Our BIG Girl!

 Our sweet little angel girl, Olivia, is now 5 years old!!

WE CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!

When I asked her what sort of cake she wanted, she replied, "a spider cake!". Olivia and Aubrey had fun helping me put the spiders on.

For her birthday, we decided to head on down to grandma's to celebrate. We had such a fun time!

Half way down to Grandma's, we stopped at a CANDY store! As you can see, the girls LOVED it!!!

We all picked out one treat.

Crafts with her cousins! 

When I asked Olivia what she wanted to do for her birthday, she replied, "make spiders". So, we made some pumpkins AND spiders.

Opening her presents. This lucky girl got clothes, markers, crafts, a bowl with her name on it, a Fancy Nancy puzzle, animal hats, candy, a few little toy spiders....

....and an ART easel!! I  foresee countless hours of creativity happening with this thing! 

Can't wait to to put it in our kitchen!! 

Cake time!

We sure love this little cutie!!! She has grown leaps and bounds since starting Kindergarten. She loves to learn and explore her surroundings. She has a love for life and has an impressive imagination. She loves to help mom out, ride her bike, draw, paint, play with her sister and brother. She loves to read and is starting to read a few words on her own. She is really good at sounding out words and loves to write.  She  is such a great big sister and loves to teach Aubrey about stuff. She loves her little Simon and takes every opportunity she can to hold him or pick him up. She still loves animals more than anything. When she grows up she wants to be an Animal Doctor. 

We love our little Liv. She is such a joy to our family!!

A girl after her mother's heart

Yesterday we did the usual morning routine... everything ran smoothly.

The kids and I walked Olivia into her school. She was hesitant to go into her class. I tried re-assuring many times, but it didn't seem to help. So, I walked in with her and brought her to some friends. She was still nervous. I kept trying to leave, but she would follow me out the door. She kept telling me, "I don't want you to go". I kept re-assuring her. Telling her I would be back and she would have so much fun. She felt nervous. And, I felt bad.

One last time, I went in a played with her and initiated an activity between her and some other little girls. She wasn't saying much. And, I recognized that look on her face - where she feels very awkward and uncomfortable. A huge part of me didn't want to leave her. I knew exactly how she felt, and I didn't want her to feel that way.

I left the room as soon as I had the chance. But, I peaked through the window of the door. She stood there for a minute...still feeling awkward and uncomfortable. And then, she looked around the room and noticed that I wasn't there. She turned her face to the wall and began to wipe the tears. Little did she know, her mom was just outside the door crying too. Good thing I was the only one in the hallway...no one saw me!!! Boy, did my heart ached for her.

I probably totally over-reacted, BUT I do wear my heart on my sleeve AND I only had a few hours of sleep that night. So, that is probably why I was over-emotional and just had no control! ha!

Just after noon that day one of the mom's volunteered at the school today. And, just as though she knew I needed it, she texted me a picture of Olivia with her friends at lunch. Smiling and happy. I was so relieved and felt so much better!

When I picked her up from school, Olivia excitedly told me that her teacher read them a story about a racoon who was nervous at school and didn't want her mommy to leave.... just like Olivia. She thought that was pretty cool. Olivia continued to tell me all about her fun day in Kindergarten! 

a late Birthday Present...

[Sept 20]

What a fun day...

Wes had a trade show and I had some work meetings for a chunk out of the day, but as soon as we were done we happily and excitedly came through on a birthday promise we had made Aubrey....

For her birthday last month, her gift from Mommy and Daddy was a Pony ride. We told her by having her open a gift bag containing a paper figurine of a little girl riding a horse. We promised we would take her one day soon.

The rest of summer was busy, then school started, and then the snow came (that had me worried), but yesterday we realized that we should just make this happen now! 

So we did. We managed to book the last spot of the day and surprised the girls!!!

THEY LOVED IT!! ... we all did!

Snowtember!

 I love Fall. I love the colors, the crispness in the air! And, that is exactly how September started. In my opinion, Summer was ending too soon, BUT I was happy to enjoy the beauty of Fall.  We knew SNOW was in the forecast, so we enjoyed every bit of Fall that was left.

We are living now with Wes' brother and his family. They live just a few step away from Fish Creek Park. We had such a nice little stroll in the park with our cousins!

And, the next day was probably even MORE fun (according to the children)

 

And then more snow came. This time, shutting off power for hours throughout the city! We were lucky enough to only have our power flicker a couple of times. Wes tried to take Olivia to school.... drove 7km in 1.5 hours. 

Decided he wasn't going to get very far and turned around to have a SNOW DAY!!...

The girls got a kick out of the fact that daddy couldn't go to work because there was too much snow!

 

They enjoyed every last minute of it.

KINDERGARTEN!!!

[Sept. 3]

Oh my goodness!!!.... I can't even believe this is happening! Olivia is in SCHOOL!! I am happy and sad about it all at the same time!...totally wish I could hide a web-cam somewhere in the room and spy on her!! She is in the same class as a few of her little friends from church, so that is exciting...and comforting!! We are thrilled about the school she is attending. We feel very good about everything.... except the hour drive it will take to get there (while we are homeless...haha....until October...).

Last night she picked out the shirt she wanted to wear and said, "this one is so cute"!

Here are a few photos of our morning!

 

I teared up a few times on the way to school. But, when we got there I felt just fine...no tears at all from either of us!

When I picked her up she has happy and excited. 

Here is us ready for the trek back home! I love what is happening in the photo: Aubrey is miserable (she fell asleep on the way, peed her pants, and woke up angry at the world), Olivia is in her glory because she has her turkey!, and Simon... sweet Simon...do you see him in the mirror?... pleasant and happy. 

As per usual!