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

October 7

Fall weather calls for fall themed adventures and of course a Sunday afternoon is a terrific time to do so. Add in Nana and Baba and the cousins AND their parents (Joe and Faith) and we had two full vehicles of kids and adults. Of course the kids ALL wore their new winter coats with pride! Echo long before we even left!

All decked out minus her mittens

We got as far as a cousin picture…

The cousins minus Echo in front of an apple tree in the (at that time) parking lot

before nature made herself known in an obvious way with a very visible VERY tiny snake… Thanks to Baba they all got to see and touch this little critter (with yours truly a SAFE distance away). A Northern Red Belly apparently. Something new and interesting to note about Minnesota – the snakes here – NON venomous! Speaking of critters in the state… the night before I got my first experience of a MOUSE in the HOUSE! ACK it was skittering across our unfinished ceiling along a… get this… copper pipe (talk about a TINY pipe)… traps have been set and I am to start placing bounce sheets in everything (apparently the smell offends the mouse’s delicate nose… Well works for me, I LIKE the smell of those sheets and HATE the idea of a mouse in my drawers!). 

SNAKE

After the snake was released back into the wild it was time to start with the apple orchard. The sun was out, the wind as well (but not too bad) and the kids ready to run. We started in the barn where all sorts of things, including Nana and Baba’s favourite apples – HoneyCrisp. We especially had to check out the bees on display with some of their honey. 

Checking out the bees

Ken and I snuck the kids out of there pretty quickly, they are not all huge fans of apple cider yet and with loose teeth abounding candy apples were a definite NO NO. So instead we headed over to the Kettle Corn stand to buy a bag to share. Very yum, though the kids assured us NOT as good as Baba’s.

Kettle corn!

And then onto the other entertainment… there was goats to see and pet…

Goats were there and so were we?

And a hay maze to check out that was VERY simple I am told. Of course the kids were not SUPPOSED to be on top of the maze, ours weren’t… but others…

A little knowledge

Time to maze it up

We then took advantage of the loose hay that you COULD climb all over and took pictures, ran off energy and covered the kids in hay! 

Cousins in the hay

After all the fun at the apple orchard it was time to pack back up and head over to the Country Sun Farm. They had all sorts of things there to see… of course we had to go feed the animals corn… goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys… all of the kids were impressed.

Feeding those animals

We peeked at the corn maze but chose not to purchase tickets… 

CORN MAZE

And then headed into the structure to look at pumpkins (numerous) and fall and Halloween displays and to send the kids into the… corn pit????

Pumpkins everywhere

Echo was a bit too little for the pit so she enjoyed the company of the adults and checked out pumpkins on her own. 

Hanging with Uncle Joe

With fresh mini donuts and water it was time to head back to the house, we totally wore out the kids… and then some!!! I think it was a great day out. And now we have a bunch of interesting experiences to document in our journals and a critter to read about! Oh and a new recipe for honey pumpkin pie I will share AFTER we make it! I will be sure to share a few of our findings and illustrations! 

Post play snack

Let’s make our way to the weekend! The weather has been pretty predictable in its sunny wonderful-ness this week. The kids have LOVED it, the dog has LOVED it… I have to admit I have loved it too! We worked it out in advance so that Ken got enough work done to take his morning slow and we (as a family no less!) scratched ANOTHER thing off our list. Visiting Grandma’s work while she is there! And with the lovely weather how better to enjoy the event than to go for a family walk there, once we covered our Trinity’s blisters with bandaids, packed up the baby’s necessities and convinced the boys that walking WAS much better than the van. 

Walking together

We made good time and brought Grandma a bottle of water, as we all know hydration is VERY important. We met some of her co-workers, played with some toys and made two important purchases. As this is the weekend of Jaywalkers everything was 50% off so I got Echo a booster chair for 1.50 to take to Kathy’s when we pet sit (oh and for her to play with as it is officially her new favourite seat).

A chair AND the Tupperware cupboard

Ken picked out a boardgame. The main reason? It is still in the shrink wrap with a copyright date of 1974! So here’s hoping it is an interesting game! At least it is a good conversation piece for a piddly 2.50!

New game

On the way back Trinity’s feet started hurting again so she got a ride from Daddy. She is so nervous about heights that it took a little time to calm down and get comfortable with it. 

Best view

That got us home in time for lunch and schooling. Of course we had to do our page for the books… they are getting quite full of all sorts of adventures!

Gavin working on his library book

The twins each took some time in the afternoon to help me out with my craft sale items. Each of the boys has made their own duct tape change purse to sell for 4.00 like mine. They picked their own colours and Gavin even took the time with a messed up piece to draw and cut out a duck to embellish his. 

Gavin with duck

The inside on Zander's is silver

There is a measly 1 week left until the craft sale! I am going to link the event HERE so please, if you are in the area on the 9th, come by, buy something however small and help out a great cause. 10% of ALL my sales for the day go to the charity and I am also donating a doorprize. My  table SHOULD have the sign It’s a Hoot and Friends on it (gotta get that done yet!). I am personally selling owls, bows, duct tape items and some headbands. I will post some teaser images later this week as well as this link again and again! So check back! 

So many owls

Anyway after Grandma got done work and we had supper there was some kid and Grandma quality time while Ken and I ran out to get groceries. Some alone time for us and some nail polish time with Grandma. Echo’s first time! She got sparkly stuff and Trinity some gold. Zander had his done as well though we removed that Saturday as we have a special Sunday planned. I am just so glad they are getting some fun time with family in. We hadn’t visited in quite some time and we need to take advantage of this and have new memories and adventures made. 

Echo and her fancy nails

With Grandpa gone to the city for a conference it was bed time and then JAYWALKERS… yup two items in two days! Jaywalkers is an event where the downtown is blocked off from vehicular traffic. Instead booths are put up, carnival games and rides… there was snacks, shopping and even a 4-H booth with some animals! 

Checking out the animals

Bunnies

Echo in her seat

We tried to win free passes for the mini golf/petting zoo/corn maze just outside of town. All 4 kids tried and failed to make the shot but she gave us a pass anyway… after all there is still the REST of the family to pay for! The kids had a blast trying though! Each with a different coloured set of balls. 

Mini golf

And then we paid 2.00 for 6 balls to try bowling for 1,000.00. Ken came rather close but we did not win. It was fun though!! Each of the boys took a turn. 

Bowling

Next came the two things Ken and I absolutely LOVE about Jaywalkers – mini donuts AND lemonade (we tried the cherry version, I still prefer the original). Yummy, though the prices had gone up! Of course it would not be an outing without an injury. On the way back to the van Gavin wasn’t listening and climbed on some cement parking blocks, slipped and biffed it big time! Both knees VERY scratched up. So we cleaned him up as best we could with what we had in the van and after a brief stop off to pick up a medium sized diaper cover (yup I love SPRINKLES). took him home to clean and bandage properly. He did a professional job of scuffing himself up royally! 

OUCH

With Ken’s help, I spent some time making Echo a miniature version of Trinity’s purse… 4 inches long and with a shorter strap. She is very pleased and I was able to just use bits from all of my remaining rolls!

Echo's purse

We had a surprise visit from Tammy and her girls while the kids watched a movie from the Library and I got in some visiting time. She brought some of her older pieces of dressier clothing that she no longer needed/could wear for me to try on later and some company on an afternoon that went from sunny to drizzly rather quickly. 

Supper was homemade hamburger courtesy of Ken and then the kids played  games with mom while I got in some chatty time with Ken. I think we are starting to really feel on the same page on more and more things. I am hoping he can get a few more minutes here and there to homeschool with us in the near future as well. Though I do think we are doing rather well. I would love to do more in-depth things and hope to find some ways to get back into the crafting, math and sciences in a way that actually brings in the boys’ interest willingly. As it is I hope to get started on the United States on Monday. I have a few books from the library to use, and a couple files printed out from my resources. Sunday night I hope to do some more searching. Any suggestions are welcome! We plan to spend the whole month on it! 

It was a great day for together time. And I snuck in another weather page as for the first time in forever the weather changed visibly through out the day. Tomorrow it is the dedication for the costumes mom made the church. I look forward to it, and the last day of Sunday School. I hope to see some local friends, pick up a few items at some stores not available here and maybe stop at a park or two. Gotta keep the adventures going and two more things on our list to cross off! That is without going over the information the Information Center gave me about some local things. There is a great aboriginal event towards the end of the month and I know the library has advertising about a Father’s Day event that includes pictures on a fire truck! 

So my attempt to stay positive and do the day as the day standing alone worked rather well… the evening not so much but you know what? That sometimes gives way to talks that do help… I still have plans to make paper… just need a blender no one cares about, a screen and some paper to shred. Everything is doable if you keep your heart and mind set upon the path. 

A big sister being a big help