Sam in the woods....

How does jam end up there???

Picnic in the woods...

25c totally gorgeous day - not a breeze to be felt - so we packed upa picnic and headed out with books, a ball and a blanket to have a picnic in the woods :)

Caterpillar update!!

We now have two chrysalis's in our jar.....just waiting for them to turn into butterflies/ moths now.....hopefully!!! Sam also studied this at PreK and they read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' which is one of his favourite books at home and he knows it off by heart. He was able to recite it as they read it to the class :) They made big posters of the butterfly life cycle for him to bring home, which goes with our project really well :)

For Sams show and tell he took a beekeepers veil, a box of comb from the hive, a picture of himself sticking his finger in a frame of honey surrounded by bees, and he took clover honey sticks for all his classmates and teachers so they could take one home to try. They started selling them at the local store the day before!!!! OMG what luck!!! :) His teachers said they were sooooo impressed with his show and tell and that all the children asked questions and he answered them all and he really knew his stuff and that I had obviously involved the children with the bees and taught them all about them! After class the teachers were asking me all about bees and honey etc etc. I think they are so used to the typic al show and tell items that they were pleased to have something a little 'different' and the children were excited to have a treat each to take home!! :) Sam was just happy to get his candy as each child that does show and tell is given a sucker! He has missed his last two show and tells because of being in England and being sick, so we really had to make up for it this time!! :) I think we did :)

So that's our bugs and mini beasts update lol! There has been lots of tadpole catching, frog catching, butterfly catching, beetle identifying, bird spotting, and beasty watching going on here since the snow went and the weather warmed up :) I love Summer :)

What's this and what've we been doing with it????

Hop on over to our homeschooling blog to find out!!!!! Want an invite to our homeschooling blog to see what we've been up to lately??? Just ask!!!

athomefirstgrade.blogspot.com/

Curly wurlies......

On Wednesday we went for a picnic and on the way back we picked lots of dandelions which we then preceded to slice up and curl - we curled them in to ringlets by slicing the stems thinly lengthways and then dropping them into a bowl of ice-cold water - the stems then curl up really fast into tight rings - it is really fun to watch and they make really pretty patterns and cute little jewellery type designs! Abigail and Sam loved this activity! So much fun for a Spring day!

Another reason to learn to love those Dandelions :) They just so happen to be Sams favourite flowers right now :)

Painting postcards...

Painting watercolour postcards. These are blank postcards on watercolour cardstock that can actually be mailed. Abigail painted them and has now mailed them off to her special chosen ones!!! ;)

Art frenzy.....

Abigail continues to LOVE art.....and so I continue to let her continue! I provide paints, pencils, canvases, brushes and inspiration! We paint inside and outside - I suggest books, tv shows, places, classes, people, subjects......and even silence and nothingness! Then I let her get on with it! She is loving my watercolour pencils and my watercolour postcards - blank postcards that are watercolour paper. She can then send them to friends and family! She is also enjoying the good weather and being able to pack a blanket and go somewhere to paint outside! this was a favourite last year too! We are running out of canvases fast so we need to go and stock up - thank goodness for dollarama and their multi packs of canvases :)

Chop chop!!!

Laurie chopping the second crop of rhubarb yesterday....and then I made a big rhubarb crumble that we all ate last night!!! Mmmmmmm :) It's so nice that within ten minutes from cutting it from the garden it was being chopped and prepped and within half an hour from being cut from the garden, it was in the oven in my crumble!!! :) Laurie's favourite which is why he was more than happy to help :)

The second crop yielded three large freezer bags of rhubarb. I made two large freezer bags of crumble topping to go in the freezer so we have crumble ready to go any night!!! Yum!!! :)

OOoohhh actually you can see my crumble ready to go in the oven on the end of the island behind Laurie!!

My little blossoms...

Bumble bee blossom.....

The bumble bees LOVE this blossom, yet my honey bees won't touch it!!!

So happy washing dishes.....

I swear she was a Disney Princess in a previous life ;) she sings and is happy ALL the time ;) It's FREAKY!!!!!

Susannah is auditioning for her schools talent show next week - she is singing 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' and her teacher has offered to play the piano for her. Lloyd has finally agreed to allow her to audition for Vic school for high school too! This is a MAJOR step too as he was dead set against it at first! Of course this is dependent on whether he is still working downtown and can drop her at the school as he will NOT allow her to walk to and from the school the way Chris does. Susannah wants to be a singer. Vic is also an excellent academic school though and has an IB program that Chris is excelling in, so Susannah can fulfill her desire to sing AND study as much as she needs and wants to! It's a great school! Abigail may well end up there too as the arts program is also wonderful there!

Happy mail :)

Chris has no clue what it's for - whether it's for honours in something or whether it's for his editing work or his Arthur Hiller Award work....but we're thrilled he is awarded something and it was nice to get the invitation in the mail :)

Waffles!!!

Waffles with Cinnamon apples and ice cream......Mmmmmmm :)
Yummiest lunch of the week :)

Sams spider...

Sam had fun watching a spider running about on his upturned paddling pool yesterday....

Home from school.....

Walking back up the driveway from the bus...

Home

With the temporary criss-cross covering on the porch (which I think is ugly and I hate). Am trying to add a picture of the house from last year to compare but it won't let me - so I will do that later!!!

Grayson.

Grayson is spending a little more time outside these days but doesn't stray far from the house thankfully.

Jasper has not returned this time. We miss her. We still hope she will come back but the longer she is gone the more we doubt that this time she will come back - but knowing that she has returned in the past after being gone for 8 days or so, we hope that she has another place she goes to and calls 'home' rather than the alternative....maybe someone else is looking after her somewhere....

Bird of prey...

This big guy has been hovering over our place the last few days...not sure if he/ she has been nesting here but it's amazing to see and here - he's HUGE!!!! I haven't got the book out yet to see what it is, OR got my bigger lens out to get a good picture, this is just my normal lens. It's a gorgeous bird though and sooooo loud you can hear it from in the kitchen! Beautiful!

Bread thief!!

I put out all the crusts and crumbs from the children's toast after breakfast, and Charlie came along and STOLE it all! Sigh.....Some of it I put on the bird table, but some of the little birds like to eat off of the ground so some I put on the ground around the base of the trees. I guess I can't do THAT much any more - at least not while Charlie is around ;) She's not stupid, that pig!!!!

Peep on the porch.....

Big Peep is getting braver and starting to visit the feeder that we have on the porch.....