The name of todays blog has been coined by Cher, and its a meal we’ve been having recently! Supper Roulette is a meal made up of whatever weird things need eating, regardless of how well they go together or how much of each we have.

For example. The other day, we made noodles, fried up some burgers that tasted like nothing out of the freezer, and boiled up some frozen broccoli with cheese leftover from a salad meal. Burger patties were the weird addition here, but they went over well and now, they don’t live in my freezer! Win!

Todays supper was not especially (or at all) nutritious, so don’t come for me. But it was made up of the bottom of many bags, and now, those bags are GONE! I’m a happy lady!

We have some cottage cheese perogies, taquitos, hashbrown patties, pizza bites, and KD. As I said. No nutrition here. I know. Its ok. They are SO fine, I promise you. And they’re happy, because they really enjoyed supper! As did Brady and I!

We cracked out some of the Christmas cookies I’ve made and frozen over the past month or so, and everyone is nicely full.

I actually super enjoy supper roulette and how strange it is. And its a huge help that the kids are good sports with it. You never know whats coming, but everyone likes something, and there is no fight.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve to all of you 💜

Well! Today is the LAST DAY before Christmas holidays!! The LAST DAY of school, aaaaand the LAST DAY of work for Brady!!! 🥳 He doesn’t have the entire break off by any means, but he does have this chunk between Christmas and New Years off, as well as a couple days into January. I am SO looking forward to having him home 💜 And the kids, of course! Staying in bed longer. Moving slower. Celebrating and catching up with our loved ones. Its going to be SO nice.

Wavy, however, it already on holiday time.

Do you love her smorning shirt?? We ALL got one, courtesy of our dear Dahlsjos.

Our little lady is already done with school, so she’s chilling at home with me and the babies today. And of all things, I don’t have a ton to do today!! So maybe I’ll plan some meals for over Christmas. Maybe I won’t. I could work on some Christmas blogs. If I’m brave, I could bring the gifts down to the tree, but one adventurous morsel might have other plans. At some point I need to drive to Brady’s work to bring a few things we forgot about. But, beyond that, I think today I might put my feet up, and I am HERE for it!! Cher will come for coffee in the afternoon, and things will be cozy and restful. At least thats the plan!!

Yesterday already felt like Friday, so today is going to be the first day of Christmas holidays 💜 Merry Christmas holidays, guys!

Today was the Christmas concert for the elementary school the kids attend. Its always very cute. The grade sixes put the play on, while every class files in and out, performing the songs they’ve been practicing for weeks. I was SO impressed with ALL FOUR of our kids who participated!! They did ALL the actions, sang along, knowing the words, and smiling for the crowd. It was incredibly smooth! Laela did disco dance. Rowan did some hip hop. Wavy did the robot. And Solly did a dance as well, but it wasn’t a specifically popular move, hahaha! It was just really cute 🙂

During the program this afternoon, the morsel was getting twitchy, and we ended up standing at the back together. But eventually, morsel wanted to sit on the floor. And then roll on the floor. And then sample and taste the walker that was parked along the back wall. So while I tried to video the kids up front, I was working to be a barrier between the morsel and the mobility aid. This 🙌 is my life. But then I heard a familiar morsel squeak off the my side, and the incredible principal of the school had left her post at the sound table, and they were rocking together. 💜 My heart positively melted. Thats sure happening a lot lately. How fortunate I am 💜

Anyway. After ALL the Christmas stuff today, we’re just tucking into bed for the night now, and this is late for us old folks 🥱 Goodnight, all!! Tomorrow is the LAST day of school AND work before a holiday!!! I’m so ready!

Yesterday evening, I was given a break to achieve some real rest. I took that break and ran with it. And by “ran with it” I mean I ran a hot bubble bath, made up some mashed potatoes with butter, cheese, and bacon bits, and watched true crime on YouTube. It was absolutely PERFECT.

We all have our thing, guys. Don’t judge mine.

Tonight, I will enjoy another form of rest – an evening outing with Cher, tying up loose ends before Christmas, sharing a meal together, some coffee, and just joining in the hustle and bustle of this festive season 💜 We make a date of it every year, and while we cut it a bit close, I’m very glad we were still able to fit it in!

I hope you find your days productive but enjoyable. That kind of productivity that doesn’t feel like work but feels rewarding and happy!

You know when reality just hits you? That feeling you get? Whether its old or new stuff, sometimes it just slaps you clear in the face. Triggers, I suppose. I’ll give you an example of one of mine. In winter, when its icy, I tend to be the one who loads Brady’s wheelchair into the back of the van. He absolutely would, but its safer for me, since I can feel the stability of my feet better. But it tends to be there, in the cold, behind the van, where it hits me HARD that we have a wheelchair now. That Brady is paralyzed now. That our reality has changed so greatly. I’m not upset about it, but its definitely a reality check from time to time.

I had one of those yesterday night, where I stumbled down our stairs in the dark house in search of our morsel’s IV pole that holds the feeding pump. It always comes up when the babies come up, but it got missed last night. I scoured the main area of the house with my phone flashlight, and it took forever to realized a well-meaning kid had tucked it out of the way, inside the pantry. I rolled it through the kitchen towards the stairs, and had my moment of “My goodness. Our kid is tube fed. Poor baby!” Again. I’m not mad about it! We’ve actually developed a pretty good groove with it, and I’m happy that technology exists! But sometimes its just strange when reality hits.

On another hand, I have a VERY nice, albeit small, story to record here about our dear morsel. Just a couple of days ago, I got my very first morsel kiss. And I don’t mean when I kiss their mouth and they stick their tongue out to “kiss” me back. Don’t get me wrong, those are also epic, hahaha! But a couple of days ago, as I stood in the kitchen with a baby on my hip, speaking to Brady, the morsel leaned in and placed their little mouth on my cheek. Then, the baby leaned back, and made the lightest little smacking sound with their lips.

It was AMAZING. An unprompted act of love. What a huge gift I was given 💜 I am consistently overwhelmed with gratefulness for the little people who come through our home. That morsel has my heart 🥰

Today is a day free of daytime deadlines! Its not without things to do, of course, but there are no staunch timelines and maybe a little bit more rest. That being said, I’m still going to duck out today for some errands. But! They’re CLOSE errands! Not entire days away errands! Restful errands. I’ll even see Brady partway through 💜

Hopefully today I will mail Christmas cards, and deliver some to Brady to give to his friends. I’ll buy a couple of small things, hopefully at Dollar Tree. I have to drop by the school, but closer to pickup time, not earlier. And I’ll make a quick stop somewhere to procure a drink or treat for Cher, as she works through a final today. I already spoke to a respirologist today, and I’m waiting to hear back from a social worker or two. And two different couriers are supposed to stop by today.

Whew! “Free” days are definitely not all the way empty, but I feel like today will be a gooder! And I have this cute little Miss alongside!!

Plus the morsel and the spoonful, who are also terribly cute! But you’ll just have to take my word for it 💜

When I got up this morning to get the day going, I had a little private chuckle. This is what Christmas tends to look like over here 😅

Half the island is covered. A large chunk of the counter is also covered with what I’ve just decided to call treats-to-be, containers, and everything else. Basically, the whole house is a mess of anticipation!

But! Its good that its out, because then I DO it!!! While the kids ate breakfast, I put together a large batch of party mix! I’m sure missing bugles, though :/ Ah well. I replaced them with Crispers so we’ll see how that goes! I also tested out a new recipe and made cinnamon bread. Seems like a good thing to try for Christmas? Also, banana bread happened, and I started making more filling for my homemade oreos. Those aren’t done yet, but things are going strong.

Oh and laundry is almost done!

So this obviously didn’t all happen while the kids ate breakfast. Nope.

Our plan was that Brady would bring the five kids to church and I’d stay home with the babies. The kids had a Christmas thing at the church and we wanted to be there for it! Unfortunately, Brady has been dizzy for a while now and today, he just could not kick it :/ So I drove the kids to church for the earlier fun, and told them I would likely be back to pick them up before the service. Not only did I need that extra hour or two to work on things, but Brady needed to have no pressure on him and I didn’t want to leave him home with the babies.

But then, plans changed in a really nice way! A friend texted from church and asked if she could keep the kids for the service, which I absolutely consented to! And then they kept the girlies for lunch!! So our numbers are down but, as you can imagine, the house is still full and active!

So. My house is a mess, and thats ok. Because thats part of it. I think. And if it isn’t, don’t tell me 🙅‍♀️

Brady is at work today, which pretty much always makes for a challenging kind of day. Not to be a downer! Just to be honest. Its hard to not have him here on a Saturday. This one really caught me off guard because Brady forgot to put it on the calendar. Total accident! And we’ll survive. But its a merp, for sure.

However, if he has to work a Saturday near the Christmas season, this is the one to work! Its not actually too close to the holidays, and he doesn’t have to think about another Saturday until the new year! Heyooo!

While Brady works today, I’m pre-writing a bit for the blog, doing laundry, icing some cookies, making sure everyone takes a bath, and doing a bit of work on Christmas cards becauuuuuse they came yesterday! YES!!!

There are definitely still things to do but I think thats a decent list for a Saturday 🙂 I hope you’re having a happy, productive, peaceful Saturday!

Whew! After a CRAZY full week, today I will be at HOME. I do have a few things I could duck out for, and probably should duck out for, but the babies slept so poorly and are feeling crappy and overdone. So that calls for a home day 💜 Conveniently, there is no shortage of things to do here at home, so assuming I have some sleepy babies on my hands, I will hopefully get laundry going, cookies iced, a couple more presents wrapped, and even finishing up some crochet orders for Christmas. You know life is back to being busy when a third of the island is just covered with random stuff 😅

While its been a big week, its been a good one. A VERY cute one! Yesterday was our long awaited ballet performance!! 😍 Goodness it was just SO sweet!!!

I was SO proud of my little ladies and all the work they put into this adorable performance of the Nutcracker 💜 It was a late, rowdy evening, and the girls are feeling it this morning! Whew!

Oof. They are SO beautiful 💜

Off the school the kidlets go! And off to the grind for me! Except I get to get to things with sweatpants on my butt and some true crime playing on the laptop. I feel so grateful 💜

The other day I said to someone “I hope we always have two babies,” because I REALLY meant it. I LOVE having two babies! But WOW! That full moon was not gentle on my babies. Nope nope nope. Anyone else really feel that one??

It wasn’t only our babies. Yesterday held one of the toughest evenings I’ve experienced in a while. It was terribly disappointing in a lot of ways, and I had a big cry. I haven’t had a good big cry in a while, and it felt pretty cleansing. There was a rally involved, and some mac and cheese to soften the blow of disappointment and FOMO.

After a very broken night, the next day has begun, and I believe almost every moment of today is accounted for! 😅 I think tomorrow is a much more open day, so while today will be a really nice day, I’ll be glad when its over.

Whew! Kids are almost out the door!! Let the games begin!