We did a family trip to Drumheller this year, instead of a party, for Daegan’s 7th birthday. It was a wonderful time—and much needed as things have been crazy busy here this spring. Such is the life of the self-employed family: feast or famine. And the boys did a LOT of activities this spring. We headed out Saturday afternoon, as Daegan had his final drama performance that morning. By the time we got there (about 1 1/2 hour drive) we were able to check into the hotel, which was lovely (and free! we did it on points!) Jim took...

…this afternoon—Earth Day—I was struck by the irony of the images outside my window. From last night’s 20C / 70F weather for soccer, to this. Here’s how the day unfolded. 12:30 pm, snow begins 2:00 pm 3:30 pm 5:00 pm So what’s normal here? Well, according to Environment Canada, our normal high for today is 13C / 55F. Not much different than Toronto and Vancouver’s average highs of 14C, or Winnipeg’s of 12C. What is different is the extremes in the weather here:...

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...

Today is my grandmother’s 90th birthday. We hoped to be in Winnipeg to wish her well in person, but for a variety of reasons have to postpone our trip until the summer or fall. Just as well for me—I am sick as a dog with what seems like the gazillionth cold of the season. Jim called her tonight (via a relay service, as she is deaf), and I sent flowers that will arrive tomorrow morning. My mother is there for the week to spend it with her, and she took her and several friends out for dinner. My...

Did your family do anything to mark the day? We watched a couple of BBC April Fools videos with the boys. There was much giggling from our two little nature nuts. Check out flying penguins, flying penguins—the making of, and the classic from the 1950s, spaghetti trees. Daegan particularly liked the mention of the dreaded spaghetti weevil. Happy April Fools!

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...

Today is International Waffle Day, a holiday that originated in Sweden. Arriving exactly 9 months before Christmas, Swedes celebrate the arrival of spring by serving waffles for dessert. We had ours for dinner, along with some veggie sausages. Before they were served, I had the boys locate Sweden on the world map hanging at kid level in the hallway—a mini-geography lesson! The boys are in favour of any holiday involving syrup. :-) Here’s the waffle recipe we made tonight, a veganized version of this recipe. Can’t say the ingredients were terribly Swedish. :-)...

We’re doing a Valentine’s exchange with some other homeschoolers, and got the first of our cards in the mail the other day. (Thanks, Susan!) So I thought we ought to get in the Valentine’s mood. We started the day with this find a heart activity from my friend Alicia, and it went over brilliantly. I made blue hearts for Daegs, red for Gareth, with short instructions: the boys recited the alphabet, did 10 push-ups, named 6 prehistoric animals, hugged someone they loved, told jokes…. But their absolute favourite heart instruction?—“Dance!” Both boys seem to believe that the object of dancing...

OK, so I missed the date by several weeks. But I saw this idea on another blog, and knew it was something I wanted to do with our kids to capture ‘snapshots’ of them as they moved through their childhoods. Here’s the questions I asked both boys: What is your favourite: cereal? fruit? vegetable? drink? toy? TV show/movie? game? book? restaurant? holiday? animal? What do you love about each person in your family? What do you have fun doing with each person in your family? Where would you like to go on vacation this year? ...

We had a quiet family Christmas this year, after a very busy autumn. With Jim working long days and hours on his latest contract, and me headed to Nebraska and Winnipeg, we only had 5 days of holidays together as a family—from Dec 24th through 28th. Such is the life of the self-employed: feast or famine. Here’s Christmas morning pics: Daegan and Gareth up early and sitting dejectedly on the couch, as they could not find any presents from Santa under the tree: Of course, Santa had come during the night, and left...