October 8 (also Canadian Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving belatedly to all my Canadian brethren)

Well, Trinity’s bug bite/cyst finally broke open Monday, after a long period of slowly decreasing in size and looking better and better in colour thanks to b12 and careful lotion application. What surprised me was how she felt NO pain after she broke open the skin (on a chair???). She was more upset about the little bit of blood that came with it. We cleaned it up as best we could and put warm compresses on it until we could determine the extent of the tear and what was coming out of it. Since it was rather icky (best I can come up with) we decided to send her to urgent care. 

After Ken and Nana sat with Trinity for hours the doctor did see her and determined that it was ok, yes it would scar a little but everything is out of it and now it can heal. We also finally got an answer on WHY nothing was done about it sooner. Apparently the location (under her chin) was near too many nerves, glands and blood vessels to mess around with. So what we did the right thing, though he put her on antibiotics for 7 days and told us to clean it 3 times a day and keep it covered. 

Anyway, before all that we had our day back to school… book work, etc but add into that journal-ling about our weekend – very important!  And since part of the excitement of Sunday was coming across that little snake we HAD TO read the website about the Northern Red Bellied Snake and talk about the facts about the one we found. Oh, and have our resident artist draw a rendition of the one we found. Talk about a surprise learning opportunity. Neat to know there are NOT poisonous snakes here in Minnesota! 

Common Minnesota wildlife!

The BIG project for the day was starting our felt ghosts. I was short stuffing so we could only do the stitching around the edges but this was an accomplishment all by itself as this was the first sewing Emanuel has ever done AND the twins learned a new stitch – the blanket stitch. We used a video off of youTube! 

There was some frustration and some needed help but really they did a great job all on their own. Yours truly is going to make Trinity and Echo theirs though Trinity will design her own face. We used a  template that Ken made himself but you can find instructions and a slightly more complicated (to sew) template HERE on our favourite UK site. 

This is Emanuel’s very first sewing project!!!

We ALL (except Ken) had naps and Emanuel covered his dinosaur of the day… with interesting videos! Again he throws me a bone for Tuesday – Tyrannosaurus Rex. Like the Triceratops… too much to find instead of the usual complex hunt. 

Video time!

As a part of our journal process I had the kids draw TWO pictures from the weekend and share their favourite. Gavin actually ended up with too big of a picture so his words spilled onto a third page which he then drew a little snake at the bottom of to ensure the page was full! It was so much fun seeing what part of the weekend was noteworthy for each of the kids.

Emanuel and his corn pit. He is so willing to write his two or three words now it is amazing! And then he tells me what to write.

Zander’s funny chickens and turkey at the petting zoo

Gavin’s filler image

Tuesday we were back on track with our morning. There was of course our usual book work… the kids are right on top of that now, in fact today ZANDER asked for his spelling test a day EARLY and got 100%. Granted this set of words was easier to sound out BUT he rocked it and I am so proud! He had to tell EVERYONE. 

Perfect score!

Our Judy Moody time is continuing on with laughter and good responses. We are not working on the same route we did with Farmer Boy but focusing much more on the character list (we update it each chapter), the simple print outs I found online AND the pure joy of storytelling. After Judy Moody we are probably moving onto the Fudge series… and I found myself a good Halloween themed story to read the week before it. 

Proud members of the T.P. Club

Our pen pal letters have slowed down lately (busy people busy lives) so I am working on motivating the kids to start drawing pictures and getting some little artistic items together to send out and maybe kick start some interest. That and keep the kids busy giving and creating… We did do our errand run… first to Michaels and Walmart for necessities for school and Halloween (I think I have ALL the pieces for Trinity’s costume in hand now, just crafting work to do). And then over to McDonalds for food and PLAY TIME! This was a rather neat one. It had touch screens with games etc at a couple of the table! 

HAMBURGER

Ken and the touch screen

We got some rather neat stuff in a 2.00 grab bag from Michaels… some wedding pieces that will work well for other things and of course the necessary items to finish our ghosts and start our pumpkin bags.

Random items

Our last stop was the local library branch to request books (not a huge surprise they had none on hand in such a small branch) on the platypus… a grand total of TWO in the system! This of course is the precursor to having a library day on Wednesday. Sadly a very BRIEF stop as Miss Echo did NOT approve so no books for me, but we lucked out on the dinosaurs and even one on Minnesota. We are still drifting a little on our social and science interests but the little minds wander and that is ALWAYS helpful in this respect…

Reading with Baba

With the purchase of our stuffing for our ghosties the kids were over the moon to complete their sewing and glue on their googly (seriously is there any better?) eyes (except Echo as I sewed on buttons for safety). That left drying for overnight and the addition of mouths for Wednesday. 

Echo’s stuffed and in need of mouth

Really after we get through a day and look back I feel much more accomplished than I do in the moment. I just hope that I can continue to spur on interest in the children and myself to learn more and more about… well… EVERYTHING!

My babies

September 26-28

Wednesday was the day of the great pumpkin hunt. We started off with a group photo of the hunters… note the sweaters, fall is here and in the morning the weather is rather cool!

Dressed and ready to start the great hunt

What a great morning of schooling, we had to get to the grocery store, figure out where the produce was, check out the apples and note the varieties (plenty but not cheap enough to do a big pick up) and then head over to the pumpkin/squash display. There was a nice selection including something called a buttercup squash that had Gavin coming up with a bunch of silly reasons as to why it was named that. My favourite was that after you empty it out it would make a perfect cup to drink juice out of! They had a great price on the pie pumpkins – 2 for 4.00. So we picked the nicest two, did the rest of our minor shopping and headed back to the house. 

Successful hunters!

There was a bit of a detour though, with birthday money from other sources Miss Echo finally got her Coup car! This is a favourite toy for her when she visited around but she had never had a chance to play in one in great condition. This brand spanking new model was a dream come true! It took Daddy AND Baba to put it together while the others did their book work. Though she made sure to get involved as well. 

With Baba and Daddy

Proud driver

In fact, after the kids finished their book work they went right in to the sun room to create some absolutely amazing Lego creations!! Gavin made the zoo animals to share and each of the kids had a piece on the table. I love it when they go out of their way to add to a series of pieces that we can then share with everyone. 

LEGO

I have found and joined the email alert for an absolutely AMAZING art for kids site. This is DEFINITELY going on my active links list for homeschooling. We started simple with the pumpkin print out – rather appropriate with our upcoming fall/Halloween season. I gave the sheet to Gavin and a piece of white paper and let him go with it. The steps were absolutely clear and he had a blast creating pumpkins. 

Gavin with his Jack-o-lanterns

Of course we had to go BACK to the site and get MORE print outs… so we basically printed out all of the ones that the site had in pdf form and Gavin sat down and drew. I think he said his favourite was the ninja! 

Note TWO ninjas!

Finally on Friday we ended up with the videos that had more steps and no printouts to follow. I set him up on the computer with a walkthrough on how to pause and rewind the videos and away he went. I was especially impressed by his dinosaur! I cannot wait until they add more!!! 

So the proud artist!

But back to our time line… where was I… oh yes, Thursday. Well, Wednesday night Nana and Baba were out with the cousins and Ken the gaming with the guys so it was rather quiet here (did I mention EARLY BEDTIME???). But on Thursday we had a relatively sunny day and a Baba intent on backyard activity. There is still stumps to remove in the backyard. So I let the kids run in the morning. Before anyone could get out to cut down the stumps the kids put in a couple hours creating this amazing bridge/ramp for Ken’s remote control car to bridge the hole left by the tree removal. It was a tight squeeze but they actually made it work! 

The ramp

And then it was time for the guys and the chainsaw (new acquisition) and all that fun stuff. The kids were a little put out as I would not let them drive the car around while the guys were using power tools but it was interesting all the same. Echo did NOT like the noise the chainsaw made AT ALL. 

Stump removal

An audience

We got a package in the mail that matched an envelope we had received previously! Did I mention, Gammie sent the kids some cash to buy something small and save a little? The boys all decided to save theirs for bigger things but thanks to Target Trinity was able to deck herself out in princess style. 

Workbooks!

Anyway… apparently Gammie was bored and came across some neat stuff to send us – workbooks, colouring books, a shirt for yours truly… and more letters!! We have had some slow responses but it has been great starting our pen pal program. If anyone is interested in adding themselves to our list feel free to contact me! 

look a kitty shirt for ME

After all their book work was done the kids went BACK into the backyard (Baba had a nap so it was free and clear) and made ANOTHER amazing structure. What these kids do with sticks and dirt… I love the teamwork and the ability to consider different mediums to create something new. And they are so proud of it when they are finished! As are we of course.

Back in the backyard

Now Friday was a bit busier. Nana and Baba had to pack up to spend their weekend camping with the cousins and we had to get everyone dressed and motivated to do a round of shopping. There was food items for the great pumpkin pie creation, a coupon to use at Victoria’s Secret… 10.00 off a 12.00 lotion that glitters!!!

New lotion!

A check in at Burlington to see what their coat prices are like (coats and snow pants.. maybe we can get away with all 4 of the bigger kids at 120.00… Echo would go baby and used)… and then home again. Oh don’t forget Michaels! I got a bitty globe for 50 cents and some Hello Kitty stocking stuffers for 25 cents a piece when they are usually like 3.00!!! 

A globe

Get everyone home, get the book work done and then disperse the kids to naps and quiet occupation… Zander and Gavin did their pen pal responses and then puttered around. I am trying to get them to realize that they have things at hand that can be fun, at least the new colouring books are sparking interest.

Keeping those kids busy

Of course we started with the scraping out and then baking of our pie pumpkins. That was about as far as we got, but the boys got their hands dirty and we have pie pumpkin seeds to plant next year! We will continue the pie making later but I have a neat idea (if we can work it out) of how to save the shell of the pumpkin! You can find the instructions we use HERE.

Cleaning pumpkins

We also did a random act of kindness and sent off rainbows to a sick little girl in Saskatchewan who wants a rainbow from everyone all over the world. The kids were quite detailed and we included their name, age and Minnesota, USA on them. I hope they help bring a smile to her face! 

Early morning colouring

Still slightly sleepy

With a weekend of pie making, Novak visiting and family together time to look forward  to I am so glad that Ken is willing to be hands on and present right now! 

Mini pumpkin patch?

Sunday was another at home day… with  company once again. This time Joe, Gabriella and Zachary. They were so glad to see Nana and Baba again as well as their cousins. So it was run run run for the kids and a nice visit with his brother for Ken.

Outside

And inside fun

I managed to sneak off with Bree to do some shopping, have some Dairy Queen and generally do girly things. I found Hello Kitty stuff for a quarter marked down at Michaels (well on clearance that is, pencils and the like), stopped in at Bath and Body Works to get some hand sanitizers (5 for 5.00 and not sealed the same way they are in Canada). Sat and chatted for hours… it was TERRIFIC!

Monday was back to the grind stone. Back to schooling, and sorting out future classes. In the mail I received the coupons for Pizza Hut and the information for a reading program we are starting in October. I have printed out most of the printables we need to get going with and will be sorting out books to start. I may have to do some used bookstore and thrift store hunting for leveled readers… or raid the library! You can find out about the program HERE. 

Gotta find lots of different ways to motivate! (Zander teaching Echo colouring skills)

Trinity and Emanuel did their craft project for the book Hungry Caterpillar. You can find our caterpillar project HERE. I really enjoyed this one – it covered colouring, scissor skills, creativity, gluing and of course… binder clips! 

Colouring the print out

Cutting

Caterpillar AND food

Gavin is back to work on his cross stitching again and boy does that make me HAPPY. He is determined to finish his mouse joke card and then start another one. I am so glad that one of the kids is ready to stick it out with what is one of my absolute FAVOURITE crafting activities. (sorry crochet you are getting up to second and beating out duct tape but I must stay true to my first love!). 

My crochet IS coming along though!

So Tuesday went a bit off kilter with Ken pulling an all nighter coding and myself having a lovely mishap with my head connecting with the edge of our bedroom door while cleaning (thus loosing half the day to a nap and Tylenol). I am not sure the kids were too upset as they got to play more time outside. BUT we did have the time for our basics and the boys to work on their Minnesota folder, which is now decidedly ONGOING.

Tuesday NIGHT, however, was fun fun fun! After seeing Nana and Baba off to a movie we got supper ready (spaghetti and garlic toast) and awaited our guests – Shandai and her boyfriend Skot! They brought knitting supplies and board/cardgames. So after supper we stitched and  gamed it up! It was a total blast and I look forward to doing it again! Add another couple to couples to game with!

Gaming with friends always rocks!

So as days never seem to go the way we want we still had Emanuel learning on the computer…

Working on the PBSKids.org site

Trinity with the learning apps on the iPad… And Zander and Gavin spending learning time with Ken. Which was a total  treat! 

Thanks to Baba and Nana taking some time with Echo

The great adventure for tomorrow – hunting down a pie pumpkin for homemade pumpkin pie!! Wish us luck!! 

Can you believe this top was mine when I was tiny!