For today......

Outside My Window... frogs are still croaking...the sun is shining...the grass is COVERED in dandelions and it's like a sea of yellow - it's sooooo pretty.

I am thinking...about everything I learned in SR1 and going over my Timeline and and all the journaling I did and thinking about how far I've come....I am preparing for SR2  and I can't wait to begin and look towards the future...so exciting :)  

I am thankful for...Kathy and her kindness in giving me the 'She Had Three Hearts' class....which I am loving and learning sooooo much from!!!  28 videos!!!!!  In just the first week!  And each video had sooooo many new techniques in it!!!  So many new products to try out!!  I am sooo inspired.  

From the kitchen...Laurence is back in cake baking mode.....Abigail made cinnamon buns yesterday....Abigail also made a pasta dish for supper last night.

I am wearing...clothes

I am creating...art journal pages for the class I am taking 'She Had three Hearts' - a Christy Tomlinson class.  It's wonderful!!

I am going...to go and start on week twos class work now :)
I am reading...I haven't had time to be reading, because I have had 28 videos to watch this week as part of my online class!!!

I am hoping...to sell all the quads and the trailer in the next few weeks...

I am hearing... Sam chatting about the little spider in the window...and the journal he is writing in...Abigail chatting about the Build A Bear kit she is working on....the air conditioning running quietly in the background...for some reason yesterday the upstairs got REALLY hot yesterday even though the temperature outside wasn't super hot...so I have the ac running for a while again.  We didn't need it on last week as it was cooler.

Around the house...my toilet got blocked a few days ago from me flushing kleenex down it....oops...stupid snake didn't work....tried enzymes and they helped a bit but not fabulously.....but then we bought the two second plumber and WOW!!!  that thing was amazing!  Two seconds and the blockage was GONE!!

One of my favorite things...The movie 'Bridesmaids' that I saw on Saturday with Susannah - I haven't laughed soooo much in forever!!  It was HILARIOUS!!!  I am still laughing about scenes from that movie :)  I will be driving along and will suddenly remember a scene and start laughing :)  It has some lovely moments about friendship and relationships too but really the sheer release of just laughing out loud for two whole hours was wonderful!!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...We have two homeschool parkdays this week - one in Sherwood Park and one in Leduc.  I'm hoping to make it to the farmers market this week as last week I was ill and it was also raining.  I have a couple of other field trips planned but not sure for when...and I want to take Susannah to have her ears done and Laurence to the driving range....

Snapshots from our walk...

Rosie spies the water!!!  And she's off!!!

A few games of fetch with a stick:

Best of friends:

Scenes from the dog park....

Where's the bone???

Sam and Rosie found a big hole at the dog park last Monday and of course HAD to climb down in it to investigate :)  

After a long hot dry spell, it was cold and drizzly on Monday....6c....but I wasn't feeling well and thought the fresh air would do me good, so Sam and I had headed out for a walk.  It was a nice walk despite the cold and wet weather.....by the time I got home though I was feeling ill and had to climb in the bath which is where I started being sick :(  

Homeschool news....

Homeschooling continues as normal...Abigail has been doing quite a bit of math - fractions and multiplications...she has been doing a social project on Canada - we looked at the grade 3 and 4 books but they seemed boring and not very relevant so we went with the grade 2 book which is all about Provinces and capital cities etc.  We thought it was interesting that Canada has half the population of the whole of the UK, even though the UK is only the size of Alberta!!!

One of the books we got was a Grade 5 - 8 book on writing book reports.  Although its a little ahead of Abigails grade level, it looked really interesting and Abigail loved the idea of learning how to write in depth book reports and learning more about plots, settings, characters etc etc...

Sam got a new Grade 1 math book which started off REALLY simple for him with work that he was doing a year ago, but I thought might be good for him to go over again anyway...it was nice to see that despite only being in kindergarten, he is already doing really well in math considering his Dad says he will never learn anything if he doesn't go to school ;)  and that he hasn't done anything all year ;)

One morning last week while I wasn't well, the kids brought their books onto my bed and decided to study there....cookies, books and coziness :)

We have quite a few field trips planned in the next few weeks which I'm really looking forward to :)  I still haven't heard from my facilitator about our year end meeting.  Which also means we haven't signed for the upcoming year!  I really would like to do that as soon as possible.  

As I look back over the last school year, I am REALLY pleased and proud of the childrens progress.  I think they have done really well and learned sooooo much!!  The way they have matured is amazing and  their skills in many areas are so wonderful :)  It could have been a very difficult and stressful year, but thanks to homeschooling, a flexible plan, a wonderful facilitator and a lovely relaxed lifestyle, it has been a great year and as stress free as possible for the children and because of that, they have grown in many wonderful ways.

Typing...

Abigail has wanted a typewrite for a long while now....since watching 'You've Got Mail' I think....

So last week a friend of mine, Trish, kindly gave us one.  She wasn't sure if it actually worked, but we set it all up and had a got at figuring it out.  It needed new ink as the ink had dried out, so I picked some of that up and we still couldn't get it to work, so Abigail spent ages trying to figure out what was up with it - she googled the make and model and learned all kinds of neat things about how they are made.

She then figured out how to fix it!!!  :)  

Yay Abigail well done you!!!

Horse Show

Yesterday we went to watch part of the local horse show.  There wasn't much happening there at the time, so we didn't stay too long, but we did watch a display about different riding techniques and also a display on breaking in horses...

It survived!!!

Our caterpillar survived!!  On Friday night, late, I was SURE I saw the chrysalis wobbling on its own, but everyone else said I was imagining it, so I thought maybe I had knocked the cupboard.....but sure enough, Saturday morning...there was the butterfly out of the chrysalis :)  YAY!!!  It was still a bit bloody and icky and there was a fair bit of blood on the bottom of the bug cage....not a shock any more as we have done this several years running now.....

It is now Sunday and we have kept the butterfly until today as Last night was a frost warning and yesterday was very windy.....so today we will let it go :)  

Another successful year of butterfly raising :)  

xxx

If you have never done this before with your children I really recommend it - you can buy the caterpillars from education stores or order them on line from several places - just google butterfly larvae kits around March/ April time to get your orders in....(Alberta)  Other places of course would depend when Spring/ warm weather starts...then all you need is something to keep your Caterpillar/ butterfly in - like a big pickle jar or something - or many toy stores sell bug houses now too :)  You can even put caterpillars in that you find from the garden....Add a stick/ something for them to hang from as a chrysalis and their food (google what to feed them depending on the type of caterpillar - store bought/ ordered caterpillars come with their own food) and you are ready to go!!

Getting to know you Sunday.....

1. would you rather go on a picnic or to a bbq?  A picnic.  I'm not that keen on grilled food, burgers, hotdogs etc....and much prefer picnics :)  Although I love the social gathering side of things :)  

2. would you rather go bra-less or panty-less?  Bra-less which is another reason I want my boobs done - so I CAN go bra-less!!  I think not wearing undies is kind of gross....but I do have friends that don't wear them...each to their own lol!

3. would you rather go on a $5000 shopping spree at your favorite store or go on a $5000 vacation?  A vacation.  

4. would you rather eat escargot or sauteed crickets?   I've tried both already, so it wouldn't bother me to have either.

5. would you rather go on survivor or the amazing race?  I have never watched either show so I don't really know what either show is about.  I am guessing from what I have heard from others though, that I would prefer The Amazing Race.

6. would you rather be hot or cold?  HOT!!!!!  Most definitely hot :)  I don't like being cold.

7. would you rather go to the beach or lake?  Either is lovely....so long as there are few people :)

8. would you rather not shave your legs for a month in the summer or your armpits?  eewwwww....neither!!  I shave almost daily as much as possible!!  Yes I'm single and yes I do it for ME...I just like the smooth look and feel all year long!  If I have to choose I'd say armpits because of sweating and smell I guess...but eeeww a month of hairy legs :(  Not good!!!

Five Question Friday

1. Do you apologize to your kids?
Yes....I wish I didn't need to but sadly I make mistakes far too often :(  

2. What color are your nails right now? natural....I keep meaning to paint my toe nails but haven't gotten around to it yet this year....I should!  I normally paint them every Spring when sandal weather arrives...hhmmm maybe I will do that NOW!!!  :)  I NEVER paint my finger nails - eewww I just don't like the feeling!!

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".)

I don't remember....I do remember days of staying at home sick, but I don't remember how sick I had to be.  Now I let my kids stay home whenever they like pretty much.  I would never FORCE them to go to school.  Childhood is too important and if they don't want to go then there is a reason!! A day at home won't hurt them :)

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?

Just a few months ago I bought my new one at Homesense - I HAD to get rid of the one Lloyd and I had shared as I just couldn't go on using it...I got rid of the bed AND the bedding!! :)  I repainted the bedroom too :)  I've seen some new bedding I like in Ikea too which I want to get for a spare set as I don't have a spare set right now which is difficult - I went from King size to Queen size so I'm short on bedding....

5. Favorite website(s)?

My blog :)  I also love Facebook - well actually I have a love / hate relationship with Facebook.  I use it too much but need it for my social life :(  it's the only way people communicate these days ;)  

Friday Fill ins!!

1. This week I was sick a LOT and very grateful when it finally stopped, Lloyds issues over seeing the children worked in my favour luckily and I was brave when dealing with some not very nice people!

2. I hope Summer heat returns.

3. It's all about horses tomorrow - I am looking forward to taking Abigail to the horse showcase tomorrow to see the horses.

4. I love being in the sun. 

5. I demand a decent a long hot Summer after last years windy not so great one.

6. I will stay on my path, it's filled with hope, courage, gratitude and love.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing JoAnne, tomorrow my plans include taking the children to the free horse showcase at the Olympiette Centre and to the Festival of the Arts at Victoria School and Sunday, I want to take Laurence to use his Michaels coupon! The girls have new books they want to get too.

Date night with Sam :)

Last night it was Sam's turn to have a date night with me :)  He chose to go out for burgers and then have bubblegum ice cream :)  I took him to Milestones.  The staff were super nice to him and treated him so well :)  Our server was so great and had a great sense of humour - especially when Sam reached for the drinks menu and asked for a bellini - with a straight face!!!  :)

I laughed and said he'd take a pepsi but asked if he could have one of the plastic animals in it ;)  In the end he got a frog in one and a bunny in another :)

Sam ordered a four-cheese burger from the adult menu and it was HUGE!!  But he did really well and enjoyed it!!  I had roasted sablefish with seaweed gnocchi and it was delicious!!  (Yes I can picture Sharon screwing up her face hahahaha) 

After Milestones we went to Education Station to look around and then headed to Marble Slab Creamery   where we had our ice cream.  I ordered a small Amaretto with coconut and almond mix-ins and it was very yummy but HUGE!!!  Wow - how big are large ones????  I didn't eat it all...maybe half. 

Sam loved his bubblegum ice cream but ended up a little messy!  We headed home and he had a bubble bath so he was much less sticky before bed time :)  

It was a lovely evening and Sam looked so smart and was such fun to be with :)  

I really love my date nights with the kids one on one :)  

Homeschool Park Day

Yesterday we met up with several other families at a local park for a homeschool park day.  we're going to make this a weekly event through the summer months....25 children of all ages were there yesterday - many we knew and several new faces too :)  

We had a great time - Sam and Abby had such fun with their friends and I got to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while and meet new friends too :)

There were a couple of spots of rain as we arrived, but soon the sun was out and it ended up being a lovely warm day :)

Bath time for my boy :)

Sam was very sticky from ice cream when we got home this evening, so it was definitely a good time for a bubble bath :)

All snuggled up!

This is how I found Abigail and Kitty this morning when I went to wake Abby :)  

xxx

Wednesday ramblings tag....

 What is something about living in this country that you value?'This country' is whatever country you call home.   I value many things about living in Canada....and in Alberta especially :)  I love that generally our weather is fairly calm...yes we get long cold winters but we don't get lots of heavy wet snow like the East...we don't really get ice storms....we don't often get blizzards....in Summer we get the occasional tornado but thankfully they are few and far between.  Generally all year long we get big blue skies and sunshine :)  I love the amazing friends I have here who are more like family.  I love the quality of life you can have here even on a low budget - and the service you get in restaurants and stores - which is nothing like in the UK.  I love that crowds here aren't like crowds back home.  I love how everyone volunteers and helps out everyone else in difficult times - I love the choices we have in home schooling.  I love how clean it is here.  I love all the festivals all summer long and how almost all are free.

2. What is a favorite something you own that is red and white?  I have a Canadian flag.  I have a t-shirt that I almost always wear on Canada Day and only on Canada Day lol...I have red necklaces that the children and I wear each year on Canada Day - yes we go over the top :)  tattoos and everything!!  :)

3. Do you fly a flag at your house on patriotic holidays?  Yes - not on a flag pole, but we have a big flag that we use to decorate somewhere...we also have other flag decorations around the porch or house and little flags...and we decorate ourselves with tattoos and red and white clothing and necklaces :)

4. What ingredients do you think should be included in a great picnic basket?  Juice, water, watermelon, lovely crisp rolls buttered with ham and tomato or cheese and cucumber etc....strawberries, raw carrots, cucumber and celery, chips,  mini jam tarts or little cakes - anything NOT chocolate so it won't melt.  Much more, but we usually go shopping especially and see what we feel like adding - mini croissants or something maybe....

5. What is one interesting piece of trivia you know? Interesting is of course a relative term.   Sea Cucumbers are fascinating :)  When they are scared, some cucumbers throw out their sticky internal organs to distract any predators. Then they can grow new innards!

6. Wednesday, May 24th is National Escargot day...have you ever tried them? Eww or ooh?   Yes I have.  I ate snails in a  lovely cozy country pub by a fire on Dartmoor in England after a hike with an ex boyfriend and his Grandparents.  I really liked the snails - they were in a  lovely creamy garlicky sauce!!  

7. What is one thing you know for sure?  I am in no rush to get into a new relationship.  I am very much enjoying being single.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  I wonder how long I can keep this blue gatorade down!  I am sooo bored with being sick!

Wednesday tag :)

{one} what’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?  I don't remember going on a really bad date....there have been dates that didn't end up quite as great as planned - like I was soooo looking forward to going to an antiques show at Northlands with Lloyd a couple of years ago...but he ended up totally bored and and I wished the whole time I had gone with a girlfriend...we ended up leaving early and I was upset because I had been so looking forward to it and he was just sarcastic the whole time we were there.  In hindsight I should have left him at home and gone with a  friend...I would have had a better time and so would Lloyd.


{two} if you could be any other person for one day, who would it be?  I'm quite happy being me thank you :)  I have a pretty good life and like being me.  I love my kids and have enough experience to know that the grass is never greener anywhere else - it's just different.  I like my grass :)



{three} what is your favorite kind of cheese?  I like all cheeses except I'm not keen on that plasticy cheese they have in sandwiches here...like at Tims etc...and fake cheese slices in burgers YUCK!  But real proper cheeses from the deli - YUM!!!



{four} do you remember your 1st grade teacher?  Yes, and she was a total bitch!  Her name was Jane lol  Jane Hobbs and I hated her!  She asked us to paint a picture of sea life, so I painted a picture of fish fingers (fish sticks) swimming under the sea.  I was only 5 so I guess I thought they swam under the sea.  Instead of saying I was creative, or quietly pointing out my mistake, she held my painting up and humiliated me in front of the class by basically saying how stupid I was!  Great way to make a child hate learning AND hate art at such a young age!!!  I seriously question the intelligence of many teachers.




{five} who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?  I don't call anyone, but I might talk to my kids depending on why I've had a bad day....they normally know how to cheer me up.  I also post on FB and post in my SR group because you can post anything there and be as open as you like and know you won't be judged.



{six} were you ever in a school talent show?  No, but I was in numerous school plays and Brownie plays and often had the lead role.



{seven} who is your favorite fictional character?  I'm not sure I have one favourite...I have many...I really don't think I could pick just one!



{eight} can you open your eyes underwater?  no



{nine} do you look at the keyboard when you type?   yes and I only type with two fingers on each hand too :)  I was trained to type properly, but never stuck to it...I'm a fast typer but I do often look down.



{ten} when was the last time you took a nap?  Today - I'm sick and have been since Monday and haven't kept food or drink down since Sunday, so I am tired and weak.

Lifecycles

On the subject of lifecycles, I think we might head down to the pond tomorrow and look for some frogspawn....then we can watch the tadpoles turn in to frogs and that can be another science project we have covered for this year.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from our facilitator yet - we have normally had her visit by now for the end of the year, but we haven't even heard from her yet.  I'm really surprised.

Caterpillar update!!

I must add a picture tomorrow!!

Our caterpillar grew VERY fast - practically doubling in size over night!!  And then by about Thursday last week it climbed to the top of the bug house and attached itself and then changed into a chrysalis!!  It is still hanging there and we are REALLY hoping that it is doing ok and is still alive in there....we normally get about 6 each year and maybe just over half will make it...so with only one, we are a little worried that it won't survive....but hopefully it will be ok and will soon open up and come out as a beautiful butterfly :)

Driving home from the dog park yesterday....

Ice cream bliss :)

Me and my samsam

:)

My Sunday :)

How was your Sunday everyone??  Great I hope!!  I hope you are all having a  lovely long weekend and enjoying the fabulous weather...I am soooo happy that Summer is here and we are having such glorious weather...even the mosquitoes haven't been as bad the last couple of days - at the dog park yesterday they were even ok!!  Although tonight in my bedroom they seem to be having a  bit of a party!!

I had a lovely Sunday...lovely QUIET lazy morning...enjoyed my silent house....just Rosie and I...Laurence was texting me at two o'clock this morning - forgot the time or thought I would still be awake or something lol!!  But I was glad he was happy and having a fun weekend :)  That is what High School should be about!!  He was checking in and I knew he was ok but having fun!!  :)  

After a lazy morning I got up and headed into town to a free 'Make and Take' at Michaels.  I saw it on Facebook and thought 'why not'?  I got there half an hour before it ended and wasn't sure they would have any of the kits left - but as it turned out, I was the only person who had shown up for the craft the whole afternoon!!!  I made the rosette in the picture above - and on the back is a little envelope with a  card that you can pull out :)  It's really sweet and I could pick from all of the different colours and themes - but I liked this one :)  Not bad for free :)

I was going to go and tan but my tanning salon was closed for the holiday weekend :(  so I headed back to Homesense to have a look around and was then going to go and get a coffee and do some journaling...but I heard from Cori and she said she was able to come and meet me :)

We headed out to Katies Crossing for an hour or so - I thought it might be busy out there on such a warm day, but no - as usual it was empty!!  We sat and chatted and caught up as it had been a while since we had seen each other...and wow she looks amazing...I'm half tempted to take a class like Zumba myself...except for the aching muscles poor Cori had....and how much Sharon aches after her exercise classes too....maybe i'll stick to swimming with the kids and just put up with my wobbly bits ;)  But yes Cori - if you read this, you look AMAZING!!!!  :)  

I got home just before 6-ish and the kids got home not long after.....I always find that a little difficult for the first evening or so....as I have to listen to all their stories of 'life at Daddys' although by bed time I had also heard the not-so-good parts.....like how they had gone to bed listening to gun shots....how Abby had spent much of the weekend in her room, how awful it was without air conditioning at his house, how Abby had broken the screen of his front door and had been told off...and various other stories that weren't quite so great.....

I'm not quite sure why, but Abigail is a different child when she is at Lloyds house.  I think it is probably an attention seeking behaviour.  Lloyd seems to give all his attention to Sam and spoils him terribly.  He doesn't seem to know how to handle Abigail at all and has no patience for her at all - so he handles it in the worst way possible - by sending to her room...which just causes worse behaviour :(  

It's really sad as they used to be so close.  She was such a Daddy's girl :(  And unfortunately he seems to think this is her behaviour always - like when she is here with me - yet for me she is lovely and we are ver close now - she is very grown up now and independent....and although yes she can be a little contrary and has her moments, I know how to handle that to get the best from her.  We rarely see anything like the behaviour Lloyd gets.  The children say they don't even get to the highway before she is having a tantrum in his car :(  

His answer of course is that she needs school!  Sigh....what she NEEDS is attention from her Dad!!!

Anyway....Laurence had asked me to pick him up at 8pm and I think that worked out really well as it gave me a little break from all the stories about Daddy :)  I left the children here and drove in to get Laurence and he drove home...I like driving in the rain and we had a Summer rainstorm - it smelled lovely!  We stopped off at Sobeys and grabbed a few groceries before heading home...

Susannah made me a cup of tea and some Ryvita and I soaked in the bath for an hour to try and get rid of a headache (weather changing) and then it was bedtime for the little ones and art journaling time for me :)  

Tomorrow is a holiday here - Victoria Day...we are going to ride the streetcar across the High Level Bridge - we've never done that before :)  Cori said she might join us as she has never done that either!!  I'm looking forward to being a tourist for the day :)  

Have a great day everyone!!

My weekend to myself...

The kids are with their Dad this weekend, so I'm having a lovely quiet weekend to myself :)  

After they left on Friday at 8pm I got busy spray painting some furniture and moving some furniture around....then relaxed for the rest of the evening....

Saturday I had a lazy start and then took Rosie to the dog park for a walk....stopping off at Laurences friends house to give him some money - he had been bored at his Dads so had decided to spend the weekend with his friends instead - I will pick him up tonight.  His Dad didn't give him any money though, so I ran him some in.  

After the dog park I came home and tidied up a bit here and then had a nap....woke up at 6:30 and headed to Whyte Ave to meet Samantha for some drinks.....It was such a GORGEOUS night and sooo HOT even after dark it was still soooo warm out!!  The atmosphere on Whyte on summer nights is so great :)  I love all the different characters you see, all the people dressed up for a night out, everyone happy.....

Ended the night sat chatting by the Butterdome watching rabbits and then trying to video Samantha chasing a rabbit but all I got was darkness and me giggling like I was VERY drunk :)  And my pictures of the bellydancer that I wanted to blog didn't come out :(  

And today?  Today Im having a lazy morning and then maybe meeting Cori....not sure what we will do...I'm going to go and tan and I might go out with my camera....I'm not sure.....and the kids are back this evening.....and tomorrow is a holiday and we have plans :)  

I hope whatever you've been up to, you have had a lovely weekend too!  

Swimming and supper....

On Friday we went swimming for the afternoon/ evening and stopped off for supper at McD's afterwards.  I was still enjoying using my iphone apps for taking pictures :)  Love the results :) 

Yum!!!

On Thursday evening, Susannah and I went to Ikea to get the base for my bed (finally) and after the hard work of getting it in the back of the truck, we had a well earned break at Starbucks.  I tried one of their Coconut Mocha Frapps - yum!!