Well yesterday we had the adventure of a new and messy craft – potato stamping. First step – strip all 4 children down to their skivvies… second – cut potatoes… third – dole out the paints… fourth – STAND BACK! There was not so much patterns resulting but a colourful creation by each child all the same. Trinity turned hers more into a potato stamp smear and then proceeded to paint herself. So of course, after stamping – the inevitable bath.

Gavin getting started

Paintfor everyone! (Zander far right)

Trinity "Stamping"

Shapes

I forgot to mention last entry, but I was gifted by two other homeschooling moms, they no longer needed maternity clothes! What a blessing! Though some pieces are definitely too big, I have a nice selection to keep and my mom has 6 other co-workers who are pregnant and could possibly be in need of clothing themselves.

Oh, a definite MUST see I think is an independent lens movie… Young@Heart. This follows the preparations of an all senior singing group for a performance. The concept of the group is amazing, the people lovely. You get to love them all so quickly. Of course being an emotional pregnant woman I did shed a tear or two a couple places, but I certainly have made new goals for myself – I want to grow old gracefully AND actively! I want to live each day, even now, like it matters. Be sure to check out their official webpage as well. Here is a group I would go the extra mile to see in a heartbeat! I will certainly never think of the song “Fix You” by Coldplay the same way again!

The past two days have been slightly frustrating. I am tired but unable sleep at night for hours… and then there is the lack of being able to eat enough to not feel too light headed… I am still debating the merits of the diclectin. I would love to find something I can consistently eat and fill up on, though melon and ice water are helping.

The boys are still hard at work learning the numbers 11-20. Gavin seems to be catching on quicker than Zander but everyone is enjoying the printed out sheets. Today was fish.

Two fish and an elephant (Gavin middle)

Oh and don’t forget the biggest treat for today — SLEDDING! And new friends! We were invited by another homeschooling family to come out to a hill they enjoy. The mom and the youngest (Trinity’s age) were able to make it out – they also have a 6yr old girl! Trinity and I stayed home as I had had another near sleepless night as had Trinity so it was just Ken and the boys but they had a blast. And it is looking like we will have another play date sometime soon!

Gavin

Zander

So it has been quite the few days. I am more emotional than ever but at the same time that makes the happy moments all that much more… exquisite. Although with this continual nausea… well I am able to better face the idea that this is the LAST pregnancy. So hidden bonus right?

Cutie Patootie!

So after a weekend of not really doing much I noticed that I have had a rather conspicuous break in my blogging. Well that can only be explained away by a copious amount of sleep. Sleeping in on the mornings and then naps in the afternoon which have managed to make today a much more awake and alert day for me! Don’t get me wrong, still horribly nauseous BUT happily awake.

Since Saturday and in turn Sunday were spent mainly with my eyes shut I do not have much to report by way of interesting family activities. I HAVE made some inroads in my belated Christmas gift for my dad and his wife to celebrate their redone kitchen. My lack of appetite has made my hands a little shaky so sewing has not been my top priority. However I should have my pattern for my cousin’s commission tonight which will definitely put a burst of interest back into it!

In progress...

This weekend we introduced Trinity to Play-Doh… with some success though she did try twice to taste it. As much fun as it is seems to equal the sheer amount of MESS that results after.

PLAY DOH!

Of course with the mild weather there was also a surplus of time spent outside in the snow. Even the littlest Reinsch-Johnson got in on the fun – though as you notice the moment daddy turned around to grab the camera she tore off her hat. Thank goodness the weather was nice enough that she could go without. For some reason she has taken hats (and to some extent barrettes) into great dislike.

Gavin

Emanuel

Instead of shovels note that Ken gave them my kitchen cutlery!

And the old stand by as always – Perler beads. Everyone has had a go at the “clippers” the twins got for Christmas. Emanuel tries his best but the beads seem to scoot away on him with them!

"Clippers"

Schooling has moved to focus mainly on time and the numbers 10-20. I have to admit the boys are less than enthused about counting further but are plowing on. I intend to head over to Dollarama tomorrow to purchase some Canadian play money I saw there and then hunt down a play cash register so we can start playing games to deal with making change. I am going through the book “What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know.” So far we seem pretty on track I just need to progress a little further on the concepts.

Now if I could just figure out a way to instantly gain about 4 hours more worth of energy a day I would be one happy girl!

Working on Learning! (Zander left)

And with this piece the pea-pod group is done! Now I just need to get them out to the people I made them up for oh and get Ken to post the patterns on the site. There is a minor short list waiting to get up there at this point! So keep an eye peeled!

3 Little Pea-Pod Babies

I got my dr’s confirmation of pregnancy yesterday and with it a 45 min wait in the waiting room with a bored husband and 4 nap deprived kids. Thank goodness they put the toys back in the waiting room! All that to pee in a cup and then wait ANOTHER 5-10 min in the room to see the dr to be told – yup you are pregnant, take your vitamins and come in for a prenatal in February. February 1st in fact… will also have to do blood tests as well. They got me my early ultra sound date – not overly early though – February 17th! So it is a while yet before we either confirm my belief – one baby or Ken’s – twins.

Speaking of Baby#5… the short list of approved food for the past day or so:

goldfish cheddar flavoured crackers

small glass of chocolate milk

ice water (ICE necessary)

mini marshmallows

honeydew and cantaloup

eclectic!

Well the boys have been hard at work learning about clocks and time. I have found a variety of resources on EnchantedLearning and off of Currclick but it is slow going. I also want to start with our address. I am not sure how hard I will work on that this month as our lease here is up for renewal or not in April and Ken has recently emailed the owner to see what their tentative plans are. We figure to find a house to accommodate 7 people with a decently affordable rent, we need to have more than a month. Add to that my cousin’s wedding on May 1st that we HAVE TO be at and, well planning will have to be careful. So if we determine that we ARE moving I will focus on province and country and do the actual address at a later date.

I am  thinking of having a crafting day tomorrow… send the boys out to make snowmen, and then make some out of Styrofoam balls to put on display. Painting has been brought up as an option and of course the ever present – PLAY-DOH. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things, partially due to my ever present nausea and partially due to the boys wanting to spend a large majority of their time creating things in Lego. The favourite right now – pumpkins with Lego seeds.

So not much in the way of planning but I spent a large chunk of today grounded in the bedroom. Ken decided I need to rest and since he can program while the kids craft and do worksheets it worked! Still worn out though…