Brady and I were asked to play guitar and sing for a cafe night in town last night, and it was a very real success! Not our music, even, but the whole event!! I have high hopes that the project will move forward and that our small town will soon have a new establishment coming up!

We played for a solid hour before the presentation while everyone drank specialty coffee and ate fancy desserts and visited. I LOVED the din that swallowed our music up. We were a little bit nervous going into the event, as we weren’t able to polish up our voices and songs as well as we would have liked, and we didn’t want to make tons of big mistakes. The sounds of visiting and bustling and eating and laughing was PERFECT, because not only did it sound exactly as a coffee shop should sound, but it let us be exactly what we had hoped for – some solid background music. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

We were among some of the last to leave, as we got our visiting in after we were done playing. Meanwhile, the hired barista was packing up his station. He came over to us with a 4L jug of whole milk in his hand and said “A tip for the musicians with a bunch of kids!” Everyone still in the room burst out laughing, myself included, but I was also thrilled, haha! Being that we go through an outrageous amount of milk, that was actually a hilarious and incredibly appreciated tip!

We took our guitar and milk home to our quiet house. Hailey had gotten our kids off to bed, and had done all of our dishes! We sat and visited into the wee hours of the morning before she headed on her way and we hit the sack. It all rounded out to be a super nice day. We thoroughly enjoyed playing music together for a crowd again. Its been SO long. I hope, if this cafe comes to life, we’re asked again. 🙂

All families of the elementary school aged kids were invited to a breakfast at the school this morning. We told the kids all about it yesterday, and Brady opted to stay for it and go to work a bit later into the morning. While the breakfast was at school, regular classes still needed to commence at the regular time, so breakfast began at 7:45am.

Brady woke up feeling chipper and refreshed from sleeping in, while I dragged my zombie self up out of bed and moved very slowly getting dressed and ready. But I soon forced myself to snap out of it, and gathered up Dekker’s lunch and books, and started getting the kids up and picking their clothes. We left our house at 7:40.

With the road construction around the school, everyone has to park pretty far away now, and it was cold and raining this morning. But we made it anyway. Something as basic as rain wouldn’t stop that. We dropped off Dekker’s backpack and all kicked off our shoes, and headed to the gym. We got everyone seated, and then Dekker came to help get the food for the group. We went to the serving station run by his teacher, his french teacher, and the one teacher still working there who taught me. We chatted a bit as they heaped up a few big plates for us, and then we took them back and dispersed them between the 5 of us who were eating. Only three trips back officially fed everyone!

We hauled out when it was coming time to clean up, and moved Dekker’s shoes to the right boot room, hung up his jacket and backpack, etc. Our whole group was in his kindergarten classroom while he was getting settled, and Brady commented on how he wanted to just give Dekker a hug before we left. In my head, I was nervous, because the last time I actually gave him a hug and said goodbye, he cried when I left. But Brady never gets a chance to drop him off, so I definitely understand. Before we really had a chance, Dekker said he was going to go read, and started to walk away. I called him back, and he hugged Brady, and Rowan, and me. He walked up to Laela and asked “Laela, would you hug me?” She gave him a big hug, and they lingered a little. It was pretty cute. And then he said “I’m going to the quiet room to look at books” and he was off! No looking back, no tears, etc. I was SO happy!

Until we left the classroom and Laela burst out crying. “I want to read in the quiet rooooom!” I should have known she’d be sad. When Dekker was putting on his indoor shoes, she was asking which ones she would wear. She wanted to stay, and was VERY sad to leave. “Not WANT that!” she cried. I told here that in two years, she would get to stay, and that it would feel soon. She accepted it, which I was thankful for, and we headed back to the van.

Everyone is now soaked, and at home. Well, Deks is at school, and Brady is at work, but the four of us are here, drying off and playing toys. I am SO tired, for some reason. Fleece leggings are on, and coffee is brewed. Screw a latte. I made a pot.

But seriously, it was a great morning! I saw Dekker interact with some friends without any prompting from me. I met a few parents that I didn’t know before. I got to have breakfast with my husband during the week. I felt the rain for the first time in a long time. And now, I can be comfy and sip my coffee. Can’t complain!

Dekker has been doing well with school. His first day was a hard sell, and for some reason, he cried when I dropped him off on Tuesday. But he is always chomping at the bit to get there! He really likes school! He’s slowly telling us more about what he does in the day, and he even told me the name of someone this morning, which is HUGE! It may sound small, but there is progress, for sure.

In fact, I think the biggest adjustment has been pick ups and drop offs. I’ve always been lucky enough to have someone drop by my house and sit with my kids while I take Dekker to or from school. This morning was my first time bringing them all along. While it went smoothly and everyone was just fine, its showing up now. Rowan is DONE. Bawled his way through an early lunch as is down for his nap over an hour early. But that is actually going to be well timed, considering his nap will also be cut short, since I’ll have to load everyone up to pick Dekker up from school. I genuinely think this is going to be the hardest part about adjusting to school.

That all being said, today is picture day!

Since I have no idea if Dekker will actually smile for the photographer, here is what he looks like today! Wearing his favorite colors, rocking a new haircut, smiling sweetly. Here’s hoping it all went smoothly this morning!

I have to post on here about what just happened to me. I know people often have bad luck with Kijiji, whether it be crappy items, no shows, or whatever else. I’ve always had pretty decent luck with all of that. The few mishaps have been small and fixable. But not today. I’m far too annoyed over this, so I’m going to write it out here, and then keep moving.

Yesterday, I spoke for a pair of boots on a Facebook buy and sell page. Someone had already spoken for them, but I put my name in for seconds, and the first girl backed out. The seller said publicly that they were mine, and to message her for pick up. So I did. She wasn’t very quick to respond, but sometime in the middle of the night, she wrote me back and said she’d be around in the day. So I wrote her early this morning and told her to just name the time and my husband would jog over, since he was working in a nearby neighbourhood. She read my message and didn’t respond for a few hours. When she did respond, she said she had a friend over, and they wanted the boots, so “thanks for your interest.” Bah!!! Can they DO that?! Apparently making a deal and keeping your word isn’t worth too much. :/ So I’m feeling pretty merpy about that.

In other news, the framing has begun on the lot next to ours! Not only am I happy about this because I want neighbours, but because that man is providing hours of entertainment for my kids, haha! Thank you, Erictheframer.

At this point of the day, two are napping and two are quiet and playing lego. Time for me to buckle down and save some more posts. Seeing the progress is super motivating!!! Just wait until you guys see them!!!

While it doesn’t specifically feel like yesterday zoomed by, I feel like this week is WAY fuller than I thought it was!

I took Dekker to school today. They’re messing with the roads around the school, so the streets are all blocked off. So I found a different way to take him in this morning. It was brusque outside! Brrr! When I dropped him off in his classroom, he had a little cry at his table, which surprised me! He hasn’t had a hard time with drop off since his first day, so that was a little bit sad, but I brought him a kleenex and he put on a brave face, and I left.

Kim and I had coffee together this morning, while our oldest were in school and her middle son was at preschool. She was down to one kid! I still have three, haha, but it still felt quieter and more relaxed and low maintenance. I opened my Ipsy bag for the month and it might be one of the best I’ve ever had! I even got a dry conditioner. If you know me well, you know I almost never wash my hair, haha! Like its embarrassing how rarely. I love me some dry shampoo, but I had NO IDEA that dry conditioner was a thing! I may never wet my hair again! 😉 I tease. Sort of. Beyond that, I got a lipstick, a fuchsia nail polish, a mineral blush, and a mascara. All pretty great sizes, and pretty much all things that I’ll use! Maybe not the lipstick? I have others like it. But seriously, it was a great bag!

Now, I’m home with the three kids, two of which are sleeping. I’m working on blog saving but I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock for the moment. So I’m doing this and going over my week.

Tomorrow, Dekker has a haircut, and then Jerilee is over for the evening for Bachelor in Paradise. I know, we’re behind! No spoilers! (I already know them all anyway. Merp.) Then Thursday is PICTURE DAY! I’m so excited for it, honestly. I’m curious what Dekker will give the photographer to work with, hahaha! It’ll be interesting. And then Friday is a big day! Breakfast is being served at his school for all of the students families, and then there is a Terry Fox walk around town in the afternoon. And then in the evening, Brady and I are attending and playing some background music for a local cafe night! (If you’re interested in tickets, get in touch with me! I have connections!) With that event coming up, Brady and I spending time every day playing guitar and singing together, trying to get practiced up! Its actually a lot of fun. I miss singing with him! Most of our spare moments have been filled with that. But with our week being quite so full, unfortunately Brady is working on Saturday. It was a good decision, I know this, because he managed to piece a few days together and get a whole additional house worth of work, but I always miss him extra when he works Saturdays. I think my mom and I will date, though. I’ll be plenty occupied. 🙂

This may not seem busy to you but its just busy enough for us. We don’t prefer “busy” very much, so this will work just fine. I hope you all have reasonable levels of busyness this week. 😉

I know. Cough candies need to be used in moderation. I know. I know they’re not that good for you. If you feel strongly about this, you may cringe a little bit during this post.

While our colds are lifting around here, I spent a good chunk of yesterday evening coughing. Cough isn’t a big deal until you’re trying to sleep. And forget me! When my baby boy isn’t feeling well, and is sleeping lightly, my coughing became a much bigger problem. Its at that annoying point where I just have a constant tickle in my throat. Constant. We’ve been sick SO much this year, and I’ve been prescribed codeine a small handful of times, one time specifically because I was coughing constantly on absolutely nothing, and the only thing that would bring healing would be to stop coughing. Therefore, the medication helped me sleep through the night and give my throat a chance to heal.

I will admit that it crossed my mind last night. I debated taking one, to guarantee a better sleep for myself, as well as my husband and baby boy, yet it seems pretty extreme to take codeine for a common cold. So instead, I just popped a cough candy. I fell asleep partway through it, which was fine. It happens.

We woke up with Solly after a while, and I still had a piece of the cough candy tucked into my cheek. However, being awake, I sucked on it some more, and finished it off. The second it was gone, I was hacking away again. I couldn’t stop it. So I went against what I’ve been told, and popped another one.

And THAT is how I got through my night. I would wake up with a tiny little shred of candy left in my mouth, it would dissolve, and I would start coughing and coughing.

BUT! It worked. Hopefully just for one night, maybe two if necessary. I don’t care for this method, really. My mouth tastes vile in the morning, my tummy hurts, and I have little burn spots inside my mouth. But we slept a bit better than we would have!

So I salute you, Strepsils. I couldn’t be sleeping if not for you!

The fam was improving a bit yesterday, so we figured we’d attempt to run a few necessary errands together as a family today. Nothing crazy at all. Costco and Walmart, to be exact. Both stops were successful, and I was very happy to see that the three big kids are officially on the mend. So they were happy for the change of scenery, for the most part, and attitudes seemed good.

Only a few minutes from home, I completely deflated. I don’t know what came over me, but I overheated and felt nauseous and dizzy. I turned the cool air on in the van, but that angered my throat, so now I’m a coughing monster. Its great, really. My body is telling me I overdid it today, but I barely did anything! I feel like this has just been my story this year, which is terribly annoying. I feel like I need to seriously boost my immune system and get my body in gear, because it seems to be failing me over and over again.

All of this being said, I’m very thankful that today is still Sunday, and that Brady has been home for it, because tomorrow, its four to one again, and I need to be stronger for that! Wish me luck!

Yet again, our plans for the day changed thanks to being sick. Kims middle son’s birthday party was today, and we had to back out. While I’m hesitantly optimistic that an upswing is on its way sooner than later, Solly and I are still down and out. Solly isn’t eating very well, and therefore isn’t sleeping well. Not being able to breathe and drink makes is hard, and then when he does finally drink a bigger feeding, it seems to give him some pretty serious tummy pain. The screaming is tough on his throat. And on everyone. We’re all just sick of being sick.

The big kids seem to be on their way to mending, so thats good. I am doing everything I can to make it through the day medicine-free, in an effort to let my sickness run its course, instead of suppressing it. That being said, I just got out of the tub and am enjoying my few moments of breathing through my nose. Bliss.

One thing I accomplished today is Christmas present planning! If you don’t remember from last year, we like to base our gifts off of a list I heard about a few years back. Four gifts each – something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. Beyond that, we get a gift for the kids to share, and then each kid gets a couple new pairs of jammies. So today, I listed out their names, and then the names of everyone else we’ll likely buy for this Christmas, and I brainstormed. And I came up with just about everything!! I’m SO excited to already have those decisions made. I hope Brady and I can somehow find a way to get a full day kid-free, and to just go and blitz the shop! We have time, but somehow I’m already super duper organized, so once it starts, it’ll likely get finished pretty quickly! Eek!

I feel like, from my current spot, all tucked into bed, I should be saving blog posts and continuing that project, but I think I deserve a day off from that. I am proud to have completely saved a FULL YEAR of posts!!! It will be printed off into two books, and I will have them forever, regardless of what happens to this blog. Instead of saving posts, I’m going to watch YouTube and rest my eyes a little bit before rejoining the fam jam.

I hope you’re all feeling good this Saturday!

This cold came on quickly and aggressively, WOW! Dekker, Laela, and Rowan are all snotty, Solly is fevered pretty decently, and I’m at that fun point in my cold where you can hear in my nose when I swallow. Or when I TRY to swallow. Brady is still healthy somehow, so pleeeaaase pray that he stays that way!

I feel like we’ve been far too sick far too often this year, and I’m (ready?) sick of it. I know, I know, you don’t even have to tell me. “Dekker is going to bring EVERYTHING home from school!” I already know. We’ll build up immunities at some point, or thats what I keep telling myself, anyway. We can’t just keep doing this over and over.

On a completely unrelated note, thank you all for your feedback about proofing my posts before printing. I feel completely encouraged, and supported, and my decision is made. I’m not going to worry about it. I plan to look back on it fondly, and hopefully see how far my writing has come. Right?? Haha! Or if nothing else, not proofing it will save me a butt load of time, which is also a pretty significant pro. Saving them all has been SO interesting to me, though! I didn’t remember that the whole flooding disaster took place just a few weeks before Dekker’s eyes crossed! That was such a crazy time! Glad to see it go, and MUCH happier where we are now!

I’ve said a number of times how happy I am that the house next to us is being built 🙂 The sooner the better! I’m ok with the earlier starts, even, because we’re getting into the swing of early mornings around here with Dekker starting school. Plus, the loudest part will be the exterior. Once its framed and sided, the inside stuff won’t be as big of a deal. Still noisy, but muffled. We can do muffled. No big deal.

But. We’re all sick. Today, I’ve joined the party. I felt completely fine yesterday evening, but then sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 last night, it hit me, and I am officially down and out. Trying to keep my spirits up, but feeling pretty icky. VERY congested in my head :/ Rowan is still sleeping, Solly is napping, and Laela just got up. She’s in good spirits, for the most part, but is very snotty, and she is not the most cooperative she’s ever been, to put it politely. Basically, we’re all feeling it. Except Brady, thank goodness! He somehow bypassed our last batch of colds, so it would be a welcomed miracle if this one skipped over him too!

In other news, I need some feedback! I’m going through the process of saving my posts, and I’m starting to question whether or not its worth the massive proofread ahead. On one hand, I think it would bug me years down the road if I read through it all again and it was just a huge mess. I don’t expect to catch EVERY mistake, but if it really messed up, I’ll likely be pretty annoyed that I didn’t try. Yet, judging by how the saving has gone so far, and averaging it out, if I save everything from my starting point up to the end of this year, that will be a few THOUSAND pages. 8×10 pages, single spaced. That is ENORMOUS. So the question is, is it worth it to proofread? Should I just leave it and laugh about it later? Remember how lazy I was to NOT proofread as I posted each day? Or do I proofread so I’ll be happier with the finished product, but run the risk of getting bored and losing momentum? Will it really matter if I made some punctuation or spelling errors? HELP!!