Bones...

Head over to our homeschool blog to check out a video showing what we have been up to today!!!

Bones!

Today we learned about bones! A read a book about the skeleton to me. It showed how we need joints to be able to move. A had to answer a series of questions about the skeleton...about what the skull protects etc. Then we had to do an experiment!

We had to try walking around the house with no knee joints......so we couldn't bend our legs at all....then we had to try and climb the stairs - that is NOT easy with no knees!

After that we had to try and do things with no elbows! I had A try and eat some mini marshmallows with no elbows - it is almost impossible without eating like a dog! So in the end we figured out we could try and throw the marshmallows in the air with a flick of the spoon and catch them. Here is A trying it out!

In the news today...

We are under a heavy snowfall warning...the snow should start falling shortly, and is supposed to continue until tomorrow morning. 10cm of snow...which doesn't seem that much to me but is considered 'heavy snowfall'.

They say the roads may be bad for the drive home tonight. Lloyd has to drive in to town to watch Chris's basketball semi finals. Roads in the morning will be much worse though. Lloyd may take my truck instead of his car - his car is 4 X 4 but I still prefer him to take the truck in bad weather.

It makes me think that the worry over the occasional - once or twice a year hurricane in Florida is less of a concern than the five months or so of bad driving weather here.....

This morning on the news they were also saying that Fort McMurray (Fort McMoney as they call it here although I don't see the salaries being THAT big there - certainly not worth living apart for imo) has three times the national average of drugs crimes/offences!!!!!!

Most news stories at the moment seem to follow the provincial election.....I think I am the only person in Alberta who thinks Stelmach is doing a pretty good job. I think people have unrealistic expectations of how fast changes can be made in certain areas. I also think people don't realise that many decisions are not as simple as they seem to the majority.

I do NOT like Mason - I don't even like the way he looks - he looks nasty. But I do quite like Taft.

Purely selfishly though, as a business owner and a home owner, we seem to be doing very well under the conservatives....and I'm not sure how that would change under the liberals.....

I like the conservatives running Alberta but the Liberals running Canada...that seemed to work well. I can't stand the Conservatives running the country!

Know anyone near Vanvouver?

If you know anyone in the Vancouver area...or are interested in relocating and work in the IT/ QA field, then we are looking for resources for a 2 - 3 year contract with the BC Government:

Senior QA software testers - with a background in User acceptance testing and preferably conformance testing.
Resources will be represented through Testing Auto working for the Gov of BC.
No specific qualifications - just experience.
rates would be around the $60+ hr range depending on experience
Length of contract is to end of fiscal with possibility of extension for further phases of the project (years)
Location is downtown Vancouver - West Pender

For further information please contact: lloydthorpe@testingautomation.com

30 things...

I saw this on Coris blog and copied :)

1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say? I'd turn to Lloyd and say 'Your Mother will want a paternity test!' lol


2. Do you trust all of your friends? no. I actually trust very few of them. Sorry friends lol.


3. Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love? I would go wherever Lloyd goes. I'm not attached to places and I like moving about and living in new places.


4. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? No, I think things just happen.


5. Can you make a dollar in change right now? Yeah, we have a change jar. Actually its one of those huge water jug bottle things from a filter machine - and its almost full :)


6. Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor? Lloyd - he's so easy to talk to and nothing seems to freak him out lol


7.What naughty word do you use too often? the f word...oops!


8. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times? no one in particular...lots of people do at different times.


9. What’s your most favorite scar? A dog bit my hand in Elk island Park a few years back and I have a scar now - but its quite a pretty star shape so its ok :)


10. When was the last time you flew in a plane? October 07 - we flew to Vancouver for a week.


11. What features do you find most attractive in the preferred sex? smile and the tops of arms


12. Fill in the blank. I love chocolate anything for pudding.


13. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? run another 5k or buy a home in Florida.


14. If you were to wake up from being in a coma for an extended time who would you call? assuming Lloyd was beside me, my parents.


15. Where was your favorite picture taken? My favourite picture of me was taken on a hill in the Rockies - we had pulled in for a bathroom break on the way to Banff with my parents. My favourite general picture would probably be of the hummingbird being chased by the bee - taken on my porch last year. Or the gorgeous picture of Lloyd I took in September that just makes me melt.


16. What’s your middle name? Emma


17. Honestly, what’s on your mind right now? My head feels funny....again :( and its not snowing yet.....and I really should go and get dressed!


18. If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be? I'd go back a few weeks and email Paul and tell him to give up riding his bike in London....he has a family to think of!


19. Who was or will be the maid of honor/ best man in your wedding? My children were the only attendees at my wedding.


20. What are you wearing right now? nighty, slippers and undies.


21. Ever had a bar fight? no - I've never really hung out in bars.


22. Who knows you the best? Lloyd.


23. Did you buy something today? not yet..but theres still time ;)


24. Did you get in a fight with someone today? not yet, but theres still time ;) lol!


25. When is the last time you had a massage? a few weeks back probably


26. Last person to see you cry? Lloyd and Chris while we were watching 'Reign Over Me'...last week. Oh actually no...Saturday night Sam and Abby - I was crying on the phone to Lloyd as I felt so ill.


27. Who made you cry? my f*cking migraines...and movies...


28. What was the last TV show you watched? Martha Stewart show for ten minutes...



29. Who was the last person you hung out with? Lloyd, my kids


30. Have you ever taken a peek at someone else’s diary? No, unless you count blogs!!!!

Canadian Tire...

omg I swear on the job description for Canadian Tire staff it reads

"Must be as miserable as sin at all times, rude, unhelpful and SLOW"

Why is customer service in that place so utterly CRAP????????

And the sad thing is that I love that store - I love all the things they sell - from fishing rods and guns, duck sound whistle things to hummingbird feeders, Christmas decorations, mini eggs, ice rinks, toys, gadgety things....... :)

It's such a shame the staff are so bloody awful!

Pet moose!!!

Hahahaha Lloyd says its nothing new - that he sleeps with a moose every night ;) shall I slap him now or later????? lol!

How sad is this?

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Life is FAR too short for regrets like this :( I just find this card sooooo sad.

Check out this weeks post secrets -a Valentine/ love special......link to right.

Impressed???

I think Lloyd was trying to impress me with the size of his pud ;) its definitely bigger than mine from last week lol! He says he wanted to make one the way his Grandad made them.....

Oh and too funny - Lloyd snapped this picture last night for me to blog - so I think he wants you to be impressed too ;)

The weekend - WHAT weekend???????

Thank f*ck next weekend is a three day weekend - thats all I can say!

After collecting Susannahs beautiful cake, I ended up spending Saturday evening with a migraine, lying on the sofa, throwing up every twenty minutes. NOT good. Lloyd said he would stay at home but he was due to go to the basketball match and was taking Chris's friend with them - so I told them to go anyway....and I stayed home with Sam and Abby - have to say they were good as gold, but watching a 3 year old isn't easy when its difficult to lift your head and actually standing up is nearly impossible :(

As soon as Lloyd got home, I went up to bed - hoping to feel better by morning - but I didn't :(

Needless to say, Susies party was postponed....she was fine about it and spent a while yesterday making me a get well card!! She is a DREAM daughter I tell you! Although I felt really guilty!

Chris spent Saturday night at his friends house and then went to the movies yesterday, so Lloyd ran into town to pick them up in late afternoon.

Lloyd was an absolute angel as always and is soooo good at looking after me! He ran me a lovely bath in the afternoon and then brought me home made bruschetta!!! It was DELICIOUS.....toasted pesto bread and diced cherry tomatoes, garlic in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.....we didn't have any basil but it was lovely without (I'm not a big basil fan) He brought it up all beautifully arranged and he sat on the bathroom floor beside the bath and ate with me :) lol soaking in the bath eating bruschetta :) I love how Lloyd looks after me :)

He then cooked us a big roast beef dinner again! complete with ENORMOUS Yorkshire pudding :) I was asleep in bed by 7pm and so really the weekend was non existent. Today was my Doctors appointment but I just couldn't face it - so Lloyd ahs made me a new one for next Monday. Which is ideal as it means he will be home and I can go without children!

Today I have just been recovering - hda a really easy day - Lloyd kept telling em to DO NOTHING...but I like to tidy and clean on Mondays, so I cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, tidied my room etc etc and my bathroom......pottered about. Kept Abby and Sam busy...updated Abby's homeschooling blog etc etc....

I think we may have to go into town tonight as we need to get Abigails birthday gifts and tomorrow night Lloyd is watching Chris in his basketball match so I think tonight is our only chance....Lloyd is making butter chicken I think.

I think that is all the news from my uneventful weekend.

A's reading level....

This is our current book and A can now read it to me HERSELF!!!!! She is reading CHAPTER BOOKS!!!!! I am so proud of her - she wasn't reading when we started the school year, but now its February and she is READING!!!! :) I help with the odd word but most words she either recognises or deciphers with phonics!!!!
I think she is doing great - especially considering she doesn't turn 6 until Wednesday :) but what is more important is that she is LOVING being able to read and really enjoys it :)

Computer time...

A really enjoys her time each day on the computer.....she is now using it for a number of things, from webkinz to sending emails, bbc educational pages, typing lessons online etc etc...

A few things we've done lately....

Word bingo - this is actually the game I made back in early Fall - to get A recognising basic words. It is a wonderful game and A picked it up so fast. It is from 'Games for Reading' by Peggy Kaye. I am about to make a new version with some more difficult words - in fact my next set will have the days of the week/ months of the year etc as the words. This first set I will keep though as I plan to use it with S.

A loves to scrapbook and spent some time on Thursday scrapbooking with her sister S and friend M.

Building blocks...

This morning A spent time on the computer - on various activities that involve math, reading, typing, problem-solving etc etc. She also spent time doing several pages from her workbooks.

A also worked on some pictures of Minnie Mouse....her brother L has been showing her how to draw them from his Disney drawing book. She drew three pictures - one for me and one for each of her Grandparents.

I showed A how to write and send an email and this is something she wants to spend time doing this week. It helps with her spelling, vocab and general writing skills as well as reading and typing.

This afternoon A and S sat at the table and built structures with cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows. A had to build a 'castle' and after that she decided to make a person to put inside!

S had fun for a while but soon ran out of marshmallows as he had eaten them all ;)

Now A is doing an activity from her reading workbook and is watching High School Musical at the same time!

Our little friend....

-32 when we woke up this morning and has only warmed up to -28 so far. But the birds are busy eating away despite the cold.....the snow has blown everything smooth outside, and there are tiny fresh prints across it - teeny tiny mouse prints everywhere. Its hard to believe they can tolerate these temperatures.

I think I'd prefer to be abear and hibernate until Spring.