Today is Rowan’s first day of kindergarten!

And now, there are three.

We walked as a family to take Rowan to his first day of school. He had told me earlier that he was excited, but also a little shy and nervous. A few times over breakfast, he said quietly “I’m not sure if I want to go.” But he was stoked to get ready and go, so I hoped for the best.

Dekker and Laela walked with us to Rowan’s drop off spot, as it’ll be their responsibility to get him to and from soon enough, and then they took off for their own rooms. I actually didn’t love how that went, because Rowan immediately got shy and shoved his face into my body and leaned it hard, and I didn’t really get to say goodbye to the big kids because Rowan was basically knocking me over.

It was hard dropping Rowan off. He is not a shy guy. I dont know whether he was actually truly shy for his first time ever, or if he was wanting attention, or a healthy mix of both, but he wasn’t having it. He stuffed his face into my stomach and under my jacket, and wouldn’t even try to talk to the teachers or other kids. I was flustered, but I reminded myself that this is not the first time a kid has been apprehensive to get dropped off at school, so I took my time.

By “took my time,” I mean I took Rowan’s time, and that time was forever. Haha! He was SO grouchy and nervous, and refused to consider his options. Meanwhile, Solly blew past any and all borders, and went over to the sand pit, played toys with the other kids, and made friends with one of the teachers. She seemed pretty enamoured with him, actually 🙂 It was cute. I convinced Rowan out of his backpack and into the sectioned off area for the kindergarten students. I finally got his head removed from my squishy tummy and got his hand in a death grip rather. Progress. There was a big sand area set up, where special things were hidden in the sand to find. A little ways the other direction were some trucks, and a stack of big sticks that had been built into a cave.

Sand or sticks. That was the question. And Rowan would not decide. I finally came up with what I thought was the golden ticket. I offered for him to just go sit beside one of his teachers. He didn’t have to talk or even play right away. He could just go sit by an adult who I knew would help him settle in. But nah. He wouldn’t have that either.

I worked SO HARD to be gentle and slow with him, but it was becoming fruitless, where he wasn’t even really trying. He was just being stubborn. So I kept it soft, but I was blunt.

“Rowan, the bell rang a while ago. School has started. I don’t want to rush you, but we need to leave. You need to choose. Sand or sticks.”

Complete silence. No response. Brows.

“I think the sticks and trucks are more your game. I think you should start over there.”

Nothing. No response. So we sat for a minute. And finally, he says:

“I don’t think there are even any trucks for me.”

I glanced over at the group of little boys by the sticks, and I saw a little pile of untouched trucks, free for the taking! I pointed to them, and he willingly walked over with me. It turned into a short jog, he grabbed the one he wanted, and flew onto the ground, driving it madly around himself. It was clear to me in that moment that he had chosen to be brave and dive in!

I visibly deflated, for the benefit of the adults paying attention to Rowan, and we shared a little laugh. The principal cheered “Perseverance!” Lol! We had done it!! HE had!

From there, he was ok 🙂 He totally happily wore his mask, and I gave him a smooch through it before I left. I kept an eye on him as we rounded the corner to go home, but he wasn’t even looking. VICTORY!!!

I waited all day for a call from the school, but none came. We went as a family to go retrieve him, and were greeted with the perfect news that Rowan had an excellent first day!

He liked playing outside, made some new friends, and got acquainted with his teachers. He had absolutely nothing bad to say!

Of course, the moment we arrived, he was brutally shy of his teachers, but that makes sense to me 🙂 I am SO relieved he had a good day!! GIGANTIC thanks to his teachers for showering him with love and reassurance!

Thank you, Lord, for covering my children, and helping them get through hard things!!

I am SO relived.

The kids, Brady, and I picked up Dekker and Laela after their first day of school. Again, my heart was gutted to not go in and receive them myself, reconnect with their teachers, etc. But I waited outside like I was supposed to, and sure enough, out they came! I didn’t take pictures because I was a little overcome.

Laela was out first, and I attacked her with hugs! I took her mask off her face and smooched her good and proper. She giggled and took my harassment as the love that it was. She was SO happy, and I was SO relieved. She told me she liked her teacher and her classroom and the kids around her. (She only met one of her two teachers today, but she knows them a bit from when Dekker had them in grade two, and she feels totally comfortable with them both. As you’ve probably put together, Laela is not mandated to wear masks, but in solidarity with Dekker, I asked her to wear one and see how it went. She surprised me by saying she easily, happily wore her mask all day long with ZERO issue. I was SO impressed! When I asked her if it bothered her at all, she kind of widened her eyes and shrugged at me, like it was preposterous. Lol! I secretly loved it, even though there was some snark mixed in there. I was SO happy.

As we were greeting Laela, Dekker surfaced. I went for him, too, pulled his mask off and smooched him a bunch. He was SO much happier this afternoon than he seemed this morning. He was really happy, and he said he had a really nice first day back! He was happy to be back with the same teacher from last year (She taught a split last year, and now is teaching his grade, so win!) and to see his friends that he was really hoping were in his class. When I asked him about the mask, he told me very clearly that it had been absolutely no problem. Hadn’t bothered him at all. Again. SO relieved!

I could’ve cried at pickup, but I resisted, lol! Sometimes, I just get SO overwhelmed by how proud of my kids I feel, and then I almost feel guilty that it surprises me how well they do. They are beautiful children, in the face and in the heart. I am SO thrilled with how their first day went.

To my teacher friends, I see you, and I thank you. Not only are the students and parents feeling so uncertain, but I know you are, too. None of us know whats to come, but in the daytime, it is on your shoulders to reassure and comfort our children, and that is a tough gig. You are appreciated out the wazoo, more than ever before. I say again, I see you, and I thank you. So do my children.

I don’t usually feel particularly emotional on the first day of school. I am SO excited for school this year, and not because I’m tired of having my kids around me. I am so happy for them, because they miss school and their people! I miss the routine and the regulating that comes with school. I miss the brain stimulation and the exposure to new people and new things. There are obvious things I do not look forward to this year, but I’m awaiting the routine, however that may look.

These kids insist they aren’t nervous of anything going into this year!

They were excited and ready!

Drop off was such a mix of emotions for me this year. More than ever before. I wasn’t nervous about them not doing well, being homesick, not knowing their way around, etc. I was nervous about the lack of certainty. I’ve been preparing the kids for a while now about the changes at school. And by “preparing,” I mean I’m telling them there will be lots of change and none of us really know how it’ll look. Not me, not them, and not even the teachers. We can still trust the teachers to guide and direct them, but I’ve told the kids a number of times that when they are starting to feel upset and worried, probably most people around them are feeling the same.

Today, we dropped the kids off as a family. We went to Dekker’s door first. Teachers were at the doors, receiving the kids lovingly and warmly, making connections and trying to bring comfort. But did my heart ever break when I helped Dekker put his mask on. He is so game to wear it, he’s assured me. And frankly, he has to. He’s old enough that its mandated in his grade. And I’m fine with that! But the moment I put his mask on him, I could tell he was worried.

I had to convince him to hug me, he was so rattled. And he is a smushy mushy affectionate boy, public or not. It wasn’t about that. It was like he suddenly didn’t know where he was. It was so hard for my heart to see.

Laela’s drop off was honestly about the same. She gave all of us hugs, and she was visibly excited. She had expressed to me she wished we could walk her in but thats just not the case this year. I helped her get her mask on, and again, her enthusiasm was gone instantly. It was SO sad to see. She stood in her spaced out line and was warmly greeted by a teacher I didn’t actually recognize. She was called in, and that was that.

Ugh.

If you aren’t already, please pray for our/your/all the children going to school. I don’t want to raise my children in a world where they’re not supposed to hug their friends. I don’t want them muffled. I don’t want any of this!

But as we say often, sometimes we do hard things.

My goodness, I love these little ones. My heart is both full and broken.

Lord, watch over them.

If you’ve been around us, or looked closely at all, you may have noticed something sad happened. Our beautiful littlest child has traded in her shockingly beautiful blonde locks for the “Joe Exotic.” She has a full blown mullet, and I’m somewhat brokenhearted. Ok, I’m a lot brokenhearted. 

Before all of this…

And now.

In the recent weeks, Wavy seemed to grow bangs. We didn’t think a lot of it, honestly. On one hand, she’s still growing fresh crops of hair under her already thick mop. And on another hand, she has easily been the MOST sensitive to bug bites of all of our children, and I viewed some head scratching as an allergic reaction/irritation. She probably broke a lot of hairs in that time, I figured. 

But more recently, she began pulling hair out by the handful. I started to put it up in a ponytail to deter her from playing with it. Yet she still managed to get handfuls out. She would hand them to me on and off. I’d say “Oh no, Wavy, don’t pull your hair out!” And she’d happily say “Okay!” and go about her day. But the day I went to her bed to fluff her blanket and found SEVEN hairballs, I freaked out. I scheduled a phone appointment with our doctor and I did some research. 

I reached out on a Facebook group for large families, thinking they might have tips. Those women have seen it all! I was surprised that, while it seems the majority of those women don’t care for western medicine, most of them who responded said she needs to see a doctor.

A couple suggested a fungal infection. Waverly’s scalp looked perfect, but I figured I’d treat it with coconut oil in the meantime, like I have with fungal/yeast rashes. It was then that I really took her hair down to oil her scalp that I saw how bad the hair loss was. 

It was awful. Felt like a buzz cut in places. I was SO upset. My phone appointment was a week down the road, but my mom had one the next day, and she lovingly offered to trade appointments with us. Thank you LORD for giving us the same doctor!! 

When Dr. Guselle called, I could’ve cried. I was SO relieved to talk to her about it. But I’ll admit, that appointment weighed hard on me. My mama heart just aches. I choked back my tears as I told her Wavy basically had given herself a skullet. She asked what a skullet was, and I laughed at her, as our references almost never line up. I described it, and she said “Ooooh, I’ve always called that the Friar Tuck.” It was JUST the laugh I needed! So now and forever, a skullet WILL be called the Friar Tuck. Take note.

Its really nothing big or bad. Here’s what we think. 

Do you remember recently when Wavy had a really bad rash? I kept it to myself for a while, until it was under control, but I’ll share pictures now. 

Here’s the craziest one. Rash number one…

Rash number twooooo…

And rash number three.

All three rashes at once, because why not, right?

We worked HARD to keep her comfortable, but she was miserable.

No amount of over the counter meds and lotion and baths could help her. Poor articulate Wavy would approach us, scratching her feet, crying, saying “Itchy. Lotion. Medicine. Feet. Hands. Helping me?” It was horrible. The belly rash passed with time, but her hands and feet would NOT let up. She was scratching her body, and her hands were in NO shape to be spreading whatever they had going on. So we made the bold move to put her on a STRONG steroid, Prednisone, as well as a steroid cream. On top of that, she still needed Benadryl, and all of those things together just kept her itching at bay. That being said, four days on all of that and her rash was gone. But MAN! What an ordeal. And we never found out what she had. No one else caught it. It was something we were glad to see go. 

Dr Guselle believes that the timeline of the crazy virus, and now the hair loss, is no coincidence. She thinks Wavy’s body was SO stressed in its illness that her hair is now falling out. As adults, we know sometimes that happens after a high-stress or traumatic event or illness. It often comes 2-3 months after the fact. She said this seems a little bit early, but the 2-3 month timeline is just a guideline. Wavy has always played with her hair, and it makes a lot of sense that it pulls out easier now. Unfortunately, its just something that is going to happen until her body sorts itself out again. Like the postpartum shed. 

All of this being said, Waverly has an in-person follow up appointment down the road to look for improvement, and she has a referral in for a dermatologist. The derm referral will get cancelled if it all sorts itself out, but it takes months to get in, so Dr Guselle figured she’d get ahead of the game and send it now. 

I feel a little nervous sharing this kind of thing because I don’t really want a bunch of opinions. And I don’t mean that in a rude way! When I shared it on that one Facebook group, I was given lots of things to look into. I did my research, and I spoke to my doctor about ALL of them. They were ALL eliminated for reasons that make sense to me. If you have firsthand knowledge, I’d LOVE to know about it!! But if you’re going to just comment “covid,” I’m going to roll my eyes. Lol! You’ve been warned. 

My sweet little Wavy may look like Joe Exotic these days, but she’s a LOT sweeter. Don’t let her new ‘do fool you!

How many times have we heard it said, or wait ourselves, that we just want normal back? I, for one, have said it a lot! I still feel it to some degree, but my view of normal has definitely changed. 

More than “normal,” I want routine and consistency. Predictability, even, if that’s not too much to ask for? 

I want my kids to go to school at the same time every day, and for me to know when they’re coming home. Masks or not, I want them to be back at school, happily, with their friends, having their teachers put into them like I know they will. 

I want to make lunches in advance. 

I want to give them some independence back, as they walk to school and make grown up decisions at school. 

I want Brady to go back to work. I want him to feel comfort in knowing he is providing for his family, and I want the financial strain to lift. 

I want to see how the school year is going to look, and if the stupid second wave is going to come or not. I want to know with confidence whether we’ll stay in school or end up distance learning. 

I want to be allowed to enter the school that my children attend. 💔 

I want to be able to bring ALL of my kids into a store at once.

I accept change. I know the old normal is gone. I don’t expect it back, honestly. I’m through pining for it. I accept sometimes wearing masks, and gloves, and loads of hand sanitizer, and awareness. What I do not accept is living in total fear, never shaking hands or hugging people, and staying inside because of our family size. 

Sometimes I want to do a post about the GOOD thing that have come from Covid, for my family, but I fear the backlash I might receive. That being said, I’m thankful for a lot of parts of the last few months, but I am ready for “real life” to start back up. Even if it looks different than before. I’m game. 

The cooler weather is upon us, and I want to show you some things I’ve been making recently! I did start this during the summer months to prepare for fall, but I’m glad I did!

I made some cardigans!! Woot!

Wavy’s was first, because she’s the smallest. I figured if I messed it up bad, it would’ve taken the least amount of time. 

What I learned while making hers was that I needed to stitch looser. Her’s is a bit more “bubbled” than I’d like, rather than slouchy. But she doesn’t care, so I’m calling it a win. 

Then I made Laela’s! I made it looser, and it turned out better! 

The pattern I’m using calls for bulky yarn, but I’m using regular worsted weight rather, so I’m having to size way up to make it work up in the sizing I want. With Laela, the first arm came out SO short, so I had to pull it out and tweak the pattern It was a good learning experience, and I’m glad I took the time to redo the arms. Laela LOVES her cardigan. 

And now, I’m making one for me! 

Ok, so actually in this picture, I’m pulling it out. Lol! Isn’t that sad?? But I made the entire body and I KNEW it was shorter than I wanted it. I fought back and forth in my head for a long while, saying it was a perfectly respectable length, about to the waist, but I knew I wanted it longer and slouchier. So I pulled it out. Sigh. it was so sad. Now, I’m back at it. So far, I have an excellent rectangle. 

Sigh. When I pull out a project, I usually don’t go back to it. Like, ever. But I really want a squishy wool cardigan to call my own!! So it had better be worth it! 

Next, we’re all getting tall wool socks!!! 

Whoah. Getting ahead of myself. Calm down, Hailey. Calm down.

Dekker loves to speculate. Yesterday, over supper, he asked

“What would happen if you put a whole apple into water and boiled it? Would it change?”

A solid question, don’t you think?

I told him it would get soft, and you could mush it up and make it into sauce. Thats how apple sauce is made, I told him. We talked about how most people would cut it up first, and how a whole apple would soften on the outside faster than the inside. We talked about mixing other stuff into the apple sauce, like blueberry apple sauce. It was a whole conversation.

Laele was very quiet during the conversation, which isn’t like her. She always nods along and adds her piece where she can. But she was oddly quiet. Finally she looked over at me with her concerned eyebrows on, and asked

“An owl?”

If you were to go back now, and consider the initial question, but rather with an owl…

“What would happen if you put a whole owl into water and boiled it? Would it change?”

😳

Yes. Yes, I think it would.

The conversation got a little dark from there, but it was also kind of hilarious. I like that Laela can laugh at herself when she makes a mistake. I always felt so attacked and offended when I made mistakes and people would laugh at my expense. I like that Laela is more easy going than I was as a kid 🙂

Let’s be real here, though. Don’t boil owls. Thats the true moral of the story.

🦉

It goes without saying that this summer has been the craziest, busiest, bananasiest, productiviest (ya you heard me) summer of our lives! This week of being home between weekend camping has been full. There has been laundry, meal prep, pickling, planning, packing, organizing, playing, shopping, and getting ready for everything that is to come in the next week! Its possible we even snuck in a fire.

Yesterday, I spent time with Cher, Brady went to physio, I made two full meals (one for supper, and one for the lake) and got set up for another day of pickling. Thats today.

I feel like SUCH a rockstar when I have two crock pots going, lol! Anyone else?

Before the weekend, I need to pickle, pack, prepare three more dishes, bathe everyone, and ask around to find someone to babysit my garden while we’re away. I need to write another blog or two (I am SO low on data, I MIGHT not be able to use internet much at all this weekend!) Buuuuut I think thats it! Lol!

I felt a bit taken aback when I received the list of school supplies for the upcoming school year. In the last few years, the school purchased school supplies in bulk and raised our fees a small amount, making it easier for families, as well as ensuring that the kids all have the same stuff, and the right stuff. I felt, with all the Covid junk floating around, it didn’t make sense that this year, we had to bring in our own. But yesterday, I figured it out.

Labelling. Thats why the school didn’t buy this year. Because items are not to be shared, and that is more important than ever this year, so absolutely every item had to be labelled individually. It makes sense that the teachers should NOT be on the hook for such a job.

Such. A. Job. 

Today, I sat down with my box of school supplies, my big envelop of mailing labels, and my new electric pencil sharpener, and the work began. Over the course of the day, I labelled around 300 items. 

60 pencils
36 markers
72 crayons
48 pencil crayons
13 glue sticks/bottles
17 duotangs

Plus countless erasers, highlighters, rulers, scissors, pencil sharpeners, Kleenex boxes, whiteboard markers, spoons, post-its, and notebooks. 

It was as I was coming to the end of my lists that I realized what was on the end of the list. 

Indoor shoes. 🤬 

I was not set up for indoor shoes. And school starts in a week. And we’re gone this weekend.

So that’s how we ended up running to Saskatoon in the late afternoon.

I am really relieved to tell you all that I was able to purchase all three school-aged kids a pair of indoor shoes that they love, plus two new pairs of jeans, as they have ALL blown out the knees in ALL of their jeans this Spring and Summer! Win! Dekker also got a pair of splash pants, and Rowan picked a backpack and lunch kit from Costco. So many wins!

I promptly brought that stuff home and labelled it all.

My back is achy from leaning over, writing my kids names all day long, haha! You know when you say the same word over and over and over again, it starts to lose its meaning? 

Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Dekker. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Laela. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan.

Yup. Me too. 

T – 6 days.

We left off yesterday at lunchtime on Saturday. We had just gone for a long, leisurely walk, and it was time to wind down for a little break. We ate inside, on the floor, like classy people.

The afternoon was spent playing freely. The world is their oyster there. They can play at the camper, inside or outside, at the playground, or a little further at the big playing field or the beach!

I LOVE that Solly calls water guns nailers or drills now. Isn’t that awesome?? Its almost as though we’ve been doing a LOT of work this summer!

Supper was looking pretty cute…

And within three minutes of sitting down with some hotdogs, our picnic table showed up!! Better late than never!

Waverly opted to stay at the little table, but she was alone there. Dekker right away offered “I’ll go sit with Wavy!” Aaaaand then she promptly abandoned him. She’s already considering it here, lol!

It was actually really funny, haha! He was such a good sport. But that kid is WAY too big for that table! Lol!

We hit up a different playground later that evening.

Wavy loved a good tire swing!

I wish I had more pictures, but they’re all videos. It was an oddly victorious hour at the playground. Solly is very cautious of new things, and we kind of missed the fact that he needed a push because he is SO chill and happy to just watch 🙂 But he has grown a ton this summer, and on the playground, he was climbing on the more intimidating parts of the playground, swinging on the tire swing, and taking on the BIG slide, all on his own! He could not be stopped! We were SO proud of him!!

Then we went for a walk to the lake, as you saw a few days ago. Remember these cute kids?

And this beautiful water?

Bedtime was a lot easier the second day! We didn’t have a good system for Laela to get into the top bunk, but we makeshifted a step, and she loves the set up!! We turned one drawer upside down. Brady moved the slides and flipped the front. I take total and compete credit for this idea, and Brady takes full credit for the execution of it.

The next day! Breakfast was cute. I liked that Rowan and Wavy’s branding was just spot on, lol!

Solly getting smoke in his eyes, lol! Unimpressed.

We spent the morning raking up our lot, clearing out old leaves and weeds and making sense of it. The leaves, along with the wet firewood, was the smokiest fire I’ve had in a while. My eyes burned! But it was so worth it when the result looked so much more kept up and how we would prefer to keep it!

Wavys pose, tho, lol!

We had another little quiet time break in the afternoon, and it was SO our speed.

We decided to go for another walk after quiet time, but the weather wasn’t as pleasant as it had been the day before. It was raining and windy. Some were more on board with that than others…

But they settled in fine 😉 Those slides are fun, rain or shine! Those wet butts don’t lie!

While Brady barbecued burgers for supper, I made myself busy in the camper, packing up what needed to come home and taking note of what we were leaving behind. I made a list of things we didn’t bring but had needed. I swept the floor and wiped stuff off. Laela helped a lot. And then once we ate, Brady loaded it all up in the van, everyone took their last pee, and we loaded them into the van! Once the van was full of children and our stuff, Brady flipped some breakers and emptied the tanks. And off we went!!!

Our home away from home looks even more like us now 😉

Lived in. Cozy. Colourful. A little dirty, but not too bad. Just how we like it 😉 We’re all very much looking forward to going back next weekend!!