Vancouver

We have been planning on going over to Vancouver for a few months now and when we finally had planned to go everyone got sick, so we stayed home, not knowing when another available day would come along. On Nya's birthday it poured rain and Darren stayed home. We threw ourselves together and hopped on a ferry. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium, one of our favorite places. They have 2 baby beluga whales there right now. They are just my favorite animal in the whole entire world, I don't know why, I just love them (maybe it is because they are this most amazing white). One of the new little baby's was such a ham. It would come right up to the edge where everyone was standing and just look at you with open mouth, as if it were actually smiling and saying, "I know I am soooo cute, just look at me". It found a leaf in the water and it would suck it into it's mouth and then blow it back out over and over again. Later on when went inside to view them under the water, Nya laughed every time a whale swam by, it was the funniest thing - I wonder what she was thinking? We saw so many amazing animals. They also have a theater 4-D theater there and we got to go and see Planet Earth's, Shallow Seas. They warn you ahead of time that some small children get scared and have to leave. You wear 3-D glasses and they have all sorts of special affects come out at you, from wind blowing as the are panning over the sea and water spraying as the whales come up for air, bubbles blow at you as the take you under water and all sorts of fun things. Nya DID NOT like it, but we made it through with out having to leave (thank goodness for that lipgloss in my purse). After we were done at the Aquarium, we headed over to Ikea (I love my Ikea) to check out what I thought from the magazine pictures were the most perfect couches that I have been hunting for for 2 years now, only to be so disappointed. So the search continues! We caught the 9 o'clock ferry and were home safe and sound and way too late at 11:40 p.m. Thank goodness the next day was Saturday! We had a great time celebrating Nya's birthday in style and all together. 

Strings And Sealing Wax And Other Fancy Stuff

When I was a child and I heard the song, 'Puff the Magic Dragon', I used to wonder what sealing wax was. I thought that it must be some sort of wax on ceilings, what else could it be? In my very young age, that made perfect sense, now just what in the world was it ACTUALLY? Although I learned long ago what it was, I never had reason to use it............ until now! Along with our medieval unit that we are doing with our homeschool group, we discussed the ways they communicated. The kids each made a feather quill and wrote a letter on parchment paper and sealed them up with ribbon and sealing wax. It was very fun and it makes a letter look VERY IMPORTANT!

Nya Is 1

Nya turned 1 today. We LOVE this baby. I have the fondest memories of this time last year. I thank God every day that He knew we needed Nya in our lives. Happy 1st birthday, Baby!

Cookies And Castles

Today we made chocolate chip cookies and finished up our castles using finds from our recycling. If my children have taught me anything it is that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I love them for that, they find amazement in something I dismiss as garbage. Also, we are reading 'The Castle Corona', by Sharon Creech and we read chapter's 9, 10, 11 and 12 today while building treasures and eating our treats.

Making cookies with my Ginger Snap and my Tater Tot

Our family castle: we all helped build this one

Emma's castle: complete with a bridge from one princess tower to another

Bergen's castle: complete with moving portcullis

The Age Of Innocence

It is so wonderful to me that Tate can, one minute, be trying on his sister's clips and in the very next, be playing with his trucks!

Man Power

My guys LOVE to help. I try really hard to remember that although it would be faster without little helper's, if I always say no, there will come a day when they are not there asking. So I accept and they are so happy. I love these little men of mine!

Shopping

I have a habit of 'shopping' when I go to my mom's house. She has so much stuff that she doesn't always use or need or even have room for. So I shop! It drives Darren crazy (in a funny kind of way). He calls it stealing. The way I figure it is, it is always here if she wants it back, I never tack without asking and if my mom doesn't mind, why not! This is my latest find.  I love to use things for reasons other than what they were meant for. I think this dish is meant to serve food in, but I thought it would be cute to use it for the little things on my desk.

Holy Fruit Flies, Batman!

So, like I mentioned in another post, we have fruit flies, EVERY YEAR! I have tried in vain to rid my house of them (and I am pretty tidy). Yesterday while all of our family was over for Thanksgiving dinner, my sister-in-law, Tracey said, "So do you know how to get rid of fruit flies?" and I said, "No, do tell me please!" She said to put out a little dish of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap mixed in. So this morning I did just that. I will not post a picture, but I will tell you 1 hour later when I went back to check, I was more than surprised- it worked disgustingly amazingly well!! I could not believe it. Thank you Tracey.