staying a float

Can I just say that basically shutdowns are NOT COOL! Sure, sometimes there are benefits but they are mostly not cool.

We seriously miss Mr. P and I have been feeling like I am barely staying a float.  We are on week four of our dad working A LOT and it is not fun at all....for any of us!!  This will carry on for a few more weeks, boo.  There is my little slip into negativity.  I totally had many moments today where I was not my best self, I was a pretty bad version actually, ugh and it pains me thinking about how I handled things.  Here I have these precious little women and have many good things in my life, yet I get bogged down, react poorly.  It was pretty bad by dinner time and as I sat down again trying to gather, encourage and rally a family meal I felt a bit defeated before it really started.  Stella maybe had two bites, tossed half of her rice to the floor and Amelia kept getting on and off, on and off her seat, fluttering around like a butterfly.  I sent a few texts trying to snag a sitter, forget it being Family Night - I needed out.  No one was free but my sweet, sweet sister Alyson called in the middle of my melt down and came over to stay with the girls and sent me off....the picture below is from a much better day!!!!

 

 I hit the mall for some retail therapy (perhaps not super healthy) but we needed a few groceries and I wanted to hit Target to check summer clearance items.  As I walked around alone I totally thought about different points in the day where I could have reset the course we were all travelling.  As hard as it is for Mr. P and myself, the girls feel it too.  I know they feed off of my energy and attitude. I came to a few conclusions:

 

1) They totally miss their dad too!  Having him around makes us a better family and we all feel it when he has to work a lot.  I need to empathize a little more with them.

2) I need to be doing what I know I need to be doing, really studying my scriptures and making sure that I am pumping up the spirit in our home.  If I do my part to ensure we are spiritually fed, I know that can have a big impact...I've felt it before.

3) Take care of myself!  I become this crazy night owl and do not eat properly when Mr. P isn't here.  I have a great routine for the girls but I don't often make it happen for myself. MUST do this!

 

Anyway a few little thoughts as we all continue to stay a float!

 

We have done some fun things.  Decorating and trying our new butterfly pancake mold, coolness.

 

~ Mrs. P

Unparented for the first time!!!!!

Before

 

After

 

Graham worked with a guy who's dream was to buy an isolated farm, be self sustainable and keep his children close.  He was a great guy but I remember kind of laughing when I heard that thinking 'what good does that do for your kids to smother and isolate them?'  BUT I get it now!!!!!  This seems a little silly but I kind of had a moment the other morning as I left Amelia and two of her little buddies at the pool for the first time.  There is a great little program they run there and it seemed like a good fit, so they get to have a fun time there each week.  She has been enjoying it and is eager to show me her craft and tell me all that she has done.  It has been a little growth and change to our family routine.  Amelia and Stella are rarely apart but it has been special for Stella and I to have time together, she says we are having a "date" - LOVE IT!

Having our big girl heading off alone makes me want to savour my time with her even more. Next year it is Kindergarten, crazy.  I cherish her and am so grateful that I get to be her mother.  It is beautiful to watch her grow and hear her stories, see her experience interesting things and knowing that she is going out, being a light in the world.

~ Momma P

Singing the Songs We've Learned

Our community has a fabulous program run by the Families First Society called Parent n Child Mother Goose or Rhymes n Story Time. It has been part of our little family's activities since Amelia's birth.  It is a beautiful program where parents gather weekly to learn songs, lullabies and stories that they can then sing at home with their little ones.  It is lovely!!!  The facilitators are fabulous, seriously so fabulous, they always make you feel like you are doing a good job as a parent (who doesn't need that).  Participating in the programs has been something I have really enjoyed and hope that my ladies will have a love for the songs/stories that have come into our home because of our attendance.  Some of the songs we have learned have become family staples; You are Wonderful, Shoe Fly, Ho Ho Watuna, The Moon is Round, Snakes, On My Foot...just to name a few!!!

 

A while ago the Bird girls and us Polischuk ladies were asked to share a story that we had learned at the Annual General Meeting.  So the other night we got everyone dressed up spiffy and headed out after dinner, yup it was an early evening meeting.  We were a bit worried but it went pretty well.  We waited patiently for our turn as we were near the beginning of the program and all went up together.  It was mostly Alyson and I doing the actions, even though Amelia totally knew it and Stella wanted to hold the microphone for us, so that was really cute.  The program and organization is truly an asset to our community, just a beautiful thing to be a part of.  

 

 

We tried to get a group shot of everyone but yeah obviously when people are usually asleep at this time of night we weren't going to get top notch posing girls.  It actually got a little rough for Amelia and Stella and I....Alyson reminded me to stay cool as I buckled two spazzers into the car.  Ugh but it really was a great night up to that point.

KEY TO THE KINGDOM

This is the key to the kingdom. (hold up thumb)

This is the kingdom.

In the kingdom there is a town.

In the town there is a hill.

On the hill there is a road.

On the road there is a house.

In the house there is a room.

In the room there is a bed.

On the bed there is a basket.

On the basket there is a blanket.

Under the blanket there is a BABY. (hold up thumb)

 

Baby under the blanket.

Blanket on the basket.

Basket on the bed.

Bed in the room.

Room in the house.

House on the road.

Road on the hill.

Hill in the town.

Town in the Kingdom,

And this is the KEY TO THE KINGDOM. (hold up thumb)

 

~ Mrs. P

Sweet Sisters

 

I am blessed to have two sweet sisters.

Each is dear to my heart in their own way. I connect with each of them and admire them for different things.  I think it was Leslie who said once that "her family is her backbone" and I definitely second that.  They give me strength.  Grateful for them.

 

~ Mrs. P



Honouring Ann

 

5th Year for our participation in the Ovarian Cancer Walk

 

 

There are tender feelings during the month of September.  Our family always does the Ovarian Cancer Walk and it is Ann's birthday on September 17th.  There are often times when I wish I could call and ask her a question or could see her with the girls but alas she isn't here with us.  With the passing of our pup Tula has brought all of those feelings of loss and grief forward again.  Amelia talks daily about her Grandma Ann being in heaven with our dogs.  She talks about the pretty pillow that rests on her bed, which belonged to her Grandma Ann.  The discussion of heaven, the Plan of Salvation and eternal families are spoken of almost daily it seems.

 

Cancer is just one of those sucky things in life....and for us now, it is not having someone here whom you really wish was.

 

This is the 5th Ovarian Cancer Walk we have done and the 4th we have walked in honour of Ann.  What a woman she was, a sweet, sweet woman.  I feel blessed to have known her and am grateful she was happy that Graham married me.  He jokes that his mom told him not to mess things up, I love her for that!!  Graham has many great attributes that were learned from his momma.  Oh we miss her!

 

2007

Although our family has changed since this picture it is special because it really symbolizes for me how I remember our family with Ann; her and us with a bunch of fur babies!!!!

 

~ Daughter-in-law to Ann

Jenny

Meadows of Clover

Upon cleaning off my camera I came across these sweet pictures of my darlings playing in the clover.  It amazes me how a simple picture can become so precious, I just LOVE this picture of Tula.

 

 

So classic Stella!

 

Amelia looking for bugs in her dress and with her pink diamond ring....love it!   Oh the memoires.

 

 

We played for a good 20 minutes in the clover.  The girls looked for ladybugs and smelled the clover.  It was lovely!!!  Moments of just pure discovery, the freedom of childhood and the beauty of nature.  As I sit blogging this Amelia said, "I just loved laying in that grass, clover".  How lucky are we to live in a day where memories can be captured in pictures and then have thoughts and feelings come flooding back as we look at them.   Darn lucky, I tell ya!

 

~ Mrs. P



Soaking Up the Summer Days

Our Dad is currently working another shutdown and while I know it is hard for him to work crazy, long hours with minimal days off....pretty much the same could be said of my job aka Mom!  I love, love, love being a mother but really appreciate when back-up aka Dad is around.  Alas, this is our road and I know it will end so we march on.  I must say that the weather has been SPECTACULAR!!!!  So warm and beautiful.  The leaves are starting to change and the geese have been flying for weeks now but we've been landing temps close to 30c so that totally rocks. Consequently, we have used this extended summer to enjoy more outside time and we hit the Legislature with some friends last week....a blast was had by all! It is hilarious to watch the little personalities and relationships grow.  It was hard for us to leave because it was seriously so lovely.  I treasure the friendships I have made here in Fort Sask.  There are quite a few women who encourage and support me, I learn a ton watching them mother and aspire to develop attributes I see in them for myself.  Very thankful for good friends I say!

 

 

Who doesn't love a good visit to McDonald's?!

A kind of sad morning was changed over into a good day with a little help from my sweet friends.  I just woke up pretty sad; missing my Mr. P, missing my pup Tula and sad that my baby is really no longer a baby (wearing underwear and sleeping in a big kid bed) sheesh!  I think it just all kind up got mixed together and erupted that day.  My friends swooped in and we had a lunch date, good chit chat was just what I needed.  My parents are 5 hours away and both of my sisters were busy, sooooooo very grateful for good friends.  And honestly, how lucky are my little women to have these fabulous peers?  The kiddos of my friends, we certainly appreciate them.

 

Her eyes and pensive stare just get me every time!

 

~ Mrs. P



Kitty Kitty

 

My girls are furry animal FIENDS!!!!!!  The Cartwright's adopted a little kitty whom they named Leia and the girls are absolutely smitten.  They met her a few weeks ago and have seriously been obsessed.  They pretend to be her, ask about visiting and they say they want a kitty almost everyday.   At gymnastics the other day Stella was running for warm up and told me she was being 'Princess Leia'....seriously smitten, hilarious.  It is all pretty adorable and she is absolutely an precious little kitty.

 

~ Mrs. P

good bye to a good companion

 

Oh what to write, what to record about our beloved pup Tula. On Friday September 6th we chose to let our sweet Tula go to heaven.  I truly believe that our pets will be up there chilling!  It has taken me a week to sit down and write this, too much emotion and honestly, grief.

 

Tula just had her 11th birthday in July, but she has had a rough summer with multiple visits to the vet. It stinks that animals can't tell us what hurts or what is wrong.  Tula and her brother Tony were our babies before we had our human girl babies, they had a special role in our lives.  It was a hard decision but ultimately we felt it was the right thing.  There was much discussion and ultimately prayer to know. It may sound odd but it had been a very spiritual week.  Hard though, so hard, many moments of just having tears come thinking about her.

 

My little sister Leslie sent us a sweet text (she lived with us while in school so had a special relationship with the dogs).  She wrote that it was 'the end of an era' and it is.  The day we let Tula go Graham and I talked about when we picked Tony and Tula from the SPCA, we actually kind of stole Tula from a little kid and made him cry!  We hadn't even been married a month and went to visit the SPCA.  We saw them, fell in love, went home to think about it and then picked them up the next day.....BEST DECISION EVER!  The little tiny black fur balls were so cuddly, so sweet and such crazy barkers!!!!!!  They were our fur babies and as our desire for human babies was left unfulfilled for so many years, the love these companions offered is cherished and so close to our hearts.

 

As Amelia joined our family, then Tony passed on and then Stella came Tula really rolled with the punches, just a good dog!  Our hearts are aching and it feels like a piece of our lives is missing.  The Graham & Jenny Polischuk Family has from the start included our pups!!!!!  The girls adored them and we feel super blessed to have had such great little furry companions.  Gratitude for the role they had in our family.  Tula is soooo missed.

 

 

Some fun flashbacks. 

Sadly we are all so old that photos of her as a pup aren't digital.

Still some cute pics of our beloved pet.

 



 

 

 



 

~ Mrs. P



BIG GIRL - say what?

Because of these...



panties

 

the BIG girl needs one of these...

toddler bed

 

I am not really going to speak of it other then saying the potty training has been going pretty well.  Stella was content and happy in her crib but when you gotta go, you gotta be able to go to the bathroom.   We needed to get her into a bed and ditch the crib.  What a week of milestones, my baby isn't a baby anymore. :(

 

 

We had some sweet bedtime moments tonight as a little family, cuddling Tula and just goofing.  Stella did some jumping on her bed and seemed pretty pumped about this whole new bed thing. We're pretty pumped for her too.

 

~ Momma P



Tea for Two

A bit of our family realness coming through here...

still in pajama's for mid-morning snack, yup it sometimes happens.

 

I seriously love the moments when the girls are playing nice together, it isn't always the case but when it happens for sure my mother heart beams.

Love them!



(always have to give the ladies a towel for the inevitable spills)

 

~ Mrs. P

Zoo-tastic

 

A little bit of September zoo fun for the girl cousins. We packed everyone into the Pathfinder (doesn't happen too often anymore) and headed into the city to visit the animals.  The weather has been stunning and we took advantage of the beautiful day.  There is something so bittersweet about seeing wild animals caged, oh that sounds sad.  It is sweet to see creatures that you read about or watch on the Discovery channel but certainly bitter to see them caged.  Anyway it is always good to go.  The zoo has a major expansion underway and some words on their big posters caught my eye;

 

CONSERVATION
EDUCATION
PROTECTION

 

 

 

 

 

Oddly of all the animals at the zoo the baby chicks were the favourite.  Oh my 'chicks' (get it hahahaha) they would probably love to live on a farm, that will NEVER happen.

 

Little Neely was so darn cute!!!

 

~ Mrs. P