A Corner Table in My World

Online schooling starts this week from the kids’ schools. Princess had her first online class today. It sounded very interesting from the other room… at least there was a lot of talking and a lot of laughter. Which I’m going to assume are good things. Gamer Boy and Angel Face get back to things on Wednesday, with quick set up calls happening tomorrow with some of the teachers. Piano and singing lessons have already transitioned to online with Zoom , and through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube , and websites, dance classes are launching in earnest this week as well. And there are a number of online tours (zoo’s, museums, etc) that I’m looking forward to doing [you know, with the kids] over the next couple weeks too. What are some online tools you’ve already taken advantage of during your social distancing, self-isolation, quarantine time? What are some that you’re looking forward to taking advantage of in the coming weeks? Remember I promised some Corner Table Kitchen Adve...

The kids are home from school. Indefinitely. They likely won’t be back in the classroom (at school) until September. Gasp… Scream… Sigh. Boy, is their education about to take a weird turn. LOL. The Corner Table Trio (aka Princess, Gamer Boy and Angel Face) haven’t received their home study information from their teachers yet. But we live in a marvellous age of technology which allows the kids to keep learning – even when they don’t really realize that’s what they’re doing. Being home all day with (basically) nowhere to go and not a lot to do, we’re giving them responsibilities they’ve never fully been given before,  and what supervision is required for these new tasks . And for the most part, I think, we’re just like everyone else, in that we are trying to stay as positive as we can during this time. Here are three things that we’ve already begun doing  at the Corner Table House: 1.   Everybody Cooks We’ve encouraged the kids to take Foods class...

We’ve always tried to instill a love of a physically active life style in our kids. Whether it was bike rides in the neighborhood, swimming lessons, hiking in the mountains, gymnastics, football, or simply walking to the library instead of walking – we’ve tried to make sure that they are being active, trying new things, and having fun. Because, honestly, it sort of drives us crazy (as parents) when all the kids do is sit on their butts playing Minecraft or other video games, or watching TV or movies. And let’s be frank, the more I focus on my writing career and blogging gigs the worse I’m being as an example of what they should be doing to stay active – because I’m constantly reading a book (hardcopy or on a digital device), working on my iPad or iPhone, or sitting in front of my computer writing. Which is why I push for sports and physical literacy programs. And is why Heli-Dad (even though he loves going for hikes and bike rides with the kids on th...

With one thing or another I never did get around to sharing any of our Christmas shenanigans after the New Year. Well for the most part they were pretty much what we’ve come to expect and experience over the last several years – 4+ different days of Christmas dinners, family time, gift giving, game playing, catching up and having fun. As I’ve mentioned in previous years, as our extended families have grown larger and spread further afield, our Christmas celebrations have become larger, longer affairs that simply can’t be accomplished in one day. So here’s a brief breakdown of all this years celebrations’ parts… 

It occurred to me while I was trying to write a post recently – one that included most, if not all, of our (still growing) immediate family on both sides, that there are now quite a lot of us AND when telling stories it can get very confusing to follow precisely who is involved. So I decided it might be worthwhile to write up something of a list of common “characters” that I talk about: family members mostly just from the immediate family. Here we go… The Corner Table Family Writer Mom (me) & Heli Dad (my hubs) Kids: Princess, Gamer Boy & Angel Face Pets: Sphinx & Jude (cats) Writer Mom’s Family Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) Pets: various cats on The Farm Big Sister and Bro (my older sister & her hubs) Kids: Big Babe, HG & Genie Pet: Rufus (dog) Little Sister and Boyfriend (my younger sister & her boyfriend) Pet: Juno (dog) Heli Dad’s Family Grams (his mom) ...

This is cross posted (and added on to) from my other blog Ups, Downs, Ins and Outs , as Tuesday's Tunes is a weekly feature there... I still can't believe how quickly time has flown and how much all the kids have grown! It seems like just last week I was struggling to get Gamer Boy to eat as a baby - and wow! I can barely remember him being so small. But amazingly 9 YEARS have past and now my little baby boy, he's not so little anymore! Now he's my Gamer Boy, my Lego "Master Builder", my football player, but still and always the sweetest kid, simply the most amazing boy-child that a mom could ask for. So on his 9th birthday I wish nothing but the very best to my son and give him the chance to help me out on my blog! [From Ups, Downs, Ins and Outs ...] It's Gamer Boy's birthday today and so I let him pick this week's Tuesday's Tunes!   He picked this song because it's one of his current favorites - ever since he saw the movie Bi...