We actually managed to make all the things/plans we had made this weekend! Ted and Sean spent the weekend so Saturday morning Ken and I were able to take just the two girls out an use our time sensitive Michaels coupon (25% off entire purchase including sale items from9am-1pm). I picked up some scrapbook paper, ribbon to make more hair things and a Valentines themed craft for the kids. Since Trinity was a VERY good girl (and it was 1.50) she got to pick out a Hello Kitty colouring book.
A nap in the afternoon for everyone under the age of 5 and myself and we were refreshed for the evening. Ken took the boys out to shovel for a while. This whole weekend and today has been nice enough to have our snow start melting! So now we may be able to get some decent snowmen going… and ice patches and icky roads but still, we are not complaining about the warmer weather in this house!!
Sunday morning with no Sunday School scheduled we packed up all 5 kids, Karyn, Ted, Ken and myself and made the trip to the zoo I had promised the twins. We got there in time to make the majority of the Arctic Wolf drop in program. They take the wolves out for walks and do a question and answer sort of thing. There was one other family there with their little girl who did not stay long so we had the opportunity to really talk to the presenter AND see the wolves wander a bit as they have to stay a nice distance away from anyone but the trusted trainers.
While in the centre where a selection of animals are moved during the cold season we ran into the presenter again this time with a parrot in hand. The kids absolutely loved getting the chance to actually talk to her and hear the parrot make its noises.
BUT Karyn and my favourite was a red panda born in July of last year – Mr. Tibbs. Talk about ADORABLE!!
After the zoo Karyn and I took an hour or so and went to The Mall for dinner and some Sephora window shopping. It was so nice to get out without any of the kids and just sit, chat and eat with a good friend. Karyn had to leave after that as she wanted to get home before the weather froze up again (bad enough she got stuck on our road TWICE Saturday – once in the middle of the road trying to park and then again after parking where the guys had to push her out in the morning).
Last night I finally got a decent start on the Dr. Who piece Ken and I designed together. I have already finished my surprise gift that is just waiting to be posted.
The next design SHOULD be the wedding sampler for my stepsister, followed by another Dr. Who piece and then a Christmas stocking for Anna. I am sure there are other pieces I SHOULD move on to that have slipped my mind but those are the major ones. Oh – the zombie one I am doing… that is on the back-burner until I am able to finish the Dr. Who piece.
Today we did some Valentine Themed worksheets. You can find them on the UK site here. We are not doing a specific final project for Valentine’s Day but the boys have Valentines my mom picked up for them to send to whoever they want and we will probably buy some of those candy hearts with the words on them. This year we are more focused on Chinese New Year and the February birthdays. We found out last night that Ken’s parents are coming for the party! So I have some rearranging and tidying to do before they get here to make sure we have room for anyone who wants to stay the night of the party, or the night before. I am not sure if they plan on renting a car but if they do I have a few ideas for the Sunday after Sunday school, maybe a trip to the zoo for the frog program… or show them the conservatory and take some family photos…
The zoo really made the weekend. The kids had a blast, Ted and Ken had a mini snow fight (did I mention the zoo was about EMPTY??) and I got in some good pictures and video. Today we decided to move our conservatory to Wednesday as Mondays tend to be heavy work days for Ken and Tuesday Echo and Trinity are SUPPOSED to head to their rescheduled doctor’s appointment.
I think I have figured out some of my past week or so’s funk. I have missed being around friends. We see the guys lots but it just isn’t the same as hanging with Karyn, going out for a snack… not being in the house! So I am trying to figure out some future dates to look forward to, maybe take advantage of Ted and Sean being here so often and steal Ken away with the minimum of children to have some together time? I know that having a new pattern to work on did wonders for feeling like I am accomplishing something.
Speaking of accomplishments, the twins and I finished their Arctic Wolf lapbook. We have some interestingly coloured wolves, some interesting information AND pictures of the two wolves we visited on Sunday. Nothing too extreme but it was a fun little project to work out. Our plan for the next mini project is to move onto FROGS. After all all 5 kids are very enamoured with our frog Frogger (as named by Trinity). But until I can gather some things for that the twins are going to get started on printing the names on their Valentines Day cards and continue doing things for Chinese New Year. We got our Wolf info from a few sources: the wordsearch, the dot to dot, the Enchanted Learning results, our howling wolf picture, and the Wolf lapbook I took bits from.
Now to get planning some more activities for the kids to do.