Well, friends, today makes THIRTEEN YEARS of daily blogging for me 😳 with only ONE forgetful day. We have stayed afloat through a lot of things in the last thirteen years, but most specifically the last few. Though, before those were all the pregnancies and births, which I won’t pretend weren’t significant events. Regardless, we could not have made it this far without willing guest bloggers, most of which were Cher 🤣 and I WOULD not have made it this far if no one ever followed. It was never dependant on an audience, but I won’t lie – it helps. So, to all of you who read consistently, or sometimes, or you’re just here for pictures on occasion, I appreciate your care and love and support.
Cher brought me a gift this morning to celebrate 💜 I’d say the best parts of it were the artwork.
She felt I warranted a movie poster…
And I even got an award!! 🤣🥰
There are days where I think I’ve maybe come to an end of blogging. There is so much I can’t say that it feels phoney sometimes. I’m SO careful not to blow a single detail of any of our foster children. But also, fostering in general NEEDS to be talked about!!! I’ve had some other ideas for different blogs but I don’t anticipate maintaining two blogs. One is enough. But who knows. Maybe something changes in time.
Anyway. Some are exciting and some are fun and some are quick and some are boring, and no matter what, you guys show up. And I am grateful for you.
I praise the Lord for the incredible community that has grown over the years.
Each year, I try to meet the kids at school on foot, pick up their stuff in a stroller, say goodbye to their teachers, etc. However, this year, we had to take a kid to a visit 😅 Surprise, surprise! So, rather than our lovely Born family goodbye, everyone ran out to the van, dumped their stuff in the back, and whipped into the city. It seems like thats a bit more our style these days anyway.
But we made it worth their while. We listened to good, loud music. We went and bought some fun things at Dollar Tree. And we ate french fries and McFlurries for supper. That strawberry cheesecake one is possibly the best one they’ve ever had. If you haven’t had it, do it. Limited time!
We got home right around 7pm and the whole mess of the van was unloaded. Five backpacks and extra bags. A random pair of rubber boots. Two diaper bags. Three babies. And all the garbage from supper. I present to you Wavy’s summer bucket list.
She very excitedly squealed “It’s a goat!!! No one else picked a goat!!”
My favorite part is one of her summer goals being hugging all of her siblings 💜
Now, most of the kids are down for the night. More than half, anyway. I’ll crochet a little bit while we wait out the last ones, and then to bed I go!!!
A while back, I mentioned that our meal trail was over, and that I felt so loved and cared for. There was no sideways intent on my part, but I was pleasantly surprised when more dates added on, and we’ve continued to receive meals. What an enormous gift!! It has meant a lot that there has never been some predetermined cutoff and we can continue to have a need met as long as we need it. What an incredibly generous group of people.
The meals have been wonderful all along the way. Today stood out as delicious and photo worthy.
Yup. Roll kuchen and watermelon! Making this meal takes a lot of time and effort for a group our size, and it was still warm and lovely!!! We had a VERY happy crew at the table!!
Each time I would pick something up to eat it, whether it was watermelon or a piece of roll kuchen, Spoons would SO politely ask for it. So. I ate half of a lot of things which eventually became most of a meal 😅 Thats babies, though, right?
Everyone ate without fighting. Everyone got enough. There is some watermelon left, but not a stitch of roll kuchen 🤣 Babies are messy and happy. And we even got a shorty rainstorm while we ate.
Thank you, Lord, for such a beautiful meal, a beautiful evening, a beautiful family, and a beautiful supportive community 💜
Recently, I’ve had crocheting projects that have been taking up any spare time I could possibly find. Yesterday, I officially ran out of the yarn I was using for a project, so while I didn’t have anything else tightly on the books, I decided to bite the bullet on a much bigger, much more important project.
Foster expenses!!!
To super quickly break it down, there are things I can send in to the ministry that they reimburse me for. Gas towards visits or appointments. Meals at certain times. Fresh clothing or toiletries when a new placement moves in. Babysitting and respite. Things like these. As foster parents, we’re expected to fill out forms for relevant expenses and hand them in each month.
You may or may not remember, but our very first placement was a shock to the system! Not only because we were new at the world of foster care, but the child also had incredibly high needs. Very early in the game with the Morsel, we spent a week at the hospital. Note taking and expenses went out the window while we just worked to keep our heads above water with this little baby. It took a long time before we felt caught up in our life in any real significant way, and at that point, I knew I had to catch up on expenses before I really started tracking current expenses.
You know how this goes. It is VERY easy to get lost this way. I should’ve just started tracking all the current stuff, and hung onto the month I needed help with. But, I didn’t. It took a LONG time before I finally got my first batch of things in to the finance department. If I remember right, it was about six months worth, and I felt really good about that!
Aaaaand that leaves me where I am now. I have not handed in expenses since. I could hand over all my great excuses, but you probably already know them, and I don’t need to say them anyway. I am just waaaaay behind. This time, the big hangup was Brady’s brain surgery. Not to mention the month before that where the Morsel also had surgery. I did not keep great records of who watched which kid and when, and because I didn’t do that, I was hung up on expenses. I knew I owed people money, but I didn’t know the details and I felt SO crappy about it. I kept reassuring myself that I would sort it out soon, and I would somehow be able to read old blogs, scroll through pictures, and jog the heck out of my memory until I had it all beautifully locked down.
And you know what? I. Just. Can’t. I’m not sure that info ever stuck in there, considering the circumstances, but I know that didn’t make it fair. So rather, Brady and I decided to pay our people each just a good chunk out of pocket, and start fresh. I will expense for the things I KNOW with confidence, such as mileage and meals out. But childcare and extras will go by the wayside for now, and thats ok. Even with gas and groceries alone, there is a LOT to ask the ministry for 😬
I feel incredibly accomplished, however. I did not rest today, which I actually do very intentionally most afterboobs (Ha! Afterboob is back!) but thats ok. We don’t always get our ideal, and I will find some rest time once the kids are down 🙂
Everyone will be home soon. The goal is to clean off the island, which is my dumping ground, and it has pretty much reached capacity. Wish me luck, all.
As Wavy gathered up her lunch stuff today, I had to stop her and take a picture. Save for the one granola bar, she had selected a completely orange lunch.
She had orange lunch for her birthday once. Well, it was mostly just a cheese day. With grilled cheese, cheese balls, KD, and the list went on. I couldn’t blame her, though. Cheese is always a win.
But today, orange food once again took over, and I couldn’t be mad about it. It looks delicious.
Meanwhile, I stirred a bunch of cheese into leftover taco meat and scooped it with chips for lunch. I’d say that’s a pretty bomb meal as well!
Celebration weekend continued at Kinasao today, and it kicked off with a breakfast with the camp! Brady, however, woke up in terrible pain where he could hardly even breathe in. We knew some tricks, but they don’t fix the situation entirely, and they don’t work quickly either. While I have plans to seek out some backup plans for him in the very near future, we did what we could and then just waited.
In the meantime, the five kids took off and ate at the camp with our Dahlsjos. They offered to bring food back for us, but I knew we would happily just have coffee once Brady could finally move. Once he was as managed as he could be, waiting for medication to kick in, I got LD and Spoons up for the day. I cracked out some cereal and they walked around the deck, dumping it out and putting it back into its container, over and over and over again. I would’ve been frustrated, but they did eat it, so I let them go.
Brady eventually was able to surface and be around the fire with me, and eventually, with others. It was SO nice. We sipped coffee and chatted and stoked the fire absolutely all day long. After lunch, many of the kids disappeared to the dining shelter to play games. Some ended up at Pickleball. Some went biking. And the few of us that were left were back around the fire, keeping warm and cozy together.
Everyone was doing SO well, so we stayed nice and long. So, naturally, packing up was bumpy and challenging, but we made it. It wasn’t long or particular brutal. Just a big group of overtired kids who have only played and thought of themselves all weekend long 😅 You get my drift.
The drive home was peaceful. Sometimes it was totally quiet, and other times, everyone sang along to the music we had going. We got home, unpacked, and sent everyone to bed almost right away.
And now its my turn. And Bradys turn. Our roomie, Peanut, is already cashed out. This felt like one of my more taxing weekends at camp so far, though the kids had an absolute blast and I have NO regrets! But goodness I’m beat! Ready for night.
Goodnight everyone. We’ll talk again tomorrow. I still have to tell you about the grade six farewell! Ack!
We were promised a downpour but have yet to see it. I’m honestly quite fine either way. We have LOVED having a fire all day today. We have sipped many coffees and enjoyed countless conversations throughout the day. Kids ran around all day. They played games. Won prizes. Played pickleball. Went on wagon rides and boat rides. Did the challenge course, and shot archery. We ate every meal with the camp and enjoyed the auction. While the auctions weren’t as well attended as past years, the blanket I entered went for over $400. So we’ll call that a win.
It’s cooling off now. Kids are having cookies and hot chocolate to wrap up the day, and I just put the babies down. Not sleeping yet, but in bed. Which is perfect, because the kids won’t wake them when they come back to the camper.
Come rain or shine tomorrow, I’m so grateful for this place, as always. It is positively beautiful here, people and place. It’s been a lovely weekend. As always, I’m completely overwhelmed with gratefulness for the gift that is Kinasao 💜 thank you God!
There are a handful of things to talk about on today’s blog. For instance, Laela had her grade six farewell today, and it was absolutely beautiful. Lovely. Special. I loved it. That is priority one. However.
We get to have fires this weekend.
I cannot express how thrilled I am to finally have a real campfire. 😍 One that crackles and makes everything and everyone smell like smoke. I can’t wait to sit by the fire aaaaall weekend!!
I had a bit of angst when I went into Michaels briefly today and realized just how quickly the seasons apparently change!! The entire front area of the store had gone from neon florals and cabana vibes to Halloween!!! Ack!! It literally has not even hit the calendar summer season, and suddenly, we’re well unto fall!!
However. Perhaps you’ve heard I like ghosts.
*sigh*
So the pop in wasn’t a total loss…
This little guy was pretty cute and deserved a home. It was very hard to choose between ALL the adorable ghosts in there but for some reason, this was the spooky little dude that stole my heart, so home he came! With that said, if you notice the Halloween stuff go on sale, TELL ME!!! I would LOVE more adorable soft happy ghosts! They are all SO cute!
I originally had stuck my head into Michaels to kill time and to see if there was any clearance yarn. Which there was. But I didn’t need it, nor did I need any ghosts. So I chose between two frivolous purchases and went with the one I had less of 😅 It was not easy. But since I finally finished my blanket for the Kinasao auction this coming weekend, I best use up some of the yarn I already have here at home! I have lots, and LOTS of projects ruminating. But the big one is done! 💪
Next up – a couple of more casual throw blankets that take less thinking but are equally as cute and cozy.
Today, I give you three simple things to laugh at. Three laughs feels like enough for one post, right? Right.
First one is this great graffiti I found in the city today.
I know its not meant to say boobs, but it caught me off guard when I first saw it and I can’t unsee it now. The top of the B is probably the 2 in the above 2019. I think, anyway. But. Its just. Boobs.
Second funny thing is from Rowan. Someone lovingly brought us cookies today, and I had set them down on the island. They just so happened to be sitting next to a tattoo aftercare sheet. Based on this, Rowan exclaims “Awwww! Mom, Cory brought us cookies!!” 🤣 Cory indeed did not bring us cookies, but I loved how his mind worked, haha! I mean, I guess if someone is going to break in, leaving cookies isn’t the worst thing they could do!
Final funny story. A while back, the high school did a spirit day called “anything but a backpack day” where kids brought ridiculous things to school in replacement of their backpack. Dekker isn’t jazzed about spirit days but he got really excited about this one, and ended up bungeeing his lunch kit to a hand truck, and then securing that to his bike like a trailer. It was really funny, and very Dekker. He was largely anticipating a repeat of that day today, and has been mulling for a while now, trying to decide if he can top the hand truck. He settled on taking a grass seeder behind his bike. After school, he informed me that anything but a backpack day was apparently cancelled long ago, but it had never been taken off the school calendar 😅 He was mortified! It was SO funny!! I said to him that he could’ve brought it back at lunch time, to which he responded “but then I wouldn’t have a backpack!” 🤦♀️ Clearly not so much with the thinking 🤣
Ok. Thats it thats all! I don’t have too many minutes to spare each day and I need to finish my current blanket project before the weekend! Ack! Back to the grindstone! 💪🧶
