Remember last week when Laela missed three days of school because of a nasty cold and fever? Well, everyone else caught it over the weekend. 😩 Doesn’t that sounds fun? 

I’ll be more specific, and go down the list. 

Brady is SICK. Snotty, sore throat, the works. 

I am not overrun with illness yet, but I feel it in my throat. I could tell first thing in the morning that it’s coming, but its not here yet. 

Dekker was in rough shape yesterday evening, and I assumed in advance that he wouldn’t go to school today. He woke up in decent shape and I sent him to school after all. Aaaaand came home just before lunch. He is now snotty, coughy, and feverish. 

Laela is pretty snotty, but she is in much better shape than the other kids, since she did the fever part last week. Her spirits are up and she’s just a bit sniffy. 

Rowan has a super gross cough and one weird swollen red eye 

Solly is pure snot. And also has a chesty cough. His voice is super high and raspy. He is also fevered 

Waverly has the raspy voice, super snotty nose, and the gross croup-like cough. 

One thing EVERYONE has in common is fatigue. EVERYONE is exhausted. 

🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱

Nap time went long today. I walked into every single bedroom at 3:30pm, and tip toed out slowly immediately after. Everyone (at home, the four kids) was cashed right out. Dekker was asleep, laying as if he had just laid down, flat on his back. Everyone was snoring. 

By now, they’re all up, and all fighting 😆😩 Emotions are running high, as no one is at their best. At least there were some nice lulls in the morning.

Supper will be some form of toast, I’m sure, and bedtime will be awkwardly early. Last night, the whole group went to bed at 6:30, and that was a QUIET house for that early!! 

My hands are so dry from all the hand sanitizer I’ve used today. I’ll take the chapped hands over a chapped nose any day! 🙅‍♀️ Stay away, illness!!

Thank you to my friends who were brave enough to come over, in spite of my house full of sickies. I appreciate you, and also I’m sorry…

So I mentioned a funny reading story, and figured I should share. It’s SO funny to me and Brady, so hopefully you’ll get a kick out of it, too. 

I should say, its funny now…

***

Back in the day of dating, Brady and I would go drive to random locations, park, light tea lights in the car, and read to each other. We read old Gordon Korman booked I had read when I was in junior high. There are some REALLY good ones that I hope my children enjoy one day, too. We’d park in neighbourhoods that weren’t very built out yet, or by the river, or in the country. Once we parked outside the airport so we could watch the planes while we read.

Now, I’m not dumb. I know it sounds like we were going to just go park somewhere and make out. And yes, we did that. “Star gazing.” “Storm watching.” Obviously just covers for making out. But reading was legitimately reading. 

One night in particular, we had pulled off of a gravel road onto what looked like a little side road, but was very much more of an approach into a field. We parked his gross little two toned Tempo, lit our little candles, and grabbed our book out. We read for a good long while before we decided it was time to go home. We realized, at that point, how mucky the ground around us was, and rather than backing up from where he came (we weren’t so far from the main road) Brady decided to turn around. 

Try to turn around, I should say. He was instantly stuck DEEP in mud. Could not get back onto that little path to save his life. He tried to hop out and push while I drove, but the car needed to be rocked, and guess what. I don’t know how to drive stick well enough to make that happen. 

Aaaaand thats how I ended up knee deep in the mud, furiously trying to push a car out of a farmers field. 

Spoiler alert. We worked like that for about an hour. 

Spoiler alert number two. We didn’t get it out. I actually did better than I thought I would, but I just couldn’t get it out of that thick mud :/ So we made our way home, myself covered in mud, in the dark, in the country. It felt like a walk of shame moment. I was SO angry. I hope I’d laugh about it if it happened now, but MAN I was pissed to have been the one in the mud thanks to Brady’s decision that I wouldn’t have personally made. I specifically remember I refused to hold hands with him 😂 I was such a jerk, haha! 

Of course, as one would expect, we needed help getting the car pulled out of the field in the morning, which meant (ugh) retelling the events of the evening. 

“Reading, huh?”

YES!!! JUST READING!! 

Lol! Its funny now, don’t worry 😉 But I was SO embarrassed in the moment! Wow! 

Would it have really mattered if we were out, smooching in a field? Frankly, that was more realistic in a junky little car than it would be now in our bus 😳 If we were to go park that thing somewhere for some smooching now, it would look suuuuuper suspicious. Maybe smooching in vehicles is behind us now. But reading to each other is resurrected!! I’m happy to have it back! 

Thank you all for your love yesterday on our anniversary post! Weren’t the photos amazing?? It was pretty crazy to get back into our wedding gear from eleven years prior, and relive some of the poses, while doing a few new ones 🙂 No burn AT ALL on our wedding photographer, but I like these SO much more than our original wedding photos! But I also like us better now than I did then ❤️ I think thats a good thing. 

So, about the day. I truly didn’t think we had any plans, so I had a new movie in mind and we have steaks in the freezer. I figured we could have an extra special at-home date night. But as it happens, Brady had planned presents and a date for us!! I admit, I felt a little sheepish, not having any gifts for him, but he still loves me so it works out 😆

The morning was a bit chaotic, waking up late (where did my alarm go???) and getting the kids to school. Brady had asked me to call him when I was home and settled. So I did, and he sent me upstairs to find a pretty white bag with a present in it for me! 

Pretty 😍 He did good. 

Shortly after our phone call, a vehicle pulled up to my house, and wouldn’t you know it – another delivery for me! 

Again, very good. I love the vase, too!! 

I watched a movie with Cher while the kids napped, and once it was over, we hung out together in my bathroom while I got some makeup on. Then I brought my curling wand, hairspray, and a mirror down to the kitchen and curled my hair there so I’d be available to greet the big kids upon coming home from school. 

Jerilee showed up around 3:30 to be our babysitter for the night, and Brady was home right around there, as well. He got cleaned up a bit, we chatted for a few minutes before hauling out. We wanted to go to a new restaurant in Saskatoon, and they weren’t taking reservations, so we figured the earlier the better! Who goes out for supper early on a Friday, anyway?! 

Everyone. The answer is “everyone.”

We waited for about an hour to get into our new location of The Old Spaghetti Factory. New old. Humor. But, my friends, it was SO worth the wait. We got a spot in a teeny little booth overlooking a busy street. 

We ate BIG food…

And finished it off with that super delicious ice cream!

Even when we go out on dates, Brady and I have a hard time slowing down and savouring our time together, especially in a restaurant. Because at home, with a bunch of kids, you get used to speed-eating in between serving different kids more of different things and just being extra hands on. But with the long wait to be seated, and then to order, and then between little courses, we enjoyed about 2.5 hours at the restaurant. It was super nice. 

After supper, I had a few things in mind I thought we could do, just the two of us. We have some gifts in mind that we should be buying for people sooner than later, but Brady insisted, no errands. It was a rule. I don’t think he gets how cathartic it is for me to get into a grocery/department store without kids 😆 But I was also fine with it. Rather, we went to relive a regular date night that we did a lot more before we had kids. And you guys won’t even believe me, but try. 

We used to go park somewhere nice, and read books to each other. 

I know. I know. It sounds like we said that to cover up the fact that we were going to just go make out somewhere. We definitely did that, but reading books was not our cover. When we said we were going out to read, we legitimately read. Brady bringing that up to me yesterday actually sparked a memory that is SO funny and I’m going to have to share on its own post. My goodness 😂 We were so weird. 

So, we drove to the train bridge, threw the van into park, and turned on the interior lights. We like that area because we like to people watch and at least in warmer weather, watch the water. Last time we lurked at the train bridge for a while, we saw cute people who appeared to be newly dating. Lots of runners and joggers. Kids. Its fun. It was dark and nighttimey this time, but it still worked 🙂 Brady had found our old books that we used to read, and we chose “The Twinkie Squad” by Gordon Korman. He’s SUCH a fun author for those junior high type of books. 

We read for about 1.5 hours. 

It was fun ❤️ Buuuuut then we had to pee, so we left, lol! We hit up a nearby Safeway for a pee break and some snacks, but were unsuccessful in finding the snacks we wanted the most. Maybe Costco can help next time we get there. 

All in all, it was a really really lovely evening out. Eleven years of marriage feels really good. Its not perfect, I know I don’t even have to say that. We’ve of course come across some hard times, but who hasn’t? I’ve always been content in my marriage, and I’ve always been able to say we’re happily married. While its not new, this last year was a time I really saw how healthy my marriage is, and for that, I am SO grateful! I know things only stay healthy as long as you care for them, and care for my marriage I will continue to! I praise the Lord for my healthy, happy, loving marriage ❤️

Today marks eleven years since Brady and I got married ❤️ We were SO young, and so in love. We acted on faith, and continue to. Our road hasn’t been a perfect one, but no one’s is. I wouldn’t trade ours. 

I’ll admit that this post is a year late. We had this fun blog idea for our tenth anniversary, but as it happened, if you remember, last February was unbelievably cold. Not fit for photos in the slightest. But thats ok, because eleven happens to be my favorite number anyway 😊 

We loved our wedding. There is very little I wish had been done differently. It was a spectacular day. VERY us. More than our wedding, though, I love our marriage. 

I love our relationship and how we’ve melded together. We’re both so different, but as tends to happen, we’ve become more similar over time.

I feel so fortunate to have a husband who is happily invested 100% in his family.

A husband who shares my goals and my heart.

A husband who never takes the easy way out or cuts a corner.

A husband who loves his family fiercely.

A husband with his priorities in order. God. Wife. Kids. Everything else. It seems that kind of man is hard to find, and I’m grateful to be forever united with Brady. 

We laugh a LOT.

I love our perfectly imperfect bond. Keep it tight, Lord! 

Eleven years in, with hopefully SO many more left! 

*

Thank you, Cher, for taking these pictures for us. In winter.

When your back was on fire. We now have photographic evidence that we’re just dorky as we were on this very day, eleven years ago! ❄️ 

I’m confident today is Laela’s last sick day. Her spirits are way up, and I’m sure if I had told her she could go back to school, she would’ve been all over it. But she was still a little fevered, so I figured one more day. 

Yesterday was a rough one. 

Thank you, Cher, for taking these pictures, unbeknownst to me ❤️ 

She just lay. If I offered her a book, she’d take it, and read it, and then lay it on her lap until Waverly inevitably toddled by and took it. Her fever was pretty persistent, and I could tell she was starting to feel pretty miserable. I gave her Tylenol and it didn’t break the fever. I sat beside her and wiped her face and neck with a cool cloth. She LOVED that. I could’ve probably done that all done. She loved it, and I felt peace being able to do something for her in the moment. She was looking pretty ok, but she started to drag hard towards the end of the morning. Still gorgeous though. 

She opted out of lunch and went down for a nap. After her nap, she was noticeably happier and lighter in the heart. She was in WAY better shape! Dekker even brought her some homework (her teacher knows how much she loves school that she sought him out to bring her some!) and she completed it immediately. One journal entry, three pages of math, and three pages of spelling. 

This morning, she really seemed a lot better. She sat up, coughed up some gross morning phlegm (I know, delicious) and then popped out of bed. At first, I thought if was obvious that she should go back to school. But I felt her neck, and she was toasty. Too toasty. I double checked as she ate her breakfast, and she was definitely warm. But! She ate breakfast better than she has in a couple of days, and coughed less. So I know she’s on her way back! 

This morning, it appears she is giving Solly a turn being sick. For the record, he isn’t sick. Yet. But Laela tucked him in on her little couch with her blanket. She gave him his water bottle and appointed herself his caregiver, sitting beside him and reading him story after story. Even Wavy joined in. 

Hopefully this is the end of Laela’s bout of sickness! And hopefully no one else gets it 🤞 Wish us luck!! 

I am SO thankful for how this morning has gone. 

Now that we have a basement, all the rowdiness lives down there. All of the toys and games are there. Dress up. Noisy toys. Messy stuff. Upstairs can get plenty messy too, but upstairs is for reading, colouring, and puzzles. That general idea. So you can imagine the kids are usually ravaging the basement all morning. 

Except this morning. This morning was extra special. 

Laela is home from school again today, so she opted for a couch, a water bottle, a blanket, and a book. Rowan followed suit with his stuffed fox and some Little Bear books. Solly is here by default, haha, because he doesn’t care to play downstairs on his own very much. He loves our pink wingback chair, so he’s been stretched out across it most of the morning. He also is on his way to Laela’s cold. And Waverly likes to be where the action is. Plus, she likes to dance to the music I play most of the day on the Echo. 

I admit, as I sat on my chair and looked around at my peaceful children, I had the worry that naps would be a total bust because no one was expelling any energy. And then I sent that worry packing, because I’m SO grateful for these special moments when everyone chooses to be close to one another. 

Its like a really good friend. How many of us have said that a good quality in a friend is when you can be around them totally comfortably, not talking? I know I’ve said that! And that is these kids today. When they do speak, its either quiet whisper-reading, or a whispered “Can I read that one when you’re done?” Its amazing. And for the record, the only one in the room who can read is Laela. But they’re all SO content. I refuse to overthink. It is TOO GOOD!

Its good for my heart to know these times are possible. Its in there! ❤️

In order to mix up the posts about who is suffering from what, we decided to keep Laela home 🤦‍♀️ 

Its really nothing serious. She’s been clearing her throat a lot for the last couple of days, and while we haven’t heard her cough really at all, she said she has been through the nights, and keeps saying she thinks she’s lost her voice. Now, she hasn’t, but she’s pretty loaded up on phlegm. I know. Yum. 

This morning, I went in to get Laela up for school, and she was SO tired. She was awake, but she had NO get up and go in her. And her cough was out for all to hear. Throaty and chesty and deep and growly and gross. I asked her how she was feeling, and she insisted she was good. Did she want to go to school? Yup, she did. But 🙌 could she roll out of bed? Barely. I sent her to the table with her water bottle to wait for breakfast while I got the rest of the kids up. 

She barely ate, and it was clear she needed to stay home. Just coughing and coughing. She’s pretty diligent at covering her mouth, but it wouldn’t have made sense to send her to school, where she could cough on all of her friends. So she stayed. She even has an admirer here. 

Miss Sickie Pants and Fakity Faker over here 🤣 They’re pretty cute. 

We’re ready for a super slow moving morning with paint and stories and music and chatting and eventually, naps. I hope your day is as relaxed as ours, ideally with less coughing 🤞

Yesterday, after we organized the living room, after lunch, and napped the nappers, we opted to go outside! Wavy didn’t last especially long, but it was worth it to get everyone out there even for a little bit. Its like those cheeks need to be red from time to time. 

They played HARD, digging and pulling each other around on sleds. Eventually some of them graduated to the swing set and slide in the backyard, but it still counts. They were all SO beautiful!

Wavy moves the least, and is the smallest, so she was cold the earliest. I brought her her neck warmer but it didn’t end up helping much. Except it made her cuter.

I got out there later than everyone, and I ended up taking her in the earliest, so my bout outside wasn’t so bad. Everyone else’s red cheeks stuck around for a good long while afterwards tho! 

I thank this silvering fox for always having the gumption to get everyone into all of their winter gear and outside, even just for a while. 

I’m so thankful to have a husband who not only has an excellent work ethic and patient heart, but also loves winter. Its aaaaall yours, honey!

I can’t believe I don’t have a before picture. My goodness. SUCH a lame oversight. But alas, here we are, in the “after” stage. Not even talking talking about the basement. Talking about the living room. This is the “before.”

So. Its not done done, but if we wait for that, it’ll still be a long time before you see it. So I guess this isn’t even “after.” During. Progress. Whatever. 

Aaaaanyway! As things are slowly starting to come together at the house, I’ve been itching to make the upstairs make better sense. Now, this isn’t a great picture, but we’re going with it. We had just moved the bulk of the toys downstairs so the place was a lot more open. We were just testing out the coffee table in there and trying to decide what looks best where. Since then, we’ve moved the little recliner downstairs, but otherwise, the same stuff lived upstairs. Its looked a little weird at times, with some areas being cluttered and some being too empty. So this morning, we tried something new and moved it around. And guys. Its SO much better!!!

Isn’t it pretty?? So we have the couch and recliner on the long wall, and the pink chair and love seat along the railing. We need another little white table between those ones next time we’re at IKEA. With the love seat moving, we could put the bookshelves back against the piano.

Now there is a nice stretch of wall for what we’ve been wanting it for! We’d like to have our guitars out, and we’ll ideally have this tall cabinet next to the water cooler eventually, to store the very few knick knacky things we have, and to break up the big long wall a bit. 

Once ALL of that makes sense, we’ll be able to think about what to finally put up on the walls. Thats a whole other post 😉 But for the sake of this post, can you see how nice its starting to look??? Ack!

The question for YOU, my friends, is coffee table? Or nah? Its nice to have, and it all looks pretty cozy, but it takes up space unnecessarily, and isn’t especially practical, considering the toddler we possess. What do you guys think? Besides the obvious, that its awesome in every way. We already know this 😉 

I took a night away. It was SO refreshing. I feel selfish saying it was necessary, because I know I’ve been riding a “break” all week while Brady has been home and I have been resting my body upstairs. But Cher and I planned a long while ago that I would come over for what we’ve been calling “teenager sleepover.” And that was last night!

Brady and I took the kids in first for a Costco shop. I don’t remember the last time we did Costco all together as a family. It was really cute. 

We did Superstore next, but didn’t get a whole lot. We grabbed toilet paper and creamer and got out of there. I was pretty eager to get to teenager sleepover! We grabbed some Subway for Cher and I on the way. 

It was SUCH a nice day with her. We watched some movies, along with one of the terrifying true crime documentaries on Netflix 🙀 We ate so many yummy things, and got in lots of good snugs! We went to sleep SO late, but that only makes sense for teenager sleepover, right? 

Our morning held some tv (Schitt Creek is leaving Netflix March 1st! Binge watch while you can!), more snugs, and breakfast in bed.

Yes. We have matching onesies. 

Yes. We’re dorks. 

We tried to get up and go a handful of times, but it took until the early afternoon before we finally surfaced, packed up some stuff, and headed to the car. Yes. We did wear the onesies outside. 

All in all, it was SO nice to have a whole day away with Cher. We just rested, and relaxed, with zero expectations or deadlines. I’ve been missing her a lot these days, not seeing her even close to as often as I usually have the pleasure of, so this was really, really nice. 

Meanwhile, while I was away, Brady worked on reloading our laptop (any laptop nerds able to help us with a keyboard issue, PLEASE message me!) and he set up his drum kit for the kids to play on! 

Its cool to see which kids lean towards what interests. One of our children in particular has a pretty incredible natural rhythm, and expressed an interest in learning the drums. 

I’m really looking forward to having our children help lead worship someday. 

Its been SUCH a nice weekend so far. I hope you all feel the same.