I LOVE MAKING STUFF (III)

This past year's compilation of crafty endeavours:

Button lamp for Laura's room

Rachel's 'Boots' costume

another Very Hungry Caterpillar hat for a cousin's first birthday

'Dad' photo frame for Father's Day

barefoot 'sandals' for one of Laura's preschool teachers

Rachel's baby quilt

Rachel's skirt

Fairy house and garden

Fairy chairs and toadstool table

matching crocheted sunhats for the girls

hair bow holder for the girls

A country burlap wreath as a wedding present for Josh's cousin

The benches from upcycled pallets and the cushion covers

'Bunny Rug' blanket for baby Hannah

Cross-stitched Wreck It Ralph shirt for Rachel's fiance

These sharkbite tops. Rachel had a matching one that I promptly lost
(somehow) before she ever even got to wear it. I also made matching
ones for our American cousins for when we visited.

A quiet book about dinosaurs that I started a long time ago but finished before our road trip

Another 'bunny rug' (they were my favourite thing when Laura was a baby,
so I like making and giving them as gifts), and a little bear hat for my cousin's new baby

ETA Oct 29: Another request for a hungry caterpillar hat for my friend's new cute little guy

Unschooling

      I think I have mentioned that we have decided to keep Laura out of Junior Kindergarten this year. For many reasons: first and foremost because we believe that sending our four-year-old away for full days, five days a week is ludicrous. It was the straw. Josh and I both have beef with a lot of things the school system indoctrinates kids with, and are hesitant to send our girls at all, but for now we are taking it one step at a time. Meaning, for now, Laura is staying home.

    One of our other beefs is that kids are designed to learn through play. Granted, the new 'curriculum' for junior kindergarten is play-based, and I think that is great. But I also think that it is quickly phased out for the less effective desk-learning. So, while Rachel is at nursery school, I am trying to facilitate ample learning opportunity through play for Laura. It has helped that the weather has been gorgeous this week, as we have gone exploring both days. And, to be honest, it is probably at least as fun for me as it is for her. I love being outside.

"Laura, what do you think made these marks?"
"Umm, probably snakes."
#earthscience #waterrunoff #propertiesofsand #riverformation #makinghypotheses

#physics #balance #bodyawareness

#spatialawareness #physics

#observationskills

Laura actually noticed this first.
#biology #makinghypotheses

#observationskills #biology #botany

#observationskills #biology #physicsofdroppingacaterpillar :/

#physics #earthscience

#biology #botany #observationskills

#senseofdirection #outdoorskills #observationskills #natureisbeautiful

#physics #personallimitations #pushingyourself #improvingselfconfidence

We also just (finally!) found some more local home-unschooling families this week and I am really excited to get together for activities with them! I cannot imagine not having Laura home with me all day right now. I am so excited to be on this journey with her.

A Long Overdue Visit

This week is turning out to be one of the happiest weeks I have had in almost as long as I can remember:

[Back Story]
In January of 2008, Josh and I packed up and moved across the world. We moved to Brisbane, Australia, literally pretty much the furthest place from our families. We were really excited to start our pre-children, post-wedding adventure of a life time. Though, to my surprise, I ended up enjoying it much less than I anticipated. Thank goodness for facebook in those times, because that was all that kept me going. I was so homesick, and missed our families so much! I surely would not have made it through if Josh hadn't been there with me. It was in some of those dark times, that I found Sarah. I had been placed on a practicum for my teaching degree that required an hour + train ride to and from my school every day. At first I was outraged that they couldn't find me a closer school to work at, but soon realized that I was meant to take these long train rides every day, for that was where I met the most genuine, therapeutic, and empathetic friend I've ever had. Sarah was in her first year of teaching, and taught a lot of the same students I did at our school. She could offer advice on teaching strategies, and was always willing to lend an ear on topics outside of school, as well. Our partners ended up having a lot in common, too, so we started double dating on the weekends. She was exactly what I needed to get me through my year away from home there. So, on October 25, 2008, we had to say goodbye, and had no idea how long it would be for, or if forever.
Our lives since then have become increasingly crazy. Through family deaths, miscarriages, her mother's aneurysm, intense pregnancies, the birth of our children, and more, we have supported one another as best we could from 15 000km away. Sarah and her partner even asked Josh and I to come back and stand up in their wedding in January 2010, but we had to bittersweetly decline as I would be 8 months pregnant with Laura then.

So, all of that to say how important she is to me.

AND THEN. They moved! The moved to the SAME CONTINENT, the SAME TIME ZONE, even! Granted they are still a 13 hour drive away, but to us, that seemed like a walk around the block! So we made arrangements for a visit. A long overdue visit. Our children are withing months of each other in age, and having 'watched' them grow up on facebook, I was ecstatic to meet them in person and have our children all play together. As infants, we joked that Lily and Laura were sisters, and that Rachie and Archie are betrothed. And now we were finally getting to meet them in real life!!

So, back to what I was saying. This week has been everything I imagined it would be. Laura and Lily get along so nicely. I have never seen Laura just 'click' with someone so well like that. It truly melts my heart. And Lily has been asking to do everything beside Laura. I would adopt these kids in a heartbeat. And although Archer and Rachel are betrothed, at this point they do not appear to be overly interested in playing with each other. I blame their age. ;) When we went to visit Storybook Park on Monday, they did seem to resign to being paired with one another, though. Cute. <3

We have immensely been enjoying our time this week with our old friends. It is just so amazing to be able to spend time with them again, and be going through the same stages of life with them. And parenting is so much easier when there are four adults! Need groceries? Not a problem, there are still three of us here to watch the kids! Want to take a buddy? No problem, we've still got two! Need a shower? No problem! Only some  of the kids want to go to the park? Sure! Bring along another parent for some company! Love. It.

Other highlights from this week:

The kids have been getting tremendous use of the sandbox this week. Probably more than they ever have, combined. And as such have been pretty dirty. So we've been bathing Lily and Laura together for funsies and to save water. One night, Laura's tummy was giving her some trouble, and just after Lily had hopped out of the bath, Laura farted in the tub and ... followed through a little. Oh my! So glad Lily had just gotten out. At least, we're pretty sure she did. A disinfectant tea tree oil scrub of the bathtub followed. ;)


We had a play date with one of my friends this week while Sarah and her crew were visiting. She wanted to meet Sarah, so we arranged for her to bring her little boy over. When they were getting ready to leave, he finally got up his courage to ask his mom, "What language is she speaking?" regarding Sarah and her Australian accent. So funny. <3

Rachel also started preschool this week, and when it was time to pick her up, we gave Laura the option to come with, or to stay and play with Lily and Archer, who were going to go to the park (See? Four parents are awesome!). She chose option B. Once at the park, Archer, who is only two, needed to pee, and there were no bathrooms, so his dad, the only chaperon, told him to go behind a tree. The four year old girls saw him do this, and decided to follow suit before Bob realized what was happening. So, the girls had their pants around their ankles (right next to the road, no less) before he realized and could tell them they couldn't pee at the park! He was legitimately terrified someone would drive by and report a man at the park with children running around half naked, but managed to pull it together and get everyone dressed again. ;)

This week has been so amazing for us, we can't wait to do it again next year at their place! <3

Rachel's First Day of Preschool!

Trying to keep opportunities equal between my children, Rachel went to her first day of her preschool program today. We hadn't really made a big deal of it beforehand, mostly because she had seen Laura being dropped off a million times and I would often have to pry her away from the toys when it was time for us to go. I didn't anticipate any problems dropping her off, and she marched right in like a trooper. Daddy, Laura, and I said our good byes and she was on her way. When I picked her up, they said she had a bit of a rough time transitioning from play time to circle time and that she had asked for bottle and bed and also to go in the car. :( Poor Bee has had such a busy week with our visitors and messed up scheduling/ sleeping that it didn't really come as a surprise. It did hurt my heart a little bit though. <3
I'm sure she will grow in confidence, and once routine is restored and she is properly rested, I'm sure she will rock it. She seemed happy as a clam when I picked her up, so that was reassuring. I love love the staff at their preschool, and am confident she is in good hands. <3

Leaps & Bounds Part II

I posted a little while ago about a spurt of independence Laura was going through, but she has continued to blow me away for the past couple of months! She has been doing well in the self-regulation department and really been trying to use strategies to calm herself when she is feeling upset (a big step for her!), learning to read, dressing and undressing herself, choosing her own outfits (and most of the time they even match pretty well!), folding and hanging her own clothes and putting them away, brushing her own teeth (and hair to a lesser extent), getting her own snacks and drinks, and basically just needing me far less than I am used to. 95% of me is extremely happy about this, but 5% is a little sad about this punch in the face of independence.

Welcome, Rikako!

     We have hosted exchange students before, but since having Rachel we have not had a free room to offer, and so we haven't had one for a while. However, the girls are sharing a room now, and although the nursery was supposed to become a craft/ homeschooling room, we were approached by a company we had formerly worked with who were desperately looking for a few more host families for their Japanese exchange program over the summer, so we decided to help them out and keep it a bedroom for a few more weeks. We had to use one of the girls' big girl beds and subsequently Laura has chosen to sleep on a mattress on the floor for the time being. Anyway, the girls are at a good and fun age now to host someone, and I think they will gain a lot from having someone from a different culture in our house. We are looking forward to the next 2.5 weeks with our student, Rikako!

Road Trip!

     My mom's cousins live in St. Louis, Missouri, and we have been in contact with them via facebook for several years now, but haven't seen them in person in ages. She has grandchildren of similar ages to my kids, and her one granddaughter even looks very similar to Laura. So when we got back from our trip to Disney, I was hankering to plan something else, and after talking to another mom about her road trip to Florida with her little kids I thought, hey, we should go and meet our cousins! We could probably do it for pretty cheap, and a road trip seems like a fun idea in theory. 
Then I started researching it, and as it turns out, a lot of people have negative things to say about road trips with little kids. But I read many blogs with tips & tricks and suggestions, and got some more tips from my mommy friend, and thought it would be doable. Josh was not convinced that it was a good idea, and opted to stay home, but thankfully my up-for-anything mom agreed to come with us. (They are her cousins, after all.) I used roadtrippers.com to find interesting places to see along the way, and off we went for the July 4th weekend!

We packed up the car on Wednesday night and Mom slept over so we could get an early start. We were on the road just before 5am Thursday morning. The girls didn't go back to sleep, but I was well-armed with things for them to do. I brought:

• a lap desk 
• a binder of laminated activity sheets 
• colouring books and crayons
• story cubes
• laminated travel BINGO cards
• a quiet book I made
• a MagnaDoodle-type board and an Etch-a-Sketch (these were both new to us toys)
• a baby doll with new feeding accessories
• DVD player and DVDs 
• books on CD and kids' CDs
• a cookie sheet and magnets
• books
• pipe cleaners and a book on how to shape them into things
• lots of snacks!

     We didn't even end up using all of the things I brought, but the kids kept themselves entertained the whole time. We stopped just on the other side of the border at Belle Isle in Detroit. We went to the Children's Zoo there and stopped to see the fountain. The "zoo" was small and there was not a lot to see (which I was aware of beforehand) but it was free and just the right size for the amount of time we had to stop. We had planned to do the whole 13 hours of driving in one day on the way there, so we didn't have too much time for stops. We left there just before noon, and headed through Ohio to Indiana. We had planned to stop in Indianapolis for a late lunch, but it ended up being more of an early dinner. And the place I had chosen to eat at was only for 21+, so we ended up having to eat somewhere else. After dinner Rachel fell asleep for a couple hours through Illinois and it was after dark when we rolled into St Louis. We were hoping to catch some fireworks over the Mississippi, but we didn't quite make it on time, so we just went straight to our hotel. It was about 10:00 when we arrived. 

     Friday we had planned a paddlewheel riverboat cruise on the Mississippi for the 4th, but once we got down to the waterfront, we discovered that the boats were not running due to the river flooding. That was disappointing, but we looked around at the waterfront and the Arch for a little bit. We got some fries from a riverside chip stand and then headed back to the car. On the way, we passed a helicopter landing pad used for tours, and the girls were very excited. We discussed how expensive we thought it would be, but when we got closer we saw it was only $35 for a short flight, so we decided to do that instead of the boat cruise. The girls were very excited and loved it.

After that we headed over to our cousins' house to spend the afternoon with them. They had lots of fun things set out for the girls to play with, and they all got along really well. They treated us to St. Louis style pizza for lunch and a BBQ for dinner. We had a great time with them watching the kids play, etc. They also bought home fireworks to set off which seemed to be a much more common thing to do in the States than it is here. The girls were all getting tired and we headed back to the hotel around 10:00 and got to see all kinds of fireworks displays on our way back. 

     Saturday the girls still woke up at 7:00, so we had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and then met up with our cousins at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. We first went to the children's area, but it was very crowded and it was hard to keep track of each other with four kids going in every direction. We decided to go for lunch instead and then to the fountain. The girls really enjoyed running around through the fountains and got thoroughly soaked. We walked around for a bit more after that and got to feed the koi. They were very tame and would come right up and open their mouths at the surface of the water. We saw a few more things, but people were getting tired again, so we all headed back to their house for a tea party. Laura fell asleep on the car ride over and refused to wake up, but Rachel played with the bigger girls while tea was being set up. Eventually Laura woke up and joined us for tea, and we had a nice time. We even got to see an old doll my grandma had made for our cousin that she still had. We went back to the hotel around 5:00 or 5:30 and laid low for the night. We had contemplated going to the fireworks put on by St. Louis, but everyone was pretty burnt out by then.

     Sunday morning we stopped at Target for a few things on our way out of town and let the girls each pick out a new toy to keep them occupied in the car. We took the longer, but beautifully scenic drive on the Great River Road along the over-filled Mississippi. Then we headed back toward Springfield to Cozy Dog, a Route 66 icon, for lunch. Unfortunately it was not open on Sundays, although the restaurant was unlocked (?) and we were able to go in and look around. We found somewhere else to get some food and then continued on our way. We stopped in Atlanta to visit Bunyon with a Hotdog and in Pontiac to visit the Route 66 Museum, although we were running a little behind schedule and the girls had both fallen asleep, so we decided against going in. Mom really liked all the murals and would like to go back some time to see the museum. We were headed to Chicago and were hoping to hit up Navy Pier before it closed. When we arrived in Chicago our GPS lost reception due to all the overpasses and tall buildings, and we ended up at the wrong Embassy Suites (there were two within five blocks of each other), so we decided to just go straight to Navy Pier instead of trying to find the correct hotel. We had fun looking around at the pier, and rode the gigantic ferris wheel and the carousel. It was getting kind of late at that point and the girls were hungry, so we found a little place to eat called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. that was themed after the Forrest Gump movie. It was really cute and served seafood. Laura tried a bowl of clam chowder for the first time and enjoyed it. By the time we finished dinner it was dark out and we had to find our way to the other Embassy Suites. We ended up having to ask for directions since our GPS could not get any reception, but we did eventually find it. The wi-fi was not included at this hotel, so we pretty much went straight to bed. In the morning we enjoyed another nice (free!) breakfast buffet and hit the road once more.

     Monday we had planned to drive the Dunes Highway across the bottom of Lake Michigan, but the beginning of it was closed, presumably due to fallen trees/ tornado damage. :( We still ended up at Silver Beach in St. Joseph, which was a lot bigger/ cooler than I had thought. We spent longer there than I had anticipated because there was more to do/ see than I knew. We all enjoyed ourselves there and wished we had more time to spend there. We had ice cream there to tide us over for a late lunch/ early dinner in Grand Rapids. After that it was a long haul drive all the way home. We crossed back into Canada around 9:00 and headed up the shore of Lake Huron hoping to catch  the sunset over the lake. We didn't quite get to see it though because the road doesn't run along the lakeshore there. It was still nice to watch it setting over the trees, though. The girls eventually fell asleep around 10:00 as we drove through southern Ontario in the dark. We made it home about quarter to one and had to unpack the car so my mom could go home. It was a late and tiring night (especially since the girls woke up when we brought them in and wouldn't go back to sleep until after 3:00am!)

Overall the trip went really well, and much better than I had braced myself for. We even discussed doing another road trip next summer!