The Daily Hailey

Its hard to find the balance between valuing time and money. Especially growing up menno styles, if you had the physical capabilities to do something, even if you had NO time or desire, and even if you COULD afford to hire it, it felt shameful to do so. Or to buy something you could possibly otherwise make yourself. I understand where this came from, don’t get me wrong, but its something Brady and I have nitpicked over the years. When do you pay for convenience? How much is our time actually worth?? While this is not exactly the same situation, its in the same arena. Go with me.

In my quest to purge our house, we’ve even looked into getting a dumpster dropped off for a few days to fill with our junk. I don’t want to load the landfills or be reckless but I HATE having so much stuff cluttering my house!!

My next move is to look into donating a bunch of our furniture thats kicking around that we don’t want anymore. I know there are some companies that do that, and I do believe I have enough to offer to get myself on that list. But also.

There is SO much, I really should try to sell some of it 😕

But then I have to SELL some of it! 😩 And I’d really rather not have all the fuss and hassle that comes with that!

Being that we are not swimming in money and could use a little, selling would be smartest in that way. But also, is the hassle worth the money? Or do we “pay” for the convenience of not selling things this time? Ugh.

The list of items to get rid of is long, and the list of jobs to do is creeping up there as well. At least some of the jobs are fun. The list of furniture to purchase that will actually work for us is small by design, but it does exist. I want this place to work better. And its going to happen. I’ve worked in the pantry for a couple of days here and there now, and its starting to improve. Hopefully the whole place keeps improving.

Talk to me, friends. What would you do in my position?

I hope to have many a wiener roast here this year 💜 Help us brainstorm a way to have a patio! That’s a very real dream.

I have a follower.

Just the one. But not the kind you want, so its better that way.

Well. Had.

Yesterday, I delivered things to Value Village, and then popped in for a few things. As I walked the store, I noticed a guy near me. He caught my eye, but I didn’t linger and kept on moving. I find more stores have a general order of operations, and at VV, I tend to hit things in the same order. This guy showed up in most of the same spots. Maybe he just had the same process as me.

As I found my way towards the end of my store, I didn’t like that this guy was still right near me. Every time I looked up, we made direct eye contact. I didn’t really want him to approach me, and I didn’t want to give him the chance to follow me out or approach me outside the store. I really prefer to believe the best in people and not always be suspicious of everyone, but I’ve also learned to be on high alert in many of the neighbourhoods I frequent for some of my fostering endeavours.

So rather than panic or even really worry, I changed course and went from near the tills to the complete opposite end of the store.

And that stinking guy FOLLOWED ME!!! 🤬 Didn’t care for that. So once I perused a little and was sure he had followed me, I went back towards the front of the store where there were more employees as well as the security guard, chose a rack, and just stayed there. I looked at that same rack of tshirts for so darn long. Finally, there was a quick turn, the guy went to the till, paid, and took off. He left SO abruptly, I might’ve even said he was annoyed. And GOOD!!! Ugh. I gave him a few minutes before I went and paid, and left myself. Straight to my vehicle. Driver door unlocked, hopped in, locked behind.

TO BE CLEAR! I was parked SO close to the doors. If I had a longer walk, I would’ve asked the security guard to walk with me. But I watched my surroundings really closely and was safe. I did not see that man again. But goodness. I really strongly disliked that.

Same Value Village that asked us to leave because one of my children was pushing a cart, not at all recklessly.

*sigh* I love thrifting, and that is easily my most convenient location considering my usual timeline and location. Don’t do me dirty, VV!

And don’t do me dirty, skeevy shopper creeper man! Don’t follow women through stores!!! It only makes you look super yucky and everyone around you feel unsafe! Don’t!!

For real.

It was a nice day with an oddly chaotic evening, yet I’d say all around it was a good day! Grateful for every one!

I was able to crochet this morning, thanks to Cher who happily occupied babies while I got some work put into a baby blanket I’m making for a gift. I had a debacle about the hook I was using, which caused me to lose some time, but I have it all locked down now. You crocheters and knitters know – size DOES matter – 🤣 so when you can’t remember which hook you used, it can get a tad dire. But, crisis averted, and I eventually landed back on course.

Then, a yummy lunch and some relaxed YouTube.

About an hour before the kids got home, I got into some jobs. Have I mentioned the spring purgey itch I’ve been feeling? I want to throw the whole house away. But, since we live here, I’m going to start with the things inside. I started in the kitchen and packed up some big flat Costco boxes with small appliances that I just don’t ever use. Lots of things I’ve upgraded over time but never got rid of the original one. Some organization stuff I didn’t end up liking. A couple of platters. You know, the things that live in the back. I also pulled two big black garbage bags full of old food out of there. Dumped out containers holding the end of things that have lived in there for far too long. I didn’t do a deep purge, but I didn’t have to before I was already LOADED down with things to get rid of in one way or another. As I walked it all out the door, I did a quick once over of my clothes and while I still have far too many, I got right of a HEFTY armload or two. There is a lot more to do, but it was a good start.

Brady had an appointment this morning, and we had arranged a Marketplace pickup for him to do at 5:30, so he worked a little late before leaving for the pick up. I had to leave our house with Rowan by 6pm. I made a super extra yummy supper, ate some, and we high fived as I left the driveway and he pulled in 😅 He ate some shortly thereafter and made me feel like a total rockstar! With food being extra tricky with all of the pain in his mouth, a meal that a) tastes how it should and b) doesn’t hurt is VERY hard to come by!

I dropped Rowan at parkour and made a run to Value Village to donate a stack of items. I poked my head in for a few minutes, got followed by a total creep, and then headed back to parkour to watch the last 45 ish minutes. Rowan was doing super well, and crossed two skills off his card! Thats a BIG deal! He’s never accomplished TWO new skills in one session before!

We grabbed a donut on the way home to celebrate.

We got home, recapped my three whole items from VV that I bought for Brady, Laela, and Munchie, of course. Then we prayed and hugged and tucked in for the night.

Munchie Mix is not sleeping, but is squeaking and talking in bed, which is fine with me. It won’t take long. I will do this, lay in bed, wait for Dekker to come home, and plan my next move with fixing my house. The list is long, and we don’t have much money to throw at it right now, but we’re going to do our best with what we have. At the moment, that is cleaning up what we already do have, and making our space work well for a person in a wheelchair, as well as toddlers who like to get into juuuuust about everything.

Maybe after all of that thinking, I will sleep. 🤔 Perhaps.

No surprise here. I made a cardigan for me. I made one for Laela. So its obvious that Wavys is coming next, right? Right.

Its PEENK! 😍 And soft and cozy and heavy and quite luxurious, if I do say so myself.

Its quite long on her. I sometimes forget just how teeny she is 😂 But she is all about it, and had ZERO complaints.

Laela’s response was the perfect big sister response.

“Wave, you should wear it today so we can be twins.”

I really couldn’t be happier with how these things came out. They really are exactly what I envisioned and worked for. Don’t we all actually want to wear a blanket?? I know I sure do. And these definitely give that.

I’ll talk less about cardigans someday, guys. But clearly that day is not today. And with the weather as it is, it feels like the right day to talk about them. 🥶

Dekker has been petitioning for some bookshelves in his room for a while now. Specifically since we got him *ahem* some books for Christmas…

He does have a book shelf, but its really deep, and really isn’t a good use of space. So today, we bit the very basic bullet of buying some simple bookshelves from Walmart. Two shorter shelves that he wants to put side by side. On his closet well. Totally easy. The hardest part of the day for this boy has been WAITING for them to arrive!!! Literally this. All day long.

We call him a nerd very lovingly, and he takes pride in it. He just ached for them to come all day long so he could build them, and then spend hours organizing all of his different series. Had you heard he likes to read?

Finally, after 7pm, an older gentleman finally arrived with his shelves. We saw him walking down the ramp before we even realized he was there. Dekker excitedly went to the door to gather his shelves, and the guy kind of went off a little bit 😬 He told him he needed to scan them first and take a picture, which was all true, but he was SO unnecessarily gruff about it. Dekker said “ok” and he closed the door and waited. I said I was sorry the guy was a bit crusty, and before I could say anything else, Dekker jumped in with the best response.

“Oh thats ok. He’s probably been in his car all day and just wants to go home.”

My boy. 💜 Yes. Thats exactly the case. Way to see him as just a regular human. I loved that.

And as happy as I was about that, Dekker was that happy about this.

He’s already in it.

He’d got until 8pm before I call it and he has to actually wind down. This will not relax him, hahaha! He is WAY too excited 😆 But goodness I love how happy he is, and how grateful he was when I said I’d buy him some shelves. He is a fun kid to do things for. I’m a big fan.

Congrats on your bookshelves, my dear boy! 💜 I love you!!

It was a full, though not necessarily smooth day over here. It began with Brady feeling a bit crummy, but rallying, as we do. Very shortly thereafter, one of the lovely home care nurses stopped by to discuss a few things with us and teach us some other things. Always learning, let me tell ya! 😅

Through the appointment, the bigger kids hung with the babes and WOW did that get loud! They tried hard, and some kids were less impressed with the help they were/n’t receiving. Sounds like siblings, right? But as soon as we were free to help, I did, and the bigs got a little break. They had pulled out all the dining chairs and draped blankets over them, creating a huge fort. They really did well 💜

Aaaaand then, as keeps happening, suddenly Brady was absolutely unequivocally down and out 😕 He was positively miserable. Frozen. Shaking. Sick as a dog. So, the man got meds, cranked on his heated sweater, three layers of blankets, and I lay on him for about 10-15 minutes until the real shakes stopped. Do you know they’re called rigors?? 😩 HATE that. Anyway…

Once I was done in there, I came out to the kitchen and found Dekker making his lunch before heading out to the high schools final performance of this years musical – Shrek! He was upbeat and good to go. He sure enjoyed being involved in the backstage team 💜 Way to go, Dekker!

He left and the rest of us lunched and kicked off quiet time. The loudest quiet time ever. The toddlers are in a particularly rude stage where they don’t nap during nap time, but then they scream for the rest of the day because they really needed to sleep. Its fun.

While they played in their beds, Brady got up, ate toast, and went back to bed.

I spent a good chunk of time trying to shut the babies down, and being completely unable to let down myself. Whatever. Eventually I gave up, made supper, and got on with the day.

I made rice and curry. The epitome of easy comfort food. We all ate a lot. Even Brady managed a decently full serving.

Once that was over, babies went down. Well, two out of three. The toddlers went to bed. Brady stayed home with them, and I took Munchie and the others to Martensville to pick up some donuts to celebrate Dekker’s time in the musical. We came back to a totally quiet, peaceful house, tucked in on the couches in the living room, and watched a little Mr Bean until everyone was tired. It was perfect.

It was not our best day, but there were also wins, for which I am SO grateful. Well done, Dekker 💜 Thank you for putting in and showing up for the musical yet again. You are an incredibly hard worker, and a delight to be around. I am so happy you are part of our family.

🍩

Guys. 😩 They have discontinued my FAVORITE yarn!!! To say I am choked is a gross understatement. Maybe you can tell by my early morning post that it is already on my mind, bugging me to the enth degree.

I love to crochet blankets. That has been my go-to for a good few years now, and I think its an actual skill I’ve enjoyed nurturing. I still love to make blankets, but I have had a constant nagging to play a little bit in the world of wearables. I’ve dabbled over the years here and there but nothing quite comes out how I want it to. You may have seen the cardigans I’ve made recently. They are SO nice. I know I shouldn’t say that. Its like complimenting a meal I made myself. But they really are just so unbelievably cozy and soft and yes, they are exactly what I wanted.

This particular yarn is the same size as the very standard yarn I usually use, yet it feels and lays heavier in my opinion. So it doesn’t bunch up. It doesn’t feel stiff at all. It feels luxurious.

And now, its over 😪

When I made my cardigan, I was worried it would look pieced together or like there were lots of things that really should’ve been fixed. I asked the kids if it looked homemade, and it went like this.

Dekker: No way! 😍
Laela: Not at all!! 😍
Rowan: YES! 😍😳 I mean no. I mean. It looks SO custom, you couldn’t find it in a store!

It was sweet 💜 I loved their reactions, and I really love how these came out.

RIP Caron Funfetti Cakes. Not sure how I’ll go on making wearables without you 💔

This morning kicked off SO beautifully. Cher came back to work after a long stretch of alternating gross sicknesses with our family. Either we were folded over a toilet or she could hardly stand or speak. Its not been gentle. But today, everyone was well enough to be together. Brady also had an appointment scheduled with a community occupational therapist and our bathroom contractor/accessibility guy/friend this morning, so he didn’t go into work right away. So Cher, Brady, and I sat in the living room and had coffee together. And it was after the five went to school, and the three slept in. Like. It was the dream.

But goodness, I had to laugh 😂 Cher was just regaining her voice, so since we didn’t have to talk over the din of any squawky little ones, she talked quite quietly. Meanwhile, Brady and his chronic sinusitis has his one ear miserably plugged, making him deaf as a post. Brady was situated to my left and Cher was on my left. And there were definitely times where they would talk to each other and the conversation would go weird directions because they could hardly communicate 🤣 I enjoyed their dynamic privately for a while before I saw the confusion cross their faces simultaneously, and then I let them in on the joke.

We had a good laugh and Brady rolled a little closer. It was pretty adorable. I loved it.

It was fun to be the three of us. We don’t do it too terribly often, but we did it constantly during covid times, which are oddly fond memories for us. So once in a while when we get to have a coffee together, despite how much has changed, it feels very warm and homey.

It was a beautiful start to the day 💜 Thank you, Lord.

I don’t eat the banana strings. I’m not a psycho. I think they’re icky. Some people have argued with me in the past, insisting that they are just more of the banana, but we will have to agree to disagree. I believe they are part of the peel, which, despite what Kevin Spacey showed us in K-PAX years ago, is not meant for eating.

I digress.

The babies feel the same as I do. Today, they each had a banana. As they ate in their high chairs, I puttered around the kitchen a bit. I heard the unmistakable baby voice call “Help please!” Upon looking up, I see my smiliest child positively beaming in my direction, as they do, holding a banana string up in the air.

“Mommy. Help please. Gross. 😃”

Then there goes the other babe in the next highchair over.

“Mom. Booga. Booga. Booga.”

But it wasn’t a booger. Just banana on the end of that soft little nosey. 😅

How I love my job. “Job.”

🍌

I am so unbelievably proud of my piano kids right now 💜 This week has brought us the 25th anniversary of the Twin Rivers Music Festival, and three of my kids participated!!! The festival terrified me as a kid, thought I faced that fear a handful of times. The pressure of performing was one thing. The very quiet nature of the event was pretty stoic and intimidating. Plus, the judges were so scary! 😅 Ok, they probably weren’t, but it sure felt like they were in the moment!

I am so grateful for exactly what festival is now for my kids. The judges and other members who put the event on are all visibly happy to be there. The comments are delivered in SUCH a friendly way, and even if someone needs to work on something, it is presented honestly but really kindly. Kids are cute. Everyone claps. And our beloved piano teacher spends all that time at the event, checking in on ALL of her students and encouraging them. It is still a very professional event, and everyone still comes put together, respectful, in line, etc. but it feels so much more like a family event. I love it.

Laela and Solomon both played on Sunday, and I couldn’t go. My mom did, thankfully!! They came home happy! Laela figured she hadn’t done as well as she had hoped, but she placed second in her group and her comments were really good!

Solly didn’t place this year, though he got a first last year so he wasn’t unhappy at all, haha! His comments were great as well!

While I couldn’t go watch them play on Sunday, I was able to attend today! I missed Solly altogether, but I got to see Wavy play her first ever festival piece, and I caught Laela’s second song! I was SO grateful to be able to watch them!!!

Wavy first.

She kept saying she was “nervous, but actually mostly just excited.” She played her piece beautifully with NO MISTAKES!!! We were both so shocked at how smoothly it had gone, since in her practice that morning, she kept getting lost. But she nailed it, and took home second place! The adjudicator loved that it was her first time playing in the festival, and complimented how colourful she was 🥰 It was sweet.

Pose, Wave!

And Laela next.

She was apprehensive because there were only two kids in her group, and she knew the other kid was really, really good. Which he was. However, Laela did beautifully, and also took home second! The very accomplished other kid in her age group beat her by 1%!

We had SO much fun. I wish I could’ve been at all of their things, but I did my best and this worked out. Thank you to EVERYONE who put in to make sure these kids had a cheering section 💜 My mom, for doing Sunday. Cher for coming to help with babies. Brady for coming home a little bit early to relieve and keep time going. It was a precious thing for me to be able to go watch them play, and I am so grateful.

Another year of piano festival in the books!! Many more to come! Amazing job Laela, Solomon, and Waverly! I am SO proud of you all! 💜🎹💜