Oodles of "O" fun!

For our first week of "O", we drank orange juice, ate Olympic brand yogurt, onions, olives, and Oreos, and cooked with olive oil. We visited the community of Oceanside, saw Dad's office, and made Orange Julius for a treat. We ordered take-out and looked for octagon and oval shapes while out and about.

We found oyster shells near the ocean:

Looked OVER a big wall:

Put together an outer space puzzle:

Jacob coloured an outer space picture:

We played in o-shaped tunnels at Oliver Woods park on Oliver Road:

Found an "O" rock at the ocean:

Ate original o-shaped bagels:

We baked orange-oatmeal muffins:

Daddy sampled one while wearing his orange shirt:

We wrote an orca postcard and an otter postcard to mail to our friends in Ontario:

Mads and her best friend took in the view from ON top of the playhouse:

Thanks to Youtube, we listened and watched songs from Oliver:

and Oklahoma:

Mads swam in the ocean with her orange swimsuit and her o-shaped float toy:

We read lots of "O" animal books from the library:

"N" ended and enjoyed!

This week was full of "N" fun. We ate nachos, neapolitan ice cream, and more noodles. We read the Nanaimo News, made lots of noise, did lots of negotiating, always normal with kids! We drove on roads with names like Norwell, Newcastle, and Northfield.

Jacob helped Daddy with putting in some nails:


I took a sunset drive-by photo of the sign that greets visitors to our fair city:

We had a nice visit with a family friend named Aunt Nancy (she has known me since I was younger than Madison is now!):

After a month-long hiatus from reading chapter books, Mads is hooked again, this time with the Nancy Drew Notebooks series:

We watched "Nanny McPhee":

Jacob coloured 3 Nascar colouring pages during church:

For the first time, we visited the Rathtrevor Nature House and attended one of their nifty nature presentations:

A rare family photo - we were all wearing navy blue t-shirts this day, and standing on a navy blue E&N train:

We looked at lots of "N" library books:

And listened to "N" CDs, also:

Mads played with her friend who is our next-door neighbour:

I continued to enjoy reading a blog about baby Nella:

We visited Nellie's Deli for lunch:

Mads ate Nerds while wearing her Nerds shirt:

We made nest crafts:

I wore a new necklace:

We took raspberry newton cookies to church:

We finally set up Jacob's new train set:

We had a nice visit with family, that included Uncle Norman and his son Nick:

Madison wore a new Noah's ark necklace to church:

This week, a major event was that Mads received a note from the Queen! She wrote to her months ago when we were learning about Canada:

Jacob's best bud was set on "nuggying" him (AKA snuggling):

I indulged in a night-time snack:

And finally, this is Jacob saying "no more pictures, Mom!":


A few things that we didn't get to were watching "Finding Nemo", taking a little ferry over to Newcastle Island, and visiting Neck Point Park.

NANA!

"N" week is not complete without a post dedicated to our kiddos' Nana! She is a master of gourmet pizza-making, baker of garlic bread, reviver of hanging baskets, grower of veggies and flowers, a wonderful wife, marvellous mother, superb sister, amazing aunt, fabulous friend, hospitable hostess, and NIFTY, NICE, and sometimes NUTTY NANA!

PS. If my 2 sisters were not negligent in sending me requested pics, there would be some of Nana with her other beloved grandkiddos :)

New to "N"

For this first week of "N", we ate noodles, nuts, and nectarines. The kids used their nightlights. We drove through Nanoose Bay. Jacob slept under his Nascar bed tent. We sang along to nursery rhymes at a library event.

"N" week began with us finishing our family camping trip in the U.S. While there, Jacob showed us his nurturing side:

We enjoyed national pride:

Mads made a new friend (whose mom is a nurse!):

Warren and I were thrilled to spend time with our nephew and nieces:

None of us were thrilled, however, with the NINE hour trip home:

Also this week, we found a new water toy at a thrift store:

We learned about Newton's Law of Gravity, that what goes up...

...must come down!

Warren needed new running shoes, so bought these Nike ones:

Mads and I worked together on a craft involving a needle and thread:

We set up Jacob's new splash pool:

My sister gave me an early birthday gift, a new camera strap:

With all of the nice weather, we pulled out the nets:

Madison announced washing dishes as her "new job":

Madison provided the neighbourhood with much-needed nourishment on a hot day:

I had a near-disaster because I was doing too many things at once:

We did a noodle "N" paper plate craft:

The kids got close to nature with a ladybug...

...and a baby dragonfly:

Madison set the table with nice cloth napkins one evening for supper:

I ran a few errands at one of our malls:

Of course, we NEEDED to eat nanaimo bars:

I painted Madison's nails: