Science Day

Science day was lots of fun! We invited the homeschool group over to our house for some science experimenting.  Stations were set up around the yard for trying out.  We had oobleck  in one area, with items to test if they would sink or float.  There were hoop rockets vs. paper airplanes for distance.  Once the kids learned to through these straight into the air instead of on the grass the bubble bombs became a hit.  Before we moved inside (the black flies were starting to become bothersome) we did the favorite mentos and diet coke and elephant toothpaste.  The latter didn't have the effect it did in the video unfortunately, but most of the kids hadn't seen the mentos so that made up for it!

The kids had a chance to try mixing oil and water together while painting some paper, getting a marbled effect which the younger kids enjoyed.  Everyone was really impressed with themselves when they mastered this cool experiment.  The last experiment, hover crafts, were fun to make.  They were a little temper mental, requiring really, really flat service. Once we figured that out we were set.
It was a great morning.  Some kids did a few of the activities, others did all of them.  A few kids altered the experiments for different results.  The parents were placed at different stations to guide or give a hand. My kids never get enough of these kinds of activities, so it was nice to finally give a whole bunch of them a try.

Welcome Luke

As soon as we knew we were going to my parents to celebrate birthdays we blocked a chunk of time to meet  a special new friend.  It goes without saying we fell in love instantly.  A perfect new addition into a family who holds a special place in our hearts.  The cuddle time was heaven.  

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!

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!

It's now tradition.  This year was second  that good friends traveled up to celebrate one of the friends birthday.  They don't just come up, they also get a hotel and invite all my kids to sleep over.  There is outdoor time, pool time, play time.  The kids whirl around the mamas in a blur or excitement while we try to chat over the constant hum (or bellow) of noise.  This year there was the addition of two new puppies who seemed to flow right into the mix. 

Craft Friday

I must confess that felted soap is a craft that has left me baffled.  Why would I want to cover soap in felt? isn't that a waste of perfectly good felt?  The friends attending the crafting day don't have any experience working with roving.  After reading through this great tutorial I decided we would give it a try.  I am SO glad we did! They are beautiful, the colours so vibrant, the texture so soft and the lather....oh the lather! These are definitely on the list for gifts.
We also worked on beaded napkin rings.  There were lots of beads to chose from, as everyone brings supplies to share.  We made a set for Christmas day and a few for gifts.  It feels great to have some of our presents done before December!

Craft Group

The Craft group kicked off this past Friday, with 36 people in attendance it was a great success.  Lots of friends who joined us last year came and we were joined by new faces.  We have the usual age spread 1-15 years old, the crafts therefore need to span abilities.  This week we worked on weaving. There were three stations for the kids to rotate through; weaving bookmarks with paper and ribbon, weaving mats on a loom, weaving scenery's on branch looms.  It was a great start. 

Happy Birthday Ben

October was a little crazy, we had lots of welcome guests and the programs all started this month as well.  This meant Ben's party was a little late in getting organized.  We did a bit of brainstorming around ideas, lots of themes have been taken in the past, everything from jungle to pirates and outer space to spies.  I guess that's part of having 3 siblings and having a house which enjoys celebratng with birthday parties! Ben knew he wanted to play games, lots of the them. As we brain stormed we decided this was the perfect theme/focus for his party- puzzles and challenges to solve.

Once the friends arrived the games began.  Each puzzle once completed led to another, clues needing to be brought together to move to the next stage.  The kids liked the first game a lot.  On a table were 20 items, they had 15 seconds to memorize what was there.  The table was covered back up and they had to write down as many of those items as they could collectively remember.  From this list they needed to discover a common thread between the items which led them to their next location.  There were maps leading to puzzle pieces, letters and symbols hidden in the woods to decode, string webs to climb through, blindfolded team games, charades, and more.

The kids never stopped running.  It was a gorgeous fall day, perfect for an outdoor afternoon.   Eventually the trail led to the cake of course.  Ben out did himself by making a fabulous Lego cake.  He figured out how to make the  blocks look realistic, with ten notches - 1 for each year he is celebrating.

Pumpkins and Ghosts

pumpkin toss, pin the wart on the witch, yummy food, good friends!
Happy Halloween!

Never Enough

We love having them over.  Even though there was lots of chatting, fire time, playing, staying up late, wrestling, tire chasing.  It doesn't see to matter how long the visit is....it's not enough.  There are always plans for next time.  

Celebrating

The makings of a tradition.  Soup, cider and potluck treats around the fire (a really big fire).  Lots of friends.  A climbing tree to share.  Dusk to dark. A beautiful fall night. Easy and thoroughly enjoyed.