Not our best day but we are home, Echo is ok and I promise to share everything tomorrow. No surgery date yet! 

Definitely did NOT start the day off in an auspicious manner. I was up late last night so Ken could get in a nap and work in the wee hours to meet some deadlines… so I woke up off and tired only to go upstairs and find that all the time I had spent cleaning was undone. The kids were VERY industrious. And then in passing I peeped in my purse to find that 20.00 had gone missing! Well by that point I was in tears… Thankfully Echo needed a nap so with the new Blue’s Clues thanks to Freecycle I hid in the bathtub for a nice long pity party with a (what turned out to be surprisingly) good book. So not the best morning full of schooling though they did enjoy solving the mysteries with Blue with their little siblings. 

Emanuel has started working with a different way of creating art… basically he has stumbled upon a very basic form of pointillism. He was so proud of his first picture and then today decided that was how he wanted to colour a dragon! He is very patient though was thoroughly unimpressed with my notion that he NOT use markers (with Echo playing at the table NOT a good idea) and was rather pouty about the crayons I gave him instead.

First piece

Dragon

The boys did math in their room over quiet time (aka when mommy got the livingroom cleaned and DIDN’T find her missing 20.00) as well as a word search (Chinese New Year themed). I have a collection though small of Chinese New Year worksheets I have found at Education.com. You can find my list HERE. As always check out EnchantedLearning and our favourite – Activity Village. Both links are on my side bar!

At work

Tomorrow is THE day… well not THE day but an important day… Ken, Echo and myself are heading to the city to do her 6 month cardiology appointment. I am not sure what all that will encompass (I think they play it a bit by ear due to what they find as you go along) but we are quite aware we most likely will be there for the whole afternoon. Tests and seeing the cardiologist is NEVER quick. It is a little nerve wracking for a few reasons – first off… testing… second… results… and then there is the travelling in winter… and leaving the other 4 at home (thankfully!!)… oh and the whole I am not happy she has to go through ANY of this! I mean I KNOW it is for the best but my baby is my baby. So please keep our wee Echo in  your thoughts and prayers… we need safe travel and a productive day at the children’s hospital.

I am still hard at work on the afghan. I plan on taking a couple novels and said afghan and that is it to entertain myself while we are at the hospital. I figure that way I have no excuse. I don’t know how successful I will be with Echo’s rather attention grabbing technique – she has taken to grabbing the afghan and trying to throw it on the floor to make room on my lap! She is a very insistent young lady! 

I have to admit getting through tomorrow will be a weight off my mind. AND a day away from the bulk of the kids, even with the circumstances will be nice. We hope to meet up with Sean and Ted before heading back. Cousin Veronika and Victoria have been sweet enough to agree to babysit so there is no worries about what will be going on at home. I have my cell phone and my iTouch charging and a couch full of items to go with us (lots of just in case things). I am not sure when we will get home but I hope to get a post up tomorrow night with whatever results we get or early Friday sometime. We shall see how it all plays out!

Our little darling

Testing has been done, appointment with doctor accomplished and the next two appointments booked… what a day! Ken had his yearly physical and came through with flying colours. Since he and Echo could not get in to have their blood work (and her x-ray) done sooner we are still waiting on those results BUT his bloodpressure was perfect, weight right on etc. etc. AND when he came back and picked up Echo there were able to get the x-ray done AND the blood taken. Apparently Echo was less than enthused as first off they had to have the nurse hold her for the x-ray (big no no in Echo land) AND then they had problems finding a vein on her. She is very tiny! 

Today Trinity was my busy learning bee… first it was fun with her workbook (some actual following instructions some random colouring lots of ADORABLE chatter) and then later on Daddy’s netbook for “ABCD” time on Starfall. It has been a while since I have mentioned this site I think. We do not pay a subscription fee so there is SOME stuff we cannot access but more than enough to keep even our two almost 8 yr olds happy! I love listening to her repeat along… G… and then the sound it makes… she is so proud of herself and a pro with the touch pad.

Starfall

The boys did their usual quota and added in copious reminders for Gavin to WIGGLE HIS TOOTH!! Ken talked to our physician and she said wiggle the heck out of it and if it is not out in the next while to bring him to her. We absolutely LOVE our new doctor… friendly and calm and so nice! Sadly she could NOT schedule Ken a vasectomy yet… there have been some changes in the health care system as to what is and isn’t covered and she wanted to be sure (a friend of mine who is a doctor said he thought it was still covered so we are keeping fingers crossed). Seriously, with 5 kids… 4 of which have needed some form of additional medical care you would think they would throw him a parade and walk him right on up to the door!

Note Gavin (in yellow) with his finger in his mouth wiggling as they play the PS3

Echo had her learning time too… in her favourite chair, though I am not sure how much was learning and how much was making the lights flash. She does love a noisy toy!

"Hey kids, welcome to Alphabet town"

We are going to get started on Chinese New Year next week, I will share my links. I have some books requested and am hoping some friends can suggest a good food to try as part of our learning. This is the year of the dragon, so there are some colouring pages to be done, word searches… a maze… and of course the story of the Zodiak to read. Since the boys want a poster I am hoping for lots of brightly coloured pictures. There is even an event on the 18th for Ken to take all 3 boys to to learn at the library (it says 6 and up but a 5 yr old who turns 6 in like 2 weeks… why not?). And if anyone reading this has links to share please DO!!!

There are days when I am reminded of how alike our twins really are and there was a moment like that today… we were talking about Gavin’s tooth and the need to take it out when I brought up the tooth fairy. I told them that Ken and I TALKED to the tooth fairy last night and that she said this tooth was a TWO present tooth… in unison, same look on their faces: “How do you talk to the tooth fairy?” I couldn’t help but giggle… it was ADORABLE… of course I told them that once you loose ALL your baby teeth you get a special phone number so you can CALL the tooth fairy for when YOU have kids… after all sometimes she needs a little help and vice versa. 

Tinker Bell is coming along nicely on the afghan and I have messaged the newest parents for information on their baby for a sampler. January may have nothing to do with Christmas but it has a lot to do with crafting still! I hope to have something to show by the next week but am holding off, I want to have something substantial and exciting with my Tink! Of course there is cleaning to do… kids to teach and a house to run so progress is not swift… but there will be more to show next week, along with Echo’s 6 month cardiologist appointment… wish us luck!

Baby with baby and popcorn