My Alma girl

Of course the most exciting news from this week was Alma's 5th Birthday! We had a lovely little princess party for her and 5 little friends.

We painted our fingernails and got dressed in princess dresses and had a lovely princess cake. I am so proud of this cake - I did it all by my self, and it actually turned out pretty adorable.

My little girl is growing up so fast. She still loves the cuddles, the bed time stories and the stuffies to sleep with but, she is growing and learning faster than I could have imagined. We got her report card this week. A report card for kindergarden. Wow. She is doing so well in school. This week was also the primary presentation in our branch. She was so cute. The littlest one up there. and she said her lines so well..."the Doctrine and Covenants teaches me how to live the Gosple", and "I can help my family by taking care of my little sister". It brought tears to my eyes.
I have found that she has a remarkable memory. She can recite whole poems that she learns at school to me when she gets home. I usually only have to tell her something once and she gets it. However, If it's something that I want her to do for me...well that's another thing all together.

Being busy makes me happy. No, really. I think I can accomplish a lot more when I'm under pressure - As long as I know that there will be a break at some point, I thrive on busy-ness. I know that in two weeks, I will be ready for Christmas, the cards will be sent, gifts given to teachers, all the parties will be done and I will be able to sit and watch Christmas movies and read books all day long. As long as I can make it through the next two weeks!

Of course part of the busy was going to see Twilight. Yes, I am a fan. My name is Becky, and I am addicted to Twilight. I know that it is geared to teenage girls, but I was one once, so that makes it alright. Not only did I buy and read all the books and go to the movie on the first night, but I forced all my friends to read it too. And sometimes I told random strangers in the stores to read the books. I figure I'm just a romantic at heart, and I can't resist a good vampire love story. I just hope that the next movie will have a larger budget, so the cinematography will be a little better. I did love looking at the beautiful scenery. It made me miss home a little.

Well, now I'm on to other fun adventures. I am planning a little skit for our Relief Society and need to come up with the 12 days of Christmas relating to the Relief Society. My best thinking spot for this kind of thing is on the floor in the girl's bedroom. Unfortunately, right now it is occupied with a plethora of Barbies and Polly Pockets, so I guess I'll have to wait my turn.

Cheese!

Last week Ivy says to me: my name is Cheese.
ok, Cheese - lets go run some errands. We went to Walmart. I was talking to the gals I know so well. And Beth turns to Ivy and asks, so what's your name? Cheese. Oh - what kind of cheese?
White Cheese.
I have to mention that Ivy really loves cheese. She would eat it day and night if I would let her.
Speaking of my daughter Cheese, we got her playschool photos this week. What a cutie!

On a different note...my wonderful husband had a birthday this week. I have realized that Graham doesn't share my love of birthday parties (or just being in the spotlight for that matter). So this year I decided that Graham should have a birthday HE could enjoy. I did not give him a card, or a present. I did however, make him his favorite meal (shepherds pie) and instead of buying a fancy bottle of sparkling cider, I bought a 4 litre jug of chocolate milk. I think it made him happy. I know the chocolate milk did. The girls made him home-made birthday cards. Very understated. Very Graham.
I do get to go overboard next weekend for Alma's birthday. and Thanksgiving.
We did our family photo for the year. We decided (in other words - Graham decided) that we would try to get a good picture with our camera instead of going into a portrait studio. I think we did pretty good..

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Here is Alma and Mommy sharing a special moment

ok, and now the real one...

Not too bad for us amateurs!

I got a haircut the other day. I'm liking it a lot. Graham says he like the curly hair better, but I think it's fun to try something different once in a while. Her is me with no makeup and only three hours of sleep (I worked an overnight shift the night before)

Our great haul for Halloween

I never learned how to juggle.
That's why, when I start working a lot, other things fall behind, like blogging, cleaning the house, and feeding my family. oops. (that's a gummy worm in Ivy's mouth)
We had a fantastic Halloween party on the 30th. Everyone went as a superhero that they made up. It was meant to reflect your personality in some way. We had the Control Freak, Captain Vegetable, Alternate reality girl, and Captain Cartography (that was Graham). For some reason my friends though my name was rather fitting - Spazztastica. There were so many good costumes. We had so much fun, good food, good music. I just love it when a party pulls together so well.
Alma had a Halloween party at school on the 31st. She wanted to be a fairy princess, so I got a pretty pink dress up dress and a crown of flowers and little pink shoes and of course her wand - she must have looked adorable, but because the kids were not allowed to wear their costumes until after lunch, and she took it off before I picked her up from school, I never saw her in it. After school she told me she wanted to be a pink fish for Halloween. Ok - pink fish it is. So I put Ivy in a Fairy princess costume and Alma with a big pick fish on her head. It lasted for about 5 minutes until she said it was too hot. We went to Daddy's work, and to the Stettler mall, where the girls both got about three pieces of candy and then they crashed. They were done. "I don't want to go trick or treating - I want to stay home".

Our little pink fish - swimming on the carpetThe girls in front of the house

and now were done.

Fine, stay home, I really don't need the extra candy in the house. We got bad Chinese food from the grocery store and watched the new Tinkerbell movie. Maybe we can always do Halloween this way. less cavities - right?
I just got Alma's first school photos. She is so adorable - I was really impressed with how well they turned out. Ivy should be getting hers soon too.


Oh, yes, and we finally got a new camera. Our old one would have cost about $600 to fix, which is more than the new ones anyway, so we bit the bullet. I really love having a husband that figures out all the best deals so I don't have too. I would go to the nearest store, pick up the cheepest camera and call it good enough. not Graham - he is a spreadsheet guy. Sometimes it drives me a little crazy, but I like that he really researches to get the best deal.
Well, thats about all. until next time Nanu Nanu (for all those Mork and Mindy fans out there).