I had a little bit of time to kill ALONE in the city the other day. This. Never. Happens. I decided to actually do things I didn’t have to do, because I always do. Plus I knew I was going in the next day for groceries anyway 😆 I could justify actual downtime! So I got an iced coffee and went to Value Village to scope for Christmas gifts, haha! I never ever get to shop while holding a coffee. Like. No exaggeration. It never happens anymore.

While I did not surface with Christmas gifts as I had hoped, I did come out with a crazy awesome haul that I felt really good about. Some of it was specific for the babies and maybe held a few too many details, so I’ll leave that stuff out, but I’ll show you what I did find that I’m excited about!

Probably most exciting for me was this summer quilt. I love finding these handmade quilts, they are such treasures! This picture doesn’t do the blanket justice, but the flowers on the white squares are neon!!! It is SUCH a fun blanket, and a nice twin size.

An infant life jacket! I have some old ones from garage sales and such, but they’re not this nice. I really like these ones but they’re SO expensive! Not only was it a fraction of the full price I’d have paid in a store, but its also BRIGHT, which is important this summer, as I have mischievous babies this summer who I am doing all I can not to leash, hahaha! So we’re going with bright colors for now!

Mugs. My vice. This mug drinks SO nicely. The handle is nice and big. Its a really really nice mug.

Just, summer. Festive. Popsicles. I love it.

This one reminds me of the pottery I only dream of making. I want these for bathroom glasses. So this one is for me. I love the little thumb squish.

Another little summery quilt, but baby style! I snag these from time to time when I come across them for future babies that come into my care. This one was $2.50, and it has mermaids and tie dye. It does not deserve to die in a thrift store.

Ok. Hear me out. This wallet is also neon. Its VERY bright in person. And its also worn in the corners. Its not perfect by any means. However, its a wallet made my 31 Gifts that I’ve been curious about for years but couldn’t justify the $80 🤮 pricetag. This one, however, was considerably less, so I jumped! It has SO many card pockets but still has nice zipper pouches and space for other items. I like it!

Old school Tupperware shape sorter. The best shape sorters, in my opinion. Cheap. With all the shapes. A great score.

I got these shoes for Laela. She got some new-to-her shoes recently for summer, but she’ll need indoors for school as well, so I found these for only a few bucks. They fit her great! She loves them.

And shoes for ME!! These are the cutest, weirdest flats I’ve ever seen. I love them. They’re Puma. The kids think they’re water shoes. I think they’re adorable and hilarious.

Also these shoes for me. I’ve had the same beater pair of runners for absolute YEARS and they are so sad and dirty and messy now, covered in spark holes and muck. They can remain for the season, and go to and from the lake with me. But these are for non-sandal days around here. I wore them yesterday and loved them. A total win.

And I had a whole iced coffee to boot!!

I could’ve done more damage, but I left some AWESOME things behind. A huge box of K’NEX. Hilarious signage for the home. A wood burning stove lamp. Awesome thing. But this was great as it was 💜 I’m so grateful to have gotten some good time away by myself. Things have been wildly bumpy over here for a bit now, and this was a nice little break for my brain.

While I can’t say retail therapy is always a healthy coping mechanism, or really ever the ideal thing to reach for, this timed out really nicely, and I felt extra grateful for the items, the coffee, and the time away.

Thank you, Lord, for providing in all kinds of strange ways! 💜

Brady is three weeks deep into radiation, and I firmly believe that the prayers from those near and far are a huge contributing factor to why he is doing so well 💜 So THANK YOU for praying and thank you, LORD, for consistently providing!

So week three actually wrapped up yesterday, but Cher’s birthday was more important, obviously. Cancer doesn’t get to take anything else from us 🙅‍♀️ So we’ll talk about it today.

Week one brought about very little change.

Week two we noticed Brady’s legs had weakened significantly, more likely from the chemo than the radiation.

Week three isn’t altogether different. I remember noticing that Brady’s hair was holding up quite wekk towards the end of last week. However, yesterday he and I both noticed a much balder spot on the side of his head that is being treated directly with the radiation. I imagine his last shower claimed that patch of hair.

With this, we’ll be buzzing the sides down significantly shorter next time. No one is disappointed by that 🙂 Brady is loving this hairstyle, and I’m definitely not mad at it either!! 😍

That’s the main difference from last week to this week. He is managing well 💜 He has less than a week left on the ugly ani-seizure medication that messed him up so badly, and the lift is unmistakable. I’m SO happy for him 💜 We are working hard to avoid extra stresses or chaos, as that is proven to complicate healing and wellness. Those of us around us who consistently back us with love, consideration, and help are instrumental in Brady’s health and well-being, and for you, we are abundantly grateful.

Three weeks down, three weeks to go. We have crossed the halfway point! In radiation, that is. That is not the end of treatment, but being halfway done the first leg of it still feels like something worthy of praising the Lord. So let’s do exactly that.

My dear sister, Cher, turns 34 today!! 🥳 Her last year has been whirlwindy, and I know that because I love her more than most, and I am thrilled to be actively involved in her life! 💜

This year has been a GIANT year of change in both of our lives, and because we are so stinking close, our changes affect each others lives as well! I know our crazy has turned her scene upside down more than once or twice, but the consistent effort to show up for us and to be helpful and loving is unmistakable.

Cher has challenged herself more than I’ve ever seen in the past year. With 75 hard. With school. With physical and mental health. With her spiritual growth. She has sought help and put 👏 in 👏 the 👏 work!!!

In the last year, to really sum it up a bit too much, in my own life, we have added children and become MUCH busier with many things. And she has worked intentionally to roll with the punches and accept the big changes with grace, even though they definitely have not all been easy or without stress. Instead, she has become an even MORE invested auntie, if that’s even possible. She has spent so much intentional time with my kids, whether its having Wavy on one of her days of school, or Dekker for a movie on a Friday, she is connecting to each of them individually, and it is SUCH a special gift to all of us 💜 And if that’s not enough, she has bonded with our babies beautifully. I only wish I could show you those pictures, but I think you get the gist…

Cher is beautiful. Soft. Warm. Thoughtful. Funny. Helpful. Empathetic. Compassionate. Determined. She has all the things you want to find in your best friend. In your family. In your close people. And how fortunate am I to have found all of these things in Cherice – my best friend. My sister. My close person. It is such a pleasure to know her and love her 💜

Sweet Cherice, I love you deeply, my sister. My BEST friend. 💜💚🧡 You are worthy of ALL the love and celebration a day like today should hold, and I hope you feel it abounding! I love you I love you I love you!!!! 😘 All the way, in all the way!

Happy birthday, love 💜

We got our Laela back this weekend!!! She and Avery had an AWESOME time, but they were also very much missed by their families 💜

It was really nice to spend some good hot hours at the beach this weekend! We haven’t really gotten down there as much this season. It was so chilly for so long, and now its absolutely piping hot! So we couldn’t not!!! Though the air quality was less than ideal, we were still gung ho for the time at the beach with our dear Dahlsjos 💜

These two just crack me right up. They are SUCH a good pair!

Wavy got brave quick, and got up on the paddle board many times! She was kind of a rockstar on it, honestly! Super confident and balanced. She even took one of the other little guys out on some rides! Only dumped him off once 🤣

The kids swam. I sweat. We ate great food. The babies cried a lot. It was quite the weekend, haha! But it was lovely 💜 and we will happily be back again before long at all.

On the drive home, I crocheted 🥰 Brady drove. We drank iced coffee. It was peaceful. Except for the brief whooping from the backseat when Laela randomly lost a tooth that none of us knew was loose!

But we made it home in time to eat supper together, and then we went and picked up ice cream from our local ice cream stand who offered us some complimentary scoops in celebration of Brady getting his license reinstated! Isn’t that so incredibly lovely?? We thought so 💜

We are tucked in for the night. We are tired. Our AC works. We are grateful 💜 Thank you, Lord, for providing everything we need, and then lots of things that we don’t need, but that are lovely, also. It is not lost on us how fortunate we are 💜

The heat warnings have been on point these days. It is HOT to say the very least!!! Which is a weird thing to navigate at camp. 

The babies don’t do great with the ceaseless heat. They are exhausted pretty much 100% of the time. This is how Brady and I ended up splitting up for most of the day. He lurked in the camper and napped with the nappers while I went to the beach with the swimmers. And a couple of kids moved back and forth between the two spots. 

It was SO nice to be back, though. It may be smoky but it’s still homey. We love it here. And goodness it helps that our AC works!!! However, apparently it’s up and running at home, too, so wins all around!!! 

Tomorrow, we will once again have s’mores without a fire 🙄 and then try to hit the beach before we have some lunchy snacks and pack up for home. Last week was one of the hardest weeks we’ve had. Truly. Going home feels a bit large, but home is comforting and peaceful, and God has us in His hands, which we know we can fully rely on! Thank you Lord for always watching out for us!!! 

Sleep well, everyone! I know the heat is a lot but something tells me that it’ll end and fall will be right behind it! Let’s enjoy the hot before the cold moves in! 💜 

I could write a long blog post, but I won’t. Because. I’m going to crochet. 

While. 

Brady. 

Drives. 

😭 

After a LONG six months, Brady’s license was reinstated this afternoon. Just in time to take his family to the lake for the weekend! 

Anyway. As I said. Short post. Because I want to really enjoy todays drive up 💜 

Enormous congratulations, Brady. I am SO thrilled for you. I hope we both feel more like ourselves soon 💜

Yesterday ended really really tough. We didn’t get kids to bed until really late, which was hard. A couple who were going to sleep in their own rooms opted to room together. The house was finally quiet shortly after 10:00, and Brady and I were able to get some supper into our bodies – taco salads. Something about late night taco salads. I can’t explain it. They just hit different.

We got up this morning at a “normal” time for us for summer. It was around 8:00. Brady stayed home for the morning to be with everyone after the kerfuffle the night before. The house was a total wreck.

It doesn’t look horrible but yikes, we don’t leave it like this overnight ever. Its so yucky to wake up to the living room, dining room, and kitchen all in this level (or worse) of disarray.

Brady did as much work as he could from home, and I tried to get some housey stuff done at the same time. I rearranged the living room a bit. Hung up some cuuuuute new decor! The evening before, my mom had picked up and delivered a big stack of groceries for us, and they remained on the island. So I worked on that until I dropped a salsa. *sigh*

So. That sucked. Brady was working to install a security camera in the backyard and came back into the house to me sitting in the pantry, taking a breather. He very lovingly shooed me out of the pantry and cleaned up my mess while I took a second to recoup. I felt pretty frenzied, and this just proved to me how shot my nerves truly were.

Praise the Lord, the kids went to Tom and Rae’s for the afternoon so I could take Brady to work, and the morsel into the city for an appointment. Then, my mom drove Brady in to radiation, and I picked him up from radiation and took him to an appointment with Dr. Guselle. Goodness it was a FULL day! And like. Not the best.

However.

We are overwhelmed with gratefulness for our people. My mom and Rae watched the kids all day. My mom drove Brady in to the city today, and Rae drives him to work almost every day. Cher cleans our house right now and helps me keep up with the workload. She even left me a present in my underwear drawer today 😂 Tonight, we ate supper at Tom and Rae’s, in their WORKING air conditioning. We are surrounded in love, and its not lost on us how fortunate we are 💜

Tomorrow, our new AC unit will be installed! That cannot come soon enough!! 😅

😅

Goodness, guys. There is a LOT going on over here!

This month, we’ve decided to replace our laundry machines. They still work most of the time, but there are some things that are starting to lose their charm. The washer is front load, first off, which isn’t my favorite but I can live with. However, its starting to glitch pretty badly. It shows error messages regarding clogs that aren’t there, or it just slowly spins for hours, locked. Its also a lot smaller than we’d like it to be. So its been on our radar to replace it at some point. When the dryer started struggling as well, occasionally running a full cycle without drying at all, we figured we could replace the element and such, or we could just replace both machines like we knew we’d need to do eventually. So we did a bunch of researched and ordered machines from Hague Hardware. They were SO helpful when we ordered freezers, so we happily went back to them! In the last week, we ordered two BIG machines, both wifi capable, and they will be delivered, installed, and the old ones will be removed! Ack! I can’t WAIT!!! Hopefully they’ll come in the next two weeks or so!

This month, our bus started making a lot of noise. The thing is, with me driving SO MUCH, I really can’t be without the van for very long :/ We’ve been vetting a local mechanic for a while now, and Brady got in touch with him and told him as much. So the van went to him for one day, where he came back to us with a diagnosis, or an almost diagnosis. It will be one of two things. They cost about the same, and either one can be completed in one day. So I have the bus back until he has all the parts and is ready to get opened up. So again. One day. That is WAY easier to manage than an open ended “We’ll call you when its done.”

This month, specifically this week, our air conditioner stopped cooling. Because why not. 🥵 We troubleshot for a day or two, but frankly it is WAY too hot to keep doing that. Brady called Leah the Plumber and she came this morning to diagnose our issue. Her company has bailed us out once before in the Bitner house, and today was no different. But. It is a LOT bigger of an issue, lol! Sooooo, to go along with the theme, this month, we are getting a new air conditioner! 😅 Ours is both wrecked and also undersized for our home. Merp. So we’re getting one that is appropriately sized for our house, and redoing the ducting and such to accommodate for it. Apparently our furnace is also undersized, but with our in-floor heating, it still works just fine. One giant purchase at a time!

So. Its been kind of a nutty month so far. Its definitely felt a little bit “When it rains, it pours” but also, there is true peace about a lot of it, which we can only explain as a covering from God above. So forward we go!! And how HANDY is it that we have so many places to go in the coming days in our van with a good pumping air conditioner! At least that isn’t broken! 🤞

Thank you, Lord, for giving us peace, and ALWAYS providing for us!

It has been in the works for some time now, but it is not officially official! Brady has been promoted to sales manager!!! 🥳

Oof! He’s handsome!!! 😍

He has been working at Zak’s for just over two years now, and he has fallen into his role as a salesman SO much better than he ever imagined he would! He is so unbelievably invested in the sales team at his work, so when the sales manager left the company for something new, Brady began itching for the position. But, as you might have noticed, brain cancer sort of got in the way a little, and held a few things up. Then cancer treatment began, and it seemed like the ideal was waiting it out to see how the radiation would affect him. But Brady has more than proven himself, over and over and over again. He was told officially last week that he was being made sales manager, and yesterday, at their monthly sales meeting, it was announced to the staff. Brady is SO excited. 

We’re all thinking it. The timing stinks. Lol! But Brady is nothing if not determined and, even if he wears out a bit in a couple of weeks and has to miss some days and some hours, he is the more dedicated person for the job. 

They chose WELL. 

HUGE congratulations, Brady 💜 I am beyond proud of you, with ALL the things you already now, and now this – a management position!! I can’t help but feel like our eight children have prepared you for it just a little 🤏 but much of your drive has always been there, so I guess we can’t take full credit. I love you so much, honey. Onto the next adventure!

☝️👌 ✔️

Brady is down TEN radiation treatments today! Ten out of thirty.

Just about every day, I drive to pick Brady up from work, and we drive together to the cancer centre. There’s been construction on College bridge for so long, so my route has changed drastically from when I used to go for counselling and such. We get there, park in one of the two usual spots, depending on if there is anything extra to do in the cancer centre that day, and in we go. We never wait long before Brady is called back. Then he is masked and put up on the table, into the radiation machine for a mere two minutes or so, and then out he comes. We make a corny joke about how he’s healed now, and then we go back to the van, pick up some iced coffee, and drive home. Or, back to work, if its an earlier appointment. Its a quick turnaround, for which we are very grateful.

With two weeks of radiation down, Brady is feeling it all a bit more. He is still feeling MUCH better than you’d expect someone with his diagnosis to feel. The main thing he’s noticed is weakening in his legs. That happened last time he went through cancer treatment, so while he forgot about this side effect originally, he now remembers it and it feels less daunting that way. Conveniently, Brady has a wheelchair handy handi at all times, so weak legs aren’t such a big problem after all.

Thank you for diligently praying, friends 💜 It means the world to us, and I firmly believe it plays a role in Brady’s healing, as well as his mental health and wellbeing. God always provides, many times through His people. So thank you for being good neighbours in that way 💜 We don’t take it for granted!

Two weeks down! Four to go! 💪 Take care of us, Lord!