Category: Uncategorized

Bit By the Tidying Bug

Really, a cleaning bug is the BEST kind of bug to be bit by, right?

For one reason or another, I finally kicked into gear yesterday and got some serious tidying done around my house! Our room has been driving me crazy, and the ensuite, too.

Maybe some of you can relate, but stuff just gets dumped in our room if it doesn’t have somewhere else to go. Or if someone is coming over, we just hide whatever is a mess in our bedroom and close the door. Or, mostly the issue, we just clean up less in there because we don’t have to, because no one else really goes up there.

However, going upstairs to a mess of a room every single day isn’t so relaxing, and its been starting to get to me. And then the ensuite is SUCH a mess, it doesn’t really feel like one can adequately clean themselves when the whole place is covered in products and gunge.

I’ve been saying for a while now, one of these days, its just going to hit me. And folks, that was yesterday.

I tidied the ensuite pretty seamlessly. Everything in there has a home, for the most part. My yummy lotion that I keep at the sink was at that frustrating point where there’s about half an inch left in the bottom but it just won’t pump anymore. I took the time to empty it out and actually washed out the bottle and filled it from a new lotion that I like more but that didn’t come in a pump. Win! I emptied my overflowing garbage, and even threw away some stupid little bathmats that we got to use at the sink but just make a mess. It looks SO much better in there!!

The bedroom was a bigger job. I went on a craft retreat last fall, and one earlier this year, and ALL of my craft stuff is still up in our room! Yup. Big lime green rubbermaid tubs, just hanging out in what is supposed to be our little haven. I also have little white plastic basins floating around with half finished projects inside, some confiscated toys, pictures the kids have drawn that they insist live upstairs, etc. Just stuff, everywhere. Balls of yarn, everywhere! ALL my fault, obviously. So I went to work, and cleared up the stuff that was easy first. Laundry where it belonged, garbage where it belonged, etc. All pens, pencils and notebooks went into my desk drawers. I made some executive decisions and threw some stuff out. Made our bed. The big part was my crafty stuff. I decided – three tubs. Two for yarn (that is WAY less than I used to have, by the way!) and one for projects I’m not currently working on but actually will eventually complete. I dug through the tubs and sorted them in a way that made sense. I rolled up balls of yarn that were tangled and messy, and combined a few that were the exact same color and brand, but were separate for some reason. The big goal here was to fit the tubs into a storage closet. And they did!! Woot! Meanwhile, the few craft projects I’m finished and am hanging onto live in a pretty little basket on my desk. The floor is WAY clearer, and it just feels brighter.

That was all yesterday, and today I’m feeling a bit itchy and twitchy to keep going. I’ve got the dishes all caught up, and I’m about halfway through laundry. I’m doing a bit of research online, and while I’m not swimming in money, I’m excited to have found a few affordable pieces that will help me get my kitchen and pantry and bit more organized! Maybe it sounds a bit silly to be excited about things like that, but you’d have to know me a few years ago to fully grasp why. We used to live SUCH a cluttered life. I think we had WAY more stuff before we had kids! Our house in Radisson was always a mess, dining table stacked with junk – dry goods groceries, jackets, bags, books, etc. Our floors and countertops were covered, and our furnace room was overflowing! Do you know, when I went to gut that room in preparation for listing the house, I found upwards of 75 EMPTY BOXES???? Just MESS! So yes, I get excited about cute little storage solutions that help things run a bit smoother around here. I want everything here to have a home, and if it doesn’t, maybe it doesn’t belong here.

I guess this whole post is basically a brag that I did things that normal people do everyday?? Hahaha! I don’t know. I think its important for me to write it out because I don’t always have that satisfying, rewarding feeling after I work hard. But sometimes I do! And for whatever reason, this has felt really good 🙂

Now to find my way to Ikea to snag a few lifesaving storage accessories…

Storytime: The Time I Caught a Thief

First of all, huuuugely misleading title, haha! Very clickbaity. I witnessed a thing once, though, so I figured I’d milk it hard for a blog post. Basically, I am the police. 😎 You’re welcome.

*****

Back in the day of confed mall having its own Walmart, my mom and I stopped in for a shop. We rarely went to that location, and I have no idea why we did that day. But, we did. I was in my teens, but I choose to believe I was in my young teens because this story is based on how annoying I was.

We were leaving Walmart, and like the mature human being I was, I pressed the button that opened the door. The door opened sooooooo slooooowly. I stood like a statue until the door had opened completely. I thought this was hilarious, but people were trying to leave and I had held them up with my own fun. So being the considerate woman I was raised to be, I walked through the little holding cell area (ironic foreshadowing) and hit the next button to open the next door. And again, I stood there like a statue, blocking everyone’s way. Could I have been a bigger turd?? There was a man behind my mom and I who was laughing good-naturedly at me, but there were now a handful of other people behind him. I was officially affecting/annoying a decent group now.

It was when we FINALLY left Walmart that we learned the friendly man behind us must have been screaming on the inside the entire time he was blocked by me and my idiotic game. The moment his foot hit the sidewalk, he was tackled by the plain-clothed security guards that were following him out of the building. It appeared he had stolen merchandise tucked inside his jacket.

🤷

I know. I’m amazing. The bravery I exhibited is astounding. I deserve a medal, really. All these things I know.

A medal for immaturity at least. 😉 We all know I was winning at that! Jokes on that guy for getting stuck behind me that day…

Woop woop! Thats the sound of da police!

Wavy is Ready for Summer

While I was preparing supper yesterday, Waverly was already ready to eat. She fussed and whined on the floor like a puppy. Brady picked her up, and she just reached for the food I was chopping. So I took a risk and handed her a whole yellow pepper. Her eyes widened as she took it from me. Wavy loves peppers. I pulled out my phone, anticipating her taking a whole bite out of the thing, but instead, she went for the stem.

And aaaaall I could see was this:

A beach bum with a bevy!

It probably doesn’t help that we’ve dug through her clothes recently and pulled out some seasonally appropriate clothing in her current size. That includes little shorts, tank tops, and swimwear!! 🤩

Goodness, she is SO sweet!! The palm tree pony doesn’t hurt, either.

I’m so excited to see what summer will hold for this little nugget. We’ll definitely have our hands full on the beach, as she is very eager to join her siblings in whatever they’re doing. She’ll be crawling all over the place, destroying our beach blankets and eating sand. I wonder when she’ll start walking. With the way she pulls up with only one hand, I can’t imagine its too far off. But as I’ve said before, she’s our earliest mover by far, so I don’t want to count my chickens.

Either way, I’ll take it! I’m ready for it, and so is she! And so is the rest of the family, really. We’re halfway through June! Summer is aaaaalmost here!

We Were SO CLOSE!

😩

Guys. We made it to June 12th – almost the entire school year – without a flu. Until today.

Sigh.

Wavy woke up for milk around 5:30am and Brady got up to make a bottle. He lulled me awake and said Laela was sitting on the bottom of our stairs, and that she said she had thrown up. I took over with Wavy and he helped Laela. He changed her bedding and held her while she heaved and lost some more. Then he tucked her back in and she went back to sleep.

She’s spent the morning on the loveseat.

She insists she doesn’t want or need anything. She’s taking tiny sips of water here and there, and is gagging most of it up after a while. I’ve told her I wish I could help her, and she assures me she’s fine.

Pssst! Hey Laela!

How does she manage to look so soft and beautiful when she’s been barfing all morning??? Whats your trick, Laela? We ALL want to know!

So please say a prayer for my Laela Hazel today, if you think of it. She has a field trip on Friday that she would be completely devastated to miss!

I’ve set a few books beside my little sickie pants and she propped herself up to read them almost immediately. Hopefully that adds some enjoyment to her day 🙂 Wish us luck!

How Yesterday Ended and Today Began

I walked to meet the big kids on their way home from school yesterday. I was a bit nervous, with Dekker being SO upset after his last event, that he wouldn’t be the most fun walking buddy, and wanted to join he and Laela in an effort to boost morale, basically. But they were both SO happy to see me, and spirits seemed high. Dekker even pointed out that he had been mad before, but being out of the sun seemed to have helped him feel better. Yay!

The big kids surprised me by being in much better shape for the remainder of the day than I had anticipated. They read books and played and lasted pretty easily to supper time. We fed them fries and chicken for supper, which was super easy and made them really happy. A very dip-heavy meal, lol, but it was a good day for food that no one had to argue about.

I was feeling a little heatstrokey myself so Brady offered to take the kids for a quick even walk around the pond. After such an active, outdoor day, they didn’t need it, but they always love it. The sky was CRAZY!!!

But no one got rained on 🙂

A rainbow and everything 🌈❤️

The kids went to be happy and exhausted. Once they were down, Carrie came over for band practice! Another gig next weeeeek!!

This morning, Brady went to work in a house that is already lived in. Since he obviously couldn’t start at 6:00am like usual, he woke me up gently at my normal wakeup time, and he even set the table with breakfast for the kids ❤️ He had to leave before they got up, though.

Everyone was ready and eager to get up, except for – you guessed it – Dekker. The poor boy was still completely cashed out. He didn’t even flinch when I went into his room to retrieve Rowan for breakfast. I got the morning moving anyway, and just left Dekker to sleep. It was about fifteen or twenty minutes later that he stumbled into the dining room, half dressed and bleary-eyed, and just started eating without saying anything. A little peek into what teenaged Dekker might be like, haha!

Something else notable from this morning – I am a lobster. Like I buuuuurned yesterday, ho boy! My shoulders are tender, and my nose and forehead hurt if I touch my face. But my legs and feet take the cake.

I know, its sooooo good looking.
Its definitely a look.
And suntans tend to continue developing the next day, so we’ll look forward to that.

So the sleepy big kids are off to school. The sleepy little kids are playing duplo at the island. The sleepy baby is sleeping. The sleepy mom is reclined in her chair, trying to ignore her sore shoulders against the fabric. Hopefully the sleepy dad has a short workday and is home before too long.

Much love from our sleepy family to your sleepy family! You track families earned an extra coffee today!

Track Day 2019: Two Kids

It was our first experience having two children’s events to follow on track and field day! It was a whole other dynamic, but thankfully, Brady could come along, so we were able to split up when necessary.

We all began at the high school track for the dash. Its the 100m dash if you’re older, and some little bitty version of the dash if you’re in kindergarten 😉 It was an interesting – though not surprising – dynamic for me to watch both of my children do their activities. The reality of the situation is that Dekker hasn’t stretched yet, and doesn’t keep up the same way. His big feelings come out hard when he doesn’t place where he wants, which was hard to watch. But he did well at the dash 🙂 I was very proud of how he ran! Laela ran her first dash this year as well, and as many people pointed out to me after the fact, that girl is a runner!! She wore a HUGE smile the whole time, and kept up well! She placed high up in her group, and even got to run a second heat. She was just beaming. It was awesome 🙂

From there, Rowan and I followed Laela’s group to running long jump, and Brady kept Solly and Waverly at the track for Dekker’s 400m. While I wasn’t there, I hear he finished his race, which is more than can be said for me, I’m sure! Laela was nervous of running long jump, having told me this morning that it was hard for her to coordinate where to land. But she ran it, and she did an excellent job!

Brady and the others came and caught the end of Laela’s long jump, and then we split off again! Laela had ball throw, and specifically requested I join her. So I took Solly and Wavy this time, and Brady took Rowan to watch Dekker do shuttle runs. Dekker had been the most excited about shuttle runs, and he excelled at it! Yay Dekker!!! Laela maintained a happy face through ball throw as well, but she was probably least excited about it.

Then the kids schedules alternated, so we were able to go to Dekker’s standing broad jump all together. He was doing well, making good strides, but it became clear the the little kids needed to call it for the morning. Brady took them home, so I could stay and finish out the day. Last year, I had been the one to take the kids home, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. Dekker finished up his jumps very well, and then I headed over to catch Laela’s standing broad jump at a different area of the school yard. She also did really well!

Laela headed in for the rest of the day. I visited with some friends while the kids ate lunch, and then I followed Dekker around to his last couple of events. Unfortunately, things were a bit difficult after that. Dekker was SO overtired, and while he enjoyed the ball throwing event to its fullest, he was very discouraged with where he placed. He cried and waved his green ribbon at me from the side :/ It was sad. But there was a break between that event and his final event, so he rallied and played on the playground and perked up a bit.

His final event was running long jump, and he did awesome! He didn’t fall or slip. His first run, he noticed his shoe had come open, and he stopped to fix it and ran back to the beginning without any pause or disappointment. He just rolled with it. It was awesome 🙂 I did, however, leave him in tears. He was mad that he would have to walk home after school, and promised me he’d be super angry for the rest of the day. His poor overdone self just hates disappointment 🙁 So I gave him a hug and a kiss and headed home, even though he was sad. Because sometimes we do hard things.

My little track stars did SUCH a beautiful job today! It was really a happy day of accomplishment and excitement! I feel so grateful to be able to be at these school events, and that Brady has the flexibility to come along as well! I really loved today.

Funny, Unimportant Milestones

I always look forward to this one, so while it probably matters to no one else but me, its my blog! Hahaha! So I’m recording it!

Waverly started finding her reflection in the kitchen appliances yesterday. 😂 Specifically, the fridge.

And then she found me in it, too!

I love these funny little things so much. I remember when Solly discovered the dishwasher. He’d stare at himself, and back at us, and back at himself. And then he discovered he could drag his hand along it for a satisfying squeaky sound. I’m looking forward to that 🙂

While I Was Away This Morning

I was gone for a few hours this morning, and these were the photos I received. Don’t worry, I’ll caption them a bit.

So Miss Waverly loves to pull up on everything these days. Now unfortunately I don’t have a picture of this specific event, but this morning, Wavy pulled up on her little music table and ended up using it as a walker, and made her way a few feet before she slipped and plunked down. But, guys, its going to happen…

Brady took the kids out for a bit, but it didn’t last long with the crazy wind. They occupied themselves in the garage for a bit.

The kids got some lunch and naps began for the little ones. Dekker and Laela stayed up and played some Lego, and Wavy tried to play with epsom salts…

Don’t worry, Brady put a stop to it and tried to keep her occupied.

She was over it, though, and went to hang out with the others…

Waverly was down for her nap by the time I got home, but I’m positive I’ll see her again soon 🙂 Everyone else is up and its bath time!

I’m already so hungry for supper!

The Saturdayest Friday

So yesterday – Thursday – was such a Friday. You know those days? Our family went to a birthday party, ate treats, and stayed out past the kids bedtimes. We knew Brady was home the next day (today) and everything. It just felt like a Friday. The Fridayest Thursday ever.

Today feels very much like a Saturday, except for the fact that Dekker is at school! The rest of us are together, and we spent the morning doing a big, overdue grocery shop. We’re trying to be better at eating the food we have on hand, and not always just buying the food we’re hungry for in the moment. But this week got tricky as we ran out of fresh stuff altogether, and even got low on some pantry stuff. I feel like we never run out of our canned goods, but when I used the last tin of tomato sauce on tacos, I knew it was time to stock back up. Also, cheese. Can anyone else not survive a day without eating cheese??? Its next to impossible over here.

In fact, I highly recommend you try this.

Yup, its what you you think it is. Waffle grilled cheese. Make a waffle, and then once its done, throw some cheese in there while its still int he waffle maker, fold it in half, and give it another moment in there to get all gooey. You won’t be disappointed. Neither will your children. These suckers melt in your mouth, no word of a lie.

Aaaaanyway, back to our shop. We. Bought. Everything. Even indulged in one or two things. Don’t worry, we made them earn it.

Lots of people at Costco recognize us, whether because of our kids or my hair or something else. Today, one of the ladies that passes out samples stopped up to chat and flirt with Rowan, and said she remembered us. Fun fact, though. We don’t usually take advantage of the samples!!! So she’s just seen us in passing!! I thought that was pretty crazy, and kind of hilarious. Also kind of terrifying to know if we ever do something super embarrassing in public, someone is gonna know…

We’re home now, and naps are in the works. Perogies, sausage, and roasted veggies are on the menu tonight!

And maybe some cheese puffs, just so they shut their little cheesy mouths and stop taunting me.

Solomon’s Name

Considering Solly’s birthday just happened, this seems like an appropriate time to share the story of how we named him! For some reason, its taking a lot out of me to share this one. We pour HARD over our kids names, and I hate to put out there that I’m not happy with him. I AM! TRULY! So please, nothing but love.

*****

I feel like I have to be careful with how I tell the story of Solomon’s name. Please take the obvious things with a grain of salt. The reality is that “Solomon” was not my first choice. It wasn’t my second, either. I LOVE his name, it suits him SO well, and I wouldn’t change it. But, at the time, it felt like we had to settle by choosing his name. 

When we found out we were having another boy, we were stumped for names! Rowan’s name had been hard enough to nail down, and now we had to figure out yet another boys name! Does anyone else agree that boys are SO hard to name?? 

We toyed with a few names that we kiiiiinda sorta liked, but nothing stood out as an actual contender. We had tossed around Sullivan a number of times, but for a handful of reasons, we knew we couldn’t have a Sully. WE liked Sully, but we knew some important people didn’t, and we couldn’t use it. It wasn’t long after we vetoed Sullivan that I got “Sam” into my head. I loved the idea of having a Sam, but I wanted to go in a different direction than Samuel. When “Sampson” came to mind, I was SOLD. I LOVED that name! It felt like everything we strived for when naming children. A good name for a baby, a kid, a teen, and an adult. A soft name, but a strong name. It was perfect. I was instantly attached to it. That was it. That was my sons name. 

Except that, for my own personal reasons, I knew we couldn’t do that :/ Not everything needs to be on the internet, but I knew we couldn’t have a Sampson. We all have different name associations that play into names we like and dislike, and I knew it would just grind away at me. I was pretty devastated. Because there went my dream of having a Sam. I’m still a little sad about it, if I’m being honest.

I’m not sure how Solomon actually came to mind, but I understood right away why I liked it. It sounded a lot like Sullivan, but maybe a little softer? I’m not sure. We knew we were on the right track with it, but we considered for a long time whether to name him Solomon, or just Saul. At the time, thats what I figured we’d call him. We had never named a kid something while intending to exclusively call them something else. But as I mentioned in Rowan’s post, we have intentionally not chosen one syllable names for our children. While we obviously ended up settling on Solomon, we had every intention to only ever really call him Sol. 

And then he was born, and he was Solly. It was perfect.

His middle name was SO hard to nail down! Neither Brady nor I felt strongly about naming our children after ourselves. So our names never showed up on our lists of possibilities for baby names. I remember pairing Solomon with “Brady” in my head one day and just simply knowing that this was going to be it. But I knew Brady wouldn’t like it at first. I prepared myself, and presented him with the idea that night while soaking in a hot tub. As predicted, it was met with a “Yaaaa…I don’t know…” but I asked him to just mull it for a bit, or even just forget it, but don’t veto it completely. Obviously, we did end up deciding on Brady’s name as Solly’s middle name, but Brady was never fully excitedly sold on it. He knew it was the right fit, it was PERFECT, but it went against his grain to name a kid after himself. Still, I’m pretty confident he wouldn’t change it 🙂 Its exactly right. And how perfect is it that Solomon ended up being the kid that looked so much like Brady?! Talk about an appropriate namesake!

Maybe they don’t look super similar here, but I couldn’t resist adding this picture!

A handful of people in his life (Rowan included) have dubbed him as Sol, which makes my heart pretty happy, honestly. The kids also alternate between Solly and Solomon, too, and I also love that, because he’s growing up knowing both. We don’t just love calling him Solly, but we love his real name, too. He also answers to Wolly, Wolomon, and far too many other names. He loves calling himself Solly Wolly 🙂

I’m SO happy with the name we ended up with, even though it felt like a second or even third choice at the time. It all boils down to this. Solomon’s name is PERFECT for exactly the boy he is!