The Daily Hailey

As Brady headed out for the day, this was our text conversation.

His bum was out and something was wrong with his toe! 🤣 It gave me a stupid, tired giggle.

Ha! TIREd.

😅🥱

Apparently I’m still at that point.

I’ve not always been very confident in the kitchen, as you likely know. Cooking on our camp chef griddle has been another learning experience for me, but I would say I’ve finally gotten in the groove of it. Cooking chicken will probably always scare me 🤣 but I even did that on the camp chef the other day! So I felt pretty proud of that, haha!

I realized yesterday just how far I’ve come when I got into making supper. I so badly wanted to go make it out on the deck on our Blackstone!! For a handful of reasons, I couldn’t right then, so I have a great big stove I can work with, and a convection oven that fits the bill as well. Even just typing that out, I almost feel guilty about having so many amazing options. Ugh. But anyway. I didn’t cook on the griddle, I just cooked inside. And I MISSED it!!!

Once upon a time, cooking on the griddle scared me, and now I miss it. I think thats pretty darn cool.

A small victory is still a victory! 💪

Welp. I have a handful of random stuff to show you that doesn’t fit together. But I’m gonna show you anyway 😅 Sorry not sorry.

First and foremost, someone wrote a greeting in our butter, lol!

Brady got all stocked up on some protein drinks, and I remembered I can stock his things in the island drawers so he can access them better!

Heyooo!

Cher brought garden tomatoes and cottage cheese over for lunch today!! YUM!!!!

Aaaaand this was a fun comparison to make during a discussion about the details in our children that look like which family members. Rowan mouth is ALL Brady 🙌

Ok. Thats it thats all! Nothing special! Just some observations from the day! Carry on.

The time has come, the walrus said, to send your kids to school!!

And we be listenin’ to that walrus, let me tell you! 🤣

I’ll admit I cheated on the pictures a little this year, since the elementary school had a welcome back BBQ early where the kids could meet their teacher, find their classroom, and drop their stuff off. So I took the backpack pictures last week. But. Still counts.

So! My youngens…

…their gigantic backpacks…

…and their grades!! Solly in 4, Wavy in 2, and Rowan in 5. Both of the boys are in 4/5 splits! Different classes tho.

Aaaaand today!!! TWO to high school!! 😵 My biggens…

… all of their stuff…

… and their grades! Dekker in 9, and Laela in 7!!!

Everyone had a great first day. Good teachers. Good friends. Birthday invites already floating around. Everyone is safe and tucked back at home now 💜 Thank you, Lord, for our small town and the happy schools we have.

Our family left camp early today, as did the Dahlsjos. We planned to meet at Lil Bean in Rosthern for ice cream around lunch time. Our family had never been there before, but likely like many of you, I have drooled over the pictures they have posted online and was eager to go!

Not only were we eager because who doesn’t want specialty ice cream for lunch, but also, this is our last weekend to see Piper before she leaves for college 💜💔

There are about a million pictures from this short hour together that I can’t show you, thanks to the rules of foster care, which I both respect and hate. Take my word for it when I tell you our group LOVES their group 💜 There is no shortage. Since I can’t show you much of Piper, I’ll show you my kids and the ice cream they got.

On our way back the vehicles, it seemed to strike Wavy the finality of Piper leaving. Not that we’ll never see her again, but her heart could barely take it that Piper was going to be gone now 💔

Goodness girl we’ll miss you 💜 It feels like we all JUST got you back from the busyness of summer only to say goodbye again so soon!

But.

I feel SO confident that you are heading to such good things, and I am really excited to hear about them along the way. Your new friends. The classes you take. The music you’ll inevitably get into. Books you read. Lessons you learn. All of it. I am committed to praying for you.

We already miss you, Pip.

Thanks for inviting us to ice cream today 💜 What a precious last date with you.

See you at Christmas 🎄😘

We had a beautiful dip at Bells Beach this evening 😍 Brady hung back and did some of his own stuff, evening routine, etc. while Stacy and I took the group just a couple of minutes away to Bells to wrap the day up. Everyone got in the water and played for an hour or so. It was chilly, and some of mine were wimps at first. But the babies joined the fun and the splashing got real. It was a total blast. We got there as many others were clearing out. We couldn’t have timed it better. 

There are maybe a hundred pictures I can’t show you, but here are my beautiful children I can 💜 

Thank you God for these summer memories. They are incredibly precious, and we do not take them for granted! 

Today was my day. Finally. My favorite kind of beach day. A day that is way too warm to be out in it. A day where we all get a little heat exhaustion. A day where I can wear a bathing suit top on the beach and sweat and not worry that anyone is looking or judging my body. A day where sunburns were born and no amount of water or bubly could satisfy. 

It hadn’t felt like summer. Not in all the ways.  Definitely not in terms of temperature. I’ve said to Cher that I will be excited for fall with her once I’ve had my nice stretch of +30 at the lake. Well, Cher, it seems we can start talking pumpkins when I’m back. Because this right here 🙌 THIS is summer!! ☀️

Today marks the absolute final day of summer holidays for the school kiddos!!! There is still a long weekend to go, but this is the final weekday that they have off before they are back in class!

We went to the elementary school yesterday to meet the teachers, drop off school supplies, and eat hot dogs. They were all surprisingly happy to be back there, seeing all of their friends and being in the halls, classrooms, etc. Apparently also the lockers…

For the record, this was all WITHOUT my prompting 🤣 Bunch of weirdos!

We ate hot dogs, chatted with teachers, and passed around the babies. It was fun to be back, and to see the kids all pretty happy, too. Rowan’s teacher is familiar. Solly’s teacher is someone we’ve encountered in small amounts. And Wavy’s teacher is new to the school. Everyone seemed excited, though, for the year to begin! We got in some little chats with familiar faces from previous years as well. It felt good to be back in it.

While I am looking forward to finding the groove of the school routine again, I have truly enjoyed our summer holidays 💜 Last summer was a fairly difficult one, and I’ll admit that I was nervous going into this summer that it would be the same or harder. But it has been simpler, and sweeter, and full of better memories. Kids are that much older. Babies are more independent. And somehow Brady is managing better this summer, even considering all the huge changes he’s faced. God has taken beautiful care of us this summer. He always does, but it has felt more gentle, for which I am so grateful.

Its almost time to say goodbye to summer…

Its like when you go on a trip, and it was lovely and you really enjoyed your time, but you’re happy that its time to go home. Thats been summer.

Thank you, Lord 💜

Bear with me while I try to tell this story without sharing any information about this child 🤣

After this long of fostering, I’m sure you could put together that not every foster child we have in our home is an infant anymore. So. Spoons is a toddler. An old enough, with it enough, toddler is starting to understand more and do more independently. A lot of this shows up during meals.

Spoons is a great eater!

Spoons hates breakfast, but eats great at lunch and supper. In fact, “lunch” is one of the clearest words spoken by Spoons.

The changes in meals have been things like actually putting the bowl/plate on the high chair tray, and encouraging finishing each item before getting more of the favorite thing. You get it. Sips from cups. Using utensils. Basic stuff.

Yesterday, I made chicken alfredo on tortellini, with roasted parmesan broccoli beside. I made up a small serving for Spoons and put the bowl on the high chair tray, with some broccoli beside. And that kid was elbow deep into that bowl immediately. Thankfully, I can trust Spoons a bit more, and when the serving was done, the bowl was thrust in my direction with a throaty demand for “Mooooh.” I pointed to the broccoli and said that needed to go first. Direction = followed, and I served up another small bowl.

Bowl onto tray. Baby dove in, but started to slow down a little. Licking the sauce off the chicken chunks, but then eating them regardless. At one point, I thought Spoons had officially tapped out, and when I went to check the bowl, it was snatched back out of my reach. I got some pretty epic stink eye after that. Clearly, it was not time yet. It was not until this child lifted the bowl up, put their entire face into it, with just that fat bottom lip sticking out underneath, that the meal was officially over.

One very happy toddler, hair dripping with alfredo sauce, declared “Done!” and held up their hands to be wiped off.

It all sounds super simple and maybe like nothing, but I really enjoyed the dynamic, and just watching this young little one positively inhale the meal I prepared.

Spoons, you’re fun to feed 💜 Goodness I love you.

Last year, I put some new systems in place for school lunches. I truly dislike figuring out school lunches. I’ve never been good at it. The kids never finish it. It drives me nuts. EXCEPT NO NUTS!!! *sigh* You get it. Once we were in the swing of things last school year, I got clear drawers in the pantry and loaded them with intentional lunch things. I also made veggie packs in bags that lived in the fridge. I got a couple of options of individually wrapped things that weren’t necessarily total trash (?) and had the kids pick their lunches each day. Simple.

However, when school started last year, lunches were not yet on my radar, and I haaaaated that feeling. I scrambled. Totally. I would not have a repeat.

Tomorrow is a welcome back BBQ at the school. Then we leave for camp on Friday. We get home on Monday, and they go to school on Tuesday. So this evening seemed like the right time to prep and stock.

The lunch chunk of the pantry holds lots of nonperishable options.

Goldfish that I’ve scooped into snack sized ziplock bags
Oatmeal packs
Apple sauce cups
Fruit cups
Granola bars
Nutrigrain bars
Fruitsource bars
Yogurt strawberries

The fridge is better, don’t worry.

Yogurt
Cheese strings
Babybel
Laughing calf
Honey garlic pepperoni sticks
Small handful of celery, bagged
Big handful of cherry tomatoes, bagged
Apples
Oranges
Cottage cheese, scooped individually

🤔

I think thats it??

I also stocked up well on some lactose-free things, since my one little one is pretty strongly intolerant and I need this kid to…

Think blocks of cheese, as well as those yogurt drink things since they were on sale. And lacteeze, because why not, when I just don’t have it ALL on hand.

I feel quite productive, but also BEAT, so I’m ready to rest.

Tomorrow will be food prep for camping this weekend. One thing at a time 😅