Friday classes

This is a picture of Mandy and her friends at the last phys.ed class. Thank you Lee-Anne for all the great photos!!

Friday was our last day of classes with Cochrane Home Educators. This year we spent all day each Friday at Spray Lakes Rec center. We had our day organized to the minute. Joe had gymnastics and phys.ed. Mandy did Mad Science, phys.ed and art in the fall. Sarah did Mad Science, art, phys.ed and skating. Katie did Mad Science, art and skating. Zac did art and phys.ed.

With most of the classes over we are planning to use some of our free time to finish up workbooks. Katie and Mandy are very close to finishing math for this year. I think they will both be done this week. Sarah has maybe 2 weeks left. Zac's math arrived late this year (February I think) but he is already half way done. Thankfully Shane is home to help him work through it. He's working on polynomial equations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynomial I remember learning this is school, but I've decided to let Shane take over :)

Sarah and Zac are still taking a drama class until June, and Zac will start golf lessons next week.

The kids all got a bag of treats after their last class. Doesn't Joe look like trouble waiting to happen?!

Happy Birthday Uncle Rob

In honour of Rob's birthday I though I would ask each of the kids to write a little something about Rob. Here is what they had to say.

Joe - Every night uncle Rob phones me and says "Goodnight princess", then I say "Goodnight princess" back and he says "Goodnight princess" back. Me and uncle Rob and mom went to Nanny's cabin on the ski doo.

Mandy - When I think about uncle Rob I think about going to the cabin. Rob took me on the jet ski and went really fast.

Sarah - My memory of uncle Rob is when we were at the cabin and Rob was pulling me and Millie on the tube. The jet ski had a spray of water coming out and it looked like uncle Rob was peeing.

Katie - One time when we were in Toronto uncle Rob took me on the subway to the jacket store and he had a really big fit because his jacket wasn't there. He was mad and said he spend extra money to make it come early and it wasn't there in time.

Zac - My favourite memory of uncle Rob was the time I farted on his bed.

Ann-Marie - What can I say about Rob? He is always there for family. He loves the family get-togethers, the trips to the cabin, holidays in BC, or just sitting around the kitchen table playing poker. (Rob, Zac came in second in a poker tournament last weekend, I'm sure from your tutoring)
Rob is the most generous person I know. Remember the mini-van? I was in total shock. What an amazing gift! Who buys their sister a mini-van? Rob does :) Rob is always opening his house to family. Remember the house in Tuscany? The Perry's and the Spark's both took turns living there. And of course the house in St. Catherine's. Even now in a 2 bedroom apartment in Toronto, if I said we were all coming to visit, Rob would say "no problem" and make room for us all.

Happy Birthday Rob You are the best brother and uncle!

Connections

Say I must tell this story because of the connections we have and the influences we have on each other.

The other day I was driving home from Nanny's place in Lacombe and of course I was listening to my IPOD. I am really into some of the older music of Cher now, I find the lyrics to have a lot of meaning. I listened to "Walking in Memphis", and "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves" over and over on the way home. The music is very evocative and good to listen to. Also, on the way to Lacombe Zac and I listened to a bunch of Cher's songs.

Well, over the last little while Zac has watched every X-Files episode ever made, and of course one of the episodes was called "The Post-Modern Prometheus". This is an amazing episode about a victim of genetic experimentation (the main character's nickname is "The Great Mutato"), and tells the story of how he realizes his dream of dancing with Cher in a nightclub while she is singing. This incidentally is one of Rob's favorite episodes too. Thank-you Zac for watching this episode with me, and thank-you Rob for discussing this episode with us. Through you two I have discovered an amazing episode, and also re-discovered some awesome music by Cher.

It goes to show how we influence and teach each other, and how interconnected we all are.

Some funny jokes

Hi everybody!!! We went to library today. I got a joke book. Here are some of my favourites.

Why did the boy push his dad into the fridge? because he wanted a cold pop. hahahaha

Why did the skeleton go to the barbecue? Because he needed some spare ribs.

What did the hamburger name his daughter? Patty.

What type of bean doesn't grow in a garden? jellybean

What is green and sings? Elvis Parsley

Hope you thought it was funny.
From Sarah

Meanings of names - by Katie

Today I went to the library and got a book on names.
It's really interesting. It has everybody's name and
the meaning.

Alexander - Defender of mankind.
Amelia - Hardworking.
Ann - Gracious.
Chantelle - Song.
Cheryl - Beloved.
Donna - Lady.
Earl - Pledge.
Gail - Merry,lively.
Graham - Grand home.
Griff - Hooked nose (seriously).
Jason - Healer.
Jennifer - White wave; white phantom.
Joe - God will add.
Julie - youthful.
Justin - Just,righteous.
Katie - Pure.
Miranda - Lovable,Wonderful.
Rob - Famous brilliance.
Sarah - Princess.
Shane - God is gracious.
Theresa - Reaper.
Zac - God remembered.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!!

Springtime and Easter actually came together this year! We've had a wonderful weekend playing outside in the warm weather. The bikes and scooters have been brought out for the year and new helmets bought for kids that grow too fast. Everyone is enjoying being outside again. I have been working in the yard and finally took a vacuum to the van. Katie and Sarah have been exploring Cochrane's bike paths and have discovered how to quickly get to the river. Mandy has been playing outside, creating games and houses with all her webkinz, pinecones, and whatever else she can find. Joe has discovered a new level of freedom. We are working on teaching him his outdoor boundaries. It is not okay to go to the park without telling anyone!

Last night Katie and Sarah wanted to share a bike path with us that they took to the river. The girls rode their bikes to the river and the rest of us took the van, with bikes in the trunk for the younger kids. Katie and Sarah beat us to the river and were pretending to have fallen asleep by the time we got there. We crossed the bridge and decided to go on a path we hadn't taken before that goes up the other side of the river. Before long the girls realized that they could ride all the way to their friends house. So of course, that is what we did. I thought Joe might tire out, but he led the way. That kid is so full of energy. Thankfully it doesn't get dark until 9:00pm now. When we did make it home everyone was ready for bed.

Despite tiring them out yesterday, the kids were all up before 8:00am for the great Easter egg hunt! It was a crazy morning of too much sugar and not enough sleep. Everyone had fun, and in the end all the eggs were found. Thanks to Nanny Donna there were some special eggs with money in them this year. Joe was especially happy with his 5 dollar bill!

I didn't get any pictures though. I lost my camera battery charger :( Maybe I'll pick up a new one in the city tomorrow. I think this is our first Easter with no pictures.....

By the way our first poll closed today. We had a tie between red wine and iced tea for favourite drink.

sketches

Zac's sketch from his art class last week.

sketches

Last week Sarah did an afternoon drawing workshop with Jade Lynn, the most amazing art teacher. Here is her finished sketch.

The zoo - by Sarah

Today I got dressed and then we went to Tim Horton's for breakfast. Next we had the long drive from Nanny's house to the zoo. We met our friends at the zoo. First we walked through the Canadian Wilds. We saw porcupines, caribou, bears, a wolf, and an owl. The owl was my favourite! There was a statue bear and we climbed on it.

Next we crossed the bridge and saw elephants, sting rays, a tiger, and camels. Then we played at the big park. We played tag.

Then we went to see the koalas. They were SO cute! We saw it poop. We learned so much about them. There was a zoo lady answering all our questions. Outside there was a kangaroo statue and Joe climbed in the pouch like a little joey. Then we walked all the way back to our van and drove home.

I made cookies for my art teacher for tomorrow. They are chocolate chip and they are so good!

I am SO SO tired so now I'm going to bed.

Joe's thoughts

Yesterday I went to the park. A person came and brought their dog. I was going on the blue things to get to the other side and go on that twirly slide and then my sister had a baby. Then, the next day I went hiking up the Cochrane hill. We up to see the man on the horse and then all the way to the top of the hill. And then we went to Nanny's house. And then my sister had another baby!

The end

I don't know what "my sister had a baby" means, but Joe likes to say it because it always makes his sisters laugh. ~Ann-Marie

Monday by Sarah

Today I got up, had oatmeal for breakfast and then got dressed. Mom put a pony tail in my hair. Then I played outside on my bike. Then I went to drama class. We played this game where we had to imagine wierd things, like, "imagine if you were swimming in stinky socks!, or "imagine if you were were swimming in pillow." We did lots of fun drama games.

When it was over I got my coat on and Tonya drove me to the park where mom was. I had a sandwich for lunch and then I played tag with a whole bunch of homeschoolers. I went on the swing too.

Then we picked Zac up from his drama class and came home. I read some books and now I'm going to go outside and ride my new scooter.

Joe threw my Dad's DS at Mandy's face. Mom got mad and now he can't play on the DS for a really long time!

The end

Starting a blog

Well the time has come. We have decided to start a Sparks family blog!!

We hope to add pictures and stories about our days. Each of the kids will take turns updating the blog and sharing stories about their life. Who should go first? Any requests?