Thursday and I need to get ready...

I need to pack. I can't pack until I do the last of the laundry. So I need to do the laundry.

Tonight I have a meeting at the hall about organising the Christmas party here..

I want to blog about yesterday though as I am not sure I will have time to blog much later.

Yesterday morning we went to Parent link - I think we will make that a regular weekly thing through the winter. It was great to see Samantha, the kids had fun (despite Sams bad mood), good coffee, great snacks for the kids and I got to use the resource centre to get some die cuts done. For $4 I got a big bunch of die cuts from that special paper that pops up into foam shapes. I gave some scrap shapes to Sam and Abby in the bath and they had so much fun watching the paper pop up into big sponges! They stick to the tiles too so they have had fun!

Samantha gave us some coupons for free ice creams at Mcdonalds, so after parent link we went there for lunch and the children ahd ice cream for dessert - Abigail was thrilled to go up to the counter alone to get the ice creams for her and Sam.

We went to the dollar store for a few things for the children to take on the plane and to keep them busy at the hotel. Then I went into Reitmans to try on some clothes - boy was that ever an experience! I tried on quite a bit so I can understand Sam and Abby were bored, but then Sam pooped so his stinky diaper made the changing room smell REALLY bad! Then he kept hiding under all the clothes stands and racing about with the toy car he got at McD's....

I did manage to get a few pairs of pants and a shirt though - oh and their jewelry is buy one get one free, so I got some ear rings to wear with my dress to the Presidents Dinner.

After that we raced home as the kids were already home from school and Susie ahd a friend back. We got home about 5 minutes after they did which was great....I ran around like a headless chicken, warming up cinnamon twists for an afer school snack, emptying shopping bags so things I had for Christmas gifts were hidden away fast, tidying up and getting us ready to go out 40 minutes later!

Last night was Parent Links 'Festival of Leaves' - it was held at North Cooking Lake and it was so much fun! I'm so glad we went! They had a bouncy castle, bowling, play dough, bricks, fire pit with marshmallows to roast, a nature walk and scavenger hunt, swings, slides and climbing frame, horse drawn wagon rides, colouring, all kinds of games and fun like Musical statues.....a supper of chili and bun, bowls of chocolates to help yourself to, and a big cake served to everyone! It was $5 a family and was just fabulous...they even had the local library there discussing programs and ideas for Fall stories for children......

We were getting off the wagon ride when I saw a friend of mine who I haven't seen in AGES!!! She looked wonderful but I couldn't help but notice her jacket looked a little tight!! I was sure she was pregnant but didn't like to ask! So I casually asked her how she was and she told me she was 6 months pregnant! Wonderful news but 6 months - by 6 months I am always the size of a house! C just looked fabulous!

We got home around 7pm and I soaked in the bath with my lovely new Avon bubble bath.....then Lloyd and I finished the evening with a nice cup of tea and some girl guide cookies MMMmmmmmmm :)

It was a great day, all be it busy. Abigail and Sam were tired out but had had so much fun!

Next time we go to Parentlink, it will be Halloween, so Sam and Abby will be wearing their costumes and they are turning the PL centre into a pumpkin patch complete with hay bales and pumpkins - I can't wait :)

The pictures above are from last nights Festival of Leaves....

Tired..

Had a wonderful day - totally exhausting, non-stop, on the go, great fun day...but am now too exhausted to post about it so that will have to wait for tomorrow! Off to bed now!

Hump day....

This week is going so fast and I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting to do!

This morning we are off to Parentlink to see Samantha, collect my Avon (finally!) and stay and play a while.

Last night I had some weird dreams about Oprah and her idea to hide a journal somewhere in nature that you can escape to to journal your thoughts...I had mine velcroed to the underneath of a stone bridge!! Oprah was impressed lol!

Then we were walking around over on Marys land and we turned and saw a plane in the sky break apart and fall down onto our home...we were far enough away to be safe but lloyd and Sam were in the house!

So Lloyd calls this morning to say hi and tells me he had a dream about sitting in his office looking out of the window at the city centre airport and he watched a large private jet land at the airport, take off again as if it couldn't land and then explode into flames!

Two plane dreams both with bad endings....and we fly to Vancouver on Friday! Plane crashes always come in threes....do dreams count as one and two?????

Last night I had thought ther plan was to run out and grab a few things we need - turns out Lloyd wanted a date night despite us eating out all week next week! So we went to Joeys....they served us red wine and sweet chili chicken while we waited for a table (about 10 minutes) and then our server recognised us from last week which was really nice :) I had the Evil Jungle Noodle Salad which I haven't had for ages.....and of course two bellini's - YUM! Then a quick run to Staples for an ink cartridge as the one we bought the other day was the wrong size....we bought the paper and cardstock for Lloyds RFP too......

My Mom and Dads parcel arrived yesterday -thank you - I will blog about that over on my homeschool blog (link to right).

Well, breakfast is finished and so we had better head into town!

Have a great day everyone!

Rhonda - I got your email and will reply later - VERY exciting news :) Can't wait to have you as a 'neighbour' :)

Welcome back returning readers!!

Just a quick hello to Lloyds Mom and Dad.....they finally have high speed internet and can read my blog again - it's been a while.

Welcome back to civilization Terry and Chris! I hope you are enjoying retirement Terry and that Chris isn't getting too fat from all the baking you are doing!

Sad news...

We had some sad news today - Lloyds Mom wrote to say that my friends brother had died. I went to school with Victoria, and she had a little brother, Robert, who was always hanging around when we were trying to play at her house.....like most siblings I remember Victoria sending him away and telling him he was annoying us!

I'm not in touch with Victoria any more but her parents still live in the same village Lloyd and I grew up in, and they are friends with Lloyds parents. My Mom will occasionally see her parents to say hello to.

Anyway, Robert was only 32. It just seems so unfair and so sad.

Louise - you may remember Victoria - she was in Britannia I think (maybe not...) ...very tall and very thin....quiet.

Keeping little ones busy....

While A was busy doing her writing, I kept S busy with pompoms.....He had two bowls and had to pick up the tiny pompoms with tweezers and then drop them into the other bowl. It helped him with his pincer grip, and with hand-eye co-ordination. He enjoyed that for a while, and then I used an idea from Daisy's blog montessorihomeschooler.blogspot.com/ to give him a spoon and he spooned the pompoms from one bowl to another...this kept him busy for quite a while :)

Todays book..

Todays books were 'Are You Quite Polite' by Alan Katz and David Catrow which is actually a book of silly songs about boys who pick boogers all day long and people who drink out of the toilet - yucky ideas but the kind of thing that children LOVE!

We also read 'The Leaves Are Falling One By One' by Steve Metzger - and this is the book that A decided to add to her book report book (which she is doing in these pictures).

She also spent a long while playing games at:

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/index.shtml

Which are the BBC's educational pages with games and activities for children during the elementary years...

A new week...

Monday started with reading a few books in bed....and a relaxing morning for the most part as A was up at 5am and quite tired from it.

Yesterday was a gorgeous Fall day, 18c and far too nice to stay indoors. We headed to the playground in town for a little picnic and a walk by the lake. We met a homeschooling friend of A's and of course she was delighted! They had fun on the playground while I chatted to N's Mom.

Yesterday was L's 12th birthday, so the evening was spent having a birthday dinner and then ice cream cake....

It was a fairly easy, quiet day which suited us after a busy weekend and a few disturbed nights.

This morning A and S have been playing 'shops' with all the tins from the pantry as their store supplies....we were supposed to go swimming after visiting a friend, but we have to visit with the friend after lunch now, so we decided to forget about swimming today. Next week we will be swimming almost daily so it didn't seem so important today!

Homeschool chums...

Abigail was so pleased to see her friend N again - they hadn't seen each other since dance classes ended before Summer!

Pictures from Broadmoor Lake...

Cake time...

It was impossible to get a good picture of all the children smiling by the cake....so I gave up and these pictures are TERRIBLE lol...but kind of funny too! And yes, Christophers glasses are taped up!!! AGAIN!!!

The ice cream cake (from Safeway) was YUMMY!!!! Great choice Laurence!! Oh and I put my batteries in the charger and then forgot to switch the charger on lol so some of the pics are dark :(

Abby Banana.......

Broadmoor Lake today....

(I tried to post this earlier but Blogger switched off for maintenance so I couldn't post it...better late than never ;)

Today turned into such a nice day! We spent the afternoon at Broadmoor Lake with my friend Jennifer and her children. Abigail was so thrilled to see N there and while Jennifer went to collect her Son from drama class, N came for a walk with us around the lake. We saw a Muskrat in the lake (kind of like a Beaver but smaller). There were geese sat by the age of the lake and three remote control sail boats were floating around......the muskrat didn't seem bothered by them at all......

The children had fun on the playground while Jennifer and I sat and caught up with news....the weather was just GORGEOUS!!! I'm so glad we didn't waste it doing something inside!

After the lake, we drove to Safeway to get the birthday cake and a few groceries.....then home and I walked down the road to meet Laurie who was cycling home from school - I met Susie from the bus too - Abigail and Sam were both asleep in the car....

A little after 4pm Chris phoned to say he was back from his day on the river.....so I popped to the school to pick him up.....sounds as though he had a great time - no one fell in the water, no one drowned so it was a great day :)

Lloyd is now on his way home from work...Lasagna is almost ready.....out by the fire tonight and then Little People Big World :)

Have a good evening everyone!

Susannah....

Some fun pics of Susie from this afternoon...

Birthday gifts....

Laurie opened his birthday gifts when he got home from school today....he has been busy building with Meccano ever since! He is having Lasagna and garlic bread for dinner as its his favourite, and then chocolate ice cream cake for dessert (also at his request!)

He took cupcakes to school today for each of his friends and it sounds as though he had a great day!

I will take the traditional birthday cake pictures later and post those too :)