Folks, I’m here for input! Lay your best guesses on me, please!

Here’s the sitch. Ten people eat at my verrrrry long table. How would you serve your family?

Option A. Pots of food sit in the middle of the table, where only a small handful of children can reach them. Children have to serve one another, or a parent is up, helping scoop food. Which would always be mom, since dad doesn’t stand and reach as well.

Option B. Make two stations of food at opposite ends of the table. More accessibility but twice the dishes.

Option C. Buffet style at the island. Kids carry their plates over to the table afterwards and predominantly serve themselves.

Option D…….

What am I missing? Whats the way? As was the norm in my home growing up, I’ve always just brought the food and set it in the centre of the table. But when your table is 10′ long, the “centre” isn’t really helpful. An obvious solve would be moving one of the adults to the centre of one of the sides so we could be more helpful service. However, we can’t, and this is why. I sit on an end so I can drag the high chairs around and feed the babies, so I need the freedom on the end. And Brady in his wheelchair doesn’t fit under the side of the table, but this unique table has the leafs on the ends, and they don’t have the bulky skirt under them, so he can actually fit under the end. Therefore, on the ends we stay.

What do we do? How would YOU do it? I’d love to hear from others on the subject. We’ve been doing it one way for so long, and I’m only really realizing now that there might be a better way!

Not every day feels peaceful, especially recently, but today has been that way. It didn’t seem like it would be. After the Lemon Drop got up four times in the night (goodness, that baby) I was dragging pretty hard right off the hop. And then the babies alternated, which is not ideal, as I tend to count on nap time as some nice downtime for me as well. But having one baby at a time actually worked out fairly nicely today. I did a puzzle. I watched some YouTube. I chatted with the baby that was up. It was relaxing and calm.

I feel so fortunate to have days like this. That isn’t lost on me. Some days as a stay at home mom are pure chaos and have me questioning my life choices 😅 and some days, I spend the day in sweatpants, sipping coffee and smiling at the sweet soft shenanigans, and most days are somewhere in between!

Tomorrow will pick up again, but today has been relaxing and for that, I am grateful. As I sit in my chair, writing my blog, Laela is practicing piano, Solly is playing lego at the table, Rowan is playing in his room, and Wavy and Dekker are downstairs. Both babies are resting a little bit, which won’t last long at all, but still counts. I will start supper shortly. It’ll be a yummy one that no one fights.

And clubs are tonight, so there will even be some quiet time in the house with Brady and I and the babies.

Thank you Lord for giving us such a beautiful life.

Ok. Its been officially official for a while, but its still worthy of a post! Brady finally got a new nameplate on his office door at work.

He manages all of the contractors packages!

Jokes. But he manages the sales of the material packages for contractors. I know you know. Still.

So, while Brady was promoted last summer, its fun to finally have it on his door. It feels good for me to see, as well. I am SO proud of him and all he has worked for and accomplished, especially during such a wild year of life. Praise the Lord for consistently taking care of us in these ways.

As an aside – how is it only Tuesday?? What a strange week! Anyone else??

As I went over the days plans with the kids over breakfast, it was clear that today was BIG. Not bad, but with lots of moving parts. Since then, most of the things on the schedule have been cancelled, called off, or postponed. Which is actually fabulous, because no one has to go anywhere in this miserable cold!! The babies and I were able to stay home and hang out all day, baking muffins, destroying the house, and blasting the Wicked soundtrack.

While they napped, I’ve worked on one of my four crochet priorijects. Yup. You read that right, and you understand it. I made a good dent in it! I watched some YouTube and answered some emails regarding the spring musical that our elementary school is putting on! Have I talked about that yet on here? 🤔 I’ll have to look back. Anyway. I did a little work on that, and fielded some schedule changes. It was relaxing and also productive – my sweet spot.

School is out now, and the kids will be home soon. I need to make supper right away here, and then I’m out for the evening once Brady is home! Just here in town, thank goodness. Its too cold out there to go anywhere far for any length of time.

Stay warm, friends 💜

I was in Walmart yesterday and my family was waiting in the van. I was looking for a pretty specific yarn that I have been having trouble finding recently. Brady texted at one point and asked if it was going well. I said it was and that I was finding some alternatives. I asked him if it was going ok in the van, and he said it was. And then he sent this picture.

I responded with something along the lines of “It seems like it isn’t…” He told me everything was under control and already over, and that it was a good story. But as you might imagine, I didn’t exactly drag my feet exiting Walmart to rejoin my family.

I opened the back of the van to put my purchases in, and immediately Laela piped up.

“Something bad happened!”

Every parents favorite sentence. I told her I’d be inside in just a second to hear about it.

And this is what happened 

The whole point of the trip to Saskatoon was a change of scenery. No one went in anywhere except me. The kids were going to stay in the van, so they all just wore jammies, most of which were onesies. While they waited, they were playing. Kicked off seat belts. Music was going. Everyone was being silly. All was well. And Laela and Rowan began “being potatoes,” which apparently means they put their arms and legs into their onesies and just sat in a ball. Get it? They were potatoes. At one point, the Morsel dropped their toy – a pop-it. And without hesitation, Rowan got down to grab it.

However. Rowan was a potato.

So by “got down” I mean that Rowan dive bombed the floor of the van and landed square on his face.

Ok so nothing about this is funny. Not yet, anyway. Just a second.

So he was on the ground, absolutely screaming. Screaming to a degree that he sent the entire group into hysterics. Everyone was in total panic. When he started actually saying words, Rowan was screaming: “THERE’S BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!!” He couldn’t verbalize what had happened, and he refused to get up. When asked, he offered up the kicker.

“I AM A POTATO!!!”

*sigh*

😅

Part of me was sad that I wasn’t there when it happened, but actually, I think its great that I wasn’t. For me, anyway. Sucks to be Brady 😬 But it was definitely nicer for me to come back to the group when it was already over and was funny.

As of this morning, Ro is left with a gash on his lip, and the bridge of his nose is pretty swollen. But he’s in good spirits, and thinks the whole thing is totally hilarious.

And because he insists, I present to you 🙌 the potato itself.

…perhaps slightly more mashed that it needs to be, but a potato nonetheless. Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?

🥔

Child number 🖐 finally has officially lost her two front teeth!!! One front tooth finally came out shortly before Christmas, but try as we might, no one could convince her to yank the other before Christmas. No corny songs could be sung over the holidays about her two front teeth, and all were disappointed, except her, who was happy to still have the one.

However, that little tooth was hanging lower and lower, and for a few days, she worked at it. She really wanted it out. She would often be seen with a kleenex in hand, and she’d give her tooth a pull here or there when she had worked up the courage. No dice. She petitioned a couple of kids to help her but no one could get it, and she was tiring of how much it hurt when someone was unsuccessful at trying to pull her teeth.

So, full disclosure, I think teeth falling out is super sketchy and gross. I’ll do it for my kids, of course, but I really don’t like it. Its not my thing. I hated losing teeth as a kid, but my kids think its awesome. Wavys tooth was so bothersome to her that when she asked me, I decided to be brave and say yes, and give it my level best and pull that thing out.

And guys. It was surprisingly in there! Like, locked in! So I told her it wasn’t ready, and she was bummed. I encouraged her to keep working at it, and she walked off, soggy kleenex in hand.

It wasn’t long before I noticed that one front tooth was a bit more central, with space on both sides, and was riding lower. She asked me again for help and I said yes. It was time. It HAD to come out!

And I kid you not. It would NOT come out. I yanked truly with all my might and I even shook it a little, and gave it some twist. I made it bleed, but that sucked STAYED!!!

So when Brady was around next, she went to him and asked if he would pull it. He said yes and then she got super nervous. But she stood bravely and Brady pulled it out quickly. She jumped a little, wide eyed, and then cried 💜 Poor little sweetie.

She had some blood and tears and then I showed her how she looked in my phone and all was right with the world.

When all was said and done, Brady had looked at me with a bit of surprise in his face and said that, as little as was still holding that tooth in, it was STRONG! I was mildly validated by that, not having been a weakling after all, but rather, it was truly super in there still!

Whew! The toothless wonder is finally here. My last kid to lose her two front teeth, which is an adorable stage of life for the kids 💜

Anyway. She’s a cutie 💜 Nice gums, girly!

I tried 😅

Some days, the babies are just TOO SCREAMY for anyone around them to think. We’ve tried to reinstate the occasional Friday night movie as a family, and tonight, the babies just wouldn’t hack it. But its too early to put them down. So as a group, we decided to give them a half hour or so, then put them to bed, and then finish the movie. It’s nice to be able to keep the others a bit longer these days. The kids can all handle it better than they used to. One of the perks of aging, I suppose.

So the babies are in high chairs, having some crackers. Solly is overseeing their snack. Laela is practicing piano. Brady is prepping coffee for our standing Saturday morning coffee date. The rest of the group is spread out through the living room, reading.

Once the babes are down, we plan to eat a little popcorn and chocolate, and I am going to crochet the rest of the movie away. I think I have to shift my entire pattern plan, so I’m running through the details piece by piece. Its time consuming, but important. The artist part of me hasn’t gone anywhere. It is just less productive than it once was. It takes more breaks.

However, naturally, as soon as I said there are only two projects I have to focus on next, I remembered I have two more to add to that docket. So actually, four. One will be fast. One will be fast once I figure it out. One will be SLOW. And one will be slowER! And ideally, they’d all the done this spring. The ONE that could wait is the one I am the most eager to get into 😅 Isn’t that how is always happens??

Anyway. I have a lot of feelings these days and they come out pretty jumbled. I’m really happy its the weekend. What does your weekend hold?

Today was large and tiring and relieving and GOOD. I am tired. But not in a gross, overdone type of way. Not in a strongly rewarding way either. Just. Contentment, perhaps.

I got flowers today. That was really nice 💜 It felt extra special to be seen and loved on purpose like that. I think everyone loves that feeling once in a while. Thank you, sweet Cherice. I really love you.

I’ve sat with my beautiful flowers, troubleshooting a crochet pattern I’m working on, listening to the Wicked soundtrack. Meanwhile, Laela and Rowan are drawing at the table to wind down a little before bed. Rowan just dipped his pencil in his yogurt, because, ADHD. 😅

I’m ready to wrap the day. Feed the baby. Watch some Beastmaster. Eat a snack. And do not a whole lot else. Sleeping sounds goooood.

Tomorrow, Cher is coming to clean tomorrow, where I’m confident Wicked will continue to play on repeat. Perhaps I’ll keep crocheting on my project a little. There is lots to do, but Fridays are a bit of a free for all, so I feel restful about tomorrow.

Sleep well, all 💜

Today was a day of laundry, nose wiping, and tidying up the giant mess that was left behind in yesterday’s chaos. I did a puzzle while the babies napped. Once the kids came home, I ducked into my room to get ready for my evening daaaaate!! 😍

This chickypants and I went to see Wicked!!! 💚

See, movies are really few and far between for us, so we arranged it all last fall to go to a movie, and the whole thing turned into a bit of a mess. Long story short, we got free passes, and used them to get here today. We ate free popcorn, drank ferociously expensive pop, and sat comfier than ever before in a movie!!

My only regret was not bringing a blanket. It was SO comfy, but a blanket definitely wouldn’t have made it worse, lol!

The movie was so incredible. I could launch into a full review but what I can tell you was that I died a little on the inside when it ended and no one stood to applaud. The music was so fun, and the cast was STRONG. It was a fabulous movie, and I cannot wait for the next part to be released! It seems another movie date will have to be in order 💜

I know, stop it, we are sooooo beautiful 😅😎

Thanks for spending the evening, beautiful girl 💜 We’ll have to throw this on the Echo on Friday!

Today was always going to be a chaotic day. Nothing was bad, per se, but there were just so very many moving parts every which way. SO many things to remember. WAY more than average. Add to that a few things that riled up emotions, a few things that were challenging, and then driving to and from the city twice. The entire day was going to be a bit of a crap shoot.

But plans changed, as they do, and they flipped right the heck over on their head. I can’t even begin to describe it, but I can tell you that its 9:15pm and I still haven’t eaten supper. And I can’t yet, because there is still SO MUCH TO DO!!! 😅😩 Sooooo forgive me for being annoyingly cryptic. It won’t always be this way. But man alive, this day held so much more than I ever thought possible.

Unrelated to literally everything about this post, but cannot be missed – Brady’s quote of the day from just this moment –

“Crips don’t got jobs!”

And he does not mean the gang…..

🥱

Sooooo… goodnight.