Week 33 – Super Mario

by

This is a new movie for the school. I wasn’t a huge fan of it, but Pegasus is, and I thought designing a board game could be fun.

Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (I hope this works…please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
learn about frictionWatch moviedesign board gameFlexmake game

Summary of the week

Daily details:

Dance

Ballet and martial arts on alternate days

Music

Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano, learning guitar

Crochet

On break

Basic Information

We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.

Printing words

Download material

Counting objects/math-type activities

Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – (in download material)

Addition and pattern – worksheet

Storytime

Activity

Design and put together a board game – get a template from Canva
Learn about friction – video

Next week: Elemental

Week 31 – Boxtrolls Results

by

One of the things I love about this movie is how they animated the Boxtrolls. They don’t speak human language, so their hands and facial expressions have to do the talking for us to understand (unless Eggs translates for them). But I’ve found (with both kids) that they’ve understood what the trolls are saying without Eggs’s help. It’s impressive. Pegasus was very upset near the end of the movie (no spoilers) but really enjoyed it by the end.

Dance

As per usual, I didn’t do anything specific for this.

Music

His scales are coming along nicely and he willingly practises both his scales and the pieces in the book. He’s only 20 pages away from finishing the first book.

Basic Information

We are working on the day before and the day after any given day. The months of the year is going well. All months have proper pronounciation now, and we’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.

We practised the seasons, but he still needs help remembering them in French.

Printing words

We’re working on spacing and keeping the words on the bottom line. He really doesn’t care about spacing.

Counting objects/math-type activities

He missed four of the images in the middle of the worksheet, but was fine with adding them in when I pointed them out to him.

Math worksheets. He did them both on Monday morning because he was so excited to do them once again. He didn’t need my help, and calmly took my correction regarding which way the 7 was supposed to face on page 1.

Storytime

We have no French library books this week, so he read some French books through Boukili.

Activity

Learn how to draw a box – despite Pegasus insisting that he already knew how to draw a box because his sister taught him, he sat down willingly enough to follow the instruction video. He didn’t want to erase the guidelines, which… it doesn’t really matter, right? He had fun, and that’s what this is about.

Make stop-motion movie – He took the pictures on Monday. Éric had him help with the set-up of the lighting. He did a much better job with the timing of the pictures this time, and only got my hand in the shot once. We recorded his voice on Wednesday, which was a lot of fun. He was willing to do several takes to get the voices just right (maximum 3 times unless it was really short) and had fun making his voice sound different to imitate the villain. Pegasus helped put the dialogue onto the frames of the pictures on Friday, and then recorded the music overtop on Saturday (delayed because Éric wasn’t feeling 100% this week).

PEEK!
Recording voices!

Health Update April 2024

by

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

I haven’t written an update since January because I’m still waiting on some results. However, there are some things I can tell you.

How’s my body doing

Heart

I wore a heart monitor for three days and despite what the RSV did while I was sick, my heart is back to normal. My heart rate is still a little high but within normal ranges.

Arms

My arms still hurt, pretty much all the time, but it’s manageable with exercise and stretching. I’ve only needed to put muscle cream on my arms once this year.

Face and left eye

Still numb and still having vision issues. It gets worse if I spend a lot of time concentrating or sitting in a computer chair.

Tests

MRI

I did an MRI of my head, neck, and back. I have an appointment with the neuro-etymologist in June. He might talk to me about it or I might have to wait for the MS doctor in July.

I saw the results but it’s in Medical-jargon and I’m not sure. It seems that there’s a UBO (Unidentified bright object) behind my left eye but according to the internet that could be a bug in the test.

It also say that I have no sign of, “demyelinating disease”.

Lastly it says that I have, “Multilevel degenerative changes within the cervical spine causing various degrees of spinal canal foraminal stenosis, worse at the c5-c6.” Which the internet tells me is a “narrowing that happens in certain places around the nerves that come out of your spinal cord”.

But again, this is my quick googling and not anything official from a doctor.

Vision Tests

I have a few repeat tests for eyes in June and a few to test for MS (unscheduled – doctor wanted to see MRI first).

Allergies

I have bad allergies. In 2007 I woke up feeling super weak and forced myself out of bed. The exertion burst the veins in my eyes. I got an appointment with an allergist and was tested and put on shots. They really helped.

After 5 years, I was told that they wouldn’t help me more and that if my symptoms worsened after 5 years to come see the allergist again.

In 2019, my allergies got really bad and I started getting what I call Allergy Attacks. My bowels cramp, and I get weak, and it takes about a week to recover. I didn’t realize it was allergies that caused it until last year.

I really felt it in 2020 but pushed it off.

I finally broke two weeks ago and contacted my allergist. Unfortunately after 10 years you need a new referral.

Long story short, I have an appointment with my family doctor on Wednesday to talk about allergies.

Colds

Last, and certainly most frustrating, are head colds. I’ve now had 4 since January and I’m pretty tired of blowing my nose and coughing.

I feel better today then I have in a while but I’m still sniffling and coughing. The whole thing is made worse combined with allergies. (And no, going outside and eating dirt will not help strengthen my immune system.)

Conclusion

I’m doing okay and I have leads to what might be wrong with me. Hopefully the doctors can narrow it down and I can start treating whatever it is to make sure it doesn’t get worse.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom  – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Story

This felt like less of a story and more like a bunch of set pieces strung together. I’m sensing a theme that Indy has very little agency in his own movies. The hidden cultist plot crosses over into blatent racism.

Score: 0

Characters

This was Indiana Jones in his element. He spoke the language and knew the history. It was nice to see him seem intelligent. Short round was adorable and Willie was loud. I liked the relationship and emotion between Indy and Short Round.

The rest of the cast was a weird combination of Bond rejects and random cultural clichés thrown at the screen.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue runs from absolutely ridiculous to quippy and fun. Not much is actually deep or meaningful.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Other than a few abuses of blue screen, it really paid off for them to film on location. Absolutely gorgeous scenery. The action set peices are a little over the top, but that makes them fun.

A lot of the music from the first is reused but remixed wonderfully. The darker tones of the temple scenes are well done.

Score: 1

Fun

I enjoyed the movie for nostalgia and because it’s a fun romp. The cultural nonsense is weird and led an entire generation to think that Indian food included chilled monkey brains and live eels.

What the hell was up with the Voodoo doll? That’s not Indian but West African. I think they’d have been better off saying it was a British demon cult.

The kids liked it but said it was scary. (Probably didn’t appreciate the constant pausing for me to rant.)

Score: 0.5

Overall

With elements that made the first one a great movie, this one fails to do anything but string together some impressive action scenes and wildly insulting cultural fabrications.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

Similar movies/TV shows to Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

by
@jendesmaraisauthor

“Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests” is an Urban Fantasy Romance. What happens when superheroes plan a wedding? Monsters, that’s what. Kennedy and Jason are ready to get married. They just have to deal with evaporating monsters first. Available for pre-order now! https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/books-and-timeline/universal-book-links/#MIWG Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 #MonstersIncidentalWeddingGuests #JenDesmarais #ÉricDesmarais #authors #book #PressesRenaissancePress #pinkpiggy93 #artist #UrbanFantasy #RomanceBook #superheroes #BattleCouple #original #booktok @Éric Desmarais

♬ Shadows Live for the Light (From the Book “Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests: The Gates of Westmeath, Book 2”) – Jen Desmarais

“Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests” is an Urban Fantasy Romance. What happens when superheroes plan a wedding? Monsters, that’s what.

Kennedy and Jason are ready to get married. They just have to deal with evaporating monsters first. Available for pre-order now!
https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/books-and-timeline/universal-book-links/#MIWG
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93

#MonstersIncidentalWeddingGuests#JenDesmarais#ÉricDesmarais#authors#book#PressesRenaissancePress#pinkpiggy93#artist#UrbanFantasy#RomanceBook#superheroes#BattleCouple#original#booktok

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and Instagram

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available for pre-order now!

49th Shelf Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Indigo Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Archambault Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Amazon Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Rakuten Kobo Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!

Week 32 – The Secret World of Arrietty

by

These activities were fun last time (although I dread the sparkles on the door) and I’m looking forward to doing them again.

Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (I hope this works…please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
make fairy doorWatch moviemake hair clipFlexmake room

Summary of the week

Daily details:

Dance

Ballet and martial arts on alternate days

Music

Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano, learning guitar

Crochet

On break

Basic Information

We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.

Printing words

Download material

Counting objects/math-type activities

Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – (in download material)

Addition and pattern – worksheet

Storytime

Activity

Make a fairy door – link to activity
Make a hair clip – link to activity
Make a miniature room – link to activity

Next week: Super Mario

Week 30 – My Neighbour Totoro Results

by

Pegasus loved the movie and wanted to rewatch it immediately after it was over. It really shows the universality of these movies, that they’re still so loved by kids over 30 years later. He watched it again in English on the Wednesday and still wanted to see it again.

Dance

As per usual, I didn’t do anything specific for this.

Music

His scales are coming along nicely and he willingly practises both his scales and the pieces in the book. He’s only 20 pages away from finishing the first book. I don’t know where the 4 pages idea came from – probably Pegasus himself exaggerating!

Crochet

We haven’t started this yet.

Basic Information

We are working on the day before and the day after any given day. The months of the year is going well. All months have proper pronounciation now, and we’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.

We practised the seasons, but he still needs help remembering them in French.

Printing words

We’re working on spacing and keeping the words on the bottom line. He really doesn’t care about spacing lol

Counting objects/math-type activities

He did very well with his numbers this week.

Math worksheets. He did them both on Tuesday morning because he was so excited to do them once again. He didn’t need my help, and only made one mistake, which he corrected when I pointed it out (on page two, he added instead of subtracted 9-6. He did get the right answer if it had been a plus, and was very disappointed that it wasn’t). He was very proud of his rectangle. He was very excited about the letter sequence.

Storytime

We have no French library books this week, so he read some French books through Boukili.

Activity

Plan stop-motion movie – On Monday, since the eclipse was happening, school didn’t really happen, but I did spend some time cuddling him before fully waking up in the morning, and we discussed what he wanted to make his movie about. Then on Tuesday, he dictated the scenes that would be in his movie and the dialogue that would go along with it. On Thursday, we built the glider for the villain to fly on. The cardboard was already cut from when we had cut off the excess when making his touch and feel book, and after looking at the glider from the show for reference, we folded the glider into a similar shape. Then we made straps for the villain’s feet (conveniently, his shoes are curled up at the toes, so he’s actually quite secure!) and taped them down. It’s decently built, but he’s not allowed to use it as a toy until after filming. Then I cut the pieces of yarn to use as webs on Friday.

Make a soot sprite – Once again, we were able to use cardboard excess from the touch and feel book, this time as the pompom shaper. Pegasus wrapped the yarn around it, I tied the knot (it needs to be VERY tight; no, tighter than that), and then he glued the eyes on. He’s very pleased with it and said he wouldn’t have complained that wrapping the yarn was hard if he had known it would be that easy. Right…

Dear Dragon and Pegasus – April 2024

by

Dear Dragon and Pegasus,

I wrote this letter already and it was eaten by a server problem. I’ll do my best to recreate it.

The weather in April, as it is now who knows what climate change will bring, has been pretty erratic in April. Two weeks ago we had a snowstorm and less then a week after we had several days above twenty. It’s interesting to see. Hopefully will have a nice May and summer. I look forward to gardening with you, especially now that Pegasus is old enough to help more so I get two helpers.

The school year has been fraught with sickness. We’ve all caught so many colds I’m not sure I can count them all. Hopefully next year will be better but with Pegasus going to in-person school, I doubt it.

This year has been quite the transition for you, Dragon (also for us), going to school full time, in-person. You’re excelling academically and you have friends. You’ve been dealing with bullying, nothing enough to call the school but its still bothering you. You have a very strong sense of what’s right. That’s a good thing but it means you’re really bothered by what’s happening. You’d think with the amount of bullying I survived in grade school I’d be better placed to help you. Unfortunately, I feel completely out of my depth. If it gets worse we’ll contact the teacher. The only advice I have is to ignore them and not let them see it bothers you.

It’s been a big year for you too, Pegasus. You’re being homeschooled by Mum and you’re doing great. You’re still resisting French but so did Dragon. I worry about how you’ll do at school with other kids. You’ve almost exclusively played with your sister and haven’t really played with kids your age. Hopefully, you’ll adapt as well as she did. You’re in your boundary pushing phase. You’re lying for silly reasons and stubbornly say no for silly reasons. Your sister went through it and it’ll pass (I hope). You’re also chewing your fingernails and putting toys in your mouth again. At this age, your sister was biting so I consider us lucky, however it makes me nervous about sending you out into the world.

Last week was an eclipse. Ottawa only got 98% I think, but we were nervous about the two of you so we watched it on TV. You weren’t super interested and both of you argued that it wasn’t getting darker despite the fact that it was.

There won’t be another total eclipse in driving distance of Ottawa in any of our lifetimes. Maybe we can all head to Disney World in 2045, that could be fun.

I love you Pegasus and Dragon,

Papa