verification

7QB569SACSD2

An Interesting Phone Call – from school

The other day, last Friday, I was on the phone with someone.  I checked the messages when I hung up and there was a message there from my sons teacher.

My son, D, is 14.  He is in grade 9, first year of high school here.  He is a good kid, doing well in school, made honour role this semester.  We are proud parents here:-)

Anyhow, the program that he is taking is geared to kids who learn best by being hands on.  This is him to a tee!  He loves to make things, build things, paint things etc…which is why he did well in Guyana last summer.  He gets right into his activity, whatever it may be.

Part of the program is that they take courses in a variety of careers.  From woodworking to cooking, mechanics to cosmetology, and green initiatives to construction.  The first year of the program they have to try out all the careers.  So yes, they all cook, and learn about hair and makeup, and they all learn about plants and landscaping and mechanics.  It is a great course.  By the second year they narrow down their interests and by the end they decide if they would like to pursue the chosen career any further.  Like I said, a great program for those hands on kids.

They did cosmetology last week, and the teacher asked for a volunteer model from the class.  I am not sure what possessed D to volunteer, but maybe it meant he wouldn’t have to do the work?  Anyhow, he became the model in the chair at the hair salon.  This was the gist of the phone call I received…

• Hi there Mrs. P. This is so and so, D’s technology teacher.  We have been looking at cosmetology for the last few days and today we needed a volunteer.  D said that he would do it, so when he comes home you will notice that there is a little bit of colour in his bangs.  We were practicing colours and how to apply them.  While we were testing it on him, we were joking about how his family was going to react.  We found out that he has 4 younger sisters and we thought that they would think he looks really cool.  Anyhow, I am a licensed hairdresser, so I will keep his hair trimmed and looking nice until the colour comes out.  It is just a demi colour which lasts half the time of the semi colour.  It shouldn’t last too long.

So, D gets home from school and I asked him if he could take off his hat.  He asked why, and I said that his teacher had phoned me.   He asked why she would call, and I said that he was still a minor and she had to call to let me know what had happened.  I thought that should happen BEFORE they do this stuff…but oh well, it is just hair and it will grow back:-)

He took off his hat and oh.my.goodness it was interesting.  He has the blondest hair ever (well not platinum, but very blonde), it was quite patchy with this colour, I will have to describe it until I can get the wire for my camera and put the pic on here.  The colour was like an auburn/purple/red/brown?  I don’t know how to explain it. 

My son is a good sport.  He kind of seemed worried however, when I informed him of the grandparent pictures that were happening on Sunday.  Yup, we thought he would just wear a hat, but was requested, by an unnamed person, to not wear the hat.  So, in the annual picture this year, my son has a forever memory of his time in cosmotology.

He still wants to be a chef;-)

(picture coming tomorrow hopefully)

Life Lessons with Uncle Buck

I am taking a PSW (Personal Support Worker) course right now.  I thoroughly enjoy it and think that I may further my education to be a nurse at some point.  For now, we are learning all the fun stuff…hygiene, personal (very personal) care etc…Our scrubs came in last week and I thought that I would head over to my moms house to see if she could help me hem them.  She did a great job!!  (I watched:-)

While she was sewing, my niece, Little Missy who is  3; H, the 4 year old; and F, the 2 year old were colouring in books at the table.  They were mostly getting along, with the regular banter that they have when Little Missy put a pair of (plastic only) safety scissors in her mouth.

My brother, Uncle Buck (not his real name;-), takes them out of her mouth and reminds her of a conversation they had in the past. 

Uncle Buck – Remember when I told you we don’t put scissors in our mouth?  We could cut off our tongues, right?

Little Missy – Uh huh, with a smirk on her face. 

Uncle Buck – Remember I told you that if you don’t have a tongue you can’t talk?  Remember I told you to hold your tongue and try to talk and it was hard?

Little Missy - Grabs her tongue and tries to talk.  She thinks it is hilarious. 

We are all laughing in the background, because it is such an unusual (but common in our family) conversation to listen to.

Uncle Buck – H, you give it a try, I bet you can’t talk if you hold your tongue.

H – Tries and sure enough can’t say anything.

So now, the 2 girls think it is so funny and continue to talk this way.  I wonder if the actual message got through or not…I guess we will find out if they cut out their tongues…cause you know they always do what you tell them not to:-)

And I warned my family, anything they say or do WILL be blogged about!!

Go Green with Green School

BlogCatalog

The Best School Lunches

With 5 kids (4 of whom are in school), lunch making can become a very daunting task. 

We have given our kids the responsibility of making their own lunches.  We set out some guidelines so they are not just packing junk all the time. 

Our one main rule is:  If you make it you have to eat it…

We have seen it all, ketchup and pickles with bologna, mayo and ketchup and ham.  As long as they eat them, we don’t really care.

The guideline for packing a lunch is that they need to include a main item, a healthy snack, a junky snack, a bottle of water and a bottle of juice.

Some of the choices they have used are:

• Main Items – sandwiches, wraps, hardboiled eggs, Egg McMoms, blt’s, leftovers from dinner, and other things
• Healthy Items - raw veggies and dip, granola bars, oatmeal cookies, hardboiled eggs (if they brought a sandwich instead), fruit, cheese and crackers, and others
• Junky Items – dessert squares, cookies, chips, cheesies, candies (halloween just past), just to name a few
• Always the reusable water bottle and the reusable bottle of juice, unless juice boxes are on sale

I am always looking for new ideas.  When we get on a roll we will make a bunch of treats ahead of time, like muffins, cookies, breads etc.  We will wrap them up individually to make the lunch packing go easier.  

I saw this really cool product out there for wrapping sandwiches up in.  It would be used instead of a sandwich baggie, which is better to reduce waste and also saves me money in the long run.  You can check them out the instructions to make your own here.  A really great idea! 

We also let the kids participate in the pizza days once a week.  They are allowed one slice and that replaces the main item in their lunches.  We are always sending the money in a plastic sandwich baggie (you can imagine how many we were going through) and the kids wouldn’t bring them home to use again.  I love mom based businesses and this mom was able to come up with an amazing and affordable idea to reduce the waste and save other parents money in the long run.  She produces these Green School Totes.  It is something simple that I think every school could take on.  I plan on talking to our school to see if they would consider implementing them in our school.

So, now I am looking for feedback.  How do you handle school lunches?  What suggestions do you have?  What ideas or recipes do you use? 

I am always interested in mixing it up at our house so no one gets bored…

Thanks for your input!!

Welcome to the world (blogging world that is;)

First of all, let me introduce myself.  I am a stay at home mom, who is attending school to be a  PSW.  I have 5 kids, 4 of which are in school.  They are D-14, K-11, G-7, H-4 and F-2.  We are a busy household with many going ons and lots to prepare for each day.

I homeschooled in the past, for 6 years.  This is the 3rd year they have been in school.  I am enjoying the time for myself and the toddler and the kids are loving school too.

I want to keep track of all the things that go on, because there seems to be so many stories that come home from school.  Lockdowns in grade 1, bullying on the playground, detention, standing up for friends.  It is never ending and I really want to chronicle our lives during these years so that we can reflect and grow from.

Join me on this crazy journey of life with 5 kids (and a hubby who sometimes becomes #6!!)

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!