November continued

The rink set up is great for playing soccer. Good thing all the hard work of setting up the rink is being appreciated.

Will the math ever end?

More math...

Sometimes Jennifer is way ahead of the other kids with her schoolwork...not sure what other work I should be giving her.

Evelyn's dress up clothes is getting pretty fancy. She borrowed some wings that Jennifer made.

When Matthew dresses up, it's for business. Here he is, pants and all, in his Air Cadet clothes. They have a more formal uniform too, but Matthew still didn't get to pick his up.

Melanie accompanies me on my afternoon walks sometimes. We spotted what we think is a muskrat. There was another one on the other side of the driveway too. They let me get pretty close for their photos to get taken.

Evelyn drew her new hero.

Jennifer and I made some oobleck. It was really weird stuff. Liquid when left along, but if you added pressure it became a solid. So weird.

Everyone had to check it out. Yuck. Just cornstarch with a bit of water. And lots of green colour.

More games in the "arena".

And Matthew got to go to Air Cadets in person! Wow! Finally! It's been a year and a half. (Spoiler: He only ended up going to three, and then it was back to virtual meetings again.)

Matthew helped Daniel with some math question I couldn't figure out. Dad must have been busy at the time.

But if you catch him when he is down grinding beans for coffee, then you can have his attention for at least five minutes.

I can usually help Jennifer out with hers, if she is willing to accept the help graciously.

Yes, Nathan is still kicking around. At snack time, anyways. 

Melanie and I bonding in the sewing room. She didn't have her quilt on MY machine for a change, so I snapped up the chance to use it.

November, first half

Making lots of progress on her quilt!

Evelyn's working hard at her math too. As long as it's not long-hand division. Then she gives up.

Barefoot in November. That's Jennifer. Yes, I did buy her shoes. Way back in the spring. Nice ones, brand new. I think they've been used less than ten times. We even took them all the way through Wabakimi. But she'll only wear her sandals. Or go barefoot.

While bringing mulch up to my pines my trailer sort of stopped following me. Matthew had to help me reattach the trailer...it sort of came off the hitch. Oops.

Chillin' in the playroom.

Melanie has been working really hard on this quilt. She took a few weeks off to work up the nerve to do the free motion quilting. And then practiced a lot. Then she went for it. But it took a long time! And she had a deadline to meet.

On any given day I will find several kids busy in books. One.

Two.

Three. Pretty typical for a Sunday.

Canadian Tire magazines are pretty interesting. They have a toy section, but they also have suggestions for appliances and other things that they think I need. (waffles are on sale mom!)

Comics this time. They aren't really books, are they?

Nathan is really into watching some organist dude online. He also listens for music that he may be interested in buying.

Matthew during his Air Cadet classes.

Matthew did a lot of work screwing the rink together. Melanie said she'd hammer the stakes in if he screwed it together. Something like that. Don't ask too many details because it was hard to make a working-together type of deal.

Lots of artwork up on display. Very colourful!

My stovetop started getting fritzy, with the main used outer element ring not working while the inner one only worked. And then I was grumpy and a little less than gentle with a cast iron pan so the stovetop cracked. So we got a new stovetop! All the elements work perfectly, and it's induction so it heats up super fast. And I have to be very gentle with it. If I break this one I don't get a replacement. This is what my kitchen looked like while the old went out and the new came in:

Outside time, like it or not!

I took it upon myself to clean up the lego corner. The boys (and girls) were not going to get around it, and I was tired of yelling/nagging/bribing. Even after a year of plaguing the kids, it only got worse and worse. The beginning of the cleanup job.

Middle.

End. YAY! I made sure to keep a photo of it (maybe I should hang it in my room or something) so that I can remember it. I know it won't last.

the rest of October

These days I literally only see Nathan when it's time to eat. He's a school hermit.

We had lots of beans that needed to be taken care of. I enlisted some help to end the beans before I blanched them.

It's faster with more help!

Daniel got a car set up in his room and took it for a spin.

Melanie got lots of quilting done in October.

Matthew tried to problem solve the latest sewing machine. It got fixed and ready to run...and then at some point it didn't work anymore...a screw or tiny part of sorts is missing.

Melanie's birthday is over so I can take as many pictures as I like.

She had to give up eventually.

Evelyn drew and coloured a cat. She's got a pretty fancy background!

Jennifer is doing her chore. Not a favourite activity for her.

We enjoyed a bit more time with company. We all read books together. And other things too, of course!

The kids decided it was time to bring down the rink boards, in hopes of a skating rink this year. Hoping to set it up and pound in stakes before the ground is too frozen.

Melanie helped me with yard work. We had moved lots of little pine trees around, so we covered their bases with mulch in hopes that they would make it through the winter.

Melanie made us apple dumplings for snack. So sweet. So good.

Painting is also not a favourite activity of Jennifer's. She did make some nice paintings though--if she didn't like them, I still did!

 This is what the kitchen looks like on a typical school morning. Actually, on a typical, everyone is working hard morning. (It's not so typical to have so many people studious at a time!)

And Jennifer is typically working at her own desk in the school room. She still wants to keep her desk down here, even though she has a massive room that would fit it in easily.

She has a very cool outfit to play Indians in. Whatever needed sewing, she did up herself.

Matthew got his Air Cadet uniform. Finally. He hasn't really needed it since their meetings have all been virtual. And since he doesn't like changing, he just put on the top half. "No one can see my pants anyways." He says.

The boys did some paintings too. The laptop has never been the same since Daniel finished his. He used the technique of splattering paint with the bristles to get the starry background...and well, he didn't move the laptop first.

Matthew worked hard on a waterfall painting too. His laptop faired better, as he wasn't using the same technique.

Evelyn rarely misses a painting opportunity. I traced this zebra for her so that she could paint it.