Katia's Harry Potter Birthday Party

Phew! I feel like I am JUST catching my breath, after this very involved and detailed party that we had for our girl. Katia decided a few weeks ago, after attending the annual Berwick Library Harry Potter party, that she would like her birthday party to be a H.P. Party as well. So right away I got to work!
To begin with, each child walked through our platform 9 3/4 brick wall, to enter into Harry's Land. In the living room, I had created the illusion of letters coming out of the fire place. I used some old stationary I had lying around and fishing line.
Upon entering the living room, each child was sorted into their houses. We had a sorting hat, and our Harry (Noah) reached into a basket to award each child their house patch (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slitherin).
We then went into the Great Hall (with floating candles- thanks IKEA), to make our wands. We used wooden chopsticks and twisted hot glue around them to look spindly. The kids painted them. We put the wands aside to dry and moved onto our potions class (crushed bones, unicorn tears and lizard snot - baking soda, vinegar and green dish soap). They also decorated a paper bag, that would later be used for a scavenger hunt . All the kids enjoyed these simple activities.
After this, we took a break for butterbeer (yum!), snacks and cake!
 After the cake was our scavenger hunt. I had hidden 5 owls around the house that had scrolls at their feet (just used stuffies and some of my owl decorations). Each scroll had a visual clue to the next owl. The final owl led them to Honey Dukes, the candy shop! I had emptied our board game cupboard and put white lights inside. Each kid was allowed to fill a bag at the candy shop.

And that was the party! I gave the short abbreviated version here, but as you can see, it was a lot of work! As my friend Leanne said, "you can't half ass a Harry Potter party".
In the end, I'm glad I agreed to do this party. Over the years, I have learned to tone down my parties (I used to go crazy for every party and stress myself out while doing it), but for this one, I reverted to my old ways and went all out. I feel sentimental towards parties that involve children's books. I know that this time is fleeting and we wont have these years for much longer.

taking stock

veggies, goats cheese and olives wrapped in phyllo 

We are slowly coming out of our sickness haze, and beginning to see the light. 

Yesterday, we had unseasonably warm and sunny weather, and so it was a picnic lunch outside on our back deck and a walk at Miner's Marsh. 

Recently Winslow went back to work, which means we are slowly finding a new kind of normal. 

Right now, I know that I am needed as the constant in our family, and it is good to feel that sense of belonging. As we find our way back to a routine and find a new need for organization, I know that I must be present and available. It may not be a glamourous job, but I'm reminding myself that it is important. 

In family news, our sweet Wesley Birch is now two months old. It's a beautiful time, that I am holding onto dearly. In one moment, I feel that he is still so small and fragile, and at the next moment, I marvel at his new developments and milestones. 

Yesterday our sweet boy had his vaccines, and while he did great during them, he was in so much discomfort at night. His poor cries, full of tears. We took turns holding him, kissing him and reassuring his feelings. There is something very comforting when someone tells you it's okay to be sad. Our poor babe. Thankfully today he is in much better spirits. 

And finally, in an attempt to make sure that I am in good spirits, I have been taking measures to practice self care as much as I can. Beautiful Hawaiian folk music, to calm my nerves. Homemade food that I enjoy (from this lovely book), not caring if the kids care for it. Walks in the sun. Chai tea in the afternoon. It's the little things, and boy are they beautiful when I take stock of them all. 

xox 

samosas 

lakes, creeks, books and balance

These past few days have been a mix of summer living, strategic planning and nursing a nasty cold. 

Our summer plans are up in the air, our departure date is up in the air, I have a workshop in PEI that I must (and want to attend), it's all happening at once and I've been stressed just trying to figure it all out. 

I am trying to find balance, while life seems to be throwing curve balls and changes to our plans. 

I am reminding myself that there are things I can control, and things that I cannot. It will all come together. I repeat, it will all come together. 

Last week saw the school year come to an end, and with that, we witnessed our sweet little guy "graduate" from kindergarten. There was no big ceremony (I guess some schools do this), but the two graduates did receive certificates, nice cards  and a bag full of Yukon/Alaskan storybooks. 

Noah also received a certificate for his accomplishment in his Upper Tanana (language) class, as well as a citizenship award. Super proud of our sweet and smart cookie. Noah, you're moving on up! 

With an unexpected night off this past week, we decided to take off over the border and do some camping for one night in Alaska. We spent the night at a beautiful little lake called Moon Lake (isn't that romantic?), and we stayed nice and cozy inside our new camper. We were also fortunate to bump into our Alaskan friends, and had fun with them at the lake. 

Today was spent down by the creek with our little buddies from Beaver Creek. The creek is bone dry right now, which makes for fun rock collecting. My friend and I, enjoyed being able to wander off (don't worry, not too far), while the kids were completely engaged in building towers with rocks and sticks. There's nothing like letting nature take it's course, and letting children be at one with their surroundings. 

And finally, on our recent trips across the country (for our house hunting trip), I realized that I had no good books to read. I go through fazes in my life, where I can sometimes find the capacity to engage in reading, and other times where I simply cannot muster the concentration that it requires to follow along in a book. 

I chose these three books: Bringing Up Bebe, Hold On to Your Kids, and North of Normal, based upon some recommendations and some of my own research. I'll let you know how I do with my summer reading list. 

Off to read now. 

xox

a fresh take

 practicing our scissor skills 

even little sister is doing it!

It's the first week of January and we have thrown ourselves feet first into the thick of it.
Back to homeschool, back to school, back to community commitments and back to healthy/active living.
I'll tell you, it's been hard for me. Really hard in fact.
After weeks of celebrating, relaxing, sleeping in, and having as much wine and chocolate as I wish, I was starting to feel depressed and slow. I knew that we needed to get back into it, but I really had zero motivation. Yet despite having no motivation, it was a phone call on Monday morning at 9am  from my friend Leanne in Whitehorse, that had me get my butt out of bed and realize that I did need to get on with it. It went something along the lines like this:

" Good God woman, are you still in bed?" ...
"ummmmm ... yesss, aren't you?" ...
"No, because, it's a school day, yes, even for us homeschoolers" ...
"Oh right".

CRAP. So I got out of bed and improvised my homeschool morning ( I mean, I sorta kinda had a plan). And that is how I got myself back in gear. So here we are. Into our week and doing not so bad.
It is very very very cold here. It's been around -40 for the last 4 days and it's been hard on all of us (especially the dog and kids!). I usually depend on an afternoon walk, just to break up our days, but that has been near impossible with these temps- although I did get out for a walk with Ryder one day. It was cold, let me tell you!
And perfectly planned, I had our homeschool unit on hibernation decided upon long before this cold streak came our way. I think the kids are having fun learning about animals and how they survive in the winter. Animals are always fun to learn about.

So far:

~  we've read these three books.

•  Over and Under the Snow, by Kate Messner. 
• Animals in the Winter (Let's Read and find out Science)
• Hibernation, by Margaret C. Hall 

~ made a burrow for a little ground squirrel. It was a collage of sorts, and it was fun talking about how they store everything they need in their little burrow

~ made a similar poster 
~ read and practiced this poem 
~ made bear bread

We also plan on:


~ watching some videos about hibernation online
~ writing out some journal entries
~ re-reading The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We will retell the story. There are tons of fun activities on line for this story.

Also in other news, I am currently doing the 21 day fix (a workout/eating plan) so that I can get in shape for Hawaii (that is my goal!). I have never actually done one of these things, but I have seen so many people succeed at this one. The only thing that I am not following is the Shakeology plan (an expensive meal shake). It's pretty simple to follow and mostly involves  portion control, 30 minute workouts everyday and whole foods (no sugar, salt, processed ect). I have my moments, that's for sure, but am happy and know that it is good for me. But why on earth do we still have Christmas chocolate lurking in the house- torture!

Happy New Years and all that jazz.
xox

not 21 day food approved ... be he sure liked it!