Home Sweet Home

My pretty house on the first day of summer. With Daisies and Irises flowering outside......I am again reminded of just how lucky I am to call this home.

There is nowhere I would rather be.

She amazes me.

The older three are playing a very VOCAL game of Risk at the table. Abigail is beside me here at my desk...in fact I have hardly ANY elbow room to type. She is looking through a book on Birds of Alberta. I showed her how to look up a bird, find which page it is on and see if it lives near us.....so now she is doing that, using the chart on the back to pick a bird and then looking it up in the book.....she keeps telling me which birds we get and what page they are on...she really does amaze me at how fast she learns......I only have to show her something once and she gets it...and she remembers so well.....she's been looking up all the birds she knows, crows (her latest obsession is spotting those!!), hummingbirds, owls - great grey and snowy, magpies, and of course the Mountain Bluebird. Today we saw a red winged blackbird so she wanted to look that up. She likes to write down the page number too...... she's a funny little thing....adores worksheets and 'doing school'. But only when SHE wants to :) which is fine by me :) She's only 4!!!!

The thing about boys......

What is it with boys and stones????? Why do they have this need to pick up stones and fill their pockets with them? It takes us forever to walk anywhere because we have to constantly stop for Sam to sit and add to his stone collection.

I went through this with Chris and Laurie too......and still to this day I will find stones in their pockets or at the bottom of my washing machine from their 'collections'.

Gem stones I understand...even lucky stones with holes through the middle...but gravel???? Whats with that???????

Collecting Mail

Our mailbox is quite a way from our house.....we have to walk down to the crossroads and then turn left and head down towards the highway. It's a nice length of a walk for little ones really....long enough to tire them out but not long enough for them to complain...there are things we always like to see on the way there too. The field with the Llamas, the horse in our neighbours field (they were setting up tents in their yard today) the crossroads where the field is always waterlogged and filled with interesting birds and waterfowl, the house where the puppies live, the woods where Abby thinks the monkeys live and finally the mailbox!

This afternoon was lovely and warm so we took our time for our walk....in fact half way there Susie decided she'd like to walk Rosie, so we headed back for Rosie our golden retriever and then headed off again. We saw Canada Anemone's, damselflies, and endless wild roses.....a HUGE tractor pulling a plough which was the highlight of Sams trip I am sure! Abigail waved to every single car that passed us.

I took the stroller and Sam walked some of the way and rode the rest. He spent ages in the driveway picking up little stones, looking at ants and the flowers in the yard. He then sat with Chris and played for a while before they all had a freezy and I came back inside. They are all outside now playing on the trampoline and sand box...and with the wagon.

Walks around here remind me of my childhood....hardly any cars, no nose apart from birds.....and the children can run and play as we walk and we don't have to worry too much.

This evening we are going to the farmers market and to the playground at Broadmoor Lake. Chris has orientation for the volunteering he wants to do at the library this summer.....he worked there last summer so already knows about it but will still go. He spent most of today reading and wokring on his game designs...they played Risk early this morning too.....everyone is feeling kind of laid back and lazy today after yesterdays busy day so its been nice to be relaxed all day.

learning from play

Yesterday at the homeschool track and field day, they set out one of those play tunnel things for the little ones.......Sam didn't get around to playing with it until the afternoon, but then spent quite a while there.....I watched him with it and loved seeing how much he learned from it. Watching him watch others first, then walk over and move it about, bend down and look through, walk around it, analyse it......then he got down and crawled through, looking very pleased with himself! Then he would get out and walk back around and go through the exact same way.....it took him quite a while to work out he could go through either way...then he figured out he could sit at one end and stop others going though....then he worked out that it could roll......

It's wonderful watching ou little ones learn....it doesn't just stop at those first steps...it goes on and on for life...why on earth do we hand all that magic over at the magical age of 5 or 6 to a school????

Homeschooling....and especially unschooling, is allowing us to see up close the magical learning experiences our children are making on their own....at their own pace...through their own will. Its wonderful and I want to be a part of it all...I don't want to miss another thing!

Life Learning Magazine

www.lifelearningmagazine.com

R gave me a pile of Life Learning magazines last week, so every spare moment I have had since, has been spent curled up reading them.....what a wonderful magazine although some of the 'advice' is a little extreme if you ask me......that Naomi woman hasn't got a clue lol!!!!! Which planet is she4 living on????????????

Definitely great magazines for inspiring you when you need it!!!

Track and Field Day

Yesterday was the homeschool groups sports day. It was soooooo much fun!

We were up early as CHris also started work at the museum yesterday. He looked so smart in proper shoes and a shirt :) We dropped him off just before 9am (very early start for us!) and as we had an hour to spare before homeschool group, I took the younger 4 to McDonalds for a surprise breakfast at the play place! We don't eat much fast food so it was a REAL treat!! When we walked in we ran into a Mom of Susannahs friend. She is also a teacher at their old school and is very nice. We chatted for a while and told her how excited we all were that it was Track and Field day and we were having a picnic etc...I think people are still surprised to hear that the homeschooling community is so big and so sociable...I think people still feel all we do is 'school at home'......it was a good day to run into her as the children were sooooo happy and bubbly and excited about homeschooling!

After breakfast we headed off to the homeshool group. The weather was perfect...warm and a little windy but not too hot and not rainy! We set everything up out on the field......there were races for all the different ages and us Moms joined in too......relays, sack races, egg ad spoon races, three legged races, bean bag toss, tug of war, and we even decorated frisbees for a frisbee throw........ there was a tube to crawl through for the little ones and face painting for everyone too.....

We stopped at 12pm for a picnic lunch together before more fun and games until 2pm when we tidied up and gave out treat bags. I took LOTS of pictures.....over 600!!!! And emailed some to the local paper in the hope that they will print some.....my favourite pic was one of C's little boy in the sack race!!! It was a great pic and I hope they print it! The older children aren't in the group picture as they had to go somewhere else at that time.....but there are quite a few older pre-teens in the group who took part in the races.

We headed home after the sports day. Abby fell asleep on the sofa just after dinner, and Sam didn't nap all day so fell asleep just after 6pm.....all the children were so tired from their fun day! It really was so much fun! I even joined in with the egg and spoon race....

Lloyd picked Chris up after work...his first day 'on the job' went so well...he is being given so much repsonsibilty and is learning so many things about archiving and protecting antiques and old papers etc etc... he is doing data inputting and helping create the museums website, working as an interpreter and giving tours to school children.....I think this job and experience will be a wonderful thing and I am so glad he is enjoying it all so much.

Yesterday I was buzzing from how happy I am that we have been homeschooling for a whole year. I love homeschooling here in Alberta.....the community is great and there are so many choices.....I love the life we are leading and I love how happy and alive my children are since they came out of school...I love the future I see for us....for them.......even if they were to go into school next year, I can see nothing but benefits to this time we have spent together.

Almost up to date!!!

On Monday the boys had their last Homeschool Gym class until the Fall. They really enjoy going. Chris was supposed to have an exam on Monday morning but wasn't feeling great so we postponed that, and Lloyd took them to their gy class and took the younger three into the indoor playground for a while. I stayed home as I still wasn't feeling great, but I didn't much like being 'home alone'. I am so used to having the children around that it was really quiet and I was bored without them. I fell asleep upstairs though and didn't wake up until they got home.....so I must have needed the sleep!

Laurie cut the grass out at the front...he loves riding the tractor and he did a great job and was really sensible so has earned Lloyds trust definitely!!! I think that can be his job in future if he wants it :)

Playing catch-up!

I haven't posted for a few days so I have so much to say!!!

Last Friday we spent the day relaxing at home. Chris watched Braveheart on dvd while the others watched home videos on the computer. Susie sent some emails to Lloyd and Grandma and Terry etc etcChris phoned Lego and managed to get them to send hima free copy of the Lego moviemaker cd rom he needs!!! Abby sat on my bed naked except for a winter hat, watching treehouse for a while! I read her some books including reading 5 Little Monkeys to her and Sam..... Chris read to Sam too for a while and I took pictures. The kids did some crafts, played a long game of Risk and walked the dogs....the trampoline seems to be very popular still too!

In the afternoon my Nan phoned - I was really surprised as she doesn't phone often...maybe once a year or so......she is 95 almost I think...and a few weeks back she fell and broke her hand.....I sent hera card and letter and a few treats......her nurse arrived while I was on the phone and I heard Nanny tell her 'I'm talking to my Granddaughter in CANADA...so proudly :) so we were talking about bears and coyotes and the chickens (she used to keep chickens too) and the children etc etc...I could tell the nurse knew wll about us...she even asked after Sam! It was lovely to chat with her too and I guess it just made me sad to think I probably won't ever see her again. She kept apologising for not sending parcels to us any more but because of her health she can't go shopping...I told her not to worry at all!

Lauries friends (the twins) slept over. On Saturday morning after waffles for breakfast I drove them home into the city. Laurie decided to spend the day at their house, so we left them all there and Chris and I went to the mall for some gifts for Lloyd for Fathers Day. On the way home we stopped by the museum for Chris to meet his new boss! They were having a pancake breakfast for Fathers Day....They gave us a tour of behind the scenes in the museum and we filled in all the necessary forms. Chris will be volunteering there all day every Tuesday...he's thrilled...

Saturday afternoon Susie went to J's birthday party. J lives in the house behind our old house. It was a tropical garden party (sadly the weather wasn't great) so Susie wore her swimsuit and a grass skirt! She looked great! We picked Laurie up after the birthday party.

In the evening we all curled up and watched the Oilers beat The 'canes in game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. It was fun!!!

Sunday was Fathers Day. I made Lloyd coffee in bed (a rare thing!) and the kids came in and gave him all their gifts and cards. As I was drying off after my shower, I was watching the girls out on the trampoline....the window was open and I was listening to them take it in turns to sing pop goes the weasel as they jumped around the trampoline together giggling and trying to make each other bounce......I love seeing how close they are now they homeschool.

Lloyd and I went out for coffee in Starbucks and a stroll around Chapters. We stopped off at Blockbusters and bought 5 dvd's from their pre-viewed selection! We got some great ones! War of the Worlds, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Fun with Dick and Jane, Xmas with the Kranks and Yours Mine and Ours.

On the way home we saw a young deer not too far from the road by the Whitemud exit. We have seen a lot of deer around lately. There was one in the back field on Monday as Lloyd was driving home but it changed its mind about going out into the road.....

We went for a walk on Sunday afternoon and found that our grouse family has grown by 4!!! 4 baby grouse living in the woods here :) We spent some time sat out on the porch too - Abby drew a hopscotch court on the porch with chalks and played for ages - her favourite game lately. Chris got the chickens out and the kids sat with them on their laps for ages!

In the evening we curled up and watched Harry Potter all together. I wasn't feeling great so it was a nice relaxing way to spend the day.