Princess Party Continued

Here are a few more pictures of Brooklyn's party.

This captures the princesses playing "Pass the Glass Slipper". The music is playing and the slipper seems to be stuck at Princess Rosie who has been dying all day to peel that foil off.

With snacks in hand, the party goers pose in front of the well kissed frog. Unfortunately, no prince action.

Princess Brooklyn blowing out four candles!

The party ended with a viewing of Snow White. This was the scary part when the Queen's servant was going to kill Snow White in the woods. Can you tell?

Although Brook's actual birthday isn't until December 18th, she has told me that now she is 4. And she has requested that her decorations, including the frog prince, stay up until the 18th so we can have another party. I think a beautiful, healthy little daughter is worth celebrating again. Every day, in fact. ~Mandy

Princess Brooklyn Had a Birthday Party!

What could be more girly than a princess party? Brooklyn knew for the first time this year exactly what she wanted for her party. It had to be a princess party with all her friends. Thus the Queen began planning, preparing, organizing and shopping.

The Princess on the big day - notice the new princess party dress!

Her sister, Princess Roslyn also got to pick a new dress. Notice the "burn your retina" pink. I tried to talk her out of it but to no avail.

And here is the royal assembly, minus two princesses who couldn't make it.

We began with making some royal beaded jewelry and getting some princess sparkles applied. Then it was time for some games fit for the occasion - pass the glass slipper, pin the kiss on the frog, Sleeping Beauty's freeze dance, and find the king's treasure. There were presents too. Lots of pink. Sean and I were picking sparkles off of our faces all day. ~Mandy

Who Wants Pizza?

It was pizza night at the Davidsons recently and everyone got in on the action.

Cheese is the most important ingredient for Brooklyn and Rosie. We have to make sure most of it ends up on the pizza and not in their mouths.

Sean jumped right in when he arrived home from work. Pizza-making lends itself to practicing ballet arms as well. Rosie makes sure that cheese is really on there.

After a bit of teamwork, the pizza was ready for the oven and then we ate it. Delicious. If anyone wants a really easy recipe for dough, let me know. ~Mandy

Bathing Beauties in December

When you live in a province where winter moves in around Thanksgiving and then doesn't leave until April, sometimes you need to just turn up the heat and have a living room pool party. Brookie came up with the idea. I helped with finding the bathing suits and getting towels and snacks. I did stress to the girls that the "pool" part of the party was strictly imaginative.

So here Brook and Rosie "splash" in the pool which does look a lot like our blue sectional to the untrained eye

Brookie takes a break from the pool to pose for me

This is probably my favourite picture ever of our girls.

Needless to say, our winter living room pool party was a huge success. The girls found out that wearing bathing suits in the middle of winter just makes you feel better.

~Mandy

Christmas is in the Air

This past weekend (December 2), our family took a much needed break from Sunday responsibilities and went to the spa in Moose Jaw. It is one of the Jaw's tourist attractions, the other being our thriving casino. We soaked in the warm mineral water and even went outside, where your hair freezes but your body stays toasty and warm. The kids had a great time. They did less soaking and more splashing. We met a family there who had driven in from Regina to get their Christmas tree at the only place we have ever heard of in southern Saskatchewan where you can cut down your own: Come See Come Saw. You have to love the name.

So because we are crazy, we decided to go and get our tree. Keep in mind, we had just planned on a morning at the spa which does not require warm winter clothing so none of us had anything warm. And it was pretty brisk. But the tree was calling our name so we quickly stopped in at the Superstore to grab some mitts and hats for the girls and we were on the road.

This tree place was way out of town and in the middle of nowhere (as most places are around here) so that prairie wind was just blowing right through us. We managed to get the girls out of the car and over to the bonfire, where we warmed up a bit. Then it was time to set off to pick out a tree. Well, it was quite a walk for me to the first row of trees, let alone Brookie. Rosie was up on Sean's shoulders which was good for the long walk but bad for the wind. She didn't actually cry but that may have been physically impossible. By the time we reached the first tree, we were all FREEZING so badly that I was afraid someone's fingers would fall off. A great parenting moment.

Sean says in his oh so optimistic "let's have fun, despite the fact that I can't feel my face" voice, "So, which one looks good?". I point to the tree directly in front of us. "Are you sure?" Sean asks. I explain that in a few moments we would be dead from exposure so whether the tree was perfect or not would be beside the point. Then we decided that maybe I should return to the relative warmth of the fire with the girls while Sean trudged further in search of a perfect Christmas tree.

So the girls and I went indoors for hot chocolate and sugar cookies. This was much more our speed. In fact, this whole experience was actually fun. Brooklyn, Rosie and I entertained the other frozen customers with a lovely rendition of Jingle Bells and Frosty. We were really in the spirit now that we had feeling in our limbs again. Time passed and finally Sean appeared in the doorway. He was cold. Really cold. But he had found a beautiful tree for our first prairie Christmas. Sean defrosted by the time we got home and when he put the tree up in the living room, Brooklyn said, "Daddy, you picked a very nice tree." I think that made every frigid moment worthwhile.

The next night we decorated our little hearts out.

The girls sorted the decorations for Sean and I after they realized how prickly the job of decorating can be.

Brooklyn is a budding photographer. Here is one of her portraits. You can kinda see the tree.

And here it is - the tree. We like it.

~Mandy

She Lives To Dance

At the drop of a hat, Rosie will be off to her room, transforming herself into a "dancing queen". All it takes is her pink bathing suit, complete with little skirt and her dance shoes and she is good to go.

Here she is going. The coffee table is one of her favourite places to bust a move.

She takes a breather

And then after a bit more dancing, it is time for a healthy snack. Gotta love those little mandarins!

This bathing suit is Rosie's outfit of choice right now. There have been many a battle over why little girls cannot wear their bathing suits outside during a Saskatchewan winter. I even resorted to letting her go outside to see how cold it was but that didn't seem to deter her. So if you see us in Moose Jaw grabbing some groceries, there is a good chance that under her sweater and jeans, Rosie has her bathing suit on, ready for the next opportunity to dance. ~Mandy

Pig Princess meets Pink Poodle

At first meeting, the Pig Princess is intruiged but cautious. The Pink Poodle seems quite happy to have a new friend.

The Pig Princess looks stunned. Still the Pink Poodle smiles on.

At last, the two become friends and live happily ever after.

~Mandy

A Girl and her Buddies

Halloween in Caronport

We made it back home in time for Halloween. For those of you who know me, small town Saskatchewan living is not always my favourite thing. But this little village is just a perfect place for Halloween fun. And this year, it wasn't even snowing or -30 so we were really pumped. Sean set out with our little trick or treaters for some door-to-door action before heading off to a great party, complete with bobbing for apples!

Here is our little zebra, still wearing her mittens (believe me, that doesn't last long)

And our ladybug

Now the girls did walk our block but we had quite a few houses on our route this year so they got a lift. Here you can see them getting pretty tired. The fistfuls of candy they ate soon after this picture brought them to life again. And just in time for bed! ~Mandy

Fall or Summer?

The weather in Ontario was typically crazy. It couldn't decide whether to be cool or seriously hot! So we took advantage of the summer conditions and had one last romp in the water at Spencer Smith Park (one of our favourites!)

We hadn't come prepared for swimming but that didn't stop Rosie. Here you can see there is always a way to get wet

Brookie had a great time too

With the crazy weather came a few great thunderstorms. Here Aunt Nessa, myself and the girls enjoy a run in the puddles while it poured rain! This brought back so many childhood memories.

Drying off after was the best, especially with a snuggle on Aunt Nessa's lap.

Soon after this picture was taken, Ama brought out the hot chocolate and we all felt cozy again. We did miss Daddy, though. ~Mandy

Ahhh . . . Autumn in Ontario

So along with the joy of spending time with my dad (Bops) as he healed from surgery was the added excitement of exploring Ontario in the fall, with all the classic activities somewhat lacking in Saskatchewan. My favourite was picking apples. There is nothing as deliciously "fall" as hiking down a long row of apple trees, hearing the leaves crackle underfoot, picking an apple from the heavy branches and biting in. I have so missed this autumn tradition since moving away and I was so glad to have this opportunity with Brooklyn and Rosie - their first time at the orchard!

Brooklyn found it quite wonderful that you could just pick an apple and take a big bite.

In true Rosie fashion, she grabbed two big apples at the first opportunity

Ama enjoyed time with the girls

And we even got a half-decent family picture, capturing Rosie's determination to eat as many apples as possible - at least to bite into as many as possible.

It wasn't as leisurely, or relaxing as I remember. Two preschoolers tend to add a lot of action and drama to any outing. But the air was sweet with the smell of apples and leaves and I felt like I had found the autumn I had been missing. A good day. ~Mandy

A Trip To Help Bops Heal

September also brought a more serious family crisis. My dad had to have open heart surgery. This came as quite a shock to us all and I immediately just felt so far away. I wanted to be closer for a while, to spend time with Neil, help my mom and sister out as I could, and just let Bops hang with his two wee girls.

So we flew to Ontario about three days after the surgery. My dad was already home (record time!) and so we had three weeks together. There was a lot of snuggling on the couch, watching movies, reading books. Bops was still very tired and sore. Rosie took it upon herself to make sure he always had his hippo pillow (for coughing, sneezing, laughing). She would keep track of that pink hippo and run with enthusiasm to fetch it if it was left behind. I think she felt good just having a job, a way to help.

You have heard of the Keeper of the Ring. Well, this is the Keeper of the Pillow. Notice how even while posing for a picture, the Keeper never has her eye off that hippo.

Here Rosie and Bops do some catching up outside on the deck.

Morning snuggling - the absolute best kind!

Rosie worried about Bops. She wanted to stay close by so she could make sure he was okay. Every night when we said our prayers, she would pray for Bops because he was "very hurting".

~Mandy

Ah . . . the anticipation of a coming adventure!

At the beginning of September, Rosie got bronchial pneumonia and had to spend three long days in the hospital. I stayed with her. It was a difficult time for the fam. Brookie felt it the most, I think, although Sean was a close second. Poor wee Brook wasn't sure where Rosie and I had gone, even though we thought we had explained things clearly. Those little preschool minds just have their own ways of processing stress, fear, anxiety. We knew it was a problem when her art teacher told me Brooklyn had informed her class that her mommy was dead and she was now living with the Matthies (friends of ours here on campus). I was relaying this to Sean and he asked, "What is wrong with me? I mean why couldn't Brooklyn have stayed with me?" To this I replied, "Well, at least you are only an unfit parent. I'm dead!"

This picture was taken the day after we arrived back home from our stay in the hospital. Rosie and Brookie had quite a reunion and then it was time to set out on an adventure, complete with "backpacks". ~Mandy