girl turned six

This big girl of ours turned six and it is blowing my mind. 

Your arrival gave us the rolls of Mother and Father, jobs we had wanted for years! Now you are a school kid and independent and big!!! Not a day goes by where dad and I don't express gratitude for you and your sister.

You wanted a Paw Patrol (a recently discovered Netflix show) as your bday theme so when you woke in the morning we had a Paw Patrol balloon waiting and then had your traditional bday pancakes on Paw Patrol plates.  You are an early riser so we were all up by 6:30am so you could open your gifts and have your first Happy Birthday song of the day :)  This has been the first year where you have school on your bday, it ended up being a very special day.  You were sang to at school, honoured with a crown and balloon from your teachers and a new pencil from the office. In the evening the school had a special Father's Night were you went with your dad to build a bird house and that was super special!! Of course we needed to finish off the day with cake and another song. You said you had a great day!

 

Presents in the morning and cake before bed!

There are some things I want to remember about you at 6...

* You are reading and it is magical!!!!!

* Have a great love for school and your teachers, my teacher heart loves this.

* You are a beautiful dancer and this year held your first recital and festival, you are gentle and graceful.

* Big fan of Karakoke :) currently say you want to be a ROCKSTAR when you grow up but "also a Mom of course!"

* Love biking and your endurance has grown tremendously from last summer.

* Still love being creative; painting, colouring, glueing and stickers.

* Sister and you play so well together, minimal fighting hahahaha a second hand Polly Pocket house/cars/characters are your current favourite!

* Great imagination that is a huge part of your play, I am often in awe of what you ladies come up with.

* Incredibly happy morning person, such a wonderful attribute!

* Our sweet girl you are a friend to everyone, this is such a wonderful thing! Getting to volunteer at school and watch you in that environment has made me incredibly proud of the kind little lady you are.

* You have an incredible love for all animals.

* Continue to be a talker....this is usually a good thing ;)

 * You have a keen interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ and more then anything this will be strength to you in your life!

How lucky we are to have you!

Happy Birthday Big Girl xo

~ Mom

Mr. P is done shutdown - YEAH!!!!

It has felt a bit like a dream to have Graham be home and awake and not on his way to or from work.  He came home Friday morning and told us he was done :) It made us all incredibly happy!!!

~ Mrs. P

holding hands

I am a big hand holder. 

I love holding Graham's hand, such a special way to physically be connected. I love holding my little ladies hands as we walk together. When they were babies, while nursing I would hold their hands.  I love to hold my Granparents hands when we visit and I sit beside them.  I love when my Dad reaches over and holds my hand when I pour out my heart to him about whatever is troubling me. There is such special connection with a hand hold and it is such a gentle gesture of care or concern to touch someone's hand. 

The other night my Stella Bella was having a hard time falling asleep and asked if I would come and be by her bed, so of course I assumed the position.  My head resting on her big pink decorative pillow that we toss to the side each night, I turned to face her and we held hands. Often she will want a back rub or want to hold hands. Sometimes I will have my phone in my pocket and I regret to say lately I haven't really taken time to 'treasure the moment' but rather hold her hand, humming primary songs, looking at my phone eager to have time to myself BUT tonight I watched her blue eyes until they closed and we held hands, I admired her big girl hands. We smiled back and forth a few times, I couldn't help but give her more Eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses looking at her sweet face. This makes me think about that saying, "the days are long but the time is short".   Ohhhh my babies are growing so big, I can scarcely believe that they are four and nearly six!!!!  Good thing they like to hold hands with me, I think I will try and hold their hands even when they are teenagers ;)

~ Momma P

road trips with my ladies

While our dad has been working crazy hours we have been traveling.

The ladies are at an age where they have become these most excellent traveling sidekicks (this has not always been the case)!!!! My mom has always been independent and never afraid to load up the car and take us on the highway. I am grateful for her example because the stretches when Graham is at work more then he is home, it is nice to feel totally capable of hitting the road solo.  Over this 10 week shutdown we traveling down to Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and then up to High Prairie with my Grandma. We are a little crew of road warriors. Really can not wait until our Dad is able to join us though, fun just us ladies but really miss the big guy.

~ Mrs. P

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