This is what I woke up to Friday morning! A wee bit of somewhat organized chaos… Ken cleaning out the dishwasher one last time with the hope to save the owners the cost of repair (hasn’t worked properly since we moved in almost 4 months ago!! GRR so guess who does TONS of dishes even though it is in my lease I have one?). The boys had their Trios and were actually playing as a group! Really nice to wake up to! 

Trios and a runny nosed baby

We skipped the morning workbook time and the kids went out to enjoy the brisk but sunny weather. We are trying to get in every spare minute of outside time we can and still accomplish some homeschooling goals. That sandbox sees so much use, but is really too small for all 4 to play in total harmony. They do do their best. 

Sandbox!

And then back in to work on Stuart Little. We are 2 chapters away from completing the book and watching the moving Cousin Veronika bought for them. We are planning on finding some nature books on mice and maybe go with another mouse related story. Trinity did her own thing this illustration but the boys were quite enamored with the idea of the mouse having his own tiny canoe! 

Stuart and his canoe

Since Emanuel had made a duct tape flower LAST night Trinity wanted one TODAY. She basically had the reverse of his made. I have to admit, fun and simple! 

Trinity and her Rose

That is not to say we didn’t get in any workbook time! But less than the norm to be sure! You can find instructions for it on youTube! Though we did a few extra steps to make sure that the exposed edges had the colour pieces wrapped over it!

Workbook time!

And of course there was the wallet Zander and I made together. He was so proud! 

Zander and his wallet

I ended my evening with a visit with Karyn – while the owners were here messing with the dishwasher and such, so we took the girls for a walk to the gas station to get slurpees… we had the boys safely ensconced in front of the tv downstairs. Of course I got the largest one possible and poured some into cups for each of the boys! But it was nice to get out for a walk and we managed to keep Echo’s shoes on for the whole walk! 

Slurpee!

With Aunty Karyn and her iPhone

I am beyond excited – the owners came Friday night of course and then today REPLACED MY DISHWASHER! So I now figure I am saving AT LEAST 7 hours a week in time that I was spending on dishes (and that is a conservative estimate) which means more time for crafting and one on one with the kids. They also re-grouted a tile in the bathroom upstairs so no baths until tomorrow night but it should solve the tile issue. YAY!

The excitement continued with a trip out and about town with Karyn for Kick it to the Curb… you put your stuff out with a “free” sign and people take what they want over the weekend. Of course for the most part we couldn’t find anything… until we gave up and were heading to the mall – TWO lamps!! I just need to re-do the shades – any suggestions?

Large lamp

Trinity's lamp

And then 2 blocks from our own home – JACKPOT! A lady who is moving end of the month had a whole bunch of little girl stuff out – stuff that was PERFECT for Trinity. She finally got one of those little foam fold out sofas I had been wishing I could get her. It is the perfect size for her and Echo! And clothes to grow into and a couple books… she is putting out more tomorrow so Ken is going to head back over there and check it out after Sunday School.

Enjoying the new couch

Karyn even managed to find herself a popcorn popper. AND we saw parts of the city we had not seen before, a quirky series of signs to an estate/garage sale AND some rather odd art. Ken and the twins went to the local art gallery and museum that we got a free pass from a coupon Kristen found for us! There was an art drop in program. Gavin’s is still a work in progress but you can see Ken’s and Zander’s! Ken is going to take just the twins next weekend and then decide if we should include Emanuel in the experience. We won’t be able to go to the following weekend’s as we will be at my mom’s but it is EVERY Saturday! 

Art and artist

Zander and his to be laminated placemat

With the dishwasher coming in we had to make a nice and clear path. That made it much simpler for me to get that livingroom cleared up. We also dug out the Halloween craft and decoration bucket from the basement with the foam sets the boys have put together with Ken – 2 so far, one for each of the past 2 years. I have already bought another kit during a sale for them to do with him this year! It is time to collect our activities and colouring pages… I will of course link anything I find! 

So now I have lamps to decorate, costumes to make, some Christmas presents to focus on, schooling to plan and and and… BUT more time to do it in!!! 

Popcorn baby decked out for her feast

There have been a few goings on that I have NOT posted about… let’s see… I had Ken pick up something off Freecycle – some sheets… flannel and not that while they won’t work for the original plan (pink for Trinity to make into curtains), the flannel ones will work for Emanuel’s mattress bed (at least until we buy him a single). So that is something! The others… well I am debating some ideas of making them into something!

I do have pictures of two of my leopard print duct tape creations! I am loving the look of it and plan on making a purse using these two colours and black… though I am debating the pattern and look I want.. Do I want to use MORE leopard and black accent… so maybe all the long strips be the cookie dough, the horizontals be the leopard and the accent black? PLEASE weigh in people!!

Spotty

I finished up the boys’ Trumpet of the Swans books they made. I used a cropodile and these neat plastic rings that I found at the local kids’ supply store! I think they worked out nice! This is the same thing we plan on doing with Stuart Little when we finish the book.

And then there is the laminating! Well I got done the Buggy Board Math Mats… all I need are some dry erase markers, the crayons are nice but I want markers as well. 

Laminated and ready to go

And then there is the days of the week and weather/season pieces I got from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I have subscribed to her newsletter and it is absolutely AWESOME for ideas. I seriously wish I could turn my blog into something like that, but I also enjoy it being a lot more than homeschooling… this is us in a nutshell to share with the friends and family who are NOT able to enjoy and experience first hand on a regular basis. 

We started our day early today… BLECK! We are so not a morning family. But we needed to go to the bank and thought we could go at opening. Turns out we had to wait until 11am for an appointment time but Ken had to run out to the post office to sign a form and send it right back for a contract anyway. So it was lucky he did that and stopped in at the bank to make the appointment without us. It really is a pain to get the kids into the vehicle and then it turn out to be for nothing! Since Trinity was up until midnight playing (so not happy about that) she actually slept in and had to be woken up. Echo woke up before 5 am and Ken was not cognizant enough to realize he should NOT take her out of the crib until it was too late. So they finished the morning on the couch snuggling. The boys found the one bit of Legos I had not put IN the bucket and stowed back away and used that as an argument starter while I was waking up and bathing… seriously Legos are a blessing and a curse in this house! 

Pre Bank Post Lego

I have to say I am in love with BMO, they were able to give us an appointment that we got into when we walked in the door… the lady was nice, speedy and able to deal with the kids easily! Joint account is now done… Just need to set up auto withdrawals and deposits and all that… though personally, I prefer cash! I actually have an aunt who works for BMO (different town) so bad on me to NOT be dealing with them already!

We decided to fill our morning up before the appointment by watching Electric Company. The kids (Echo included) really do enjoy the segments and the music and the storyline. I am not sure how much is sticking yet but today we were reviewing some of our favourite episodes… Netflix only has the first 12 of the new series… and pbskids.org does NOT allow Canadian viewing of full episodes (figures), the same issue as Cyberchase… Ken is still working on finding us episodes we CAN watch… I am almost down to having to purchase the dvds… not cheap!

We finally assembled our months of the year lapbooks. I used a couple resources for this… but the main one is a lapbook set up from homeschoolshare.com. As well as months of the year printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I also looked up months of the year on EnchantedLearning. We added in our pictures from yesterday based on the books we read and it turned out quite nice! Hopefully the boys can come back to these books and work on their months… we are getting there but it is not as easy to experience months as it is the days of the week! 

Finished!

All open

I heard back this morning that my dad’s second procedure was a success… both arteries are unclogged and he gets to go home tomorrow! Certainly a weight off my shoulders. I hope to get a chance to chat with him very soon! It is hard to be so far away but at the same time, thank goodness for technology to keep in touch! 

We ended our day early with a lovely early dinner for the kids and then Emanuel and I made up a crazy patterned flower! I was surprised at how the two patterns looked so… cute together. He was so proud! Zander and I have had a nice long talk and discussed his obsession with things we really can’t do right now the way he wants to (going to the beach, digging for treasure chests… playing hours of Minecraft). We are going to find things he DOES like to do and we CAN do together. The plan is to make a duct tape creation tomorrow just the two of us.

Emanuel and his flower

That is something we so quickly forget about – the one on one time… with all the kids and Echo’s needs the time gets lost in the muddle. It is something to work for. It looks like I may go on a trip to visit Karyn’s parents’ farm on Sunday… and Saturday is kick it to the curb – where you can put stuff out on the curb and people can come and take what they can use. Should be an interesting weekend!

Binky Baby

Two day entries seem to be the norm for October thus far. Ken actually alerted his contracts that it was a holiday here in Alberta and took the bulk of the day for US! Echo had a rough night waking off and on at the drop of a hat BUT we managed to stay in bed until almost 9am! A good start to the day. 

Ken ran out to grab the forgotten pancake mix and we all had yummy pancakes before the boys ran outside to play the morning away. Trinity decided to stay in and have a bath with me (seriously cramping my soaking time but she does love to have her hair washed). She wanted to dress up in one of her dresses that I had altered preciously – the green one with the butterflies. I know that the weather has turned to the cool but she does love her dresses. So we made up for that with a white turtleneck and white jeans. Very pretty! Add to that her yellow headband with a flower and she was set.

With Ken’s help I was able to get back into my medieval dress from the Chrises’ wedding. I forgot how difficult that was to do! I added the circlet and earrings from the day and substituted the hairdresser with one of my hair pieces and we were ready to go. I have to admit I DID feel a little silly out and about in the dress, especially since no one else in the family was wearing their costumes. BUT the leaves were prefect and the park not busy so I was able to have Ken take a few really cute pictures. I figure one more time – with cloak and in snow and I will feel good about how many images I have with something so fanciful. 

look a tree... oh and a girl behind it

Hmm leaves, sunshine and a pretty dress

As Ken would say - CLEAVAGE! Not an easy thing to make in this dress

Ken and I decided against going to the actual playpark with the kids. It was very busy and Echo was happy (for the moment) in her carseat. They did some leaf jumping, running and leaf throwing and then we headed back to the van. 

With leaves no less!

I also made sure to take some pictures of Trinity in her special outfit. She is such a fun subject. 

Pretty girl

And then there was the one of Emanuel sitting in the leaves… he is so sweet in pictures.

Cutie in the leaves

And the twins… I love their smiles and their bright blue eyes. Though at times Zander’s glasses obscure them. 

I love this one... note the hat from his god-daddy... very prized

My big boys

We made a run to Michaels since we were halfway there anyway with two 50% off coupons… you got it – DUCT TAPE! This time leopard spots and cookie dough brown solids. I admit it, I am an addict. I think that next I will get purple and black and white checks. Of course I couldn’t resist sitting down and making a wallet and then later in the evening a matching change purse and hair thing. I am thinking they could be fun Christmas gifts…

Wallet!!! This one should be gifted I think

Our afternoon was full of Legos, sandbox play and other non organized fun. It was nice to have a break, and in the evening the kids worked on magnets and electricity with Ken. A good Thanksgiving Day. With Sean here as well. Echo was VERY happy about that! 

We had a bit of a short day school wise today, what with a doctor’s appointment at 1:45 for the WHOLE family! But we managed to get some stuff done. This year has begun without the happy attitude of last year’s “start” but we are working on it. We started with some workbook work and then onto Stuart Little where he somehow managed to convince a random superintendent of schools that he (at the age of what 3?? what is that in mouse years) was capable of substituting as a teacher for a day?? The kids thought it was hilarious. 

Stuart Little

After that it was Legos… in fact, most of our spare time today was taken up with those nifty little blocks. That is not to say there weren’t arguments (of course there were!) but creations managed to take shape!

Gavin and Emanuel

Such a silly angle for Zander's picture

Some of the other projects

Trinity, Echo and I made the walk to the convenience store to pick up pasta sauce (funny how THAT is pretty much the same price there as a grocery store) . She does love a good hat! Though I had to change her outfit after the appointment – she manage to dislodge one of her bows that I put on her redone dress… guess I will be trying something other than fabric glue on those! 

In the refurbished dress

Dressed to walk for snacks and sauce

This evening we had a slight change in plans. With Ken swamped at work and really unable to leave after the appointment I contacted Karyn who made it into town in time to escort myself, Emanuel and Trinity to the downtown branch of the library. It was pj storytime. Trinity wore her Hello Kitty ones of course! There was stories, songs, rhymes AND a craft! All with the grandparent theme (for the most part). We decorated sunglasses in the end and then picked out some books. We took this chance to FINALLY get our library card! Another receipt for the funding file. I am looking forward to getting a meet up set up at our closer branch… once the van is done being repaired! 

Emanuel and his glasses

Trinity and hers

So the adventure was had with a slightly different form of transportation. I have some books for the twins to read tomorrow AND now need to spend some time on their online site hunting down some books. We have to get a move on on our months of the year AND a start on our dinosaurs and recycling… life goes on and it is time to move a wee bit quicker! 

Just cuz a baby in a hat = CUTE