I am a Mormon

This evening Paige was playing with her pretend telephone and this is what came out....

"Hi, yes, uh huh.  I am a doctor, I am going to school, I am a sister, I am a Mormon.  Yes, I am a Mormon."

Can you tell we've been watching the Mormon messages?! haha
www.mormon.org

At dinner today too I had the first inkling that Paige might miss me when she goes to school.  I think it was a more "in the moment" thing though, as she is really excited...
Paige: "Mummy I love you."
Me: "Thank you Paige!  I love you too."
Paige: "Mummy I love you very much."
Me: "I'm going to miss you when you start school."
Paige: "I know, I'll miss you too."
Me: "Do you think you might want to stay home with mummy instead?"
Paige: "yeah, that would be nice.  Anyway September is very far away."

She was so sincere, it was a really lovely moment even if Sloan and Theo were throwing food in the background.  Maybe I'm not doing so badly as a parent after all!  Anyway, times like these just confirm that I made the right decision not to go back to work.  My relationship with Paige has just grown by leaps and bounds this summer.  She is growing up and is such a lovely young girl and I've been able to be there.  I am so lucky!

Nursery

Sloan has been having a hard time when it comes to attending nursery at church for the last few months.  She doesn't want to go and it's been tough because her leaders haven't been there because of illness or holidays and so there's been a lot of different adults and it's been overwhelming for her.  Today however I volunteered to be in nursery due to the lack of regular nursery leaders being available and it gave me a lovely moment with my daughter.

When the kids first go in they get to play with toys.  It took Sloan a while to relax and believe me when I said I was staying (I normally slip out on her when she's distracted) and she stayed close to me the whole time and we played together.  When it came time to tidy up Sloan came up to me and said,
"Mummy I like it that you stayed and played with me today!" She gave me a hug and then continued to tidy up.  I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else today, just for that 10 second moment.

2 Girls

On Sunday I went for a walk.... in my church shoes.  I have the hugest blisters ever on both heels.  Yes, they match pretty much perfectly.  On Monday both of my girls noticed them whilst we were playing and these were their reactions...

Sloan: "Mummy, you have an owie! (she's on the brink of bursting into tears),
           "oh no, don't touch it! Mummy owie" (I was just pointing to them to explain what they were).

Paige: "Can I see?  Can I touch it? (I said yes) Wow, it feels like a balloon!"

Nightmares

I was speaking with Paige about dreams and nightmares the other day and it brought back to my memory something Ryan told me had happened a few weeks ago.

Everyone was in bed sleeping except for Ryan.  He was on his way upstairs to bed when he found Paige standing in the hallway.
Ryan: "What's wrong Paige?"
Paige: "I had a nightmare."
Ryan: "Oh no!  Do you want to tell me about it?"
Paige: "Uh-huh."
Ryan: "Ok, what happened?"
Paige: "I swallowed a bug!"

My Baby turns 1!!!!

So today was Theo's first birthday!!!  Poor baby has the roseola virus.  He had a rough day and we waited to do presents until daddy got home from work but, by that point he'd almost had enough.  He ate his cake and then had a lovely cuddle with mummy, falling asleep and in bed by 6pm!

Poor baby, eating cake but wanting to be in bed!

I don't think it's quite hit me yet that my baby, my last baby, is now one.  I've spent the day down memory lane, remembering what happened this time last year (he's been a dream boy ever since I went into labour, things could not have been any better!) and I've been missing my mum a lot remembering that she flew in the day before I had him (perfect timing by nana and Theo!) and then spent the next six weeks with us.  It was a wonderful beginning, my family altogether with nana!

Theo is the perfect addition to our family.  He has a gorgeous smile always ready and has the loveliest personality.  He adores his sisters and his sisters adore him.  He is a real blessing and we love him so completely.

In Palmyra July 18th 2012

Happy First Birthday to my baby boy :)

Pagent

So we have just arrived home from our summer holiday.  We drove to Palmyra to watch the Pageant at the Hill Cumorah (hillcumorah.org) and then we spent a few days in St Catharines with family.  It was a wonderful five days and we have a few more funny moments from Paige to share.....

When we arrived at the Hill Cumorah, we parked our car and there were speakers playing choir music.  Paige said, "listen, it's Jesus!"

Paige sat with her Auntie Angela for part of the pageant and this is what went on between Paige and her:
I had Paige on my lap during the battle scene during the pageant and I squeezed her really tight and told her I was scared and asked her if she was too. Her response was "you need to be brave Auntie Angela." 
Later on during another battle scene when the fire and other loud noises were going on, I again hugged Paige and told her I was scared and she said "you need to be quiet or they'll kill you!"

Brave

Ryan is away on young mens camp right now so I decided to take the time to take Paige on our first mummy-daughter date.  I`ve been planning it for months and I`ve been so excited.  I only told Paige about it a few hours before we went!  We left the youngest two with Grandma and we went to have dinner and a movie.  Where we had dinner was Paige`s choice (McDonalds) and what movie we saw was mine (Brave - you can`t go wrong with Pixar!).

We had a lovely dinner together, being silly and chit chatting and then we went to the movie theatre.  Ryan had tried to take her to see a movie last summer but it ended badly with Paige running out the exit door before the show had been on for five minutes, so I was crossing my fingers this time that now she was older she was more ready.  It was wonderful!  She sat really well and we laughed and giggled together, Paige asked a few questions but otherwise sat and was really engaged with what was on the screen.  I knew the movie was about a princess who wanted to change her fate (marriage) but other than that it was a surprise.  Well, I couldn`t have picked a better first mother-daughter date movie!  The whole movie was about the relationship the mother and daughter had and how they made it better.  By the end of the film I was trying to hold back the tears it was just so lovely.

That night grandma put Paige to bed and said prayers with her and she said `thank you for my mummy daughter date`.  I often worry that I don`t spend enough time having fun with Paige and it was lovely to go out with her just by ourselves to do something fun.  She is such a wonderful inquisitive little girl and it really was a great date.

Family

This evening we went and spent the evening with Ryan`s aunt and uncle and his cousins with their families and children.  It was so lovely!  We spent the evening sitting around a bonfire making smores, the kids went swimming, played in the sand pit and then finished the evening catching fireflies.  Whilst watching and spending time with family my heart was so warmed, watching the children, all different ages playing togther so well, outside in nature, you just know that that's what every child should be able to experience, that's how the world should be, finishing your day together, grateful for your blessings, outside in this beautiful world created for us.

Bridal Shower gift

This weekend I went to Ryan's cousins bridal shower.  I wanted to give a gift that would be fun, original and useful.  This is what I came up with....

A dishwashers basket!  I was so proud of myself, here is what my "giftbasket" contained:
A drying rack (doubled as the gift basket!)
Dish soap
Hand soap
Dish sponges
Metal scourers
Counter cloths
Tea towels
Oven mit
Pot Holder
Air freshener
Bamboo cutting board
Sponge holder
Sink mat
Magnet note pad
Counter cleaner
Air freshener

I kinda got a little excited and kept seeing stuff to add but I left it at this as it kept with my theme pretty well!  Just a note too, if recreating this you could take some stuff out to make the initial cost less or add more if you have money to spend!  However, I felt that this was all stuff you may not think you'd need until you were moved in somewhere which hopefully means we've saved the couple to be some cash that they can use towards something else.

Anyway, I pretty much loved my idea and loved how it turned out.  I will definitely do this one again!

Girls Bedroom

The girls started sharing a room about a year and a half ago.  When we got back from England in March we knew it was time for Sloan to move out of her crib (that was falling apart) and into a big girls bed.  That happened in April/May.  When we were visiting my parents my mum had bought Paige her very own bedding for at nana's house and at the end of the visit it was hers to take home.  I thought it was so cute I knew Sloan just had to match and when I found out there were curtains (blackout ones no less!) to match too I was in heaven!

However, I only just bought the curtain rod yesterday but once I had it I got right on the job and I spent this morning re-organizing/tidying/putting together the girls bedroom.  I had them shut their eyes before they came in to see the finished project and got "wow! I love it" as the reaction.  I think we scored!

The pictures above their beds are their 4 generation photos with my family

Sloan's bed

Paige's bed

 

Wedding Gift

So here's my newest project from pintrest!
One of my great friends back in England got married over Easter weekend (I know, my gift is late!) but I wanted to do something special and original for her.  She is the one of only two people who aren't family that keep in touch with me regularly which makes her pretty special :)

Bewitched

Today was the worst Sunday I think I've had.... ever.  Actually it wasn't the whole day which is what made it so weird.  Seriously, my kids were bewitched.

The morning at home went great, we got everything done and on time, arrived at church normal time, which meant we could get in our seats and get ourselves ready for Sacrament meeting.  A couple sat in the pew behind us and Theo was trying to climb over to see them, so I used that as an opener to say hello.  They were visiting from Utah on a road trip across the US and decided to take a detour through Canada.  Then the meeting started and things spiralled out of control before we knew what had happened!

Theo and Paige were just climbing all over the place but Sloan had melt down after melt down, screaming and hitting me and just loosing it over anything and everything.  Ryan took her out and calmed her down, she even came back in and said sorry but not even 30 seconds later she was screaming about something else.  Bewitched I tell you.  Then the worst part came.  During the blessing and passing of the sacrament Sloan screamed and screamed.  We had a moment of amusement when she started calling the Sacrament snack-rament but the humour wasn't enough for what came next.  The quietest part of the whole meeting, the Sacrament prayer and then the passing of the sacrament Theo crawled off under the pews and Paige took off crawling after him shouting 'Theo come back'.  Sloan threw herself onto Ryan's lap (finally quiet) but he had to push her off and put her on the seat to get up, at the same time hitting her head on the pew (the crack echoed through the chapel) which set her off screaming again.  He ran outside with her whilst I went to collect Theo and Paige crawling under pews before they could trip up some poor twelve year old with a tray of water.  We went back to the pew, me trying to control my sobs as Paige was proving that she didn't know how to whisper and Theo was using me as a jungle gym.  Once the sacrament was done I let Paige sit with some friends whilst I took Theo to a side room where I could freely cry and he could freely crawl around.  After composing myself (about 15 minutes) we went back into the chapel with Theo and Sloan.  Theo was a little calmer but Sloan just kept loosing it.  I seriously just wanted the ground to open and swallow me up!  All I could keep thinking was 'those poor visitors behind us, what must they think of my family, seriously they're not usually like this!!!'.  Luckily the meeting came to a close.  The evidence that I'd had enough shame for one day was that I told Ryan we were leaving the moment the meeting was done.  The relief on his face was obvious.  With that I started tidying up the toys only to pick up the pencil case and have the coloured pencils fly everywhere.  Seriously, was I going to catch a break?!  With the meeting over and me trying ever so hard to keep my composure and not burst into tears the lady behind me leant over and said:
"Don't worry, we've all been there.  I had four kids under four and my brother would tell me, 'these are the best days, you won't always see it but they are.'  At that point I decided if these were the best days I was going to be happy about it and trust me, they are the best days.  I had a little girl who just had to see the chapel and would start screaming!"
It meant SO much to me her saying that.  To know I wasn't being judged by these visitors.  All I could do was whisper 'thank you.  Thank you so much' without having the tears take control.  It was the boost I needed to be able to walk out of that chapel with my head held up rather than buried in the floor.  We still went straight home but I was able to let it go, just because someone understood.

Fathers Day

Ryan and I think we pretty much have the best dads in the world.  I also know my girls think their dad is the best and there is no-one who can take the place of grandad and grandpa.
For fathers day we wanted to do something special for our dads and this is the idea we came up with....

We saw the quote and immediately loved it.  I then saw on pintrest how to transfer pictures onto anything.  It didn't quite work out but we improvised and we felt it actually came out better as it was more freehand which makes it more original!  We then had the girls splatter paint for the background.

We had so much fun making it and our dads loved it, which makes me wonder, how will we top this next year?!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Hair

Paige had beautiful long hair, lovely and thick and beautiful.  She wanted it cut, really really badly and with such thick hair the poor girl spends the whole summer ten degrees hotter (at least) than everyone else.  So when we went for haircuts she chose to get it all chopped off (so she could be just like uncle William).  We compromised and she now has a cute little bob for the summer.

This is how much she loves her short hair.....

"Mum, don't brush my hair you'll make it grow!"

Kindly Words

So today we had to take Paige for her yearly checkup and her vaccinations.  She didn't enjoy having the needles so we went to get a treat for her doing so well (and Sloan and me).  As we were going through the self check out, the girls were running around me and I was trying to get through the process as quickly as I could when a lady in the line next to me leant over and said "you have such beautiful children." I said thank you and went on my way with a huge smile, nodding my head thinking, yes, I do have beautiful children and not that I need other people saying it to make me feel good but it does make me feel like I'm doing something right when other people can appreciate my kids!

Food Colouring

The morning of Paige's birthday I was icing some cupcakes preparing for her friends to arrive.  Music was playing the kids were playing nicely when I realized it was pretty quiet.  I looked over into the front room and saw this....

 The food colouring had been swiped when I wasn't paying attention and there was sufficent time to spread it along the wall and window, across the room to where I found them playing under their kiddie table.  Theo was having a BLAST, he was hilarious and would crawl close to me then turn round and crawl quickly away.  As you can see though, the bath to clean him off was no less fun!  Pretty sure he would say it was the best morning ever!

Happy 4th Birthday Paige!

My happy boy

Theo is just the happiest little boy I know.  There are two particular instances I want to note so I don't forget....

Just a few moments ago we were sitting on the floor in the girls bedroom and I started throwing beanie babies at him (not at him at him I threw them to just in front of him thinking he'd pick them up) a few may of hit him in the head (don't judge, they're just beanie babies!) and he started laughing hysterically.  I just love his toothy grin but it was more than that.  The shoulders were going and he laughed so hard he actually fell backwards.  I just adored it!

The other thing I love to see is when the girls come jumping round the corner on their space hoppers and you have Theo frantically crawling behind to keep up once again laughing hysterically.  Is there anything more joyful than hearing a baby laugh?  Well, maybe hearing all three of your babies laughing together :)

Greatness

Ryan had to run out last night quickly and Paige stood at the top of the stairs saying,
"Daddy can I come, I promise I'll be great!"  Needless to say after a promise like that she got to go.

Today she was in the car after a play date and somehow skinned her knee.  When I asked her what happened and did it hurt she said, "Mummy stop talking, you'll make it worse."

Out like a light

So last night Sloan fell asleep on the couch.  When Ryan and I came back upstairs we found her like this:

Didn't bother her in the slightest!