Brady had to work on January 30th and 31st, and I was kind of bummed about it. I said to him multiple times, who is going to come in on New Years Eve for anything big or important??
Turns out, lots of people! Because as everyone is sitting home together, living within their walls a little more than usual, with everyone home, and add to that coming into a new season, people be planning!
And the only reason I accepted that as truth is because we were doing it, too 😅
The bigger our family the gets, the more fun I start having in the kitchen, and the more I realize I’d like to change it a little, lol! And this isn’t news. Since we moved here, we built a big pantry, brought in two huge fridges and two huge freezers, and replaced the island top with an old table top that we can cut on. There are very few things I actually really miss about the Bitner house, but I miss that big beautiful island.
*sigh*
Our new home has more cabinets, but they’re doors rather than drawers, and everything is just a little more shallow. So we have a handful of goals that we will work on for a decent length of time. But the main thing we are prioritizing is getting a new stovetop. We love having a gas range, but this one is so very old. It’s white, and miserable to clean. When we light an element, it sometimes sparks on other elements. And frankly, its just a little small. Now that we have lots of people, we use big pots and big pans, as you can imagine. And the elements are so little, it takes absolute eons on boil a pot of water.
And as tends to happen, one project grows into many. We would choose a stovetop that is larger. A 36″ stovetop. And our island is set up for a 30″ stove top. So we would want to upgrade our island as well. Which means new cabinets as well as a new island top, because we really think we should go bigger.
So its become a bigger project, but we have time. There is no time crunch. Maybe if it drags on long enough, I can weasel a double wall oven out of the deal 🤣
Well. All three babies are sick. It was inevitable.
Patient zero is on the mend, but its still slow going. It mostly means that this baby snots and coughs like all get out but also gets into more mischief than feels reasonable.
Patient zero’s roommate was next. This baby still eats fairly well, but is SO loud in their communication, its a wonder we don’t have every dog in the neighbourhood on our front step. This particular baby tends to communicate in this register in general, but its up in volume as well as frequency. Picture someone dropping a cracker, and an air raid siren immediately setting off.
Patient LD is absolutely so pleasant and just SO nasty, it doesn’t quite compute. The snot pours, and the baby waves and jumps and plays and just pours and pours and pours. LD doesn’t want to eat or drink. LD wants to sleep, but only in small spurts, and there must be milk in between each sleep. Sometimes the milk HAS to be warm, and sometimes the milk HAS to be cold. No matter how much you prepare, LD will drink less than half of it. It’s just the rules, of which there are many.
But! While I stayed home for the morning with them, I managed to get our whole January calendar written out. I got the sick babies fed a little for breakfast, and then even a little bit of lunch before the rest of the crew came home. Got lunch prepped and ready. It was a successful morning, and then all three babies napped, and I could sit and work on a blanket I’m crocheting. It wasn’t a long stretch, but it was nice to put my feet up.
Tomorrow, the five head to school. I love my kids more than life itself, but I am ready for the school routine to start back up again. Back in action, guys!!! 💪 Ready!
Well. Today I decided to sneak one last puzzle into the Christmas season and I should NOT have done it. Man. Now that the one really good and sick baby is on the upswing (THANK YOU for praying!) they are into absolutely everything. This is my kid who takes the screens off the windows. Takes books off high shelves. Climbs onto the island. So now that aforementioned baby is feeling a little better, the puzzle was NOT safe. And unfortunately, it actually made things more stressful than the needed to be. So. I learned. I’m done puzzling for this Christmas. Onto the next.
I did, however, finish todays puzzle. I will put it away in the morning once everyone has seen the finished result. Then, we will rock Sunday as we do, and Monday will mean school, and with that, routine. Routine tends to help with a lot of things, and I think many of us over here at least are feeling a little idle. Its possible I have some intentions brewing for this coming year that I actually want to sit with and think on a little.
At this rate, I might have to schedule thinking time… A strange concept but I might be onto something 🤔
It has been a big week. Today we acquired some antibiotics for a brewing lung infection in a baby who doesn’t have a strong enough system to fight it off at the moment. Said baby was set up in one of those scary torture chamber chest x-ray apparatus, and didn’t even react 😢 In past appointments, that particular test has not been well received. But today, baby’s feet just hung, and babys arms were propped up, and babys face was neutral and dull. Not at all the standard personality of this baby. The level of cooperation really shed light on the way baby was feeling 💔
Anyways. Its hard to have sick babies. We are extra tired over here. I just took a nice hot bath and I’m anticipating a comfort food supper after the kids are in bed. As they sit at the table, eating their supper, I overheard this brief conversation that gave me a giggle.
Solly: Have you seen a naked mole rat before? Laela: No, but I’ve seen an accordion bus. Solly: WOAH! 😳
I laughed, haha! The kids are dorks. I love them.
Thank you to those who prayed for our baby yesterday. Oxygen levels are ok enough not to go to the hospital just yet, but the timeline for improvement is short, so here’s hoping and praying we see a lift tomorrow 💜
I shouldn’t say worry. Concern, perhaps. My little babe who used to be so terribly sick ALL the time has picked up some kind of sickness that feels all too familiar. The last few days have been all about helping this baby recover through sleep and fluids. Thankfully, baby does drink. And baby does sleep. But a point of lethargy has been acquired that has me feeling a little on the concerned side :/ In counting today, I realized we are on day six of fevering. Baby just hangs and drags.
Today, baby actually took bites of food on purpose! This was small, but a great victory. But after maybe three bites, baby reached to be held, and then points for the hallway, in the direction of the bedroom. Baby begged for sleep. I laid the little one down and they didn’t flinch.
Sick babies have me worrying. Sick babies have me ordering things on Amazon. Sick babies have me calling the doctor tomorrow.
Please pray for our dear sickie pants 💜 There is SO much love for every child, but the particularly sick ones need that kind of prayer that much more often. And in this case, that means now.
I love the toasty snuggles, but I am missing the vibrant movement and games. Protect us, Lord.
Brady and I rung in the new year watching a movie in our bed. As the movie was coming to a close, one of Bradys pressure headaches moved in, and unfortunately it refused to lift. We went to bed with Brady aching, his head on a heating pad, and me awake and worried. He made some motions that got me all seizure scared, and it really showed me how much last year shook me. Whew. After the Lemon Drop woke up for a bottle, I was able to finally get to sleep. It was a short night, but Brady work up in good spirits, feeling much better.
The babies did not wake up feeling well, unfortunately. Sick babies is a tough scene. But we managed. They weren’t up long before going back to bed, and then I went on a coffee run to kick off the year with Cher 💜 Beyond that, I drank lots of coffee. Ate a fake sushi cucumber salad. Brady and I put together a new bed frame for ourselves. Kids drew and read and built and snacked and we had a slow day.
I feel a little crappy in the body, to be honest, and griefy in the heart. It has been a pretty weird Christmas over here. I think it’ll feel good to get back into the swing of things next week. Hopefully sickness has passed by then and we can all feel lighter.
I trust you, Lord. Thank you for bringing us another year 💜
Ok, folks!! Here you have it – all the highlights of this last year rolled into one collage post!!! This is always a fun one for me. Its quick but informative, and tends to hold a lot of memories. For me and for the reader!! So if you haven’t followed for terribly long, no harm done! Here is our year, all laid out for you to see!
January was kind of huge, haha! Thats a not a secret. Right off the bat, we started with a baby surgery. Thankfully, it was simple enough and recovery wasn’t too terribly long. The weather got BRUTALLY cold, so naturally, we chose that time to move! It was a HUGE ordeal but we finally got into the new place, aaaaand within two weeks, Brady had his seizure that changed the course of the whole year!
Ooooo! Three nice pictures of Brady in a row!
February is always a big month over here. We celebrated our fifteenth anniversary a little bit before the day because that day is now shared with the birthday of a pretty precious member of our family! With feeing therapists on board, our baby ate brownies soaked in pudding and whipped cream! That was a pretty exciting thing! We continued to pick away at some house projects, knowing we didn’t have a ton of time to do them before big things would take us down a peg or two 😬 Wavy lost her first tooth in there, and Rowan turned nine!
March was a big one. One of the BIGGEST! Brady worked to get our pantry built beforrrrrrrrre he went for brain surgery. That was a whole thing. He only stayed in the hospital for two nights before coming home to recover. At the same time, we have a very unwell baby on our hands, so between the two of them, meds rolled around the clock. Who sleeps anyway?
April was better. April felt like progress. Spring poked its head out of the ground! Brady got his head staples out. That was gnarly and kind of awesome. Brady made his first appearance back at work. It was so hard for him to recover at home and not be at work! Meanwhile, my counsellor came back to Saskatoon for a few months and I got to have a few more appointments with her, which couldn’t have been better timed! We crossed “kid needing stitches” off of our list of firsts in April, and Rowan started his first season of soccer!
April showers brings May’s camping season!! Thats how the rhyme goes, right? We got back to Kinasao this month, and as that began, the girls’ ballet wrapped up. I got my Bosch mixer in May, which feels like a silly thing to add but it was truly a game changer over here! The month wrapped up with Solly turning eight!!
Juuuuune!! June was a fun one. The kids had their track and field days, and somehow, Wavy came out with a medal for being basically being the most athletic girl in Kindergarten, so that was a fun surprise!! Meanwhile, Rowan’s soccer wrapped up. As town things finalized and closed up, camp opened up!! I crocheted a blanket for the camps fundraiser auction, and it ended up bringing in over $700 😳 Who saw that coming?! It was a pretty beautiful month.
July got us into full swing of summer! Wavy turned six right off the bat! That same day, Brady began his six weeks of radiation, with chemotherapy running simultaneously. Kids started going to their weeks of summer camp, and FINALLY, Brady regained his license since losing it in January!!! 🥳 To top off that off, he got a promotion to sales manager at work 💜 And I had a birthday. 36, baby.
August had a lot of things to note as well. Our tube feeder went anti-tube! 🥳 I removed it at the lake, which was bonkers and also SO exciting! Speaking of exciting, Brady finished radiation this month 💜 We were not sad to see that go. We spent some time with my siblings and all of the nieces and nephews, which we haven’t done in years, and we wrapped up summer days.
Fall camping is always on the docket for September, however. Between our weekends at the lake, everything else got into full swing. School. Ballet. Parkour for Rowan. And Laela turned 11! She pees in the lake, if that was unclear…
October is when it really starts feeling fallish. We took some very flattering family pictures 🤣 Don’t worry, we got good ones too. We got Rowan connected to a paediatric psychiatrist who finally really changed the game 💜 Quality of life went UP for him in October! Thank you Lord!!! Cher and I had a great date to celebrate our friendaversary this month 💜 Brady birthdayed with me finally – also 36. And we spent a night at the Travelodge with our dear Dahlsjos. The amount of times Dekker rode the water slide could not be counted.
November already felt pretty Christmasy. At least at camp, it did! The Christmas baking began. The lights went up at Kinasao. We attended a Christmas retreat at Kinasao as well, and at least for me, the matching jammies were a highlight! Also noteworthy, at least for me, was my discovery of grocery delivery! WOW how that has simplified my life!!! And this was the month Wavy really got into writing and testing out her own spellings of things, which I’ve mentioned before is my FAVORITE thing about her age. I LOVE grade one spelling! Ack!!!
December carried a theme. Can you tell? Two themes, I suppose. Food, and wrapping things up for the year. This particular collage shows the tomato soup I made, the ghost jamjams (perhaps ghostghosts?) and the sushi bowls. As well, it shows the recitals for both ballet and piano. And lastly, Dekkers youth Christmas parties were a total highlight. I’m not going to pretend I don’t LOVE being greeted by an inflatable penguin every time I go into Dekker and Sollys room 🤣
And now, here we are, at the end of the year. It has been a gigantic year. I can’t believe we navigated BRAIN SURGERY 🤣 Even just typing that out makes me tired, lol! Yet God has been consistently good, carrying us through absolutely every single thing, with no forgotten details or issues. We are ALWAYS safe under His wings. And I don’t mean comfortable. But He doesn’t promise us comfort. If we were always comfortable, who would need faith?! So, we willingly receive His protection, and keep on trucking forward!
Thank you God for bringing us through 2024. We trust You, and we live for You. Going into 2025, we trust Your will! 💜 Thank you for never leaving or forsaking us! Amen.
Onto the next!! Let’s see where this one takes us!!
Once again, Brady got an advent calendar of brewskies! And once again, he brings you his review!
Being the season its been, we forgot to take a picture of the box, sooooo you’re getting a slightly more ratchet version of a review than in years past. But whats more ratchet than an advent calendar made up of beer anyway? Not much.
So here you have it. The Brewer’s Advent Calendar 2024, available at Costco!
1. Brewsters Original Lager – 5% – I’m back and to kick it off this time, we had a very standard lager. The beeriest beer I’ve had since last December. Lol Not a disappointment though. I’m excited for the next beerstravaganza – 3/5
2. Bridge Brewing Company Cream Ale – 5% – This cream ale was a very flavourful, full beer. Just a bit of bite and then it’s smooth sailing. Simple and enjoyable – 4/5
3. Black Bridge Brewery Original Stout – 5.5% – I didn’t know that I’d be a fan of stouts but I enjoy this one. It’s got a heavy beeriness with a smattering of coffee and chocolate. Quite enjoyable – 3/5
4. Nokomis Craft Ales Beer – 4.5% – Sometimes a standard lager is just right. This one doesn’t stand out as a winner but it’s also not a loser. It’s beer. And sometimes that’s spot on – 3/5
5. Boxing Rock Shuck Off – Blonde Beer – 5% – This one had quite a bit of flavour! And just a hint of clamato. This wasn’t a beer that was hard to finish. I definitely enjoyed it – 4/5
6. District Brewing Co. German Pilsner Lager – 5% – Pilsner. Not my first choice. Not my 9th choice. But I have now been subjected to it twice in two years. This one was meh. But much like the lager of two days ago, it was a beer. I finished it. It was okay – 2/5
7. Blindman Brewing Strong Ale – 6.5% – This is the first one I’ve REALLY enjoyed this year. It’s got more hops to it with a splash of that bitter, IPAish taste that I love. I would definitely drink this one again. Probably a whole case of it – 4.5/5
8. Dandy Brewing Strong Beer – 7% – It’s probably not lost on at least a few of you that I really enjoy the sour ales. I love when these bad boys come around and this one is no exception. It’s almost just lemonade. I really loved this one. 10 out of 10 doctors… – 5/5
9. Bow River Brewing German Amber Lager – Riverfest – 5.3% – This was a pretty average beer. It had that standard amber beer taste but otherwise it was not worth noting. Would I drink it again? Meh, I guess – 2/5
10. Medicine Hat Brewing Company Clear & Crisp – German Style Kölsch – 5.3% – This one didn’t have a whole lot to it. Flavour is definitely lacking here. But it IS crisp. This would be a great thirst quencher on a hot day while you build a deck with some buddies – 4/5
11. Born Brewing Company Get Lucky – Premium Style Lager – 5% – This beer had a light hoppy taste which is right up my alley. That slight bitterness is exactly what I look for in a beer. This was a crisp, delicious beer for me. I’d definitely drink this again – 4.5/5
12. XhAle Ultrasonic – Light Beer – 3.5% – Mmm… this was the antithesis of ultrasonic. This was carbonated, alcoholic water. Alchoseltzer is what Hailey came up with. 😂 This beer has ZERO flavour. None. This is sparkling water with a splash of …vodka? Idk. I definitely tasted like nothing. 10/10 dentists do NOT recommend – 1/5
13. Original Malting & Brewing Co. Ol’ Dog – Brown Ale – 5% – This beer started out a little odd. Very flavourful with a bit of a chocolatey taste but it was a little over powering at first. But then I paired it with some chips and it made total sense – 3.5/5
14. Pile O’ Bones Brewing Co. Vienna Style Lager – 5% – This is a pretty standard beer. Decent flavour, no strong aftertaste, no add on flavour to prop up its downfalls. Take a sip and you think ‘Hmmm well that’s alright – 3/5
15. New Level Brewing Valkyrie Berry Ale – 5.5% – I expected this one to have a more fruit heavy flavour but it was really just the essence of blackberry. Mostly just beer. Lol Meh – 2.5/5
16. Burdock Brewery ‘Deluxe Golder Lager – 4.5% – A decent beer. Not exceptional. Not mediocre. I like this. But I’m not blown away. Decent – 3/5
17. Manual Labour Beer Co. ‘Thats Gold’ British Golden Ale – .6% – Oh man! I knew before I tasted it. Just a little whiff and I was in love. It’s classified as a ‘British Holden Ale’ but this is 100% an IPA. SO good. I love IPAs but this was one another level. Anticipating every sip, this was easily my favourite to date!! – 5.5/5
18. Tool Shed Brewing Company “Petes Pils’ Pilsner – 4.5% – Well, it’s a Pilsner. I’m not a fan but it was passable. Probably the best Pilsner I’ve ever had. Which isn’t saying much. lol. If you like Pilsners, this will be a winner! – 2/5
19. PEI Brewing Company Vic Park Pale Ale – 5% – A mild pale ale. This was the least hoppy ipa I’ve ever had. It was clean and crisp delightful. Would drink again – 3/5
20. 2 Crows Brewing ‘Badabing!’ Italian Pilsner – 5.5% – Well here’s another beer that was quite u remarkable. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it. It was beer. To quote myself at the end of a hard day “Oh well!” – 2.5/5
21. Skeleton Park Brewery Proper English Ale – 4.5% – IPAs should be called DPAs. D is for delicious! And this isn’t even an IPA, it’s an English Ale. But man, it was good! A perfect amount of that bitter hoppiness. Big fan! – 4.5/5
22. Blood Brothers Brewing ‘Blood 5.0’ Ale – 5% – This ale was decent but I feel like the powers that be could have done a better job of finding a variety of beers to add to this compilation. As the can says, “It’s wet” – 3/5
23. Spearhead Brewing Company ‘Festbier’ Copper Lager – 5.2% – The label on this one described itself much like I describe myself, “Rich & Smooth”. I have to say, it’s true. Lots of flavour and no big downside. A solid beer to go with just about any meal or setting – 4/5
24. Village Brewery ‘Mis-Heard Lyric’ New England IPA – 7% – What a way to finish!! Best beer of the season! By far! I love IPAs but this one was above and beyond! All the dentists and doctors recommend this one. I could drink this for the rest of my life! – 10/10
This is one happy man right here.
The beer calendar is more so a journey than a promise of 24 delicious, perfect beer. The bad ones are part of the fun, and I believe there is no bad blood between Brady and Costco, or frankly, Brady and beer.
Welp. The time of year has come and gone! Brady is no longer a “beer a day” guy. But it was fun while it lasted!
We aimed for a routine Sunday over here, but it kind of didn’t take, lol! But that’s fair, because our routine kind of tanked anyway.
We were going to church fairly consistently, but we had a kid shuffle in our family that turned a few things on their head, and the babies no longer would hang out in the nursery during the service. Now, I am a full supporter of pacing in the back of the church while holding a baby. I did it for years with our kids. But now I have three at once, which definitely complicates it. And add to that, for sure two of those babies will likely only come to me and no one else. Which speaks beautifully towards our attachment, but stinks when I don’t have three arms. So.
We went this morning, and I tried to sneak out of the nursery. I made it back into the service for less than ten seconds before I heard my one little toddler just screaming. Knowing there was a bit too much trauma attached to that scream to ride it out, I grabbed my coffee and made myself at home in the nursery for the service. No big deal.
We came home and put the babies to bed right away. I got into a new puzzle yesterday, so I worked on that and ate leftover cheesy chicken noodle soup.
Once the kids were up, we loaded them into the van and we drove around town, delivering some Christmas cards. If you didn’t get one here in town, I’m so sorry! You can still have one! It was a very scattered effort :/ Let me know 💜 And there are still many to mail. I’m behind. I conveniently blame Canada Post. But! We still ran around and dropped a handful off around town. Dekker got out of the van to run a few to mailboxes, but he had to climb over a baby seat 🤣 Which was way too much fun for us, lol!
Once we were home, we got out the griddle Brady got for Christmas and cooked up some pancakes and bacon for supper. The dial on the griddle made us feel like our kids are missing some things. Did yours come with that dial?? 🤔 Maybe we need to upgrade…
I tease. It felt like a bit of a struggly day over here, but I think its mostly just me. The last few days have been challenging, and my nerves are pretty shot. Hopefully tomorrow brings some peace. God takes care of us, absolutely always.
Parts of this Christmas have been oddly griefy, but I’m managing pretty well. We have kept things pretty quiet and simple, which has been nice. Yet there are still things to do each day, which helps, too.
Today, sweet Cherice came over for morning java 💜 It had been a while, so it felt really homey to have her around. Dekker had a Christmas gift he had been aching to give her, so that was fun to watch, also.
She headed out after a while to do her day, and we continued on with ours. Brady did a little bit of prep work for one project we want to do in the house soon. He did the loud stuff, because the babies were up at the right time. So now, whenever the time suits, he can do the rest with minimal noise or issue. Smart.
We lunched, and my mom came over for the afternoon. We kept things going really slow. I worked on a puzzle and my mom read to the kids while they painted or just sat and listened. I don’t think any of us are feeling 100%, though all in different ways. Wavy left for a playdate mid afternoon. I eventually headed to the kitchen and picked away at making supper. I chose to make a really yummy soup thats a little bit decadent, so its crazy delicious but it takes a while to come together. I worked on that and visited with the family, puzzling in between.
Supper was yummy. I overate. My mom left shortly thereafter. Wavy came home. Everyone was tired. I puzzled a little more while the house got tidied up and kids got ready to wind down.
Now, they are in bed and so am I. Tomorrow, we will attempt to get to church. And we didn’t get around to delivering cards this evening as we had hoped, but maybe tomorrow will be the day for it. Its not too late, right??
