Today I want to start with linking a great blog. HERE is her most recent entry on her choice in wearing the traditional hijab headgear. The video at the end is wonderful! I wish the world would just accept that people CAN make educated choices… not EVERYONE is forced to do things… tolerance is so important as is finding your own path to that higher power in the world! 

I think what struck me about the above blog entry is how people’s reaction to my friend are not unfamiliar to me… I get my own version in regards to other things in my life… not religious based but at the same time close to my heart… like when people realize that all 5 kids running around with me are mine, or that I stay home with them, or that I am homeschooling… there are people who look at me like I MUST be locked in the house and in turn forcing my kids to accept the same isolation. How dare I CHOSE to stay home! After all, anyone who is educated MUST want a career outside the home! And, in all actuality, I faced this BEFORE I was even married! In my last semester of University before I graduated I took a Women’s Studies course (it was one of my required credits) and during the span of the class we covered all sorts of issues. What stands out in my mind was when the professor asked me what I planned to do in the future. Well I admitted that regardless of my education, my career my choice was to stay HOME with my kids. I was told that was not the right choice, as any woman would want to have more than that. Well, I can accept that SOME women want something ELSE but more? This is my career, my job and one of my passions. My children, family, their education, the well being of my husband (who seriously DOES need to be reminded that coffee and caffeinated beverages are NOT meals in and of themselves), the crafts I do, the special moments I have – THESE are my life and the direct result of my choices. And that holds merit. 

That is not to say there are NOT people forced into lifestyles, forced into religions, forced into anything you can imagine but that by no way means paint everyone with the same brush! Just like I wear a cross, my friend wears her head covering. That is a choice between each of us and that higher power… I live my life for myself not because it was dictated… so those poor you looks really are not merited. That is not to say I don’t have poor me moments (oh trust me Friday night I was wallowing in a large one of those), but my 5 kids are precious, their education something I LOVE being in charge of and staying home – well my home is my work and I am proud of it! 

And now back to our daily life… not much occurred of great note on Friday… the kids were certainly NOT working WITH me. This has been a hard week with Ken working hard to get his Saturday cleared. We had to postpone Gavin’s first skating experience to Friday and late in the day at that! Ken and Gavin went out without helmet (oops) but had a blast giving skating a first go. We have to return this pair of skates but I am hoping I can get my hands on a second boy pair so that both of the twins have have at least a few more goes before the weather permanently moves to spring! 

Gavin

We read two more books with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. One had listed in it some instruments we were not familiar with so now we have some research to do on Monday. Each of the twins has already chosen an instrument of interest and we will fill in the gaps on some more exotic others. I am hoping we can at least look for interesting tidbits of knowledge for them to share with others. With 2 weeks until the day we have plenty of time to find out more and more about the Republic of Ireland. We are already going much deeper and further than I expected with their intense interest! I am so glad! 

Books!

We have added our knowledge about St. Patrick himself along with an illustration Emanuel coloured for us. Our folder is now in a binder though I am hoping to get to the Dollarama and find a GREEN binder to better store our endeavors. There is a little of each of the kids in this one. I have requested some fairy story books as well, so we will do some reading and discussing… I am so lucky with friends on Facebook who are more knowledgeable than I in regards to Ireland!

Saturday was a whirlwind sort of day… we had the whole family out the door by 11 am (I know INSANE!) in our borrowed van (fear not our part IS through customs). Without any sort of complications (seriously this IS my family??? What the!) we headed out to the city. One stop at Walmart to get a present for the birthday boy (1 yr old already!) and we were on our way to the den Otter’s. 

The kids always have a blast with the den Otters. There was toys and friends and nibbles… what more could our kids ask for? Well, for once… NOTHING! AND there were NEW friends to meet too! 

Kids everywhere

Alan’s sister Rachel and her family were there as well. Their middle child was a smaller baby too! It was so nice to talk to someone who had experienced the tiny but healthy baby! Apparently her husband has family in city here… so I hope to visit with them more often. 

There was cake for the adults and a jelly treat for the kids and of course the singing of Happy Birthday to Izaac! 

Cake

Noms

Of course there were presents to be opened!

Presents

And a photo op with our youngest god daughter. I had not seen her in well over 6 months! Which also meant in turn that Echo got to see one set of her godparents. She was a little shy and gravitated right to Sean. Don’t forget Uncle Ted… It was great to get to see so many friends that we are now so far from. I am hoping once our van is fixed (come on part get here already!!) we can start doing an every other month visit like we used to way back when before we lived in the city in the first place. 

Anna and Echo

Again

Now there are two stores (well three if you count T&T though we did not make it there) I miss A LOT – H&W and Bulk Barn and for once traveling corresponded with the time to stop AND the cash to spend there. First stop H&W to get fruit and vegetables where I was complimented by the cashier for taking all 5 kids out shopping. She was impressed by them being under control AND us being calm with them. 

Then Bulk Barn where one of the employees went out of her way to tell us THANK YOU for keeping our kids under control! She said so many people let their kids run wild… I cannot imagine, especially with the barrels of food unsealed. We got spices and noodles and snacks… and cereal! It felt good to actually be able to get the odd items we used to once every week or so. It felt normal and I need as much normal as I can before the 21st…

When we got home and unloaded the kids ran around a bit while Ken napped and then it was time for the long sought after time with Daddy. Down to the basement for PS3 games. I love that he is working so hard to have more time for our family. We have missed him.

Game time with Daddy

We have our house guest back until Monday night again. Sean is still off work due to his broken foot but optimistic that in another week or so he will be back on restricted work. 

Sunday was SUPPOSED to be Sunday School but after our busy Saturday both Mommy and Daddy were absolutely worn out. Instead we let the kids play in the living room and rested. It is so rare that we take a full morning off… and the resulting mess really wasn’t that bad! The weather was perfect for the boys to pretty much live outside in the afternoon I am hoping they will finish what they are created by tomorrow so I can take a picture to share!

So cute

We also cleaned ALL the bedrooms upstairs. I went through Trinity’s clothing and sorted out the too smalls… we attempted another sort through of the toys and I am hoping she can keep up with it a little longer. I hope that in the next 6 months or so I can pick up another dresser to put her dolls and dolly clothing in, maybe even teddy bears. Storage is always an issue with kids. 

Tidy room

Sunday evening we had a game night with potluck nachos and a new game! Bridge Troll. It took a bit of explaining but once we actually started playing it wasn’t bad at all. 

New game

Playing with Fydo

I am almost done my special barrette for Echo to wear post surgery. I am using ribbons I salvaged from the wand Trinity had that had broken. I finally hunted down my heart shaped crystals and plan on adding one to the center. Hopefully it will be done for tomorrow! I didn’t have the chance to plug in the hot glue gun today.

So the weekend is over and it is time to make the most of our week. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of the birthday boy!!

Echo and her boyfriend

Birthday boy

The den Otter family

And one more of Echo for good measure

Sunday can mean many things, though rarely (for this family) a day of rest. Today was no exception. Echo and I bribed Ken with an extra hour of sleep so that we could remain home during Sunday School. Echo was in sore need of a nap by 9am and class starts at 9:30. Yours truly was feeling much the same way, so I dressed the other 4 and saw them off before crawling up under a blanket on the couch for my own snooze. A little beam of sunshine, a warm blanket and the silence that is a virtually empty house. In fact, it was so quiet I could hear music playing in the other side of the duplex!

Pretty in Pink

I was woken up 5 min before the family returned by people asking to shovel our walk (that’s ok Ken needs the exercise…). With Echo still firmly asleep and the kids changed out of their church clothes I returned to my snuggle on the couch while they played, coloured and generally kept busy. That is until lunch time… a light lunch, some sorting of winter gear and lining up the return of our borrowed van (thanks again Chris and Chris) and we were ready to head out to the pond and our next big excitement – a sledding and skating party! 

Our backyard right now

We have had a massive amount of snow come down the past two days… I think well over 20 cm and with no wind and the sun out it was pretty much a perfect day for the event. There is a little building there that had washroom and rentals and even a little snack shop so bathroom breaks were easy! We lucked out and were able to have a little bonfire right in front of the ice and off to the side from the sledding hill. 

The first go down the hill Zander and Gavin bonked heads but went on for more. Trinity and Emanuel did ONE run with Daddy down the big hill and Trinity was DONE… Emanuel went with a sled and made his OWN hill off to the side and had a blast! He can be so independent!

Heading up the hill

Spontaneous snow angel

Zander was the only one who tried skating, though Gavin showed interest and got distracted. We borrowed a pair of skates for a couple days so that he can go on a special outing on Tuesday with Ken to give it a go! He did rather good for a first try and had a blast doing it.

Skating

There was hot chocolate, hotdog and marshmallows as well as some bags of chips and things. Lots of people to help with the making of it and the kids ate their fill and then some! I got to sit and chat with one of Emanuel and Trinity’s teachers and Echo was passed around a little. She was less than fond of her snowsuit and wiggled one hand out to hold her binky so we had to wrap her in her blanket as well. She and Alaskan Sock Monkey just laid back and took it all in rather quietly.

Snacks

Echo and Alaskan Sock Monkey

We stayed much longer than we expected and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, it was not until the drive home (poor van) that we realized how chilled everyone BUT Echo was! So it was home to get into pj’s or in Emanuel’s case a bath first THEN pj’s and then quiet playtime before a light supper and bed. Poor Ken ended the evening feeling WORSE than he started off so I had to make the trek to the convenience store for sauce for noodles (and no slurpee… me and exact change math were not happy and it was too cold to walk back with it tonight). 

Sitting by the fire

There is some prep work for different St. Patrick’s Day crafts still to be done. Tomorrow the plan is to make smelly Shamrocks, and have the little ones colour some rainbows. I have found instructions on how to make paper mache pots for gold (instructions to follow) and I am trying to figure out a way to incorporate Celtic knots. The boys each have a mini book to complete and some other worksheets and then there is the hunt for green clothing to be set aside for the celebration. Maybe I can find something special for Echo as well! And now it is time to get the blog post up and maybe see an earlier bedtime… maybe. 

BRIEFLY standing in the snow

Now to catch up on what has been going on with our not so little family! Wednesday last week… the 21st, was a special day – Karyn’s birthday day! So it was proclaimed (after she slept in of course) to be a girly fun day. We started off with packing up Echo (she and Fat Sheep were along as guests as well, of course) and heading out to a nearby frozen over pond that is set up for skating for PICTURES! 

Santa Sheep on ice

Watching the skaters as they watch her

After many photos and some strange looks from people on skates we headed over to Karyn’s apartment for girly fun time… a yummy meal that Echo LOVED, nail painting and black and white films! We watched the first two movies of the Thin Man. I do love black and white film! 

Note the MANY little nailpolish bottles!

Trying to snitch my dinner

Lauralee joined us for My Little Pony (the new version) and some Powerpuff Girls. Don’t forget the mini cheesecakes covered in chocolate and topped with bits of candy cane. Totally girly! AND a late night… we even got a phone call from home asking why we had not called home to check in! We were rebels AND Echo said HI to daddy for the first time! All in all an AMAZING day out just for girls! Oh and Dare the cat…

The birthday girl and her sheep

The Santa Sheep version of telling your Christmas wishes does NOT include sitting on laps! Rather a much more artistic tree side discussion!