With the economy the way it is, we—like many other folks out there—have been paying closer attention to where our money is going. And we’ve made a few changes, one of which is that the boys and I are now driving Jim to work and back. And here’s one reason why: parking rates in Calgary are the most expensive in Canada, and second only to NYC in North America (and not by much! $460US/month in Calgary; $500 US in NYC). Here’s an article Jim sent me on the very subject. Now, I get the argument that says more...

Jim took Gareth to the mall the other day to get some shinguards as he starts soccer this week. We’re not shoppers in this family and spend as little time in malls as possible, as was evidenced by Gareth’s loud comment while walking past mannequins in a store window: “Daddy…is that what we do with dead people?!?”

We took the boys to the bird sanctuary Sunday afternoon for some free displays and activities in honour of Earth Day later this week. We attended a presentation on composting (in which Daegan was the only child and the most vocal and engaged participant!), met a Great Horned Owl, listened to a storytime about animals and the earth, chatted with folks from the Calgary Gardening club, etc. This last was quite amusing, as while we were talking Daegan asked if he could have a nibble on some of the fresh herbs in the display pot. “Can’t get him to eat...

Daegan and Jim took a nature class yesterday, rather ironically entitled “Signs of Spring” (we’re suffering through the longest winter I recall in my 16 years in Calgary). It was held at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, for ages 6-12 with parent, and was well-attended. Daegan even met up with a boy, Alex, whom we had over to do homeschool activities from the Jr. Palaeontologist crate from Science Alberta last fall. The class began inside, with a discussion of spring, lifecycles (dragonfly, butterfly, frog…both Jim and I thought these topics more appropriate for a class of 3-6 year olds,...

Over the weekend Jim and I watched the Michael Moore documentary, Sicko. It was both fascinating and very, very disturbing. I can now see more clearly the opposition to “two-tier” healthcare in Canada (privatization of some procedures), and have come to the conclusion that medical care (and health insurance) cannot ethically be run for profit. The Hippocratic oath—first, do no harm—seems to me incompatible with trying to maximize profits for shareholders of HMOs. Asking someone in dire medical need to switch to an approved hospital, or not treating until proof of payment (or demanding pre-payment), or denying necessary medical treatment,...

Did your family participate? Here’s what we did for Earth hour this year: - Read Common Ground by Molly Bang shortly before lights out - Munched on homemade apple crisp (still warm from the oven) and soy ice cream, with tea to drink, by candlelight - Freaked Gareth out with Daegan merely mentioning ‘spooky stories”. I tried to be funny by talking about 4 ghosts—a Mommy, Daddy and two little boy ghosts who were sitting around their table drinking tea and having ice cream and apple crisp. Gareth laughed at first, but then got freaked...

Inspired by the wordless book Flotsam, which the children have now “read” countless times, Jim took some photos of the boys last night and turned them into ‘infinite pictures.’ The boys were thrilled with their pics, and have copies in their rooms. Here they are:

I mentioned a while back that all 4 of us were taking a family clay class. Last Saturday was our final class, and we picked up our completed projects. Here’s what we made: Week 1: Worlds Both boys created prehistoric worlds, and Jim and I were so busy helping them we had no time to make our own creations that week. Here’s Gareth’s world. You can see a frog, turtle, shell, tree, snake and dinosaur. The base of the world was kept rounded by stuffing it with newspaper, which disintegrated to ashes in the kiln.   ...

Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while—and thanks for all who sent notes checking up on us. We’re fine; it’s just been a very busy past couple weeks. We’re all adjusting to life with Jim having a broken wrist; we all were sick with yet another cold/flu; Jim was away for a week on business, which left me little time for writing; ALL the schedules for summer camps and springs classes have come out and I’ve spent quite a bit of time planning out the next few months; we’ve had medical appointments (Jim wrist, boys dentist)…it just all kind...

After such a lovely Friday, Sunday has been rather a let down. I am getting sick, and Gareth is sick—complete with up-chucking all over his bedsheets. So, to make the best of things, Jim and I thought this would be a good chance for some one-on-one time between him and Daegan. And as Daegan is always wanting to skate for a longer time than Gareth, and it was a nice sunny day, this seemed a good way to spend the late afternoon. But less than an hour later, Jim and Daegan returned. As it was getting close to dinner,...