I did not think to mention this in the birthday party post but this party was a wrapping paper free party! The gifts came in gift bags, cloth bags and from Victoria, a lovely piece of purple fabric but no wrapping paper! The tissue paper and bags are going to come in handy, not only with the giving of other gifts but scrapbooking and craft making! First time ever for this family that a major gift giving occasion has NOT resulted in garbage bags of paper material garbage!
All reusable packaging!
Our Monday was a lot calmer in comparison to the previous day but the kids certainly were NOT calm and collected. Of course with the added knowledge that Nana and Baba are leaving the next day their behaviour was accordingly less under control. Poor Trinity had gotten bitten on the face multiple times over the weekend by mosquitoes so we had some medicating to do as well as a trip to a pharmacy for cream and witch hazel. Thankfully the allergy medication takes down the swelling quite quickly.
Poor buggy gir
Nana and Baba took the 4 big kids out for a lengthy grocery store run. Rainy days always put a crimp in the run the kids ragged scheme. BUT it allowed me a nice long bath, Echo a lengthy nap and Ken quiet time to work.
They came back with a whole variety of fruit for fruit salad, including something new… Lychee fruit. So the twins spent some time examining it, peeling it, tasting it with Nana. Then I looked it up on Wikipediaand we read some of that. Of course it had to be planted in our backyard… just to try and then draw and write about it for our Summer Adventure file.
Checking out the fruit
For the file
I made up a stacked bow (I know I know ANOTHER one) for our niece Gabriella using some of the pretty purple ribbon I got on sale (the one with the peace signs).
A gift bow
Since it was mucky out after rain there was time for the kids to drive us bonkers with balloons and playing with Echo’s new toys. We did try to get a good Nana, Baba and family picture. What do you think?
Just the girls
With all 5 grandkids
Oh and in the mail today – Echo’s new leggings bought off of eBay from Hong Kong… too big right now but I wanted them for the winter and they were a great price!
New leggings
It has been a rather GOOD day for me all round actually with the sale of 3 of my Kijiji ads! Which means tonight and tomorrow I am committed to posting at least 4 or more to replace them. I am coming to the end of my books that are slated for selling and have to move onto the baby clothes. Ken has gotten a promise out of me to sell ALL of the boys’ clothing and my maternity wear. I just have to figure out what is a fair price.
We have really hit kid busy time overload… too much excitement, too much out of the regular things going on. Poor Emanuel has been a mess and Trinity equally so with her added bug bites. Even Zander and Gavin have had their share of time outs and stern talking to. BUT there have been lovely moments with Nana and Baba all the same. I think we are all going to be sad to see them go home tomorrow. Their flight is around noon so they have to leave rather early in the morning tomorrow.
The rest of our week will probably be spent at home. I have a bunch of reorganizing to do, Nana and Baba bought us a new microwave and I lost a portion of my counter space in the kitchen that has to be dealt with. We REALLY need a microwave stand… And then there is all the bags and such that were just chucked into the pantry due to time restraint. OH and all of Echo’s new things! But that is the fun cleaning! In all actuality, most of this week will be spent trying NOT to think about NEXT week. After all, Monday IS Echo’s genetic test and I am not sure if I mentioned this or not but the specialist paediatrician also wants to schedule a kidney ultra sound to rule anything connected to that out. That is basically what everything is now – ruling stuff out… no fun. We are basically sitting here doing everything to prove nothing is wrong. At least putting it that way feels better than ruling out or see what IS wrong. All in the mind isn’t it?
We ended our evening with a video call on MSN with Quinn and Bree and a cameo from Scott… so Echo got to see two of her godparents and Trinity her birthday buddy. What a great way to end the day!
And now it is time for the last hours before bed with Ken’s folks, some tidying AND of course laundry… two entries in one day… as Esther would say – FABULOUS!
Some quiet time to end the day with Nana and the iPad