We are gearing up for our holidays this coming week! That means a first weekend with all of us. A week with three of us at camp. And a second weekend with us plus guests. Aaaaahhh! Its SO doable, but a lot of thinking when it comes to amounts of food!

Another moving part of the week is the fact that I’m coming back home for a couple of days in the middle. So those days, Brady will have a couple of kids at camp on his own, and I’ll be home with the smallest morsel. Again, doable. Just lots of thinking and organizing in advance.

Oh! AND a birthday celebration on the second weekend. So, special food for that.

*pulls hair from head*

Thank goodness today is the day we get it ALL done! We have to drive both vehicles in, which is not ideal, but such is life. We need to fit about ten days worth of groceries, plus eight people, and a wheelchair along with us. So. If we don’t have a bus, we have to bring two vehicles!

This evening after Brady’s done work, we will hit a handful of stores, including a few on 8th St that we never hit anymore. But since I’m able to sneak in a leg wax this evening, we’ll be over in that end of the city. Win win! HOPEFULLY going to Superstore will mean we can dodge Costco this time around. But beyond that, we need only two things at Wholesale Club, and another couple of things at Coop. Plus a few more places.

Aaaaand this morning, I’m going in for an appointment, and one quick stop for a last minute gift for a birthday party Laela was invited to!

As Andy Samberg says, “Never stop never stopping!”

We learned last time we needed to get hail damage repaired that we need different insurance that accounts for a comparable vehicle. A few years ago, the seven of us were granted a minivan, which felt impossible at the time with everyone in carseats! And now with six children, its a no-go.

This time around, we legitimately booked our repair around when the autobody shop could arrange the rental of an eight seater vehicle for us. And that day was today!!!

Guys. We look like drug dealers now 😎

Its so much fancier than our bus. That goes without saying, I know. The running boards fold out when you open the door and close when you lock up. Its all leather. And the whole roof opens, so, there’s that.

The way it is similar to our bus is the size!! Its HUGE! You’d think that would be totally fine, except its a super weird change! Our bus has truck mirrors. There are NO blind spots in it! But in this expedition, there are plenty, and I have to remember to actually shoulder check again! Yikes!

How bizarre is it that I’ve become accustomed to driving our passenger van that I’d rather drive it than this fancy gigantic SUV?!

The kids absolutely love it, however, so thats a fun dynamic. Getting Wavy’s car seat in the back might be a challenge, but if thats the worst of it, we can hack it.

Especially since we’re on the hook for this thing for two weeks 😅 Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly grateful we have it! I don’t know what the eight of us would do with anything different at this point! Don’t judge me while I adjust to something new!

And if you see a dealer parked at my house, remember this post!

I have a short blog window today and a LOT swirling around in my head. I am incredibly relieved that my afternoon appointment cancelled at least, but still, time is limited before I’m going to need to be hands on doing other things! So I leave you with this positively corny meme that made me laugh embarrassingly hard. Because that is my apparent level of tired.

If you needed a laugh on fake Monday of the workweek, here you have it. Dongfish. Nutte sac. All the immature giggles. For you. From me. You’re welcome.

Happy fake Monday, guys!

Not only was the weekend really full, and blogs came late, but the signal also sucked worse than usual, and getting any pictures on the blog was a feat. So you’re getting a bunch now 🙂 Get ready!

When we were about twenty minutes from camp, I got a text that Jaxon really wanted us all to gather up at his campsite for an evening s’more roast. So that was a really sweet (ha!)way to kick off the weekend!

These two girlies both brought their rainbow loom bracelet stuff this weekend, this was born the task of finding as many color combinations as was humanly possible. It started small. Please stand by.

We got a tube blown up but it only went out on the water once. Merp. But it was nice for a friendly tanning sesh or two!

This is the face of someone who ate a cinnamon sugar bagel on the beach on a windy day.

We have been welcomed into a warm tradition of the Dahlsjos cooking for our entire group for Saturday supper. Its been humbling and SO loving and also incredibly delicious. This weekend was no different! Garlic roasted potatoes. Corn on the cob. Tossed salad. And smoked brisket. My first brisket, and 100% not my last!

A rare photo of Solomon when he was not caked in dirt, looking quite grown up if you ask me!

Crocheting on the beach 😎 One of my happiest of places.

The three young girls out swimming together! Wavy in her lifejacket and tube went all the way out to the end of the dock and squealed for Avery to catch her. Very cute, and very brave.

Then there was candy, because children are irresistible…

And rainbow looms abounding!

This was a highlight! Dekker caught his first fish!!! 💜 And then he didn’t have the nerve to touch it! 😂 So this is Dekkers awesome friend holding the fish for him. It was SO cute to me! How proud of him does his buddy look?!

Speaking of Dekkers buddy, he and Jaxon are getting closer, and its really nice to see 💜 They harass each other like family should, but also have a lot of respect for each other.

A weekend that started chilly ended warm. All the days were beautiful, though.

Aaaaand I closed out the weekend by slamming my thumb with a sledgehammer. Still can’t feel part of it, but at least most of the searing pain has lifted. I’ll take what I can get!

This was a really beautiful weekend. One of our best, for SURE!! The week ahead is full and busy, but we have some really good stuff to prepare for, so I’m absolutely here for it!

But first, sleep!! Whew! Tomorrow starts with coffee and restfulness before we unpack, do ALL the laundry, and make two separate trips to Saskatoon! We have to work for the things we love!! 💜

Welcome back to the work week, everyone!

It’s been a weekend of late nights for us all at the lake! But I am 110% here for it! Not because I’m awesome at late nights, but because the day has been full of beautiful things 💜 

Not only did we spend hours at the beach – not only did we have long campfires with people we love – not only did we eat good food – not only did we talk and not talk – but we enjoyed some lovely restful time where the guitar came out, the crocheting made its way onto my lap, and everyone was settled somewhere they found comfortable. 

We are so beyond fortunate to have this space. Thank you Lord, once again, for the gifts You have given us. We trust you.  

Don’t get me wrong. I want more hot summer days. But that being said, I’m not made at this chillier crispy weather 💜

Of course at this point none of my pictures will load so you’re just going to have to take my word for it.

The morning was cool and relaxed. Cinnamon buns and a hot fire.

We made our way to the beach for a chilly late morning jaunt, some lunch, and finally, the sun ☀️ It was lovely until Brady got stranded on the lake in the seadoo with a couple of kids towing behind. But. That’s another story. Don’t worry, everyone was fine. It upset me more than anyone else.

The evening meant supper with our Dahlsjos. Stacy cooked up brisket, potatoes, and corn on the cob. We ate like royalty – the kind of royalty who eats barbecue. After supper, some friends from a nearby site came by to pray with us, and then they basically cooked up s’mores for the neighbourhood! Post s’mores, Brady and I hit the lower playing field with the kids and lit some birthday sparklers in the dark. It was cute and fun and an adorable end of the day.

Tomorrow will be cute. Smorning. The word has spread so I imagine we’ll have some extras. And then hopefully more beach. More fires. More maybe some work on the seadoo. Hopefully some crocheting. But low low lowwwww pressure.

Happy long weekend, friends 💜

The season of toasted tomato sandwiches has arrived!! I know this can happen any time during the year, but this is when the fresh garden tomatoes come out to play, which makes it all just SO much better!

Ta-daaaaa! Thank you, Cher, for bringing these tomatoes for us to enjoy!! These delicious morsels walked through the door, and I texted Brady that we required cheese buns and cottage cheese! Because those ingredients, while not necessary, make it so much more special!!!

I could eat them things all 👏 stinking 👏 day! 👏

It’s funny how the blog has changed since we began fostering, because so many of our pictures have an extra face in them that unfortunately isn’t allowed on the blog 💜 I know the rules for covering faces for social media and such, but the blog is less secure, so I won’t be risking it.

With this new aspect of photos, you’ve seen less of my kids recently! So here’s a bit of that for you to enjoy 💜 They are positively lovely.

I could caption, but you get the vibe 💜 Togetherness. Hanging out. Summer ease. I am really loving these moments. We certainly are leading a busy life right now, but we are finding a nice groove and it still feels restful from time to time. Our norm may be busier than that of others, or it may be way more relaxed than many of you, also. Happy medium is a great place to be 💜

Todays priorities are getting the bulk of the packing done for camp this week, having Wavy’s friend over in the afternoon, and sending Brady a grocery list so he can do a quick shop after work. Tomorrow is THREE appointments, prepping all the food for the weekend, and getting to the lake! Its all going to get done! The to-do list is a LOT smaller than it was yesterday!

We had a giggle at camp last weekend and I keep forgetting to write about it! So here you have the story!

Brady and I joined the throngs of people watching the kids’ demonstrations before gathering them from their week at camp. It required us going a bit of a distance, so we took the golf cart for Brady’s benefit. We chatted with other kids and other parents while we waiting through a couple of demonstrations that weren’t Dekkers. It was outside and nice and social and relaxed.

At one point, an older man approached Brady and exclaimed “What happened?!” Brady hasn’t had that question in a while! And so out of the blue! Bradys mobility is so normal for us now, we forget that it is kind of rarity.

So Brady really casually responded that he had a cancerous tumour taken off of his spinal cord.

The man just stared for a second, and without speaking, pointed at Brady’s leg brace. Brady’s use of the golf cart to get around wasn’t what was in question, but the brace! Brady, surprised, responded, “Oh! I’m paralyzed!”

The man definitely had nothing to say 😅 I reached over and gave Brady a fist bump before walking away.

It was SO funny.

The poor guy was probably anticipating a story about a soccer injury or something, haha!

Anyway. We giggled. It was hilarious. And I’m sure it will continue to be hilarious every time it happens.

Whew! I was out most of the morning but now I’m back at it! My mom made grilled cheese buns for everyone, and now she’s on her way and I’m home, on my own way! Thank you, mom, for babysitting and feeding everyone 💜 That helped a LOT.

Yesterday worked out to be nicely productive. While I didn’t come close to getting everything done, I got a small handful of things done. Enough to make my list feel better, hahaha! Aaaaand enough that it looked empty enough to add more things, lol!

I watered plants.

Dekker and I picked raspberries.

I did up the August calendar.

Brady replaced the ball catch and lightbulbs. Yes, the twerp got up on the ladder 🙄

School supplies still aren’t finished but the actual supplies are ALL in hand as of yesterday! Just have to actually package them all up and put them in backpacks. Oh, and steal a few old tshirts out of Brady’s closet and call them “paint shirts.”

And while I did not work on the foster expense forms, I did speak to my social worker yesterday on an unrelated topic, and she mentioned expensing extras to me. When I told her I was intimidated by the forms, she told me she would help me through the forms when I see her next. So thats a relief!

I did add a couple of things to the list. I need to tidy up our en suite in a big way. And I changed the one about expense forms to making a list of expenses I need to claim.

Ok. Enough blogging about what needs to get done! Time to get on it!