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.

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.

We 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!

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.

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.

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

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

At 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.

A few helpful Thanksgiving books:

• Gobble Gobble CRASH! A Barnyard Counting Bash by Julie Stiegmeyer
• Turkeys on the Family Farm by Chana Stiefel
• Thanksgiving by Natalie M. Rosinsky
• Arthur’s Thanksgiving by Marc Brown (a fun read with a good lesson)
• Thanksgiving Is… by Gail Gibbons

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

I 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. 

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

Echo’s more free style work using photopaper and sharpie

Add in some completions and workbook interest…

And some rather amazing Halloween lapbook completions! 

I 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!

August 11-15

We really are seeing some lovely sunshine and warmth this month.

With Nana and Baba back from Florida and prepping for Mexico (3 weeks) it was the perfect time to satisfy a Nana craving – CORN ON THE COB!

Time for Shark Week (which I am going to admit did not STAY a week… stretched the whole month really). As usual we started with what we knew before starting. I was quite proud of the length of this list. I have, of course, made a blog post with all our information… list of the Discovery shows we watched… I will post that by the end of this recap of August PROMISE.

We have really focused on yard work in our afternoons. Time to get the kids active and outside. And time to enjoy the sunshine before fall is good and upon us.

Of course I covered Echo’s 4th birthday on this blog entry HERE. I think we had a good day!

The next day it was back to sharks… sharks… Wild Kratts… oh and more sharks. I did have to be rather careful what shows we watched on Discovery this year. There was a mocumentary and some that were over dramatized. There were even a few that were seemingly people putting themselves into the danger unnecessarily… wedded most of those out. Even the kids were unimpressed by people getting into the water with sharks when they don’t have to.

We had to draw a thank you picture for Gammie for the Mixels. The boys are getting quite accomplished at recreating these with pencils and colour.

Our cursive practice has become a constant part of our day now as well… not the easiest thing to learn but I figure necessary.

We had a mini fashion show with some dresses Gabbi left Trinity when they cleaned out to move. Adorable! Trinity absolutely fell in love with the hat and wore it constantly even with how warm it has been!

Of course Echo needed in on the photo action.

Nana and Baba gave Echo her birthday present on Friday as well – an adjustable basketball hoop.

And then out to dinner at Culvers! After all… Nana and Baba are off to Mexico within days!!!

Seriously though, we are back outside as much as we can!!! SUNSHINE!

August 1-2

While Nana and Baba were seeing off the family we were out and about ourselves on errands and the like. I had a fun finish on the 1st – a pair of SHARK SLIPPERS I had commissioned by a twin mom for another twin mom. We are all in the same egroup and have been for ages! They are such a silly thing but turned out so lovely! I was glad to be able to get them in the mail before they needed to be taken across the border to Canada for a visit!

We did stop at a fun park while I sewed the eyes onto these. The kids have fully embraced the sunny days, though the heat can be rather stifling and make for shorter play times.

The twins assured me that after all that play some quiet tv time was in order.

The 2nd was the first Saturday of the month and so HOME DEPOT day…

Pencil boxes

But we made the day doubly exciting by being registered for a program at the Alexander Ramsey House (HERE). They do a once a month time capsule on the first Saturday and have a walk through of the house with a tour leader. It is so much fun! Limited photo taking opportunities but we did have a blast. And each of the kids ended up with a time capsule with little pictures of things they learned about in our tour. We plan on going again in October!!

Such a beautiful house!

And the kids got to get involved in the kitchen making hardtack (HERE)! Very cool!

Miss Trinity came home to a good bye present from Gabbi – a backpack and matching blanket that she is utterly in love with.

And I had an amazing gift – a drawing of the crochet items I gave her for her birthday. Thank you sweetie!

And a few more from the house…