August

We were so glad to arrive at Grandpa and Grandma's house. The kids said hello and ran out to the garden to pick peas. We had a wonderful week visiting with Grandpa and Grandma, Auntie Vicky and Uncle Warren, Auntie Paula and Colin and Andrew. The kids were able to play at the park, go swimming, and shop for trinkets at the dollar store.


Auntie Paula taught M and A how to sew. It was great to see them working on a new skill. A made a pillow out of material with wolves on it and M made a quilt with horses on it. I think they really enjoyed making something.

On Thursday, we headed to Regina for some other activities. We ate a quick lunch at Tim Horton's and then headed over the the Regina Royal Museum. We had been there before, but the kids always love to look at the animals. After, to the bowling alley for some 5 pin bowling. It was so much fun to bowl with everyone. The kids loved it!

Supper was next and we had a great meal at Red Lobster. Yum! We ended our day with a quick trip to Wal-Mart and Starbucks before we headed back to Weyburn.

We played lots of Rook when we were home and ate lots of DQ. I was able to do a couple of other fun things...lunch with my Mom and sisters and visiting with some high school friends.

We left there at about midnight and were able to get home mid afternoon.

We took the next week to relax and then we hit the books. This week we took some time to do an art project. Here's what the kids did.Well, that is it! I am finally caught up with my blogging. Hopefully I can keep up this time!!

July

July started out with a bang!

On the July 1st, we headed over to Whole Foods for the annual Canada Day celebration. We got our picture taken with an RCMP and then had lunch (poutine, burgers, and beaver tails).

On July 4th, I ran a 5K in the morning with two of my friends. This was in preparation for the 10K on Labor Day. After the run, we quickly went home to get ready to spend the day at the pool. We weren't very prepared, but we were able to get some good seats in the shade. Paul's parents and sister, Kristen, and her two kiddos joined us for the day. We played at the pool and then came home to celebrate Paul's mom's birthday. We chatted and had cake.Then it was off to the park for fireworks. We had made sandwiches, so we were ready for the long wait for the fireworks. It was a beautiful evening and the fireworks were wonderful.

On July 5th, Paul and I celebrated our 14th anniversary. We had a nice evening out while our friend's daughter watched the kiddos.

The kids finished their swimming lessons that week and all moved to the next level, except for D. He will technically move up because the next time he takes lessons, he will be 6 and that means he has to be in the next level. I think he will do fine there.

On the 9th, we went to the Wyoming Territorial Prison. I can't say that it was the best field trip we've ever been on, but at least it got us out of the house that warm summer day.

The 18th was our unofficial start of school. We had some rough days and we were glad when it was time for us to head out of town for our vacation.

We headed to Canada very early in the morning on the 30th of July. The kids had been ready for a while to go North.

The rest of the story will follow in our August report.:)

June

June was filled with fun activities. The first activity was VBS at our church. The kids had a wonderful time learning about Jesus through the stories presented by the teachers. M was too old to attend as a student, so this year, she helped in a pre-school class. She had lots of fun helping the kids and being with her friends. A decided that this year she wanted to go to Sports Camp instead of VBS. She enjoyed doing something different than everyone else. She loved playing softball and had a great week.

Also during that first week, the girls had their piano recital. They both did an excellent job of the pieces that they had been working on for months.

M started youth group during the first week in June. She was a little nervous, but she had a great time with her friends. She is growing up far too fast!

On the 20th, the kids went to VBS at another church in town. This time M got to hang out with Mommy. We went and looked for paint, went for a bike ride, and did various other things together.

The last week in June brought the first week of swimming lessons for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised to see E finally taking off in the pool. We had been spending lots of time at the pool and that definitely helped her to feel more comfortable.

Thus ended the month of June.

May

May brought the conclusion of many things for summer vacation. Our favorite was the end of school. We were all ready for a break from the classroom. We did our final oral presentations on May 20th. We gave each of the kids a certificate for their hard work and then made a special presentation for M. We gave her a new Bible, a dozen roses and a certificate of completion for Elementary school. That evening, she got her ears pierced.

The pool opened on May 27th and we were there as quickly as we could be. It wasn't the nicest day to be at the pool, but we were glad to be there.

The last weekend in May, we surprised the kids by taking an overnight trip to Denver. We dropped Winston off at Grandpa and Grandma's and then headed South. We didn't tell the kids anything that we were doing that day. We just drove and arrived at each destination. Our first stop....miniature golfing. It was a very warm day, but we enjoyed our game (except Paul won again). Next, to the same hotel we stayed at in November. We dropped off our things and then headed to supper at Gunther Toody's.

Our next stop, we passed right by the hotel. The kids were so confused about what was next. We ended up at the Chinese Theater to watch "Kung Fu Panda 2". Finally, back to the hotel where the kids enjoyed a swim in a very busy pool.

We got up on Monday and headed downstairs for a yummy breakfast and then packed everything up and put it in the car and took a short walk on a trail behind the hotel. The next mystery destination was to the Butterfly Pavilion. We saw lots of butterflies and even some arachnids. Here's D and E holding Rosie the tarantula.
Here's our bunch of caterpillars waiting to emerge from their chrysallis.

That trip wrapped up our spring and we headed into the summer!!

April

April didn't slow down any. E finished her last Tumble Bumbles class. The teacher said she did great and that we should consider putting her in the next class. D finished swimming lessons and was able to advance to Preschool III.

I had an Usborne book party and was able to earn some free books for the kids. We saved them for Easter and for our trip home in the summer.

M and I went to a girl's simulcast at church one Saturday. It was nice to spend the day with her.

April 17th brought E's 7th birthday. She invited a bunch of her girl friends over for crafts and games. She had a fun time with all of her friends.

At the end of the month, we joined our friends, the Whitakers, at an Open House with Irish Cob horses. The kids loved seeing the horses on the farm. This is a picture with their friend, Brendan.

March 2011

March was busy with lots of events.

We did what we always do (homeschool, co-op, AWANA, Precepts) and added more to our already busy schedule. E enjoyed Tumble Bumbles once a week and then D started going to swimming lessons twice a week.

We had Spring Break in the middle of the month. The kids and I went to the movie "Tangled" at the theater. They really enjoyed seeing it on the big screen. M and A had a dentist appointment on Thursday. The rest of the week, we didn't do much. It was nice to not have a huge list of things to do.

That's it for March! Apparently, I didn' t use my camera that month.:)

Catching up - February

In an attempt to you up on the last half a year, I have decided to try to update each month over the next week or so. Let's begin with ....

February 2011

February was full of events.

The kids finished up their skating lessons. They enjoyed it (except D). He would have enjoyed being in the pool more. We returned the skates we bought him for Christmas after his skating instructor told us they weren't very good and invested in swimming lessons instead of buying another pair.

D took a Tractors Galore class and enjoyed learning more about tractors during the weeks he was in class. He even got to go on a hayride and had his picture taken in the driver's seat.

February brought M's 11th birthday. She invited three friends to spend the night. They had a great time playing X-box and watching movies. She chose Angel Food Cake for her birthday cake and we served it with whipped cream and Saskatoon berries.

Mid-February brought some beautiful weather, so we headed to Devil's Backbone for a nice hike. It was wonderful to be outside enjoying the day.
E started a Tumble Bumbles class and enjoyed her first week. More to come on that in the next month.