Yesterdays post was about Wavy carving her pumpkin. Well today is about MY pumpkin!

PumpkinS*

I asked on Facebook the other day where I could still find pumpkins, and the win seemed to be Coop! Rowan needed one for school anyway, so when Brady hit Coop after work for one, I asked for a few for myself. He came home with three for me, and today I decided to cook them all and get them packaged for the freezer. Pumpkins take a good long time to cook, so it became an all-day project. It turned out to be an epic day of multitasking!

In this picture, you’ll see a handful of pumpkins – one carved, two still to carve, one cooked down and straining, one cooked and cooling, and one waiting to hit the oven! Plus lego. And a pair of slippers, lol! And some greek yogurt to parcel into starters for us to start making our own yogurt again. Its been a WHILE since we did that!!

A few hours later, ALL the pumpkin was processed!

And the yogurt was started! But at this point, that just looks like an instapot sitting on the counter for the next 24 hours, lol! I’ll show you that better later.

Anyway, when the day was done, I came out with nineteen bags of pumpkin.

Believe it or not, this will not last as long as I want it to. Ack! With the amount of baking I’ve started doing, I’m going to need a pumpkin dealer. Where do the ugly, unwanted pumpkins go??

I guess I’m going to start hitting PBR for those giant boxes of dying bananas! We’re going through those like wildfire as well, but the pumpkin is the heavy favorite 🎃

It was a very productive Saturday. And I imagine there is still more to do. Brady and I have committed to getting back into all of the training we still need to do, so hopefully we’ll do some of that today. And church tomorrow!! Its a nice weekend 💜 I’m very very grateful.

Wavy got to carve a pumpkin at school yesterday with her care buddy. Her buddy is pretty sweet and brought two pumpkins for her! They only had time to do one at school, but she insisted Wavy take the second one home so she could still carve it 💜

The one that came home carved is worth a share on here, for sure! A self portrait pumpkin, if you will.

Her name looks VERY much like a face to me, but I am absolutely loving it! 😍 She is a goof, and I’m SUCH a fan.

She is loving school, and she’s super jazzed for Halloween! Its going to be a very cute time!

Enjoy your Friday, everyone! 🎃

Laela has always been my little note fairy, leaving me cute little messages through the house. Sticky notes stuck to my headboard. Scraps of paper on the island. Artwork with words hidden in the picture. Everything laced with love and gentleness. I have LOVED her notes.

Yesterday evening, Rowan stayed up a bit later, and Brady was tasked with tucking him in while I went upstairs for a soak in the tub. Unbeknownst to me, there was some disappointment that I wasn’t there to give Rowan a hug goodnight. Thus was born my first thought out intentional note from Rowan!!

I found it this morning.

Hi Mom, I love
you so much,
I hope you
have had a
very good
sleep (tell the morsel) Heehee
Love Rowan 🤍

It warmed my heart that Rowan took time to write me a note. He is my child who asks me every single morning how I slept. He knows the morsel affects my sleep, and he really cares about it! Unfortunately, last night might have been one of our worst nights ever 😅 Right up there with the choppy nights at camp. I have not been this level of tired in quite some time, but tomorrow will be better already, I’m confident 💜 These well wishes always translate into Rowan’s nighttime prayers, as well, so I can carry my confidence in Christ that I will, as usual, have everything I need to make it through tomorrow!

Thank you, Ro, for your softness and your love 💜 I feel it, and I love you, too.

Welp.

It didn’t snow again. Buts its stinking cold. So it seems like things are going to stay this crispy kinda way whether I like it or not!

I drove to an appointment this morning and even in a covered parkade, it was clear it was wintery. And chilly. And breathy. And icky.

I shouldn’t complain. And I won’t. I accept the situation at hand. But man. Its just not my favorite seasons. And guys, if our house ever sells, we’re going to move IN WINTER!!!

😩

I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose. I live here on purpose.

I suppose today wasn’t actually the first snow, because, you know, January… But you get it.

Its fall! The cold season is upon us. And today marked the first snowfall of the season! What promised to be a beastly winter storm left merely a skiff of snow on the ground this morning. That being said, the kids had mixed feelings about the snow upon waking up, but WOW were they all jazzed to get out in it!!! 😍

GOOD THING Brady and I sorted winter gear yesterday because today was definitely the day we needed it! I’m not sure how we would’ve managed without it!

It was a VERY cute, colourful morning 💜 And I was proud of their positive attitudes, especially of those who rallied and accepted the day for what it was.

The day was peaceful. Iced capps and crafternoon with Cher 💜 Thank you Lord for keeping the sun out, making the day feel pretty.

Since Brady worked on Saturday, he had today off. We aimed for rest and relaxation, but as usual, it didn’t take. It rarely does 😅 Over coffee this morning, we decided there were three things to accomplish. Only three!!

We needed to get the winter tires out of the shed.

I needed to make muffins.

And we needed to dig out outerwear for everyone.

So while the morsel slept, I defrosted pumpkin and crocheted a bit. Brady and Wavy went outside and got the tires loaded into the van to bring in for a balance. Do you guys all balance your tires before changing them over? I thought we put them on rims so we could avoid hitting up a tire shop altogether, but it seems I’m mistaken!

I got the pumpkin defrosted and put together a big batch of muffins. After I put the first load into the oven, I decided I had the time and pumpkin to make another batch, so I went for it. And 149 muffins later, we were done.

Whew! Behold! Breakfasts for two weeks!!

Then, in the last hour or so before kids came home from school, we tackled outerwear. Have you heard there is a winter storm brewing? Well. I have. And I’m not stoked. The naive side of me wanted to avoid digging out all the winter stuff until we moved, but if we even get to move, it’s still a ways off. Of course we need it sooner than later. So we dug through all of the storage in the furnace room, as well as the garage, and made some final cuts on what to keep and what not to.

‘Twas an exhausting job, but goodness we are getting rid of SO much. Things we used to love and don’t anymore, or that we’ve simply worn out. We chucked some, and have lots to donate. Thankfully, we found LOTS that is relevant to the season and also fits!! The only holes left to fill are boots for Laela and Rowan, and toques for Rowan and Solly. And maybe neckwarmers. I should do those, too. But, we’re on our way. No one is lacking anything to get the season started.

It has been a HUGELY productive day, and tomorrow will be very relaxing and fun! You’ll hear about that then, though.

Rest well tonight, friends 💜 Dream warm dreams.

We finally found ourselves back at church today! Its been months, and it was just SO nice to be back 💜 We were received so warmly, and our morsel was welcomed as one of our own. It felt so nice and homey.

A few things I can show you from before we got to church, however –

The morsel clocked Dekker in the teeth with a fidget spinner, which made him laugh hysterically and cry just a little 😆😬😩 Don’t worry, he wasn’t wounded too deeply, and rallied pretty easily.

Laela asked to have her hair curled this morning. While I am by far an expert at hair, she accepted my haphazard methods, and let me do my thing. Lucky for her, she is terribly beautiful no matter what her hair is doing. But it wasn’t a total flop.

And then there’s Rowan! He recently discovered our nativity lego, and has been building it the last couple of days. He and Laela use the characters and act out the scene over and over, with their own special tweaks 😆

It was a cute morning, and we are now home and settled and ready to kick our feet up for a bit. I have crocheting to do, and hopefully some staring and chatting and resting.

Happy Sunday, friends! Enjoy the last hours of the weekend! 💜

The work day begins!!!! 💪

For some of us, anyway. Laela got to head out on her birthday date with grandma, so she’s partying while the rest of us are working, hahaha!

A fun new development is Rowan’s love for vacuuming! He happily vacuumed all the carpets in the house for me, which was AWESOME, not only because my floors are now clean, but I had only asked him to do the living room. He did the entire job perfectly happily!

Dekker was on dishes this morning, and I even weaselled him into making me some coffee. He’s a really good sport, and happily did it for me. He was motivated to get through his dishes this morning. We’ll talk about that in a second.

Solly and Wavy got tasked with sorting the laundry out. Neither of them know how to actually run loads through, but right now, thats an easier part for me. The length of time it takes to sort it all out is a fun challenge with a somewhat needy morsel, so the sorting being done makes the rest of the job way easier for me! It took them forever to sort it all, not because it was tons, but because they’re little and doddly, but they did it happily. TOGETHER!

Rowan finished vacuuming and hopped in the tub. Dekker finished dishes and immediately procured my iPad to work on his latest project.

My kids rarely have screen time. Its not a big statement I’m trying to make, it kind of just happened naturally, and now I really like how much of a treat it is when they do get some device usage!

Dekker and I went for a walk last night with the morsel, and we talked about something he’s going to build me for my crochet ventures. I will absolutely tell you about it when and if it comes to fruition! But he got really excited about it yesterday, and it was his priority one upon waking up this morning. So here he sits, coding and planning, and humming to the music we have going. It is SO fun.

Other kids still need to be clean. So do I. People also need to eat. And I have some crochet commitments that I’m working towards completing. Meanwhile, Brady’s all worky as well. Except he gets paid, so its different.

We are productive all around!! I hope the same for you! Unless, of course, you’re going for rest. In which case, I hope you find that rest 💜

Happurday, guys!

Today is one of the Fridays where all five kids are at school! These days can go a couple of different ways, because on one hand, I have a morsel that naps, and I can do productive things. Or I can do restful things! But when Wavy is home, she also is helpful with the morsel so I can still accomplish things. But when Wavy is home, I answer questions aaaaall day. The morsel asks far less questions 😆 We just chat casually.

As the kids just peeled out for the day, I am looking at my list. And its really the best kind of list.

I need to make granola bars.
But, if I run out, I have backups in the pantry.
Low pressure.

I need to do laundry.
But, if I don’t get to it today, there is always tomorrow, and I’d have kids to help out.
Low pressure.

I need to book some appointments.
I’m not on a time crunch, so I don’t have to stress about fitting in a time slot that really sucks.
Low pressure.

Furthermore, the list holds things that do need to get done today.

Foster expenses. I am SO behind, so they feel pretty daunting. But thats a job I know I could sit down to start, and it would just flow. So I know that one will be ok.

Camp stuff. I still have some tubs and boxes laying around of stuff from camp that needs to be integrated into our home stuff. It stares at me, and I know I need to deal with it. Soon.

I have a blog I really want to write, and I know its going to take some time. If I even just jot some of it down, I’ll probably feel that much more organized.

Oh and I want to finish crocheting the toque I’m working on. Because I have some crochet goals and I’m a tad behind.

Aaaaall of this, and I have a morsel rolling around nearby. So. We’ll see how much I get to, and how much wait for when there are more hands in the house. Sometimes that makes it easier, sometimes it makes it harder. I know there are things to do, but there is wiggle room absolutely all over the map, which helps.

At least I’m home today 💜 Thank you Lord for what feels like a more restful day!

I’m a BIG fan of this kid recently. Dekker is really coming into his own in high school. Here, he can be seen eating leftover baked oatmeal from Home Ec, in which class he is the kitchen manager of his group, and next, he modelled a headband I made. Like a doofus.

He is just SO funny, and can take a good joke nowadays. He has always been a decently serious guy, and its really nice to see him laugh at himself more these days.

Today, the younger kids had a family reading lunch, and Dekker came and joined the party! Because, once again, he is awesome. I am SO proud of my biggest big kid 💜 And the biggest little kid. And the middlest kid. And that next one. And the littlest school kid. And the morsel. But, for the sake of this blog, I’m REALLY proud of my Dekker Thomas.