There isn’t much that is more beautiful than camping in the fall.

I bet you can smell this picture. The fire and the fresh air. You can feel the crispy breeze, and hear the rustling. The armrests on the chair are cold, but the coffee is hot. This spot leaves nothing to be desired.

This weekend was spent visiting with loved ones…

crocheting…

and burning as much wood out of our garage as possible.

The campground isn’t out of wood, we just wanted to get rid of some scraps that were sitting unused for long enough.

We are almost done with this beautiful season of laking. The docks are in.

There are two weekends left, and we will only be there for one of them. We are missing the next week, but will be present and excited for the last one! I LOVE lake season, but I also love home season. And things have been going at an absolutely wild pace, so I imagine the lack of back and forth will have to slow things down, at least in some aspects. But while we have it, we will enjoy it.

There just is really almost nothing better than fall camping 🍂

Wavys first day of school was a very cute success 💜 She played dress up, ate next to nothing, and played HARD at recess. She had no hang ups with her first day. Not even one. 

She did have a fairly rough evening, which adds up perfectly with her newly full, likely overstimulating day at school. No one faulted her for that. She hasn’t missed a beat on the subject and is ready for more. 

Kindergarten takes forever to start, which I do understand with the home visits (which I LOVE) as well as the staggered start for each class. But Wavys first day came at the very end of that staggered start, meaning she will be attending on a full schedule already this week!! And honestly, good thing, because the crazy never stops, and it might be easier with one less kidlet in tow. I might even rest during quiet time in the day!! 

🥳

🤔 

Who am I kidding? Ain’t no one got time for that 😅

Today, the elementary school welcomed back the families with a breakfast of pancakes and ham, served by the teachers. It’s one of my favorite school events. It wasn’t always, but I really felt oddly griefy when Covid took it away. I am so grateful to have it back! It’s always a bit chaotic. And sticky. And loud.  But it’s so nice to see everyone and make connections again, or for the first time. 

After the breakfast, we went home, but the students went on to do the Terry Fox walk event. It definitely means more to me more than it used to. 

Life experience does that, hey? 💜 

Upon coming home, I worked my pancake butt OFF! (Ha! Works on two levels) It’s been one of the busiest days of the year for me but I’m really happy with how much work I did 💪 

And now 🙌 to camp. Because it NEVER gets old 🥰

😳 Remember when Wavy was born?

This was yesterday, right?

Well. Today she started school. BIG school. Real school.

She was SO eager, and even though it was cold out this morning, she would not be stopped or slowed down! I’m positive every kid asked for help carrying their heavy backpacks on their first day. Not her.

She was just SO ready and excited!

We sent the kids off to play once we reached the school, but took Wavy in to her classroom to get her situated. And let me tell you. This girl did NOT need anyones help. She was into it! Literally…

She was playing and occupied almost instantly, so I had to flag her down to give me a hug goodbye. And then home we went! As though we hadn’t just dropped off our little Waverly Violet at the big kid school 💜

She was so ready, and I am SO happy for her 💜

Yesterday evening, there was some work that needed doing, and it needed to be done in good time. Surprisingly, there were a few too many people underfoot to make quick progress, so I took the kids to the park for an hour. Or at least that the was the goal!

The sky was incredible!! It was windy and smelled amazing, but the forecasted weather seemed totally unremarkable. As the kids played, as well as a TON of other kids, the lightening started. It was really lovely still, and we are no stranger to storms. I had rain in the back of my mind, obviously, so I quietly tried to think about a bail out plan. But it was an easy one. Four of the kids had biked, and could get home really fast. Laela had walked with me, and she loves rain and storms just as much as I do, so I know she wouldn’t be upset to walk in the rain. Morsel in a stroller would be totally secure. With that plan in mind, I knew we were fine to stick it out.

The kids gravitated towards each other rather than the other kids at the park. Watching them group off and play together really filled my heart. It was like they owned the playground, and it was a good fit 💜

We had been at the park for maybe 45 minutes when the thunder started up a bit, and rain came. None of it was big. But it was happening, and it was dark, and we were rocking that 1:6 ratio, so it was time to go.

We made our way home in the weather, happily. It was quite a bit darker upon getting home, and we all felt like we had made it through a storm, yet no one was too wet or cold. It was just the right kind of wrap up to the day.

With all the talk of this next upcoming “polar vortex,” I already miss the rain 💜

On the calendar this week, today held NO appointments!!! 🥳 So naturally, Wavy grew something oozy and infected on her leg in an attempt to get us into the city after all! 😅 Why would we ever stay home for a day?!?! ‘Twould be preposterous.

The mask, thanks to the last couple of feverish days. She was totally happy to wear it! 💜 She never ceased to impress me.

In we drove for a same-day 10:30am appointment, and didn’t wait long at all before we were called back. She was weight, measured, and had her temperature checked. We only waited in an exam room for a couple of minutes.

The resident who came in seemed a touch standoffish. She seemed somewhat monotone and intimidating, at first. But once she had all the info, she was SO soft and kind to Waverly, and it showed. Wavy was so comfortable with her, answered all of her questions, and cooperated beautifully with the exams. When it was all over, medication was ordered, and Wavy was praised up big time, and given a small handful of stickers.

And then I was also really impressed with her, so we went for donuts. Because he absolutely earned it!!

She’s just a little joker, but its an amazing quality of hers! The doctors she saw today loved her, as she winked at them and gave them thumbs up. She is silly and warm and brave 💜 Good job, beautiful Wavy!!! I cannot believe you start school so soon.

Sometimes, getting the kids to do chores is like pulling teeth. Can most of us relate to that? There is that beautiful stage where they love to help, and then suddenly they don’t anymore. That was a tough one for me, because they helped SO WELL, and now its more of a micromanaging scene some days. I don’t like that.

Laela is my kid that gets pinned with laundry more than the others. Don’t come for me, it is NOT because she’s a girl. Not at ALL. It is because she’s more thorough and diligent than the rest of the kids. Plus, its a bigger job, she’s one of the older kids, and she doesn’t gravitate towards the same jobs as Dekker. So she does laundry on and off, and its awesome. More in summer, for sure. So she has been in a busy season of laundry.

Yesterday, we got home from camp and got to work unpacking, bathing, organizing, eating, and getting ready for school the next day. Brady took a couple of kids into the city to pick something up from a purchase I made earlier that day, and I kept the house running while they were out. I bathed the younger ones. I helped the sick one and juggled the wiggly hands-on one. I kept laundry going and finished two loads. I put the two to bed and played with the third until everyone came home. By that point, I was just so tired. I hugged them all goodnight and Brady and I finally had supper.

This morning, I went down to the kitchen to begin the day and was met with this.

And that is one of the reasons I accept that struggle of having my kids do jobs. Because then they aren’t so entitled about what should be done for them. It is SO much nicer to launder clothing for people who appreciate it than those who take it for granted, don’t you think?

Anyway. It was a really sweet touch. Laela and her little love notes 💜 She is such a beautiful girl.

Cher sent Brady and I this yesterday, and it became a whole thing 😆 I thought I’d share the giggle.

There were a LOT of gooders, but I’ll just share my best ones here. Because. They’re really funny.

Pank

Haulin’ Goats (I realize this breaks the rules, but its worth it)

Space Girls 👩‍🚀

Madonnald (I know, more broken rules)

Ben Erector

Toes and I

Marianas French

Mouse Fat (from Parks and Rec)

Ten Folds Five (because it DOES!!)

Ok Goo

Jimmy Fat World

The Bleach Boys

Rolling Scones

Beagles (works on two levels)Fleetwood Marc

and my favorite one on the list…

Drown with Webster

Ok well I thought it was funny! 😅 I hope some of you giggled, too!

Throw yours in the comments!

It’s been a different kind of day from our usual Saturday here at camp. Normally, between us and the Dahlsjos, there are ten kids. Today, we have four. It has been VERY quiet!

Brady spent a portion of the day helping the camp with wood chopping for next season, leaving me with a small handful of people to keep alive.

I’d say entertained but they didn’t require much, to be honest. It was a very low key morning.

I finished a toque I was working on 😁 In different lights, I can’t see if it’s navy or purple. Perhaps it’s navy purple. Like navy blue but not. Darker than royal purple. You get it.

The kids and I drove to Bells for a little bit. The sky was just bonkers. I’m wondering if this is truly the first smoke-free day up here. It is beyond beautiful.

It was nice to just sit and watch people take their boats out for the season.

Dekker drives now 😳

Brady was back mid afternoon and took a load off after working hard. He was feeling pretty gross but some meds pulled him back together. We ate supper and moseyed down to the water for a little. It couldn’t have been more beautiful.

This kid has really been wonderful today. I’m very impressed with 1. How helpful and responsible he is, while being 2. Incredibly soft and affectionate and loving. He’s big and little. Soft and tough. A delicious mix.

And all of that to say, I am ready for bed. It’s 730. That’s ok, right?? Lake time means earlier to bed?? I think my kids might disagree 😆

Yesterday, I blogged about getting a pumpkin with the intention of cooking it up and pureeing it for baking. And while yesterday turned out to be a HUGE day even without the shop and the pumpkin, I’m really pleased to say I got it done!!! 🎃

I’m not AT ALL saying my way is the way, but this is what I did!

I washed the outside of the pumpkin really good, and I cut it in half.

I cut the stem off and scooped out all the innards. I thought using one of those spaghetti spoons would be the perfect answer to getting it all out of their really good, but it just kind of combed the pulp 😆 A basic spoon was better.

Then I just oiled cookie sheets, put the pumpkin halves upside down, and cooked it to death.

I checked after a half hour, and it was not tender yet. But at around 45-50 minutes, it was fork tender.

🎃✅

I abandoned the pumpkin to go pick up the kids from school, and when we came back, I got back to work. So did Dekker 💜 He helped me prep a bit of food for camp, and I worked on the pumpkin!

The first half of the pumpkin was an especially messy one to get out of its shell, but I found a better method and the second half went much smoother. I’d put the pieces into my blender as I went, and once it was full-ish, I’d blend the heck out of it. Then add it to the big bowl, and keep at it. And it produced a TON!!! Doesn’t the pumpkin shell look like leather??

I scooped the pumpkin into two cup measurements, as thats about what a can of pumpkin from the grocery store holds.

And then I bagged them up!!

One pumpkin provided me with 15 cups of pureed pumpkin.

Therefore…

15 cups for $4

Or

15 ounces for $6.50

Guys, if I could make a living selling pumpkin puree, I would. I would absolutely LOVE to process pumpkins all the time, it was SO fun for me! I may have to go buy another one, just for funsies, so I have excess or some to offer out. Coming into autumn, the time is perfect for pumpkin!! Think pies, cookies, loaves, muffins, coffee, etc. You name it!!