Everything is better with accessories

Well usually an outfit is better with accessories but in our case panties look really good with accessories too.  Here is Allie modeling her new watch Grammy gave her which she adores and her new strawberry shortcake shoes which she even wanted to wear during nap.

 And because Brailie wants to do whatever Allie is doing here is a picture of her-she thinks she needs to make a funny face in all pictures now.

I know one day they will look at all the pictures and ask why they never had any clothes on.  Trust me people it is beyond my control.  They can take their own clothes off and what am I to do -be the clothes police all day long.  Brailie will probably ask why her hair is so crazy in every picture too-the only answer I will have for that is "you were little miss independent...think I had any chance with your hair?"

So what exactly is it that the girls play everyday

This is a picture of a typical play scene at Grammy's.  The girls started with one activity, which spiraled to another and then another and pretty soon there is just a big mess of stuff in this little sitting room that is quiet the circus act to get around.  Usually it starts with the old records and farm implement books in this one book shelf, then that leads to needing to go to someones house and so the doll houses come out and they play with those and then somehow kinda put themselves in the dolls world and decide they are tired from all the activities they are doing and so they go and get pillows and blankets and they play sleeping for a while and then it kinda repeats itself.  The stairs are a super fun play toy too.  The upstairs act as desks for a teaching a class and the downstairs act as desks for the girls to sit at and have an office.  They are playing so well with such a small amount of toys.  The first thing I am doing when we get home is getting rid of and putting away a bunch of the toys.  They have way more than they need.  Yard sale here we come.

4 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Jumping on the bed-it is so therapeutic, a great form of exercise, "super fun" as Allie would say and a great way to pass the time.  I almost wish I wasn't too big to jump on beds any more.  Well it has been such a great fun activity for my girls here at Grammy's and when the cousins were here too.  I am not sure why we are "not supposed to jump on the bed."  I can't be bothered to worry about something as trivial as that.  The girls love it and Grammy's bed's seem to be extra bouncy so everyone is happy.

Dan and Steve-Look what I found

Our first remote.  Look how long the cord was on that thing-talk about a hazard.

The Cousins are here

The cousins are here-yipee!!!!! That means that not only is the house major chaos, the couches are getting well used for jumping and flipping and we have just barely enough room to all fit around the table but it also means....

 Sledding!!!!

 Here is Uncle Daniel running along side to make sure the sled stays on course.

 Uncle Daniel with his boys Jakob and Andrew

 Brai being her usual timid self and not wanting to try out the sledding so she hung out with the photographer

 Allie went with Auntie Jenny and then declared, "I pretty much have to do that again."

 Uncle Daniel and the boys drive the 4-wheeler to pull the sled back up the hill (oh how this would have been so helpful back when we were kids).

 I took this picture upside down of Brai clinging to my leg.

 Cute camo marshmallows.  I have no idea who is who.  I am a terrible Aunt.

 One more taken upside down and between my legs.

And lastly here is Brai back in the truck with her crazy touque hair (touque is our term for a winter hat-who knows how to spell it).

Allie" Basketball Shorts

I took the girls to the thrift store the other day in search of treasures-it was a nightmare to say the least but I did end up finding Allie a couple of pairs of shorts for summer.  One was this pair of basketball shorts.  With her you pretty much just have to tell her that something is for basketball, or like the basketball girls have and she is sold ( I think my chance of having a ballroom dancer are growing slimmer each day).  She wanted to wear them the next day and the day after.  I think they make her look older.  What a cutie.

I think she has a future in Oreo cookie commercials

Hopefully with a really good hair stylist because clearly I am not making anything magical happen with her hair.

Ways to help Grammy

One of Allie's favorite things to say lately is, "is there anything I can do to help?"  I love it when she says it; I also cringe sometimes because having a "helper" is usually more work for mom-and it has proven to be more work for Grammy but she hasn't seemed to mind (though the fact that she needs a power nap everyday is proof).

The girls have helped make breakfast

 They have helped Grammy make some use out of all those old dance medals for mine and Steven's that she has been saving.  The girls have been earning these for trying new foods and taking medicine.

 We've helped Grammy go through all her records by throwing them down the stairs like Frisbees (breaking some in the process-meaning the pile will be made smaller because of this).

 We have successfully sorted out the small ones (that fly really great) and the large ones (that make a nice loud thunk when hitting the floor).

 Allie helped vacuum with Grammy's little vacuum that doesn't make too much noise which is perfect for Allie.

 And we have helped grammy get in touch with her childhood side by playing Barbies-which has also helped to lose a few small pieces thus making the clean up a bit more of a breeze.  

Some Real Snow

Now that we are in Canada the girls have got the chance to experience some real snow-including all the tons of gear one must put on to go out in the real snow.  What a pain.  Kudos to all the winter moms out there that do this regularly.  Kudos to my own mom for doing it with three and then lugging us all over the creation.  

 This big orange sled is actually a calf sled that my dad had from our cattle days.  It works perfectly though for pulling the kids around.

 The weird looking mittens are due to the fact that we don't own any good snow mittens and the stores are charging WAY too much money for a pair.  We just wear our little ones and a pair of Grammy's on top.

 Modeling the snow pants for our second outing in the snow.

 This hat was for the snowman we made.  Brai looks adorable in it.

 This way too.

 The girls and mom made a snowman and by "the girls" I mean they sat on the snow bank and barked orders and mom rolled all over the yard for their personal winter experience.  We call him the hunter snowman for daddy.

 Garden tools double nicely as snow tools in a pinch.

Canada

I wasn't planning on blogging while in Canada but the thought of catching up once home is also really overwhemling and my mom's computer is uploading pictures at a surprisingly decent speed so i thought I might as well.
My mom was visiting in Utah for a few weeks and we decided it would be a good opportunity for us to come to Canada with her on her way home so that I wouldn't have to drive by myself.  We all crammed into her little car and made it safely home earlier than scheduled because my dad was in the hospital.  He got shingles-a very severe case and had to be hospitalized for a week.  We are extremely lucky that Daniel had decided to come home and check on him a week prior and was able to take him to the hospital otherwise we might not even have him anymore.  So we are very grateful to him for that.  My dad's whole one side of his face was swollen and very scarred-including his eye.  We went to visit him in the hospital but the nurses wouldn't let the girls into his room so we watched from the door which was a sad experience because my dad looked like a frail and very old and sick man.  The girls weren't scared and actually have never been scared of him which is such a blessing.  They chatted and sang songs though he couldn't actually hear anything they said.  He finally got to come home after a week but really was no better-very weak, still scarred, still had a swollen eye.  He has basically slept every minute except to eat, shower twice and go to the doctor since we brought him home.  He sleeps in bed, the moves to the couch, then sleeps more then gets up to go to bed.  The girls pounce on any chance that he has his eyes open to pepper him with questions-especially Allie.  She has made it her business to help him know what day it is so he can write it in his book when he checks his blood and this is helpful since he does not know what day it is, or what is happening or what we have told him from one awake moment to the next.  I am glad he is home.  We took him to the cancer clinic for his appointment which was not really helpful but I guess kinda.  They said that the cancer seems to be doing really well.  The lesions on his legs are gone which they never expected to happen.  They said all the things he is experiencing right now are due to the shingles and not the cancer. They said that once he heals from those he should actually be feeling good but that won't be for a while yet.  His face is improving drastically since he is letting my mom give him his medicine and creams much more.  Now we have to worry about the shingles spreading to his eye which can happen even 4 weeks later.  So basically he can't be left alone but he isn't able to do anything either.
I came home with my girls at this time because I was wanting to have quality time with my dad before he got worse.  Now we have not had a quality minute with him yet and probably won't in our time here.  This whole thing is really a rollercoaster.  Coming to grips with the fact that he is dying and then finding out the cancer is actually doing well so does that mean the worry about him dying can be put on the back burner for now???? The hardest part for me is the fact that my dad is not sentimental at all.  He told my mom quite a while ago that if he knew he was dying he wouldn't do anything differently and I believe him.  I wish he would.  I wish he wanted to make each day more important and more special.  The other hard thing is being far away from home and my husband, not having very many people to talk too, and trying to be a single mom, while worrying about my sick dad, while trying to be helpful to my own mom.  Plus Canada is soooooo far away from home and the process of getting here makes me want to do it as infrequently as possible so what does that mean for the future.  AHHHH-it's crazy.  But we are here for now and I am trying to make as many fun memories for the girls and spend more time doing things with them since I don't have many other responsibilities.  That has been a blessing.