It has finally happened....

Please, my friends, take pity on me. It has finally happened....the boys have discovered the 'copying game'. Basically, this spells the end of my sanity until they (hopefully?) outgrow this stage. Until then, you can most likely find me hiding in the bathroom with the door locked. Here is a brief snippet of conversation from our home today:

Charlie: Mommy, what is for breakfast?
William: Mommy, what is for breakfast?
C: I want pancakes.
W: I want pancakes.
C: Stop copying me!
W: Stop copying me!
C: Stop it!!
W: Stop it!!
C: Mommy, William is copying me!!
W: Mommy, William is copying me!!
C: William!!!!!
W: William!!!!
C: MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You get the picture. Hey, you are all interested in kids...anyone want to come over and play today?? Please????

Hitting The Water!!

Yeah...SUMMER!!! The whole family hit the water for the first time this season, to try out my husband Jim's (latest) boat. For any of you who don't know Jim personally, let me give you a bit of history. First of all, we do not have enough money to own a boat. Secondly, that has never stopped Jim before...and thirdly he happens to be an expert bargain finder. So beginning last year, Jim set out to get himself a boat. Through Kijiji, free cycle, garage sales, dumpster hunting, numerous buy-and-selling, some paint and a little bit of hot glue, he has managed to pull together a good sized, very seaworthy fishing boat for less than $2000. Yeah!! So yesterday we headed out to Lake Bellewood for a little fishing.

And the best part of having the boat, of course, is that Jim and the boys enjoy fishing far more than I do. So today, as I write this, the house is wonderfully quiet, and I know that my family will be home from their second excursion of the season only in time for a late dinner and an early bedtime. Sweet!

Robin In The Hood

Today we were off to the Robin In The Hood Medieval Festival in Elmira with our homeschool group. Have I said how much I love our homeschool group?!?! I can't imagine how families do this without a good support network...but I digress. This shot is our group banner, made up of the crests that each family made (ours is in the lower right corner).

William and Charlie helped me to sew their doublets, and I must say that they turned out alright for a mother who doesn't sew!

We learned about archery, although the kids were not allowed to try it, which was disappointing. Wouldn't you love to get your hands on all of those people who have gotten rich out of ridiculous law suits that are the reason everyone now is so worried about liability??

William tried his hand at checkers (and realized that he needs to practice a little more...) but he was beaten by a good friend, so he didn't seem to mind.

We met some blacksmiths and learned about metal craft, and also about leather. Did you know that by the time knights were all suited up, they were often wearing more than 150 pounds of leather armour, chain mail, and armor?

And this last picture, well, was just too darn cute not to post.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hazahh!!

Airplanes

Isn't it wonderful that, instead of complaining about bad movies and the lack of little bags of peanuts, children still have the sense to be amazed by however many tonnes of steel hurtling through the air miles above the ground? And that they will stop their games to wave as it flies by?

Childrens Art

I love the kids' art work. I love that they can get engrossed in drawing an underwater sea scene for almost a half an hour. I love that colorful circles on a page warrant being posted on the refrigerator. I love octopuses with 7 legs and grumpy faces. I love that Charlie's painting (top) is called Balloons. You know what I don't love? That as an adult, I have such a hard time silencing the internal critic that jabbers away when I draw or paint for myself. It drives me crazy that I cannot stop myself from judging 'good' and 'bad', instead of just enjoying the process and the outcomes of my art, no matter what they may be. At what age does does that nasty little voice start to speak up? William is 6 now, and already I come across crumpled up pieces of paper on the floor. So far, he tells me, he gets frustrated when what comes out on the paper is not like what he sees in his head. That, I hope, is different than comparing his art to that of others - it is not about 'better than' or 'worse than', at least not yet. What a loss, as adults, that I (we?) cannot just enjoy how the pencil feels moving across the paper, that we can't just enjoy the colors coming off of the brush.....Know what? I have to go now. I have some painting to do.

Frog Frolic

Buckets...check. Nets...check. Magnifying glasses...check. Friends...check.
All that you need for a great afternoon!!! This afternoon (well, the whole day, really) I have been in a foul mood. Not sure why, exactly, but my poor children have been suffering because of it. So this afternoon, rather than staying at home and hoping that the neighbours don't hear my decidedly unhappy yelling, we grabbed our gear, called up some great friends, and headed for the stream to catch frogs. There really isn't a better way to spend an afternoon. Not only did I feel better, but the kids had a great time too. It is great to see how interested children are in nature - their natural curiosity, their wonder at the world around them, and their complete un-concern at getting wet feet.

Science North

Well, here they are.....a million pictures of our mini-vacation to Science North in Sudbury. So, let me start by saying that unless you are a close family member (who will no doubt be grilled by William and Charlie on the minutiae of their trip and a million "did you see the picture of....." questions), feel free to skip through these if you need to. I am the first to admit that it can become a little tedious looking at other people's vacation photos. Still, we did have a great time. It is well worth the trip if you have young kids (or even not so young ones) and I hope that we can do it again next year!! We spent a total of 12 hours there over 2 days, and could have gone back again. So take a look at the pictures (or not!) and I promise to blog about something different tomorrow!
Exploring erosion...

Learning about anglerfish...

Learning what to look our for on a hike (Massassauga rattler)...

Daddy and Charlie love...

Getting up close to a polar bear...

Learning about lapidary...

Making friends with a frog...

Meet Quillan...

Dominos rule...

A pilot in training...

Butterfly on a mirror...

Making a vortex with Stephanie...

Playing detective with skulls...

Meeting a friend of Chippy's...

Petting a cockroach...

Taking in the view after rock climbing...

Learning about a prehistoric fish...

Taking in a 3D IMAX movie...

Building a race car out of K'NEX...

What a great trip....you think these pictures were bad, you should see the dozens of others that didn't make the rather generous cut!!! You really could spend multiple days here and never run out of things to do. Thanks for humoring me!!

Jo