CHRIS B!!! Who sent me a lovely email asking to be entered into the draw as my number THREE entry!!! I will send you out an email asking for your Feltie idea! Thank you for entering everyone! I had 11 entries on my very first draw! Friends, family, people from near and far! I feel very thankful for all the comments on the site and in emails as well as all the interest my blog has had over the years. I look forward to continuing on with it! 

We have begun our week on much the same note as we ended it. Some resistance to working on school things but the willingness is there! We had a peptalk before bed on Sunday about how if we DO get all our work done in a timely manner there WILL be more time for fun! And I was right. The boys both worked on pages in their reading and math books successfully before going onto a Michaels buy. Mini activity books with a Christmas theme. There was 6 in the pack and they should be ok for Emanuel to do as well so I am limiting them to a book a week which will hopefully slow them down on the rushing through. 

Workbook time

Sunday was a special day for Trinity – she got herself a brand new (to her) bike! It needs a bolt for the one training wheel and I am debating some paint and Gavin suggested brightly coloured tassels so I have some searching to do to find the best way to make those in a way that will be weather resistant. Thank you Freecycle! Though by the same merit, a lady dropped off a box of clothing for the twins that they said were size 7/8 and then up to 14. Well… I really didn’t see any 7/8 and their 14 yr old must be a TALL boy! So I am planning on holding onto them for now and then if she does not contact me I will pass them along! 

Bike!

I have been working on MORE bows and now a new craft project – though thankfully meant for Christmas presents! Of course, felt and rather a quick stitch! You can follow the instructions HEREand make your own… though they are NOT for resale.

Done so far

I have a stitching completion after WAY too long – an ornament – well it is now (the pattern originally calls to make it a pin). I am not sure who will get it for Christmas but I have decided it was way too much fun to create to keep for myself… This one had more assembly than my santas… I had to attach the hat and tree! 

COMPLETION!

We are at work on our November letter package to head off to my brother-in-law overseas. This one has a much more winter/Christmas flavour. So far Trinity drew him a picture on her favourite purple paper, Emanuel made him a Christmas card printed off of here and the twins are each writing a letter with a picture. I have to write up my letter before we send it and I think the kids want to make him a small gift… Maybe a bracelet or something? 

One thing that IS making me very happy is how much Zander and Gavin WANT to play with their siblings, suggesting they play trains in Emanuel’s bedroom… later working with Echo to teach her new things (Emanuel did this too!). She is one lucky baby to have so many teachers! 

Building with Echo

With lots of gaming time yesterday and my crafting today… I have quite the mess to tidy tonight. But I think that the past few days have been GOOD days! I am hoping we continue an upwards trend! 

Sitting pretty

Just a quick hello and a reminder that tonight is your LAST CHANCE to enter the FELTIE 1000th post draw! Click HERE to leave your comment and enter! I will announce the winner tomorrow after using a random number generator! It was a gaming night with Kristen and Fydo and nacho so it is time to get back to work sorting for the week! Take care all! 

A new boardgame

November is quickly slipping away from us it seems, and with it my time for Christmas gift crafting. As posted in yesterday’s entry – I HAVE got a new feltie in the making – Hello Kitty in all her feltie glory. Fat Sheep would NOT approve. Speaking of Fat Sheep – she recently updated her blog with her Halloween experiences with our family. She did make a marvelous prop for Echo’s Little Bo Peep costume! 

Yesterday was a better day than the day before… we have outlawed saying DON’T WANT TO… and have discussed behaviour that is something you can be proud of vs something that makes Mommy and Daddy sad. There have been more time outs than I would like but to nip it in the bud we have had to go to zero tolerance. I am just thankful that I have Ken home to step in when I feel overwhelmed. I wonder how many OTHER parents have these not so good days/weeks/months… 

There was a big surprise for Gavin in the mail yesterday though! A lovely lady in Nova Scotia sent him an envelope full of beginner patterns and kits to get him going with his cross stitching! He was so excited, he opened the envelope and went through it all right there and then. We just have to finish his newest self design before he moves onto one of these. I have to say there is a certain amount of pride in the fact that ONE of the children has already shown a passion for something so dear to me!

Gavin and his new patterns!

We have been battling teething and diaper rash with Echo all week. I think we are starting to see some progress on both. 4 molars now in place and zinc cream a regular part of our changing routine I think she will be much happier by the weekend. She is over 16 lbs finally! I don’t remember if I mentioned it but we briefly weighed her on the weekend and she was almost 16 1/2 lbs!!

Clapping with Daddy

We had friends work out a way to get a much needed snowsuit from my mom’s to here as well! Trinity is in love with her new pink princess coat! I am so grateful that people will help us out like this. The van should be fixed SOON but in the meantime it feels so lovely to have people who are willing to network with us! 

Modelling her new coat

We have been continuing our worksheet work and sight word learning. Zander is slowly starting to TRY to sound things out over guessing. He does seem to ignore the rules of language etc though. Which can make for frustration on both parts and some giggles on mine.

From reading to a math break

Yesterday was jammie library day for Trinity and Emanuel as usual. The theme of the stories was dinosaurs and as a wonderful coincident Emanuel was wearing Gavin’s dinosaur pj’s! The craft was making their own paper triceratops which was great fun. We did some looking for books and movies and while I was in the adult fiction section Trinity made a new friend and read a story.

Dinosaurs!

 Aunty Karyn picked us up for the library with a special gift for Trinity – a new Hello Kitty themed placemat! Which of course has been used for every meal since! 

Hello Kitty

He Chris stopped by today to drop off a bucket of things for the kids and myself and included in that was something for Trinity – an OLD SCHOOL My Little Pony! Happy girl! There was also a dictionary, thesaurus, gaming device that I have to work out how to use for the boys, some craft supplies and binders… always welcome!!! And I had the batteries I needed to get the device going on hand and everything! This also reminded me of the boys’ gift from LAST Christmas – the Math Shark. 

With pony and my beta kitty

Math Shark

I am working on my felties tonight and making my plans for the rest of the month. We are determined tomorrow morning to read about snowflakes! It seems like we start out with the best of intentions and get side tracked or confused or derailed lately. But at least the stuff we do INSTEAD is still interesting and fun! 

Now don’t forget to enter my 1000th post draw and win a feltie of your choice! You can do so by clicking HERE. 

Flashcard baby time