Dr. Seuss

On Monday I took Samara and Denver to a local bookstore for a Dr. Seuss event.  Since Victoria and Austin are away at Grandma and Grandpa's this week, it's easier to do things with the younger two - things that are more geared for their age.  

A Dr. Seuss book - Cat in the Hat of course! - was read to the kids and then they got to colour their own Cat in the Hat hat as well as work on a bunch of different worksheets.  Denver was a little shy at first but once he saw Samara participating, he got into it too.  It was a lot of fun and they both had a really good time.  

Cute hats eh?  

Cross it off . . .

One more project completed and crossed off the list.  

2010/2011 Scrapbooks

What a good feeling.  I went away scrapbooking last weekend and completed this project.  Here they are.  The 2011 albums are done (and so are the 2010 ones!)  

And just to make this post more interesting, here is a page from each book:  

ER Visit

Guess where we spent a few hours one evening last week?  The emergency room!  Victoria hurt her arm and it was sore initially but then not so much.  Until she got up off her bed the next day, pushing up with the arm that was hurt. Excruciating pain shot up her arm and that's when we decided she should probably go in and get it checked out.  So off to emergency we went.  After sitting there for two hours, no one had even been called in and Victoria kept asking if we could just leave.  She said her arm felt better and she was tired and thirsty.  (not allowed to eat or drink just in case).  I was texting Mike and and trying to decide what to do. Three ambulances had pulled up and I figured we had a very long wait ahead of us.  So we decided we would leave and then probably head into our family doctor clinic the following day.  I went up to the desk and told them that we were just going to leave.  The receptionist told me she would let triage know.  Before I knew it, they were checking Victoria's arm and sending us off to x-ray.  X-ray was quick and then we waited some more.  They called our name and then guess what?  We waited more.  LOL!  Here's Victoria when we finally got called into a room where we were waiting for the doctor to come.  Doesn't she look excited?  

Anyway, the doctor finally came in to see us and said she actually has a fracture.  I have to admit, I was a little surprised   I just assumed it was nothing and we'd go home at least feeling better that we had checked it out and confirmed it was nothing.  But I guess not.  They fitted her into this splint and apologized they didn't have any pink ones left.   

I'm glad things were sped up when we had decided to leave.  Although I have to say, we were still there for at least two more hours.  Four hours in total . . . yawn!  So she has to keep it on for three weeks and then have it reassessed to make sure it's healed.  I'm so glad for her sake that it's not summer cause it's pretty hot wearing the splint all the time.  And hopefully three weeks will go by fast.  

And that's enough excitement around here for a while.  

Book Review: Nowhere but Up

I'm not sure why I picked up this book to read.  I guess it was just curiosity.  It was a relatively quick read and what a story!  The amount of trauma and abuse she experienced at such a young age is quite unbelievable.  As a teen mom with a drug and alcohol dependence issue she was trying to overcome, God just wouldn't give up on her.  At one point she intentionally made a decision to just write God off.  She was frustrated with the fact that she had fallen back into her old ways of drugs and alcohol and assumed God wasn't present.  But He was and He just kept showing Himself to her in a variety of ways that were just too coincidental.  So amazing.  She sure has a great testimony.  It was interesting to read about how Justin came to be so famous too.  He was a talented little guy from a very young age . . . a real natural. 

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  It’s an interesting read and great proof that no matter how far we fall away from God, He will never give up on us.  

Mondrian Art

Today we learned about the artist Piet Mondrian.  I told the kids a little bit about his life - information I learned from this website.  We talked about some of the different styles he used throughout his life.  We focused on this particular painting - one of his most famous.  

I got the idea from this site and thought it was perfect because of Valentine's Day this week.  So the kids created their own Mondrian hearts.  First they cut out a heart out of white paper.  They used a ruler and pencil to draw the lines on the heart.  Then they traced over the pencil lines with a black oil pastel.  I gave them a choice to use either markers or pencil crayons . . . they all chose markers.  They coloured in random squares/rectangles with red, blue and yellow and left some of them white.  

Here are the finished pieces.  I was happy with how they all turned out.  

Austin's masterpiece

Samara's masterpiece

Victoria's masterpiece

Denver's masterpiece

Book Review: Cutting for Stone

This is one of those books that has been on my radar for a while.  Then when a friend mentioned it again, I got right onto the library website to reserve it.  I'm glad I did.  It’s such a good book.  I loved the way each character was developed throughout the story and by the end, I felt like I knew them all so well.  My favourite part is that the book takes place mostly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  There were so many places and scenes and names that I recognized from being there.  I gained more insight into some Ethiopian history too.  The book takes place at a hospital in Ethiopia and a few of the characters are surgeons.  So there are a lot of medical details.  If you have a weak stomach, some of the details surrounding the medical conditions and surgical procedures can be a bit intense at times.  The characters in the book go through a lot of “tough stuff” for lack of a better way to put it . . . major trials that bring them closer as family and friends.  I'm being kind of vague about the details because I don’t want to give away any of the story and ruin it for anyone.  Overall it was a great book.  I have to admit though, it took me forever to read it – not because I was ever uninterested or bored throughout it, but just because it’s a really long book.  Definitely worth the read though.  

The Big Melt

Notice I didn't say the big meltdown??  Although we have those around here sometime too!  LOL!  

Anyway, it was warm and rainy yesterday so a lot of our beautiful white stuff melted.  Oh so sad.  I was hoping it would last for more than a few days but I guess not.  But thankfully there was still enough snow for Austin to get outside and make a snowman.  I'm hoping it's not the last snowman that will show up in our yard this season.  

Poor Frodo.  When he goes outside now to "do his business" he growls and barks at this stranger that has invaded his territory.  Oh Frodo . . . it's not alive you silly dog!