After a weeks time cut short by general life busyness, we made up for lost time this week!! Lots to talk about!

To refresh what happened right at the end of last weeks post, Brady FINISHED the lower cabinets! 

Aren’t they pretty?? Or, going to be pretty!! Haha! Brady was also able to tuck the breaker box up above where the fridge will be. 

It is WAY nicer than having to build out a wall spot, or even to lose our regular cabinet space to it. This is definitely better. 

Brady also closed in some holes in the floor that we don’t need, tucked wires and outlets into walls, and redid some plumbing.

Later in the week, Brady built the upper cabinets!!

It was SO windy that day! I’m so grateful to Northridge for letting us park the RV in the lot next to us for a time, because it makes things like this possible. Brady parked his van as a wind block and made it happen!! He managed to tackle the shelves and doors in ONE morning!!! 

The only reason they’re not all put together yet is for ease of painting. We’ll get there! Oh, and sanding, of course! So. Much. Sanding.

Brady managed to get the broken AC unit exchanged for another one at the auto wrecker, and he brought the broken window, along with the frame, back to the glass place to have them recut the piece, and install it. The glass place gave us a deal, probably a little out of pity, and didn’t charge us for the installation after all. Thank you, glass place!! And the AC unit came home later in the week, as well, but has yet to be installed. Those things are huge, and Brady’s back can’t hack it at this point. Hopefully next week! 

The biggest excitement of the week, for me anyway, was the wall panels!! Our plan for the walls originally was a huge misunderstanding. Brady had mentioned the cost of replacing the RV wall panels, and I had researched and found out that beadboard was the same size as the panels and was actually cheaper! I immediately made plans to do beadboard all over. Later, I learned Brady only planned to replace two wall panels, and my plan that was going to make the RV beautiful while saving us money was actually going to cost us :/ All of that being said, a lot of conversation later, we decided that replacing two panels would pretty much look horrible, as they would be obviously fresher than the faded, slightly stained and dinged up panels. We did decide to go forward with the beadboard, and I am SO happy with how its looking! 

It still needs a paint, like everything else, but it looks more like a home. It feels stronger, too. 

Today couldn’t be as productive of a day, because Brady recently hurt his back and the twinges refuse to quit! He headed in for a chiropractic adjustment this morning, as well as a quick Home Depot shop! There, he was able to get pictures of some items we need, so we can compare prices around, and he also picked up our countertop!!! Eek!! I’d show you, but I’d rather show you when its installed! 🤩 He also grabbed a stack of paint chips for me to play with! Yay!!! Decisions will be made early next week!

Its been a really productive week, which feels really really good. Our deadline is looming, which is exciting and nerve wracking. We flip flop a lot between “I hope we get it done in time” and “we’re going to be out here early!” Sooooo please wish us luck and continue to follow along!

No pressure or anything 😳

Next week will be exceptionally productive, too! We have BIG things to wrap up! We’re on our way!

Its been a really crazy time over here in our household, and I’m looking forward to a weekend away with friends. A couple of months ago already, Tom and Rae invited us away for a weekend at their camping spot, and we felt SO loved just to be invited. That chosen weekend has come up, and we’re slowly working to prepare. Laundry is going, and food plans are being discussed. I’m looking forward not only to getting away, but to learning how to plan for weekends away. I am very much anticipating our upcoming seasons of weekend camping, and this feels like a bit of a dry run 🙂 But with the buffer of having dear friends there with us, helping us navigate things and likely help us out if we mess something up. 

In the back of my mind, there is some weight. Theo’s due date is tomorrow. Funny how losing each baby pops up twice in my calendar – their due date and they day they were actually born. Theo’s due date is tomorrow. I have other grief. Other big changes in our life that I haven’t shared yet. My heart is heavy but its also strong. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! 

Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about the progress we’ve made on the RV over the week 🙂 Its been productive, and I’m optimistic we’ll get it all done! Because we super need to, lol! Our deadline is fast approaching! But first, a weekend of fun with friends 💜 

Cher here for a special on things Hailey and Brady say to their kids. Things I have picked up and documented whilst sitting on the couch, lurking in the upstairs bedroom, or just observing. Sometimes you just can’t help but laugh, especially when you hear it out of context. I have written down some of my favorite things I’ve heard this year.

“I am far too busy to be pampered in an upright position. I need to be pampered in a reclined position” -Hailey to me

“Don’t play with your nipples if you’re going to apologize to me.” -Hailey to Rowan

“Waverly, stop licking the island.” -Brady to Waverly

“Don’t lick the mirror, weirdo!” -Hailey to Waverly

“Take your hands out of your butt, man! Gross!” -Hailey to Dekker

“Let’s make sure our attitudes are good and that you leave your nipples alone and then maybe you can have dessert.” -Brady to Solly

I wish there was more to share, but I just chose my top favorites. I thought it was pretty funny. It’s nice to see Hailey and Brady be such a team with their kids and laugh later about how ridiculous some of the stuff is that kids do and say. I guess sometimes that’s all you can do.

I have been wanting to write this for a while. It’s me, Cher. Hailey’s little vocab pest.

The truth about Hailey’s vocabulary is that it is much larger than mine. I don’t know if it’s because she writes everyday, watches more TV than me, or secretly reads a thesaurus in her bathtub everyday, but I DO know that she is not learning her words from her children. Not only does Hailey’s vocab exceed mine by a lot, but even her kids say things like “rotate” and “adequate”; words that kids under 5 probably don’t normally use.

The first thing I want you all to know is that my mom is an english teacher, so I have been cocky before about knowing things that other people don’t, simply because of my time spent in her classrooms, time spent around other teachers, and the random bits of trivia my mom shares on occasion.

Hanging out in the Born household has helped me sharpen my googling skills. I remember leaving their house and going home and just looking up terms so I could understand what they were even talking about. What is congealed? And how can something be that way? It’s a semisolid.. Like that layer that sits on top of gravy as it cools off. Who would have known there was a term for that? I called it skin. It’s gravy skin.

PHILTRUM. Have you heard this word?? No? I wonder why not. It’s the indentation area of the upper lip. There is a WORD for that.

Rescind. Okay, I know this word is probably well known, but it means to revoke, cancel, or repeal. I usually just say cancel, or no. So… I’m not sure why or HOW I missed the memo on the fancier ways of saying I shall revoke my appeal.

Balaclava is a word for those face masks you wear in winter that have the eye and mouth holes. I always just called it a robber’s mask, or a face mask. Never heard this word in my whole adult life.

Obliterate. To destroy utterly; wipe out. Okay, I understand why she knows this one. They have boys.

Monotonous means dull and tedious; lacking in variety and interest. For example: Cher has a low, monotonous vocabulary.

There are so many other words on my list, but I am actually embarrassed to share them because I’m sure that everyone else knows them. As a University student, I must say it is very humbling to hang out with Hailey. She is very intelligent, although she would follow that statement with an eye roll and a “pfft, chh”. She really is. And her memory is absolutely amazing.

Join me next time for Brady’s vocabulary: Evocative, Antithesis…. etc.

A few days ago, I ended up with a ton of cute pictures of Waverly, and it would be SUCH a shame not to share them. Sometimes, I wait for a specific reason to share them, and they end up getting lost in the shuffle, so today, the reason for sharing is that they’re cute, and I want to. Boom.

The first group of photos highlights a new little sweater that I made for Wavy! I’ve never successfully made clothes, but I got some nice yarn that I wanted to attempt it with, and I found a cute free pattern to go along with it. While its not perfect, and I’d do a few things different next time, I think she’ll actually wear this! It worked out!!

That model pose, though. She’s crazy gorgeous.

Later in the day, she was over being outside, and I just had her in her diaper, running around the house. She made a “bed” on the stairs, and informed me she was sleeping. It was terribly cute. She looks SO much like one of my nieces in these pictures, its crazy!

She’s SUCH a ham. And look how blonde she is now!! I’m curious if she’s actually going to be that blonde, or if the sun bleached her out, or if it just looks blonder because she’s so tan! Who knows!

Lastly, Wavy has always been a big fan of dressing up. And more than dress up clothes, she loves some good abandoned laundry! So this particular day, it was a pair of Dekker’s underwear. She waddled over to me, both legs in the leg holes, unable to pull them over her bum.

“Helping me, my shorts, mommy?”

Sure, babe.

She wore them for the rest of the day. It. Was. Awesome.

She’s bananas. A total bright light in our family. And, I mean, they all are, obviously. But she has that delightful toddler freedom that is all her own.

We love you, Waverly!

I was pretty stoked to have a blog about pickling today! My mom and I got up early to run a couple of errands. We ate some breakfast by the river, hit a quick appointment, and headed to Walmart for vinegar, pickling salt, spice, garlic, bay leaves, and lids. We had everything else at home.

Except pickling cucumbers. Spoiler alert: thats where the debacle began.

We went to the farmers market. We found nice close parking. Oddly close parking. No one was there. No patrons or customers. I checked their website, and the hours were correct. But yes, the address was wrong. I completely missed the memo that the entire farmers market moved!!! To the AIRPORT?!?!

Sooooo we drove all the way there, and there were only just a few tents set up. We walked in, and there were only two stands with veggies. The first guy had little bags in a row of what he was selling, and he had pickling cucumbers! But we could tell by his signs and claims that his stuff was going to be way more money than we had originally expected. Mom approached him and said politely “I’m looking for 50 lbs of pickling cucumbers” and before she could even finish her question, he cut her off and said “Good luck!” He lifted his bag up and said he only had the one bag left. Ok, fine, no problem.

We went and asked at the other veggie stand, but they only had the large english cucumbers. We passed the first stand on our way out and he called out that he was the only one with pickling cucumbers today. Good job, guy. 🤷‍♀️ Whatever, lol!

We sat somewhat stunned in the car for a few minutes. For all the jar washing and little prep we had done, there were NO pickles to be made!! We tried to call a nearby colony but no one answered, because, Sunday. We decided we’d try to call them in the afternoon.

We tried to check a veggie place in Martensville on the way home, but no dice. None at standard grocery stores either. We were officially going home empty handed!

My mom did call the colony again, and was able to get through. And they informed her that they were still two weeks out!! So it would appear we did NOT miss pickling season after all!!! YAY!!

While today is not a pickle day post, there will be one to come!! And you’re all gonna be sooooo jealous! Because Jeanne’s pickles are THE pickles!!

If you remember, I blogged in the afternoon on my birthday. It had already been such a lovely day at that point, I figured, why not? The evening proved to be worth sharing, too, but the day after my birthday was Friday, and thats the day I post RV There Yet. So, here I am, a couple of days later, telling you about my birthday supper!

My mom, in the midst of a crazy busy week, prepared supper for everyone! She brought sweet and sour sausage for rice, as well as fresh garden green and yellow beans. We made some rice, and proceeded to eat our body weight. It was DELICIOUS, my goodness!

After supper, the kids were asking if there was dessert, and I said no, because I truly didn’t think there was. Laela was a bit choked, reminding me that birthdays require cake. I told her my birthday had been SO nice already, I didn’t even need a cake! But there was a cake to be had, unbeknownst to me!!

I am SO thankful for my crew.

Not everyone is in these pictures who should be, but I’m still very thankful for them. They made my birthday special, but they make my life special. For that, I praise the Lord.

Sooooo here’s the thing. This week was bananas, and we did not accomplish a whole lot on the RV at all. Whoops! If you’re a regular reader here, you know we’ve been neck deep in a move this week, and believe it or not, the deadline was tighter on that one! Lol! 

The things we did manage to get done on the RV weren’t altogether exciting either 😆 Our first move over the last week was to break one of the four windows we bought. The big one, naturally. We haven’t had a chance to call and reorder it yet, but you’d better believe we’re going to pay the extra money to have them install it into the frame rather than us! But the smaller three went in smoothly! Woot!

We were able to confirm that the air conditioner is, in fact, pooched. Merp. But again, we haven’t had a chance just yet to bring it back for an exchange/refund. Hopefully soon, because it would make installing flooring and wall panels a LOT more pleasant! 

Brady picked up some shallow electrical boxes and installed some switches that look a lot nicer than they do when they’re hanging from the ceiling! 

Thats really it for physical work, honestly!

We acquired a good fridge for the camper. ✅ 

We decided to use some paint that we already had, even though I thought the finish wouldn’t be as good. Turns out, its the best! ✅

We came up with a completely different kitchen layout! Whew! Its SO much better than our original plan, and I’m so happy we talked about it again! Yay! ✅

***

As things would go, the post was just too short and boring, and Brady was feeling too unproductive, so he decided to start the kitchen cabinets today! Eek! 

Its happening!! 

Have a lovely weekend, friends! Hopefully we’ll have WAY more to show you next time! 

I feel loved and celebrated today, on my birthday. And I’ve felt loved and celebrated all week! In the midst of the moving and busyness, I came home to things like this.

And this.

This morning, I woke up to Brady’s alarm, and the promise of breakfast out. It did not disappoint.

It was SO delicious, and we both ate SO much! We decided to walk our huge breakfast off along the river. For those of you from Saskatoon, we walked from the train bridge to the Bezz and back! It was a far walk, but it was really really lovely! And HOT! Wow! I loved it.

We took our time in the city, and made our way back to a houseful of children and Cher, playing in the backyard happily, as well as a handful of gifts.

From Cher, I got these adorable little sets that are SO me.

Brady got me some cute little joggers from Old Navy that I’ve been eyeing for far too long. They are the softest things I own.

And the kids got me an outdoor speaker to listen to music

Along with cards and a bracelet.

I really hit the jackpot with my little family, wow!!!

My mom joined the fun in the early afternoon, bearing a full supper she made, and a beautiful card and gift.

I did not expect a birthday celebration today. And I say that with ZERO bitterness! Some years are just busier than others, and thats totally ok! But this has been a very pleasant surprise, and I am so thankful for my people. There has been a touch of grief for me around time moving forward, and those around me have been nothing but warm and gentle with me. I have everything I need.

On my pillow…

Thank you, friends, for all you do, in all the ways. I appreciate you all.

Friends, its DONE! Today, we cleaned, mowed, weed whipped, hauled, scrubbed appliances, and picked at all the little jobs that had gotten missed. My part is done, anyway. As we speak, my mom, Cher, and Brady are off finishing the move we’ve been working at since last week. They’re hauling out a big load of stuff to go to a thrift store, cleaning the shed out, and removing the picture nails out of the wall. Its almost done! Woot! They’re doing that gruelling work, and its my job to get the littles down for bed. Seems fair, haha!

Thanks to us all trading off here and there, and Rae jumping in yet again, the kids had a really lovely day of playing out in the pool in the bizarre heat. Its a wonder how none of them seem heatstrokey.

I couldn’t be happier with how this week played out. Moving and change are hard things, but people came around exactly when we needed, and its been completed respectfully and warmly. Thank you, Lord, for our people, who constantly show up.