I’d love to post ALL about today. ALL about seeing my sister and her beautiful family for the first time since covid really knocked everything out of whack. ALL about how the kids did so well together. ALL about the presents we opened and ALL about the food we ate.
Yet, after such a beautiful day, my head is throbbing and I need to pack it in early. So rather, I’m going to leave you with the knowledge that today, Wavy called her cereal “yucky charms.” And I really liked it. So I thought maybe you would too.
Who wouldn’t, really? No one can not swoon at that mess of post-ponytail hair and that little crinkled nose. 💜
You guys were all so encouraging after I posted the blankets I made for the kids Christmas gifts. Thank you for that. 💜I am truly happy with how they all turned out. I felt accomplished and content when they were all finished and given.
I tried to look back to see how many blankets I had actually finished, and there were more than I thought! So I figured I’d compile them all in one post 🙂 Enjoy!
I finished two in May. Solly’s, and my first one for Laela that fell apart and had to be completely scrapped. Yes, I’m still counting it, because it was a WHOLE BLANKET!
In June, I finished Wavy’s.
July held Cher’s birthday blanket, which I have virtually no pictures of because I was hiding it from her! But she took one for me 🙂 I also made a beautiful round baby blanket for *shrug* who knows. Some baby. Somewhere. Lol!
In August, I made a blanket for each of my sister.
In September, I finished Rowan’s Christmas blanket, a baby blanket for Cher’s friend, and I also did a stash buster throw that used up a ton of smaller pieces I had from a different project gone bad.
In October, I made Dekker’s blanket, and then made another one for an order, as well as a replica of a blanket I made for Cher last Christmas.
In November, I made a blanket for my doctor. Because she is family, if that was unclear.
Aaaaand in December, I made a blanket for my friend whose name I pulled in the gift exchange, as well as finishing Laela’s blanket. Finally.
So, there it is! Sixteen blankets total! Since May. I couldn’t force myself to crochet while Brady was away, and now, I can’t stop!
Its possible I’m already elbow deep in another one 😆 Stay tuned!
I love this tradition we’ve started with the beerdvent calendar each December. It’s an extra little perk I can look forward to during the Christmas season. Each day there’s the anticipation of what the beer might taste like that day. Whether it’ll be surprising and fun or a total fail while I struggle to finish it. Even the total fails are fun. 😁
Anyways, here’s my notes for this years calendar. Hopefully you can be informed a little and laugh along with us. Enjoy! 🍻
1. Shape Shifter Session Ale w/ candied oranges – 4% – Light Beer – Great kick off, a light ale, hint of orange, not too fruity. Right up my alley! – 4/5
2. Seven Seas White IPA w/ dulse and sea salt – 5.6% – Strong Beer – A step up from yesterday surprisingly. Crisp and refreshing with a hint of salt. An IPA to be admired! – 5/5
3. Reverberator Belgian Pale Ale w/ brettanomyces – 5% – Beer – another light ale. Not as crisp as the previous two. Slightly heartier with more traditional ale flavour. – 3/5
4. Honey I’m Home Heather and Honey Ale – 4.7% – Beer – Smooth and sweet, this ale was an easy one to drink quickly. It went especially well with my wife’s pickle nachos. Yum! – 4/5
5. Sonic Fruits Guava Sour – 4.7% – Beer – This is a beer I’d buy a whole case of and drink at the lake. Slightly sour, but not too sweet either. Like a manly lemonade! Ten outta ten!! – 5/5 (Hailey’s note: I really liked this one! Best one of the box, in my opinion! Weird to say I’d drink a whole can of something sour, but it was SO good!)
6. Technocolour Multi-Berry Wheat Ale – 5.7% – Strong Beer – Not my favourite beer of the group. Probably my least favourite actually. Too much berry and not enough beery. – 2/5
7. Little Helper Premium Rice Lager – 5.5% – Beer – a pretty average beer. No crazy flavours. No strong flavour. I’d call it decent. – 3/5
8. Puzzle Piece Barrel Aged Dry Hopped Sour – 6.9% – Strong Beer – that first sip.. Bam!! It’s a shock to the system. Almost too much so. But the flavour is fantastic once you get used to how strong it is. Very tasty. But too sour to drink more than one in a sitting. I wouldn’t buy a whole case.
9. False Nine West Coast IPA w/ Kveik Yeast – 5.5% – Beer – another very solid IPA. I love IPAs so I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nothing put it over the top though. Nothing stands out. – 4/5
10. Knighty Night Mexican Hot Chocolate Porter w/ Cacao Nibs, Cinnamon, and Guajillo Chili – 6% – Strong Beer – Much like the name, there was too many things in this beer. I’m not a big fan of porters so this one was weird for me. Tasted a lot like a stout. *shrug emoji* – 2/5
11. Metro Gnome Barrel Aged Brett Farmhouse w/ Elderflower and Rose – 6.1% – Strong Beer – This is a delightful beer. Tastes like candy in a beerful, manly way. I would buy a whole case of this. – 4/5
12. Mr Needles Fir Pale Ale – 6.1% – Strong Beer – NOT a fan of this one! Felt like I was drinking the water from my Christmas Tree stand about 3 months after Christmas when the tree is turning moldy. – 1/5 (Hailey’s note: It smells right but tastes WRONG! Can a drink sting?)
13. True Sounds Session Bière De Garde w/ Coriander – 5.5% – Smooth and unremarkable. Sometimes it’s nice to have an unremarkable beer. Just decent. Not shocking. One thumb up! – 3/5
14. Illuminatus Hoppy Cerveza w/ Corn – 4.5% – Beer – This is a cross between a light beer like a corona and an IPA. Refreshing and easy to drink. Just a bit hoppy, to make you just a bit happy. – 4/5
15. (Hailey) Chasing Rainbows Tropical Stout w/ Rapadura Sugar – 6.3% – Strong Beer – Not especially tropical. Some hints of fruit but not as much as I’d like. I probably wouldn’t drink it again but it was alright. – 3/5 (Hailey’s note: We got behind in his beer drinking so I took one for the team. Good not great 🤷🏼♀️It was better than his, but he says his was better than mine.)
16. Uncle Gaston Hazy IPA – 6.5% – Strong Beer – A very respectable beer! I love IPAs so this was a win for me. Hazy is a great word to describe it. Kinda washy and full bodied. Would definitely buy again! – 4/5
17. David Hasselhops Double IPA – 8.0% – Strong Beer – IPAmazing! (Say it out loud. 😏) This was a stellar beer! No tricks. No extras. Just flavour. Top Notch! – 5/5
18. Whiteout Tequila Sour White IPA – 7.0% – Strong Beer – Excellent! I loved this one! So smooth it almost doesn’t taste like beer. But not overly sweet at all. Excellent! – 5/5
19. Open Saison Hot Toddy Saison – 6.0% – Strong Beer – Not a winner for me. It smelled like baby vomit and alcohol and it didn’t taste too far off from that. I got used to it as the meal went on but there was never a redeeming moment. – 2/5
20. Eau Rouge Tart Tomato Ale – 5.0% – Beer – The flavour was not terrible. It was a mix of tomato juice and Clamato and beer. However, it was the burpiest beer if ever had. Every sip required a large burp with a hint of spit up. Very difficult to get through. -2/5 (Hailey’s notes: Barfity barf barf 🤮 I have nothing against tomato or clamato but this beer was disgusting. I’ve never heard Brady complain about a beer more than this year. His 2/5 is generous. He’s clearly just blocked the memory out. He hated it.)
21. Jingle Jangle Red Velvet Imperial Milk Stout w/ Cocoa, Vanilla, & Lactose – 8.5% – Strong Beer – A very stouty beer. Strong flavour. Not for the faint of heart. Not a beer I’d drink everyday but I would drink it again. – 3/5
22. Yea Old Boy Double Brown Ale – 7.4% – Strong Beer – This one was pretty smooth. Pretty average flavour for a darker beer. Relatively unremarkable. But I would drink it again. – 3/5
23. Yes Mate Belgian Tripel – 7.7% – Strong Beer – another beer I found rather unremarkable. Decent flavour, nothing special. I’d buy this again but not for the novelty. – 3/5
24. Santa Baby Barrel Aged Strawberry Basil Sour – 6.4% – Strong Beer – What a way to end the beerdvent calendar. What. A. Dud. This is one to skip because it is as bad as it sounds. It got worse as it went and I almost couldn’t finish it. Wahwah. – 1/5
Final notes
I enjoyed this year a lot! There was never a repeat! Always a new beer to try and be challenged with. Years ago I discovered I really enjoy IPAs by being challenged by a beerdvent calendar, so I try to taste every beer with a positive attitude. You never know what you might like. It’s surprising! 😁
I have to say it started with a bang! The first five days were exceptional! Two 5 outta 5s in 5 days, and I was excited for the rest of the case.
The middle stretch had a handful of duds including Mr Needles. I’ve had that one twice now and I don’t know why I drank it this second time. It doesn’t just taste bad, it’s difficult to drink. I don’t know why I subjected myself to that again. 🤢
The last 5 days or so was a fail. I’m not sure why they planned it like this but there was not a single beer I genuinely enjoyed. You know, a beer you taste for the first time with raised eyebrows and a ‘hmmm, not bad.’ That didn’t happen. Poor planning on their part. Or maybe it’s just my taste. 🤷♂️
But I’m still so glad to have had the beerdvent calendar again. I enjoy the experience every year. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys beer of any kind and needs to get out of their comfort zone. 😁
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my distaste for Mr Needles. 😬
I took it upon myself to make the kids each a blanket for Christmas this year. I had considered this early in the year as something I would try. And then all hell broke loose and for the life of me, I could not find the strength within myself to crochet. Not. A. Stitch. The entire time Brady was gone, I could not do it.
You’ve probably noticed, but its become a real passion of mine, and when Brady came back home mid-April, the crochet bug bit hard and I got to it!
It got down the wire, but it got done!!
All five kids got a blanket for Christmas!!
Wavy was the first to open a present yesterday, and she opted for the biggest one. Her blanket. Her reaction was an excellent one to start off with because she was SO happy! She unzipped her bag and shrieked “CROCHETIN’!!!”
Waverly’s blanket is made using the harlequin stitch in vertical stripes. I used multiple purples (multipurples?) alternating with a sparkly white yarn. I put coordinating tassels along the edges.
Rowan was the next kid to open his blanket. He might be my most sentimental child, and he was so excited to have his blanket. Immediately, he asked if he could swap out his current blanket for his new one.
I had a very different idea for Rowan’s blanket, and bought a bunch of blues in preparation for it. It wasn’t long into that pattern that I realized the pattern would drive Rowan completely crazy. So I opted for something simpler and softer. Ombre blues, diagonally, using the moss stitch. It has a really thick beefy border all around it.
Solomon was next, and he was one I didn’t think would care too terribly much about it. I was right, hahaha! Not that he didn’t like it, but the excitement of present opening far superseded the excitement around each actual gift. It wasn’t just the blanket. It was everything he opened, lol!
Solomon’s blanket was the first one I finished. Its made with triangles in horizontal stripes, with one big blue tassel in each corner. I couldn’t tell you why but, for some reason, this blanket just screamed Solly’s name to me.
Dekker was next. At this point, the big kids definitely knew they had one coming, and they had saved their blankets closer to the end of their gifts. Dekker was really excited to check his out!
Dekker’s blanket is probably my favorite. Its plaid! I made it by crocheting basically a big mesh blanket, and then I made long chains that I weaved in and out of the spaces. There is SO much versatility to this pattern! But I will say, I was commissioned to make this exact blanket for someone else this season, and I believe it went over well! The woven plaid blankets are SO cool!
Laela saved her blanket for last 💜 Which is fitting because hers was absolutely a labour of love. Do you remember my huge crochet blunder? I made her an entire blanket and it all fell apart. So it felt like a lot was riding on her liking her blanket.
Laela’s blanket was made off of a pattern that I modified off of a pattern I found for a floor mat. I made it in a crochet style called c2c, or corner to corner. Its a specific stitch pattern similar to a block stitch, and I worked off of a graph to know when to change/add colors. It was a painstaking process, and there were about a million ends to tuck in at the end, but we got it done! The day before Christmas!!
While I don’t expect it to happen for long, all five kids wanted to sleep with their new blanket last night. 💜 Aaaaand it was fun to harass them first thing in the morning for pictures! Isn’t that what parents are for?
Crocheting has graduated from a hobby to a real love of mine. I think I might need to step it up and advertise myself a little 😬 If you are in need of some custom crochet, I’m your girl!
As always, I will preface this post by saying I know Christmas isn’t all about the presents. Not at all. But consider that this post is easy, and can be written mostly in advance, so its what you get! Haha!
There was a lot of repetition in this years gifts. I had big goals of doing a full homemade Christmas for everyone, and that just didn’t happen. And thats ok. I let it go a long time ago. I didn’t have all my ducks in a row to even specifically get the categories together. But I’ll tell you what I did get to.
All five kids got a hover ball! They’re supposed to be thrown and come back to you. We haven’t quite mastered the art yet. Mostly we chuck them and they fly around on the floor like cats. But they are well loved and the kids are super excited about them.
All five kids got a hoodie. They are all in the family of that particular style of cozy clothes with the white cuffs with a red stripe. They’re all different shades of grey/blue, and some are zippered while others are pullovers. I’ve scoured Value Villages throughout the year for them to all have something that at least kind of matched.
All five kids got a paid of jammie pants. Dekker got thinner red plaid from a liquidation store. Laela got fleece mermaid scaled pants. Rowan got fleece pants with green, black, and grey triangles. Solly got thinner green plaid pants. Wavy got white cozy fleece lined leggings with a fair isle pattern on them.
All five kids got a book of lifesavers.
All five kids got a Christmas book. Dekker got Geronimo Stilton’s Christmas Carol. Laela got a Christmas themed Narwal and Jelly book. Rowan got a Christmas Robert Munsch book. Solly’s was my favorite – he got a book called Vegetables in Christmas Underwear, and its exactly as it sounds. Wavy got a book called You are My Merry Little Christmas, which is a cute take off of You are My Cupcake, which we really like.
The kids got a new devotional to share. We finished a really great one up earlier this year, and this is a new one by the same author. They are REALLY good devotionals.
Aaaaand all five kids got something else but thats going to be its own post.
I got sparkle balls that Brady ordered secretly earlier this year.
Brady got festive fancy underwear, a beard shaping tool, and a mug that speaks the truth.
My mom got potholders. I know. Thats it. But she’s nice and understood 💜
And there is more to come, but we have the opportunity to celebrate more in a few days with family 💜
For today, we celebrate the birth of Christ, without which we wouldn’t be so fortunate.
From our family to yours, we wish you the merriest of Christmases. I hope your garbage collector is as cute as ours!
The last couple of days have been rich with celebrating. I’m beating myself up that I don’t have pictures to show, but I was present and occupied, and I think thats ok 🙂
We had our day in Kinistino, and then spent the next evening driving around Saskatoon, looking at lights. And then tonight, Christmas Eve, we spent time with more of our people – those beautiful across the street neighbours I mention so often. They knew my mom was staying with us for a few days over Christmas, and invited her to join. We celebrated Christmas as a family, and it really felt how it should, if that makes any sense at all. Normal. Warm. Friendly. The kids played downstairs, and the rest of us hung out upstairs, prepped food, sipped sangria, and chatted. The conversation flowed easily and the food was unreal. It was a family Christmas gathering at its finest! The kids had the pleasure of opening thoughtful gifts that hit the mark beautifully.
We stayed until just after 7:00, and once everyone was home and unloaded, every one of them was ready for bed. Even Dekker asked to go to bed early. It was just time. We had had such a nice time. It was that good, mushy, content tired feeling. You get it.
As lovely as our evening was, I am absolutely beside myself with exhaustion. I am ready to pack it in for the night. Goodnight, friends. I hope you all have a merry Christmas tomorrow, filled with light and laughter.
Believe it or not, there are just not enough hours in a day! And today is no different! Conveniently, most of the kids are quiet and extra tired today, and those that aren’t are occupied and happy. Wavy and Laela are reading. Solly switches between reading and tracing his hands on paper. Also he does this.
Rowan is making Christmas cards at the island. Dekker went with my mom to help with some grocery shopping. Its SO cool when they age to a point where they can actually help help and its not just an experience, haha!
Brady is in Saskatoon, getting his bloodwork done, as he always does before a chemo cycle. He’s going to kill some time and run a few errands after that, and hopefully be able to pick up his chemo meds before he comes home! And also yarn… Because thats always the case. Don’t worry, he’s not bitter.
Meanwhile, I’m blogging (big duh) and plan to wrap presents and get some addresses together during nap time. I’ve made a big batch of party mix and need to babysit that a little bit this afternoon. I’m also planning out my next crochet project that I am SO excited for! It might be for me. It might be for sale. I’m not sure yet. But stay tuned! Just have to decide the official color palette…
Might have to choose all three, hahaha!
I hope your day is relaxed and productive all at once like mine 💜
We had the blessed opportunity to join some dear friends of ours out at their home for the day. We know them from our lake, and we live far enough away from one another that we haven’t seen each other since this summer. We were honoured to be invited, and eagerly accepted their invitation. We got the kids up this morning in the dark, got them dressed and in the van. We grabbed breakfast at Tims and took the all to familiar drive in their direction. They leave closer to PA, which is the direction of our lake, and we really enjoy that drive! It was only fitting that we drove that way to spend the day with our camp people 💜
We spent the day chatting about our lives and catching up while the kids played hard as if no time had passed. They just fell right into one another. It did my heart sooooo good. Between the nonstop conversation, we ate delicious meals and yummy treats, and we even spent some time outside! They poured a bit beautiful rink, and we even shared a fire 🔥 which made it feel even MORE like camp! Summer can’t come soon enough! Though today was rich all on its own 😍
Once we got Solly back into boots, he was actually maybe the best first time hockey player from our family!! I was impressed!
These two have marriage plans in the works since they were informed their spontaneous summer marriage didn’t count 😆
Oreo was a very happy girl! She had a few boundary issues but even the little ones were less nervous around her by the end! Win!
These two ladies were basically attached at the hip. Miss Avery is SUCH a mommy 😍
We sat in the living room after supper, with only Christmas lights on. Their place was lavish with lights, and it felt so comfortable and lovely. We were at total ease, and that isn’t something that one just finds anywhere. Especially in our new circumstances, we haven’t been out in peoples homes yet at all, so this was a bit of a dry run, and it was smooth and simple.
We are SO grateful for today, with our friends. We anticipate so many more visits over the years to come! Sometimes friendships grow slowly, and sometimes there is an undeniable click. And we have found the latter.
The day wrapped up hard yesterday. I won’t get into it. But I was a wreck. Since my meds have been sorted out, I’ve been so much clearer and level, but goodness yesterday just pushed me over the edge. I struggled and failed and did not come out on top. I still felt it this morning, but the show still had to go on! Now that I am tucked in upstairs for a rest, I am able to see clearly that there were some successes along the way. Some. Definitely not all. But it counts.
Yesterday in the midst of struggle, my kids all ate their supper without complaining. I was on my own with them, and felt completely gutless. I opted to make scrambled eggs, but rather than just doing toast and eggs, which is perfectly acceptable and happens a lot here, I fried up some leftover peppers to go into the eggs, as well as adding leftover bacon and shredded cheese. My kids don’t care for things all mixed together, but clearly I felt strong enough to take that risk, and it went over well. I know some people believe that children can’t understand gratefulness until they’re older, but when my three year old gets my attention and says “Mommy, I love this meal! Thank you for making this!” I will beg to differ. It was a total win.
Last night I also whipped up some Christmas treats. I originally counted this as a bit of a fail because it wasn’t a complicated treat and they didn’t turn out perfectly. But I can see now that the fact that I even tried counts for something. And they don’t look great, but they’re yummy! So its a win!
Once everyone was down for the night, I remembered to take my medication at the right time, and crocheted an entire toque before going to bed! Win win!
This morning I had the tiniest bit of heartburn brewing within me, but I didn’t panic, and I ate some toast, and it simmered down to nothing. A HUGE win!! Also, it was a good healthy reminder of why I’m still on heartburn medication. Sometimes I get ballsy and think about kicking off of it fast, cold turkey, and its usually right as that idea starts bubbling up that the acid does, too. God knows. I hear You. Currently, that heartburn med is a win, and I’m grateful for it.
Cher came with me this morning to get some snacks from Coop to carry us through the Christmas munchies. I felt scattered and wished I had been more organized. Yet, we got everything we came for! Win!
On top of ALL of these things that felt like flops in the moment, I can say with confidence that there is love and security in my life, with all of our people and all of our relationships. THAT is the biggest win of these bumpy weird days. My failures were really just bumps. I am abounding with gratefulness for the loving people we are blessed to have in our lives.
The season is upon us, and the all the cute things that come with Christmas holidays are upon us! Games and colouring are out in full force! This is the tidiest you’ll see our home for the rest of the calendar year, and lets be real, also January.
Thank you to Cher and Rae for the activities pictured here 💜
So I’m going to be honest here. You’ve probably noticed this is the absolute latest we’ve put Christmas decorations up, and thats my fault. There is deep grief surrounding me this season, and I could barely wrap my head around putting up things that would take energy I didn’t have, only to have to take the blinking things down so soon after! Feels like a make-work project for me. But alas, the kids ache for normalcy, so we pull it together.
I only cried a couple of times, so thats better than I thought!! 😆💪
I don’t have lots and lots to say about yesterday, as it was such a significant stretch for me, but please enjoy the pictures taken by Brady and Cher 💜
The boys in the plaid jammies only made the place look more Pinteresty 😍
My mom purchased very special blown glass hand painted ornaments for each child as they celebrated their first Christmas. So our one tradition with decorating the tree is having each child hang their own precious ornament.
Good thing Dekker is old enough that I can harass him and know he won’t drop it! Hahahaha!
It all turned out to be a great success.
Roles may have shifted hard this year, but there is still unity and deep love.
Thank you, God, for bringing us through this day, and keeping us all peaceful and restful, knowing You are praised outside of all the decorations or traditions.
