Cher and I have been friends for eight years, and LOADED years they’ve been! If you have followed long enough, you might remember that she and I connected after I lost our baby at 16.5 weeks of pregnancy. She messaged me on a whim (if you can call a nudge from God a whim) and offered to take pictures of me to kind of commemorate that pregnancy.

Since that first hang, she has stuck around through countless events, some of which were awesome and many of which were hugely challenging. I could list them all, but its not necessary. You all know. She and I have both had FULL, BUSY lives in the last eight years. We came to one another at pretty chaotic times in both cases, and it turns out that was perfect timing because we really needed best friends 💜 Thank you LORD!!!

Last night, we went to Smiley’s for bottomless yummy food and some excellent people watching. We were seating in what seemed like a banquet hall being used as overflow seating. We had an eight person table to ourselves, and we sat with our backs against a wall and just watched and giggled and enjoyed our time.

And our food.

And the weird interesting people. 😏

Post supper, we dragged our sorry, overfed butts out to the van and ran an errand or two. Dollarama was hopping, and we were SO here for it. I got a pot for a plant…

And we scoped the Halloween stuff for ghosts 👻

And no one even harassed me! 🤨

We had gifts for one another, and opened them in the parking lot. She gifted me beautiful things, a bag full of cute ghostly things and a fantastic book than any and all lovers of Wicked should own. It was a really special time to be together. Especially considering, while we do see each other often, its usually based around work at the house and taking care of the babies. So actually going out on purpose and not working is rare, and precious 💜

As are you, sweet Cherice 💜 Rare, and precious.

I love you a lot. A YACHT. Too much, almost. 😋

Thanks for sticking with me, and all of us, through aaaaall the wild things. All the kid stuff. All the medical stuff. All the emotional stuff. Its messy over here, and while I know you love us, its not lost on me that we are, indeed, a LOT. So thank you. I love you. And I’m super grateful for you 💜

Me and you, girly. Always us.

😘🐺💜💚🧡

Yesterday I punched out a lot of work in the kitchen. It really made me pine for a second oven 😅 Or a freeze dryer. Something that would’ve made it possible to have more going at once! But alas. I still got a good chunk done 💜 It counts.

Pumpkin first. I had cooked up some pumpkins in the day or two before, but hadn’t had a chance to puree it and portion it out for the freezer. So I did that yesterday. Four cups ish per bag.

See all the pumpkin juice in the big bowl above? No one wants that in their puree. I took as much out as I could with a turkey baster and squeezed into some apple sauce I was making!

We bought a couple boxes of delicious orchard apples through a fundraiser the other day, but I had just bought a couple of bags from the grocery store. Since the orchard ones are obviously WAY better, I decided to just make these ones into sauce. And while I LOVE that apple sauce can literally just be made with apples and water, I put brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice into this stuff and it was DEADLY!

While this was all going on, I got set up to make tomato soup! Thank you to the lovely friend who has given us a good chunk of garden tomatoes!

I added more to the batch after this picture, which was a good thing because it is SUCH a yummy soup!!!

Tomato soup is deceptively easy. Trust me. If I can do it, you can do it. And get ready, because your people who “don’t like tomato soup” have yet to learn that canned tomato soup tastes nothing like tomatoes. Homemade tomato soup does, and its delicious. I have some converts over here myself.

I won’t lie. I was TIRED after all that work in the kitchen, but I also loved it. There is a secret part of my heart that lives on a homestead somewhere. Hopefully I can keep finding things that nurture that piece. If, for now, its blending pumpkin up and storing it in plastic bags, then so be it. Someday, hopefully there will be more jars, a freeze dryer, sourdough, etc. Maybe pressure canning wouldn’t even feel scary. Thats the dream.

One of the dreams.

SO many dreams.

Thank you, Lord, for always answering our prayers! 💜

I worked pretty hard today. I definitely didn’t get everything done by any means, but thats the story of my life, and likely will always be 😅 I tried, though. Laundry got left, but most of the kitchen stuff I wanted to I was able to complete.

I worked my tail off, and I think I feel like I did enough to justify not working myself to the bone tomorrow! Wouldn’t that be lovely?? I mean. I’ll still have to do things. I need to do that laundry. Its sat in my machine for two days now. It has to get done. But maybe less in the kitchen. Maybe I can be productive in other ways.

I could take my time through bathing the babies.

I could write out a long blog that needs writing.

I could crochet.

There is time. I’ll never be able to just have an idle nothing day, and thats actually really ok 💜 But perhaps a more restful day is in order. All the kids will be home. They will also welcome a restful day.

Ok. Munchie Mix woke up and refuses to chill so off I go! ✌️

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Solly LOVES to help with the babies. Specifically our little one. Munchie Mix. Sol took it upon himself to scoop up the baby the other day while I was finishing something up in the kitchen, and rock on the rocking chair to pacify. It turned into a feeding, where Solly bottle fed baby, and then he CHANGED THE DIAPER! SUCCESSFULLY!! 😳 It was mind boggling!!!

Since then, I’ll hear him mutter from the living room “Uh oh! Here we go!! I’m gonna change your diaper again!” And he WILL!! 😳 HAPPILY!

I got some really nice pictures of the two interacting, which of course I cannot post. However, Cher asked the internet to make a picture of Solly and a random neutral baby, and this is what we got 🤣😍

I’ll take it!

It is SO cool to watch Solomon gain interest for the babies, and be able to successfully, willingly, lovingly help care for them. He LOVES to get a baby dressed to go out somewhere, and will proudly carry a diaper bag or push a cart (though not at Value Village 😒 Remember, guys??) Anyway. I’m pretty darn proud of him.

I have really good kids 💜

Dekker used to say this phrase when he was very young. As in not even close to in school yet. If he was disappointed by literally anything, he would hang his head and say “I wasn’t plannin’ for that today.” It was hilarious.

Today did not go how we planned. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I’ll get into it more another day, but today isn’t the day.

Today was the day for chocolate milk and alfredo noodles.

A day that was light on work, where we just made it through the afternoon and evening playfully and relaxedly. We are covered in the peace and grace of God, and we trust His will!

Guys, I’m going to need an alternate way to save pumpkin around here 😅

It may not look like much, but this is not my first pumpkin day of the season, and it ALL needs to fit in my freezer!! 🤣 See?? Another great use for the freeze dryer that doesn’t actually exist! How great would that be??

Each pumpkin day I’ve done, I’ve found some new tricks and such that make things go a little smoother, for which I’m grateful. The dream is to have a freezer full of real things. Meat. Fruit and veggies. Maybe a handful of freezer meals? But next to none of the convenience food. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good frozen pizza from time to time, and a pre-made lasagna never hurts my feelings. But I would honestly LOVE to bear the cross of being an “ingredient home.” And slowly but surely, I’m going to work my way there.

So todays haul is about 40 cups of pumpkin puree and a little bag of pumpkin seeds.

✔️

Now that camping season is over, our season of attending church is upon us. We have MISSED it, and everyone was SO excited to go this weekend! The kids were up and dressed for church two hours before it was set to begin. There was even a lunch afterwards that we were going to try to go to.

Personally, I’ve been struggling this week. The idea of wrestling LD and Spoons at the back of the church felt more daunting than usual, and after the break from church, they wouldn’t be an easy sell in the nursery. So my worst case scenario was staying home with the babes while Brady and the others could go. Brady was SO excited to go and reconnect!

Aaaaand then the morning came and for the first time in a while, chemo got the better of my husband :/ Headaches and vomit will wait for no one, therefore church is off the table for today. Merp.

The kids were disappointed. In the regular swing of things, there are definitely Sundays where some of them don’t feel like getting up and going, but today they were READY. But after a quite moment of sadness, Solly said “Well. That is very disappointing. But. We could have a dance party downstairs and still be happy.”

SO THEY DID!!!!! 😳 Way to not dwell in sadness, guys!!!! Four of the five are in comfy clothes, have pulled out colorful lamps and they have the soundtrack to Zombies 4 pumping downstairs. Brady is sleeping. LD and Spoons are just starting to make sound. And Munchie Mix over here is whiny and needs to have a bit more milk before back to bed. Dekker has a commitment at church so he’ll still be going, but the rest of us HOPE to be there next week!!!

We miss you, friends we only see at church!! 💜 We’re almost back!!

Laela here! Today was my second volleyball tournament. We did a lot better than our first one!😏 One time I did such a good serve, but apparently the referee wasn’t ready yet, so when I re-served it didn’t go over.

Our team made some nice saves. One time someone hit it wonky, but another person dove under it, and popped it over the net when we all gave up on it. It was crazy! And when I am on the bench, I get really frustrated with the players on court, because the back row set it on the first hit. (Isn’t that the setter’s job?😖) And I got frustrated when I was setter, because people were losing points behind me, so I couldn’t help. But my serves are a lot better than before.

I feel really bad for one of the kids on my team. She isn’t the best at serving, so they didn’t let her serve. She had to swap with someone else for that serve. At the end of the game, she said she understood, but I could tell she was trying hard not to cry.🥺

Well that was what most of my day was. I hope your day wasn’t as busy as mine… well my time is ticking, gotta go! 😘

Welp. Chemo cycle #4 started today. Historically, the first treatment of every cycle (of which there are three) is the hardest one. But not right at the start. First, Brady has his IV immunotherapy treatment, and tonight, he’ll take his big angry cytotoxin pill that does all the aggressive poisony stuff. That tends to take him out a little in the coming days.

Surprisingly, however, we have seen a bit of a lift in this as the cycles have played out. There don’t seem to be too many stories out there where people feel better physically as chemotherapy continues, but we try not to run with the pack. God is protecting us in WILD ways, and we thank Him by giving Him ALL the glory!!! Medicine is super cool, and science is fantastic! I’m SO grateful for the resources we have!! But to GOD be the glory for creating all of the things that were needed to make this possible, and the people who administer it. Would you ever believe this man had stage four brain cancer??

Praise God for giving us HIS strength, and keeps Brady stronger than anything he could ever do on his own. GOD is the reason he is doing as well as he is!

“We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives”. This “glory-strength” is a strength that enables endurance through difficult times with joy, a strength that doesn’t come from one’s own resources but from God, allowing believers to “take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us”. (Colossians 1:11-12)

Today is another day to bake pumpkins. My anxiety is high today. It was high yesterday and this morning is not much better, unfortunately. However. I have nothing on the books until after school. So I can use my day how I please, and I will spend it doing PUMPKINS!

Of which I currently have 12.

NOTHING beats real, home grown, sugar pumpkins, but there is such a short season for pumpkins that I’m taking advantage of the cheap carving pumpkins and pureeing as many as I can.

*orders more pumpkins*

I’ve already drank a beast Stanley of water, and Rowan shared a treat with me that he made last night st clubs. Cinnamon chips and fruit salsa.

I ate. I drank. One pumpkin is cooking. A second one is scooped and ready. Seeds are soaking.

Oh! And the babies just started waking up.

The day has officially begun!