This is probably dorky but I LOVE when my children develop new freckles, or as we call them at our house, dots. I think they’re such sweet little details, and so individual to each kid. Dekker was born with a birthmark on his leg, and Laela has some cute red spots on one of her feet, but the others weren’t born with any notable markings. As they grow and age, they change, of course, and they’re developing beautiful little dots 😁 These are my favorites!

Dekker is my mole kid, for sure. His freckles tend to pop a bit more and be a bit bigger. But the little dots on his face are so lovely. One is darker, obviously, but there are a handful of little light ones up by his eyes, too!

I know, they’re small, and hidden by his glasses most of the time, but man, I love his face dots. When they showed up, somehow he looked older.

He also has one on the bottom of his foot! I didn’t know that could even really happen, but in the last couple of years, I developed a new dot on the bottom of my foot! So apparently its normal!

Laela doesn’t have too many dots. She has one little sweetie dot in her armpit, excellent for tickling! 😆

All of her dots are delicate, just like she is. Its such a pretty little detail. 

Rowan has some really nice dots! My favorite one in his smile line. 

I don’t know what I love so much about it. Its like a secret dot. Sneaky, like him. 

Solomon’s best dot is on his forehead. 

I really like that it falls where his natural part falls, as though its meant to be seen! Again, like Dekker’s, its really small, and you’d likely never notice it, but I do. He is SO light and fluffy, and this is just such a tiny little detail. 

Wavy has a dot on the back of each leg! 

She’s had these for a really long time already, and I don’t know why, but they make me feel like she’s just SO much older. But she is SUCH a go-getter, and has big, grown up girl legs, so I guess it makes sense. 

All of my children have accepted my dorky love for their dots, and often bring me teeny tiny little scratch marks or spots of dirt, exclaiming about their new dots. They are SO EXCITED when it actually does turn out to be a new dot that stays 🙂 I’m also so excited, obviously 😉 I love their details!! 

I am LOVING the rain these days 🌧 LOVING the rain! Yesterday was truly my favorite kind of day – grey and rainy, but not miserably cold. No hail or sleet. No danger of flooding. Just beautiful rain. 

Cher and I went for a long walk in the morning rain. It was so muddy along the road we were walking, so we took a different route home and did a lap around the pond on the way home. We came across a couple of geese, which isn’t unusual. Have you seen the cute little news stories where there are mother ducks with upwards of fifty babies following behind? They’re tagged all over my large family facebook groups. Yesterday, however, we saw a couple of geese, swimming to the edge of the pond, with only one little fuzzy yellow baby. I wonder if even animals have jealousy in regards to things like that, as humans occasionally pine for things we want but can’t seem to acquire. Having babies, specifically, is SUCH a hard subject for those who want to grow their family and, for one reason or another, cannot. I don’t want to delve into the subject too deep, but I wonder if animals feel the same. I wonder if those geese see the big duck families and get some angst. Maybe not. I have no idea. 

Anyway 🤷‍♀️ 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 💜

The rain poured all day. We ate honey chicken for supper, because comfort food. The heat was on so the windows could be open. It was my kind of day. 

After the kids went to bed, Brady, Cher, and I played Skipbo for a couple of hours and ate popcorn. It was SO chill. 

And when the time came where we “should’ve” probably gone our separate ways for the night, we decided to watch a movie instead. So we watched Juno, went to bed late, and woke up to more rain. 

It was a lovely day. 

Our garden is SO watered. Lol! Almost too much so. Our rain barrel is overflowing. I cannot wait for all the green things that will surface in the coming days!! Eek! 🌱 

Hey, it’s Cher again writing about Science Saturday. As I mentioned last week, we have committed to doing five weeks in total, bringing us to the end of June. Although science is not the most exciting subject ever for kids, we are trying to teach them about things they will actually encounter at their age… like what teachers do, except with less organization and structure.. and stickers. 

At the beginning of the week, Dekker had made a fart chart and recorded everyone’s toots over the next day or so. I thought it would contribute nicely to this Science Saturday because it’s about carbon dioxide/gas. Brady had written out eight questions in advance that pertain to the fart chart and farts in general. The last question was prompting them to write a poem about farts, and we were all pretty excited to see what they would come up with. 

After I first learned about Dekkers fart chart, I went to Dollarama and bought both Dekker and Laela some whoopie cushions as a funny surprise once the experiment was over. I was fart too excited to see their faces when they first opened their gifts. 

Fart Experiment:

Okay, so this is just your plain old vinegar and baking soda reaction, but we told them we were making a fart. It was toot. 

Step One: We got two small bottles of coke from Co-op (vanilla-orange flavour) and we drank it with our lunch. 

Step Two: We rinsed the bottles and filled them with one cup of vinegar. 

Step Three: We then added about 4-5 tsp. of baking soda into each balloon and attached the balloon to the rim of the bottles. 

Step Four: We then got the kids to dump the contents inside the balloon into the bottle. 

Immediately the balloons started to fill with carbon dioxide and we had no time to lose. I think even us adults were having as much fun as the kids watching it blow up like that. During some moments, it even felt like it might burst, but it did not… and I am very thankful that I did not make a mess in my best friends kitchen. Though I know she would have assured me it was absolutely okay. Nobody wants a mess! I thought it was funny that Dekker took a step back at one point because he was unsure. 

After the balloons filled with gas and the bubbles calmed down, we took the balloons off the bottles and tied them. Dekker and Laela naturally wanted to throw them in the air, but since they were pure carbon dioxide, they pretty much just thunked onto the ground. Brady explained to the kids that when we blow into a balloon, there is air and carbon dioxide so it isn’t as heavy as 100% carbon dioxide, so that is why it didn’t drift in the air.

Coincidentally, the helium balloon from Solly’s birthday was still flying high, and we got to explain how helium is lighter than air. Anyways, super educational.

Following the heavy balloons, the kids had to answer the questions that Brady had pre written and report back to him before they were allowed to open their surprise.

Some of the answers were pretty hilarious, like number 6: Why do you think some people fart more than other people? Laela: “Eeg Saled.” Number 7 was: What do you think a fart really is? Dekker: “a stingky gas.”

We weren’t terribly strict with it because it was an exercise for them to think about what gas is, why it exists and how it happens. It may have been a stretch to include the whole fart idea to the chemical reaction with the baking soda and vinegar, but I’m pretty pleased with it, and so were they. 

I tried to take a photo of Dekker opening his gift, but he went so fast that it was just a blur. He wasn’t quite sure how to use it, so I accidentally tooted it a little close to his face and startled him, poor guy. Lessons learned, even as an adult. 

Laela was so cute opening hers so carefully and lightly tooting it with a big smile on her face. 

In conclusion to this Science Saturday, I would say that the kids successfully learned about gravity and gas. We even briefly talked about how humans make gas: eating too fast, eating foods that make you gassy (like egg salad), upset tummy, and movement, and the different reactions that take place to make carbon dioxide and air.

I’m in an obviously weird stage of life when I get excited about dirt. But you guys probably know that by now.

As you know, we got a few truckloads spread out on our property not too long ago. We’ve been planting and fussing and building the yard since then, and it became clear we needed some more. There was talk of asking a friend with a truck to help us out with a bit, but it felt a bit daunting to commit to all that shovelling, plus we didn’t know if that would even be enough. Finally, I suggested we contact the guy who did our dirt the first time and see what he would charge for one more big truckload. If he was out doing another job or something, maybe he could tack us on and maybe it wouldn’t cost tooooo much to get another load brought. We were pleasantly surprised when he gave us a great deal on it, and said he could do it in two days. Woot!

And he made good on it! 

For a super good price, we have another large truckload of dirt in our yard!! It’ll be something of a biggish job to spread it out, but we’re almost always out there, puttering around, anyway! Today, a lot of that will get done.

This dirt will be used to build the yard up a little bit, as it slopes more than it should. It will fill in around the curb in the front yard, and level out the low spot we’ve found. It will level out the area where we want to put our fire pit. It will easily all get used, and I’m SO thankful to have the extra! 

So yes. I am excited about dirt. We all are over here! Anyone else? 

Whew! Today was busy and fun and rainy! I actually really liked today 😊

The day began with rain 😍 I love rain. Had you heard? Yet, not knowing just how much it might rain, I went outside to water everything in my yard, just to be on the safe side. My front flowerbed is blooming beautifully!!! My irises are big and bright purple, and my peonies have buds! Woot! My little daisy grove is budding, and my little front tree isn’t dead yet, so I’ll call it a win! The backyard looked good too, though the garden hadn’t done anything especially new or exciting. Still, the lettuce is growing happily, but the rest seemed tucked away and boring. I blame our somewhat crappy dirt. But most things are still alive, albeit dry. I’m trying!

Cher came over mid-morning for a coffee date before she joined me on an errand run. I needed to hit up a few different stores for a few different things, and she had a small handful of things to look for, too. On our way out of town, I was able to pick up a small Joe Fresh order from the post office. Woot! Meanwhile, a couple of necessities from Amazon shipped! Double woot!

I’m not going to talk about the errands in great detail, but we got all of the important stuff done, and grabbed some take-out lunch from Summer Roll on the way home. Vermicelli for me, pad Thai for her, and ginger beef for Brady.

We got home after the kids had eaten lunch, so the three of us decided to treat ourselves to a couple episodes of a show downstairs while we ate. It was SO relaxing, and also delicious. I’ve missed noodle bowls.

Cher went home after nap time, and I walked over to my moms house to help her with some things. We only took about an hour there before I convinced her to join us for supper at our house! It was barely raining anymore (boooo 👎) but it was still nice to walk together! I LOVE the rain. Had you noticed?

We ate an easy supper of grilled cheese and clam chowder. And I say “easy” becaaaaause I couldn’t resist and I gave Brady his Father’s Day gift early!!!

😱 RIGHT?!?!?! Previously, his electric frying pan cooked four sandwiches at once, and they didn’t fit well. This one fits eleven. So, upgrading. Boom!

That was easily the thing I was most excited about today, until Brady and I walked through the garden with my mom and found new life!!!

We have dill…..

Corn…

And potatoes!!!!!

I am oddly excited about all of this, I know, but I’m SO happy it’s working! Now if my poor starter tomatoes could survive these gale force winds, that would be ideal…..

I hope your day was as good as mine 💜

So. Quarantine schooling. Let’s discuss 😂 Its SO much easier to see all of the people around you, succeeding, when you feel like you’re not. That being said, Dekker is a research project yesterday 😆 I can’t believe it happened. And that I motivated it. I’m both sorry and not sorry. 

💨 

Behold. The Fart Chart Project.

*sigh* 

I truly don’t remember how it began, but upon getting Dekker up for the day, I teased him about farting. Maybe I bounced him in his bed until he farted? I’m not sure. But the joke grew into the question of how much we actually all fart in a day. So we decided to find out. 

As I got the rest of the kids up, we informed them of our plan, and Dekker went to work drawing out a fart chart after breakfast. 

Throughout the entire day, Dekker would politely walk up to each of us individually and ask if we had farted. It was reminiscent of my recovery when I had my appendix out at 19. Nurses coming in, asking if I had farted, and my drugged up self being SO proud when I could say I had. 

We went for a walk in the evening. Dekker would suddenly announce “Oh! I just farted! Thats twice on this walk. I’ll have to mark it down! Has anyone else farted?” 

Dekker was the man for this project. He was both the most invested, and also the fartiest kids for sure!

The results…

The conclusion is that some of us really need to work on our digestive systems 😂 and others systems work a little too good, perhaps. To be fair, Laela and Waverly’s results are very likely inaccurate, but they denied any and all farts, like ladies. Haha! 

Aaaaanyway. It was funny and dorky and very us. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, kids think that parents potty talking is HILARIOUS, so once in a while, playing into that can be so funny 🙂 Its weird, but it almost makes a different connection with the kids. No regrets. 

💨💨💨

All the wind has made some minimal adjustments for us. In the last few days, we’ve gained some and lost some. Shall we discuss? We shall. 

Losses first. We lost a tomato… 😔 🍅 

Its not completely severed, but it is flattened, lol! We’ll stake it up and see if we can save it, but it doesn’t look great. 

We lost a chunk of siding, too :/ 

By “lost,” I mean it came off. It was still in the yard, thankfully, so when the wind dies down, hopefully well be able to pop it back on! 

We also almost lost Lavondreas! 

Have you guys met Lavondreas? I forget. He’s our lavender family member, and he fell over enough times that, this last time, his body broke a little 😢 So we replanted him in one of my moms big planters and he’s currently tucked away in a corner of the backyard, because we have cover there now!! Woot!

I guess that one is a loss and a gain! Woot! Onto the gains! 

We have green!!!!

Our salad (lettuce) has started to grow!!! 🥬 This feels like a HUGE victory for me, because if you hadn’t noticed, I have some hefty insecurities around these things. But, success!!! 

I spent a lot of yesterday walking up and down the rows of my garden, as though my visiting with them would encourage them to suddenly pop out of the ground. At one point, I was nitpicking with the rows and I picked a rock out of the row of bean greens (green beans) Underneath it, there were TWO bean sprouts!!! 

I covered them back up lightly, because they maybe weren’t ready to come through yet, but I am SO happy they’re doing something under there!! 

The wind didn’t bring them, but yesterday we also planted some raspberries, as well as a little grove of daisies and a tree!! We’re just over here, landscaping, maturing our property like adults! Lol! Don’t mind me, over here 💁‍♀️

I am oddly enjoying this time of life, if you hadn’t picked up on that…

Solly’s birthday yesterday was really different. Lol! Thats what you want to hear, right? 😆 All we all wanted to do was go outside, but these 70+km winds were unreal. But we made the best of it. Sort of. Lol

We started by everyone getting him up in the morning, singing Happy Birthday, which he LOVED. They had cereal and fruit cocktail for breakfast, which wasn’t so riveting, but more on that later. We planned to just spend the morning playing! 

But the kids had other plans and decided rather to spend the entire morning fighting like cats and dogs. It was a VERY off day. So, being the responsible parents we are, we dragged them all outside into the windstorm for a walk! To be fair, there wasn’t any current risk or anything. It was just windy and somewhat unpleasant. But Solomon got the choose the route, which he really enjoyed, and the other kids played along pretty nicely. 

We got home around lunch and ate big salads with chicken nuggets. It was yummy and low key, as our lunches tend to be. Then naps and some homework and cards. Again, totally chill. 

After naps was when the fun began. Solomon got to open presents! He received SO MANY good gifts. Some light up toys, some balloons, cards, water toys, and even a bit of money! The winner gift, though, was his new wheelbarrow!!! 

THAT was it. SUCH a win! He happily wheeled all of his toys around the house for the rest of the afternoon while we made supper. His supper. 

The birthday kid always gets to choose their supper, and he requested baked oatmeal. So we expanded on that and made a whole big breakfast for supper! 

Do you know what makes baked oatmeal even better than usual? Salted caramel “chocolate” chips. Just, chips, I guess. They add SUCH a yummy part to the oatmeal! And sprinkles make it extra special. Beyond that, we had bacon, eggs, berries, and chocolate milk!! Woot! It was ridiculously good! 

Just because we had a pure sugar supper doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have dessert! Solly requested cookies, so cookies I made! I decided last minute to try and make them have faces and let me tell you. I laughed SO HARD. It looks a LOT like Solly made these himself, but he did not 😆 I take FULL credit. This one is my favorite.

Doesn’t he look like Sloth from the Goonies? I really like his chocolate chunk eyebrows…

The end of the day did not wrap up well. It was one of those rare days where absolutely no one thrived. ALL the kids struggled and fought and tantrumed and suffered. It was HARD, and I’m disappointed it happened, of all days, on Solomon’s birthday. But 🤷‍♀️ we can’t plan for these things. So we rolled, did our absolute best to have the best day, and we’re back at it today, trying our bet to do our best 🙂 

It was still a special day yesterday. I’m pretty fond of my Solly Wolly. 

Solomon Brady turns FOUR today! 🥳 Happy birthday, Solly!!! 

He was born to us so easily, it seemed. He delivered easily. The speed and ease with which he delivered didn’t add up to his size at all, yet there he was, in all his humongous glory, ready to join our party.

Isn’t he gorgeous? Fun fact, he is as light and airy and lovely as he looks. He is also hilarious. 

Shall we take a picture of the last year? Yes. We shall. 

Its been a full, weird year, to say the least, and he is our kids who rolls with the punches and just follows along with whatever. He is easy going, and he always has been. He was the exact right child to fill our fourth child spot. How does God know exactly what we need when, without fail? Crazy. 

Today, we celebrate him by playing with balloons in the basement and running around outside a bit, with breakfast for supper, per his request. Keeping it simple. Thats his style. 

When asked yesterday what he wants to be when he grows up, he said “I want to beeeee Solly.” That is an excellent way to be 💙 

I love you so much, Solly Wolly. I hope you feel so loved and celebrated today. I cannot wait to see what this next preschool year brings for you!!! 

Cher here! 🙋‍♀️

Science Saturday is something that Hailey and I came up with to do with Dekker and Laela on – you guessed it – Saturdays! We both had seen some interesting science experiments that caught our eye in passing, but for me in particular, I remember a specific experiment from my childhood that I always thought was interesting and cool.

We decided that it would be fun to try some experiments with the kids to switch things up a bit, and since I am here a lot (thanks guys for your hospitality) it seemed like a win for everyone! Hailey came up with “Science Saturday” and we hope to continue it for the duration of the school year.

Now that you’re caught up on some background, I’m going to get right into it!

The first experiment we did today came in two parts: The pepper/soap experiment, and the glitter/soap experiment (I am just calling it what I want, I’m unsure of their sophisticated titles). Both experiments taught the kids how soap works to get rid of germs and bacteria. It seemed fitting since we are in a pandemic right now and kids are always being told to wash their hands. This way they can see for themselves the magic of hand soap!

Part 1: Pepper and Soap
We got the kids to fill their own soup bowl half full of water. Next, we instructed them to scatter pepper from the shaker into the bowl and cover the whole surface of water in a thin layer. Then, we told them to pretend the pepper was germs. We took their index finger and poked the middle of the pepper water and asked them if anything happened. Nothing happened at all, so we dried their fingers off and put soap on the end of the same finger and told them to do it again. Immediately following their soap-covered finger hitting the surface of the pepper water, the pepper scattered to the edge of the bowl, leaving the middle of the bowl with clear water. It seemed like a miracle to watch the pepper (germs) run away from the soap on the surface of the water.

Part 2: Glitter and Soap
The next part of the experiment was to demonstrate how using only water to wash your hands doesn’t do as good of a job as it does when you use soap. First, we got the kids to choose what colour glitter they wanted. Then, we sprinkled it on both sides of both hands and got them to try and wash it off with water only. Some glitter fell off, but some stayed on like it was stuck to their skin, just like germs do! Last, we added soap to their hands and Hailey and Brady showed the kids all the places to scrub their fingers and finger tips, palms, and even wrists, in order to get all the areas that often get forgotten. They rinsed with water and 100% of the glitter was gone! It was a very cute experiment.

The last thing we did was give them a colouring page that said “Wash Your Hands” and a few cute germ cartoons surrounding it to colour.

Hailey suggested that they put them in each kids bathroom as a reminder of the experiments we did and a good general reminder for anyone who uses the bathroom.

Hailey and I wanted to colour too, so we coloured our own pages that were summer themed, and then we teamed up and did a third hand washing sign while we waited for everyone to finish.

It was a cute afternoon.

Overall, I think it went really well! At first they had no idea science could be fun or as inclusive, I don’t think. It was a fun way to teach kids about washing hands and the importance of using soap. Burning things into their brains like this will help keep them in the know. If they understand the how, then they will understand the why.


This is Cher, signing off.

I feel famous. Who wants my autograph?