November, first half

Daniel and Evelyn are regular play partners now.

But Jennifer and Evelyn will still play together too.

Daniel doing his second language learning. It's hard to hear things sometimes with so many siblings around, so headphones help.

Matthew keeps giving me this cheesy smile when I come by for a picture. I'm not even asking for a smile, I would much rather that he kept doing his reading, or whatever he was doing. He did this when he was really little too, but maybe not quite so exaggerated. This is Matthew. Sigh.

Evelyn scored the privilege of cleaning out some whipping cream from Melanie's glass. Yum.

Working hard.

Evelyn's quilt is making progress. She requires a lot of encouragement.

Melanie is busy designing another quilt. And disapproving my snooping around (with the camera).

Matthew and Daniel tinkering around on the organ.

Philip has been refinishing the chairs that I'd picked up second hand.

The hug monster. "Hug?" Says Evelyn and she comes and takes one, even if you don't say yes.

Melanie and I started doing our daily walks on the golf course, since the snow means that golfing season is over, and walking season has begun. :)

Snack time means Nathan comes out of hibernation.

Who wouldn't want a freshly baked speculaas cookie? So crunchy!

Melanie made a "collage" of Beethoven for her piano teacher. Who, like Melanie, loves Beethoven. She was really happy with it. It includes the music for "Ful Elise" which Melanie has been working on for quite some time, and loves playing.

October, second half

School keeps on going.

Nathan found some time in his busy schedule to get his dirtbike motor back together. And took it for an trial spin.

We had an out of country visitor. He kept his nephews and nieces interested, full of stories etc.

Matthew and Daniel have to do Geology labs together. Sometimes they work well together. Sometimes they have trouble getting started because they can't agree on both being ready at the same time.

If Jennifer gets to use a calculator during her math lesson, her day is made. :)

We had some more visitors, from the a different part of the world. And we enjoyed their company too. So spoiled to have family come visit. :)

More duolingo. She is going to be fluent...too bad it doesn't do speech as well.

And here is the newest driver in the family. She thinks she's doing a pretty good job. I think EEEEEEEEEE. (She's not THAT bad, actually.)

Matthew working hard on his piano. My five piano students (all the kids except Nathan) love their new piano teacher. We've had her for just over a year, I think. She really does a great job.

It's almost November! Time to start bringing the ice rink pieces down and set up the rink. We want it good and strong before the ground is frozen.

Sweet Sixteen

If it's your birthday Mom is quite likely to be hounding you with a camera. Seriously. Mom!

Melanie made her own cake. Again. It was made with almond flour. And had an amazing caramel sauce. And the following Sunday we had a gluten free guest over, coincidentally, so we were able to serve leftover cake. :) :)

The final product, and the baker herself. Sixteen already. Don't forget, that means I can go in for my driver's license. :)

Opening gifts from the family at coffee time. (We never have to wait for Philip to come home from work anymore, since he's always home!)

Sixteen already! Melanie is a young lady already. Very helpful. Very crafty. Lots of fun. So thankful to have had another year with her.

October

October is another month full of school work.

Matthew doing some of his reading in the living room.

Evelyn has been working on a sled. She enlisted Jennifer to help her with putting on the crazy carpet to make the runners slippery.

Matthew and Daniel taking apart Daniel's remote control truck. They think that they might be able to improve the design.

Hard at work. Or hoping it's snack time. ;)

I was too cheap to offer up a pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern. So Evelyn painted a sour cream container orange. And cut a face in it. Added a candle, and then put it in the pot by the main door with some maple leaves for extra colour.  Actually, she did two, since there are two pots.

Melanie working on another quilt. Having trouble deciding how to lay out the pattern.

Jennifer and I going for a walk. She's obliged to spend time outside exercising. And often prefers to go for a walk with me.

Evelyn having fun in the leaves.

With Daniel.

If the ping pong table is in use already, you can get a second game going on the floor. Why not?

Massassauga Sep 30 & Oct 1

For a special treat, Philip and I went for a camping trip in Massassauga with just the two of us. Nathan and Melanie said they'd handle the youngun's and keep the place.

We are able to carry all our gear in go. Me with two packs. The small black pack is mostly full of spare shoes. It's supposed to be chilly, so I insisted we take an extra set of footwear.

Philip has a pack and the canoe.

We stopped for lunch where Melanie and her friend had been. And looked for a rope that they left behind, because of a rattlesnake. But it wasn't there. Lunch was delicious, though.

We had a long ways to paddle through a channel, lots of boats going through, even in September. I'm sure that it is hardly any traffic compared to a summer day.

Another portage.

And our own private lake.

For breakfast we had fresh eggs. Because it's not so hard to pack just four eggs. Life is simpler packing for two.

Off we go again, this time we are headed home. A pretty meadow we portaged beside. It's probably super duper buggy in the summer. But in October there are no bugs. :)

We make good time, since we don't have to go back for anything.

Here is me. Not worrying about the kids at home. (very much). I do have my cell phone (hence all the pictures) but we also have cell reception here, just in case. Not that I'm worried. After all, I just checked, and nobody texted me. :)

The last portage through. It is so hard to capture the colours. It was a magnificent bright yellow. Such a beautiful time of year. (It was pretty chilly though.)

It was lovely to have two quiet days. A real treat. But also lovely to get back home to our children. Who said they'd managed just fine without us.