Its official. The school supplies are starting to make their way home. Yesterday, Solly brought home the first haul of things. Crayons, scissors, glue sticks, and markers.

I don’t know about everyone else, but out of all the options, I always preferred markers. ALWAYS. Somehow, our collection of markers has grown pretty significantly, and we almost never throw any away. I couldn’t help but think we had a mountain of dried up markers living in the bottom of the marker box, which was overflowing into the drawer. Now that four kids are going to bring home their used up markers, I thought it was an appropriate time to go through them and pitch the old ones.

But thats why we have children.

So I actually thought it was an appropriate time for them to go through them.

Them, to be specific.

These little turkeys tested SO MANY MARKERS for me this morning.

And then threw away less than ten. I thanked them for their help and accepted the reality of having to check them again later. Which is fine. There could definitely be bigger problems.

Cher came over in the afternoon and grabbed the job right away. She found a handful more to throw away, but for the most part, the kids were right on point with their judgement calls!

I have NO IDEA how so many markers have survived so long!! I LOVED markers WAY more than pencil crayons or crayons. And my kids color often. So I have no idea whats going on. Maybe markers are the one thing in the world that hasn’t gone drastically down in quality recently…

I’ll leave you with Wavy’s assessment.

“Aunties favorite color!”

*sniff*

“…Ew.”

Good luck, friends, with the upcoming haul of half used school supplies!!

Its been a little while since Wavy and I had the pleasure of walking the big kids to school, but today was that day! It was a very cute walk 💜 There was lots of chatter, chasing, playing, and more hand holding than usual. I loved it.

We got to the school, and I figured we’d do a lap around the school so each kid could drop their backpack at their doors and then run to play. But every one of them opted to stick together until everything was dropped off. It was a really nice moment where I felt like a solid family unit. The first to break away turned out to be Solomon, who found one of his friends and eagerly ran off to go dig stuff up. Dekker was next, but he made a point to grab onto me for a hug and a kiss before he took off. Laela and Rowan were last. I got my hugs and kisses, and they took off, but Rowan was back at my side in seconds, walking me to the very edge of school property. It was very sweet. I loved it.

If you’re around here, you know there was mad rain yesterday in Saskatoon, and a ton of homes and businesses were flooded. Dalmeny got next to no rain, but the sky is dark and foreboding. Wavy still asked to go sit by the pond for a little while. She told me she was still happy if she got cold. So we did that.

We took our time getting home. Why rush? We arrived home to our warm cozy house, clicked on music, got some coffee going, and puzzled together. This girl could puzzle absolutely ALL day, and I’m much the same.

Its been a very peaceful morning 💜 but I sure miss having Brady home.

Here are a few cute pictures that I don’t believe made it to the blog this weekend! Nothing crazy, just some little stuff 🙂 Feels cute, definitely won’t delete later. Unless I get hacked..

The first one is a lesson we learned, lol! ANY sweat on your skin will hold onto the color from the marshmallow bag.

Also, the jet puffed marshmallows were cheaper than the no name, so we bought them, and they are annoyingly WAY better. So that might be a thing…

A good friend of ours went to a little local market and bought Wavy some adorable little water shoes! She was SO stoked!!! Those things will be a staple for the beach, I am absolutely sure of it!

Laela wasn’t with us this last weekend, and she is my most willing dish-doer. I set up to do the dishes at the end of the weekend, and Wavy insisted on drying dishes for me! And I have to say, she really surprised me with how much care she took! The bowls didn’t suction together at the end, they were so nicely dried 💜

Meanwhile, the boys did a bunch of the outside work, hauling some wood and dropping off the garbage. Rowan was an incredible big brother and kept it fun for the little ones.

The drive home was quiet and sleepy. But this one was still a total ham, as she is. That blue tank top only does this girl favors! Look at her eyes!

It was a very cute weekend, but not especially picture heavy. You’ll just have to take my word for it 💜

Our day was spent eating smores, sipping coffee, visiting with loved ones, sitting by the fire, and soaking up hours at the lake. The kids had made cards that they gave to Brady in the morning. They were adorable and hilarious. Made for some cute pictures too!

Laela wasn’t with us this weekend, but she celebrated Father’s Day with grandpa Tom, which was also pretty awesome and important.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better father for our children.

Over our thirteen years together, Brady has been building his arsenal of what kind of things a father should teach their kids, and what kind of father he wants to be. Its been beautiful to watch it all unfold. He has never made excuses, and that holds true still today, as he insists on pushing hard, working hands-on with and for his family, and being soft, affectionate, and loving. There is no favoritism between children or genders. Everyone is equally loved, included, and cared about. Brady will insist he is at the bottom of his list, where there are many others who view themselves as above the rest of their family.

My husband is humble and sweet. What an incredible man. Praise God.

Remember that time we got married having barely talked about having kids, and now we have five? I have no regrets 💜 I love you and the family we share. Thank you for being the ultimate father to them. You are building beauty into their generation. I am overwhelmingly grateful for you.

Today was our first day of true consistent sunny summer heat ☀️ 😎 it was GORGEOUS and sweaty and some might even say miserable, but I wouldn’t. I LOVE the heat. I would ALWAYS rather be too hot than too cold. Keep your beach umbrellas. I’ll be in my lawn chair, sweating up a storm. 

I even got my tan on today. 

I feel fresh and filthy. Content and renewed. I’m so ready for the summer days ahead. I hope the predictions are accurate in anticipating more storms than “average,” and if that happens, I’ll have been able to enjoy THIS hot day. 

I’m so grateful! It’s been beautiful 💜 Thank you Lord! 

We didn’t actually. But we’re off to the lake today with only four of the kids!! Laela is joining her grandparents at their camp spot, and she is STOKED. We couldn’t even get a hug. She yelled an unceremonious “byeeeee” into the entrance before taking off with Tom to gather her bike and booster seat. 

The rest of us left shortly thereafter, with a few more things and a few more people. I hope she has a FABULOUS time, and I hope the same for us and ours here 💜 

It’s SO warm and SO windy, and the promise of rain looms. Whatever comes, Lord, we’re here for it! 

Let’s just hope I don’t get hacked over the weekend again….. 

As you know, we’ve had a malware issue over here. We have spent hours upon hours, likely totally full days, fighting with this whole mess. It has been incredibly challenging. Even yesterday, when I could post and feel more safe, I was still getting scans that weren’t happy. This and that – old plugins, one weird file, etc. Scans even failed completely. Timing out. Being angry. More research, more digging. When we first decided to purchase a firewall program, we thought all would be well immediately.

We were mistaken, haha! Its definitely taken more work than we anticipated. But we’re here! And we understand a lot more now, and things can continue on!

I guess I’m here to say, though, if this issue continues to persist, and malware continues to infiltrate my blog through the firewall, my next move will be to call it on The Daily Hailey and move on. Which feels drastic, and I would absolutely rather not 💜 But as we approach a crazy big milestone of blogging, as well as entering a totally different stage of our life, it wouldn’t be the worst timing. But again. I’d rather not.

If the blogs stop coming again, you can assume I’m struggling with hackers yet again, and I will do what I can to get back on here and redirect you to the very probable next blog I’ll start. Because at this point, I love writing every day and I don’t plan to stop.

I appreciate how patient everyone has been with the back and forth. The late posts. The unpredictability. I hope the worst is over. Thank you for sticking it out with me 💜

• Firstly, I want to say hi! Welcome back to my blog that hopefully runs smoother now! My firewall is up and running, and I feel hopeful that at least a chunk of the craziness of hackers is behind us! And if they come back, Brady worked for hours yesterday to learn how to delete infected files, as we couldn’t install anything until everything was clean and safe. I digress. Anyway. We’re back!!

My daughters are getting closer and closer. There are crazy times of fighting and competing already, but not as often as there is love and softness. Just a couple of days ago, Wavy sneak attacked Laela with affection. It was VERY cute!!! 💜

This morning, while everyone got up for school, Wavy stayed in slumber. I snuck Laela out of her room in her fuzzy bathrobe, and closed the door quietly to keep things quiet. 

Once everyone was eating breakfast, I went upstairs to use the bathroom, and from there, I could faintly hear Wavy crying. She had clearly woken up and found herself alone. Before I could make it to her side, Laela had come to her rescue. I walked into their room to find Laela helping Wavy into fresh panties, and asking her what she wanted to wear today. I tried to step in and help, but Laela would have none of it. 

And I see why. 

She had goals 💜 She wanted to dress Wavy fancy, lol! So Wavy ended up in a dress and a cardigan, and while I don’t have a photo to prove it, after breakfast, Laela followed suit and dressed in a dress with cardigan. Because fancy, hahaha! 

Thank you Lord for these sweet kids 💜

I know I’m supposed to expect them to fight forever, but I hope they’re always close 💜

Friends, we did it. I don’t know how long this will last, but my blog was attacked by malware once again. I have worked literally ALL day, and brady has worked nonstop since he got home. 

And we are back up and running. 

Celebrate with me, friends! With three minutes to spare 😆😩🤮

#stilldailyhailey 

Today marks Brady’s final physiotherapy appointment held at the City Hospital rehab facility. It almost feels bittersweet, to be honest. His experience living at rehab really built him into an incredible family of support and love. Once you’ve been through there, you are always cared about and welcomed. I even feel that acceptance as someone who came alongside Brady while he went through his treatment. 

Today, we had a great wrap up with his outpatient physiotherapist. She was so warm and encouraging. She was excited to talk about Bradys new job, his time at the lake, his cancer treatment, and how his exercises were going. She was incredibly understanding about the drop off in some of Brady’s exercises. Now that his time is split with work, he has fewer workouts. There was no shame or guilt. Only excitement and understanding, and encouragement to check in with himself once a week or so to make sure he still can work all the right muscles. They talked about what will change with an office job and what setup he has and needs. 

When it was time to go, she very genuinely told us she had really enjoyed getting to know us. We really liked her, and could reciprocate the feelings! She is moving on to a different position, and we are moving on as well. So it felt like quite a final goodbye. 

We are fortunate to leave the hospital with good feelings all around 💜 

City Hospital rehab saw us through a lot, and we will always be so grateful for every person there. But we are thrilled to move forward, also. I’m sure we’ll still find ourselves there from time to time, but at the moment, it feels like the book has closed on that chapter. And for that – for City Hospital – we praise the Lord.