Whew! The next few days are NUTS. I think I’m ready for it, though. I think. I’m mostly organized. Maybe I’m not. Never mind.

Tomorrow there is a really important appointment I have to get to with one of the kids. We’re all going to go in, though. But its a big one that I’m really anticipating.

The next day is another big test that is less exciting and more daunting 😬 At least that one got moved up from the evening to the morning.

If you are the praying type, I do ask for prayers for our family for these next couple of days.

On Friday, after test #2, Brady will head to work and I will get us ready for yet another weekend at the lake! Our happy place 💜 We will remain there through the long weekend and come home Monday.

Aaaaand school starts on Tuesday!!! 😅

We’ll have to come home a little bit earlier on Monday than usual in order to get everyone washed up and organized for school the next day. Also waking up earlier will be an adjustment, haha!

I think we’re all ready for it, though. At least our kids are. We are needing some structure and routine back in our lives. Friends their own age. Using their brains. Exercising their bodies. Its time.

Dekker has rocked his kayak all summer, every weekend since he got it. However, he finally saved up enough money to get the rest of his goal met – an otterbox case for the phone he was gifted, and a bluetooth speaker. This way, he can go on longer treks and listen to tunes.

This weekend was his first go 💜 And it went over very well!

I’ll let him tell you about it.

💜

I’ve been kayaking all summer, but only recently I got my speaker and phone case, so I wanted to go farther. It’s really fun going all the way to Bells beach, because its a far trip and it takes more energy.

The first time I got to Bells, I docked there. I looked around, took a couple pictures, and I kind of just sat there to cool down.

The dock was coated in seagull poop! I almost got pooped on! 💩

And then I continued back going. I unhooked my kayak and continued going back to Kinasao.

Along the way, I saw a pontoon plane. On the way back, I watched it take off.

I noticed how many people own several boats and seadoos. Lots of people have pontoon boats, and the closer you get to Bells beach, the more bougey the boats are.

I listened to music the whole time. I got through about half of the playlist I used. My playlist consists of 2.5 hours of Minecraft music, Andy Grammer, Moxy Fruvous, and other random corny songs.

When I got back to the beach, I asked mom and dad if I could go north to the other round of cabins. I continued listening to music until I got back. I came back to shore and felt really tired. My arms were noodles.

I really liked being able to be on my own, and listen to music. I could pick where I went and had a lot of control. It was really peaceful. It felt really good to dip my hat in the water and wear it.

It was definitely worth the work, and I really enjoyed doing the work to earn the kayak and speaker.

Thank you, grandma, for helping me do the cans. Thanks to the Dahlsjos, and Scott, Aunty Sandy, and everyone else for providing the cans. I couldn’t have gotten my kayak and speaker without you guys. Thanks so much.

💜

I could not be more proud of this boy. Or more grateful to the people who gave up their recycling stuff for this project! Its been pretty amazing to witness him work up to this goal.

Whew! So today was a bit of a rough one, I won’t lie. Its good to be home. Home is easier than camp oftentimes, and today was one of those days. That being said, I’ll give you a highlight reel in the next day or two. There were definitely some good times this weekend. But today… today had bumps.

With those bumps, however, came a special discovery.

Float on the go.

Yes, you heard me. A float on the go. I had already determined I was getting a milkshake. And then I decided to throw all caution to the wind and get a big root beer. Don’t come at me. I NEVER get TWO big bad-for-you drinks. EVER. But when I realized they were the makings of a root beer float…

It was the right choice.

Anyway. Welcome to my wisdom.

Sleep deep, friends 💜

We have had a lot of firsts in the last few years over here. I’m sure you can all understand that. Lots of experiences lived out very differently. Learning curves all across the map. Todays first was a totally different ballgame, but it feels worthy of remembering. It’s not a nice fluffy memory, but it is indeed laughable, and somewhat comical. 

We loaded up our golf cart this morning and headed to the beach, as is customary for us. We passed a man on the bath who nodded and smiled at us politely. I heard him exclaim to the kids “Can’t you walk?!” They laughed, not thinking much of it. Brady and I kind of chuckled together, because clearly, he had no idea what he was saying. But it rolled off quickly and we were at the beach less than a minute later. 

It takes us a minute or two to get our setup organized. While we were setting up chairs and such, this man made his appearance on the beach. And without any holdback, he commented aloud “Lazy bones.” I swore I misheard him until he repeated his thought. “Lazy people.” 

As non-confrontationally as possible, I laughed and said “Did you say lazy people??” He confirmed that he had. I firmly but politely informed him that my husband is paralyzed, hence the golf cart. 

A good moment for him to step back and maybe even apologize for speaking out of turn, wouldn’t you say? But no. He had one moments pause because he pointed to our family and said “Well are the rest of you paralyzed?” 

😳 

Again, firmly but politely, I told him there are VERY few perks to paraplegia, and we would enjoy ourselves and our drives down to the beach. He shrugged me off and got back to his own thing. But *shivers* I did not care for that interaction. 

Aaaaanyway. Mind your Ps and Qs, friends. Wouldn’t want things to get super awkward for you when you call out a paralyzed man for not walking… 

We leave for the lake today, and I prepped VERY little up to this point. We’ve had other things going on, and also I’ve enjoyed some downtime this week! After packing for a ten day vacay, two days is beans.

The kids clothes are packed ✅

My clothes are packed ✅

Bradys clothes are packed ✅

Morsels extra supplies are packed ✅

We’re mostly winging food, but the fresh stuff is prepped ✅

Kids picked a couple of books ✅

Bradys tools are packed ✅

Prescriptions are filled, meds are packed ✅✅

We drove to Warman and Cher took Brady’s minivan back home ✅ He is now effectively stranded, but now I can pick him up from work and we can leave right from there!

All thats left is packing the van!

And dishes. Because food prep made a mess. Worth it!

Is it time to go yet??

The last few days have been SO chill for the kids. The calm before the storm, perhaps 😏 But, so you get the vibe…

There has been playdoh…

Sand art…

lego…

not to mention kinetic sand, painting, colouring, reading, etc etc etc.

I’ve also been taking the kids out for afternoon walks more often, and yesterday, we even went for an evening walk as a family 💜 Haven’t done that in a while! It was SO nice.

Today has been a bit different. I was in the city for a chunk of the morning, and my mom spent a few hours with the five kids 💜 Meanwhile, I made a really yummy coffee and got to be out and about a bit more relaxedly.

Welp. I suppose at this point, I should start getting us set up for the lake! 😬 Shut up I’m not late you’re late!

Fun fact: I wrote this blog a couple of weeks ago and forgot it existed. Its dated now, but its cute, and I still mean all that I say, so it feels worth sharing. Enjoy this “late to the game” post!

💜

As I’ve been mentioning for probably way too long, there is a lot to prepare for this coming holiday, and yesterday was the day. After a bunch of shopping and stopping, we got home later in the evening than usual and tucked in the four younger kids. It was after 9pm. Thats late for us! We decided to keep Dekker up, however, to help Brady with some more of his work. There was a LOT to load into the minivan for a project Brady wants to work on at the camper. Laela was also at a birthday party that was going pretty late. So four were down, and four were up! And we were working!

Brady got the minivan positively loaded down, and I got a whole heap of things organized in terms of food, clothing, baby supplies, etc. Who would have ever thought that taking two vehicles to the lake would provide us somehow less space than our one big vehicle?!

Anyway. Lots is done. Lots is still to do. But look at these incredible humans right here 💜

I love that they’re old enough to stay up later when necessary, and be part of the team in a different, big kid kind of way 💜 I’m very proud of them.

Ah yes, the breakfast of champions tired kids!

This morning, as I got the kids up, they made it clear that they were not ready to get up. When possible, I love to not rush them and let them come when they’re ready. Today I asked Dekker if he wanted a granola bar in his bed. He was THRILLED! I made the rounds and asked the other kids, and everyone loved the idea of being lazy butts for breakfast.

Rowan ran around the house and gave everyone granola bars, lingering in the boys room to share that time with them.

There were no regrets in sight.

When school arrives, we’ll have our butts more in gear, but until then, I’m loving the laxity of the mornings.

Yesterday we found ourselves stranded in the city for about four hours.

It was not our plan, and the kids were absolutely beat and looking forward to a couple of restful home hours. They did not get them. Neither did I. But we made the most of it and hit Walmart and Value Village to fill some gaps in for clothing. Everyone except Waverly needed pants. Laela needed tshirts.

And none of my children care for long sleeved shirts, so I was quite determined to find each of them at least one long sleeved shirt that they liked and would wear.

Dekker tried all of his on at once 😂

Rowan followed suit, lol!

Rowan really dislikes long sleeved shirts. It was an interesting challenge to find one that he liked, but we came out with two that he deemed “so cool!”

Laela is my warm blooded little lady, so she ended up with an oversized quilted flannel to use more as a jacket. She LOVES it!

Oh and she got the capris too. They were dirt cheap.

Solly hasn’t been feeling well, and opted out of the fashion show. Good thing the big ones are so helpful 😅 This was also the ONLY shirt Solly liked. So it was the only shirt Solly got! But he also got everything he wanted. So 🤷🏼‍♀️ win!

Wavy’s pose is what it is, haha! This is a cute little tunic she’ll rock with leggings.

I won’t lie. It was actually a pretty fun shopping spree. I even got a couple of things.

Even PANTS for me!!!! This means I have more than one pair that fits!!!

Oh and I accidentally bought a tiny bathtub to use as a soap dish, lol! Whoops! 🤷🏼‍♀️

All in all, we got a really good VV haul and kids have a bit more clothing to go into the school year with! For myself, I have very few clothes for the cooler seasons that actually fit me, so I’m very grateful for the few pieces I found.

Plus the together time didn’t hurt, either 💜

My dearest Dekker turns twelve years old today! As if this kid is a TWEEN!!!

He hates that, though. Don’t call him a tween. He doesn’t want to be a pre-teen, either. Just, twelve, he says.

He has GROWN in so many beautiful ways over this year. His endurance for hard things is much longer. He is more straight forward about how he feels, and while he’s not entirely rational 100% of the time (who is?) he is able to reason and rally and come back to us in good time. He went from dreading grave seven, as it is “the kindergarten of high school” but he has grown to be excited about it, which I’m excited about! Feels like growth! Dekker has remained good close friends with Laela, and they do more rowdy beating on each other without tears, hahaha!

Dekker’s birthday gift this year from us was a hat from Zaks. He got it early, because he just wanted one so bad. He was totally happy with that setup 🙂

Dekker caught his first fish this year!

He has changed so much, but parts of him remain the same. Some GOOD parts. He is still a big snuggler. He loves to be soft and close and comfortable with his safe people.

He loves corny jokes, and he has embraced the fun of robotics and technology.

Dekker is an AMAZING big brother, specifically to our smallest morsel that unfortunately cannot be seen on this blog in any capacity. But goodness. He is incredible. He carries and bounces and comforts and even has learned about the medical side of things in order to aid the family to the fullest capacity.

I am constantly overwhelmed with how sweet and caring and responsible/reliable/trustworthy my sweet Dekker Thomas is.

I love you, dear boy 💜 You made me a mom, and I am delighted to have began our little family with you.