Bonni's

The Waterfront - Spring Pictures

2009-04-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

Hardy Park

For a number of reasons I dragged my family to the waterfront this Sunday afternoon. I don't think they were properly impressed. However, I was excited to get there and take some pics.

Hardy Park Bandstand

Why, you ask?? Thank you. I love open-ended questions that make me chatter on.

Tunnel Bay Marina - empty boat slips. The big red building is the Boardwalk Landing. It's kind of a lone, modern pimple on our more traditional waterfront, but not for long. It is soon to be joined by the controversial Maritime Discovery Centre.

I have a new camera. It's not fancy. It was a great deal at the local grocery store where they had a tax-free deal over the weekend. Plus, it was already $10 off. So, -$10 + (-13%) = a good deal. My loving husband, trying to spend money for my direct enjoyment and pleasure, dragged me, kicking and screaming to the store for this camera. I told him we would just be looking. I like my old camera. It just doesn't work so well anymore. This means that with increasing frequency, the afore mentioned loving husband could be found at the kitchen table dissecting my mostly-dead camera. He would fiddle with it, shake it, remove a part here and there and then put it back together. Once, he even put back the extra screws he had from a previous tear-down. Good times. Loving Husband made the point that if I bought this camera, I wouldn't need new software, a new dock, a new and expensive rechargeable battery or anything else. This camera was an upgrade of my current model, yet a model the store is selling off to make way for the most current model. So, new camera for pictures.

Tunnel Bay Marina and Blockhouse Island Pier on the right.

Matt and Michelle in Korea have just attended a Cherry Blossom Festival in their Korean community. I have to say, I'm a little jealous. I think my favourite part of spring would be when the apple trees blossom, so I can just imagine the cherry blossoms. I needed to get out and collect some evidence for Matt and Michelle about the current spring-like conditions we're enduring in their hometown.

St. Lawrence River looking West

My less-than-enthused family also needed something to do on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Outdoors. because I said so. The Boy Child ran off and found a street hockey game to be part of so I borrowed a different boy child so The Girl Child would not be lonely during our outing. Just kidding. She had a friend over.

Along the waterfront portion of the Brock Trail and, below, the gazebo at the Yacht Club.

And that was our Sunday walk by the river. It was cold. The wind was out in full force. But it was bright and lovely and we all got a good dose of Vitamin D. Much needed after all the hibernation that's been going on around here.

That's all for now. Now we wait patiently and wait for Matt or Michelle to grace us with an anon Blogger comment.

♥Bonni

Book Sale Proceeds

2009-04-01T12:55:00.005-04:00

Well, that was fun!

At the RVHEA Used Book Sale, my table raked in about $300 in a short three hours. My girlfriend, a fellow homeschooling mom who was sharing the table with me, and I split the proceeds fairly evenly. We did keep a detailed list so we knew exactly what each of us made and exactly which things sold.

Now for the what did I learn section.

First, vacuum your car, farm your kids out for the day of the sale (after they help with the car) and have everything priced and packed up in the sections you plan to display them in. Set up needs to happen fairly quickly and it was so nice to be able to plunk bins on a table, lift the lid and be pretty much ready.

We received a lot of compliments on how organized our table was. That's kind of scary when you look at who you're talking to (me, not Friend).

Second, people begin shopping while their kids - the ones they didn't farm out - set up their table. So there we were, labelling bins by subject, still carting things from the car while elbow wrestling with early bird shoppers. Next time I go, I'll bring a kid to bolster our forces. This time, there was no room in the car. That may have had something to do with letting my husband pack the car...

Third, this particular sale seems to be busy for the first hour and a half. Then traffic really tapers off. If I go again, I will be prepared to drop my prices on non-curriculum-y things at this point. I felt really bad for the shoppers who trickled in a half hour before sale end. Most of the tables had been packed up and there was a steady stream of stuff begin packed out to waiting vans in the parking lot. Poor form, me thinks.

Weird things I noticed: We arrived at the venue about 20 minutes early. The parking lot was full. Homeschooling moms are all about getting the deal! People were trying to sell really, really old resources in some cases. Or they were trying to sell off hundreds of things (books, VHS) in a large Rubbermaid tote. I wasn't prepared to dig. And if I was, I don't think I'd be paying what they were asking for the dogeared, torn stuff they'd tossed in there in the first place. These people also brought a lot of things home. Toys, story books and other colourful things (K'NEX, etc.) that can be classified as 'manipulatives' or 'learning activities' are kid magnets. I'm not ashamed of the sales I made due to begging children.

Sorry for the poor quality pictures. I turned the flash off and was operating one handed as I usually had one hand in the book bins holding up a stack for someone who was flipping through them. As a vendor, I haven't really come up with a solution for the one-arm shopping situation. You see a book you want, you have to hang onto it, leaving you only one hand to pick through the rest of the things you want to look at. OH well, it makes opportunities for pleasant chit-chat. Oh, and I was so busy I didn't even think twice about negotiating prices with people. "Will you take three dollars for this," a lady asked me. I replied without even thinking, "No, but I'll take four." Sold. Easy peasy.

So I don't think I'll go back for the next sale in September, or even the one next Spring. But I think I would for sure go in a couple of years once I had a good selection of sale-worthy things saved up.

Next big project: Kitchener-Waterloo Conference this weekend...

♥Bonni

Taking Inventory...

2009-03-22T13:41:00.006-04:00

...or "In Which I Address An Irritating Personalty Trait".

I really hate certain aspects of social conversation. I suppose they could all be lumped under the category of 'Confrontation'. Or more benignly, I suppose 'Assertiveness' would do. In my personal life, I don't have a history of being terribly assertive and I avoid confrontation at very nearly all cost.

However.

This weekend is the RVHEA Used Book Sale. This weekend I will step out of my box. This weekend I will ask people for money; a part of social conversation that I think requires a certain amount of 'Assertive'. Wish me luck.

Now. If I could just get past 'Procrastination' and stick a price tag on something, I'd be well on my way.

- J.P. Neufeld - Stepping Up and Speaking Out

2009-03-20T14:24:00.005-04:00

Here's a hat tip to a fellow Canadian.

School Threat Foiled

J.P. Makes The Call

J.P. Sounds Alert

Thanks, J.P., for stepping up and doing something when many would have done nothing. Who knows how much devestation and heartache you prevented.

♥Bonni

Yoga

2009-03-17T21:47:00.004-04:00

Today I sucked it up and did some yoga. A whole 20-minutes of really bad, poor-form, wobbly yoga.

Right after K was born (or was it R?) I trekked myself off to my local Y for a session of yoga. I fell asleep at the end of every class. It was very embarrassing. I don't think the class leader was too impressed.

Since then little has happened in the way of regular, productive physical activity. Any regular activity has actually been going into the negative amounts, if that is possible, due to nagging little injuries. I've dealt with those little annoyances in the absolute worst way ever. Ignore, ignore, stay still.

So, being utterly fed up with myself, in more ways than one, I signed out this Yoga for Dummies DVD at the library this week. I was drawn to this one because the description didn't use words like 'meditation' and 'relaxing'. It used descriptors such as 'moving continuously' and 'dynamic movement increases your heartrate'. The lovely and entirely-too-happy-with-scary-biceps Chris Freytag in the cover art is actually almost sitting up - there's no hint of meditation anywhere!

I limped through the first 20 minutes. R tried it out too. But only because yoga helps those who want to be goalies, and could I please pull the drapes so the neighbours don't notice. All in all, it wasn't too bad. It was depressing, but only because it was so far from what I used to be able to do.

It may surprise some to know that I am fairly well qualified (or at least I was) in personal training, weight-lifting, exercise, nutrition and various other healthy living pursuits. I used to teach fitness classes. I trained others to teach. I worked in a sports therapy clinic. I was an example. My main transportation was a pair of roller blades and my best accessory was a 75-litre day pack.

Although the DVD is supposedly a weight-loss workout, I'm not even going to go there. I just want to be able to move without hurting myself. One step at a time, right? I just never though the steps would be so small.

♥ Bonni

No News Is Not Always Good News

2009-03-17T08:44:00.003-04:00

I wish I had some good, exciting news or photos to show off for you.

Even my update will be boring. But, here goes.

No kayaking on the weekend for me. Kids are still sick. I'm having a hard time getting this neck pain under control. Blog changes are progressing along in the background. Not as quick as I had expected, but I'm working on it. K is now an official 'babysitter'.

I had been remarking of late about the 'economic downturn' and questioning whether it would be so apparent in our small town as it seemed to be in the larger centers. Because in my little world, things had been ticking along all happy and regular-like. Leave it to me to open my big mouth. Last week a beloved cafe closed it's doors. This week, it seems the economic downturn will strike closer to home. It will take some time before I learn how the changes on the table will effect my extended family, but change is here and it is not welcomed.

We're all feeling a little sad, tired and discouraged. It will pass. One day at a time.

Notes From Korea #1

2009-03-13T21:51:00.014-04:00

My brother, Matt, and his intended, Michelle, planned to leave earlier in the Fall for a year of teaching in Korea. Their host employer tried and tried...and tried and tried some more to find them employment in close proximity to each other.

This was becoming quite the process. Finally, it seemed things came together all in a rush. My mom put together a big traditional Christmas dinner just before they were about to leave. There were a few gifts exchanged and then they left - it was December 12/08.

Matt and Michelle travelled to Korea over the course of a weekend - being due to report for work bright and early Monday morning. I think it's purposely planned like that to prevent any culture shock and home-sickness from setting in. From what I hear, the culture shock is pretty near impossible to avoid and homesickness took a couple of weeks to set in.

Michelle writes of their adventure getting to Korea from Toronto:

"After saying our many goodbyes to family and friends (and shedding a few tears), we were off to the Toronto airport with our fingers crossed that we would not be paying an arm and a leg for overweight/oversize luggage. After watching the guy in front of us get small hand slapping for the amount he packed we were a little nervous that the same was coming to us. Luckily we ended up with a pleasant lady at the ticket counter who let us shuffle our things around to only pay one small fee before printing off our tickets and sending us on our way.

The first flight was short and sweet and after pulling an all-nighter in our packing attempts the night before, we were both too tired to keep our eyes open. We landed in Washington D.C which seemed strange considering we would eventually pass over Toronto again on our way to Korea. We managed to grab something to eat and a comfy chair while waiting for our next and much longer flight to depart.

I guess things were going a little too smoothly, and about the time we should have been preparing to board our plane an announcement was made saying our flight was delayed due to mechanical problems until further notice. Although we would have preferred the delay as opposed to getting on a faulty plane for a 14 hour trip...this also meant we would miss our connection in Japan. Then came the next announcement telling all passengers to head down to the United Airlines customer service desk to book new flights and in turn, new connecting flights.

It was a mad-dash to the desk which seemed to be located across the other side of the airport. Lucky for us we had all of our hand luggage packed up and were wearing our coats so we were at the front of the crowd and trucking along. The line-up at the counter was winding and didn't move very fast. Being near the front it didn't take us too long to work our way up to the desk, and while in line we made friends with several other soon to be English-teachers heading to Korea as well.

With a support group in place we all booked our new flights together which would leave Washington almost 5 hours later then our original tickets and land in Japan at 9pm. Our connecting flight was scheduled to leave Japan at 9am the next morning, so due to the inconvenience United Airlines provided us with free lunch in Washington, Free hotel in Japan, free breakfast in the morning and are apparently sending us travel coupons for future flights. It all worked out to be a pretty good deal for us.

We spent several more hours in the Washington airport packing in our free lunch, playing cards on the floor and drinking some good 'ol Canadian beer that one of our new friends had purchased at duty free and was getting tired of carrying.

Eventually we were on our way for the big 14 hr flight which didn't sound so bad but sure did feel long half-way through. I think we managed to bend our bodies in every and all ways possible to try to get comfortable. We could choose our own movies on the plane from a selection of about 6 different channels and plane food has actually improved since I last remembered it although still not entirely tasty.

Upon landing in Japan we took an airport bus to our hotel (the Crowne Plaza) which was very nice and had a large Christmas tree in the front lobby. We found our room which came complete with robes and slippers (which helped us since we hadn't packed for an overnight stay), as well as a kettle and tea bags to brew our own. It took us awhile to figure out how to flush the toilet but we figured it out and had a nice shower to freshen up as much as possible before putting our dirty plane clothes back on.

In the morning we got a complimentary breakfast at the hotel buffet (provided by United...I would fly with them again!) which included bacon, eggs, cereal, toast and fruit along with various other Japanese treats. We completed the morning with some massage chairs at the airport while waiting for our flight to leave. All in all it was a really nice stay in Japan.

Our flight to Korea was only 2 hours and they even provided us with a meal although we were too stuffed from our morning buffet to eat...and we weren't quite sure what we were eating so we opted to play it safe. Our luggage was waiting for us at the airport which had been a previous concern since we had changed our flights since originally checking our luggage.

A driver was waiting for us outside the arrival doors with a sign saying "Matt and Michelle" no last names, so we hope we didn't steal someone else's ride.
We're finally in Korea and ready to start our BIG adventure...

Michelle's view from her subway station

I'm glad they made it - together, with all the hurriedly packed possessions they could fit in that would have to last them through four seasons. They were happy to find their apartment was located in a very convenient place. It is right next to the subway station, plenty of food places and a Zellers-ish store which would prove to be very useful. They quickly discovered that Michelle's school doesn't turn the heat on. They also discovered some friends living not too far away. Friends who dropped by within a few days bearing a housewarming gift - toilet paper - and much knowledge about those baffling Korean appliances.

An Update, A Rant, News and Some Whining

2009-03-12T09:50:00.004-04:00

Hello. Some Random thoughts for you all today.

First Thought Not only did R have food poisoning then a fever, he now has a cold virus to rival all colds. If it's not enough to have one male in the house who is ill, the other male in the house is close to death. I'm not exaggerating, he said it himself. I think he might becoming down with whatever it is that is 'killing' R.

Second Thought The city has made a decision to not hire beach patrol lifeguards this summer. Who cares, you say? I care. It seems I care a lot. More than I should? Last week I read an article that mentioned the Recreation Director employed by our lovely city thought it might be a good idea to get rid of the summer lifeguards, a savings of $18,000. Then, in the next breath, she wants to hire a full-time arbourist at a measly cost of something like $6,000. Of course, it's only $6,000 if we get rid of the lifeguards... I never thought council would actually vote in favour of ditching our only supervised waterfront. But they did. And I'm angry for a number of reasons. Perhaps I'll blog about it when I can collect my thoughts somewhat intelligently.

Third Thought I have whiplash. At least it feels like whiplash. Can one get whiplash from skating 13K? Goodness, I am so out of shape, every time I move I hurt myself. I'm not sleeping because my back and neck hurt. I even stepped out of my box and bought some muscle relaxants. Man, a dose of those can make one very dizzy! And it says to drug up with 2 pills 4 times a day. 4 times! Not very likely.

Fourth Thought Being so frustrated with hurting myself every other stair climb, I have decided to soldier though and take advantage of exercising opportunities. My dad has a couple of kayaks. He was thinking about going for a quick paddle this weekend so I signed right up for an early morning paddle on Saturday. Dad is not too keen on the idea. He's worried about me flipping the boat and succumbing to hypothermia in the icy river before reaching the shore, leaving the children motherless. A bit alarmist of him, don't you think? Just for the record, flipping a kayak usually takes some effort. I don't think I have the range of motion or the muscle strength to accomplish that at this particular time. At any rate, I will paddle close to the shore. Hopefully, I'll have some pics up Saturday afternoon for you.

Fifth Thought Once final upcoming blog change for me. I'm tired of trying to tweak things in html unsuccessfully. SO I have been prowling about for a template that I like. A template that I can put my own header into, or not. A free template that I will be happy with so that I can spend time on actual blogs and links, labels and archives. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm sharing this thought with you so that if you happen to pop by in the next couple of days and my blog is inaccessible, you'll know why. I don't want to do a live change. I want to surprise everyone with the new wallpaper all at once. It will be so exciting. So if you're reading this and you'd like your link in my new sidebar, leave a comment and let me know sooner than later.

Sixth and Final Thought of the Day On the homeschooling front, K, the girl child, will be participating in a Red Cross Babysitter and First Aid Training tomorrow. She will be joining a number of other homeschoolers and their siblings for the day. This will necessitate a trip to the store to procure brown-bag lunch trimmings. I think I will leave the dying males at home and K and I will head out shortly before I take any drugs. I think we will also pick up some ColdFx (even if it is too late) and other throat soothing remedies. I wish these males would drink tea. It would be so much easier. Oh yes, homeschooling: not much has happened here this week. K is keeping up with her math all on her own. Pleasant to see such mature independence on her part. The kids are keeping up with their book club reading - many of the selections they are asking me to read aloud to them. I'm glad they're not too old for that yet. I was going to say that we're taking an early March Break, but a little more likely is that the February blahs are occurring. That's be about right on schedule for me - I'm a notorious procrastinator.

♥Bonni

Missing M & M

2009-03-10T21:52:00.019-04:00

Mr.M, my brother, and Ms.M, his fiancee are off on a year-long adventure. They are living it up as millionaires in South Korea.

Of course, I think most people are millionaires if they are earning a paycheque in South Korean won. But I digress.

Mr.M & Ms.M are teaching English to students for a year. They're also taking advantage of any and every travel/adventure opportunity that pops up.

The kids and I have been in regular contact with Mr.M and Ms.M (a fact I directly attribute to Ms.M as Mr.M has been known to be...well...we'll just say he focuses on the task at hand to fully immerse himself in the pleasure and experience of the moment). I am especially enjoying Mr.M's very colourful play-by-play descriptions of his Korean adventures to date. I'm sure he's showing his best betrothed behaviour for Ms.M.

M & M left just before Christmas, due to return in time for Christmas 2009.

Most recently, they've been able to post some pictures for us to see. Tiny Korean apartments are a good substitute for marriage counselling, me thinks. They'll know everything about each other well before they're due to fly home, I'm sure.

We are missing M and M very much.

We miss seeing them around town.

We miss having them coach R's soccer team.

R and I miss our Friday morning dates at the rink with Mr.M watching my other brother play hockey.

K is missing Ms. M's girly, trendy influence.

We miss seeing what sort of crazy local adventures they participate in.

We miss watching Mr. M at football and basketball.

As I'm sure you've surmised, M & M are great fun. I'm sure those Korean kids are having a blast learning copious amounts of English. Goodness knows, lessons would be fun if not informative.

Perhaps they'll be feeling altruistic and they'll let me share some of their travel notes with the blogosphere. Hopefully I'll have more to tell you about M & M in the days to come.

♥Bonni

Rideau Canal Skating

2009-03-08T11:41:00.011-04:00

Thursday was remarkably Spring like. With very little planning, the kids and I, with my mom, jumped in the car and drove the hour and a bit to Dow's Lake Pavilion in Ottawa to do a little skating on the Rideau Canal. It's great the way they make skating on the canal so convenient. It lessens the blow of a $12 parking lot.

We stashed our boots in the white dome everyone is headed to in the pic below and we started out.

For those of you who have been so kind as to post pics of your adventures (Cristina and Marina) and your wonderful countryside (Dorothy) I figured I'd throw in some stark contrast. Having a scant 400 years of history in this country, there's little in the way of 'ancient architecture'. But, the canal itself is a marvel and the other bits are interesting.

Here we have the football stadium and below that, Lansdowne Park.
A bit closer to downtown you can see the YMCA tower to the left of the old Museum of Civilization 'castle' behind the bridge. There's another canal access point as well. They are all over the place. There's little to no official parking for the canal, but there's a lot of steps and seats and 'you are here' maps.

There's K skating by the University of Ottawa building. There's a big, lit up greenhouse on the top of the high rise.

I think anyone who has seen any advertising at all for the Rideau Canal Skating Rink has seen a picture like this. The roof line of the Chateau Laurier can be seen on the horizon.

Here we are in the heart of Ottawa. The Parliament buildings to the left and the old train station on the right. How I ever got to the ripe old age of 34 without ever eating a Beaver Tail, I don't know. But I couldn't let the same unfortunate thing happen to my kids. R's not a fan of sticky-sugary-sweet, so he held out for fries. I tell you, one Maple Beaver Tail is about as much stick-sugary-sweet as any one person can take. And that's saying something coming from this professional sweet tooth.

R eventually got his fries. Most of which were eaten on the go.

A kilometre from the end of our skate, all 13km of it, the kids took a brief break. The temperature had started to drop noticeably and we were definitely done. It was a great afternoon. Really, so easy to do. Living so close to Ottawa, it's really something we should do more. But, it's not to be this year. It was the last day of the season to skate. I'm glad we were able to fit it in.

Sickies

2009-03-07T12:26:00.006-05:00

After our skating adventure on the Rideau Canal on Thursday (pics and blog to follow) we came home with an additional house guest. At least R did.

For 12 hours, he hosted the wonderful effects of food poisoning.

This was especially disappointing as R had a Friday night boys' night with friends planned - dinner and a '67s game in Ottawa. I called and cancelled for R on Friday morning. I wasn't very popular with anyone. I'm glad I did, though, as R certainly wasn't bouncing back very quickly.

R slept most of Friday away with a curious little fever. K made plans to get picked up by my mom and spend the night with her. They do girl stuff together like watch old episodes of Full House for hours on end. R and I hung out reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He thought he might like some gelato so we took a short car trip. He only had two small bites, but it stayed down. We were making progress!

K arrived home this morning, pale as death. She flopped on the couch and hasn't moved. No fever (yet?) but no appetite, energy or joie de vivre. Interesting.

I'd just like to note that when they were babies, the kids never got sick together. Any cold or other ailment was always spared the other until the first was mostly recovered. Most recently, this was experienced last Spring with the Chicken Spox. A lovely month-long affair.

R didn't appreciate being left alone in his bed while I was taking care of things around the house. K didn't feel up to moving over on the couch to make room for her brother. I was getting frustrated running up and down with pillows and water and the dog underfoot and can you get the curtains now mom and maybe I would like a straw now that I think about it and arrgh!

The cot! Years ago I bought a cot when the family bed was shrinking. It's come in handy over the years. Today I employed it in the living room.

So here we are on a lovely Spring-link Saturday afternoon. Cooped up in the darkened living room feeling very run down. R is perking up and is keeping down a generous helping (for a sick person) of soup. K just feels like dozing. Everyone is much more content now that they are lying down - separate but together. The dog is happier - and less underfoot - as well.

♥Bonni

Testing...Testing...

2009-03-03T20:29:00.003-05:00

Hey all,

Sorry to be playing with things. Sometimes it's fun to clean things up and freshen up the wall paper. Of course, the procrastinator in me much prefers to play with blog colours than the hall closet shelf that's been a catch-all for years.

*photo courtesy of K and her new camera

♥Bonni

Fundraising For Me

2009-03-02T20:57:00.003-05:00

All year I have been fundraising by throwing my spare change into this biscotti container. Sometimes, I've even had a $5 or $10 in my wallet for a week or so...or I washed a bill in the laundry and claimed it...and into the container it went.

B and I sat one evening and rolled. We rolled until we hit $309 and ran out of nickel rollers. I'm using the money to attend the Kitchener-Waterloo Home School Conference.

I know not everyone is a conference person, but I am. I leave the conference feeling motivated. I like bringing home hurriedly scrawled notes of good ideas. I like hearing the authors of a program/curriculum/method talk about how to implement a subject into your homeschool. I know it's a sales pitch. But don't knock it until you've heard Donna Ward talk about Canadian History.

This conference will be a special trip for me. I'm making a weekend of it. I'm carpooling with a fellow-homeschooling-girlfriend. I'm staying in a hotel. There might be evening entertainment or a yarn shop or a cafe visit or who knows what!? I'm taking suggestions. (Please keep in mind it's totally possible that I will ignore all advice and choose to hole up in the hotel all weekend reading stuff I've gleaned from seminars and new books I bought at the vendor fair.)

My fundraising has been particularly successful since we gave up Tim Horton's coffee. There are definitely greater amounts of change present when one doesn't make an almost daily trip there.

Further fundraising happened at my birthday party a couple of weekends ago when my family contributed a few bills to my efforts. They don't get the whole homeschooling thing, however, they understand being excited to go weekend adventuring. Remind me to blog about my siblings' weekend stopover in Paris, France to be at the Tour de France finish line one year.

The fundraising will continue the weekend before my conference at the annual RVHEA Used Book Sale. I've totally stepped out of my box and I've booked a table at which I will attempt to sell the books and things I'm done with. I need to make more than $20 to cover gas. However, to this event I am also carpooling!

I just had to share. Thanks for listening.
♥Bonni

Christmas...Finally Packed Away

2009-03-01T19:13:00.009-05:00

I'm embarrassed to admit that Christmas has been hanging over my head. Hopefully my procrastination will make someone feel accomplished...on the ball...or at least seasonally aligned.

It's March 1 and I still have garland on the stairwell. I've been telling myself...and anyone who asks...that it's 'Winter-y', not necessarily 'Christmas-y'. Then I nonchalantly move my hand to cover up the Season's Greetings - From Our Family To Yours! on the hanging ornament.

And here on the hall shelf, I still have 'Winter' things going on. Snowmen...that's not Christmas-y, right?

<--- This is why things have been languishing upstairs. This is the overflowing Christmas bin...and basket...and bag. It's all clogging up my laundry area. Which is causing the ironing to get behind...

See how one too-small-bin can throw a wrench in the works?

So today I finally got to it. I emptied a larger bin whose contents could be streamlined to fit in the smaller bin....

...and made a bigger mess.

But in the end, all is well. Christmas is packed away in the larger bin. I feel better.

DITL - February 23

2009-02-23T20:06:00.004-05:00

Monday came early today. I lay in bed, waiting for the alarm and when it went off, proceeded to lie in for another half hour. When B got up to shower, I got up as well.

I got my winter things on and with the dog, went out for a 20 minute walk. Sometime between last night and this morning, I managed to strain a hip flexor. I figured my walk would loosen it up. Not the case however, and I've been trying to ignore it all day.

Once home, I went about getting ready for my day. I spent half an hour pulling schoolwork while having my morning coffee. At 8:30 I made R his breakfast and checked that K was getting out of bed. I got the laundry well under way, cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed.

At 10:30 I was ready to begin our schoolish stuff. K was using an Usborne Art book and making some really nice watercolour paintings and R was creating with Lego. I felt bad about interrupting them for boring school stuff, but I am flexible! I am adaptable! Ok, I would like to be those things. In reality, I feel the pressure (self-induced, but no matter) to accomplish some bookish, schoolish things. It makes married life that much better. R was happy to leave his Lego in favour of some read aloud. We're reading through some of this year's Silver Birch selections. After his reading, we tackled his math.

At 11:30, I took to the kitchen to get lunch ready. Lunches are bigger, family affairs since B has been working from home. We enjoyed lunch together while B filled me in on his day so far. We cleaned up and rebooted the laundry, again, before getting to our books. K and I did her math lesson. Really, she's fairly independently working through her second Saxon level this year, but I like to read the lessons. Her math is at the point where my math developed gaps. It's a weird feeling to be learning alongside one's 11-year-old. I went to R's room with his French book. He practiced some work from L'Art de Lire 2 while I scribed and he built with Lego. I was thinking how fortunate I was to be able to teach and learn with the kids. Not many teachers can say they have the luxury of teaching while lying in bed and watching their students keep their kinesthetic selves busy creating with Lego.

On Mondays, we have a standing skating date at the local rink with other homeschooelrs. R packed the hockey bag and we were off. An hour of skating made it a little more difficult to ignore my nagging hip flexor, but it was a nice time with friends. R plays hockey - although a less vigorous version than he would like - while the rest of us skate around. It's a nice time of chatting and exercise for us moms and the kids certainly get their share of networking in.

After skating, we headed to the local cafe for a treat. My espresso based treat - White Mocha Latte - might explain why I yammered B's ear off when we got home an hour later. After we were in and settled, the kids and I did the last half hour of today's school work (K's L'Art de Lire, history cards, symbols of Quebec/geography page). R and I sat down to get into his book, Gordon Korman's 'Swindled', before I had to make dinner. It's a very exciting book, so we put dinner off as long as possible. The kids had leftovers and B and I worked together to try out a sloppy joe recipe. I'd never had and B had been a good 15 years since his last sloppy joe. I cleaned dinner up while everyone else ran off to get into their own activities. R needed to re-tape his hockey stick and K went to recharge her introverted batteries with some alone time in her room.

As soon as the dishes were done and the final load of laundry drying, R and I finished his book. K got back into her painting. Hopefully I'll be able to snag these latest creations and get them displayed. They're quite engaging.

So here I am at the end of the day, taking some time to get to email, messages and phone calls. I've sent R off to shower and K is packing up her art supplies. The kids will be in bed around 9 and I will putter around before turning in; maybe some knitting or a movie with B. So, there you have it. Not a very exciting day, but somewhat typical of a Monday of late. I feel as though I accomplished quite a bit on my mental list.

♥Bonni

Out Vacuuming. Be Back...Later

2009-02-04T20:12:00.010-05:00

The Dyson has landed.

It's light. It's powerful. It's quieter than my last vacuum. Its hose reaches a full flight of stairs without having to lift the main unit off the floor. It sucks up things in the general vicinity of the powerbar. Amazing.

I'm busy vacuuming. When I can wrestle the silly thing away from others. I'll be back to blog once the novelty has worn off.

And, of course, I must post the requsite picture of the nasty bits we've been living with for who knows how long. There's less of these now.

♥Bonni

The Vacuum Is Dead. Again.

2009-02-01T21:05:00.001-05:00

The vacuum is dead.

Again.

This is the third one in ten-years-minus-three-weeks. And I was trying to be oh-so careful with this latest model. Especially after B told me - in the gentlest terms possible - that I was a teensy bit hard on things, that I wasn't the most graceful housekeeper and that it would make his life complete if I could please, please be careful with the newest member of our appliance family. But that was a little more than two years ago.

I felt a little sick when the vacuum just sort of droned to a stop three quarters of the way across the rug. I felt a little sick when it wouldn't turn on even after I emptied out all the filters and spoke gently to it and gave it a time out and plugged it into a different outlet. I felt a little sick when B took it apart, right there in the living room and began stripping it of parts and wires. I felt downright nauseous when, two and a half hours later, B announced the vacuum was no more.

Not only can I be clumsy and graceless when cavorting around the house with a vacuum in tow, but I can curse myself. The day before this wretched event I was visiting with my sister. We were talking about house-y things when I told her that me next vacuum was going to be a Dyson. And that I was sure I'd get another two or three years out of my current model giving me ample time to save up my pocket change in anticipation of the big event.

Sure enough, 12 hours later, the Universe decided to have a big laugh at my expense.

So, after both B and I came to terms with the fact that the vacuum could not be economically resuscitated, we sat down to have another little chat. In all seriousness, it was a two sided discussion about investing in something that was going to do a good job for us for a number of years. Hopefully enough years so that when K flies the nest, she can load it up in the back of the car when departing for her post-childhood adventures.

Given our daily use of a vacuum due to our copiously shedding dog, we decided on the Dyson DC25. Works well on all floors, lots of power, large receptacle for dust and dog hair, not too heavy and a good long reach. I'm excited to try out the ball it rides on. I'm hoping it's manoeuvrability will mask some of my clunking around.

The vacuum delivery man, Mr. Purolator, is supposed to arrive with this precious package sometime this coming week. I'm very excited. B is excited that I am excited. I'm even more excited since I used the shop-vac on the living room area rug this evening. That was an exercise in patience if there ever was one. Why must the husky shed in the winter?? And why must each hair weave itself into the fibers of the rug? Is it necessary, really?? I digress.

I know you're all as excited as I am for the arrival of our investment, my birthday present, K's future housewarming gift, the dog-shed-containment-system. I'll keep you posted.

♥Bonni

Cooperation

2009-01-28T21:10:00.005-05:00

I have great kids. Really. They're smart and creative, entertaining and introspective, thoughtful and loving.

However.

Sometimes they cause me to be speechless. Sometimes they pull a stunt that is particularly ridiculous. More than once I've called my mother-in-law to ask such things as: 'Is the child supposed to be able to scale such heights at this young age?' and 'But why does the child insist on surfing toys down the stairs...repeatedly?' and 'At what age exactly did your son stop talking without pause?' Because surely, such behaviour must be intrinsic to my In-Law's side of the family. Because otherwise, I'd be tempted to call in a professional. Mostly for my sanity as such things make absolutely no sense to me. And I had a couple of brothers and a testosterone-heavy set of older cousins.

It's been quite a while since any stunt-like implausible behaviour has happened. Sure enough, as soon as I let down my guard, R shows me the lump on his head.

A half hour after said lump was inflicted on his person. By a snow shovel. Wielded by his sister. Because they were 'play fighting' in the snow. What does a mother say to that??!

Who swings a snowshovel at anyone's head?!!?!?? No wonder he was lying down in the driveway he that he had supposedly gone out to shovel!

Anyway, as they say, 'all's well that ends well'. I found my words. K apologized and R was forgiving. It was cold enough out that any swelling had been kept to a minimum. Perhaps the bruise will be unnoticeable...there, on the middle of his forehead. <sigh>

The driveway did get shoveled and soon enough the two of them were holed up at the computer working on a project together. R dictates and organizes while K types.

So what is it? A small lapse in common sense due to burgeoning hormones? Were they stunned by the cold? Perhaps there is something to the 'violent video games = violent children' argument. Whatever it is, it's fleeting. As most of the time, it is just the two of them, holed up somewhere working on something, helping each other, putting up with the other. I think they would be lost without the other around.

Motivating, Happy, Colourful Stuff

2009-01-14T21:59:00.005-05:00

Baby, it's cold outside! As much as I want to hibernate every winter, I really was motivated today to see all the wonderful things going on around me. Even if it is 20-below (or zero degrees for you Fahrenheit people). And even if I had a headache and fell asleep during 'Geography'. (We were watching Planet Earth: Caves. It's dark and quiet in those things...not a whole lot moving around to keep you alert. I recommend the following episode: The Desert. I have to say, the squat-and-rhythmic-tail-flapping-accompanied-by-loud-honking mating dance of the wild bactrian camel will perk anyone up.)

So, happy, colourful things to get excited about:

Harry's Christmas Blend Butterscotch & Caramel Coffee. A good book. Sitting in the car watching the kids skate on freshly flooded ice. I'm reminded that even on frigid Canadian winter days, if you dress properly and keep moving, it's still a great day.

Cool, colourful knitted stuff at Twist Collective. Check out the patterns and colours. What great energy and contrast. As much as I loved my world today: white, crisp, icy and blue; you can't help getting great ideas when you click through this online magazine.

Like this sweater coat. And the socks, above. Wouldn't it be great to knit socks like that??! Don't you wonder how many little strings there are hanging out inside them and how do you get them on your feet without snagging at least one of the little piggies and messing up the pattern?

Or these mitts. Gorgeous. How insane would I get just attempting the cuff. These almost scream 'I dare you to try!' at me. I mean, they can't be impossible, can they? Think I could get a pair done in time for next winter? Or how about a pair that would match my coat! Then I'd have to plan a colour scheme on top of learning to strand colours.

Maybe I'd be safer with this little A-line sweater. I love it, but don't the fashion people say something about having horizontal stripes running the width of the widest part of your body? Hmm...might have to search Ravelry for a comparably inspiring afghan or something.

What else did I come across today...a new baby born at home to a HSing mama. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. Planning a trip to IKEA. Our clock broke (as in shattered, destroyed, in pieces; not 'it just stopped ticking...') and it's a good excuse to go to IKEA to get a new one. I would love to get one of these for my dining room while I'm there, but I think B. might notice a box that big in the car. Blogs like this, making me laugh and reminding me that it's ok to be uncertain and questioning at times on your individual spiritual path. That we all question things from time to time and stressing about it doesn't really help. That looking at situations as learning opportunities and finding the humour in daily life makes for a pretty good day. And the day wrapped up with a nice 'coffee & chat' at the local hot spot with a few local homeschooling moms. It's nice to connect every once in a while with like-minded people. Affirming. Interesting. I always come away with list of things to look into, read, try. Tonight my list said astronomy, The Importance of Being Earnest, Jane Austen and The Rideau Canal.

So there you have it. Some colourful bits. A few things to look forward to. Warm fuzzies from enjoying the day.
♥Bonni

A Little Knitting

2009-01-08T08:41:00.007-05:00

As the holidays approached, I let go of all my knitting plans. I realized what a stressful holiday I was setting myself up for. That's silly, since the holidays are supposed to be about enjoying the time you're spending with those you've chosen to spend the time with.

I did knit up this little guy, dubbed Petty Officer. Actually, I've crocheted him. He's Lion's Brand's Amigurumi Penguin. He's a cute little thing that just sits about the house in different places. (Ravelry Link)

Last year while out of town, I picked up some Lang Mille Colori. It's been sitting, waiting patiently, for me to get over myself. I finally took the plunge and cast on a pair of Marquise Gauntlets.

It was a good project for me to have to use cables. I've done cables before, but was not really a very confident cable-er. The first gauntlet, I stressed, took notes, flipped papers around and took about four times longer than needed to complete it.

The second gauntlet was a much faster knit since suddenly, the little slashes and shaded boxes of the pattern chart started making sense. If you look closely at both gauntlets, you can see that the first row of cables are twisted in opposite directions. But it really makes no difference. I like the colour of the yarn and I mastered some new things (like the two by two front cable slip-slip-knit decrease cross gak!). (Ravelry Link)

Next up on the docket are a pair of socks. I've knit a pair of socks for B before. I had knit them because I'd wanted to make him a homemade gift and I wanted to see if I could knit socks. They worked out fairly well. He even wears them sometimes. They were socks of a worsted weight yarn. Cotton. Work-sock-ish. These queued socks will be made of sock yarn and I'm going to try using a trickier sock pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. It's a book I've had for quite some time. It'll be nice to break it in.

On the needles currently, to be finished before the socks are started, is the twice-frogged BYOB shopping bag from Knitty. This is the second of a set of two. I think I have the colour pattern planned properly so knitting it up this third time should be the charm.

At the Christmas dinner table, I stated in front of witnesses that this year I'd like to do more knitting. Hopefully, this is a good start to a year of projects on the needles.

♥Bonni

Note To Self:

2009-01-04T14:45:00.003-05:00

Hello Self. Wonderful Christmas we had this year. And that bit we did sticking to a school schedule really paid off as the kids and I have really appreciated these last two weeks of 'school holiday'.

Just a thought, Self. When planning your Science curriculum, peek ahead and see exactly what the required elements of each unit are. It may have been prudent to discover back in September that the Biology unit we've been planning on starting in January (tomorrow!!) requires a number of natural elements found in the warmer months here in this corner of Canada.

The beetles, ants, worm and pond water teeming with microscopic life are currently in short supply. The chapter on 'Releasing Your Butterfly' is not likely to turn out well anytime in the next ten weeks.

Self, may I suggest we do the Physics unit and then tackle the Biology unit in the Spring?

Now, don't we have some things to print? Gather? Prepare?

K's 11th Birthday

2009-01-01T21:31:00.004-05:00

On birthdays we have gifts as soon as the birthday person wakes up. 'Why not celebrate the whole day?' was our reasoning.

So, here is K, fresh out of bed on the 23rd of December. B took the day off work so we dragged him out of bed as well - to witness the beginnings of birthday celebrations: a couple of gifts.

K had been saving for a few months and was hoping to have enough saved for 1/2 an iPod touch. We had agreed to split the cost with her. As a bit of a surprise, we bought it early.

Amid the Christmas decorations, there are the traditional balloons and birthday banner.

K is modelling her birthday toque. It was a good find as she loves wearing hats and it matches her coat. She's a pre-teen now, she tells me, fashion is becoming fairly important, mom.

When asked what she wanted to do to celebrate her birthday, she wanted to have lunch out with B's mom and her husband. Here are her and I at East Side Mario's. K ordered the pasta off the 'big' menu. No more of the rinky-dink kid's menu for her...or so she says.

After lunch, we picked up the pre-ordered birthday cake. The kids like to go to the bakery to pick out a sugar rush on their birthdays. A couple of years ago, K only had Christmas cakes to pick from. That was ok with her at the time, but she later confessed to secretly preferring a more celebratory theme. Therefore, we now pre-order. Actually, with K's newly diagnosed peanut allergy, I ask for the cake to be baked first thing in the morning when all the equipment has been freshly cleaned and before it's had the chance to be graced with any peanut particles for the day.

Happy 11th, K. Here's to many more.

Christmas 2008 Pictures

2008-12-31T15:47:00.004-05:00

I promised I would put up some pictures for Uncle M. and Almost-Aunt M. who decided to go gallivanting off to Korea for a year or so. They managed to miss Christmas by about 10 days. Of course, we had a full-fledged Christmas dinner for them before they left. I hear that Christmas in Korea is a lover's holiday rather than a commercial gift-grab/religious celebration ala North American standards.

Without further ado, here's some of our Christmas pictures: full flash, no photoshop, taken on the fly.
This is a pic of the kids' first 'Christmas Pageant' (Dec.19/08). Together with a couple of HSing friends they learned a French carol and played out the Nativity. K got to be Mary as she was the only person able to provide a doll to be used as baby Jesus. We have a very male dominated HSing community!

Here's a pic of K in snow past her knees on the 21st. We got quite the blanket of snow just in time for Christmas. Of course, in the last week it has rained and warmed so much that most of it is gone.

A lovely pic of the kids in front of the freshly decorated tree. They're so co-operative.

Here they are receiving a lesson from B. in how to properly hang candy canes on the tree. Apparently there is a particularly successful technique that should be utilized.

More to follow...maybe tomorrow...

♥Bonni

Project Korknisse!! 2009

2008-12-30T16:55:00.003-05:00

I thought I would put the word out now, while we're all full of great ideas and intentions for next Christmas. If you have any extra corks kicking around, or if you feel like saving some and putting them to good use, I'd be happy to arrange to take them off your hands.

I'm hoping to knit up a load of these cutie little Korknisse guys as ornaments and gift toppers for Christmass 2009.

I didn't make ornaments this year. Now that Christmas 2008 is all wrapped up (ouch...punny, no?) I have discovered that I missed making ornaments for everyone. So I'm planning ahead.

Let me know if you can help me out. There might even be a 'Thank-You Korknisse' in it for you!

♥Bonni

Our First Real Tree

2008-12-16T21:26:00.004-05:00

Oh, Fer Cryin' Out Loud.

Had a lovely visit last week with Jennifer. Had prepared a little crafty thing for her - just becasue she's always preparing little crafty treasures for someone else - yet the photos somehow disappeared between the camera dock and the PC.

Then we had a lovely whirlwind of a trip to see my extended family in Barrie, Ont. Took lots of pictures. Had a dress-up Christmas party. Spent 10ish hours in the car with my own little family. Took some more pictures. And the camera won't turn on. At least it waited until I had taken the party pics before becoming tempermental. I'm sure my tech support guru will work his magic, but geez.

Tonight we went out and bought our first real Christmas tree. Sorry, no photos. It's really beautiful. Really. Although the trunk seems to list to starboard. We're leaving it to settle tonight and tomorrow evening we'll decorate. Perhaps my camera will come out of it's tempermental little snit by then. We can only hope.

Holiday preparations are happening in enjoyable little chunks. You'd think I would be entrenched in some holiday gift knitting, but not so much. I'm knitting myself something and I'm considering knitting a penguin. R likes penguins.

K would like to remind us (mostly me) that her birthday is coming up. One week today. She'll be 11. When I was pregnant I remember thinking about how old I would be when she was ten. I thought that sounded old. I couldn't imagine being that old. Now, I can't believe how silly and young and immature and I was when I was preparing to parent. Thank goodness kids are resilient and forgiving.

I'm off to knit. Or maybe make some paper stars. Of which I would love to show you a photo. But I won't. Not yet.

♥Bonni

Christmas Cards

2008-12-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

I like to send Christmas cards. This year, I'm very impressed that I got them in the mail 'on time'. I didn't make them - I like to make Christmas cards - but in the interest of getting them out on time, I made do with what I had in the Christmas supplies.

Although we are travelling to see family before Christmas, I mailed off the few cards to those we would be seeing on our travels. After all, if the weather is bad, the trip could be cancelled.

We also mailed off a special package to a new-found cousin in Germany. The kids especially love getting things in the mail, so they are so excited to send a little gift off to the other side of the globe to hopefully make someone else as happy as they are when they get mail.

I also have a stack of cards that we will hand deliver. I think we will pile into the car one night with a hot drink for everyone. We usually do a Christmas Light Drive, so in the interests of tradition and conservation, we will combine two trips into one. We will deliver cards while sipping drinks and searching out displays of holiday lights.

I am considering getting organized for Christmas in November next year. Usually I wait until December first to break out the Christmas bin of supplies and decorations. But i find I am saying 'maybe next year' to too many fun things. If I tended to the work and preparation in November, I could enjoy our December celebrations even more. Someone remember that and remind me, will you?

♥Bonni

No-Roll Sugar Cookies

2008-12-12T20:10:00.007-05:00

My cookie exchange recipe, No-Roll Sugar Cookies, comes from my battered old cookbook, "The Pillsbury Cookbook: The All Purpose Companion For Today's Cook". Not being a sugar cookie connoisseur of any sort, I have no idea of they are any good or not. My kids like 'em, and that's what counts here. The other reason I like them is that I don't have to roll, cut, lift and bake. Somewhere between the cutting of the shape with the cookie cutter and the lifting onto the pan with the spatula, I manage to mangle any sort of dough. I think I need lessons.

No-Roll Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

4½ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

In large bowl, cream both sugars and butter until light and fluffy.

Add oil, vanilla and eggs; mix well.

Stir in flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt until well blended.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar.

Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until set, but not brown.

Makes 9 to 10 dozen cookies.

To note a few things: You can substitute some lemon juice for the cream of tartar 1:3. I wouldn't use this substitution in every recipe, but due to the size of this one, the lemon juice won't be noticeable. Use 3 teaspoons for every teaspoon of cream of tartar called for. I divided the dough into four patties and wrapped each before I put it in the fridge. That way, I only took out one at a time and the others stayed cold while I worked away. I decorated with holly shaped non-perils before baking. It was tedious. I got the frustrating things at my local Bulk Barn. When you're buying yours, get half of what you think you need. Otherwise, you'll have non-perils in your freezer for years. Flip the baking sheet upside-down and bake your cookies on the bottom of your cookie sheet. Unless, of course, you already have nice, flat cookie sheets without rims. They tend to cook more evenly without the rim in the way.

I really liked these little guys while they were warm. Once they cooled, they were packed away and frozen. I'll have to let you know how I like them after our Christmas company eats them.

♥Bonni

Cookie Exchange 2008

2008-12-09T22:20:00.007-05:00

Now that my brothers finally decided to join my ranks - those would be the Settled Down With A Significant Other ranks - there's quite a few people around during the holidays. This year, my Mom invited the ladies of the family to participate in a cookie exchange. We'd never done one as a family before. I'm still trying to remember if I've ever really done a real cookie exchange. I know K did a recipe exchange at Girl Guides one year. Those are fun too, but I digress...

K and I jumped on the Cookie Exchange bandwagon. K made gingersnaps. They are a favourite of hers. You have to under cook them a little so they stay soft and chewy. Apparently, crunchy gingersnaps are just not cool.

(R is composing the traditional Santa letter. More on that later...)

I made no-roll sugar cookies. I'm happy with how they turned out. One recipe made about 100 cookies. Perfect for when you're in a hurry and only have time to make one batch of something. Mixing the batter went quickly enough. I divided it in four and popped it in the fridge for two hours. Just long enough to clean up the kitchen and get a busy Sunday underway. Then I spent two hours getting the dough all baked up. Most of that was fiddling with the fussy wee decorations. Baking time for these little guys was only about 5 minutes.
We joined Mom, my sister, my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law-to-be for an afternoon tea party last Sunday. We lined trays of treats on the counter and filled our bags with a great selection of treats: creme de menthe squares, mini cinnamon buns, mini butter tarts, shortbread, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate chip cookies. Hopefully I'll remember to get a picture when I take them out of the freezer a little closer to Christmas.

So there you have it. Proof that we are enjoying the holiday preparations. I'm very aware this year that for me, the preparations are the celebration. If I can't enjoy the effort I put into our December celebrations, I find myself really disappointed and exhausted by the time the three days of Christmas roll around. I like that the kids remember the yearly traditions that have crept in over the years. It's nice to see that they are starting to feel the rhythm of our year.

I promise that there's lots going on around here. So much I could share but I'm - happily - a little out of time. Today for example, I could have blogged all afternoon, but I was busy building a snow fort with R. The last time I built a snow fort, I was maybe 6 years old; the snow banks were bigger than I was...and it was more of a slide than a fort. Thanks for checking in.

~Bonni

You Know It's Cold When...

2008-12-08T07:01:00.005-05:00

You know it's cold when the snow - even the little amount you have - is squeaky as you walk to the curb at 7a.m. on Monday morning to put the garbage out.

But I suppose that's to be expected, this being Canada and all.

It sure is nice, though, walking back in to a warm house to enjoy a hot French Vanilla coffee (if you're into that kind of thing) and a logic puzzle or two before the rest of the sleeping bodies emerge.

Happy Monday, everyone. Have a good week.
~Bonni

Happy December

2008-12-02T21:26:00.009-05:00

Nothing is new. Move along if you are expecting revelations and exclamations.

Had a lovely visit last week with my wee nephew who ended up staying for the day.

We tried to keep him busy and entertained.

We were very successful. We even managed to get our school work completed. Wee Nephew decided he needed some book work as well.

We also sent him home with some new skills. I'm a firm believer in payback. This newly taught skill in response to a particular toy electric guitar given to K when she was 4 or 5. (Just kidding....kind of...)

This week we are staying on track with the school work while getting ready for the holidays. I'll blog about things as they come up because I like to remember them.

So far, I've got as far as having most of the household decorations up. I'm thinking they look a little sparse. I'm dwelling on some thoughts about this. I want it to look festive, yet not tacky. Since I don't have a very defined style, I'm having trouble deciding on further decorating action. I do like the natural side of the holidays: Apples and cloves and garlands and greens and fruit and light and snow and fire. Perhaps I can hone and curtail myself into a nature based holiday display. It's a work in progress, folks.

As well, I have a half-completed To Do For The Holidays list...it's in my head. I keep meaning to write it down, but....So there's baking and ornaments and celebrations and meals and gifts and visiting all mulling about in my head. Oh, and K's birthday. I'm planning that mentally as well.

B's work schedule this week is making for early mornings and therefore making for early bedtimes. Thanks for checking in.

~Bonni

Snow Day

2008-11-27T20:52:00.005-05:00

The kids spent a couple of hours out in the snow again this morning.

I used the time to tidy up and get to some long overdue planning and organization on the homeschooling front. I was in the middle of sweeping up the neverending dog hair when R came to the door. I figured he needed his mitts tucked in again. Or maybe a shovel (some of which are still in the basement). Silly me for thinking of such an obvious thing...

R: Mom, can you pass me the magnifying glass please!

Me: You need a magnifying glass out there?!

R: Yes. I'd like to look carefully at the snow.

Me: Okaaay. (Is the sun really bright enough for him to set fire to anything?) Really? You need to look carefully at the snow?

R: Well, yeah...and I want to see if I can burn a belly button into Marcus. But first I'll look at the snow.

Me: Here you go. Make sure you bring it in with you.

Now, for those who are interested, 'Marcus' is the snowman they built yesterday. And no, although R lay in the snow for longer than I've seen him sleep without moving, there was not any sunshine to help him in his endeavour.

After the snow activities in the backyard were exhausted, the fun continued in the frontyard. Why didn't I think of this stuff when I was a kid?

~Bonni

2008-11-26T20:04:00.008-05:00

Pardon my absence yesterday evening.

I had a late date. DH and I loaded up a movie and had cheese and crackers. We also finished up a bottle of Zinfandel. After opening it. It was nice. But it made for a late night.

Why so late, you ask??

Because at 9:30pm, we decided to set up our science experiment. (It failed dismally, but that's ok - it's all part of the process.) Pretty colours, no? So, kiddies all educated and then tucked into bed, you'd think I'd be good to cozy up on the couch, right?

Not so much. Ok. After B had his turn, then we cozied up on the couch for our date.

There were less shenanigans today.

I expect it was because much of the afternoon and evening were spent outdoors playing in the wet, sticky barely-there layer of fluffy white that has accumulated over the last 24 hours. Fresh air and large muscle activity: it'll cure what ails ya.

I finished Wuthering Heights today.

I feel a little disturbed. As though Nelly was living vicariously through those she served. And since her 'nurslings' turned up happy in the end (because everyone else was dead), it was a happy ending. I'm glad that was the only book Emily Bronte ever wrote...if there were more, I feel I'd have to read at least one other so she could redeem herself in my mind. Not that that's a big goal of hers, two hundred years later... I will end up watching one of the movies, though. It's the sort of thing I do to myself.

I have another movie date planned for this evening. No wine this time, though. So I'm off once again to drag my wonderful husband off his PC. B's overtime is nice, but it definitely cuts into our evenings. Not that I'm complaining. Not in the least. I'm happy that he's excited about these projects he's working on.

~Bonni

Monday

2008-11-24T21:14:00.003-05:00

Monday means laundry.

The last load is just finishing. All the clean stuff gets put away tomorrow - which is linens day. Sheets. Napkins. Dishtowels.

Monday means skating.

We head over to the local rink mid-day where the rink guys (attendants? employees?) are now, 5 years in, expecting us. One of the dads was even questioned about his homeschooling status one day when paying admission. Who cares if admission has gone up 300%? Hardly anyone ever comes but for us and the kids have a blast and we moms get a chat in. Maybe this is the reward for those years of standing on the ice while the kids toddled around in bob-skates...and the years where we stood stooped over holding them up by their armpits while they did their best to march around on their first real skates.

B's been working a lot.

He likes what he's doing, though, which is a huge blessing. He's working long hours, but it's not so bad. He's excited about these new projects that he is juggling. I'm glad the focus has changed for him. He's noticeably happier.

The kids are seasonally challenged.

I swear we're seeing some Spring Fever. They are both exuberant and loud and they tear around trashing the place - and each other. I'm constantly trying to pull their focus back to what we're doing. They assure me they want to be doing whatever it is we're involved in, yet they can't help but to make a joke or poke the other or remember something insanely funny - so funny that they dissolve into giggles. I don' t know how much more of this we can take. In their silliness, R has received a bruise on his cheek last week which has faded to make way for a lovely yellow-green number on his forehead this week. We can't see the goose egg on the back of his head from the weekend shenanigans.

I had a lovely and quick chat with Jennifer this morning.

She motivated me so much that I braved making alphabet chicken soup with the kids today - from scratch with no recipe. Ok, the chicken stock was from a carton. They helped prepare it and they ate it. I didn't even have to make a back-up dinner. We used too many noodles and the garlic got a little too brown, but hey, picking it out it gave one of the rug-rats a job to do while I was busy supervising the one with the knife. Yes, I had to supervise due to the incessant shenanigans of late.

I'm a little disturbed by Wuthering Heights.

What is up with that book? This is my first time through it and I'm not sure what to think. I find it more of a tragic description of some messed up folk rather than a love story. I'm only halfway through so far. We'll see how the end pans out.

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.
~Bonni

My Blogging Hiatus

2008-11-23T21:12:00.005-05:00

What is with the blogging hiatus?

Ever since R's surgery blogging just hasn't been the same.

After R recovered, B and I sat down and had a heart-to-heart and we compromised on a workable plan. We re-vamped what our homeschooling day looked like. I shifted my focus.

Perhaps that's all it was - just a wee change of focus for me.

So, thank you, to those of you who have emailed and commented, for checking in every so often. Although I've been perusing the blogosphere, I haven't really been much of a contributor. It's nice to know that I'm not just another mouse click for some of you.

I'm going to try to post a little something in the evenings before bed this week. Perhaps that will kick start my blogging habit. We'll treat it as a little experiment. Perhaps a disclaimer would help - me, that is, not you - remove obstacles: please don't expect pictures or depth or humour or creativity or any other such exciting thing. Just a little check in and we'll see what happens after that.

~Bonni

Too Funny

2008-11-17T17:51:00.004-05:00

I was out perusing the blogosphere and I came across this little quiz at Dorothy's. Knowing that I had to procrastinate the making of dinner for at least another 10 minutes, I figured I'd play along.

I had a little giggle at the results...being Canadian and all....although, I can say I think I'm somewhat offended at being lumped in with those Minnesota folk. That part isn't funny.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

8pm And All Is....Snowy?!

2008-10-28T21:12:00.005-04:00

What's this? I was out here an hour ago and it was raining. This doesn't look like rain.

Yup. This is my tree. Hang on...I think I remember this stuff. But it wasn't here an hour ago...

What the heck is with the wind? I've never seen it snow sideways...Hey! Someone made a snowbank!

This is better than those leaves I was tunnelling in this morning.... Where'd they go, anyway??

Local Government Week

2008-10-24T21:24:00.011-04:00

This week is Local Government Week in our community. The kids and I, along with some homeschooling friends, were off to City Hall to see where all those exciting local government things go on this past Tuesday morning.

We had a great tour with the City Clerk. Her talk ranged from the history of the building to the roles of the council members to the reason for the bell on the Mayor's Desk to the job of the Clock Master to the exciting work of the Planning Department.

The tragic thing I discovered about the inner workings of our fair City Hall is that the best view of all of the 1000 Islands Region is out the windows of the Council Chamber. Why oh why do they only use that room at night when it's dark?! You could charge admission for that view!

Anyway, a good morning had by all.

Shamefully Negligent or Fall Photos

2008-10-20T21:31:00.005-04:00

I must admit that there has not been an adequate amount of Fall Appreciation going on around here. We're not out enjoying the colours or playing in the leaves nearly enough.

The colours are gorgeous here in our corner of SE Ontario - I noticed the other weekend as I drove to Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's place in the country.

Since then, many of the leaves have fallen. Instead of the intense, warm, bright colours, we're starting to get the muted browns and yellows of later Fall.

Today I took our first Fall pics of 2008. It was only outside on our tiny postage stamp of a lawn, but pictures are pictures. To redeem myself, I feel I must direct you to the Fall pictures of my friend Jennifer. I was a little surprised at how much Nuk-Dog liked the leaves. But then again, she does like the smell of dead rotten things.

Cloth Napkins

2008-10-20T21:11:00.003-04:00

I was thinking about the amount of paper we go through in my family.

I find the amount particularly ridiculous when I'm grocery shopping and I buy paper towel and 'dinner napkins'.

Spending $6 - $8 dollars every few shopping trips isn't a big deal. However, it is a big deal if I think about standing in my kitchen while tossing a handful of loonies into the trash.

Facing my sewing apprehension, I called my mommy to come over and help me get started.

I cut a couple of dollar store dish towels in half and finished the cut edge. Presto - cloth napkins!

I was so impressed with the finished product that I wasn't satisfied with a measly set of four. I bought three more matching dish towels. Now I've got a collection of ten napkins. Enough to get us partway through the week and certainly enough to have company at the table.

Next project: cut our paper towel consumption. Suggestions welcome.

Federal Election 2009

2008-10-14T21:57:00.010-04:00

Here's what we're doing tonight....

On CTV we're keeping track of seats won and we're hoping for a majority government of some sort.

It's turned into great fun. I was explaining too much and R was falling asleep on the couch. So I drummed up some cardstock and my papercutter and started making a graph of sorts.

It's been taken over by smaller hands and I've been relegated to paper square cutter. It's 10:10pm here now...we'll see how long this keeps up!

*Update* We made it to midnight. At 11, after the local candidate's victory had been announced on tv, R insisted we drive by the winning campaign office to see if there was a celebration going on. There wasn't. Final polls haven't yet been counted, but everyone was falling asleep, so we'll update our chart in the morning. The paranoid-homeschooling-mom in me is happy to announce that we all have a firm understanding of 'minority government' now. As well as other various terms that I'm sure will be useful in the years to come. It was a pretty fun sort of learning kind of family evening. Mission accomplished.

Laundry Mondays

2008-10-13T20:13:00.005-04:00

For a little more than two months now, Mondays have become Laundry Day.

I ventured onto this new scheduled task for one reason. Time. I was constantly interrupting my day to move the laundry forward. Usually I would remember that I was mid-way through a load of laundry at the most inopportune times: read aloud, making lunch, on the way out the door, bedtime or - the worst - when B was tromping through the house looking for clean jeans when he should have been on his way to work.

It seemed as though I was constantly doing laundry. Every day I would have to traipse down to the laundry area in the basement and get a load going. Then, I would have to remember that I was doing laundry. More times than not, I would get through 2ish loads a day. A day!! First, that's a lot of laundry. Second, that's a lot of forgotten laundry. Wrinkled laundry. Unfolded laundry. Laundry sitting in the dryer, or worse, the washer. All in all, I was doing 11 or 12 loads a week.

If that's not scary enough for you, this should do it: I haven't yet counted in the bed sheets and linens. Who feels like doing beds when the laundry rooms always backlogged?? It's pretty bad when the 9-year-old boy is seen bringing his sheets downstairs because they need a wash. This is the same 9-year-old who insists he only needs to shower every two weeks because the sweat he works up at hockey and soccer is enough of a wash for him.

12 to 15 loads per week depending on if the beds got done. That seems excessive when you add it all up.

So, Mondays are now laundry days. The laundry sits, sorted, in hampers in the laundry area until Monday morning. I wash, dry, sort and fold everyone's clothes. I've been managing it all in 4 loads: whites, colours, darks and denims. By the end of the day, the washer is empty, the dryer is empty, shirts are hung, socks are paired and everything is ready to be put away.

Savings? Less water, less hydro, less time. I'm doing 1/3 the laundry. I'm using the dryer less as I refuse to let the wet stuff pile up while I wait for the dryer to completely dry every load. Damp things can be hung. I know that if I can just get the laundry caught up on Mondays, I can forget about it for the rest of the week.

This means that bright and early on Tuesdays, I wake up to a row of empty hampers. Well, I would if I woke up in the basement. But I don't. I have to schlep my sleepy self down there to get to the clean clothes I washed, dried, sorted, folded and left there yesterday. What better time to change the sheets than when I have a totally available laundry area? So, Tuesdays have become Linen Day. I wash the sheets. And towels. And facecloths. And dish towels. And if I get ambitious, I'll do the dog's blanket. She sheds a lot.

In the space of two days, I do 6 - or 7 if a duvet or comforter needs it - loads of laundry. Fully half of what I was not really accomplishing very well before. Everyone has clothes that are clean, everyone has a bed that is fresh and the best part is the freeing feeling of not having to think about laundry until Monday rolls around again.

First Blip

2008-09-29T21:16:00.002-04:00

Today was interesting. After being so schedule-oriented the last few weeks, I thought I would be more upset when things came undone. Perhaps I was waiting for the first hiccup.

Today I met with a lady who may be interested in teaching a few homeschoolers some French. I can't believe how nervous I was to 'interview' someone. You'd never guess I used to hire people with regularity. I have some logistics to work out before anything official in the way of French Lessons develop, but it was a start for sure.

Otherwise, here's how our day unfolded: B was up and out early on to head 'up North' for a work meeting. It was garbage day, so I cleaned out the leftovers and got that to the curb in time. The kids slept in a bit - even R who was up at 7 but then went back to bed - until I woke them at 8:30. After a quick breakfast, we did our morning chores and the daily housework. I started laundry and then promptly forgot about it for the rest of the day. At 10, another homeschooling mom and I met with the potential French teacher here at the house. After our meeting, the kids emerged and we prepped a bit of schoolwork before lunch. R bolted through a couple of pages of handwriting practice while I pulled out an ancient edition of Trivial Pursuit. My 'checking for pieces' turned into an hour-and-a-half game. I can't recall the last time K actually sat and played a board game with anyone. We talked about making a game to go with the Trivial Pursuit to participate in a Geography Game Project being spearheaded by another homeschooling mom.

Lunch was a quick pan of ham and eggs. K and I cleaned up. R packed the skating bag. We walked over to the rink and met friends for an hour of skating. Today the kids played with mini-sticks on the ice which was a nice change for them. Technically, we skate during 'Parent and Tot' time and no sticks are allowed on the ice. However, the rink staff are happy to give us a bit of breathing room. I think they're just happy that some people are attending the day-time skating session.

After walking home, we discovered that B was home from work. Our plan had been to hit the books for a couple of hours after skating. R had a stomach ache and went to his room. K curled up with a book. So B and I caught up and hung out for an hour. I made a hot drink and read a bit while the kids continued to hang out and get their own things done. Dinner was late - 7:30. B and I cleaned up. R showered. K was on the computer doing her RPG game. The kids had a bit of tv time before bed. B and I talked a little about how to work out the French thing. It'd be nice to pay the teacher a decent amount, have an ideal-for-all-involved sized group while keeping things affordable for the homeshcooling families.

After the kids turned their lights out at 9, B and I went our own ways. I'll go read in bed between ten and eleven. If I manage to stay awake, B and I will watch some Sci-Fi 'till midnight. Then we do it all over again tomorrow.

Well, actually, tomorrow needs to be a lot more productive. I want to know that I can have a day where I fall off the schedule, yet I manage to pick it back up without too much trouble. We'll see what happens tomorrow....it's always an adventure when we all have a busy day planned.

Checking In...

2008-09-25T20:38:00.004-04:00

I've been so focused on staying on schedule that I've not been doing anything else. No knitting, no creating, nothing.

I suppose I'll be posting some 'A Day In The Life' because I have nothing else of interest to blog about.

Let's Recap September:

Sept. 1 - Family BBQ at Chuck's new house.
Sept. 2 - Officially 'Back to Homeschool'
Sept. 3 - Kids to RCMP Musical Ride with Uncle B and Aunt K. Some School books arrive.
Sept. 6 - Birthday dinner for Grandpa at my parents'.
Sept. 7 - Homeschooler's Family Picnic
Sept. 8 - CHEO
Sept.10 - CHEO again. Green Light for R on all fronts. Register for Indoor Soccer Leagues.
Sept.11 - First Hockey practice for R.
Sept.13 - Community 'Treasure' Hunt. Cleared out some basement clutter.
Sept.15 - Daytime skating starts. Price went up 300%. Yikes.
Sept.18 - Hockey again. Coffee & Chat at local coffee house with homeschool moms.
Sept.20 - Dog to the Kennel. We're off on a late season camping trip with B's boss' family.
Sept.21 - Home Again. Packed a lot of fun stuff into an overnight trip.
Sept.22 - Treats after skating with friends.
Sept.23 - Grandma M. visits from MD, USA.
Sept.24 - Belatedly begin our weekly library visits.
Sept.25 - Belatedly take R for a haircut. Why are 2 dinners required on hockey nights??
Sept.26 - Dentist appointments (and a convenient excuse to go shopping) in the big city. Family dinner with family friends. Wine, good company and dessert. Awesome.
Sept.27 - K's grandparents visit. R off to a friend's birthday party.
Sept.29 - Interview potential French teacher.

Everything school-wise is on the anticipated track. R's math hasn't arrived yet. The kids are doing Science, History, Vocab and French more or less together. K is doing two math lessons a day, WriteShop and is working on improving her handwriting. R is doing some printing every day (under duress), some math practice here and there and his reading is really taking off. He even read a joke from the Reader's Digest to me today. Out loud.

I've organized the first of our monthly field trips. I've tracked down a potential French teacher. Now I just have to find a location to hold our French gatherings.

September's momentum is holding for now. I'm fairly impressed.

Back-To-School Thoughts

2008-09-16T21:50:00.006-04:00

I was thinking about how much I hate the Back-To-School pressure. You know, the kind you find when you walk in to your local retail store and you are bombarded with 'essential' school supplies immediately as you walk through the door. The racks and baskets and shelves and bins full of individually-packaged-with-bonus-eraser items and piles of colourfully displayed paper holding systems that always look better on the shelf than in your home.

It's pressure that says you need to be preparing. You have to be ready. You simply must not fall behind. Everybody is doing it. I'm so gullible.

This week I am feeling a wee bit of triumph. This year I did it on my own schedule. I ordered our books 'late'. I organized our schedule 'late'. I have not yet shopped for seasonal clothes for the kids. I have not yet filled our calendar with extra-curricular commitments. And that's all ok.

It's Looking Decidedly Schoolish In Here

2008-09-12T20:21:00.008-04:00

As September marches on, things are looking more and more schoolish in here. It's a bit of a stretch considering the last couple of years where my focus hasn't been on accomplishing certain benchmarks or paper production, rather I was more apt to be a little too relaxed.

It's a good stretch, though. The Principle and I are on the same page more frequently. And all homeschooling moms know that when the administration is working together, program delivery becomes almost easy and those little program recipients catch a ride on the enthusiasm and motivation and interest and learning lightbulbs are lighting up for all of us. Well, at least on the Good Days. And if it's not a Good Day, I've been doing this parenting thing long enough to know to declare a Flexible Day if a Good Day seems unlikely.

So, although I know there will be challenges and roadblocks, detours and 180° turns, I'm still looking forward to this school year. Yes, books were ordered late, but I've had a good time delving into them one at a time. The kids have enjoyed the feeling of finishing off books and resources we've had on the go over the last year. Some perverse part of me enjoys making use of lists and schedules and copious amounts of sticky notes - they're reusable!! September has had this undercurrent of expectancy and excitement as I've photocopied and planned. I like it.

For French, We'll be using some L'Art de Lire, Rosetta Stone and French Coach for DS.

We're trying out Vocabulary from Classical Roots for Language Arts. I'm not really one for a spelling program, preferring the kids to pick up their spelling as their reading comes along.

Science is proving to be interesting. We've done the first lesson of Real Science 4 Kids in the Chemistry 1 book. I read, the kids listened and then had a million things for me to look up on the 'Net relating to the lesson. That's what I like. I don't really care if they take away from the lesson a complete understanding of the lesson objectives. Just that they are interested and inspired to think, play, discover. I expect we'll get through Chemistry 1 by Christmas, Biology 1 in the New Year and perhaps we'll get to the Physics 1.

Geography: Province by Province is a Donna Ward resource. After hearing her speak a couple of times, I really like her approach to Canadian Geography and History. The lessons are short, sweet and to the point. They're not too in depth, but give enough information to have plenty of jumping off points. We're going to take those jumping off points in the direction of read alouds. I hope to get around to posting a list of those read alouds here on the blog later in the year.

For History, we'll work our way through SOTW 2, most immediately. I hope to buy the last two of the series for the shelf in the near future. The kids really like the map work for some reason. And for kids who don't 'do' colouring, they seem to work away at the colouring pages while we read/review quite happily.

Math is plain ol' Saxon. 3 for R, 5/4 and 6/5 for K. K is absolutely convinced she 'isn't good at' math due to a misplaced comment from someone a number of years ago. From her comments about the ease of 5/4, hopefully she'll realize her mathematical confidence and ability soon.

K and I are going to putter through WriteShop 1 this year. Her writing is wonderful and copious. She's requested to learn a couple of technical writing skills. She's expressed a curiosity about journalistic style. WriteShop seemed to fit both our styles.

That will be our main core with bits and pieces added in for good measure. We're tossing in some handwriting practice on the request of both kids. R would like to learn cursive and K would like to improve the look of her handwriting. R has requested 'Mysteries, Puzzles and Illusions' so hopefully I'll be able to come up with something fantastic for him. I'm really mourning the loss of our local children's librarian who would have been a great help on this front....the City fired her. I'm planning to be able to have more regular get-togethers with the local homeschoolers come hell or high water. There's already some great things in the works on that front. I'm still waiting on R's math pages to arrive as well as our Medieval timeline - my personal cut-and-colour-and-paste project. As September passes into Fall, all the pieces will fall into place and we'll find our collective groove.

I'm really looking froward to spending this year with the kids.

What I Didn't Do On My Summer Vacation

2008-09-03T22:04:00.007-04:00

Didn't get around to organizing the shelf, folks.

And here it is in all it's messy splendor. Of course, I snapped this pic about half an hour into the sorting process.

If you look closely, you can even see the little sticky-notes I put up to help the sorting process along. Helpful little do-dads, those sticky-notes.

After I had sorted, I re-homed.

After I re-homed, I filed and stored.

After I filed and stored, I recycled.

After I recycled, I started on some lesson planning.

And that's where I am now. Lesson planning with sticky-notes. Handy little do-hickers those sticky-notes.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

2008-09-02T22:30:00.001-04:00

So, September made it after all. I thought it may have been washed away with all the rain we've collected this Summer.

I've missed my blog. I hope I'll be able to get back to it and record our homeschooling year along with a smattering of other bits and pieces of daily life.

It was a big summer for us. Lots of firsts.

And ninths. We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this summer. After having plans in place for a year, we ditched them to spend an evening at home with the kids. We watched a sci-fi flick, a favourite show of ours and we treated ourselves to a strawberry shortcake. More personally, I internally, quietly and privately celebrated ten years of family life. Ten years ago I had taken a whirlwind trip into parenthood, responsibility and general drastic lifestyle change. B was there, jumping in head first with me. So as I did a lot that first year, I expect I'll do a lot of thinking and evaluating and projecting this year.

R's first foray into some serious medical care. 2 surgeries - the second completed last week. In another week or so we'll have all the post-op check-ups done and we'll see what future kidney care - if any - is required. Just recently R surprised me by trying out a kayak all on his own at a community picnic. The kayak club had the boats out for anyone to try and R was uncharacteristically right in there - without his sister - to give it a go. Guess who didn't have the camera? I've noticed a few times he's stepped out of his usual box to venture into independent waters.

K enjoyed a full season of outdoor soccer - her first. I'm sure she thought she was going to die with all the running involved. She did mention it a couple of times. She improved all season, even volunteering to play keeper. She totally stepped out of the box the last game or so to play forward, in the hopes of scoring. No goals were to be had, although there were a few good kicks directed at the net. K also met a neighbourhood friend and enjoyed the whole pre-teen hanging-out thing...which shows no sign of slowing down now that school has officially begun.

We're seeing lots more of B at home - which is great. When he's around, I'm more motivated to accomplish stuff in my day. When he's gone, I just miss him. I tend to mope. We had a good hashing out of our homeschooling expectations for the year. It makes me feel a lot better when I hear how interested and committed B is to this blind venture I'm undertaking. And as anyone who does it knows, homeschooling bleeds over into daily life. Once the kids are aware that both mom and dad are on the same page regarding all the day-to-day activities, things just putter along smoothly. For the most part.

We were homebodies this summer. The kids had some nice opportunities to get out and about with various family members and friends. Worried that K would get bored in the quiet, homebound days after R's surgery, I booked her into a couple of days at a historical site. She fought me tooth and nail about going on the first day, but was chomping at the bit to go the second time around.

We did our first family bike rides at the beginning of the season. Hopefully we'll fit a few more in - now that R's up and about - before the snow flies.

As we get closer to Fall, there's still a couple of things to fit in on the calender. Perhaps a cottaging weekend, the homeschooler's picnic and a visit with Grandma.

I'm looking forward to this Homeschool Year. I'm sure as I get back to the blog, I'll impress you all with stories of organization and planning, with reviews of new resources and with compelling news of day-to-day activities. Really. Or not.

And that's what I did on my summer vacation. Although, summer certainly doesn't feel over. And that's a happy, looking-forward-to-things kind of thought this year. Because twenty years ago, I was thinking the very same thought while stuck in a classroom in a new school embarking on grade 8. And it wasn't a very happy thought because I wasn't looking forward to very much that year. The end.

Recovering Well

2008-07-20T19:12:00.002-04:00

Just a short note: Rs surgery went well. He's recovering nicely. Hopefully we'll be home in a couple of days.

I'll probably be taking a bit of a blogging hiatus while R continues to recover at home and hopefully will get back to things as we get closer to school work starting up again.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!!

Insomnia

2008-07-16T01:06:00.004-04:00

Here I am at 1am. I'm not doing much...watching Happy Days reruns, re-checking my email.

I did try to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Noone else seems to be having trouble sleeping.

I turned the light out and acted all sleepy, but my brain had other ideas.

So I got up and put the tv on. I spent a little while making a list: Things K needs, things R needs, paperwork I need and a wee shopping list for tommorrow. Today. Whatever.

At a more reasonable hour today, we'll have lunch with B's mom and a pool party with the homeschoolers and then, after an early dinner, it will be time to pack. Nuk will go to the kennel; K will go with my mom and the rest of us will be going to bed in anticipation of an early departure for CHEO on Thursday morning.

For those family and friends following along, CHEO called tonight and bumped Rs surgery time to Thursday at 9am. I'll update when I can - by blog or email, whichever seems to be most convenient at the time.

Now I'm off to get some sleep...sheesh...all these blogging responsibilities keeping my up to the wee hours. <insert eyeroll here>

Merrickville, Ontario

2008-07-14T22:14:00.006-04:00

Belated Birthday

2008-07-13T22:04:00.007-04:00

For various reasons, R's birthday party was delayed. We were barely* able to make it to the once-postponed party on Saturday and it was a great time.

The pool was enjoyed for quite a long time.

There were snacks and good company. And it didn't even matter that we were an hour or so late!

Grandma has once again outdone herself by making a very special birthday cake. The soccer ball on R's cake is modelled after one of his own.

R took the plunge and cut the first piece. I don't think he's done that before.

And again, he was spoiled by very generous extended family members. Cousins S and N were there with their mom, Aunt R, and dad, Uncle K.

As a special surprise, Uncle G came for the day. Uncle G has been off at school the last few years and more recently, has continued working in his new found home-town. Uncle G is so much fun that it's hard to get a pic of him standing still.

Driving home was a treat. There were heavy rains that put visibility at about 50 meters. It made for a late evening, but all in all, a very worthwhile day. Days like this always make me so thankful that we are blessed with our extended family - however serendipitously they may have arrived in our lives.

* - car broke down at the gas station as we were leaving town. Trip delayed by only 60 minutes. Not bad for Saturday afternoon automotive lack-of-service in this small town.

BYOB - from Knitty: Summer 2008

2008-07-11T11:14:00.005-04:00

Before leaving for Vegas, I had started this pattern from Knitty.

I've completed the first bag and have moved on to working the second.

I'm thinking his & hers for the happy newlyweds.

I was surprised at how big the bag knitted up to be! The two bags will definitely hold a grocery-shop-for-two. The book I have in there loosely holding up the bag is a large atlas, 10.5" x 14".

The seed stitch is easy, although with 165 sts around, it's a bit time consuming. Shortly after starting, however, it's easy to do it with infrequent glances at the needles.

The middle lace panel is very easy. I was a little paranoid as a mistake in this section would be very noticeable. It's done on larger needles so goes pretty quickly.

The striping was also not too daunting for an amateur knitter like myself. I don't know how to change colours, but the colour change row is a 'knit 1 green, purl 1 blue' pattern. Funny enough, I think that's changing colours and I pulled it off.

The handles are a little finicky, but the pattern takes you through it one step at a time. I had to fool with getting them set up on their stitch holders properly in order to knit them in place correctly, but it worked out with only minimal cursing. I didn't even have to look for online help.

Hopefully the bags are well received. Do you suppose it would be a good idea to fill them with some special grocery-type things, or just give them as is?

Pre-Assessment Before Surgery

2008-07-10T22:33:00.007-04:00

R's surgery is scheduled for the 17th. Today we met with the Pre-Assessment Clinic to make sure he's good-to-go. We met a nice anesthesiologist whose Irish accent rivalled my Brother M's Irish accent. (<-- You know there's a good story there...) Last week, at R's request, I called to ask what a Pre-Assessment Clinic Appointment would entail. In particular, I was to ascertain how many needles and how much it would hurt.

<sigh>

Even though I promised there would be no needles and that nothing would hurt, the poor boy was up half the night and had anxious stomach pains until 10:20am when the nurse confirmed that, really, there would be no needles. It was clear sailing after that.

The anesthesiologist assured me there would be no pentathol used during the course of R's surgery. (Pentathol having caused a number of my family members to test a surgery team's resuscitation skills.) Apparently R looks like an easy patient. His thinness is helpful. He's healthy other than this pesky kidney problem.

Surgery looks to be a 3 to 4 hour affair with a little time spent in recovery - where he may or may not have a popsicle - before being moved to his ward for the next 4ish days.

Here's what we expect: Upon arrival, a wee bit of sedative to take the edge off. Some Emla, perhaps. Once in the operating room with mom, R will breath from the mask until asleep. That's my cue to depart. Any 'needles' and tubes will be inserted - an I.V. and catheter for sure. Pyeloplasty to treat the UPJ, then a stent, drain and epidural before he wakes up.

After 2ish days, the epidural and catheter are removed. We will remain another day or so to get a handle on pain management. I expect there will be some time in there for me to argue with the nurses about his eating (or lack thereof) habits.

B will be in and out and K will be juggled amongst various family members and a good friend. Nuk will be at the kennel. (Sally, I'd link your website, but you don't seem to have one yet!!) Just because it will give me something to do, (other than fussing over the boy when my fussing is useless cpmpared to nurse-fussing) I'll try to get updates on the blog here for family, blog friends and other voyeuristic insatiables. That way, noone has to trek to CHEO to see a sedated, really pissed off, post-op R.

R feels much better about his surgery now that he knows the 'needles' can be done after he's asleep. The aftermath of recovery is very foreign to him, so he's not feeling too anxious about that at this time. He is sad to miss the end of soccer season and he's looking forward to eating pizza from the hospital cafe.

So Much To Blog About

2008-07-10T22:01:00.002-04:00

There's so much to blog about and I dropped the ball a bunch of months ago.

So the perfectionist in me says that I must start at the beginning. So that takes me back to, oh, February? Ok, so I start looking for pictures from that time to accompany the belated blog and what do I find? I find that once we went digital, I had renamed each photo so as to make them easy to categorize. Yikes....dropped that ball too. So I go back to where I need to start renaming. That takes us to, oh, August of 2006 when my niece visited for a week and B quit smoking?

See the giant impediment to my blogging!! It's HUGE!!

Anyway, enough of my silliness. I'd like to tell you about some stuff that's been going on lately. I'd like to get some thoughts down, rant and prattle on mindlessly. (You did see the 'Ramblings' tag, didn't you?) I'd even like to become a little more technically blog savvy. Now, how is that supposed to happen if I keep avoiding this place?

And another thing - I'm not really liking the Google Reader thing. You know, Doc went and made a whole new set of digs for her Sunrise Rants to shine on and I've been over, what...twice?! I can't even find a couple of the blogs I used to like to read for whatever reason and I still have to click a lot to get to what I want to read.

So, onward and upward, my meagre reader. Readers? Are there more than one of you? Anyway...moving around the Mountain of Unfinishedness to get to the business of satisfying you voyeuristic insatiables who insist on keeping up to date with me and mine.

Read on if you will. I'm not promising pictures.

A Las Vegas Wedding

2008-06-30T21:23:00.010-04:00

It was June 10 or 11. I got a phone call from my brother M. He was opening for my other brother, Br. Could I please retreat to a private area of the house for some very secret conversation? Once the stage was set, the bomb was dropped.

Br. wanted to take his lovely lady (K.) to Vegas and get married. Next weekend. Did we have plans?? He wanted to take us (and the rest of our, and K.'s, extended family) along. The really fun part was that the whole affair was to be a surprise for K. Now tell me, what girl doesn't want to be surprised with her own wedding?!

Oh. And an engagement, because that was still to be done.

Before you think that all involved are crazy or insane, June 24th has special significance to Br. and K. So although Br. had been planning to propose and eventually marry this girl, suddenly, it made prefect sense to get 'er done in the next two weeks.

After much scrambling, Br. managed to book K. a week of holidays, arrange flights and rooms for 26 people, plan a wedding, a reception and a honeymoon. Not only that, but he managed to have custom ordered rings ready to go 4 days before the wedding. Everyone flew out on carefully planned flights to stay at carefully picked hotels with strict instructions to be indoors by midnight on the 23rd so as not to run into the Happy (Half Unsuspecting) Couple before the Big Day.

<--I caught my brother M.'s fiancee peeking at the rings while we were at the airport.

We've pulled a number of adventures in our family but even this was ambitious. In the end, there were minimal glitches, K. was surprised with a special wedding that family was able to attend and even Br. received a surprise - 3 of his bestest buddies made it to Sin City for the big event.

Today, everyone is back at home. The newlyweds have returned to their jobs. It should be fun to hear the news spread through our small town. My brothers have always been known for their joie de vie and their half-baked schemes. The women in my family are masters of the Last-Minute-Plan-Change. We can take a lump of chaos and mash it into some semblance of scheduled entertainment - even if the entertaining factor is watching everyone get where they're supposed to be on time. I think that the success of this latest adventure is the culmination of many years of practice.

I'm looking forward to the next Big Adventure. Knowing Brother Br., he'll need to top this one sometime.

Here's A Hint...

2008-06-29T20:54:00.003-04:00

We're home! We had a great time on our impromptu holiday and I look forward to telling you all about it as the week goes on. For now, here's a couple of hints:

...some big firsts on this trip...

...a little sight-seeing...

...a little dressing up...

...a little brother in a boat...

...and some amazing entertainment...

It all added up to one lost bag of luggage and a real quiet weekend doing laundry and filling B in on all the details of our time away.

More tomorrow...

Be Careful What You Wish For

2008-06-20T08:03:00.003-04:00

Things have been a little Last-Minute-Busy around here and it's not even my fault!!!!

I have a little knitting project on the go. I saw it in this issue of Knitty. It's called BYOB. I think this may be the first pattern I've knit to spec - no colour changes, no modifications, no 'well, I'm sure this yarn will work'. I'm using every spare minute to finish this project.

BYOB, myself and the kids are taking off on a whirlwind trip for a few days. I promised R a Summer Adventure before his surgery and, as such things will, a Summer Adventure has popped up somewhat unexpectedly. It's funny the way things pop up when you put a thought out into the universe.

Another case of Be Careful What You Wish For.

Happy Summer all! I'll fill in the details around the 28th.

Snapping Turtle

2008-06-16T08:20:00.008-04:00

I've been trying to walk the dog in the mornings. It really, really is not fun. But then I think about how much B really, really thinks getting up and going to work is not fun and I suck it up and take the silly dog for a walk. I think though that with perseverance, I could learn to like it.

We have a lovely pathway that runs behind our house, along the catchment for the overflow of the local conservation area pond. 'Nuk and I walk there. Last Monday morning I came around the bend and was met with a flooded pathway. I stopped. Considering whether I could go around the extra water, I noticed a turtle at the side of the path, her back end quite buried in the gravel. Some real nature happening there, folks. Hopefully there'll be baby turtles soon. 'Nuk and I turned and headed home where I pulled out my turtle pictures to hopefully be able to identify the type of turtle she was.

Most turtles are kind of dull coloured. I wasn't having much luck with the identification process. I knew she hadn't any stripes on her nor did she have a multi-coloured shell. That narrowed it down to two endangered species or a snapper.

Fast forward to Thursday morning. Same path. Further along, 'Nuk and I stopped to consider taking the shortcut through the greenbelt home, or do we go back along the path the way we came. It's not yet 8 a.m.; these things need to be pondered. Goodness knows where my brain was, because I suddenly noticed that 'Nuk was very nearly standing on a turtle. It was a big turtle. Shortcut it was! I rushed home with the dog and returned with the camera.

There's a funny part to all of this. Not Funny-funny. But weird-funny. Just a week ago, we got a package from the Toronto Zoo. The Package contained information about Ontario's eight turtle species and the Zoo's Turtle Tally program. And here I was wondering how I was going to be able to find a turtle to tally.

Some pics of the beast:

Incomplete Thoughts...

2008-06-10T19:07:00.004-04:00

I figure that if I come to the keyboard with the expectation of probably not finishing a blog then perhaps something will be posted.

There's been a number of projects going on around here. Nothing too all-encompassing.

On the homeschooling front, we're finishing math and our current Story of the World reading and activities. I organized a session of Environmental Science at the local conservation area which finishes in a week. K's been writing up a storm and R has been reading on his own. We've been baking and planning and science-project-ing and hanging out and socializing and planting and observing and printing and adapting.

Building management actually managed some managing and our floors were un-carpeted and laminate was installed. New baseboards followed a week later with only a minimal amount of nagging on my part.

B and I bought bicycles, much to the kids' amazement. We've been enjoying some family bike rides this Spring. I look forward to working the kids up to across-town rides this summer.

Summer soccer has started. K decided to expand her repertoire with some team sports this year and has enjoyed her first couple games of the season.

B's job description has taken a drastic change and he's happy to be working from home this last while. I quite like it. It creates a different, more relaxed, vibe for me. For him, I think there's more disruption. However, we bought him a stylin' new coffee maker that seems to distract him from our disruptions. It's working so far.

R's just recently taken a turn for the worse in the kidney department. I've been emailing and on the phone with CHEO the last two days and it seems that surgery will be sooner than later. This is a pretty big blip on the radar for our family. I know a lot of our time and effort will be going toward getting through the prep, the procedure and the recovery - for all of us, not just R.

That's all she wrote for now folks. If I'm not traumatized by blogging for the first time in months, I'll be back.

Knitting Revelations

2008-02-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

My knitting habit has been badly stalled. This is due to a few factors, but mostly I've hit a block. I have all this stashed yarn and mountains of patterns that were given to me by a retiring knitter, yet I don't know what to knit with it. The scary part is that K and I have purged this stash twice! The previously purged yarn has been passed on to the Red Cross Volunteer Knitters in our town. They appreciate it. They actually knit with it. It's better for them to have it. I've done the same thing with my embarrassingly large collection of patterns. I've purged to the Goodwill. Twice. There are still too many patterns in my bin.

So yesterday, in my basement, with Christmas decorations still floating about waiting to be put away, I got ambitious. I purged almost all of the yarn and nearly all of the patterns. I soothed the hoarder in myself by justifying with the Internet: any pattern I liked and wanted to keep, I had to look for on the Internet. If it was there, I had to get rid of the hard copy. I was ruthless. I tempted the shopper in me by promising myself purchases: once I found something I loved and wanted to knit, then I would purchase the yarn I need. I have recycled half of the patterns and I have bagged up the rest to donate. There is a large green garbage bag full of yarn sitting in my hallway ready to haul to Red Cross today.

To impede any second thoughts, I immediately filled up my knitting bin with the Christmas decorations. It is furthermore known as 'the Christmas bin' and it occupies the only space available for said bin. I am happy with this new organizational step I've taken. There's peace with my decision and there's anticipation. I'm very much looking forward to finding the perfect thing to knit. Or crochet. Because I kept all of my needles and hooks. And notions. I wouldn't get rid of everything! What a small amount of space my knitting supplies now occupy on an alternate basement shelf.

I found the yellow cloth bin after my purge and I've managed to fit all of my kept yarn in it. There's one ball of crochet cotton, as I like to make snowflake ornaments. There's enough Irish Aran wool to make a sizeable project, so I kept that. As well, some unlabeled fine cream coloured wool. It's very soft so it must have some cashmere or angora or something of the sort to it. Again, enough to make a project of some sort. The two blue balls are washable acrylic but feel like angora, so I kept them. They match my winter coat, so I might get a pair of mittens out of them if I ever get ambitious. K liked the red, leftover from her Santa hat, so we kept that as well. Then, there are various skeins of an acrylic boucle. On my to-do list is to scour the pages of Ravelry to see if I can find a pattern to use it up on. I'm thinking Christmas gifts for my poor, struggling siblings and their significant others.

Oh, but I'm not done yet! So, the stash is pared to next-to-nothing proportions. I have no room to expand my new small collection, as the shelf space is re-assigned. What else can there be, you ask? Check out these new websites I found.

Ravelry Ok, it's not new. If you've not yet signed up and you are even just interested in sticks and string and knotting it together, sign up! There is a treasure trove on inspiration and instruction.

Mason-Dixon Knitting A knitting blog that is hilarious to read. They are leaps and bounds beyond my personal knitting ability, but they are entertaining and for me, that's motivation.

Organized Knitting This is a new blog, spun off from a Ravelry group. If you have any voyeuristic tendencies at all, you'll enjoy seeing people's personal solutions to knitting chaos. If you have no knitting interest whatsoever and are more to the OCD side of the spectrum, you'll enjoy all the pictures of bins and baskets and labels. I'm not totally sold on this blog yet, but as it's new, I'll keep checking in (with Google Reader, of course) to see where it goes.

Sock Pixie A blog, yet more. This is a mother-daughter team that sells sock yarn. I haven't bought any yet, but the colours they use are reason enough to stop by and poke around. Free patterns are regularly posted in case you're interested in trying out some fancy foot work. Sock Pixie has just recently posted two of the cutest baby slipper patterns I've come across.

Ok, now I'm done.

Happy Birthday To ME!

2008-02-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

Since pictures have been scarce around here lately, I thought I would share a pic of my birthday present. Notice the lovely new flat screen monitor? Notice the cords that are not cluttering up my desk? My new mouse and keyboard are free and unattached. I am very pleased with the new electronics. My ultimate goal is to get rid of the computer desk, mount the monitor on the wall and stash the box and printer downstairs. Of course, this will require the purchase of a couple of key pieces of pricey equipment, so it's not going to be an immediate set-up, but with my birthday present, we're well on the way. I am very much looking forward to making better use of the small amount of space that is available in our living area.

Otherwise, a lovely day. Perfect rink-building temperatures. (We're anxiously awaiting the opening of the outdoor rinks.) The kids and I did some housework and math. We went to Homeschooler Skating and then R's hockey practice. A nice ham dinner was waiting when we arrived home. That ham practically cooked itself! B cleaned up while the kids and I read. I fielded a number of calls from various family members wishing me a happy birthday, 8 telemarketing calls and a call from our building owners promising that a flooring company would be paying me a call to measure my floors for laminate flooring. It doesn't get better than this.

I'll leave you with this love tidbit overheard in the dressing room at the skating rink:

R: entering dressing room in an overexcited rush Hey - it's my Mom's birthday today!! Oh, hi everybody. (greetings exchanged) I'm not going to tell you how old mom is because it's not polite to share a lady's age unless she says it's ok. Hey - Mrs.P! You brought cupcakes! For my mom's birthday! Are there 33 of them? One for each year?!
How's that for discretion?

All Set Up

2008-02-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

So there, I've done it. I set up Google Reader. 42 subscriptions and if those bloggers who regularly lurk would leave a comment, it'd be more!

At a glance, I can see which sites have been updated. That means, I can sit down a few times a day and not spend an hour clicking through links. Novel.

For those who asked via email or comments:

No, it's not as visually appealing as reading at the actual blog. However, it is less visually cluttered and for those of us who are easily sucked into the abyss of link-clicking, that's usually a good thing. Not that I don't appreciate the time and effort people put into the look of their blogs. I do! But my hungry children and my neglected husband and my crummy floor and my overflowing sink and my laundry monster and my magazine pile and my school shelf all appreciate every minute I'm not procrastinating at the PC;
Yes, I can see all the pictures you posted;
Yes, if I want to comment, I click through to the blog to do so...unless there's a work-around that I haven't found yet. We all know that I'm working on the fringes of my technical prowess. Don't overtax my confidence - if there's a trick, please let me know.
Yes, I find Google Reader more suited to me than Bloglines was. No good reason. I'm sure they both work the same.

The only other thing I've done is I've set myself up at Feedburner. I believe this is a good thing, but honestly, I don' t understand it well enough to talk about it intelligently yet. How's that for telling it like it is?! (Ree, are you there? Do you ever read the little people's blogs?) I did find a lovely Feedburner Help Center that, I'm sure, is going to be quite educational. Dontcha just love these adventures I embark on and then insist on sharing with you?!

Virtual Furniture Is Moving

2008-02-09T20:55:00.001-05:00

In my unsatisfied quest to shuffle things up around here, I have dabbled where the techy-wannabe's should not.

It all started a few months ago when Doc mentioned that she uses a feed reader to wade through all the 384 292 495 sites she likes to keep up with. Clever, I thought. I thought I might even like to set me up one of them new fangled do-dads.

I did a wee bit of reading and nearly fell asleep because that is the particular physical response that occurs when I try to understand technical things that are beyond my simple reasoning abilities. Normally, I avoid such situations by having B explain them to me....which quickly turns into him just doing it for me. That's why I married him. You know how they normally say that necessity is the mother of invention? Not so. Just marry your Tech Support Wizard and you're all set. Ahem.

However, one of the reasons I began a blog was to expand my technical proficiency. So, I decided I must persevere. And boy, gee whiz, Wally, waddayaknow!!

I found this wondrous tidbit at Blogging Basics 101. Not only does the video explain what the feeds are, but it also explains how to set yourself up with a reader. Nice. So, I've set myself up with bloglines. It doesn't really appeal to me visually, but I must admit, I've got some favourite blogs subscribed to and does it ever make my morning blog-crawl super fast!! Now that I've been using it for a week or so, I think I may pop over to Google Reader and see if I like that reader better.

So, although no makeover is apparent here at Bonni's, I am still re-organizing and cleaning out bookmarks. It's refreshing like changing the furniture around and vacuuming places that haven’t been vacuumed since you last changed the furniture around is refreshing. Really. Now, if only I can figure out this feedburner thing...

I'd Blog A Little, But...

2008-02-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

...it seems like the provider's having some problems. So I've been spending time away from the PC doing other stuff. Like reading. And watching Stargate: Atlantis with B. And playing in the snow - all 16.5cm of it - with the kids and the dog. And updating our timeline up with some timeline figures that reflect our history reading. And writing nasty (but professional sounding) emails to the owners of our property telling them what a useless person they have employed in the position of building manager and when exactly were they, the owners, going to address the questions/issues/maintenance requests that we have been repeatedly submitted.

Have a good weekend.

Here We Go Again...

2008-02-04T21:40:00.000-05:00

R's had another 'episode'.

If you've been following along, as I know some of you have, you'll remember that over the last year and a half, R's had some kidney problems. The short story is that his left kidney is in pretty bad shape due to what we think is UPJ Obstruction. But not just any old UPJ Obstruction, an intermittent obstruction. We suspect that this has been a problem all of his 8 short years, but due to the nature of the beast, it's been missed until now.

We're seeing a Urologist that we really like (not that we've had the opportunity to interview a panel of them or anything) at a hospital that we're blessed to be close to. Every few months, we head up there to have R's kidney scanned to see if there have been any changes. So far, so good.

My mission, that I chose to accept because it seemed to be the least of two evils, is to try to spirit the child to the nearest ultrasound machine at the peak of an episode of kidney pain. Now, if you have young children, you may be aware that sometimes they're not too adept at describing different types of discomfort.

That's challenge Number One: accurately identifying an episode before it passes and not blaming it on too much pepperoni or a wee bit of constipation. Luckily for me, there was no mistaking it this time.

Challenge Number Two would be finding an ultrasound set-up (available locally for your convenience from 8:30am to 4pm) before R's pain subsides. This kind of goes against my initial reaction to pain in one of my offspring. I tend to be a Fix It Now kind of mom. However, I do know that this step is important to identifying the specific problem that we're dealing with so I try to play along.

Of course, none of this is textbook or simple. The Urologist says he knows for pretty-much-absolutely-certainly-for-sure that UPJ is what we're dealing with. Yet we haven't got absolute proof. Mm hmm. R cannot seem to coordinate his 'episode' with regular business hours. I want absolute proof before anyone attempts to 'fix' the problem.

So we found ourselves in the local Emergency Department at 2:11am last week. It was a comedy of errors that I would be happy to explain to you at a later time. Of course, there's nothing Emerg can do at 2am, but I'm under strict instructions to try to catch this episode on film, so I'm doing my best. At any rate, we got the ball rolling. We were on our way home two hours later with an emergency ultrasound requisition and some lab work to be done. The worst of R's pain has passed and we got a couple of hours of sleep.

Back at the hospital at 10am, we were spirited in for an ultrasound. We dropped of the lab work. Did I mention that this was a Friday? No results available until Monday morning.

The comedy of errors continued as I dealt with trying to track down definitive results of lab work. By Wednesday, things had settled down. R was beginning to feel better after existing on water and Crush freezies for 5 days. I knew he wasn't in need of antibiotics for a kidney infection. I'd been in touch with the Urologist and his clinic nurse who were both very helpful. Crisis averted until next time.

Next time will involve a dash to the nearest functioning ultrasound equipment. That likely means a looooonnnngg drive with a kid who does not want to be strapped into a seatbelt while I try to deliver him and his kidney to CHEO in the wee hours of the night. It's a strange dichotomy: good that we're able to access the services that we need. Yet, not so good to be hoping that a child's pain will last so the trip is not wasted.

The very likely next step is surgery. I know this. I've put the Urologist off for 6 months and that clock is quickly running out of time. Not being mentally nor emotionally prepared to have someone I know as little as the Urologist babysit my kid let alone cut him open, I think I am approaching this in a remarkably uncharacteristically practical way. So far I have asked Brian to book the day of R's next appointment off work. And I've told my extended family to plan on entertaining K for the day. That's enough for now, me thinks.

Suggestions, please?

2008-02-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

Can you see me pulling my hair out? Really. I'm frustrated. With various things. But blogging is right up at the top of the list for now. You will notice that I still don't have a header picture up. After a number of days playing with colour schemes, template options and other fiddly bits, I've given up.

Moving On.

I'm looking for some suggestions. Not about the blog...well, maybe about the blog if you felt like sharing. More seriously, I'm looking for suggestions regarding a science curriculum, or resource, or series. Something that is organized in some fashion that may be used to facilitate learning about science-y things. No explanation is necessary if you're not feeling chatty....just a title or a link is fine. If you'd care to streamline your suggestion, I'll leave some helpful hints.

Helpful Hints

I like things that are laid out and simple to follow.
Experiments that are not going to maim or destroy and that can be done at the kitchen table yet put away at the end of the day are good.
K likes bookwork, R, not so much.
K is all about the Life Science-y things: biology, ecology, zoology and R is more of a Physics/Probability/Chemistry sort of kid.
Mythbusters has been popular with both kids.
I'm all for something that jumps all over the map providing jumping off points if an interest presents itself.

Awaiting your responses with much anticipation,

Bonni

Welcome T'mortons, Can I Take Yerder?

2008-01-30T08:02:00.000-05:00

SillyMortalMama reminded me of something when she mentioned Chester Drawers.

A disturbing trend has been noticed at our local Tim Horton's. When the kids remark on it, I know it must be a fairly pronounced trend. Occasionally we'll use the drive-thru.

Welcome t'mortons. Can I take yerder?

Yes, I'm flattered to be welcomed to Tim Horton's. You most certainly can take My Order. Or-der. Two words: Your. Order.

Then, while you're at it, you may also make eye contact, you may put the lid on correctly after stirring my coffee and then pass it out the window to me. If you notice it dripping, do not sigh and roll your eyes as hot coffee trickles over my wrist and onto the ground while I scramble for napkins over in the glove box all because you lack the courtesy and common sense to prepare a coffee in the cup!

Also, if my coffee or-der totals $2.60 (large double-double and a medium triple-triple decaf) and I hand you $2.75, you are then obligated to return $0.15 to me!! Don't stand there looking out the window at me like you expect me to drive away without my change. What IS that? Such an attitude of entitlement. Unless, of course, I'm now expected to tip sloppy customer service?! I don't recall that memo.

Which reminds me of another story. Same Tim Horton's. I'd say a different employee, however, since they all seem to acquire the same drawled vernacular, it's hard to tell.

Employee: (while having chest and an elbow draped on the counter) That will be $4.60.

Customer #1: (opens wallet to get money)

Employee: Oh!! I take $20 tips you know!!

Customer #1: (ignore rude comment from Employee who continues to lean over counter and stare into wallet; hand over cash to pay) Thank you, Ma'am.

Employee: Ma'am!!?? You called me 'Ma'am'!! Hoooollllyyy! I should keep this $20 as a tip. 'Ma'am' is for old ladies! (turn to fellow employee) Hey Jessica, this guy called me 'Ma'am'!!

Customer #1 gets his change and moves on. Customer #2 approaches counter.

Employee: What can I getcha, Ma'am?

Seriously. How would you feel if you were Customer #2. I cannot believe the ignorance of some people. If this is how they behave at work, I am scared to think how they behave in the company of friends and family.

This Week...

2008-01-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Here we have our week of planned activities. You will see that there is a strong Winter theme. In the midst of it all, we're attempting a bit of school-ish work and some de-cluttering.

Monday: Homeschooler's Skate at the local arena. Hang out at the arena for a bit. Hockey practice.

Tuesday: Swimming and Indoor Soccer. Stretch parental resources to accomodate two children, two activities, one car and one start time.

Wednesday: Out of town Sewing Workshop with fellow Homeschoolers.

Thursday: Afternoon Pond Hockey, weather permitting. Indoor Soccer.

Friday: Skate With The Braves. Family Date Night.

Consider yourselves updated. ;-)

All Because My Closet Is Organized?! or What Spending Too Much Time Indoors Forced Me To Do.

2008-01-22T07:24:00.000-05:00

So this is interesting....

Your Personality is the Rarest (INFJ)

Your personality type is introspective, principled, self critical, and sensitive.

Only about 2% of all people have your personality - including 3% of all women and around 1% of all men.
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

RegularMom over at Like I Have Time For This was right. I didn't really want to hear: Your Personality Type Is Pretty Much Plain Old Run-Of-The-Mill. You boring bastard.

However.

Being judging and self-critical isn't necessarily on my list of secret desires either. After hearing this, I thought I might go hibernate some more. But then, I intuitively realized that the Jehovah's Witness ladies were coming up the drive so I, being so principled as to understand my priorities, rushed to the basement and tackled some laundry. That made me realize what a mess my closet was and as punishment for my sloppy folding and indiscriminate piling, I had to tidy up. Well, who knew my idiosyncrasies depended upon the state of my wardrobe?!

Here's me with a tidy closet:

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Thank you, if you've gotten this far. Sad, isn't it? I've resorted to random Internet quizzes. I've been feeling a lack of blogging mojo lately and this just proves it, I suppose.

Perhaps it's time to shake things up around here; clean out the cobwebs; slap on a fresh coat of virtual paint. We'll see. Hope all is well with you who regularly haunt me here. I'm checking in even if I'm not too talkative here.

Ks Birthday

2008-01-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Ks 10th birthday was filled with a little more glitz and glamour than we traditionally have come to expect or plan for. That was fine and dandy for her - a newly 10 year old "pre-teen" <-- her words. Me, I'm actively fighting to keep them as young as possible for as long as possible.

Birthdays in our house involve a few gifts as soon as you wake up. Makes for great pictures. Really. Celebrating at Grandma M and Dr.G's house was no exception. (Birthdays in our house usually involve a few gifts and a family outing with a lunch or dinner of the celebrator's choice. This year, since we were in the Baltimore area, K chose to visit the National Aquarium - which we did on the 22nd. The rest of the festivities happened on Dec. 23rd, K's 'real' birthday.)

Grandma M, who was excited about our first holiday with her had gone all out. K, in fairly good spirits (and totally shocking us who know her truly introverted, never-preforming nature) donned the crown provided for the festivities.

There was some shrieking involved during the unveiling of the gifts. This one in particular is an engraved iPod Shuffle. It's a good thing B thought to load it and charge it before we left home.

A little later in the day, we ventured out for the traditional Cake Search. K seemed a little daunted by Grandma M's wielding of the fire extinguisher when it came time to eat said cake. Apparently Grandma's house is equipped with a fairly sensitive sprinkler system.

The day was ended with a surprise trip to Medieval Times for a dinner show. Go White Knight!

Post Holiday Santa Hat

2008-01-15T07:53:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I came across a pattern at FreePatterns.com that I liked. It's a chunky, crocheted Santa Hat. I whipped one up in short order, only to find that it was huge. This prompted me to actually read the beginning of the pattern which clearly states that it is sized to fit over a Santa Wig. And just who might wear a Santa Wig? A big, burly, Santa-ish man, don't you think?? I gifted the large hat to my dad, the only Santa-ish man I know.

I began another Santa Hat, this time, reducing the pattern - not really at random - hoping it would fit one of the kids. I was, surprisingly, successful. Surprisingly, because I was new to this whole crochet thing and I didn't really understand stitch gauge or modifying patterns.

Fast forward a few years to Christmas 2007. K and I were shopping before leaving for our Christmas trip and she found some very bulky, kinda sparkly white yarn. It would be great for another Santa hat. R had been wearing the finished one nonstop and K would like one. I figure it's a hat, we're in Canada, hats are good.

On our long drive, I crocheted my little heart out. Until I ran out of yarn. Still, I'm not very good at the stitch gauge thing. The project was postponed until after Christmas. Which brings us to now. I did play with the pattern again to size it down a bit. It seems to be a fairly forgiving pattern. The finished hat is chunky and big and very warm, probably due to the sheer amount of yarn in the band. A giant pom-pop pulls the hat over in a pleasing Santa-Hat style.

I wonder if this counts as getting ready for Christmas 2008?

Pics - Our Christmas 2007 Trip

2008-01-14T19:29:00.000-05:00

Opening the travelling gifts from G. Christmas this year has officially begun - Dec.20/07

The sleeping quarters at Grandma Maddie's house.

The Lindt Chocolate store. Who knew?! And you can buy individual chocolates! In flavours we Canadians have never even heard of! Raspberry and orange. Raspberry and Orange!!!

A decadent way to end lunch on the 22nd.
Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day. More electronics. I fear I may never again see an unplugged kid. That's not true...they're pretty good at self-regulating. Sort of.

Boomer. Old crochety bachelor at the grand old age of 25. Unless you have food. Then he's charming.

Kellie. Lovely young chatterbox. Known to antagonize others.

A Short Story in the Life of Us

2008-01-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

The kids chose to spend some of their Christmas money on a big book of Greek Mythology. They've been enjoying reading about Ancient Greek Culture and folklore, so it was a sure thing.

Today we skimmed through the book. We opened flaps and pored over the maps. We traced the mazes and just checked out the book in it's entirety. After all, it'd be a shame to spend the day on page 1 when page 8 might be all the more interesting.

So this evening when R was climbing around the living room, he banged the back of his leg and immediately went into the fall-down dramatics one might expect from an overtired, silly 8 year old.

"Oh, my Epimetheus Bone! Oh! I just cracked my Epimetheus Bone on the coffee table! Oh!"

I looked at him, wondering what on earth he could be talking about. Then it came to me in a split second: he'd whacked his Achilles Tendon. What a kid.

Not A Day In The Life

2008-01-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

I was going to go with a "Day In The Life" type of blog for you today. However, I recall that I cleaned up after the dog in the melting backyard today. I'll spare you.

Today was a little school-ish. But then, I'd been prepping the kids by counting down the days until we returned to a regular schedule. We hit the couch for some reading. Cracked the math books so we can remember what they look like. Squeaked out a couple of thank-you notes.

Have I mentioned I'm not the world's most patient person? Not only that, but I have no capacity to tolerate trying things. Most days I experience a moderate degree of frustration and annoyance. I blame my dad. Today, I managed to keep my wits about me. I didn't lose my patience with the kids. Sure, I was frustrated once or nine times, but I kept a handle on it and we got through the day accomplishing quite a few things. You'd think that now that I am thirty-twmmphlth that I would be mature enough to just accept these things and move on. Nope. Daily Struggle.

We are in the midst of a melt. It's been steadily getting warmer over the weekend. Everything is wet. We saw a cloud move through our back field today...at ground level. We've been having work done on our building. New siding, soffit, fascia and eavestrough. The workers haven't been back since a week before Christmas. The siding is mostly done, but no eaves trough. It's a gamble stepping out the door to see who gets the drip down the back of their neck. There's water piling up everywhere. I was enjoying our tall snowbanks. I think I'll miss them. But, Winter is only beginning, so hopefully we'll see the snow return.

The Christmas tree has been put away. I packed up the ornaments making sure to mark the kids' new ones with their names and the year. I am glad that when they grow up and have their own tree that they will have plenty of ornaments to decorate it with.

So, an early night for me. These 6:30 mornings catch up with you in the evenings!

Ravelry and Me

2008-01-05T14:30:00.000-05:00

I've taken a few minutes over the last couple of days to delve into the new Ravelry.com site. What fun! It's organization and networking all in one shebang.

There are tools there to keep track of everything you can think of concerning your knitting, your crochet or your compulsively collected stash of yarn. I think I'm supposed to say 'fiber', not 'yarn'. I can catalogue my needles. I can earmark favorite patterns I'd like to try out. I entered only one project in my personal notebook. It's a fun Santa Hat from Freepatterns.com that I'm making for K. R already has one. I can't believe the feeling of motivation that Ravelry is inspiring. Very cool side effect of all that organization!

Not only can I organize, but I've been poking around checking out the networking opportunities. I've joined a couple of groups relevant to my area. Although my small town doesn't yet have a group of it's own, there's one that's close. There's a certain anonymous comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one enjoying this new plaything on the 'Net. I've noticed there are swaps and take-along project groups to join as well. How's anonymous accountability for motivation!? Certainly better than not having any local real-life peers to share in your projects.

I think I'm going to have fun with this Ravelry thing. Off to work on the hat! Enjoy your weekend.

Ice Storm 1998 - My Pics

2008-01-04T12:34:00.001-05:00

Here we are spending the day doing what we did during the Ice Storm of January '98: chatting, reading, hanging out, listening to the radio. In our area, the radio station was the saving grace for many people. The local radio personality stayed on the air for days on end taking updates and spreading the word. Through the radio updates, we knew where there was gas, propane, firewood, food, water and emergency shelter. We knew which roads were closed, where outside help was coming from and which services were providing door-to-door checks.

This is a pic of my backyard, looking toward the back of the garage portion of the house.

A little further afield, you can see a bit of the devastated treeline. This is my dad and my favorite dog ever, Jerry Lee.

Here we are still standing by the tractor looking toward the barns.

A very dark picture looking out the front door, past Jerry's head into the yard. The structure around the tree was our tree house. The ground was littered with branches, limbs and twigs. Really, you should be able to see much more open snowy yard. Surprisingly, the branches that came down didn't damage the house or the vehicles in the drive. There was a lot of clean-up to do once things settled down after the rain and ice. The whine of chain saws became commonplace. This particular tree was taken down the next summer - after R was born and my wedding approached in August of '99. Another big maple in the front yard is still doing ok minus a number of limbs. The birch seems to be permanently bowed and a small fir tree sprang back to grow up normally.

Ice Storm 1998 - 10 years

2008-01-03T21:12:00.001-05:00

It was ten years ago almost to the day that the Ice Storm struck our town. It was both gorgeous and devastating. It was also memorable.

I awoke the morning the power had gone out beside a sleepy, new baby. My mom was sitting in my living room (I was living in an attached apartment at my parent's home in the country) waiting for me to wake up. I immediately noticed it was cold in the house. Mom had let me sleep in as I was a good heat source for the baby. K had been born on the 23rd of December. She was a mere two weeks old. My life was a fog of breastfeeding and diaper changing. My mom was doing her best to get her life to revolve around the grandchild's.

Long story short, we toughed it out at home for an hour or so. The neighbourhood was certain the baby would be getting cold any time so I packed up and headed next door in order to forestall the parental mutiny that was about to take place if I hadn't. My GP lived next door to my parents. The maternity nurse lived two doors down the other way. Our GP's house was equipped with a number of wood stoves, an excess of empty bedrooms and a well stocked freezer. Along for the ride was Mrs. GP, their neighbours on the other side and my extended family. We embarked on a week of eating like kings in order to use up the food that was thawing. The menfolk thawed ice for necessary water (flushing and bathing). The womenfolk reached deep into our ancestral instinct and prepared wood-stove-top meals. K was bathed nightly in a stockpot - not because nightly bathing was necessary, but to ensure everyone got a turn. As it turns out, babies are very entertaining in a house of 12 people with no electricity.

My uncles smuggled a generator to our home from Barrie, Ontario. It took them nearly 24 hours to make the usually 4 hour drive. They packed their own food and water as there was none available on the way. The generator was hooked up to my parent's home and then shared among the neighbours throughout the day so the pipes of the homes would not freeze. We got to know the hydro workers who worked to repair the lines and restore power on our road. To gas up the car meant waiting in line for hours - and only if you had cash - to hope there was still gas at the pumps by the time it was your turn. For a change of scenery, a stroll around the grocery store was entertaining and informative. There certainly wasn't much food to buy as the trucks stopped running and people had panic-shopped the shelves to nearly empty.

It was definitely an adventurous time. It was an important time as well. We learned about community and helping others and graciously accepting help for ourselves. To his day, I can call any of the people on my parent's road and they are ready and willing to help. We learned about being prepared and surviving without panicking (well, most of us, anyway). We learned about patience.

The pics here I gleaned from the 'Net. I'll have to scan in my own for you to see. I still see remnants of the Ice Storm here in town and out at my parent's place. The trees have no tops. They're sort of flattish across the tops - stunted looking. If you walk in the woods, you can still find half-downed trees, damaged from the weight of the many inches of ice. It was a memorable time. So much so that in my emotional post-partum state, I immortalized it by adding a weather related 6th name to my poor daughter's moniker. Yes, the poor thing has 6 names in total. Like I said, it was a memorable time.

Over & Out

2007-12-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

I'm shedding some guilt and declaring a blog-iday. A holiday from my blog. I feel guilty when I don't blog regularly as I do enjoy it. I enjoy getting visitors and comments. I enjoy recording the little happenings in our lives and our learning. I, however, have learned that I cannot do everything when things get busy.

We're preparing for the holiday. December is a holiday in itself, never mind the whole Christmas thing. We've been enjoying making crafts and a bit of baking. Doing up some cards and having photos done. Sledding and shovelling and taking the dog out in the snow. I'm cleaning the house and keeping the laundry caught up. We're sidestepping the siding/roofer guys that keep clogging up the bottom half of our driveway and then huff and sigh when we ask them to make space for our car. We're wrapping and planning. Packing officially starts tomorrow.

So, for those December birthdays I'm not around for - Happy Birthday wishes to you. And Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating. I am looking forward to the post holiday blog posts from those who wish to share about their holiday happenings. I hope those who are not feeling well perk up soon and those who do feel well continue to do so through to the New Year and beyond.

For us, the holiday will continue through to the end of the month. Family Christmases on the 24th, 25th, 29th, 30th and one to be announced. Some travelling, some visiting, some sight-seeing and lots and lots of family time. There's a shin-dig my brother's been planning for New Year's and then I should be back. With stories!

So, I am off. See you on the flip side! Some pics to send you off...

Nuk lying in a snowbank. She's about five foot above the road at the end of our drive, watching traffic. Silly beast.

Puzzle piece Gingerbread Men ornaments in progress. Hat tip to Jennifer for the idea.

Homemade Christmas Cards. I sent out a whopping 4. The rest are to go with the homemade Christmas gift baskets for those we will see over the holidays.

A December tradition with friends. Graham cracker 'gingerbread' creations. R made a hockey rink complete with boards, goalie creases, face off circles and Zamboni snow banks.

L&L

Self-Portrait & Shovelling & Sentiments

2007-12-16T11:29:00.000-05:00

8:30am and I'm heading outside. Welcome to Canada, folks!

It's like shovelling silica gel out there! The snow is heavy, but not too dense. The end of the driveway was a little tricky when the plow went by. Good exercise, though. K and I had to shovel the top of a snowbank 6 feet south a couple of times. As we piled the snow up, it began to slide back at us. Not only that, but the bank at the end of the drive was as tall as I was and I figure that's an unsafe obstruction when I'm sitting in my car trying to pull into traffic.

I love having a lot of snow. First, it's insulating and who doesn't like to be warm?? It reminds me of when I was little, living 'in der valley', the Ottawa Valley, that is. We lived in a tiny town on a dead end in suburbia. I must have been very short as all I remember of winters there are the snowbanks. The plows would pile the snow up well above my head. My similarly statured friends and I would walk to school on the snow banks, enjoying the slide down to street level every time we came to a driveway that had been shovelled. Of course, then we had to climb back up. The exciting part was never knowing when you would plunge, hip deep down into the snowbank. Risk-taking, adrenaline junkie 6 year olds that we were. It's been a long time since I remember seeing snow like that. Today reminded me of taller-then-my-head snowbanks.

Batten Down The Hatches

2007-12-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

Saturday was cold, grey and cold. We got together with a few friends and went sledding despite the chilly temperature. It was -15°C and colder at the top of the hill. The kids had a good time, though. We lasted nearly two hours until I couldn't feel my toes. We led an exodus to the local Tim Horton's where hot drinks and muffins helped us to thaw.

Saturday was also calm. It was a little windy at the top of the hill, but that's to be expected. As hills go, it's pretty big. Normally, I wouldn't have been watching the forecast very closely, but we have an out-of-town birthday celebration planned for K tomorrow. So I checked the forecast.

We're in for a storm, folks. Our present location is scheduled to get the brunt of the snowfall. Apparently, it's to be accompanied with thunder (thunder?!), a bit of ice rain and high winds. They're predicting a high rate of snowfall which means driving in our small town will be treacherous. Traditionally, the Old Boys Club here likes to wait until it's stopped snowing before clearing the roads. That will prove to be entertaining at the very least with 40-45cm of snow expected.

With this new found knowledge and very few staples in the house, I called for a grocery run. I told the kids to be prepared for a busy grocery store, however it seems that was unnecessary. The store was eerily vacant. Strange for a small town that normally overcompensates when a weather warning is posted. The Ice Storm of January '98 is still very fresh in our minds.

Not a flake of snow was flying before 10pm. We had a late dinner and movie with the kids (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) before heading to bed. At bedtime, it was snowing very lightly. Just enough of a dusting to see swirling patterns of snow on the empty road.

This morning, Sunday, there is some accumulation. And as we pass the 7:30am mark, the snow is coming down fairly steadily. It looks like some shovelling is in order. It also looks as though Plan A, The Birthday Party, will have to be postponed. Plan B, The Wrapping of Presents and The Decorating of the Christmas Tree will be put into action. It's just as well...that will give me time to worry and wonder about my extended family who will be attempting to drive home to this neck of the woods from the Toronto area - yup, directly along the storm route. Fun times, I'm sure.

We've Been Out And About/'First' Snow

2007-12-09T19:44:00.001-05:00

A few weekends ago, we went downtown and caught the local Santa Claus Parade. It wasn't' too cold until about halfway through when the wind picked up. It was only an hour, though, so nothing too unbearable.

On this particular weekend, we had company to join us. I won't point everyone out. Those who need to be in the know, do. It was nice. After the parade, we came home and I started a pot of hot chocolate. Our company aren't hot chocolate people, they say. However, I certainly didn't have any left over so either they are extremely polite or I make a wicked hot chocolate.

There's a newish kennel in town. We're so happy to find a great kennel run by someone we trust with our fur baby. We were very surprised to see the kennels float in the parade. It was a great float.

I normally get very excited about the first snow we get. I was underwhelmed this year, though. So the pics about aren't the first snow. They're more like the third snow. For our first week of 'dusting', the kids were quick to get out there and shovel. Then, the snow was a little more cumbersome. At that point, I began taking the dog out and shovelling in the early morning. The kids and I go out a couple of times a day to freshen up the shovelling or to take the dog for a 'tunnel'. It's very curious. The dog, once outside, plants her head into the snow and then drives her head through the yard with her back legs. After a week of deeper snow, she hasn't let up yet. More evidence that having a dog is like having a toddler forever. At least this one is contained on a leash.

Paper Projects

2007-12-09T19:08:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard to finish a paper project. My mom asked me to frilly up some pictures for one of my brothers. I'm a total rookie when it comes to these things, but I can claim some creative abilities which were much more prevalent in my youth. I finally finished it because there are two other projects knocking down my door.

Especially for Penelope, here's a few grainy, blurry highlights of the finished product:

Title Page. The glare is from the page protectors which are finicky to remove and replace.

Downtown London spread. I was a bit nervous to cut up the pictures when doing this project. After all, it wasn't my trip and I wasn't sure which pics were favourites. The pic at the bottom of this layout was sliced in half and there's another on the right that was chopped up into three tiny pieces.

Pop-Up Brother. I cut Dear Brother out of one of the copies of this picture and placed him over top of himself. Clever, no? In all of Dear Brother's pictures, the greens are very green and the blues are really, really blue. Must be that fresh English countryside air.

Pockets. These hold all Dear Brother's ticket stubs, receipts, flyers and pamphlets and other odds and ends you collect on a trip.

Endpage. If you know Dear Brother, you know that he's...um, we'll call it 'self-assured' and 'confident'. He took some pics of his hand holding Stonehenge. Unfortunately, his perspective was off. So R and I played with the pics, cut out bits and pieces and came up with what R calls "How Stonehenge Was Built".

And that's the preview. Hopefully Dear Brother isn't angry that I cut up his pictures.

Oh No. My Ravelry Invite Has Arrived.

2007-11-26T14:00:00.001-05:00

So here I am about to start our schoolwork for the day. I check my email for the last time. It's justified, I'm the RSVP contact for two upcoming field trips. I'm waiting to hear from people!!

I'm also waiting to hear from Ravelry.

I was waiting on November 10th. I was #9327 in the queue.
I was still waiting for my invite on November 12th, I was #7397.
And then on the 14th, I was still way back at #6535.
I figured this was going to take forever.
Then, on the 22nd, I was #1840. Getting closer.

I didn't even check my status today. But lo and behold there is an invitation to Ravelry in my inbox. Right now! I'm a little excited. So much knitting motivation has never been collected in one spot before. I'm not even looking forward to making my own page, or keeping track of my stash or showing off my completed projects. No, I want to browse and discover! I want to explore and learn!

Yet, for the sake of my children, I will wait. Because we all know thay really, really want to get to their math lesson. Actually, they could leave the math lesson, but they are looking forward to our reading (Greek Myths). And we did sort of plan the day without a Ravelry interruption. <sigh>

Fruits of Labour

2007-11-24T21:10:00.000-05:00

R has been particularly busy lately. It's a good thing I backed off the book work so he had time and space to create two particular masterpieces that were up to his exacting standards.

First, there was the fun and traditional letter to Santa. Letters to Santa are chatty, not list-ish. R went all out. He detailed his extra-curricular activities and told of our holiday plans. He went on for two pages. He included in the envelope a portrait of Santa that he had drawn and coloured. He wrote Santa's address in alternating black and red letters beside yet another picture of Santa. He drew a detailed Santa stamp. It was the most elaborate masterpiece he's created to date, me thinks. Such motivation and focus have rarely been seen.

Then, there is Evil Gum Stick Man. Evil Gum Stick Man has escaped his gum package and has attacked a poor, unsuspecting gum stick. The yet un-named gum stick did manage to escape in a subsequent episode. Over two days, R produced a few pages of the Evil Gum Stick Man story. He then treated those who crossed our door step with a guided reading of his newly produced comics. This was a pleasant surprise in every case as R is not normally one to produce such things, let alone share them spontaneously.

New Books

2007-11-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

Over Canadian Thanksgiving, I ordered some new books for the shelf. I had tucked a bit of money away every once in a while over the summer. I was surprised to see I had as much to spend as I did. I bought an internet-linked Introduction To Music, The Story of Inventions - amusingly written and illustrated, a Puzzle Adventure/time travel book (R's favourite) about Ancient Roman culture, Alexander the Great from the Usborne Famous Lives series and a guide to the night sky in the hopes that I can answer a few more of the kids' questions.

I have been on the lookout for a book like The Usborne Art Treasury. It tells about an artist and why they were remarkable.

Then, it goes on to give an art project idea where you can explore the particular style or medium of the aforementioned artist.

K got busy right away sculpting foil and pipe cleaner figures after the work of Alberto Giacometti.

Sweater Sampler

2007-11-24T20:34:00.000-05:00

Not having a knitting mentor, I have always been a little leery of delving into colour work. I finally got over myself long enough to begin this little sweater for K's 18" doll. I just picked from my stash instead of buying something new. I'm not happy with the shape of the yoke but I am pleased that most of my colour changes were smooth. I followed the pattern exactly. I was surprised by the number of ends to be sewn in after I was finished knitting. In the end, a good experiment and lots of room for improvement.

Thoughts...

2007-11-23T17:14:00.000-05:00

Some personal thoughts from me today. I've been off the blog for a few days, although checking in at my favourite haunts to keep up with what's been going on.

I've hurt my back. Not fun. It's most noticeable while sitting at the PC, so I've been curtailing my computer time. I'm not convinced I've actually done damage, but there is definitely something going on back there. Back in my past life when I was power-lifting and weight training, I was very familiar with the feeling of incredibly fatigued muscles. The last few days, I'm feeling the constant burning of muscle fatigue in my upper back which gets really old, really fast.

Some good lessons this week in accountability and responsibility and giving things a chance. Had to solve a problem at K's swimming lessons. K was miserable and didn't want me to rock the boat. If it were me, I'd have left it, but it wasn't me, it was K . In the spirit of modeling good problem solving skills and standing up for your kids, problem was successfully solved. The kids and I have been discussing and discussing various issues surrounding behaviour and attitude and responsibility within our family. I feel like nothing is sinking in. I feel very discouraged. But I know that this shall pass and we'll be back on track very soon. Really. Right?

I feel my panic rising as December approaches. I've learned to not freak out until December, at which time I distract myself by preparing for the holiday. Clever, no? Since Brian and I have been together, I have been celebrating Advent each year. Not being terribly well-schooled in my Christian faith we probably don't do it any justice. However, I like having the four weeks to welcome and celebrate the winter season, to prepare for our Christmas celebrations and to focus on family and tradition throughout the month. The kids always surprise me with their generosity and I'm interested to see what they will come up with this year. That all said, the advertisements and flyers and the special sales and the overwhelming garish glitz of commercialism send me into a panic. Every year. Without fail. I've learned that Christmas lists are a must for our kids in order to avoid a plethora of situations. We are very blessed and spoiled to have been born into the families we have. But I stress over all of this.

This week I attended a short talk at our local library (Crystle In India), before going for coffee with a friend. Friend really needs to get blogging as she is so wonderful to talk with. I learn so much from her and she is very inspiring and motivating. The kids and I went to visit Jennifer this week as well. She showed me the nitty-gritties of how to emboss and the kids spent some time with her teenage son who was gracious enough to entertain them. I could go on about what a nice boy her son is, but that would make me feel old, embarrass him and I'm sure Jennifer already knows. I did a little work on my very first scrapbook. And I've set up two field trips for the kids. I have some creative ideas brewing...if you want some of your own, think about making some ornaments with your kids and get inspired over at Jennifer's.

So, that's my ramble for today. I'm going to be posting a few Short Pictorial Stories in the Life of Us over this evening and the weekend. Nothing too ambitious or deep, just some things we've been up to over the last little while that I don't want to forget about. I know you're intrigued. Hurry back.

I'm ready.

2007-11-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm ready. I've been preparing for a while. Now I have to jump in and just do it.

For a bit more than a year, I've been periodically dabbling in some paper craft. I dread to say 'scrapbooking', because that sounds like such a pigeon-holed word. I'm not into the frilly frou-frou that the word can sometimes call to mind.

I've purchased some of the basics upon the advice of my very artistic, very experienced, artist friend, Jennifer. The nice thing about Jennifer, is that she never tells you how to do something. She'll show you a technique, she'll tell you about something she's done, she'll suggest a path, but she won't say you have to do it this way. Jen also has a beautiful home filled with creative inspiration, makes time fly when you're spending time with her and has 4 handsome men in her life that lend themselves to amusing and interesting anecdotes.

With my basic supply of paper, ink, stamps and some other odds and ends I am going to attempt to create Christmas cards. I even attended a Card Making Session this very weekend with the talented and aforementioned Jennifer with the hopes of kick-starting my creativity. Not one to start out small, I am also undertaking a gift project, funded by and on behalf of my mother (a small scrapbook detailing a trip taken by my brother) as well as a birthday project for K. I figure the birthday project should have an imposed timeline just to up the ante a bit. I'll start in about two weeks and hope to be finished by the 23rd of December. Wish me luck. To muddy the waters a bit, I'll throw in a few more Sunday afternoon 'crops' (I think that's that you call them...) at my house. My mom and sister have been joining me the last few Sundays to create various projects using my collected supply of paper, inks and stamps. It's fun.

Even my wonderful husband, B has been getting in on the action. We've been watching eBay for good deals, Brian snipes them for me and then I wait patiently at home for the delivery man to arrive. He arrives consistently a half hour before I am dressed and ready for the day. Lucky him.

So hopefully I'll have some nice visuals for you soon. Pretty Christmas cards, manly scrapbook layouts and K's birthday timeline. If I don't, someone please email me and tell me to get my butt in gear. Really.

Step Into My Frustration

2007-11-15T23:15:00.000-05:00

A little bit of history before I explain. We rent our home. It is in a complex of rental townhouses. Management and maintenance have always had a bit to be desired. However, this situation suits our needs for the time being. The kids have their own bedrooms, it's not my parent's house, there's a garage, we're in town and grounds keeping including snow removal is included.

Imagine my surprise when we received a form letter explaining that wintertime snow removal services would no longer be continued. (Actually, some of my surprise stemmed from the fact that we had been given adequate notice, but I digress.) This is a disappointment. Having year-round grounds keeping services included in the rental agreement was a deciding factor for us. It makes the cost, compared to the other options, worth it. Not that we are unable to shovel our driveway, in fact, the kids and I quite often will shovel our driveway as well as the neighbour's.

The reason we were given was that the cost of upkeep has risen and so that we continue (?!) to receive value for our rental monies (!?!?) this cost cutting measure would be taken. I guess the regular rental increases haven't been keeping up with the expected expenses. Curious.

So would someone please explain to me why, why, why, were the contracted groundskeepers here yesterday with leaf blowers. Yes, leaf blowers. For an entire morning, leafs were blown around the property to collect in the communal green. Then, for some reason, it was necessary to then mow the leaves. I would say that they mowed the grass, but since the grass has not been growing these last few weeks, I think that would be inaccurate.

Today, all evidence of this prudent and economical use of our monies is gone. The wind has continued to send leaves to the ground. The green is leaf strewn as are the front yards and back yards. Am I surprised? No. Just more convinced that the people running this place are lacking. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it seems kind of frivolous if management is trying to be economical.

Scarf & Mitts

2007-11-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

This morning I finished mitts for K. They go with a scarf I made late last winter, shortly after receiving my Knitting Page-A-Day calendar. There was a neat pattern for a linen stitch scarf. K had some personally chosen variegated yarn in my stash, so I knit the scarf up very quickly. Linen stitch is great - you only have to knit half the stitches in each row!

Linen stitch give an almost woven look to the right side of your work. The back looks somewhat like seed stitch. I like how the colour pools and flows yet is still distinct.
When it came to the mitts, it only made sense that the stitch pattern should match that of the scarf. Not so simple as the scarf. I only mangled the project a few times. And I did have to knit an extra mitten. My first attempt was too small. I was unsure of the gauge due to my stitch selection. Sure enough, it was off. The first mitten turned out to be a 'hand girdle'. Once I stressed and obsessed my way through the first correctly sized mitten, the second knit to finished in about 4 hours. Hm...I'm not sure if that's fast or not. It was certainly faster than the first mitten.

I am a fairly rookie knitter...if I choose my pattern carefully, I can fake talent. My inexperience certainly shows in these mittens. Completing the thumb was most difficult while maintaining the stitch pattern. I did a bit of darning where the extra stitches are to be picked up when knitting the thumb. I have not mastered perfect thumbs by any means. The result is wearable, or so K tells me. She seems quite happy with the results.

In Memory of RCMP Constable Doug Scott

2007-11-13T14:19:00.000-05:00

It was a sombre day today in our town. Today was the funeral of RCMP Constable Doug Scott, 20 years old, shot and killed on duty in the small northern community of Kimmirut. Thousands of police officers of every kind descended upon our fair town to pay their respects to the Scott family.

Since the kids and I have been discussing this tragedy, I though we would attend the police procession and part of the funeral. It was a beautiful fall day which allowed many to attend.

Shortly before the procession began, a large tour bus slowly made it's way through town. When I saw the number of cameras and reporters chasing it, I knew it must be conveying the Scott family to the church. I won't wax philosophically about that, I'll just say that I'm sorry the Scott family couldn't fully experience the honour procession from the sidewalk as we did.

We parked ourselves at City's center, the cenotaph. Traffic had been blocked off throughout town for hours.

From here, we could look up the hill to Courthouse Green where a large screen had been set up.

We watched a slide show of Doug's life.

Crowds lined the streets that the procession was to travel. The police officers were not only Brockville's finest, but also from the Kingston force (80km west of us and the police force employing some of the Scott family) and the RCMP.

Then, the procession started. The police bikes were from all over the province and beyond.

We saw bikes from Peel, Waterloo, Quebec, Ottawa and from the North where Doug had been assigned. We figure those bikes and officers must have been flown in.

There were OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) bikes and a large number of RCMP bikes.

A group of 6 mounted officers preceded the hearse, which was surrounded by more RCMP.

The horses (and R) were quite frisky in the brisk fall wind. It took some wrangling to keep them in check.

The pipers of the OPP played. It was the largest group of pipers I'd ever seen in my 3o-some years of parade attendance.

Then, the RCMP began to file past. There were hundreds of officers. Group after group after group, all respectfully turning their heads to the cenotaph as they passed.

Veterans and retired police officers attended and marched alongside even more RCMP.

RCMP from all over the country were represented. They just kept coming around the corner.

I'm not sure how Toronto got on today without all of these officers who were in our town today. In the rows there are about eight officers across. A hundred officers fit in a very short amount of street.

Once the procession began, it filed past steadily for fifteen minutes.

Until it finally stopped. Officers were waiting for those at the front of the procession to file into the churches so they could continue up the square to the Courthouse Green.

All the people who turned out for the ceremony filled the streets in front of the Green.

We stood quietly under a tree amid a field of Mounties and we listeneded to two of Doug Scott's colleagues from the RCMP detachment in Iqaluit give the eulogy. There were a few laughs and the kids suddenly understood that Doug was just a regular guy, doing his job when his life ended.

But they also understood that he was part of a larger community that stretches across Canada.

It's hard to covey the amount of people that filled the churches and the Green. The photos below show the Court House on the left and then pan across the Green, filled with hundreds of RCMP, the OPP pipers, at least a hundred police motorcycles and hundreds of members of the public.

Throughout our stay downtown, we were befriended by a lovely man from Edmonton. He is a grandfather and the father of a Mountie. He found himself on this side of the country and he extended his visit to include the memorial service. He gave the kids a pin from a similar service he attended out West. It is an RCMP 'We Remember' pin. He took our picture and asked the kids to write to him in Edmonton so he could send some pictures to us. We had some nice conversation with him. As we were leaving, the kids ran across a street (normally teeming with traffic), dodging through a large group of motorcycle cops to tell Mr. Davidson that they had enjoyed chatting with him and thank-you for the pin. They look forward to writing to him. I know that it's connections like this that make these events memorable and meaningful for the kids.

Someone's Been Busy

2007-11-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

My 'reluctant writer' is discovering his motivation. It's nice to watch. I'm so glad I haven't stressed overmuch about my assumption that R isn't writing as much as he should. Or that his printing wasn't 'as good as it should be'. Or that is was 'too hard' for him. To see him sit down and create something, of his own volition, is a pretty decadent moment for me. It makes me run and get the camera. First, it's really great to see R get excited enough about his work that he wants to show it to everyone who comes in the door. Second, it's direct proof for me that Benign Neglect really is a successful way to teach reading and writing.

When it counts, he's right in there with a pencil... This writing endeavour is the traditional Letter To Santa. Completed last week, it contains more chit-chat than Christmas list. Because, I was told, that's how you write a letter. Not only was the letter written, but the envelope was stuffed with a coloured cut-out and decorated with a coloured stamp and a 'visual address' (pic of Santa) as well as a written one.

Here we have art in progress. But I can't call it 'art', because he doesn't like art. Calling it drawing is also questionable, so we'll refer to this as 'cartooning'.

The Evil Gum Stick Man has escaped from his package amidst a terrible and equally evil storm. Apparently the sequel is forthcoming.

New Mag

2007-11-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

Poking around on the internet today, I came across the new homeschooling magazine called Secular Homeschooling.

It looks interesting. I read the amusing The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List. I also read an interesting account of a mother's attempt to help her son register for college.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the future issues of this mag contain. The call for submissions is pretty strong. I think we should bug Cristina to send in a few of her favorite Home Spun comics. In fact, I think we should meander through the Home Spun archive and suggest a few of our favourites. What think you, Cristina?

Been Feeling Lost...

2007-11-07T18:17:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling lost lately. I think it was mostly due to the fact that I was not diligent in keeping up with the family calendar during October. This leaves me scrambling and at loose ends when various things like swimming lessons and soccer practice crop up. It's silly, really, as the sorts of activities I usually record on the calendar are the type of thing that crop up week after week at the same time.

So here we are at the beginning of November and I am all caught up with our family calendar. I can't believe how much of a communication tool it is. I just noticed last night when we had company stop by unexpectedly to invite the kids out on Saturday afternoon. The kids immediately ran to the kitchen to see if we had anything scheduled for the weekend. See? Even if I am organizationally challenged, hopefully some of my meagre efforts will stick with the kids as they grow older and scheduling becomes more of a necessity in their lives.

Tools of the Trade for Inquiring Minds:

A Really Big Calendar With Spacious Squares...this allows for stickers as well as paranoid notations that may not be necessary for regular people. If you write everything down, you may trick yourself into thinking you have a booming social schedule. Of course the practicality is that you probably won't show up for soccer practice as it's ending if you're diligent in recording the correct times for these things.

Expandable Folder...this is a dollar store find. Four files for a dollar. In this particular folder, I keep sticky notes, stickers, labels, etc. The little folder next to the big blue one is filled with little stickers. Stickers make planning our month fun for the kids. Really. It's not like I have a sticker fetish or anything.

Stickers...these will make each entry on your calendar noticeable. The kids like choosing a sticker that represents their soccer or swimming or hockey. I usually try to have one for library trips, homeschooler meetings and field trips. You need stickers for a calendar in order to keep track of engagements. Not just because you have a sticker fetish. Geez.

So there you have it. Part 1 of my regular scheduling habits.

Exercise in Frustration

2007-11-05T07:55:00.001-05:00

Ever try to upload pics, but Blogger won't let you? That's an exercise in frustration if I ever met one. So, nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Have a good week. Perhaps one of these days I won't use up all my blogging time waiting for pics to upload only to get a server error. See you then.

Read Aloud Progress

2007-10-30T21:14:00.000-04:00

Recently, the kids and I began reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I set a private benchmark of a chapter a day. I thought such a pace would first, keep the story line fresh in our minds and second, allow us to finish the book in a timely manner. Like, before Canada Day.

We are really enjoying our reading time on the couch as the weather gets cooler. I can easily see us going through a number of books and less so-called book-work this winter. Of course part of that is selfish motivation on my part. I love that the kids still like to sit with me to read. How many more years can that last? But I digress...

As we get further and further into the book my benchmark has flown out the window. We're whipping through chapter after chapter. Have you ever noticed that J.K. Rowling (and any other author, I'm sure) pulls you in by not really finishing the chapter to some satisfying conclusion? The end of the chapter pinnacles at some crucial point in the story. I pause in my reading. There's no discussion 28 chapters into the book; K simply tells me, "more, Mom." R chimes in with a simple, "yup". I continue. Today I continued until R was turned around upside-down on the couch with his head hanging to the floor with his feet on the wall above and K was laid out on the coffee table 'fishing' for the dog with a rope.

I didn't think I'd enjoy this read aloud as much as I am. When the book first came out, I was the one in line at midnight buying two copies. I read all weekend until I was finished. Now, a few months later, I'm enjoying the second, slower read with the kids as much as I enjoyed the first. In fact, I'm much more involved in the story this time, having to pause at the very sudden death of a most beloved character at the end of chapter 23.

I'm enjoying how the kids are following a more complex story line. I'm even getting the thrills I used to get in grade 9 Enriched English when cryptic, erudite Mr. O'Donnell used to lead the class through deep discussions of our assigned reading. I loved uncovering not-so obvious connections between characters and plot lines, finding obscure references to ancient history, politics and religion. It is so cool to see the kids find little connections in our read alouds, to hear them explain plot lines and character development to each other, to pull out little mentioned facts from previous books in the series to gain insight in the current installment.

After the Deathly Hallows we're going to read a bit of historical fiction set somewhere on the timeline of our current Ancient History work. I'm thinking Ancient Greece or somewhere thereabouts (suggestions appreciated!). I'm looking forward to the lightbulb moments, the cold mornings warming up and waking up on the couch and the little thrills I get when the kids put the literary bits together.

It's going to be a good winter...even if our reading turns the kids upside down.

Celebrating Fall

2007-10-28T09:29:00.000-04:00

Fall is now officially, as of yesterday, here. At least in our house it is. The kids have spent their free time this week making ghosts and cutting them out. I have them hanging all over the house. We have our Fall wreath on the door and our cornucopia is on the table. There are various coloured leaves and wee pumpkin candles around.

Grandma and Grandpa and K's Paul came to visit yesterday. They brought pumpkins for the kids and we spent the afternoon carving.

K was right in there, digging out pumpkin guts and designing and carving all by herself.

R was a little more stand-off-ish. He did enjoy poking holes in pumpkin parts and trying out all the carving tools . He chose his pumpkin's design and Paul carved.

Beautiful pumpkins this year! They were home grown in Grandma's garden. We are so spoiled.

If you get a chance, go to your local farm and buy your pumpkins and gourds. In my experience, they're much nicer than the 'Grown in Canada' specimens that WalMart ships in. Isn't it nice how they undercut the local producers? While you're at the farm getting your pumpkin, grab some apples or cider while you're there.

Get Grandma to pick out all the seeds while you're busy carving. Wash 'em off, spread them out on a kitchen towel and blot them dry. Melt half a stick of butter (or use 4 tbsp of oil), stir in 1/2 tsp of cayenne, 1/2 tsp salt and some black pepper. Pour it over the seeds and swish it around until the seeds are coated. Put them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 325°F and stir them around every so often. They take about 45 minutes to dry and toast. Very tasty.

As is tradition, Paul brought K's costume and she treated us to a rare fashion show. Grandma brought special treats for the kids. An early trick or treat treat.

Later in the evening, my brothers had to stop by on their way out for some pre-Hallowe'en fun. Here is Matt, who makes his own fun wherever he goes. He'll be joining us Hallowe'en evening to hand out candy with R, who has chosen not to trick or treat this year.

We had cider, which I'd had warming in the crock pot all day, and they ate up the rest of the pumpkin seeds. After a short visit, they were off. Now I need more cider and pumpkin seeds.

Here they are in all their revelry. No, they're not all my brothers. Two of them are, one is my surrogate brother, another is his wife and the other two are the significant other's of my two brothers.

During our visit, I discovered that Surrogate Brother's wife, from Korea, has never 'done' Hallowe'en before. Of course, we invited them along for Hallowe'en evening so she could get a feel for it. Surrogate Brother is excited to have Wife see all the kids' costumes and to hand out candy.

The pumpkins turned out well. We pulled the drapes closed, turned out the lights and lit them up. Cool, eh?

A good day of family and friends. No better way to celebrate, imo.

Family Time

2007-10-25T20:03:00.000-04:00

We went for a little drive the other night. It included coffee. While in the drive-thru line-up, the kids saw an advertisement for Reflective Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Bags - Free!

Kori lit up like a Christmas tree and says, "Raiden, take off your hood and look really cute - maybe we'll get a free bag!"

It was pretty funny. She said it in jest, as she knows the days of having gifts bestowed upon her in recognition of her personal Cute Factor are long gone.

We did talk about how such a thing was unnecessary as they both have their own quilted Hallowe'en bags. If we take these free bags simply because they're there - it's a waste. That being said, at the time I didn't consider the idling time, the paper cup and the plastic lid. I still have a ways to go to shrink my footprint, don't I?

A Whole Week...

2007-10-24T20:47:00.000-04:00

A whole week! Where does it go?! I don't even know where to start...and that's assuming that people are even remotely interested in what we've been up to.

We've had some house things come up. I've been dealing with our building manager (we rent, for those that are wondering) and a neighbour situation. I even have a letter brewing for the company that owns our property. I'll share all the gory, horrid details when it is appropriate to do so.

Brian and I are noticing that we're very tired this last week or so. The reason I mention it is because this is the time of year that we are used to a time change. Not the good one where you gain an hour of sleep either. I thought I always had such a hard time with the Fall time change. That 'Fall Back' an hour is pretty brutal. I usually blame the time change for my lethargy, my lack of motivation due to lack of sleep, my over-sensitivity to the general gloominess of the weather. I am discovering that it may just be the time of year and not the time change at all. I'll have to see how I feel once the time actually changes - later on in November when our neighbours to the south do their time change.

School work plods on. I think we are cresting the children's resistance curve. I'm almost scared to mention it. The last day or so, I've definitely seen a lack of Let's Push Mom's Buttons. Not that it comes up too often, however, it does come up. And I find it discouraging. When the kids and I sat down and we planned out our approach to this year, I knew that what they were asking for (I want to do grade 5 stuff, mom, like, with paperwork and maps and handwriting practice and stuff) might be a bit of a shock to them. But, they agreed that they would do the work, that they wanted to be reminded of our plan and they wanted to stick with it before throwing in the towel. With regular work, Kori is becoming more confident with the idea of math. We've passed the 'I hate math.' She is actually asking for clarification of questions now instead of refusing to finish a lesson. Progress. Raiden is coming around to the idea that he can, in fact, spell. I'm not sure where he got the idea that he couldn't....actually, that's a lie. He's finding it hard to learn alongside his sister who could read, write, spell at a very young age. Perceptive little guy, he is.

So...what say I try to blog a little more? Doing so will make me explore the point I'm trying to get across. Is there a point? I'll find one. Or four. Please email me if there's a point you'd like me to make....or if I start too many blog posts with 'Not much is new...'. That would be tiresome.

I'll close with an infrequent snapshot of myself (thanks, Bri). Aren't I looking lovely? What is it that makes me turn from the camera? I didn't even do it on purpose. I could make an album of pics of me, turned away or half-looking at the camera. It's odd. In this particular shot, it was Raiden, I believe, needing something requiring my attention somewhere other than in front of the camera.

Have a good rest of the week...let me know if anything exciting is happening.

Wee One In The House

2007-10-17T21:27:00.000-04:00

A couple of days in the last week we've been lucky to have my wee nephew for the day. It's a last-minute kind of arrangement that I'm so happy to be able to do for my brother- and sister-in-law.

Not having had such a wee person in my house for at least six and a half years, I realized very quickly that I have a whole lot of freedom in my days. It's nice having older kids. But I do miss the wee years.

Remember when they start wanting to feed themselves? When they still need someone to help stick the food to the fork, yet they're really proud to be able to get the food into themselves? Pancakes (no syrup) were fairly mess-free. Today's yogurt was a different story.

Remember how little people tromp around and open and close every hinged fixture? Or how they seems to find stuff, like chess sets, fly-swatters or potatoes stowed under the microwave stand, no matter how well you think you've hidden things? Magnets are fun too. I love watching the learning process - Wee Man here has 'magnetic' and 'not magnetic' all wrapped up, even though he can't talk yet. Kids are so clever. I wish I'd have noticed more of the learning process when mine were smaller. However, I am loving how my kids are sharing in the joy of these lightbulb moments of my nephew. They are as amazed with Wee Man figuring something out as I am when they master a new skill or gain a bit of independence at their advanced ages of 8 and almost-10. So as much as having Wee Man throws our day for a loop, there are good things happening for all of us.

Remember how warm and clingy wee ones are when they wake up from their nap? How they just love to sit with you and wake up slowly? Of course, it only lasts for so long before wee tummy needs another snack. So I was glad to snap this pic while the warm cuddles lasted.

Remember how they need to do what you're doing? Here we have Wee Man stirring/splashing/pouring with dishes in one sink while I washed in the other (Kori was on step-stool safety patrol). Remember how one sink of dishes takes 3 hours and a snack to wash once you set up, wash, dry the kitchen and then launder the 346 towels you needed to use for the endeavor. Good times.

In between all of these good times, we have managed to fit in our schoolwork and keep the house picked up. Quite the feat as I never managed as much when my two were wee toddlers. Part-time kids who are not your own are so much more conducive to clean houses and composed grown-ups.