It's just a bad day, not a bad life

Most days are great.  The girls play nicely together, and go their separate ways at times. I get a bit of work done before they both wake up, and a bit more in the afternoon when they scatter after lunch.  

Friday was not one of those great day.  

Friday started off bad and just went downhill. An early morning was followed by tantrums, arguments, crying, screaming (squeal - like screaming actually, and lots of it), a demand or disturbance every few minutes, and just general grumpiness. I don't know if the messed up energy was due to the trifecta of the vernal equinox, solar eclipse and the supermoon, or if we all just had a rough night sleep, but at least it's over! 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/spring-is-in-the-air-and-so-is-a-supermoon-and-solar-eclipse-1.2990315 

The girls were watching tv in our room just before supper and I went up to talk to them because they were arguing and jumping off the bed again .  I laid down with them for a few minutes and Chloe asked for a foot rub, so we exchanged foot and hand massages.  Then Kaiana and I had a conversation that switched the mood for the remainder of the day.

Kaiana - Is it ok if I lay down and take a nap?
Me - Yes, for sure. 
Kaiana - It was a long day.
Me - Yes, yes it was.
Kaiana - I'm sorry for yelling. 
Me - I'm sorry for yelling too.
Kaiana - Friends?
Me -Yes, friends! 

Proceeded by awesome toddler hugs and kisses!

After supper I went out for some alone time and browsed the book store. It's ok to have a bad day, and they will happen.  But admit the challenges, take time to regroup and try again the next day.  The will be more good days than bad. So far today has been way better than yesterday. We did a short yoga routine after breakfast then we sat and did some deep breathing while Kaiana counted to 20. 

Yoga 101, The Aromatherapy Bible and Raising Your Spirited Child 

 
What do you do to regroup from a bad day?

Happy Valentine's Day!

You may go all out on Valentine's Day with expensive gifts, dinner at a fancy restaurant, you may do a homemade version (that's more our speed), or you may say bah humbug and don't acknowledge the Hallmark holiday. Whatever you choose, try to spend some extra time with loved ones and let them know you care.  Our lives can get pretty hectic sometimes and although you may say I love you everyday, take a day to spend some quality time with the ones that make your heart go Pitter Patter! 

I've had a great time with the girls so far today as my husband is at work.  They had a mailbox waiting with valentines from Mom and Dad, a gift bag for each with a few treats, a Dr. Seuss book and Water Magic Coloring Books that they spend hours with (use water and a paint brush to cover a page and see the bright colors appear, a great dollar store find).  

They got mail! For $5 from the Superstore, it's going to get lots of use!

Using the Magic Water books while I make breakfast

It's always fun to make heart shaped foods, so they had heart shaped cranberry juice ice cubes to go in their water bottles this morning, heart shaped pizza for lunch and some heart and flower shaped homemade chocolates for a treat tonight. The chocolates were recommended to me by Kathy at Challenge Yourself Healthy (https://www.facebook.com/challengeyourselfhealth) and the recipe for them is from the Lean Green Mommy (http://leangreenmommy.com/2013/04/01/healthy-fudge/).  

Tomato tortillas and a hear shaped cookie cutter, sauce, pepperoni and cheese

Homemade chocolates in Ikea ice cube trays.  See link above for recipe

Chloe helped make a homemade card for Dad and after they kiddos are in bed tonight, we'll have a scrumptious homemade steak dinner and watch a movie together (I'll try not to fall asleep!). 

Used a felt kit she got for her birthday, and drew a picture of a house with a mailbox

How are you spending Valentine's Day? 

Winter Adventures - Part 2

December was jammed packed with activities! Road trips, concerts, birthdays and Christmas parties, seasonal crafts and decorating, and then Christmas! Christmas with a 5 and 2 year old can be pretty intense but overall it was a fun, memorable time. 

We started off the month with a road trip to Saskatoon to see the live stage show Mickey Mouse Music Festival.  We made a couple stops along the way to see some sights, hit up the pool at the hotel and the morning of the show we visited the University of Saskatchewan to see some replica dinosaur bones! The girls had a blast at the show, dancing and singing along. 

Largest pysanka in the world, Vegreville, Alberta

Historic Delta Bessborough in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Museum of Natural History, a free self guided exhibit in the Geology / Biology Departments of the University of Saskatchewan 

Then came another highlight - going to see the Nutcracker! We had registered for tickets through our homeschool board, with the cost coming out of funding (bonus!).  I have never seen a live performance of the Nutcracker and Chloe was so excited to be dressing up and going to a ballet! Since the theatre was on the other side of the city, we took the LRT (Light Rail Transit for folks not in Edmonton, think above ground / below ground subway).  On the way there a young lady boarded the LRT and commented on how lovely my daughter looked and asked where we were off to.  Chloe excitedly exclaimed we were going to the Nutcracker! As it turned out, when she was younger, the young lady played one of the party girls, so her and Chloe talked dance till she got off at her stop.  As she was leaving a young gentleman was also departing but took a moment to talk to us.  He said he had overheard the conversation and just wanted to say what a bright, well mannered little girl I had.  Proud mommy moment right there!  

Riding the LRT to see the Nutcracker

When we arrived, we got some snacks, explored the theatre and then found our seats.  Chloe usually talks a mile a minute but she sat through the performance with a smile on her face and her eyes gleaming!  During intermission, we discussed the orchestra, instruments, and Russia and the Kremlin as it was on the backdrop.  Such a wonderful night!

The next few weeks were filled with a choir recital, birthday and Christmas parties, baking, decorating and playing in the snow! Mid month I made a batch of gingerbread play dough, it was a hit!  I found my recipe on Pinterest, so many great things on there! We still have it and it comes out once a week.  We keep it in an airtight glass container.  The girls helped make a few homemade presents, decorated some ornaments for the tree and on Christmas Eve, we went for a drive around the city and took in the Christmas lights.  

Cookie cutters and Gingerbread Playdough

Ready for a movie on Christmas Eve

Christmas Day was full of excitement.  Fun in the morning followed by family visits later in the day and a relaxed dinner in the evening made it a memorable one. We took in some more Christmas lights on an acreage outside the city after Christmas, quite a beautiful sight. 

Beautiful Christmas Lights display outside of Leduc

January flew by! It took a little while to unwind from the holidays but the girls had lots of time to catch up on sleep! I took some time to get the house organized again - the decorations put away, the basement playroom reorganized to accommodate some new toys, the bedrooms that were neglected during the holidays. Coming up this month I need to sort through kids clothes and sell or donate the toys and books the girls have outgrown.

For the girls, their month was filled with coloring, painting, lego, puzzles (had a late Saturday night working on a 300 piece together), play dough, sands alive, pretend play, sledding and a couple workbook sessions in math and language arts for Chloe. It was also time to go back to choir, dance and 1 more drama class at the homeschool office.

Late night collaboration on a 300 piece Frozen puzzle

Lego!

The end of January is a special time in our house, Chloe's birthday!  It's hard to believe she's 6 already and it's been great to see her creativity and skills grow so much this school year at home!  

February is full of interesting field trips and activities.  Throw in some house organizing and the regular scheduled activities and it's sure to fly by too!  What's on your calendar for February? 

Winter Adventures...Part 1

Happy New Year!! Whew, where did the time go?! 2015 is here and we are into our fifth month of Grade 1.The past two months have been filled with lots of great learning opportunities and it's awesome to see her progress.  She has started writing and spelling names and short words with letter fridge magnets and on her whiteboard, reading place names and words on signs, 100 piece puzzles, and dances and sings her way through the day.  

Teaching little sis how to do puzzles

Finished her first 100 piece by herself

When the weather outside is frightful, bring the fun inside. We had a snow storm in early November and instead of going outside in the cold to play, I filled a few buckets with freshly fallen snow and dumped them into the sink.  Also works great with a warm sink full of bubbles and some measuring cups

Warm water, dish soap and measuring cups

Fresh snow, food color and cups and spoons

Mid November, C had an outdoor Winter Adventure organized through her board. We headed to the park with snow suits and extra mittens. C joined up with her group, played games and fed squirrels and chickadees. K and I went for a walk in the snow and she practiced some snow angles before we met back up with the group for hot chocolate.

Having fun in the snow

A few nights later we got some crisp winter air when we ventured downtown to watch the tree lighting.

Christmas tree lighting, downtown Edmonton

One of C's favorite activities in November was indoor wall climbing, a group activity organized her homeschool board. She attended two more drama classes put on through her board as well and we had our first facilitator meeting in late November, which went very well.  The meeting was an hour long at our kitchen table, very casual and relaxed. He reviewed some samples of her work, discussed what we have covered so far, and asked her what her favorite subjects and activities are. He said we were progressing nicely and see you in the spring. 

Has a style all her own!

We finished up November with a visit to the Festival of Trees, a beautiful way to begin the Holiday season. The girls loved going downtown at night and seeing the tall buildings lit up. The trees were amazing, so colorful and bright. The Festival of Trees is a great fundraiser for the University Hospital Foundation.  To showcase what the money goes to support, they had a mock hospital set up.  The girls had the chance to listen to their heart beats, look at x-rays and had a small cast put on their finger. An unexpected learning opportunity  emerges from a fun night out!

posing at the Festival of Trees

Coming sooner than later, Winter Adventures Part 2 - our December craziness! 

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween, one of my favorite times of the year!  We have been BUSY this week!  Lots of crafts and events on the go.  Sunday was dance class and a trip to the Oil Kings Game where C and her choir sang O' Canada.  It was a fun, emotional time. So proud of her for not being nervous for singing in front of the crowd and also very moving after the events in Ottawa last week. K also enjoyed her first live hockey game! Monday we had an unexpected snowfall so there was some outside time. 

Pregame, C in her choir tshirt and K in her Oil Kings t shirt and foam finger!

Tuesday we started on a Halloween craft: paper mache monsters! Pretty easy (but a bit messy) to do with little ones but it took 3 days to complete.  Day one was applying the paper and paste then letting that dry for the night.  Day 2 was painting the hardened balloon shaped object. Day 3 was popping the balloon and sticking the facial features on. 

No pictures from Day 1, too messy! Start of Day 2 after they dried

Painting on Day 2

Cutting out the face pieces

Final product!

 Simple Paste:
3 parts water
2 parts flour
I used 1.5 cups of water and 1 cup of flour for the 2 balloons and it was a perfect amount
Optional: white glue for extra sticky and salt to help preserve it.  

Wednesday and Thursday were pumpkin nights, scooping on Wednesday and carving the following night. Both girls were eager to dig in and not afraid to get messy.  

Pumpkin scooping and final result after dad helped carve

I also tried my hand at baking some pumpkin seeds and they came out pretty tasty! I've never really tried ones that I could keep snacking on, most were pretty bland.  But I had never tried any sweet recipes.  I tried some right from the oven and they were some yummy! I cooled some for the girls and they both loved them! 

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Pumpkin Seeds:
2 cups pumpkin seeds - I wash, soak for 30 min, drain and let dry on a clean tea towel over night
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp white sugar

I wash the pumpkin seeds, then let soak for 30 minutes, drain and let dry on a clean tea towel over night.  
Preheat oven to 300F and line a cookie sheet with foil (for easy clean up).  Add the butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar and seeds to a large freezer bag and squish together until all are coated. Spread evenly on sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes, toss, sprinkle white sugar and bake for another 10 minutes (I checked around 7 min too). Toss again and bake for a few more minutes, mine took another 7 so 27 minutes total. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Crunchy and sweet!

Thursday afternoon C had a field trip to a fire hall. She had fun sitting in the truck! 

K made a cute little picture while big sis C was at choir. We used her thumb to make a pumpkin patch and added a green vine. Quick and interactive craft. 

Halloween Day is full of fun! A friend's party in the morning and trick or treating after supper. Costumes pictures to come =) 

What are some of your favorite Halloween traditions?

So what do we do all day?

Well the first 6 weeks of homeschooling has flown by!  So far it has been about adjusting to schedule changes, organizing, searching for resources and ideas and wondering if this is really going to work out.  Guess what?  I think it will!

A walk in the woods on a fall day

I'm a work from home mom and my workload has doubled recently and I've also had to make the adjustment of going into the office twice a week.  My husband works Tuesday - Saturday, so I go into the office on Mondays while he's home with the kids.  This gives him some great one on one time with them and lets him do fun stuff like take them swimming or go out to lunch. I also go into the office on Thursdays and I have found a great homeschooled teen that comes to our house to babysit.  The girls love her and have fun going to the park, playing games and doing puzzles with her. 

Climbing wall at a local park

In terms of the style of homeschooling that I chose, I would say we are 80% unschoolers, 20% traditional parent led.  We do a couple worksheets a week and I help her learn how to read, write and do math, but for the most part I let her explore on her own and answer any questions she has.  She's in some registered activities like choir and dance and loves socializing on the playground. She went to a drama class hosted by our homeschool board and had a great time meeting other kids and learning about body language and role playing.

Checking out some art at Borden Park

But then she will also come up with things on her own like counting to 100 (and then 200!) while driving in the car, or asking random questions that will lead to a 5-10 minute discussion and looking up information on the internet.  She asked "How do people get coats if there is no city"? This led to a discussion on shipping goods on a national and global scale, and where her clothes and food might come from. We were able to relate the discussion with a visual experience on the way back from the drama class when we seen transport trucks lined up to go into the container yard and then the train full of containers head down the track.

We joined a group of homeschool families that enjoy swapping postcards and have received quite a few so far.  We plot the locations on a wall map and briefly discuss the topic of the postcard. We received one from Kentucky and talked about the horses that were on the postcard and the Kentucky Derby.  That led to a video of a horse race, looking at images of fancy hats, and then it took a turn and we moved into a discussion on the Queen of England (she loves her fancy hats too!), real princesses and the famous landmarks of London!

Our postcards since the beginning of September, except for one from Australia that was being used as mail in their playhouse.  We have sent 20 out so far and need to get more postcards!

 
One of my daughter's favorite pass times is puzzles, an activity she usually saves for when her 2 year old sister is napping.  Puzzles have many benefits in early childhood education.  Hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving, memory, goal setting and patience are some of the things she's working on and learning each time she sits down to do one.

A fairy 48 piece

Hello Kitty 50 piece

Not a day goes by in our house that crayons, marker or colored pencils aren't pulled out and the kids are sprawled all over the floor, at a table or on their bed coloring or drawing. She's learning more hand-eye coordination and patience, practicing how to hold writing tools and also discovering color, hue, patterns and more.

Drawing, coloring and practicing some numbers

Playgrounds are a weekly must , usually getting out to one a couple times a week.  We are also lucky to have a small one in our town home complex and C usually spends all of her weekend afternoons hanging out there and catching up with the neighborhood kids. We missed one week because it snowed (yup, SNOWED IN SEPTEMBER!) and we weren't prepared for it.  But new snowsuits and mitts were purchased so that won't be stopping us next time!  There are also lots of fun indoor playgrounds and activities around us that we will be hitting up once the temperature drops.

Checking out a new playground

 
Then there's also the fun stuff they haven't seen before or only comes out once in a while (due to high mess factors). Play doh, painting, crafts,  I made up a batch of moon sand and C spend half an hour playing with it while younger sister napped and I made supper. She loved the feel of it (so did I) and used play doh accessories to mold it and scoop it.

Scooping up some Moon Sand

Moon Sand
8 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of baby oil
You could also add a couple drops of food coloring to the oil before mixing
Mix well! It can be stored and used again, just put it in a air tight container or cover with plastic wrap
I halved the recipe, but will make another batch when both kids are awake to play with it.

Painting outside on a sunny day

There's been so much to do and keep us busy since the school year started and I am excited for what's to come!  Thanksgiving crafts this weekend, drama class part 2 next week and Halloween crafts, decorating and parties coming up soon.  

What activities are your kid's favorite and keep them busy?

Socializing

Socializing. It's why parents send their children to daycare, preschool and then onto Kindergarten / the school system. When you mention to someone that you homeschool, one of the first things they bring up is "Well how will you socialize them?".  Homeschool moms and dads usually chuckle on the inside and then say their kids have plenty of chances to socialize.

I started home schooling less than 2 weeks ago, and honestly, I'm trying to find a break from being social! Between park meet ups, not back to school picnics, birthday parties, community events, choir and dance lessons to start up soon, plus the neighborhood kids that they play with almost daily, there are lots of opportunity to socialize your children if you homeschool.  I have also signed my daughter up for activities through my home school board - 2 afternoons of drama class, 1 trip to a fire hall and an afternoon at an indoor climbing wall over the next 2 months and monthly meet ups for connections and gym time. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it all!

waiting for the fireworks at our friend's community league Party in the Park

How do adults socialize? They make small talk with the grocery store clerk, they interact with their co-workers (a tight knit group of people of different ages that need to work together, similar to a family), and they attend functions and gatherings (birthday parties or weddings and usually people of different ages in attendance). The same activities that my children are exposed to.  They are learning to say thank you after receiving their cookie in the bakery department of the grocery store or say hello to the store greeter. They are learning how to clean up after themselves and help out other members of the family by doing chores like emptying the dishwasher and feeding the pets. They are learning how to play with kids of different ages at birthday parties. They are socializing in so many ways.