Another minorly confusing day – mainly due to the fact that the entire crew had to be dressed to the nines and out the door by 5:30 to make our 6pm photo appointment! Early dinner for the kids, quick nap for Ken, the usual mass confusion getting dressed and out the door. Of course once we get there Trinity decided to have what best could be termed as a strop (thank you Cheryl for the awesome British term!)… This year they did the photos in a smaller room which was dark with the lamps and the flash she full out FREAKED, but our photographer Morris was calm and cool and got some terrific shots… even a couple of sweet ones of Trinity. I was just happy all the kids were dressed and in the picture!

I will not have the pictures for a little bit but I do have a few we took at home afterwards to share here. Trinity’s dress was a gift from my mom (a total deal – 4.00 tags still on!), the boys all wore what they wore to my mom’s wedding, Ken wore his one of two dress shirts and I wore the top I actually bought and wore for our first Anniversary back in 2002!

Zander Had Suspenders On Too

At Home She Smiles!

A Favourite Outfit

I got a package in the mail, in a plastic bag no less! Open carefully it said and I did and WOW! Thank you Michaella!!! I had mentioned to her that Trinity kept stealing Emanuel’s Pocoyo dolly (we really lucked out with that one as we got it the one time Toys R Us carried the merchandise) and low and behold what was crammed in the box?? A tiny perfect Pocoyo dolly… a card game AND skull lollies! How spoiled do I feel! I cannot wait until I have the postage to send off the stitches and craft I have waiting for her and the kids!

Tiny Box!!!

Thank You!!!

School wise the boys worked on their shapes and colours lapbook – completion is imminent and I feel we have learned enough to NOT have it drag out  this long next time (ie. FALL). Sadly I ran out of toner so now only black and white printing until we can scrape together the 100.00 (GULP) for the new one – the thing is we just ran out of the one that came with the printer 6 months or more ago… and our brand new black one is still too full for it to even know how many pages we have left. It is so worth it but it is that initial 100.00 that makes  you go OUCH! Luckily I got all the Pumpkin stuff printed. And of course we took some time to glitter some pinecones!

Glittery!

Pumpkins was the other focus today – we mixed red and yellow to make orange, coloured P is for pumpkin and the twins coloured the stages of a pumpkin from seed to pie… I will cut those out, mix them up and then have the boys sort them to make into the little book.

P is for Pumpkin

From Seed to Pie

With the mixing of paints we also painted… today was more of a one colour day – Emanuel blue, Gavin brown and Zander purple… water, water and wall… creativity abounds! They had fun for sure!

Finished Paintings

Tomorrow is going to be a baking day… two different kinds of cookies AND the soon to be birthday boy has requested Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins! I will definitely post the recipe… that and a trip to the library and I am hoping the local thread store for some advent exchange hunting will keep us busy.

So Busy We Wear Out the Baby!

Emanuel’s new thing when he colours lately is to make everything “sparkle.” This coming in the wake of our glitter and glitter gluing with an abundance I automatically assumed he meant he needed glitter added to his pictures, but that was not to be the case. No, for my intrepid almost 4 yr old son, making something “sparkle” all depends on the crayons of the day. In fact, every picture, every stroke “sparkles” right now – be it a bright blue or a dark brown… “sparkling” would be better interpreted as doing one’s best or colouring with heart. Emanuel “sparkles” all day with his simple box of crayons and a piece of paper. So what is my excuse? Shouldn’t life “sparkle” no matter what you are handed? That is my new goal… I want my life to “sparkle” just as brightly as my baby boy’s does!

Let's All Sparkle Ok?

So last night’s cinnamon buns, though not pretty, were VERY delicious… I was not overly happy with the topping they suggested – it was just too darn sugary. BUT they were good enough to warrant making another batch this afternoon. Now I am wondering what else my bread maker can do… though Ken has requested banana chocolate chip muffins (no bread maker involved) which as the 23rd IS his birthday, I will definitely make, once I get the chocolate chips.

Mmmm

There has been some general upset in one of the egroups I am involved in regards to OT (off topic) conversations and whether or not they should be allowed/included/etc. in the group. I fear my daily posting of my blog update may have been a catalyst. Although my site is hugely cross stitch oriented as I am sure most people know, it is not always talking about my sewing or even pattern development. As much as I love/am addicted to stitching I have to admit this blog is heavy on the kids, hubby and life in general. Now I don’t think that is a bad thing – it is how this blog has evolved… it is me in a nutshell… BUT I wish I would have known a month or so ago that they would rather I DIDN’T post my update email. I must admit now I am a little unsure as to what I should post about as my stitching has become firmly enmeshed with the rest of my life, being as each piece is developed with a person or situation in mind. Even our general patterns come out that way (though I do have a couple in the works that are general and have no official first recipient). I think right now I will just sit tight and post only when I have a stitch completion. But as I said in my general reply to the thread – you never know until you are told and now I know. I actually will only be posting that I updated on Facebook and Twitter for the time being. Better safe than sorry!

Anyway onto other things… our weather is delightful – with the melting of the snow the boys are back on bikes and playing on the swing set. It really makes going out on errands a whole lot simpler. I am hoping the weather will hold until AFTER Halloween – I am not sure Gavin’s costume will fit over snow gear!

Gavin (yellow) and Zander - Ready for No Training Wheels Soon??

Our church has a new system for Sunday School – one Sunday a month there is no Sunday School (besides long weekends) so that the kids can sit with their parents. That means this month there are only 2 sessions! Different for us! So, next Sunday no school… I am hoping we can all go to church anyway but it will depend on Ken’s birthday party and our pumpkin carving event that weekend. Today only Ken and the twins went – Trinity was up until 4 am so I was exhausted and Ken decided to let me sleep in — until they were ready to leave! Trinity went to bed pretty much as they walked out the door and tonight I am hoping and praying we do NOT have a repeat! I think I have figured out WHY I am so tired lately (besides the energizer bunny of a baby) – I keep forgetting to eat! And my baking – ends up in the boys! So now I am going to find recipes to try that sound particularly appealing to ME! Mmm maybe more muffins and a cake or two? Oh and healthy stuff too!

We have also been pumpkined! Ken and the twins bought 3 lovely pumpkins from Superstore on their way home from church (just under 4.00 a piece!). Trinity for some reason does NOT trust the pumpkins… she does not like to have her backs to them or anything! I am hoping I can get her to at least tolerate them in time for the carving. This will be the first time for our kids to really experience that! Last year we just did a foam one at Michaels..

Zander Carrying 1 of 3 Pumpkins

So we are nearing our family photos with our favourite photographer, starting a Pumpkin lapbook, and decorating for Halloween… life goes on and I am actually feeling like I can face what is next with a head held high – as long as my hand is being held tightly by Ken and my children are along for the ride!

For Aunty Esther!

Monday was an odd day for us  – with an activity in the afternoon naps were cut short for the two little ones and our time in the morning was much more hectic, but it was worth it!

Ken and the boys finished off the letter X… boxes and axes and other interesting words with x were discussed and drawn. Which left me with time for a nice little bath – much appreciated and much needed (being a girl definitely has its negatives… monthly negatives).

Letter X (Gavin left)

The kids and Ken also spent some time examining the insect books that we picked up at the library last week. Today’s book was “The Insecto-files” by Helaine Becker. Definitely one for the wish list. A brand new publication with Maple Tree Press it is printed on ancient forest friendly paper. (I am starting to notice the more environmentally sound things around us – I think my own experience with economizing out of necessity has brought to my attention how much we have and do waste.) The boys all seemed to enjoy it though we have not tried any of the experiments I am sure in the future we will give them a go.

The Insecto-Files

Our afternoon started with waking up Trinity and Emanuel – neither woke up gracefully or happily but both perked up by the time we made it to Kidz Quarters. This indoor playground was a lot of fun – with a little guy area, climbing area and then some games you had to buy tokens for.

This gathering was  to celebrate the one year anniversary of our local homeschool meetup group. The Organizer Angeleen is the wife of Morris who has done photos for us – last year’s Christmas and  Trinity’s one year pictures. He is TERRIFIC! If you live near us an need photos for any sort of occasion please send me an email at rosereinsch@gmail.com and I will give you the contact information for him! We are on our way back to get Christmas photos done on the 20th.

I actually ran into someone that graduated the year after me in high school who is now also a homeschooler, made some new friends and actually talked in person to some of the people I had been exchanging emails over an egroup with. Ken even had fun chatting with one of the moms and watching the little guys in the toddler area.

Building With Another Little Boy

Hopefully I will get my hands on a group photo taken by Morris to post here. The turn out was quite nice with a variety of people and kids. I am hoping we will be able to make many more of these occasions. I really want to make it a priority! Friday we have another rather informal gathering at the local nature centre that should be great fun for the kids.

Miss Trinity

I brought a bag of outgrown boy clothes for Morris and Angeleen’s son and they gave us a huge bag of their daughter’s for Trinity! I love when there are people who can trade off with that, of course I sent some applesauce and a dozen sugar cookies as well. Seems like many many people are going to be getting baking and applesauce as presents – I hope people don’t mind.

My activity with the boys for homeschooling today was to colour a little Fall book. This one was not so much a story as a bunch of facts about fall with fun pictures. Even Emanuel got into the swing of it colouring the fall leaves the right colour. For some reason the idea of ORANGE leaves just makes him SO happy! I am hoping to do a couple more Fall related activities this week and then take a look at how much we have to fill our lapbooks.

Fall Booklete

We had a rather major craft activity after we got home from Kidz Quarters with the melting beads. Each of the boys got his own shape and went nuts. I have the ones that came in some small Michael kits (1.50 a piece be sure to look for them!) and then the set of shapes I bought from Ikea last year. It certainly kept them busy well into the evening.

Working on the Beads (Zander left)

Emanuel and His Heart

Can You See the Z?

I left Ken in charge for a while and for some odd reason while he was working on the computer ZANDER got a bead UP HIS NOSE ??? And by got I mean the story we got out of them was that GAVIN put it up there??? WHAT??? Of course they tried to blame Emanuel first – but he was not even sitting NEAR Zander! I seriously thought we had had the “don’t stick stuff up your nose discussion” but apparently it didn’t stick? I think we got the point across this time… I hope!

I have found a book that would go terrific with our Pumpkin Lapbook – “The Pumpkin Patch Parable” by Liz Curtis Higs. A Christian Preschool site had a fun little activity but I have yet to get my hands on the actual book. I have around a week and a half to hunt it down so have sent out an email to my local and provincial groups to see if anyone knows where I can find it. I figure I will search further on the expanded library catalogue or splurge and get it from a bookstore. I cannot wait until I have the school funding. One of the moms at the gathering said you can sign up as a home school and do the Scholastic books – I don’t know if everyone remembers but the leaflets that would come out where you could order books about all sorts of stuff for a lovely price. I have plans!! Another mom suggested an attractions pass that is around 200.00 as well that lets you get into almost all the educational places in the city! The things  you learn!

Sewing wise I am almost done a second Tux… resewing it I have made some pattern corrections that are now posted on the pattern site. Nothing major – just the horizontal line on the half stitches changed to a different colour to make it easier on the eyes. I am hoping for Ken to post some more of our finished patterns on the site tonight or tomorrow. FINGERS CROSSED.

Tomorrow should be interesting – we are planning on heading over to Dollarama as well as school work, cleaning and such. Hopefully I will have a new pattern to stitch as well. I always feel better when I am busy busy!

Hamming it Up For the Camera