Prince Kingston Hits 5

The little man in our life affectionately know as 'Prince Kingston' turned 5 this past week!  Last weekend his parents held a little party for him at an indoor play place and the kiddos had a blast climbing, sliding and bouncing.  Fun times! Cousins are absolutely automatic friends and I am so glad that our cousins live near.

 

An adorable minion cake with five candles for the big guy!

 

A ton of fun stuff to do.  The smiles speak for themselves!!!





 

 Getting to celebrate together with family is totally part of the fun!

Kinda funny when present opening time came the birthday boy didn't really want to sit and open so Auntie Leslie snagged Mia to help open a few.  A minion hat to go with his party theme, so cute!

 

Loved celebrating with Prince Kingston!  He is such a charming guy, super handsome and just wins over your heart with his deep voice and brown eyes. Love him!

 

~ Auntie Jenny

home bodies

 We seem to be fighting the sniffles that never ends at our house!  For a group of ladies who keeps quite busy, being sick means we have slowed wwwaaaayyyyy down this past week.  We have become home bodies.  So no pumpkin patch as planned, no final Plunge n Play class for Amelia basically just a whole lot of hanging at home.  I must say though the slow paced days have been nice.  They allow us to read more stories, watch more movies and enjoy our home more. I love that the girls wanted to wear their big flower head bands and jewelled rings!! They REQUESTED to match headbands and I LOVE IT!  Oh how I adore them.

 

 Our big girl looking so cute watching a movie on the iPAD while I do laundry.

 

I personally feel better after I am dressed and ready for the day, even if it is just a day at home. Kind of a mental health thing for me I've discovered.

 

P.S. Really sick days do require full out PJ days though!

 

~ Mrs. P



Heart Check - two thumbs up

I have something called muscle fibre disproportionate myopathy which basically means - my muscles have typical initial strength just limited endurance.  I was born a floppy baby, it was concerning to my doctors and parents but my development was fine so there was really no intervention. I was followed yearly but my parents didn't have me do a nasty muscle biopsy. Other then being a small woman with not a lot of endurance my life has not really been affected. I have just slightly adapted really hard things and have clearly never taken up marathon running. Life has been good!

 

  Before we started trying to have children I decided it was important for me to find out more about my muscle condition if I could. I had a full work up and I did that nasty muscle biopsy, met with geneticists to have genetic counselling. I was told the chances of us having children affected was super slim. Low and behold after 6 years of trying I was able to conceive and wouldn't you know that supposed slim chance produced our delicate woman Amelia Ann and then two years later Stella Charlene.  During my pregnancies my heart and uterus were followed more closely then the norm but my body worked awesome (aside from the severe nausea I experienced).  After our sweet delicate baby Amelia was born we were referred to the Glenrose Hospital where they followed her bi-weekly for almost two years. What an amazing resource they were, with common sense suggestions for encouraging and adapting things in aiding her physical development. Simple things like where to place your hands to give the best support for sitting, learning to walk tips and the best was that we would get handouts with pictures from the day or drawn out stick person diagrams. Sooooooo good!  We still adore our physical therapist Lucia.  We now see her and the team only once a year.  When Stella was born she was clearly less affected so hasn't been followed by the Glenrose, however we used the folder full of awesome handouts so were able to encourage our Stella Bella the best way possible.  We also always bring her along to Amelia's yearly visits...just so they can see her :)

 

(Just a bit of history before I shared about our heart checks!)

The heart muscle is a MUSCLE so has always been a concern for me and now for my girls.  I am followed every 4 years and them every 2 - as a precautionary measure.  The day these pictures were taken we had hit the Stollery Children's Hospital for double ECG and Heart Doctor visits.  The girls were troupers and although I wasn't really concerned I had a moment as we headed back to our vehicle.  A moment with tears in the elevator actually.  The appointment went great, just as I expected the girls have great little tickers and the specialist said to come back in two years. The walk from the elevator took us past the school rooms, the oncology aka cancer wing for children and just walking around you walk by many little people facing various battles.  I thought of my powerhouse niece Jacey who has been there numerous times, for different things.  We are beyond lucky to have this amazing place so close. As I walked down the hall by the school rooms they had framed poetry written by patients.  I think the tears were a combination of reading those poems, a great apt for my ladies and memories of my sweet Bird Girl!!  My elevator tears caused me to say a little silent elevator prayer of thanks for a few different things.

 

 

Naturally a doctors visit requires some kind of treat after so we opted for some mini blizzards from DQ.  Classic goodness!  Likely the last day till spring were we could eat ice cream outside, it was 15 c on this day.

 



HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



 

I can speak for our whole family when I say that we are PUMPED UP that the big guy is done his shutdown!!!! He woke up after a days sleep to find a text on his phone that he didn't need to come in, he was done nights. BEST.SURPRISE.EVER!!!!!

He has worked over 120 nights between the past spring and then this fall's shutdown, but we are done!  The dude has a crazy work ethic and is valued at work, we are proud of him.

We sure do love him and are grateful that he will be around the house more.

 ~ Mrs. P

Celebrating Friends

 

My sweet friends Jody & Kristi (in party hats) had birthdays last week. I hosted a little shin-dig at our house and it was such a blast!!!!  We kept it simple putting up the birthday banner, pretty doily banners and making them wear party hats.  Drinks, a few treats and ice cream cake made for a lovely, casual evening. The best part of the night was having our friends pop by to give a little hello and write on the Birthday Girlies Backs!!!!! That is right, each lady had paper taped to her back and we wrote bday wishes or things adored about each.  I was the one at the end of the night to pull off the papers, fold and put into little envelopes....I took a glance and nodded in agreement to each comment.  They are WONDERFUL WOMEN whom I feel privileged to be friends with!  Good friends are good I say!

 

~ Mrs. P



Gymnastics Girls

 

These chicks, I tell you they are pretty special.

We kind of have a sweet deal for gymnastics this fall, both girls have class....wait.for.it....at the same time YEAH!!!! It worked out fabulous and is turning out to be pretty fun, because Stella is just two I didn't know how it would go but it is great. We were sick and then in Fort McMurray for a week so missed two classes and the ladies had a few comments from their friends.  I think it made Amelia feel special to know that she was missed.  As for Miss Stella, missing classes meant it was a bit of an adjustment even though she stays with me in the parented class. Change and new things are tough yo!  It is great to get to do this and I love when we are working on an area near Amelia so I can be sneaky and watch her. Today she did great bum drops on the trampoline and flashed me a smile, with two big thumbs up - love it!  At one point after walking sideways along a beam Stella says to me, "mom thumbs up".  Perhaps I use thumbs up a lot?!

I know I say it often but I adore them.

 

~ Momma P



Election on the Brain : Sister Suffragette

 

Local elections took place on Monday.  A group of fellow momma's gathered to work on sewing/crafting projects and we also got talking a little about the various candidates running. I had a stash of pamphlets and newspaper articles that I had looked over, if anyone else wanted to check them out.  It was great to hear the thoughts of women I respect and admire.  One friend mentioned how in university for one election some of her room mates went out to vote together and were singing this song from Mary Poppins - LOVE IT!!! Later that day I found it on YouTube and had to memorialize it here on our family blog.  Seriously Awesome!  Mind blowing to think of women not even being recognized as a 'person' and the efforts of many strong women to lay the foundation for all to have a voice. I took a Women's History Class in University and loved it, it was fun to look and remember these facts. 

 

I found a few things online that were good to be reminded of:



It was during the First World War that some women in Canada were finally allowed to vote and in 1919 all women over 21 had the right to vote in a
federal election.

 

Women's suffrage groups had existed since the 1870s, but during the war it was hard to ignore their arguments. Women were serving in the war, taking over from the men in factories and offices, holding families together while the men were overseas, and working in voluntary organizations that supported the war effort. They couldn't be kept out of political life any longer.

Women got the federal vote in three stages: the Military Voters Act of 1917 allowed nurses and women in the armed services to vote; the Wartime Election Act extended the vote to women who had husbands, sons or fathers serving overseas; and all women over 21 were allowed to vote as of January 1, 1919.

Provincially, women were given the vote in 1916 in the four western provinces, in 1917 in Ontario, in 1918 in Nova Scotia, in 1919 in New Brunswick,

 

The first province to give women the vote was Manitoba. This was where Nellie McClung had rented the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg in 1914 and staged a mock parliament, casting herself as premier and putting men in the role of having to beg her for the vote. The event was a great success, both financially and politically. McClung was also one of the five women who campaigned to have women recognized as "persons" by the Supreme Court so that they could qualify to sit on the Senate. They were finally successful with their "Persons Case" in 1929.

In the song from Mary Poppins there is a line where the mother says, "our daughters, daughters will adore us" and that totally made me smile with gratitude for those women who went on before. Our girls came with me to vote and we talked all about it (they are 4 and 2 so not sure how much they will remember) BUT it felt great to show them the process.  What a great freedom we have!  I went to the Birds for dinner after and we all commented on the feelings we each had as we sat in the voting booth.

patriotic

thankful

essential

privilege

responsibility

We have it pretty darn good.  I am also thankful for parents to taught us the importance of our political voice and responsibility.  I do kinda wish they lived in the same town so I could ask them their thoughts but it was awesome to be able to discuss ideas with my momma friends.

 ~ Mrs. P a woman proud to vote

 





Funk-a-li-cious

 

It is safe to say that this momma is working through a funk. I have been a complainer pants and tad negative, telling anyone who will listen.  Oh Jenny not cool!  But some interesting things have come about this week. Being at my parents was great but the reality of our dad working tons is just stinky.

Not to keep complaining (but kinda) Mr. P is still totally on shutdown - week 6, going on 7 - BOO!!!!!!

A change in my attitude must occur. I am in charge of myself (positive self talk).  I have come across these two great quotes and they fit perfectly with the changes I need to make. 

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...by and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” President Gordon B. Hinckley
 

 Now I know that service helps you forget yourself, but when you are home with littles getting out and serving others can be tough BUT it is possible.  I was actually nice to someone today, yeah it was my sick little sister. It still felt good to bring her supper.  Also, I had read a message before written by a mother who said that she began to change her thinking about the things that she did for her own family and started thinking about the daily tasks she did as service to her family. LOVE IT and really want to kick it up a notch around our house. So I wrote my first post funk love note, check it out....

( oh what a $6 paint stick will do )

 

At church last Sunday, in my parents' congregation one of the speakers shared how she strived to be more joyful by having more gratitude and recording it daily at the bottom of her 'to do' list.  It was a light bulb moment for me, I have done a version of this before but haven't for awhile.  So each day since that talk on Sunday I have been thinking of 3 Things I am Grateful For, sometimes writing it, sometimes just thinking about it in the shower. Today I am thankful for #1 A great group of peers for Amelia. My heart was happy and grateful as I dropped her off at JoySchool. #2 A full fridge.  Being away for a week meant we had a pretty meager stash of food upon arriving home. What a blessing to just pull up to the grocery store, load up and have an abundance of good eats.  #3 Kiddos who played nice in the basement for 15 min so their dad and I could chat alone in his 30 min window before he had to go to work.  It has been cool because I have even caught my self rethinking about the things on my gratitude lists, pondering and saying quick little prayers of appreciation.  Thanks speaker lady, touched my heart!

Shutdowns are hard.  Mr. P amazes me with his attitude!  It is hard for us all but totally doable, we are doing it and I want to continue to do it just with a better attitude. Being funk-a-li-cious is on the way out. ( Perhaps we've been reading 'Pink-a-li-cious' books lately)

~ Mrs. P

This is a post that I am sure I'll need to reflect on again because shutdowns are just part of our lives.

leaves are falling, leaves are falling

 Leaves are falling,

leaves are falling,

landing on my nose.

 

Leaves are falling,

leaves are falling,

landing on my toes.

 

Leaves are falling,

leaves are falling,

landing on my head.

 

Leaves are falling,

leaves are falling,

yellow,

orange and

red.

 

(a little song we learned at Parent & Child Mother Goose)

 

 

Fall can be so fun, seriously so fun!!!!!  While up visiting our family we made a stop at an old family friend's home and her front yard was covered with leaves as she has beautiful, mature trees.  The ladies got out of the car and as the leaves beside the vehicle crunched under their feet, their eyes lite up and they made a run for the yard.  A good 20 minutes was spend dancing, throwing and investigating...I loved watching it, encouraging them!  These are moments where I am so grateful to have my camera on hand, I always have it tucked in my purse.  The air was quite crisp, we all had rosy cheeks and cold hands as we ran in to use her potty after.  The girls just had such a blast!! Moments to be treasured for sure.



 

 

~ Mrs. P



the next generation

 

So these five are the joy of our lives!

Each of them in all their adorableness, uniqueness and challenge - WE ARE BLESSED!!!!

 

They adore one another, they seriously get so excited to be together.   Amelia and Stella eagerly anticipated the Birds arriving and then eagerly anticipated the arrival of Prince Kingston (for real this is what we MUST call him).  It is a special bond between cousins. 

 

Today I even ran into my cousin Jordan at McDonalds and it was so wonderful to chat about our families, house selling and life.  Cousins, great friends! Family is such a good organization.

 

~ Mrs. P

 

 



Thankful

 

Thanksgiving weekend has been a blast!  I am feeling pretty much normal, still finishing off my prescription but enjoying the festivities.  We miss our dad but have had a fun times up with our extended family.  In my classic style...copied a few ideas from pinterest and added to the holiday festiveness.  We created a Gratitude tree and some Turkeys for the table. It was fun reading on the leaves what people were thankful for and tracing little hands (Uncle Jon and I ended up doing a lot of colouring). Honestly, nerdy but I just love when we are all together, work together, cook together, create together and just have fun together!

 



 

Mid afternoon wiggles called for a walk in the beautiful fall weather so off down the street to the Love Rock we went with the littles.  I love that my parents still live on the same street and in the same house that hold so many memories.  We let the kids climb up onto the Love Rock and take turns jumping off.  My SIL Jenn said that when she was a kid the rock seemed so big and now it is really only the height of our waists....well Alyson's shoulders hahahhahaha! Her statement was so true I remember the rock seeming so big.

 

 I am no photographer but the lighting was extraordinary this afternoon and if my subjects weren't such movers and shakers I would have requested more pictures. Nonetheless I am in love with our Love Rock pictures and those people with smiling faces.

 

The backyard at Gramma and Grandpa's is also super huge and seems like such a luxury for us no-yard-yet Polischuks!  They all had a blast playing with a ball and trying, yes trying to play 'Red Light, Green Light'.  What a joy I tell you!!!!!! No matter the trial or the struggle (while driving up today poor Leslie had debris from a truck/trailer fly off and hit her sunroof smashing it, BUT it could have been worse) we all have much to be THANKFUL for. We are each so blessed!

 



 

 

And how thankful am I?

A LOT!!!!!

Hardest thing,

Best thing,

EVER

right here.

(well maybe if I could photoshop in Graham)

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

 

~ Mrs. P a pretty thankful lady

Visiting, Playing and More Visiting

The weather up at Gramma and Grandpa's is lovely! We made the trip north for Thanksgiving a little early because this momma was way sick and with our dad still working a shutdown.  I always breathe a sigh of relief as we drive onto my parents street...the street I grew up on.  Anyway, it was very great to be able to come up and just have the kindness of my parents.  As an added sweet kindness this week my Great-Gramma Hudkins traveled up with me to just be with me as I drove up, so so nice.

 

Upon arriving of course the visiting and playing began. 

 

I am IN LOVE with this picture of Grandpa and the girls. Adorable!

Also a fan of Amelia 'helping' Grandpa put up the blinds.  My parents recently bought some bunk beds to put in one of the spare rooms, ironic because when we were young we had some bunk beds.  Oh how things come full circle.

LOVE that Gramma has musical instruments at her house, very fun.  They loved it!!!  Only had to be reminded a few times that we gently strike the mallets and not hammer them down.

This dude has many little fans, pretty much all of the kiddos dig uncle Mikel.

 

Also really liked having lunch with this lady, oh Auntie Jenn you are so loved!

 

Just getting ready and pumped for Thanksgiving.

~ Mrs. P