Sooooo I have about 200 pictures to weed through from yesterday! Lol! I LOVE a good photo post, and I think a lot of you guys do, too. They used to be a bit of an easy way out, but now, its SO hard to sift through and decide how many is too many, which were my favorites, etc. I love doing it, though 🙂 Yesterday was such a great day, and I’m so glad we have so many memories to look back on! I hope you enjoy them, too!

We drove to Waskesiu right after breakfast. We forgot to take a family van selfie like we usually try to do, but I snapped a couple of cute shots of the classy kids sitting closest to me in the van 🙂

Aaaaand some less cute pictures…

Ok, he’s still cute. Just a tad on the icky side.

We got to Waskesiu, bought our park pass and took a family bathroom break before heading to the beach!

We thought it was hilarious, lol! Hopefully no one is offended by this picture!

Our little lake town was SO much snowier than we expected! I had a suspicion that it would be a bit more wintery than home, considering how far north it is, and the wind coming off the water. Yet, the sun was out, and it was nice and warm! The lake itself was still fairly iced over, though in places it was obviously melted off with moving water. I saw far too many people walking on the ice for how warm it was!! The waves had pushed sand up to also look like waves, which was pretty cool, and something I hadn’t seen before.

There were quite a few drifts still in the shaded parts of the park, which limited where we could trek, but we rolled with it.

We found a useable path to the playground and thats pretty much where we stayed put!

The swings were a BIG deal, even when Ro took a spill off one 🙁 He bravely got right back on! Woot!

The seesaw was probably Laela’s favorite thing about the playground. I’m not using all of the pictures I have, obviously, but our kids would often just wander over to the teeter totter and wait patiently for someone to join them. They made all kinds of new friends!

Dekker is less inclined to stop and pose for a picture, but he enjoyed himself thoroughly, climbing and sliding and climbing and sliding!

We finally took a break from the wind and had lunch in the van. We brought all kinds of fruit, veggies, and pb&j sandwiches.

We gave everyone a chocolate chip cookie afterwards and headed out for a walk! Some liked the cookie more than others…

Dekker and Laela asked to push the stroller, which they actually did a pretty great job of, minus a few brief off roading adventures. Brady and I actually had the opportunity to walk and hold hands!

On our first lap around town, we were surprised to see the little grocery store was open! Almost everything was closed, as expected, but the grocery store is also the location of the bakery. Brady ducked his head in, and sure enough, they were working on a small batch of treats! They said to give them a half hour, which we happily agreed to. We meandered around town and got back just as the first treats of the season were coming out of the oven!!!

The kids shared a sticky bun between them, which seems stingy, but we had JUST eaten lunch and no one was especially hungry. So it was just a little treat 🙂

Brady had a bite or two of their stick bun, and then shared a piping hot mini pizza with me and Bambina. He’s lucky we love him, because she and I could’ve eaten twelve of those things. 🤤

We headed back to the playground for the rest of the afternoon. My body was quite achy at this point so I tucked away on a bench and watched my family play. It was actually really, really nice. Everyone came to join me from time to time. Dekker and Laela in particular came over to bring rocks to show me, and speculate whether or not Bambina will like collecting rocks.

The kids were all just SO gorgeous and happy in the sun! ☀

Just a few glamour shots. I couldn’t resist!! There were WAY more!!! Literally, this is the absolute minimum I could post!

The drive home looked a lot like this. All the boys had a shorty nap between Waskesiu and Prince Albert, where we stopped for supper.

It was pretty perfect, actually. Minus the time Solly went for a round #2 of shoe tasting and kicked himself in the face, causing a pretty nasty nosebleed! (I admit, I laughed a bit. Natural consequences.) They all stayed awake the rest of the way home and came home in good spirits. It seems we truly hit the sweet spot, where everyone was still in good shape when we left the lake and was happy when we got home, yet very understanding that it was bedtime. It actually took a little while for them all to wind down, but I’d rather that than have the entire group overtired and wailing.

Brady and I, on the other hand, were wiped right out and SO ready for bed! In the BEST way! I was nodding off by 9:45. We were ready to call it quits for the day when our smoke alarms started chirping. And chirping. And chirping. We could NOT get them quiet, no matter what.

So around 12:30 we finally admitting defeat, popped the one off of our bedroom ceiling, cranked the fan on high so we couldn’t hear the others near our room, and hit the hay. My. Gosh.

Our exhausted bodies didn’t have it in them to wake everyone up this morning in time to bathe them, shower ourselves, and make it to church on time, knowing that we’d have to race home and fight with the smoke alarms before napping the kids. I just knew we’d be scrambling and raising our voices and getting all worked up, and it just wasn’t what this morning was for.

So, instead, we stayed home and had breakfast in bed. I’ve been working hard on this blog for about hours now, Brady has worked with the smoke alarms and we think the problem is solved? Until you hear otherwise, anyway. Stay tuned for that. Now, laundry is running, thanks to beach clothes, Solly’s nosebleed in the van, and Laela’s morning nosebleed. The kids are colouring and happy. Baths will happen sooner or later. We have no schedule today. Its wrapping up to be a pretty good weekend, if you ask me!

We took our sweet little troupe to the lake for the first trip of the season today! They were thrilled the moment they found out. Yet, true to form, they ate breakfast forever, which bought us some time in the morning to get things packed up. Being that is still April and its been a totally bizarre, unending winter, we knew it would still be “wintery” to a degree, so we didn’t bother with a LOT of the usual beach stuff. We mostly brought a full diaper bag, snacks and lunch, a double stroller, comfy clothes to travel home in, and their wind jackets. Not a whole lot else would be needed.

They were a pretty patient group on the drive up. The first thing we had to do upon arrival was to actually buy our park pass. I had looked online a while back at prices, and the regular pass was listed at the same place as the early bird pass, so I felt no rush. I should have, though, as that proved to have been in error and when I looked again recently, the pass cost quite a bit more. So we had put off buying it until today, and FUN FACT! If you buy the pass actually AT the park info building, you can buy it just for Prince Albert National Park for a much lower price!! We were told that we could just upgrade to the online price if we ever decided to hit up a different park, but for now, this works beautifully! Thank you, park info guy!

I’ll go into more stories tomorrow when I post pictures, but as a quick summary, I’ll say that we played on the playground for most of our day, ate lunch, did a lap or two around the town, enjoyed our first tastes of Waskesiu sticky buns, and got wind burn. It. Was. Awesome. We left before it turned disastrous and picked up supper in Prince Albert on our way home. The kids managed to stay awake the entire last leg of the trip, so I have hope for them to actually sleep tonight, and I know that Brady and I will sleep tonight!!!

It was a big day, but a BEAUTIFUL day!! I’m SO glad we got out there to show the kids all of the familiar places they loved so much last year. And for us too. Just think of how much better it will be this year when our hearts aren’t so freshly grieving, and we have new blessings to celebrate!!

Pictures will come soon 🙂 Hopefully tomorrow. We took SO MANY!

I discovered yesterday, a bit late in the game, that Dekker had this Friday off! It popped up as a reminder on my laptop when I opened it late Thursday morning, double checked it to a school schedule I have, and it was later confirmed by a reminder email sent to the parents. So, Friday off! Woot!

I’m definitely not complaining about having a day off of school, because sleeping in is amaaazing. But Fridays off always feel like Saturdays, and its always a bit weird when Brady is at work when he should be home with us.

After sleeping in this morning, Solly especially, we decided to go visit Brady at work. In case you hadn’t noticed, he and I kind of super like each other, so if it was socially acceptable for me to drop in on him every day of the week, I would! More than social acceptability, its about fuel costs. Don’t get me started. So, once in a blue moon, the kids and I drive to Bradys work with coffees or a treat or something along those lines.

Today was just a coffee and a visit. Being that we got a later start at it, we got there right around his lunch, so it didn’t disrupt his day too much time wise. He ate his lunch and drank his coffee and we all chatted for a bit. It was such a nice way to break the day up. The kids gave their daddy their sweetest, biggest smiles, and were very content to hang in the van for a bit, speculating about each and every hard hat clad guy who walked near our van.

Eventually, Brady had finished his lunch and we released him back into the wild (or just back to work) and I found my way out of the unfamiliar neighbourhood. The kids and I pumped the tunes and arrived home with everyone awake!!! YAY! This is a great success when you’re still hoping to rock nap time!

We lunched all together, and 3/4 are now down for naps and Dekker is quietly playing Lego. Its a nice afternoon. A Saturday afternoon, really, but I’ll take it a day early. Especially since we might do something out of the box tomorrow! We shall seeeee!

I walk Dekker from the van to school every morning. He can definitely get there on his own, but each morning he requests that we walk together, and I’m not going to shut him down, because I know eventually, he’ll want that freedom. So I’ll take it as long as I can possibly get it!

A couple of times in the last week or so, we’ve run into a classmate of Dekker’s along the way, and they’ve noted that they have the same rubber boots. You know the boots. The black boots with the green bottoms that everyone has. Or at least it sure feels that way!

The first day he wore his rubber boots, he and a friend noticed they had the same ones! I realized in that moment that I hadn’t labelled Dekker’s boots. Whoops! They are VERY clearly marked with the initials “RV,” thanks to the family who donated them to Value Village, so I figured at least I knew that. I’d label them after school that day.

But I didn’t.

A couple of days ago, another friend noted that he and Dekker had the same boots. He did indeed! I realized I still hadn’t labelled Dekker’s boots! I said something to the boys about writing Dekkers name in his boots, and the other kid laughed and said his name wasn’t in his either, but rather his brothers name. I had to get on that.

Buuuuut I didn’t.

This morning, I was walking Dekker towards the school and he mentioned that one of his boots felt funny. I looked down at his boots and they looked exactly the same. Too much the same. Sure enough, he had two right boots. We headed into the boot room to slip them off, and as you’d expect, one boot said RV and the other boot said the name of that other students older brother inside of it. Ugh!

That kid was nowhere to be found, so I sheepishly emailed their teacher and asked her for help sorting out whose was whose, at least, and promised I would actually be an adult and label my kids stuff after school.

So, we’ll call this a mom fail and move on, I suppose. But seriously, guys, its worth it to check who is beside your kid on the shoe shelf in the boot room, or who shares a locker with your kid. Makes life a LOT easier when you inevitably miss stuff. I am just not the sharpest I’ve ever been!

Its been so fun to watch Dekker and Laela learn through this school year. Dekker is learning SO MUCH in school, making very real strides. Just recently, his reading levels were tested, and he was thrilled to have skipped another level altogether, bumping him up TWO levels in one shot! We congratulated him and celebrated, and then had a casual chat about how, as tends to happen, his next level might be a bit tricky, and we’ll help him through it so he won’t be discouraged. That whole thing where it has to get more difficult can really get him down. But then he just read the book. Like WAY smoother than I expected! He finished it off with “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.” Win! So Dekker is doing AWESOME!

Laela is in preschool this year, which she has loved! Its been great for her, to stretch her social skills, as well as taught her some new games, some basic skills like cutting with scissors, and the general “school” vibe of lining up, putting her hand up to speak, etc. I’m SO glad to have the opportunity to have her in preschool! But she also watches Dekker do his homework when he comes home and I can tell she’s ready for more.

As I’ve said on here plenty of times, Laela has work books that she likes to do. She practices printing letters, and identifies the items on the paper that start with the letter she’s working on. Stuff like that. She LOVES it.

Today, after our morning got off to a rough start, Laela settled herself down on a couch and announced that she was going to do some homework. She had a few books with her, and started going through them. She easily identified all the letters in the alphabet books, and figured out what on the page started with the letters. If she got stuck, she’d ask me and I’d definitely help her, but the majority, she figured out on her own. Easily. She moved on to a numbers book after that where I learned that she can easily count to 50, and I assume she could get up to 100 easily, but this book only went to 50. She understands the concept of how the numbers kind of repeat, and she can count by 10s to 100, so I think thats already done.

I’m not trying to suggest that she’s some child genius, but I am SO thrilled that she already knows so much before kindergarten has even started! She will know her basic stuff, and have a nice solid head start. Because of preschool, she’ll already be familiar with many of her classmates, so she won’t likely be very nervous at all to stay at school for the day. I think she’ll be a quick sell on school. She is SO ready.

We have just a couple of things to achieve before the fall, so I’m in no rush 😉 Let’s do summer first and fall can figure itself out down the line. Its just nice anticipating that transition ahead as a smooth one.

We pulled the kids bikes down this weekend for the first time this season! They were SO excited! Well, I should say, some were more excited than others 😉 We’ll get to that.

Being that all of our kids are little, we have a variety of weird bikes over here, haha! Dekker has a lightening McQueen bike that he got for his birthday a couple of years ago. It still works for him. He’s still rocking training wheels, but hopefully not for too much longer. Laela has a bike we got for free off of a local buy and sell last year. Its a bit tall for her still, but it works. We took the pedals off of it so she could rock it as a balance bike. We got Rowan a legit balance bike for Christmas from, once again, a local buy and sell page. I’ve started to see the merit in balance bikes, though I didn’t always, but they are SO expensive! This one was $15. Boom! That leaves Solly on the trike. So it should all work out. That was the idea, anyway.

Come to find out, the whole crew isn’t in full agreement. Surprised? Nope.

Dekker still likes his bike very much, and is eager to lose the training wheels, but as isn’t surprising, he is quite nervous about the learning process. Its still pretty muddy out but soon we’ll probably take him out on the grass at the playground so he can feel a bit safer. Brady ran him up and down the street a few times, and he’s working on gliding his bike, like a balance bike.

Laela is still pretty nervous of her bike, even as a balance bike, but she understands the concept pretty well. She would, however, far rather use Rowan’s balance bike, I assume because its lower to the ground.

This wasn’t a bad plan because Rowan was NOT interested in his bike. He wanted the trike. And conveniently, his helmet doesn’t fit anymore, so he couldn’t really bike anyway! He happily ran up and down the side of the road, waving a pinwheel around. Success.

Solly got the coveted trike, and he actually did WAY better than I expected! He isn’t strong enough to propel it himself yet, but he was completely happy to be on it! He held the handlebars and let us push him around. If we’d remind him, he’d put his feet not he pedals. He was FULL of smiles, even in the crazy wind. And luckily, Rowan’s helmet fit him! So, boom! He’s a pretty cute R2D2 if you ask me!

Biking ended when a couple of the kids started breaking down.

Learning to ride a two wheeler is tough stuff.

With that, my ears have been bugging me through most of this pregnancy (a weird new symptom this time around) and the wind did NOT help, so I came inside, expecting a least a few to follow. But nope. They’re all hanging out in the garage doing who knows what with Brady, and I’m getting some planning and blogging on!

Our system out here is far from perfect, but its just day one 🙂 There will be MANY more days to bike and play outside. Hopefully less windy days. This was a pretty cute start, if you ask me! Now if only we could acquire an extra trike or something, to please the masses. I suppose no one can please everyone, right??

Guys. I’ll deliver a baby in ten weeks. Ten. Weeks. Give or take a day or two, obviously, but thats the plan! I wonder if those of you who follow this series feel like time is moving quickly, or if its just dragging on. I finally feel like things are gently clipping along, and I’m just thrilled about it. I’ve been waiting for that good mix of time moving quickly without me wishing it away, and its finally here! Every Monday, I’m surprised that another week has passed, and then all of a sudden, its Friday. Where do the days go?? I don’t have a lot of busyness this coming week to help time pass, but Brady is back to work on Tuesday, so I think being back on kid duty by myself will have the same effect 😉 Either way, time continues to pass, and its feeling more and more reasonable to start thinking ahead and preparing certain things! Its not forever away anymore. Baby day is COMING!

Size Comparison: This week is confusing for comparisons, as so many are. The Ovia app suggests the baby is the size of a Hawaiian pineapple, or a Barbie convertible. Hawaii must have some BIG pineapples! But seriously, I sneaked a peek at next weeks comparisons and they’re just as absurd. I have resisted getting a 3D ultrasound at this point, so I can’t tell you how big she actually is, but I hear the “average” is about 2.5 lbs and 15” tall. Who knows.

Appointments: I mentioned in my last series post that my hemoglobin finger poke had tested low, and I was asked to go confirm it at a blood clinic. I did so, and my student doctor called a day or two later to tell me I am, in fact, low on iron and needed to start taking a supplement. I wasn’t worried about it, because its happened before. I think maybe only with Laela? I can’t be sure, but its never been a big deal. In the past, my doctor has called and said I’m close but could use a boost, so please take iron. The end. This time was a WHOLE different story! Its one of the quirky things that happens with the student doctors. They overshare. I get that. I expect it. But I’m SO much more confused than I was before! He told me I need to take two iron tablets every day, but I cannot take them together. Must be two separate occasions. I can neither take them with food, nor drinks, nor other medication. Specifically CANNOT take them with zantac, which I also take twice a day now. I can take them with orange juice, which I never have in the house, or with vitamin C, which I could do except that taking iron with half of my vitamins but not the others is ridiculous and I’ll never remember to take the others. Sigh. I can’t take iron anytime I have caffeine in my body, either. WHEN ARE THESE TIMES OF DAY?!?! I have to find a time where my stomach is empty of food, caffeine, or medication, and take a pill that will quite likely make me feel sick. Twice. I have no idea, haha! I know I CAN take them whenever, and they just won’t absorb as well or as much or as quickly, but something is better than nothing, right? I swear, in the past I was encouraged to take them with food because they commonly upset the stomach. So I’m kind of choked and annoyed by the whole thing now… Yikes. Iron rant over.

How am I feeling emotionally: I’ve had some genuinely sorrowful moments this week that have kind of caught me off guard. We’ve walked through a bit more loss this last week, and while its not been our own family, its brought reflection and memories back into my heart. I admit, I had a cry in my van one day when I was driving alone. I cried for my little babies that I won’t get to hold every again until I’m in Heaven. I told God I believe that He has them safe and sound, and that He has control of my grief. He has everything safely in His hands. I’ve given it ALL to Him. But I told him, honestly, that I just wanted to hold it all again, just once. Lucky for me, thats not how it works, and realistically, thats not actually what I want. I know this. But grief hit hard, and I just needed to talk it out with Him, and as usual, He answered. Thank God for God!

How am I feeling physically: I feel strangely tired these days! I know many people get tired in their third trimesters as they grow and their bodies wear a little, but its like it hit RIGHT in the beginning of trimester #3. I thought it was in my head at that point, but its been persistent! I’m WIPED! Not that I’m out of commission in any way, but I have NO trouble falling asleep when the time comes, save for some rare occasions. Beyond fatigue, I don’t have too many issues. Still some lower back pain (going to have to get another adjustment this week) and lots and lots of braxton hicks contractions. If I’m tired especially, they show up just by me standing and walking somewhere in the house. And they last so long. Kind of annoying, but not painful or anything yet. So its all pretty tolerable. Worth it for the little miss.

Wish Lish/Purchases: I put in a bitty little order at the Gap and Old Navy today for her. She got a little tank top diaper shirt with shiny gold pineapples on it. Also a little rash guard swim suit, which yes, I know, will NEVER touch the water. I am aware that her swimsuits are just to look cute in on the beach, and I’m ok with that. Also a romper. What do you think she’ll wear to her baby party? I’m thinking maybe a romper… A dress would be SO cute, but kind of annoying when passing her from person to person, to have it ride up constantly. Hmmm… I also bought myself a cute pair of floral capris that claim to have a compression top! While I don’t love the belly panel over my pregnant belly, its going to be handy to tuck that belly flap into something once the baby has left the proverbial building. So, win for me and my jelly belly this summer.

Pictures: The bumpity bump is growing actively! And honestly, guys, I love it.

I love being at this point in pregnancy where I look solidly pregnant, and it makes sense with the amount of weeks I am. I think it does, anyway. I’m over feeling huge, and am just thankful. I had another mom mention to me the other day that I’m growing, and that I literally looked larger than I did the week before, and I was honestly SO happy to hear it! So that tells me I’m not as self conscious as I feel when I post pictures. So, YAY for the belly!! I’m SO thankful to have it! Especially when it wiggles and pokes out in funny directions. Keep moving, baby girl!!

How are the kids feeling: Today, Dekker announced at the table “We should have a party when Bambina comes!” I assume he’s heard us talking about our baby party, and wanted to bring it up, and I assume the other kids have heard talk of it, too, but they all erupted in agreement! When would we have it? How old would she be? Who would come? It was fun to tell them the few details we knew and speculate about the others. Talk of summer plans ALWAYS leads to talk of the lake, and Rowan ALWAYS jumps in with the fact that the baby will come with us! I think our first few day trips are going to be confusing when she doesn’t join us just yet 😉 They’re cute. The last thing I’ll add in this category is that the kids have finally just blatantly asked what her name is. They want to know, NOW. If I wasn’t positive they’d either spill the beans on their own, or that one of you lovely people would squeeze it out of them, I’d happily tell them! I LOVE her name and wish desperately that they could call her by name, too. But without sounding like a jerk, I don’t really want to know everyone’s opinions on her name, lol! And those opinions tend to be quieter and fewer after the kid is actually born. So, I think we’ll wait. Sadly.

Getting to know the baby: Ok, this one is just speculation, and there is still lots of time, but I have a guess. I think Bambina is going to be born with her hand by her head. I think. Like I hope I’m wrong, haha, because thats super annoying. When I was pregnant with Laela, I always felt a LOT of little movements aaaaall the way down, and she was eventually born with her hand up by her face. With Rowan, I felt similar movements towards the end of my pregnancy, and he too was born with a hand up. So, while thats a total pain in the butt (both literal and figuratively) its just a guess about something we’ll only know when she’s born! Maybe she’ll sleep with her hand up like Laela did! Wait and see!

The BEST part of being pregnant: The BEST part of being pregnant this week is the weather warming up, and being able to wear clothes that don’t make me feel super bulky and huge and frumpy. I’ve missed capri pants and tank tops and cozy cardis. I even bought myself a pair of sanuk sandals out of Value Village the other day, because I am SO ready for sandals!!! Time moves faster when the weather is nicer. Only ten more weeks…..

Favourite thing: I don’t drink pop very much. Its definitely a treat. But as the weather tried (and failed, multiple times) to warm up, it became time to get a bit of pop around here. I’m not picky with pop. If I want one, I’ll take what I can get. I just like how refreshing it is. But I stumbled upon some yummy ones a while back that I would recommend for a ‘fruity” alternative to the dark cokes, root beers, etc. Presidents Choice makes both a carbonated watermelon lemonade, as well as a mango pop! They’re both super yummy! Super sweet, for sure, but what pop isn’t? They’re yummy, refreshing treats!

Another week has come and gone, and I’m just having so much fun 🙂 In a couple of weeks, Jerilee and I will go on our annual road trip, and I can already tell I’m going to have to watch how much I spend, specifically on the kids, specifically Bambina. I have a few things on my shopping list to look for that we need for her party, or little items that I really really want but don’t need, haha! Don’t worry, I go with a budget 😉 I’d go a bit crazy without one, I’m sure! I hope I can find her a perfect little outfit for her party. What do you guys think? Romper? Dress? Diaper and blanket? 😉 Its going to be a hoot no matter what!

We had options for today. We were thinking we should hit church, but after the kids worked so hard to stay quiet in a church yesterday, we worried it wouldn’t be quite as smooth today 😉 And BOY were we right! Our kids were in rough shape right from the get-go, so we knew it was the right choice.

We had a few plans floating around for today. Originally, we had thought of going to the lake for the first time today, just to go play on the playground and walk around the town. However, its supposed to be snowing/raining there all afternoon and super windy, so that got nixed. There was talk of running a few low key errands that the kids would enjoy, but the morning was just SUCH a gong show. Maybe after naps, everyone will be feeling better?? Our last ditch idea is to get outside and even just go for a walk, or pull out the bikes, or something like that. Its kind of windy and crappy but really, we should stop making excuses and just do something. Maybe it would smooth the day out a little. Maybe…

So rather than fulfilling any of those plans, we spent the morning playing, reading stories, online shopping (Gap and Old Navy! Check those sales out!) and sipping coffee. After a weird, broken night for myself, that was just what I needed. Nap time has come, finally, and I’m SO ready for a rest!

Sometimes, lazy Sunday is just the perfect thing! But wish us luck for the afternoon! We really should get out of here for a bit…

I’m not sure if its something people do, but we brought our little brood to a funeral today. I mentioned earlier this week that a dear friends brother had passed last weekend, and there was no question that I wanted to attend his funeral. It became clear to me very quickly that it was important that we all go together, whether it was conventional or not.

Through the week, I’ve hit Value Village a couple of times, trying to assemble things for the kids to wear. We regularly attend church, so the kids have some dress clothes, but I thought it would be good to get them a bit more dressed up than usual. Not imperative, but it just seemed like a good choice. I picked up the missing pieces literally YESTERDAY, and everything was washed and ready to go for this afternoon. Call me tacky if you must, but MAN those kids looked cute!! My attempts at pictures of them were kind of hilarious…

Photo bomb!!

Here’s a better one of Dekker, anyway. His posed pictures always look so tense 🙂 He looks so soft and sweet here.

Laela deemed that she and I were twins because we both had dresses. I’ll take it.

Ro cried and cried when we dressed him. The outfit he was amped about the day before no longer was acceptable. Until I told him he could ditch the tie. I don’t actually think the tie was what was upsetting him, but he seemed content to meet me halfway, and he looked fly anyway.

Solly was also kind of miffed about pictures. This was his scoffing face at Brady when he tried to make a joke to encourage Solly to smile.

Group pictures turned out like this. I’m not even kidding. This was the BEST one.

No denying they’re cute, though!! Lol!

So we took their fancy little selves and drove to the funeral this afternoon. Once we had parked, we had a good solid pep talk about how funerals were pretty serious, and pretty sad. We told them we knew they might not understand everything and maybe even be a bit bored, but that we would really like them to try to sit still and quiet, because again, lots of people were sad and remembering the person who died. They all grasped the concept and promised to try their best.

And guys, they actually did alright! The two older ones were a bit twitchy but overall sat quietly and patiently. The little boys were trickier, and took more work to keep reminding them to be quiet, but they actually did better than I anticipated. We didn’t have to remove one kid once!! It helps that we had people we know sitting in front of us and behind us! It was a beautiful service, filled with love and memories and hope. I was thrilled to see so many people from school and our local churches in attendance. I hope the family felt honoured and supported.

There was food after, but our kids had been so still and calm for so long, we knew it was time to let them loose again. And by “loose,” I mean into their car seats in the van, lol! I wanted to go hug the family, and Brady offered to just take the kids out to the van, but Ro mentioned he wanted to see them, too. And that was really the whole point – to bring our whole family in a show of support and love. So we walked our group through the crowd and found our friend. We had a quick hug and visit, but hauled out pretty quickly, as we were obviously not the only people there to speak to her.

I’m glad we went. I hope we didn’t disrupt too many people, but it felt very important to go.

Our evening plan consists of sweatpants and a lazy light supper of english muffins and veggies. Anyone else planning for the same kind of wind down? I hope so!

Brady has had this week off, which has been SUCH a treat! I am SO thankful his work has picked up and we’ve been able to catch up a bit from his “hiatus” from employment, buuuuut going to work is also good so one can afford their life. You get it. We shook off the initial fear factor of him having a week off and decided to embrace the opportunity to finally see each other again!

Except that we haven’t! We’ve been GOING every single day this week! Monday and Tuesday were full errand days, and I was gone one of those evenings. Wednesday I was away in the morning and Brady had to duck into work to help with a warranty repair in the afternoon. Thursday had me helping with preschool and Brady getting the winter tires off in the afternoon. Most moments that we anticipated to be “spare” moments got filled up. Its been good, though. VERY productive, and SO helpful to have Brady home! But I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say I wish we could’ve spent a bit more time actually together.

Today was our chance! This morning, he offered to take Dekker to school, and when he got back, we had coffee and turnovers for breakfast, together, in the living room, while the three kids played toys. It was cozy and relaxed and date-ish. It wasn’t without any work, because laundry was humming in the background, and we still had three kids to keep alive, but thats just life, and we love it.

During our coffee date, we realized something we had overlooked that we needed for the weekend, so I threw on some real pants and headed for the city. Just a quick trip in and out, but it was very successful! I’m glad I went, but once again, we were apart. Merp. Thankfully, I came home to my loving husband putting lunch together for us, and we snuggled upstairs, ate, and watched a show together. It was nice and quiet and normal. The kids all napped.

I picked Dekker up from school dressed in capri pants, which felt amaaazing! The fresh air is so welcomed and needed! I hope it sticks around, as promised!! Melt the snow, dry up the huge puddles, and bring on SUMMER!