Yesterday was very blowy and snowy, but it didn’t stop my two die hard evening walkers from getting their fresh air!!

Its possible there was mild regret when they got back from their walk, but I was SO proud of them for still going out! I love their together time!

It blew and snowed all night, so this morning, I went outside while Brady got ready, and made sure the driveway was clear. We had managed to fit his van into the garage for the night (not well, but good enough) but that still leaves the driveway to get through. The snow was fluffy enough that he could’ve gotten out, but since I was already there, I shovelled it clear. Rather do it when its light and fluffy than packed down!

Brady left for work and I gave myself ten minutes before I got the kids up. There was a lot that needed doing this morning, and then the kids laid the smackdown.

“Mom, can you make me a poppy?”

I crocheted them poppies a couple of years ago, and only two could be found this morning. And they wanted them. I told them the jobs that needed doing, and they eagerly volunteered to help if that meant I’d make poppies. So we did it!

Rowan did dishes and garbage.

Laela sorted laundry and put in all the socks and underwear.

Dekker shovelled the ramp.

And I crocheted the remaining poppies that the big kids needed before they could go to school! They turned out!

The kids left a little later than usual, but everyone was in good spirits, myself included. It was a pretty busy morning but also a pretty successful morning.

Once the big kids were out the door, I made Wavy’s poppy. She was just so stinking cute this morning.

And once that was done, Cher arrived to spend the day with me!! Because reading week!!! Heyooooo!!

Today is the last day of school before the kids have a few days off! Its going to be a beautiful day 💜

Dekker has absolutely become Brady’s sidekick when it comes to outdoor jobs. We work pretty hard to kibosh the stereotypical gender roles of women doing housework and boys working outside. You’d better believe the boys do laundry and dishes, and that Laela dug trenches with Tom in the yard. But that being said, Dekker definitely prefers an outdoor job. Always. Garbage. Running to the shed. Getting something out the garage. Running to the store for something. All that stuff is his jam.

So this weekend, while Brady worked on some outside jobs, Dekker was right in there like a dirty shirt. Brady was installing some different plugs for the vehicles that need to be plugged in, and Dekker ran our cords out to where our friends and loved ones can plug in when they are here.

He also helped change Cher’s tires over. And by “help” I mean he did pretty much everything. I know Brady helped him place the jack, heave the tires up onto the car, and he torqued the lug nuts at the very end. Dekker did everything else!!

I am just SO impressed with how hard he works and how much he can do. He is incredibly capable and confident. I cannot wait to see what kind of man he grows into. If the eleven year old version of his is any indication, I am STOKED.

In case it was unclear, today’s supper was absolutely bomb, and worthy of being on record as one of the best supper’s we’ve had in a LONG time. Even I had seconds. It was so good.

First off – the company was excellent. My mom and Cher both joined us, which was absolutely wonderful. It had been a really long time since we’ve all shared a supper together, and it felt so normal in that good comfy way 💜

Secondly, our meal was really, really good. Wavy doddled pretty hard towards the end, but otherwise, everyone LOVED it. I can’t remember the last time the kids ate so well. Our food was not fancy, but it was delicious. We had rice with just butter, broccoli with a cheese sauce, and the little fish sticks from Costco. Have you had those?? They look exactly like mozza sticks. They’re just little guys. Man alive, they are SO good! Everyone ate them beautifully! Even Wavy! It was the rice she dragged her feet on. Laela was my biggest surprise, as she eats everything but doesn’t give a food compliment too easily. This evening, she said over and over again “We should have this more often.” Never would I have thought I’d hear that. From her. About fish.

The icing on the cake was the very literal icing on the cake. Towards the end of supper, Rae showed up in our entrance, with half a chocolate cake in hand! So we all had a piece of cake to top off our delicious supper.

I haven’t bought that fish in years, but I think I’m going to have to start again. That was too good and too easy. Definitely worth a try and a buy!

It is SO hard to know where to spend money. Isn’t it? Money is a hard subject, we all know that. We know we need it for necessities. We know we’re not rolling in it. We also know we sometimes need to bite a bullet and make a big purchase or two. And sometimes, a handful of things come up at once and it’s a bit bigger of a bullet than you’re expecting. And you need to talk it out. So, here I am. Talking it out.

We bought the minivan for Brady to take the work. This was a very wise choice. It is SUCH a good fit for Brady’s needs! But as the snowy season rolls in, we need winter tires for it. Thats inevitable. As he’s pricing things out, we’re considering getting tires on rims for it. They’re not crazy expensive, they’d save the tires the fuss of being taken on and off every season, making them last longer, and rims save us the cost of having them changed at the tire shop every season. So that makes sense.

While we’re talking about rims for the minivan, we’re thinking rims for the bus also. We’re both a little wishy washy on doing that part this season, because they’re more expensive, and we’ve gone a few years without them. Yet, it would make the tires last longer, and once again eliminate the cost of tire changes. So that feels like it would pay for itself eventually.

Aside from the winter tires, we are seriously considering a garage heater this year. It would be SO beneficial. It would keep Brady’s van warmed, avoiding the issue of trying to run it and warm it up in the mornings inside the garage. It would just already be warm. It would also make our bedroom a lot nicer. Not perfect, but its already frigid up there. I’ve been sleeping with a heating pad for a couple of weeks now. Having a heated garage would absolutely aid in that. Lastly, our entrance is absolutely bursting with winter gear for months, spilling out of the closet and onto the floor. It is such a mess. We really don’t have enough space in our entrance for five kids trying to get dressed into winter stuff, plus a wheelchair. It was hard before the wheelchair, and now its next to impossible. So if our garage was heated, the outerwear could live in the garage. It would be SUCH a relief. It would keep the wet much out there, too. But! Even with a good discount, the garage heater will set us back a good amount of money. And we’re in the busiest season for plumbers, so I’m not even sure we could get it installed. Brady says it has to be installed by someone with a gas fitters license, which we do not have. Your basic Joe Handyman isn’t allowed to fit it. So again, is it worth it to buy it for SO much money if we can’t even confidently have it installed anytime soon? Ack!

So many decisions.

So little money.

Money is SO expensive.

🤮

I would welcome your input! What would you do?

Wavy has always had really good language. She is a very clear communicator with her words. She is my first child who will explain herself if she knows we’re not understanding her words. For example:

Wavy: That toy is soap!
Me: Its soap? What do you mean?
Wavy: No, soap! Yike… yike a knife is soap.
Me: Sharp!

She’s little, and doesn’t have every letter sound down pat, but she is still very clear and easy to understand. I am consistently SO impressed by her.

She has always called Laela “Yaya.” I think part of it came from us often calling her Lala, and her inability to pronounce the L sound. Even when she was mad at her sister, you could hear her angrily screech “Yaya!!!!” I loved it so much, hahaha!

Recently, she has been trying to actually pronounce Laela’s name. It started at “Yay-ya” but that was hard to muddle through, it seemed. Then, she graduated the Y sound altogether and made a hybrid letter somewhere between a G and some phlegm. It was pretty gurgly but it was a lot closer, and we all praised her up for it!

Today, she showed off to Auntie Cher by saying it perfectly for the first time ever!!!

Laela. Somehow, that name has never sounded quite so sweet 💜

Wavy is incredibly proud of herself, and now is something of a broken record, replaying Laela’s name over and over and over again. Laela! Laela!! Laelalaelalaelalaelalaela…..

I am SO impressed at how clearly she speaks, but man. She sounds SO much older now. I’m not ready.

Yesterday was our first significant snowfall. It may or may not stay, but I won’t be surprised if it kicked around. I’m fine with snow. Snow is pretty and refreshing and it kills bugs before they get gigantic. I see the value. I struggle with the things that come with the snow. Wind, ice, bad driving, being chilled to the bone twenty-five hours a day, etc. Its not my favorite. However, my big kids were not put off at all by the snow!

Dekker and Laela go for a walk together most days. They both put in extra efforts to have that time to spend together in the evenings, and I want to nurture that the absolute best way I can! Yesterday, they were very eager to go get out in it 💜

When they got back, Laela told me they went to the school, found a snow covered sidewalk, and drew pictures in it, making the other guess. I thought that was really, really cute.

These two compete for the spot of the oldest absolutely every single day. But these walks are their time where they build their very real friendship, and I love that SO much.

They’re terribly cute. They always have been.

I’m so happy they’re building a solid foundation of a friendship 💜 I hope it lasts absolutely forever!

Its been really dark over these last couple of days! As much as its coming into my least favorite season, I don’t hate the gloomy days. I like the grey skies. They feel cozy and safe inside. I definitely feel less that way when I have to go outside, haha, but it works from the comfort of my own home 💜

Yesterday, I went to a counselling appointment and stopped for yarn for a commissioned order. It was quite dark and grey out, and it was raining. And guys, it felt deceptively like spring. So much so that I wanted to open my windows. I felt upbeat with happy, and decided to roll with it, even though the back of my mind is swirling with thoughts of garage heaters, winter tires, boots, snowsuits, electricity bills, etc.

This morning, I coffeed with Cher while Wavy played lego in the living room in her jammies. It was relaxed and calm and warm and I loved it. I anticipate many more mornings like this in the coming months.

If you’re looking for me this afternoon, you’ll find me in bed with a heating pad, crocheting, and watching Netflix 💜 I can’t wait.

It was a pretty cute year for Halloween if I do say so myself! 💜

Brady got trapped in the picture, hahahaha! He was dressed up as a tired dad who had just got off work and was ready to sip coffee in the van for the next hour or two. He really nailed the look, don’t you think?

Dekker was, as Rowan would tell everyone, a reggggular bad guy. 😆
Rowan was pizza, and I promise he was happier about it than he’s letting on.
Laela and Wavy were unnamed princesses. They didn’t care who they were, they just wanted to match.
Solly was a tiger in a jacket and a hat. Let’s be honest. He just wanted to be comfy.

We were blessed with beautiful weather last night! The kids were able to do a handful of houses on the same stretch, just running from place to place, rather than our usual of stopping at one house, running for our lives, getting candy, and racing back to the van. This was WAY better.

It was also really nice using the minivan. It was squishier in there, for sure, but the automatic doors meant I didn’t have to get in and out of the can twice at every single stop. This was SO much nicer.

We were out for about two hours, and we hit all our usual stops. I love our system. Our people expect to see our children, and they welcome them and celebrate them! Its really really nice. Some people even make up treat bags, or hold things aside for them. This year, they brought home a mountain of pop, chips, chocolate, candy, and some fun random stuff. Dad’s cookies was a good one! Ritz cracker sandwiches also. Our new neighbour even made up the cutest treat bags for everyone who came by! It seemed like really everyone did well this year! Haven’t found any fentanyl yet…

We even had some pumpkins that Cher lovingly carved for our step, and we lit them and hand out fruit by the foot. Well, we didn’t light this crusty guy…

But we lit these new ones, haha! The poultry-geist

And this lovely starry night.

We had a LOT of fun trick or treating as a family, seeing our friends, and eating candy in the van. There were some great costumes out and about, and the kids we were able to treat were all very polite and appreciative.

I think many of us, myself included, have a renewed sense of gratefulness for social events such as these. Its nice to see people again, and to be seen.

Now to figure out how in the world the kids will eat all this candy!!!

I suppose I’ll have to help them 🤷🏼‍♀️ Shucks.

I know I wrote about Laela’s cute drawings the other day, but I wanted to put out there that she is still very much a reader, and that she excels at it. Once she found some chapter books that she really liked, she burned through them on her own, but recently, she has gotten back into reading for the littler ones, and I just LOVE it. They also LOVE it.

It usually just starts with her reading to Wavy, and the others flock.

While this is happening, the house is noticeably more peaceful, and I can do things without interruption. When she’s done reading a couple of books, I always thank her, and she always accepts it, because she knows she’s giving me a hand by doing this 💜

I sure appreciate this not so little girl. She is growing up incredibly fast, and I know I’m supposed to dread the aging, but I am LOVING what I am seeing! I love you, Laela!

One of the big things we had on the books this last week was yet another routine MRI for Brady. His ninth.

Remember how hard it was to get ONE???

Brady had his eight scan in summer, where it showed there was no recurrence of his tumour!

This scan was slightly different, but also quite positive. It confirmed there was no recurrence of the tumour, for which we are SO grateful! It did note some nerve enhancement, which could mean a couple of things. It could be indicative of a pain disorder, which feels unlikely at this point, because Brady doesn’t have pain in that area. Much more likely, its simply scarring from his surgery.

Every MRI thus far as noted “post surgical changes” which could have meant the nerve enhancement. It could have always been there. We just don’t know specifics in that area, and our doctor has a call in to the radiologist to ask for a little bit more detail on that vague statement. But no one is worried, because some nerve enhancement is normal.

Thats something we’ve learned along the way. We never expect a perfect report, because with Brady’s new condition of paralysis, his back and alignment won’t be flawless. He has some compressed discs. Some “blood tumours.” Some twisting. But those things have been noted in the past, with the general impression of the scans to be really good, and completely normal in these circumstances.

For Bradys health and wellness, we praise the Lord! 💜 If we learn anything new and exciting about the nerve enhancement, I will absolutely update everyone, but for now, we are content!