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Nov 30, 2010

Self Improvement

I am watching videos by vegans and getting so much inspiration. I find it so motivating to hear their experiences and to see them and hear what they have to say, reminds me that I am not alone in what I am doing. It gives me ideas about things to try. It motivates me to go further, to do more.

I am making an effort to really connect with my family without making a big deal about it, not telling them, but I try to make sure I really listen when they talk to me and I reach out and casually touch them, or hug them. I am doing this not only with the kids but with Prince Charming too. It is too easy to let kids and life get in the way of really connecting with your partner and I in my quest to improve myself, I am trying to improve that too.

I am also trying to get more of the house really settled into. My first goal is to get all the boxes on the main level unpacked (there isn't that many left). Then I am going to go through the boxes in the basement that we had in storage and get them gone through and pared down.

I fixed my kitchen a little more. I liked everything except how I had to food storage arranged. I like to have my stuff in zones:
  1. the can zone,
  2. the bottle zone,
  3. the box zone,
  4. the cannister zone,
  5. the pasta, grains, and rice zone,
  6. the baking zone,
  7. the snack zone,
  8. and the beverage zone.
I didn't have that done and I had no real place set aside for my baking stuff and it was driving me crazy. So this morning, I took all my stuff, spread it across my counter and I put it away in an organized way. It is so much easier to keep track of things now.

Nov 29, 2010

She finally sat by herself!

My poor little pumpkin has been slow in her development. While other babies her age are busily standing, cruising, and learning to walk, my little pumpkin is still doing the army crawl and falling over when we try to get her to sit, but this morning, she sat without falling!!

I sat her up, helped her balance, and then took my hands away, fully expecting her to fall sideways as usual. But she didn't. She looked up at me with sparkling brown eyes and grinned and sat there proud as a peach. It was super adorable. She stayed there until I picked her up to get breakfast!!

Nov 28, 2010

Santa's Elf

I am feeling so incredibly happy these days. It really must be nauseating to read about. It is snowing outside and instead of being grouchy about it, I am just walking around singing, "It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas". I am loving our new home. I am looking forward to spending Christmas here. I am looking forward to decorating it (Prince Charming says I have to wait *pout*) I just went and programmed our TV to tape every Christmas show I could find for the next two weeks. (I would have gone right until Christmas but two weeks is as far as our tv would let us go.) I love looking out our window and seeing the snow on the evergreen trees in our yard. I feel like Santa's healthy-living elf today living in my cosy little home that suits us so perfectly. *sigh* life is good today.


And just because I didn't share during the Halloween season here is a pic of my girls on Halloween night:

Nov 27, 2010

Saturday PhotoHunt : Written

The theme this week is Written. When I think of this theme, I think of how popular writing and the written word is at our house. My girls love books and they love expressing themselves on paper.



Nov 26, 2010

Friday Five - Great Things


  1. My headache is gone today. I am so glad.
  2. I actually got things done today. I have officially gotten all my unbroken pictures on the walls. I can see how many more pictures I want get to put up too.
  3. Slowly but surely I am getting more organized, but piles of boxes in the basement and in my bedroom are really calling out to me. I want to go through them and sort and get rid f a good portion of what is in them.
  4. I didn't give in to the caffeine fairy yesterday but I have to say, if I keep getting headaches, i am going to wonder if this is worth it.
  5. I think that the fact that Princess Belle is so tall and so helpful and so into teenage things makes us forget that she is only an 8 year old child. She really is just a little girl. No matter how old she wants to be, she isn't.

Nov 25, 2010

headaches

I have yet another headache. I am so tired of these darned things. I swear, if I can't kick these things attacking me every few days I am giving up my ban on coffee. I have been without it for a while now. I have made it through the withdrawals. Most of the time, I feel great. But these headaches are definitely more frequent now then they used to be and it is killing me.

Nov 24, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - My Three Girls

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants.

For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!

Nov 23, 2010

SNOW!

It is SNOWING outside. A LOT! I am so not ready for this. On the other hand, we are having a quiet day at home as a family, cuddled together watching moves, eating popcorn (well the kids are eating it) and just enjoying ourselves. It makes me want to start decorating for Christmas.

Earlier, Princess Magpie (2 years) was on the floor with a blanket covering her and Princess Snifflefritz (11 months) and she was playing peek-a-boo with her. Their giggles were echoing down the hall. It is so sweet watching them together. It warms my heart (even on snowy days).

Nov 22, 2010

At this Moment (part 2)

At this moment, Princess Magpie is waving and saying, "Bye Wiggles!" as The Wiggles wave goodbye on their show.

At this moment, Princess Snifflefritz is laying beside her giggling at The Wiggles.

At this moment, Princess Belle is outside playing in THE SNOW!

At this moment, everyone I love is happy, healthy, safe, warmed and cared for. Life is good . . . At this moment.

Nov 21, 2010

Information about teaching a child with Autism

I was reading a book about teaching kids with Aspergers and Autism and mostly, I found it really depressing (don't worry I didn't let it get me down). It was filled with information on challenges in teaching kids like Princess Belle, but it had little in the way of constructive advice. I already know the challenges I face in teaching her. I have come across them and while it was good to know it wasn't just me, it would have been nicer to have some real constructive information on what has worked for other people and what I can do to make things better for her.

On a sidenote, I am really looking forward to our new curriculum arriving. We are going back to having a schedule that she can see and being a bit more organized. She does a lot better with structure and visual cues. #Autism

At This Moment.

At this very moment, Princess Magpie is plunking away at her toy piano and singing made-up songs to herself. It truly is the cutest thing.

At this moment, Princess Snifflefritz is on her belly trying to reach the keys on Princess Magpie's toy piano causing Princess Magpie to lose her place in her singing and giggle.

At this moment, Princess Belle is just a little girl laying on her back watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, not rushing headlong into being a big kid and growing up too soon.

Life is really really good . . . at this moment.

Nov 20, 2010

Saturday Shopping

We did all our Christmas shopping for the kids today. It was so fun shopping for them. It was hard keeping to our budget. We got all of their presents and we got all the stocking stuffers for everyone. We still have to buy for the adults in our life, but it is good to get that much done. And it was so fun too!

Nov 19, 2010

Friday Five - Feeling Great


There are so many things that I am feeling great about right now. Here are five that are making me smile right now:
  1. The way Two Year old Princess Magpie waves and says, "Bye" everytime she leaves the room.
  2. How helpful Princess Belle is with her sisters. She really is my right hand girl.
  3. I am through the caffeine withdrawals!!! I have no headache and I feel absolutely great!!

  4. The more I unpack and get organized, the more I love my house. This just feels like home. I have unpacked things that I haven't unpacked in my last two homes, I am throwing away boxes as I unpack them, not saving them for a future move. My neighbor offered to plow our driveway all winter long! Out of the goodness of his heart! I LOVE it here.

  5. The fact that Princess Snifflefritz slept until 7 am today! After a week of getting up anytime from 5 - 6 am in the morning, today was a luxury!!

TOS Review: KB Teachers

KB Teachers, or Knowledge Bears, is an award winning teacher website founded by Christophe T. Popper. It offers membership for printable resources such as worksheets, instructions for craft projects and clip art to use on your non-commercial website or home projects. There is also a sampling of their content available to use for free if you want to see what kind of resources they offer before committing to a membership. For $29 per year, or $49 for two years, you gain access to the site's premium worksheets, printable pages, and workbooks, suitable for students K-12. The site accepts both PayPal and credit cards for payment.

Now, I love new resources. There is nothing that gets me going more than browsing through the local teacher stores and various websites. And when I began exploring KB Teachers, I was in heaven. I LOVED it! There is a LOT of great stuff here! I spent an incredible amount of time exploring and printing and preparing for homeschool ideas. It was so fun for me!

The first section I will mention is - seasonal printables and worksheets. I LOVE planning all sorts of fresh activities and special events for each month! I have folders on my computer filled with things I have saved and folders in my filing cabinet filled with seasonal ideas to keep things interesting for Princess Belle, she loves that sort of thing. If you share my enthusiasm for those things too, you're going to love this page. KB has some adorable Thanksgiving printables for all my American friends. There are turkey, pilgrim, and native american posters, stickers, and mazes, that can be used for all kinds of crafts, games,and whatever else you might think of.

Their fall section also features an assortment of autumn -themed worksheets to supplement your studies, whether the subject is math (count the falling leaves in the picture) or handwriting (trace the letters and words). As an added bonus, you have the option of printing your pages in color, or leave them black and white, which allows you to also use them as coloring pages. Princess Belle loves anything that lets her be artistic so adding coloring to her worksheets keeps her enthusiastice about them. Also, KB allows you to change up the numbers simply by clicking the "generate new numbers" icon, so I can generate a new set of problems for them to work on without spending a lot of time and effort.

You'll also find that KB features monthly web quests for various days of the month. Learn about a few famous people born during the current month, or jazz up your day by researching peanut butter fudge day, or parfait day.

If that were all this website offered, it would be impressive. But there is so, so much more! As I just mentioned, the worksheets are programmable, so you can customize each one for your specific needs. Whether you need alphabet pages for your kindergartner, or you're older child needs practice writing an outline, you'll find it all here, taking you through each step. You'll find it helpful that each subject is categorized by grade level, so you can quickly get where you need to go.

How do you teach math? Does your child learn better by counting images? Does she need practice with word problems? Are you teaching them about counting money? It's all here, no searching all over the place, no waiting for your downloads, everything is but a click away.

I should also mention that KB is always creating fresh worksheets for you, and, if initially you don't find what you're looking for, contact them and they will either find it, or create it for you! A teachers dream!

KB offers the same awesome features for other subjects as well.

The science section features virtually everything you might think of, whether you're studying astronomy, marine biology, or the weather. You could even call it your one stop shop, because KB has done most of the work for you. This would be so valuable to a busy household with a wide range of grade levels. I mean, there are complete lessons and workbooks here! Incredible!

You'll find more of the same in the social studies section - outlines, tests, essays, yeah, it's all there.

The last section featured on the Knowledge Bears website is kind of a miscellaneous group of activities. Here are coloring pages and workbooks of dinosaurs, the four seasons, and for the little ones, various basic skills pages.

As if that weren't enough, there is a nice little collection of art project ideas, suitable for every student K-12, as simple as an egg carton caterpillar or as complex as ancestral self-portraits. We had fun crafting a version of the soda pop penguins, modifying it a bit to suit our available materials. So cute.

Be sure to browse through the clip art available for your lessons, presentations, to jazz up your various projects and crafts, or add them to your blog.

I'm confident that you'll be as pleased to have access to this resource as I am. You are given the opportunity to look through their library before you join. When you do become a member, you have 30 days to change your mind and get a refund - although I doubt you'll want one.

The website is updated frequently, so there are always fresh ideas waiting for your use. Now, get yourself over there and try it out today!

KB Teachers
http://www.kbteachers.com/
Price: $29 one year subscription or $49 two year subscription
Ages: K-12

If you’d like to see what other TOS Review Crew members think of this product, you can visit our Crew blog.

I TRULY LOVED this resource and I am certain any other homeschooling mom out there would too.

Just to let you know: I received the product free of charge for review purposes but my opinions are my honest thoughts on the product.

CSN Stores

While looking around on-line for fun and great things to buy for Christmas and for our new home, I found this great site. I saw some bar tables and stools which I thought were really nice and there were such a variety of types! I am definitely going to be doing some shopping at CSN Stores. I will let you know what I decide to get.

Nov 18, 2010

Thursday Thoughts.


I have a few things to be pretty happy about today. I have it on pretty good authority that Santa is bringing me a new camera for Christmas. That means I will be able to share pics with you all so much more often!!!

Also, I seem to be coming through the caffeine withdrawal haze. I am feeling almost human today!!! I even organized my kitchen and did some laundry already today!

We plan on having all our Christmas shopping done within a week!!! That will certainly take the stress out of Christmas.

It is kind of a dull dreary day outside, but we are warm and comfy inside, so life is good.

Nov 17, 2010

Picture mania

Well, I am feeling a little better. My children still do not believe in sleep and I am still fighting the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headache, but I am less scatterbrained from it. I can't believe how hard it has hit me to fight this addiction.

In the meantime, I actually got up and did something today, (other than take care of my kids and get groceries and all that fun stuff). I started unpacking my pics. It reminded me that I have to frame some pics of Princess Snifflefritz to put up. I love looking around and seeing my girls.

The older girls were both so excited to see the pics going up. Princess Belle was playing foreman giving ideas of where they should go and Princess Magpie just kept pointing and saying, "Baby! Baby!" with no idea that the baby was her.

Nov 15, 2010

Quiet Monday Mumblings

not enough sleep and caffeine withdrawals has me suffering from a booming headache and feeling a little quiet today.

Nov 14, 2010

Homeschool thoughts

I am planning on buying a complete curriculum for Princess Belle. I have been putting it together myself, but I think we will both feel better for now if we have a complete set to know we cover everything we need to. I do wish there were more Canadian Curriculum's out there. I am thinking of A Beka right now.

Nov 13, 2010

Cute Moments

We let the Princess's stay up a little late to watch Hannah Montana Forever we had taped and apparently Princess Magpie was tired after it was over. While Princess Belle was standing talking to us about the movie, Princess Magpie walked up and wrapped her arms around her big sisters legs. We were all ahhing appropriately at the sudden hug when she then started pushing Princess Belle down the hall to her room. It seems that Princess Magpie wanted to go to bed and since she shares with Princess Belle she figured she had to push her to bed too.

While I was typing this to you, Princess Snifflefritz crawled down the hall to her big sisters' room and started crying outside their door. You see, she adores her big sisters and was upset that they had both gone to bed.

Nov 12, 2010

Friday Five - Getting Organized


  1. Well things are rolling along. I have come with an idea I am anxious to try when I get our classroom ready. I have boxes of books that are awaiting bookcases and a really long piece of wood I was going to use to create a desk (It would take up most of one wall). I have decided for now, to put some of the boxes under the desktop to get them out of the way.

  2. I made a big dent in the big pile of boxes we have to unpack. And I have things organized into sections to make this easier. I do needed lots and lots bookcases. I am determined not to have bunches of books sitting in unopened boxes this time.

  3. I have pulled out our boxes of pictures so that I can put them up when I get some picture hangers next week.

  4. I have organized Princess Snifflefritz's room. It is adorable!!! I even have a rocking chair to put in there

  5. I am not liking how my kitchen is put together right now. I have to take some time and rethink the way things are in there. What do you think of brooms and mops being on the wall by the back door? (the one we use) I do have a shelf for shoes and some hooks to put up in a convenience place for the coats we use every day (the rest go in the hall closet).

FREE Holiday Digital Supplement

2010 Holiday Digital Supplement/Idea Book

just click the icon above to get to the link to download this free digital holiday supplement.
Recipes, crafts, and a boatload of different ways to celebrate the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays-all for free!

**helpful download hint: once you click the get your free gift icon, and it has uploaded...on the upper right-hand corner is a download icon-click that to decide how you want to save it to your computer.

Nov 11, 2010

Moments

There are moments when I catch all three girls on the living room floor sitting quietly watching "The Wiggles" or something similar that I am struck with how sweet they are. They are all so sweet and loving and gentle, and the fact that I have moments of sweetness, loving, quietly being together is just too wonderful for me. Whether they are cuddling, playing or watching a kids show, I feel so lucky to have these three girls that love each other so much. (watching television is the one time I can catch them all together at the same time where taking a pic does not immediately result in one or all of the stopping what they are doing to spoil my pic)





Thirteen Great Sounds in my house (Thursday Thirteen #91)

Thursday Thirteen
  1. Princess Snifflefritz playing with the echo in her bedroom when she is supposed to be sleeping
  2. the rustle of Princess Magpie's diaper as she runs and plays.
  3. "Thank you baby" after Princess Magpie kisses me
  4. Princesses Giggling together
  5. Princesses dancing together
  6. Princess Snifflefritz's soft snores as she sleeps.
  7. Princess Belle soothing her sister
  8. "I love you Mummy."
  9. Princess Snifflefritz happy sounds as she plays
  10. The scuff of Princess Snifflefritz scooting across the floor as fast as she can when she has a goal in mind
  11. Little girls calling to Princess Belle as she gets out of the van to go to the Boys and Girls Club
  12. "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" and little arms wrapping around my legs as I come into the room even though I have only been gone in the other room for 5 minutes
  13. "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" followed by "I am NOT Mummy, I am Daddy!" followed by giggles from Princess Belle when Prince Charming comes into the room

Nov 10, 2010

Vacuum Adventures

Our new house has carpet in the living room, classroom and hallway (hardwood everywhere else). Our last few houses haven't had carpet anywhere and our kids have had no experience with vacuum cleaners at all. So tonight when I pulled out our brand new vacuum cleaner to do the carpet, I expected the worst. They are all so sensitive to new things and loud sounds so I expected the very loud vacuum cleaner to be accompanied by much tears and waterworks. Boy was I wrong. They loved it. They ran from it, pretending it was going to get their toes. They giggled and chased it. They were too funny and the tears didn't start until I put it away.

On a sidenote, there is something very satisfying about vacuuming. Watching it suck up all the crumbs and little bits of junk that the kids have all over the carpet. Watching my messy carpet become pristine with one stroke of Twisted Cinderella's magic wand. I really liked it. Especially doing it while my dishwasher was cleaning the supper dishes. Aaahh, I love a life where machines clean my house for me.

Wordless Wednesday - My current Desktop pic

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants.

For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!


Nov 9, 2010

Funny Magpie

Princess Magpie is too funny. She saw her sister eating an orange and stole some of the peels and started eating them. She made a funny face, but kept eating the peels. We felt bad for her and gave her a piece of orange which she poked with a finger, turned up her nose and pushed away to continue happily eating her orange peels.

Every time Princess Magpie comes up to give me a random kiss, she says "Thank you baby." It just melts my heart.

She loves all things ballet. She wears tutu's around the house and dances to the Wiggle's Fairy dance all the time.

I fell asleep on the couch yesterday (Princess Magpie got up for the day at 5:30 am). Princess Magpie has never seen that before and kept coming up to me, putting her face to my face and tapping me and giggling. It was an incredibly cute way to have my sleep disturbed.

She is currently sitting in her room twanging the door stop back and forth giggling.

(little note, have I mentioned how totally in love with our new home we are?? We even went out and bought a wreath for our front door and talked about the things we will do in the coming years and how are going to clear out some of junk to make better use of the space.)

Nov 8, 2010

Random things

  1. I have noticed that several of our neighbours were out mowing the lawn yesterday. I found it really funny because in the days leading up to it, we had frost once and snow twice. In my house, there is a secret alarm that goes off once snow falls. No more grass gets mowed until next year.
  2. My neighbours are super sweet. They have already helped us with a few things like unloading the truck. And I love to chat with the lady who lives there.
  3. My former landlord was really sweet. When we dropped off the key she gave me a hug and told me she hoped her new tenants were as good as we were. I really adored her. It is too bad the rent for her house was so high and that the house didn't really suit us.
  4. I am worn out from the move (we loaded the stuff up all on our own with no help. In fact other than the large things, I loaded it up all myself while Prince Charming took care of the kids. (a perk of his having no drivers license)
  5. I secretly love having a dishwasher again.

Nov 6, 2010

I'm Back!

As you know nothing ever goes quite as smoothly as you expect and our internet wasn't working when we moved, but we are back and set up and happily settling in. I have to say, the more I unpack, the more I fall instantly in love with my new house. It doesn't have as much storage as our last place, but it suits us perfectly. it is cozy and comfy and feels lived in. I am not scared for my kids to be kids here. It has beautiful architectural details that I LOVE. There is not a real big yard, but there is a lovely park just around the corner. And the best thing yet . . . when I get our boxes out of it, we will have a dedicated classroom!!! I am so happy!!!

I will have pics to share soon.

Nov 5, 2010

Collectorz; a TOS Crew Review


As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Crew I was given the opportunity to try out a very useful resource for our homeschooling. Book Collectorz is a downloadable program that will allow you to keep track of all your books, cd's, and dvd's. It is a great idea for the book collector or family that enjoys reading and therefore has a lot of books that they want to keep on hand. Collectorz.com offers easy to use cataloging systems for books, music, movies, comics and video games. Everyone is covered with versions for Windows, Mac OS X and even online.

Basically, the program is pretty intuitive—you can just catalog your book collection by ISBN.
Just enter ISBNs or scan ISBN barcodes, and the program automatically adds book details and cover art. Book Collector key features allow you to:

Try Book Collector Free for 30 days (100 book limit)


You can also catalogue your existing ebook and audio book files just by scanning your folders…

And, you can upgrade your Collectorz account to Book Collector Connect and do even more:

  • Browse your personal book collection online
    Search and sort your collection in List, Detail or Cover View.
  • Publish your book database online on Collectorz.com servers
    Access your book inventory from any online computer or mobile device.
  • Share your collection list with friends & family
    Make your collection public (optional), then just email a web-link
  • Connect is a fully stand-alone book organizer tool
    Connect is a cool add-on to the Book Collector downloadable desktop edition for Windows or Mac, but it can also be used on its own, as a super-easy online book cataloging tool.

Book Collector Standard Version is $29.95, and Book Collector Pro Version costs $49.95.

Collectorz.com has all kinds of options. Go check out their site! I know my kids are waiting to try out the Movie Collectorz and Game Collectorz!


As all of my regular readers know, I love anything that helps me to get better organized. So this product really suits my personality! I haven't had the time to enter my entire collection, but I can see that it would be a helpful program to have to better organize my library and I would love to have the scanner to use!

See what my crewmates have to say about Collectorz!

(gotta love doing blogging from the public library!)

Nov 2, 2010

okay, we are disconnecting the computer now. See you all as soon as I can!

The big day

Today is the big day. I am off to get the moving truck and get ready to move all the big stuff. Prince Charming and I are doing this move all on our own and I am really stressed about moving the bigger things. Let's pray that I am strong enough to get the couch and deep freeze out of here and to our new house!

Nov 1, 2010

Work work work.

I was up early this morning packing and loading up our minivan and taking things over to the new place. I have been going back and forth with stuff in our van since Saturday. Tomorrow we will have a moving truck booked to take over the big things and then we should be almost done. This has been a long long exhausting process. I will be glad when it is all done.