Here I go, March 2018… catching up in a timely manner. YES! Or not… my fast and furious blogging took a hit with the much anticipated Karyn visit AND a semi surprise last minute Shauna and Jeff down from Canada weekend. And then life in general kicked my butt… but here I am.

So… March, what was March… it ended in Easter weekend. So we had our own little egg hunt in the house. The twins did the hiding for the younger 3.

We also decorated eggs.

And even made square ones!

The other “themed” day was St. Patrick’s Day. We had all sorts of green stuff going on.

I jumped all in on working on Irish and Celtic knots. I have purchased a few books and some lovely satin cord. Definitely a skill I need to find time in the fall to continue with.

I invested in some gorgeous reversible sari skirts which I can tell you NOW I wore ALL summer. There is something amazing about wearing bright colours and patterns that swish when you walk.

There was plenty of time spent at the YMCA, of course. I hope it has been at least somewhat fun for the staff to be such a major part of my kids’ growth and enjoyment!

I took a walk down memory lane and bought a Tamagotchi! If you don’t know what that is… well I won’t ask your age, cuz that could end up sad.

There was plenty of time spent petting the fluff that is the chinchilla.

Echo lost teeth, important teeth – the front ones – and they took FOREVER to grow back in.

I got in my crafting time. Crochet keeps me sane after all.

And we did plenty of school.

Ken and I even snuck in some dinners out dressed to impress.

And we helped celebrate Jeffrey’s birthday. Which ALSO means, Mystro pics! You can thank me later!

I love how the twins can be before and after pics at the same time.

My final thought on this quick WAY belated peek back at March… WOW was my hair long!!! And that is that.

Since we were asked to babysit a leopard gecko I figured why not make it a learning opportunity? Live example right in the classroom and all.

Gavin was put in primary charge of all things gecko. There are also crickets and mealworms to manage (I was doubly excited that he could handle those, bugs are not my forte). We printed out a calendar to manage the schedule of feeding, cleaning and sorting out of the living food needs. It was very interesting to see how much work this pet is in comparison to Momo and Neko-Chan. Though I think the chinchilla still wins on the basis of her picky nature in regards to her pellets and the short list of woods she is allowed to consume safely. Though the gecko has a cool red and blue set of lights, a rather awesome half log, and food that he has to chase down. Poor Momo is quite tame in comparison to these two exotic pets.

Under the night light.

It was quite exciting to see the gecko out and about our second night. And in the morning it looked like he had been busy hunting down his dinner. Though the mealworms really don’t require much of a hunt.

It took Momo until the very end of the week to actually notice the intruder on her domain. Chinchilla smells and acts more alluring apparently! But once she did notice… life got more interesting for us all as we had to keep her away from tank AND crickets!

I hopped on my favourite sites and gathered up some resources. First off, for a full unit… Kidskonnect HERE, it is best printed out in colour really. I created a collection on Education.com with their offerings HERE. TwistynLeopard oodle.com has a nice trace and write page for the word “gecko” HERE. Easyscienceforkids.com has a worksheet and resource material HERE. Kids National Geographis has a lovely fact page HERE. For some good images of the marked body parts check out Tweetboard HERE, but be warned there is an actual image of the internals like you would see in biology lab. Reptiles Magazine has an interesting run down of care of a gecko pet HERE. Kids Puzzles and Games has some fun worksheets HERE.

We spent some time finding interesting facts about the leopard gecko. For instance did you know that geckos can be found everywhere but Antarctica? Gecko’s eyes are 350 times more sensitive to light than a human ‘s. Gecko’s tails are a reservoir for fat and if it is pulled off they will return to eat it to keep that fat store! Geckos can reporoduce without a male but that gecko will be more prone to illness and early death. Yup, interesting little critters!

Gecko poo is… interesting.

So while the gecko was an interesting pet to sit for, and the kids found it quite the perfect distraction Momo and Neko-Chan still are our favourites. I am not sure I could ever get used to the crickets and mealworms to be honest. Thank goodness for Gavin and his lack of squeamishness over bugs.

Successful pet sitting under our belts, what is next for our summer?

On a roll, that is what I am!!! Of course not only is February a short month, but also pre blogged just a wee bit… let’s see…

• Emanuel’s 12th birthday HERE
• Zander and Gavin turning 14 HERE
• Valentine’s Day HERE
• Chinese New Year Celebrations HERE

So see, much of my work is already done. You can check those links and refresh your memory of our fun! I know I enjoy a nice look back once in a while.

Well let’s see, there was more time in the snow.

Snow….

More chinchilla pictures.

Many hours spent at our YMCA (not a surprise?).

That is Ken sleeping there.

We even brought 2 of the Novak boys to enjoy the pool (Alex and Aidan) during an overnight visit.

Scrabble became quite the game.

This was before they pulled out the words verging on rude lol

We had dinner with Maevowyn… I mean Aunty Shandai and Uncle Ravyn and Maevowyn. Belated Christmas fun there. Seriously Echo is in love with her baby cousin. As it should be!

Pay attention to ME Cousin Gavin!!!

Visited the aquarium at Mall of America.

Kept on acolyting.

We learned much.

Kiwi Crate! Thanks Gammie

Crafted some.

And played more.

Of course there was more to the month than all of this, but what a fun look back at some highlights.