School and Summer et al.

School year is coming to an end. The kids are going to a week of camp, they will learn outdoor skills, kayaking, sailing. So much fun, and they get to go together-nice they will both be in 6-11 group! Swim lessons and gymnastics break in July, then start again in Aug. We are camping on the Pacific rim in Aug too, breathtaking is the best description of the scenery there, I can't wait. I am always glad for the school year to end, then glad again when it starts! I am SO looking forward to fall, can't wait for that whole season, my fave time of the year really stretches here like in Ontario. The kids and I are buzzing with plans for crafts, decor and activities already! I need to figure out our summer crafts and outings, to keep ourselves busy once my course wraps. Trampoline is now up too so yahoo!

I am seeing an end in sight, big paper just needs last edits.

So much writing, discussions, my brain is in that "considering concepts even when half awake" mode. I mull over documents and theories when i am sleeping. I wake up to go to the bathroom at 4 am and I am thinking about my work. Two excerpts from colleague discussions, I wrote:

"Another reason for this term could possibly be an attempt to help students to become a part of their own educational process, and have ownership of the skills they have developed. Considering the meaning of the word facilitation, applied to this concept, students are essentially acting to guide their own process. It is treating them like the adults that they are, and given the varied demographic of many nursing students today, this is likely an approach much appreciated by the older students in particular who might find the "test" or "exam" likened to high school and not fully appreciating the skills they have acquired."

Another discussion, I wrote:
"I also feel that the idea of collaborative learning is very valuable. Collaboration involves active learning on the part of both the teacher and learner, and I am a firm believer that when the learner is actively engaged, it has more meaning for them and they have a sense of ownership in their educational process. The teacher also has the opportunity to learn form the life experiences of their students. As described by Bankert & Kozel (2005), when the teacher and learner engage as "sharing contributors to the educational experience, a sense of closeness and unity developed along with feelings of shared responsibility for nurturing caring relationships with one another". This transformation of traditional roles can become a method of discovery as both the teacher and learner develop new interactive roles, and interactive relationships emerge."

In some ways less dry than pharmacotherapeutics, but then again not. My focus is more theoretical this time, less medical. I am honestly having a good time, and getting good feedback. It is a mix of anxiety and jubilation.

I think hon and I shall have a glass of vino and watch the sun go down, kids are tucked in!

kids

An after school conversation:
Amelia: We wanted to find a nice place to sit on the playground. These are our 4 priorities:
1. Find a place away from the boys
2. Place that was shady
3. A great view
4. Not get hit by the soccer ball
The buttercups were too close to the soccer fields. We thought there was a hole in the daisy patch, but we couldn't find it. We went to a place I suggested, except there were wrappers and the view was the mud rope.

I had to laugh. I loved the 4 priorities bit.

Lauryn also informed me today that Vanessa can jump as high as a kangaroo. I said I doubt that....lol

Josh has a spool of thread loose-he is pulling and and saying "tuggy tuggy" straining as he pulls, then getting it caught and saying "oh my". It is so funny, I don't have the heart to take it off him, despite the long tangly thread trail....

Work, food, school, stress, what else is there?

I am working on a lit search of community nursing education methods at the moment. I am learning a lot about educative methods and measures of structural knowledge. But it is a lot of work.....

Our local cheese factory has some nice cheeses. I picked up a cracked pepper verdelait, a brie, and an applewood smoked cheddar (not local, but a nice cheese). I also picked up a loaf of house levain sourdough, and a fig and walnut levain as well to go with them. I will serve this all with grapes, dried chorizo, and an olive tapenade. This of course, with some wines. I still need to decide on pairings. I'll think about that later. We are having guests this weekend, obviously, I am also trying out my rotisserie to do a rosemary, garlic and whole dijon roast. I am deciding on sides still. I am making a flourless chocolate cake, possibly with a ganache for dessert. This is also kind of a father's day thing for Dave while I am at it. We have a bunch of family coming, should be a good time.

I am so anxious for Dave to be home. I get a lot more paperwork done when he is here. I also have less running to do. Between 3 trips to the school, plus 2 on gymnastics days and swimming days, I am constantly driving it seems. These little 2 hr windows at home are no good. I will be glad for kindergarten to end and full days start. I have the house kind of partially cleaned, did windows and bath tubs. I need to finish the bathrooms, dust and wash floors. I also need to sort some more downstairs to make things presentable. I wish the carpet dudes would come, but it will likely be a couple more weeks wait still.

It has been a hard, busy week. I am glad both the girls have class collections for a teacher's gift, makes my life simpler. Lauryn's class is having a gathering of all the kinder classes on the last day of school, then a full out bbq with a bouncer for just her class at a classmates house and a gift collection for madame. Crazy. I just want to finish going through the last 8 research articles, then at least I have 10 days to pull it all together. I feel like that little train-I think I can, I think I can, I can I can lol

I have been burning the candle at both ends. Up late editing, baking, making lunches, Josh not feeling well and up late. I actually fell asleep 2 afternoons in a row this week. Week is almost over....

more

We finally put together Mimi's bed, mounted her tv on the wall, set up her phone. Dave is finishing her window sill now, we just need her flooring. The patio area is almost ready for stones, we set up the kids playhouse and sandbox, despite no grass. Once the patio is there at least they have somewhere to play. I will landscape all around the patio, I have been mulling over various shrubs to choose from-the possibilities are endless here-we are a zone 7 vs zone 3 in Manitoba! At least in Ontario we were zone 5B, which was pretty good, MB was not a good planting zone. Mom used to always lament the hardiness factor of some plants she would have liked to have.

I am so happy to garden. I find it is like cooking for me, very soul soothing. Last night we had some really good steaks, grilled asparagus and zucchini, and I made lettuce wraps. It was very good. We had a raspberry lemon cream cake I made for dessert, a fussy recipe, but very yummy.

My arms hurt from the yard work, so no more typing right now.

A new post-at last

We have been so busy, this has been at the bottom of my list. But I just spent a few minutes reading some posts and realize how much I enjoy doing this. So onward I go...

We are half ass moved in. Most of our window coverings are up, the main level is 99% ready. The lower level has to wait for carpet installers, tiling, some more drywall. The yard has the front landscaped (I did a fine job, I must say), and is ready for sod. The rest will have the stone patio put in next week, finish staining decking then too, the yard is still being leveled and stones removed. I spent hours hard labour on the yard, soooo much left, but we work fast. Dave and I were a master team in Kingston for years completing the house. We work quickly, and now with all our learning, we do a smashing job. I love the area, the kids school is great, their french has improved being in a 100% french school (no english), and they have made friends. We keep checking out different beaches, each one better than the next. We are going to nymph falls tomorrow.

My course is interesting. I am learning how to teach adults, studying theory and philosophy and applying it in a teaching and learning enviro. The discussions are the best, a very bright group. I love learning, but the work end can be hard in the midst of a move.

The kids are beside themselves here. It is a great place to live. Neighbours have been coming by to say hello, we have found a babysitter-Dave and I just need an evening where we are not working on the house to go out!! We have so many plans for the summer, I am loving beaching it so often!

Dave is home, after a month gone, leaves again in a week, for a week, then home 2, gone for 1 mos, then off all Aug. Not a nice schedule, but we get by. His return this time was so great, we have such awesome chemistry. I am so glad he still gives me butterflies after almost 12 years. He makes me feel like I am 20 and just fell in love. I love him more now than ever, he is awesome.

Ok, I did not say it would be long, but that is it in a nutshell. Life is not dull. I will have a vino with my darling now!

My summer girl

Mealie my first is such a tenderheart. She loves and empathizes so fiercely, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She stills prays for the dead bird she and her cousins found last summer. Her emotions are always at the ready, whether it is in excitement, sadness, or anger. She is a bit of a drama queen, yes, but also a dramatic actress, writing songs, quite adeptly for a child of her age. Her interest in the arts is insatiable. Her drawings are full of vivid detail and color.

Mealie can be so kind, translating books for her sister, helping her little brother and doing chores. However, true to her age there is often a detailed argument as to why she should be doing something else at times. I admire the effort! She is a talented gymnast, swims well, and is such a good friend to her "pals". She loves to be part of a close knit friendship, preferring that to a large group, yet she is well-liked by all her classmates. Mealie loves her solo time as well, enjoying quiet time to listen to music.

A bigger imagination you will not find, endless energy for exploring the outdoors, and decorating her room. She is always creating things, and would spend hours at crafts, leaving an incredible mess and a more incredible creation. Her enthusiasm is as admirable as she herself is. She reminds me of summertime, from her sunny blonde hair to her every changing ideas and interests, just like how summer weather can change so much, but is enjoyable for all that it is because it is summer.

I love my darling girl not just because she is my daughter, but because of who she has become.

A bird in flight

Noni is a charming little bird. Being five is a charming state of being alone, but she affects everyone around her so effortlessly. She makes friends like most breathe, instantly having a small entourage at her new school. She is so humerous, always coming up with the most hilarious analogies. This morning she chattered away in the bathroom about how useful our fingers are, and the multiple tasks they can accomplish: "they can pull down the toilet handle to flush, but they can't eat. They can HELP us to eat though, by holding utensils Mom. Aren't they wonderful?" Ahh the joys of early morning discussions about basically nothing, yet everything.

No one, and I mean no one, enjoys and spends so many meticulous hours with tiny, tiny accessories like Lauryn. She builds "rooms" all over her room, in the dollhouse, on the dresser, end table etc. They are so orderly and detailed. More than a few people have admired the work she puts into them. She has gotten interested in calico critters-they are perfect for her. She reminds me of myself in so many ways, in the way she plays and her love of animals. She cares for our cat so lovingly. But she exudes a confidence and musical voice that I envy.

Noni also loves to add sound effects to all her activities-they are always appropriate to the task-dramatic, humerous, exciting etc. It is beyond hilarious, and no, she does not get it from me! Lauryn is also a chef in the making. I have never seen a kid her age take to the kitchen so skillfully. She can peel an entire pot of potatoes, assist in a cake from scratch, etc. Now this, she takes after mommy!

Noni leads a charmed life, loved by many, so talented. She is still my sweet baby, loves her cuddle time, yet so independent, zipping straight to her class and getting out her work and getting started, with no direction.

I love my darling Noni-bird.