July 2nd and 3rd

And so goes the days one after another… well this week was different! With Darryl off to California and back again for the week and Sharon at loose ends we volunteered up our company. The kids were beyond excited as that meant THREE kids to play with along with their toys and electronics. For me it was a chance to relax, hang out and with Sharon’s amazing selection – WATCH MOVIES! She has the comfiest movie watching bed EVER! 

Self sufficient for breakfast

And the best news of all – we FINALLY managed to coordinate with our facilitator and he (with wife in tow) were able to meet us at the Bleau family’s house and do our end of year assessment. It was actually rather a pleasant surprise to see everything spread out on the table. With how our last 6+ months have been from the extended move to Echo’s heart surgery and everything in-between we actually accomplished a lot! We had more than he could look through in the time allotted and he was very pleased with our progress. We talked about the upcoming year and how we want to homeschool. The verdict? Well, we need to school the REINSCH-JOHNSON way… the way that works best for our family regardless of what others think or say or do. After all, what is the most important is that it WORKS, that there is PROGRESS and that we are HAPPY. I think I can do that!!! And with our sort through I found ideas, items I had forgotten about and things to pass on to other families that would find better use for it. 

6+ months of work

The facilitator was a little later than scheduled so we overlapped our next exciting visit – Karyn and Victoria here for the afternoon. As Canada Day fell on a weekend some people had Friday off, others Monday (some chose). The timing was perfect as Ken and I had to run out and get passport photos done of myself and the girls (the boys’ are still good, time to get ducks in a line). So instead of all 5 kids sitting and waiting at Walmart the boys went out to the park that is a few blocks from Sharon’s to run out some of that excess energy. 

Local park

So much fun

And some fun in the backyard

Our next adventure was a government/travel inspired one. Time to get/renew the 3 passports we are lacking (thank goodness the boys’ are all still good). So there was forms to fill… a drive to make and a rather surprisingly SHORT wait at the passport office in the city. So of course I had to take pictures… apparently you are only allowed to take them facing North and South! The nice guard told us AND gave the kids flags! So learn something new every day!

Yup, that flag is RIGHT in front of Gavin's face

We also took pictures of the arch that marks the start of China time. The kids recognized the country of origin right off the bat. Proof of our China units taking root in the mind. 

The arch

Plaque

What else to do in the city.. stop and get my favourite red pepper dip to go with pitas we bought at H&W… 

Out front of the produce store

Pitas and dip

And then a quick stop off at Bulk Barn!

Bulk Barn

And then back to the Bleau house and the fun times with kids. It feels good to have lots of kids for our kids to play with and a friend to watch movies with… and watch movies we will!!!

Emma and the girls

Today I want to start with linking a great blog. HERE is her most recent entry on her choice in wearing the traditional hijab headgear. The video at the end is wonderful! I wish the world would just accept that people CAN make educated choices… not EVERYONE is forced to do things… tolerance is so important as is finding your own path to that higher power in the world! 

I think what struck me about the above blog entry is how people’s reaction to my friend are not unfamiliar to me… I get my own version in regards to other things in my life… not religious based but at the same time close to my heart… like when people realize that all 5 kids running around with me are mine, or that I stay home with them, or that I am homeschooling… there are people who look at me like I MUST be locked in the house and in turn forcing my kids to accept the same isolation. How dare I CHOSE to stay home! After all, anyone who is educated MUST want a career outside the home! And, in all actuality, I faced this BEFORE I was even married! In my last semester of University before I graduated I took a Women’s Studies course (it was one of my required credits) and during the span of the class we covered all sorts of issues. What stands out in my mind was when the professor asked me what I planned to do in the future. Well I admitted that regardless of my education, my career my choice was to stay HOME with my kids. I was told that was not the right choice, as any woman would want to have more than that. Well, I can accept that SOME women want something ELSE but more? This is my career, my job and one of my passions. My children, family, their education, the well being of my husband (who seriously DOES need to be reminded that coffee and caffeinated beverages are NOT meals in and of themselves), the crafts I do, the special moments I have – THESE are my life and the direct result of my choices. And that holds merit. 

That is not to say there are NOT people forced into lifestyles, forced into religions, forced into anything you can imagine but that by no way means paint everyone with the same brush! Just like I wear a cross, my friend wears her head covering. That is a choice between each of us and that higher power… I live my life for myself not because it was dictated… so those poor you looks really are not merited. That is not to say I don’t have poor me moments (oh trust me Friday night I was wallowing in a large one of those), but my 5 kids are precious, their education something I LOVE being in charge of and staying home – well my home is my work and I am proud of it! 

And now back to our daily life… not much occurred of great note on Friday… the kids were certainly NOT working WITH me. This has been a hard week with Ken working hard to get his Saturday cleared. We had to postpone Gavin’s first skating experience to Friday and late in the day at that! Ken and Gavin went out without helmet (oops) but had a blast giving skating a first go. We have to return this pair of skates but I am hoping I can get my hands on a second boy pair so that both of the twins have have at least a few more goes before the weather permanently moves to spring! 

Gavin

We read two more books with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. One had listed in it some instruments we were not familiar with so now we have some research to do on Monday. Each of the twins has already chosen an instrument of interest and we will fill in the gaps on some more exotic others. I am hoping we can at least look for interesting tidbits of knowledge for them to share with others. With 2 weeks until the day we have plenty of time to find out more and more about the Republic of Ireland. We are already going much deeper and further than I expected with their intense interest! I am so glad! 

Books!

We have added our knowledge about St. Patrick himself along with an illustration Emanuel coloured for us. Our folder is now in a binder though I am hoping to get to the Dollarama and find a GREEN binder to better store our endeavors. There is a little of each of the kids in this one. I have requested some fairy story books as well, so we will do some reading and discussing… I am so lucky with friends on Facebook who are more knowledgeable than I in regards to Ireland!

Saturday was a whirlwind sort of day… we had the whole family out the door by 11 am (I know INSANE!) in our borrowed van (fear not our part IS through customs). Without any sort of complications (seriously this IS my family??? What the!) we headed out to the city. One stop at Walmart to get a present for the birthday boy (1 yr old already!) and we were on our way to the den Otter’s. 

The kids always have a blast with the den Otters. There was toys and friends and nibbles… what more could our kids ask for? Well, for once… NOTHING! AND there were NEW friends to meet too! 

Kids everywhere

Alan’s sister Rachel and her family were there as well. Their middle child was a smaller baby too! It was so nice to talk to someone who had experienced the tiny but healthy baby! Apparently her husband has family in city here… so I hope to visit with them more often. 

There was cake for the adults and a jelly treat for the kids and of course the singing of Happy Birthday to Izaac! 

Cake

Noms

Of course there were presents to be opened!

Presents

And a photo op with our youngest god daughter. I had not seen her in well over 6 months! Which also meant in turn that Echo got to see one set of her godparents. She was a little shy and gravitated right to Sean. Don’t forget Uncle Ted… It was great to get to see so many friends that we are now so far from. I am hoping once our van is fixed (come on part get here already!!) we can start doing an every other month visit like we used to way back when before we lived in the city in the first place. 

Anna and Echo

Again

Now there are two stores (well three if you count T&T though we did not make it there) I miss A LOT – H&W and Bulk Barn and for once traveling corresponded with the time to stop AND the cash to spend there. First stop H&W to get fruit and vegetables where I was complimented by the cashier for taking all 5 kids out shopping. She was impressed by them being under control AND us being calm with them. 

Then Bulk Barn where one of the employees went out of her way to tell us THANK YOU for keeping our kids under control! She said so many people let their kids run wild… I cannot imagine, especially with the barrels of food unsealed. We got spices and noodles and snacks… and cereal! It felt good to actually be able to get the odd items we used to once every week or so. It felt normal and I need as much normal as I can before the 21st…

When we got home and unloaded the kids ran around a bit while Ken napped and then it was time for the long sought after time with Daddy. Down to the basement for PS3 games. I love that he is working so hard to have more time for our family. We have missed him.

Game time with Daddy

We have our house guest back until Monday night again. Sean is still off work due to his broken foot but optimistic that in another week or so he will be back on restricted work. 

Sunday was SUPPOSED to be Sunday School but after our busy Saturday both Mommy and Daddy were absolutely worn out. Instead we let the kids play in the living room and rested. It is so rare that we take a full morning off… and the resulting mess really wasn’t that bad! The weather was perfect for the boys to pretty much live outside in the afternoon I am hoping they will finish what they are created by tomorrow so I can take a picture to share!

So cute

We also cleaned ALL the bedrooms upstairs. I went through Trinity’s clothing and sorted out the too smalls… we attempted another sort through of the toys and I am hoping she can keep up with it a little longer. I hope that in the next 6 months or so I can pick up another dresser to put her dolls and dolly clothing in, maybe even teddy bears. Storage is always an issue with kids. 

Tidy room

Sunday evening we had a game night with potluck nachos and a new game! Bridge Troll. It took a bit of explaining but once we actually started playing it wasn’t bad at all. 

New game

Playing with Fydo

I am almost done my special barrette for Echo to wear post surgery. I am using ribbons I salvaged from the wand Trinity had that had broken. I finally hunted down my heart shaped crystals and plan on adding one to the center. Hopefully it will be done for tomorrow! I didn’t have the chance to plug in the hot glue gun today.

So the weekend is over and it is time to make the most of our week. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of the birthday boy!!

Echo and her boyfriend

Birthday boy

The den Otter family

And one more of Echo for good measure

Today we worked on what I consider to be a VERY important and relaxing skill – sewing… a basic embroidery stitch really and an opener to next week (I hope) and the big project – a first cross stitch! Can you feel my excitement? There are potentially two more stitchers (immediately at least) in the house ready to go!! Time to pass along what my mom taught me as a child. Want to make your own felt leaves? Try this link!

Leaf making supplies

Busy stitchers

We had our Stuart Little chapter as well in which he is rescued… of course after his brother George goes off on endless tangents! 

Trinitiy's is a mouse making pancakes... not sure on that one!

Emanuel has been practicing his “careful colouring” lately as well… we are ALL working on patience. Some days are definitely harder than others! 

Careful colouring

Are you a mom or dad who collects the Pampers Points? We are, though our points have slowed HUGELY since the twins were out of diapers and we made the leap to cloth for our Echo… wipes and Trinity’s Pull Ups keep them trickling in (though I am hoping the pull ups will ALSO soon be a thing of the past!)… well if you do there is a wonderful site that has a bunch of codes listed that you can use to add to your points. Some ARE expired but be sure to check them out and give it a go! 

I am attempting to tidy through things still… stuff has gone up on Kijiji, other things on Freecycle. I am also starting my “kids need” list… anything they are grown out of… things that aren’t going to work anymore and need replacing… top of the list – a new swimsuit for Emanuel! I will hopefully complete the list by tomorrow… the hope is to find used, on sale or hand-me-downs instead of having to put forth a whole bunch of money on full price new. I shudder when I think of the potential lack of sweaters! 

I have been sorting through links online this week as well to get going on our Christmas crafting. Another year where I want to make everything possible for our friends and family instead of purchasing. The sad thing is that for almost every idea I find online I have maybe one or two of the needed items and not all… Dollarama is certainly calling my name! But then when doesn’t it? I am going to share my ideas and links as I go through them… so be ready!

With the apples Kathy picked up for us at H&W I made applesauce… the bag of apples made enough for some to go in the freezer and the rest to be used… today – applesauce cookies. This is Echo’s first time with them and she LOVES them! I hate to think how many she had today!

Cookie Monster

Are you interested in winning a microscope for your homeschooling family? Check out this SITE for a free giveaway! It sounds like an amazing piece of equipment, I know our boys would go nuts over it. I plan on checking out the site further and if it is as good as it looks in passing I will definitely link it permanently! And the best part? This is open to Canadians too!!

It is a big day for yours truly – I decided to give it up and send out my maternity clothes to new homes. First I had to divide them up into piles – Kijiji, Freecycle, Mom’s work and the pieces that could not be given or sold (ie old undies)… that was an adventure down memory lane! I ended up with a nice pile for each (except the trash which was tiny) and hopefully will be seeing them all out the door in good order. It amazes me the size range I had – XS all the way up to L! Funny how a shirt can fit differently depending on cut, fabric and pregnancy! 

That actually took up most of my evening so there went my crafting time! Oops. I have a new idea to keep our busy kids occupied that is going to take up the rest of my evening – I am looking for fun and different worksheets to put in the binders their Uncle Wayne got for them so that when we hit boredom there is something they can pick and choose from! Here’s hoping this works! I have started my search at education.com. Of course they have plenty of the fairy pictures our Trinity absolutely LOVES.

Now no more procrastination… time to post and then move on!

Sunshine!

Our sunshine girl!