Back to the Maritimes....

Well, here we are back in Dartmouth, finally feeling like we are getting settled in to our new house....still missing life in Ontario with friends and grandparents and wondering what life almost was if we had gone to Nanaimo after all......

It`s a bit surreal really....wandering back into your old life while it has been carrying on without you there....some things have changed, some for the better, people are a little older (most noticeable with kids, obviously), some are gone and new faces are all around....but it takes a minute to remember that you can`t just drop by to see _________or go to a certain store to pick up ________ because they are actually in a different province now!!!

It has been a joy but also time-consuming to be able to organize our lives within the new house with so much space and within the new community....trying out new things, meeting new people, following our passions....if only daddy could find one that didn`t take up half a day each time!

It is much easier to do this in a place we`ve already made a life before and with more space to do it in, although I think I could write a book on how to reinvent your life with children in a new place after having moved three times in three years!!

I am going to update our top ten lists to reflect what we`re up to now and will add some pics to the other blog where there will soon be a pic a day from the Flannagan household....we`ll see!

Cheers!

lisa

Never gonna catch up....not gonna try....

Well, I'm throwing in the towel on the: I must catch up the time I missed blogging about before I can say anything about today, routine....I will not wait or punish myself any longer!!??!!

So, suffice it to say, it's been a busy year! Danica was born, we are moving AGAIN at the end of August and we are definitely straddling the gap, between our lives at the moment - anyone who has moved a few times KNOWS of which I speak.

I am coping but not well, at times. Had a good day at Canada's Wonderland today - might not have happened though, as the downpour scared us off initially but back we went!

I still LOVE rollercoasters but am not nearly as brave as my youngerself but Bailey is fearless for a 6 year old!

Had a great time in Splashworks with the boys and Danica and Sé survived the day.

Pics to follow, must sleep.

Impetus for blogging....just found out radical unschoolers get together on Salt Spring Island and we had no idea! I am missing Nanaimo again - were supposed to be moving there but are now off the Halifax again....maybe someday....

lisa

December 2007

Well, December was taken up by surviving a Daddy business trip and recovering from the last one......lucky for us the two week trip in January has been cancelled....sorry Ian :-(

The other two major occurences that delayed Christmas preparations significantly were Bailey's Party (see below) and the boys' first Christmas Pageant with the Kingston Home Learners group. It was our first foray into activities with that group and I think by all accounts a great success!

The boys were very courageous, considering they had no idea what they were getting themselves into and volunteered for everything from acting in two plays, reciting monologues, singing with the group in many instances and Jaxon even sang a solo verse for one song!

Some grandparents even made it to the shows! That is definitely a novelty for us, since we've never lived close enough for that to happen before.

I made red bird costumes for Bailey and Se, adding to my sewing portfolio this fall, ha ha - oh yeah, I'm not sure I posted about making the grand Pokemon costume for Bailey for Halloween - he was Charzard - and they each had three costume changes, except for Se with just the one walk-on role! It was definitely busy but great fun.

Pics to follow. And I am going to work on a slideshow.....wish me luck!...it's a new function on blogger.

TTFN!

November.....the ULTRASOUND results are in.......

and.....it's a GIRRRRRRLLLLLLL!!!!!!


No, none of us can believe it, but as of sometime near April (probably the end of March), I will no longer be able to sign anything Lisa & the boyz! Pumpkin, as she is currently named by the clan, will have made her debut, thereby altering our collective lives and signatures forever!!

We are very blessed!

Fall 2007

We enjoyed frog (LOTS) and turtle watching off the dock in our backyard during the early part of the fall as the weather was quite mild for awhile! This turtle was named "Turtles". Turtles was quite small, compared to the size of the lily pads - this is a real close-up photo off the dock. We aren't sure where turtles came from or if it was a hatchling from this year or not.

We never did get to see any babies born from the mother that dug a nest for her eggs in the front lawn - we are pretty sure the racoons got to it right away.....we know what to do next year to protect the nests, as we learned all about it at Keji.

We also enjoyed visiting what we called "Turtle Rock", a short paddle in the kayaks around through the canal and around the corner in the river....but you had to sneak up on it or they would all slip in to the water before we even got close!

This fall was very active, once we returned from our September vacation. We especially enjoyed connecting with the Brockville Home Learners group. The boys got involved in an all-boys - homeschoolers - gymnastics class on Wednesdays, which was quite a workout! We also got together with that group for a tour of the local newspaper plant and for a bookclub. Other fun with that group included a sports day at the Brockville Y, tobogganing, a bonfire night and lots of fun at Jaxon and Bailey's birthday parties.

Jaxon had a Pokemon party at our house: DS, GameCube and Gameboy Pokemon action, a Pokemon tournament, pizza, snacks, cupcakes, 'swamp water' drinks and a Pokeball Pinata outside provided loads of entertainment for the group of 6 boys.

Bailey wanted to have a Pokemon party too, but other activities became the main focus: a session at the gymnastics academy playing many fun games, pizza, cupcakes, cake, snacks, presents and goodie bags in their party room onsite and then a couple of hours on the huge local toboggan hill!! Well, we had a pokemon video on in the party room and they talked about their cards a bit....but not a full-fledged pokemon party....which was fine!

Jaxon continued his involvement with his YuGiOh club in Kingston, ending the season with a second place finish in their tournament - a big thrill for him, considering he didn't win any matches for the first 8 months or so!

Bailey took swimming lessons for part of the fall - he just enjoys being in the water no matter what.

We joined the Y as a family, so we spent a couple of afternoons each week either participating in activities such as the kids' cyclefit class, a kids' sports class in the gym, a Pilates class for me (until I couldn't lay on the back and breathe at the same time any longer!!), Aquafit classes, free swim sessions, meeting up with friends in the gym to play hockey, soccer and basketball.....and most of all, playing the Dance Revolution game outside the gym - Jaxon especially loved that.

The boys were excited to see the snow arrive again - tobogganing heaven!


Lisa

Summer 2007

It would be impossible to recap everything about the wonderful summer we had but here are some of the highlights:

*soccer, baseball and t-ball

* Friday nights or carload Tuesdays at the Kingston drive-in - a great family night for all and a date for mom and dad after kids fell asleep before the second feature!!



* Friday night ladies summer soccer for mummy!!!

*YuGiOh club extended through the summer by popular demand

*long, lazy days at our favourite beaches: Charleston Lake, Kendrick's Park, Grass Creek Park and Dunes Beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park

*two weeks of swimming each day at Landon Bay campground outdoor pool with free swim after, meeting new friends and neighbours that live close by!

* the 143rd Lansdowne Fair - we all entered something and won a lot of ribbons: crafts, photography, woodworking, flowers, decorated bike and rider in parade (Bailey) and toddler with the biggest dimples in Lansdowne!!

- other highlights at the fair were the ride-all-day bracelets on Saturday, demolition derby, lawnmower races, kids' pig wrestling, midway games, Ray's Reptiles and Birds of Prey

* kayaking on the river - see pic to follow of the family flotilla in action

* Homeschooling campout 2007 at Charleston Lake - medieval knight treasure hunt, tye-dyeing t-shirts, campfire games and songs, midnight Password games for the 'big kids', gourmet dining by the Paquettes, sharing the field with our new friends Lynn, Reid, Sam and Isaac, beach afternoon, blazing hot soccer game, clapping games with Kathy, parachute games with Kathy.

* a visit from our new friends from Quebec City: Julie, Patrick, Benjamin and Leo - they also joined us at the campout!

* sing and swim days at the Bibic 'resort'

* Jaxon's robotics workshop

*Werry picnic revival (displayed photos from Cornwall Trip in Aug 2006)

* ice cream and corn on the cob....many and often!!!

* Wettlaufer family reunion at Aunt Debbie's - great pool party and bbq - great day with cousins Joe, Megan and Alyssa and dog soccer with Cassie and Flintstone

* Thousand Islands playhouse theatre with Uncle Scott: "Anne and Gilbert"!!


* Festival of the Islands in Gan with Uncle Scott - too many concerts to count!

* narrowly missing the entire Rickard picnic reunion due to fun on the 401!

* two week holiday to Nova Scotia: Not Back to School Camping Trip 2007 at Kejimikujik National Park and camping at Shubie in Dartmouth, visiting old friends and checking on our house......especially Ian's 50 km bike climb and yoga/swim for moms by the water in the am!

* dahlias finally blooming but alas, not being organized enough to dig them out in time :-(

Ah, yes,....summer in the Thousand Islands beside the Blue Heron marina!!! The Blue Herons would visit us multiple times in a day and we caught them fishing close up - expert zen-like stillness...amazing!

Circus Camp and other pics.....

We got some photos sent to us from the camp Bailey and Jaxon attended - Bailey was there every day, so Jaxon must have missed the day the photographer came:(

Here are the boys at Stone Soup - the gym at the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre:

This is the outdoor area near the gym where we spend our late Tuesday afternoons until Beavers and Cubs - Jaxon starts Cubs next week and Bailey just got a temporary little vest for Beavers last night - wow, was he proud! BTW, if anyone comes across second hand Beaver or Cub uniforms, please let us know! Thx!

Also,.....Bailey's design that he was very proud of and wanted to share! Our favourite puzzle blocks from England www.myriadonline.co.uk ...thanks to a generous donation from G & G Werry at the time!!

Our spring snowfall has all but melted/washed away now, so we're hoping to dry up soon! Then it will be time to tackle the worshop and build the shed! We are also hoping to build either a treehouse or clubhouse and create a campfire pit here. The bike path is pretty much dry and clear so we hope to get out scooting and biking soon.

Both boys start ball hockey soon, so we are looking for hockey gloves and jocks!!..maybe a taller stick for Jaxon. His legs have been aching lately after a big day out, so I've been wondering about a growth spurt again!?

Oh yeah, and if anyone has any great astronomy/space facts for Jaxon (he's looking for a great one for every week of his course), put them in our comments section or email them to Jaxon at jaxonflannagan@gmail.com !

That's all for now folks!