Category: Uncategorized

Some Small Changes of Plans

Yesterday, we were going to begin priming our basement. However, Brady has had a stereo for his van waiting to be installed since Christmas. He opted to do that rather, since the weather was a bit nicer yesterday. So our plan was to prime a bit the next day. Yesterday, I called our doctors office for an appointment for Waverly. I asked for anytime in the next week or two, and they said “How about tomorrow morning?” So that became this mornings plan. As I type this now, I can hear Brady stirring our primer in the basement 🙂 So its finally happening!

Once the big kids were out the door to school this morning, we got ourselves looking like humans before heading out to Wavy’s appointment. The boys were stoked for the outing, and Wavy was chipper and happy, too. I’ll share all about the actual appointment in a few days, but all went well. We got in a little late, but that was fine. It gave Brady time to go run an errand with the boys.

They went together and switched out our wifi router for a new one. Here’s hoping it improves our signal because our internet has suuuucked worse than usual for the last few months, and we are over it. Then they waited in the van while we were in our appointment. At one point, the doctors ducked out for a second and I texted Brady that I was almost done. He and the boys drove to pick up coffee.

Wavy and I finished up at the doctors and met the boys in the van. I always feel SO uplifted coming out of there! But off we went to the next place. We stopped by Home Depot for a few small parts that we need to install our laundry sink, as well as a new cordless nailer for Brady. His died the other day at work and the estimate to fix it was maybe $20 less than the cost of a brand new one. While Brady was shopping, I fed the boys some lunch I had brought along. They waited patiently for Brady to come back, and once he had, we began heading home. We picked up his broken nailer from the repair place along the way, and made it home by nap time! It was pretty perfect!

The only one who slept on the drive home was Waverly, so she stayed up for a little bit still, but was sleepy and fussy before 2:00 and went down for a nap.

The house is quiet now, save for my clicking keys. The basement is quiet, too, but I got this picture texted to me…

Primiiiiiiing!!

My kids will be home in about an hour, and I want to write out the details of Wavy’s appointment so I don’t forget the important stuff when I post about it. So, excuse me while I do that. And tonight is music practice, and its a JUST FOR FUN one!! I’m so stoked!! Would anyone come listen if he hypothetically played a coffee house gig?? 🤔

We’ll talk tomorrow, as usual!

Basement Update: Taping

I’ve been resisting posting basement updates for a few reasons.

Reason number one. My blog is far from a “home reno DIY” type of blog, so I assume my usual demographic of readers isn’t as interested. Sub reason. I don’t know enough of the technical details to actually communicate anything completely accurately. But I try!

Reason number two. Self control. I’m trying to only post when something significant happens, or something even insignificant is finished and feels worth mentioning.

My last update was about two weeks ago, and it was when Brady finished boarding! That felt like such a huge accomplishment! We spent the next few days fussing around with some changes in electrical. Brady added an entrance light where we wanted one since we built!

We realized there wasn’t going to be a light here just a little too late in the game, and were told they could put one in at that stage, but it would set us back about $500. Doing it this way, it took about an hour and maybe $15. Still needs a real fixture, but we’re stoked! Woot! (Yes, our entrance still has Christmas lights. Because it DARK in there! We’ll probably take them down now 😜)

Brady also gave me a light in our storage area under the stairs, which I really really wanted!!

Don’t judge our mess, please! Lol! Thats ALL our kids clothes that don’t fit anyone right now, as well as the boxes that hold some of our winter decor. Also, fun fact. The playpen is actually where our laundry chute empties! I foolishly thought an average sized laundry hamper would do the job. I was mistaken. So, the playpen that is no longer safe for children will have to work!

Besides these electrical tweaks, we filled a couple of days with some outings and some illness as well.

February 28th brought the tapers!! YESSSSS! They came and went over the course of five-ish days. They were quiet and respectful, and were super polite to our kids when they did have to duck upstairs for one reason or another. Every time the company owner came up the stairs, Solly raced over, yelling “HI DARREN HI!” and he always greeted him back. They had an AMAZING system to keep the dust under control, so we have virtually NO noticeable dust upstairs! (No new dust anyway!) Most importantly, they have done an AMAZING job taping our basement walls!! They even repaired some of our mistakes, and mistakes left by the original builder. They covered it ALL! I know you can’t run your hands along the seams yourselves, but you’re just going to have to trust me. Smooth like butter. And its all so tidy!

We spoke about the next part of our basement project, and made rough plans to touch up any hypothetical imperfections we might find. The beauty of working with local people!

It would be foolish of me not to recommend this company to you, my friends! You guys can trust that I wouldn’t recommend someone I wasn’t totally happy with (Remember the siding guys? 🙄) Kings Forest Construction has been a pleasure to have in our home, and we are THRILLED with our results! I anticipate we’ll be back in touch with them in the future for more work that needs doing, and you should be, too!

Priming is next! We’ll probably prime the laundry area as soon as possible (as in, today) so I can actually do laundry again. Also, the sooner those walls are ready, the sooner we can install the new laundry sink!!!

*cue Hailey’s derpy dance* I’ve been waiting for a laundry sink since we moved in, and its finally happening!!!!

Its finally ALL happening!!! Thank you, Lord!

Strawberry Wavy Forever

I don’t know what it is about this new sleeper but MAN Waverly is just the cutest thing in it! So this post is solely dedicated to Wavy wearing her new strawberry sleeper yesterday. Just pictures of baby girl, looking cute. Thats it.

I bit the bullet the other day and brushed Wavy’s hair to the side after a bath, and gave her a part. While I wish her curls were out in full force, she looks SO pretty!!

Vogue

I feel like they’ll take virtually this exact picture with this exact pose when they’re older.

Supper got pretty emotional…

She was SO excited to eat some rice and mushroom sauce, and bit her lip in the process of inhaling her food. A cucumber cooled her right off, though.

She got SO much food on this beautiful little sleeper, so I soaked it with some other dirty clothes and she finished off the day in her bday suit!

She was pretty comfortable with that idea. As was I, because 1. naked babies are so soft and squishy, and 2. it helped her stay awake until bedtime! Woot!

SUCH a cute strawberry day over here. 🍓 She’s the sweetest little thing.

Nice jammies, Wavy girl.

An Oversight with the Kitchen Tidying…

I’m feeling SO productive in the tidying and reorganizing of my kitchen! The big messy drawers are getting WAY cleaner and it all makes so much more sense! I think the pantry is DONE for the moment, which feels awesome. I was able to combine a few drawers, throw a TON away, and just feel cleansed! I still haven’t jumped on the konmari thing, though I plan to give it a watch soon enough. But for now, the current plan isn’t minimalism, but better organization. For instance, I have a drawer for all the big utensils. Serving spoons, scrapers, lifters, etc. I flat our refuse to throw away my extras. I want more than two serving spoons! I just do! Lol! So I have probably five of those, probably more rubber scrapers, and at least one of everything else! But thats our life!

I have to add an aside in here. Good music makes such a difference for me when I want to be productive! The new Marianas Trench album is SO GOOD!! Give it a listen if you can. For sure the song “Wish You Were Here.” Its so fun!

My oversight in all of this is that I want to show you guys what I’ve accomplished, but I didn’t take before pictures!!! So while it all looks SO much better to me, its still full and might not look tidy to others. So I’m a tad bummed about that, but maybe you’ll just have to trust me!

Its still not done done. I have a big shelf in my furnace room with things like preserves, extra boxes of ziploc bags, some small appliances, and a gigantic roaster. I need to make decisions about where those will live, and I’d so much rather have most of it up here. I don’t want to forget to use what we have! But we’ll have to see. As soon as we sheet the furnace room walls, we can put up shelves, and I can make more intentional choices.

Brady’s on his way home from a morning of work, and I anticipate we’ll take a little lunch break together. After that, I think I’m ducking out for an hour or so for a coffee break, when Brady will probably jump into our taxes. He worked like a dog on them the other day and claims to be about 90% done! Woot! SO ready to have those behind us! No return for us, but its good to get one year wiped off the books and be confident that we set enough aside every cheque!

Speaking of productivity, yet another trailer got dropped off in front of our house today! I guess that means the eavestrough guys are on their way over in the next day or two. Stuff is getting done around here! I think this brutal stretch of cold would feel so much worse if we were all just sitting…

Brunch, Music, and my Pantry

Waverly did not sleep well last night, so neither did Brady and I. She’s not slept great over the last couple of days, and while I want to continue on the path of gently sleep training her, she’s been a bit off and not eating very well either. If she’s feeling anything like I felt last week, I want to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible. So, we get up with her, feed her the bit she’ll drink, and put her back to sleep.

A couple of broken nights, plus attitudes that make me want to tear out the rest of my hair, kept us home this morning. The last few days have just been too much. So rather, we invited my mom over for a waffle brunch and to hang out for the morning. We’re all tired, plus she hurt her back and wasn’t going to make it to church, either. Hanging out at home and taking it easy felt like a better choice. We ate waffles and bacon and fruit salad, and we all enjoyed each others company. It was really, really nice.

The only real goal for the day is to listen to the new Marianas Trench album!! You guys know they’re my guilty pleasure band. They just put out a new album. I preordered it in February, it released on March 1st, and I still haven’t listened to it! The days have just been too big. But we’re going to see them in concert later this month and we need to know it well by then! So today is the day 🙂 Even if we have to load everyone into the van and go for a drive on this (yet again) frigid winter day JUST to contain everyone in a quiet place to listen to it, we will!

Something else I’ve been working on is our pantry! It started yesterday and has run into today. We’ve lived her for about 2.5 years now, and while our kitchen makes sense, there are a few cupboards that don’t make a ton of sense, and our pantry is a bit of a mess. I’d love to make sense of it all, meaning have all the food where it makes sense, have the little kitchen appliances where they make sense, and things like ice cream pails and containers like that all where they make sense. If any of this makes sense, lol! I was inspired while watching a family on YouTube the other day to be more intentional to eat what we have without always restocking things immediately, so nothing gets forgotten. A couple of times a year, this family goes a month without buying anything that isn’t fresh or a necessity, and they eat their pantry and freezers empty. I LOVE that idea, and thats what prompted the big reorganize. I’m not sure I’ll actually bite the bullet on the month without grocery shopping, but I’m happy to say I actually know what I have now, I’ve purged out a ton of expired things, and I’m excited to be a bit more diligent. I’m also happy to say that none of it was as out of control as I had anticipated. Now things are organized! There’s still work to do, but I’m so happy its coming together, even if its taken a couple of years. The freezer is next, but since that lives in our unheated garage, that’ll have to wait for another time 😉

Tomorrow will be another busy, freezing, hopefully productive day! Brady will go to work, Dekker will go to school, and work will continue on our basement. (Update on the basement Wednesday, I believe!) Ideally, I’d love to feel productive myself as well, whether that means more work in the kitchen, or maybe in the boys closet. Dekker and Rowan’s closet is SUCH a mess. I got Laela and Solly’s cleaned out the other day, but the boys is a way bigger job. Maybe I’ll bring everyone up with me and we can do some work in my room, even! Orrrrr we’ll lurk on the couch if Wavy is still grumpy and extra needy. We’ll see! I’m torn between giving myself a break, because Monday, or kicking the week off right, because Monday!

Wavy decides!

Eight Months of Waverly

Our Wavy girl officially crossed the eight month mark!! I feel like she’s always been here, she just fits right in. Yet how is she SO GROWN UP already?! Her expressions tell so much about how she’s feeling that you never really have to wonder. She’s just wide open and honest, and seriously, just the warmest little dear. 

Her weight is 18 lbs 14 oz, which means she’s only gained 3 oz. I don’t know her height offhand but she keeps getting taller! Last month, I said she had bumped up a size and was in 9 month clothing, but she’s confidently in 12 month now!She’s been working hard on some teeth this month, which seems to be a bit of a theme, but she successfully popped two in February!!! On the 9th and 24th. The two right next to her top two in the front. So thats four on top and two on the bottom. She recently discovered how to grind them together, so thats a fun sound that doesn’t leave me wanting to vomit. (NOT my favourite sound, fyi)

Developmentally, Waverly continues to truck right along. Nothing too crazy. She’s not crawling or even close, but she sits a lot more confidently on her own, self-correcting if she wobbles. She LOVES a good game of peekaboo, and will laugh endlessly at her siblings’ silly antics. She babbles a lot and has found new sounds. Dada is a popular one. I can’t wait until she really talks!!! She loves solid food, and can handle it even better this month. We let her taste pretty much anything and everything. The list of things she’s tried is longer than I care to type out here. Its just everything. She regularly rejects the little baby snacks I try to use to hold her off, like digestive crackers, puffs, Cheerios, etc.

“I reject your stupid gerber cookies.”

She wants the real stuff, so thats what she gets! Lastly, in Wavy’s development, I’ll note that she occasionally makes strange now. Not too too much, but she knows her parents, and prefers them to others most of the time. No burn, guys 😉 She’s supposed to like us the most.

Our little dear FINALLY has some semblance of a schedule! Sort of. She has two. Sometimes, she sleeps seamlessly through the night and wakes up early with the rest of us, before school. On those days, she maybe naps around 10:00 or 10:30, waking up at lunch, and then naps again in the mid afternoon until maybe suppertime. Bedtime around 7:00, depending on how long her second nap lingered. She’s pretty chill. If it doesn’t go like that, its because she slept in. If she sleeps in until around 9:00, we keep her up until lunch, and she naps when the others do, after lunch. On those days, she usually naps until 3:00 or 4:00, and while maybe we shouldn’t, we make every effort to limp her through until bedtime. She is POOPED on those evenings! But now that she sleeps through the night more often, we’re working out a new system. As if we had one before, lol! We’re trying, anyway. 

Wavy loves being tickled, but more softly than the other kids liked. She lets me mouth-bite the bottoms of her ribcage, too. She LOVES that. She loves to be photographed, and often perks up and smiles when a camera or a phone gets stuck in her face. She loves when her siblings play with her. They’ll stack every toy we own in front of her and she just squeals and bites everything and plays. As mentioned, Wavy loves to bite everything. Including the hands that feed her or feel her teeth. Beware. Her latest favourite toy is anything that rattles. She loves rattles, and toys that make sound! Lastly, she loves her feet. Playing with them, chewing on them, and pulling them out of her sleeper so I have to tuck them back into place, only to have her pull them out again seconds later. Because baby life 🙂 

Praise the Lord for eight months with Waverly!!

OUTSIDE!

Yesterday, we ALL surfaced! Today, we’re hiding out again, but yesterday was a good day in a lot of ways 🙂

Once Dekker and Laela left for school, walking, we loaded the others up for some errand running. I was still feeling pretty sick post-tummy bug, and I hadn’t slept more than three hours, but as usual, we were out of milk, motivating a trip to the city. Plus, we had a couple of oddball places to hit as well, so we all went together.

We loudly laughed our way through Superstore, making a bit of a scene, perhaps, but we had fun. Got all that we needed and met some nice people along the way, as we often do.

We stopped at Lululemon to pick up the leggings Brady got me for our anniversary, but I had chosen the wrong size. Merp. So I didn’t end up taking them home, and instead ordered a new pair. They were super nice about it, though.

We grabbed some lunch on our way to Life Labs, where I got some blood work done. (Nope, not pregnant. Just some odd health “concerns” recently that I’m checking into with my doctor.) It was quick and relatively painless, and I joined the fam back in the van.

We hot Costco last. I wore Wavy in the carrier, and she was SO good. Once again, we got everything we needed, except lettuce! How did that happen that there was NO lettuce?! Ah well. We got it all done and were home in time for late naps for the little ones! They all slept SO well!

When we arrived home, stuff was going on in the basement!!!! Guys, I’m resisting HARD not to give you updates on the basement too often, lol! Its so hard!

While the littles were napping, a friend messaged me and asked if she could bring us some supper! Guys, that is so much who I want to be. That person who just looks for a need and helps. Because WOW was I touched by her gift! I accepted, and she dropped off a beautiful meal shortly there after.

Everyone got up from their naps as Dekker and Laela walked home from school. They looked so good. Just SO ready for spring!

Dekker looks like a teenager, all of a sudden!!

He is SO handsome in this picture!!

Rowan was all cozy on his llama (still not officially named)

As was Solly, lol! Poor dude was completely under his blankets when we got him.

Eventually, once homework was done, the afternoon rowdies kicked in. The kids played until supper time, and then ate the heck out of supper! It was undeniably delicious, even for the ones who prefer to pick at new foods rather than eat them. Everyone ate. Myself included! For the first time in several days, I ate a full meal! Thank you again, friend.

Even Wavy ate it!

After supper, I spoke to my doctor for a bit on the phone, which always feels uplifting to me. And seriously, I can’t say it enough, I have just the best doctor. And the most attentive doctor!! A doctor who could definitely call with answers the next day, within business hours, but chooses to call on the same day rather, because she knows you.

Once the kids were in bed, Brady ducked out to a church meeting and I had a phone date with my mom. It was a really nice chat. One of those ones where, as you talk, you make realizations and have someone to instantly share them with, and bounce ideas off of each other. Very encouraging. So much love there.

The night wrapped up with a little bit of Netflix with Brady, and we slept all the way through, thanks to Wavy. The same Wavy that is EIGHT MONTHS OLD TOMORROW!!! Watch for that post!!

Laundry with Laela

Yesterday, Brady went downstairs to do a few little adjustments on his work. He invited the kids to join, but Laela opted to stay upstairs with me. But she didn’t want to play, really. She wanted to do something. So we did!

First, we made a list of things we still need to buy for our basement. Its going to take time to finish the whole thing, so this list will be a good reminder of what we should be looking for sales on. Felt minimally productive. After that, she read a book so I could get the blog up. Very shortly after that, though, it was clear she wanted to spend some intentional time with me. She made this clear by accompanying me to the bathroom, where she stood directly in front of me, just to be there. Just to watch. 

That was a thing. Lol! It was time to do something!

So we cleaned out her closet! Laela had previously had a little nightstand that held some of her little special things, but we found she would mess with it well into the night, and eventually we had to remove it from her room completely. During our tidy, she reminisced about it, and told me she was five now, and she had disobeyed those rules a long time ago. She petitioned me for it back. I told her I really wanted her to have it back, so this was one step towards it. I want her special little things to fit in it, so we needed to purge them back a little. (Hear me. Not everything she owns has to fit in it. Just the little trinkets, papers, bouncy balls, birthday cards, etc.) She ended up getting rid of lots of little papers, putting a bunch of books back in the bookshelf, rehoming some things that belong to the other kids, and deciding to donate some old backpacks she had when she was younger. That all felt really good! She was SO satisfied!

But she wanted to keep working. So we sorted a little bit more stuff out and she put some of Solly’s little things in her box of “keeps.” She plans to share a drawer in her nightstand with him, so she’s currently hanging onto the things she’s decided he wants to keep 🙂

But that wasn’t enough. So I asked if she wanted to fold laundry. And she did!! 

And it was the BEST! Easily the most fun I’ve had folding laundry in a long time. As I’ve said on here before, I really don’t mind folding laundry! I weirdly hate putting it away, but I don’t mind folding it! Two hampers have been sitting for a few days, because I’ve been sick and in the general busyness of life, we just haven’t got to them. So there was a good chunk to do. Laela LOVES laundry. If she were tall enough that she wouldn’t fall into the washer, she could do everything. She knows the dials, where to put the soap, and how to sort it all apart. She would be thrilled to just be trusted with the laundry. But she’s still a shorty, so I have to help her still 😉 Laela wanted to fold in the living room, so thats where we set up. I had a tub of hangers, and two hampers of the kids laundry. I clicked some music on, and she and I chatted and folded and got the job done. She hung most of the shirts on hangers, and paid attention to where I was stacking each kids pile. She was so gentle not to stretch neck holes, and worked hard on the little buttons that even I have a hard time with.

My favourite moment was coming back after I had stepped away for a second. I watched her without her knowing. She was standing beside the couch, picking a shirt out of the hamper. She gave it a good shake to get the wrinkles out, and then started putting it on the hanger. She was swaying, and singing along to the music on my phone. “Sit down and be set free… come to the table.” 

I just melted into a puddle. Her heart is HUGE! Can you imagine the smile on Jesus’ face as she sang?? Ack! It was almost too much!

She eventually spotted me, and I rejoined her. I told her I liked her singing, and she got all shy about it, as I suspected she would. But we continued the job, and got it all done. She put away all of her laundry, and what she could reach of Sollys. I put the rest away at the same time. 

When it was all done, she raced off to her room to play with some of the goodies she had rediscovered in her closet. She was SO excited!! Yet, she had first chosen to help me with a job. It thrills my heart to see her make that choice. She has an amazing head on her shoulders, and a beautiful heart within her. 

And if you ever get the chance to hear it, she has a beautiful singing voice as well! 

Much Better

Despite my sickness yesterday, it was a pretty lovely one. A loving friend came bearing ginger ale for my tummy and a helping hand with my kids. We watched a movie and took it easy. It was awesome. I finally got some food and drink into my system, which helped my exhaustion and weak body. I was not the most fun company out there, but SO appreciative to have the help and care. I don’t like to be a complainer, because I am SO grateful for the life I have, but to level with you, being sick with kids is HARD. It just is. And as parents, we do it anyway, because there is no other option. But having help makes a world of a difference.

My head pounded pretty much from the beginning of the day to the end of it. I wanted to get through the day without taking medicine, but it became just a bit too much, and I finally gave in and took some Tylenol. By supper time, I was feeling quite a bit better from my stomach bug, and I could tell my body was so hungry. Brady made perogies for us, to keep it pretty safe but also yummy. My goodness, they hit the spot!! SO GOOD!

Both Brady and I were cashed out, completely asleep, by 9:15 last night!! I know, thats a bit ridiculous. We had both slept poorly the night before, we’re both sick (me with my stomach and he with a cold) and add to that his first full work day in a while, we were both bushed. Thank the Lord, once again, for a baby who sleeps through most nights! She woke up shortly after 6:00 this morning. We both got a FULL nine hours of sleep by that point!

I feel considerably better this morning. Its weird. My throat hurts like I’ve been throwing up, but I haven’t been. My limbs ache the same way, like I’ve been retching, but I haven’t been. I have dead legs. But my stomach feels pretty close to 100% so I’ll take it. Today is a pretty relaxed day as it is.

Taping our basement is set to start this afternoon!!! And siding it apparently at a standstill. I don’t know, guys, I do NOT recommend the company we’ve used :/ Don’t want to bash them publicly, and I also don’t want to make anyone angry before they finish the job over here, but if you’re local and looking to get your siding repaired after this past summer’s hail storm, get in touch so you DON’T use the same company we did! I anticipate our taping will go WAY better!! Hoping for great things 🙂

The Wrong Time to Catch a Tummy Bug

I was feeling a bit yucky yesterday morning, but I blew past it, figuring I was just hungry or hadn’t slept as well as I could’ve. Just a little queasy.

Mid day, I had a few *ahem* symptoms 💩 show up, and it was clear that food wasn’t going to solve this issue.

I went to see my doctor in the afternoon to talk about a handful of different things, such as changes in my body and my skin that I wanted to take note of. She wrote me up a bit of blood work, but I opted to go straight home after my appointment rather than to the blood lab. I was feeling too gross.

When I got home, my mom had dropped Dekker off from school, and he had just finished up his homework. The stretch between school and supper tends to be the most trying time in our house, and Brady lovingly sent me upstairs for it. He wrangled the kids and did supper for everyone. He brought me a grilled cheese sandwich, which I ate, but my burps still tasted like boiled eggs. A delicious thought, isn’t it? It was pretty gross.

Brady ducked out for a couple of hours after the kids went to bed, but first, he ran me a bath and set up the laptop in there so I could watch some YouTube. It was SO nice! But the longer I hung out in there, the grosser I felt, and it was time to head to bed. Also, I was getting chilly as the bath cooled off. As soon as I stood up, I felt a hefty wash of nausea, so I abandoned the bathroom and flopped into bed, all wet, with the tub still filled with water, the laptop in there, etc. I had enough smarts to grab my phone, so I snuggled into bed and watched tiny YouTube and dozed in and out. It was cozy, actually.

When Brady came home, he disassembled the bathroom I had left in a mess, and came to bed with me. I was SUCH a dope, and SUCH a whiner, but he was very understanding.

The night was a full stretch of tossing and turning. I took gravol a couple of times, which I pretty much never do, except tomorrow was the first day in weeks that Brady needed to be at work for the full day, with next to no wiggle room. I HAD to be on for the day, and with that, I needed not to vomit on anyone or feel disgusting.

So needless to say, it was a choppy night and I’m very tired today. But, I did it!! This morning, I got everyone up and ready in time to drive them ALL to school. I woke Wavy and bundled her up, fed her, and chased after the others. I know, its basic mom stuff, but today, I am not the strongest I’ve ever been, wow! Its been a LONG morning.

Honourable mention goes to Dekker. He got ready seamlessly with no nagging from me. He knew I was feeling gross, and he crushed it this morning. When I was on the hunt for a misplaced library book, Dekker was already bundled in the entrance. I told him he was a bit early, but he wasn’t concerned. He hung out there and helped the others with their jackets and boots as they migrated down. It was AWESOME, and a huge help to me!

Since getting home from dropping the kids off at school, its not been the smoothest. I’m SO weak and tired, and understandably, the kids need things, and they need me.

It is not my best day. I am frustratingly imperfect.