Mid week already and the Valentine’s Day/Birthday fun continues. I got to sleep in this morning as Ken had hooked the Wii up and put the kids’ new drawing game on. It is basically a tablet and they loved it! As I was asleep during the play time I am not exactly sure what all there is to do but I do know that everyone had something they COULD do!

We have continued our Inuit learning. Today it was hunting and Inuksuks. I have been alternating with them writing things down and myself. That way we are focusing on the content and not so much the frustration of having to print letters and words. We keep finding more and more interesting things about this group of peoples!!!

We spent a nice chunk of time with our workbooks and with Sean here for a visit Ken and I were able to leave everyone (Echo was sleeping) at home and do some very necessary grocery shopping. I am on the look out constantly to find ways to cut corners with food. The kids have HUGE appetites and our wallet is far from full enough to indulge all their fancies. I think my best find to date was the breadmaker. Our first was Ken’s mother’s and when we used it until it broke I found another on Kijiji for a steal. Add to that recipes like my mom’s brown beans that we converted to a slow cooker recipe and really ANY slow cooker recipe and we are able to stretch things further. I would love to hear more ideas from people! We use a lot of rice, potatoes and noodles as well. Anything to decrease the amount of meat as the main. Any advice? Supper tonight was helped along with the lovely piece of moose sent home from Grandma’s! Having a step-father who is a registered native american is lovely… he gets to hunt for personal use and as we are a part of his family… well we are VERY appreciative!

Workbooks in the sunshine

And some Magic School Bus

I have to share another Valentine’s themed worksheet the twins did today – this onehas the boys write something lovely or nice for family. Each of the hearts has a slightly different saying to finish. I had the boys each do one for each other and then they either did an Emanuel or a Trinity. I think it is important to get them to focus on  good things about their siblings! Sometimes I think we ALL need a reminder to look for the GOOD in people.  

Finished hearts

Oh don’t forget about the maze Emanuel did this morning. He loves a good maze. Of course what was REALLY wonderful was the picture he drew on the back of the sheet. I think the maze will be sacrificed to paste the picture into our Inuit lapbook. I love spontaneous creativity. 

Emanuel and his Inukshuk

I have been creating my own little parliament of Valentine themed owls (a little later for the special day I know). I figure I will put a few up on Facebook and then the rest will be gifted through the year. 

Owls

So I am still debating other presents… and my weekend goal is to get that extra page up here on my blog for ideas and suggestions. I do so like to work ahead! I do need to get a nice variety of owls sitting on my shelves for when the need comes! 

I have to admit, I have been feeling a tinge of green-ness about the eyes lately… metaphorically speaking. It seems like that feeling is  a slightly familiar one when it comes to gift giving events and holidays. Those visual and material signs of affection, approval and generosity are lovely to receive but when not possible to do so (or give for that matter), are hard to watch. Now don’t get me wrong, we have what we need… some of what we want and are truly blessed here in our little home BUT (oh is there always going to be a but?) there are those unrealistic wishes that create the discontent. I have been spending some time, these past weeks… well since Christmas really… trying to reassess in my mind what IS important, what things, trips, events, etc are necessary to myself and my family’s true happiness. I am one of  two adults in this home and my expectations cannot be the same as my children who do NOT understand the realities… we do not NEED every new thing, or even every OLD thing… we do not have to compete/compare with the rest of the world. What we DO need is happiness in our hearts. We can share that and our love abundantly and really, I think the world does not gift that enough. Do I WANT a new toy or two, yes, but what I NEED to stability, my husband, my kids, my family and friends… I need to be aware of the fact that what I create is as special as something much more expensive when I find the right recipient. I may not be able to buy the kids the newest toys BUT when Emanuel asks for an owl, well I can make that… teach Gavin a new stitch, create hair things for our Trinity or simply play a game with Zander. Someday we will be in a position to do and give more, I hope that at that time I still remember the priceless lessons and the sweet gifts I have received that have not been costly now! 

But enough of that… Valentine’s week continues and with it desert with Ken and time to myself to create… maybe TOMORROW I will get my time with my brush and ink to practice my characters???? 

Cuties!

In honour of it being Valentine’s Day today we decided to deviate even further from our regular activities. With the traditional red, white or pink outfits and Valentine’s day photographs first. We have limited photo friendly areas in our very busy and full house, but we managed. 

My fabulous 5

The twins

My 3 boys

So cute

Just the girls

Miss T

Miss E

Me too!

And then there were the worksheets I found and printed out for the kids. The little ones enjoyed a couple sheets from Education.com. Trinity’s rose tattoo feeling colouring page can be found HERE. There was a math sheet from tlsbooks.com that you can find HERE. I actually have a collection at Education.com that you can access that is full of the Valentine’s day themed sheets we printed for the kids. I plan on reviewing them all tonight. You can find the two math sheets the twins did HERE and HERE. Gavin is slightly more confident so I had him do the one with 3 digits. You can find a variety of seasonal worksheets if you head to this portion of their website HERE.

Hiding behind worksheets

The little ones worked on GeoTraxs of course. Our kitchen is a lovely sunny place in the daytime and deemed a perfect place to build their city. I am amazed at how well the two of them shared, though sadly they both can’t seem to kick this cold! 

GeoTrax

Today’s big crafting project was to make a felt tic-tac-toe board with a Valentine’s theme. You can find the original idea I worked from HERE. Each of the hearts were sewn by the boys (twins) with minimal assistance. We used the felt sheets with adhesive on the back for the board itself and the pink cross hatches. I think they turned out wonderfully. 

Sewing hearts

Completed board

Ken and I had a special Valentine’s Day lunch! He surprised me with Pizza Hut delivery – Calzones and Pepsi. Nothing super fancy but sitting together, watching an episode of my newest anime (Black Butler) and chatting was more than enough for me! The kids were sent to quiet time or naps in their rooms with the doors closed (the twins were more than willing with new toys to take an enjoy and a break from schooling) so it really was JUST US and in the DAYTIME no less! Fancy glasses for the pop (Harp beer ones, Ken’s) and all!

Lunch!

We still have a few more worksheets to accomplish that have a Valentine’s Day theme (and our Valentines to complete for the weekend’s cookie party). I figure we can spend the rest of the week to do those, as well as our Inuit studies. As it is we have a lovely stack of finished bits to go into our lapbook already! What we did do is have a lovely visit with Karyn and her mom who is up for the week. They stopped by with Valentine’s … My Little Pony Valentines! 

Visiting

While they were here Gavin created a castle out of magnets which we OF COURSE had to take a picture of!

Magnetic castle

And now we are enjoying out house guest once again. Sean got bored at home and decided to come back. A broken foot apparently means little or no entertainment when you live on your own. 

So, nothing extravagant for me over Valentine’s Day… but then again why do I need ONE day to express my love for Ken? We had that one day almost 11 years ago when we pledged to love and be faithful to each other for the rest of our lives. Each day from there on is a reflection of that promise and that love. Something I want to be more aware of. No, I don’t need ONE day, I have ALL my days for the rest of my life to remember and recognize and celebrate that decision and pledge. We may not have much but we have each other, the kids, our love and our faith. Well… come to think of it, that is a whole lot! 

One more of Echo cuz I can!

I totally need to share a cute Valentine’s colour by numbers that Emanuel did today. You can find it HEREon Education.com. What we liked about this one is that you can’t see the image it is going to be right away AND the separate hearts means he had to slow down to colour. All in all a fun way to practice number recognition. He was VERY proud of it!

Awesome job!

We had a bit of an abbreviated day as when discipline issues appear (telling mild lies, being loud and rowdy during learning times) we have to stop everything and deal with that first. The result of the behaviour was the twins loosing about half their afternoon or more to a time out/naptime. Disciplining multiple children of varying ages in one family is definitely a fluent ever changing endeavor. I have to my greatest challenge is in dealing with Zander. 

I have baked my cookies for the party on Saturday and with the help of my able bodied boys basically packed us up. It is always a bit of a trial to get everything we need and not fill the vehicle we are taking… so much more than clothes, there is the cloth diapers and wipes… the special blankets and toys for the younger ones, Ken’s computer, the laptop, my crafting supplies (can’t sit idle for 2 days!), the birthday stuff and of course the stuff we need Grandma to look at and or repair. And don’t forget a full set of winter gear for EACH child! 

I did get an owl completed for the first time since before Christmas. It feels good to get back to creating. I have TWO more pairs of socks (bought from Dollarama of course) to make into owls and while they will not be done in time to sell for Valentine’s Day I will have them for the rest of the year! I have just been gluing the features on lately as Trinity’s with hers not sewn on is doing just fine. 

Owl!

And with this slightly brief (for me) blog post it is time to post and finish my pre trip prep work! I am sure there will be LOTS more to share this weekend!!!!

Watching tv and hanging with Uncle Sean