A Princess Birthday Party

If you think that one day, when you are a parent, your little girl won't be into all that ridiculous princess paraphernalia when she grows up because you are going to parent her differently than all the other 

parents out there right now...then you are dead wrong.

We have learned over these last 4 years that you can control what colour is in their room, what they wear, what kind of toys they will have and things they will do, only for a short amount of time. 

Then they make friends and they will quickly like mostly the same things that their friends do. And there is basically nothing you could do about it unless you want them to grow up under a rock. 

And then you resign yourself to the fact that you have very little control over anything in the universe at all and you feel really small...

Okay not quite. 

But your kid is going to be who they are, fluffy skirts, bracelets, huge headbands and all. That is our Wren at age 4. And you know what? We are getting used to it, haha. 

Last weekend we had a family birthday party (which Wren thought was mostly for her, which is understandable), and this weekend we had a Princess Party just for her and 5 of her closest friends. Three of them from preschool, one is her neighbour and one is a family friend. Their parents dropped them off for 2 hours of party time at our house. And they did fantastic! They all played together really nicely and made hilarious 4 year old comments throughout the party.

 All of the girls had hilarious comments throughout the party. At one point while they were eating snacks and cupcakes, they all started to share what their food tasted like. They would say, "Mine tastes like butterflies!" or "Mine tastes like paper!" and then without fail one shouted "Mine tastes like POOP!" and they all died laughing. 

Ellie joined the girls after her nap, and loved every minute of it...

We sang Happy Birthday to Wren...

..who had the sweetest smile of happiness on her face because of it. She felt really special at that moment! 

We opened presents which all of the girls were quickly excited about. It didn't take long until they were crowded around Wren and Kenton to see what was coming next. 

And Wren had hugs for all of her friends to say 'thank you'.

In the spirit of keeping things extremely simple for the party, we cut string and had them string Fruit Loops onto them to make necklaces. 

Anika, on the right, had the brilliant idea of taping one end to the table so they didn't fall off. 4 year olds have genius ideas!

They came dressed up as princesses. Unfortunately Wren changed within 2 minutes of the girls arriving, I'm guessing because she thought her princess dress was much bigger than what they were showing up in. She eventually settled on just being Minnie Mouse.

Then they just played, and it turned into a big game of "Doctor".

While all of this was going on, Ellie walked around with a little bowl of Fruit Loops, laughing and watching the girls play...

...and then we looked over and she was doing stunts on the couch such as this...so flexible! 

The party fun factor verdict? We would definitely go this route again for a party for Wren in the future. 6 girls was a great number this year to mange between the two of us (plus Ellie!) and we kept it super simple with not a lot of fuss...okay the cupcakes were a bit of work but hey. In the past I would always feel anxious and unsure if I did it "right" or whatever. Our mission was to keep it easy because let's face it. They are 4! 

At one point Kenton and I looked at each other and said "It's so funny, but no one else is here to judge us on how good or bad this party is, ha!" Not that you would...but there was no pressure and we just let it happen as it did, and you know what? 

They all had a blast. And we had lots of laughs with the funny things they said and did and go to enjoy the party too :)

But now I'm going to kick back on the couch and do nothing the rest of the night. Phewf!

Happy Birthday to Wren!

You thought I forgot to post this...but I did not. I almost did, but I managed to remember just as I was washing my face and getting ready to head in for the night. 

Wren turned 4 today! And she rang it in last night by throwing up for a few hours. So we were pretty tired today, she didn't go to preschool, and we watched The Croods. But hey. I think she's on the mend. 

We had a family birthday party on Saturday, and then Kenton and I are having a few of her lady friends over for a princess tea party this coming weekend. She is going to be thrilled! 

I can't believe she's 4. I don't think anyone else can either. 

She is the best thing that ever happened to us (next to Ellie, of course) and I loved going back through our old pictures to find a few cute gems for you. I decided this winter baby needed a winter flashback...

1 month old. Snowsuit clearly too big. 

About a year old. Thumbs weren't able to find their way in the mittens at this point. 

2 years. Had to be convinced to sit in the sled instead of getting shoulder rides from dad. 

3 years, and a big sister now. But still needs a pull. 

 This winter, 4 years old. Beautiful. Happy. Loved. 

Does this get any sweeter?

I think not :)

Snow snow snow!

This is the first year that we can take both girls outside without it being a huge hassle...last year Ellie was a chubby lump in a snowsuit that couldn't sit up in a sled very well. 

I used to strap her into the Ergo on me...in our snowsuits. We would be a sweaty, cranky mess before we even got out the door, and I still had to get Wren bundled up! It kind of sucked, to be honest. 

But this year, oh joy! Wren can get all her own stuff on, she can even do up her own zipper on her coat. Skills.

And Ellie is so pumped to get outside that she holds up her socks for met to put them on. She even LIKES to wear her mitts. Get..out..

Here is our classic Kenton-throwing-child-into-the-air-give-you-a-heart-attack-photo. She loves it

Wren also still loves it...

She's also way heavier and Kenton can only throw her up there about twice and he's done.

We took the girls tobogganing across the street on our tiny hill and they loooved it. Ellie actually cried when we tried to bring her inside. 

The girls get such rosy cheeks, I love it.

Yay for snow!

I really need to get myself some adult sized snow pants. 

5th Year Anniversary!

Happy 5  years to us! 

That seems impossible, but when we really thought about it, so much has happened in 5 years that it's no wonder we are already here and barely noticed. 

Honestly...we almost forgot. BUT, we celebrated by going to one of our all time favourite restaurants, The Marc, despite plowing through a week of sick kids. 

We have had our two girls, bought a house, and worked towards seeing Kenton's side business of woodworking grow. It's hard to believe just a few years ago I wrote this post ,  and now he has already built up his shop and skills enough to have completed a project like this with another project in the works. It's an amazing feeling when you can look back and read something like that and remember you believed in something when it might have seemed crazy at the time. 

My work recently celebrated my 5 year anniversary for being with the organization at Boys and Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters (longest name ever!) which also seems crazy. 

I know that we both hope that the next 5 years will see us growing into all of the big changes that have happened with our life so far. 

 I'm happier now, 5 years down the road, than I even was when I first met Kenton! We have amazing memories, but I honestly wouldn't go back for anything. I like the now, and I'm excited for the rest. :) 

Love you Kenton. 

A few pics of us over the years..probably the same ones I posted last year when it was our anniversary. Oh well! But I really should dig out the wedding photos...I think that disc is in a box somewhere...

Oh...Halloween.

Okay soooo....this has been a very long week. Both girls have been sick since Sunday. By Wednesday night, both girls had croupy coughs and so we packed them up for a field trip to the Stollery because really, we weren't sleeping anyways listening to their poor barky coughs. 

I ended up taking Ellie again this morning at 8am because she needed more meds. Luckily it was not busy at all and the girls actually wanted to play in the kids area. It's so strange, but I usually wait for less time in the Stollery waiting room than at their own doctor's office. And the Stollery has toys and kids tv.  Way. Better. 

Anyways.

All that being said, we did take the girls out for a bit of trick or treating last night. They were really tired (because the night before they were up in the night at the hospital) and so they were really excited and then faded very quickly. We were home by 7pm and putting them into bed. 

But it was fun to see so many decorated houses in our neighbourhood! Some were super scary, others were just fun, and we made our way around with Wren's pal Drake and his family. I didn't take any pics, sorry. It was so windy and too crazy trying to get out the door.

Kenton and I really enjoyed taking the girls around, we find that Halloween can be messed up at times (unsafe candy, weirdos, people acting stupid, etc), it's also a great way to meet your neighbours and get to know your neighbourhood a little better. And it's kind of fun getting a glimpse into people's homes when it's dark out! 

The girls loved it. Ellie ran around in her giraffe costume and Wren chose her dragon one over a mermaid (it was chilly out!) and obviously they are super happy to eat the candy now. A little too happy.

Wren woke up still sick enough to not go to preschool, so we took it easy. They played some babies and Ellie kind of missed the concept of giving her baby the bottle...

Ellie giving Wren a silly smile...she knows she's a ham.

I am ready to get out of the house this weekend! Wahoo!!