So last night I got up to pee… what a start to a story, but no worries – general audience worthy. Anyway, I was getting up to pee and started to meander through the maze we call a bedroom when BAM I ran smack into the change table which, for some odd reason, is in the middle of the floor. OUCH shin in pain but luckily baby still blissfully unaware of the fact that her mommy is now hobbling to the washroom thinking words best left unsaid. In the minute or less it takes to get to the washroom and try and see the damage already there was a noticeable lump… a goose-egg on my shin – definitely a new one and an added incentive to GET OUR ROOM DONE! Seriously I need a flashlight and a ball of yarn to find my way back.

So to start our school day I gave each of the kids a piece of white paper and told them to draw something special for someone. Zander made a page for his Godmother (Darcy).

Zander's finished piece

…and Gavin made a page for his Goddaddy (Cory). These are added to the stacks they have waiting for the postal strike/lock out to end. I quiver in fear at the size of these packages as time goes on. The other option is to hold them until Christmas and do a parcel. It HAS been a while since anything has been sent down south.

Slurpees are involved in this one!

We managed to build our Dora themed Canada map AND start reading our Canadian ebook (I will share that info tomorrow). The Dora map is actually a favourite and a quick assembly.

Completed map

We pointed out ABOUT where we live now.

Or somewhere nearby

And then coloured flag themed bookmarks… the little ones did 2 each and the twins 3 – one for their godparent of choice and the other 2 for our lapbook project. I have the nasty suspicion that there is a really good Canadian story lurking in one of the boxes I have yet to open or find.

Bookmarks

We finished up our day with a chapter in our book. We learned about CAMP… briefly. The kids each drew their interpretation of the camp Louis the swan is at with his friend Sam Beaver.

Camp Kookooskoos

I took the big leap into insanity and CANCELLED NAPS! Instead we took advantage of temporarily sunny skies and blew up the little princess pool I got on clearance at the end of last season and dressed the kids in their swimsuits and let them go at it. We desperately need either our sprinkler (at old house until Wednesday) or to pick up a new, larger pool. I am hoping to have the spare cash for that luxury by the end of the month.

In her new bathing suit (another of last year's clearance finds)

"In" the pool

So lots accomplished, and hopefully a GOOD start to a productive week. I even found my bag of ribbons that go with the girls’ dresses for the wedding in August. Now I just need to ground myself long enough to get the bows started. I am torn, do I work on my basement or the bows… sadly I think the basement takes priority. I am dying to get my room done BUT it is going to take time around the naps of Miss Echo.

Echo boo

And the poster I forgot to share yesterday

So it is that time again… Father’s Day. With the postal strike we were rather limited by what we could do for Ken but we managed… first off – he slept in (actually so did the twins and Echo!! nice!!) and was woken up to a pancake breakfast with a side of bananas and strawberries (frozen fruit for the win from last year).

Breakfast in the chaos

Then the kids gave him a card coloured by Trinity. And a belt buckle their Great Uncle Wayne found for them. He was suitably impressed.

Gift and card

The rest of the day was computer time, no diaper and no poopy potty trainers! All in all a rather relaxing day for our busy Daddy. Still overcast, sometimes rainy so no picnic for today BUT we had company! First Grandma and Grandpa Mike came by for a visit. They brought little critters – Canadian critters for each of the kids which were of a great source of excitement.

Echo's was the only one without a keychain type piece

Grandma stuck around for most of the afternoon to work on a puzzle with the twins which was great fun for them. They had not seen their Canadian grandparents in 2 weeks as they were on their holiday to Ontario.

Puzzles with the grandparents... which means the homeschool area table is now OFF LIMITS until the boys get tired of their puzzle... or finish it!

During that time Chris and Chris stopped by on their way home from Comic-Con bearing gifts!! Something rather spectacular for Trinity – a poster with ALL the signatures from the actors on the series The Guild. Trinity fell in love with their first music video – Do You Want To Date My Avatar when she was a tiny thing. Even now she enjoys the video. They personalized it for her and everything!

For Ken for Father’s Day – a gift from one of his favourite webcomics – Looking For Group. The statue is of one of the main characters – Richard, a favourite of both Ken AND (she) Chris.

With his bunny...

AND a fireball

And for myself, a birthday/anniversary gift – Volume one and Volume two of one of my favourite webcomics – Girls With Slingshots. Personalize inscription WITH drawings! I so wish I could have gone there and met her myself!

Volumes one and two!

Signed! Seriously I am fangirling here...

And to top it off a bag from ANOTHER of the webcomics I follow!! Least I Could Do! These are images from the Sunday special comics that are put out every week… sort of a Dennis the Menace theme of the main character when he was young.

Another of the comics I read RELIGIOUSLY

Very wonderful and sweet gifts. And a visit as well, definitely a good day. The kids are still rather wound up what with us being home as much as we are. I am hoping to get us all out at least once this week upcoming. Karyn came by in the evening to show us HER stash from the Comic-con including images drawn by artist of Tiny Sheep! You should be able to see them on the Fat Sheep blog by tonight or tomorrow. I am completely sold on going next year… with Ken and the girls in tow. Trinity getting herself drawn would be sooo much fun!

We have a new addition to the Fat Sheep family tree – did you know Petite Sheepette has an identical twin? Ok well not QUITE identical (she is resplendent with a blue collar) I have been told her name is Bitsy Sheep. The kids are VERY impressed by their similarities… We so need a Sheep family portrait!!!

Twins just seem to... fit in in this house

Now I need to get to work and dig out ALL my ribbon supplied, there is a specific plastic bag with the ribbons from the girls’ dresses so I can make them each a headband (Echo) or barrette (Trinity) to match their dresses for Chris and Chris’ wedding. I am also in charge of making bows for the wine glass centrepieces for the tables (once they get me the ribbons). I do love a pretty bow. Back to musical boxes!

Ken and his girls... now go check out those webcomics... although they ALL have mature content!!!

One more week and yours truly is 32! I am actually excited about getting another year older. For some reason 30’s feels like a great place to be right now. I am not sure how much we have planned or can afford to plan but I have a friend coming over Friday and hopefully the basement will be organized. The kids have decided they want to make me something… which will be VERY interesting. I have found a box of random craft supplies that I am letting them dig through and go at it.

Craft time with the table where we want it

We set up Echo’s high chair finally yesterday. Actually, it is one of two that we originally bought for the twins! The other is at my mom’s house for use there. She is the 5th child to use the chair and it still is basically as good as new! She is such a tiny thing in it, but so happy to have her tray and be up so high and able to see what everyone is doing. With how accomplished she is now with crawling forward any place you can put her where she will be HAPPY and CONTAINED for a period of time, however brief is a God send.

Up high in her high chair

We are coming to the end of the stuff upstairs… Trinity’s room is tricky – she just has SO MUCH STUFF! I found the box of IKEA brand tea dishes and put those away in the closet with her kitchen set which meant a major rearrange. As it is her bed is in pieces since we pilfered pieces for Echo’s crib. So there is ANOTHER baggy with some screws etc. that we need to hunt down for her bed. Of course it meant it was TEA PARTY TIME today!

Tea Party!

I have found SOME of the containers of maternity clothes I have used over the pregnancies… the goal is to find ALL of it and then sort to size and then… Kijiji. I figure it is worth a try though some of my pieces are way too old to be included, I do have some really nice items… a pretty dress shirt I wore maybe 2 times for choir occasions, and a comfortable sweater I got from Old Navy…

One of the bonuses of moving – you find items  you forgot about or lost. Tonight we are enjoying an item I had packed early on so as not to lose it – Grenada Hot Chocolate courtesy of Esther. It is quite the process. You drop one of the balls into water and bring it to a boil, boil for 5 min, strain and add the milk and sugar (AFTER I measured out the milk for our pudding AND for our special drink TOMORROW night… Monday we need to buy more for sure!). We even had some mini marshmallows that are on their way to hard but perfect for hot chocolate.

Yay!

Total yum

It is Father’s Day tomorrow and the plan is a simple one – Ken sleeps in, gets pancakes, plays with the kids, relaxes and of course plays computer games in the evening. No beer, but nothing is perfect. I think he is looking forward to it!

Daddy and baby

I am so excited, today I unearthed and shelved the bulk of my Manga collection! It is fun to get out the things I love again. Makes it home.

Books!!!

So hard to believe we have been here 2 weeks, but at the same time it feels like home and like we could happily be here for some time. I am really hopeful that this week we will get out and see something special in our new city!

7 of 9 From Star Trek Voyager... today's best (according to Ken and myself) of the images shared by Chris and Chris from Comic-Con. I am totally committed to going next year... with a SET budget!