Brady and I cooked together. It felt like it had been a while, though we work together really well, and really often. Today, we stood by our stove together, and it felt really, really normal. Normal is hard to come by over here. It shifts so much. So today felt like a treat in that area.
We made a yummy supper, based solely on the face that I bought two huge boxes of mushrooms at PBR today and I wanted to eat some of them. So we made perogies! Bacon, because I didn’t realize we were out of sausage. Roasted broccoli with garlic powder and parmesan cheese. “Gravy” which was actually condensed mushroom soup with a little milk and a LOT of sour cream. And fried mushrooms! Couldn’We made a yummy supper, based solely on the face that I bought two huge boxes of mushrooms at PBR today and I wanted to eat some of them. So we made perogies! Bacon, because I didn’t realize we were out of sausage. Roasted broccoli with garlic powder and parmesan cheese. “Gravy” which was actually condensed mushroom soup with a little milk and a LOT of sour cream. And fried mushrooms! Couldn’t actually put them in the sauce because very few members of my family like mushrooms. But I do. And Cher did. And Dekker did a little. And the morsel did!! All in all, supper did not disappoint
I am still overfull. Yet, we still ate leftover treatzza pizza in bed, because there is ALWAYS room for that.
Supper was delicious. A good food day feels like a success to me. We also got some errands done in the city, as well as some jobs done in the house. I suppose it pays to be home for a Saturday once in a while.
While my new bathtub is nowhere near my old bathtub, I’m still incredibly grateful for it 💜 I haven’t had a ton of soaks since we moved, but as time goes on and our stress goes up, I’m having them more and more, for maintenance and comfort.
From time to time, Cher leaves me little treats, most recently, for the bath! I’m bad at using treats, because once I do (get ready) they’re gone! Lol! It just feels so final! But upon her strict instructions to actually USE her gifts, I set myself up for a cushy bath yesterday. To be specific, a pineapple bath.
I had my hair tied up in a pineapple scrunchie…
…my pineapple bath bomb…
…and I kept cool with my pineapple pop!!
These are a few of my favorite thiiiiiiings!! 😍🍍
Today, I found myself in need of another bath, which is not my norm anymore at all. But! Its not always up to me, haha! So into the bath I went, and I had the most bizarre problem I’ve had yet while running a tub.
I started the water and walked away to let it run for a few minutes. I came back to a tub that was WAY too hot. So I turned the water down into the coldest zone and walked away again. I knew it would take a minute or two to actually make a dent. And when I went to check, it was still crazy hot! I put my hand under the water and it was still good and hot! I played with the controls for a while, and let it run way too long. Hot water. That was all I could get! Granted, on the coldest setting, the water wasn’t boiling, but since I had it originally set into the hotter side of things, it was SO hot, and it would never cool off like this.
I called Brady over and he couldn’t figure it out either. Until he did.
Road work = temporary water line + black hose running down the street + super hot sunny weather = preheated water whether you like it or not.
What a WEIRD problem to have, hey???
Anyway. Brady drained the tub and ran me a fresh bath while actually paying attention to what was coming out of the tap 😬 My bad. Thanks, honey 💜 That helped a LOT.
I had a raspberry bath bomb tonight 💜 Thank you Cher! I’m loving my treats!
Nowwwww we hope my body calms the heck down soon 😅
I will be out of the house for a few hours this afternoon, and I am SO APPRECIATIVE of the help I have at home making it so I can go kid-free!!!
Well. Except for the part where I bring one kid in for a visit with their parents. But then I have a couple of hours to get things done!
Uuuuunfortunately, the most important thing I have to do is RIGHT in the middle of those hours. So with the list of things I need to do, it is a sure thing that I will be running the entire time. Which has become a bit of a norm.
In the two hour window that I am kid-free, I need to hit Walmart for a few important things: formula, flour, pumpkin puree, and some of Rowan’s snacks. I need to hit Schaan Healthcare to pick up an item that was funded through the foster association. I need to hit Bulk Barn for some baking ingredients. And I really really want to join Brady at his radiation review appointment. I know that one is technically not a need because he’s a whole adult, but its also the top priority. My mom is driving Brady in to his therapy today because he didn’t want to be stuck in the city the entire length of the visit. Which makes sense. But its an important day at RT (radiation therapy) and I want to be at the meetings I couldn’t be at last time around, thanks to covid.
Do you guys think I can get it all done in two hours? 🤣 I’m sure gonna try!!
Oh and Amazon will be delivering something to our house today. Somehow. I miss having a road. *sigh*
I still really need to order laundry machines! Goodness!
I’m prefacing this post by saying I will talk about Brady’s radiation in the next few days! Promise! Its just so early in the beginning, I’d like to give it a minute before I talk about it on here. But! He’s good. He’s alive. He’s at work. Keep praying 💜 I will post again when he goes in for his treatment. How cool would it be if we had people praying during every treatment?!
Ok. To a different subject. Because life keeps moving, whether your spouse has cancer or not. #cruel
When we were hoping to build our next home, a nonnegotiable for us was a mudroom. We really, really wanted one of those. With ALL the kids and ALL the outerwear that comes with them, plus a wheelchair with muddy tires, we just needed a space to dump all of our mess when we came into the house. And we only had five kids at that point, but there was SO MUCH OUTERWEAR!
But now we’ve moved here, and the “mudroom” is limited, to say the least. This is what we originally were working with.
I literally had to move laundry hampers out of here to take this picture 😅 So it doesn’t look bad, because its basically empty. Over winter, it was LOADED DOWN with jacket, snow pants, accessories, boots, and aaaaall the snow that came in with aforementioned outerwear. Plus, helmets and skates regularly made their way in as well. This space is about 2.5 feet square. Its teeny. At least its teeny for ten people! Can you fathom having seven snowsuits in there this winter? Because. We did.
The reason it was even this clear at this point is because Brady put some screws in the garage in an effort to make a different spot for jackets. Our garage isn’t heated yet, so once the weather lifted, we felt we could move their spring outerwear out there. But. It has not been a positive experience 😅
Its horrrrrrrid in there. And it takes up SO much space! Yes, I do chase it down and have everyone go and pick their mess up. But goodness it just never ever stays that way and is always a headache.
With all of this being said, about a month ago, I found the steal of the century on Facebook marketplace, and I snagged our new system!! 😍 Loooooook!!!
These locker systems are HUGE and HEAVY, and they are going to absolutely save my butt and all kinds of space in our garage. Each set of three cubbies probably weighs more than I do. They’re BEASTS. I believe I paid $200 for this setup!
With this system currently, each of the five school kids will have their own locker for ALL of their outerwear. I don’t care how they arrange it – if off-season stuff goes up into the milk crate – if everything hangs all year round – if shoes go in the bottom crate or the bottom shelf – if its tidy or ridiculous – I don’t care. It will all be expected to live INSIDE their space. The extra locker will be shared between babies. We’ll be adding more hooks, obviously. But once that is all sorted out, Brady and I can use the small hanging area from the first picture, or the entrance closet by the front door. Baby things can also live in those places as children age and need more space. We’ll have to see how that all plays out. Its not possible to know who will be here or for how long. But! We have SPACE! I’m SO excited about this!!!
Weird bright spots in super challenging times 😅 God always provides!
Waverly Violet was an incredibly bright light that was born into our family six entire years ago. What an enormous gift she was for us; a gift that just keeps on giving!
As if she wasn’t already a total stunner immediately upon birth, she just gets more and more beautiful 💜 Who even knew that was possible?!
Wavy has lots of funny little details that make her her. There is no one else quite like her!
No one else styles like she does! This particular ensemble consists of her dressiest dress and her fleece onesie, tied around the waist.
No one crafts like her, or rocks their creations as well as she does. She is always so proud of what she makes, and rightfully so!!
No one helps as cute as she does. If she’s not interested in helping, she’s usually pretty polite about it, with a high pitched “hmmm, no thanks!” But if I ask her to help anyway, she’ll giggle and say “Ok, sure” with a smile on her face.
No one sleeps as softly as she does. She has always slept SO quiet, and she looks so cozy and soft.
Bottom line. Waverly is easy to love. Truly, to know her is to love her 💜
Her main request for her birthday was that everyone would come sing to her in the morning, and she LOVED that 💜
Who knew Wavy would bring so much joy and comfort and healing and silliness to our family? Only God! He knew exactly who we needed around here, and He gave us exactly the right person.
And here she is, growing like a weed, when I have specifically asked her not to. Man alive.
I LOVE you, dear Wavy. My precious youngest daughter. The baby I feared would never come after so much loss. You are a gift, and I hope you always feel loved and celebrated the way you did this morning with your siblings all piled on your bed 💜 You are deeply loved by those around you.
So tomorrow is Waverly’s birthday. As usual, the post will be all about HER! Which is definitely as it should be.
However.
Tomorrow is also a big day for other reasons. Radiation starts tomorrow. And chemotherapy starts tomorrow. I can’t believe we’re jumping into cancer treatment again. Some of that just feels so discouraging, I can’t even put it into words. But Brady completely agrees with me that it’s more of a frustrating hassle than something we fear. It’s just. Like. A BIG eye roll. So many things will be more challenging to say the least. No one is looking forward to the extra struggle we’ll endure this summer. Conveniently, God’s love and kindness are new every morning. Even this summer, when stuff sucks and everything feels difficult. His mercy doesn’t quit. So. Neither will we.
Cancer has taken enough from us already, so it won’t get to overshadow Wavy’s birthday. However, I plan to put a little reminder up on Facebook for those who would like to pray during his treatment 💜 That would sure mean a lot to us.
Tomorrow, we celebrate WAVERLY, and the fact that God brought her to us! Thank you, Lord!!!
Today carried some beautiful things. While it’s not been an easy weekend for our family, I will share the bright spots ☀️
Guitar around the fire is one of the campiest camp things we enjoy around here. It’s such a lovely, familiar addition to the scene.
And goodness. The food. It was just so stinking good today. Chunky chicken salad. Broccoli salad. Garlic toast. And cheese filled gnocchi. Bonkers.
This evening, Brady and I ducked out for a drive to Bells, just the two of us 💜 It was the break we needed, without a doubt. Thank you, dear Dahlsjos, for that time away. What a gift.
Home we’ll go tomorrow, and then all the action begins the following day. It’s coming up quick! Protect us, Lord.
Today has really felt like the first REAL summer day. It’s full here at camp. Every tenting site is full. Yes you read that right. It’s warm enough to tent! We have spent the day doing beautiful things with beautiful people.
Breakfast was cute 💜
There was a fox very nearby! Probably plotting his shoe stealing missions for the summer.
Lunch was perfect 🥪
We hit the beach! You know how Solly feels about his snorkel goggles 😆 🥽
I crocheted by the fire while the babies napped.
Supper was delicious and happy! 😁😁
And the sky during the evening dip couldn’t be beat 😍
Thank you Lord for yet again providing beautiful days for us to enjoy. You ALWAYS look out for us, and we see that and receive Your grace!
Welp. Today absolutely has not gone as planned. Not even sort of. Brady worked quite late into the evening yesterday so that he could justify today’s morning stuff that needed doing, and then this morning turned into a total crapshoot and its been tough to come back from. Nevertheless, things got done, thanks to all of our loving, willing helpful people 💜 and in terms of what actually needed doing, it all went off without too much trouble.
As I scramble to get our butts out the door to get us to the lake, I’m struggling to find many positives in the day so far. So rather than being a total downer, I’ll share a giggle with you.
Last summer, I put a little temporary tattoo of a ghost on my wrist, to fit in with the kids, lol! And it became quite the running joke, as I would randomly thrust it into the faces of my unsuspecting loved ones and announce loudly “A ghost!” in Joey Tribianni style. You can hear it. I know you can.
So. As mentioned. Running joke. Still!
Anyway. Dekker came home from school yesterday and unpacked a bunch of his stuff. Much of the papers he showed me were from art. Sketches he had spent a lot of time on. Things he was really proud of. And then this. For me.
A GHOST!
Can you hear him saying it?? Because he did, and I was proud.
Aaaaaanyway. That’s really all I have to offer you today.
the kids are home and ready to be harassed by me for two 👏 months 👏 straight! 👏
It’s not a secret that parts of summer feel incredibly daunting, but I have intentionally been praying that God lifts the parts that feel super hard so they don’t have to feel AS hard after all. Regardless, we trust, and we keep on going!!!
Today everyone came home and unceremoniously dumped their stuff on the table. Boom. Unpacked. But I’m not even touching that battle until next week at the absolute earliest! Good thing nothing is up next week! 😅😬😩
The biggest thing on the last day of school is finding out next years class! And I have them all EXCEPT DEKKER!!! Who DOESNT EVEN KNOW WHOSE TEACHING GRADE EIGHT!!!! 😩😩😩 whose kid even is he???
Regardless. It’s done. Well worry about it in September.
Here’s to two months of occasionally sleeping in, low key weekdays, and weekends at the lake! 😎
