So we are getting  closer to Halloween and to the upset of all, crossed off the  day with the giant G on it. With the van no closer to the service station it was up to me AGAIN to explain why we weren’t going (after all who wants to potentially be stranded on the highway with small children in the middle of fall in Alberta? Not me!) and that we WOULD go later in November for an extended visit. I think they finally understand somewhat and the whole – we are having a bunch of people come on Monday to celebrate Halloween with us idea did help. 

Mail came relatively early Friday and with it TWO packages! The first one opened came from Nova Scotia and was the long awaited and highly anticipated skirt and apron portion of Echo’s little bo peep costume, all I had to do was put in the elastic (easy) and find a sweet little top to go along with it out of Echo’s massive stash of clothing. To add fluff to the costume we are using one of Trinity’s baby tutus and topping it all with her pretty white hat. 

With Trinity's old tutu under it... like a bell!

The other came from the UK, but as it is being set aside for Christmas is all hush hush… Parcel #2… And so sweet of her to send! I always fill the kids’ stockings with little bits and bobs and something no one else could get around here is always super special! 

We did do some workbook  time…. math for Zander and sight words for Gavin.

Sight Word work

And played tic-tac-toe bingo… Halloween style. The kids were much more excited about the pieces of candy we used instead of daubers. Although in the end they each got to eat just one. 

Tic-Tac-Toe Halloween Bingo

The afternoon found the boys outside enjoying themselves with whatever they could find in the backyard and shed (and not putting it all back as Ken realized past sunset). It is chilly out now but they are persistent and choose to keep running and moving as much as possible rather than returning inside. I figure winter will come soon enough and with it much more time indoors so this outside time is time well spent. Zander calls it his time to burn energy. 

We were very excited to have a BIG completion – Gavin’s Ring-Tailed Lemur costume is officially DONE. He is quite happy with it, and can you believe it took a belt AND suspenders to get that tail to stay where we want it. 

Tail frame

Completed with duct tape

Completed costume

Since we stayed home so Ken could work he took all 5 kids on a walk to the convenience store to pick up some treats and sauce for the spaghetti I started while they were gone. It is definitely getting chilly in the late afternoons. 

As the kids run ahead

I am trying something different with my penguin felties… these are NOT stuffed but put on a headband or clip. So far I have put one on a purple headband for Trinity to try out. Still 2 1/2 inches long so I am debating the angle for the clip. I do love creating things, so don’t be surprised if you are on my Christmas list and get either an owlor a penguin! 

Ready for Trinity to wear

I am debating my best route to selling these little creations… Facebook has not yielded a lot of interest (I don’t have the networking to really get that) and Etsy likes to verify you with a credit card (seriously? Paypal believes I exist!)… so for now I plan on mentioning them here from time to time (I also do cross stitching commissions and sell patterns on my pattern page!), on my deviantArt accountwith the pictures I add there AND of course on Facebook. Suggestions are always welcome! 

I am definitely feeling the need to organized, to get set up in a way where I am NOT digging through the house to find what I need… to feel in place. We are close. There is one closet that is holding out on me due to the fact that I can’t get INTO it and ONE (rather large) box of toys in the other closet in the basement I need to dig out and go through… that is a next week plan since I have to go into the BACK of the closet at the BOTTOM (of course) to get to it and have NO idea what is in said box. 

With her Halloween themed barrette!

One of the added bonuses to have a weekly library trip – our morning after reading time! All new books, one per child read in Emanuel’s room on our reading spot – after all a mattress on the floor is about all that we have in the house that will fit us all. Today we had a rather eclectic combination of stories… the typical Hello Kitty, another about a little boy who pushes buttons, then one based on the poem Pussycat Pussycat Where Have You Been, ending with an African folktale retold to explain how the shell on a turtle got to look the way it does. 

Reading time

Since we were the very thankful recipients of PLAY DOH this weekend what better to work on this morning than Halloween themed (by colour) creations. Trinity was very upset that she had to take her princesses and mash them back into the container. Gavin went all out on his flat creation, Zander combined two castles to make a lovely thicker one… Emanuel was in total pumpkin mode. 

Zander's castle

Trinity and her princesses

Emanuel's pumpkin

Gavin's witch and jack-o-lantern

We had more Halloween print outs to conquer… again Education.com and the Uk site have come in handy! Seriously check them out, they are bookmarked on the links bar on the right of my site. 

Halloween worksheets

Zander had a big exciting completion today – his Grade 1 Math book! It was a bit of a battle and he still does NOT like subtracting but we did it together! He is very proud!

Completion!!!

The weather this afternoon was rather nice so the boys spent the majority of it back in the sandbox. I am so glad they are enjoying the weather NOW before it gets cold and bitter out. So the day was eaten up rather quickly. Tomorrow the hope is to keep our rate of completing sheets, crafting, costume work and of course workbook time. Now if I could just hear back from the interested parties on Kijiji and see if I am going to solidify some sales. Oh well, you can’t rush anything! 

Sharing her sister's cuppy

Ok so this morning again reinforces that Minecraft and computer gaming in general is an evil evil thing when it comes to our boys. Granted they HAD earned a great deal of  time with their helping feeding Echo and doing laundry and generally cleaning up after themselves (that is a long road to even NEAR perfection), but it is frustrating to deal with turns and timing and all the rest of the things that come with ONE computer and 3 excited little boys.

Emanuel in his own little world... literally and figuratively

I had to have Ken clean up the backyard a bit (we have an issue with the garbage being torn open by animals… Ken is hoping to build a box of some sort to contain it as all the owners suggested was that we put it out back. Sadly we have a lot of food scrap garbage along with the diapers which seem to draw the animals… back to Freecycle and the hope of finding some reclaimed wood to use. After he managed to tidy up the backyard I sent the boys out to play for a bit. Trinity did a sort of abortive bug spray, run around turn back and go inside sort of thing. 

Running the gambit

Instead she went into her room and started a lovely session of shopping and cash register play that the big boys eventually joined. I am not sure how much proper change was made as I took advantage of the distraction to help Emanuel with his Dora book completion but you could hear the fun being had! 

Playing store

We are attempting to start with allowance this week. I am hoping that with the incentive of getting a small amount of money (1.00 per twins, 50 cents per little one) they may be quicker to follow instructions and less likely to say I can’t (I do hate the word CAN’T). We have marked off 7 days on the calendar and we will see how it goes! I am really hoping this works as I would love to see them have a GOOD week with a wonderful reward at the end (though we may have to cheat and instead of 50 cents for the little ones just buy them slurpees…).

Now I am sure you are all on pins and needles to know how Stuart is doing… well apparently he is well versed in bus usage as well as intent to become a sailor (but just across the pond). This is about the first time when what Trinity went downstairs to have Ken draw actually was somewhat close to what went on – her mouse is DRIVING the bus (it must be a toy bus) but a but and mouse ARE involved! And more importantly, she was happy with the end result! 

Another chapter for Stuart Little

Today was a rather good day for our Miss T. Today her promised post wedding “good flowergirl” gift came from eBay – a Hello Kitty bracelet… very delicate in look and probably materials but she loves it and will enjoy it for as long as it is in on piece. And best part – it was like 2.00! 

All shiny and kitty

I made a great find at our local 24 hr convenience store – their Ragu is only 3.29! I had run out of my usual sauce – made from scratch but oh well and wanted noodles… ok and a slurpee… so I thought why not… I am so glad I did. They even had just tomato sauce for 1.99 or 1.09… I wanted quick and simple. Flashes back to university and “cheap dinners.”

We put up our felt leaves for all to see in the front window. I am very happy with the end result. We used some tiny suction cups with plastic hooks a friend had gifted us ages ago. Felt from our felt stash, floss from my personal stash (and needles from the same) and this was a very enjoyable and affordable craft. Seriously – try it out!!!

Leaves in the window

Which brings me to ANOTHER craft activity all full of awesome… I have purchased, over the last couple weeks, a couple rolls of duct tape – we are up to one of white, another of digital camo and a third of traditional grey. I have officially decided these are NOT enough colours!!! I think I have found another addiction to go with my ribbon collection. And the best part is that this is something the kids could really get into as well – duct tape can have a million uses after all.

Front

Back

So I made a run out with Karyn to the Dollarama – without my list (gasp) which was sucky BUT I managed to get some bits and pieces for those projected Christmas projects. That means that with a couple other runs to other places I SHOULD be able to start sharing my crafts on here as well! With fall pretty much here I figure it is time to get back to crafting. The boys are excited to be lending a hand as part of their schooling. I have already made up a pretty good list (after all I DO love a good list) of all the people we plan to gift this Christmas… hopefully I don’t have to add too many to it as time goes on.

But it is now time to get back to crafting, cleaning and all that other fun stuff. I need to clear a path to my rubbermaid tub of sewing supplies so I can make up a wall hanging for Trinity to put her hair things up on. Fingers crossed I have a big enough piece of fabric in storage to fit the canvas! I already have Echo’s set aside. Be sure to check Fat Sheep’s sitefor updates! I am told she had a new one yesterday. 

Our popcorn gnome went under cover to become a rule breaker and stand up in her highchair under the guise of being a Trinity!!!!