The Daily Hailey

Most of the photos of our weekend away will have to wait for tomorrow or the next day when we have wifi, but take my word for it that we chose the right weekend to join our friends at Christopher Lake! The sun is HOT and the water is warm. The kids smell like sweat and bug spray. We’re all dirty and comfortable. Its been such a nice vacay.

We have a big lodge all to ourselves. It sleeps ten and has dishes for twenty. The dining area is massive, and there are six stools at the counter. The kitchen is full. There are two bathrooms. There is a fireplace and AC. Its clean and the people running it are so polite and friendly. Its pretty much amazing. 

My favorite part of this place – the bedroom situation. Brady and I have a bedroom to ourselves, and then there are two other big bedrooms. Each one has two sets of bunk beds, and then one has a single bed as well. And our kids chose to have a big ole sleepover ❤️

Nothing really delights my heart more than that. Did they get a full nights sleep, you ask? You’d better believe they suuuuuper didn’t, but it was so worth it 😆 As we tucked them in, Laela was excitedly preparing everyone for how fun Wavy is to share a room with. Hahaha! She’s not wrong. 

Its been cute. Restful and tiring all at once, as vacations with kids tend to be. I wouldn’t trade it. It is SO peaceful here. 

I want to tell you ALL about Waverly’s birthday party yesterday, but I can’t for a few reasons! They all run together, but here you have them!

I had done a little pre-writing about her birthday, but that post is packed away on the iPad, which I don’t have access to right now. I don’t have it available, because its packed! Because we’re going away for the weekend, and its coming along! Woohoo! So I’ll share more details when I can get that document back in my hands.

Also, with us leaving for the weekend, I’m taking a quick break from packing and should get back to it, so no time for big details at the moment. But you’ll definitely get them, along with an amazing haul of beautiful pictures! Thank you, Cher, for those. 💜

Lastly, you might ask yourself how I’m even writing this post. You probably aren’t, but just go with me 😉 Months ago, our laptop started to really fail us. It was slow as molasses, and worst of all, half of the keyboard quit working. We tried all kinds of things, and it couldn’t rally. We worked around it, and I just started blogging on my iPad, which I actually really like. But the laptop was still something we used a lot and it was getting harder and harder. And then we remembered, of all things, our age old credit card points.

When Brady and I were 18, we each got a visa card. They were the lowest on the totem pole, “free with your new account” cards, and they grew points sooooooo sloooooow. But, 14 years later, we had just shy of the amount we needed for a brand new macbook!! So, we bit that bullet not long ago, paying about $160 in taxes and fees, and here I am, blogging on our beautiful dark grey skinny mini new MacBook Air! Woop woop! I’m so thankful to have a fully working laptop again!

All that to say, its too new and we’re not bringing it this weekend 😆 Oh and hey, yes we’re gone this weekend. Our house is being actively checked on, so watch it 🤨

Aaaaanyway. Waverly’s birthday was SO special and SO pretty, and I can’t wait to tell you all about, but since I’ve started even typing this shorty post, Solly has somehow managed to pee on his own head (not joking) so I’m pretty sure I’m needed. Packing is not – I repeat NOT – going smoothly! Haha!

Happy Friday, friends!

My tiniest baby girl turns TWO today!! Happy birthday, sweet Wavy!!! 

Let’s take a look at Waverly’s previous twelve months. 

It goes without saying that Wavy brought special blessing to our home. She came to us after a brutal time of struggle and loss, and she brought light and hope and excitement and a strong reminder that God always knows what we need when. 

For her little deets, Waverly is definitely our most petite child. She’s right around 24 pounds. She has almost all of her teeth, but she’s still short a two-year molar or two. Her hair is craaazy long, and craaazy blonde! We’ll see if the blonde stays through the winter or if its just bleached out like crazy in the sun ☀️ 

Wavy is positively BURSTING with personality, as you may know if you’ve met her before.

She loves to make funny faces or do silly things to make others laugh. She gallops and runs and jumps SO well. She tells jokes and prays, and she’ll repeat pretty much everything anyone says. She picks up words so easily, and therefore, communicates SO well. 

She knows what she wants, and she asks for it. She insists on picking her own clothes. Thats a first for us around here. She is 110% happily cooperative with brushing teeth, baths, diapers, etc. Sometimes she’ll whine and ask “Whyyyyyuh?” We’ll tell her why, and 9/10 times, she says “Okay” and happily goes along. 

Sometimes Waverly cries and says things like “I want be big” or “I want coffeeeee.” Please, sweetheart, don’t be big too fast. I’m not ready…

Your family loves you so dearly, Waverly Violet.

You changed our vibe, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Our life is lighter and happier since you came along. And for that – for you – I praise the Lord. 

Today is Canada’s birthday. I am SO grateful to live here. Canada is important to me.

But.

Tomorrow is a very special birthday. Tomorrow, our dear little Miss Waverly Violet turns TWO.

I have a lot of emotions swirling around my head, but we’ll hash those out together another day. Today is being spent preparing!

Presents are wrapped. A small load of laundry is done. Decorations will be assembled and put up after the kids go to bed. Food is planned and purchased. Baking will happen after this blog is posted.

Normally, we are not a big birthday family, and this will still be small in comparison to many people’s birthdays. But we’re being fussy with it because Wavy is turning TWO of the SECOND! Its her one and only magic birthday, and she is my one child who will have one before they’re adults. The rest of my children will be 21 or older for theirs, and Waverly deserves some “magic” fuss. Lol!

That being said, we may run around and share some birthday love with some friends. Hopefully thats allowed! If weather permits, we hope to bring the birthday parade around rather than having it brought to us! If you happen upon a beautiful little birthday girl tomorrow, please join us in making her feel like a total star! 🤩

The LAST day of June is upon us! Its been a productive, rainy, lovely month with my family. Of course no day is perfect, but I am really grateful for our time at home together. We very likely will never have another stretch of life like this, and don’t get me wrong. I am hopeful and grateful for that likelihood too! But I so enjoy being home all together for now 🙂

This month, we finished up our topsoil. We started Science Saturday. We got our robot vacuum, Meryl Sweep, and a new big electric griddle. We set up our fire pit and a backyard pool. We had some of the most beautiful skies and welcomed Summer. It was a lovely month! 

July brings yet more fun busyness for us! Likely another project or two, but I’m not going to talk about them until I know for sure 😉 A few birthdays – one I’m not ready for in the slightest. We have a weekend at a cabin coming up, and some special dates to get the kids to and from. Brady has a job scheduled this month, so we thank God for the that as we anxiously wait for his work to fully restore. And most importantly, we have a LOT of biking, walking, trampoline jumping, freezie eating, burger barbecuing, bubble blowing, and music playing to be done! What does July hold for you? 

Its my fault. 

I was in Carters two days ago, and I saw snowsuits. 

Snowsuits. 

Its June. The sun is hot. The rain is warm. Gardens and flowers are still growing. 

Its Summer. And there are snowsuits. Snowsuits are for Winter.

I take personal responsibility. This is my fault. I talked about Christmas. I talked positively about the Winter season. 

It was me. 

I will spend the rest of the day in silence, ashamed. 

😔 

Cher here

This was our fifth and final Science Saturday with the kids. This time we conducted an experiment that would take longer than 24 hours. It ended up being more exciting that way, especially because they started it Friday evening after bedtime. The experiment we did was dissolving the shell off raw eggs.

First, we chose a brown egg and a white egg so we could see if there would be any difference in colour of the skin or progress. Dekker and Laela both wrote their names in black permanent marker on their eggs.

Then, we filled two small glass cups with pure white vinegar and told the kids to carefully drop them in and place the cups on the counter where they would stay for the next day to day and a half.

Saturday morning the kids checked on their eggs and noticed that their names had completely been dissolved. Dekker’s egg was the brown one so it was easier to see the junk that was coming off the shell because it was floating on top.

After lunch we checked on them again and saw that they were really starting to lose their shell. There was a lot of skin exposed and you could even scrape the shell layer off with your fingers or a cloth. Hailey and I took both of the kids eggs and washed them off a little before they put them back into the vinegar.

This morning we checked on them again and everything was mostly off, but it was taking a while so we replaced the vinegar with fresh vinegar and let them sit until after lunch.

This time everything was mostly off. The kids played with the bouncy layer and noticed how the egg had expanded from absorbing some of the vinegar. 

We told the kids they could throw their eggs on the street to watch them burst. You could probably guess that they were all for that. 

Well that is a wrap on our five week Science Saturday extravaganza! It was so much fun to watch the kids observe and ask questions. I loved doing this with Hailey and Brady for the kids. Sometimes I think it was more fun for us than it was for them. Maybe we will do this again in the fall!

Today’s post should be about Science Saturday, but we did a different kind of experiment this time around, where we started it last night and it will be completed tonight. I will tell you about it tomorrow! Onto the post!

Today marks my blogaversary. I am floored every year that I reach June 27th. It has been eight years. EIGHT YEARS. I was completely beside myself when I made it one year, and here we are at eight! My goodness that happens fast! Thank you, beautiful friends, for following along and investing in our family this way. I so love having this record for my family, but I love the community we’ve built from this little labour of love. I am so grateful.

Brady, Cher, and I spent yesterday evening in the backyard around the fire. Its the first time we’ve had a yard suited for a firepit, and we are making the most of it. 

Brady built a beefy bench on one side that three adults easily fit on, so we tested that out together…

and eventually settled into reclined lawn chairs and relaxed. We drank pineapple pop together, which brings warm, lovely memories of Philadelphia to my heart. It was really nice to share that with my people. 

Brady, I love doing life with you. Doing the yard with you. Doing the blog with you. You are the best man for the job. I am so grateful for my life, and that you are in it. 

Boom!! Eight years, baby!! 

If you get a gift from me this coming Christmas that smells like sunscreen and has flecks of topsoil in it, you know I was thinking of you in June already!

I know its too soon, but Christmas is already on my mind! Its probably because we’ve been home for three months or so, and usually, that would mean we’re into September already, where I’m basically completely prepared for Christmas. But, thats not the case. Its still only June! Whew! But we’re officially less than six months away! Just barely 😉 

Do you remember last year, where I organized a homemade gift exchange? I am actively fighting the urge to start that up 😳 Already. I want to pick names for my family’s gift exchanges. I want to brainstorm everyone’s gifts, but I keep catching myself, realizing there are still birthdays to consider before Christmas. I say again. Its June. June. JUNE!!!

I want to do a homemade gift exchange again. I’d love to ONLY make homemade gifts, for everyone! Wouldn’t that be awesome?? Or thrifted gifts! I got into my own head thinking about it just the other day. I could do a homemade gift exchange and a thrifted gift exchange! Aaaaand a baking exchange! And then I calmed myself down and figured I’d stick to one, if any 😆 

Guys. Its June. Yesterday, I sat outside in 25C temperatures in a bathing suit, knitting a scarf. Something may be wrong with me. I need a summer craft…..

I’m sure you have seen those videos online that show people growing their own fruits and veggies out of stems or seeds on the veggies you’ve already grown or bought. I know, that was all a bit of a mouthful, but hopefully you can picture what I mean. Some of them feel extreme, like digging the teeny tiny little seeds out of strawberries, drying them, and planting them. I can’t be bothered 😬 But, for interest’s sake, I decided to give the lettuce one a try, because it was the easiest! Lol!

Aaaaall I did was take the cutoffs from two lettuce hearts (taco night) and put them in water. I found a bowl that was tall enough, and I added water out of my rain barrel to it. So it began on a Wednesday.

Wednesday/Thursday

Friday/Saturday. That was a CRAZY overnight change!

Sunday/Monday

Tuesday/Wednesday

Isn’t it CRAZY how fast that happened?!?! One week later, it outgrew the space I had for its picture 😆 In all fairness, it would take a pretty long time to be able to keep up to our family, but I was totally surprised at how fast it grew!

As you know if you read yesterday’s post, I was visiting Cher Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. While I was away, Brady added another lettuce heart to the bowl. That was Tuesday night. Today, Thursday morning, we have this.

I am SO impressed with how fast this grows!! It starts up SO FAST! I admit, I had a moment where I wanted to rehome all of my succulents and just have planters of lettuce on my windowsill 🥬 Buuuuut I can’t see it happening, haha! Even if it’s just a fun experiment, I suggest you give it a try! I couldn’t believe how easily it happened!

The garden may not be thriving, but my bowl of lettuce is growing!!