I’d love to be someone who was DONE Christmas shopping nicely in advance, and I’m just not sure thats in the cards for me 😅 Maybe someday, but today is not that day.
That being said, I have a few things on hand already from a month or two ago, and yesterday, I received a few other things in the mail. Thank you, Amazon, for having some great gift options for my kids!!
That being said, I have something I really need to order from Old Navy. And also Walmart. And also Superstore. But none of them meet the minimum required amount for free shipping. And the cheapo in me cannot justify for paying for shipping without very specific circumstances. So I’m waiting on those things for now. I might buckle for the Old Navy item, because I kind of can’t let it pass us by. We’ll have to see.
I’m just feeling like we have SO much in limbo right now, and if I drag my feet even a little, we could suddenly be in the midst of packing and moving and unpacking and all that craziness really close to Christmas! Ack! So I HAVE to get things organized, like, now.
Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. For six kids. Even doing modest, intentional gifts still means at least TWENTY FOUR GIFTS! Hahahahaha! Plus other things for other people we love 💜
Oh and I need Canadian Tire! But I’ll get there in person someday soon. Crisis averted.
It has been a LONG time since I had my hair coloured within the same color family twice in a row!! But I loved the pink so much last time that I decided to go for it again today. Pink. Again.
Well. First that super attractive bleached out look…
I know. I look great.
And then we added the pink. My only request was “Pink. Bright. I don’t even care what shade. Just, pink.” And my hair girl ran with it.
And she ran in the right direction!
I am officially neoned the heck up for the fall season! I am almost always blue for the colder months. Maybe purple. Never pink. So this is super fun for me 🙂 I’m stoked. I feel lighter, somehow. I know the color of my hair shouldn’t dictate how I feel about myself, but its fun to feel fresh.
I came home to a happy family who complimented my refreshed look lovingly. It was a very warm reception 💜 My beautiful people, wanting me to feel like a rockstar. Thanks, guys.
Tomorrow is a *gasp* HOME day! Coffee with Cher in the morning, and likely some crocheting and restful time in the afternoon with Wavy. Thursday is busy again, so I’ll make sure to soak up some chill time tomorrow 🙂
As if I wasn’t resting at the salon all afternoon 😅 Thank you, Carlinna 💜 I can always count on you!
I’m trying SO HARD to keep the house in order now that its listed on MLS. I want to be ready for a showing at the drop of a hat. Or, if there is suddenly to be a last minute showing and I can’t prep it first, I want it to be not too disastrous. You get it. In general, our house isn’t too big of a mess, but there are areas that get SO bad SO fast. And my island is the worst for it. It always has been. The beautiful large clear island is a total dumping ground, and its the first thing you see when you come into the home. It has to stay tidier than this.
Real talk – this isn’t even bad. At least its not a million things. But its enough things, and its taking over half the island. So its time to clean it up!
Currently it holds:
my calendar that I took off the wall for the sake of repainting, and I won’t be putting it back up, because either a nail hole or adhesive. So it kind of lives on the island now :/ Any ideas?
some bath and body soaps I was given! Ack! I haven’t had these soaks in FOREVER! I need to go put them upstairs.
my tool kit. Just needs putting in the junk drawer.
the med bottle will have its last dose taken from it today and then its getting pitched! Whew!
That box in the back is medical supplies that need to go into a closet. Trying not to have clutter out, I need to find space in a closet for it.
Kids photo proofs are on top of that box. I want to file those away but I know some kids want to cut out and keep one or two of their own photos. So we’re waiting on those decisions to be made.
Pumpkins!!! They need cooking!
The basins came to our house when my mom brought us a meal on the weekend. I need to return her pots to her, as well as her basis, and some of the towels used to keep in the heat got messy, so I need to wash those up.
That pink box is a new parcel that came this weekend – I’ll tell you more about that shortly.
And the laptop came down with me this morning because I use it periodically all day. Like right now. As I blog.
Today’s day isn’t too chaotic. Most of our commitments are after school. So this morning, I will tidy this all up, wash the towels, and hopefully cook up some of the pumpkins! Tomorrow I will barely be home at all, so I need to get things organized today if possible 🙂
We realized yesterday evening that we were just about out of diapers. As we’ve been having house showings, I’ve been hiding absolutely everything in our house. That being said, we may very well have more diapers 🤷🏼♀️ Somewhere. But I’m not sure. So we figured we’d go in this morning for diapers, and a few other things. Not a big shop at all.
Which was convenient, because Costco was HOPPIN’! Man! It was crazy in there! And our crew just added to it, hahaha! But it was a VERY cute train, if I do say so myself 😍
Two carts because one needed to hold a box of diapers, and one needed to hold a car seat. Basically, one was a stroller 😆 It worked.
We got our diapers, and the few other things we needed. Potatoes. Chicken stock. Parmesan cheese. Nothing crazy.
Once we got back to the van, we started into the city for a quick Walmart shop as well. Two of the kids needed jeans, and Brady needed shoes for work.
Goals achieved 🏆
And the last hit was Michaels, because yarn was “buy two get one free!” And maybe you know, maybe you don’t, but I committed to a marketplace at the end of the November, and now that I know the direction I’m moving in for it, I need to get my colors in hand!! Its going to be a very pretty season!
We made it home for a late lunch. Now, kids are mostly bathed, laundry is running, the dishwasher is running, and Brady is out in the garage working on the power steering in the minivan.
While this is not our preferred way to spend Sundays, its been a really nice day 💜 I really love my family, and its a true joy to be out and about all together. Thank you, Lord.
Today we celebrated my dearest Brady being granted yet another year under the sun 💜 He made an observation that he’s halfway to seventy, but I don’t even know what he’s talking about, because I am just now in my mid-thirties. IT’S DIFFERENT!!! It has to be!!! 😅
If I wasn’t already just SO proud of Brady and all that he has overcome since I’ve known him, I am only more so that way today. Brady gets better and better 💜
Of course he isn’t feeling better 😬 When I was gone for the week, I picked up a pretty ugly cold, and unfortunately, Brady caught it from me. And goodness. His sickness is just so different since he became paralyzed. He’s suffered for days, and today was one of those days, for sure. He spent his birthday at home, being cozy, resting up, and only accomplishing half the jobs he had originally planned to get done today, lol! Thank you, mom, for taking a handful of the kids for the afternoon and evening!! That was SUCH a gift to us!! It was lovely to relax and find rest. However, in true Brady fashion, he still worked hard.
Speaking of fashion…
Thank you, Cher, for the hat, and the photo opp that came with it 😂🎂
I am so grateful for you, Brady 💜 Keep doing what you’re doing. You are so dearly loved by me, and our children, and our people. It was a lovely day spent with you. I love you, sweet man.
Today was our cutoff to sell our house 😳 Or to at least have an offer. And guess what. We don’t. There is some talk, and some interest, but nothing in writing. Nothing official.
Shut up I’m not panicking, YOU’RE panicking!!!
😩
A handful of people have been asking for more information, so I’ll explain our situation a little bit.
We have an offer on a house that is contingent on the sale of our house. This house never hit the market, which is why people don’t know which house it is. Its not some big secret, but we didn’t know when/if the owners of the house have talked to all of their people. Out of respect for them, we didn’t want to out their news if they hadn’t shared yet. We don’t know them personally. So we’re just trying to be classy. We figured, once things were officially official, as in our house had also sold and the move was locked down, we would share. So, it’ll happen. We just need to sell our house!
The stressful thing is that, for someone to buy our house, they also have to sell theirs. I haaaaate that aspect of this whole thing. I’ve said it all along. Timelines!! ACK!
Conveniently, the owners of the house we are hoping to buy are very gracious and are giving us more time. But that freedom won’t last forever. Please send this link out and on to anyone you think might want to see it. We are eager and motivated, and our house is positively beautiful.
Our kids were gifted some fun stuff the other day, thanks to a loving friend who had them in mind! Wavy got her gift yesterdays, and I don’t have pictures to prove it. I’m sorry, but I’m sure you can all forgive me. She got a cute little barbie that she was super excited about! Her first response was to squeal “She has SHOES!!” The dolls name has now been changed to Mr. Pinklin. Don’t ask. I don’t know. But she is VERY happy!
Today, the other kids got their gifts, and while I know I don’t have photos of wavy and her toy, I have no regrets about photographing the other kids getting theirs!
The middle boys each got a finger skateboard with shoes on it! They’re way easier to manage for the little guys because they stay attached to their fingers! The boys ripped them around the house like crazy! They had a total blast!
Then the big kids 😆 They got beards!
Now. I know Laela is a girl. But she was SO STOKED to have a beard! She HOWLED with laughter! Absolutely loved it! Both she and Dekker are determined to work their beards into their Halloween costumes!
If you need any more convincing that Laela thought it was awesome, this is a snap from after school 😆 where she was setting up to crochet. 🤣
Anyway. I giggled. What FUN they all had!! 🥰 thank you for doting on our children, and letting them know that people think of them and love them outside of these walls 💜 That is so precious to me 🥰
I suppose this is a bit of a more personal story, but I really want to save it, so on the blog it goes!
I got home last week on Friday around suppertime, and the very next morning, we had to get everyone up and out the door to the lake! We needed to be fully prepared to get the place packed up for winter, decorated for a Christmas event, all the while leaving the house perfect for a showing that was taking place that same day. It was a LOT, and I was literally running from place to place, trying to get things in order as seamlessly as possible.
Coming out of the garage, I closed the door behind me, and somehow managed to whack my elbow on the door. It wasn’t a funny bone situation, but it was a boney bone thing, and it zinged in such a way, I cannot put into words how much it hurt. I gasped and crouched, and just started saying “Its ok its ok its ok” in an effort to stop everyone from running in my direction. You know when everything hurts and then people touch you? Yup. It sometimes just makes it SO much worse. Brady was at the top of the stairs, and he got my drift. He gave me a minute and asked gently what had happened. I could hardly answer him, and in that stupid moment, I realized what was fully happening.
I grunted my words out, and told him I was trying to stop a panic attack. The shock of the pain had sent my body into a tailspin and I could feel a panic attack ramping up. If you’ve known me long enough, I had never had a panic or anxiety attack until Brady went to the hospital. They were common and rampant at that point in my life. I rarely have them anymore, but they do show up from time to time, and Saturday was one of those times. I sat on the floor of the entrance and tried to manage the attack but it was ramping.
And then one kid got past Brady and came down the stairs.
My Rowan.
With his Rowan heart.
The kid who can’t bear to watch someone be in pain.
The kid who probably understands panic attacks better than anyone else in our family.
He got down beside me, put his arm over me, and started whispering:
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And he did this a handful of times until my breathing slowed down and my body had calmed relaxed.
He walked me through my panic attack. Which was WILD, because he’s a child, but man. Rowan has something SO special and SO different than anyone else in our family! Don’t get me wrong, they are all incredibly precious children! But this kid is his own breed, and I do mean that in a VERY good way 💜
I am SO excited to see who Rowan becomes as he grows up. I think I’ve said it many many times, but he will either be some kind of travelling adventurer, or in some kind of caregiving career. Perhaps both. Missionary work, even. Go do medical care across the world, Ro. You could do it!!
Anyway. I sure love this boy. And I feel very loved by him.
Remember a couple of weeks ago, I baked up a whole bunch of muffins and a few other things? I was so excited to use my pumpkin, hahaha! Well, that stack of baking ended up making a lot of things easier this last week while I was away. So I decided to spend today baking! At least a bit of the day. I didn’t do anything else that I should’ve done, haha! No laundry. No unpacking of the random camp stuff that came home and needs to somehow reintegrate into our home. I didn’t wash my hair. I just baked.
And guys. I actually really enjoyed myself!
I started with muffins. Pumpkin muffins. I used up the end of my pumpkin with the initial big batch, but rather than losing time to cooking up my pumpkin today, I used some canned pumpkin to make a SECOND batch! Now, a second batch it no big deal, but its already a doubled recipe. So, a couple of hours later, I had 12 dozen muffins! Plus two, lol! ✌️
While I waited for the muffins to bake up in their batches, I assembled and refrigerated two pans of granola bars. These are still not completed because they have to set for longer than I’d like. Merp.
What else did I have on hand? Frozen bananas. TONS of frozen bananas. So I broke up a bunch of banana hunks and made a couple of loaves of banana bread! I love the idea of wrapping big thick slices for individual servings. The kids took the last ones for lunches and they were met with rave reviews.
At this point, I figured I could be done. But there was one random recipe I came across when I was away last week that I wanted to try. So I made just a single batch of these oatmeal-to-go things. If they go over well enough, they would keep everyone full longer than the other options. But the other options have all the good poop stuff in them, so, trade off, hahaha! Made just shy of three dozen.
When everything was cooled, I got to wrapping. I know this isn’t everyone’s preference but don’t come for me. It saves my butt. This time around, I wrapped the muffins in twos, because every single kid always eats two in one sitting. So. Two packs.
Oh and I ordered some smaller ziploc rectangle containers because I don’t have enough to prep lunch veggies for the week, and I want to.
*sigh*
I’m set now. Potentially, I might be set for breakfasts for up to two weeks, and some lunch stuff to boot! Productivity feels SO good.
