Need I say more? I hit Dollarama and Dollar Tree in search of one specific thing, and I did not find it. In the meantime, I accidentally bought many things I was not looking for. Whoops.
Don’t worry, it was a happy accident. And I didn’t spend a fortune, which makes it even better!
Dollar Tree was first, because, cheaper.
For whatever reason, these were by the door when I came in, and I grabbed a few for storage in the freezer and pantry!
Stretchy cord for kids who bead bracelets, and stitch markers that are SO handy with crocheting but I’ve never ever owned. I always have used bobby pins, but they snag enough that I’m grateful to have these on hand.
I don’t know what to tell you about these stars. They’re metal and beefy and I love them. I might hang onto them for Christmas decor. Maybe wrap them in yarn, or twine, or ribbon. We’ll see.
I went to Dollarama next and found myself accidentally enthralled with yet more things that I did not intend to find. First was these flour sack towels. I immediately thought about how cute they’d be with little crocheted towel hangers with them! But then I accidentally loved them for camp dish towels instead. Oops.
Also these. Double oops.
And then I bought some macrame cord in pretty colours because I have a good chunk of neutral off whitish cord, and this will be a nice addition.
Alright, guys. I’m on the hunt for three totally unrelated things, and none of them are cut and dry. So I need some input. Or, at the very least, a place to lay it all out. I guess that’s here.
Thing number one. I really want some patio stones for the lake. Our spot isn’t especially green, but more gravel. This kind.
Which is great for a lot of things! I don’t mind not having to worry as much about bugs (ticks) or cutting grass, etc. This is also able to be levelled and tweaked as time goes by. However, as that time does go by, I would love the evenness and aesthetic of having it done with patio stone. Not only would it be pretty, but it wouldn’t get mucky the same way, and would be easier for Brady to move freely. However. The area we’d like to cover is about 300 sqft, and unfortunately, even with a bit of a discount on those types of products, c/o Brady’s job, its still more than we want to spend for our campsite!
So here’s the quandary. We could…
a) leave it another year, because who cares?
b) bite the bullet and pay more than you’d prefer.
c) use sidewalk blocks, because they’re the best value, though will take more work to keep level.
d) buy mismatched cast offs through marketplace and let it be more like that.
I’m not sure any of these options are nice, but, I welcome input! Thats question one!
Thing number two is a climbing dome. I really don’t want a play structure, but I’ve always been drawn to the climbing domes. As my kids get older, it probably has less of a draw, but I also think it would be fun to tarp it off for backyard sleepovers, or for snow forts. I guess my question is whether or not any of you have had climbing domes or towers, and if so, were they something everyone got bored with quickly, or was there always a fun way to use it. Any tips? Is that what I should spend our free Costco money on? Or is it better to save it for a new washer, which I do not need but desperately want. #ihateyoufrontloadwasher What do you guys think? Climbing dome yay or nay?
Thing three! I have this funny list of things that would be an absolute dream to have in our home one day. On that list, I have both a CNC and a 3D printer. Neither is really a necessity in any stretch of the imagination, so they are just sitting on that list, which I have been totally at peace with. They would be so cool to have, but really, they’d be more for fun than function.
Except that I’m starting to come across some ideas of items that I positively cannot find, but I have found templates and such for either printing them on a 3D printer or cutting them on a CNC. And I’m kind of intrigued by that possibility of being able to make some things myself that I can’t find elsewhere, and maybe eventually sell them to others. So, with this, I’m wondering which would be best. My gut says a 3D printer is more affordable, and most of what I’m picturing making is plastic. Is it worth it with the cost of filament? I don’t know how far that goes. A CNC would be fun to Brady, also, but can it cut plastic? Or other materials beyond wood? Its a lot more expensive. I don’t know. Does anyone have one of these, or better yet, both?? I’d welcome your impressions!
Ok. Whew. Those are my thoughts. And they are just that. Thoughts. Not plans. Or even goals. Just, thinking thoughts. Dreaming a little. I’m curious.
Rowan has been struggling a bit more these days, so after a particularly hard day, we made a commitment to try (cannot make a commitment to do as thats too much pressure) to get Rowan outside and active before bedtime. Soccer has been a good help with that, rocking a practice and a game each week. Thats two days of good physical activities before bedtime that he enjoys! Other days, he’ll play kickball in the backyard with Laela, but that tends to end in arguments these days. And the camp weekends are active pretty consistently and we stay up later.
Today, his evening plans changed, and he had nothing active to intentionally do. After a pretty rocky morning with him, I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to spend one-on-one time with him, but doesn’t that tend to be the time when we should spend that time? Especially when he realized it had been raining and he was even less excited to go outside, I knew it needed to be me and him.
So I invited him to join me on a walk, and he very happily accepted. Very politely. On high alert after our struggles through the day. He was just in shorts, and he said he’d go get a shirt on. I suggested also socks for shoes, and a hoodie. He hates both of those things, but he said “sure thing, mom” and he came upstairs for our walk in those items. Not looking to fight. I liked that. Off we went.
We walked at a good clip down our street, observing all the construction equipment that has moved in. We speculated what our summer might look like with the street being beaten up. He commented at one point “Oh! A port-a-jon!” And he ran over and posed like a goofball for me.
We walked to the high school, and walked a lap of the track. And then ran one together. And walked another. We walked all over town at a nice pace, and got reacquainted. Once we were on the path to home, I asked him a bit about our morning struggle and how he felt at certain times. What could I have maybe said or done differently to help defuse the bomb. He is SO good to talk to about this stuff when its all over and he is clear. He told me he honestly figured I had done it right. And that the parts that he could pinpoint that made him so angry were actually the right things, and that it just made him angry that I was going to win. But as he is clear and calm, he reassured me that he completely understood why I managed him the way I did, and he didn’t have anything to offer that I should change.
So we got home with some tired bodies from all the walking and running, and with some more contentment in our hearts, I think ๐
He is worth every shred of extra work. I am here for it, even if its bumpy or nasty at times.
We usually milk our camp weekends for all they’re worth, coming home later in the day. Today, we needed to be home before supper. It was the difference of only a few hours but it felt different. And honestly, not a bad way! While I fully expect we will stay longer whenever we possibly can, today worked out really well!
There was less pressure. There was less rush. We just moseyed our way around the house, getting things where they belonged, not panicking about baths or laundry. We took our time. It was nice! And then I decided on a really easy supper of mostly leftovers from the weekend – chunky salad, broccoli salad, and raspberries – plus we used up some hamburger and hot dog buns by making them into garlic toast. Boom. Laela sat down at the table and announced that this was the BEST supper she had ever had!
Which is aaaaalmost embarrassingly sad, but also awesome ๐ So I’m choosing to ride the awesome wave.
Speaking of waves, it’ll be a couple of weeks before we can be back at Kinasao. Hopefully its warmer, and calmer, and more beachy. Though I can’t ask for it to be more beautiful. That is impossible.
It was another chilly day at camp. It was windy and crispy, but when the sun came out, it was so beautiful and warm! There are beautiful days to come, it is evident!
Today, we drank coffee around the fire. We ate party mix and ice cream at lunch. Burgers for supper. The babies ate grilled potatoes. We went down to the water to play in the sand. Drank some hard root beer. I crocheted. It was so peaceful.
We ended the night by pushing a dead golf cart back to the site ๐ it made for a good video and we shared a lot of laughs.
I anticipate so many more beautiful days like today โ๏ธ thank you God.
Not many places feel homier than home. But this beach is one of my settings that feels so much like home.ย
I canโt explain it. Last summer, it was a little different with all the smoke. I probably have less than five clear pictures of the sunsets. The summer before, I mustโve had hundreds. Todayโs sky just reminds me of how beautiful it can be. And how beautiful it WILL be๐ค
Iโm so grateful for this beautiful place ๐ thank you Lord for providing things for us that arenโt even needs, but rather fun wants that feel like pipe dreams for the far distant future. God knows all the things.
I won’t lie. Sometimes I feel like a big fat phoney on here. Not because I’m being disingenuous. Not at all. But because a HUGE part of our life is off-limits to share on a public platform such as this. There are SO many things I ache to share on here. We love our foster children so deeply, and their milestones are just as pivotal as those of the children I gave birth to. Its SO strange to keep their details so quiet, and sometimes it feels SO unfair. But as you know about the reality of foster care – SO much is unfair for those children that this is the smallest of potatoes.
Today I had a particularly validating conversation with one of our childrens social workers. She shed some light on some details I was wondering about, and confirmed a lot of suspicions I was carrying. It was interesting to learn the things I did, and see that my radar was functioning appropriately in those areas. It helps me to better care for these children when I can know a little bit about where they came from and what was missed specifically that I could put extra time and effort into. And, in this case, the social worker was very happy for my observations and affirmed me in my care of this child. Which felt really nice.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the day wrapped up with one of babies delivering their first ever GIGGLES!!!! I could’ve just bawled. I can’t stop thinking about it. As I sat beside the baby while they flapped on the floor, and while I just tickled their chest lightly, they started cooing and finally, laughing. My heart just swelled with love and excitement! What a privilege to witness such a beautiful milestone!
The flip side is that, while I’m witnessing something beautiful, some VERY important people are not. And while there will be mixed feelings on that subject – some more compassionate than others, and some more cynical – it doesn’t change the fact that people are missing out on these things. And our babies are missing out as well, by default. Yes, we love these children well. I won’t deny that. We LOVE to love these kids. But they are still suffering trauma by being without their people. Trade-offs. Grey areas. Balance. Its all such a mess. Its brutal and beautiful all wrapped into one.
Anyway. Today was a great day in terms of foster care. For me, anyway. But its not about me.
Today, once I had supper in the oven, I was thinking about the raspberries I bought today. PBR had boxes of them for $10, and I had bought two of those boxes. However, upon sampling them, they were a little bit bland. I was thinking I wanted to put some on the side of our dinner, but they had been a bit disappointing in the flavour department. I resisted the urge to just stir them up with some sugar and eat them as is, and instead I did a quick google search for quick raspberry desserts.
Raspberry crisp was the first result, and would be an obvious choice to many.
Except for me. Because, as many of you know, my insecurities in the kitchen date way far back, and I have never ever made a crisp! However, I have worked to get braver in that department, so before I talked myself out of it, I rinsed a bunch of berries and picked a recipe.
Laela got the berries all sloppy and stirred up while I put together the dry ingredients. I doubled the recipe I was using, because even being down a couple of kids, there was NO WAY her thin layer of dessert in a pie plate would even come close to cutting it.
I spread the berry layer out, and then dumped the crumbly part on top. Laela insisted on flattening it, so she did that, lol!
Aaaaand while I definitely underbaked it, it was super delicious!
The more I push myself in those ways the easier its getting. And the more mistakes I make, the easier it is to roll it off and try it a second time. This was yummy and uncomplicated, and I will absolutely be making it again in the future. Maybe with rhubarb in there, too, since I have that in my yard now.
Conveniently, by doubling the recipe, I ensured a pretty epic night snack for Brady and I ๐ I will call this experience a win win.
Whew! School may still be going, but we are back into the camp scene already! So as I sit here, with right now NO CHILDREN around me, I can do all the worky stuff that needs doing. And right now, the name of the game is organizing!
As the babies sleep (some still, and some again) the lists are being made. I’ve meal planned. I have made and printed off a packing list for the kids. I have a grocery list for Costco, with an item or two to pick up at Wholesale Club and Walmart. I MUST find more of our baby formula, which has proven to be a challenge, but I’ve done a little calling. May have to expand the search to PA on Friday.
We need propane, also. Still haven’t found our way there. It is just SO much cheaper at Costco, its hard to justify getting it anywhere else!
I need to remind the kids to get their laundry done today or tomorrow.
I think I might take the kids to get some groceries after school. Then I have a second cart pusher and can get ALL the food plus diapers, lol!
Meanwhile, on top of all of this, I’ve been in contact with multiple social workers, making plans with one, talking about expenses with another, and yet another about how (if at all possible) to support the mother of one of our babies. It has been a FULL morning.
But I mean, its already 9:30 so I should expect nothing less ๐คฃ
Today was the last ballet day for the season! The girls will take the summer off and then hopefully re-enroll for the fall! Wavy wasn’t able to be at ballet today, but Laela was, and it was a VERY cute scene. It was extra cute because her already small class of four girls was down to two! They were the only two for the first few months of ballet, so it was fun to have them back together as a pair.
Onto the cute pictures! Laela was really feeling herself hahaha! Little dork ๐คฃ
This wrap up was fairly quick and informal, but I really enjoyed it! We got to see their usual exercises and the steps they go through, the songs they dance to, etc.
They danced a portion of more traditional steps, with cute skirts on, different from the expected tutus. Each girl did this routine solo. It was adorable. Laela is surprisingly graceful!
Every participant (in all of the classes) earned a certificate and a medal!
She was STOKED.
We joke, and she goofs, but it was super awesome, and she felt like a rockstar. That girl. My performer. She is going places, and I can’t wait to see where she all lands.