Tag Archive | Florida

The November Nutshell

And now for November… another month in a rather long nutshell!!! I have to admit… with all the Christmas stitching, school, swim lessons (cooking for the twins) and actual sales and commissions… my blog has languished a little.

Of course November is the month of AMERICAN Thanksgiving… ever confusing on a THURSDAY no less. This was an unusual one for us as Nana and Baba headed off to Florida to spend it with the other grandkids… but we persevered.101_9983

Thankful hands tree

Thankful hands tree

We had leaves to bag up still… great exercise for the boys and they were even relatively willing. Of course you can see the amazing colours better on a previous entry where we had the whole family out there dealing with the leaves on the ground HERE.101_9987

101_9989We did leave time for some mini fashion. Trinity is already able to wear some of the rather funky and fun clothing left to her by her cousin Gabriella when they left for Florida!101_9996

Of course we had to take advantage of the week of free online books through Bookit this month as well. Each one narrated with terrific pictures.101_9999

We had a blast learning about and building our own volcano. Science has always been the one thing we have struggled with in our homeschool life. Getting enough in, being organized but the whole family is quick to jump on board with a good craft and activity… add in chemicals (even ones as benign as vinegar and baking soda) and a little explosion and even Echo was there for the fun. This was the first time I sat down and talked to them about things like earthquakes and really looked into what damage a volcano can do to the land and the people around it.102_0015

102_0017IMAG0512Our November was full of visits with our favourite baby and his brothers… Jeffrey is definitely growing like a weed!102_0030

102_0032102_0037We also made it outside to enjoy the snow. What a difference from last year’s excessive cold and snow!!!102_0005

102_0064At the end of the month we pulled out the tree and fixings which of course is one of my favourite backdrops for photos. It always feels like the season is coming when we bring out the stockings. I am very proud of how they turned out. Though Ken STILL does not have a special stocking. You can check out the full blog post of family photos HERE.IMAG0517

IMAG0521IMAG0532A few helpful Thanksgiving books:

Our Thanksgiving was spent with Aunty Judy, Uncle Jim and Cousin Robbie. It was quiet and fun and full of delicious food! We were so thankful they could make it to the meal that the kids planned and shopped for! The twins were real troopers making up the grocery list and doing the choosing at Sam’s Club themselves!

Zander and the twins' Thanksgiving grocery list

Zander and the twins’ Thanksgiving grocery list

IMAG0478IMAG0480IMAG0483I snuck in a ladies outing with Nana over at Renee’s. We made woven fabric baskets and played with Mystro. Not the simplest craft but not impossible. You can find the instructions HERE thanks to Terry Atkinson. IMAG0391

IMAG0390School wise we have seen an influx in art interest. Art for Kids is win win with us!102_0019

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Echo's more free style work using photopaper and sharpie

Echo’s more free style work using photopaper and sharpie

Add in some completions and workbook interest…102_0006

102_0020And some rather amazing Halloween lapbook completions! 102_0010

102_0011102_0047102_0049I think we accomplished much of what we had hoped to this November. Add in swimming and scouts, Sunday School and choir and we have become way more busy than we expected! Thank goodness the arctic chill has not appeared! Do enjoy the overflow images for the LONG belated month of November HERE.

Emanuel swimming with a noodle!

Emanuel swimming with a noodle!

October in Review

It has happened… I am nearly TWO MONTHS behind on the blog… which begs the question… are we even INTERESTED in rehashing October? So I think, instead of a day by day reflection I will do an overview of some highlights. Let’s see…

We had a pretty amazing experience with working in pairs on the little guys’ Halloween lapbooks AND solo for the twins on their own. I have made up a resource page for our items. I apologize in advance for not linking up all the books but I am sure if you check your local library or bookstore most could be found! A library card is a wonderful thing is it not? Our Halloween resources can be found HERE.101_9725

We started up with the Pizza Hut Book It program once again as well. There is a new app to go with it that we are getting used to. There were a few hiccups. We had to just go by Johnson for their last name. No hyphenating. But the kids are so excited to be earning their pizzas once again. You can check out the program HERE.101_9704

Ken is also jumping in to help us finish our long enjoyed VOLCANO unit. He had a really creative way to show the creation of a volcano using wash cloths of all things!101_9706 101_9708

This is another blogged resource page. You can find all of that HERE. We took longer than expected but enjoyed it all the same. Some years we bust through these major unit studies… others… not so much!

Of course in October we have Home Depot! November has TWO since they are not doing the normal one in December. Doubly difficult as we have our swimming lessons Saturday mornings so we have to rush from the pool to the store to make it there  before the program is over!101_9716

The weather is cooling and the kids are starting to bundle up. It is always a but of a shuffle to go through all the clothes and find out what fits, what leaks and what is worn to pieces.101_9718

our big excitement was having Andrew with younger brother Alex in to BABYSIT for us! Ken and I had one last chance to take burnable stuff over to Chris and Renee’s and wanted to really enjoy it. We brought Cousin Robbie along, had drinks and dinner and stayed out SUPER late. Andrew managed fine and is already agreeing to sit again for us!101_9748 101_9749 101_9750

The boys’ newest addiction along with playing Pokemon is to play Munchkin.. my boardgame! They are even attempting fair play with their siblings! NOT BAD!!!101_9751

To celebrate CANADIAN Thanksgiving we not only called Grandma to say hello but did up a poster of things we are grateful for.101_9754

Then to top it off we had dinner at KFC (a Reinsch family tradition). Nana and Baba came as well as they plan to be in Florida over the American one. HAPPY THANKSGIVING CANADIAN FRIENDS AND FAMILY (BELATEDLY).20141013_171309

We had some crafting fun…101_9737

A trip to Mall of America to thoroughly enjoy LegoLand and spend some of their Gammie treat money on a container of hand picked lego pieces! Not too bad of a family excursion. We also brought snacks which always smooths the road.101_9778 101_9780 101_9783 101_9771

AND a homeschool special for the aquarium in the mall! Everything from jellyfish to sharks to a tide pool you could touch!101_9767

101_9770We snuck in a babysitting experience or two with the Schwartz boys. Jeffrey and his brothers are a family favouite.101_9789 101_9790 101_9791 101_9792

Emanuel, Trinity, Ken and I went to a Scouts day camp that included siblings. Sadly we lost our rocket to the great unknown but did it every FLY!101_9796 101_9797

Indoor games and colouring were the favourite with Trinity now in love with the idea of archery.101_9808

OH and a messy snack!101_9812 101_9815

We got another dose of baby time…101_9827 101_9825

Celebrated Daddy’s birthday with PIE!101_9845 101_9855

Carved pumpkins… sort of… and sent the seeds to Future Uncle Ravyn for roasting! Aunty Shandai came over especially to share the good news! Mommy is now to be a part of an OCTOBER wedding! We are so pleased for them! CONGRATS YOU TWO!!!!!101_9843 101_9848 101_9853

We crafted it up…101_9741 101_9757

You can enjoy our leaf experience in an additional blog entry HERE.

And see our Halloween AMAZING costumes HERE.

Yup basically October in a rather lengthy picture filled entry!101_9793

 

Onto More Fun

August 3-6

We have started our August with a very busy weekend. From a historical site to a rather amazing park. With friends along to share in the fun – Renee, Christopher and their 3 sons. they had been to this park before… it is a great combination of play set with a small splash pad area. We had a bit of a drive to get there and it was a rather popular place but we even managed to snag a table… in the shade!101_8934

We got there and the kids just scattered.101_8923 101_8924 101_8927

We brought some treats to munch on and there was a water fountain to sip from. It was an amazing time!101_8936

After that we headed back to town and the Schwartz’s for dinner. Although the kids had to enjoy the slip and slide first.101_8938 101_8942 101_8946

Since it is creeping up on Echo’s FOURTH birthday we brought a cake and Chris and Renee had a special present just for our almost birthday girl.101_8950 101_8952 101_8957 101_8960

Echo is absolutely in love with Jeffrey as well. (but then again, who isn’t???)101_8949

Monday and Tuesday was back to school (half days). We have been working on our pen pal work, tracing picture using tracing paper… all sorts of fun stuff! So appreciative of Gammie sending us the Mixels.101_8962 101_8963 101_8966 101_8964 101_8965

But on Tuesday we emptied out Ken and myself’s bedroom (with lots of kids’ help). We had seen Nana and Baba off on their Florida Adventure to take more of Joe and Faithe’s things down and help them settle in (the left a few days later than the family but took longer driving stretches). I figured it was as good a time as any to sort out our bedroom. We do keep getting more stuff (not a huge surprise after getting rid of 3/4 of what we owned before we moved south). Final tally – most everything collected is used and useful! Just like I intended!101_8967

With the sun holding and Daddy needing to do some garage sorting the kids spent a lot of the afternoon in the sun… or in the girls’ case in the shade of an umbrella.101_8968 101_8969

We found a critter.101_8971

And plucked from the garden.101_8975

And then continued the trend on Wednesday (looking back now and writing this in September when the weather just blinked and went fall I am SERIOUSLY missing these warm sunny days!!!).101_8976 101_8984

Sometimes you need to run before you learn!101_8974 101_8973 101_8983

And then go right back out again!!!!101_8986 101_8984

Enjoy the picture overflow!101_8928 101_8929 101_8932 101_8933 101_8956

This entry was posted on 13/09/2014, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments