First half of March

Apparently we had a lot of time in March to play board games. Spring break wasn't until the middle of the month. I'm sure we did lots of school work and chores and important things too. ;)

But where the evidence is for that, I haven't a clue. (haha)

Matthew has been holding the spot of long standing winner of "Ticket to Ride".

Evelyn is willing to play most games with most people. She holds the spot of the most eager player of board games.

Jennifer and Daniel tried traveling through Canada instead of the US.

Yup, it's Evelyn playing a game again. She also loves card games!

I thought Daniel was cleaning up his bedroom. But I don't know...exactly what happened. Perhaps he thinks it will help to organize himself first?

We still had some skate-able ice in early March!

Matthew programmed his robot to follow a line...it was fun to watch it go around and see how sharp of a corner it could manage.

On our way to church...since Daniel is 12 he can get in the passenger seat if he is quick.

Evelyn goes into the back without a fuss. She often plans ahead and brings a book along to read. It's only a 15 minute drive...but it might be a really exciting spot and why wait until we are home again?

Jennifer always wants the best seat in the van, but she's not 12 yet, so she can't even get a turn in the front.

I demoted myself to the middle of the van once Nathan got his G2 license and I don't have to sit beside him in the front anymore. It's a nice change of scenery. (Philip usually leaves early in the car with Matthew.)

Melanie waiting patiently to get to church, wishing I'd stop snapping pics.

Matthew got a game for his birthday that involves a lot of strange and funny challenges.

Definitely wasn't expecting to blow it like that! Whoops!

See, we did spend some time doing schoolwork! (Well, it looks like Matthew did some math, anyways.)

Nathan took a rare morning off of school to drive off to some place an hour or so away and pick up a used air compressor that he found on kijiji.

Jennifer is working on her second (or third?) language here. Evelyn is enjoying her company and seeing how it works. She wants to use Duolingo as well, for learning Dutch as she is not enjoying the program she is using right now. (Duolingo works great, and it's add free on a laptop! The cellphone app version is really annoying!)

Melanie felt sorry for me one evening (or was really bored?) and played a game of Scrabble with me.

And I still have a husband. He is often sitting on the couch beside me. Busy on his phone or the laptop, probably.

Swinging in the snow!

Matthew turns 14!

Water/wave cake in anticipation of our upcoming outing...because covid restrictions are finally starting to lift! Matthew thought he'd like to go to Ripley's Aquarium this year.

We got his some technical literature...hoping that would challenge him.

Jennifer made Matthew several origami balls.

Evelyn sewed him a wall hanging.

And then we headed off to Ripleys!

They certainly have some very interesting animals there! It is fascinating to get a glimpse of the huge variety of life there is teeming in the ocean.

The moving sidewalk is pretty neat too! We went around through an alley of sorts and did it a second time.

Having a shark swim over you is pretty neat. When you know there is a very strong layer between you and it. Some of the kids bought shark teeth in the gift shop later. Apparently they loose a lot of teeth.

We saw an octopus, seahorses, crabs, coral, turtles, and so many kinds of fish...this one is an electric eel...

The stingray looked especially fascinating.

And when they swam nearby...their movement is so calming.

There was creepy music in the background by the jelllyfish. I guess there a lot of them you don't want to touch! 

We got a lot of good views of the sea turtles.

We had a great time! Matthew's birthday at the beginning of the whole covid lockdown excitement was the last time we've had a major covid outing...sure has been a long time! We enjoyed this time extra on account of it being such a long time!

Matthew is 14 years old already. In addition to growing up, he is also growing up. :p  Matthew is becoming a hard worker, taking a lot more responsibility, and he still having a great sense of humour and an outgoing and social nature. We are blessed to have him in our family for these past 14 years!

Second half of February

Daniel likes to perch on top of his bed when telling me about how his school work is coming along.

Most often (it seems) Evelyn's sheets and blankets are on the floor...so I think it nice to see (and remember) her making her bed.

Daniel is shocked that I find it so hard to resist pushing him over onto his mattress while he is talking to me. (Why would he be surprised? :P )

Note the art work on her walls. She really likes to hang up her work when it is done. Brightens up the room nicely!

When I check in on Jennifer about how her schoolwork is coming, Evelyn likes to see how much progress there is too.

If Jennifer is done she may have time to play a game...since Evelyn is done her work already!

We (the unofficial planning committee AND Melanie) are happy with the corner and how both sides look together. Melanie is allowed to carry on with her project.

Most mornings I can find a lot of math students hanging around in the kitchen area.

Daniel moved off to the school room. Matthew and him don't seem to get more efficient when the sit at the same table. Sometimes it gets really loud! (It's not always a happy loud, either.)

Today was laundry day. For Daniel's teddy, anyways. I'm glad to know that even his teddy washes out his clothes once in a while.

Evelyn made rice krispie squares for snack. Jennifer helped her out with the tricky parts. It's actually really hard to physically stir it, and it's best to be efficient because if it cools down too quickly, it gets even harder to work with! I always have to sweep the floor after a rice krispie square making episode. :p

Nathan likes to play hockey with the older kids...he often can convince someone to come out with him.

Melanie often will oblige. (even if the ice isn't as good as in Smithers. :p )

Matthew trying to figure out how to get his robot to climb stairs. It was a huge challenge, and he got it up a step or two...but a whole staircase...is a whole staircase.

Jennifer in her bed. She probably spends 2/3 of her day in there. I see her laying and sitting on it to do her school work. And she reads novels in there too...plus sleeping at night. Good thing we don't allow meals in bed, or we'd never see her!

More skating! At least the efforts of resurfacing the ice are appreciated--even if I don't want to risk falling on the ice again and only watch!

Jennifer made a very fancy ball out of origami. She is planning to make several for her brother in case he'd like to decorate his room with them. After all his birthday is coming up soon!