Well well we have made it to March and the countdown to spring. Of course with it being slightly warmer I had to take advantage and photograph the kids! I have been lax in doing this of the whole group.

It was nice enough that we were able to photograph a couple of my completed crochet projects outside! Again check out Kristen’s Kords HERE!! She rocks!!!

Tinker Bell!

We had the Schwartz kids over again to watch while their folks were busy. Visits with them with parents or not have become a highlight of our weeks!

Miss Echo has totally embraced all sorts of creative imaginative play. Tea parties are so exciting for the stuffed critters and dolls in this house!

We finally opened our Chinese New Year lucky candy holders. That yummy strawberry candy is a family favourite.

We also have a new family member… Hugo Bear Dog generally known as Bear Dog… he joined us thanks to Amy Sue, the amazingly talented seamstress who is creating dresses for Shandai’s wedding! He is an instant hit and has become Echo’s new favourite snuggle buddy. I have to share her page HERE. I absolutely cannot wait to see how Shandai’s dress and my own turn out! They are going to be spectacular.

School has continued on swimmingly. I am so proud of the kids for trying their best to expand their knowledge and try to face the hard stuff with less and less whining and complaining.

Don’t forget about Dr. Seuss’ birthday! We had a added experience for the girls – Dr. Seuss themed activities at Lakeshore.

And food that suited our theme… red and white fruit to represent the Cat in the Hat’s hat… One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish jello with gummy fish… and eggs and ham (trust me… GREEN eggs does NOT go over well). I also had each of the kids write their own RHYMING book. Ken, Karyn and I worked out our own book. Talk about fun. Though the kids struggled a bit. You can find our resource post HERE.

Snow…

The igloo

Home Depot…

Lakeshore Saturday crafts…

A brief foray into pet ownership with the short lived TRIOP!

Movie night with popcorn at the YMCA! (101 Dalmations!!)

Don’t forget St. Patrick’s Day lunch (we did a minor unit this time… previous years have burned us out a little on that theme) but any chance to have a themed meal! You can find our resource page HERE.

Leprechaun escaped our trap once again!

Themed craft

End the month with… EASTER EGG HUNT!

And it was a well rounded month. March is always that little bit more packed when Easter is early April… Let’s see… Dr. Seuss, Home Depot fun, St. Patrick’s Day, early Easter activity… I think we can say we kept good and busy!

March 18-23

MARCH 23RD HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

This was a pretty nasty cold with more and more kids getting sick. So Tuesday was not an improvement on Monday. However we did finally have our green lunch! Just as dinner.

And then… MORE SNOW!

I also finally got my labels up on the shelves. I am already seeing  this help with organization… the bane of homeschooling… you never get everything put away, there is always something on the go so if I can organize SOMEWHERE then I am going to hop up and do so!

Wednesday was doubly rough with teacher succumbing to the nasty bug. So we… rested!

We did try to get more on track on Thursday.

The twins even managed to complete their United States state books. Not much more than an introduction to each state (half a page) and such but it was a chance to see them on a smaller scale than a whole country map.

We brought out the Time Bingo game I got months ago for a dollar at Target and saw some huge leaps in the ability to read an analog clock.

We ended the week with a Family Fun Day. The usual… check out the yarn at Joann’s, run into places we had coupons for…

And a wander in one of the smaller malls.

We had toyed with going to ride on the carousal but the kids were certainly not up to that treat. Instead we went to the food court and got the kids cinnamon buns to share. That is a SUPER treat as I think it has been nearly a year since they have had something like that. I lucked out and found a Japanese place that is almost as good as Edo Japan… and something TRINITY liked! Sauce on the food and all!!!

We have our daily laundry chore to handle.

And then a movie to round off our fun day.

On Saturday we had Matt, Fran, Izzy and Henry over for afternoon snacks. Everyone gets rather excited when we know they are coming. It is really one of our best chances for play and visit for kids AND adults and I am so thankful for it.

Sunday was Sunday school and then car building. Sadly it was the twins’ turn to be absolutely out of sorts and for the first time in ages require naps without being sick!

The best way to end a sick week/weekend… quiet play! And the prayer that we ALL get better quickly!! After all spring is here… in name…

Bit of an emphasis on games lately!

March 13-17

On Thursday it was the twin’s turn to work on their pinewood derby cars. Sadly we all sort of fell apart to a rather nasty cold which had our school week light and our napping heavy!!

This is all part if Gavin’s master plan I am told.

We did make a Sam’s Club run that has started a new family tradition. If the kids can at least attempt to behave on our shopping trip we then agree to have a post shopping snack. The prices on their food that is ready to eat are AMAZING… and also include a family favourite – pretzels! It is a great way to bypass the frustrated kids in line at the cash. Ken stands in line with the purchases and I have them sit at a table and order food to share. 5-6 dollars and we have some pop, pretzels and even a hotdog or pizza slice (that is really like a quarter of a large pizza!). We even caved and chose the more difficult cart to push around to humour the girls.

In fact, once the car working was done and the sickies were STILL sleeping it was back to the Lego game. Having that table out has saved my bum during the sick time.

Friday was quiet learning. Mainly things like watching Veggie  Tales and then going and doing the Sunday School sheets or what we have now started – Dirty Jobs. We are watching episode by episode and then doing a reflection journal page about it. Trinity is drawing and then I write, Emanuel drawing and then copying two sentences and the twins 4-5. We are working on having a title for our pages – Dirty Jobs Episode whatever… and on working more on telling all about something not just simple sentences. Anything to expand our work and our skills!

Keeping tabs on our week thanks to Activity Village

Saturday was a special day. We had plans to meet up with Matt and Fran and their twins again… but this time at IKEA for our favourite family lunch – meatballs! Although, with kids still recovering we had smaller appetites than usual. I really need to carry some ziploc in my purse for extras when we over order!

After lunch it was time to go across the street to MOA and the Lego store. They have this great play area out there for the kids to build.

Echo and Izzy

I was especially excited to go… this is the only place that has a Typo store for my favourite pens AND Body Shop (except airport where I never fly anyway to get into the store section and when anyone does they are closed) for my facial soap.

I could not resist.. I had this sort of pen in high school!!! 4.95 plus tax!

Sunday was really nothing special. We had way too many sick kids to do anything and no Sunday School so it was a lay back and enjoy naps and rest…

And time to set out our leprechaun trap! Because we all know Lucky Charms are the perfect lure! Sam’s Club had a double box on for sale so the kids were over the moon… as long as the leprechaun didn’t take off with the goods!

Monday was St. Patrick’s Day. With kids still suffering from this cold we did the best we could with our Green clothing. Got the picture in at the very least… but no green lunch.

Trinity and Emanuel were starting to bounce back so we focused mainly on THEIR St. Patrick’s Day fun.

Emanuel’s cover for his dinosaur book we read together

Playing a number game

Father, Son and Holy Spirit on a 3 leaf clover

Not the most impressive start to the week but it is great to see that even limping with illness we do get a wee bit done each day. Progress is progress! Enjoy the random MOA pictures!