Princesses, Parties and Pink!

Okay so the fundamental elements of being a big girl aren't exactly in place yet (big girl bed, potty trained etc) but Elizabeth is turning into a big little girl! She attended her very first big girl birthday party - meaning parents drop off their kids and take off! This whole idea was a bit foreign to me since we've only ever been to parented birthday parties, so when my friend Laura told me earlier that "you don't have to stay, non of the other moms are staying", I was kind of excited! Her daughter Jadyn was turning 4 and the other kids were at least that age, so Elizabeth being just shy of 3 was the youngest. It was a princess tea party theme so I was excited for Elizabeth to get to play princess games with a bunch of other older girls to whom I'm sure she looked up to, but I was also excited to have 2.5 hours to get some Calgary errands done with just Mason and I. Here is a picture of the birthday gang. Laura is due at the end of this month with her third girl - what the??? Where does she find the energy?! After I left Elizabeth in her princess glory, I went to my favorite children's consignment store in Calgary. I was able to find Mason a winter jacket for $12.00. I wasn't too picky, but I was hoping for a red one, and I found it! I also found Elizabeth a horse halloween costume which works well since she is obsessed with horses and since Mason can wear it down the line. Score! Morg gave me a call when he wasn't busy from his car while he was working and we were able to meet for a quick lunch. It's always fun following his police car on the road. Today I went through an "almost solid red" right behind him and I'm sure someone was thinking "is she stupid?". This is Morg eating lunch. While we ate together, a call came in about a husband who threw food on the floor during an argument with his wife. I had to laugh when the dispatcher said it was a last priority call. Obviously... Mason enjoying his bread.

When I picked Elizabeth up from the party she was in this state within 2 minutes. A sure sign of having had fun.

During my errand running in Calgary, I stopped by a woman's house who was selling all the Barbie furniture she had collected over the years that her daughter was no longer interested in (I saw the add on kijiji). She had 3 Rubbermaids to dig through, and I was able to narrow it down to this stuff (plus some not pictured) for $27.00! Not bad since I just saw a Barbie sold at walmart that came with one bathtub for $24.99. I was so excited since they don't really sell furniture like they used to, and the furniture they do sell is really expensive. I am planning to make Barbie house out of grocery store produce boxes and use carpet and lyno scraps for flooring and if I get really crafty I'll use some old wainscotting scraps for detailing and maybe make curtains and things. She seems so much more like a big girl to me as I watch her act out her imaginary Barbie scenes. It reminds me so much of my childhood!

My favorite are the bright pink lawn chairs. I think I used to have the same ones....?

I got this fold up Barbie house and the Barbie tour bus that plays Britany Spears also. All in cluded in the price! So fun!

This is Mason grinning in his high chair today. His plate is cleaned, no surprise.