Fall Picnic at Grandma's

A wedding, a Mom/Dad date and adorable park playing fun but I'll share a few pics from our picnic today and save the rest for later.

 

We arrived back in Fort Mac late last evening and I must say the trip went well.  A handful of potty breaks on the road side and a 20 min pit stop at the school park in Grassland but we finally made it.  This last run to and from Edmonton was my first solo trip with the girls. Usually my brother, mother, sisters or sis-in-law have been able to join us, I was a bit nervous but we did it, survived it.  The trip down consisted of some spaz out crying (no not by me!) but the trip back was a breeze. The only tears shed were when we had to leave our Dad in Fort Saskatchewan, Amelia started and we all had moist eyes as we pulled away.  Boo on being apart.  Families are just meant to be together!  Thank goodness we know Mr. P is in good hands at Jon n Al's place and we are so grateful to have a place with my gracious parents.

 

I am a bit of a bummer to have around as I am fighting off a cold so we had a pretty mello day.  Ran a few errands with Grandma, filled prescriptions but finished the sunny fall day off hanging out in the backyard and having dinner picnic style.  I just love the mini picnic table, it is so darling! Perfect for little people. We have to enjoy these warmer days while we can because the leaves are a changing.

 

I just love, love, love how the table is a perfect size for them!!!!

This is how the 'big folks' have to sit at the picnic table, either not at all or straddling the seat. Hahaha so fun though!!!

 The funny thing about this pic is that Amelia loves talking about her bike, standing beside her bike, pushing her bike, even sitting on her bike but never really ever bikes very far on her bike....yet is instructing Stella on proper peddling procedure. Awesome!

 

Trying to enjoy the beautiful days while we can. The only thing that would make the evening better would be to have Mr. Prince Charming hanging out with us.  (Blah yes oh so cheesy but true!!)

~ Momma P



Kingston Adventures: Crafting, Playing and Fun!

We had a busy week with cousin Kingston.  He is a super fun little dude!!! 

His momma Leslie flew out with Alyson and Jacey to get set up at Ability Camp in Ontario, so he spent the week up in Fort Mac with us.  Because my mom works part time I was going to have a few days just them (3 under 3) and me!!! Ahhhh, I knew it would be ok but wanted to plan some fun activities to keep us busy...in a good way!

Pinterest and I are BFFs, I really can't take credit for the ideas only the implementation.  I must say it was fun to plan, prepare and then watch them have fun!  Love them.

Building a Fort  Kingston does this at home so I knew he would be into it!!! Love this pic with their heads together.  Missing Jacey, oh and Stella.

Back yard playing Note Amelia trying to keep up with Kingman.  At one point she asked for the ball, he tossed it at her - POW- right off the head!  Funny but not!  That dude has some serious gross motor skills.  He is also such a fan of being outside, it is like he is 'one with nature'...wants outside rain or shine.  Each night after dinner but before bath we would play or go for a walk and with out fail, even after promptings that there were 10, 5, 2 minutes left he would still say to us, "not yet".  What a guy!!

Some cute snap shots of Stella because she is so gosh darn adorable! She likes playing in the little play house.

 Classic swings!

 

After attending a kids library session we decided to copy an activity we saw and created some Dinosaur Puppets.  Kingman drew the green one and really liked my purple one, he was satisfied to roar and play.   Meanwhile Amelia drew and kept cutting pink ones (her favourite colour).  She LOVES scissors, I live in fear.

Masking tape car track!!! Ok, we used hockey tape.  This was a hit for the Kingman and he was obsessed the first day and visited it periodically the rest of the week.  Easy peasy and pretty cool!!!!

 Mia was more into making silly faces (her new thing) then playing with cars.

 

Time Out  The evolution of this time out went as such: Mia disobeys and goes to the door for her three minute break...Kingston feels bad seeing her in tears and goes to join her...seconds later Stella comes and pretty much discipline attempt foiled! I just go grab the camera.

Play Doh The awesomeness and the annoyance of play doh must be noted!!!!  Such a fabulous activity loved by everyone short around here.  Annoyance includes clean up and play doh bits found throughout the house.  The good does win out.  Kingman would point and ask at least daily for play doh.  Only two colours were mixed this week, I'd call that success!

Letter Books The teacher in me couldn't resist this.  I made up duo tangs for each of them consisting of the letters for their names.  They are in sheet protectors and the kiddos used white erase makers...it was pretty cool!  The wiping off was fun for them, I just had to make sure after each use they were fully wiped...tough to get off if left...lesson learned.

Sorting, Patterns and Such   Mom had a ton of smiley face erasers and the possibilities were endless.  We started this one afternoon while the little girls were sleeping. We made patterns, worked on sorting and drove dirt bikes through them.

 Swimming  Mac Island Pool is pretty darn nice!  Fort Mac deserves a nice facility like Mac Island.  It was near WWIII to get going and we almost did not make it but in the end everyone had a blast.  Worth it!

Sweet cousins!  Stella isn't really a baby anymore but the bigger kids still ask to hold her, sometimes she will oblige but other times, like below...not so much!!! I love Kingston's face here, "like come on Stella I am a nice boy, sit like a nice baby". 

 

Dog Walking  Kingston is obsessed with walking Tula, nuff said!

 

 

Mia took this picture of Kingston and I, love it!  He is such a great dude.  We had a great week, had fun and all survived.  A few moments of frustration but a great week.  Love him.  My girls love him.  The Mia/Kingston hugs are ADORABLE, sadly I don't have a pic!!!  They occurred morning, night and after the odd sad moment during the day.  There is certainly a special bond between cousins.  Can't wait to have Jacey home again.

 

~ Mrs. P

Our Girl Amelia bo belia

Our sweet oldest girl is becoming quiet the little lady and we love it!  As a baby she was this chill, easy going, serious sweetheart and it is fun watching more of her personality emerge.  She is such a pleasure to have as a daughter and we truly treasure her. 

 

There are a few things that we are really loving about her right now. 

We love:

* watching her imaginative play - she has a fabulous imagination

* that she plays games with us

* doing puzzles like a pro star!

* when she asks us to hold her hand

* when she asks us to join her for hide and seek...."want to come hide?"

* her awesome picture taking skills - she is seriously getting pretty good

* when she is helpful

* watching her teach little sister Stella things that she knows (beautiful!!!)

* when she asks for puppy dog ears or train track hair...both are nicknames for hair styles

* the random hugs and kisses she will give, often coupled with an "I love you too!"
* watching her play with her babies, mothering them
* when out of the blue she sings Primary songs - makes me smile
* when she asks me to read the words in books
* when she catches me skipping a page in a bedtime story, dang it!
*  that she requests cold water with ice!!!


 

How blessed are we?  Pretty darn blessed because she is pretty darn awesome!

~ Momma P

Our Girl Stella Bella

It feels like this 15 month old lady has really morphed from baby to toddler.

She has become more content and happy, we get the best giggles from her.  Her giggles make  everyone around smile!  This is such a sweet age.  She is learning and growing everyday.  I love that she is so eager to demonstrate what she knows, so proud of herself.  Serious fun!!!

 

We love her:

* gap tooth smile

* fake kisses

* blowing kisses

* pointing at things with her cubby little pointer finger

* her attempts at talking

* when she says momma and dada...sometimes she says the wrong name on purpose and thinks it is funny - what a tease!

* pulling on our pant legs asking for "up"

* doing actions for songs we sing - ADORABLE!!!!

* pretends to read books, turning pages and 'reading'

* plays with the dog calling Tula "pup"

* carries her baby dolls and pats them on the back

* when she still wants to cuddle and snuggles into our chest/shoulder - love it!

* her walking

* talks on the phone/play phone/cell phone/remote control

* FINALLY sleeping through the night and having decent naps (I really love this!)

 

 

 

We totally love this girl! 

We are glad she came to our family.

~ Momma P

Potty Training - the journey!!!!

 

 I have thought awhile about what I wanted to write regarding the potty training journey at our house.

I want to be real, I want to record for my girls the ups and downs but also the EXTREME JOY once the goal is reached!!!  The pic above brings me such JOY!! Smiles and joy! I know she will likely be soooooo mad at us for taking it but it is seriously so darn cute and totally shows this time in our life where we pack a snack, some toys, the potty and hand sanitizer in the vehicle. Oh sweet memories!!!!!

 

I have a picture of Amelia Ann sitting on the potty at 18 months, she did in fact have a regular date with the potty BUT I didn't want to push it.  Looking back I wonder if I should have pushed it?!  Also, as a pregnant lady I thought for some whacked reason it would be easier once I had baby...WRONG!  Something I love about Amelia is that she is a strong spirited little woman. She has a small voice but a BIG personality.  Most of the time I love this personality but there are times when it is a challenge to parent, she has a mind of her own.  After little sister Stella was born and Amelia turned 2, all efforts got pushed to the back burner.  I really wanted to follow Amelia's lead and wait for her to meet all of those 'readiness signs' you read about.  We had a few stints over the winter where I/we would put forth a renewed effort to ditch the diapers, they were never successful.  I worked on a 50/50 policy where if we had more then 50% success we would keep trucking ahead but each time we tried after 3 or 4 days of cleaning up messes I would toss in the towel.  The little carpet cleaner and I were BFFs. The kicker is that she could say to me exactly "we pee in the potty", "we keep our panties dry" but wouldn't do it....so frustrating.   Flash forward to June 2012 and a 3 year old Amelia.  She is a smart girl with a great vocabulary, I KNEW that she was competent and she/potty could have consistent dates....helping her KNOW IT....still tough.  I had tried a ton of things; stickers, sticker charts, candies, cleaning up messes herself and many a praise/potty dance. Many talks with my Mom, Gramma and sisters yet, no success!!  At Amelia's yearly pediatrician appointment as a stressing mom I asked and he said 3 1/2 is actually the average age.  Also interesting, he said that potty training is like sleeping through the night - parents aren't always honest about it when they are talking to other parents about it!!!  Hahahaha well it made me feel better in the moment. 

 

So to be honest I reached a point where I didn't know what else to do, I didn't know how else to encourage her.  Ok, prayer!  Seriously, the only thing I could think of to do.  Here I was with my articulate girl just over 3 still wearing diapers.  I came across a book and it was like a light bulb, it was old school and a tad bit militant but I felt like it would be the way to go once we moved into our new house.  About a week later though I was out shopping alone and had this feeling to try again, try being positive and buy some more gosh darn princess figurines (the reward for a day with dry panties which BTW we had already been trying).  So I bought another set and AMAZINGLY it worked this time!!!!!  We even had some left over because going in the potty had become so natural by the end of the week.  HAPPINESS, extreme happiness!!!  We still wear pull ups at night and I will continue to do so until we get in our new house.  She is rockin the dry mornings and I am a proud momma!  Love this little chick!  There were definitely times when I felt totally discouraged but in the end it happened and now my girl is really a big girl, an awesome pantie wearing big girl.  Everyone is so different and in the end our journey was our journey.
LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!

 

~ Momma P

Staying connected with Mr. Polischuk

Every time we SKYPE, my dad will go on about how unbelievable the technology is.  He said he remembers 20 years ago there was a booth at a trade show where they had a wall separating two monitors and it was amazing that the people on either side could actually see one another, people thought it was sooooo cool!  Now, we have SKYPE and anyone can use it to stay in touch.  Seriously, what would we do without technology?  It sure helps our little women stay connected to their dad.  The phone is great, fabulous to hear their voices but there is something about seeing their face.  Just tonight Amelia and her dad were making funny faces back and forth, Graham even wiggled his ears while getting Stella to point out body parts.  So darn awesome, really something very wonderful!!

 

 

 

So here we are, day 14 of being separated.  No move in date yet.  Boo!  Just trying to stay positive.  It has been fun running errands with my mom and hanging out with my dad and brother.  The girls are enjoying being at Gramma and Grandpa's.  I have honestly been in a way mello state here, kind of vacation mode.   We usually chill out when we come up, but I am ready to shift gears, contribute a little more and get into a routine because the home I grew up in is going to be home a while longer!!!!

 

~ Mrs. P

Great Gran Hinko and a week on the farm

There were beautiful pink sunsets and foggy mornings.

It was quiet, save only the sounds of nature and children.

There were Grandma hugs before bed.

There were also dead mice, a ton of bugs, coyotes, bats and no pizza delivery!
All that considered, it was a great week.

Our first week without a home was spent with my Grandma Hinko out at her farm. 

I have many fond memories, spending summers there so it was nice to give my little women a taste of it.  Grandma kindly opened her home up to all of the Polischuk girls, this included our pup Tula who loved running free!!!!   She didn't mind our 6 suitcases, 2 rubbermaid bins or 3 reusable shopping bags.  Hey, I had to pack for changing seasons and bring a few 'touches from home'!  It was a great week.  Stella started warming up to Grandma just in time for us to leave and Amelia

was a big fan of Grandma's breakable ceramics, oh dear! We enjoyed her covered back deck and loved visiting the horses.  Under Grandma's tutoring I cranked out 28 jars of Apple Jelly, fun!  The week wrapped up with a family BBQ which was so nice. 

 

My sweet girlies...

 

 Interesting and new things to see... 

Polischuk Ladies self timer pic... 

 

Running Free...

 

 

 We had a good time visiting and hanging out!

 ~ Mrs. P