What's been happening in February?

 

"There is no cure for laziness, but a large family helps"

 ~ Herbert Prochnov ~

Well...it has been a busy month, but we have certainly enjoyed seeing the sun! I hope you enjoy the photos and hearing a little about what we have been up to.

SWIMMING

Thankfully, February’s weather has been kinder to us and we  enjoyed a trip to the local pool. It is a great little spot for the kids.

PIANO

Eric & Byron started back at piano lessons after enjoying a long break over the holidays, and they are doing well. They kept up with their practice and their teacher was very happy with how they played their songs and completed their theory lessons.

GYMNASTICS

Eric, Byron Isabella & Alesha started Gymnastics lessons and they are loving it! They have 1.5 hour classes every week, and are very tired when they have finished. There is not much talking on the way home!

 DENTIST

Isabella had her routine dental check-up this month and scored a new toothbrush and water bottle! Her dentist was extremely happy with her teeth.

 FAVORITE SHOWS

Eric & Byron love watching Junkyard Wars, some of you may know it as Scrapheap Challenge. It’s all about making something remarkable with limited resources. Racing against the clock, two teams scrap together working machines to carry out a particular mission, using whatever they can find in a 5-acre junkyard. At the end of each show, the two teams pit their creations against each other to find out who has put together the best solution to the producers' challenge. It's hard to make science much cooler than that! The formula is an ideal mesh of education and entertainment.

Another recent favorite is  a survival television series called Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls. The general format of each episode is the premise that Grylls is left stranded in a region. The episode documents his efforts to survive and find a way back to civilization, usually requiring an overnight shelter of some kind. Mostly there are wild terrains – jungles, forests or similar non-urban areas

ARTS & CRAFTS

Favourite crafts this month were making face masks (more like full face helmets!) and dodecahedrons, cardboard guitars, paper bag puppets, catapults made from cardboard, 3D cardboard cars, origami, painting, drawing and more.

Here are a few pictures...

Funny face masks

Eric cutting out

Byron's dodecahedron

Eric giving his dodecahedron the final touches

Oversize Truck by Eric

Builder and his tape measure by Eric

Rabbit and Cat by Isabella

Eric's Cardboard Guitar

 PLAYGROUP

I took the kids to a playgroup called Mainly Music. Mainly Music is a fun music group for parents to enjoy together with their children. Throughout the morning, children develop gross and fine motor skills, language, imagination, mathematical and pre-reading skills as well as socialize with others. Children are introduced to music, creativity and more. The girls enjoy it, but Eric & Byron have outgrown most aspects of the group! It is nice to see them enjoy helping their sisters (especially Shelley) with the activities though. They start off with a 30-minute interactive music program, followed by morning tea which is provided and then playtime! There are about 20 to 30 children who attend.

 LANDCRUISER

Chris got his beloved Landcruiser road ready and registered this month! I cant believe how many comments he gets about it. Even people that spot it in the back yard drop in to chat to him about it. It is really old and still in original condition. It has some rust, but still goes great and will be invaluable for heading into the bush to collect wood for the winter.

VALENTINES DAY

On valentines day, the children got up early in the morning and made some very creative valentines day crafts. They set the table for breakfast and placed the valentines day gifts in our plates. It was very special! I made a butter cake and after breakfast we decorated it with whipped cream and strawberries and topped it off with some valentines day pictures that the children colored in. We all had a great day.

Valentines Day Cake
(Yummy butter cake with fresh whipped cream and strawberries)

GREAT TO CATCH UP, UNCLE JOHN!

We enjoyed catching up with my Uncle John who came over for a visit from the USA. Thanks so much for your messages Heidi & Andre, it was lovely to see and hear you on the video, and thanks Aunty Dulcie for sharing Uncle John with us. We had a great time!

 SPRAINED ANKLE

Chris managed to sprain his ankle while getting out of the car. The grass was a bit long and covered up a small hole right where he got out. His foot twisted sideways and he had very severe pain, so we iced it and wrapped it. After a few days rest it started to feel much better and he is now able to weight bear on it as long as he is careful. He couldn't believed he sprained it getting out of the car instead of doing something "cool".

SHELLEY FEEDING HERSELF

Shelley is very independent and likes to be just like her big brothers and sisters and do things for herself. I thought I would share a picture of her enjoying one of her favorite meals - Mexican food!

MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS FROM FEBRUARY

Shelley playing with a truck in the backyard

Isabella in the backyard

Kids enjoying a game of Boggle

Byron at David & Lisa's

Eric hiding in the hammock (David & Lisa's house)

On a treasure hunt in David & Lisa's garden!

David & Lisa's VERY LARGE vege garden

Animal lover Alesha with Rocky (my Cousins Kelpie)

Ready for Church

That is all for now! 

I hope you enjoyed February's Household Happenings!