There are days where you keep on schedule and days when you don’t. Those days that you don’t can be due to a positive addition or a negative… today we DIDN’T keep to schedule and the reason was a VERY fun and welcome one. An afternoon visit from one of my mother’s brothers… Great Uncle Wayne. Not only did he visit but he brought a large box of Legos AND t-shirts… I have the 5 cutest McLean clan members EVER! 

In their matching shirts

So our afternoon of Inuit lapbook assembling was vetoed in favour of a visit with a favourite uncle. Not a loss in my mind! There was lots of Lego creating, adult company for Mommy and a chance for Echo to show off her new found ability to walk. It really doesn’t get old! And the kids were so busy they never even THOUGHT of going down to bother their Daddy (who was swamped with work!). 

We did get in some workbook time in the morning AND the boys started their St. Patrick’s Day decorations. A good standby for our family – paperchains! This time in green of course. The boys are VERY good with the staplers. 

Paperchains!

Oh and Gavin read this to me pretty much all by himself!

I have been prepping worksheets (I will share what links I have later) and finding green craft supplies. We will be making shamrocks tomorrow with green cardstock, glitter and all things green and crafty… Ken picked up some library books for me as well, I managed to find a few on why St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated (beyond the green and the beer). 

I realized that I had not shared the amazing 5.00 boots! So here is a picture! I am still getting used to them and have worn them only twice BUT it is so nice to have something a little more fashionable! 

The boots

And while visiting took the place of organized learning I DID manage to get my owls done tonight. 4 St. Patrick’s Day themed owls. I am going to put two up on my Facebook page right away and am toying with Kijiji as a medium to get some sales. I have a shelf of the little owls and would love to free up space for the Easter socks I have in mind to buy!! As always I am keeping them at 10.00 plus shipping. 

All 4 owls... you can find the two for sale on the Facebook site I have listed on the right.

There has been no word on the part for the van. Apparently it did not only come from out of province but also out of country! Just across the border into the US so they are thinking… customs (seriously… a 15.00 USED part…). We are hoping it will get here SOON as little Izaac’s birthday party is on the 3rd and we would rather go in our own vehicle (though I have a back up plan). 

So owls are completed, plans have been made for tomorrow AND the weekend looks like some stuff WILL be going on (we will see what we manage to make it to!)… keep checking back! 

The littlest MacLean baby (so far! cousin is due shortly)... I think my grandparents would have been proud

Mid week already and the Valentine’s Day/Birthday fun continues. I got to sleep in this morning as Ken had hooked the Wii up and put the kids’ new drawing game on. It is basically a tablet and they loved it! As I was asleep during the play time I am not exactly sure what all there is to do but I do know that everyone had something they COULD do!

We have continued our Inuit learning. Today it was hunting and Inuksuks. I have been alternating with them writing things down and myself. That way we are focusing on the content and not so much the frustration of having to print letters and words. We keep finding more and more interesting things about this group of peoples!!!

We spent a nice chunk of time with our workbooks and with Sean here for a visit Ken and I were able to leave everyone (Echo was sleeping) at home and do some very necessary grocery shopping. I am on the look out constantly to find ways to cut corners with food. The kids have HUGE appetites and our wallet is far from full enough to indulge all their fancies. I think my best find to date was the breadmaker. Our first was Ken’s mother’s and when we used it until it broke I found another on Kijiji for a steal. Add to that recipes like my mom’s brown beans that we converted to a slow cooker recipe and really ANY slow cooker recipe and we are able to stretch things further. I would love to hear more ideas from people! We use a lot of rice, potatoes and noodles as well. Anything to decrease the amount of meat as the main. Any advice? Supper tonight was helped along with the lovely piece of moose sent home from Grandma’s! Having a step-father who is a registered native american is lovely… he gets to hunt for personal use and as we are a part of his family… well we are VERY appreciative!

Workbooks in the sunshine

And some Magic School Bus

I have to share another Valentine’s themed worksheet the twins did today – this onehas the boys write something lovely or nice for family. Each of the hearts has a slightly different saying to finish. I had the boys each do one for each other and then they either did an Emanuel or a Trinity. I think it is important to get them to focus on  good things about their siblings! Sometimes I think we ALL need a reminder to look for the GOOD in people.  

Finished hearts

Oh don’t forget about the maze Emanuel did this morning. He loves a good maze. Of course what was REALLY wonderful was the picture he drew on the back of the sheet. I think the maze will be sacrificed to paste the picture into our Inuit lapbook. I love spontaneous creativity. 

Emanuel and his Inukshuk

I have been creating my own little parliament of Valentine themed owls (a little later for the special day I know). I figure I will put a few up on Facebook and then the rest will be gifted through the year. 

Owls

So I am still debating other presents… and my weekend goal is to get that extra page up here on my blog for ideas and suggestions. I do so like to work ahead! I do need to get a nice variety of owls sitting on my shelves for when the need comes! 

I have to admit, I have been feeling a tinge of green-ness about the eyes lately… metaphorically speaking. It seems like that feeling is  a slightly familiar one when it comes to gift giving events and holidays. Those visual and material signs of affection, approval and generosity are lovely to receive but when not possible to do so (or give for that matter), are hard to watch. Now don’t get me wrong, we have what we need… some of what we want and are truly blessed here in our little home BUT (oh is there always going to be a but?) there are those unrealistic wishes that create the discontent. I have been spending some time, these past weeks… well since Christmas really… trying to reassess in my mind what IS important, what things, trips, events, etc are necessary to myself and my family’s true happiness. I am one of  two adults in this home and my expectations cannot be the same as my children who do NOT understand the realities… we do not NEED every new thing, or even every OLD thing… we do not have to compete/compare with the rest of the world. What we DO need is happiness in our hearts. We can share that and our love abundantly and really, I think the world does not gift that enough. Do I WANT a new toy or two, yes, but what I NEED to stability, my husband, my kids, my family and friends… I need to be aware of the fact that what I create is as special as something much more expensive when I find the right recipient. I may not be able to buy the kids the newest toys BUT when Emanuel asks for an owl, well I can make that… teach Gavin a new stitch, create hair things for our Trinity or simply play a game with Zander. Someday we will be in a position to do and give more, I hope that at that time I still remember the priceless lessons and the sweet gifts I have received that have not been costly now! 

But enough of that… Valentine’s week continues and with it desert with Ken and time to myself to create… maybe TOMORROW I will get my time with my brush and ink to practice my characters???? 

Cuties!

I have had some free time… GASP! And that has led my mind down new thought paths… One of the main ones is the question of whether or not I am where I should be right now… Is the life path I have taken the right one? Well, after careful consideration Thursday night (while Echo was loudly proclaiming her dislike of ANY movement Trinity made on the bed by her playpen) I came to the realization that I AM. It is definitely NOT the EASIEST path, rather more the road less traveled… but it is right for us. When I think of all the decisions I made (well Ken AND I made) that seem to go against the norm – having our large family, homeschooling, choosing to stay in Canada and get Ken his status, the list goes on and on… well they are all ones I do NOT regret. Life would be pretty bland without Echo and Trinity, without homeschooling adventures and our travels finding our “forever town”…

Hmm there is also the wonder of leaving 4 boys home ALONE in a house full of things… things they could leave on the floor… toss around and generally NOT clean up… I actually had to call Ken this morning to confirm he was aware of a Kijiji pick up (we really cannot hear our doorbell from the basement – a huge issue at times!) and leave him a list of things I forgot to mention before leaving on MSN. I am so the list maker and Ken is so NOT. 

We had a rather quiet day Friday – up at 6:55am (ouch), we missed Veronika leaving for her shift at Indigo. After copious amounts of cartoons while mommy ATTEMPTED (and I mean ATTEMPTED) to nap on the floor there was breakfast, toys and more cartoons. Finally around 11 am Echo was crashing so I got in a bath that was MOSTLY uninterrupted. After all Trinity is without the bulk of her siblings so more bored than she normally is. Apparently the moment Mommy went into the bath the boredom level skyrocketed! 

Echo LOVED the open main floor... so much to check out - note the door behind her where she would open it and yell down to Dinah the kitty

Trinity is officially a whiz with the iPad… she was teaching Veronika to play her favourites and in turn mastering the ones that were already loaded and running. The Snoopy game had a picture taking option, so of course we had to take one and email it to my computer!

Snoopy Kiss!

Hello Kitty!

We had a rather exciting milestone for our baby girl on Friday… she has mastered the stairs. I love Veronika’s stairs, they are completely carpeted and not too steep. Trinity was right there to cheer her on and I took a little video for Ken to see as well. She is growing up so quickly. 

Taking a water break... I will have to share the video once I get it to Ken

We had Kathy over Saturday night for games. She lives a short drive away in the city so it was an easy trip and she was able to stay SUPER late! Two new games in fact – Puerto Rico (which is very similar to Settlers) and Dragonology(based off the book, which I have at home!). Kathy hadn’t played them in ages so it was like we were all beginners. I think she plans on bringing at least one of them when she visits at our house next.

Puerto Rico Game

Dragonology... complete with bitty dragons!

With all 3 of us sharing a room and Echo playing the light sleeper Trinity got to stay out on the couch until super late... took her a while but she did conk!

Saturday was our shopping day… I had a decent budget for the day (around 50.00 plus a gift certificate) and Trinity had her 4.00 of saved allowance. We started at Indigo where I was NOT able to find the books on my list, but I did find two books. The one on the left was suggested reading by Veronika. 

Two of my new books

It was surprisingly difficult to find something in Trinity’s price range that she wanted, so we compromised. She used ALL her allowance and my snowsuit Kijiji money and got herself a bathtime dolly… shower included! It was on sale for 30% off! 

With a little working shower

I picked up some Christmas themed hand sanitizers at 3 for a dollar! (regularly 2.00 a piece), but the big deal was on my new winter coat… H&M had them marked down from 50 or 60 dollars to…. FIFTEEN!!! It is longer than the one I have, so warm and … NEW! I have not had a new winter coat in over 3 years… so this is a BIG deal to me. That also means that next year all I have to buy is new winter boots (another one I have not replaced in over 3 years). 

So CrossIron Mills outlets was worth it. Veronika works at the Indigo there as well. I think if I had had more cash, more interest and another stroller we may have wandered more but as it was we had fun. It wasn’t too crowded either. 

Trinity and Veronika spent part of their Saturday evening creating lovely bars of sweet smelling soap. She was so excited to pick the colours and scents and be a part of the process. It is an amazingly simple and CLEAN craft to do… as Veronika says, easy to clean up – it cleans itself as it is all just soap. 

Soap making stuff

Working together

Lots of pretty soap... I think Trinity may be gifting some out to special people!

Sunday was lovely and relaxing… we all lay around in the livingroom until almost noon watching cartoons… there was laundry to be done, a cat to visit with and of course the iPad to enjoy. Trinity got to the point where when it was  time to leave… well of course she didn’t want to. To be honest it was VERY tempting to just try and extend our vacation… but there is so much to do here at home AND bloodwork for me to have done on top of that. 

Relaxing kitty

On the way home we stopped off at a Chapters here in town and got two more books (one actually on my original list) and then it was home. Well… home sweet messy home! Apparently the 4 days I was gone was gaming palooza! Thankfully they maintained a level of clean that wasn’t horrible, but a wee bit worse than I left it. The fridge empty, the kids wild on games and Sean and Ted here! So they had company to boot! I didn’t get to see the guys for very long as of course they had the drive back in winter weather for work today but it was great to get the time I DID get with them! 

Monday was back to normal… well as normal as you can with boys wound up from gaming, girls not used to being home and Mommy feeling unprepared. Karyn was over in the evening so we FINALLY ducked out and got the much needed and well lamented poster paper… they were OUT of white! (seriously first time ever) but I was able to get some lovely yellow for our Chinese New Year poster. I love Dollarama. I was also able to get the AAA batteries I need to replace in Emanuel’s SleepyBird AND the reading pens for the kids’ books that Trinity is in love with. Oh and don’t forget some lovely Valentine’s Day themed ribbon… I figure our girls could each use a new hairbow! 

Ribbon

Gavin and I worked on making the Chinese word for prosper according to the education.comsite. The template did not seem to print out and I thought this would be more fun for Gavin – trying to recreate what he sees somewhere else. I think he did a great job! 

Careful copying

End result

I do wish we could have made it to an event but at least we have learned some new things! And I got another book to read them tomorrow… this one is a story more than a factual book but it should be interesting. 

Karyn is entering into a contest to go to a conference for work and part of that is making a video – apparently cuteness is a positive so the kids did a part for her today! I have to admit I was proud of them saying their sentence! I had to take a picture!! And then Trinity wanted one of just her and Echo! 

My Fab 5

Just the girls

Even with the mess and the frustrating children today it IS good to be home… that is not to say I would not have liked to stay longer! Girl time sure feels nice, and Veronika’s home is so bright and cheerful with exquisite company. Trinity has spent most of the day and evening talking about going back and what she wants to do with Veronika. I am so spoiled with such a lovely cousin!! Definitely someone who feels more like a sister! So now it is time to try and clear up a bit, after all we have a poster to make… AND it IS Tuesday tomorrow which means – LIBRARY DAY for the two little ones! First one in over a month!!! YAY!

Baby playing with a baby!