First, Do No Harm

...but if you do, then at least be sure to properly bandage your victim.

Madeleine Olivia

Somehow, I wasn't able to post this picture of Maddie in yesterday's post.  Here she is - my 7 year old.

Lover of all things soft and cuddly, wearer of many hats (literally), leader of the pack, and little woman in training.  If you could only see how she has grown, not only in the last 7 years, but even in the last few months.  What a girl!

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

 Maddie turned seven last week!  Oh my goodness, where has the time gone?  Her birthday party included a sleigh ride.  What a beautiful day it was - sunny, warm and filled with all sorts of good things.

The kids had a ball.  They loved jumping off the sleigh and running to catch up with it.

The snow was so deep!  Thankfully, we had the sleigh ride last weekend.  We've had about a foot more since then.

Kitty cat cupcakes (or are they bunnies?).

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

A bit of background:  There have been times when the kids have stuck up their noses at things - my cooking, a handmade gift, etc.  I've been very adament that they never openly criticize someone else's labours because, after all, someone took the time to think of them and make whatever it was.

Now the story...


Grammy L. gave the girls new colouring books and they've been colouring up a storm for the last couple days.  Eventually, Maddie came to a picture of a prince that she thought lacked a bit in the "handsome" department. 

Maddie:  Why would anyone want to marry a prince like that?!

Eva:  Maddie!  Don't say that!

Maddie:  Why not?

Eva:  It's not nice.  Somebody worked really hard at making that colouring book.

There you go.  Proof that something I've told them has actually stuck.   

Future Doula?

The girls were pretending to be mommies having their babies.  Maddie and Eva discussed which one of them was going to have the breech baby, and which would have their baby head first.  Eva lay on the floor, crying out while she pushed.  I watched from the couch and finally said, "You know, Eva, you don't have to lie on your back to push the baby out."  Maddie pipes up from across the room, "Yeah, you could just squat!" 

I guess they do listen to me! 

Laugh of the Day

Watching the food network.

Maddie: Mom, what's smoked salmon? Does it smoke cigarettes?

Cat Talk

Maddie is best friends with Tigger, our cat. I'm not sure how he feels about it, but Maddie always has Tigger's best interests at heart (except when they conflict with her best interests). She came to me tonight and asked me not to let Tigger outside after dark anymore.

Now, please understand that going outside is Tigger's only escape from the kids' clutches. If he doesn't go outside, he will be forced to endure endless hugs and kisses, used as a blankie, pinned to the couch and made to cuddle and carried around the house for hours on end. You can understand why I wouldn't want to keep him inside, the poor cat. So, I tried to hem and haw my way out of keeping Tigger from going out.

Mad: "But, Mom, I don't want Tigger to go outside because of the coyotes. They're meat eaters!"

Me: "Coyotes mostly just like rabbits. They won't bother Tigger."

Mad; "Well, what about black bears? There's a bear in our woods, you know!"

Me: "I know, but Tigger just stays near the house. He doesn't go to the woods. And, anyway, why don't you just explain to him to be careful when he goes outside?"

Mad: "Mom! How will he understand what I'm saying?!?! He's a CAT! He says "meow meow", I say "la la"!!


And that's when I lost the argument and Tigger stayed in.

Swim Time Video

Swimming Pictures

Here are some photos of the kids swimming!

Maddie - The Fish


Eva - The Duckling, Graedon - The Frog, & Grammy P. - The Enforcer (keeps 'em in line and safe LOL)


Graedon with his very nifty and extremely helpful swimbelt.



I have a video, too, but I'm still working out some bugs with uploading it. Enjoy the last few days of this heat wave!

Daddy and Homeschool

The best part of a holiday is having Daddy at home. We had school this morning, even though every one else had the day off. That way, we can take a day off somewhere else and not suffer too greatly. So, Richard was able to sit in on our typical school day. He even took over teaching math.

It involved the hose.



It also involved my measuring cups and learning about volume.



Eva was the ever attentive observer.



It's so important that both parents be involved in the kids' education - whether homeschooled, public schooled or private schooled. For us, that means that I get more support, feedback and understanding when it comes to any hurdles and celebrations. I love it when Richard asks the girls what they did in school that day. Seeing that he is interested encourages them to try harder, and makes them feel more grown up. It's also a plus that his interest validates the work I put into their education.

Thanks for making homeschooling that much easier, Rich! ;)

Roman Night

Our homeschool group had Roman Night last week. I loved it! The kids were invited to dress up as Romans. Here's a picture of my little Roman girls:



The only picture of a Roman baby/toddler I saw showed the babe naked, so that was going to be my costume for Graedon. Just kidding! I ran out of time, and he had to go as a present-day Canadian boy.

Roman Night was kicked off with a presentation of what a typical Roman's day might be like. Here's our favourite hystorical re-enactor showing us some Roman toys. She spoke about their clothes, jobs, hobbies, family life, etc.



Then everyone was invited to go to different stations where they could try out some Roman activities. There was weaving, dice & marble making, food, match the word/number, etc.



Maddie & Eva also made masks, like at the theatres.



They even tried their hand at making mosaics.



At the end, we were all treated to a mini-feast. Talk about good! Some of the items were olives, grapes, different cheeses, stuffed dates, dried apricots, nuts, cheese spread on bread, sausages, stuffed boiled eggs (with a honey/cumin mixture), and even fake doormice!

I'm really hoping there will be more time periods we can explore in the future!

To Make a Dinosaur Egg

Eva recently did a project on dinosaurs. She presented it in front of the homeschool group (over 60 people!). I thought it'd be fun to make a dinosaur egg to show everyone. Here's how we did it:

First we mixed up a papier maché paste. All it is is flour and enough water to make it the consistency of wallpaper paste (or a thick glue).



Other than that, we used a mold (a balloon the size of a dino egg (I hope?)), and newspaper torn into strips. Also, don't forget an apron. It's messy.



We dipped the newspaper into the paste, removed the excess icky stuff and neatly placed the strips over the balloon until it was entirely covered. Then, we let it dry completely.



When it was dry, we popped the balloon and painted the egg. Actually, that's what we should have done. What we really did was get impatient and pop it too soon. Then we realized that we needed another coat of newspaper because the egg was a bit flimsy. If you try to do that without the mold, it gets the dry parts wet and they cave in and you get a bumpy egg. Oops.


Here's the finished project, bumps and alls!

Smile of the Day - Healthy Eating

Maddie & I were watching Oprah. This is a very rare event, but since we're down with a tummy bug, the TVs been on and the barf buckets out. Sorry, TMI.

Anyway, Jamie Oliver, who is leading a Food Revolution, was burying a family's deep fryer in their backyard to signal the end of their deep frying diet.

Maddie (having never seen a deep fryer): What's that?

Me: It's a deep fryer.

Maddie: Why are they burying it?

Me: Because it's not very healthy to cook with a deep fryer. He's helping them be healthier.

Maddie: So, are they going to get an up fryer now?

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Pennies and Dimes

Maddie is learning about counting by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s. In keeping with Saxon's program, we made a little grocery store where she could buy all kinds of goodies. Like sardines. Here's our little set-up.

Maddie and Eva practiced writing their numbers by making tags. The prices aren't exactly realistic, but we only had so many dimes and pennies! I *wish* I could get cake mix for 23 cents!

Maddie is quickly getting the concept of dimes being 10 cents, pennies being 1 cent, etc. Making it into a game really helped get her focused on the lesson.

My Little Shadow

My Maddie is so much like me. We get comments all the time when we are out; "My does she ever look like you!" and "We can all tell who's kid she is!". I've begun to notice just how much she is like me on the inside, though.

She is so curious. She loves to learn. She loves to read and listen to stories. She has a thirst to understand and she questions everything. She wants to know about other countries, and how people live in other cultures.

We watched Out of Africa together. During the lion scenes, she exclaimed, "Mom! I want to SEE lions for real. I don't want to see it on TV, I don't want to see a movie, I want to see it in Africa! I want to go to Africa, Mom!" This isn't the first time she's asked to go to Africa. I told her to save her pennies and maybe we could go together.

When I returned from Nicaragua, she was very certain that she wanted to go there, too. She still mentions it every once in a while. She wants to be able to see the ocean, and the volcanoes. She thought that if she kept all her pennies, she'd be able to afford to go to Nicaragua when she is 8 yrs old. After I told her how much it would cost, she decided to save up for a pet rabbit instead.

Pet rabbit or Nicaragua...hmmmm...it's a tough one!

Watching her is like watching a revelation. God gave me this child because I am the best mother for her. He could have given her to any of the other millions of women out there, but he chose me. I'm thankful for that.

All About Dogs

Our homeschool group had their Zoology Fair tonight. The girls and I had been working on our dog project for a couple weeks. They worked so hard on their poster. They coloured dog pictures (blue, because some dogs are circus dogs), printed titles using my "special" markers, read books about dogs and puppies, visited the pet store and even learned a poem. It was really awesome to be able to see them be so interested and driven to learn about their animal.

I was proud of them just for doing that part. I wasn't really expecting them to do the speech part, although I was hoping they would at least stand with me while I did their presentation. They surprised me, though! Not only did they come to the front with me, they also answered the questions I had prepared and even recited the poem for the crowd! My mama's heart just about burst with pride.

I love that homeschooling gives me the chance to see firsthand how much the girls are learning and developing. They are shy and quiet (sometimes!), but with encouragement and nurturing, they've really come out of their shells. One of the other moms and I were talking today and she mentionned how great it is that the children all play together, regardless of their ages. She had noticed, too, that none of the children has ever ostracized or made fun of her son who has a disability. I am so thankful that my children have the opportunity to socialize in an accepting environment such as this.

We are blessed.

It's Winter!

I woke up this morning to Maddie jumping in my bed.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! (each one an octave higher) Quick, come downstairs to see what there is outside!" then, not waiting long enough for me to push back the covers "SNOW!!!"

Maddie shoved on her boots, her winter coat, her mittens and all her gear and then paused. "Mom? I forgot to put on my panties."

Welcome to the winter season!!

Baby Sock Sushi

Bro R and SIL N are expecting their baby in 6 weeks. 6 weeks! That's hardly enough time to blink! My mom, sister, Maddie, Eva and I were able to make a very quick trip to Québec for the shower.

I tried really hard to think of something for the baby that would really suit my bro and SIL. And then, I saw it on Little Bit Funky. Baby Sock Sushi! Perfect!



I got together a little take-out container, 2 chopsticks, little white baby socks, black felt, black hair elastics and little squares of orange felt. I'm not going to give a tutorial because I'll let Little Bit Funky do that.


In no time, I had Baby Sock Sushi!


Then, because he's my brother and she's my sister-in-law, I didn't feel that 4 pairs of socks were quite a big enough gift. So, I taped together some bills to make a square and I origamied a crane! Depending on how cheap you are, you could do this with 5 dollar bills, 10s, 20s or even 50s. If it's my shower, try to go for 100 dollar bills, though.




It was fun, different, and it was a great conversation prompter. Try it sometime!

First Field Trip

Our first field trip of the year with the Homeschool Group - Apple Picking! We bundled up against the wind, rain and cold, and drove to the orchard.


Some of the apples were nearly as big as Graedon's head...and he has a BIG head!


Eva practiced the proper way to pick an apple. You see, you must grasp the apple with the palm of your hand. If you use your fingers, you might bruise it. Then, twist ever so slightly to the left and upend the apple so that it is upside down. It should snap right off, causing little or no damage to the bud that is next year's apple. Whatever you do, don't just twist and yank!!

This apple picking stuff is complicated and serious business!



Back at the apple house, the tour guide showed us their set up. This is a machine that washes the apples, coaxes them up a conveyor belt, feeds them into a sizer and gets rid of all the smallish apples. The small ones are sold at rock bottom prices, or for deer and pig apples.

And, speaking of apples - we picked potatoes this week! Was that too subtle? French for apples is pommes. Potatoes are pommes de terre (earth apples)....I'll give you a minute for that one.


My lovely mother digging the potatoes up. Those branches in the ground are dead potato plants. That's how you know they're ready, I guess.


Each plant will give 6-8 potatoes. Considering it only takes about 1/4 to 1/2 a potato to make a plant, that's a pretty good turnout.


Mmmm...Jems! Eva was very into the potato picking. There was much squealing, clapping and pouncing on the spuds. Every once in a while, there would be a shriek, "Worm!!" and a stomping of feet.

She's so like her mother!