Another Cutie got a Haircut

Isn't she sweet? I absolutely loved her long curly hair, but Adara is so active, her hair was always a rumpled mess. As well, she has never been very 'girly' when it comes to her hair, she dislikes any kind of hair clips or braids or...well, anything, really...so I finally conceded and asked her if she wanted her hair cut to her chin "just like Mommy's". She's thrilled with it, her Daddy thinks she's adorable, and although I miss the long curls, I do think it suits her.

Mama got bored...

...and Connor got a homemade haircut!

Trevor's barber refused the last time we asked him to cut Con's hair, and he was getting shaggy. I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but fortunately, he has no fear and the only trouble I had was that he wanted to play with the clippers rather than let me use them on his head. Seems to me he looks so much more like a little boy now rather than a toddler...

So Grateful

The day started off very poorly - Connor awoke shortly after six, and both kids were cranky. I wandered out into the main part of the house to find an assortment of leftover birthday decorations from yesterday, but nothing new for me. I felt sorry for myself.

And then, little by little, greetings started trickling in. An email here, a phone call there, a package and two cards in the mail. I went out to lunch with Mom and the kids, and Mom and Adara surprised me with roses. Two more emails in the afternoon, and then Trevor came home early and surprised me with some lovely gifts. A tasty supper and some chocolate cake finished the evening's celebrations.

I am left feeling so grateful. I get caught up in my own little world up here, absorbed in my home, my husband and my children, and I feel so distant from everyone else most days. What a lovely reminder that I am not nearly as alone as I feel. My dear friends and wonderful family members are still close emotionally, if not geographically. Thank you all so much. It felt like a big long-distance hug, and you would not believe how much I needed just that.

My Birthday Present

After much deliberation, I finally decided what I wanted for my birthday: books, books and more books. Trevor chuckled a little at my choice, but let me go ahead and load up the virtual shopping cart. I'm not into fiction very much these days, other than the occasional classic. There's so much I want to learn about that I'm really focused on the non-fiction. Here's some of what I'll be reading once my birthday parcel comes in:

Raising Maidens of Virtue: A Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters by Stacy McDonald
Secrets to Getting More Done in Less Time by Donna Otto
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
Building the Christian Family You Never Had: A Practical Guide for Pioneer Parents by Mary DeMuth
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp
Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World by Jill Rigby
Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room by Barbara Curtis
Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald

Hurray for books! I'd been eyeing so many of these for months and months, but would have felt guilty spending a lot of money on them. Now I get a whole bunch, and I'll have fresh reading material for weeks!!

Happy Birthday to my girl

Our little Sweetpea turned four today. While the snowstorm did make most of our plans impossible, we had one very welcome surprise: the roads were so bad Trevor got to stay home! We had promised that she could have her favourite meal at Boston Pizza, so at lunchtime we braved the snowdrift-covered roads and slogged through to BPs. We ended up parking in the grocery store parking lot half a block over so that we could be sure we could get out again, and were very glad we did as for most of our meal we watched various trucks and cars get stuck while trying to park. As a grand finale, after a light supper at home we presented this:

and got this reaction:

...which made it all worthwhile.

So NOT what we wanted to do

And it's still coming down. Forecast says snow every day till the day after my birthday.

Recent Acquisitions

After more than a year of searching, we've finally replaced the old beige couch in the living room. We bought it and the matching loveseat when we first moved to Alberta over 10 years ago, so they've served us well, but ten years of various cats plus four years of kids have taken their toll. When we moved to our present home, I got two chairs from Ikea in the dark brown leather. I've been looking for a coordinating couch or loveseat ever since. Last weekend we finally found the set we'd been waiting for. They're fake leather (therefore less expensive and I won't be as worried about them getting wrecked) but they look and feel like the real thing. Trev picked them up this weekend and I'm really pleased at how much better the room looks. I know you can't get the full effect here, but the room looks so much more welcoming.

In more frugal news, we attended the first garage sale of the season - the public library had their annual fundraising garage sale, and we braved the crowds and got a few good deals. The most exciting find was this:

Adara was one happy camper! She's been eyeing them in the store, but I've been reluctant to pay $20+ dollars. This was brand new (still had the tag on), plays 6 songs with trotting noises(cute, but annoying), and we got it, a set of fancy speakers for Trev's computer, and a copy of the original "Wizard of Oz" movie for $30. I really do like hitting garage sales. What fun!