great, even in such an unpredictable season!

The kids went to bed, wiped out, happy. Brady, Cher, and I played some Skipbo before calling it a night. It was light and fun and just exactly right. The perfect way to wrap up this season and move onto the next.

I should have added this to yesterday’s post, but I forgot, so here it is today!

Dekker is a funny guy. If everything could always be a joke, he’d be stoked. He decided yesterday as I put his lunch together that he needed it to be Halloween themed somehow. Now, I know some of you folks are super on the ball with that sort of thing. I am not. And my kids know it. They still get yummy food, don’t worry. Its just not cut into special shapes. So rather than feel bad about myself, the kids and I brainstormed how each piece of Dekker’s lunch was spooky or festive.

I made Dekker a ham and cheese wrap. We figured, because it was wrapped, it was a mummy.

(Yes, everyone was satisfied with this joke. This is our level of humor.)

We figured the cheese string could be kind of like cheese webs for spiders.

The granola bar was tricky. Finally, I said “granola barrrrrf? Boom. There it was. Barf. Seriously, parents, make a gross/potty joke ones in a while. A fart joke is ideal. Kids LIVE for those.

Aaaaand then the banana. My masterpiece. Behold, the baninja.

Yes, friends, this is how we joke around here. And I love it. My kids still think I’m funny, and they’re adopting my bizarre dry sense of humor. I’m so glad, haha!

I’m definitely no Pinterest mom, but my kids love me, and I love them. I know with confidence that moms who rock the Pinterest game have children who they love who love them, too! NO knocks on mom’s who put in that beautiful extra effort!!! But I admit, I’m relieved that my mom type fits the bill for my family 💜 They deserve the very best.

** To be clear, this is not a Halloween debate! Some are for, and some are against. Thats totally fine 🙂 Mutual respect! Also, I do see the double standard with kids being allowed to trick or treat during covid. I don’t like it either. We’re being intentional with our choices.

I say “prepared” VERY loosely, haha! We don’t even have candy yet 😬But with two dress up days in a row, we’ve been thinking about costumes at least! I’m not going to spoil any for you at this point, because, nah. Thats always a post saved for the day after Halloween!

What I can say is that the few days of preparing and thinking about it has showed me that I need to pick up my face painting game 😆 Also, I should own “face paints.” Anyone else just use eyeliner and liquid lipstick?? Just me? Cool.

Polished or not, they will be VERY cute!!

Cher has carved FOUR pumpkins this season!! We’ve had four crafternoons together, where I’ve crocheted and she’s carved. Its been SO fun. Part of me is a bit disappointed that pumpkin carving season is over. Merp. But I’m sure we’ll find other ways to spend time together, haha! Never a shortage of reasons to hang out!

If you haven’t seen the pumpkins on her page, here they are on mine!

Pumpkin #1. We named him Brahms. He’s yella and suspicious, but we really like him a lot!

Unfortunately, Brahms was a mushy little guy to begin with, and the freezing/thawing weather did not treat him gently. Brahms is very very short now…

We don’t have a picture of pumpkin #2 :/ Merp. It was a pretty scene of flowers and swirlies. Not specifically Cher’s style, but very much the style of the person she made it for!! It was very pretty!

Pumpkin #3 was an unexpected thoughtful piece of art. It was a (my) uterus!

On this particular day, I was feeling a bit gloomy on the uterine home front, and Cher came across uterus art! So this beautiful little pumpkin was born! The most recent pregnancy I lost would’ve been 13 weeks along at this point. I love this cuterus.

Pumpkin #4 was the final piece for this Halloween! It was the scariest thing we could think of to make for our fireman neighbour across the street! Don’t you agree?

We have had SUCH a nice time these crafternoons, bring productive together in ways that we really enjoy! I pull one lightweight comfy chair into the kitchen, and Cher sits at the island. Today, we listened to Christmas music and sipped homemade lattes. I am so grateful for these days, these bright spots in the otherwise challenging times, and for the gift I’ve been given as a stay-at-home parent.

Thank you Lord for crafternoons!

You know whats unfair? The fact that the full moon actually does affect sleep. And whats even less fair is the fact that it shows up before the full moon does!! Does anyone else see that noticeable shift in their home?? We sure do!

Brady did not sleep well last night. It was choppy, he said, and he woke up startled.

Dekker said the same thing. His night was choppy. He had woken up much earlier than usual and was feeling very sluggish.

Laela said she had a nightmare, and got up to pee, and then dozed in and out until the morning.

Rowan was in BAD shape this morning. Very disobedient and easily upset. The way he acts when he’s extra tired.

Solomon had a big meltdown even before breakfast. He went to the girls room to cool off before joining us, and I found him half asleep in Laela’s bed.

And Waverly has been fighting breakfast hard today. This girl loves her cereal, but today has not been smooth so far. She’s just staring blankly at me, droopy eyed.

Sooooo… basically this post is to let you all know how I die…

Today started pretty well! Brady’s work has been a bit out of sorts, so he wasn’t able to go in for the morning. But it meant he and I could do morning stuff together! Woot! It was great!

Cher came over in the mid morning for coffee and hanging out. She fits in SO well around here. It was great!

Brady’s work got further disorganized and complicated. If we weren’t so in need of income, he would walk away from this current job. He was SO frustrated this morning. It was not great.

He eventually went in to work, and Cher and I watched a show before we set up for her to carve a pumpkin, and for me to test out a new crocheting method. We sipped our drinks and chatted. It was great!

Brady’s work got further frustrating. He was finally able to be productive, but it was not great.

Cher and I worked on our projects for a couple of solid hours. It was SO enjoyable, and we got lots done! A very very successful afternoon for us! It was great!

And then the kids came home 😳 Spoiler alert. it was not great. Laela and Rowan had some serious argument going, and it was getting rowdy. Both of those two are pretty hard headed, and neither of them would give in. One NEEDED to order another around, and the other would NOT be told what to do! the standoff wouldn’t quit, so I made a new plan. That was great!

I had them leave each other along, and come in to do their backpacks. They did all the necessary after school stuff, and then I told them they’d both be taking breaks. Both of them are currently tucked into their beds with books, breathing and being on their own. Neither of them fought it. They both very clearly needed the rest. I hope very much they weren’t in that shape at school, but I haven’t heard anything from their teachers, so, fingers crossed!

With the two fighters tucked away in bed, the other three are snuggled up, reading on couches. How did I get so many readers?! Where did these kids come from?! They are GREAT!

Oh wait. I remember where they came from… Never mind.

I woke up with a start suuuper late this morning!! I haven’t slept in in what feels like years, though I know plenty of people wake up before I do. This morning, I slept in by accident! I got up and dressed at warp speed and ran down to get the kids up!

Every evening, we put all the chairs up so Meryl Sweep can drive around and vacuum our crumbs up, but yesterday evening, we played cards at the table rather than putting the chairs up. Whew! Didn’t have to take them down before I got the kids! One less thing to do!

I got the boys up from the basement first, then Rowan, and then the girls. No one said anything about being awake too long, or being bored, or sick, or unhappy. They were friendly and happy and chipper. They set the table as they got up, and ate breakfast smoothly.

The coloring came out shortly after food, and the kids asked for Christmas music. Ugh. Kids after their mama’s heart. So while old school Hanson Christmas music is playing, the kids are coloring, rocking homemade costumes, building forts, and generally enjoying the quiet morning off of school. The curtains are cracked open, and I 100% expected to see snow when I glanced out just a moment ago.

‘Tis the season for being cozy!!

** On a Christmas note, gift exchange people, go check the Facebook page! I need some things from you!

Cher and I have had the pleasure of enjoying a few sleepovers this year! We didn’t get the chance as teens, but its never too late! She invited me for a sleepover last night, and I was SO happy to join her where she was house sitting! Not only do I always enjoy our time together, but we also got to hang out with the owners foster cat and her SIX iiiiitty bitty little kittens!! Ack!

I’ll show you more about them another day!

We had a really, really nice time together. We ran a few errands and got Subway for lunch. We watched a lot of good movies, and I crocheted a bit. We prioritized time together, and thats what we got.

We ducked out once again in the evening, with the goal of chinese food. Neither she or I have money to burn, but sometimes there are sentimental reasons for things, and chinese food was important. We opted for food court chinese, to keep it cheap and yummy, but we mixed up the days and times, and we got there just as everything was closing :/ It was SUCH a bummer. We threw around some other ideas, but everywhere else, it was just going to cost too much. We accepted the fact that we’d end up going through a drive-thru somewhere, but decided to hit Sobeys first, to see if there was anything prepared for cheap.

Believe what you will, but God sees everything, and He cares about even the smallest of details. There was a big stack of containers filled with chinese food options. Noodles, rice, pork, chicken, etc. They were cheap, and looked SO yummy! Definitely more than enough! We picked three packages, paid $12, and went home!

We warmed it up in the oven for 15 minutes, and it looked SO good!

Aaaaand it WAS!! SO GOOD!! We ate it all, and were nice and full at the end! What a perfect amount!

We watched movies until we fell asleep, and then woke up in the morning at the exact same time. Only moments later, we heard the mama cat meowing at the door for breakfast. So the day began!

It began with popcorn and cards. #popcards

After a few rounds, Cher cooked us a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. We played more Skipbo and then played with the kitties some more. We named them the names we liked, and snuggled them a bunch. They’re JUST starting to play, so it was fun teasing them until they batted at us.

We finished a show we had started the night before, and then it was time to pack up and head home! Its always sad to end a visit and go home, but there is still always the drive home!! We went to fill her car up with gas before we left the city. We have this funny tradition where Cher pumps gas and I take selfies where she looks unhappy in the background, haha! She was NOT having it today, pulling her hood over her face. I still tried.

This was probably the best one I’ve ever gotten. Not because you can even really tell whats happening, but because a gas attendant came over shortly after this picture, super suspicious of what was happening. MAN did we laugh!

Its always sad to part ways, but its always really nice to be home, too. I am looking forward to pizza with my husband, kids, and mom this evening!

See you again soon, pretty lady!!