For the first time in a long while, we stayed home today! We had no one through, and we didn’t go anywhere. Well, we had a neighbour pop by for a cup of sugar, so to speak. Ok, it was actually chicken stock, but thats not the saying! Otherwise, though, we kept it quiet. It was interesting, haha! We are usually home bodies, but recently, we have LOVED all the activity in our lives! I used to be lucky if I had an outing or company planned once in a week, but these days, I’ve been so blessed to even occasionally have day company as well as evening plans!

I promise, I’m not sitting here saying that no one was willing or happy to come visit, or that I was unable to go out and make it happen that way either. I just didn’t. And whether thats a valid reason or not, I’ve made a decision about this time in my life, and all the action.

Whether or not I could have had more company and closer friends before, I have it now, and because its happening now, its new and exciting, and keeps me busy. I think it is really really helping me stay happy while we’re still living here. I don’t want to complain, because I am so thankful to have a beautiful home in a beautiful place to call our own. Nothing is wrong with where we live, except that our hearts are elsewhere. Its hard. I’ll leave it at that. What I’m trying to say is that NOW is the time that some wonderful people are really coming into my life again, or some for the first time, and some have been constants in my life for a long time. All these things considered, I’m so blessed to be busy, and surrounded by people I truly love. You know who you all are 😉 I don’t know what I’d be doing without you to help fill my days!

All of this considered, though, I want to make it clear that we are still VERY MUCH looking to sell our place and move on to the next adventure. These people and plans and love are keeping me at bay. Barely. I’m in way better shape than I’d be if not for my friends, and while I’m pushing myself to say the word “content,” I still ache to be home, where we really feel that is.

So.

BUY OUR HOUSE!!! PLEASE!! I’m not kidding, does anyone know anyone looking??

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…..

Our plan for today was super basic: laundry, and a bit of research. I have a bud of an idea that might make meal planning work for me, so I’m looking out for the ideal meal planning template. So I had plans to sit around in between laundry switches and search for that online printable.

We got on the ball with exactly those plans. Brady got the kids breakfast while I gathered up the dirty clothes and towels and dragged it all downstairs. (Not to self: Install laundry chutes in the next house.) We were on our second load of laundry when I got a text from my friend, Kim, saying we needed to get our husbands to meet sometime soon. Very few texts later, we had been invited over for steak and a play date. I love spontaneous invites like that!! We decided to get together after afternoon naps, so we chucked a salad together and got ourselves ready and together while the kids slept. Once everyone was up, we dressed them and got on the road.

I’ve gotta say, its so fun to meet people who feel like we’ve known them for years. Conversation was so easy with them, and while Dekker was in a special place today (sigh) Laela played so well with their kids, and Rowan only had one good cry when he was hungry. The one thing all the kids could agree on, though, was water. They have an inflatable pool on their deck, and everyone got in. It was so funny to watch! Laela specifically was throwing toys around, soaking everyone. The four kids old enough to be in there were absolutely soaked from head to toe. They would then come and cuddle in towels before squirming to get down and back in the game, whether the game was still in the pool or back in the sand. So. Much. Fun! They even got in the sprinkler, but Laela was pretty worked up when she couldn’t seem to get away from it. She was kind of walking in circles around it, but not moving far enough away from it, saying “all done” over and over again. It was adorable. They all did great though! We ate steak, pasta salad, and salad salad for supper, and it was all delicious. All of it. Oh, and dessert was ice cream and apple crisp!! Delicious! The kids kind of sucked at eating it though, haha, and there were blobs of ice cream all over the floor!! Not ideal, lol, but it was super tasty 🙂 The messiest foods always are.

We didn’t stay too late, since we all have young ones who go to bed at reasonable times in the evening, but it was really lovely to go out visiting for supper and some fun time outside. Granted, the smoke is pretty wicked today, but we kept an eye out and weren’t outside the entire time at all.

I completely agree with the idea that the good things are worth working for, but its been so nice meeting some lovely people and having it be quite so smooth and easy.

Psst! Hey, Kim and Aaron! We like you guys.

Its only been a few days since the last time, but Hailey was able to come out for the day today, this time completely kid free! This almost never happens, so we took advantage of it and chatted our faces off all afternoon. My kids went down for a nap a very literal fifteen minutes after she arrived, so we had lots of time to talk about anything and everything.

Brady was able to take a day off somewhere in the next little while, so he picked today. That way he could get in some nice visiting with Hailey, mow our lawn, and actually get some day time in with everyone. It was so nice to visit, all three of us together for a while. There is really never a shortage of topics with that girl.

We were lame and decided to eat out. It wasn’t the smoothest outing we’ve ever had, haha! The wait seemed to just about kill the little ones. Rowan was sad but wouldn’t eat or sleep. Laela was just perpetually tearful, and it seemed that every time she moved, she hit her head on something. And regardless of what was said or done, Dekker “not like iiiiit!” Sooo that was special fun. The food coming helped a lot. We had a pretty good mess of burgers, fries, salad, and chicken covering the table, and I believe we all left full, so success?

The littles went to bed pretty quick after we got home, and the rest of us had some iced tea and brownies in the living room before Hailey was off to her next exciting plan of the evening 🙂 And we are already settling into our non-exciting but always-nice plans of having a soak and watching some Netflix. I’m certainly not complaining!!

I really had a completely perfectly wonderful day 🙂 It was filled with socializing with friends from different places, and there was never once a dull moment. I really, really loved today <3

So behold, a photo post of my afternoon! Firstly though, Kim, we didn’t even take a selfie together!!! What gives?!? Oh well, our cute kids speak pretty well for us.

We had so much fun with our new friends! As you can see 5/6 of the kids were super social. We were all even able to eat downstairs without making a mess! There were very few spats, which made it easy. So. Much. Fun.

But the day did have to keep moving, so they headed home in the mid-afternoon. A little while later, Brady came home and hung out with the kids a bit while I put on a bit of makeup before heading to the city for the evening, where I hung out with these beautiful girls for a few hours.

We planned out our lives and drank pink gin in Sprite. It felt so funny to go into the city, aiming to be at my destination by 7:30. I am almost always planning to be HOME by that time! So I found some pretty lame old humor in that. At least I think I’m funny.

But its good to be home now. SUCH a loaded day after an unreasonably early morning, but its all been so wonderful 🙂 I hope everyone had even a fraction of the day that I had.

I’m so fortunate.

Our kids were in great moods after sleeping in a bit this morning. Well, the big ones, anyway. Not so much the newbie.

He’s still pretty cute, though, so we let it slide. With a lot of milk, sleep, and very involved siblings, he cheered up and was good for the rest of the day.

Everyone slept the afternoon away. That was pretty awesome.

When Brady was on his way home from work, I asked him to stop at a grocery store and grab a bunch of fresh veggies. I recently chopped up a ton of veggies when I knew family was coming through, and it was SO convenient to be able to make a loaded salad anytime of the day! We went through it quickly, and I’ve been missing it. I figured, a person shouldn’t ever miss salad, so Brady brought home a bunch of yummy things.

Which I very quickly turned into this…

SALAD FOR DAYS! I know, really, its just bags of chopped veggies, but this just means I won’t get too lazy to chop stuff up at mealtime. No excuses. I would show you what the pretty salads looked like at supper, but we ate them too fast.

Before bed, we got some good pictures of the kids being all cute.

And tucked everyone away for night. They’re quiet, but still awake. I don’t think any of them are feeling 100%, so hopefully they sleep well tonight. We want everyone to be rested and friendly in the morning, when they’ll meet some new friends!! Can’t wait!!!

This morning started a bit rocky for me, and I planned to write a post about how positively smitten I am with each child I have been blessed with. Instead, I decided that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone but myself, and changed my attitude, so I could share positivity with aforementioned children.

Spontaneously, a Facebook post by a friend indicated that she was nearing the point of tearing her hair out, so I invited her out for the day. It was SO NICE to have someone to talk to in the day, plus, she brought kids for my kids to play with! As usual, Dekker took a while to warm up, so for quite a while, I had both Dekker and Laela laying across me lap or sitting beside me on the couch while the others played. I heart my antisocial kids, lol! Then finally picked up a bit, and it was a riot of laughter, screeching, and not even too much scrapping!! It was a lot of fun to have so much activity in one place. SO thankful for our AC unit, whew! That was a sweaty sweaty place!

Halfway through the afternoon, Hailey and her kids left for home, and Brady arrived maybe a half hour later. He settled in and we fed the kids and played a bit before our evening played out! Jerilee came for our weekly Bachelorette date. We’re great hosts, so we waited until the kids went down before serving our guest and ourselves a supper of nachos and wings. Bad hosts or not, it was delicious. The Bachelorette was, of course, trashy and addictive, but always good for a laugh and a face palm.

Now, Jerilee is on her way home and we’re settling in for the night. I’m loving how much I have going on this week in the way of seeing friends and socializing. I haven’t felt terribly cabin fevery recently, and thats something I’ve struggled with in the last year or so. I’m so very thankful for my friends and family.

I’m a bit disappointed that Brady has to work tomorrow, if I’m being honest. We often don’t know about stat holidays, because when you’re self employed, they don’t really mean too much. You work if there’s work. And thats ok. I’m very happy he has so much work!! I just love his company as well <3

I’m not sure if its the smoke from Northern Saskatchewan or just a case of the Mondays, but my poor family is really feeling something today! Laela has been decently level, but the boys are nuts. Ro slept almost all morning, and was awake for less than an hour before I had to really really work for him to stop crying. It didn’t work well. Dekker has just been struggling with expressing himself and having a super grouchy attitude, and it seems to really just be one thing after another, all day long.

But then, it was nap time. I put them down at 1:00. It is now 3:53 and no one has moved. No one. I’m sure we’ll have a heck of a time getting them down at night, but this is SO worth it. With all the attitude and tears this morning, I was feeling pretty fragile, so I’m pretty confident I need this rest too. Its been blissful.

I know I will be feeling 110% more upbeat when the naps are over, and I sure hope they’re feeling better too 🙂

This will just be a shorty post today. Hope thats ok with you guys, but I want to do as little as possible while my house is quiet. Ssshhh! Don’t wake the babies!

Today was a good but big day. We had no naps, and we were definitely feeling it. SO! I’m opting for a photo post 🙂 That usually just highlights all the positive points of the day anyway. Yay! Positivity!!!

So after putting this post together, I feel like laughing. The kids were in rare form today, and I’ll be the first to honestly admit that it was a trying one for me. Yet they were all of my high points in the day 🙂 Its a good reminder for me, anyway, to look back and take note of whats really important. Today, it was smiling in selfies with my kids.

I know this isn’t the most riveting post for everyone to read, but…*drumroll*…I’ve been blogging for THREE YEARS!

In the last years, I’ve announced a pregnancy, and given birth to my third child. I started on the crazy ride that is my hair, and I FINALLY confessed my secret love of makeup, pretty things, and bring creative that way. I’ve taken a ton of picture, and had some really beautiful (in my opinion, anyway) maternity pictures taken of me as well. I’ve tossed up a ton of questions about parenting, and I’ve flown by the seat of my sweatpants a lot! Our house has gone up for sale, and Brady’s business continues to thrive.

This last year, we went through some really hard stuff with Dekker, and I am thrilled that I can say we are on our way up! He doesn’t break out screaming when strangers speak to him. Rather, he makes faces and jokes around. He plays well with other kids. He is so helpful with his siblings, and always walks Laela to and from the van, hand in hand. Also, this year, he got new glasses and I finally gave up and had his hair cut short. He is a new boy from where he was a year ago!

I have FINALLY come out of the traumatic experience of Laela’s birth, and can now enjoy my little girl to the absolute fullest capacity! In the last year, she has learned to crawl, eat, walk, talk some, make funny faces, and follow a surprising amount of direction. She also dances, twirls her hair, helps with laundry, brings her cutlery to the sink, and tries to get dressed. She brings anything soft over for Rowan to cuddle with, and consoles him when he cries. She and I also have inside jokes, which I never imagined happening. Turns out a lot can happen in a year!

And obviously, Rowan has changed A LOT in the last year, haha! This time a year ago, I’m not sure we even knew we were pregnant! We had maybe just found out. Therefore, he went from our apple seed baby to the chunky little man he is now, at just over four months old. He is working his butt off to roll over but that tubby belly is holding him back just a tad. He adores his siblings, and has never once cried when Dekkers hugs get too tight, or Laela clocks him trying to share. He has a big funny wide grin, and has a really tickly chest. He is incredibly bubbly and jolly. Its been a good year anticipating him, and finally getting him in my arms. With him came a lot of that healing I was talking about before. He has been a huge part of this year!

Funny how recapping the kids pretty much sums it up. The main thing in my life with Brady this year has been the pregnancy. Also, getting the house on the market (anyone want to buy our house? Seriously, anyone??) and maintaining his business. Everything on top of those thing and the kids is just gravy <3

It feels like I just wrote the post announcing two years of blogging! This year has been wonderful, and has gone by quickly. Hopefully it can keep moving! Thanks, once again, for all the support. It wouldn’t be half as much fun without you!

Straight up, I was so tired this morning. Rowan has been sleeping in the last little while, but this morning he started to lull around 5:45. While we certainly didn’t get him right away as he dosed in and out, no one slept deep afterwards. We had plans for the zoo, but we were tired.

Bradys parents left after breakfast, and Dekker was in an awful mood. We waited an hour. It did not improve. We had plans to go to the zoo, but we were grouchy.

We decided not to go to the zoo after all. We were all tired and grumpy and the weather was super unpredictable. And then Dekker grew up.

You’re tired of my attitude, mommy?
Yes, I am. I wish you would stop complaining and be happy.
Ok, mommy. I’m happy now! See me change my attitude?!

And no word of a lie, he did. My son was back to his happy, peppy self. That alone was eye opening. It really is our choice to choose to be happy. Go Dekker!! So we got everyone dressed and ready to go, packed snacks and not even close to enough weather appropriate clothing, and got out the door before noon. Tried to take a family picture first. It was pretty hilarious. I love this picture <3

We picked up some lunch on the way to the zoo and everyone was happy. When we got to the zoo, they got sad. Dekker wanted to sit in the stroller, and of course, there is no room for him in it. So he had to walk. Utter. Devastation. But he remembered that we upgraded his Happy Meal to include a smoothie this time, so he recovered quickly. Laela was pretty tired so she was easy, but floppy and a bit argumentative. “Are we going to have so much fun, Laela?” “Noooo.” Perfect. Rowan was chill, but with the RAIN that started as soon as we arrived, he kept getting dripped on, and it seemed to distract from his sleep. So we weren’t doing the absolute best we could have done, but we were making it.

We dropped off our Food Bank donations in leu of the usual admission fee, and headed in. At our first exhibit, we ran into a friend from Bible school, which was a treat. I’m not sure the last time I saw her, and now she has three kids! We had just a short visit before we kept moving and they headed home. We hit up the deer next. Dekker was completely mesmerized by the kids getting feed out of the vending machine and feeding the deer, and I was very surprised when he asked if he could try. I’ve known this is an option at the zoo, but my cautious little boy had NEVER expressed interest in actually feeding the deer before. I was so unprepared 🙁 Only one quarter to my name (or in the diaper bag, I guess). But I grabbed it and got a handful of feed, and we waited our turn. I gave Dekker some of it and lifted him up the fence so he could put his hand through. He immediately got nervous and started saying “No sanks! No sanks!” and dumped his handful. I kept him up with me, but I fed the deer what I had left. He really liked that. He still had some stuck to his sticky little hand, so I brought it through the fence, gently shushing his consistent “No sanks”. The deer came and nibbled the feed, and was off to the next kid.

And Dekker was THRILLED! He talked about it for the rest of the day!

“That reindeer came and munched on my hands, and my fingers a little bit. Its ok, he was really soft.”

The next big event was the ducks. Again, there was a vending machine offering feed, but we had used our quarter! Thankfully, a woman had just given a small handful of feed to her daughter, and offered Dekker the rest! He was too shy, but I took it and we went to the pond to try to entice the ducks over to us. We had a good classic kid moment when Dekker asked really loudly if the ducks were naked. How do you even answer that? The other family laughed, though, so I didn’t feel quite as awkward. Anyway, the ducks wouldn’t come, but the geese started moving in. Dekker muttered quietly “Those big ducks are comin’…” so we moved away and watched them eat the feed we had left on a big flat rock. That counted, I think.

We made our way through the zoo and saw lots of the animals, but it was really, really muggy out, and everyone was fading. So we left after probably just over an hour.

I stopped by Michaels on the way home and fed my addiction…

And then we drove home. The kids slept. It was so nice and quiet.

The van nap wasn’t quite enough to last the kids through the evening, and everyone was pretty on edge. So we got the kids in comfy clothes and watched Disney’s Robin Hood together. Supper was chicken strips, salad, and watermelon, which is the perfect meal for us when everyone is exhausted. We’re snackers over here, and that meal just felt better.

Now, everyone is tucked away, and I’m 21 videos behind in my YouTube feed!!!!! Priorities, guys. But I’m going to go catch up on that a bit before settling in 🙂 I hope you guys had just as good of a day as we did.

It was definitely the best day for Dekker to change his attitude!