Archive | May 2014

Blink and the Week is Over!

April 22-25

Once we finished our day out with zoo fun and egg hunting it was right back into the school fray. England was our topic over multiple days thanks to a combination of Little Passports, Activity Village print outs (on right) and library books.101_7219

Of course we are hard at work reading Treasure Island. Though the twins have suggested at times that MAYBE with all the deaths and mean pirates that this classic is not really kid friendly. Oh the world they have yet to experience!101_7220

We are, of course, keeping up with our reading.101_7221

But on advice of the always amazing Brave Writer and other inspirational homeschooling blogs, we have started to take advantage of the sunny days. So in the afternoon we dropped everything to enjoy sunshine and fresh air.101_7223

101_7226To celebrate all that spring and sunshine the kids had their last Pizza Hut reading program pizza for the year! We are already registered for the following year and are eagerly awaiting the summer program (though that one is online only with website rewards instead of pizza). We accomplished a lot of reading and together time over some really good books this year!101_7227

Our next big countdown is a short one… Trinity turns SIX on the 26th with her birthday party on the 27th! So we kept ourselves busy for the rest of the week cleaning and thinking happy nice day thoughts. After all the 26th is a bridal shower and the bachelor party for Gavin’s godfather Cory and his fiance Karen. Of course all of the adults were invited to these events so there was some kid juggling as we tried to work out ways to have the girls at the morning event and the guys at the afternoon… but that is skipping over a whole bunch of school and family fun!! So back to our week…

Tuesday had us watching Wild Kratts…

Bison

Bison

Reading about pirates…101_7229

And the girls hard at work on Echo’s ladybug mask thanks to her Easter stash from Gammie.101_7230

101_7231Middle of the week has our soon to be 6 year old completing her adding and subtracting book! I decided that since I already had a copy of our beloved Canadian math series for grade one that it was time for her to hop right into it! She is so pleased that she is on the same book as Emanuel… Emanuel… not so much!101_7232

We did spend some lovely quiet time with our Dirty Jobs episodes…101_7233

More Treasure Island… really the portions that stand out to them in a chapter are varied and interesting! Actually, we continued the trend with ANOTHER chapter the next day… I think we are ready for individual book reports in the summer!! At least by the twins! Exciting!!101_7234

101_7236And the decent weather is holding!!! And with that, our week is over and one of our busier weekends begun! Wish us luck!101_7237

Easter Monday

April 21

Easter Monday… well the Monday after Easter was the perfect day for our family to head to the Como Zoo… it is a donations only entrance so way more affordable for our small budget than the state zoo. It may not have ALL the animals but there are more than enough to make for a fun and fulfilling day.101_7148

We started out with the seals and penguins where we picked up our second plastic mold creature – a seal (last time it was the gorilla). The kids want to collect all of the ones available at the zoo. One animal at a time.101_7149

101_7209101_7152101_7156We got some spectacular pictures of the polar bear.101_7165

101_7166101_7163101_7167We had a snack in front of the lions who were napping in the sun.

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And other cats as well

And other cats as well

There was the newly renovated gorilla enclosure to check out as well.101_7182

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Don't forget about the monkeys!

Don’t forget about the monkeys!

101_7191101_7192We had a quick stop off at the gift shop to look around and get a postcard to send to Cousin Jimmie back home. And then it was out the door and into the sunshine.101_7195

Time to head home for the OTHER big activity! Gammie sent the kids a box full of Easter Egg Hunt fun! Pre filled eggs and peeps for all!! I had Ken set it all up –  the pretty eggs in the front yard in pretty plain sight for the girls and the backyard full of  the others in harder to find places. The girls were so excited to have easy to find and the boys totally loved the challenge.101_7196

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Ready to hunt

Ready to hunt

101_7203After we ran and hunted and laughed it was time to take all the booty up to the sun room to hang out in the sunshine as we painstakingly opened each and every egg and pile up the treats… jelly beans and rockets (US Smarties). Each egg was carefully emptied, closed back up and put into the bag to be saved as I am told we MUST repeat this procedure next year!101_7207

Throw some more fun outside with a tiny bit of school and I think we made it an Easter Monday to remember!!!101_7211

Her Small-Town Sheriff… Love Inspired

Time for another random library grab. This one is a “Heartwarming Inspirational Romance” by Lissa Manley called Her Small-Town Sheriff. A Christian contemporary romance based in Moonlight Cove, this sweet romance centers around a divorced and sad Sheriff (Carson Winters) and his daughter Heidi who moved to escape a sad and difficult past. Enter the owner of the ice cream parlor I Scream for Ice Cream Phoebe who was widowed 2 weeks before she managed to marry.

With baggage on both sides and grief still fresh in heart and mind this novel is a story about redemption and the chance to love a second time even if you don’t think it is possible. I really appreciated the fact that everyone involved had to go through some strife and growth before a happily ever after could come about.

I love the tagline on the back of the book:

Moonlight Cove: A beachside town where love and faith blossom.

This book is another light afternoon read. I actually found I read it in a relatively short period of time. But, if you enjoy a good romance with a Christian theme this could be the book for you. Another accidental library find in my favour! Enjoy!{2DB7FBD5-8788-4863-A5BB-A17275D4C9FA}Img400