Tag Archive | weather

A Hunting We Will Go… LOTS

May 18-23

We spent a large chunk of our Sunday out on the hunt for treasure… and for a good park! The girls decided to go matching on their excursion. We actually found a special geocaching coin that travels and is tracked. It has been all over the US an now it is our turn to pass it along!!101_7506

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Chipmunk!

Chipmunk!

Pioneer Park

Pioneer Park

So swampy everywhere!

So swampy everywhere!

We have continued our watching of Veggie Tales when we can get our hands on them. So on a cloudy Monday it was a great filler between the rest of our ongoing learning of Texas, reading, writing and math. Sadly we are running out of shows that include a set of Sunday School worksheets to use. So instead we drew our own fun pictures.101_7522

That evening Ken worked on teaching the boys Agricola (HERE) another strategy game that I honestly am not a huge fan of. The additional reading, challenging game play all seems to be helping them stretch their skills more and more.101_7521

Tuesday was a nature walk in our very own neighbourhood. Keeping our eyes wide open for some more signs of spring… discussing road safety and the difference between planned plants and weeds. I think in June or July we will do a walk through the neighbourhood and see if we can get a bunch of different leaves and try and identify what trees are actually local to us. Which gives the little guys the chance to do a favourite activity – leaf rubbings!101_7542

101_7546Of course around lunch time we had to head back outside to enjoy the backyard. Really we were stuck indoors way too long this winter!101_7548

101_7549Art for Kids has put tons of wonderful how to’s out for us to enjoy. (link on right) Even Trinity is gaining confidence with the use of these.101_7552

101_7554101_7555Miss Echo was quite adamant that it was an ipad anime day for her. I really do love my Crunchyroll membership. Affordable and fun for me too. Granted she doesn’t understand anything being said and can’t read the translation but she bops to the music and enjoys the animation.101_7556

We tried something different for mid week. Of course we continued reading Treasure Island together.101_7557

But I had Ken make me up a nice set of charts for us to go onto the ipad and use my weather app to chart the week coming up weather local to us and for Austen Texas. Using this comparison we opened the table for a discussion about how activities and such would differ for the days there than here. Then for each day recorded the twins settled in with a sibling and wrote basically a daily diary for what they would do in Texas according to the weather. Zander was super creative and one day played out in the rain only to have to stay in the next sick with a cold!101_7558

We dug out our box of fraction magnets just to enjoy the manipulation of the pieces and to see how they look as actual objects. The boys were discussing and quizzing each other and explaining to the littles so I just sat back and let them go at it (as long as the information was CORRECT!).101_7560

We rounded off our outside experience on scooters, bikes and fancy skateboards. Sunshine sunshine SUNSHINE!101_7562

101_7563101_7564101_7565101_7568Trust me we really ARE doing sitting down book work interspersed with LOTS of outside running and burning of energy. Gavin has been taking charge of the camera occasionally and taking pictures too! Mommy in front of the camera instead of behind!!101_7577

101_7579Emanuel and I stole some afternoon creativity time on Wednesday and made a car ramp out of stuff in the livingroom while the other kids went on a walk with Nana and Baba. It is nice to have some quiet one on one time with the kids.101_7581

We ended our school week with ANOTHER Geocache adventure to a small park with a terrific tree shaded walking path. The boys are definitely the ones to jump up and go into the woods. We girls tend to wander the paths closer too and enjoy the more tick and branch free portion of the experience. That is not to say that Trinity does not jump on in from time to time though!

101_7584101_7585We are certainly seeing portions of Minnesota that Ken hasn’t even seen. There are some absolutely amazing out of the way tiny lakes and pretty shaded places. And we are seeing all of this together which is absolutely another plus. One thing we have learned from all the sessions Ken is now doing with his counselor is that going out as a family and enjoying an activity is absolutely crucial for all of us! That time together getting out, exercise coupled with the ability to spend POSITIVE time as a family. Amazing!101_7561

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And a touch of Texas facts

And a touch of Texas facts

Tuesday and Wednesday… I Hang My Head in Shame at the Late Updates!

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

As The Weather Turns…

And not to our benefit. For the first time in a while we had a rainy, overcast day. Not to anyone’s liking, though it did make for one of the more interesting weather pages. The temperature remained relatively warm but no one (dog included) was very inclined to head outside. So instead the twins tackled the giant container of coins that Grandma and Grandpa had been collecting. We worked on coin recognition, discussion of counting and organizing. There was a few US coins in the mix too which added some excitement to the sorting experience. They helped to collect enough change to create most of my float for Saturday as well. There is still more to work on, but we need Grandma to bring home some more papers to wrap them in.

Working together

Trinity got a super special treat today… last night Grandma whipped up (with fabric from the store) a pink version of the Nativity costumes in the smallest size she had! Talk about pretty in pink! 

So pretty

Side view

So of course Echo had to  get in on the fashion show as well!

So pleased with herself

Bitty Baby

We had a late nap for each of the girls to bring them back to cheerful and after Grandma got home and supper was said and done the boys all played Skip-Bowith her. 

Gaming with Grandma

Tomorrow we plan on heading out to get Emanuel’s hair cut and to the library for pj storytime. The search is still on full force for our ending of move miracle. We are working on making our time here as full and memorable as possible… once the rain stops we still have to map the neighbourhood, visit downtown and go to where Grandpa Mike works, which is coincidentally where Ken and I graduated university. There is also a viking ship at the information center that could use a closer examination! Anyway… another late night and still more to do with the craft sale prep. Remember go HERE for the info!

I seriously cannot get over how grown up she looks

This entry was posted on 05/06/2012, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments