The plan we had was excusing the kids from school today and heading to Kinasao this morning 💜 Setting everything up through the day with a fire crackling in our site. Getting things clean and freshened up as we shivered together with our friends in our favorite place.
Unfortunately, that is no longer our plan :/ The camp sent out an email earlier this week saying they can’t safely turn the water on yet. Which makes complete sense, but also totally sucks.
So, the plan we have is going tomorrow 💜 Just for the day. We’re going to bring as much as we can possibly fit into the van in terms of tools, bedding, cleaning supplies, and everything that we could save for next weekend. Why not now, right?? Just work we won’t have to do next week. How amazing would that be to go back to our camper for our first full weekend and have it all ready? Also, inevitably, there will be things we forget or have to change, and the more we do now, the less we’ll have to remember and organize next week. Just because some things could be left, if we can, why wouldn’t we?
The kids will come home after school and we’re going to finish up what we can, all the way down to loading the van. And if it can go smoothly and everyone contributes and does their best, hopefully we can have a fun wind down evening as a family.
Thats the goal. Work hard tonight, and get our butts to camp tomorrow for a rip roaring first day!
Yesterday I came home from youth and told my mom a story about it. She thought it was really funny and wanted me to blog about it. So here goes.
So yesterday, we did “Ew, Gross” for our game. One of the challenges was drinking a Happy Meal. Basically, Carc took everything from a happy meal and put it into a blender. A coke, burger, fries, and a yogurt tube. Not the toy. And then just blended it up into a drink!
There were four team, and each team picked a player. I was chosen because I had already done this challenge in the other youth group, and was the only person on my team who was semi-willing to do it.
Carc had pre-mixed three of these drinks, so they were already ready when the game came up. So they just mixed the last one and handed them out. The refrigerated ones were like jelly, and when you flipped the cup upside down, it wouldn’t come out, DQ blizzard styles. Sick, hey? Naturally, I ended up with one of those ones.
So I took the cup and turned it to drink out of it, but nothing came out. So I took a knife to it, cut it up, and tried to drink it again. It still didn’t become liquid. So I asked someone else there for a glass of water, and poured some into it to water it down. I ended up with the top layer being softened, and drank that layer. And then I would cut up the next layer, water it down, and drink it. Five ish layers. By the end of it, the water had soaked down to the bottom, so the last layer was so soupy, I didn’t even have to cut it up.
This was a competition. The four teams were racing to see who could drink it the fastest. A few people threw up. I did not throw it up, and I won!! I got a pack of skittles, and the whole team got brownies.
I felt really good about this. I’m a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Ok, so its Hailey here now, and I have to say, this kid was SO stoked to tell me this story 🤣 Never ever would I have thought Dekker would be my kid drinking happy meals at youth. EVER. Its such a fun side of him to see come out. He is pretty level and stoic sometimes, but he is also rambunctious, just in a different, less stereotypical way.
Wavy stayed home sick today. It was a very low key day by design already, so she sat on her big stuffed llama and read for most of the morning. Around 2:30, she was visibly tearing up, and saying she was tired. But she did NOT want to go to sleep. So I casually suggested she read in her bed. Not sleep, but read. So naturally, she fell asleep. Perfect.
Laela came home a little early and went to her last piano lesson of the season 💜 She came home with a prize – a mini Jenga! She came in, put her books down, and said she wanted to play with Wave.
I love when she wants to play with Wave!! It is not always the case, as it goes with aging and siblings.
She trucked downstairs and found her sister sleeping. She was understanding, came back upstairs, and asked to go play outside with the neighbour kids. Out she went.
When Wavy surfaced, she sat on the couch and watched everyone playing outside. She didn’t ask to join, but she was definitely sad. And then Laela caught a glimpse of her and came running in! She was SO excited to play with Wavy!
It was a slow motion version, for sure, but Laela was so happy to have her sister to play with, and Wavy was so happy to be asked 💜
Laela: Bro, its sooooo leaning!
This felt like a nice sister thing. I loved it. I know sisters tend to go through stages, and sometimes they really dislike each other and sometimes they can be best friends. I really hope they can be best friends someday 💜
After a pretty rough night, I felt pretty crusty today. Tired. Low. All of those less desirable feelings. And do you know what sucks about feeling that way? Your family still has to eat! 🙄 I know. Ridiculous. And on a day where I just would’ve preferred to be a slacker.
Ok so I still was a slacker. Totally. But a slacker who still made sure everyone ate supper. Hear me out, though, it ended up being good!
Someone brought over some groceries for us the other day. Just as a gift. Just because of love. Which is crazy, by the way. Included in the groceries was a bag of these HUGE kaiser buns, all soft and fresh and bonkers delicious. We ate some on Saturday, and I grabbed the rest for supper today. Also from these same people, I cracked out a few packs of sandwich meat as well. I went to slice cheese but had some that I had shredded for a meal recently that was leftover. That worked. Plus basic sandwich stuff. Mayo, mustard, etc. So. Sandwiches.
We had tacos a couple of days ago and there were lots of veggies left. So, some lettuce for sandwiches and the rest in a big bowl with everything else. Boom. Salad.
Aaaaand a cantaloupe that I was hiding in the fridge because it was ready before I was. The whole fridge smelled amazing. It was time. Today was the day.
So my crappy slacker meal turned into a delicious meal of yummy summertime camping food. It wasn’t the perfect day for it, I suppose, considering that meal really should be eaten in the sun and today was overcast. But I am not nitpicking. It worked out. Everyone got lots of delicious good food, and I barely had to do any work.
Win. All around. I can’t wait to eat so many more meals like this around a campfire. 🔥
My mom isn’t home this Mothers Day. I always love spending the day with her, but this year, someone else gets to. I guess thats ok 🤣 I tease. Its not. I tease again. Anyway.
I love being a mom. I knew from very young that I wanted to be a stay at home mom like mine. And my prayers were answered with a hefty yes. For that, and for her example, I am so grateful.
My mom and I do not mom 100% the same. Not so terribly differently, either, but a little bit. And she never makes me feel like I’m doing it wrong, or she knows better, or like I’m in adequate. While I greatly value her opinion and her experiences, and sometimes I WISH she would offer me some more input, she really makes it known that she trusts me. Which feels pretty precious to me.
I miss you, mom! I hope you are feeling so well loved and celebrated today, because you are loved, and worthy of celebration! 🥳
Meanwhile, I praise the Lord for giving me the opportunity to raise children. Whether they’ve been with us forever or for a time, I have so loved each and every child that has come into our family over the years. Being a mom is truly a dream come through, even on the hardest of days, and it is not lost on me what a privilege it is to have children to call my own. I know how many people ache for children, or how many ache to care for their who cannot. There are so many complicated dynamics to being a mother, its hard to write about it.
But. I am incredibly grateful for my mom. And I am incredibly grateful for the kids who made me a mom.
Maybe I’ve mentioned it before. I love garage sale day. SO. MUCH. Its truly one of my favorite days of the year. Also track day. I can’t really pinpoint exactly why, but I think it has to do with the moseying through town, outside, chatting with people you pretty much only see on garage sale day.
Also the donuts.
We had a pretty winning type of day, meaning that we didn’t buy too much! I really don’t want more stuff, but we picked up a couple of good kids books, those bristle building blocks, and another high chair for the lake.
A few of us also picked up some sun, which was a total necessity. I am SO grateful! And I will keep reminding myself of that every time I scratch the hop of my back and feel that sting.
We ate a premade supper that we pulled out of the freezer yesterday, and added a bag of huge delicious buns given to us by friends. Completely easy and delicious. And then we headed out to watch the three piano kids play in their spring recital. Only one more lesson left 💜 Things are wrapping for summer.
It was a big day, but a really nice one. I am really anticipating going to bed soon, but I am incredibly grateful for the day today. Thank you, Lord, for all these beautiful things You give us and the people You surround us with.
Have you heard people say that some of the biggest triggers for depression are noise and clutter? Well. Can confirm they definitely add to the challenge 😅 I find noise and clutter both terribly overstimulating. Yet, I chose my life that I truly love and I have no regrets. Some days, I just laugh at how loud and cluttered it is. This morning, I find myself there.
With my supper prep, I was browning ground beef on the stove. Because our ventilation in this house is not great, we have to put the hood fan on for evvvvverything, even down to boiling water. No, I’m not kidding. So our fan was pumping, and because our stove is big, the fan is also big. And loud.
Meanwhile, Wavy is lovingly vacuuming the Cheerios off the floor from under Munchie Mix, who is particularly vocal this morning.
Aaaaand Solly is practicing piano, which he honestly LOVES doing, and has opted to do two practices one after the other, which equals forty minutes. And they are not quiet minutes 😅 Not. Even. Sort of.
I was able to laugh and finish up at the stove. As soon as the meat was brown, I turned the stove and fan off. Whew! Vacuuming is done and Munchie was released. Solly’s timer went off, but he continues to play 😂
Once he’s done, its Wavys turn! And hopefully time to get a bit more milk into Munchie.
If we can do ALL the noisy stuff now, we’ll have a nice peaceful napternoon, and then company for supper!
My laptop just slipped off the arm of the couch and in trying to save it, I inadvertently titled the blog. So there you have it.
Normally, I might’ve called it High School Track 2026, but here we are, calling it s4edr instead.
Anywho, today was the high school track meet! I skipped Laela’s first event because it was at 9:00, and made it to the school for Dekker’s first event at 10:45. We spent the whole school day outside at the track eating our body weight in apples, cucumbers, and candy bags. By the end of things, we had surpassed the loud chunk of fatigue and had passed into the zonked, glazed stage. Dekker asked to take the stroller through a loop of the school just to warm everyone up before the walk home. We did that, came home, diapered and jammied the three, and put them down for naps. I am now sufficiently wiped out, so here I sit, blogging with my feet up.
Dekker mostly worked the school concession today, which counted as an event or two! Besides that, he ran the 400 and 800.
Goodness he is looking SO much older these days!
Laela ran her 3000 yesterday, and then today she did long jump, triple jump, and ran the 1500.
Look at her leg muscles!!! She’s bonkers strong!
The kids worked hard and are nice and tired now. Though I can’t help but think the wind wiped them out even more than the activity! And rightfully so!
It was a good day. A tiring day, but a good one. I always love track day. It doesn’t hurt that I had a little one eating grass beside me while we waited, or that the stroller wagon got recklessly ripped around on the field, erupting with laughter. I loved it.
It has been a really big week. I make a point not to focus on the bad, but I fear I’ve been a bit of a downer as of late.
On Monday, I posted my discouragement regarding the van and the total lack of support from the supposed mobility specialists in the city. As the next day came around, we were approached by some very loving friends of ours who want to try and help us find a creative way to make our van work smoother for Brady. I won’t go into any details yet, but there is hope, and we are so grateful to have them in our corner.
On Tuesday, I whined a bit about my own misunderstanding of the clean up week expectations. I had such hope for getting rid of a bunch of household garbage. That same day, someone reached out to me with an offer to help, and opened a door for us to be able to get rid of some of it. Again, SO grateful. What could I possibly complain about? We are SO fortunate 💜
Today has been very full, but also really nice!
Coffee with Cher while she did my hair for a bit in the morning before the day truly began.
One of my toddlers ASKED to sit on the potty 🥹 Which is a huge first!
I chatted with my neighbour across the street a little bit before I took the three babes to the high school to watch Laela run the 3000m. I had this cute idea to take a picture of her at every lap and then tease her later, showing her how she went from energetic to totally dragging. But the girl was a CHAMP.
Smiling at EVERY LAP!!!! Isn’t she nuts?! Fifteen laps, smiling all along!
I didn’t get a picture of her crossing the finish line, because her class does this one beautiful thing…
They surrounded the last couple of kids running and finished the race alongside them 💜 Which is annoying for a photographer but a dream for a mom. Likely, for her, also.
As soon as the race was over, the babes and I booked it home. I got some lunch gathered up, packed a big diaper bag, and got everyone into the van. Rowan, Solly, and Wavy were home shortly after I was, and we all loaded up to drive to the eye doctor. Laela went in February thanks to broken glasses, and Dekker will go next week, because he had drivers ed today and he can’t miss it. But for the rest of them, and Brady, it was time for a checkup!
It was a whirlwind! Having all three little ones checked during their nap time slot was not ideal 🤣 But we made it through!! The stats go like this.
Rowan’s prescription stays the same, but he gets new glasses.
Solly’s prescription changes a little and he also needs new glasses. His eyes have always been quite equal, but this time one performed quite different from the other. So, just for funsies, we’re going to try a little patching and see if it makes a difference.
No glasses for Wavy, but we are watching what looks like some nearsightedness setting in.
Spoons gets glasses!!!!!
No glasses for LD, but we have already been patching and doing some exercises.
No glasses for Munchie Mix, but we are thinking they’re coming.
Bradys prescription changed about a year ago so we updated his contacts but didn’t bother getting new glasses. Today he chose new glasses with his current prescription.
I didn’t have an appointment today, but Brady and I are only covered for every two years and my vision is fine. Brady did go last year, but his vision does continue to change thanks to cancer treatment. Nothing crazy, but enough that he can tell. So we get him there as needed.
Aaaaanyway! We got home and things got REALLY loud, being that none of the babes napped and they had all been contained since before noon in either a strolled, a car seat, or on a lap. Thank goodness I had the forethought to pull out a freezer meal last night!!
Now, my feet are spasming and I’m taking a little rest. I am BUSHED!
As I said. A full day, but there was lots of good. SO much good this week, even in the areas that felt bad. They all turned out, as it so often does 💜 What have we done to deserve such a beautiful life?! Praise You, Lord, for You ALWAYS take care of us!
Now we just hope and pray that the babies go down EASY. Tomorrow is another day out and about! 😅
