It was Remembrance Day today. This year has special significance to our family as my new brother-in-law Adam is overseas for 6 months. So please keep a special thought/prayer in your heart for him and his safety. He will be gone over Christmas leaving my sister Kat alone in the south. This comes quite soon after their wedding day and we cannot get down to her to visit. Please remember all in the military! Regardless of how you feel about current world events these individuals are amazing people who have sacrificed a lot to ensure that the world is a safer place. 

So yesterday apparently being told that since you did NOT follow simple instructions and do your schoolwork without grumbling you would NOT be getting your allowance today was grounds for a major full out screaming old fashioned temper tantrum. Well only if your name is Gavin. That was actually a huge surprise as he is usually my level headed boy who understands that behaviours have consequences. We simply had to have him yell himself out a bit in his bedroom (with the door closed as of course this occurs during naptime for Emanuel and Trinity), and then go downstairs and talk to Daddy. With Ken swamped with work lately we are all feeling the lack of Kenny time. 

The 4 kids DID manage some somewhat peaceful quality time working on Emanuel’s Thomas Mega Blocks trainset on his bed. I love it when they can all work together on something, there was chatter about the adventures the trains were on, the town they drove through…

Train set

We read our snowflake library books. Two of which were based on Wilson A. Bentley and his snowflake photographs. We drew our own snowflakes on black paper to look like his negatives and included a quote: No two snowflakes are alike. Gavin did a whole mini book of his own snowflakes to include in his snowflake lapbook. 

So pretty!

Today was a special day for the twins, they got to go to the Agri-trade show with their Uncle Wayne! So that meant we ALL had to be up and them ready by 9 am, early for our family. Since only the twins could go (handful they are and his truck can only hold so many) the little ones and I had our morning to ourselves. We started with popcorn and the jumperoo…

Popcorn

And moved swiftly into painting. There were some fridge magnet kits though the paint included in those was dried rock solid. Thank goodness we have a large  variety of colours, though I noticed my yellow is getting low. Trinity went one step further and did a painting as well… so of course baths followed! 

Painting together

Painting on paper

Last night I opened up my Etsy store! I haven’t posted much but it is a start! I need to get Ken to make me a logo and post up a few more items but I am starting small. Etsy charges 20 cents per post so I don’t want to go hugely into the hole and then find out I can sell nothing! So please click the link above and take a look… suggestions welcome, sales even more so! I have put the shipping low so far and will see how items go. I want to try and charge as close to what it costs me to ship as possible. 

Today was full of fun with friends… Trinity, Echo and I went out with Kathy and Karyn shopping for post potty training Kitty booty. She picked out socks (knee!) and a necklace/bracelet set (pictures to follow). Then there was the food court and Edo Japan (ok Arby’s curly fries for the picky Trinity) and then Michaels for a bit more shopping (oops). 

At the mall

Wore her out!

The twins had an amazing time with their uncle. They came back with a whole bunch of booty, memories and stories to tell… oh and yoyos. Again pictures to follow as after a fun day out I am too lazy to take pictures of all the goodies!!!

Oh and the most awesome of friends kept me company even into tonight! We had Little Caesar’s for cheap food… and chatting was done… and now I have to post this silly entry before I forget!!! Remember to go back to this entryand enter the draw! 

YAY company!

Well Echo is now a well travelled baby – she has made her way into Saskatchewan! Not as far as her Great Grandmother who is past Saskatoon but well into the province to Maidstone… and then on to Aunty Karyn’s family cabin. Only AFTER we did the rounds seeing all her childhood memory spots. But I am getting ahead of myself. We left here at 7:30 in the morning to swing by to pick up Victoria and then off to Saskatchewan… We stopped off at McDonald’s back where my mom lives. In fact, the one that I used to work at in high school (before the remodel made it all cool).

Sitting like a big girl at McD's

Then back in the car to drive on. We stopped in Innisfree to get gas. That left bathroom, snack pick up and baby to change. Then back we went…

Snack time

We had to drive through Lloydminster to get into Saskatchewan… and then into Maidstone to tour the town before heading out to the cabin. We saw friends’ homes, the schools she went to… her old family home… so much fun! The drive out to the cabin proved to those of us NOT from Saskatchewan that the old adage that Saskatchewan is FLAT is absolutely wrong! OH and did I mention some of the views were absolutely breath taking???

So pretty!

There was some sad news in regards to the cabin – there had been a recent break in… it looked as if they got in and rifled through the stuff in the main room…but took NOTHING! Very odd! So we had a bit of a job ahead of us to tidy is up and make some semblance of order in there. I think we did a good job, after we had lunch though.

After a full afternoon of going through things, checking out stuff in a broken silo and generally tidying we went out to the edge of the land the cabin was on to see the view. And to take pictures! Windy, sunny and gorgeous!!!

Panoramic Saskatchewan

Then it was time to head back home… quite the drive, with a stop off first at Lloydminster to go to the bathroom and get gas and then back to the same town we had breakfast in to get supper. Wendy’s! And then home home home.

Supper at Wendy's

I came home to a bit of a mess! Apparently while Ken was sleeping before church they decorated and then all day played played played.

Paperchains

He did get a group picture before church! AND Trinity joined the preschool class that was coupled with Emanuel’s Kindergarten class. We are not going to force the issue but from time to time give her the chance to join the class… all depends on her mood and how the potty training is going! I am told she had a GREAT time!

Ready to go church

OH I also came home from some gifts from a special homeschooling friend. I missed her email asking to text if I was going to be home as I had already left. Included were backpacks! Nice ones, that are much bigger than what the kids had and PERFECT overnight size for going to grandma’s. And some Halloween goodies and baby clothes. Her grand-daughter, while younger than our Echo is bigger (isn’t that the way it is with our pixie?). I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful friend and sad that I missed her! Maybe next time?

Some goodies

We brought back some treasures from the cabin too – two lovely little chairs I just need to clean up and maybe paint… and a doll house complete with the furniture, dollies and a little car! If you pull down the switch on the front door the doorbell even makes a sound! I remember playing with a house like this at the doctor’s when I was little. We are so lucky to have friends who are downsizing their possessions and old favourites. We certainly appreciate it and feel blessed!

Dollhouse

Today was not the most fluid of days… but we had some lovely moments! The kids started with Stuart Little… I figured it was best to  get that second last chapter done. Definitely some resistance as everyone was still in last week’s cranky mode but better! 

Stuart Little

We did some math workbook work… funny enough – both boys ended up starting with probability – Zander at the grade 1 level and Gavin the grade 2. Pretty much the same thing though for both.

Math time

And then we started on our NEW project, my stepsister’s husband (Adam) is gone overseas. He is a mechanic and fixes planes for the airforce. So when I recently got send his mailing address I decided we would write him some letters. After all we have never met and this is a great way to begin that. The boys were a little resistant with the writing portion but excited about drawing him some special pictures. The little two just drew pictures and used stickers but they did have a lot of fun doing it. 

Not sure why Echo was so surprised!

We started on our Halloween print outs today as well… the UK site had some cute paper doll type stuffthat I printed out for each child. 3 decided to make their people all dressed up, 1 to go the usable paper doll route. Surprisingly that was ZANDER! Usually he chooses the least amount of work. Once I laminate them it will be another set of cutting out to  get these ready for use.

Laminated but not cut apart

Then there is the Halloween Activity books… I picked and chose my way through it try not to go too beyond the kids’ abilities. There was quite a few options!

I finished replacing the Velcro on ONE of the sized small diapers… it took me two days but it is done. The only problem is that when I went to start a second all of the covers were in the wash! So hopefully tomorrow I can catch up on the laundry and go from there. I have 4 in total to replace, as her 5th is a relatively new cover. 

Diaper Velcro replaced

The twins made new paperchains to go on the tree out front… we aren’t too huge on the decorating BUT this year we figured we would do up our tree just a little! 

Ready for the tree

Karyn got off work early today and decided to come by and whisk the twins off to the library and then to the park! Lucky things. This time the other branch where they got some books and movies. Tomorrow it is back in the pj’s for the little ones for stories and crafts so we are getting well acquainted with our local library branches! Already well worth the 10.00 for the card. That left the 3 little ones to enjoy freezies and hang out together here. 

Freezie time

Sunshine snack

OH found out today we have had the wrong postal code! For those who need it the end 3 digits/numbers and letter things are 2C7! Be sure to change it!!!! 

So there is lots to be done upstairs after a full day away! Add to that costumes to be completed and more Halloween crafts and activities to print out and I don’t think I will be going to bed any time soon! BUT I managed to get a winter coat for Emanuel off of Kijiji for 10.00 and tomorrow will sell a costume to someone else for the same! I really feel like I am contributing! Hopefully more of my ads will sell this week and I can decrease the clutter in my closets! In the meantime, back to creating a penguin out of bits and pieces! 

Sweet baby

Well the weekend has come and gone and with it two VERY warm days. Saturday topped out at over 30 degrees Celsius. Hot enough that the kids didn’t want to play out in the sprinkler and the pool for very long at all! I am definitely going to put a new kiddie pool top of my list for next summer. Our princess pool is great – for Echo and Trinity but just too small for the boys! They did enjoy themselves for the time they were outside. 

Maybe our last bathingsuits in the backyard, what a cute group

Out in the sun WITHOUT a pull up

I snuck Echo outside with her blanket and Petite Sheepette to take pictures in the sunshine. She has been rather fussy this week and we finally figured out why… she has cut two molars! She is such an odd bean… no front tops, she goes for the painful molars. At least we think they are molars, she has a very small palate so it is hard to tell the exact placement. Goes along with the teeny tiny feet, hands, everything, but all well in proportion. I am hoping to get her into her birthday tutu dress and see if we can get some more pictures. But timing and weather have to coincide, and her mood of course. 

Sunshine baby

It was a slow crafting day on Saturday, too much cleaning, too much heat and too many cranky kids… but I did finish the Vivid Squirrel! I tried to finish a sock owl, but made a mistake with the wings… oops. Thankfully I have enough sock pieces left over to wing up the last 3 owls tonight. Then it is time for Dollarama and more socks! 

Vivid Squirrel

Saturday evening we had boardgames with Kristen, Fydo and Sean… Echo has finally warmed up to Fydo and Kristen and has always been in love with Sean! We stayed up late chatting after gaming. It was an absolute blast.

Playing blocks

Gaming!

We managed to get our timing right and Skype with my dad and my sister Kat (you will remember that she is newly married… you can read about the event on the official announcement HERE… her husband left on Monday for Kuwait for 6-9 months!). It was great to hear from both of them though the kids kept it a busy call, making noise, arguing, spilling something… so it was just like dad and Kat were here on a regular day! He looks great and I am told feels a ton better with all that extra oxygenated blood getting where it should at a good pace. 

I had another pattern sale… the D20 again… and this time the buyer linked my site. I figure I should do the same in return. She is a crafty individual and has an Etsy store you should check out! I look forward to seeing what she does with my pattern! It is always exciting to have someone want to purchase one of our patterns and even more so to have them mention you on their blog! I am hoping to get some more patterns up on our site and maybe connect with more people who are interested in them. I would love to know if you downloaded one of our free ones and see what has been done with it! And if you REALLY feel like it, purchase one and do the same – every purchase adds to my eBay Christmas shopping fund!  

Oh and something else that got lost in the hectic life that was last week – I got a package in the mail! A friend was moving and hadn’t been cross stitching anymore so she sent me her stash! There is thread, hoops, even an unfinished project I am going to take up and see if I can complete! What a pick me up for a harsh week! 

A stash!

And then I was able to sell a few baby boy/outgrown boy items on Kijiji AND send a couple large bags of playclothes on their way through Freecycle on the same day! My goal right now is to sell enough BOY stuff that I could buy some new/used GIRL stuff. Once Trinity is out of her size 3’s I have a small pile of hand-me-downs and then I am out of clothing for her. So if anyone is interested in trades, working out a deal and preferably local or at least coming my way… that would be helpful! AND if you have the shopping urge our Miss Trinity loves getting clothes for Christmas and birthdays (seriously no lie, especially if they are Hello Kitty OR pink!). 

Speaking of Trinity – well  we ran out of pull ups yesterday and were not really wanting to use money needed somewhere else to buy more so we crash coursed our potty training. We have done a bit of laundry, cleaned a few floors and are seeing GREAT results. Now going out shopping we would definitely put on the pull up but we had poop in the potty and everything! She was getting a little frantic about wearing the undies and then came out crying that she had pooped, well quick sit on the potty, a slight scrub of the undies and we had a success! So she earned her sport bottle, has not used a pull up all day (well wore one a couple times but didn’t pee in it!) AND is a big girl now!

Successful Potty = Hello Kitty goodies!

Since the boys got Kinder Surprise eggs at Sunday School we had to walk down to the convenience store and get a box for Trinity too… they don’t sell them as singles so we bought a box of 3 – for 4.67! OUCH but it does break down to about the normal price per egg… just OUCH. So she had one as did Mommy and Daddy. Yum! And the toys were all fun. She wore a pull up there as at times the washroom is out of order – they have had some vandals come in and plug the toilet. 

Kinder yum

Our evening wasn’t too busy, I ran out with Karyn (Echo in tow) to get a forgotten grocery and some supper… but I think I am just feeling the stress of the week. I am hoping to start tomorrow with a smile on my face and a heart centred on homeschooling and my children.

Be sure to check out Fat Sheep’s Site… her adventures are ongoing!!!!

Fun in the sun with her sheep