Women's Broadcast and Milkshakes

Every six months I look forward to watching the 

General Relief Society Session of LDS General Conference.

This Session was extra special!!

This year Ms. A was old enough to enjoy it with me!

I can't wait for the days when I can go with all my 

girls and enjoy the wonderful encouraging spirit that pours 

into our life during Conference.

So Shane Took ms. E and mr. T off to an indoor play place and 

let them run around till they were dripping with sweat.  

Ms. V was asleep not long into the session. 

So the house was quiet and I was prepped and ready!!

I open our home every year for the RS session for any friends that 

want to come for comradarie and treats! 

(I have them anyway so I might as well share!!)

This year we had milkshakes and enjoyed the company of a select few.

Some opted to come after things were finished for treats and visiting.

(seriously mine were not that gorgeous!!)

Ms. A was pretty excited that friends had come, 

and I enjoyed venting over silly uncomfortable situations, 

being forced to be an adult and guilt over imperfections.

An especially good friend dropped by and we talked late into the night.

One of those amazing ones that makes you feel like 

things are Magically way more ok than they were 6 minutes ago 

when you began your rant. 

(seriously this girl carries magic fairy dust or something!)

The next weekend during the general sessions of conference

the general relief society presidency was released and

amazing new leaders were called.

I am so grateful for these ladies and their dedication to the gospel 

and improving the lives of sisters all over the world!

Skiing with friends!

So this week was stupid cold. 

trust me I don't use that word lightly!

I have been stuck inside all week and the kids were 

sporadically kept home from school, 

for various reasons including but not limited to,

forget responsibility, lets just cuddle and eat popcorn!

So I know it's Canada and it's allowed to be cold,

but this pregnant mom was just done with bundling up kids 

and lectures about keeping mitts on and wearing appropriate socks.

Fights over who's job it was to remind people to wear hats,

and totally justified crying fits over the freezing wind.

By the end of the week, I was in a funk a full blown funk.

Shane suggested an adventure and I readily agreed 

it was needed for everyone!

So we packed up the kids and headed to a local park with a 

small groomed trail for cross country skiing.  

I'm not even sure if it was even an entire KM?

We bundled up the kids (or so we thought) 

and hit the road for adventure.

Once there we realized we were not as prepared as we thought.

Thank goodness we were playing with friends 

who could come to the rescue.

Shane usually pulls the little's in the sled behind him.

He had left his backpack at home, 

no backpack = no pulling the sled! 

Gratefully our adventurous companion had brought one.

By the time everyone was ready and set,

Mr. T, Ms. E and Ms. A had already soaked 

their socks with snow, and

Ms. V had decided she was not going to sit 

in the sled even one more minute.

All These kids usually love these adventures 

but today was not that day.

We hit the trail in spite of the rough start.

Ms. E had charged ahead with friends, 

(suddenly her toes were not as cold as she thought) 

while we were trying to please Mr.T and 

our great friend was trying 

to keep an eye on them as well as help us with the little's.

Ms. A was the caboose with me and I didn't mind one bit.

(There's a post soon about the glory of being the caboose!)

I was glad we had gone with some great friends who love to 

help their kids learn to persevere by forcing them outside!

Eventually we made it safe back to the van where there was 

cookies and hot chocolate waiting.

In the van cozy and warm with stomachs full of cookies,

they all promised they had a great time. 

Even Mr. T!

ms. V turns 2

Ok SO how in the world did this HAPPEN?

This girl is so silly and happy and so 2!

She knows her own mind and her only enemy is sleep!

For her birthday the kids were a little shocked 

there were actually no presents.

We had just purged a bunch of toys and our house is still 

Overflowing with toys.

Therefore Ms. V got Cupcakes, milkshakes, and icecream.

That was plenty!

She Loved Every Minute!

We're super lucky to have this girl around!

She has a crazy, exciting, wild, attitude!

She can Tease Like Ms. E,

Wrestle Like Mr. T,

and the next minute decide to quietly color,

Like Ms. A

Oh and those books are her favorite!

The Gruffalo, and the Gruffalo's Child.

By Julia Donaldson

Happy Birthday Ms. V!

Family Day Road Trip!

So the week before family day. 

(remember that crazy week I talked about in the valentines day post!!)

Shane said "So here's what I think would be fun for family day."

I agreed reluctantly,  Ahem, It did sound fun. 

Busy but fun!

So there are a few things that led to this trip.

#1 Shane's dad is in hospice and with limited mobility.  

He turned 60 in February and so Shane thought it was important 

for us to make a trip to visit.

#2 Good friends who have worked their butts off financially 

purchased a home in December and we were SUPER excited 

to see them and encourage them in their new home.

(plus I had grit my teeth and packed up most of the 

boy clothes we had in storage - they were all being gifted to them.)

#3 We all wanted to meet Baby Lincoln! 

#4We all had cabin fever and needed to get ourselves out of this City!

#5 Shane wanted to attend the temple.  He had tried to attend 

the temple here in Calgary the week prior but due to 

cleaning that plan fell through.

So I made a giant list and we got to work.  

We are always grateful that we have a soft place to fall at grandma 

Cathy's Especially when we roll in to the driveway at 10pm.

Friday morning after breakfast we were going to pick up a few things 

in the city and go visit Diana and our awesome new nephew/cousin 

and then after lunch visit Dwight.  

Upon Realizing that Ms. A had infact packed 3 pairs of 

Ms.E's pants in her bag. 

Grandma Cathy Decided it was time for some shopping as well.

Costo Here we come.

The reason I don't have a membership to Costco is that I just 

can't go in and get what I need.  

I can't get out of that place without spending at least $100.

So after choosing 2 new dresses, 2 pairs of pants, an outfit for taylor, 

socks and boston cream cake for Dwight.  

We left - Headed for Walmart for T-Shirts and one more dress.

We were Grateful that things were that simple.

We Headed for Diana's after and enjoyed a visit, 

and enjoyed letting the kids get reacquainted 

with the cats too!

Then it was off to visit Grandpa Dwight.
We picked up some lunch along the way as a treat.
Grandpa LOVES Arby's, I literally had never taken the kids
there and so they took a while to warm up to the food.
But in the end they all got fed and visited with Grandpa
and that was the most important part.

Our Yummy Boston Cream Cake was unfortunately a Disaster!
We left a couple of slices with Grandpa Dwight,
 but upon loading everything back into the van the rest of it
upended on the floor smearing all over the floor.

The Kids were devastated to the point of tears.
Which boiled me right over I confess.
Events from earlier in the visit had been pushing my buttons already,
and although I thought I had let things go but apparently not.

So we LOUDLY counted our blessings overtop some of the kids
who were having troubles letting go of the cake,
and took some deep breaths together.

Thank goodness the Arby's franchise is a fan of napkins,
and we were parked pretty close to an outdoor garbage can!

After all the kerfuffle we were off to visit different friends.
After a few minutes of refreshing visiting, lots of water for me
and the kids playing together my mind was able to finally function
on a normal level.
(I could blame traveling and pregnancy?)

It could also have had something to do with the fact that this
awesome mom dealt with two potty accidents in the first 1/2 hour
that we were visiting. by two different kids.

Somehow things like that just make you feel like
a normal mom with normal kids!

(instead of the zombie caregiver you label yourself as most days!)

We were so excited to see their house and how much room they had.

I actually laughed out loud when I walked into the front room.

They had been living in a little duplex and were pretty tight on space.

I laughed because their furniture from the Duplex looked so different 

in a regular sized house.  It all fit and didn't seem huge at all!

You could tell the difference that the space was making for the kids too.

We are super excited for this family and couldn't think of 

a better thing to bless their little family!

We enjoyed every minute of our visit and the kids even learned 

to play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Later we had story time and the kids were eventually ready 

to head to Grandma Cathy's house for the night.

The next day we were off to play at Grandma Websters.

Due to all the fuss of Friday we were not in a rush to leave in the morning, 

but let the kids watch cartoons and play and just relax for a bit.

There was lots of fun at Grandma Websters, toys and games, 

crafting, playing on the swings, and even some park time.  

Grateful for Auntie Deanna who unexpectedly took Ms. A 

to the park all on her own, because she was so focused 

on a project with Grandma that she missed the earlier trip!

It was good and Shane got his temple visit in!!

Sunday we spent the day with Grandma Cathy!  

She was recently asked to be part of the Primary Presidency 

in her ward and so the kids loved going with her to primary.  

I wasn't doing that great and honestly needed some sleep so 

we skipped home after sacrament leaving the 

kids with her (except ms. V).  

It was a much needed break and I am grateful I got it 

because ms. V's relationship with sleeping is definitely 

not awesome when we travel!

In the morning the kids headed out early 

to the park with grandma to give us time to pack up the van 

and get ready for the trip home.  

Ms. E had a birthday party that she was excited to be home for

 so before long it was time to hit the road.  

We were all super grateful for the time away, and the 

good times with our family.  

We were super tired and in the end I zipped out to the 

grocery store deli for $5 pizza's 

(this has seriously become a thing at our house!)  

When you can feed my family of six pizza for $10 

(and its ready in 12 minutes!) I'm gonna do that!!
Haha and the kids think this makes me Super MOM!

 

Valentines Day

Ok so It's time for a reality Mom post.

We did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for Valentines Day!

Seriously though I may possibly have lit the yummy pink candle 

I got for Christmas from a great friend and read a self help book.

That is how romantic my Valentines Day actually was.

I probably mostly felt bad because I usually decorate and 

the kids do crazy cute things for Shane and each other and 

we all bond over pink and red and white crafty things 

all over the house!

(Seriously I'm not even joking!)

I even gave the kids valentines every day of February 

leading up to valentines day last year.

So there was probably some guilt going on that although 

I had dug out the decorations we did nothing with them, 

no baking heart shaped cookies or candy science or 

valentines day service.

Haha, I did however honor one mom each day 

on facebook that I adore!

But even that I started into the month, and felt like 

I could have honored a mom every day for two months!!

I should probably get credit for Family Night on Monday 

because I had the presence of mind to get out pink paper and 

we made home made valentines for each member of our family.

(after a lengthy lecture/discussion about loving our siblings)

Shane Asked me all week if I wanted hm to bring 

something home for supper,

but in reality we had just enjoyed treats 

on Saturday after the ultrasound.

And the week was just piling up on me as far as mom stuff goes.

I mean seriously:

Friday I went out to an amazing Favorite Things Party.

Saturday Was ultrasound day.

Sunday we had company.

Monday I had a regular dr. apt and grocery shopping.

Tuesday was Valentines Day (only one of my children remembered 

to take their valentines to school), Laundry Day and Ms. E had a field trip.

Wednesday Ms. A was in an assembly and it was dress up day.

(Mr. T also took off on me at the school joy of joys.)

Thursday I had an appointment at a new clinic, we needed trip food, 

Ms. A had Activity Days and we were leaving that night for 

a Family Day road trip.

So seriously no whining here, but it was a stacked week. 

I usually have something awesome for shane myself.

This Year I invisioned something like this,

 

Or maybe this,

 

Or maybe this,

 

 But in the end what we all got for Valentines Day 

was a large dose of daily living!

And you know what we all still felt loved and appreciated!

I have big plans for this quote but for now I'm going to plop it here.

No more guilt for me, I know who I love and that I'm Loved!

And that's Enough Even on Valentines Day!