It's Christmas Eve

(pitures will be added later)


And all through the house, not a creature is stirring not even a mouse. Well that's because the cats ate them for the pre-Christmas dinner. They wanted to share but.... Ok, let me change that... It's the night before Christmas and all through the house it's totally chaotic. The stockings are hung in our make shift wall unit. But oh how they hang so longing to be filled. Andrew's not dreaming of sugarplum but is running high on and over dose of sugar from the cookies he made for Santa, hopefully the big fat jolly guy will get at least one of them... hmmm but maybe not, cause the other guy that eats them could stand to loose a few pounds.

For all you Nay Sayers

I knew it... The evidence is in :)

The whole research article can be found here.

Socialization not a Problem

But of most importance are these numbers.

When measured against the average Canadians ages 15 to 34 years old, home-educated Canadian adults ages 15 to 34 were more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population). Average income for homeschoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population. Almost all of the homeschoolers—96 percent—thought homeschooling had prepared them well for life.

Santa Claus is here in our Town

And here is the proof :)



And it's that time of year that Toronto's Eaton Center displays their amazing window Christmas displays.



And free outdoor awesome concerts at Nathan Phillip Square while you skate outdoors on their illuminated rink. (Picture is crappy...)



Finishing the evening with SPECTACULAR fireworks with equally amazing music to go with it... Toronto is great.

His New Cut

Here he is with his new cut... I don't like it as much :(

Christmas Pics and Hair

First, Andrew cut a HUGE chunk of his hair off the other day, Don was on daddy duty while i was out. I thought i might be able to work with it but it proved to be unworkable :( ... So i had to cut it last night to make both sides look the same, i also had to cut the back of it because if not he would have had a mullet. NO THANKS. I must admit that i think i did a pretty good job fixing it and he is still as cute as ever.

Pictures, oh good grief, it's a heck of a lot easier to get pictures of my cat Reggy then it is to get of Andrew. I will post the one good pic i got of him (out of hundreds) but i do want to get another one where more of his face if showing. And the lighting is softer. This is before his new hair cut.

On the Mend

Today Andrew is feeling much better :)

The other day when i was putting our folded laundry away in our bedroom Andrew decided to play dress up. This is what met my eyes when i came into the living room. He has such a great personality and is so funny at time. Almost everyday he draws me a picture or wraps present for me, it's usually a shell or rock or one of his fav toys. I hope he will always stay this way. He's growing up so fast. It makes me sad when i think that someday he will be out in that world doing his own things on his own. (Even tho he says he will never leave home). Andrew I love you so much. I am so happy you are in my life. Thanks for all the smiles you put on my face. Thanks for all of the love you have given me.

Andrew's Sick and Other Little Updates

Yup, my poor little guy has been fevered all day. Not eating. And very clingy. I will take him in to one of the emergency walk in flu clinic tomorrow to see if he's got H1N1. I'm pretty sure i have been fighting with it all week, it started Tuesday morning, all day Wed, most of Thursday, today i have actually been feeling much better. And thank goodness because i don't know how i would have been able to hold him all day if i were sick like i was.

Here are some pictures from last Sunday. Because of me being so sick i couldn't get to it till today. And other random pictures from the week :)Yup, my poor little guy has been fevered all day. Not eating. And very clingy. I will take him in to one of the emergency walk in flu clinic tomorrow to see if he's got H1N1. I'm pretty sure i have been fighting with it all week, it started Tuesday morning, all day Wed, most of Thursday, today i have actually been feeling much better. And thank goodness because i don't know how i would have been able to hold him all day if i were sick like i was.

Royal Canadian Agricultural Show




How are these for size?





Now you must admit this is cute. They didn't even know eachother.

Sleeping Babe

Andrew right now. He actually fell asleep at a reasonable hour tonight... Pic is bad quality because i took it from my phone.

Homeschooling Weekly Gathering

This morning Don, Andrew and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Every Monday some of the homeschoolers in Toronto meet up at a community center. This week Don decided to join us just to see what it is all about. Andrew looked up at Don and said Daddy there are 2 categories at the meet up place. Don says oh ya, and Andrew replied, yup, one side is where all the kids play and the other side is where all the old ladies sit... I was so shocked...

Happy Halloween

Wow the robot costume was a great hit. EVERYONE loved it.

Friday night Don, Andrew and i went to the Science Center for some science fun. When we got there they had all the children so up to the second floor so that they could introduce each child and their costume one at a time while going down the escalator (think red carpet)... When it came to Andrew's time to go down the announcer looked down at them and secretly told him his costume was her favorite. When he came down he received a standing ovation (the only kid that did)... I felt bad for the other kids tho :( ... Everyone there came up to him and asked me if they could take a picture of him. Andrew on the other hand was getting tired of all the attention and wanted me to take it off of him. (guess stardom is not in his future) ... But since i was the one that made it, it boosted my ego... lol

Now on to Halloween night.

He went out with his 2 friends Anika and Ethan. And once again he was getting every ones attention. And once again i felt bad for the other kids. Almost every house hold asked to take a picture of him. But i guess he was fine with that because he was getting the goods to go along with it... Many of the houses also gave him extras for having the best costume of the night.

The robot consisted of 2 boxes, 1 for the body, 1 for the head. A voice changer to make him sound like a real robot. A flashing red round light it the top of the head. 1 light inside of the head hidden at the back of this head so the inside of the looked like it lit up. Dryer vinyl duct vent for the legs and arms. Duct tape and lots of silver paint. And other do dads.

Now for the pics and LOTZ of them :) Notice that the second night (Halloween) we added more to it. Including a Pentium chip ;)




The only picture of him and i, turned out blurry.








Awesome pumpkin carvings.










My boys walking home together.


Halloween Night of totting.

Anika (Princess), Andrew and Ethan (Darth)



Pretty Princess (this is Anika's and Andrew's 4th yr totting together)


Daddy and Andrew


See the expression on that ladies face? That's what it was like all night.


Here i am getting his candies for him, near the end, it was very tiring going up and down the stairs while wearing that costume. So i gave him a little break in exchange for some of his candies ;)






Cute little Ethan


Christine, Anika, Ethan and Sue


Haha, Andrew getting tired and being taxied.


My Ex.


Gerry and Ethan and Andrew


Silly Don playing around with the kids.



Group Shots.




And it's a Canadian must thing to do after treak or treating, going to the Tim Horten's eh!

And some nice Autumn halloween pics along our journey.

Our Little Buddy

We went back today...

Fever

Andrew has been breaking out with a fever for 2 night in a roll now, it's got me stumped, night time fevers, but during the day he seems fine. No coughing, runny nose, sore throat. Where is Dr House when you need him?

Autumn Is Here

And we went on a nature walk on Fri. One thing i noticed that i haven't before is the trees on the outside of a forest change colors before the inside. It was interesting.









This squirrel came right up to me, he was crawling on my lap and then Andrew noticed him and came running to us and scared the bejevous out of him... He did end up coming to us again later. I have a video i will post of him. Does it look like he's begging me for some food here?



It's a good thing i brought along his winter coat because he needed it.. I can't believe it's that cold out already... It's going to be a very long winter.