Most of us have that window of time where everyone and everything is a little extra struggly. I think, for many, its that stretch before bedtime. Ours is the stretch between school and supper. Its HARD. Yesterday, however, it was happy, and restful, and fun!
I had gone upstairs for a minute or two, and when I came down, this is what I saw.
The older kids had tucked in beside the Christmas tree with good books. They were calm and content, and not even fighting! 😆 Meanwhile, the little kids were hanging with Rowan while he made cookies with his PlayDoh. They were all laughing together the entire time, also not fighting. It was AWESOME!
It eventually graduated into a bit more rowdiness, with some horsey rides…
…but Dekker is just SUCH an amazing big brother! He never gets upset with Waverly, but just soaks up his playtime with her. Its pretty amazing to watch, honestly.
The whole point of todays blog is just that I’m SO grateful for my beautiful children, and so proud of them. Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you’ve given us!
Last night, after the little ones went to bed, Brady and I took the big kids out and around to deliver Christmas cards! It was SO cute!!
I’ve been itching to make a big long walk out of it, and take a jaunt all over town, delivering cards, gifts, and tupperware from people who have shared treats with us. But alas, Brady’s legs can’t take the distance, so we tweaked the plan a little and made it work in a cute new way!
The other day, I went to leave something in my own mailbox for someone else to pick up, and I discovered we had been left a couple of Christmas cards! It made me realize that I’m likely not the only person who doesn’t regularly check their mailbox, so I took a few extra minutes to curl some ribbon and tape it on to each card. It was an effort for the kids to put the card in the box while making sure the ribbon poked out! Watching the kids stretch and struggle to reach the mailboxes was terribly cute.
Definitely something we may do every Christmas season! We brought cookies along, listening to Christmas music, and really enjoyed the time together 🙂
I am so thankful we were able to do Christmas cards this year, not on our own at all! We had help from a couple of people to make them happen, you know who you are, and we couldn’t have had them without you!!
Last night, our local fire department put on a fireworks display for the town! It was SUCH a treat!! We usually have fireworks over our towns celebratory weekend in Spring, but it was obviously cancelled this year. It had ended up being cancelled last year as well, due to the dry weather and a fire ban, but they had opted to do one on New Years Eve. There was a great turnout, so another winter show was in order for 2020!
Brady and I had the pleasure of taking the big kids along, just the four of us ❤️ We’d have brought everyone, but we’re trying something new with the other kids that I’ll tell you all about another time. But with that change, the bedtime schedule is ultra important currently. And frankly, it was SO nice to just be the four of us!!
We turned off the van and cracked the windows so the pows were loud! The kids LOVED it!! They “woooooahed” the entire time. Dekker speculated about how the setup looked and where the leftover material went. Laela pointed out the colors she liked, and jumped at the really loud ones. We all laughed at the kids in the van next to us, screaming and exclaiming out of their sunroof. It was cute. Everyone was SO excited!
The show didn’t last terribly long, but the kids were so happy. It was SO worth it. It was just a really nice little outing, and a great morale boost!
Thank you, Lord, for a town that makes efforts to bring smiles to faces in otherwise dark/unconventional times.
Hokay, folks! There are VERY FEW weekends left before the Christmas break! While these days tend to wipe me out a little extra, I do truly enjoy them, and I also really love that rewarding, accomplished feeling at the end of the day.
So! The list!
Decide supper and prep it, if necessary.
Ribbon on cards.
Deliver cards/dishes/gifts.
Bathe kids.
Wrap some gifts (?)
Laundry.
Complete last crochet project.
Tidy desk.
Tidy island.
Tidy counter beside stove.
Catch up on messages. (If you’re expecting a message/response from me and you haven’t gotten it, its coming!! I’m just behind!)
Make notes for upcoming posts (MM, NYE recap, resolution check-in)
Put Christmas plans on calendar.
I know my posts in the last couple of days have been a bit similar, merely stating what needs doing. But these are the main things going on in life over here!! Root for us as we try to accomplish everything that needs doing while maintaining a happy family, a somewhat relaxing day, whatever that is! 😂
Sooooo the title is about how I’m feeling, haha! This morning was exceptionally flippy floppy.
I’ll leave that at that. It was tough. Struggly. Faily. In the midst of all the chaos, there was a glimmer of hope, with some hefty support, research, and love! I am hopeful there are positive changes on the horizon!
On top of basic family struggly stuffs, I have a couple of things looming over me that absolutely need doing! Ack! Never a dull moment in this season!!
I’m currently finding rest witht he Hamilton soundtrack, fleece lined leggings from Costco, baked goods, and exfoliating my body in the bath. What are simple pleasures that are helping you through stressful times?
You might remember a couple of weeks ago, I got a bit rattled and couldn’t piece together my own thoughts or feelings. I didn’t feel like myself, and more than just feeling a bit off. I wasn’t being dramatic. I felt very outside my mind, and it was pretty unsettling. My lovely Cher took it upon herself in that span of time to send me away for a bubble bath in the middle of the morning. While Solly was at preschool that day, she hung out with Waverly and I had a soak. It was SO nice.
Today, she decided again to offer me an hour for myself. I took her up on it, and started running a tub once Solly was dropped off. And if you’re from where I’m from, you already know that out of nowhere, the power kicked off!
It was weird. I stopped the bath and checked on Cher and Waverly. Cher had some important stuff to work on for school, and she needed the internet. That, and her laptop was almost dead. It was far from ideal, but within ten minutes or so, the power was back on! Woot! No panic necessary after all!
Thanks to the power coming back, I was able to get into my bath and watch an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that I’ve been wanting to watch for a good while now! This particular episode is all in french, and its a lot harder to read subtitles when you’re multitasking. And today, in my time to just rest and zone, I could! It was SO nice!
I got out just in time to go pick Solly up! Then the kids lunched and napped, and I made egg salad wraps. If you didn’t know, crunchy onions are SO good on egg salad!
This afternoon holds nothing but productivity for my family! I have countless things to accomplish, as you’ll know already if you read yesterday’s blog. And yet more piles on! One of these days I need to actually leave my house and go for a walk or something.
A walk. To deliver Christmas cards. Or gifts. Or everything else that I have to do…
Whew! There is no shortage of loose Christmas ends to tie up! I feel sooooo behind! 😆😩
I am missing ONE Christmas present! But I know what its going to be, I just have to get it!
I have to wrap everything!
I have to check in with my gift exchange group and make sure everything is going smoothly!
I have to arrange to drop off gifts for people that I already have on hand! (Jenn B, Amber L, Vanessa, Anne, Donalda)
I have to mail and deliver Christmas cards!
I have to plan a band date to make a video of some Christmas songs we put together!
I have to finish one last crochet project I committed to do before school is out!
I have to drop off a gift I was commissioned to make!
I have to write a few advance blogs that I always post over Christmas holidays!
I have to send teacher gifts to school with kids!
I have to call and find out if I’m still allowed to drop a gift for my doctor!
We have to put ornaments on the tree! Gah! How have we not done that yet?!?!
As I said, I am SO behind!! But then, a loving friend pops by with two gigantic trays of treats for our family. That paired with the cookies our children decorated the other day with our loving neighbours, if I don’t bake a single thing, there will not be a shortage of yummy desserts.
Guys, I feel SO fortunate in this season. Though I’m behind, we are SO well cared for, and what needs to get done will. God knows what we need. All the time.
Today was the day Waverly has been waiting for for months. This girl wants to go to preschool SO bad! She walks around the house with a backpack on, telling everyone she going to preschool on Friday, regardless of the fact that we had zero plans to take her to preschool. But today, I was the parent helper, and my people were otherwise occupied. I had no choice but to bring her!
Solly was almost as excited as she was. He couldn’t wait to show her around, get her a chair, and help her along the way. It was actually super adorable.
When they had free time, Wavy fit right in with everyone else. Solly “built cabinets like daddy” and Wavy was nearby, hammering alongside him.
Waverly wore a mask the whole time, tidied up toys better than some of the bigger kids, lined up with everyone, ate a snack, chatted, answered questions, and generally fit right in. She even did a craft. And Solomon couldn’t have been prouder of her. It was VERY cute.
She wasn’t so hard to include in the fun 🙂 She can come again.
PLEASE, friends, be sensitive. Only show love. Some of this stuff is so uncomfortable for me to share, yet its kind of been a big deal for me this year, and I’d like to talk about it, and have it on record in my blog books as something I experienced. Be gentle.
So. I’m shrinking.
If you’ve known me long enough, you know I’ve always been very petite. It really isn’t a big deal. Its just how its been. I’ve maintained a small figure through having kids, but my body has obviously changed a lot with that.
When you get pregnant, your baby takes up a lot of space, and therefore, your organs have to move around, pushing up into your ribcage. Because of this, while I never carried much extra weight between pregnancies, my bone structure widened a bit. This was actually kind of a relief for me, because it made clothes a lot easier to buy. Bras, specifically. The smallest band size you can find in a common chain store is 32, and that never fit quite right. Once my ribs bulked up a little, it did, and it was SO nice to have bras that fit properly!! It was easier to find shirts as well. Things were just a little simpler when I was closer to “average” size.
You probably all know that we’ve been wanting more kids, and for whatever reason, its not working so smoothly. Its been about 2.5 years since Waverly was born, and it appears that this year, my body has decided to go back to its original size and shape. My ribs are getting smaller, my hips are getting smaller, and any semblance of “meat” that I once carried is on the way out.
Which, don’t get me wrong, is very cool!! Good job, body! You’re amazing!
But is also a huge pain in the butt, because I’d far rather put another baby in there.
Now everything I own is oversized.
And I always look like a slob.
It became very apparent that this was starting in Spring. My jeans just sagged. They were horrid. And all of my shirts were maternity, which had fit fine, until they didn’t, and at that point, I just felt sad that it had been a year and a half with no successful pregnancy. So while covid was in full swing and we had no extra money to spend, we afforded me a handful of new shirts, so I didn’t feel as messy and sloppy all summer. As well, I had a pair of jean shorts that were a bit snug on me the season before that now fit like a glove. YES! That improved my quality of life more than I ever thought it would. When I finally bit the bullet and bought new underwear, the world changed! I know it all sounds a bit stupid, but it was incredible. I felt SO much better having clothes that fit!
But it kept happening. I’ve dropped 10-15 lbs this year, but have changed nothing about my eating. I assure you, I am healthy. Please don’t say I look sick, its actually quite hurtful. Its been confirmed by health care professionals. And I’ve seen the change in my bone structure. It was shockingly evident in fall when I finally hit up Value Village for a pair of jeans when mine were sagging horribly, even with leggings underneath.
Undeniable change in structure, don’t you agree? Its not about losing fat necessarily, but about my bones moving. Completely out of my control! With that, of course, some fat has dissipated in my arms, legs, and sides. Its noticeable, and its bananas.
Don’t get me wrong. I think its crazy cool that my body can produce five children, be pregnant countless more times, and somehow still go back. I am smaller now than when I graduated high school 14 years ago. I’m grateful that its doing this, and I can feel healthy and nice. But consider the other side of the coin, where I don’t want to be done having children yet. How dare my body do this now, when I want it to carry more little people?? It is so amazing, but so unfair.
Its been a strange season of life, where my body is changing a TON, yet my emotions surrounding it are such a mess. I’m so thankful, and so hurt. Excited, and mad. As was discussed bythis post Cher and I put together a while back, I couldn’t really talk about it, either, for fear of judgement and criticism. Doesn’t everyone want this?? First world problems? Yes, yes, I know. But you simply can’t always know what’s below the surface.
Aaaaanyway. I own jeans that fit now. Thank you, skinny girls, for donating your American Eagle jeans that I couldn’t otherwise afford to Value Village! Still on the hunt for leggings that are tight. Thats about it!
Yesterday, I spent the day with my mom. It was SO special. I love her 💜
We first went for lunch, because she had gift cards. Going to restaurants almost never happens anymore, so that was a HUGE treat!
Kudos to our server, who had a really great attitude, made conversation, and was just generally so pleasant. And kudos to the cook, because the food was unbelievable!
My mom and I did some Christmas shopping afterwards, and got to the places I can’t really get to easily on a regular basis. But coming up on 3:00pm, she drove me to La Loop for (deep sigh out) a hair appointment. Its been TEN MONTHS!!! I was due.
Do we agree? It was absolutely time. Not only were my “roots” just about as long as the previously colored portion of my hair, but my ends were just destroyed. Horribly damaged. We discussed the cut first, and I told her I wanted all the crap off. A fresh start. She warned me that it would be a lot, and I said to go for it. No looking back.
(Don’t worry, its not TOO drastic!)
She hacked a bunch off and started lightening it all!
Bleach is the longest part, always, because my hair is SO dark. Carlinna brought me a coffee and I sipped and scrolled as other clients had their work done around me, a couple of chairs apart.
Her salon is just so light and bright. I love it there.
Shortly after regular closing time, everyone else cleared out, and Carlinna and I had the place to ourselves! I SO appreciate her, because I know her hours, and she definitely exceeded them for me. 💜
The bleach was good and on, and hella yella! Hooooboy!
Normally at this stage, she tones it up good and proper to a ashier color, but because of the colors I chose, she didn’t need to! We dove into the colorful part!
We sat with the color for a good long while, and just chatted and caught up. After going to Carlinna since I was pregnant with Laela, we know each other pretty well by now, and ten months without spending 4 hours together left a lot to catch up on! We laughed a LOT. She carries such a positive vibe with her, and it was such a time of refreshment.
When styling was all that was left, I texted my mom, and she finished up her errand and came to get me. What a gift it all was to me. I felt SO loved and cared for, and pampered!! My goodness. What a beautiful day I had had!!
We hit up Wendys for a quick supper after hair, and it was there that I realized my play-by-play photos were missing an “after” photo 🙄 Sooooo I did that in Wendys.
I’m a very serious person. 🤨
The day was such a win for me. I loved spending time with my mom. I loved the food we ate. I got to shop at places I never get to. I got my hair done. I caught up with a friend. I was actually out in public. It was SO fun!
Thank you, mom, for the role you played in yesterday. It was such a special day! I love you! Thank you for everything!
