Fun times while Dad is away

Well we've managed to keep ourselves busy this week. Monday we were home for most of the day. We went to the library to get more Geronimo Stilton books. Nate has been reading them all week and has finished one book per day!! And then at Karate the boys got their tips. 

Tuesday we got our work done in the morning then went to a play centre in the afternoon. The boys loved the climbing wall and were both able to climb it from one side to the other  without falling off. Caitlin loved playing on the indoor playground and all of the toys. 

Wednesday we went to the Science Centre with friends and a great time as usual. I'm considering buying a family pass. It's not as expensive as I thought it would be and the kids have a blast everytime we have been so far. 

At Karate the boys got more tips on their belts!!! Nate can grade at the end of the month for his yellow belt!!

Today we went to the Forest Garden again. Today's activities included hut building, exploring at the pond and making kites. 

Our friends came over to visit afterwards and stayed for supper. Then they came to watch Karate. I think that boys really enjoyed the audience. 

Tomorrow we are going to Fairy Lake in the morning and then co op in the afternoon.

 

It's been a great week, but we definitely miss Daddy :)

Mother's Day

For Mothers Day, my kids made me breakfast. It was really yummy. I had a bad headache at the time and was feeling nauseous so I had to smile and eat as much as I could as not to hurt their feelings. 

Then we went to church and the kids were part of a Sunday School performance. They were so cute. In one of the songs Caleb was snapping his fingers and cracking me up. Then Caitlin was obsessed with the microphone. They moved it and she moved too to be in front of it, pushing kids out of her way. Leave it to my kids to be the show stealers. 

After church I was treated to brunch at Angus Glen Golf Course. It was fabulous and I ate way to much!

We got a free family photo with the brunch. It turned out ok. The kids look a little scared though. And I have a double chin :(

After lunch we drove Tim to the airport to fly to BC for the week. So I am a single mom for the week. One advantage to that is I have access to the car!  Woohoo!! Looking forward to going to the science centre and forest garden and co op without having to drive Tim to work and then pick him up after.  Caitlin's stomach appreciates it too as she gets car sick if she is in the car for too long. 

And here are a couple of random cute pics of my angels:

Trampoline fun

Playing with one of Grandma and grandpa Burkoski's puppies

They got more tips! Hopefully they will get their yellow belt by the end of the month!

 Caitlin is obsessed with her bathing suit and wears it around the house all of the time. Tonight her and Caleb were also walking around the house with boxes on their heads:

Dressed up like dad. He told me to call him Tim:

Forest Garden

For the past two weeks we have been going to a program called "The Forest Garden" on Thursdays. It is held in a wooded area that has a cabin and a pond and a firepit and lots of places to explore. It is a nature program and the kids have been learning about how to keep a nature journal. This week they learned about trilliums and had a bird nest making challenge.  

Alot of then families that we have met at the gym time in Newmarket and the co op are there as well as lots of new faces. There is a whole troop of boys that love stomping around together through the woods. This week some of the boys' favourite friends were missing and they were sad about that. But they still had a good time. 

Caitlin making her nest:

The boys and their nest:

Working in journals and making crafts:

Using the outhouse ;)

Being silly at snack time:

A trillium after its leaves have changed colour: 

Gorgeous weather is a blessing and a curse

We have been having awesome weather these past few weeks. It is a welcomed change after the never ending winter this year. The kids are loving it! They are making great use out of our new spacious backyard. The trampoline from Grandma and Grandpa Bauman is awesome fun! So all that being said I'm having a terrible time trying to get the boys to do any schoolwork. They just want to play outside 24-7. And I don't blame them. I saw the trampoline picture below on Facebook a few weeks back and it made me laugh.

The bottom picture is Caitlin's artwork. Painting is one of her favourite things to do. Here she was making a smily face.

Some cute highlights from our weekend

Tim was playing in a Halo tournament in Niagara Falls this weekend so the whole family tagged along for a mini vacation. We saw the falls on Friday night, I explored Clifton Hill with the kids on Saturday morning, we watched Tim at the tournament in the afternoon, played in the hotel swimming pool in the evening, ate supper at the rainforest cafe, rode on the skywheel at night then Sunday was spent at Fallsview Waterpark.

While at the tournament there were a couple of other events happening at the convention centre. There was a robotics demonstration that the boys loved and a dance competition that had Caitlin's attention. She told me that she wants a dance costume and tap shoes. I'm thinking that we definitely need to enrol her in dance lessons in the fall.

Tim was teasing the kids for the whole weekend that he was going to take them into one of the many scary attractions. They were refusing of course. We were walking back to our hotel and Tim said "OK I will give $100 to whoever will go in with me." The boys screamed and said NO WAY. Caitlin sits up in her stroller and says "pick me Daddy! It's not scary for me." Love her.

We went on the skywheel and as we were at the top Caleb says "I know...lets play eye spy".

Caitlin managed to lose her "yucky buddy" on Clifton Hill. Luckily we have a replacement at home but she prefers the yucky one. When it was time for bed on Sunday she asked for it and I gave her the new one. She asked where yucky buddy was and I said that we lost him in Niagara Falls to which she replied "is he all wet?"

Spring is here

It is May and I have totally neglected this blog over the winter. I was reminded of it today when a friend mentioned her blog. I'm thinking I need to be posting here again. It's a good journal for me and a good way to keep track of our homeschooling accomplishments.

I still have not conquered the two goals that I set out in my last post in November. That is so sad. I have to admit that homeschooling is easier that I thought in some respects but way harder in other respects. I think I have been too
laid back this year with respect to the amount of "schoolwork" that we've done. At the same time I don't feel like this year has been a total loss. We are adjusting to the new house, the new area and the whole lifestyle of being a homeschool family. We have made some awesome connections with other homeschoolers in the area and also have been taking advantage of being closer to family again.
I'm finally at a place where I can say that I'm excited about homeschooling and can see this being a long term, sustainable thing. I have more confidence in myself and can see the benefits multiplying in my kids. But I definitely need to be more proactive with planning and scheduling.

We have joined a homeschool co-operative that meets every Friday afternoon. It has been a real blessing. The kids enjoy it tremendously.

The boys are done with hockey for the season and are now enrolled in karate. It is their new favourite thing!

This weekend we are heading out to have a mini family vacation in Niagara Falls. We did a unit study on it a few months ago so the kids are excited to see it in real life.


Life is good!!