The Daily Hailey

I haven’t talked crocheting in a while. Here’s why. I got this AWESOME order for baskets a while back, and the longer it takes for me to get them out, the more embarrassed I’ve felt. They’ve been crocheted for a while already, but I’ve been working to acquire some little extras, like leather tags, rivets, etc. We’ve tried a few things that have failed, and its taken some time to get our ducks in a row. Meanwhile, a couple baskets were different from my usual, so they took extra figuring and need some additional reinforcement. So there’s been some waiting on that homefront, too, to figure out the best options and what will finally work. The official FINAL missing piece of these things will be walking through our door this evening, and ALL baskets will be ready for either delivery or mail by tomorrow! Thank you to those who have paid in advance!! 💜 That REALLY helped me get things going!

With ALL of that going on, I have still been working on other projects, and I’d love to show you, finally! 

First, I made this baby blanket for a friend of ours! 

They had a baby boy recently, and I’d been itching to try out this honeycomb type of design for a while now. It gave me a good excuse to go buy this beautiful dusty blue yarn that I’ve had my eye on, as well! Its not your traditional baby blue. Its called “ice blue” and I really, really like it. I think the blanket turned out really well! Just waiting to actually drop it off, which takes a lot longer when a baby is involved and our household has a cold. Sigh. 

Second of all, I want to show you what I’m MOST excited about!!! Eek! 

I present…

I started this blanket earlier in the year, and its been on hold as Michaels sold out of the yarn I needed and it just wasn’t getting restocked!! Ack! This pattern ate up more yarn than I anticipated, so I was ill prepared, and I got really nervous I was going to be stuck pulling it out and making the whole thing narrower, or just somehow having to jimmy rig it back into a blanket that was a reasonable size. But thank goodness, Michaels came to the rescue, with the same dye lot of yarn and everything! 

This blanket was unavoidable when I saw that beautiful creamsicle coloured yarn! I made the pattern up, and I actually hope to write it out and officially produce it as my first ever original pattern! I feel really excited about this 🙂 I hope you can be excited with me!

Did any of you finish any cool projects this week? Care to share with the class?

A lesser known fact about Dekker is that he absolutely cannot sit still. I don’t even mean that he’s always hyper or rowdy, but in general, he just has ants in his pants. When given the opportunity at school, he always opted for a standing desk. He can hardly sit at the table without gradually moving into a squat on his chair. He just wiggles and wiggles.

Back in winter, I took some pictures to document it. It is the most prominent when he reads. Its like he can’t find a comfy spot. I assure you NONE of these poses were coached by me. He is either unaware of me taking his picture, or I walked in on him in these positions.

Some are much more common than others, but things like sitting upside down on the chair was not a one time thing. He just does it. I don’t know why, but I am not mad at it in the slightest. I think he’s adorable.

Its not for show or for attention. If I poke fun at him, he’ll definitely smirk and giggle back, but he immediately dips back to his book and is instantly lost back in dreamland, completely oblivious to the world around him.

I love that he is such a reader. Never saw it coming.

So. Random mixed bag today, friends.

First, a couple of you asked for the chicken spaghetti recipe! The actual link that I started with is here, but I’ve changed it. Here is how I make it.

I fry up hunks of chicken breasts. Fewer than you’d think you need. I use four.

I mix up one can of cream of chicken coup, one can cream of mushroom soup, and two big cans of tomatoes in a bowl with a giant blob (about a cup-ish) of sour cream. You don’t NEED the sour cream, but its better with it. If you don’t have it, I’d eliminate one tin of tomatoes, because its too watery without the cream.

Boil up a bunch of noodle. Yes, a bunch. A handful? Half a bag? I don’t know what to tell you. A normal amount that you would normally make. What I can tell you is, for some reason, this is better with long noodles, and weird with things like rotini or shells. Its not just my opinion. Its the facts. Go spaghetti or vermicelli. Something like that.

Mix it all together and put in a GREASED pan. Foil wrap it and bake it for about 45 on 350. When its bubbly, lose the foil, add cheese, and let ‘er melt. And you’re done!

I always try to serve it in pieces and its always comes out sloppy and messy, but it tastes great. You’re welcome.

Thing two!

I thought this was pretty cute. Solly hadn’t been to school in a while and brought home some Piggy and Gerald books for everyone to read. They are pretty young books but the kids LOVE them. Brady does a great Piggy and Gerald.

Solly also came home with this.

The spelling of his name is just SO cute. He’s terribly sweet, this boy. He and his penguin both have giant eyes, hahaha!

Last thing is a Facebook memory I couldn’t resist sharing 🙂

Little baby Rowan 💜

I would say that Rowan looks the least like his baby pictures of all of the kids, but his little features are just SO beautiful, and SO himself. His lips! His little nose! And ALL that hair!! I love his little old man wrinkles too. Goodness. He was SUCH a sweet little baby 💜

I hope you enjoyed this SUPER low stress, light on the information post! Have a great rest of your day, friends!

I made one of our favorite suppers the other day. Our baked chicken spaghetti. It is loved by almost all. Some kids don’t prefer certain parts of it, but I assure you, everyone lives and no one goes hungry.

I had the plan to make a whole post about my recipe, because its completely delicious and easy, which are two key factors in what I cook/bake/prepare/do in the kitchen. As soon as I took pictures, though, I started to think I already blogged about this before… and I couldn’t be sure. The search I ran didn’t result in any posts, but I still feel like maybe I did 🤔

Sooooo I didn’t make a recipe post. I made the spaghetti over two days, because I got lazy on the first day. I fried up the chicken and mixed the whole sauce together, and then the next day I boiled the noodles and baked it all up. The end.

Aaaaand all I’m left with is this pictures of raw chicken being fried, because that is step one.

Forgive me, because now you won’t be able to unsee it, but ALL I see looking at this are those gummy candies we all ate years ago that had that white bottom layer. Like, the big whales. You know that thick white layer I’m talkjing about. Ya. Thats all I see. Can you imagine these as candies? Ran chicken breast gummies? Gag me. You’re welcome.

Anyway. I don’t want to post stuff twice. But if you want a killer baked chicken spaghetti recipe that isn’t tomato sauce heavy, I’m your girl!

Cher and I closed off February – a very heavy month – with an outing to some happy places for happy errands, and just some general perusing.

We hit Dollarama for some summer stuff, as well as a craft thing or two that I was really needing to finish a project.

We hit Cabelas, just to listen to the waterfall, look at the outdoorsy stuff, and feel like we were at the lake. It was really really relaxing.

We hit Walmart for yarn, as we do.

We hit Michaels for rivets.

On the way to our next house, we saw our bus!!! Hahahaha! Have you seen our bus?

You have now! It was a good giggle.

Then we hit up *gasp* a greenhouse!!! That actually had PLANTS! OUTSIDE!!!

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It was SO refreshing and light walking around the plants, seeing summery things. It was bizarre being in a green house in a parka, but I wasn’t put off AT ALL. Just walking through there felt restful and healing somehow.

We hit up Lawson Mall shortly thereafter for some food court asian, which is pretty much always delicious! I don’t know what it is about it, but it rarely ever disappoints. Naturally, on the way there, we found our faces again 😆

Its pretty funny, I’ve gotta say. The Telemiracle people definitely told us we’d see our faces somewhere or other. They said posters or pamphlets. We did NOT expect to be the face of Telemiracle here in Saskatoon. Its so crazy!

Cher and I grabbed some gas, filled up with coffee, and headed on home. It was a REALLY nice way to break up the day for both of us 💜 Definitely a nice break from home, and it didn’t hurt that the weather was nice today, too!

Now, we’re both back at our respective homes. She has school to do. I have a couple of things to try and work out. I am literal moments away from getting these baskets out the door. I hope I can tell you all about this order really soon. I know there’s been a holdup. It will not always take quite this long to get things out the door. I hope its worth the wait. We’ll know soon!

Have a happy Monday, friends.

I woke up to a gross face. You know what I mean. When there are colds in your house, and you’re already hyper aware about getting sick, and then the weather changes and your mouth is so gross and smutchy and dehydrated and gross some more? I know, I’m really selling it. Well. We’re there. 

As I lay here at 5am, my mind is wandering. 

I wonder if we’ll be given next steps when bradys chemo is over. 

I wonder when we last traded the sheets out on our bed. They are so wrinkled underneath my body. 

I wonder if my most recent, very off putting dream will come true. I really hope not. Though I hope I have as many kids as I saw in my dream.

I’m continually drinking water from the Bethany cup that lives beside my bed. No dice. Still smutchy. 

This is the absolute only time I ever notice the smoke alarm in our bedroom lightly blinks. Huh. 

Brady is sleeping peacefully. I know he’ll tell me I should’ve woken him so I wouldn’t be awake alone, but he’s had enough choppy night recently, so I will be more than fine. 

I’m working hard to keep my brain at bay. I know I’m not supposed to use my phone when I’m trying to sleep but it’s been over an hour now and I choose distracted wakeful time over anxious idle time. 

I’d rather sleep. I would always rather sleep…

Presents are sometimes funny with kids. At least with my kids. They’re pretty possessive at first, and do NOT want to share. Which, really, I can totally understand. When you first pull out a brand new thing and three people sidle up to you, begging to play, demanding a turn, that really sucks. So we have a pretty solid rule that states the kids do not have to share their new stuff for the first day or two. And then we get into turns and whatnot.

For Rowan’s birthday, he got some great stuff. And lo and behold, he hasn’t been afraid to share this time around! In my opinion, this shows some real maturity!

Yesterday, Rowan pulled out his new puzzle and asked that Laela come build it with him. It is definitely within his grasp to build on his own, but he knows Laela loves Dog Man, too. So they shared. And it was awesome.

Rowan also built his new lego set the other day. Its his first, real, grown up lego set. His set can be disassembled and built into a second thing. He had started it the other day, but hadn’t had the time to finish it. This morning, while he and Dekker did the breakfast dishes, Solly brought his new set upstairs and started to pick at it a little.

It was clear that Ro felt a little nervous, but in such a sweet voice, he assured Solly that he would LOVE to build it with him after he was done dishes. He reassured him “I will help you read the instructions, Solly. We can do it together.” It was a really incredible thing to overhear rather than “But its MIIIIIINE!”

When Rowan and Dekker had finished the dishes, Ro went to join Solly with the lego, and saw that Solly had kind of built onto the project wherever he felt so inclined. Rowan kind of sighed, but he rallied easily and figured it was ok. Brady reminded him that lego can always come apart. And he took that and ran with it!

And guys. It worked!

This seems small, but it isn’t. These sibling wins bring such relief to my heart. The kids sharing is a win. The kids playing side by side without grumbling is a win. Solly opening his brain up a bit more and learning how to build with instructions is a win. A sibling teaching him is a win.

So. Many. Wins.

Today feels like a good day for the kids 💜

Well, friends, we did it. We have hit double digits in chemotherapy cycles! Round TEN completed earlier this week. It was, however, overshadowed by Rowan’s birthday stuff, as it should have been. But we’re here to talk about it now!

Chemo is getting rougher. Its noticeably harder on Brady. It makes complete sense. The most of these pills he puts in his body, the sicker its going to get, right? It makes total sense. But it sucks. I’ll explain.

To throw in a super quick recap, Brady takes pills called Temozolomide, or Temodar, depending on the brand, I suppose. They’re the same. His chemo cycle is best (not disrespectfully) described as a menstrual cycle. His cycle is 28 days long, and he takes his chemo for the first five days. He takes his dose of pills in the evening. First, he takes an anti-nauseant (ondansetron) about a half hour before he aims to go to sleep, and then once that’s set in for those thirty minutes, he takes his temozolomide. The dose is dependant on the weight of the patient. He does that for five nights, and then waits out the remaining 23 days. Then onto the next cycle.

The last couple of cycles have been worsening. This last one was particularly hard. He took his first dose on the first evening, and was noticeably draggy in the morning. He has napped twice in the last few days since coming off chemo. He never naps anymore, so this speaks volumes. I know we both hope this part is over soon. He’s not sleeping very well at night, and he does not enjoy needing a nap.

I think chemo also is feeling harder and harder because we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes that just makes it worse somehow. We just want it all to be over. Yet, I was asked just yesterday whats next. And we don’t know! We know he will have a cycle in March and April, and he will have another MRI in June-ish. So maybe after this, we just get to breathe? But we don’t know. So its hard to even think that way.

Brady has not had too many ill effects from his chemotherapy, but whether you have noticed or not, Brady has been losing hair 💔

It hasn’t all fallen out like happens to SO MANY, but it has thinned greatly.

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Chemo tried to take something away from Brady, but little did chemo know that Brady was itching to get a good short fresh look. So instead of chemo taking his hair away, Brady took back short hair. 💜

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Look at them clean lines! 😍

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He is SUCH a happy man!! 💜 He got his hair cut and washed, and even got his beard done. He feels fresh and crispy, and he looks it.

I keep typing “Suck on this, chemo.” And I do feel that way! I refuse to give chemo anything it doesn’t deserve!

Yet, I also want to make it known that I am grateful for chemotherapy. There is a place for it, and facing cancer in his early thirties, I am incredibly grateful there is treatment.

So. Yay chemo. But also, the countdown is on.

Two 👏 more 👏 cycles 👏

The March cycle lies right after our first gig back at Clearcut!! My goodness, we cannot wait to sing together again!! Who wants to come???

The April cycle is oddly marked by the one year mark of Brady coming home 💜 Its funny how trauma carries SO MANY anniversaries. But it does. That will be a crazy time in the brain and heart. That day will come, and the very next day, Brady will start his LAST chemo cycle.

Lord protect us. You have yet to leave us, and we know you never ever will. Keep us strong in YOU. We prayerfully ask for GLORY STRENGTH – the strength that comes directly from You and not our own bodies or even our people. Flesh fails, but You do not.

Praise God for continued healing!! 💜

Yesterday I told you about how Rowan has progressed and grown over the last year. Today I’m going to tell you how he spent his day! I can honestly say he had SUCH a happy day!

In the morning, my mom came and made cinnamon buns with him. I showed you that yesterday 💜 He loved it. His idea.

We spent the morning all together, all nine of us, as it should be. Then at Rowan’s request, he and grandma took off to her house. They had lunch together, and then read books seemingly ALL afternoon. They also made his traditional birthday cake – a candy pizza! Once it was all ready, they came back to join the fam.

Dekker had been invited out for the afternoon, but the party continued! Rowan opened presents, and had SUCH a good time!! He got some candy, a really elaborate fidget toy, lego, a book about robots, a Dog Man puzzle, a hoodie, a stuffed carrot, a mining kit, and some thought out cards. Cher even hung balloons and streamers for him. He LOVED all of his gifts this year.

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Dekker arrived home just in time for supper. Thank goodness Rowan spilled the beans to grandma that he was expecting Pizza Hut! 😳 So we ordered that! Thankfully, the $5 deal is on again! Heyooo!! So we ordered three smoky maple bacon pizzas, and one half and half pepperoni and cheese. If you haven’t had the bacon kind, you should. Its the absolute BEST. White sauce. It does have mushrooms but Brady is anti-mushroom and still chooses it every time! Its THAT good.

After pizza came the other pizza! When we all started singing, he popped out of his chair and hugged me 💜 The entire song, he held me in a hug. Which is really an honour after all the bumps we’ve taken together. It did my heart good.

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For the first time ever, the candy pizza was completely GONE. No leftovers. Which was both impressive and disappointing.

Post supper, with Dekker back, we all opened a present from grandma. Everyone got some little candies in a cute tin and a water gun, to get everyone ready for THE LAKE! Goodness we are all positively chomping at the bit to get there! Aaaaany minute now!! 🤞

I know that Rowan enjoyed his sixth birthday, too.

But I can’t say that I did. Not at all. It was a brutal time.

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I can hardly look at these pictures without choking up. Oh, hey, most difficult time of my life 👋 Close the door on your way out….

This birthday far surpassed the last one.

Times are still not easy, but they are worlds apart better than they were. Thank you, Lord 💜 For our Rowan, and for our family. Being together is the BEST.

The BIGGEST year of our life began right around Rowan’s sixth birthday. Here we are now, a year later, a completely different family! I can vouch also for Rowan, that he is a completely different boy!

I know those of you out there who don’t like my kids shaggy hair are just cringing 😆 You’re going to make it, I promise! You’re not wrong, though. He had a haircut right before his birthday last year aaaaand hasn’t had one since. Its on the list. He’ll get one soon.

Rowan is in grade one, but as a new SEVEN year old, he is one of the oldest kids in his class! He has had some struggly times at school, where they have opened the door up for some counsel, and he learning better about what goes on inside of his body when he gets so angry. I am proud and relieved to say that Rowan is doing so so sooo much better than he was a year ago! He is obedient and calm. He often responds with a respectful, chipper “Yes mom!” even when I’m impatient or snippy. On the occasion where it doesn’t go so smoothly, it is all handled much quicker, and he is always so remorseful.

As of yesterday, we received his blood results, and he is CLEAR for everything!! Praise God!

Some things about Rowan have stayed the same absolutely forever. He still LOVES soft comfort. The blanket I made for him this Christmas is still with him every night, which I did not expect. He always tells me that hugging it feels like a hug from me. He figures ALL my love for him is in the blanket.

Rowan is soft and clear and affectionate to those he loves. He LOVES helping, and LOVES being responsible. He loves when he can meet a need. He loves celebrating and encouraging. He is strong and brave and passionate! I am LOVING who he is becoming!

His birthday breakfast of choice is his grandma’s cinnamon rolls, so thats the name of the game!

I am incredibly proud of you, Rowan Toby.

Keep doing what you’re doing, sweet sir 💜 Press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Jesus Christ!

Seven year ago, you were born. My most peaceful birth experience of my life. You brought much healing to my heart, sweet Rowan! I am SO happy you were born, and I am SO happy you’re part of our family!