Tag Archive | patterns

Ending a Busy Weekend to Begin a Busy Week

So we had a trade off on Sunday – we missed Sunday school but in return we spent another 3/4 of a day with Grandma and Gypsy AND got to go visit the Bleau family who are settling back into their home here in Alberta after 3 years in California. But first the morning… well breakfast and then games, new toys and Grandma time. We had leftovers for lunch – grilled cheese sandwiches with the roast beef inside (very yum!). We had to tidy up our stuff of course but everyone had time to kick back and relax. 

With Puppy

After lunch Karyn, mom and I headed over to her work to check out some of the dresses they had for sale. I found a pair of boots that I WOULD have bought … if they had been the right size. Sadly a half a size or more too big! Boo. BUT we had fun looking! Soon after that Karyn had to head back home – her mom is here for a week for some bonding time. 

We had to pack the family up (thank goodness for the borrowed van or I doubt it would all fit!) and head over to visit with the Bleaus around 2:30. They have a lot of room so the kids were able to run and have fun! We actually decided to stay past supper time and spoiled the kids with pizza and breadsticks! So much fun AND we got to catch up IN PERSON with people we so rarely see. I think once we have a more reliable vehicle we will make many more visits. After all Ken gets a ton done work wise at mom’s and there is a great children’s library in town… now I just need to convince Ken, well and have a reliable van. 

 

PIZZA and a full table

Echo is small in comparison to many things... well the projection tv is no different! But she did love watching it.

It was definitely on its way to bedtime by the time we got home. Ken emptied the van (almost but more about that later) and left to drive the 15 min or so to Chris and Chris’ to return the van and then catch a return ride back while I let the kids play a bit before bed. After all we had to put some things away in their rooms anyway. 

It wasn’t until Ken got home with (he) Chris and (she) Chris’ computer (it needs some help with its RAM) that he realized that HIS computer was still in the van and that they had driven back in the car! OUCH. So luckily he could do SOME work with the netbook and such and (she) Chris had to come through town early anyway. At least all of the other stuff made it in! We are just out of practice with using the stow and go! 

Monday started off with a mess (to be expected, I mean this is like Christmas in February around here) BUT we rallied, cleaned up and had breakfast. Then it was onto the school stuff, well somewhat. We are still working on our Inuit lapbook. Today more animals were drawn (seals) and we talked about what they did for fun and games… and of course read some more interesting information. This time on their spiritual beliefs. I am not sure how well the boys understood it but they asked questions and I know I learned a bit!!

Train break

Trinity and her special "un birthday" gift from Aunty Karyn - LOLA! You can draw on her clothes and bag, wash them and then do it again!

Gavin has been hard at work on his craft gift from myself and Ken – it is making mosaics using little squares of foam that are backed with adhesive, mess free and really quite amazing! 

Working on his craft

Two masterpieces

There has been colouring and building and taking back down and building again! I have reorganized ONE of our shelving units (the one in the dining area) to my own personal satisfaction and hope to continue my way through ALL of the homeschooling supplies this week. Whenever we get new things there always seems to be this horrible instant mess of what we already have! 

Snacks, new toys and a sunny room

I spent some time sorting out the nativity costumes mom sent home with me, BUT you have to wait until the NEXT blog entry to see the kids model 4 of them! I know, cruel and all that but I figure I will work my way through pictures in order. 

I did finish a cross stitch. A second copy of one with somewhat strong language! But for a good friend! This one used some metallic in the lettering, a blue based one which looks lovely!

DONE

I am sure there are little things I forgot but I plan on thinking through on my special moments from the weekend and sharing those later… AFTER the pictures from the nativity costumes. I won’t draw that out too much longer! 

When I was taking photos of the kids in their costumes it was against this wall. After I was all done Miss Echo walked up to the wall and made her cheese noise and smiled... she kept doing it for at least 3 pictures before satisfied!

So Many Days at Once

In recognition of the internet blackout regarding some potential bills to be passed in the US I postponed this blog entry. You need to check out SOPA and PIPA… those are the bills… also (though this comic has mature content at times) read this entry to one of my favourite comics! Check out SOPA STRIKE as well. These bills would affect a lot of people from all walks of life! 

And the weather continues to reinforce the reasoning behind so many Albertan’s exodus to warmer quarters during winter. Apparently tonight it is to dip below -40 Celsius with wind chill… a VERY good reason to curl up with some sewing and tuck the kids into bed with lots of blankets.

Together time

Zander was rather sure he WANTED to go outside and play yesterday morning and mommy was equally certain that that was a HORRIBLE idea. Thankfully we bypassed the going outside with reading the other library book on China and drawing pictures for our poster. 

Car set on a snowy and cold day

Gavin is determined to make a dent in his stitch. So now it is a request to sew at almost any point in the day. I am glad… it may not be reading or writing or math or even one of the typical school subjects but it IS an art, and fine motor skills, pattern recognition, etc etc. I have been toying with having Gavin help me design some simple patterns we could put up on my pattern site for purchase or free download. He does make some cute ones!!

Gavin's progress

Gavin chose to take some time to make some Lego art as well on Tuesday. A year or more ago we went to the Telus Science Center to see their Lego exhibit. Some of the creations were more paintings made of Lego, with Zander focusing on space and in turn telling all he knows to Gavin he wanted to make something in that theme. There is a shooting star on there, the sun, the moon, earth and “the red planet” as Gavin refers to Mars as. 

Gavin's Artistic Lego

I completed my kit that I started on the weekend. It was more of an accent than an actual stitch but it was fun to do and the results lovely. I plan on giving it away at Christmas or for a birthday, once I figure out who the best person would be to receive it. 

Completion

Wednesday definitely has not gone exactly on plan… we knew it would be cold but apparently the van took offense as well. Well that and the cord is not connected to the block heater so no amount of plugging in would help! Nice to find that out! With that little gem of knowledge came the fact that the van would not start. SO no library trip for the boys… a disappointment BUT we rallied and they watched educational tv and then played a card game with Daddy! 

Cards with Daddy

Our day was not overly busy as the cold weather locked us inside, much to the disgust of Zander. Though we had some math and reading and the like going on. The little ones did their workbooks and Zander willingly headed to the basement and the supervision of Daddy! I am liking how this set up is working. I think Zander and I were getting very frustrated with each other! 

Workbook time

After an aborted Wednesday Thursday has been an improvement. We are working on rescheduling the eye appointment. Ken called first thing in the morning and they were overbooked and behind even first thing in the morning. With it an hour and a half drive away we were quick to offer to reschedule and potentially find a local office. We would love to get a baseline done on Gavin as well. 

That solved the van not fixed issue… though we are still on the list to get into Canadian Tire. Mildly frustrating but everything Ken and the boys need to do this weekend is local. And us girls have Cousin Veronika’s VERY reliable jeep to tool around in. 

Enjoying the open main floor

After stopping at a couple stores to pick up some food items we have spent Thursday relaxing at Veronika’s… there is a kitty to meet, tv to watch and an iPad to play with. Bedtime is a bit of a trial as we are sharing a room and neither girls were really interested in going to sleep… 

iPad!

 

It is going to be a nice vacation, my first away from the boys for more than a night in like 4+ years! Trinity is already enjoying so much attention. 

Some art

 

In Which We Face the Cold United… Well to Dollarama at Least

Day 7 of Advent is here… and since it has been a WEEK of houses and crafts and things I figured I would share out little villages. 3 are garland style wall decorations and the 4th a standing village. They are so proud of each and every house and I am loving seeing their colouring styles and themes (Trinity is PINK PINK PINK) adapt and grow. Today was a Post Office – a must for any village!!

Gavin's

Trinity's

Zander's

Emanuel's

Emanuel’s handcrafted gift is officially completed… it is a matched set actually – a feltie ornament AND squeezable toy both of the subject of his choosing – an elephant! 

He knows about the ornament (it is now on the tree), but NOT the bigger version!

Today’s Advent related craft was a slightly messy one with painting first…

Green sparkly paint

We had to alter the design slightly as we did not have corks to make the stands and instead make ours HANGING picture frames (oh and everyone added some glitter to their paint of course!). 

We have had quite a few time outs to calm down over things… When we have a situation where all the kids are to do one thing and one of them pipes up that it is boring or they don’t want to (craft or not) it often spreads to the others and makes everything not fun so instead of dealing with it at the table I have been sending the boys responsible (amazingly enough the twins only today) to their room and letting them settle there. Hopefully this will work! 

Family time today was a trip to Dollarama to spend this week’s allowance! We ended up with two KinderSurprise eggs (1.00 at the store!!), a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and a Hello Kitty tin (ok that was 2.00 but she is 3… and not really getting it yet). A few more necessities to completing gifts were bought as well as some snacks… but wow was it cold, and as always a bit of an ordeal to get ALL 5 kids out the door… but worth it!

Hello Kitty at a steal

I made up a Dollarama version of this Candy Cane Vase. I used a glass instead of a full vase and the 1.00 boxes of candy canes coupled with ribbon I already had in the house. So my candy canes were not 100% uniform but the end result, I think, was rather nice. Next year I may try this with a bigger vase AND higher quality candy canes!

My Candy Cane Vase

Today’s video is a craft that was included on our daily Advent Calendar page that we have not tried. Looks really neat though!  

We are finishing our craft from today tomorrow as glue and paint needed to dry and tomorrow’s craft is one we are not interested in! Speaking of completed crafts… Gavin has decided to gift his very first cross stitch (though not an original design… I designed this one, his first finish though!) so we had to purchase a frame to finish it off completely. It just works doesn’t it?

Ready to gift

And now I get back to work on another last Christmas present! The kids are almost done!! But the list is still rather long… 

In which popcorn baby does minor yoga moves while munching