We’ve had some sickies around here recently, and today was my day to be sick. It was not my favorite day, but my lovely people showed up for me, which counts for a lot to me 💜
Brady stayed home until the kids were off to school.
Cher came and cleaned, and helped with the babies.
My mom ran my impending errand in the city for me.
Brady came home early so I could go back to bed.
I slept from the kids getting home from school until after supper. What a gift. I did not exit my bed until the first batch of kids were down.
I do feel some improvement. I am VERY thankful for the extra rest and sleep I was able to get. Please, Lord, heal my body overnight tonight. I would love to be able to manage my life again 😅
Today, it finally happened. After a long 2.5 years, Rowan is DONE patching his eye!!!
He has worn a patch consistently for over 2.5 years. During the school year, he has patched for about an hour in the morning before school, and for 4 ish hours on Saturdays, or the whole morning. Summer was different. He patched most of each morning unless we were at camp. NO patching at camp, outside, or with company. Nope nope nope. That wouldn’t have been nice. But it doesn’t matter anymore because he’s DONE!!!
And as things tend to go around here, that is not where patching ends, as our little LD began patching TODAY! 😅 Goodness if only I could share a picture on here! Patching was tolerated surprisingly well for such a little one. Starting with two hours a day and going from there.
So. Its not over. We’re not done patching.
But Rowan is 💜
Congrats to you, my boy!! You made it through something really hard!!!
Today, Ro left to work on his paper route super smoothly after school. Sometimes its really challenging for him, and it can be a bit of a battle. But going over and over the rules and expectations, and the natural consequences that come from bailing, he always eagerly gets down to business. And today, we didn’t have to go through any of it. He grabbed some Halloween candy (which is a great incentive for him to get out there for a couple of hours!) and off he went. He came home around 5:45, rosy cheeked and happy, having finished half of his houses.
Rowan has the largest route in town! They are grouped in sections based on what makes sense rather that numbers of houses. So Ro has a section of our town that wouldn’t make sense to split. Which means more houses, which means more money!
Did you know kids are paid per flyer? I can TOTALLY respect people who don’t want flyers, but maybe you don’t know thats how our cute kids get paid! 💜 It is not a high paying gig by any means, but it adds up nicely if the kid is a hard worker who can get the job done! So if you don’t mind getting a flyer, even if you recycle it, thats how these kids get paid 🙂 And then they can learn to handle money by actually having some!
The paper route is newish territory for us still, and I love that it will teach some responsibility and the importance of a work ethic. I can see that growing in my boy already. Not that it is always easy. The cold weather is only going to make it more challenging, I imagine. But so far, Rowan LOVES having a job. He occasionally invites the young ones along to join him, partially because sometimes he wants a buddy, but sometimes he does it with me in mind, and I think that is super sweet.
Because Rowan has a longer route, he always does it over the course of two days. So the day you get your paper may fluctuate, but it will always been in the same window of time.
I hope so much that, if you see my boy out there delivering papers, that he is polite and happy and friendly. I really imagine that he is, but I know he enjoys the outing, observing the neighbourhood, and his interactions along the way.
I received a completely unexpected call today from someone from our church offering us a STACK of convenience food! It had been gifted elsewhere, and rejected due to dietary preferences, and he was on the hunt for someone to give it to. Not only do we have a lot of eaters in our home, but convenience is sometimes just a HUGE win. And this way it wouldn’t go to waste!! So I VERY gratefully accepted his offer, and he brought by a huge load of yummy things.
As it goes, today I felt particularly wiped out. Brady is still overcoming his illness from the weekend, and the babies seem to have picked it up as well. Thankfully, its going nice and quick, and the ones who have felt sick seem to be able to sleep through most of it and wake up already on the upswing!
But. Energy is low. And it seemed like a very appropriate day for a convenient supper. HUGE thank you to the generous giver for sharing with us!
As the girls came home ballet, Laela flitted up to the island and exclaimed “Ooooo! Is this a puzzle??”
Guys.
It was a teriyaki rice meal.
We made fun of her mercilessly, and it also thrilled my heart that she didn’t recognize a microwave dinner 🤣
Anyway. They were yummy, and easy, which is exactly what the doctor ordered today.
We’re home 💜 Laela had cried at camp right before we left, shrucking and saying “It all just felt too short. Too quick.” And I agree. We all did. If only we could have stayed longer. But I would be willing to bet it would’ve been just as hard to leave then.
We drove home with a pretty quiet van. Everyone was wiped, albeit totally happy. We stopped in PA for some simple light supper from Tims, and then back on the road. We made it home and put away only the necessities. If something obviously was not needed this evening, and was not in a cooler, it could wait for tomorrow. And it will.
Kids are down. Munchie Mix will be in only a few more minutes. Brady and I are doing our evening things to pack it in for night. So I sit here, reminiscing, and trying to find pictures I can share. As has become our life, there are so few I can post that don’t include our babies. But what I can show you is the last picture I took on our way out of the campground. We did one last drive through the lights, and took a second to take a picture at our site.
Our Stitchy, c/o our dear Dahlsjos. Stitch has been representative of our Morsel for a long time now. They had the same mannerisms. The same sweet nature. The same teeth 🤣 There continues to be immense love in our hearts for that child, so this was a very welcomed lovely surprise for us 💜
As the kids say every time we drive off the property –
While I am disappointed to say that brady has been SO sick and has slept through the entire day here 😔 I can say it has still been an absolutely beautiful day 💜
Good food.
Good company.
Some Christmas movies.
Only a little work.
And some outside time to make us extra grateful for the fireplace and hot chocolate.
God is GREAT. No matter the circumstances. He ALWAYS takes care of us. Thank you God for our Dahlsjos, for Kinasao, and the chance to have this winter retreat. How could things be better?! 🥰
Goodness me I almost didn’t blog! But I have the best excuse.
Today begins our last lake weekend of 2025. We will not only run the light tour in the evening, but we will wear jammies, drink coffee, be together, converse, and spend time with our dear Dahlsjos for a little bit longer 💜
Ack! We did not get through the new episodes of Stranger Things last night. Which makes total sense because they are SO long, and we are SO tired 😅🥱 We got through two out of four. Gripping, guys. GRIPPING.
Conveniently, today was nuts. I wasn’t home too terribly much, and when I was, I was not idle at all. So I stayed away from social media pretty intentionally, mostly to avoid any spoilers. I spent hours in my vehicle today, and good thing because I can’t watch without Brady!
So today HAS to be the day. I know many of you don’t give a care about this show and that is A-OK but its the only real thing on my mind right now so its what you’re getting!
That, as well as a picture of Laela looking like Mr. Fredricksen from “Up.”
It was an early kick off today! Our baby who sleeps sooooo beautifully through the night sure blew it this morning and woke up at 4:50. Gross, right? Anyways, that was it for my night, which felt pretty unfair but I was going to have to be up and at em pretty early as it was. I headed into the city at 8am with one of the toddlers for an eye appointment at the hospital. We got there nice and early, and therefore were seen early! This particular baby is incredibly charming and makes friends everywhere they go. Many of you likely know who I mean 😍 Anyway. We went and did some exercises, put the drops in, and waited for a half hour or so before seeing the doctor with fully dilated pupils 😳
We came out strong with a new plan for PATCHING! 🏴☠️ Believe it! This will be the fourth kid to patch in our home, so we are no strangers to the process!
We came home, and my mom hung around and helped get everyone settled and lunching before heading out. I took some quiet time this afternoon to crochet and anticipate something new and exciting that is coming out today!! 🥳
Anyone else care about Stranger Things? Just me. Cool cool cool…..
Well. With Munchie Mix changing the routine, and Stranger Things 5 premiering tonight, I may be very, very tired tomorrow 😅 Worth it, though, I already know it.
I spent a little time in the kitchen today, prepping food and catching up. I put together a big batch of honey mustard salad dressing, as well as ranch dip.
The honey mustard is super easy and a favorite for a handful of us over here. It happens to be dairy free, also!
And the ranch I’ve started making is SO GOOD. The kids like it more than our usual ranch. Its really thick, but I just thin it out with a bit of water and boom – dressing.
Both are dairy free!
And then I made up a big batch of tomato soup! Which is just tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, seasonings, and chicken broth! At this point, the whole batch is dairy free! Before we eat it, we’ll add in some cream, which makes it SO extra good, but I’ll scoop some out for my one with the picky guts. Luckily, its still yummy!
I did blend and strain it 😅 Just don’t have a picture to prove it.
And the final note of the day is my Solly boy! He did his name super cool at school today, and he was really proud of it. Even his older siblings took the time to look at it and tell him they liked it.
Bonus points to anyone who can guess what the “o” is made out of 🤣
Ok! The end! The day was good. The evening will likely be good, too. Tomorrow morning is big, and tomorrow evening holds the new season of Stranger Thiiiiiiings!!!!!
What I wouldn’t give for a demogorgon emoji right about now. *sigh*
