Friday 27 February 2009

Beeswax Art

Effie's participation in beeswax club has inspired the rest of us... here's her creations:




Ferg's:


Tiki's 2009 beeswax faerie vs. her clay old lady circa 1974:

Here's her reaction to me inquiring as to what her her old lady was made of... "What are you writing? I'll have you know I won a good quantity of money with that old lady... at the CNE in Toronto. Canadian National Exhibition! Not some pansy-assed west coast competition. My mom would know how much money I won. Can I call her? Is it too late to call her? You are not kind to me."

Gamers

HotSpot


Mosquito



Camouflage


Make n' Break

Superhero

We haven't seen Ferg's right eye in months... he's preserving it so that when he's a teenager it will have Steve Austin like powers.

Saturday 21 February 2009

Propulsion Imminent

The James Love Continues

Bootlegs from Oregon... a video appreciation:



Upstaged by the kiddos yet again!

Miscellany

Effie: Dad, I like the songs from the movie (Mama Mia) way more than the songs on the iPod (ABBA). I just don't understand those other songs.
Dad: Ugh

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Quote o’ the week:
Effie to Fergus while having a battle with wooden swords… “how about I'm a fighter guy disguised as Hannah Montana?”
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I know I'm not the most religious person in the world but even I know this sign I saw on a church billboard yesterday wasn't quite right: "Shove Tuesday Pancakes"

Learning Through Living Example No. 7,642

One night last week Effie was sitting next to me squiggling away on a tiny piece of paper by flashlight. I noted that she had a small calendar next to her but otherwise I had no idea what she was doing (the hockey game was on, I was ignoring her). When she was done she told me that she had just written out all the money she could save between now and September when we hope to go on a big trip - a trip she very much has her sights on. I thought her circles (coins) and fancy rectangles (bills) were not only pretty cool, detailed and innovative but also represented the way she processes such things. This was more than just adding, it was her way of determining how long until September and how much she could save between now and then through the act of doing something that she enjoys - drawing.


Friday 20 February 2009

Return to secret hideaway

At this rate we will have the hideaway all spruced up by summer. But of course we all know we don't operate "at this rate"... so scratch that. Turns out this time Effie brought along a couple vials for water and clay samples. I thought her pouch was just full of candy to entice Fergus out of the house but she managed to stuff quite a lot in there (paper, mini flashlight, key?...).








Like all true explorers, we had to SPRINT home to catch the start of Ben Ten: Alien Force...

Thursday 19 February 2009

Warm sunny day walk

Down the trail from our house, we veered off course a bit, found a disused path at the top of the waterfall and came upon an old tree fort/ rope swing/ bench setup. But I've already given away too much - its location is now a secret.


Racing on the old soccer field:


Waterfall:


Eff checking out the abundant supply of clay in the creek bed:


Super secret cool fun spot:

Dusk Walk

Tree climb


Natural stool


Piggy back

Sunday 15 February 2009

Guitar Hero Weekend Challenge

We cobbled together an awesome trophy:



Sam and Matt provided some tight competition


Rocker


The Champion.

Er, no. I paid Gillian to take my picture with the trophy.

The True Champion: Mr. I've-Only-Been-Playing-Since-Christmas-But-Still-Get-100 percent-On-Expert

Valentine's Begruvi Weekend

Our household increased to 18 and a half persons this weekend. Yikes! Lots of laughs and lots of bacon - just another typical unschoolers get together then:

The boys playing Outdoor Challenge


Pucky in ju-jube heaven


Ju-jube hat


Ferg shows Meah his skillz


Dual-drummers


Nothing cuter than kiddos passing out Valentines


Morning wii


Only one head injury every 5 minutes... not bad


Yum - warm sun


Forest Star Wars