Fiona is 7! {Today!}

 {Oh but this post is also about her turning 6.}

I'm feeling super on top of it today.

I am posting about this amazing girl's birthday in a timely fashion.

{There is that little matter of needing to share last year as well though.}

This year there was no doubt that Fiona wanted a fairy birthday.

We've done the fairy theme before but she has a new-found love for fairies.

She recently built a fairy house you see, and has been getting occasional visits from her fairy pal named Fliona who leaves messages and a trail of fairy dust behind.

So of course her cake needed to be a fairy house.

This baby needed six layers to get the desired shape.

There was no shortage of cake for this party.

 Last time we did the fairy theme it was all about floral and vines.

We even made floral crowns.

This time we found other ways to make the room whimsical mostly involving twigs, yarn and beads.

Below is actually Fiona's hundred day project for school and served as our inspiration.

This hanging will stick around for a while.

For the "craft" the kids made wands/fairy sticks but many ended up making fishing rods.

I use the word craft loosely since I don't really direct them, just put out supplies and let them at it.

Ok now for catch up time.

Last year Fiona wanted a woodland theme so we dreamed up a sweet little cake.

This was take one.

We ended up cancelling Fiona's party since Daddy was stuck out of town in the hospital.

He ended up coming home 2 weeks later and missing the actual day.

In an attempt to keep it special we still had a celebration with family and close friends, all the while knowing we would reschedule once Jeff made it home.

So here's the real deal.

We turned this into a birthday/thank you to all who helped me stay sane while Jeff was gone.

The weather was fantastic {not like this year's snowstorm} so a BBQ felt just right.

 Happy birthday twice over my sweet babe.

Life Update

I have so much to say about these two amazing creatures.

Of course when I finally have a minute to write, much of it has left my head.

Worth a try though so here we go.

 One thing I will never forget is this conversation.

Me: {Reading an article about a woman who is dying of cancer and has two young children with tears streaming down my face.}

Fiona: "You ok Mommy?"

Me: "You know Mommy loves you guys so much right?"

Fiona: "We know Mommy."

Me: " And you know that Mommy would do anything for you and your brother right?"

Fiona:"Yep."

Me: "If there was anything I could do that would make your lives better I would do it, ok?"

Fiona: {Pause} "You're doing it Mommy."

 As we prepare ourselves Fiona for kindergarten I'm noticing some pretty big bravery.

The babe that I wasn't sure would be ready I now have no doubts about.

Cedric on the other hand is a huge personality contained in a tiny {yes still} body.

He has an obsession with underwear and has been known to change into a pair of his playdate host's undies from time to time.

He loves singing along to Annie.

He calls all cranes "Cranky" from Thomas the Train.

As in "Whoa Mommy look at that big Cranky!"

He will often approach me and say "Twoo {true} wuv's {love's} kiss" and plant a big smooch.

Him and Bunbuns are still semi-attached and can usually be found nose to nose.

He has a wicked sweet tooth.

He has also had two black teeth from his many falls.  

Did you know teeth can fade back to white? You do now.

His nicknames are Ced, Cedced, Mr. Ced, Ceds and Super Dave.

The latter is probably the most fitting.

The lake has given us some great moments as always.

Though we wish there could be more of them.

It seems wrong that the summer is half gone.

 We still have the cabin listed as we're hoping to become lake neighbours with our besties.

This summer we watched them welcome another member to their family {more on that later, no promises on a timeline}.

Our desire to share those lake memories became even more apparent.

Our Alberta prairie day trips to see them will have to do the trick for now.

And they are.

"Fiona's Five" a Fairy Fête

It's happened.

I have a five year old.

And she's fabulous.

But you already knew that.

Fiona decided on a fairy theme after a heart to heart discussion about too much of a good thing.

We still love you Frozen but I just can't anymore.

I may have added a little "woodland" to the fairy mostly so I could grab 90% of the decorations on a cabin nature walk.

Some ripped fabric added some whimsy to this branch.

This ended up being one of my favourite decorations and has gained a permanent spot in Fiona's room.

 These pre-bud willows will also take up permanent residence in our home.

{Sans pink flowers.}

 Fiona couldn't even handle this cake garland.

As I was making it she showered me with positive reinforcement.

We did flower crowns and woodland elf hats.

I found this foam covered gardening wire at Dollarama and wrapped it around itself to create places to stick flowers.

The flowers and ribbon were also all Dollarama.

After the girls were done decorating I went over the ends with flower tape to prevent my-flower-crown-is-falling-apart meltdowns and secure the sharp wire bits.

They all looked precious and had fun making them but I may have enjoyed it even more.

This craft will have to make a comeback.

 Flower garlands...

 And mossy wood hanging from the light fixture.

Obviously.

 Our picture frames were filled with pink and purple fairies.

I also changed up the chalkboard but neglected to photograph that with the real camera.

I refer you to Instagram if you just can't handle not seeing it.

 Make a wish baby.

 There are the little hats I mentioned before.

They took approximately 1 minute each to sew on the machine with little pre-cut felt pieces.

 As always we had so much fun decorating and preparing but our fabulous friends make the magic.

Thanks to all who celebrated with us.

Fiona the Fabricator

Let's call it story-telling.

Sounds much nicer than what I was originally calling this phase.

Which was more along the lines of blazing trousers.

Fine line there, right?

I have heard other moms talk of how their littles lie so was expecting a few falsehoods.

Nothing really prepared me for what we are now experiencing though.

I mean, these are no ordinary lies.

She's not just "no I didn't write on Cedric with Sharpie."

Or all "I didn't mean to violently thrust my leg into Cedric's path as he ran by."

Oh, I've heard those too but what I wasn't expecting were the convoluted tales this girl can weave.

For example:

Me: Feefs, how was gymnastics.

Fiona: Good.

Me: What did you do?

Fiona: Well...<pause>...we went to the roof {it was December}, to the roof trampoline, then it opened and we went under it and there was a pool so we went swimming!

Me: Uhhhhhh...

Fiona: Really Mommy, really, I'm not even lying.

Me: That's nice babe but we didn't bring your bathing suit.

Fiona: Oh...yah...they have some here so I got one and went swimming, really Mommy, really.

You get the idea.

But wait, that's only the beginning.

I don't mind an active imagination aimed at me but it's expanded beyond our household.

As I picked Fiona up from a playdate I was asked if I had a friend who was incarcerated.

Or had we maybe had a break in at our house?

A week ago I arrived to a birthday party that Fiona had been at for a matter of 5 minutes.

I said hello to the birthday girl's Nana who commented how nice it was that Fiona was learning volleyball.

Me: <sigh> She isn't.

Apparently she was boasting how she was learning "bolleyball" from someone who knows everything about "bolleyball".

But friends aren't the only culprits you know.

I was asked by one of her teachers if she has an older sister.

She had been raving about "Leasha" all day.

The cherry on top however was how my Mom was greeted at the school last week after returning from a 2 week vacation.

It was something along the lines of "Oh, thank goodness! Fiona said you had passed away! I'm so glad to see you!".

So, needless to say, we've opened up a conversation about what type of story is appropriate.

Having said that I'm not pushing it and hoping that this too shall pass.

It always does right?

RIGHT? 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

...Christmas!

I have a weekend trip to Toronto to share but that task seems a little daunting for a Sunday night.

Instead I am posting some pictures of the weekend.

We started it off right with a Friday night swim with our youngest friend Olivia.

Saturday began with Fiona's ballet dress rehearsal.

Her third dance recital is taking place next week and they are cute cute cute.

 In the afternoon we took in the Festival of Frozen Trees with our besties.

{There may have been a few Elsa, Anna and Olafs.}

 The new story corner was a welcome addition.

 And of course cookie decorating is a must.

 Cedric needed a little decorating help but had no problem completing the eating portion solo.

 We took in what we could of the decorations while running between children events.

 This was our first year sending Fiona in to the "secret kids only shopping".

In the whirlwind of figuring out how much money she needed and accidentally letting Cedric slip in behind her we failed to explain that this was her chance to buy Christmas gifts for others.

That's ok I thought, there are elf helpers in there, they'll explain it to her.

When she came out with that cheeky smile on her face, however, I just knew she had found some treasures for her own collection.

I know her so well.

In that moment I felt a mixture of emotions.

She was so happy and excited so I wanted to share that with her.

At the same time I felt like I had failed her.

I hadn't equipped her properly, not only for that shopping spree but for life.

Had I created a materialistic, selfish child?

Hadn't we discussed at length what the true spirit of Christmas was?

I expressed this to Jeff on our way to dinner.  He didn't disagree but kept fairly quiet.

After a lovely dinner my sweet child, who had behaved so well in the restaurant, said out of the blue "Mommy, I just love you."

I wanted to cry that I had doubted for even a split second the character of this wonderful little person.

I had forgotten that she is 4. 

{Four and a HALF she would say.}

I leaned to Jeff and said that I thought I had been too harsh in my initial reaction.

He said "no, not at all" of course {smart guy} but chuckled a little and I knew that he knew that I knew he had known that all along {smart guy}.

 This is one of the best shots I could get of Charlie all night.

The kid just does not stay still!

On Sunday we headed to our favourite tree lot at the U of A to visit those trusty Forest Society students.

We browsed the trees and I thought of picking a pine with those nice long needles or a sparse Charlie-Brown-looking douglas fir but we just kept coming back to our tried and true Balsam.

And the students approved, saying that it gives off the best smell and lasts the longest.

They're the experts you know.

Cedric was a big help carrying the tree.

 Fiona helped by cheesing up the lot.

 But the real smiles came when the candy canes were busted out.

I'm telling you, we just love those forestry students.

 They sawed the bottom and even offered to load it on the car.

 We declined since we were all prepared-like with bungee cords this year.

Fancy, I know.

  I forgot to get the shot of the tree loaded up at the lot which gave me the perfect excuse to get our lights in the background.

Christmas is officially in full swing over here.

Elsa Costume {Oh Yes We Did}

I tried, I really did.

"Fiona" I said. 

"There will be so many Elsas this year" I said. 

"You don't want to be the same as everyone" I said.

I was wrong. 

She does in fact want, more than anything, to be Elsa.

And who am I to argue with this strong willed four and a half year old?

So I didn't.

 Instead I immediately started planning my very own inexpensive and relatively easy Elsa.

 Luckily I had 1.7m of blue stretch satin in a grab bag of craft supplies from my MIL so $0 for that.

I also had an old pair of white(ish, they were worn by a toddler after all) tights, $0 for those.

I bought:

  1 meter of snowflake organza = $6.

3 meters of elastic sequins = $9. 

Thread =$1

18cm closed-end zipper for $1.

{Gotta love that Fabricland membership.}

I started by making a little pattern for myself out of some spare fabric but this is not necessary.

Kid bodies are so easy to sew for since they are mostly curve-less.

For the bodice I measured Fiona's chest around {CA} and the distance from her underarm line to her high waist {UW}.

The bodice front was a rectangle w=CA x 0.5 {+3cm for seam allowance} h= UW {+3cm for seam allowance} with a little sweetheart shape freehanded in the top.

The bodice backs {you need 2 so just fold the fabric in half for this piece before cutting} were also rectangles w=CA x 0.25 (+3cm for seam allowance} h= UW {+3cm for seam allowance}.

 For the skirt I measured Fiona's high waist around {WA} and the distance from her high waist to the floor {WF}.

I cut one large piece w= WA x 2 {+3cm for seam allowance} h= WF {+3cm for seam allowance and hem}.

Then I marked a spot the distance of HW x 0.25 from each end of one side of the width and placed a straight line from the corner on the other end to this point. 

{Hopefully the pic makes that sentence a lot less confusing.}

The wider end will be the bottom hem and the more narrow end the waist.

{And yes that's a block in the last shot and I'm not even going back to edit it out.}

 Next I sewed each of the bodice backs to the front {right sides together}.

 Then I pinned the bodice to the waist at each end {yes they are different lengths}.

 To make these pieces fit I folded the whole thing in half and pinned as far as I could to the middle...

 ...then flattened it and made a pleat in the middle of the skirt.

 This pleat gives the skirt a bit of walking room in the front, preschoolers in pencil skirts could get ugly.

 The next step was a very lazy zipper installation.

I folded and ironed back 1.5cm on each side of the dress's back seam then sewed the zipper on one side with the top of the zipper about 1.5cm from top of the bodice.

I usually just tack the top of the zipper down so I don't have to sew it in when finishing the top.

 Next I pinned the other side of the zipper and sewed it {opening the zipper to sew the second side makes your life much easier}.

After getting the zipper in I sewed the back of the skirt together right up to the zipper bottom.

This is also when I finished the bottom hem {folded up twice 3/4cm each time}.

Then I folded the top of the bodice in twice {about 3/4cm each time as well}, ironed and pinned but did not sew yet.

 For the sleeves I cut the end of the feet off of the tights and cut right down the middle seam.

I attached each end of what was the tights' waistband at about the point where spaghetti straps would go then played with some pleating to fit the rest in.

 A cooperative kid helps to get the placement just right.

I mean look at this champ, all those pins and still smiling.

{Hopefully her smile has distracted you enough to not notice the mess in the background.}

 Now don't go sewing that seam just yet, first attach each salvage end of that meter of snowflake organza just outside the sleeve {I just did this one pin at a time so I didn't lose my sleeve pleating}.

Now you can finally sew all the way around that bodice top and finish the bodice, sleeves and part of the cape in one seam.

 You will have a big hoop of the cape material at the back which I simply pleated a couple of times and attached a small amount of elastic sequins to hold it together.

You obviously can't sew it tight since you need to be able to undo the zipper to get Elsa into her dress.

You can see how our back turned out in the very last picture.

I may still use a couple hook-and-eyes to bring to cape to the top of the bodice but I actually like the way it looks and the pleats give it a little billowy effect.

Finally the cape needs to be cut at floor length.

No matter how great it looked long, trains on preschoolers could also get ugly.

 Instead of sewing the bottom I simply saturated the cut edge with fray stop.

Love that stuff.

 I decided to sew on my own sequins since I couldn't find sequin material saturated enough for the bodice.

All I did was cut the elastic sequins in strips the length of the bodice front and sewed them on right next to each other with one line of stitches on the machine each.

I wanted to add some detail to the sleeves so used some silver fabric paint and a thin paint brush to add the lines Elsa has on her sleeves.

To paint these on I stuffed the top of the sleeves with potholders and propped them on top of some candles.

I also ended up gluing some stray sequins to the bottom of the skirt on Fiona's request.

 I would say the whole thing took me 2-3 hours and cost $17 {it would have been about $25 if I'd had to buy the stretch satin as well}.

 Fiona is thrilled and wears it any chance she gets.

Now I'm just praying that my construction holds up for another week plus of excessive wear.