I had a really lovely morning, sitting on my recliner while the middle boys played in the bedroom, building forts. It was pretty chill until the screaming started, and then the bloodbath continued until nap time. So that was fun. But it helped that Brady only had to work the morning, and came home with groceries! Woot!

My mom called around lunch and invited me over to play succulents with her! Haha! She was hoping to re-pot hers and knew I had been saying the same thing, so she had purchased some soil and fertilizer, and was offering for me to share. I jumped at it and limped my poor little succulents over to her house. Once upon a time, they were so lush and pretty, and now they’re all dry and sad and in desperate need of fresh soil, better drainage, and a little trim here or there.

Together, we made a mess of her kitchen, starting with little rocks, and charcoal, and then soil. We broke up my sad dry crusty plants and got them all rooty and loose before depositing them in their new happy home. I put four of my littler guys in one pretty new long, narrow pot that will fit beautifully on my window sill. I repotted one that’s still doing ok, but it needed new soil. And then two were SO stretched and SO weird and angry, roots growing out of their stalk. Just messy. I unceremoniously beheaded them and they now live in the sun, waiting for the cut to “scab over” before I attempt to replant it. So wish me luck on those ones!

Overall, I’m so happy with my new little set up. These pots used to occupy ALL of my dessert bowls, and now, I have my small bowls back, and a way cuter little look! My cactuses stayed the same, but they’re still happy.

I doddled on the way home, got the mail, etc., but I came home to a pretty happy house that smelled like grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a happy supper.

As I write this post out, Brady is practicing guitar for tonight’s band practice! We have most of what we need for a basic sound setup, and we borrowed the missing pieces for the evening so it could be a plugged in practice! They’re a lot of fun 🙂 And we’ve gotta prepare, for another giggity gig! Woot! Who has plans for October 10th? You do nowwwww!

The whole gang packed up for church today. You guys know, church has been extra hard with Wavy these days. Not because she’s not a TOTAL peach, but she’s at a tricky stage.

She’s really screechy and loud with her newfound voice, and she really wants to go, but she also doesn’t want to be put down, or be held constantly. Its hard for me to find that delicate balance between letting her wander and babble a little, but without letting her get disruptive or distracting. The screeching alone has been reason enough to keep her home recently, as much of it was based on fatigue and teething, but today we decided to all go together.

We made it in time to drop Brady and the four kids off at Sunday school. Solly went without hesitation this time, which is pretty great. They all ran happily to their rooms, and I got Waverly settled in the stroller for our walk! A couple of other moms with babies had decided to meet and walk a bit during Sunday school, and while we got ourselves together, we were joined by a few others! It was SO nice to got for a walk as a group in the beautiful morning sun. Four of us with strollers and two without. It may not have been in the church but you can’t tell me it wasn’t fellowship! I loved it. None of the babies even fussed. It was perfect.

We got to church just in time, and my mom and I sat down to hold a bench for my family. They joined eventually, and the music started. A couple of the older kids abandoned us to go sit with friends, and the littles stayed put. Waverly is not wanting to be held 100% of the time, and now that she’s walking, I set her down and let her wander into the aisle. While everyone sang, she walked up a few steps closer to the front and stood in this little squat position, and bounced and swayed to the music. I was so enamoured with her, and she was a bit of a hit to those around her, too.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture! Lol!

She did great through music, and schmoozed a little during our greeting time, but she was getting pretty vocal during the quieter parts of the service. I took her out to walk her around a little, and made my way back in after a while. She insisted on going down from my lap, and of course the moment she was down, she wiped out and bonked her head. More crying. We left, and came back in again, and she was just so unsettled. Brady took a turn and lasted about ten seconds before having to take her out. Finally I gave in and decided she and I would go home. We had the stroller out anyway.

So Wavy and I went home early, but we still had some lovely time with our community. We definitely tried.

Church is hard with kids. Plain and simple. Its not glamorous. But we’re trying so hard to bring our children up in a family where church is the norm. Laela said today that Sunday is her favorite day. I love that. I want them to all love Sunday. One day Waverly will scream less, and it’ll be easier. Right??

I feel like I was asked this a lot this week, and I’m pretty sure I consistently said we had nothing up. Which is almost unheard of. There is always something to do, especially now that Brady’s work has picked back up. We got used to having time together to putter away at all the activities and errands we could possible imagine throughout the week, and now, we tend to cram our weekends full. So I was completely floored that somehow, we had this whole day off!

I remembered yesterday, when I bothered to check my phone calendar, that I had my hair appointment this morning!! My faaaavorite day that only comes a few times a year 🙂 I was SO excited. So I knew I had that this Saturday.

(Don’t hate me, I forgot to take hair pictures and now I don’t have pants on, so, no pics today! Whoops!)

Now that my hair is done, I came home to a quiet napping house, with one big kid playing lego and another big kid working in a work book, because apparently school itself just isn’t enough. Brady made me a little lunch and now I’m holed up, talking to the blog, trying to figure out what to write on a day when I have nothing too big on the go.

And of course, its hitting me now all the things we could be doing!!

We should be carpet shopping!
I should be making granola bars!
We should be practicing music for our next gig!
We should finish up the laundry!
We should get supper moving!
We need to grocery shop!
I should knit!
I should prep lunches!
We need to vacuum this place!
I really need to tidy my room up!

Does the to-do list ever really end? I think not. But perhaps today is just a day to rest and not accomplish ALL the things. I can’t remember the last time we did that. Maybe today is the day 🙂

I hope some of you are enjoying really restful days! And that some of you are feeling productive and on top of all your goals 🙂

Families were invited to come join their children for a reading lunch today! They do it a couple of times a year, and we always try to get there. At least Brady or I. Brady is HOME today, which is such a treat, so we decided to do out best to get everyone there.

It. Was. Not. Easy. Lol! Like we aaalmost just called it and just I went. Almost. But we powered through. While Rowan was going to the bathroom and getting dressed, Solly and I hid in the pantry and ate goldfish. He was SO into it, whispering and making faces and laughing with his mouth covered. Eventually, there was a knock on our door. “Housekeeping” called Brady. We were guilty of overstaying, so we checked out quickly and got on the road for the walk to school.

It was pretty cute.

Dekker was let out of class early when his teacher saw us waiting in the hall, so we all sat down and looked through his book of choice – Lego Harry Potter. Laela joined us shortly thereafter, bearing Pet the Cat and a lunch of her own. I snagged one of the little boys onto my lap, Brady held Wavy, and I read a book to the fam while the big kids ate. When we finished Pete the Cat, Laela ran into her classroom to switch it out for a new book, and brought scoop chairs for everyone 🙂 It was also pretty cute.

As the lunch hour went on, we managed to visit with a few teachers who were slowly doing laps around the school. Laela’s teacher came and asked Laela to introduce her to everyone, and was very complimentary of their names 🙂 We also saw one of Dekker’s teachers from last year and talked about the transition into the new year and new routine. She also mentioned she was at Waskesiu this last summer, so we related on that 🙂 SUCH a beautiful place!

Once books were read and lunches were gone, Laela invited us all to come see her class guinea pigs. We got a little tour of her classroom, and then onto Dekker’s for a little tour as well. But the bell was about to go for recess and our group was breaking down, so we gave hugs and said goodbye. The walk home began a little tearful but we made it!

Everyone is napping, except Brady and I, but we’re eating leftover pizza, which is almost as good as napping 😉 Was a lovely way to break up the day!

Today was the second day of preschool, but my first day to be the parent helper. I felt a little out of my element, as its been a little bit since Laela was in preschool and I was regularly helping out. This meant a whole new group of kids to learn, plus new songs, and working everyone into a system they might be new to. Some kids went to the younger preschool class last year, but at least Rowan for sure is a first timer. So he’s learning the order of operation.

Its a noticeably smaller group than Laela’s group, and its definitely boy-heavy. Very different from Laela’s year! But they’re super cute, and all at totally different levels. I truly enjoyed just sitting on the floor with them, building game boards of games we didn’t know how to play, and discussing what animals may or may not like to eat. It was so simple.

Rowan didn’t need me much at all! He played so well with others. I loved listening to him speak to his friends, include them in his games, and work to remember their names so he could call them by the right name. He cleaned up without fuss and followed directions pretty well. The only time he gets upset, of all times, is at music. And here’s the thing. I think he gets upset because he knows Laela never really participated in the songs at preschool! She was quite reserved through her year at preschool, and she was always happy there, but never sang or did actions or danced along. So once the songs started today, Rowan hid behind me, stuck his face into my buttcrack and started whining that he was shy. The novelty of that wore off quick. I told him he was welcome to stand beside me and hold my hand, but he couldn’t be behind me, whining into my butt. I literally had to pull him out beside me while he whined in his baby voice, “I syyy! I syyy!” The thing is HE’S NOT! He wasn’t crying or actually upset. I even saw a smirk once. He was just messing around in kind of an inappropriate way. I hope he gives in and just joins everyone soon. He LOVES singing and dancing! He’s missing out!

Once the vast majority of the morning was done, we got the kids all ready and hauled them outside for a few minutes of play. The kids ran and played happily until eventually moms started collecting their offspring and packing them up to take them home. I ducked out with Rowan too once all had been cleared. As I climbed into my van, one of the preschool kids shouted at me that he really liked my van, lol I told him I liked it, too 🙂

Cute kids. Its gonna be a cute year, and many cute years to come.

Yesterday was a hard day for me, but as I so often say, my people are SOLID people, and I didn’t have to be alone at all. My mom came and spent the morning, as we had previously planned, so I could take Rowan to his first day of preschool, just the two of us. (Thank you for all the love on that post, friends. It was a really cute milestone day.) We ran a quick errand together with Solly and Waverly, and then I went to pick Ro back up. We finished out the morning while the kids ate lunch, and then Cher joined us with a bunch of leftover pizza for our own lunch! 

The three of us ate lunch once the kids were down, and visited a little before my mom had to head on her way. She was away last weekend and had some catching up to do 🙂 Cher hung out for the afternoon and through the kids coming home from school. Now I’ve said before, that stretch between school getting out, and supper, is the hardest stretch around here. Not the hour before bedtime. The hour(ish) between school and supper. SO difficult. So on a day where I already wasn’t feeling very strong, I was in quite a bit of dread pertaining to that stretch of time. Not to mention, Brady’s day had become a huge mess and he was feeling SO unproductive. He had a goal to finish by the end of the day and it just was not going to happen by his usual cutoff time. So as I said. Dread. Bad attitudes. All me. 

I decided to give them a supper I know they love. A supper that is a total mom fail, but actually isn’t, because its a HUGE kid win. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches. With veggies and a couple of other things, but, pb&j was the star. I had decided to start supper at 4:30, and as you can imagine, got them settled and eating significantly earlier than necessary. Supper was over shortly after 5:00, and I realized we had a FULL two hours of time to nip at each other and get on each other’s nerves. 

So Cher lent a hand and helped me get everyone shoed, water bottled, and out the door. We spent the rest of their evening at the playground. And guys, it was just so awesome. They were SO happy. 

Very shortly after we got there, Brady made it home. He got my text that we were at the playground and made his way over to join us. 

It was such a peaceful evening. The kids played happily. There was no fighting. They even made friends with a little girl who was there with her parents. They mentioned that she was their only child, and when she saw all of our kids on the playground, she had run towards them, saying “My friends!” Our kids took her in immediately, which just thrilled my heart. They would run up the slides, and she couldn’t quite keep up. At one point, Dekker hooked his foot on some bars at the top of the slide, and hung his body down, his arm outstretched, and he encouraged her to keep coming, that he’d help her! I could’ve cried. He was SO sweet. In the end, she did make it up to him and grab his hand, but his foot slipped and they both rode down the slide, haha! No one got hurt or squished, he was in total control 🙂 A big smile plastered on his face the entire time. I love seeing that side of him. He is SO good with kids. 

My favourite was when the kids hit the saucer swings. They went a couple of times, but the best one was when Rowan and the new little girl wanted to ride together, and Dekker was going to swing it for them. Dekker LOVES the saucer swings, and can make them go super high. I kind of started to suggest he be a bit more careful because of our new friend, and he nodded right away and said he knew, and he would. And he did! He rocked the swing, and Rowan and the little girl were full of smiles. He had his arm around her, holding onto the edge and keeping her steady. Hair was everywhere, blowing like crazy in the wind. He was trying to brush it from his face, and then reached over and tried to get her hair out of her eyes, too. Man, it was SO cute! 

I could tell at one point, the little girls parents were going over to collect her. It was right when I called to the kids that they had ten more minutes to play before we were going to go. The little family looked at each other and it seemed they decided to stay a little longer 😉 So they ran from the swings to the play structure and back again. They ran the merry go round in circles and slid and slid and slid. It was just so awesome to see everyone so happy. 

When the time came, so did the beginnings of some rain, so we made our way home. The kids happily played all the way home, as though everything were completely normal with the world. 

And I admit, I was puffed with pride. I am SO grateful for my children, being exactly who they are! Thank you, Lord, for training my kids to be so loving and accepting and approachable! All glory to God!

We’re there, folks! Kid #3 is off to school! Preschool counts as school, right? Sure does to me! He was really excited 🙂

I pep-talked him as we drove and reminded him that he needed to listen to his teacher and share with his friends and all that good stuff. He completely understood, and couldn’t get in there fast enough!

He had a hang-up moment when it came time to put on his indoor shoes. He did NOT want to wear shoes inside. I explained to him that it helps against stubbed or stepped on toes, and that sometimes he might even play in the gym, where he’d for sure need shoes. He was still pretty hesitant, but as kids started coming in and playing, he realized he needed shoes before he could make any next move. So he put them on and remembered that he really likes his indoor shoes. Win! He hung his name up on the wall and off he went.

Two hours later, he was ready for pickup! He was happy, full of stories, and even had a campfire craft to show off. It was a definite win. He loves his teacher, which helps a lot with those first-timer nerves.

Is it just me or does he look way older, all of a sudden?

This morning was smoother than usual, I’m happy to say! And truthfully, I didn’t anticipate it would be. It kicked off with me jolting awake from a horrible nightmare where one of the kids and I were in real danger. I immediately sat up in order to wake myself up, but it was earlier than I’d normally get up. So I was a bit sleepy, but sleepy beats nightmares any day.

I got up on time and got the kids up for school. The big ones got dressed and they collectively set the table. It was pretty normal at that point. They prayed and started eating.

And somehow – I don’t know how – they finished WAY sooner than normal! Most pointedly, Laela finished WAY sooner than usual. She is such a slow eater, especially at breakfast. We’re in that boat where I have to basically nip her heels from beginning of breakfast until she’s out the door. That girl has nothing but time, except that she really doesn’t. I know it, and she knows it, but clearly I’m far more concerned than she is. But today, she was ON it. She was the first done breakfast. She asked to leave the table, put her dishes away, and went to brush up in the bathroom. I helped her with her hair, and she loaded her lunch into her backpack and had it in the entrance. At that point, she had a solid half hour before I’d send them out the door. What a relief! I told her what time she had left, and she lit right up, ran to the little linen closet, and came out with the broom.

“I just see a little mess,” she goes. Now I don’t know about your kids, but my kids are still pretty small, and brooms are hard to coordinate, so I don’t ask them to sweep really ever. If there’s a little mess, we have a hand broom, but she got the big broom, and made a few passes in the kitchen. She cleaned it all up with the dustpan and put everything away. And then she came out with our carpet sweeper. You know those super old fashioned non-electric “vacuums” that are just a stick and a vacuum head that picks stuff up by rolling? Well we have one, and its great for our living room carpet. Laela insisted she wanted to vacuum the carpet. So she did that, and then packed it up, and put it away.

Aaaaand onto the bedrooms! She pulled out our (kinda crappy but light and kid-friendly) vacuum from that same linen closet and confirmed that she could use it. I asked if she was suuure that she wanted to, and she nodded vigorously. So, of course I let her. I’m not going to argue with her when she wants to clean!

She vacuumed here and there in the bedrooms, lol! The whole operation was very much a “spot clean,” but any vacuuming she’s doing is more than I’m doing, clearly! She finished up what she wanted to do and coiled the cord back up nicely before putting it away and closing the closet up for the morning. She still had fifteen minutes to play! I told her again how much time she had and she was super thrilled.

Then she requested if she could always do some chores before she went to school. Um… yes. Yes you can. I can figure that out for you, my girl.

But first we have to figure out what made her actually eat breakfast at a good pace!

Suuuuuper proud of your beautiful work ethic this morning, Laela!

Here we are, friends! Today was the cut-off for our homemade gift exchange! We officially have our numbers! For an event that I didn’t think anyone would actually care about besides me, I am thrilled to say we have a group of 21 participants!! 😄 Twenty-one people who have agreed to the terms I put forth, and who are going to make a gift for someone this upcoming holiday season. Because we ALL agree that homemade gifts are some of the best gifts!

I thought it would be fun to share some homemade gift ideas on here. Whether you’re part of the gift exchange or not, giving a gift is always fun, and sometimes getting creative along the way makes it extra fun! Aaaaand, who says gifts are only for Christmas? They’re not. Like at all! Maybe next time you feel like giving a gift, one of these will come to mind 🙂

There seem to fall into a few categories in my head. Forgive me if I miss any! Add them in the comments, if you’d like!!

Food! There is such an awesome range in food gifts that come to mind. You could make something fresh that you know someone loves, or something that takes a bit of extra fuss than maybe someone is willing to make. What about frozen make-ahead meals? Cookie dough balls to freeze for cookies later on? What about your own spice mixes or marinades? Or those jarred mixes of cookies, cakes, or speciality hot chocolate? Oh, and candy!!! SO many food gifts!

My mind instantly moves to crafts with yarn. Maybe mostly my area of expertise, but not for everyone. It extends pretty far too, though. Knitting, crocheting, embroidery, cross stitch, etc. Sewing is pretty far out of my wheelhouse but I know many who can do that! You could go the route of clothing items to bags to linens to decor. I see a LOT of macrame these days! Maybe jewelry fits in here, too!

More decor! Painting! Drawing! Photography! And thats really just thinking about walls! What about frames? Or ceramics? What about upcycling something you already have?

What about personalizing something for someone? I feel like, if you have one of those cricuts, or silhouettes, you’re golden to customize decor, or dinnerware, or maybe clothing. The world is your oyster!

Guys, there are SO many fun ideas out there. I haven’t even scratched the surface, I know, but I’m really excited for whats to come in this time of gift giving 🙂 Now that we have our final group, I’ll set up for the corny “get to know you” game tomorrow on the group Facebook page. Keep an eye out for it!

🎁

With all of this prematurely cold weather, yesterday’s warm weather caught us off guard. The kids were scratching at the door, so Brady took them for a bike ride. I hung back, as we were expecting company to arrive in the next little while. I have no idea what the rest of the season is going to look like, but if this is the last bike ride of the season, I’m SO thankful we have it on record.

I’m SO grateful for these children, and this husband.

I’m so proud of my three older ones who have aced their two-wheelers so smoothly, and I’m loving the two little ones, hanging out in the trailer, not fighting. These kids know whats up, and I’m so happy to see them happy.