The school encourage us to pick the apples to enjoy instead of letting them go to waste.  So that is what we did.  Every day after school, we stopped to pick apples on the way home.  The kids loved climbing the tree and picking and eating those apples straight from the tree.

There are still tons of apples on the tree.  Unfortunately they are now too high to climb to pick.  So yesterday we took the ladder and we picked more apples.  Made juice yesterday and will make another apple crisp today!  The super easy recipe is at the bottom of the blog.

The big surprise was when Kyle came home from one of his customers this week who is a farmer.  Check out the size of that apple.  Kyle is not sure whether to eat it or not.  I remember seeing apples that size in Australia….

The apple is as big as her head

His favourite fruit!

Guess which one is from the farm and which one is from the school

Apple Oatmeal Crisp

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup butter melted
Mixed the above ingredient together and line the pan with half the mixture.

4 cups sliced apples
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Mix the apples together with the sugar and cinnamon and place on top of the oatmeal mixture.
Top off the apples with the remaining half of the oatmeal mixture.

Place it in the oven for 350F for 45minutes.
Enjoy!
The kids like it with ice-cream.

The classes are awesome.  The teacher is very patient and it helps that her English vocabulary is not the greatest.  So we are forced to speak and explain things to her in French.  My classmates are all eager to learn too so it makes the lessons fun, sometimes we get a little loud as we joke around, all in French of course.

My bike ride in the morning is great too.  When I first started biking, it took me about 35minutes, now I am down to about 27minutes.   At the end of the first week of classes, the week of rain started.  The first day I took the bus, the next day I got a ride and then I realized, if I kept on taking the bus, it would defeat the purpose of my exercise and saving bus fare.  So I bit the bullet and rode my bike to school.  Denise had bought me rain pants for my birthday so why not put it to good use.  I did get wet but I didn’t melt.   So the plan is keep on riding till the snow falls.  Since the temperature drop will be gradual, my body will adjust and it will all be good.

So these everyday french lessons are great for the body and for the mind!

The kids are loving the social aspect of school and are ahead of their peers in school work.  That is find, it is a different experience from being home schooled.  Andrew know more would also give him the confidence in the classroom.

Of course with anything, there are the ups and down like how they forgot Andrew’s pizza so he didn’t have any lunch.  That happened his first week there.  It was really upsetting for him and for me.  Someone said he should have spoke up and he did.  I guess, it doesn’t matter whether you speak up or not, if they are not listening, nothing would happen!!  So now I being the over protective mum, I volunteer on Pizza Days.  Perfect as they are short of volunteers and I get a free pizza lunch too!
We also had a good talk with Andrew about the situation, and have used it as a learning experience.

Matthew has also been picked on at school.  Being the new kid, a grade 6 kid decided that he would tackle Matthew.  The other kid was sent to the office.  I have a feeling that this kid is a bit of trouble as we met him at the office the day we registered the kids at school.  Another learning experience, we talked about the kid, perhaps he has trouble fitting in or didn’t know how to make friends.  So we encouraged Matthew to pray for him to help him.

Natalie has been enjoying school.  She doesn’t have any issue but was really upset one day when a girl said that her hair was messy.  It was pretty knotted up in the back, especially after using her hood on her sweater.  She doesn’t like her hair being combed.  So maybe this is a good thing.  Something to encourage her to be tidier.  We have been braiding her hair everyday, plus it is getting longer.

I am getting used to being on my own in the afternoon.  I basically only have 2 hours.  Sometime I do shopping. For a while I was meeting my friend Lynda, she was teaching me French and I taught her English.   She is now working as a student teacher during the day so we are working on figuring out a time to study together after hours.  I have been doing lots of baking too, I think the kids should have healthy snacks at school. I am getting a YMCA membership so I will get a chance to go swimming again.  Yeah!   It is nice to have time to myself but I always seem so busy.  There is always something to do.  It will be different next year, when Natalie is in school full time.

I love home schooling the kids and them being in school also has it’s benefits.  Time will tell.  They have many friends now but everyone seems to be too busy with their own lives for playdates  so school is where they will get their socialization for now….

So you can get a day pass for Weekends and Statutory holidays.  Wow what a deal.

The next week, Natalie was sick during the week and wasn’t 100% better by Saturday, so we decided to take the bus to Chinese school.  Since then we have been taking the bus, and it has worked out well especially when we had the rain/snow and walking through the slush would have been so yucky!  With the day pass, we have been getting so much done.  During Chinese school, we have taken so many side trips.  One weekend Kyle went to do laundry, last week we went downtown to the Apple store to fix my computer.  It has work for after school trips.  I had to go to the store which was about 5 bus stops away but we took the bus instead and save all the complaining from the kids.  With Kyle’s iPhone, he just checks to see when the bus comes so when we are in the store, we know exactly when we have to leave to catch the return bus.

Not having a vehicle still works for us.  With such a great public transport system, we are able to get around quite easily and cheaply.  Less hassle and we have someone driving us.  Great especially when the weather is foul!

We have been going for 4 weeks and this last Saturday was the third time the kids have walked to Chinese school.  I am proud to say that they walked the 2.5km in record time.  25 minutes, the first week it took them 45minutes, second week, 30 minutes.  Pretty good considering Natalie is only 5.   There was quite a bit of complaining though, she says that her legs are tired!  What a great way to strengthen her already strong legs…

Actually for the first week or classes, we rented a car, as I  didn’t want to be late for their first class and wanted it to be a happy experience(couldn’t subject them to that walk just yet).  The second class was Chinese New Year celebrations with a lion dance so no class room time, so it was not too much pressure to arrive on time.  The other 2 times, they were early for class, which is great as it gives them time to settle in.   We still have to factor time to get them ready to get their snow pants on and leave the house.

The first time we walked, Matthew assumed that we were taking the bus so he was a little disappointed when I told him we were walking.  The boys have been really good.  This last Saturday, on the way home they were pretty tired but once the snow ball fights started, they were distracted and the walk home was pretty pleasant until Matthew threw a snowball and it hit Natalie in the face and I missed Matthew and hit Natalie right in the back of the head.  Poor girl!

It is amazing what children are capable of, never under estimate what they are capable of.  With all this walking, they are getting stronger and it is great to see that they are getting accustomed to our new life style.  It would be great though when the snow melts and we can ride our bikes, definitely less complains then.

The first thing I did Monday morning was to apply for a Ontario driver’s license, so that I would have an ID with an Ottawa address, we had a rental car so that worked out well.  We went to get a library card and get some books for the kids to read and got some information about the story time.  So on Wednesday I took Natalie to story time while the boys just hung out to read at the childrens’ section.

The movies here are all free too, so I have request some for myself and Kyle since we have no TV, I don’t miss it at all though.  We keep ourselves so busy with the homeschooling and the kids playing that no one really misses it.  The Carlingwood library has such a great selection of books and audios too.  I have borrowed french and mandarin audios for the kids to listen to.  It is great as they can listen and play at the same time.

I guess I never really appreciated the library before, they have museum passes for the family.  There is no cost to these passes and it admits a family of 5.  But since they are so popular, there is a long wait list for them.  I have put my request in, I am about 150 on the wait list, wonder when I will get the pass…

Wow what a difference. I guess this is the first stage of them growing up. I am going to enjoy her, my little baby. “I am not a baby anymore!”, she often reminds me…. The kids just grow up so fast. I am committed to spending as much time as I can with them….

We sold most of our stuff before coming to Winnipeg and kept all the good items.  As a buyer, garage sales are great but as a seller this is not the best case.  So yesterday I took some of the better items to a consignment store.  It isn’t actually a consignment store, the owner Gary buys the items from you and then sells it.  Actually better than a consignment store, you get your money right away. I think he started as a consignment store but now only buys from the customers and sell it.  The store is AAA consignment, on 1857 Portage Avenue, telephone number is 204-888-9191.  It is the only store in the city that sells used household good.  Check it out, there is some great furnishings, household goods and trinkets too.

I am keeping all my Tupperware and pot and pans.  That I cannot get rid of.  Joel has brought his train set over to sell and we have clothes, household items, and the kids have gone through their toys to get rid of some stuff.  They are going to have a lemonade stand with rice crispes for sale.  The little entrepreneur in them.  So if anyone is around, come check it out.  Someone junk could be anothers treasure.