Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the 7 of 9 kids. The first time he sang in his brothers band was at the age of 5. The founders of the Jackson 5 are Marlon Jackson, Tito Jackson  and  Jackie Jackson! Michael Jackson joined the band along with his brother Jermaine Jackson. Michael was 8 when he joined his brothers' band. The song that Michael debuted the moon walk to was Billie Jean on the album Motown 25. He collapsed at his mansion on June 25, 2009. His memorial was on July 7.                                               

The Sound of Music!

On Tuesday, December 8, my mom, Grandma, aunt and cousin and I all went to The Pricess of Wales Theatre in Toronto to see The Sound of Music. Some of my favourite characters were Maria, Gretel (she was five years old) and Captain VonTrapp and Uncle Max and Leisl. My favourite song was 'Sixteen going on Seventeen' and I also liked the part with the wedding! I also liked the song where all the kids sang 'Goodnight.' Kathryn and I LOVED it!

By: Sarah

GodRocks Concert

On Thursday December 3rd we went to a Godrocks concert. The GodRocks are a band who sing songs about God. The members of the band are Todd Neilson, Sheryl Stacey, Jonathan Gerber, and Darren Harris! The concert was awsome! At the end, the band did the 12 days of  Christmas and it was funny. After that they threw a whole bunch of CANDY, it was awsome, I got 4 things! After the concert I got to meet Todd and Sheryl, it was cool! by Jordan          

Our Trip to Montreal!

Last week we went to Montreal, Quebec to visit our cousins who live there. I love Montreal because it is fun. We play at the park and play in their house and go visit fun places. This time, we went up Mount Royal (which is how Montreal got its' name!) and we went to the lookout where we can see the city...it was cool.

Anna and I had a fight about a stuffed fish, but, we settled it in the end and I got to take it home with me. I have a nice cousin. I also like going in their hot tub and sleeping in Anna's room with her. 

By: Sarah.

Crawford Lake Trip!

On Tuesday November 10 we went to Crawford lake with a group of  friends. First we went on a hike for about an  hour and a half  IT WAS LONG.  Zack  (our tourguide) told us about the lake and trees and animals living there. Then we stopped and had lunch, then we went into the longhouse it was awesome! There were actual animal furs in there they were very soft.  They used to rub brain juice from the animal on the skin in order to preserve the fur. The people living in the longhouses were large families and the mother was in charge.                                       

Road Trip!

Last week, the kids and I 'tagged along' with Todd on a trip to Cincinatti, Ohio for some work he had to do there. He's producing a TV special called 'The Great Debate' about the Creation/Evolution Theories and we went to Ohio to visit a 'Creation Museum' for interviews with some scientists/professors there...the kids and I were able to tour through the museum while Todd worked. It was a very interesting experience...the exhibits were SO realistic that we had some traumatized kids half way through the trip. The dinosaurs were HUGE and loud and they moved and were way too scary for the average kid...didn't go over very well with my eldest (very intense) boy! It was a valuable learning experience, but, Jordan just wants to go back to the ROM!

On the way home, we were able to stop in Dayton, Ohio (the birthplace of the Wright Brothers) and visit the USAF museum, and that was awesome! It is called the United States Air Force Museum and it is a historical tour of airplanes from the very first flight through to space travel and exploration. The kids were able to climb into some old planes and we actually saw THE plane that dropped the bomb on Heroshima...crazy. 

The hotel we stayed at was great-it even had a little 'putting green' in the back for the kids to play golf and of course, the pool was very popular! Sammy never wanted to leave and decided it would be much better to live in a hotel forever...I told him he'd better make ALOT of money!

By: Niki.

The photo above is Sarah and Sammy reading about The Garden of Eden.

Sir John A Macdonald

He was a good speaker and he kept the peace. He suggested that the colonies should become one country, Canada. It was a hard process, but he finally convinced all of the colonies to become one country. We became a country on July 1st, 1867 and sir John A Macdonald was our first prime minister, (he was Knighted by the Queen of  England.) British Columbia was convinced by  John A Macdonald to join Canada by the the train rails connecting them to the east. He served 5 terms as prime minister of Canada and he was loved by the people of Canada and still is today. 

By: Jordan. 

My Cousin Jonah

My cousin Jonah and his brothers Benjamin and Kobe live in Jerusalem, Israel. Sometimes we use  skype to see each other on the Computer screen and we can talk to each other, we also play computer games on www.ninjakiwi.com. It is fun! I do not like that they are so faraway. I really like my cousins! Hopefully we can go visit them sometime.

By: Jordan     

Sarah's journal...

A couple of Fridays ago, we went to Sherman Falls in Hamilton with some friends and it was so much fun! It was awesome climbing up the mountain to get close to the falls...I was so excited as soon as we parked the car! It was a little bit cold-the water was freezing and we were scared climbing down. It was so freaky. I wanted to draw a picture of the falls, but, it was too muddy for me to sit down! We saw lots and lots of bugs, weird ones, too. We went for a walk after we saw the falls and we kept walking up the mountain, it was part of the Bruce Trail. I wanted to go in the falls, but, I forgot my rain boots...maybe next time! It was fun.

By: Sarah

"Ya, of course we are, girlfriend...! It's totally awesome!"

That is Sarah, (aged 7) on the phone with her dear friend Caedy Jones...they're discussing the upcoming sleep-over that has been in the works for months. Holy smokes, when did my seven year old turn 15? Very scary...kinda funny, but, also scary...life is rolling away too fast these days. 

We had a great week. Started off low-key on Monday, Sarah and Sammy had gymnastics (which they LOVE!) Zoe is a few months away from being old enough (she turns three in January) so, she drives me CRAZY saying "me bigger now, mama...me bigger! Me do bamastics!!!" I don't think I'm going to make it to the next session.

Our homeschool co-op group met on Friday and we continued our study on our composer and artist from the medieval era and nature study...the kids had to make 'paint' from natural resources, like artists from the 1300's would have done. Really cool. They used curry and flower petals and juice from berries and rock dust and squished them and made 'pastes' from them...the colours were really awesome! Can't wait to see what they'll paint at our next meeting!

My work-out schedule is settling in a little better. Mondays I'm teaching a Step class at the YMCA (LOVE Step) and I'm also going to get a swim in after that. Tuesdays, I'm teaching a Yoga/Pilates class in the afternoon (while kids are in swimming) and hopefully a run later that day. Wednesday, I'll get a bike ride in (that was a highlight of the week last week...Sam and Z and I rode our bikes to Shell Park and Sammy got to ride his bike in the skate boarding/bmx ramp area because we were there all alone!!! Zoe chased around behind him and they had a ball.) Thursday I'll teach a cardio class with weights and then Friday, Hot Yoga in the morning, run in the evening. Saturday, bike and swim and Sunday, rest.

Todd and I have decided to start to start training for a triathlon next year...so, this is the begininning of our training schedule. More on that later...

Better run, I have a half naked little girl climbing up the counter looking for gum...never a dull moment!

A Peek at our Week!

This was the first 'official' back-to-reality week, when all of the kids' programs have started and things are rolling along again. I feel like it went well, but, I have to admit that it was very busy. It is a very fine line for me...I like to be busy, but, I have been known to 'bite off more than I can chew' in the past. I hope that this pace will be good and healthy for all of us. I guess only time will tell. Here's a peek at our week!

Monday: 9-10am: Breakfast and chores.

10:15-12ish: Homework (language arts, math, Canadian history/geography, reading)

12:30ish: lunch

1-2:30: read, play, go outside

3-4:00: Sarah and Sam gymnastics

Tuesday: 9-10am: Breakfast and chores

10:15-12ish: Homework (language arts, math, history, reading)

12:15pm: lunch

1-3:00pm: YMCA gym & swim

Wednesday: 9-10am: Breakfast and chores

10-11am: Homework (language arts, math)

11:30-3:00: Jordan and Sarah go take an art class and a science class with other home-schooled kids. Sam and Zoe and I get to hang out for the afternoon!

Thursday: 9-10am: Breakfast and chores

10:15-12ish: homework (language arts, math, intro latin, reading)

12:15: lunch

1-3:00pm: YMCA homeschool gym time (mom works out/runs)

3-4:00pm: library

6:30-8: Sarah and Sam at their kids group, J. at basketball

Friday: 9-10am: Breakfast and chores

10-12:00: 'BIG' chores (kids help with vacuuming, dusting, cleaning windows, floors, etc)

1:30-3:30: Co-op group. 5 or 6 families get together and do a group study on a composer and an artist and a nature study for the afternoon. The parents share the responsibility of teaching the topics and the kids have to make a 'presentation' of what they've learned at the next meeting.

This group meets every other Friday...today, we went on a hike to see some waterfalls in Hamilton and I was amazed at what a beautiful place we found only 20 minutes away!!! The kids had an awesome time exploring up the side of the falls and getting wet and muddy. Lots of fun...

Now, I'm waiting for Todd to arrive home from his trip to LA for interviews...it feels like he was gone forever!!!

By: Niki.

Our Trip to the R.O.M.

On Wednesday September the 9th, I went to the R.O.M with my mom my brother and my sisters. My aunt and my cousins also came to the R.O.M with us. We all took the train together. We went  on the GO train for about 30 minutes and then we went on the Subway train for about 5 or 10      minutes. When we got there, we had lunch and then we started. The first thing we saw was the book of the dead and then we saw the dead animals and then we saw the Dinosaurs and then we saw the Mummies. My favorite part was the Mummies and the Dinosaurs and the book of the dead! I really like the ROM, there is so much to do and it also really fun! 

By: Jordan

The journal begins...

We encourage the kids to write in their journals every Monday as we start our week and I had this idea that we could journal on-line and keep track of what we're up to...from many perspectives. Jordan (9) will write his journal entries and I will assist Sarah (7) and Sam (5) on occasion. We'll see how this goes...should be fun.

I'll write a proper entry tomorrow, I still have dishes in the sink and groceries to be put away and sleep would be nice, at some point...my husband is arriving in L.A, as I write, to a swanky hotel and starlets all around. Quite the different life we're in right now...I'm SO not glamorous!!!