The Paul Academy

a.k.a. Homeschooling our children while their teachers on are strike.

Emily and Jessica didn't have school yesterday because of the labour disputes between the teachers' union and the government. When the girls asked what we would be doing that day, Steve joked that we would be homeschooling them. Emily and Jessica thought that sounded pretty fun -- being in a class with only two students, one of which is your sister, and having your parents as teachers -- so we decided to indulge them!

I taught them French and Art for an hour, then they had a short break, followed by Math and Gym with Daddy. After lunch and recess, we went on a field trip to Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area!

Such eager students!

Our French activity: writing a summary for one of the Harry Potter books in French (with the help of a word bank and their teacher).

Then we sang a couple of songs from my youth: Trois Petits Chats and Les Tortues Ninja.

For Art class, the girls and I followed a YouTube tutorial for drawing a cute chibi girl.

Break time: Skip-Bo and a couple of snacks

Steve gave the girls a lesson on Probability, then taught them to do a squats and deadlifts in the gym

Little Cataraqui Creek is pretty special given that it was the location of Emily's first-ever field trip in Kindergarten! She also went there in grade 1 for a tour of the Maple Bush and we hiked there as a family in the spring of 2018. A walk in the woods is always refreshing, even in winter.

Can you spot Jessi too?

What a cute and memorable day! The girls were back at their regular school today, though we are anticipating more strike days next week. Perhaps there will be more learning at the Paul Academy. ;)

Happy 10th Birthday, Nathalieland!

Wow, my blog is now 10 years old! Easily the best decade of my life, all captured here with 1,442 posts and countless pictures.

With each year the backgrounds have come and gone, the girls have grown ever more, and I have continued to reach for my camera, capture the moments, and write about them here.

Backgrounds through the years

I shudder to think about what life will be like in another 10 years, but for now I will try to soak up all that life has to offer.

Cheers to the past and cheers to the future!

Blogging From My Tablet - A Test

It's official: Jessi and I are going to Germany this spring! We will be travelling alongside my parents and my sister's family to celebrate my Oma's 85th birthday, just like we did five years ago to celebrate her 80th. We are all excited and looking forward to seeing our faraway family.

I have started to plan a few things out about our trip, one of which is how I will be blogging. Since I don't have a working laptop anymore (and don't own a fancy smartphone), I'm thinking of using my tablet for internet/blogging purposes. This means that I will also be leaving my DSLR camera at home, since I can't transfer photos from the camera to my tablet. This blog post is a test to see how well it works to do it all with my tablet!

I took a few random pictures today. I'm disappointed with the photo quality, but maybe it's like comparing apples to oranges. I'll definitely look up some tutorials for photo settings/editing on the Galaxy Tab A to see if there's room for improvement.

I did a lot of volunteering today; first a Bingo shift, then Hot Lunch hot dogs at the girls' school. I kept my Holsgrove shirt on all day!

Gray hairs coming in nicely 

(This is if I tuck the hairs behind my ear)

Once the girls got home from school, it was all about snacking, piano lessons, homework, supper, and guinea pigs!

Helping Daddy make Haystacks

Piano lessons at home ❤

Writing study notes

Love that face

My Tablet Test was a success -- it was easy to figure things out and write an entire post this way. I will mourn the loss of photo quality, but will hopefully appreciate the convenience of an all-in-one in exchange. 

Now on to the many more travel items to prepare!

New Family Game

We had a nice visit with Nanny and Papa over the weekend. The girls got a belated Christmas gift from their grandparents: a new game called Dixit. We played a round with Nanny and Papa (that included many laughs!) and we've played the game at home several times since then! It's been a big hit with our family.

Dixit is a game that incorporates imagination, wordplay, and interpretation. Works well for our artistically-inclined and book-loving girls. There's also a bit of luck, a bit of skill, and a bit of voting involved!

And since the game requires three or more players, it means we've been enjoying more time together as a family. Score!

Speaking of games, the girls are getting a little more into chess lately, especially since Daddy started a Chess Club at their school. Win, win!

(source)

4 Kids, 3 Days, 2 Nights, 1 House

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we took care of Lorelei and Caleb for two nights while my sister and her husband celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary in Montreal. It was quite the adventure having four kids in the house for nearly three full days!

We set up the basement guestroom and bathroom for our two cousins so that they would have a space of their own:

I also slept in the basement (rec room), in case they needed a grown up in the night!

My sister and Albert dropped the kids off on the morning of December 30th. Lorelei and Caleb were well entertained by new Mario games to try, Legos in the dining room, cousins to play with, and a basement full of fun toys.

Trying the first-ever Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo

What meals looked like as a family of 6

I did bedtime with Lorelei and Caleb while Steve put the girls to bed. We brushed teeth, read stories, and I even told few stories of my own.

There was only one wake up that first night (Lorelei), although I did find it hard to get myself to sleep not knowing what the nights would be like!

Our second day with four kids was the busiest by far! I took the girls swimming in the morning (while Steve and Caleb went for a walk at Lemoine Point), and then Steve took Emily and Lorelei rock climbing in the afternoon. Everyone was tired out by the end of the day, but we still had energy for games and legos:

Steve put the cousins to bed on that second night. Once again there was just one wake up in the night (this time, Caleb).

Breakfast on Jan 1, 2020

The highlights of the third day were more games, visiting with Ludwig, and playing outside in the snow. The four kids did well at pairing up and swapping playmates depending on the desired activities. The one time Lorelei didn't have a playmate, she and I ended up going outside and exploring the woods/creek near our home. Then we met back up with everyone for some sledding.

Lorelei and Caleb tried Crazy Carpets for the first time -- it was a big hit! Caleb talked about it the rest of the day.

Our basement after 4 kids

Lorelei and Caleb were reunited with their parents on the afternoon of January 1st, at Grand-Maman and Grand-Papa's house, just in time for our annual family dinner.

Thanks for the visit, Lorelei and Caleb! A lot of firsts and a lot of memories were made.