The Daily Hailey

I was going to blog about camping food, and as I sat down to write the post, I realized I made a post about the same subject very recently 🤣 But alas, here we are again. Can you tell I really wish we were camping?

I made this thing again.

This time around, it was potatoes, carrots, corn, mushrooms, and I added some bacon in at the end that I had cooked earlier. Threw a little bit of The Blend seasoning in and called it a day. It was delicious, and very reminiscent of potato packs that we make at the lake. This wasn’t cooked on a grate overtop of a fire, or in a BBQ, but in a big fat pan isn’t half bad, either.

We indeed are going to head up to Kinasao tomorrow. I know thats ballsy, and it won’t be as fun as it would’ve been if weather had cooperated. But I think we need a set up day before we come to stay, so one way or another, we need to make it happen! And that will have to be tomorrow! 💪

Priorities:

Move the lift to its spot by the camper door
Install hot water heater
Get golf cart batteries in place
Unpack aaaaall the things we brought into the camper
Bonus points for wiping out the mess we left in the fridge last summer and getting the beds made!

We might be able to get on the road a little bit earlier than usual this coming Friday, so if we don’t get everything done, we should have a couple of extra hours, but we just need a bit more time than that.

Pray we all sleep tonight! 🥱

Last night, as we got the babies diapered for the night, Spoons looked out the window and said something along the lines of “goin’ camping.”

Me: Yes! We’ll go camping in a couple of days.
Spoons: *concern* Walk to camp. Now.
Me: Sorry, not yet. But soon!
Spoons: Campin’ soon, ya. Kay.

I’m with you, Spoons. However, I am with you not at camp, and thats for a reason.

Ya. Nope. Yup. I don’t even know what to say about that. Anyway.

Today we got some house work done. We got things tidied. Dishes caught up. Some of the kids took the babies downstairs for the bulk of the morning so I could work on some big spread out work upstairs. I’ll show you more about that another day. I did a BIG overhaul on my yarn cabinets. Like. YUGE. SO much will be donated to the Fibrary here in town so I’ll let you know when thats gone down!

I very literally put in hours on it today, and while things are not done, I have sorted out what to donate and what to keep, and things are roughly where they will go in the cabinets, but they’re not tidy and they have long tails that need tucking. But now I know what I have. ALL my yarn is in one spot. I can see it all. No more buying something I already have by accident, or having totally different colours stuffed behind other things that make no sense. It ALL makes sense now.

However, the highlight of the day for me was Laela pulling out my first volume of my blog books 💜 Its been a long time since I did them, but it was such a fun project, and I have kind of anticipated the kids wanting to crack into them. She read a few posts aloud before putting it back on the shelf and getting some lunch going. It was fun, though, to hear her read my writings and to hear the kids respond. I don’t know. It was oddly nerve wracking, but also I loved it.

I need the rest of the kids to have baths/showers, but other than that, I think the “have to’s” are done for today.

Instead of camping, we did work in the house. Yarn stuff. Laundry. The entrance closet. A bit of garage tidying. Ordered groceries. It feels good to be productive. But even more so, I am really looking forward to being productive at camp.

Me and you, Spoons. Though, realistically, you won’t help 🤣

They’re different…

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!

Dekker here 👋

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.

Also.

🤮

Gross, man. Gross.

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 💜

Another day to be grateful for 💜

Coffee and the morning with Cher. We haven’t had that in a while. It was super nice.

I added things to our packing/set up list for camping this weekend, and I ordered groceries.

I had a social worker meeting that was both heavy and informative. Goodness this job is hard.

I fried eggs for lunch.

I crocheted a bit on the blanket I’m making for the camp auction, and I got the final design how I want it! I think… 😬

Kids came home from school, except the one that went to a friends house.

I took Rowan back to the eye doctor to get a prescription for drops for his newly acquired infection 😩

We drove back to town, filled the prescription, and went home in time to get supper going.

Kids biked outside.

Kids delivered papers.

Aaaaand all thats left is going for a walk with someone I’ve never met before to talk fostering.

Oh and then I’ll eat! Heyooo! Good thing I remembered to eat lunch today! 😅

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.

Happy Mothers Day 💜

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!