I think that we have not had a relaxing and laid back February since 2004 and the birth of the twins… compound that with Emanuel being born in 2006 two days before their second birthday and we start our month off with activity already. Then it is Valentine’s Day and often Chinese New Year. 2015 was no different than years past. It helps that we absolutely LOVE Chinese New Year thanks to our adorable god daughters… Anna and Isabella and their families. There is so much culture and beauty we have yet to see and experience, sadly not in person… but through our learning. You can join us with our resource entry HERE for 2015’s year of the goat/sheep unit.

Dragon Puppet

It was a rather unique birthday for the boys as we didn’t have the big old family and friends party. February was also the beginning of Nana and Baba’s vacation in the Dominican Republic.

We had MULTIPLE parties, really more suppers with friends. One of those was a totally fun and bad for you movie and snack night with the Schwartz family. 

And the other dinner with the Novaks! 

Of course we had the usual, Home Depot.. swimming.. life in fast forward it seems…

We also hit our 100 days of class mark! This was a fun challenge, I had each of the kids come up with some piece of art or even just something fun made out of 100 pieces. We had Legos, popsicle sticks, stickers… it was great! Trinity glued on sparkly confetti and yours truly made a special poster of heart stickers.

We babysat our favourite baby – Jeffrey… the girls absolutely eat him up!

Emanuel basically made his scout car all by himself with minimal help from Daddy. While he did not win he came home proud.

We drew…

We learned…

The girls showed off their princesses to go with my crocheted versions. You can actually purchase her wonderful patterns (Kristen’s Kords) HERE.

We had readers and rather good listeners. It is always a bit of a a buzz to see them reading to each other willingly.

It is hard to believe that we now have two 11 year olds AND a 9 year old! Who gave them permission to grow up?

We even had a completion of workbook… I swear Trinity is just busting through hers! I am so proud of all these kids and their drive to learn. It wanes at times but we all end up inhaling books and searching down facts.

Of course we ended up at the YMCA swimming pool, that is pretty normal, BUT we also had the twins BOTH get their pink wristbands. This gets them free reign of the pool! And with them old enough to be dropped off…  this could be a GOOD summer for them. Pictured below in the lane pool (deepest area).Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day when we had our red, pink and white lunch and SPECIAL GUESTS for dinner – Aunty Shandai and Uncle Ravyn!

Dr. Seuss’ birthday was also in February so the girls went to Lakeshore to enjoy the festivities.

 So February was a colourful month full of celebration and love… you can check the overflow of images with some events I did NOT cover in this entry HERE. Look forward to reflecting BACK at March next! 

February 26-28

We have, in the past, done full out units on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. This year we decided to really just enjoy some worksheets and books. There is something amazing about first of all sharing these books I remember from my childhood with the kids but ALSO watch the twins read these stories to their siblings themselves. Quite the tongue twisters at times but Gavin toughed it out and bit by bit read through an entire book.

In the middle of a week we have to find some interesting activities to add to our routine. The girls went the tent route.

And the boys decided to give a Lego boardgame I found online HERE a try. I love this one, it uses reading, creativity and math skills to create an activity all the kids can enjoy.

We have found ways to make EVERY day enjoyable really… everything from tents to games to climbing on Daddy when he is on a break.

And then back to reading.

We took everyone out to run errands… Miss Echo was VERY pleased with her 1.00 sun hat from Target. Quite the find!

And that brings us to March! As I look back at February I see a flexing sort of learning. We have looked at Valentines Day, discussed China in amazing depth… talked about the Olympics and continued with our swimming and had a blast with Scouts. Ken is healthier than ever and our decision to stop expanding our family is one we have fully embraced. How blessed are with to have 2 months of 2014 with so many wonderful and positive things! Now to continue the trend!!

Baby in a suitcase???

August 19-21

After all the fun celebrating Echo’s 3rd birthday it was back to normal school time outside on the Monday. All this sunshine is so lovely!

We finally had the time to do our August mini poster.

They got imaginative this month!

And enjoy another Wild Kratts episode.

Rattlesnakes!!!

On Tuesday the boys wrote their own comic strips… I hunted for some templates online and we went from there. Anything to be creative AND utilize our growing lion knowledge.

Don’t forget chatting with Aunty Esther on Skype!!! We miss her soooo much!

On Wednesday I noticed the neighbours across the way were having another garage sale so we headed right over in the morning to check it out. It was good that we did, we picked up some old National Geographics and books at a great price.

That is a Dr. Seuss book I have never been able to budget in as well!

We realized that the day was going to get hot fast so we went right from our garage sale shopping to emptying out and refilling the pool in a new location in the yard. Time to put off schooling and enjoy the weather while we could!

Such active helpersAnd then a refill and we had a surprise cousin infiltration!

These moments are so wonderful. I am so lucky to be home to enjoy and to instigate them!!!