Time keeps ticking along… and with it our days and nights. Tuesday was an interesting combination of outside fun and inside schoolwork. Our morning was dedicated to learning… with our flag folders of course I had to get my hands on copies of the Pledge of Allegiance and the US National Anthem (first stanza). And with that their books are pretty well done. 

Celebratory cupcakes!

The piggy bank was finished as well… Daddy cut the slot and all of the kids had a go at adding stickers to the bottle. They are VERY proud of it. (Picture to follow eventually)

With Farmer Boy covered and some colouring and pictures created and lunch eaten the twins headed out to play in the pool… in the rain! Apparently that made it more fun? We had some thunder, no lightening and a warm rain so I figured why not. Besides, they had energy to burn and the others were all napping. (Though we did have a rogue Echo get into markers while we were busy and she coloured her hand and some of the carpet, thank goodness for vinegar water… came right out!)

Such a naughty baby

We did have a mild issue regarding the tv Tuesday and had to unplug all of the sets in the kids’ rooms (Emanuel’s and the twins’). The easiest way to deal with that was to disconnect. What a great reinforcement that our choice to cancel our cable tv was the best one. Netflix and Crunchyroll are much more affordable AND less tempting as they have to get onto the laptop to get to it anyway. 2 days tv free. Though I allowed for the Weather Network for our schooling purposes and a movie when I went out on a walk in the evening… this time it was Echo and Gavin who joined in with Grandma and Gypsy. Most of the kids are getting over a bug so it was good for Echo to get some fresh air before bedtime. We got to see a train… actually had to WAIT on one as it stopped on the tracks for a few minutes before making an almighty noise and then moving on. 

Waiting for the train

Oh and for those interested in Viking ships… a friend on Facebook linked me a site that was local to her! The Jorvik Viking Centre. Isn’t the internet grand!! 

We are still dealing with acting out and loud children but at the same time, I think we are doing well… There are moments that I wonder if my norm, my kids are what others would see as acceptable. Or are we louder than most? More outrageous?? 

Wednesday was another slightly stalled day… Ken worked hard and long as Thursday AND Friday are implementation days for a couple of his contracts. This meshes badly with the viewings we are trying to set up, the going out for things to do and the general family time as it is. So we made do at home today. Except for in the evening when mom helped me out by driving me, Echo, Trinity and Emanuel to bedtime story time. We are missing the next week but going to the High Tea the following Wednesday. 

The craft at the library

Zander designed Gavin his very own colour by numbers! He worked really hard and figured out colour codes, though he DID copy the words off the sheets we bought, HE sounded out each one and wrote them out… I only had to help with the word gray.

Zander's colour by numbers

Of course the backyard was sunny for most of the day so where did the kids go but OUT! As much as they wanted, until I figured they were starting to get too much sun!

Fun in the backyard

Best way to end the day – HAIRCUTS for the twins! We are now all basically presentable… woohoo! Mom had to borrow her friend Ashley’s shaver set as we didn’t have our attachments on hand. Nice and short on both of them! 

Cutting of the hair!

I have to apologize for my inconsistent updates as of late… my mind has been scattered and stressed lately. I have to say I REALLY appreciate how Ken is not only working full time but dealing with my insecurities (can you really blame me after last month’s ugh fest?), being a father and working with me to hunt the mighty rental. 

Watering Grandma's flowers

Now we get into the belated birthday present for ME! This trip is actually my 32nd birthday present from Ken. (yup 33 in June this year!!) So it was something I was REALLY looking forward to.

With the kids fed breakfast and the van full up again we were on our way early in the morning to my brother’s house. Holly has healed up well enough to watch our boys as planned. As we had not seen her or Jimmie (or James for that matter) since last year it was rather exciting to be able to go and visit. It was such a relief that she came through her hospital experience so well. We had missed her mother (Gammmie) by a day or so as she had to head back to Texas. 

The drive was nice and uneventful though we had to stop at one of the smaller towns along the way to potty, oh and a McDonald’s to get water and use their free wi-fi to check for the directions into the city to my brother’s place. The kids did rather well considering how rarely we have traveled lately AND the van held enough that we didn’t have to worry about leaving things behind! 

A bit of a stretch at McDonalds

This of course is VERY important as like any trip we take as a family we ended up coming back with even MORE things than when we had left. (Thank you so much Holly for sending some of Jimmie’s outgrown clothes home with us! They are always appreciated)

One of the critters

So it was to drop off the boys that we went first. Holly was home alone as James was at work and Jimmie in school. But we got the boys there in time to walk with her to pick him up after lunch. And we still had time to meet the cats and visit with Holly. She was in great spirits. We did our usual talk with the boys about doing what Aunty Holly says and being helpful and then it was time for Ken, myself and the girls to head on to OUR home base for the weekend – Kathy’s. 

Seriously a cat filled weekend. Aunty Kathy has TWO cats just like Aunty Holly… two black and white cats. Holly’s are white and black (there is a difference!). Kathy’s cats were a little shy but by the end of the weekend we had won them over. This is VERY important as the girls and I are pet sitting in June for her! So this was a bit of a warm up for the girls and the kitties.

Unknown kitty

So we got everything into her house, cleaned everyone up and it was time to get into the van to go to the park and ride and then head on the bus (and a train) to get to comic con. It opened Friday at 3 and we made it soon after that point. With our pre-bought tickets there really was no wait. We were the first of our friends to get there! 

Busing it for the first time

I would swear the bus and train were her favourite part!

In line to get in!

It was not overly busy so we were able to get around easily and even let Echo stretch her legs. I was complimented constantly on how cute our girls are! They got bored here and there but we managed. There was tons to see and we tried to see as much as we could! That meant getting over to the webcomics I specifically wanted to meet.

Running free

Let’s start with the one I made a feltie for – Girls With Slingshots. I could not resist making a feltie based on one of her characters – McPedro. She loved it!!! And of course I had to buy the 3rd book she has out to go with the first two that Chris and Chris got for me last year! She is such a sweet woman!

McPedro

This picture is from Saturday when Kathy purchased some of her books. I will have to get the feltie picture off my other computer and post it at a later date!

And then there was another of my favourites – Devil’s Panties. Trinity and I picked out a pin from her booth. Another amazing woman. I love her comic and hope to next year (if she chooses to come up again) to get her books. 

Trinity helped me pick the pin

The big exciting stop was my gift for Ken. The creator of one of his favourite webcomics was doing sketches for donation and was completely open to stop by at… so I asked him to draw Ken’s favourite character from his comic Questionable Content… Hannelore! He had plenty of time to say hi and the drawing is a definite keepsake! I was so glad I could get Ken something right off that was VERY special! 

Questionable Content!!

Hanners.... though the paper is WHITE bad lighting

There were people in costume, all sorts of art and so much to see. And of course food to be had. We had pizza which was DIVINE and of course the fresh squeezed lemonade and Ken grabbed a fruit smoothy. I think we fed all 4 of us and Kathy for a rather decent amount and enjoyed every bit of it! 

Pre-pizza nap

NOMS

We meandered as much as we could with two girls who were quickly wearing out. There was some more spending done and some plans to come back to a few places. It was an adventure and then some and I loved every minute of it!

Enjoying the lunch break, the dress Trinity is wearing is the one Sharon gave her for her birthday

As we were leaving Karyn and Lauralee were in line to get in. So we had a moment of chatting and visiting with them in line. Karyn had a special present for the birthday girl and we made plans to meet up Saturday morning. I am told that not too long after that time Lauralee bought a rather amazing Steampunk inspired dragon lamp. I am waiting to see pictures!

Meeting up in line with Karyn and Lauralee... what you can't see is that Echo is out like a light at this point

We rode the train and bus back to the park and ride and then drove back to Kathy’s to regroup and plan our Saturday trip. The girls were worn out, we were surprised at how many hours we actually walked. It was AMAZING. 

Planning time

Saturday we were up early to have breakfast, pack up AGAIN and then motivate Ken out the door in time for the bus. On the weekend the buses only come once every 30 min instead of something like 12 min. Our timing was nearly perfect with meeting the bus and then catching the train. Then it was time to return to the con. 

Even getting there soon after the opening time (10 am) it was more crowded than the day before. Echo was rather unimpressed that she could not run around like she did the day before. But we had a plan for Saturday and went aisle by aisle down the vender’s area. There was so much to see… even MORE costumes and some shopping to be done! Oh and people to meet up with. We found Bianca (a friend from University) and eventually met up with Karyn and Lauralee. Sadly Ted and Sean drove up but could not make it in. They ended up over capacity and even Ken who went out (hours after we got there) to meet with the guys and wait in line with them could not make it back in. 

The time BEFORE Ken went out was fun though, we did some more shopping, talked to some more artists and even found a couple new webcomics to follow. Well, one I found yesterday. It is called Little Vampires. Holly mentioned the comic offhandedly before we left for Kathy’s Friday night and talked about a stuffed vampire she would LOVE to have. So… we actually ended up being the artist’s first sale as we bought a stuffy for Holly and she even signed one of her promotional postcards to Holly for us to give her! We figured that was a good gift for our lovely babysitter!

Our Little Vampires swag, the stuffy on the left is the same as Holly's

The other comic we found (and purchased her two books for) is by a Canadian artist who is also an engineer. It is called Wasted Talent. She was a great lady and we chatted with her for a while while she signed our books. 

Signed copies

I stopped by an artist’s stand who is from the same town my Aunty Becky lives in. She does henna tattoos and had something called Honey Hats. I had to pick one up, it is going to work marvellously when we travel and still look totally cute!

Then there was the adorable keychains I picked up at ANOTHER artist’s stand. 

My keychains

And the button I got for a certain Dr. Who fan (addict???).

BUTTON

My handmade glass bead necklace…

I love this piece

The hand painted chocolates we chowed down on…

Yup, that is Hello Kitty

Oh the list goes on and on and on! Of course soon after we found out Ken could NOT get back in we decided to finish the shopping and head out to meet the guys. The girls were exhausted and we really had bought everything we wanted. (or thought we did… Ken actually had to contact Karyn and link her something he was interested in to pick up when she went back on Sunday) 

It was a little complicated getting out. After all they had locked down the door to stop people coming in and once you left you could not come back in. So we wandered a bit to find the right door and get out to meet the boys. It was interesting to see the people in line waiting to maybe get in – some of them were in some rather interesting costumes. Anyway we got to the agreed on entrance (and trust me it was hard to figure that out… we lucked out, Lauralee’s cell was the only one that got enough bars to call out of the building!!) and Trinity was overjoyed to see Uncle Sean and Uncle Ted! 

Meeting up with the guys

We had to catch the train and then the bus again so we made plans to meet at the park and ride. We totally lucked out, got to the train stop and it showed up! And then only a 15-20 min wait for the bus in a nice sunny spot. Of course I had to do the tourist thing and take a picture of the largest building in the city (I think it is ongoing on the inside).

We met up at the park and ride with the guys and then headed to the nearest area with some restaurants for what we thought was going to be a lunch until we looked at the time and saw it was past 3 and would have to be a LATE lunch (that DID explain why we were all so drained and why I was practically starving!). We decided on Applebees!!!! Total yum, great waitress and Trinity was very happy with her desert – prettied up jell-o! 

Desert, note the pin!

After our VERY late lunch it was back to Kathy’s and then more visiting while we waited to be hungry for dinner. Karyn, Lauralee and Esther joined us as did Will (Kathy’s brother who lives with her). We all had a lot of fun, Trinity was spoiled for attention and Echo did the rounds. Back with her Uncle Sean she was one happy camper! 

Visiting with friends

We had homemade tacos for supper (LATE) supper and a late night of visiting before seeing everyone off. Ted and Sean were heading for home, Karyn and Lauralee to Esther’s and Esther out for a cultural event. That left us time to plan our Sunday out. We decided against going out for more con time… but that is another story!

Is everyone else aware of Nyan cat???

 If you are not familiar you can read about Nyan cat here.

So we had a trade off on Sunday – we missed Sunday school but in return we spent another 3/4 of a day with Grandma and Gypsy AND got to go visit the Bleau family who are settling back into their home here in Alberta after 3 years in California. But first the morning… well breakfast and then games, new toys and Grandma time. We had leftovers for lunch – grilled cheese sandwiches with the roast beef inside (very yum!). We had to tidy up our stuff of course but everyone had time to kick back and relax. 

With Puppy

After lunch Karyn, mom and I headed over to her work to check out some of the dresses they had for sale. I found a pair of boots that I WOULD have bought … if they had been the right size. Sadly a half a size or more too big! Boo. BUT we had fun looking! Soon after that Karyn had to head back home – her mom is here for a week for some bonding time. 

We had to pack the family up (thank goodness for the borrowed van or I doubt it would all fit!) and head over to visit with the Bleaus around 2:30. They have a lot of room so the kids were able to run and have fun! We actually decided to stay past supper time and spoiled the kids with pizza and breadsticks! So much fun AND we got to catch up IN PERSON with people we so rarely see. I think once we have a more reliable vehicle we will make many more visits. After all Ken gets a ton done work wise at mom’s and there is a great children’s library in town… now I just need to convince Ken, well and have a reliable van. 

PIZZA and a full table

Echo is small in comparison to many things... well the projection tv is no different! But she did love watching it.

It was definitely on its way to bedtime by the time we got home. Ken emptied the van (almost but more about that later) and left to drive the 15 min or so to Chris and Chris’ to return the van and then catch a return ride back while I let the kids play a bit before bed. After all we had to put some things away in their rooms anyway. 

It wasn’t until Ken got home with (he) Chris and (she) Chris’ computer (it needs some help with its RAM) that he realized that HIS computer was still in the van and that they had driven back in the car! OUCH. So luckily he could do SOME work with the netbook and such and (she) Chris had to come through town early anyway. At least all of the other stuff made it in! We are just out of practice with using the stow and go! 

Monday started off with a mess (to be expected, I mean this is like Christmas in February around here) BUT we rallied, cleaned up and had breakfast. Then it was onto the school stuff, well somewhat. We are still working on our Inuit lapbook. Today more animals were drawn (seals) and we talked about what they did for fun and games… and of course read some more interesting information. This time on their spiritual beliefs. I am not sure how well the boys understood it but they asked questions and I know I learned a bit!!

Train break

Trinity and her special "un birthday" gift from Aunty Karyn - LOLA! You can draw on her clothes and bag, wash them and then do it again!

Gavin has been hard at work on his craft gift from myself and Ken – it is making mosaics using little squares of foam that are backed with adhesive, mess free and really quite amazing! 

Working on his craft

Two masterpieces

There has been colouring and building and taking back down and building again! I have reorganized ONE of our shelving units (the one in the dining area) to my own personal satisfaction and hope to continue my way through ALL of the homeschooling supplies this week. Whenever we get new things there always seems to be this horrible instant mess of what we already have! 

Snacks, new toys and a sunny room

I spent some time sorting out the nativity costumes mom sent home with me, BUT you have to wait until the NEXT blog entry to see the kids model 4 of them! I know, cruel and all that but I figure I will work my way through pictures in order. 

I did finish a cross stitch. A second copy of one with somewhat strong language! But for a good friend! This one used some metallic in the lettering, a blue based one which looks lovely!

DONE

I am sure there are little things I forgot but I plan on thinking through on my special moments from the weekend and sharing those later… AFTER the pictures from the nativity costumes. I won’t draw that out too much longer! 

When I was taking photos of the kids in their costumes it was against this wall. After I was all done Miss Echo walked up to the wall and made her cheese noise and smiled... she kept doing it for at least 3 pictures before satisfied!