girl turned four

Oh darling don't you ever grow up, 

don't you ever grow up, just stay little...

 Stella Charlene is four!!!!

She had requested FROZEN for her birthday so I tried to make that happen. Stella woke to a few gifts and her balloon, Daddy also showed up with a balloon. Big smilies on that girl THE WHOLE DAY!!!  She was sang too x3 and smiled her coy smile every time. When Daddy got home from work in the morning we had chocolate chip pancakes (something Graham's mom use to make for them).  We had a slow day together just us ladies. It is wild to me that this little girl is FOUR years old! It has absolutely flown by.  Her little hands are no longer chubby, they draw and write and it is just so bittersweet to watch babies grow.  Our little Stella Bella is such a sweet, strong girl!

Some things about Stella at 4...for my darling and our whole family to remember her at this age:

*Awesome at drawing for someone your age (Yes I'll start off this list with a bit of bragging ;) Auntie Amy teaches Kindergarten and has seen your work, she says it is pretty great!
* LOVE to wear ballet clothes! Especially fond of your 'white' as you call it.
* Favourite animal is panda!! Big sister picked a Magic Treehouse book with Pandas and a panda keychain, it has been very popular :)
* When playing outside you always choose to ride the scooter over your bike.
* Like to brush my hair and have strong opinions on how you want your hair (I love getting to do it BTW and love when you do mine)
* Great little helper with jobs around the house, minimal nagging required.
* LOVE sleeping with sister, miss her when she is at school and you always say that Amelia is your best friend. This warms my mother heart!
* Still have morning cuddles with me when you wake up...I love this!
* You are very conscientious and work until things are to your liking, I admire this attribute.
* You have really began to master your emotions and I am so impressed every time you are able to reign things in and use words.
* You are as determined as ever, this is usually a good thing ;)
*  This year you have really grown in independence. Attending Sunbeams and Swimming on your own or with sister, we are so proud of you!

Oh this lady.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

~ Momma P

sun shiny days

We have been soooo busy around here.  Sometimes I wish we lived in the middle of no where and had no commitments but then honestly I would probably go crazy hahaha NO I WOULD GO CRAZY!  I realize when Mr. P has to work crazy like this just how much I appreciate him and how lucky I am to usually have a good sidekick. These pics were snapped the other day at Tball and then as Stella played around on a swing set. It is a glimpse of sun shinny happiness! Of course the whole day isn't filled with awesome smiles and thumbs up but one has to focus on those instead of the whining or fighting or complaining :P

~ Momma P

just keep swimming

In the movie 'Finding Nemo' there is a line that seems to suit us right now...

JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING

We are all so eager for shutdown to be over so we can have our dad back with us full time. He is super eager too, goodness he is dude working the 14 hour days. We are eager for school to be over, all of our activities to be over.  Eager to have a bit of freedom.  Although May and June are wonderfully special with spring birthday's for our ladies, I am looking forward to summer. June 13th would have been my due date for the baby we lost in the fall and honestly the months have past and my heart has been healing but recently my feelings are very close to the surface and my heart is tender.  I am striving to find joy in my days, take pleasure in my blessings but I definitely feel like I have to "just keep swimming".

These peeps are the center of my world. My greatest blessings.

~ Mrs. P

Fun in the Sun

The weather has been so lovely, sunny and beautiful. 

We have been able to hit a few parks here in town and I think we may try to visit all of the parks in the city over the summer.  Each park has different highlights. The other day BOTH girls seemed to nail pumping the swings at the park by our house. Yeah for big girls!!

~ Mrs. P

my sweeties shadows

Sometimes the coolest things aren't really things.

I remember as a little girl being fascinated by shadows, doing different animals on my bedroom walls.  As a momma pulling out the flashlights and playing with shadows or taking a minute when the sun is casting large shadows of our bodies....it is always worth taking the time. We have even played around with different objects.  Love how simple things can sometimes be such fun.

~ Mrs. P

mother's day massage

I was treated to a foot rub on Mother's Day! I also received some beautiful cards, flowers, cookie flowers and dance lessons.  Mr. P signed us up for couples dance lessons....something I have wanted for a long time!  Amelia and I had 'tea' together at school and I was presented with a beautiful necklace. So special.

~ Momma P

shutdown blues

It has been a rough week.

It is likely a combination of a few things;

Graham has been working for 5 weeks straight,

it snowed,

I am stressing about speaking at city council regarding the zoning behind our house,

I have been researching bylaw stuff every spare minute,

I am trying to canvas the neighbourhood getting signatures for the petition,

not sleeping well because of all this AND

it is a certain time of month ha!

So here I am feeling a bit of the shutdown blues creeping in.  As I broke down the other morning (completely missing the pancake breakfast at Amelia's school) Mr. P shared a very boy analogy but I thought it was pretty good. He told me that often in golf you can get slip into a mid-course slump because you are tired or perhaps discouraged.  So when this starts to happen you adjust your swing, stop being sloppy and keep the end score you want in mind, don't get discouraged. I had to smile and then think about how I can apply this to the next 4 weeks.

I plan to keep smiling and striving to choose the happy things in my day to focus on.  It is easy when you are alone to mull over things too much, example this bylaw stuff. I am going to stay on top of Family Home Evening and continue to adhere to our family routines...Amelia has been praying as we drive to school with all of our morning business that is sometimes when we do it...those good things help keep us all in line.  The end goal, is the end of this shutdown and you can bet we are counting it down.  We LOVE Mr. P so darn much and while we are grateful he is working close, he is working a lot and we can't wait to have him around more.

~ Mrs. P

womanhood & motherhood

 How grateful I am to be a woman.

How blessed I feel to be a mother.

How grateful I am for my momma.

How blessed I feel to have such tremendous examples in my friends and family of great women, great mothers.

 “There is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood,” says Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  “While women live in homes under many different circumstances—married, single, widowed, or divorced, some with children and some without—all are beloved of God, and He has a plan for His righteous daughters to receive the highest blessings of eternity.”

I am so grateful for my mother.  She continues to lead our family as a strong women, devoted to her family and her faith.  I am also so very grateful for the opportunity to be a mother.  I can not say it enough but motherhood is the highest privilege I have been given.  Our little ladies continue to be the source of my greatest joy.  I want to measure up and be the mother they need, just as my mom is to us. I know without doubt my mother's great devotion is to the role of mothers, fathers and family. I want to stand tall and be an advocate for families too!

~ Momma P

head wounds

My darlings are becoming pros at getting stitches.  Out poor Stella fell on our neighbours driveway and as I scooped her up I knew immediately we needed to go to emergency.  Thank goodness for good neighbours who drove us to the hospital and for Jon and Nanny Bird as they picked up Amelia and brought us the vehicle, pjs and a phone charger. It was a long night and 5 hours later our little girl got her 3 stitches and we were able to go home.  Sadly Graham was at work so I had to go alone.  Stella was a trooper and was absolutely amazing! Oh my, I will never get use to stitches. 

~ Mrs. P

snow day in May

We woke up to the backyard being covered with in a blanket of white. 

 Now if this was October I would have been thrilled but alas it is MAY!!!!!

Luckily I had procrastinated in washing and putting away the winter gear so when they wanted to go out and play....go to it.

I followed them outside to take some pictures and then I had a mom moment. Sometimes I'll have a moment when a choice arises where I can get something on my to-do list done or seize the moment and play with my ladies.  As I was taking pictures the moment came and I knew it would be fun to help them build a snowman. I ran back into bundle up a bit more. Even though it is May and we had snow, what a fun afternoon it was. 

 Kind of ironic that the girls and I re-did the chalkboard and then it snowed :)

~ Mrs. P