July 30-31

Now coming from Alberta and the world of Dollarama and Canadian Dollar store and and and we of course assumed finding dollar stores down here would be simple (they are an amazing resource for homeschooling, general crafts and the occasional toy gifting)… well apparently they are much more rare down here than up there. We went to a place called Family Dollar ASSUMING that it was a true dollar store… oops! The kids were less than impressed. Well we all were. Our trip to the Thrift store was another fail too. Just not our Monday for shopping. Of course there is still the coming weekend’s garage sales to hunt down and a dollar store near Darcy that I am determined to make my way to. A TRUE dollar store, where everything is a dollar… oh the adjustments!!!

We did manage to find some gems though, an itty bitty tea set that all fits into the tea pot for Trinity, a Cars brand specialty eraser, pencil crayons at a somewhat ok cost… and envelopes. We have worked on pictures and short letters for some friends back home and now are collecting any and all addresses of people interested in corresponding. I don’t know how many letters we will send out at a time but I am sure there will be some wonderful mail coming and going from Minnesota! If anyone is interested in corresponding please message me and I am sure we can exchange addresses. 

Tiny Tea Set

In fact, I am in process on the planning right now. I have found a monthly mailing that I am interested in purchasing for Emanuel and we have started our work on a Minnesota binder… illustrations, write ups and more about this state, the places we see and where we are living. Learning about our surroundings is always fun and highly educational. 

Around the table

Even the littlest

I am making some decent progress on my cross stitch already. It is so soothing to be back stitching, and as it is a kit I don’t feel the frustrations of missing supplies. 

To date!

Our Tuesday was much more exciting… after we had our morning of homeschooling of course… We continued our rehashing of what we have seen and learned about our new home. 

Working hard

And then it was time to head out to the Novak’s for a visit. They had a slip and slide on the lawn, a kitty to hang out with and of course… the 4 boys! Trinity found this visit much more fun and Echo decided her best place to be was with Anthony. She ended the afternoon with a bit of a fever so cuddling was high on her priority list. 

Her Anthony

Again

Darcy and I snuck out and did some kid free shopping ourselves. She lives rather near a Target, dollar store (a REAL one) and a kids’ clothing thrift store. Successful trip and then some. Trinity now has her much asked for sunglasses… I have MANY boxes of crayons (50 cents a box of Crayola 24’s) and then a pretty dress (5.50 thank you). I found tutus and hair clips I would like to take a second look at later as well! So definitely a success. 

Slip and slide

I am loving this saying good bye to people and knowing that we have YEARS to visit. Not that we are letting the grass grow under our feet… the next day is a free movie in the am with the Novaks and a baseball game (Andrew plays) on Friday… add to that trying to plan something with Bree (whose schedule is much more up in the air) and the hope for some visiting with family and we are definitely living in a way that gets us out and with friends.

We wore Andrew out

the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy is always more apparent to me when I am firmly entrenched in the second trimester. Granted there are the signs of pregnancy – the nausea, the exhaustion (way more than past pregnancies), the expanding waistline, even (for me) the ultra sound with its pictures of a tiny little soul, that slight flutter of baby motion. That labour and delivery date, the actual event itself, feels a life time away. That little life so far from being formally introduced to our family.  It is not until the movement is so noticeable that Ken and the children can also enjoy the baby’s motion that I really feel the reality of pregnancy. The knowledge that come September we WILL be a family of SEVEN… the fulfilment of a dream really – our wish to have that large family. There is  the beginnings of purchases for our newest edition (the diapers of choice), the discussion of how we will fit the bassinet in our bedroom and plans A through D or E in regards to how we are going to ensure that there is an adult watching the 4 children we already have during that exciting event. The excitement builds at that point, which I hope the rest of our friends and family can be a part of.

Our schooling today was focused mainly on counting past 10. In fact we did one dot to dot that went from 1-30 (very simply) which we did together (myself and the twins) reading aloud the numbers as we went. 1-12 is quite clear but beyond that – work in progress. We had a few other fun worksheets, a number vs. letters colouring page, and a count and circle using pictures of candy. With our focus being so strongly planted in letters and letter sounds I thought it would be a fun change of pace (not so sure the boys agreed). At this point we are down to the odd A being backwards and the issue of letter spacing (as I mentioned in the previous entry) so now was as good a time as any to move our focus. After all I read somewhere that the suggested K level for counting is up to 30 (though I wonder at that – I think I would be happy if we master 20 by summer). Either way the boys enjoyed the actual accomplishment of the worksheet completions though there were moments of frustration.

Gavin and his completed candy counting sheet

Our other big colouring adventure is actually thanks to Crayola. When I got my newest box of markers there was a code for the site that allows us to make photos into colouring pages! The boys have already had their go at colouring Harley as a gift for Grandma for Easter. I am actually debating using these personalize pages as added activities for my cousin’s May 1st wedding to keep the kids busy during the meal. I know I myself have a few printed out to play with. Each code lets you go for 6 months and by then I am SURE I will want more Crayola products!!

HARLEY

In fact one of our sources of entertainment for the weekend is also courtesy of Crayola – Michaels has a free activity for the kids trying out one of their new products. That will mark the midpoint of a very busy weekend after Ken’s thankfully very busy week! This has of course had the added effect on the family as to having the rest of our activities and plans slow to a halt but after the past 6 months or so it is almost welcome. Friday Ken has an appointment with BANK to check on their progress in correcting this van epic disaster, then he is off to Alan’s 3 day LAN party  (though he is not staying the whole time). Saturday morning  is the Michaels activity, then Ken is back to Alan’s until the evening in order to be home for Sunday morning – the twins are VERY excited about going to the Palm Sunday service where they are not only singing a song but involved in the procession. Then Monday is my very first appointment with the local OBGYN – the same dr who was in charge of my previous pregnancy, Tuesday it is off to Walmart for my cornea check so I can get my contacts! (so proud of myself for coming up for the money for those myself!!)… and THEN our week slows down, just in time for another Saturday Michaels activity and then our traditional Easter at Grandma’s. Oh don’t forget we have to decorate eggs both here AND at mom’s!

Actually, last night I did manage my crafty hour… 3 scrapbooking pages later and I am feeling quite accomplished. While no where as fancy as the ones I made with Karyn last time, I am sure Trinity will love them too! I still have enough pictures for a few more pages, but I need to sort out the papers for those in advance. What I wouldn’t give for a craft corner or room.

In my vintage outfit

July 4th 2009

Canada Day 2009

So life just keeps on going here. Ken is busy off his feet lately which I am very thankful for while at the same time mildly frustrated as it has slowed our sorting of basement down to a crawl. Trade offs of course. I had trouble with my blog today and had this entry ERASED so I had to rewrite… so if it seems disjointed that would be why… the joys of technology when it does NOT behave!!!

There is one heads up for those who are homeschoolers… Currclick has an Easter Egg hunt going on their site that gets you freebies so be sure to check it out and join the hunt!! I have found them to be a great resource – their usual freebies are VERY extensive!

For cross stitch enthusiasts… we are hoping to have new patterns for free and download up after SUNDAY! I will update if that changes or if they go up sooner but I am excited about that… we have quite a few to share with everyone. As usual I would LOVE to do commissions… we also will do designs on commission though they do cost a little more than the ones posted due to the time required for special orders. Be sure to let me know with a comment below this entry OR email – rosereinsch@gmail.com. As soon as my latest completed commission is received I will post a picture on my photo page. I am already working on two new designs for stockings that after I stitch I will post patterns up for sale.

But I really should get back to my Lucky Stars and stocking stitching! Back to work I go.

Mighty Puppy Slayer??

\