Zipfy Sledding

Henri and all his cousins got the Zipfy luge sled for Christmas. Today we got a chance to take it for a ride at the public school snow hill. Tristan & Henri seemed to quickly figure out how to maneuver the sled, using their feet to slow it down, and the handle to help guide it in the right direction. Melissa stayed on and made it safely to the bottom of the hill.

Family Christmas

Henri spent Christmas Day at his cousins house in Oakville. The kids opened gifts, listened to Justin play the piano and spent the evening playing games, as well as enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner. It was so nice to share this day with family....only Aunt Amy & Beaver, Sheena & Kate away tanning in Mexico (we will get together at New Year's).

Elora Winter Market

We went for a short drive today to the Elora Winter Market. They had a live animal nativity where the kids could pet and feed the animals (camel, donkey, sheep) that surrounded the manger. They had several craft and food vendors where we purchased homemade bread, cookies, preserves, and garlic.

Snow Play

Henri was busy last weekend making gingerbread men to share with his friends. He brought them to the Home School Co-op on Wednesday and they had their snack after spending the afternoon outside tobogganing down the hill and climbing through a solidly constructed snow fort.

First 'real' snowfall

Henri was thrilled today when the forecast was calling for 10-15 cms of snow. He took this great opportunity to build his first snowman all on his own (no parental help needed). Before dinner he was out again to help his dad shovel the driveway - which really pleased his mother.

Wild Turkeys

For the past several weeks, Tristan & Henri have been driving by a farmers field close to our house where several wild turkeys have been feeding off the land. In Canada the wild turkey was nearly wiped out. Their numbers have increased due to strict hunting laws and by reintroducing wild turkeys to certain areas. Ontario went from 274 turkeys in 1984 to over 30,000. Last year, we had a turkey fly down our street - definitely don't see that in the city.

Tree Climbing

After another busy week, Henri wanted to stay home today. We took advantage of the nice weather and did some exploring around the lake near our house. Henri spent most of Saturday morning climbing trees and enjoying the outdoors.

Henri loves the Christmas season. One of the highlights is going to the local tree farm to get our Christmas tree. It is such a fun family activity which includes a wagon ride and a walk through the rows of of trees to choose the 'perfect tree' while enjoying the fresh country air and lovely fragrance of the evergreens. This year, Henri wanted complete ownership of the process, from picking the tree, cutting it (with some help), carrying it back to the car and decorating it. He was quite pleased with the result.

Changing Education Paradigms

Below is a short video by Sir Ken Robinson about the future of education I found very interesting.

Swimming Lessons

Henri has always loved water/pools/beaches/lakes, as long as his feet could touch the bottom (since he couldn't swim). After a first negative experience, he had no further interest in group swimming lessons. We found a local private swimming instructor this year who offered lessons at her home which Henri enjoyed but he didn't have enough time to make much progress since the summer was almost over. We discovered through the homeschool group that there were private lessons offered at the university so we signed him up in September. Henri had his last swimming lesson of the semester on Thursday morning. He was quite proud to get his Red Cross Level 4 badge and certificate. The two main criteria are; ability to swim 25 meters and surface support in deep water for 45 seconds. I was impressed since he could hardly swim at all when he started in September. He found the lessons very tiring but also rewarding. I signed him up for the winter semester on Friday.

Brott Music Festival

On Tuesday we went to the Hamilton Place concert hall to attend the annual Brott Music Festival Student Education performance. Judging by the number of school buses lining up the surrounding streets, it seemed like every primary-grade level student in Hamilton was also there. It was a great format to initiate students' education/interest about famous composers (Beethoven, Mozart), musical instruments (percussion, wind) etc. using a mix of celebrity performers, story-telling and visual arts. Suffice it to say that it was spectacular enough to keep the attention span of several hundred 6 to 8 year-olds in check during a 'classical music concert' for 60 minutes! Henri was impressed after the concert and wondered how many years the musicians must have practiced to play so well. (Henri started taking piano lessons 4 weeks ago.) He told his aunt that he really enjoyed the performance when we stopped by for a short visit to play with his cousins after the concert.

Sunday Afternoon Bonfire

Henri was happy to see his cousins during a short visit on Sunday when they came over for a family portrait session. It was a chilly November afternoon, but thankfully the bonfire helped to keep us warm.