When Brady’s been home for a long time, I really settle in to having him around. I love when he’s home. We all do. We’re big fans of our man. Yet we NEED work, so I’m in FULL support of him going to work as well. Sometimes those days are extra long, though, with me being back to single parenting and the kids missing their dad. Its a good, healthy thing. Its good to miss each other.
Today, Brady is at work. Its not been his smoothest day, nor our smoothest day, but its still a good one. A day where I’m happy we have nothing crazy on the books. A day when I’m happy I let the kids play at the island.
I’ve spent a chunk of the day working on projects, snuggled under a blanket. Its cold in here, but I’m not mad at it. Somehow, the idea of fall coming doesn’t feel daunting at the moment. I LOVE summer, and I always mourn its passing, but somehow, this year, I’m all for Autumn. Bring it on.
We’ve been living in a perpetual Catch 22 this last year or so. Brady’s work has been slow, thats no secret. We’ve been getting the basement done, slowly but surely, in that time. When there’s little work, there’s little money, but when there’s much work, there’s no time! Isn’t that always how it happens? That being said, God makes a way, and we’re hanging on. Things are getting done more slowly than we had hoped, but they’re getting done nonetheless.
The last couple of weeks, we’ve been really, really busy. Since getting home from the lake, we’ve been going hard on the basement, and are finally seeing beautiful progress. I want to post pictures but I’m going to wait until things are a liiiiittle closer to done. Without showing you pictures, however, I can tell you we’re close to having things operational anyway. The bathroom is the biggest part of the work, and its SO close! Everything is plumbed in and working, but everything needs to be sealed and waterproofed, so to speak. We need to tile around the tub surround, add trim and a mirror, but otherwise it all works! Woot! A door wouldn’t hurt, either 😉 Carpet will probably have to wait for a bit, too. Still on the hunt for a big ole throw rug for a temporary bedroom solution, if anyone has one they’re selling! Ceiling will also wait, but thankfully the rafters aren’t all gross and spiderwebby like I would’ve thought they’d be. Its all very close to cozy and livable.
That all being said, Brady finally has some work coming in <3 Praise the Lord! He’ll be busy for the next week and half, so far, and we are SO grateful for that! However, the basement will be sitting! Waiting! Gah!!! I know, we can’t have it both ways, and we NEED the work, but I know it’ll eat both of us alive that nothing is getting done in the days. Which means evenings are going to be FULL of basement work! Except evenings are already so full! We have lots of band practices coming up here, with us having another gig next week (woot!) plus we have some kids events this week, as well as friends and family we love to see in evenings. We have a birthday to celebrate next week, and countless things on our never-ending to-do list. Never a shortage, am I right?? Before we know it, it’s going to be time for SCHOOL to start!! I would SO love to have this basement business sorted out before then!
So wish us luck in this crazy busy time! Its a really wonderful time of our life, to be honest, and I’m so grateful for all we have going on and who is all part of it. I’m really enjoying our life. Just hope we don’t miss anything!
Once the kids were down for naps, I headed to moms to help get her birthday party together! For a good couple of hours, we chopped food, organized trays, moved around the backyard, set up a game, put up a sign, and went over and over and over her lists. Then we sat for about twenty minutes, and then got back up and did the finishing touches, like putting drinks in the dispensers, setting out some veggie trays, and building a fire. Guests started to arrive right on schedule, and the party went off without a hitch! Her friends were all SO happy to be there, and visited contentedly around the fire until it was time to start supper. We filled foil packs with potatoes, onions, carrots, sausage, butter, and spices, and let them cook over the fire while the visiting continued. It was really special to see everyone making friends with each other when so many of them didn’t know each other otherwise. Food was flipped and checked, and sure enough, they were all beautifully done. No one’s food burned or was underdone. The potato packs, paired with a few sides, were SO indulgent. Just delicious!
We had planned a game of croquet, but the visiting was just too smooth to interrupt. Mom opened a stack of gifts and cards from the group, and people started to peter out. When it was just mom, myself, and one other guest, we cracked out the croquet and cheated our way through a game. Mom won, as she should 🙂 I wish I had more pictures from her party, but it was one of those times when you just don’t get there, because you’re too busy being in the moment. And sometimes thats best. Mom and I cleaned up a bit more once everyone had left. It was dark by then, but we made it work 🙂
While I was at mom’s party, Brady took the three older kids to the opening night of Family Adventure Week! It started very close to the kids bedtime, so it was a bit of a stretch. But they made it happen, and the kids had a really good time! They sang songs, listened to a bible story, and went on a photo scavenger hunt! This picture even won them a prize 🙂
This was a good one, too 🙂 Happy times.
Meanwhile, Cher lovingly moved her plans around in order to help us out with childcare. Bringing all five kids to the event on his own wouldn’t be a pretty big undertaking. While possible, it wouldn’t have been smooth. Cher keeping the two little ones at home was the best possible option.
Once Solomon recovered from being left at home (“When’s Rowan coming back? Its Rowan’s bedtime!”) he settled in, and they had a really special little date. He doesn’t get to be the oldest very often.
All things considered, yesterday was basically bananas, and I wouldn’t change it. We all had SUCH a good day! Brady and I are in the thick of our colds right now, which is a bit of a bummer, but the general excitement of the busy days helps distract us from the sickness. And really, rather we’re sick now than next week! Round two at Clearcut Coffeehouse is coming at you NEXT THURSDAY!!! Who wants to come?? 🙋
Its my mom’s birthday today! Hopefully I’m right about being allowed to share the number, lol! She doesn’t seem choked at all to be hitting the big 6-0. Rather, she’s excited to celebrate! We’ll do that later today 🙂
This year has been a big one, for lots of reasons. There was a spell in March/April where mom got really, really hurt. We couldn’t piece all the reasons why together, but basically overnight, she found herself in a whole new world of physical pain. Nothing was cutting it. As God tends to plan things out (perfectly,) Brady wasn’t working much those days, and I was able to be available to mom. We made some runs to some appointments, got some meds, back for other appointments for different meds, and on and on until we got her pain somewhat under control. Even with that, it was a really difficult time. Mom was nauseous and dizzy and unable to get around at all on her own. It was SUCH a vulnerable time, which is obviously why I didn’t broadcast it on here. Blogging was tricky for those weeks, but was a very small thing in the bigger picture.
Eventually, Brady did go back to work, and mom had to ask for more help from other people. It was hard, because she and I are so similar, and we had a really smooth system going. I knew exactly what she needed and when. I sat at home and worried about how she was being cared for. I had never felt SO torn. Never so unsure of where I belonged. I worried if her people would come on time. I worried if they would walk with her when she needed to do something on her own. I worried if she would ask for what she needed. Would they help her get her meds, prepare her lunch, or encourage her to lie down? I had never felt so unsure of my role.
But, guys, her community SHOWED UP!!! Our church set up a meal train, and brought her stacks of easy “heat and serve” meals. Activity books, pens, and cards poured in. There was just nothing but love for her. I was in her kitchen at one point when someone dropped by with food. Mom insisted on getting up and greeting her guests, but she shouldn’t have. As they visited, I watched mom start to sway, and her eyes were closing. She was fading. Before I had the opportunity to “save” her, her guest suggested she go lay down. And then, best ever, she walked her to her room, got mom into bed, and then sat herself down on a chair, put her feet up, and the visit continued there. The fear of speaking up for what you want is that it’ll make your guest feel unwelcome or awkward, and her friends proved time and time again that they were up for whatever she needed. Sometimes, mom would nap, and her company would lay out on the couch and catch some Z’s too. Or they would tidy up. Or they would field my messages. It did my heart SO good to know she had a community of people behind her when I couldn’t be there, who were happy to be there. Praise the Lord for friends and a supportive church family who SHOW UP!
SO MANY MEALS!!
In time, with LOTS of physio, stretches, diligent med taking, and eventually weening off, mom came around <3 In time, the need for company dwindled, as mom could drive herself places, go for walks on her own, and make her own food. She even went crocus hunting a couple of times! Her energy, memory, and stability slowly returned. And as she would say, she couldn’t have done it without the help and love of her people, and first and foremost, the grace of God. (Mom, I feel like YOU should be writing this post, haha!)
We reminisce about those weeks sometimes. They were HARD. It was a really painful, stressful, emotional, overwhelming time. She still tears up when she talks about all the help she needed and received.
I write this post as a positive memory for her!
Mom, you are so dearly loved, by me and SO many others! ❤️ Caring for you was never an inconvenience. YOU are never an inconvenience. Our church, town, and community is richer with you in it. So many lives are richer with you in them! But speaking for just me – I treasured our days together. I ached for you, and I hated seeing you in pain, but I loved caring for you. We are so alike, and we learned to work together really well over that time. Ou relationship really changed. We got SO much closer. The way you feel so grateful for that time is the way my heart feels, also. In a different way, I suppose, but not all too different.
I hope you feel truly loved today, mom. I am so grateful for you. I’m not sure how to put it into words, but I hope you hear my heart. Its so similar to yours 😘 I love you.
I LOVE campfire food, but believe it or not, Brady and I have never had a fire pit in our entire adult/married life! We have the pit we will use when we can finally have a real yard, but won’t be installing it until that time which will hopefully come next year! 🤞
I’ve been hungry for pie irons for literal years, but never pressed to make them happen. Definitely not a big deal. But when my mom called me and asked me to join her for some pie iron “leftovers” last night, I was all in!
She had company the day before, and they had made these super fancy pants high maintenance pie irons. I say this will nothing but love, because I went over there expecting pie irons made out of your basic pizza stuff and maybe one with pie filling for dessert. But no. This was SO much bougier. SO much better!
We made our pies out of brie, apples, chicken, bacon, and a fig spread. They. Were. Ridiculous. I felt like the fanciest campfire cook ever. We sat outside in the chillier than average weather, and just enjoyed the fire, and each other’s company.
Time moved quickly, and suddenly, it was 10:00, so I went home. I was met by my husband, playing some games on his phone for his much deserved rest time. He had done the whole evening with the kids on his own, and then had installed a bunch of the outlets in the basement! That man doesn’t stop.
My clothes still smell like campfire this morning, and I’m not mad about it. Not at all.
Yesterday’s post was a bit of a grab bag, and today could easily be the same, but there are two specific events I’ll focus on.
Miss Waverly Violet. *sigh* I love her. And she’s almost done being a baby. Formula is all gone, the brezza is all gone, and I think bottles are almost out. People have all kinds of opinions about how long bottles should be in the picture, and you can kindly keep any negative opinions to yourselves 😉 We haven’t pushed Wavy to be done with bottles, but last night she very simply fed herself her milk bottle and was so ready for bed. I can just tell she’s almost done with it. She doesn’t need it anymore. Once she’s been sleeping through the night consistently a little longer, I think we’ll be done with her bottles for good.
Today, for one reason or another, my tiniest Miss was SO tired SO early. I wanted to stretch her at least a little bit longer so she could have some lunch and nap at the normal time, but nothing would really suffice. I hauled her onto my chair, where she wiggled and didn’t settle, until I put a cozy blanket over both of us. She lay on her side, popped those three little fingers into her mouth, and slow blinked for maybe twenty minutes. She never fell asleep, and I admit I was disappointed when her siblings came around and she popped back up, full of energy for them, but our snuggle was SUCH a special snuggle.
Those snuggles are fewer and further in between these days, as she tries to walk, says words, and grows and changes into toddlerhood. I’m not ready for you not to be a baby, Waverly.
So many little things to write about and none of them really go together! So, be ready for a bit of a hodge podge post!
A couple of days ago, Rowan decided it was time he rode a two wheeler. He asked if we could remove the training wheels off of Laela’s old teeny tiny princess bike. Brady did, and Ro proceeded to take his first wobbly bike ride up our street. He was SO proud of himself. By literally the next day only, he was able to start and stop on his own. He. Is. Amazing!
Its possible he wiped out hard after this picture was taken, but was immediately relieved to learn there was photographic evidence of him “biking with one hand.” Lol!
Another milestone alert is for Waverly! Part of our rush for getting the basement done is that our little girl is still sleeping in our room, and we’re ready for that to change. She lulls constantly, any time we move around, get up to pee, or get to bed later. But she’s WAY less invested in her milk. So much so that we’ve stopped giving it to her. She LOVES food way more, and drinks almost enough at her meals. We’re suddenly at the point where she has a bottle before bed, though I don’t think that’ll last much longer at all, and thats IT for bottles. Formula is over and done with, Brezza is washed and packed away, and her baby stage is coming to a close before my eyes. Its crazy. But Waverly has begun sleeping through the night, and will very soon be in her own space for night. I’m both happy and sad. I’m happy we’ll all sleep better, but I’ll miss her. She was the peachiest little overnight guest.
She ate two perogies, a big chunk of sausage, and a good scoop of roasted broccoli! Yum!
Unrelated to milestones. Cher came over today and asked to take the big kids to the park during quiet time. There was a big loose dog nearby, unbeknownst to them, and she managed to get them all up on top of a structure and distract them for a while until the owner showed up and retrieved his dog. WIN! I appreciated the break so much, and the kids were SO happy. Thank you for that, my friend <3
One GORGEOUS crew, if you ask me!
I’m onto a new crafty project! Thank you to those who shared their input on Instagram today about my weird scarf pattern. While the majority of you said the project was fine, it was not a shut out. And I was on team “this is ugly,” so a decision was made. I pulled it out. But I’m much more excited about what I’ve started, so, win for me!!
No picture of that, because, spoilers.
Basement work continues! Its a MESS down there, but once the bathroom is installed, the big boxes can be flattened and put away, and there will be a bit more room to move around. We still have a ways to go, but we just need the space to be usable. That being said, we can’t foot every bill for every think we need to finish it just yet. If anyone has a big, cushy Costco-esque carpet kicking around that they’re done with for the moment, please let us know. The flooring part of the basement is going to be a doozy, and if we can makeshift it for a bit, I think thats the route we’d take. Sooooo throw me a message if you can help out in this way! There will be pictures to come soon enough 🙂 But nothing looks too different today than it did yesterday!
Whew! I think thats it for the moment! I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but conveniently, I’m here every day 🙂 See you tomorrow!
Brady was super eager to get tiling this morning. Conveniently, a friend had invited the kids and I over for a playdate a while back, and that day was today! I had to wake Wavy from a dead sleep, though.
She’s basically a teenager.
They live pretty close, so the kids and I walked over around 10:00am. Brady headed right down into that basement to get his hands dirty.
Before I was even in the door at our friends house, at least half of my kids were in the thick of play. I helped Solly get his shoes off and Laela came to get him and bring him to the fun. Meanwhile, the moms and the Waverly hung out in the kitchen. She made scones with fresh peaches, and we sipped iced coffee and tried to chat in between the many interruptions that comes with having seven kids in the same space. It was truly lovely, though, to catch up with someone who was comfortable with the busyness of kids and life. We just picked the conversation back up!
After a while, we moved outside so the kids had more room to run. Wavy had mixed emotions, haha!
It was a really, really nice morning <3 Just a couple of hours of changed scenery is good for everyone. We closed off our date with a quick lap around the pond, and then they walked us home.
We arrived home to some excellent progress in the basement! A chunk of the bathroom was tiled, and a couple of new lights installed! My laundry area finally has a light, and there’s one in the little area just outside of the two bedrooms and bathroom. Its all looking more and more home-like down there!
Some lunch was had, and the littles are down for a nap. I’m working on a new knitting project that I can’t decide if I hate or not… Hmmm… I guess I’ll keep going and see if it grows on me. Wish me luck!
The shopping fun continues!! The spending part does not feel as fun, but progress feels good, so we’re going with it. Finally we just NEED to make some progress. And it happening!!!
So yesterday, we bought ourselves a vanity and toilet. We anticipated spending some time assembling the vanity, but of course, it came out in one piece, lol! It’ll need some little tweaks to help it be perfect, but it looks great. The toilet has to wait for flooring, so that’s on hold. In fact, in a lot of ways, even after dropping the money on those bigger items, we were at a standstill.
We found out this morning that our doors were in! There had been this whole other debacle based around finishing materials. See, we had this amazing materials contact who worked pretty tirelessly to get us what we wanted when we built our house, always giving us at least a contractors discount. Brady developed a real friendship with him, and he’s taken to our whole family by default. He was always SO good to us. There were times I’d have to go see him with a couple of kids, or with my mom, without Brady, and he was always SO polite and helpful. He never talked down to me, always had lots of info, and always had some kind of treat to offer the kids. But he left his job shortly after we moved here, which was a real bummer. We began doing our basement project without him, but came to a stop when the guy who replaced him couldn’t get us wouldn’t actually look for the doors we wanted. Brady texted our original contact/friend and, lo and behold, he had really disliked his previous job and had moved to Co-op! He happily and easily found us our doors, hardware, etc. Somehow, him being back on our side made this whole project feel doable again.
So today, we went in to see him and grab our doors! Our handles weren’t in yet, but he knew we were eager to get things moving. He wasn’t in his office when we arrived, but he fairly easily picked us out of the storefront. We chatted and caught up a bit before getting down to it. He helped us find a few things we were unsure about, and then got us set up with our custom doors, trim, jambs, etc. Everything we needed. It felt really good to have a familiar face behind the contractors counter again!
But that wasn’t our only stop. Not at all. Now that we had our doors and trim, we headed to Home Depot for more paint, as well as a few small parts that we couldn’t get at Co-op. We also grabbed some tile for the basement bathroom and laundry area, since the flooring guy we were in contact with wasn’t getting back to us in good time. ** Tip time! Buy your grout and mortar in bags. The boxes and pails are tidier but you will get WAY more for CHEAPER if you buy the bag. We literally got about 11L of mortar for a dollar less than 3L in a box. Tip time over. **
Lastly, we hit Fandango for lights. Because we went through them with our original build, they basically offered us a loyalty and gave us light fixtures for the same price we got them for years ago! So they were actually comparably priced to basic lights out of Home Depot, but with warranty. Also grabbed a bathroom track light. I really dislike track lighting, but it works, and it isn’t super ugly. I’m not picky about the lights, clearly.
The kids were SO good! They loved shopping and choosing and getting excited. When Brady got the lighting on his own, they happily ate the snacks I had packed rather than hitting McDonalds for lunch. They really impressed me with their patience. Wavy only really fussed towards the end of Home Depot. Crackers made it better later.
We brought home SO MUCH STUFF.
Brady had the forethought to remove half of our backseat, which was really important! We could’ve never got everything home without that!
Now, as you’d imagine, our basement is a total mess…
But we feel SO excited!!! We have things we can really do now! We have almost everything we need to finish at least a bedroom and the bathroom. We’re waiting on door handles. We have to get carpet for the bedroom. We need to close up the ceiling at some point. But its coming 🙂
So if you’re looking for us this week, we’ll be downstairs!
I don’t even remember what I’ve told you guys about the work currently going on at our house, but the basement project continues. We’ve picked up a bit of speed, and have gone in a bit of a different direction.
The original plan makes the most sense, really. Do ALL the drywall. Then ALL the finishing. Then ALL the painting. And so on. Because why would one finish one room but not the other? Because they’re running out of room upstairs, thats why. So we’ve jumped ship from that plan and are focusing solely on ONE bedroom and the bathroom. Now that all the drywall is installed, taped, and ready, we won’t lose any money by doing things room by room. It’ll be more of a hassle, getting smaller batches of materials, going room by room. But its going to get us a complete bedroom and bathroom a lot quicker. That being said, we’ve gotten enough paint for the entire basement, because why not?
Doors and handles for the one bedroom and bathroom have been ordered, and we’re waiting on that. In the meantime, we’ve been doing some research on bathroom vanities and toilets and all that good stuff. We ran into the city Saturday night to go scout out a few places with the kids. We had a couple in mind, but figured we’d keep open minds.
Aaaaand it was SO disappointing! We went to Home Depot and found one or two that were ok and fit what we wanted, but we had one we had seen online at Lowes that we liked so much more. We thought we could get a toilet there that matched the ones we had upstairs, but of course they’re about twice the cost we wanted to pay, and we’d have to order them anyway. So we left Home Depot with nothing, except for a bit more paint. We checked Co-op, but there wasn’t much to see there. The kids looked inside display toilets. That was about it. Lowes was the final place to hit, and in the past, they’ve really surprised us by having exactly what we’re looking for in terms of bathroom stuff. We walked through the bathroom demo section over and over and could not locate the vanity we had in mind. We finally flagged down an employee and said there were two in stock, but no demo. I immediately asked what their return policy was and he said something along the lines of “Well, you can open the box but thats about it…” After looking through the demos once more to see if anything was even close and determining there wasn’t, we left empty handed. I was SO annoyed!! Why is a white vanity, between 36″-40″ that isn’t ugly or brutally expensive so hard to find?!?!
We went home and I got my research on. I. Looked. Everywhere. Scoured all the websites. Considered shipping from Ikea. We even priced out Brady building it. We came to terms with the fact that we don’t need anything fancy or special AT ALL. Our current vanities are super plain, and thats all we need. Simple. Thats all! So we poked around everywhere, weighed dollars and looks and reviews and made our choice. We also gave up on getting a toilet that matched our upstairs ones. I know our house doesn’t have to match floor to floor, but I really like our toilets. Its such a silly thing, but I do! Yet I do not want to pay that much for a toilet. So we decided to let that go. Reminding ourselves that we want quality, but simplicity, was a good thing. We were more prepared for today because of that.
We hit Home Depot and grabbed a flat bed cart and headed to the back of the store. I know the aisle number, so it was an easy find. It was really pretty, actually. I’m really happy with our choice. We limped it onto the cart while the kids tried madly to hold the cart in place 😉 It was cute. From there, we went to the toilets and picked a nice, plain, basic toilet that was on sale. Was fine. Grabbed an extra wax seal in case we mess up the installation on our first try. Then to the faucets, where we planned to get a particular faucet that also was on sale, but was a nice brand and just what we needed. Unfortunately, it was sold out. But!! You guys should know this! I asked an employee if they had any more in stock anywhere, and he came over and asked which one. I showed him the empty spot on the shelf and he confirmed they were sold out, but he asked us our second choice. We pointed to one about $30 more expensive, and he gave it to us for the price of the one on sale!! Woot! Definitely glad I asked! Thank you, random Home Depot guy!
We wandered into the lighting section to see if they had any fixtures comparable to what we have in our house, and were stopped by a sweet older man. His face was lit up with a big smile. He gestured towards the kids and said “Wow! Look at all of your helpers!” And he wasn’t being sarcastic or backhanded or anything. He and his wife stopped to chat for just a minute, and had nothing but lovely things to say about children. We thanked them honestly, saying not all comments are always very nice, and that what he had said felt really genuine. A definitely step up from some we’ve heard before.
We loaded everything and everyone into the van and made it home in time for lunch! Was a totally successful morning at Home Depot. SO much better than our previous attempt on the weekend.
Now to just get the rest of the things in hand so we can legitimately start putting that bathroom together! Flooring needs to happen first. And we forgot the pee trap. And the toilet flange. And I’m not sure if we have a shower head or not… But we’re getting there!
