Halloween 2014

Halloween has come and gone but I simply must blog about the adorableness of the day!

Seriously, all holiday's take on new meaning once you have children. There is such anticipation and excitement around special days.  Even though I am not a big fan of Halloween it is a pretty fun day. Because I was still recovering from surgery my mom suggested taking Stella up north and it made me a bit sad she wouldn't be with us, however Kingston and Stella ROCKED it up at Gramma's!!!  Stella has planned for months to be an elephant, Dumbo has been a favourite movie this year.

Amelia had a party at school and was pumped up for all of the special activities that would go on at their pumpkin party. She was eager to show her Elsa costume to Miss Russell and her school friends.  I adapted the simple dress we had and sewed a cape because hello it is Canada!!!! Her adorable hat we scored (along with matching Anna hat) from a friend of a friend, it is pretty special.

We have kind of made it a tradition to Trick or Treat with Nathaniel.  The dude is awesome!! This year he was joined by his mom and Grandma.  We decided to all gather at the Bird's for 'Mummy Dogs' and 'Spider Web' dip with Orange Julius to drink. It was pretty fun!!!

Graham took out the ladies, walking the Bird's neighborhood before heading home. I came home after dinner to hand out candy to the kids who came our way. Sadly, not very many this year. Of course everyone cashed out on candy!!! Luckily no one puked, this has happened in the past.

That is a wrap for Halloween 2014

~ Momma P

taking a family day

 Our family took a day to have a slow morning at home, then hit the IMAX together and finished off the day with pizza. We just needed a day together.  All of us doing nothing but fun stuff together! It was a good day.

These guys are such cool cats and boy do I love them!!!!

The IMAX was super awesome.  Pandas being the topic made it super interesting for our ladies (and us). Pandas are adorable!!

~ Mrs. P

oh my peeps

Thankful for these peeps...

 

and the many other peeps in our life who have showed us such love this week.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;

 and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, 

and he shall direct thy paths”

 (Proverbs 3:5–6)

My heart is full of gratitude and love for my family and friends.  Although it feels like it has been broken it also feels so full, hard to explain but the best I can do is saying it that way.  As we press on and my body started healing this week I have been mello at home, thinking, reading, praying, listening to music (new Taylor Swift out this week YEAH!) and watching movies with my big girl.  We have been the recipients of an outpouring of love and kindness from our family and friends.  I have learned that food = LOVE!  No, for real bringing someone food is a gesture of concern and love. Also, hugs are great when there just aren't words.  Hearing someone say they are thinking about you and praying for you, means so much. We have had meals brought to us this whole week and friends have stepped in to drive Amelia to and from school.  My mom and sister Leslie took Stella up north for the week so I was guaranteed rest during the day.  Although we missed Stella terribly she had a blast!!!   I shared my previous blog post with our Facebook friends and could not believe the words of love and support...I wept as I read.  Truly I feel like our sadness and burden is being shared by our peeps and my heart healed by those around us.  People can truly be the Lord's hands. We have felt so much love!  My sweet younger cousin (who is wise beyond her years) brought lunch and came to visit this week, such a welcomed afternoon of fun for Amelia.  She shared with me the above scripture and it has become part of my mantra. Trust the Lord. We have been so blessed. I have taken all this down time and am working on our family picture albums and Disney pics.  The above pic was from Thanksgiving and I just loved that everyone was genuinely smiling :)

~ Mrs. P

loss but part of our family story

I am a documenting lady and am sharing some personal stuff because it is now part of our family story. Others have had this loss, everyone deals differently but for me everything is etched in my mind and I want to record some of it for our family.  Some of it is sacred and in my journal, too tender for me to write here.

Last week started out with exciting news for our family, I was pregnant!  It is still shocking to us that we are able to conceive on our own.  In our twelve years of marriage, throughout our struggle with infertility, with each test I took I always started mentally listing my blessings to build up my mind and heart.  I did the same this time but it showed I was indeed pregnant, tears came and I said a prayer of gratitude. I didn't know it but that mindset of gratitude would be needed to carry me through what was to follow.

I have always kind of hoped that because we struggled for 6 years to get pregnant with Amelia we may dodge the bullet of miscarriage and pregnancy loss but alas we now are part of the 1/4.  

I KNOW that there is a plan for our family.

I KNOW that my sadness helps me appreciate the joy.

I KNOW that my burden is shared by friends, family and my Savior.

I KNOW that things will be ok.

I began having intense pain.  I needed to go to emerg and ended up having an ultrasound the following day.  This resulted in us finding out that I had an ectopic pregnancy (in my fallopian tube instead of the uterus) and it could not continue. We were told to immediately go back to the hospital.  It was heartbreaking! 

We had began to share our exciting news with some of our family and had wanted to share with our friends but instead we had to share sad news.  As we needed help and shared our loss, our burden was lifted by the kindness of our family and friends.  In John 14:18,27 "I will not leave you comfortless. ...Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  The simplest acts and words meant so much, they touched our hearts. We truly felt loved.  I do not KNOW the purposes of God but we are choosing to let it strengthen our faith, our marriage and our family.  We will now truly have empathy for others who have suffered this loss. In this sadness there where things to be thankful for. My mom was able to be there when I came out of surgery, she drove down from Fort McMurray in the dark.  I wanted so badly to have her there. Our girls lives didn't skip a beat as they got to hang with their great-grandparents and then the Bird family.  So many little blessings.  It was crazy because we really had many tender mercies where my nurses showed such tenderness and kindness.   Our emergency nurse Sharon stayed with me from the time I entered emergency until I was wheeled into the operating room, she even held my hand.....I am a softie, a hand holder and she didn't know that but she was the exact nurse I needed to bring me comfort.  My surgeon was a sweet grandpa who stroked my head and touched my arm as I got emotional following protocol in telling him my name and explaining back to him what would happen.  What good people, a tender mercy in a heartbreaking situation.  

It is a sad loss when the other way it goes ends so wonderful. I trust in God completely! I will understand it all someday. I choose to have faith instead of bitterness.  We are mourning this loss though.  From the moment that test says positive your lives changes, it is a loss.  Both Graham and I have shed many tears.  I use to have a #4 on my mantle, I had to take it down...it just doesn't quite represent our family anymore.

 

We are able to come home to our two precious ladies, Miss Amelia and Miss Stella.  We are beyond thankful for them and the joy they bring into our lives. We are sooooo lucky!!! I told Graham that I wouldn't think it was possible to cherish our girls anymore, have gratitude for the privilege it is to be a parent anymore then we already have BUT it is, we do.  We had seen again the fragility of life and the great blessing it is to be parents and have children.

As we left the hospital after what ended up being 3 of our hardest days EVER I asked Graham to take a picture of us walking out.  

Here is thing, we will continue to march on together hand in hand.

~ Mr & Mrs P

field trip & special helper status

Goodness Amelia had a super fun day at school, a field trip AND she got to be the special helper!!!!!!!  It was a whole lot of awesome in one day for someone who is five years old.  I was able to be a parent volunteer for the day and love getting to be in her class. I have gotten to volunteer a few times and appreciate my sister and friends who swap babysitting with :)  It was so nice to be at school with her.

We walked the few blocks down the street to the Fire Department and had a tour, even getting to sit IN the fire trucks...pretty cool stuff.  Kinda funny was when Amelia was telling one of the fire fighters that she wanted to be an Ultrasound Tech when she grows up and that she could check his neck for lumps and that he could bring his wife to her when she is pregnant, Amelia could check the baby. (Amelia had swollen glands checked and knows that you can see babes on ultrasound)  It was pretty cute.  He turned to me as she moved through the truck and said that little kid was smart, ha I told him she was my kid and said thanks smiling to myself!  It was fun to be part of such a fun experience for the class.

 

 The other big highlight of the day was getting to watch Amelia's excitement and seriousness over her responsibilities as the special helper :)  It was adorable watching her do the little tasks Miss Russell asked her to do.  Show and Tell is a pretty big deal too.  We wrote three special things about the object Amelia chose to share and Miss Russell read them out, then students asked questions and made guesses.  Amelia was pretty pumped to share the blue bunny her dad had as a baby.  It is surprisingly in good condition and it is cherished by him and her, pretty special.

I am nerd but I LOVE SCHOOL!!!!!!  I am passionate about the beauty of public education and all that it offers.  Every time I have been in Amelia's class I feel it, I feel the goodness that goes on there.  When the principal smiles at us each morning when we cross the crosswalk onto school property I feel it, I feel the goodness.  There are a ton of alternatives for education out there but I know that this is soooooo right for my family.  Someday I will return and be part of the goodness in the education world, a time and a season though. There have been experiences already in the short 6 weeks of school that have helped my girl and I grow.  We had the discussion the other night during bedtime cuddles about the word "hot" and what other words could be used, she heard that at school.  Great conversation.  There has also been discussion about Monster High a popular kids toy brand, I don't like it.  It is rather dark and they don't smile.  It just isn't for us and so we have had good discussion about that and how they don't seem happy, we have other toys.  We have had good talks about things that we otherwise wouldn't have had.  For sure I could teach her all the academic stuff, I honestly mostly have already in regards to Kindergarten curriculum and I continue to supplement with the plethora of education stuff I have at home but man it has been cool to have her come home and share with great enthusiasm what she has learned.  There is such pride and independence and ownership, it rocks!

I think often about how this year is the first step of real separation for Miss Amelia and I.  She is out of my care each morning! Ah my heart.  I am a soft, sentimental person, I am a clinger and a smother-er, I know it.  I can't help but hope and pray that I have taught her the basics.  I hope that as she goes off she is a light in her class, a doer of good to her peers and stands tall being the awesome girl she is.  Every morning we hug, have a quick kiss goodbye and then she walks off into the school and I walk off the other way. Oh man

~ Momma P

backpack JOY

Today I had the girls quickly turn around before we left the house this morning so I could snap a backpack view. Amelia had school this morning and Stella had Joy School this afternoon.  

They are getting so darn big!!

 I can't even believe that our routine is so good that we had a few seconds to snap a picture....YES our morning routine has wiggle room....YES we arrive early everyday for school!!!!  I am excited about this because I have wondered before if I have a tardy gene in my DNA but nope when you actually really try you can be early, ha who knew?! :P   A bit random but good to record in our blog history none the less.

I just had to note how much they are loving school, it warms my teacher heart!  

During our Thanksgiving meal we always go around the table and each person shares what they are thankful for, Amelia said butterflies but then told me she was also "thankful for Miss Russell".  At bedtime we usually do a 'favorite part of your day?' and some aspect of her mornings in Kindergarten are often what she mentions as the highlight, it is super sweet.  Just this morning she told me that she was "so excited it was a school day and that every school day was a good day".  Goodness it is cool to hear the things she is learning and fun to hear her playing school with Stella. Stella and I enjoy the 'special time', the one on one time we get to spend together in the morning.

Oh our Miss Stella seems sooooooo big to me as she walks into Joy School each week. I really think it is the perfect step for her;  learning/crafting/singing/playing in a friends home, with mothers who know her and love her.  Sometimes she needs two hugs (today she needed three) but it is wonderful to pick her up and hear her excitement, filling big sister and I in on the awesome things she did. Such an inspired program that Joy School. I do love that on the JS afternoons it is just Amelia and I together having some special one on one time.

All is well. 

Stella was so proud of her pumpkin from Joy School and 

goodness seeing her all proud made me all proud!!

Love these backpack wearing women. 

(Side note: Amelia's backpack can be so heavy and she is so small 

that I only fill up her water bottle half way to save that little extra weight)

~ Momma P

Thanksgiving

It has been a lovely few days of family togetherness!  Alyson and I took off early Friday morning up to Fort McMurray and the dad's followed after work that night.  The weather has been spectacular lately so after many potty breaks on the side of the road and five hours in the car we pulled into Gramma's and ran to play in the back yard.  Part of our weekend plans included a Baby Shower for Max and Auntie Jenn, more on that in another post. The girls were so excited to see their cousins and Aunties, it is rather adorable.

A holiday celebration wouldn't be complete without some crafting of course.  It was a joint effort to make little turkey's for our place settings.  Jacey and Auntie Leslie put the eyes and beak on our birds, Amelia wrote out all 14 names, while Stella and I cut feathers.  We all taped them together and set the table with them.  LOVE getting to make things with my girls :)  

Some things that stand out from the weekend are;
* roadside impromptu picnic because there was no where to sit 

* TWO yummy turkey dinners

* Jon, Mikel, Graham and Kingston playing football (Kingman has some serious skill and they boys said they felt really Thanksgiving-ish playing with the pigskin hahaha)

* playing in Gramma and Grandpa's back yard

* the kitty Leia escaping and running outside an average of 12 times a day (no one is used to watching for her and she is quick)

* Jigs Dinner at Auntie Jenn's

* cuddling Baby Max

* church together as a family with all four grand girls in their matching dresses from Gramma

* Hinko girl dessert at Moxie's after bedtime

Darling baby Max!!!

Many things to be thankful for.
~ Mrs. P