There are just way too many pictures that need posting, so prepare for a completely random pic dump. And if some of them are repeats, I’m sorry and also not at all sorry. So many cute things that need remembering. 

Salted caramel Bailey’s in chocolate milk 👌

Three in a tub!

Still curly on the bottom of her hair! Do you think it’ll stay?? PLEASE stay!

Wavy swings like crazy on the big swings now 😩

Poor Solly, lol! After a morning of sweating in a helmet, he looks pretty rough 😆 But also VERY cute.

The kids all need a wipe down at the end of outside days, and the girlies included my less than clean feet in the mix!

Wavy and Auntie 😍

We’ve been eating a LOT of big chunky salads around here! Can you spot the happiest chicken nugget hunk that ever lived? 🤔 Lived? Existed.

Wavy and Daddy

Lilacs from a friend 💜 They were such a nice brought touch in our kitchen for a day or two!

Laela plays a great game of Skipbo now, and this was a particularly exciting hand!

She was laughing SO HARD. Look at her little belly!!

My helpful boys!

He just looks like summer. See the tickler behind him? He didn’t, lol!

Never has a brighter bathing suit existed. She glows.

Sprinkler action!!

Look how BLONDE!!! And how dark!! Its crazy how her hair looks lighter than her skin all of a sudden!

Little grump 😆

Laela made baked oatmeal!

Solomon got tangled trying to put his shorts back on 😂

He was unimpressed.

Foot soak! Listerine, vinegar, and warm water. It was surprisingly meh 🤷‍♀️

Giving this whole thing a try. And its working!! WAY faster than I anticipated! This was just overnight!

We’ll end on these snuggly girlies!

Sooooo was that enough? Lol! SO many things, but they’re all cute and necessary to remember! Share some of your pictures in the comments, if you so desire! I’d LOVE to see what others have been up to!

I know you’ve noticed I’m on a plant kick. I definitely haven’t kept everything alive, but I also haven’t killed everything, so I’m calling it a win. 

My windowsill that holds all of my succulents is super overfilled and I’ve been wondering where to put my other plants, both current and future. In my searching, I came up with a couple of cute ideas, but only a couple that I could do on my own. So I did one! Well, two. These! 

I crocheted these cute little plant hangers with 100% cotton yarn, like the gathering bags I’ve been making. That way, it feels nice and beefy, and there’s very little stretch.

My first observations are that they’re super cute, and they feel great, but I like the small one a lot better. The big one wants to be more upright. Basket-like, almost. The littler one hangs nicer. That being said, I don’t have command strips on hand to actually hang them, so take that opinion with a grain of salt. 

These just make me want to grow my own little herb garden all year round above my kitchen sink….. 🌿 🌱 💚

Another small project done! ✅ Brady closed in the bottom of our deck stairs in order to make room for firewood!! 

He used leftover fence boards on the outside and some poly on the inside to keep the bulk of the rain off! I am SO happy to have that area closed in and a usable space! Today, we even had the pleasure of filling it with wood. And by “we,” I do not mean me. I barely even mean Brady.

We can thank Dekker for unloading the wood out of Brady’s work van, and Solomon and Rowan for loading it into Solly’s wheelbarrow and hauling it over to Brady to stack. 

Aaaaand now we’re officially ready for summer!

🔥 

Indoor activities edition! 

Hello friends! Welcome to another scattered blog post that is a bit of a mess, but is justified by me calling it a “mixed bag.” Today’s mixed bag is about all of the things we’ve been keeping busy with when the wind is keeping us inside. That being said, there is zero order. So, be ready. 

First – the kids.

Waverly’s newest word is “windy.” She’ll come in from outside, hold her hands up to me, and cry “windyyyyy!” She’s been knocked out of chairs outside, thanks to the wind. Laela has also had the patio door whip into her hand and gash her open. My poor kids. SO many bandaids already this Spring! 

During the inside times, we listen to a lot of music, and the kids read almost constantly. The middle boys will sit and look and books to no end, and Laela and Dekker will commandeer the recliners and tuck away for hours. My old Family Circus comics are a big hit, but Dekker cracked out “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and loved it so much! He wrapped it in less than two days! I’m SO excited that he’s into full blown chapter books now! 

The kids have been colouring a lot, as have Cher and I. She printed off some awesome colouring pages she found online for them, and we’ve been enjoying them alongside! Besides colouring, our kids have picked up Skipbo! Brady and I play it pretty regularly as it is, and we’ve convinced Cher to join us, though she hasn’t played Skipbo in years. My mom joins too, and she was the one who discovered Laela knows how to play! Since Laela learned, she has been teaching Rowan, and while Dekker doesn’t love card games, he knows how, too, and plays along often enough. It’s SO fun! 

When all of the usual go-to’s are played out, the kids resort to chanting “Mets Featherbottom” while marching through the house. 😳 No, I do not understand why, but its true. Its LOUD. 

As for us adults, we’ve been rolling with basic life stuff, but far more diligently than usual! I’m cooking a lot more, trying new recipes that are actually going over really well! Just today, we made a yummy cookie dough dessert, and some home iced tea. Neither are hard jobs, but they’re things I wouldn’t normally prioritize. Tonight is taco night, and I’m not scrambling. Meat is already made. Woot! 

We’re also cleaning a lot more, trying to stay on top of things better than I used to! I’m trying to diligently put as much away as possible so I don’t stress out over clutter and mess. I’m trying to stay super extra on top of dishes, tidying off the island top, keeping the fridge empty of old leftovers, the floor as swept as possible, etc etc etc. Finally bought a toilet brush for the basement bathroom, and a couple of nail brushes to get the garden off of my hands at the end of the day. These are all such standard things, but if nothing else, this break all together is an excellent time to fall into some good habits. 

I’ve been crocheting and knitting again, which I’m really enjoying! I’ve missed being creative, and now that my hands are back in working order, its a relief to be able to do a little here and there. I have a few other projects I’m thinking of and have the materials for. Just have to find the time! 

During all of this inside time, we’re still responsible for our garden and flowers! We’ve put up the appropriate cages and stakes, covering tall things so the wind don’t get them, watering, poking at, and trying to maintain what we’ve worked so hard for! 

None of this makes any sense 😆 Hopefully you follow a little. Its a busy time, but in a good way. Its bananas, but I’m not mad at it! 

*Another guest post from Cher!* 

Over the past couple of years, I have gotten really familiar with Hailey’s kids and her style of parenting. I have noticed that it is very similar to how I was parented as a kid and so it is easy for me to understand where she is coming from. I have always believed in having clear rules and boundaries for kids, especially during the hardest times because being a push over parent is not only hard for the parents, but it makes life harder for kids when they go out on their own as adults. Kids need structure and consistency. Empty threats and inconsistent battles only end in mistrust. 

I know that we all lose our patience sometimes. Maybe we lose our patience too quickly, or too often, but we all know that we ourselves need patience. One of the things I take comfort in as an adult is how Patient God is with me because Lord knows I need it, but he has been. He has been patient with me from the beginning, just like He is with everyone else. He sees everything through for absolutely everyone. 

All of the Born kids are very kind and loving and sweet. They all have their own unique personality and quirks about them, but I am going to write about Rowan because he, just like all the others, has something VERY special about him. He is passionate beyond his years. I first started to notice this passion a little over a year ago. One day I came over for a visit and Rowan told me that he gave his life to Jesus that morning. He seemed to understand even as a four year old what was going on. Since then, his prayers have been deeper than most kids: “Thank you Jesus that Dekker and Laela have Science Saturday because they really like it.” This shows how Rowan sees other people’s joy and has the capacity to be happy along with them. Other prayers I hear him say before lunch or supper will include his thankfulness for nature and how Jesus loves us and made all things. Sometimes it takes me back as a surprise at how in depth he can think.

Around the same time that Rowan gave his life to Jesus, he also began to struggle with his emotions. He has since then began to understand that when he gets angry, sometimes he is angry with himself, and not necessarily at the situation, but it took a little bit of tweaking for him to get there because it felt like this passion came out of nowhere. 

I watched Hailey and Brady change so much in the past year because of this. I saw them be sad and worried and confused. Rowan’s uniqueness in capacity for feelings was developing quickly. I know that Hailey has written a blog before about how she yells at her kids. I stumbled upon it recently, actually. It almost feels weird to read it now. You would think that after managing five kids (from my perspective as a single, childless 30yr old) that the yelling would only get louder or there would be slack. WRONG!

There was a point when they didn’t really want to go on dates because they were unsure how a babysitter might feel with Rowan if he got up after bed a few times. (By the way, he was still excellent, just needed some reminders) I watched them troubleshoot so many things. They took away some items he might play and get distracted with. They got him a lovely weighted blanket so he felt extra comforted at night and would sleep better. When things were at their peak, Hailey put a photo of Rowan as her screen saver so she could see him even MORE and just love him through it. And she did. 

Hailey and Brady have stuck with every “threat” they have made when he needs structure. They have teamed up and tapped each other out so they can have a fresh attitude if things are stretching out longer than usual. I think the quarantine has helped a lot with that, but even before March, even last year, there has been such a change and it’s with everybody! It is so wonderful to see how beautifully Hailey and Brady work together, encourage each other, and motivate each other to be the best they can be for their kids. 

Rowan has such a love and grace for his parents, just like they do for him. They worked tirelessly for and with Rowan. I just want to clarify that Rowan is NOT a problem child, nor am I trying to sugar coat anything for them. I am really thrilled to have witnessed the improvements that have happened. When Rowan gets upset and both Hailey and Brady talk to him calmly and in a way that he understands what is going on, it feels like there has been a breakthrough in communication. Where does their patience even come from? Instead of being mad at him, they accepted him and are shaping him without wishing he was a different kid, because he doesn’t NEED to be different. He needs to know where to put his passion. 

The last thing I want to say is how special Rowan is to me. He brings me stuffies when I am sad. He will bring me a blanket or any soft thing if I am cold. He LOVES to help me pack and always is asking to do favours for me. He has started to put away groceries and make sure we aren’t in need of anything we could have that he could help us with. He fills my water bottle when it is empty, and he hugs and kisses me before bed. And I’m just the guest. Rowan would do almost anything for anyone. His heart is HUGE and I am so blessed to be able to know him and watch him grow up. I call him Growan.

Cher here again! This week was super busy so there wasn’t as much prep for today, however, it was still very entertaining and fun!

We decided to go with the egg and bottle experiment. Mostly because we needed something a little less time efforty. Is that a word? So on our shop today we got a Starbucks drink for the glass bottle to use for the egg. Drinking the contents was the hardest part of the experiment. It was pretty brutal.

Hailey made egg salad for lunch (thank you, it was delicious) and then we made a couple extra for our experiment with the kids. I would say the first time was kind of a flop, but we laughed so it was also a win.

So we had our lighter, bottle, paper, and peeled eggs and we were ready to go.

It took a little while to keep the flame going because I accidentally took too much paper to fold and it was thicker than it needed to be.

The egg sunk down very slowly until it was almost through and then it got stuck, so after we realized we would be watching it until bedtime, I decided to push it down and try again for the second one. Oops!

The second time I used way less paper and Brady was able to get a super good flame… the only problem was that Hailey was trying to take a time lapse but the egg went through so fast that we almost missed it. It was pretty good though. We explained to the kids why the first one didn’t work and why the second one did. Then they watched Brady get the egg out of the bottle for the second time, and I am pretty sure that was more exciting and eventful than the experiment itself. However, it was still lots of fun to do Science Saturday with the kids again.

I am loving these little experiments and how excited they get about it while they eat lunch and try to look for clues as to what we are doing this week for Science.

I heard Laela say today “YAY, It’s Science Saturday!” And then I reminded her that she didn’t like science, but she corrected me. She likes OUR science and not school science. Maybe because they don’t get whoopiee cushions and chocolate after? Sorry Prairie View!

Before we let them go read, I asked them to close their eyes and put their hands out and they each got a kinder surprise… because eggs. So relevant, I know. It’s fun though, and I love how Dekker and Laela never expect treats or gifts, they just love hanging out with adults and watching us try to know what we are doing. When I say we, I mean me.

Yesterday was SO cute. It was super hot out, and the kids were super happy! 

Brady worked hard to place some boards under the fence so we could build the topsoil up a little, and everything looks so much nicer now 🙂 Aaaaand I crocheted on the deck, because, hard worker. Haha! We both got SO tan! I have never been this brown! 

It was a really nice morning. 

In the afternoon, it became clear that it was just too hot not to have a pool going, so we chucked everyone in bathing suits and embraced the mud of the backyard. 

If you come over and there are hunks of dried mud all over our house, pretend you don’t see it! 

Rowan isn’t in these pictures because he was invited across the alley to play with some friends 🙂 Lucky boy!! It was so special for him to go on his own, being the middlest kid, that doesn’t happen all too often just yet. 

I took Wavy in a little early, and she helped me set the table. Did you know a toddler can set the table? 😳 She remembers better than I do who sits where, and sets the kids plastic dishes on her own. She also empties the dishwasher and knows where some things go! Its awesome. 

After supper, we decided it was too hot to take the kids out again and risk heat stroke, so we stayed in and rinsed the day off of everyone. Body baths, I used to call them as a kid. 

While that was happening, I received a message from a friend that she had found and purchased for me TEN tomato plants!! Isn’t that SO thoughtful?! She also offered me some super cute plants to keep inside, since I seem to be REALLY enjoying plants these days. She isn’t wrong! I’m so happy to have more cute plants to keep alive 🤞 🌱 

When I headed outside to meet her to receive her lovely gifts, I discovered another gift on my doorstep!! 

A peony, I believe from Laela’s teacher 💜 She and I discussed flowers the other day when we saw her on our walk, and I told her peonies are my favorite. She must’ve separated hers to share with me. Isn’t that lovely?? Man. I feel SO loved and thought of 🥰

It was a beautiful day, and today will be beautiful too ☀️ 

Today’s blog is another post with questions!! Fewer than the last one, I promise, but it became clear to me last time that you guys are a wealth of information!! We all know/care about different things, which is one of those positives about everyone being different! It would be SO boring if we were all just the same. 

So, its question time! Yard question time!

• I’m pretty sure all of my tomato plants died. Its really sad. Cher and I loved on those things so good, and then shocked the heck out of them by not putting them outside enough before planting them in the ground. And then the wind finished them off. Its so sad. I’ve been reassuring myself that, really, I can just go buy some tomatoes 😆🍅 I promised myself I’d be chill about this years garden, just plant things in the ground and see what came up. Spoiler alert 🚨 Tomatoes will not come up. So, the question is, has anyone seen any tomato plants still out and about in stores? As in Costco, or something similar? I’m not hitting greenhouses at all, so it would need to be a convenient place, like a grocery store. Anyone? Any tips?

• More about plants. Lilac trees, specifically. I was gifted one, and I decided to place it in the front corner of our property. I had gone back and forth on trees, and what I might want or not want. I LOVE the idea of having a lilac tree! And once it was planted, it got me thinking. What if I put a row of them along our front yard? That way, when we have neighbours, we have some gentle separation without being weird jerks, and until we get those neighbours, we’d get some cover from the wind in our front yard 🙂 Thoughts? I think a row of purple lilacs is SO us 💜 (Emily, I don’t know if you read this or not, but I LOVE your lilacs! #inspo)

• Last one. Grass. I still don’t know whether we’re going to hydroseed or just seed ourselves, but I have a question. Maybe its an easy one. Last time I talked about grass on here, everyone agreed to only plant in Spring or Fall. Why is that? Is it because of the heat? Is it just more annoying to keep it watered in Summer, but doable? Or is there some big reason I’m missing? 🤷‍♀️ Help?

I’m going to leave it at that! Our yard is coming along so nicely, and I’m enjoying putting it together and brainstorming and dreaming of what it’ll all be one day. I would welcome your input 😊🌱🌤

Yesterday was a VERY cute day, all around. 

This kid was pretty cute, to begin with. 

The ground was still so wet from the recent rains, but I can proudly say I am the keeper of new garden sprouts! We have more of everything we had before, and now we can add carrots and cucumbers to that list! 

Woot!

I dressed Waverly in a shirt with cats on it, and I couldn’t help but see it was juuust missing a Tiger King reference. Hi there, all you cool cats and kittens!” 

Wavy also called Froot Loops “poopoops” at breakfast, so that was a win. 

Then the kids played outside, on the swings and trampoline. The big kids were diligently helpful, getting Waverly’s boots on and off, and heaving her onto the trampoline. 

Quick rabbit trail. Rowan asked Rae, our across the street neighbour, out on a date the other day. Their date was yesterday, and they made fox masks and cookies together ❤️ It was so adorable. 🦊 🦊 

Today, Rowan was bragging about how Raaaaae has a teeeeeapot. I, too, have teapots, and the kids were fascinated. That information, paired with the fresh cookies, was the ideal setup for a tea party. So we did that, too!!! 

This was the obvious highlight. ☕️ 

Thank you, Cher, for so many beautiful pictures, edited and crisp for me, as usual 💜 

We wrapped up the evening with a new chicken dish I’ve been making, with mashed potatoes and corn. Aaaaand a healthy dose of kids bossing each other around, getting on each other’s nerves, and fighting 😆 Real life! 

Wavy says everything now. Seriously. Everything. I couldn’t count how many words she says. It would be moot. She says them all. That being said, some of her words are her version 😉 But those of us around her know what she means. 

So let’s play a guessing game. Do you know what her words mean? 

1. Tooties 
2. Soosie
3. Cackoo
4. Fwing 
5. Poopoops 

Guesses? She is hilarious, and sweet, and SO good with her language. Beyond the words she says in her own way, she also strings words together well. “I want to…” is a big one. “Can I have…” “Hi, …” “Help me, please.” “Good morning.” The list really goes on. She’ll say anything and everything. It’s SO fun to talk to her!! 

Ok, are you ready for the answers? Take a second before you read the answers! 

Ok! Here they are! 

Tooties is excuse me. Works for getting past someone and also, conveniently, farting. 

Soosie is sorry. Its adorable when she bumps into someone or drops something she needs help with. 

Cackoo is thank you, and she uses it beautifully. On her own, she says cackoo after she finishes a meal, or if someone helps her. 

Fwing is swing. Its her latest favorite thing. She uses big swings now. Its possible I cried when we took down the baby swing. 

Aaaaand my favorite – new this morning. Poopoops is Froot Loops. 

“I want poopoops!!” Lol! Don’t we all.