Filing

For his birthday his friends gave him files, ranging in all sizes and shapes.  Such a fitting gift for a guy passionate about woodworking.  The files were put to use immediately but not with what I expected.  From the back of the craft cabinet Elias pulled out his collection of soap stone.  I don't think he has done anything with it or even thought about it in over a year.  The files stirred something in him about this forgotten art and dust has been flying since.  The creations are beautiful (and all meant to be gifts- and therefore can't be shown).  There is even plans to make his own polish.  

Saturdays Steal the Show

The three older kids are participating in the Jackrabbit Cross Country Skiing program at a nearby park.  It is two hours every Saturday, during which time the kids learn the skills of this activity.  The group organizes scavenger hunts, obstacle courses and fun lessons.  The leaders love the sport and the kids which totally comes across.  Each week they learn more, become more confident and enjoy it even more.  In fact most weeks they wish that it lasted longer.
Today there was a mini race, low pressure with focus on personal best.  The track was 2km long, with lots of hills and turns.  Elias came in first for his group, which was particularly nice since it was his birthday.  All three of them crossed the finish line with smiles and praises for how fun (and hot) that was.  

Just Cause

He cracks me up. He has taken to wearing safety glasses most of the time and he does this little dance that is more like a jig.  It's even cuter in snow shoes. 

A Fitting Party

I love the fan fare, all the glitter and extras.  Not everyone feels the same.  A birthday without the horns and whistles may go against my natural inclination but it feels just right for some and when its your birthday you get to choose.  For Elias' birthday I think we came up with a perfect way to celebrate, to honour another year and all the wonder that goes with it.
A few friends were invited for an outdoor party, which makes sense for my outdoor guy.  We met at the provincial park where we went tubing.  We had a campfire for roasting dogs, hot chocolate and cupcakes with 'snow' icing made by the birthday boy himself.  There was just the right balance of celebration, sparkle while remaining low key. 

It's In the Ice Cream

It was an average week.  The kind I like, a mix of regular activities, a few special and a pace which allowed for enough time at home to bake, read and sew.  The week started off bracing the extreme temperatures outside at Muskoka Woods, a local camp which offers a homeschooling program.  Tubing and orienteering were dangerously chilly- but fun.  Shai decided to go into the nursery for the second month, loving soccer in the gym and what time is it Mr. Wolf!
The rest of the week was much warmer and the sunshine was beautiful.  We did some snowshoeing, cross country skiing and tobogganing.  There was swimming, a play date and evening programs.    A highlight was definitely the arrival of a much anticipated birthday gift for Shai from Grammy and Grampy....an ice cream maker!!!  Chocolate Gelato was the big hit....what week wouldn't be great with an ice cream maker hard at work!

Joining Us at the Table

Shai asked the other day to have some 'work' of his own.  The thought of sitting with us during our 'table time' doing what the big kids do is so appealing.  He practiced the letters of his name for about 30 minutes, in a book of his own.  I thought it was cute. 
It got me thinking how different my hopes, expectations and concerns with my first child differ so greatly in many ways then with my fourth.  I had a shelf filled with workbooks, a list of objectives and a bucket full of shoulds in regards to learning.  Time and trust in my kids as given me the confidence to follow his lead.  Perhaps his interest in writing will stay and he will want to keep at it, or not.  Perhaps he will want to learn to read in the next year, or not.  I know those things will come. I don't have that same list of objectives, they have switched to reading together more, bringing out the playdough more often, getting to play group every other week. 
This reflecting isn't so much about Shai, or any of my kids.  It is about me, the place I am in our journey as homeschoolers and as a parent.  I have fewer worries for him, because I have more confidence in me. I can just enjoy his dabbling in writing without making it about the end product.  It's a great place to be.

When the Weather Outside is Frightful

It has been cold. Freezing.  Our outdoor programs were cancelled this weekend, there were weather warnings.  The temperatures were well past -30.  There was lots of tea, hot soup, a classic to watch and extra layers.  While we are looking forward to the temperatures rising we have taken advantage of the extreme cold  to try a new experiment.  You take boiling water and throw it into the cold (-30 and colder) air.  When the water hits the cold it evaporates and turns into snow.  Very cool. This is where we got the idea. 

Reading Challenge

Around the dinner table our conversation very often is sharing what adventures we have been transported to through the books we have been reading.  There has been lots of reading happening, especially in these cold dark days.  One of our conversations led to wondering how many books our family thought we could read in two months? or a year? With some more exploring around this challenge we decided it would be fun to start off such an idea with company.  We invited our homeschooling group to join us in this challenge.
We met at our house; readers, pre readers and those who are being read to. We set goals for our families, how many books we would read over two months and then added our totals together.  With 9 families our combined goal is 1200 books in 8 weeks.  After we worked out the specifics of numbers we set to work on some books of our own.  Each person made a book of their own to record the books they read and perhaps a few words about it, or a rating of sorts.
We also made tree branches of our own, to place leaves for each of the books a family member reads.  When we come back together for our celebration we will assemble our reading tree as a visual of our accomplished challenge.
I better get reading!

Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

It's the month for birthdays in our house.  We are excited to be celebrating Dadda's special day.
What a cute group!

Ice Time

The waters are frozen, skates are sharp and the thermos is in full rotation.  We have been meeting our friends for skating days which have been loads of fun. Pick up hockey, practicing our skills and playing in the snowbanks.

Party Zone

No contemplating was needed when it came to a theme for this birthday party.  Hands down it was cars, trucks, large equipment and whatever falls in between!

From there the decorations included caution tape streams, road signs, a road table cloth, pylons, buckets full of food, a cake with diggers and 'dirt'.  We played pin the parts on the dump truck, had a scavenger hunt for stop signs, made flags for the car races, played simon says and hot potato with a tool belt for everyone.
We laid out areas for the kids to play in with trains, a car mat, a little town, a construction area with blocks and dumpers.  The big hit was the race track Chris whipped up the morning of.   The kids sent cars down endlessly!
Shai had lots of us friends over whose company he was thrilled to have share in his party.  Despite the cold winter weather we so appreciated and enjoyed having our family come out for this special day.

A Puzzle

The move we made two years ago may mean that we don't get to see good friends as often as we would like but it hasn't meant we don't connect with them.  Mail has taken on a whole new importance, emailing is something even the youngest gets in on and when we make the far too few visits down they are crammed with   a very long to do list always leaving things for the next time.
We have some very creative friends who have been sprinkling us with puzzle pieces in the mail, during visits, scattered for us to find hidden.  The puzzle came out the other day just to check how it was looking.  It is definitely a photo .....but we can't guess all the faces yet.  There are lots of guesses, which then leads naturally into story sharing and in turn future plans.  There is hope we will make a visit soon and maybe in turn discover some more puzzle pieces.  thanks guys we are still loving them!

Another Reason to Love Winter

Our front door area has a new addition; three sets of cross country skiis.  This weekend Elias, Ben and Aria all begun participating in a cross country skiing program.  We finally compiled three sets at the beginning of this week, so they have been practicing every chance they get.  Two of them were up and out before I was even thinking about waking up! They have set up a track around the house, the pond, up over some hills and back.  And yes you know the dog was part of the fun!  There is talk of training for this crazy sport we went to watch last year.

Happy 4th Birthday

to my sweet boy, forever my baby.

I love how you

*like to whisper in my ear

*never, ever tire of playing cars or trucks

*love ice cream so

* have taken to climbing into bed with Ben in the middle of the night

*never forget to come cuddle with me in the morning

* lay next to Myca and tell her stories

*stand on your chair at dinner to make sure we are all listening

*play air guitar

*when you hear a song your body starts dancing like it just can't help giving into it

*you like to kiss everyone before bed

When you are four your best day includes going to play group, then out for a treat with your brothers and sister.  Dinner is around the campfire, giving him a chance to try out his new snowshoes.  Ice cream with candles and a party at the end of the week to top it off.  Being four is looking good.

The Elusive Moose

One of the things that kept everyone moving on the trail were clues left behind by a MOOSE!
There were tracks about the size of my hand following around the edge of the frozen lake.  In a clearing we found a large patch of very long dark brown hairs.  It appeared the moose had a little rest leaving behind its mark.  It was quite an adventure!  We didn't spot it, but we think we were hot on it's trail :)

Sunday Hikes

I love Sunday hikes.  This Sunday was cold, crisp but sunny.  We headed out to Algonquin park and explored a trail we had never been on before.  Peck Lake isn't a long trail, but quite rough with the snow so it turned out to be a perfect length for the littlest pair of walking legs in the family.  The kids loved walking part of the trail on the frozen lake.  It was great to have some down time in the woods.

Party Time is Together Time

Shai and I had the joy of attending a friend's 5th birthday party.  There was sledding, games, lunch and time together.  The time together was a real treat!

Feeling Blue

Elias has blue hair dye and is often sporting a whole or partial head of blue hair.  The other day he decided to share it.  I was late on getting a photo- this is after a few washes!