November 10-12

With a special session at Sunday School about the use of money and savings that was not necessary for us to be at and Aunty Karyn still in residence we totally skipped our Sunday School on Sunday. We got a little bit of time in the backyard…

And then in the evening when it was time to return the cousins Nana and Baba also took Echo freeing us up to head to the city and check out a German St. Martin’s day celebration. We didn’t stick around too much for that – just too many people and not enough interesting the kids… BUT we did see that the building it was in was also one we saw the day before at the Lego exhibit.

Took pictures of some Charlie Brown themed statues.

This one was my favourite I think

And then stopped off at The Source for some dice shopping and time with the manga for Karyn and myself. We ended the evening with the first set of gifts being wrapped. Karyn saved herself a tidy sum of postage just as I did with her taking back items and bought her gifts here for the kids (and myself!! I got spoiled with some of my favourite Caron Simply Soft yarn).

It has begun!

Remembrance Day… okay Veterans Day here in the US of A… was a quiet one… no snow yet… and a light morning of school so that Karyn and I could go with my mother in law to Mall of America to window shop.

Storytime

Ok who am I kidding… we shopped, we bought and we perused. I had a coupon or two for freebies that I HAD TO take advantage of (which included a free Annie’s Pretzel noms), but my shopping buddies found deals and finds that were well worth the sore feet at the end of the day. I am VERY proud to say I spent a grand total of 6.00… purchasing a Dollar Tree pair of fuzzy socks that once I wear them out will make AMAZING sock owls and getting Typo brand pens. These are even finer point that my previous but the same amazing quality.

It was over so quickly, our visit with Karyn. The 12th marked the end and so was a rather light day for the kids. Karyn, Baba and I had to head to the airport by noon so we did a bit of schoolwork, a lot of cuddling and then had to pry Trinity off of Karyn. They really are the closest two in our family. It was a little heartbreaking to MAKE Trinity say good bye and watch her walk off with tears in her eyes saying everyone has to leave.

We continue being thankful

After dropping her off safely and on time (her flight here was delayed… of course) it was time to run to a couple stores to get some groceries and then return home to some rather droopy and sad kids… ok Mommy was right there with them!

We did have time to make ONE of our I Am Thankful Pumpkins (ok more squash since we were out of orange cardstock) thanks to The Moffatt Girls website HERE.

OH and a sighting of the neighbourhood WHITE squirrel… not the black one lately…

We miss you already Karyn! Thanks for visiting!!!

April 27-28

What amazing things start with B??? Babies, Birthdays, BBQ… Buddies… ok that last one is stretching a little, but the first 3 definitely… ok no buddies are amazing too!

Saturdays are truly important now that Ken is working 5 days a week and pretty much from in office… and this Saturday was even more special with it being Trinity’s birthday weekend. With her party scheduled for the 11th (family party that is), we decided to do our Novak celebration right away.

But first… the errands! The library for a stash of Mother’s Day related literature… an attempt (note ATTEMPT) to pick up the last skein for the big (time sensitive) project… and a special stop off at the used children’s clothing store (KidsRack) for a birthday dress for Trinity’s party and a chance find of a 1.00 skirt for Echo! Then it was time to head to the Novak’s.

They were actually out helping move bricks at Andy’s work and we beat them there. Such a lovely day to be out in the sun!

Fun in the yard waiting on the Novaks

Of course we HAD TO take advantage! There is a park within walking distance from their house with the path going past a lake so of course we headed over. 9 kids, 4 adults and LOTS of sun! It was warmer than we thought I think!

On the way to the park

I do love a good shadow picture

Fun in the sun

Ken and Anthony

The guys

Darcy wanted to decorate for Trinity and put up some banners and streamers!

Snoopy was supervising

After our walk to the park and back (with minimal injuries) Darcy got a text from a neighbour to come see her daughter’s prom dress… something Trinity and Darcy could NOT resist! While they did that I stuck around with the other 8 and the guys went and got groceries for…. BBQ!

oooh another B… BEAUTIES

Manly work for our first REAL spring weather day… YUM! Then the day just sort of wrote itself from there… Minecraft, playing outside… presents! (handmade backpack from myself and Ken and 6 cupcakes, crochet… patterns HERE and HERE, a horse that drives a CAR from the Novaks that Darcy took Trinity to pick out!).

With her presents

Soon to be a remote car driving pro

Poor Echo and Andrew were the first to crash! Youngest and Oldest!

Out to the world

Here I am!!

Oh and did I mention CUPCAKES??? Trinity helped Ken and I make them in the morning… and then Trinity presided over them at the Novak’s. And then we handed them to the boys to eat OUTSIDE… they were super messy already with playing outside most of the day!

Birthday girl’s choice

Helping Daddy

The ones from the Hello Kitty machine

Birthday girl!

Baba and the done in baby

Sunday was MY day!

Snuck in the polka dot dresses

Ken dropped me off at Bree’s for over half of the day… post lunch and after dinner visit. My weekly Lily and Bree dose! I do so love my time with the girls… and this time we took pictures of the darling Lily in things I have made her!

She was passed out on the couch… I love how her chin in this one reminds me of my cabbage patch doll

With the lovely weather continuing it was time to go out and and about baby in hand. First stop… Caribou where we introduced Lily to co-workers where Bree worked before her current Caribou.

Caribou was started in Minnesota!

Meeting a friend of Mommy

Then it was time to walk and walk and well shop. The street Bree’s old Caribou was on had tons of wonderful little independent stores that were open on Sundays including a YARN store!!!! With a SALE!!!!

Walking with our cold coffee drinks

Just ONE wall in the yarn store!

We also checked out a baby supply store… saw the sights and walked a nice long walk. It was perfect! Then back home to pump, feed and rest up before…

Girl power for our Girly Day

Dinner at Noodles & Company… YUM!

Noms

And back…

Ken’s turn

One last snuggle for the drive

well we certainly did go out and about and my camera got a good workout as well. I am not sure when our next girly day will be though, Ken starts beer league soccer soon! Sundays of course! Hoping I can find another girly day to enjoy in the VERY near future!! Especially while I work on coming up with the next Lily accessory.

Did I hear you right??? There is going to be a LILY OVERFLOW!

January 6-7

Well, we are coming to the end of our time with Ted… his flight home is the evening of the 8th – after the guys plan to go to a 3D showing of Top Gun at an Imax theatre. They are only showing it that way in select theatres and only for 8 days! A terrific final event for an amazing visit. Having Ted here has been amazing… we have had time to chat, time to play and time to just sit and hang out like we used to. Trinity and Echo has renewed their love of time with Uncle Ted and the boys have had him playing Skylanders and Legos and more. As you can tell from Trinity’s photo blog entry HERE, his iPhone was a hit as well!

And snow on top of it!

Ken dropped his parents at the airport hours before the rest of us were awake. They are gone for 7 weeks in sunny Mexico. It was definitely different not having them here… though we did take the day at a more relaxed pace. Any big change to the household seems to work best for us if we do that. So with a FINISHED Lego crane to enjoy I could not help but allow them to enjoy it to the fullest. They earned that one!

LEGOS

We watched TWO new episodes of the Wild Kratts… on Blue Jays and Grey Squirrels and the Caracal. I love it when there is an animal that I know nothing about as well like the Caracal.

Family favourite

Blue Jays and Grey Squirrels

Caracal

Our Chinese New Year work continues with Thursday being our date to start the poster assembly. We have quite a bit so I am thinking there are going to be some pockets to make and some creative space use. One more book to share… once we finish reading it… and of course our crafts to complete.

Even Batman preps for the poster

The guys have enjoyed more gaming time with Ken working from home, one break at lunch for a game and the rest of the time just us with Ken locked away. It should not be much longer before he has a desk at the office! Renovations and reorganization still to be accomplished. Such a weird but AMAZING thought – Ken is WORKING again. YAY! One more step completed, next… we work toward the ability to get our own special home… not forever as I cannot say we will be here in Minnesota forever (in fact, I am sure we won’t) but a long term home full of security and normality. Just what our family has always been working towards.

Gaming

I am rather proud of our Thursday – we wanted to get going on the poster and we did! There was cutting and pasting, taping and folding and even some using of markers. I am sure we will dabble on it a little more on Friday but it is pretty full! Granted, less of China the country and more about stories and celebrations but I think this year we had a lot of fun and learned more than a little about Chinese New Year!

We had one more book to finish with – Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures in Imperial China. We got a lovely list of inventions in this book, things like silk and umbrellas…

Our book

Inventions list

Ken worked from home again, in fact… he was AHEAD after yesterday so was able to run Ted and Sean back to the Source, (a first time for Sean) to pick up something Ted had seen and liked last time. That left me home alone with the kiddos. We tried something new today – I set up different Valentine themed stations, mainly crafts… it worked pretty well though I need MORE ideas or at least more COMPLEX ideas to keep them there long enough to actually get my bath accomplished in a relaxing fashion.

Around the table

This time round we had paper chains, making paper roses, a placemat activity sheet I got at Target, a Kai Lan book we are all working on (super simple purchase from Dollarama last year, not so much Chinese beyond Kai Lan herself but fun) and the book project the twins needed to finish. You can find the instructions for our paper roses thanks to Art for Kids on the Homeschool Classroom site HERE. I honestly think that these roses would be a great gift for ANYONE any age! I was going to put up the paperchain in the tree outside but when we laid it out with our roses in their cup… well they look so pretty together in the sunshine on the table!

Flowers and paper chains

We had another Wild Kratts to watch as well… this one about BEES!

Bzzzzzzz

I ended my evening with a visitor on top of our other visitors! Bree managed to have a decently light day of work and so was able to head over here after and spend some visiting time. She finally got to meet and talk to Ted and Sean… in fact, she played WoW with Ted eons ago! It was great to see her and Lily to be… we are on a day by day wait on the birth of the lovely Lily. When rush hour was over we headed out to Joann’s finally! I was in desperate need of some new yarn… I have a second toilet paper scarf to make AND the need to do an infinity scarf for myself. OH and I couldn’t resist the socks.

Visiting with Bree and Lily to be

Soooo soft

I am hoping to get my Facebook page sorted out for selling again this month as well! I think Bree has caught the crafting bug too… she picked up some supplies to get back to crocheting too! I love it when a friend picks up a craft again. That means someone to chat with and craft. I have missed that here in Minnesota. I had quite the crafting group in Canada.

There is nothing more fun than a box