Canada Day is tomorrow… we don’t have much in the way of decorations this year BUT I did find 3 little flags to put out. I went onto our very favourite UK site to hunt down some Canada themed print outs and lucked out. One of the ideas I found for decorations is the flag bunting. I am so happy to have my colour toner once again. We couldn’t find the box of strings BUT I did find a ziploc of decorative ribbon.

Working on their bunting

If you want to find a variety of Canadian printables etc. Be sure to check the UK site link HERE. I find that our boys especially enjoy the colouring pages this site has to offer, and don’t forget the puzzles.

Large flags and their colouring pages

Small flags by the door

DLTK had this neat 3D maple leaf craft… simple but fun. I figure anything where we get to make SOMETHING is a plus with this crowd.

Zander and his leaf

Next year I hope to cover the United States over the month of June and have the boys learn all about where their dad comes from. Then we can do a mini Independence Day celebration. I just hope I am going at a pace that is acceptable, I mean I KNOW that the facilitator, the kids, even KEN are happy with our progress but I am always a wee bit concerned. Zander and I are going to focus on his reading next week too (I think I mentioned that previously), I am hoping that some extra one on one will help him to be more settled here at home. Which he actually admitted to starting to like better than the old place last night! BREAKTHROUGH!

Today was THE day – we got our first piece of mail with our new address on it! And if this was not an omen for good … it was from my Grandma! A clear indication that the post is working again (of course this was directly addressed to us, we have not seen any forwarded mail yet). I love getting her handwritten letters, it is always a wonderful excuse to get out some paper and pen her one in return. Which is what I will do AFTER Canada Day.

After a mass amount of Canada Day themed printouts and the younger 3 napping the twins and I walked the block down to the local gas/convenience store. We took all of Ken’s change and went out to get a treat. After all they worked diligently to make their flag bunting and didn’t complain AT ALL about the word search! It was nice and sunny and just wonderful to get out with two of the kids instead of all 5.

First picture in front of the new "picture tree"

After naptime we packed the whole family up (in the rain at this point) and tried H&M for a Canada Day themed shirt for Miss Echo. No such luck BUT we got a cute little red long sleeved number that will go well with her headband and a nice pair of pants… and even better – on SALE – 2.00!!! BONUS! The others will be wearing red and white as well. I figure we will buy THEMED shirts next year.

Echo's shirt

We also continued on with our swan story. It was actually a rather long chapter about Louis’ night at the Ritz. Zander was super well behaved doing ALL of his assignments (including this one) WITHOUT whining so I let him have a whole HOUR on the computer with a timer so he could stop and start when he wanted. I was so glad he didn’t do his usual surly routine!

Completed swan page

I found some blue ribbons that all go together… actually ECHO found the pretty Snow Princess ribbon by digging through something I had on the floor in the tv room while I was moving speakers (gotta love the “walk in closet” in our room – it goes down under the stairs and the sub woofer fits!). Definitely not something I can make for the girls to wear now but it will work for the winter!

I did decide against the top ribbon but had already formed a bow out of it so now have to find matching ribbons for THAT one... I love how that happens!

I am trying ANOTHER anime on for size – this one D.Gray-Man. Not nearly as instant grab for me as Soul Eater but definitely interesting. Ken has been trying to hunt down a few others I am interested in that are not on Netflix. (and the rest of the XXXholic that wasn’t there as well)

Now to get back to ribbon making, anime watching and tidying!

Echo all in white

Back to weekdays once again. Last night I took some me time and did that crafting I was craving. Of course Ken needed a late night nap after gaming as he had to rush back to the city one last time. So while he did that I completed my projects… A couple different techniques – for Echo’s headband – button flowers (also used on the 4 individual hair clips all on alligator clips), and then the ice cream piece – a stacked bow; and finally the butterfly themed one, a new technique – perky butterfly bow loops. I am of two minds with the last one, I think I may need to try it with a wider ribbon – it calls for 1.5 inches and this is 1 inch wide. I find crafting soothing so this was a lovely way to end my weekend and welcome the weekdays (be it WAY too late honestly).

Button flower headband

4 button flowers of varying colours

Ice cream stacked bow

The new butterfly loops

In use

So the book we are reading in our study of Canada is a free resource called All Across Canada by Ken Yoffe and Edith Weisburg. It is a cute story that has you going all through the provinces and  territories. A little bit beyond the boys’ understanding but we are enjoying the reading of it anyway. I am actually going to spend some time looking through the site I found this link on and see how useful it is. Sometimes it can be VERY difficult to find CANADIAN resources. If I can find some uses for it I will definitely add it to my list here on the site.

I met our mail carrier today, she was going around checking on homes the census had not been recorded for (we filled ours out electronically back at the old place). She said she gets in to the centre tomorrow and hopes to be out by 10:30 but is expecting a gong show. She says that by Friday forwarded stuff should be coming to places too and is going to keep an eye out. VERY nice.

That is something that has surprised me – we all talk about how we DON’T need or use the mail all that much. This strike and lockout have certainly proven otherwise. Ken is a contract worker and so receives cheques… in the mail. Bills are generally sent through the mail. The rates on alternative ways to mail things like cards (Father’s Day) or packages (a random gift) are just not reasonable. Try and shop overseas with eBay (especially on the beloved Hello Kitty) and it is shipped via the post. The list goes on and on. That is not to say there has not been ample reason to be frustrated with the Canadian post – lost letters, delayed packages; I currently have a package we sent months ago that was misplaced and damaged and was SUPPOSED to be coming back to me when the strike occurred.

We took advantage of the lovely SUMMER weather today. I made them up a strawberry drink made out of a powder packet we had bought ages ago, strawberries out of the freezer, ice and milk. We turned on the sprinkler AND the bubble machine and cleaned the bugs out of the little pool.

Sipping away

We even dressed Echo up to enjoy a little sun, not much as the water was WAY too cold for her and the bugs all over the place but she did join in. She looked so cute in Trinity’s old bathing suit.

An actually SUNNY day

Watching her brothers run by

It was a pretty long day without Ken. The kids and I honestly like it best when he is here. I feel better when he is at least in the same city (he was over an hour away today). We are rather spoiled! I am feeling the continuing urge to craft so more bows tonight, and some research on one of my favourite anime voice actors. I am amazed how he has done voice acting in many of my favourites!

Reading until she passes out!

I missed the sunny day for the week while out with Cousin Veronika it seems. We woke up to hugely overcast skies today and rain off and on. Oh well, it is not like I came home to a house that was the way I left it! Not a huge surprise as Ken had to juggle 4 kids AND work but slightly annoying all the same. So I started off with putting away what was left out… random little things, and then moved onto the rest of the week’s (however  brief) plan… GOING THROUGH CONTAINERS.

I started with my scrapbooking stuff… I have collected some items I KNOW I will not be using and really should not be keeping… stickers, paper, even some basic supplies. It is time to get rid of it NOW when I am in the middle of putting things away.

We managed another chapter in our book today. This one had the father swan (cob) stealing a trumpet in a rather dramatic fashion… definitely unexpected!

Completed sheets

So, today marks 10 years of marriage for Ken and myself. Sadly, with the Canada Post on lock out we are without the ability to have our dinner out until tomorrow. Amazingly enough contract workers (who can’t have direct deposit) have CHEQUES in the MAIL… which is going NO WHERE. Very upsetting…

10 years!

BUT on the other side of that, 10 years yeah? 5 kids, many moves, vehicles, trials and tribulations and here we are… still in love and still together… just the beginning of more you know?

Because we couldn’t go out I spent a nice chunk of my evening posting some Kijiji ads to thin out my crafting supplies, mainly scrapbooking. It still amazes me how many things I have!! Tonight was paper, stickers, stencils… things like that.

Echo is now over 25 inches long in her 10 month old glory. We measured… took a bit of convincing as she does like to up and crawl away now! She is definitely mobile!

Bitty baby

So not the most exciting of days and not overly celebratory but we were together and there was hugs and smiles and love shared.

The not so dramatic smoky eye I promised to show everyone