Thank you, everyone, for your care about our housing situation. I received some comments, a handful of private messages, and even a call or two after I posted the blog, and it really meant a lot to me 💜 It is undeniable that we have a beautiful crew of people in our corner, and for you all, I am SO grateful.

I do want to say something about my weird vague way of talking about this. On one hand, I don’t care to reveal TOO much about where we are aiming to move on the internet. Feels a bit tricky, and while the vast majority of my readers are people I am at least acquainted with, I can’t speak for the group in entirety. I don’t want absolutely EVERYONE to know where I live. I’m sure that makes sense.

Also, realistically, whoever does buy our house will indeed live in town, and I do NOT desire to say or suggest anything disrespectful! I have NO bad blood whatsoever! But, in the same breath, things are not going as I would prefer, and the door is not closed on selling our house to someone else.

As the clause states in our acceptance of the offer on our house, if anyone shows up who wants to buy it who does not have to sell their home first, we are able to accept their offer. That would absolutely be our ideal, for obvious reasons.

Anyway. Thats the end of my shorty rant. I mean no disrespect. But we continue to look for buyers. So. If you know anyone.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/26088074/103-bitner-place-dalmeny

I’ve had a handful of questions recently regarding the sale of our house. You know how you don’t usually share stuff until its pretty confirmed? Thats why we haven’t talked much about it publicly – because we are still waiting. But! There is info I can share, so here we go with the little I have for you!

Firstly, in case you missed it earlier, we ARE staying in Dalmeny. Uprooting from Dalmeny is simply off the table. We love it here. Its home. Not just to me, but to Brady and our children. So, there’s that.

We learned of a house that would be going onto the market, and that the sellers were happy to let us look at it first. It is an amazing fit. We saw it on a Friday, asked to see it once more on the following Monday, and put in an offer that very evening. It was accepted, conditional on the sale of our house. Boom. We got this thing ready to list.

After a few showings, we got an offer. It wasn’t a perfect setup, but we accepted after laying down some good strong conditions that protect us well. Meanwhile, we waited for our buyer to sell their house!

It wasn’t long before they DID get an offer on their house that they accepted!!

But would you like to guess what happens now??

Now

We wait

for them

to sell their house!!!!

When I said the other day that we hope that November will see us with all of our moving plans organized, that is exactly what I meant. We HOPE it’ll all be worked out. That was the original goal, and it remains to be our goal. To take possession of the next place at the end of November.

In the meantime, I’m rocking the limbo, as I do, like a boss.

Ok so maybe more like a train wreck. I want to PACK!! But I can’t! Because what if it doesn’t actually come together and then I have to UNpack? Or what if it all falls through and we have other showings? I can’t have boxes all over the place. But, if I wait, and it all comes together in a couple of weeks, I’ll be scrambling! Ack!

Anyway. Waiting. You guys know, we do a lot of it. But it’ll come. Just keep praying 💜

Welp. We have a TIRED group of kidlets on our hands this morning!! 😅🥱 Anyone else??

Conveniently, our elementary school always follows Halloween up with a pj/movie day for the kids! Its like they know everyone is coming to school either completely exhausted, with a tummy ache, or both. We definitely have a whole crew of exhausted ones, and a couple of tummy aches. No one even overate really on candy at all, but they don’t usually have much candy, so I think it hit hard. But everyone survived. Even Rowan’s guyliner 😅

Don’t worry, I got him cleaner before he left for school, hahaha!

Today is deemed a cozy lazy recovery day. For me, I mean, hahaha! And Wavy. And the morsel. Everyone else has to go on with business as usual!! Wavy is feeling icky, but recently deemed the day “black and white stripes day,” so if you’re in to participate, I think that counts as getting yourself together for the day!

Happy no longer Halloween! Onto the next – the month where hopefully our moving stuff will all be worked out! 🤞

I planned to write a blog once the evening was done, and I could show everyone in costume, out in the cold, red cheeks, happy. But I full anticipate being exhausted after trick or treating, so instead, I’ll show you their costumes that they put on for school this morning! Its almost as good, haha!

First off, we have BRADY! Apparently there was a costume contest at work today. He went in early and stole the name take of one of his colleagues, haha! So Brady was Lauren for Halloween 😆

But that worked out because Dekker is trick or treating as Brady! 😂 If I had to guess, I’m thinking the crutch won’t last long, but this is the goal anyway! 🩼

Ok, so, Laela wanted to be a witch. But then he was gifted a beard, and she couldn’t resist wearing it on Halloween! So this wizard was born! 🧙‍♂️

Rowans look is my favorite. He wanted to be a skeleton, and I am no face painter. But he was VERY happy with the way his face was done up, and he thought he looked AWESOME. Which he does 💜 ☠️

Solly is a tiger. Again. Forever. I don’t know what he’s going to do next year when he can’t get that costume on, but he LOVES being a tiger. So enjoy him while this costume lasts! 🐯

Waverly is an unnamed witch/princess 🤷🏼‍♀️ You’ve got me. But she is insisting on going in her “bat dress.” So if you ask her what she’s dressed up as, the answer may change, haha! 🦇

The kids came home from school with a rush of emotions, so it may be a looooong evening!! 😅 But I’m here for it!! Rowan managed to bring his very heavy pumpkin home, and I thought it was very fitting with his costume!

See all you other chilly locals out there!! 🥶 Happy Halloween!

I got an email from our girls ballet teacher today, reminding me that it was “fancy dress” day. It said to wear your favorite dress or costume. Now, two things.

One. I had NO idea it was fancy dress day. Where did we see that?? Ack! Nooooo clue. So good thing I caught it in time.

Two. Neither of my girls chose a dress they actually wear or love. They both went to costumes, and I love that!

They’re total hams, and not especially polished, but goodness they are CUTE!

Good thing for these pictures, because my evening pictures were not so clear, hahaha! But the kids clearly had a lot of fun!

Like last fall, Zak’s brought in some bouncy houses for the kids to play on! We almost missed them, as tomorrow is the last day! These pictures don’t capture much, but I see them capture the speed at which they were racing back into the fun. They had a blast! But then it was positively freezing and Dekker and I took the morsel inside for some warmth. It was fun, and quiet, and relaxed. I got to chat with one of Brady’s colleagues that I’ve never really connected with before, and to catch back up in depth with another employee who rocks a hard exterior but has SUCH a soft spot for children 💜 It was nice.

Finally, we left, got supper, and I ran into a couple more stores for a couple more things. We got home late and everyone was grumpy and went straight to bed. Whew!

A bath is running for me, and I am so looking forward to finally warming up. I am cold through and through!

Sleep deep, all 💜 I say it now, because I imagine I’ll beat you to dreamland 😴

Today was particularly delicious, so I feel inclined to share the yummy things I made with you. If you’ve followed long enough, you know I haven’t always felt especially confident (or at all confident) in the kitchen, and I’m truly enjoying celebrating some successes, as well as building some skills in the meantime. Anyway. Todays food.

I ended up staying back from church. One of our kids wasn’t going to make it, unfortunately, so me, plus aforementioned child, and the morsel made three! We stayed home and I realized I hadn’t planned lunch. In an effort to use up things that I forget about, I pulled out my tart shells and decided to make mini quiche for lunch. I realized a bit too far into the game that I was out of milk, but there was cream I could defrost out of the fridge, so it still worked out. I skipped frying bacon and chopped up leftover sausage instead. And I have to say – they came together pretty nicely!!

I made WAY too many in hopes of having leftovers to try out as breakfasts or lunch things to grab and run with. So we’ll see how those go over in the days to come.

In the afternoon, Brady finished up the yogurt he had started yesterday. It needed to sit for 24 hours, and it alarmed once that wait was over. It turned out beautifully!!! Almost no whey to scoop out! He just stirred in some vanilla and honey, and it went to the fridge! Boom! Four litres of yogurt! We do really need to get a thermometer. Thanks, Moodys, for letting us borrow yours!!

For supper, I had it in my head to make something with ham. I found ham on a good sale so I bought a few and I was quite determined to use one. I found a pretty basic meal on Pinterest that claimed to be “an easy Easter meal” but I’m pretty sure I can eat ham, potatoes, and green veggies the rest of the year as well, so I did. And it turned out!

It was supposed to all fit on one pan, but perhaps the person making the recipe for their blog didn’t cook for nine people. Even with this, almost every bite was gone. Two tiny ham pieces survived to see another day.

It was a positively delicious day, and I feel pretty happy about it. I am definitely ready for a good nights sleep, though. Someone tell the morsel. 🥱

Yesterdays post was about Wavy carving her pumpkin. Well today is about MY pumpkin!

PumpkinS*

I asked on Facebook the other day where I could still find pumpkins, and the win seemed to be Coop! Rowan needed one for school anyway, so when Brady hit Coop after work for one, I asked for a few for myself. He came home with three for me, and today I decided to cook them all and get them packaged for the freezer. Pumpkins take a good long time to cook, so it became an all-day project. It turned out to be an epic day of multitasking!

In this picture, you’ll see a handful of pumpkins – one carved, two still to carve, one cooked down and straining, one cooked and cooling, and one waiting to hit the oven! Plus lego. And a pair of slippers, lol! And some greek yogurt to parcel into starters for us to start making our own yogurt again. Its been a WHILE since we did that!!

A few hours later, ALL the pumpkin was processed!

And the yogurt was started! But at this point, that just looks like an instapot sitting on the counter for the next 24 hours, lol! I’ll show you that better later.

Anyway, when the day was done, I came out with nineteen bags of pumpkin.

Believe it or not, this will not last as long as I want it to. Ack! With the amount of baking I’ve started doing, I’m going to need a pumpkin dealer. Where do the ugly, unwanted pumpkins go??

I guess I’m going to start hitting PBR for those giant boxes of dying bananas! We’re going through those like wildfire as well, but the pumpkin is the heavy favorite 🎃

It was a very productive Saturday. And I imagine there is still more to do. Brady and I have committed to getting back into all of the training we still need to do, so hopefully we’ll do some of that today. And church tomorrow!! Its a nice weekend 💜 I’m very very grateful.

Wavy got to carve a pumpkin at school yesterday with her care buddy. Her buddy is pretty sweet and brought two pumpkins for her! They only had time to do one at school, but she insisted Wavy take the second one home so she could still carve it 💜

The one that came home carved is worth a share on here, for sure! A self portrait pumpkin, if you will.

Her name looks VERY much like a face to me, but I am absolutely loving it! 😍 She is a goof, and I’m SUCH a fan.

She is loving school, and she’s super jazzed for Halloween! Its going to be a very cute time!

Enjoy your Friday, everyone! 🎃

Laela has always been my little note fairy, leaving me cute little messages through the house. Sticky notes stuck to my headboard. Scraps of paper on the island. Artwork with words hidden in the picture. Everything laced with love and gentleness. I have LOVED her notes.

Yesterday evening, Rowan stayed up a bit later, and Brady was tasked with tucking him in while I went upstairs for a soak in the tub. Unbeknownst to me, there was some disappointment that I wasn’t there to give Rowan a hug goodnight. Thus was born my first thought out intentional note from Rowan!!

I found it this morning.

Hi Mom, I love
you so much,
I hope you
have had a
very good
sleep (tell the morsel) Heehee
Love Rowan 🤍

It warmed my heart that Rowan took time to write me a note. He is my child who asks me every single morning how I slept. He knows the morsel affects my sleep, and he really cares about it! Unfortunately, last night might have been one of our worst nights ever 😅 Right up there with the choppy nights at camp. I have not been this level of tired in quite some time, but tomorrow will be better already, I’m confident 💜 These well wishes always translate into Rowan’s nighttime prayers, as well, so I can carry my confidence in Christ that I will, as usual, have everything I need to make it through tomorrow!

Thank you, Ro, for your softness and your love 💜 I feel it, and I love you, too.

Welp.

It didn’t snow again. Buts its stinking cold. So it seems like things are going to stay this crispy kinda way whether I like it or not!

I drove to an appointment this morning and even in a covered parkade, it was clear it was wintery. And chilly. And breathy. And icky.

I shouldn’t complain. And I won’t. I accept the situation at hand. But man. Its just not my favorite seasons. And guys, if our house ever sells, we’re going to move IN WINTER!!!

😩

I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose.