July 11

I have some of the best friends and family… seriously! And again, they surprise us! This time with Holly (my sister in law of course) up and planning a mini birthday party for our Echo (August 13). Since we are not going to be local for her actual day she decided this was one birthday that she, James and Jimmie we NOT going to miss out on! 

Just for Echo!

The boys’ comfy bed

The showing off of the fish

Add to the fun Jimmie’s Gammie (Holly’s mom) up from Texas and some presents for all of us and it was AMAZING. But first there was hellos. catching up, hugs, cuddles and play time.

Gammie braiding hair

Then a walk to 7-11 for their special free 7.11 oz slurpee day – JULY 11, 7 11… Of course I had to get a bigger one but still… slurpees for ALL!

Free slurpees?

Of course we want those!

Gotta hold hands on the walk back

Yum!

And THEN it was time for the party fun. CUPCAKES… made by aunty, with purple icing and a candle and singing and everything. Of course we stripped the birthday girl down to her skivvies and she had to have her own cupcake. It was so much fun!!! Thank you Holly SO MUCH! It meant the world to have a birthday party for our baby with you as well!

Happy EARLY birthday Echo!

We received some lovely gifts from our family, and I even got some wonderful hugs from my not so baby brother. 

I got a hug too!

It was hard to say good bye to them once again. We HAD TO get a group shot of course.

Hugs

Cousins

And just like that our family was reunited! What a crowd we are!!! It is just too bad that it was ROASTING out and we couldn’t really go and play in the park with Jimmie. BUT we could stop at Victoria’s on the way home to have dinner with her, Karyn and Lauralee! With the kitties too!

Hello Kitty

We love you

Supper!

And after supper… well the splash park of course! Where else does the Reinsch-Johnson family go to beat the heat??? And with friends it is ALWAYS better…

Splish

Splash

Spray

Fun!

The girls

Though there was a shoe break…

Shoes!

Drying off

And then another good bye before the drive back to Sharon’s and the knowledge that there was still almost half a week to go before the weekend and MORE activity… SERIOUSLY!!

And Magnus the kitty as well!

Time keeps ticking along… and with it our days and nights. Tuesday was an interesting combination of outside fun and inside schoolwork. Our morning was dedicated to learning… with our flag folders of course I had to get my hands on copies of the Pledge of Allegiance and the US National Anthem (first stanza). And with that their books are pretty well done. 

Celebratory cupcakes!

The piggy bank was finished as well… Daddy cut the slot and all of the kids had a go at adding stickers to the bottle. They are VERY proud of it. (Picture to follow eventually)

With Farmer Boy covered and some colouring and pictures created and lunch eaten the twins headed out to play in the pool… in the rain! Apparently that made it more fun? We had some thunder, no lightening and a warm rain so I figured why not. Besides, they had energy to burn and the others were all napping. (Though we did have a rogue Echo get into markers while we were busy and she coloured her hand and some of the carpet, thank goodness for vinegar water… came right out!)

Such a naughty baby

We did have a mild issue regarding the tv Tuesday and had to unplug all of the sets in the kids’ rooms (Emanuel’s and the twins’). The easiest way to deal with that was to disconnect. What a great reinforcement that our choice to cancel our cable tv was the best one. Netflix and Crunchyroll are much more affordable AND less tempting as they have to get onto the laptop to get to it anyway. 2 days tv free. Though I allowed for the Weather Network for our schooling purposes and a movie when I went out on a walk in the evening… this time it was Echo and Gavin who joined in with Grandma and Gypsy. Most of the kids are getting over a bug so it was good for Echo to get some fresh air before bedtime. We got to see a train… actually had to WAIT on one as it stopped on the tracks for a few minutes before making an almighty noise and then moving on. 

Waiting for the train

Oh and for those interested in Viking ships… a friend on Facebook linked me a site that was local to her! The Jorvik Viking Centre. Isn’t the internet grand!! 

We are still dealing with acting out and loud children but at the same time, I think we are doing well… There are moments that I wonder if my norm, my kids are what others would see as acceptable. Or are we louder than most? More outrageous?? 

Wednesday was another slightly stalled day… Ken worked hard and long as Thursday AND Friday are implementation days for a couple of his contracts. This meshes badly with the viewings we are trying to set up, the going out for things to do and the general family time as it is. So we made do at home today. Except for in the evening when mom helped me out by driving me, Echo, Trinity and Emanuel to bedtime story time. We are missing the next week but going to the High Tea the following Wednesday. 

The craft at the library

Zander designed Gavin his very own colour by numbers! He worked really hard and figured out colour codes, though he DID copy the words off the sheets we bought, HE sounded out each one and wrote them out… I only had to help with the word gray.

Zander's colour by numbers

Of course the backyard was sunny for most of the day so where did the kids go but OUT! As much as they wanted, until I figured they were starting to get too much sun!

Fun in the backyard

Best way to end the day – HAIRCUTS for the twins! We are now all basically presentable… woohoo! Mom had to borrow her friend Ashley’s shaver set as we didn’t have our attachments on hand. Nice and short on both of them! 

Cutting of the hair!

I have to apologize for my inconsistent updates as of late… my mind has been scattered and stressed lately. I have to say I REALLY appreciate how Ken is not only working full time but dealing with my insecurities (can you really blame me after last month’s ugh fest?), being a father and working with me to hunt the mighty rental. 

Watering Grandma's flowers

Life is going rather slowly still as I am sure you have all noticed from previous blog entries… Although for Ken it is go go go. I honestly do not know how he does it some days and am so proud of him. On top of the contracts he has he is also bidding on new ones (that is ALWAYS on going), hunting for a van (we were VERY frustrated when last night the one individual neglected to narrow down a time Ken could come test drive and contacted the next two on the list), keeping tabs on our new rental (who in turn contacted us on Monday) and looking at OTHER rental options (we really can’t limbo much longer) all this while being daddy and husband. He really is amazing. 

I have been personally dealing with the medical… Echo’s shots appointment for this month has been cancelled (chicken pox ANYTHING and baby aspirin = BAD) and a notation has been made on her file as to WHY her immunizations are delayed as well as her cardiology appointment confirmed. We have decided to postpone the ever healthy Trinity’s yearly check up until after this lovely patch of upset and all has been and gone. The same for planning Ken’s upcoming vasectomy (seriously we want to even THINK about a voluntary surgery right now? NOT). 

I have done some searching through the items we HAVE brought with us and was pleased to find that I DID bring the sneakers with us, it is about time to pack the boots back up in the bag! Add to the collection the Easter sandals and we are doing rather well. I also brought summer hats and the spring coats so the boys should be just fine at my brother’s.

Spring time

Emanuel's best bubble

Karyn and I had an epic adventure yesterday hunting for beer for Ken on our grocery/shopping for Trinity trip. It took 3 different liquor stores to find the specific brand he wanted IN BOTTLES. This was after we ran into Michaels 15 min before close to get cupcake duct tape AND closed the petfood store in our search for a big enough ball for Prickie Pie the hedgehog to run around in. 

CUPCAKE!

The entire evening was rather epic really… we started off with Walmart to shop for our Trinity (not telling what we got her just yet). They have t-shirts (plain ones) for just 4.00 in her size now! She has just grown out of the 3.00 size! Then it was off to two different locations in town… one for a prize I won on Facebook from RumpArounds… an awesome wet bag!!!

Wet bag!!!

And the other an awesome Freecycle find – some computer games that are educational for the boys… including Oregon Trail (seriously I played this in school… though this is the 5th edition) and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago? (did anyone else watch the tv show??)… YAY.

Then to the mall for supper (McD’s) and Dollarama (chocolate for Ken)…. then to Karyn’s to give the kitty his insulin and print off a few items I needed for Farmer Boy… of course that led to groceries, duct tape and the awesome beer hunt. All in all I had a lot of fun and it was KID FREE fun at that! 

Epic beer

Today was back to kids kids kids… though Trinity’s brothers were nice enough to make her her very own crown! 

What a crown!

Today was the chapter in Farmer Boy where the teacher has to deal with the big boys. I didn’t explain too much about the whipping that ensued but we did talk about WHY they were in trouble and what you should do to NOT be in trouble. I am hoping some of that imprints so that they think twice about the whining and fighting me over lessons. 

I can share the bows I finished earlier this week as well, I cannot wait for my clips and ribbon to get here! 

I do love the silver

This one is a gift

Another simple black

Bitty but pretty

Hopefully this weekend we can focus on some more fun time together. Ken and the kids had a run in at bedtime and that totally soured the evening. They are so frustrated right now, and with good reason… but we need them to continue to respect the adults and follow rules and instructions. 

A girl and her puppy