happy halloween

Here's Cadie dressing up for dance class in the costume that Chelsea made her last year!

We had such a great Halloween! The girls enjoyed carving their pumpkins - they designed and named them themselves - Ella and Ellie. Very original. The pumpkins were both smiling :)

We also had a fun time trick-or-treating until the end when they both decided simultaneously that they were done and needed to go home. They proceeded to ask the house we were at to drive them home. Thank goodness we were at Kristin and Jake's and they said yes! Libby was Larry the cucumber and couldn't sit down in her costume. She also had no peripheral vision. Cadie was Bob the tomato and couldn't walk up or down steps as she couldn't lift her knees very high. Both girls, once toppled over (which happened often) could not stand back up on their own. I was sick of my double wide stroller (long story) so decided to carry David trick or treating. I had to put him down in order to pick up a toppled veggie. At one point Libby and Cadie ran into each other and were both down - it was so funny I didn't even pick them up right away - all the other trick or treaters were laughing and loving their costumes, too. I think next year practicality will win out, though! :)

so embarrassing!

So, when I told my husband this story after work, he exclaimed "why do these kinds of things always happen to you?" I was totally hoping for some sympathy after all I had been through, but that's all I got. So it had been a busy day and I was running out the door again. I had volunteered at Libby's school and there had been treats. So Cadie had eaten treats. And she was thirsty. Now, let me preface this with Cadie had decided to potty train back in the summer and was doing a great job until she decided she didn't want to anymore. During those few weeks of little to no accidents, we signed her up for dance classes. You have to be potty trained to go to dance class. No problem, until she decides she doesn't want to be a big girl anymore. So she's kind of in between being potty trained and not. So she drank a lot today - and usually on dance class days I don't let her drink anything too close to dance class and make her go pee before we go and she's been fine-accident free. Well, today I forgot and she drank and then actually took herself to the bathroom a good hour before dance class starts so when it's time to leave and she doesn't have to go I started freaking out - I could just see and accident coming so... this is where it gets embarrassing - you have to realize I was sleep deprived and in a rush to get out the door and just wasn't thinking, anyway, I knew I couldn't put a diaper on her under her skin-tight ballet leotard because then they'd KNOW she wasn't fully potty trained so I thought hey, I'll put her in panties and just slip in one of those thin maxi-pads in there and then maybe if there is a little accident it won't be too bad? again, I don't know what I was thinking. After class, the teacher calls me over. I have bad luck with teachers. They're always calling me over. I know, I'm a teacher, too. I don't get it. So, this teacher tells me that Cadie asked to go to the bathroom during class. And asked for help. Then she just raised her eyebrows at me. Sooo embarrassing! I just thanked her and left really fast. There was no explanation that could have explained why my two year old was wearing a pad...

ouch...

so while everyone else is doing "thankful for" posts I'm going to do a complaining post! No, not really complaining because I LOVE my life and these little pieces of discontent are part of what makes me love it so much! Seriously, I've heard quotes that I can't quite remember enough to actually quote, but that generally say "predictable days where everything goes according to plan are boring" well, I'm thankful for Libby because she's my beautiful daughter that keeps my life non-boring. It's partially my fault that she was so grumpy and tired today because I let her stay up late - she invited all of her classmates over for a PJ party. Her entire kindergarten class of classmates. It was fun, so she thanked me today by doing the opposite of everything I asked. seriously. Like when I said "don't touch the iron, it is hot and it will burn you." She slowly, deliberately put her finger on the iron. She now has a decent sized burn blister on her index finger but she refused to give me any indication she was hurt "oh, that didn't even hurt one bit!" uh-huh... A few hours later she was swinging on the fridge - like hanging on to the handle of the door and swinging the fridge open and shut. A few minutes after my cautionary "STOP swinging on the fridge" she swings into the counter and hurts herself. Tears and a band-aid later, she still won't admit she got hurt. Corey and I both have our stubborn streaks, I'm hopeful that Libby's will get her through some tough times as a teenager dealing with peer pressure, etc. This can be a wonderful trait to have! However, in the meantime, any suggestions on how to keep her safe?

days like this...

I feel like the worst mom in the world today! Poor sweet Libby gets severely accident prone when she is tired. Like falling down the basement stairs, falling off the couch, falling off the bathroom counter, falling off her chair- kind of accident prone. And then there's David. Poor guy, I felt like I was going from one "Fire" to another today, saving my kids lives left right and centre, only to find David in the bathroom... playing in the toilet and trying to drink my hairspray. I need a vacation!! :)

cute hats from auntie skye

aren't they adorable! and my girls love being all matching so they are very excited to wear their new hats everywhere! We also had fun turning our princess tent into a balloon pit and here's Cadie eating one of the only foods she will eat these days - saskatoon berries.

no pictures

ha ha i feel like such a failure as a mom - i sent my little girl off to school for her very first day of french immersion kindergarten ever and I didn't even take any pictures! She was very brave and not even shy at all -some of her classmates were grabbing on to their parents legs and crying but she was happily waving goodbye to me. After a lot of coaxing "what did you do at school?" "How was school?" etc., I finally got - tomorrow I get to play at the rice table. Thats it. ALthough she was telling David "non, non!" later today - pretty soon I won't be able to understand her at all!

Libby's Little Miracle

So, back a month or so ago, the piano bench fell on Libby's big toe. It turned black and blue and looked pretty awful. She's tough, she barely cried when it happened. However, the toe nail finally fell off a few days ago and that was worth the waterworks! (I think it was partly my fault because I did the whole "Ewww, gross!" when I saw it) Anyway, her toe looked awful and there was a tiny stub of a new nail way down at the bottom starting to grow but her toe had almost NO toe nail. So gross. So as Libby is saying her prayers that night, she prays that her toenail will be better by the morning. I better "back-story" this a bit: when we were camping Libby prayed that it wouldn't rain.... and it POURED! Since then she has been trying to convince me that Heavenly Father doesn't answer our prayers. (according to her, it even says so in the scriptures!) So, I'm all concerned that my poor daughter doesn't have a testimony of prayer, so I sit her down and tell her that Heavenly Father will fix her toenail and that it will grow back but she has to be patient and that Heavenly Father will have her toe back to normal by Halloween... or maybe Christmas. (seriously, I cut her toenails like once every few months!!) So. Imagine my surprise when she proudly shows me her beautiful new toenail two days later!!!! Seriously, I think I was a little too shocked; I know prayer works, but this was a minor miracle all for the sake of my daughter's testimony! I'm so happy Heavenly Father thought it was important enough to fix her toenail (and her belief in prayer). What a wonderful God we have!