Post Halloween

Yes - Halloween is over and life is supposed to slow down a little before it revs up for Christmas. My list of to-do's this year is just weird with planning the trip. As for Halloween - we had a cute bunny and a blonde Harry Potter. He was so surprised that everyone knew who he was even though he was blonde. It was very cute! Best of all, he always asked for a treat for his little sister, too. Decent trick or treating out here in the country! Most surprising and the community Halloween party was pretty decent, too. The only thing missing was a good fireworks display. Guess we'll have to organize that ourselves.

How many times can you listen to "Bananaphone" - the sped up version? We did at least 15 times in a row on YouTube listening to various versions. Yeah, Raffi!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vWm47yPLGc
If only we had video of the kids watching this - it was hilarious watching them dance to it.

Thinking of others...

Of late, Robbie has been challenging us with behaviour that is very self-focused and wild. Yesterday was particularly testing and we laid the old parental "you need to think of others before yourself" credo on him. This morning the wee boy decides that perhaps donating the money he got from organizing all our recyclable bottles/cans/tetra's could be given to the Food Bank and SPCA. This is the money he earned towards buying a big remote control truck he's wanted for awhile. He looked up at my husband and asked "Is that thinking of others before myself?" Sigh.....

How?

Lately, Catie's naps have begun to be very busy. She is trying some interesting sleeping positions.

Someone did it right!

Thanks to another on-line group I'm part of, I received a link to this amazing montage that completely speaks to how I feel about my daughter, Catie. If you'd like to check it out go to:


http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=88b31728ac885d830e7be&sou

Have tissues handy!

Puppy Love

Jazz has settled in and finally is over his diarrhea. The big problem right now is balancing Jazz's time inside with the family and Catie's time playing on the floor. As Catie does not walk, the floor his her domain. Jazz terrifies her by coming close, sniffing, licking and generally being puppy crazy. He also wants to steal all her toys. He spends time in his crate, then when Catie is in her high chair, he comes out of the crate. It's a tricky balance. I can't take him walking with her in the stroller yet, because he's too untrained. Fortunately, it's summer and we can find time to build all of these things in. Best moment of the week had to be Jazz's ungainly landing coming down a flight of steps with wet feet. It was like watching Bambi on ice - all four legs went out. He looked so surprised!

Country life - for real

Twelve days into permanent residence in the farmhouse and it could be called a nuthouse. We purchased a lab pup who is keeping us up nights with "the runs". The children seem happily settled, but we've driven into town more than I would like. However, I am writing as a side job, fulfilling a life-long dream. Slowly this will start to settle and we'll get more stuff unpacked. It's too late to add more now, but I'll post soon.

Adventures in Web 2.0 with students

My latest adventure in Web 2.0 has been getting my grade 6/7 class involved in a google group to practice reading and writing French. I'm hoping they'll add pictures and try linking to some translation activities so that they can build their confidence using basic phrases. We'll still do oral and with luck add that to the group files. Wish us luck!

Boxes, boxes everywhere and many germs in sight

Everyone is home sick with a cold and today has been an exercise in task priorities. Articles written for magazine - check. Questions chosen for Battle of the Books - check. Agenda for meeting tonight - check. Daycare arrangements for tomorrow - check. Boxes packed and laundry done - fat chance!
With 5 days until we move most of our belongings to the new house, my husband gently tells me that it isn't important to get boxes packed - we'll mostly be moving furniture. Riiiiiiight. It'll only take a couple of days to pack up most of this stuff (and now you hear the sound of me laughing maniacally). Breathe, breathe slowly and remember not to sweat the small stuff. At least we don't have to move the appliances. I won't have appliances for a while, but that's OK - I can go with the flow. OK, breathe into the bag now - slowly.

Is the house sold yet?

Selling a house is always a stressful process, but to have a house on the market for 5 months is something akin to psychological torture - self-induced torture. I'm not a neat freak, but I keep a fairly tidy house. Ok, I keep neat piles of stuff. It's sorted - mostly. I can find things when I need them. Now imagine having to keep surfaces completely clear (with 2 small children regularly leaving things about) and you can see where insanity is lurking for me. We've come close to closing deals a couple of times, but nothing came of it. Each time I was soooo ready to pack and move to the new house, so we could begin renovating there. (Again with the self-induced torture!) I am trying to live in the present, but it's very challenging when you've got visions of radiant-heated, hardwood floors dancing in your head. Fortunately, we don't have to start worrying about the yards of either house because winter isn't quite over. As long as we don't have to mow or plant, the workload is manageable. Unlike the groundhog, I think we'll have 3 more weeks and then we're hooped. There better be a buyer, soon!

Adventures in web 2.0

So, as part of an on-line course, I'm exploring the use of web 2.0 tools for creating e-portfolios. Nothing new for lots of people but really new for me - as is blogging. While I have always considered myself a pretty good writer, I start reading other blogs and begin to think that I'm not funny, original, witty or (and I know this sounds juvenile) cool. I know this is for a course, but at the same time, it's also the beginning of a journey in exploring the connected world.
My world tends to be pretty grounded in the here and now outside of cyberspace. Two year olds and seven year olds tend to have limited patience with parents sitting typing away on the computer. I also have a strongly ingrained prejudice in believing that pretty much everything on the web is B.S. No one is who they say they are (except me) and it (at its worst) is a tool for exploitation. I guess this bias tends to come from media reports and I should know better than to believe anything mainstream media tries to sell me anyways. My big concern for myself and society is that what is presented on the screen in front of me might become more real and present than the fun in my backyard building snowmen and that cyberspace connections will somehow spoil my ability to interact with people face to face. I know it's up to me to ensure that I find that balance somehow. Guess it's time to take the two year old to play group and get some real world time. Later!