I keep a small whiteboard up on our fridge to write on when I need to remember something fast or for reminders for the kids. Things like that. The kids use it to write down the page number of the book they’re reading that they have to put down, or IOUs when we have them. Just, jot notes. You get it. Sometimes it ends up with really random stuff on it, whether its the kids changing messages to say different things, or doodles.
Recently, someone stuck a black and green card up on there, just for fun. No idea where it came from but 🤷♀️ there it was! Along with this message.
Isn’t this the pattern on dads undies?
🤣
Buncha nerds! No, he does not have matching underwear. However…..
Not far off! Hahahaha! I thought that was SUCH a silly thing, but I also thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought others might also.
It started GREAT! We had the privilege of visiting with our little foster dear who left recently. EVERYONE was stoked to have this little one back in the house for a longer visit this time. What a gift! When they left, however, all motivation died on the spot 😅 Dysregulation to the max. You know those days where no one will take an extra second to show kindness. Or be helpful. Or listen. Where everyone is out for themselves and no one will give a shred of extra. I find those days to be incredibly wearing, and you know whats the first thing to go for me? Softness. It is GONE. I have heard so many rude sarcastic quips in the last couple of days, I just want to bite everyones heads off.
Please tell me you know these days.
Anyway. As I sat up until about 2am (which probably doesn’t help with my level of patience) I came across this and felt it sooooo good.
I always aim to throw my best at each day, and that doesn’t change on days where we’re all tired or dysregulated or stuck adjusting to school starting, an unceremonious exit from camp, or the grey weather. But maybe we keep our standards a bit more realistic. LOTS of things can wait. On a day like today, we truly don’t have a whole lot we have to do. So why push and push and push if clearly everyone around us just needs to rest their brains, settle their hearts, and let their shoulders drop down?
So we’ll sip coffee in the living room. Crochet another cardigan. And listen to the playlist I crafted specifically for our drives to and from camp this summer. Here’s our favorite this season. Its a fun one.
Have a lovely day, friends. Open a window so you can smell the rain. And if you’re reading this from Kinasao, go have a fire in our site and send a picture. I can imagine our fire pit is lonely without us 🔥 We’re lonely without it, too.
I have completed, washed, and introduced my first fall project for the season! And I LOVE it!!!
Loooooooook! 😍
It looks all mushy and weird in this picture but let me tell you – it is SO cozy in person. So fall. So soft and squishy. Frankly, no one wants a super structured cardigan anyway. Its not a blazer. Its a cardi. A comfy slouchy snuggle up on the couch cardi.
Don’t mind me already tucked in over here, making another one 🥰 If you’re looking for me, follow the yarn clippings. ✄
I wish there was actually a real market for cute crocheted items that aren’t stuffed toys. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE those! They’re just not what I make. Meanwhile for blankets, I’ve been ghosted by people who have asked me pricing when I have offered something to them for literally only the cost of yarn. It would be really fun of crocheting could make me money, but it doesn’t, and that deter me from doing it still! I LOVE crocheting. Its such a beautiful way to cope and have peace and rest. You should probably try it sometime.
Gonna put this away and get into that yet again! 🧶
I’ve griped about my age for a while now. I finally came to the conclusion that I don’t actually hate being as old as I am, but this particular decade just hasn’t been gentle 😅 Two straight years of miscarriages took us straight into covid, which was the summer where Brady’s first tumour started to rear its ugly head. Yikes, guys. Yikes.
This year in particular, I hit 38. I don’t like that 8 in there. Its awfully close to the 9 that comes right before the next milestone – 40. Whew! Don’t look TOO far ahead, I know, but I’ve been feeling quite old, as in worn, lately.
Yesterday, Cher and I were talking about our ages. She is 36 and I’m 38. And we came to the conclusion that she is in her late mid-thirties, and I’m in my early late-thirties 🤣 What denial?
Aaaaanyway, you’re welcome for the new way to count your age out. Courtesy of these two who clearly still got it, even in their late mids and early lates 😎
I haven’t driven in the city much lately. Or anywhere. But today, one of our little ones had a visit in Saskatoon so in we went!
I was ready. I brought crocheting, just in case I ended up sitting still for a while. But I had a couple of errands to run as well and those needed to come first. I had two hours between drop off and pick up to do my things, which was definitely manageable.
I decided I felt a little bit ambitious and went a little further into the city than I had originally planned, which again, was totally manageable, but it left me in the THICK of rush hour, which I hadn’t really considered. Circle was just deadlocked for a pretty good stretch of time.
So for the first time ever, I crocheted in traffic 😂
Hopefully this post doesn’t get me arrested 😬
I promise I barely got further than this because I was being SO careful! But I did kind of giggle at myself. I felt like an old old lady, can’t leave the house without her hook, always a project on the go when she’s on the go. You know. An on the go on the go project.
It happened! School has arrived, and the kids are in it!! Time for newfound routine. Time for less time in close proximity and therefore less fighting. Time for socializing with new friends, and growing in all kinds of ways.
Roll call!
Dekker is in grade…
TEN!
Laela (who clearly felt self conscious in front of her friend this morning) is in grade…
EIGHT!
Rowan is in grade…
SIX! (Apparently the tongue counts as one)
Solly is in grade…
FIVE!
And Wavy is in grade…
THREE!
Everyone is aging so fast (myself included) and while parts of me ache for younger years, the bigger part of me is positively loving watching them grow and change and become older versions of themselves. They are aging like good cheese – a little stinky, perhaps, but bringing a richness that I had no idea we lacked until it showed up.
I love you goofy kids SO very much 💜 Happy first day!
Today is the LAST day of summer holidays before school kicks off again! While I’m not specifically twitchy to get rid of the kids or anything, I am indeed ready for school to start. This last half of summer has not felt summery, and rather than going back and forth to the lake, everyone has opted for sitting at home and fighting 😅 Ok not exclusively. And people have absolutely showed up for our family, taking kids for the day here and there, to parks, to their homes, or adventures, out for treats, etc. Our summer hasn’t suffered completely. We are NOT victims, lol! Its just been a different kind of summer. More struggly than usual. So. With that, we’re ready for the next season to kick into gear!
Kids are all showered and bathed. The kitchen got tidied up good and proper. I prepped lunch things for a good hour or two. Crackers are in little ziploc bags, as are handfuls of celery sticks, baby carrots, little tomatoes, trail mix, etc. I restocked granola bars, cheese strings, pepperoni sticks, and I even got a few packs of fruit snacks kicking around. I stocked one more little drawer of dairy free yummies in case our dairy free lovey comes back for a visit.
Kids have new water bottles. Lunch kits are wiped out. Backpacks are full of supplies. VV school shoes are all ready for action.
So with all the work being done in the morning, we put babies down for naps, and rented the newest minion movie.
My personal favorite part with the subtitles in the beginning when the magic started to happen…
Who doesn’t love some magical tinkling??
I finished up a baby gift I’ve been crocheting, and now as the afternoon is winding down, I can hear my kids and some of the neighbours playing in our backyard. Except the one kid thats in the tub and one kid that is finishing up a home project. Brady is napping, and supper will be delivered soon.
Goodness. What more could we possibly ask for??? We have it SO good, and sometimes that is just overwhelming 💜 But in the most beautiful way. Thank you, Lord, for ALL the gifts you give us!!!
I started a new puzzle today. It’s a picture of italian food. I was working on it when Brady asked me for help with something, so I abandoned it for a minute and went to him. When I was done helping Brady, I said I was going to go back to the island and work on the puzzle a bit. I tried to tell him that I was working on the pizza crust in the picture. But being that it was a puzzle, it didn’t quite come out right.
I called it the pizza border.
Because puzzle borders, right?
From here on out, courtesy of Brady, the border will be known as the puzzle crust 🙌 You’re welcome.
Every day is worth something. Every day is something to be grateful for.
Today, I had a coffee with Brady in the living room, from a mug my sister gave me, with a blanket my best friend gave me. In fact, I had two coffees with Brady.
It was comfy and homey and full of love. Brady has been so tired as of late, we haven’t gotten to spend as much time together. But today, we did, and it was such a treat.
During nap time, Brady went down for a rest, and I did a puzzle on the island, which is definitely not on the priority list, but it makes me happy and feels peaceful, and the kids tend to come join, visit, and quietly work at it. Its a huge morale boost around here to have a puzzle going.
With the restful morning, afternoon, and an outing in the evening, I haven’t blogged. I also haven’t really accomplished anything beyond finishing the puzzle 😅 But it was a really nice way to spend the day. I also can’t fully explain it, but having our dear one who left last week come spend some time here yesterday brought so much peace back to our home. I’ve felt lighter since that visit. I truly hope there are more to come. Still riding that high.
The day has wound down. I just want to hang with Brady. The border for the next puzzle will have to wait for tomorrow.
