This week was all about rediscovering friends. Coming back from an extended vacation in her home country of Egypt, the girls were elated to be reunited with J, whom they had it seen in the almost two months.

The girls had a great afternoon together, though J was a little shy at first and didn’t want to leave her mom’s side.

They played with the toys and have fun climbing up and down on the bed. We made egg salad sandwiches–a first for J and her mother, adding another recipe to their cooking arsenal.

True to her character, J did not want to leave when it was time to go home and showed her displeasure with lots of tears!

Sherri came over with her two little ones last Friday and we spent the afternoon building gingerbread trains. I had found some kits on clearance at Safeway and thought the kids would enjoy putting them together.

Getting ready to begin.

Kneading the icing.

This is what Z thought should be done with the icing!

Emily placing icing on the tray for the base.

Almost done!

The finished product.

Hanging out on the bunk bed.

I gave Dawn some instant snow as a Christmas present. This stuff is really neat! The substance is called sodium polyacrylate and expands in water holding between 300 to 500% of its weight. This is the stuff they put in diapers to hold a baby’s urine.

Instant snow

The dish is half-filled with water.

Dawn fills the cap with the sodium polyacrylate.

There it goes into the water.

Instant 'snow!'

A picture that Dawn made for her upstairs friend D, of the two of them holding hands.

Dawn doing the dishes.

Related posts:

1. Friday Wrap-Up For January 7
2. Weekly Wrap-Up For December 3rd
3. Off to the Museum!

It’s been a nice week and we are slowly picking up the pace. While I strongly support the unschooling movement, I sometimes worry that my daughters may not be getting what they really need. Or rather, I wonder whether they’re getting the basics they need to take off on their own.

With that in mind, I’m thrilled that my girls love using workbooks and am trying to get a little ‘book learning’ in while they are interested. I bought a small set of plastic drawers from Superstore. There are four in all, so one for each of the girls’ current books, and then the others for the masses of paper they are constantly collecting.

Emily playing Operation. After the girls came home from their dad's on New Years Eve, we discovered spare batteries in the filing cabinet.

Making a card for mamma.

There’s a new homeschooling family in town and I invited them to join us for the New Years Eve festivities. Turns out that they were already planning on going, so we made arrangements to join up! It was a great evening and the girls had a blast.

Watching the magic show with our new friends.

Making noise makers at City Hall

Playing on the ice.

(Thanks for the pictures, S!)

Math practice

Outside in the snow

Dawn outside with dad.

Dawn went to her dad’s alone this week. At the last minute, Emily insistently decided she didn’t want to go. I didn’t force her, so we spent some quality time together over two days. Of the two, she’s the one who is most needy, emotionally speaking, so we had some great bonding time together.

Building a puzzle

Our new games. I went shopping today and bought a whole bunch of puzzles and games for the girls.

Puzzle complete!

Playing Junior Yahtzee.

Related posts:

1. Weekly Wrap-Up For December 3rd
2. Weekly Wrap-Up For December 17
3. Back to the Grind

We’ve had quite a busy week! With practicing lots of reading and exploring their new notebook, the girls have been quite occupied!

Dawn's drawing of the solar system.

My little photographer!

Dawn displaying her fairy puppet.

Learning to cook eggs in the microwave.

Emily made some, too.

Dawn wanted to blow up a deflated balloon with her bicycle pump.

Success!

Decorating the tree!

Emily made herself a bowl of cereal...it's in there somewhere!

Related posts:

1. Weekly Wrap-Up For December 3rd
2. An Update on the Girls!
3. When Life Takes Off

The girls have been up and about having a fantastic time playing and exploring.

Opening a can of stew for lunch.

Emily's turn!

Into the bowl it goes!

Dawn made her own earrings with an elastic and some beads!

Making peanut-butter rice squares.

Trying on mom's make-up.

Dawn's picture of the solar system.

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1. Peanut-Butter Rice Squares
2. Edmonton Farm Fair
3. Handstands and MoonSand and Cookies! (Oh my!)

One of the local homeschooling mothers (thanks Kathy!) set up a field trip for a group of homeschoolers to participate in AMAZE-ing Agriculture, a program hosted by the Edmonton Farm Fair designed for children aged 6-12.

The concept is simple enough. Children are given little passports showing the 11 stations they need to go through. After completing the station, they get a stamp. The goal is to complete the 11 stations and learn something along the way.

Some other neat activities they had going on included petting baby chicks, roping a “calf”, planting some seeds and watching some animals.

While the girls had a great time, Emily was tired by lunch time, so we hopped the train back home and rested a bit before the girls’ dad was scheduled to come and get them. Now mommy has two whole days to herself to catch up on sleep and much-needed work! =D

Related posts:

1. Fair Days Are Here
2. A Sunny Father’s Day at Fort Edmonton
3. The Girls are Learning to Read!