April 12-13

Easter is not far in the future and this year we had our official Easter Egg Hunt with the two Schwartz families in what honestly was less than ideal temperatures. Overcast at the house, windy AND overcast at the hunt. We were divided by age so Ken and I sent the boys on their own with proper instructions and he took Echo and I got Trinity. Ken found Renee and Evan right away.

I found Chris, Nathan and baby Jeffrey (well his covered stroller) and then Matt, Fran and their twins.

What a haul! Two of the kids (Zander and Echo) found special eggs that got them little teddies but we did not win any draws. It was cold but it sure was fun! Really the highlight of a Saturday we otherwise enjoyed very quietly.

Sunday was a busier day with Sunday School first (I got to go with this time and had a LOVELY chat with the children’s choir director while we waited on the kiddos). After church we got changed and waited on the one kid who did NOT go to Sunday School… Emanuel went with Baba to a hockey game for his Scouts. Funny how things line up all over the place. That did leave Echo at home with Nana while everyone was out and about.

After we were returned to a family of 7 it was time to head out to Aunty Judy and Uncle Jim’s. Emanuel had called her earlier in the week asking if she wanted to buy a discount card that he was selling for scouts and she suggested we come visit and he could sell her one in person. Why not? After all our afternoon was free and clear! The draw of ducks, Robbie, a trampoline and a favourite aunt and uncle definitely had the kids on board!

Ken and Aunty Judy on Puzzle Dragons

The boys were all over the trampoline and pretty much dragging Robbie out the back door as we walked in the front. It is quite the wonderful backyard.

With a lovely late lunch in our tummies…

And tons of animals to play with…

Robbie and Uncle Jim even took them out to try the fancy skateboard things that we have sitting here at home (a Christmas gift from the same family).

What a great weekend! And to top it off, on Saturday I got a surprise package from Canada — a brand new Canadian flag! I had mentioned during winter Olympics that I wish I had had one. A Facebook friend (Cyndi) sent us one to fly on Canada Day!! Thank you soooo much!!!!

February 26-28

We have, in the past, done full out units on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. This year we decided to really just enjoy some worksheets and books. There is something amazing about first of all sharing these books I remember from my childhood with the kids but ALSO watch the twins read these stories to their siblings themselves. Quite the tongue twisters at times but Gavin toughed it out and bit by bit read through an entire book.

In the middle of a week we have to find some interesting activities to add to our routine. The girls went the tent route.

And the boys decided to give a Lego boardgame I found online HERE a try. I love this one, it uses reading, creativity and math skills to create an activity all the kids can enjoy.

We have found ways to make EVERY day enjoyable really… everything from tents to games to climbing on Daddy when he is on a break.

And then back to reading.

We took everyone out to run errands… Miss Echo was VERY pleased with her 1.00 sun hat from Target. Quite the find!

And that brings us to March! As I look back at February I see a flexing sort of learning. We have looked at Valentines Day, discussed China in amazing depth… talked about the Olympics and continued with our swimming and had a blast with Scouts. Ken is healthier than ever and our decision to stop expanding our family is one we have fully embraced. How blessed are with to have 2 months of 2014 with so many wonderful and positive things! Now to continue the trend!!

Baby in a suitcase???

February 22-25

What to do on a weekend when we plan to be home for it? Well… have company! Childhood friend Christopher and his wife Renee who is due any day with their 3rd (boy) and their sons Nathan and Evan. They came over for lunch and playtime. Younger than our boys the kids still managed to have a lot of fun. Of course Skylanders came out and Legos and such. It was nice to have company over where the adults could just sit around and chat (or craft).

Walking Tacos

We ended our Saturday calmly with a movie. Really not much to report beyond a great visit with old friends.

Sunday was totally a crafty day… after Sunday school. I had to get EVERYTHING out and package up my big commission from a friend up north… she requested I make her a variety of critters for her to gift etc this year… I think I covered the spectrum and had a blast honing my skills while doing it. Is it ever hard to wait until she gets it to find out her thoughts!!!

And then for a more local (but still mailing away) craft… one I have not done in ages – an infant knotted tutu. Using glitter tulle so I am on the hunt for the escaped glitter now. Really glitter is EVIL!

Monday was back to work… and back to swimming for the twins. I am really impressed how much more RELAXED they are each time.

We had some more sporty drawing to enjoy. Art for Kids (on right) put up a stick figure figure skating… something Trinity was quick to say SHE wanted to draw.

We decided to create our own Olympic medals. I love the 4 different interpretations… Zander’s all had his name on them, Gavin recreated the official ones for this year… the other two were equally creative. I got our template from Activity Village HERE. We used the 3 sizes of circles to show the different places as I really didn’t want to print out enough that we had 4 sets of large circles!

Emanuel and I are working on our Magic Treehouse dinosaur themed story still. It is so much fun reading one on one with him. His own reading skills are increasing by leaps and bounds!

We added a new animal to our Wild Kratts list – the Meadow Vole. The twins have come up with a new idea along the same lines. They want to watch Dirty Jobs episodes with Mike Rowe and pick one of the jobs of the episode to research further. We have been working on our Google searching and how we type in a specific topic or sentence and then reading through articles… with adult supervision of course.

The weather is just too yuck for the little ones so we pulled out our rainy day fun bucket and did some creative sticker and face shape crafting. Echo especially found this  to be great fun!

Tuesday was a rather special day… of course we still did our basics including some Lego time…

BUT Tuesdays 5-8 pm are free admission at the Minnesota History Center!

There was tons to see and do and not enough time for us to do it all. We had only an hour (5-6) before we needed to be back for Ken to go to his weekly gaming night but we made good use of it. We went straight to the area that was the most hands on for the kids. I want to go back and see the prohibition era limited time display in the following weeks.

There was tons about the fur trade and the Native Americans…

Reproducing bead patterns

A great display about the use of Bison…

And so much more.

The 4 big kids and Ken tried out the mine area as Echo was having nothing to do with the noise and darker ambiance.

It was so much fun to head out and just enjoy learning about the state we now live in. Together time well worth it! And how to end the evening with Daddy gone to gaming? With a late snack food supper and a movie… THOUGH I hasten to say – fun mommy was only for ONE night… the next night we planned bacon wrapped pork and vegetables…

The joy of learning not only at home but out in the open air!