Today was Family Day, which means Brady is off work and the kids are off school. In order to actually get everyone to spend time together, I made a “no reading” rule right off the bat. I know, weird, right? But otherwise everyone just lays on couches or beds and stares their way books they’ve read over and over again. Its mindless and ridiculous, and some days, it puts them into that zombie mode like after people watch tv. You know the mode. So today – no reading.

So everyone found other things to do. Wavy and Laela holed up downstairs, listened to the Wicked soundtrack through the Echo, and danced and acted their way through each number, reliving the movie. Solly worked hard and accomplished his biggest puzzle ever!

He was so sure he wouldn’t get through all 220 pieces, and his ADHD fought hard, but he prevailed! He was SO proud of himself, and talked about it all day long. He also did a lot of helping with the babies. Sol is SO good with the babies!

Rowan went from puzzles to lego and back again, and eventually he came and helped Dekker and I with cabinet building!! We began the process of assembling our new island today! Ack! I can’t wait for that project to get going! I can’t wait for my new stovetop! But, before the stove comes the cabinets, and we got the boxes and drawers built today.

Meanwhile, Brady managed the babies, did a bunch of laundry, and even saved me from a cold room disaster in the basement.

We had the pleasure of seeing Rae and one of her daughters this afternoon as well, who popped by to see my beautiful face our newest addition. It was good to share air again 💜 Its been a while.

Everyone kept busy, and spent time with others. My mom brought us sloppy joes for supper, which was a total hit, and it was really nice to not only spend that time together, but also to not have to make it 😅

It was a huge day. This week holds some important stuff, and more things always come up. Thank you Lord for providing us with jobs to do, a house to keep, food to eat, children to teach and enjoy, games to play, and so many beautiful people to love 💜 We are richly blessed.

As many of you know, this coming week is a no school kind of week! February break. Winter break. Reading week. Call it what you will. But, its an “everyone is home every single day” kind of week! And while I LOVE my children, it has certainly been a long cold stretch around here, and I’ll admit to having some apprehension surrounding being home all together day after day 😬

But! I have some ideas, and I think it’s going to be ok. There are ways to keep busy and be a little bit less in each other’s faces. It’s really the idle time that kills ya, you know? Anyway.

This weekend hasn’t been our smoothest, and Brady and I felt grossly unmotivated to go to church. And it was also just brutally cold, so we were even less inclined to leave the house. But we decided to go after all, because not only do we really want to nurture the routine during the months outside of camping season, but also for the change of scenery.

And it was good that we went. It was nice to get out to chat with others and listen to a service. We’re always a little bit of a sideshow getting out of the church, today especially with two baby bucket seats. But never in a rude way. I never feel like watched watched. It’s always quite loving.

We got home, had sandwiches and snackies, and took a load off for the afternoon. The babies all napped well at the same time. I finished a puzzle.

…and started another.

It was really relaxed. It wound down fairly well, also. But with that said, I am ready to tuck in the rest of the hooligans and go tuck myself into bed. I’m looking forward to eating a snack and watching a bit more of the new OJ Simpson docuseries.

Sleep well, all, and enjoy your family days tomorrow, however they look 💜

We had the opportunity to welcome some of LDs family into our home for the morning! It was SO fun and a truly special time together 💜 I hope we have many more visits like this morning. I want to nurture the heck out of those relationships. It was a beautiful morning!

The afternoon was far more challenging, and personally, I struggled pretty hard for the rest of the day. Lots of factors played into it. I was discouraged about some home reno stuff not working out well. I was upset about some strain between a kid and I. Everything was messy. I miss my Morsel. It’s just. Hard times.

I had a soak. I crocheted a little bit in my room, away from everyone. Brady started supper, and we watched some Ninja Warrior while we ate. I puzzled.

I got to have a nice snuggle with Dekker before bed. I hope he never stops wanting me to tuck him in 💜 I LOVE that.

Finally, all the kids are down for the night. My ponytail is out and my head is pounding. Brady is making us a little treat while I type this out. It has been quite a day, and I am tired, but I am grateful for many things. The morning full of action and games. Great leftovers at lunch. The ability to buy new things to improve our home. Hot baths with yummy smells. Crocheting. Netflix. Puzzles. Bacon and eggs. Warm beds. Dessert. The promise of God’s love each and every day. Not necessarily in that order…

Going to take some Tylenol to help take the edge off of this headache, and do some letting down.

Goodnight, all 💜

Its Valentine’s Day. I love my people. I’ve been treated to special things and intentional time with my valentines. My husband. My mom. My best friend. My five school aged children shared some of their valentine treats with me after school. I am SO fortunate that my lovely people around me want me to feel loved and treated and special 💜

I will admit that I’m missing my Morsel. My valentine that doesn’t live here anymore. My heart is missing that dear child. But, I imagine the Morsel is being well loved elsewhere, so I will continue to pray and trust God, who loves all of the little children even more than I do!

I am incredibly grateful for all of my people, near and far. Thank you, Lord, for showering our family in love. It is not lost on me how fortunate we are.

Miss Laela has suggested I blog about her art today, so here I am, armed with snapshots of her latest sketchbook masterpieces, of which she is very proud!

We’ll start with her least favorite, because its fun to lead up to the best!

The hair. She would like you to know she has not completed it just yet.

The hair is the most recent detail she’s been working on. I, personally, think its lovely and a heck of a lot better than I could do!

Next is facial features! In order of Laela’s favorites, she says nose, eye, mouth, ear.

She definitely doesn’t see the value in the ear the way I do. Its SO detailed and well shaded! Well done, Lala!!

Lastly are the hand drawings. The first is her favorite one.

I remember drawing my hand in school as well. It was hard. I hated the shape of my thumb 🤣 of all stupid things. But I do remember feeling like I had accomplished something good when it was over. Laela feels much the same. She is REALLY proud of these drawings.

Great job, Lala! I love your artsy fartsy side! Keep it coming, girly!! 💜

It’s already feeling more normal to have a little baby in the house again. I haven’t talked about their ages on the blog, but if you’ve followed long enough, its not hard to figure out at least somewhat. We are indeed down a toddler, and we have gained an infant.

I spent a good chunk of today diapering three apparently very well hydrated children, and rocking one particularly tired baby in my cozy (albeit ugly) chair. When a new baby joins, it feels like all bets are off, so the moment that baby is settled in its bed, or somewhere outside of my arms, I eat a meal. It doesn’t even matter what time to day it is. No schedule. No real routine. These first days are just about meeting needs, settling in, and acclimating everyone to the change at hand.

Today, baby napped hard for a good long while, and once that nap was over and baby was retrieved, they instantly fell back to sleep all tucked into me. It was SUCH a good cozy snuggle but finally, something had to give. Kids were home, and I needed to start making supper. I roped Dekker into the living room, and had him snuggle the baby in my chair 💜 It was a beautiful little scene, and the two rocked together while I cooked up the sausage, mixed up some sweet and sour sauce, got rice in the cooker, and broccoli and cauliflower prepped for the oven. *whispers* and then I let it simmer a little without telling Dekker so the snuggle would go a little longer. It was way too nice to break it off too fast!

The evening got a little crazy. The other two – the Spoonful and LD – share a room these days, which is working quite well but both are excited to share, so naturally, sleeps are shorter. Bother were WIPED. And LOUD. Meaning the new babe couldn’t find any peaceful rest. Alas, all three are tucked away now, and everyone can take a deep breath again. Last night was such a good night, I hope tonight can be a repeat! 🤞

I ache for the Morsel. It doesn’t wear off. I don’t think it will. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have space to love more children. So, friends, as of yesterday afternoon, our numbers are back up to ten 🙌

Our tenth family member…

Our eighth child…

Our third baby.

Three diaper sizes.

Three different milks.

Three different sizes of clothing.

Three different demeanours.

I love the stage of finding our feet with a new one. Figuring out their details. And just soaking in as many cuddles as possible to make the transition into our home easier.

Wish us luck for night number two ✌️ Last night was quite typical for a young baby, but the evening has been pretty sleep-heavy, so hopefully the night still stands a chance!

Cute internet-friendly nickname still pending…

Cher here. If gas is not funny to you, you may want to skip this one. Farts make an appearance in this story that’s about to unfold.

I got up from the couch where Hailey and I were discussing foster care. There were a series of events unfolding. Our discussion was mostly serious but very factual, but work needed to begin. I walked over to the front closet where I keep my work shoes. Still in discussion, I walk over to the kitchen table and pull out a chair to sit on to put my shoes on.

The second my butt hit the seat I heard this sound. It was like the flooring had cracked or maybe I broke the chair. I looked at Hailey. She looked at me. I was confused. I started to get up from the chair to inspect the damage when she starts laughing. “DID YOU FART? WAS THAT YOU?” I asked. She grinned ear to ear. “Yes…” she replied. 

She had waited until the EXACT moment I sat down to release that slappin shocker. As Brady said “the ultimate whoopie cushion!”

Lunch time came around and Hailey and I settled in to watch our show and eat sushi bowls. The show we have slowly been watching is one we have seen before about 5 or 6 years ago. There are many things I do not remember, but Hailey has a very good memory. Every episode she seems to remember something that I absolutely can not recall. 

I ended up calling her an elephant because of their amazing memories, as to which she replied “Elephants and goldfish can still be friends” I looked at her about to say “ya” when I realized she was calling ME a goldfish because of my memory. “HEY!” I said to her. She smirked and said “Awe you figured it out good job!”

And that’s why I am blogging for Hailey today. She is no longer. 

I kid. 

Anyways, that’s some of the things I deal with in the workplace. HR please call me. 

Sister Act, anyone?

“Work and pray, work and pray, that’s all they DO!”

Anyway, that felt like the theme today! We ALL went to church today, which was really nice after my inability to attend for the last while. It was so nice to be back 💜 Not only did Brady and I get to sit side by side through church (thanks to one of our kids being in nursery this week) but it was also incredibly meaningful how many people came and touched base about the Morsel leaving. People were SO kind and compassionate, which was incredibly heartwarming to me. Thank you, all, for caring about how we’re doing and for keeping us in your prayers.

After church, my mom came over and we had a lunch of junior bacon cheeseburgers from Wendys, because man those things are yummy. The kids have even gotten over their distain for veggies in burgers, so no one is picking stuff out. Its just GOOD.

Aaaaand then we got into a job. Lol! Poor mom. This last year, I have really let baby clothes accumulate, and its come to a point where there are baby clothes positively evvvverywhere, yet none of the babies have anything that fits in their dresser. So today, we sorted clothes, folded clothes, tubbed clothes, and washed clothes. I think we have it under control now but man 😅 What a gigantic job!

After that was done, we sat, lol! Because it was time for rest. Until it was time to get supper going. My mom brought spaghetti sauce that she had made from scratch, which was SO delicious! So many good things today 💜

The highlight, however, was Laela and Wavy coloring in their eyebrows 😂

Wavy’s were “Wicked” eyebrows…

And Laela actually had eyebrows for the first time, lol! She is NOT a fan.

It was completely hysterical, and I hope they don’t wash off and they’re stuck with them for school 🤣 #meanmom

It was a nice day. A FULL day, but a good one 💜 I’m so grateful for all we got done. A baby leaving always feels like a good time for a reset, even when it hurts.

Ok. Time for snacks and some Netflix before bed. We’re watching through season one of the Recruit again because we forget what happens and we should know before we watch the second season. Anyone else disappointed that the male lead isn’t played by Joe Keery? No? Just me?? Alright.

Brady and I made a secret plan a while ago when we learned that the Morsel had an exit plan. So now that the exit has been made, and everyones hearts are appropriately worn out, we took a day to rest our brains. We SAT. ALL day. We ate yummy easy food out of disposable dishes. I did a puzzle. And we watched American Ninja Warrior.

We are not a tv family. Our kids aren’t tv kids, much to their chagrin. But today, we watched through as much Ninja as we could. It was really fun 💜 I kind of love that show, especially for kids, because a) its always moving and fun to watch, b) it displays amazing sportsmanship, and c) while sometimes it feels corny, everyone has some good inspiring, motivating story. So we did that. We rested our bodies and our brains. We just recouped, and it was nice.

Of course as soon as we needed everyone to get up and get ready for bed, carry things upstairs, etc., they all started griping, which makes total and complete sense, and was pretty much the sole reason we stopped watching tv in the first place, lol! The aftershock zombie effect is something I REALLY struggle to be ok with. So. We don’t.

Today was worth it, though. I don’t regret my choice. It was a really nice day. The kids really got into ninja…

And I finished my puzzle!!

Tomorrow will not be an all day tv marathon at all, but it was a great one time party, and a nice rest.

I’ll be an adult again tomorrow.