And today was my chance to reinvent myself a little with a new do. FINALLY after years of growth it was time to cut the bulk of my hair off. I went to a hair school called The Academy and spent a measly 15.00 (12.00 plus tax plus tip) on my haircut. I also got a shampoo, style and they were wonderful conversationalists. I did find that my hair is dry so now I need to get some deep conditioning (or go in for one of their treatments… again under 20.00… but I would need to have the time for it first!). I had a bunch taken off, layers put in and the front made to frame my face. 

So much shorter!

And the front. They straightened it for me to style it... not something I ever do!

There was a bit of a confusion with my appointment as the girl who scheduled me forgot to rewrite it as just a haircut at 11 and instead had me for a colour at 10. Thankfully they could still fit me in and Ken and the kids were able to find internet at a McDonald’s parking lot. The kids cleaned up their toy mess in the back of the van and enjoyed the colouring books I have in there for them. Ken used the iPad to check mail, work, etc. It was a little over an hour for me to finish so they were bored by the end of it. I stopped in at a dollar and more store next door after my appointment while I was waiting for my ride and got them a colour by number book to add to our stash. That is something that we have begun to realize with this super delayed move… we need to be prepared in ALL our spaces. It is a good practice to keep a full toy and activity bag in the van, along with snacks and some drinks in the back. A change of undies for our youngest… things like that. The diaper bag is always packed with a few extras and I am getting more in the habit of keeping a suitcase with an overnight for me and the girls so we can go out a little more and be without the boys.

So we are becoming mobile more and more… our next big venture is to be back to Grandma and Grandpa Mike’s to dog and house sit while they are gone to Nebraska. This works in my favour with the craft sale as well as it is in the same town they live in AND they have the room for me to spread out what I have and take stock. With my added duct tape creation I may just have the variety I want and need! But we shall see what gaps I have as well. 

So haircut… what else… right we also stopped off at Futureshop and got my Mother’s Day present! A brand new case for our iPad! Black and pink… with a lovely magnetic closure. Trinity thought I should have gotten the Hello Kitty one… but Ken vetoed that one before we could even get a close look at it! It WAS bubble gum pink. 

In the case with the stylus that came today in the mail

Anyway that got us back at Chris and Chris’ well past lunchtime so with a quick stop off at Walmart for a few food items it was time to put Echo to nap and pack the rest up with a picnic, schoolwork and sunscreen. Back to our favourite green area of course! 

Lunch on the green

We had some potty runs back to the house. I had a twin take a smaller one… it is a very direct route and they do not cross any roads so I thought I would give them the responsibility. They did a terrific job! After we got through our chapter of Farmer Boy it was time to move onto the park. There was a grandma with her two grandsons there and their sand toys which they willingly shared! We stuck around for a while but Trinity was wearing out and I had noticed that a couple items that were in our duffel bag smelled a little off. So time to head back for laundry, baths and changing of clothing. 

With one of the little boys

That ending the kids’ day and left us with dinner and putting them to bed. Ken and I took advantage of the quiet and walked to the local Mac’s together. It was nice to have some time outside the house together… alone! 

Would be a lot easier to craft if not for the fact that Echo decided to wear my Velcro dots like Nicotine patches

We have continued our trend of creative outside the dwelling outings. Thursday was overcast and cool (some snow even!) for the bulk of the day with a good stiff wind. So that threw our plan of walking to the the Mac’s store for slurpees out the window. Instead we DROVE to the store and picked out slurpees and then drove to a park where Echo and Mommy were able to sit inside the van in comfort and the kids run and play and yet have a nice place to go when they got cold or thirsty.

Swinging

The boys shared a slurpee – very creative, they each got to pick a flavour… rootbeer, cherry lime and watermelon with a little blue raspberry on top! Trinity saved enough of her allowance for her own little bitty one – pink of course! And I got some time to work on another feltie penguin. I do love crafting in the van now, there is this little table like thing between my and Ken’s seat which is so useful for placing objects within reach! 

Zander and the Technicolor slurpee

Trinity in the warm

We managed to get right back on track with Farmer Boy where Almanzo made his own whip… and managed some math work as well. So we are continuing our trek through learning at some semblance of a pace! I am on the look out for some more field trips and ideas of outdoor learning for us though for the rest of the month of May. 

Our evening was also special – we headed to the same town Karyn works in to meet up with Victoria at the public library there. She activated my TAL card so we can take books out from that branch and the one here by Chris and Chris. The building the library is in there is absolutely gorgeous! And the library is HUGE for the size of the town. So of course I had to take a picture! 

Train table

Well 4 out of 5 looking this way

We have made tentative plans to see her on my special out and about Mother’s Day Sunday! We have missed people. With the van being an issue for the longest time and then this stalled move… well normal life has definitely been a thing of the past. So I am determined to get a little back. AND to take advantage of ANY warm days! 

Friday was a prime example of taking advantage of weather. It was a bit chilly but nothing pants and sweaters couldn’t combat. So out we went with out blanket in hand. This time with all the items we needed to work on the newest chapter of Farmer Boy (they made maple syrup) and the nature books. No apples so we had to settle for a bottle of Pepsi to share and soda crackers… maybe not the most balanced of snacks but everyone enjoyed it. 

Working on the printing

Trinity and her nature book

After some school work was completed we continued our walk to the park now dubbed “the one we get splinters at”… for those interested this trip resulted in one and it was tiny (Trinity). Shoes off… go go go until I noticed we had been gone for around 2 hours and I was STARVING. Even with the promise of lunch I had to push to get us back to the house. They really do love a good park! 

Gotta run!

With Mother’s Day this upcoming weekend we of course had to sit down and make cards for the various God Mommies. Trinity has the most work with her TWO and Zander’s will be the latest delivered as it has to go all the way to Minnesota. 

Emanuel and his card

Trinity and one of hers

We had a minor mishap with Zander’s glasses so pictures may be a bit confusing for a while if we cannot repair. The leg came loose and came off of what looks like a peg that it is glued to and attaches to the rest of the frame. That reminded me that we need to get Zander’s follow up rescheduled. I don’t know if everyone remembers, but he had one in the first half of the year that was cancelled due to over booking at eye place back in the city (an hour + away). So we were hunting for a local doctor. Sadly Echo’s surgery totally blew that out of our heads so I had to call the local Public Health to get suggestions. Luckily the nurse I got had a doctor she could personally recommend… not so lucky, I called after the office was closed for the weekend and the phone there cannot take messages. So add to the list on Monday!!

I am hoping the trend of completions (van, surgery, etc) will continue on with our income tax… we have been dealing with an audit forever. Mainly because it was NOT us who were the focus of the audit, rather two bigger companies Ken did contracts for. Not fun and definitely annoying as it has held up our tax related benefits… but we have held strong and are coming to the end of it. That means it will be simpler SOON to replace the glasses! YAY! 

Anyway… in order to keep the income going for our one income family we are trying to compress the bulk of our viewings into this weekend (as it is not late in the month landlords aren’t exactly rushing to set them up anyway). Which makes me more anxious but glad that there ARE some options out there. Again, I will keep everyone posted and all I ask is that you all keep a positive thought or a prayer out for us! 

And now it is time to continue the crafting. The craft sale is on the 9th and I have a table to fill… and some simple business cards to print out… I still need to figure out some sort of a sign for the table as well… oh and the pricing. Lately it has been felt that has held my attention. I am not sure how many I can make in time but I am hoping for enough to put in a basket. I am at a loss as to what to price my stuff. The larger of my owls I figure I will leave at 10.00, the smaller maybe down to 7.00 as it has been pointed out to me that people SEEING two sized owls would not want to spend the same amount… my felt bows maybe at 2 for 1.00… the duct tape ones at a buck or two? But those stacked bows… and the fancy ribbon ones… HELP!!! Suggestions????

Some of today's completions

The race is on to make whatever I can… the sale is set for 6 hours and I must admit a little worry about whether or not I will have enough stuff  to fill the table!! This delayed move has messed me up for supplies so I have had to drop the idea of having a tutu or two or any wands to sell. BUT I have a lovely selection of owls and bows… and time to make more! 

Hard to believe that Mother’s Day is this weekend! Be sure to hug your mom’s and tell them how much you love them!!

Baby on the go... with curls

We begin our own journey as we wait for the electrical repair to be done on our new rental. Ken has signed the paperwork we just have to sit and wait… well visit and wait really. For the next little while we are at Chris and Chris’ while we await the van repair (I do believe I mentioned that last blog post). They have been so lovely to offer us what space they have to spare for a while. With Easter fast approaching we are REALLY hoping the van will be fixed and RELIABLE to get to my mom’s to celebrate. 

Yesterday was the wakthrough on our old place. Apparently the tenants previous to us were there 2 years (with kids) and trashed the place and the owners were SURPRISED we had not done damage and wondered how we had managed it… I really don’t know what to say. Yes, we have 5 kids and yes we are a busy family but rental or not, we do NOT destroy our living space. You clean, you put away… you don’t let the kids be destructive… isn’t that just the way it goes? Anyway, all of our stuff from INSIDE the house is in Kristen and Fydo’s garage… the stuff from our shed and outside in their backyard. I cannot say thank you enough to them for allowing us the space to keep our things. Everything feels so in control right now (well, except the van but that is “in the works”).

Well let me correct that… getting RID of the van is in the works. We did finally get a call from Canadian Tire this morning, well the coolant is fixed BUT (and it is a BIG but) they think there is more wrong and you have to fix the next thing to determine what is wrong… so do we throw more money in on a 96 Quest? Well stay tuned… Ken is THINKING about it. 

Gavin had a completion today with his reading book… poor kid was so excited he wanted the next level book… guess where that it? Right in one, in the friend’s garage. So… well I think we will try and find something else fun to do. Maybe some working with words, some reading of a story together… although there was a bit of a wrench thrown in that plan too (seriously this was NOT my Monday, everything I tried to do FAILED)…

All finished!

I went to the nearby library here with Karyn who is finally back from Saskatchewan and came to visit and catch up and get some baby snuggles. I was going to get my TAL card activated for this library… well they need ID… with your address on it… ummm I don’t have an address right this minute and  my ID has the WRONG address on it for our place we are now out of (we knew we were moving and since mine is a learners we decided not to pay to change it until after this move), so no go! ARGH… though we did check the library out and read some books.

Storytime

While on the topic of screwed up list… I tried to call FisherPrice today to see if I could get a replacement magnet for the kids’ drawing board… NOPE, they no longer make that model (ARGH). So hopefully it is either somewhere in a box from the move OR in Chris and Chris’ upstairs and just temporarily out of sight. Figures…

OH and #3 – well I found out that according to our schoolboard website we CAN use Payment Order (PO) numbers for the second half of our funding starting April 1st…  so Ken called to check, well the office is closed for the whole week for EASTER! ARGH… so not until the 10th can we get a hold of anyone, Ken DID send off an email with the hope that MAYBE someone is checking them but I am not holding out hope. BUT that is still sooner than I thought I could get one (May) and I called around to both Staples in the city and the one near mom’s so when we DO get our PO number… well I will RUN to the store to get one!!

We did venture out while Echo was napping. It is a pretty direct route from Chris and Chris’ to the nearest Macs. So of course we had to walk to get treats. It wasn’t too bad until we had to walk BACK and I was the lucky person to get to hold the slurpee… with NO gloves. 

Getting some fresh air

So not the best start to the week though I did try my best. Tomorrow we are going to get around to making our thank you card for everyone at the hospital who was involved in Echo’s surgery. Mom got our call for her follow up. April 25th. So that means that the blacksmith fieldtrip I had signed the kids up for is out (same day), thankfully it was a free one. I also have to decide if we are taking ALL of the kids or going to try and find a sitter… bah never simple! 

The whole barest minimum school supplies thing is driving us all a little mad BUT we are making do. I am hoping to get a stop off at Dollarama tomorrow to AT LEAST get some Easter stickers… Easter is up in the air with the van situation but I will make the best of where ever we are! Next year we are going to do a REAL focus on Easter for our schooling… 

Tonight I need to finish stitching on a ribbon sash on one of Echo’s dresses and sort through the last bag of stuff I brought here and kept out of the storage pile. Tomorrow I hope to start in on the ribbon bows… I am supposed to do a craft table in June which means I need A LOT of owls and bows… I am thinking of doing up the bows in advance as I am about out of clips and need to hunt down all the lonely socks I can! 

Making do with the things we have