Phew!!!!! The day is done!!!

Wow what a day... it just seems to have been a really long day!! Long but good! I love the light evenings...it is still light at 11pm or so. It means we get so much done and have the evenings to make the most of!

Chris had to tidy his room this morning - his friend A is sleeping over Friday as they are still working on their computer game designs...so he had to tidy it....Laurie and Susie helped....turned out Chris was paying them to help! Ah well, if they are daft enough to tidy it up for 50c thats their choice!!!

I wahsed the outside and inside of all the main floor windows and I washed the floors and dusted, did 5 loads of laundry and washed the mudroom floor.

After that they all spent time doing the Foil Art kits I bought them yesterday....and Abby did her velvet art although she didn't like colouring the velvet side as it felt strange to her so she just coloured the 'extra' picture!

I bought a couple of magic sets yesterday too and they all spent hours playing with those today and perfecting their skills.....the man that came about the furnace today was telling them about magic trick websites they could look at to learn more tricks!

We emptied the old craft cupboard in the basement and brought all the supplies upstairs.....

We looked through the package of Forest/ tree posters and booklets that arrived yesterday...a paper producer in the US sent them to us......the kids chose some posters for their bedrooms and I put my favourite one in the kitchen.....it shows a slice of trunk and it explains how you can tell how the tree has lived through fire, drought and disease......

We let the dogs in for a while and groomed them both and I went outside and threw treats for them for a while too......

We played with Sam with his box of blocks for ages...he loves us building towers and then he (very violently) knocks the towers down and shrieks with delight....Chris says he is just like Damien from The Omen.

This afternoon a man came from the power company to give us an estimate for air conditioning, new furnace etc etc...he was extremely chatty (I know his entire life story now I think) and the kids adored him...he was doing Donald Duck impressions and sat there for ages while the girls showed him their magic tricks.....he said they could do the air conditioning in 1 1/2 weeks time which is much faster than the other company......

As the furnace guy left we found a dead sparrow on the front grass...Cairo probably got it....poor thing...so I had to pick that up and get rid of it....

I drove down to the mail box and Susie had a birthday party invite from J for a tropical garden party!!!! I have to buy her a grass skirt!!! I sat for a while and read through the information from THEE that arrived...I am still leaning towards Education Unlimited though.......THEE seems extremely academic..........

Lloyds came home around 5pm or just after and we had dinner around 6pm.....sausages, fries and veg....really easy throw in the oven stuff! Ah well!!

After dinner I went out and mowed most of the front lawns....some of the back......Lloyd worked on the coop (he says the chickens can move in at the weekend FINALLY!!!!!)

Lloyd and I sat and watched Bad Santa which is much better in High Definition....one of the good things about Lloyds tv!!! Which I still swear is too big grrrrr) and we munched on some pistachios (sp??)

Today is Christies birthday - I didn't know until she told me tonight!!! Happy Birthday Christie!!!! Hope you had a fab dinner out with Rod!

Today I am grateful for:

1. A house filled with laughter today! It was a good day.....I don't think we stopped laughing all day!

2. The chicken that got stuck was fine........our pampered little hens....so spoilt!

3. That Lloyd has a job where he can phone and email me all day long :) now he has his blackberry we even email each other through his meetings :)

4. Living in a province with such choice regarding education of our children.

5. More and more beautiful flowers opening up in our garden...even if I don't know what they all are :)

6. Living in a Province with no big spiders.....the one things I fear about going home for a visit.....

7. rain...it rained last night.... it rarely rains here and we really need the moisture!!!! I love the sound of it and the smell...reminds me of home :)

pictures added

I've added some pictures to some old posts below...and will add more later.....have grass to mow first :)

Home...where the heart truly is....

Some pictures taken Sunday evening of our home and front yard.......the furnace guy today couldn't stop saying how beautiful this home is and how we were so lucky to find such a beautiful acreage.

I am so so grateful for this home and land...we are so happy here and I just love it so much. There is no feeling that compares to coming home now we are somewhere we truly love....driving out of the city towards home is such a wonderful feeling and the peace and calmness that soaks through me as I turn into our driveway. This is truly 'home'.

Tuesday is over....

Today I am grateful for:

1. Chris making french toast for everyone - they all loved it and it saved me from having to make lunch :) Chris loves to cook and is great this dish :)

2. A quiet stroll around Michaels and Homesense...child free :) in fact totally alone for a while......

3. A fun trip down memory lane with Lloyd this evening....I love that Lloyd and I grew up together and that we've known each other since childhood...it's like we share so many memories....even if he does remind me that I'm older than him ;)

4. The yellow rose Abigail gave me...even if it meant she had picked my ONLY flowering rose from outside! It's the thought that counts ;)

5. Seeing the excitement the girls had while I helped them pack their little picnic to take on their adventure......and their thrill of finding 'hawk eggs' (lol)

6. Sitting at the table painting rocks with Abigail today while she taught herself that mixing two colours can create a new colour!

7. The winter months - because they kill off mosquitos (I've just been bitten on my toe......)

Sudoku

My latest obsession is Sudoku. I am really good at Sudoku. Almost as good at these number puzzles as I am at Boggle...and trust me I am undefeated at Boggle!!!!!

I bought two new Sudoku books today but I think I will send one to my Dad. I think he'd like it!

I did two Sudoku's this afternoon....the sun comes through my bedroom window and warms up the bed so I was lying there enjoying the sunshine and doing puzzles.....had to lock the door though as the kids kept coming in to interupt me lol! There should be a law against interupting someone doing a sudoku puzzle!

Firefox and the Cutty Sark

I made a tomato bacon and cheese pasta sauce this evening which turned out really well....we had that with wholewheat pasta, crunchy bread and a salad.....everyone seemed to enjoy it - especially Sam!

After dinner, Lloyd and I drove into town. I picked upa parcel from the post office - they nearly wouldn't give it to me as my name and address on my licence don't match the ones on the parcel......I told Lloyd we should change my name legally to stop the confusion....or get married finally!!!!

I strolled around Michaels while Lloyd went to Home Depot....and then he met me in Home Sense...where he fell in love with a model of the Cutty Sark.......and bought it!!!! Oh and a tin opener thankfully! We live in Alberta.......soooooo far from the ocean but Lloyd seems to be collecting sailing boats!!! I told him it could be for his Fathers Day gift! Although I daresay we will get him other things too ;)

When we got home the boys took the dogs for a walk and here I sit having downloaded Firefox so I can finally add some pictures....

I may go and mow some grass in a bit...or rather some dandelions...I swear they are teasing me...they must duck down and hide from the mower blades and next morning I look out and there they are 4 inches tall grinning evily at me!!!! How can something grow soooo fast!!!!?????

I have signed up for a postcard swap with the homeschool forum I'm on....the kids will enjoy that!

Michaels didn't have much - most of the shelves were empty. I bought a few crafts for rainy afternoons.....and some extra candle wax so we can make more candles. I may do the ones with ice cubes in them as they are really pretty.

I need to put the pictures onto the computer from the camera....and Lloyd needs to go down to the woods to photograph the baby Robins in the next...he's busy beside me doing his accounts for tax season (business)

Lloyd was asking if I thought most couples laugh together as much as us....I don't know....most that I know probably don't....these days so many people are miserable and never look on the bright side...and most couples don't even seem to like each other! Lloyd and I are always giggling and laughing together....

We were talking about 'the old days' in the car on the way back...all those 'I remember when a stamp cost 12p and I remember when you could buy 2 sweets for a penny and we had 1/2 pence pieces!!!! I was talking about I Spy books...no one seems to remember them.....but I had lots of them.....I Spy in the town, I Spy in the countryside, I Spy car numbers.........and I would tick everything off and then write to Big CHief I Spy and he would send me a badge!

And Fuzzy Felts!!!! I loved Fuzzy Felts.......

God I feel old now!

The Big Adventure

Susannah and Abigail packed up a picnic of juice boxes, mini marshmallows and Graham crackers, took a notebook and pen and went out for an adventure......they were going for a walk with the dogs around our land.....

It wasn't long before they came back full of excitement because they ahd found a nest in a hole with eggs! White eggs the size of a dandelion clock. They wondered if they were hawk eggs as we see the hawks flying around a lot.....

I grabbed my camera (which I later realized had no memory card in!!) and headed out to see the eggs...I ahd emailed Lloyd to tell him the news so we were all excited that we may have more eggs to watch hatch!

I hike across the front paddock through all the long grass....we finally find the hole (not easy in tall grass) and there is the egg......except it isn't an egg! It's a toadstool growing otu fo a lump of horse poo!!!!!!

Too funny! The girls were so disappointed...but it was funny really :)

Still, they had fun on their adventure and even stopped to draw some flowers in their notebook...their drawings of the dandelion clocks were especially good.

French toast

Chris is making French Toast for everyone....it smells really good! They are all lining up with their orders!!! Saves me making lunch and they are having fun at the same time ;)

We've been painting rocks and Abigail was complaining because her blue and yellow keep turning green....nice that she is learning how colours mix all by herself...so now she has been experimenting with mixing colours and has learnt that mixing red and blue makes purple and mixing red and yellow makes orange....and she made the discovery just by playing about with the paints while we were working on our rocks........I'm waiting for my yellow flowers to dry before I can do more.....

Lloyds blackberry is playing up so he isn't getting all his emails....which is a pain as I like chatting to him during the day via email...still, he'll call soon......

Summer reading program

Our reading program is going well so far...we started on June 1st...the kids don't ahve to take part - it's up to them ;) but they are choosing to! They have to read a book and complete a simply one page book report (from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets/book%20report2.pdf ) and then they get to pick an envelope......the envelopes have different things in them from $5 bills to coupons for things like take out from Joey tomatoes or a sandwich deal from Tims.....large Iced Capp or ice cream of their choice from Laura Secord.......

Chris and Laurie already have two each!!!!

My old blog

This is my old blog....from a different life almost :) or at least it feels very different.....

http://janemma.tblog.com/

I think it's quite different from this blog....

What to do?

I am sat here not dressed. I should have breakfast. I guess we won't get to the curriculum sale...the kids don't seem too worried about not going ;) I'd only spend money on curriculum we won't ever use anyway ;)

I posted The Girl I Used to Be on HB yesterday. Rodders was upset over her parents comments about her pregnancy...I thought it would help. She responded and seemed to like the poem which is good. I think it's beautiful.

She came tonight as I sat alone,The girl I used to be.
And she gazed at me with her earnest eye And questioned reproachfully,"Have you forgotten the many plans And hopes that I had for you?"
"The great career, the splendid fame,All the wonderful things to do?"

"Where is the mansion of stately height With all of its gardens rare?""The silken robes that I dreamed for you And the jewels in your hair?"
And as she spoke, I was very sad For I wanted her pleased with me ... This slender girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand,And guided her up the stairs Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay So innocent, sweet, and fair.
I told her that these are my only gems,And Precious they are to me;That silken robe is my Motherhood Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,And the only career I know,Is serving each day in these sheltered walls For the dear ones who come and go.
And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,She smiled through her tears at me;And I saw the woman I am now ... pleased the girl I used to be.

~

Rowena K. Lewis ~

I think I need to take my iron. It's day 3 and I'm feeling very washed out today. Maybe thats why I'm not too bothered about doing anything much today.....

If we end up staying home I think we will go outside and paint some rocks...it would be nice to have some painted and put them in the woods.......so the kids can get creative!

I will take the quilt out there and we can read and stuff out there too....or maybe I will see if they want to do some sketching....of the house, or some flowers or the trees..........

Maybe we will run into town after all and buy some little canvases or some spray varnish or some sketch books......

Mmmmmmmm thats a plan!

Maybe it's Aunt Flo's visit or something but I feel like just being at home with my kids :) And I know that next week will arrive and I will be back to my usual sociable self ;)

Mondays gratitude

Today I am grateful for.....

1. Laughing with the children in the car about silly things...Abigail saying 'apple' a thousand times to drive Chris crazy, listening to Laurence explain tampons to Susie and then listening to Susie telling us how she wants to adopt because she doesn't want to push a baby out! Then Chris making up funny lyrics to the songs on the cd!

2. That my first attempt at the new recipe for the chicken was a success! All too often my first attempts are disasters!

3. For the rain today...even though it wasn't much, it is better than nothing...I want the grass seeds to start growing!

4. For living in AB where for the most part we are free to get on with our homeschooling any which way we choose.

5. For being born a girl...the boys were saying in the car how grateful they are to be born boys....but I like being a girl. Yes we have periods and have to give birth, but I'd rather be me who gets to stay home and sleep in each day and relax and do things I want to do.....Lloyd ahs to get up so early and go to work every day.....he has to worry about paying the bills and servicing the cars etc. I have never even out gas in my car...it seems to magically refill. I've been driving for about 10 years and have never had to put gas in! I wake up each morning and have a cup of coffee beside the bed ready for me........I think I'm spoilt really ;) but I'm very happy I'm a girl :)

6. crystal Light raspberry flavour...because its yummy and helps me drink all the water I need :)

7. free cookies for the kids in Safeway.....it means I have happy quiet kids all the way around the grocery store :)

They've hatched!

Yet more babies! Well, kind of! Our mealworms have hatched into beetles! 2 of them at least! So we have now placed a piece of potato in the jar for them to eat......

We bought 100 mealworms for $2 a couple of months ago....we put them in a large jar with oatmeal and left them to it. They eventually pupate and then the beetles come out a couple of weeks later......kind of cool to watch in a weird gross way ;) but interesting to study as a lifecycle! Different to butterflies! Although Lloyd wants to study silk moths next....

(woohoo Oilers score again!!! it's 2-0 to the Oilers!!!!)

Oh Canada

It's the first match int he Stanley Cup finals. The Oilers (our Oilers) are playing the Carolina Huricanes.....in Raleigh I believe....which could have been our home at one time.....

The boys are watching the match. We all stood and sang Oh Canada - I love singing that - it always makes me well up with tears which is kind of weird because singing God Save the Queen never made me feel that. I guess because this is my country of choice I feel especially proud and grateful to be able to sing it as my anthem. Laurie sings the anthem in sign language which I love to see!

I will probably watch some of the match. Lloyd is outside in the coop...it has been raining a little...came over very dark and earlier when we were on our way home from town. Then it cleared for a while during dinner but seems to be coming over very dark again....perhaps this means Lloyd will have to come inside soon.

It's driving me nuts that Blogger won't let me post pictures for some reason.....

Susie is playing with Sam...they are playinga game where they chase each other and then pretend to collapse on the floor and sleep...Sam seems very sweet playing it.

I can't find a watering can anywhere - I just want a large plastic cheap watering can...all I can find are nice turquoise shiny metal ones...that look like a piece of art and cost as much as one!

So I made the honey mustard chicken and it was an amazing success. Everyone loved it.

Oooh the Oilers have scored! Go Oilers!!!!

I served the chicken with brown rice and some vegetables as I couldn't get any new potatoes. It was so easy.

1 cup Hellmans Mayo
3 tbsp grainy Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp honey
2 chopped green onions
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Mix together. Cover chicken breasts well in sauce in oven proof dish. Cover with foil and bake...I baked it for as long as the rice took to cook - so about 50 minutes on 420.

Yum!

We are going to the curriculum sale at the homeschool group tomorrow. I am hoping they sell books etc and not just curriculum. R has offered to let me have her unschooling magazines from the last year.....I can't wait! Lots of unschooling Inspiration. I really like R...she just seems so relaxed and laid back.......oh how I wish I was that laid back and patient!!!

I got the last cheque of homeschool funding from my current schoolboard today.....and also the registration forms from Education Unlimited for next year...I think I am going to go with them for the next year and see how it goes. They are a non-resident home school board that specialises in assisting unschooled children to get into post secondary education.

C, another homeschooler at the local group has invited us over to her house tomorrow afternoon for lunch and a water fight for the kids...the boys will love that!

The children asked today if the schools were now closed for summer....it's funny how you soon lose touch with what the public schools are doing....it made me think how lucky my 5 are......they are able to enjoy the summer all the way through....they are outside playing whenever they want, at the splashpark and playing baseball etc when their peers are in classrooms. They will have really made the most of the good weather which is so important here!

I was reading about a lady in the UK who is having trouble with her LEA......I feel so fortunate to be out of that situation now...homeschooling is so easy and so supported here in AB. There is so much choice and so many fellow homeschoolers....so much to do....too much at times! I love living here.

Honey Mustard Chicken and Homeschool gym

Monday. I always struggle to get going on Mondays......I didn't sleep well and wasn't in the mood for the dawn chorus at 4am. I put ear plugs in and still had to close the windows.....I normally love listening to the birds but not this morning!

That said, it's been quite a good morning...Lloyd has phoned a few times to chat. I've washed all the floors downstairs and have dusted my bedroom and packed away two lots of laundry.

Chris has been designing a computer game based on World War 2. He researched the planes from the war to get the symbols on the planes right for each country.....

Susie has been reading Mr Poppers Penguins and learning about the American Revolution......

Laurie spent most of this morning reading the Frosties cereal packet which has things about the Soccer World Cup...and he then entered various contests online.

Abigail asked to do some of her worksheets so she did some addition and then did a page where she had to draw herself and then write three sentences about herself. Since then she has been making Valentine cards for us all and writing all our names.

The boys have homeschool gym class this afternoon and I want to go and buy a watering can so I will take the younger three shopping while the boys are busy.

Lloyd made me laugh last night - while I was in the bathroom he climbed out of the bedroom window and sat on the garage roof. He waited for me to finish in the bathroom and then while I was in the bedroom pottering around (thinking he was downstairs) he jumped through the window at me! scared the @#$^%$# out of me but it was so funny!!!!

I got a recipe in the mail last week for Honey Mustard Chicken, so I am making that for supper tonight with new potatoes and green beans.....it seems really easy to do so I hope it's nice.....