Hard At It

This is my man, the hard working love of my life.
He works 6 days a week and then works overtime at home on our renovations.
It is not fair but he smiles through it and I can see he really does love it.
These long days are all going to a be worth it once all this house work is done and he can sit back and enjoy his family in the new house.
I love him.
I love all that he does for us.
Thank you baby!!

Hat off to Ya!

 E thought that decorating a hat was the best thing ever.
It turned out to be a real creative avenue for her.
We will probably have to dry it for a week with all the paint she put on it.
This will be worn with pride.

Stable Structure Designing

 Glue guns and popsicle sticks can pretty much make anything.

 Today we set out to invent/create a structure that are stable and sound, a part of our curriculum for this month.

 K had a great time making this bird house/feed loft.

Painting, A Full Body Experience

 Rainy days stuck inside leads to some craziness, like finger painting gone array!!

This was a half an hour experiment in colour mixing that led to an hour of clean up.

Cute Recycling Idea

 With an empty almond milk container, or orange juice etc, I was able to create a fifty little coin purse using this pattern I found online.

 It stated that it would take an hour but I found it was a quick 15 minutes top.

 I think I will cover the next one in fabric first to create a few cute gifts for some friends.

I mean what else are you doing with an empty container anyways?

Addition/Reno Part #4

 Weeks have flown by and the projects seem to be getting whittled away bit by bit.
The electrical is just about complete and the plumbing is next.
I have a love/hate thing going on with picking the bathroom fixture.
Love the styles/hate the prices!!
But all in all its going well.
By no means was my over ambitious dream of moving by christmas going to become a reality but that really is just fine with me.
Enough to do before Christmas really.

 Our roof is finished and the windows and doors are in .
Starting to look like a real house.

We are pouring the heat to it to dry it out completely before we insulate and drywall.
No small feat with this freezing weather we have, we had our first snow already!!

Sliver of Sun

On these darkening days, as the weather sinks deeper into winter, a slight ray of sun gives me a smile, lighting up my mexican hot chocolate after a walk in the cold.

Growing, (Wrong time of Year)

 Ironically we are sprouting beans and other seeds for schooling at the moment.
I am going through the motions, as is Katie because this is so beneath her on so many levels.
She is a mini hortaculturalist at heart and can name every plant and flower in our yard and garden.
So to be doing this seems odd/boring, especially in the winter.
Even E finds it dull.
But I feel it is good for the writing and experimentation documentation aspect but otherwise I really can see how homeschooling from a book can be such a waste of time.
We will finish this section and omit the remainder, moving up to more challenging concepts.

I completely understand that in school they try to replicate what it is we learn at home and in life.
So being at home and living life really is the best best for my kids to be.
How lucky are we to live this life, to learn form each other and grow together as a family.
These seeds have shown me that we are doing everything just the way we were meant to be.

Freckle Juice

Did you read any Judy Blume's books as a kid?
I remember them all.
Now K has gotten into them and we used Freckle Juice as a novel study.
She though it was really juvenile for her but she still loved the novel study, especially when I asked her to make her own Freckle Juice.
Her concoction was a fun mixture of kitchen/baking essentials and her recipe is top secret.
It was applied with precession and care.
But when she tried to wash it off she was floored.
"It worked!!""
She was kinda mad actually.
She didn't want freckles.
I realized afterwards that she had used food colouring, so her freckles stayed all day.
Too cute

Redneck All the Way

These screamed out to me!!
I had to have them.
How absolutely perfect in my world, I mean really, look at them?!!

And they hold at least half a bottle of wine.
"No dear, I'm just having one glass tonight!"

Cake Pop=FAIL

 Starbucks had an all in a box, make your own, Christmasy cake pop package at the check out.
Well this day there happened to be an excessively long line up and by the end I ended up thinking that this purchase was a decent idea.
Marketing savvy at its peak!!
Well it was not so!
These little goodies were a mess.
I like to think I am somewhat knowledgable around the kitchen and can indeed read instructions, but these failed miserably.
The only redemption?.... They tasted so yummy!!

 On the other hand, these prepackaged confections from Superstore, otherwise known as Whoopi Pies, were quick and easy and yummy as well.
Hubby was happy.

But nothing can ever beat good old home cooking in my eyes.

Brownies at the Telethon

We joined all the Girl Guides in the valley and headed on stage for the local telethon last weekend.
The girls all sang 4 songs and it was so cute to watch.
My hearts gets all fuzzy warm when I see my ladies participating in such events.
It is such a great way to teach them about what a difference they can make in this world.
Singing to raise money to help other children who are less fortunate than them.
They were so excited and proud of themselves, even if it was a bit nerve racking being on stage in front of an audience of strangers.

Cashing In

The annual coin rolling festivities took place today.
I made it into a "Math Lesson."
Feels great to be able to teach the kids money and math skills while getting a chore done.

We  now have some extra cash for another trip to the Victoria Museum or maybe Science World.

I'd say it was a win-win-win situation.

Potpourri ....Literally

K has a book of "Girl Things to Do."
One of those "things" was to make potpourri.
We had to use our creativeness because we didn't have all the posh ingredients that it called for.
Instead we gathered some of our endless supply of lavender, cinnamon bark, some cloves and pinecones because why not!?
Tomorrow she wants to package this stuff up to give as gifts to her friends.
She is so loving and thoughtful, and except for the pinecone the mix is quite beautiful.

Moon Sand

1/2 cup baby oil (maybe a squirt or two more) and 2 cups flour.
That's it!
Mix and let the playing begin.

Fairly easy clean up and hands are super soft afterwards too.

"Lets Make Soap, Mom!!"

By simply melting bars of glycerin on the stove in a double broiler and adding whatever colour, scents and herbs you desire, soap can easily be yours for the making.
Great to do with the kids.
We poured ours into paper lined muffin tins.
It was a perfect afternoon activity.
K choose to make Lemon Thyme, and Lavender with Shea Butter.
E decided to make Coconut Oil with Honeycomb (and dye it purple) and Oatmeal, Vitamin E and Shea Butter.

We used the lavender tonight in the tub and it was lovely.
The girl were so delighted.
They now want to make soap for everyone they know for Christmas.

Microscope Full Of Fun

Over the summer we collected insects, bugs and small critters that we found in our yard and house.
We put them in a special container.
Finally the jar was overflowing.
We knew it was time to get the microscope and start inspecting these amazing, dried bugs.
It was a fantastic journey that lasted for hours!
Comparing eyes, skin, wings feet.
It was incredible to learn so much about all these common critters that we don't think twice about on a regular day.

House Renovations Part 3

Pretty straight forward stuff.
Especially since its just a square box we're adding on.

 Foundation work talks its time, one drying day at a time.

 Lots of digging work for perimeter drains and plumbing.

 And then came the lumber!!
I saw a truck but heard the cash register, Cha Ching!!

 Again all in a days work for this super contractor!!.

 Cutting into the roof is a bit of a pain.

The walls are up and I am starting to really see it all taking shape.
Now I just want it done!!
Theres my closet!!
And the master bedroom and en suite bathroom.