Dinner with the monks

(Or "monkeys" as they have been fondly termed.)

The girls were more in awe of them when they wore their red robes and travelled in a group of ten, but they still look in wonderment to these two men who barely speak their language but will sit down to a "picnic", and swing and hug them at a moment's notice.

Tsultrim and Lungtok also cooked dinner for us as the tradition (since Aunt Kristel's departure to China) has become mo mo's - which involves group effort in the actual creation of as it takes about 2 hours.


Tsultrim and Lungtok have mo mo's down to an art form. Jeff is catching up quickly, and mine well... maybe you can pick them out! :)

We also had a great time watching them fight over their first chance to use a power tool. Unfortunately their first introduction was a chainsaw as they helped Jeff and my Dad cut down a 30 foot tree in the yard. Luckily everyone still had all their appendages at the end of the afternoon.

Grandpa's Birthday present

When Jeff suggested making a collage as a birthday card for Grandpa, the girls were right on it. They decided on making Grandpa's truck.
After researching online, printing and transferring the truck image to cardboard, they were ready to go.

Finding orange in magazines proved easier than we first thought and the girls glued happily with some help from Dad in finding headlights and tires.

After adding their almost memorized "Happy Birthday" they were completed with drawings of themselves and Grandpa in the front seat.
A fun card! but it did make us an hour late! :)

Spring Planting

This spring we decided to focus on growing and planting, and learning the ins and outs of it all.

There are so many topics...

How plants grow.

What they need.

Where food comes from.

How to dig holes and remove the plants from there containers.

How they start from seed.

The water cycle.

Parts of a plant.

What compost is.

What animals are good for a garden and which aren't.

How much water a plant needs.

It's endless really, the number of conversations that have come up!

The girls have planted beans and transplanted them as Jack and the bean stocks. They have started their own parsley and viola's. They have visited a farm and seen the seed that winter wheat grows from. They have helped Grammie choose and plant her flowers. They have planted window boxes made by Grandad with flowers they chose themselves, and wandered through forests and gardens. and greenhouses.

And we still hope to grow our own cherry tomato's, enjoy an arboretum tour on trees, plant the front garden, and with any luck, harvest our vegetables!

Jumping ahead...

I have many more posts to catch up on, but I couldn't resist getting the pictures up from today's visit to Uncle Jay's parents farm.

So let's see... after the huge number of pictures I just made you look at, here are the highlights!

Obviously holding the very new and warm baby pigeon was amazing! The one week old calf (which we saw but remained illusive during the picture taking), the cuddly kittens, watching the pigeons doing their tricks and rolls in the sky, getting piggy backs rides from Larry on the way back from checking out the winter wheat, collecting rocks, feathers and egg shells to add to preexisting collections, chatting with a bull, being in the driver's seat of a tractor, and fresh banana bread!

What a great afternoon!

The lego creativity continues!

The girls have now moved into building houses, and it has become their main focus when the lego comes out. I hadn't quite expected the solar panelled roof or the accompanying windmill, but they were pretty proud.

(Jeff was obviously in the room at the time to encourage such details. He definitely missed his calling in life!)

What we've been up to...

We've been keeping very busy over the past two months, but I seem to have fallen away from blogging about it.

Here are a few updates...

These pictures were taken at the end of March, when we were still deeply entrenched in science experiments. Aislinn got the kit for her birthday, and we jumped into the first 5 experiments.

We played with acids, bases and neutrals, and had our first exposure to test tubes, litmus paper, and the science behind foods. The big hit was baking cupcakes with the expectation that some would rise and some would not. It worked! but the girls weren't too keen on eating the lumpy chewy half of the cupcake tray! (Should of had pictures of those!)

We still have a few experiments to finish, and I am looking forward to revisiting the terminology we learned on our first go and seeing how much remains. (Talk about a science experiment!)