Tag Archive | Staples

Back to the Week

And Easter is over… we are back with the Chris’ and hopefully this is our week of completions… Lots of calls to be made that is for sure! Sadly I didn’t get around to blogging Easter Monday… a combination of travel, frustration with some situations and of course the worry over my sister in law’s health (add to that her being out comic con babysitter for the boys at the end of the month and…). She is still in the hospital of course and her mom flew into Alberta (from Texas) tonight. Thank goodness! I am on call if they need more help later but it looks good. Once surgery is done recovery is supposed to be relatively short. 

Our Monday was a rather nice day. We woke up at Grandma’s, had breakfast, played outside… enjoyed the morning… I finally got a chance to try on the classic lolita dress I bought last year to have mom examine it. All we had to do was alter the elastic around the arms and I am in business… of course all the accessories I have amassed so far are in storage BUT I have the dress and a crinoline I have plans for altering to be more… poofy. 

Tv...

Outside fun

And of course cute baby

We had lunch, tidied up, said good bye to Gypsy and it was time to head back to Chris and Chris’ and return their van. The kids were rather unimpressed as they were sure we should have stuck around longer (mom and Mike had to head to the city and left before us so they were hoping we would stay until the grandparents returned). If we can sort out our van purchasing the hope is to head back to visit in the near future. 

Don't forget Gypsy...

And the binky she ate

Do not forget the great peeps experiment that the menfolk here HAD to try… apparently putting a marshmallow peep in the microwave is considered scientific to grown men! I have to admit it WAS funny.

After microwave and before microwave

Of course, we are still in a holding pattern on the van AND the rental… first proper business day after the long weekend… BUT our homeschooling board was open so today I was able to not only get my PO number BUT also get to Staples and pick up our very own iPad 3! Funding covered our iPad and extended Apple warranty but I am going to have to save up (or get for my birthday in June hint hint) a cover. VERY exciting. 

iPad in all it's glory

I also got a couple packages of special markers, a phonics hands on sort of thing AND a bucket of craft supplies. So hopefully that will help with the boredom somewhat. 

Today we made use of what we have around us for our one school activity. I took the inside cardboard piece from one of the seasonal boxes of chocolates shaped like a bunny and we used that as a template to make some simple Easter books. The twins wrote some of the stuff they did for Easter, Emanuel made some lovely pictures and Trinity did her own thing. We used stickers mom had for the eggs that were left over and there you go! Something fun and pretty. AND something they can show the facilitator. 

Making Bunny Books

We are still progressing but I am keeping it rather low key. I look forward to returning to our things and our own space so that we can jump into our homeschooling more fully and with more mess and bother. 

With Storytime too

I have been working on bows lately. I have some I completed tonight but the ones from a few days back I have pictures of… I am trying to use different colour combinations and play around with things more. It keeps my mind occupied and is helping me create a stock pile for a craft sale I have agreed to be a part of in June. A friend back where my mom lives is doing a charity drive and wanted me to sell my crafts. I give them a door prize and 10% of my sales! I have asked some other crafty friends to join in and hope we can fill a table and maybe even sell some things! 

Pretty in purple

I combined two patterns with matching colours on this one

Lots of red

Gotta use that Halloween ribbon

In fact, today after work Karyn made the drive out to school me in iPads and to visit with the kids AND to drop me off some socks without mates that Victoria was able to spare! Random socks are the best!

 

SOCKS

Miss Karyn and Echo

A pro with the iPad (this is Karyn's white one)

Well tomorrow will hopefully continue our positive trend… I am going to do my very best to help it along! But for now I have bows to finish, an iPad to learn and Apps to find! 

Don't forget ECHO'S grandma sandals!

As April Begins…

We begin our own journey as we wait for the electrical repair to be done on our new rental. Ken has signed the paperwork we just have to sit and wait… well visit and wait really. For the next little while we are at Chris and Chris’ while we await the van repair (I do believe I mentioned that last blog post). They have been so lovely to offer us what space they have to spare for a while. With Easter fast approaching we are REALLY hoping the van will be fixed and RELIABLE to get to my mom’s to celebrate. 

Yesterday was the wakthrough on our old place. Apparently the tenants previous to us were there 2 years (with kids) and trashed the place and the owners were SURPRISED we had not done damage and wondered how we had managed it… I really don’t know what to say. Yes, we have 5 kids and yes we are a busy family but rental or not, we do NOT destroy our living space. You clean, you put away… you don’t let the kids be destructive… isn’t that just the way it goes? Anyway, all of our stuff from INSIDE the house is in Kristen and Fydo’s garage… the stuff from our shed and outside in their backyard. I cannot say thank you enough to them for allowing us the space to keep our things. Everything feels so in control right now (well, except the van but that is “in the works”).

Well let me correct that… getting RID of the van is in the works. We did finally get a call from Canadian Tire this morning, well the coolant is fixed BUT (and it is a BIG but) they think there is more wrong and you have to fix the next thing to determine what is wrong… so do we throw more money in on a 96 Quest? Well stay tuned… Ken is THINKING about it. 

Gavin had a completion today with his reading book… poor kid was so excited he wanted the next level book… guess where that it? Right in one, in the friend’s garage. So… well I think we will try and find something else fun to do. Maybe some working with words, some reading of a story together… although there was a bit of a wrench thrown in that plan too (seriously this was NOT my Monday, everything I tried to do FAILED)…

All finished!

I went to the nearby library here with Karyn who is finally back from Saskatchewan and came to visit and catch up and get some baby snuggles. I was going to get my TAL card activated for this library… well they need ID… with your address on it… ummm I don’t have an address right this minute and  my ID has the WRONG address on it for our place we are now out of (we knew we were moving and since mine is a learners we decided not to pay to change it until after this move), so no go! ARGH… though we did check the library out and read some books.

Storytime

While on the topic of screwed up list… I tried to call FisherPrice today to see if I could get a replacement magnet for the kids’ drawing board… NOPE, they no longer make that model (ARGH). So hopefully it is either somewhere in a box from the move OR in Chris and Chris’ upstairs and just temporarily out of sight. Figures…

OH and #3 – well I found out that according to our schoolboard website we CAN use Payment Order (PO) numbers for the second half of our funding starting April 1st…  so Ken called to check, well the office is closed for the whole week for EASTER! ARGH… so not until the 10th can we get a hold of anyone, Ken DID send off an email with the hope that MAYBE someone is checking them but I am not holding out hope. BUT that is still sooner than I thought I could get one (May) and I called around to both Staples in the city and the one near mom’s so when we DO get our PO number… well I will RUN to the store to get one!!

We did venture out while Echo was napping. It is a pretty direct route from Chris and Chris’ to the nearest Macs. So of course we had to walk to get treats. It wasn’t too bad until we had to walk BACK and I was the lucky person to get to hold the slurpee… with NO gloves. 

Getting some fresh air

So not the best start to the week though I did try my best. Tomorrow we are going to get around to making our thank you card for everyone at the hospital who was involved in Echo’s surgery. Mom got our call for her follow up. April 25th. So that means that the blacksmith fieldtrip I had signed the kids up for is out (same day), thankfully it was a free one. I also have to decide if we are taking ALL of the kids or going to try and find a sitter… bah never simple! 

The whole barest minimum school supplies thing is driving us all a little mad BUT we are making do. I am hoping to get a stop off at Dollarama tomorrow to AT LEAST get some Easter stickers… Easter is up in the air with the van situation but I will make the best of where ever we are! Next year we are going to do a REAL focus on Easter for our schooling… 

Tonight I need to finish stitching on a ribbon sash on one of Echo’s dresses and sort through the last bag of stuff I brought here and kept out of the storage pile. Tomorrow I hope to start in on the ribbon bows… I am supposed to do a craft table in June which means I need A LOT of owls and bows… I am thinking of doing up the bows in advance as I am about out of clips and need to hunt down all the lonely socks I can! 

Making do with the things we have

Thinking About St. Patrick’s Day

I have been debating what I want to do about Emanuel’s schooling. He has been VERY much against doing MORE… often saying he is tired or doesn’t know things… but then yesterday he was answering his brother’s rhyming questions and doing simple addition in his bedroom all by himself. So do I push him to do more in front of me or watch from the corner of my eye at times and keep one ear open for his personal triumphs out of my immediate sphere of influence? 

Looking into dinosaurs together

Our morning was rather organized for once. Ken had to wake me up early so he could get to work and Echo went to bed mid morning which gave me bath time. The kids all worked on workbooks while I sorted out the upstairs for my planned exodus to do some errands. I have upgraded one of Trinity’s mid range rubbermaid tubs to a larger one to put her stuffed animals in, using the little one for dolls… if only I had more storage! Or a toy room… or less toys? But they are not just HER toys in the bedroom, the family toys (kitchen set, a block set) are also in there as are the cradle my grandpa made ME and Echo’s stuff. Poor Trinity.

I went out with (she) Chris and Mae to do a little school shopping (payment order number and Staples are ALWAYS a good thing, and this time with a 100.00 budget). I did not spend my whole budget but I am finally in possession of a mountain of paper! 5000 sheets for less than 30.00. AND some new markers (ours were ancient and finally are dying out), more “twisty crayons” as per request, some more thick glue AND GLITTER glue! Oh and pens that Ken wanted… all for under budget! 

I love that our funding allows me to get these special treats later in the schooling year. Especially the glitter glue, we are ALWAYS running out of that!!

Not sure where to store this yet.

One the way back home we stopped at the mall to have poutine (noms) and then to go to Dollarama… after all that IS the place to get applesauce at the best price… I picked up some St. Patrick’s Day stickers, socks and of course a few pieces of chocolate for the adults. 

A bit of green

You know the saying “it takes a village to raise a child”? Well I think I have felt the help of a global village, through my blog and the interest you all have shown, advice given and love sent… through Facebook and the support system that has grown there, from homeschooling and families that are willing to share their experiences and excesses, friends and family who have been here for us from before the kids were born… I am very sure that I would not be able to create such a high quality of life and education if not for all these people in our lives. So thank you all! After all without help and support my confidence would be nil, Trinity would not be so well dressed and our homeschooling life would be rather bland! I am so glad that in some ways I can pass along. I am going to take some time in the next week and see what I can do about dressing some other little girls. Echo has finally grown out of some clothes so it is time to see that others have a chance to enjoy them! 

Echo in a new hat !!! Thank you!

So while we only made SOME progress on our Inuit lapbook (we have to add a THIRD folder for all the bits the kids did!!!) and the boys REALLY just wanted to play with the red blocks (hah mean Mommy made them watch CyberChase while she was out and about this afternoon!!!) we did progress. And now, with paper in the printer I have a stack of stuff to start next week in regards to St. Patrick’s Day! On top of all that there is the volcano research, Emanuel’s renewed interest in dinosaurs (we read a bit of a longer book tonight together) AND my sock owls… so lots more to talk about in the coming days and weeks! And of course, soon the Inuit lapbook to premier! 

Even Echo gets in her schooling time, one of the boys grabbed her crayons and paper and she was able to sit and scribble. She actually holds the crayons properly! Though right handed (boo)