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