There have been a few goings on that I have NOT posted about… let’s see… I had Ken pick up something off Freecycle – some sheets… flannel and not that while they won’t work for the original plan (pink for Trinity to make into curtains), the flannel ones will work for Emanuel’s mattress bed (at least until we buy him a single). So that is something! The others… well I am debating some ideas of making them into something!

I do have pictures of two of my leopard print duct tape creations! I am loving the look of it and plan on making a purse using these two colours and black… though I am debating the pattern and look I want.. Do I want to use MORE leopard and black accent… so maybe all the long strips be the cookie dough, the horizontals be the leopard and the accent black? PLEASE weigh in people!!

Spotty

I finished up the boys’ Trumpet of the Swans books they made. I used a cropodile and these neat plastic rings that I found at the local kids’ supply store! I think they worked out nice! This is the same thing we plan on doing with Stuart Little when we finish the book.

And then there is the laminating! Well I got done the Buggy Board Math Mats… all I need are some dry erase markers, the crayons are nice but I want markers as well. 

Laminated and ready to go

And then there is the days of the week and weather/season pieces I got from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I have subscribed to her newsletter and it is absolutely AWESOME for ideas. I seriously wish I could turn my blog into something like that, but I also enjoy it being a lot more than homeschooling… this is us in a nutshell to share with the friends and family who are NOT able to enjoy and experience first hand on a regular basis. 

We started our day early today… BLECK! We are so not a morning family. But we needed to go to the bank and thought we could go at opening. Turns out we had to wait until 11am for an appointment time but Ken had to run out to the post office to sign a form and send it right back for a contract anyway. So it was lucky he did that and stopped in at the bank to make the appointment without us. It really is a pain to get the kids into the vehicle and then it turn out to be for nothing! Since Trinity was up until midnight playing (so not happy about that) she actually slept in and had to be woken up. Echo woke up before 5 am and Ken was not cognizant enough to realize he should NOT take her out of the crib until it was too late. So they finished the morning on the couch snuggling. The boys found the one bit of Legos I had not put IN the bucket and stowed back away and used that as an argument starter while I was waking up and bathing… seriously Legos are a blessing and a curse in this house! 

Pre Bank Post Lego

I have to say I am in love with BMO, they were able to give us an appointment that we got into when we walked in the door… the lady was nice, speedy and able to deal with the kids easily! Joint account is now done… Just need to set up auto withdrawals and deposits and all that… though personally, I prefer cash! I actually have an aunt who works for BMO (different town) so bad on me to NOT be dealing with them already!

We decided to fill our morning up before the appointment by watching Electric Company. The kids (Echo included) really do enjoy the segments and the music and the storyline. I am not sure how much is sticking yet but today we were reviewing some of our favourite episodes… Netflix only has the first 12 of the new series… and pbskids.org does NOT allow Canadian viewing of full episodes (figures), the same issue as Cyberchase… Ken is still working on finding us episodes we CAN watch… I am almost down to having to purchase the dvds… not cheap!

We finally assembled our months of the year lapbooks. I used a couple resources for this… but the main one is a lapbook set up from homeschoolshare.com. As well as months of the year printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I also looked up months of the year on EnchantedLearning. We added in our pictures from yesterday based on the books we read and it turned out quite nice! Hopefully the boys can come back to these books and work on their months… we are getting there but it is not as easy to experience months as it is the days of the week! 

Finished!

All open

I heard back this morning that my dad’s second procedure was a success… both arteries are unclogged and he gets to go home tomorrow! Certainly a weight off my shoulders. I hope to get a chance to chat with him very soon! It is hard to be so far away but at the same time, thank goodness for technology to keep in touch! 

We ended our day early with a lovely early dinner for the kids and then Emanuel and I made up a crazy patterned flower! I was surprised at how the two patterns looked so… cute together. He was so proud! Zander and I have had a nice long talk and discussed his obsession with things we really can’t do right now the way he wants to (going to the beach, digging for treasure chests… playing hours of Minecraft). We are going to find things he DOES like to do and we CAN do together. The plan is to make a duct tape creation tomorrow just the two of us.

Emanuel and his flower

That is something we so quickly forget about – the one on one time… with all the kids and Echo’s needs the time gets lost in the muddle. It is something to work for. It looks like I may go on a trip to visit Karyn’s parents’ farm on Sunday… and Saturday is kick it to the curb – where you can put stuff out on the curb and people can come and take what they can use. Should be an interesting weekend!

Binky Baby

And then the camera decides to play nasty tricks on me… but take heart, it still takes pictures that are absolutely lovely… the problem is glaring at ME when I use it… digitals are going more and more to JUST a view screen and that is what this has, and that screen has a glitch… a horrible… horrible black line where the video is NOT working… no instead it bisects some of the menu (one line) and makes a black line on what I am seeing. I have had this camera THREE MONTHS! Ok, so I take MORE pictures than MOST normal people (who ever said we were normal?) but THREE MONTHS! Seriously? Thank goodness I keep packaging with the receipt and the warranty card (not the Best Buy one but the actual manufacturer one year one) with its 1-800 number. I think the world at large is telling me to stop buying little cameras and get myself one that is MEANT for massive picture taking… well it IS good to have a goal, even though it is NOT an easily achievable one. 

So our morning was not as smooth as I would like, but it was SMOOTHER than yesterday. Gavin apparently took initiative and when I got up and mobile and took over for Ken he and I were able to finish the first part of his self designed cross stitch pattern! Watering pot was stitched and ready to go! And then he spent his afternoon with the cherry (that does resemble and upside down flower). Zander has rather lost interest in the stitching (and before he even finished his first project) but Gavin has decided this is his sort of thing. So now with Gavin suitably content with these sorts of ongoing projects it is time to focus on finding something for Zander.

Stitching away

All done!!

Since we could not come to an easy agreement as to who should have first Mommy one on one time this morning and Echo was not in the mood to cooperate on ANY level we had storytime on Emanuel’s bed (seriously mattress on the floor – I am totally seeing how the Japanese style of having a futon on the floor to sleep on is a great idea… Emanuel would LOVE IT if we could clean up his bed and give him his room for the day, our compromise is to get together money and get him a smaller mattress… he doesn’t want a bed though, he likes the floor!) – 3 stories – a counting one with Clifford the Big Red Dog, a retelling of the story of Jonah for kids AND one of our Robert Munsch Collection. 

Story time in Emanuel's room

With Echo to nap and the argument over who should workbook first in full force I called a tie on everyone and declared it – LEGO MORNING! Sadly they wouldn’t let me move the bucket out of the back entry but plopped down right there and went at it! Lego Morning ended with four lovely and independent creations… everything from a little house to a skyscraper. 

Emanuel's house with horse

Trinity's little house

Gavin and his skyscraper

Zander's fancy house

Sadly that was the extent of  true organized time for the family. Days like this with Echo are few and far between but when they hit she is VERY assertive in her need for Mommy and for NO ONE ELSE to be by Mommy at the time. So we made do… quiet time gave the boys some time to sit in their room with their toys and Mommy a chance to eat (carefully timed to coincide with Echo taking one of her brief naps) and then we gave up, lay the baby down and went to the basement to watch the last 3 or 4 episodes of the first season of the (new) Electric Company on Netflix. I am hoping we can find some of the newer seasons online as it really grabbed their attention! 

So much angry baby!

I ran out with Karyn for a much needed break to have snacks and stop in at H&M and get part of Echo’s Christmas presents. I am determined to go on sale for everything if I can! I have an idea for Emanuel that includes the super affordable craft aisle at Michaels too! Trinity is well under control with a drawer full of eBay purchased swag… and the twins… well I will deal with them shortly too! Feels good to have plans!

Noms