New month, new school year! This year I gave the kids the option to “chose” their school year… We get asked this question A LOT through the years and the kids never really know how to answer it. We don’t align to a specific grade and in Trinity’s case, I didn’t register her OFFICIALLY until she was 7 but she has been schooling much longer. (this saves us on testing until it is required by state law) I gave Echo Kindergarten and Trinity chose Grade 3. The boys, they got creative.

Emanuel went with Grade Dinosaur. Gavin  decided on Grade Minecraft. Zander went all out with Grade Mom is the Best Teacher. (mild suck up action there).

I even wrote my own “grade” level.

Poor Echo continued to get eaten alive by the mosquitoes.

I went all out and tried blue hair… it faded a bit too quickly for my tastes but was fun for the short time it lasted.

Note Echo’s temporary blue streak thanks to hair chalk.

September was also the month of our Uncle Ted and Uncle Sean visit. Ted was here 1 week and Sean 2. It was amazing to have 3 of my boys together for the span of time. So much fun.

With Cookie the new Fat Sheep

We also did Renaissance Festival with the boys and Shandai and Ravyn (no kids of course). Costumes for those who wanted etc etc. I will post the many many images and share the fun in a future post.

We ate out at our favourite Indian place.

Sean took Ken and myself out for a super fancy dinner as well!

Fancy outfit… ignore the bathroom

Super pretty room

Played with the Uncles.

Worked out hard.

Learned as much as we could.

I snuck in my craft time whenever possible.

At the pool

I think we all had fun walking outside to the park.

There was a robot kit to make with the uncles.

And Sean even taught Echo how to play WoW (World of Warcraft) which I hadn’t seen in AGES.

Don’t forget swimming.

And the most unusual students.

As well as some amazing sunsets.

New school year, new start! We made the most of it with lots of fun, workbooks and working together. Keep an eye peeled for an overflow blog post. There are just too many pictures to share!

Gifts from Ethiopia!

Yet another week is coming to an end here in our new home. Another relatively overcast week sadly but we are settling in nicely. Echo officially has her crib set up in her corner of our new bedroom with screen in place. I FINALLY get to use her adorable crib set… a Superstore purchase before she was born. Now to clean AROUND the crib and make our room our own.

Echo's corner

So very cute!

We moved on to our next chapter. Louis the swan is determined to redeem his father by paying BACK the store for the trumpet (thank goodness).

Completed pages

After our story the boys chose their activities… a bit of sun came out so Zander jumped for the chance to head out and play on his bike in the backyard.

Helmet and all

Gavin chose to go the math route and get back to work on his book. He REALLY wants to move onto the grade 2 book as soon as he can. With Echo supervising of course.

Math with a supervisor

I actually had to make her standing toy TALLER! What a milestone! Note the jaunty little bow that she is wearing – it was a gift from her Canadian god-parents for Christmas this past year. She is growing bit by bit all round.

Standing tall

It feels good to start moving back into our homeschooling more rigorously. The plan is to start out look at Canada on Monday – it won’t be hugely in depth, they ARE only 7 and I don’t have a local library card yet but we do have quite a few resources that I purposely packed where I could find them right off.

Chris and Chris stopped by briefly on their way into the city for Comic-con. I REALLY wanted to go this year but we just couldn’t swing it with cost AND how busy we are right now settling in… next year I want to go for sure! They will be stopping by on the way back on Sunday as well. It has been a while since we have had a visit with them, and their move end of the month will have them closer to Saskatchewan and further from us!

I have arranged the livingroom to my own satisfaction… mostly! The sofa is turned, the baby area set up… though I need to put blankets along the fireplace. The netbook has its place of pride on the desk. I just need to find the bag for the pieces of the kitchen table…

Finished sitting area

Ken took the 4 bigger kids on a walk around the block after supper in the limited sunshine we have had. They came back with one dog poo shoe (Emanuel) and a scraped knee (Trinity) but happy kids ready for their baths and bed.

Out on the walk

We got our Anniversary dinner today – nothing extremely fancy, just KFC… but Ken caved and got the Double Down… soooo bad for you! I am sure in July Ken and I will get a more special meal but for now we are together and having dinner and that is what is the big thing.

KFC for 2

Oh I have to say – Cousin Veronika – PASSED!!!! And apparently her Audrey Hepburn themed photo shoot went swimmingly also! I am so proud and so glad I volunteered. I definitely have a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to make someone look good for a specific reason. On she goes to the next course on Monday!

Now for tonight I have the urge to get this basement going. After all Kathy is coming to visit next Friday which  gives me a concrete reason to hold onto to make this tidying a reality.

The best image sent to me by Chris and Chris from their first day at Comic-Con... Night Elf ready for fishing! WoW anyone?

It was a beautiful fall day in our corner of the world today! The weather was just perfect for leaf raking and then playing in the pile. The boys love a good pile of leaves and even Trinity got into the act, letting Daddy help her slide down into the waiting pile.

Babies in the Leaves (Gavin red)

Toss Em!!! (Gavin red)

I am so thankful that we have this lovely fenced yard. With everyone still getting over colds and the worry people are having right now about even a minor cough I have had to keep us home, so the yard has been a godsend.

SLIIIIIDE (Zander)

Big Girl on the Swing (Ken even let go a bit and she LIKED it! Gavin)

So Ken grounded me from worrying, parenting and doing today – I have simply not been able to get enough sleep lately to feel 100%. It was a bit hard to do – the NOT doing! But I did manage to finish all the beading on my Santa ornament, only to notice I had not stitched the right colour on the top of his bag… thankfully it is only a shade difference and really not a problem look wise. I am VERY happy with how it looks. Ken has promised to help me snip it out and then I have to read through the instructions and put on the moustache and beard. I can’t wait to have the time to sit down and design my own little ornament! I have a small assortment of beads now so we have some options!

Santa Sans Beard and Mustache

As part of my grounding restrictions I have NO new projects to share with you. /pout. But as last night I had shooting pain in my thumb and forefinger of my stitching hand and had to bring out the magnetic ring again I really can’t complain. Tomorrow, on the other hand, I hope to get right back into the thick of things. I have a friend who wants some patterns to learn to stitch with so I need to hash out something super simple for her first go!

Tonight IS the guy’s gaming night… so of course Ted and Fydo had to show off their new pets on WoW before they got started. Fydo and his wife have agreed to a NON boy only gaming night next week since they have the Wednesday off for Remembrance Day. Yay! A playdate for the adults! Tomorrow I am hoping to finally get to the Reuse Centre and take the kids out for a bit of a walk. Other than that I have no expectations!

Ted and Fydo and WoW Pets... Oh My!

Connecting Up