Today I want to start with linking a great blog. HERE is her most recent entry on her choice in wearing the traditional hijab headgear. The video at the end is wonderful! I wish the world would just accept that people CAN make educated choices… not EVERYONE is forced to do things… tolerance is so important as is finding your own path to that higher power in the world! 

I think what struck me about the above blog entry is how people’s reaction to my friend are not unfamiliar to me… I get my own version in regards to other things in my life… not religious based but at the same time close to my heart… like when people realize that all 5 kids running around with me are mine, or that I stay home with them, or that I am homeschooling… there are people who look at me like I MUST be locked in the house and in turn forcing my kids to accept the same isolation. How dare I CHOSE to stay home! After all, anyone who is educated MUST want a career outside the home! And, in all actuality, I faced this BEFORE I was even married! In my last semester of University before I graduated I took a Women’s Studies course (it was one of my required credits) and during the span of the class we covered all sorts of issues. What stands out in my mind was when the professor asked me what I planned to do in the future. Well I admitted that regardless of my education, my career my choice was to stay HOME with my kids. I was told that was not the right choice, as any woman would want to have more than that. Well, I can accept that SOME women want something ELSE but more? This is my career, my job and one of my passions. My children, family, their education, the well being of my husband (who seriously DOES need to be reminded that coffee and caffeinated beverages are NOT meals in and of themselves), the crafts I do, the special moments I have – THESE are my life and the direct result of my choices. And that holds merit. 

That is not to say there are NOT people forced into lifestyles, forced into religions, forced into anything you can imagine but that by no way means paint everyone with the same brush! Just like I wear a cross, my friend wears her head covering. That is a choice between each of us and that higher power… I live my life for myself not because it was dictated… so those poor you looks really are not merited. That is not to say I don’t have poor me moments (oh trust me Friday night I was wallowing in a large one of those), but my 5 kids are precious, their education something I LOVE being in charge of and staying home – well my home is my work and I am proud of it! 

And now back to our daily life… not much occurred of great note on Friday… the kids were certainly NOT working WITH me. This has been a hard week with Ken working hard to get his Saturday cleared. We had to postpone Gavin’s first skating experience to Friday and late in the day at that! Ken and Gavin went out without helmet (oops) but had a blast giving skating a first go. We have to return this pair of skates but I am hoping I can get my hands on a second boy pair so that both of the twins have have at least a few more goes before the weather permanently moves to spring! 

We read two more books with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. One had listed in it some instruments we were not familiar with so now we have some research to do on Monday. Each of the twins has already chosen an instrument of interest and we will fill in the gaps on some more exotic others. I am hoping we can at least look for interesting tidbits of knowledge for them to share with others. With 2 weeks until the day we have plenty of time to find out more and more about the Republic of Ireland. We are already going much deeper and further than I expected with their intense interest! I am so glad! 

We have added our knowledge about St. Patrick himself along with an illustration Emanuel coloured for us. Our folder is now in a binder though I am hoping to get to the Dollarama and find a GREEN binder to better store our endeavors. There is a little of each of the kids in this one. I have requested some fairy story books as well, so we will do some reading and discussing… I am so lucky with friends on Facebook who are more knowledgeable than I in regards to Ireland!

Saturday was a whirlwind sort of day… we had the whole family out the door by 11 am (I know INSANE!) in our borrowed van (fear not our part IS through customs). Without any sort of complications (seriously this IS my family??? What the!) we headed out to the city. One stop at Walmart to get a present for the birthday boy (1 yr old already!) and we were on our way to the den Otter’s. 

The kids always have a blast with the den Otters. There was toys and friends and nibbles… what more could our kids ask for? Well, for once… NOTHING! AND there were NEW friends to meet too! 

Alan’s sister Rachel and her family were there as well. Their middle child was a smaller baby too! It was so nice to talk to someone who had experienced the tiny but healthy baby! Apparently her husband has family in city here… so I hope to visit with them more often. 

There was cake for the adults and a jelly treat for the kids and of course the singing of Happy Birthday to Izaac! 

Of course there were presents to be opened!

And a photo op with our youngest god daughter. I had not seen her in well over 6 months! Which also meant in turn that Echo got to see one set of her godparents. She was a little shy and gravitated right to Sean. Don’t forget Uncle Ted… It was great to get to see so many friends that we are now so far from. I am hoping once our van is fixed (come on part get here already!!) we can start doing an every other month visit like we used to way back when before we lived in the city in the first place. 

Now there are two stores (well three if you count T&T though we did not make it there) I miss A LOT – H&W and Bulk Barn and for once traveling corresponded with the time to stop AND the cash to spend there. First stop H&W to get fruit and vegetables where I was complimented by the cashier for taking all 5 kids out shopping. She was impressed by them being under control AND us being calm with them. 

Then Bulk Barn where one of the employees went out of her way to tell us THANK YOU for keeping our kids under control! She said so many people let their kids run wild… I cannot imagine, especially with the barrels of food unsealed. We got spices and noodles and snacks… and cereal! It felt good to actually be able to get the odd items we used to once every week or so. It felt normal and I need as much normal as I can before the 21st…

When we got home and unloaded the kids ran around a bit while Ken napped and then it was time for the long sought after time with Daddy. Down to the basement for PS3 games. I love that he is working so hard to have more time for our family. We have missed him.

We have our house guest back until Monday night again. Sean is still off work due to his broken foot but optimistic that in another week or so he will be back on restricted work. 

Sunday was SUPPOSED to be Sunday School but after our busy Saturday both Mommy and Daddy were absolutely worn out. Instead we let the kids play in the living room and rested. It is so rare that we take a full morning off… and the resulting mess really wasn’t that bad! The weather was perfect for the boys to pretty much live outside in the afternoon I am hoping they will finish what they are created by tomorrow so I can take a picture to share!

We also cleaned ALL the bedrooms upstairs. I went through Trinity’s clothing and sorted out the too smalls… we attempted another sort through of the toys and I am hoping she can keep up with it a little longer. I hope that in the next 6 months or so I can pick up another dresser to put her dolls and dolly clothing in, maybe even teddy bears. Storage is always an issue with kids. 

Sunday evening we had a game night with potluck nachos and a new game! Bridge Troll. It took a bit of explaining but once we actually started playing it wasn’t bad at all. 

I am almost done my special barrette for Echo to wear post surgery. I am using ribbons I salvaged from the wand Trinity had that had broken. I finally hunted down my heart shaped crystals and plan on adding one to the center. Hopefully it will be done for tomorrow! I didn’t have the chance to plug in the hot glue gun today.

So the weekend is over and it is time to make the most of our week. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of the birthday boy!!