December 9-13

Mondays, as we get closer to Christmas and further along in Advent get more and more red and green and festive. This year I am doing a combination of secular and religious worksheets, books and shows. So much colouring!

Our storytime has continued as well. The boys are reading (Emanuel included) to each other and myself whatever they want but TRINITY’s books are all Christmas and all fun!

All week actually

Movies too

We also did our yearly page from Activity Village – What we like about Christmas!

And later in the day – special cookie making time with Daddy!! Mommy and Daddy had an anime date with a new/old Facebook friend, his daughters and another couple. So of course I wanted to bring one of our homemade goodies… SUGAR  COOKIES!

I just realized I got my timeline wrong – on the last entry (HERE) I said we DECORATED the tree… when in actuality we ASSEMBLED the tree and flared out the branches. TODAY we put our Canadian ornaments out on display and it was so much fun!!!!!

Of course on Tuesday it was time to see Santa… something you can relive HERE.

Wednesday we reflected on our visit with Santa in our journals.

The boys also reflected on what Christmas means to them in this Activity Village printable (link for their site on right, just look up Christmas… they have TONS!).

We also made a wreath (hands) and bow (Echo’s feet) with the kids.

The kids worked with Daddy on the NEXT step of cookie making – making the icing.

And Nana found Trinity a great deal on a VERY appropriate winter jacket that allows us to hand Echo down Trinity’s old purple one (loose but usable).

Of course we had to keep making cards as well. Mommy hands off!

We ended the work week with more worksheets…

Books…

We even had a workbook completion!

One week closer to Christmas!!! And don’t forget anime night at a dear Facebook friends’ place on the 13th. It was so fun to meet Keith in person! 

April 24-25

Just like I promised, more Dirty Jobs today… Mattress Recycler (Season 4, Episode 7) where they… recycle mattresses (and remove old abandoned boats) can be watched (with Prime) for free on Amazon HERE. Our second episode was Chinatown Garbage Collector (Season 1, Episode 4) again Amazon (Prime for free) HERE.

Nana and Baba took just Trinity and Emanuel out for the morning, once they finished their letter and word practice of course!! It is so quiet with just 3 of the kids here! Especially when the twins are busy watching their Dirty Jobs.

We have continued our discussion with a list of things you can recycle…

1. bottles and cans
2. paper and cardboard
3. glass
4. metal
5. toilets
6. paint
7. old toys/teddies… repurpose OR gift
8. wood
9. mattresses
10. plastic
11. food (compost)

We have always been aware of the good you can do by passing things along and have not only been a passer but a passee. (Is that even a term??) There is no reason that a handmedown should be refused if it is useful! When we use what we or someone else already has we are making a smaller footprint and extending the life of items that would otherwise fill up our landfills.

Our Earth Week related book of the day (and the last one I have that is not a chapter book) is Earth Day from the Let’s See company. This book is by Marc Tyler Nobleman. Today, in honour of conservation we did NOT print off anything specifically for this book or do a special page. Instead, we discussed what we learned and added to our list of things you can recycle on the back of our large brown paper page.. this paper is full up of information, both sides and once we are done will be used for a craft and then recycled. The kids are so proud of how we use BOTH sides of everything (scratch paper or scrap paper we call it here… so I can write out the sentences they tell me for them to in turn copy). We certainly cannot be paper free here but we are doing our best to make each scrap count! I am still determined to make paper with the kids this summer. We just need to get together our supplies and a sunny weekend for Ken to join in!

Earth Day

Our chapter book had a list of things the kids in the story needed to do to be a part of the Green Club… 10 things to conserve and clean the earth… Out of the 10 we have one left on the list to accomplish! Pick up 10 pieces of garbage. How many do you do on the list?

1. Use recycled items to make crafts
2. Turn off the lights, computers, etc
3. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth
4. Use reusable bottles for water (we use cups in the bathroom)
5. Pick up 10 pieces of trash (our mission!)
6. Bike or walk to school. We count this as done as we walk to parks, walk around the house and run outside for fun!
7. Use cloth bags at the grocery store (we also added in that when we get plastic or paper we use them for other things… I have a ball of plarn waiting for time to learn how to make something with it!)
8. Use BOTH sides of the paper… of course!!
9. Use cloth towels instead of paper in the kitchen
10. Take showers over baths (or if you are going to take a LOOONG time in the tub take that bath we agreed that a bath soak would use LESS water but showers ARE faster)

With rain gauge

The twins and I took a moment to return to our penguin roots and look at an extra book. Without Emanuel I did not want to cover the next chapter in Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Our book was I am a Penguin by Karen Durrie. The twins took turns reading the book to me… we came upon a surprising fact that we had not seen before: “I keep my feathers dry with oil from my tail.” Definitely new to us!

I am a Penguin

Reading Together

We also made our very own penguin finger puppets. You can follow our instructions HERE. Though Ken winged it with his pieces and made his own pattern. Of course we had to wait to show them off properly until the next day.

Our pieces

Assembly

Penguins!

We had another penguin book as well… My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. We got together and drew an amazing penguin habitat!

Habitat

We were creative all over the place… the boys continued work on their boat… the girls made block towers…

Towers in pastels

I finished my infinity scarf and made it well… infinite! You can find the pattern I used HERE. Thanks to my Facebook friend Keith for the suggestion AND all the support while I worked it out!

Sorry about the picture.. I was so excited to finish it that I took it in my pj’s

We are certainly getting our earth facts down!!! I think next year when we do Earth Day/Week we will focus some time on what the earth is actually made of and its place in the universe as well!

Of course ECHO believes SHE is the center of the universe… and who are we to say she isn’t? hehe

Now that our gifts have been received I can FINALLY share some images of the items I made and gifted! So sit back and enjoy the creations… of varying complexity!

For Trinity!

These were a lovely and relatively quick creation. I got the pattern from the Crochet Spot. You can either purchase patterns from them, or do what I did and do the monthly membership so I can come and go and take what I please. I made all of these using Red Heart yarn. You can find the actual pattern right HERE.

Also for Trinity

I have to admit to some over stuffing on this tea set but Trinity LOVED it! The pattern is available for purchase right HERE. Again Red Heart yarn.

Jimmie’s Penguin

When I asked Holly what I should get her family (my brother’s wife) she suggested this little gem. He is tiny and quick but oh so adorable. I used Red Heart yarn and a Lion Brand pattern. (I think you need to sign up with them to see it, but it is free). I am not a huge fan of button eyes… as you will notice with Echo’s pieces later, but he is adorable don’t you think?

James’ “hot chick”

This was made to go with the sock owl I made my brother the year previous (an Emo Owl)… Another Crochet Spot pattern, this little duckie is tiny and quick but oh so cute! (again Red Heart yarn)

Holly’s Cupcake

I could not resist the cupcake for my sister in law. Sadly I think I over stuffed this cutie but still, I think it looks rather yummy! Another Crochet Spot pattern, of course! I hope to make some of these to go with Trinity’s Christmas stuff… maybe in varying colours and play around with beads as sprinkles?

Echo’s bunny

Another Crochet Spot pattern, I skipped the features (I simply COULD NOT find the right buttons) and made this sweetie up in the usual yarn choice. The hat is removable and it has the cutest tail!! Mine is a little stiffer than the example but Echo is quickly squishing it into submission.

Echo’s snowman

Now I had to alter this pattern a bit, well more leaving things out, as it was for a 2 year old to snuggle. So no features and NO arms. I also made my own pattern for the scarf and played around with the hat. BUT you can find the original pattern HERE. Thanks again to my Facebook friend Keith for pointing this pattern out!

One of the soap savers

I think this one went to my brother and his family. But I tried various ones out to give away. You put the bits and pieces of soap bars you have left over in these and use them like a soap bar. Very cute! And, another Crochet Spot pattern!

Same colours as the old style large bulb outdoor lights

Ok so I favoured Crochet Spot with my gifts this year! There were two long strings of these Christmas lights for Ken’s parents. Ken researched the original colour pattern and everything. You can purchase the pattern for these HERE.

Pato inspired

My first original creation – that tiny hat on Pato’s head!!! Of course I used the same pattern for the bird as the one for my brother, I just made the beak longer.

This is a portion of Karyn’s Christmas present

This is a FREE pattern off of Crochet Spot. It is a Half Round Mini Bag. Listed as an intermediate pattern, I actually found that as long as I TRUSTED the pattern it all went rather smoothly!

Two felties!

The rest of Karyn’s gift from an Etsy purchase. There are 4 in the pattern set, so two more to make for another holiday!

And that is the bulk of my creations!