Vancouver(ish) Tribe: Plentiful Harvest - Page 2

[artparent]

bye mamas! back to london today!

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[tiffani]

bye elisa, have a good trip!!!

erica that all sounds awesome!! wish we could come visit!!

we're rollercoastering again... someone make it stop!!!!!

[catchthewind]

Hope it's okay if I pop in here. I live in Victoria right now but we're planning a move to Vancouver in the next year to 18 months or so. I'm due in March with baby #2 and DH doesn't want to move before a baby again. DD was born 5 days after we moved last time. We'll likely be moving to the Burnaby/Coquitlam area, as it seems like a decent mix between affordability and being close enough to SeaTrain stations to get DH downtown in a reasonable amount of time. I noticed in the first post on this thread there's a mention of a Vancouver liveability FAQ, but I can't find it with any search I've found. Could someone point it out to me? I don't want to derail this thread so if it doesn't exist anymore I'll start a new thread with some questions.

One of the things that really excites me about moving to Vancouver is the WonderTree SelfDesign. Is that the same SelfDesign you all mention? I know it's possible to do long distance (I have a friend up in Port Rupert doing it), but I'm loving the option of being able to do some of the courses too. Have any of you done any of those? We plan to mostly unschool, but there are some things I think would be fun to do in classes, like group music classes or drama.

[MaybeGracie]

Lindsay, you can find the FAQ thread here. I think it's harder to find because it's archived. I had it bookmarked because I read and re-read it so many times before our own recent move to Burnaby.

[vancouverlori]

Originally Posted by catchthewind

One of the things that really excites me about moving to Vancouver is the WonderTree SelfDesign. Is that the same SelfDesign you all mention? I know it's possible to do long distance (I have a friend up in Port Rupert doing it), but I'm loving the option of being able to do some of the courses too. Have any of you done any of those? We plan to mostly unschool, but there are some things I think would be fun to do in classes, like group music classes or drama.

Well, yes, there are two programs, the distributed learning program, Self-Design, and then anyone can do classes at the Self-Design Centre (previously called Wondertree). But they're pretty expensive. Calvin is there one day per week, and it's $150 per month. So I'm only doing it for one 2-month cycle, (and maybe another in the spring) otherwise it would eat up my budget pretty quick. You can also do it just class by class. But there are TONNES of other homelearner things going on in Vancouver, too. And if no one else has suggested something you want to do, you can suggest it on the HS-Van yahoo group and you might be able to get a class together.

Waaah, I just found out that a highly-recommended guitar learning program is on sale until tomorrow ($100 off!!) but I don't have access to my learning investment yet! Poopy.

[weliveintheforest]

Originally Posted by artparent

bye mamas! back to london today!

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Hope your trip went okay!

Originally Posted by beaner&tiegs

We're settling in here - we're renting a lovely old cottage (read: character but drafty!) by Britannia Beach in Ottawa for the winter, and then will move onto our property for the summer to start building - in fact, J and the girls just bought an authentic ger (mongolian yurt) so the plan is to set that up, both as a winter shelter for cross-country skiing and such in the winter, and then as part of our home-base for the summer!

That sounds really nice.

Originally Posted by Laggie

As for me, I'm *officially* TTC now.

Originally Posted by dawncayden

me too. dh even put the heat on yesterday! it's wool underwear season for sure.

Originally Posted by tiffani

L
anyone have any good book recommendations? we've been reading everything we can get our hands on about rwanda, and I need some escapism, so what are some of your favorite works of fiction?

I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels, since the last season of True Blood ended. Literature it's not, but it's okay for esapism! I actually downloaded it as mp3s so I can listen while I do my knitting etc in the evenings.

Welcome Lindsay!

Anyone go to the breastfeeding challenge yesterday? We went to the chilliwack one and it was a nice turn out

My younger sister is pregnant with her second child and I am so excited to be an auntie again I'll be trolling craigslist on the lookout for diaper deals :

I just typed out all my responses and then had the computer freeze, it's never the same the second time around. Our imac is giving me so much trouble lately but I don't want to send it away for repairs and be without a computer for months. In the past we just bought another and returned it when we got ours back, but we don't have the funds available this time. It's such a pain!

Dh has been off work for over a month now, supposedly on WCB although I don't know when we will see any money. He's started a newspaper in his spare time, and it's not meant to be for money but now he's hoping it will go amazingly well and he can just not go back to his job. So, between him being injured and unable to do things, and just having him around all the time, things are a little topsy turvy around here. But not bad.

[robugmum]

Does anyone have a Skuut or run bike that they are not currently using and would like to either lend or sell? Mary's Skuut has gotten trashed (long story) and is unrideable and unfixable. She has really been enjoying it and I am loathe to spend the cash on something brand new when I'm sure she'll be ready for a pedal bike in the Spring or Summer!

Anyone??

[weliveintheforest]

Sorry about Mary's Skuut. We don't have one

[westcoastmom]

We didn't buy a skuut, but we took the pedals and pedal arms off our little 12" bike that we bought at Wal Mart for $30. We also took the training wheels off. It did the same thing.

Then when you are ready to move onto riding, just put the pedal arms and pedals back on.

vancouverlori, can the self design allotment be used for part of the cost of the one day whole learning? Do the whole days run for sessions or all year? The learning circles listed on their website seem to only cover part of the day. What do they do the rest of the time? How long is the day? I'm wondering if this would be an option for mamas who need to work 1 or 2 days.

[robugmum]

yeah, we have a little pedal bike that I have considered taking the pedals off. She feels like its too big though.

[vancouverlori]

Originally Posted by westcoastmom

vancouverlori, can the self design allotment be used for part of the cost of the one day whole learning? Do the whole days run for sessions or all year? The learning circles listed on their website seem to only cover part of the day. What do they do the rest of the time? How long is the day? I'm wondering if this would be an option for mamas who need to work 1 or 2 days.

Absolutely, and in fact, the learning circles were sort of conceived to be for people who wanted to unschool but had to work. As I mentioned, the learning circles can be done individually, or you can sign up for a whole day, which runs from about 9:30 to about 4. I say "about" with good reason.

Most of the kids are there "full-time" which, I think is 4 days a week (M-Th), at $500 per month. It's sort of a cross between school and daycare, with an unschooling approach. For full-day daycare, the price is pretty good, but as "school", it looks like an expensive private school. Lately I've taken to referring to it *jokingly* as "hippie school".

I can use part of my learning investment towards it, except that I don't have access to it yet, and the next tuition cheque is due, like, now! But I should be able to make arrangements for this month, so I'm just out of pocket for last month. But at $150/month for just one day per week, that would eat it up too quickly - that's why I'm being frugal about how much of that we're investing in. Also, it's all the way over on the West side of the city, and I'm not keen on that all the time - I have to go hang out at UBC with my husband all day, because it's too far to drive home and back. That's not so bad, it's just inconvenient, and I find it slightly stressful not being at home so long.

[artparent]

hello mamas! see, you won't even have a chance to miss me
it is quite amazing to have two homes that i have the same reaction to: oh, so great to finally be home! i got my small kitchen + handwork studio through customs and now i get to go and play with where everything is going to go

am i wrong in thinking that a program like new west, garibaldi, and the future north van version may be a lot cheaper (also local versions for folks) than the selfdesign options? or is it that sd is much more unschooly about things? great that there are so many options!!

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[Alison's Mom]

Originally Posted by weliveintheforest

My younger sister is pregnant with her second child and I am so excited to be an auntie again I'll be trolling craigslist on the lookout for diaper deals :

I have an assortment of mostly fitteds/covers and some pockets in mostly mediums and one-sized. PM me if you're interested. Thanks.

[sea island mama]

Originally Posted by weliveintheforest

So, between him being injured and unable to do things, and just having him around all the time, things are a little topsy turvy around here. But not bad.

Sorry to hear that - I know how it feels . I hope he's not too badly injured!

On another topic...I think this was mentioned here before...

How do you dispose of uniform items? Dh has some golf shirts that just got replaced, but we can't just donate the old ones as they have the company logo on them. They are still in pretty good shape & I hate to just throw them away. I'm sure someone had a suggestion before & I'm hoping it could be repeated .

[Pealette]

Coming out of lurkdome for selfish reasons!

We went for a family photo shoot the other week. It was something I really wanted to show for our new family. Anyway, the photographer has put up two "sneek peak" pictures on her blog.

So many of you sent us such lovely warm wishes when we brought our two littles home that I thought you might want to see us. In another week, I will also have the link for our full shoot that I will share when it comes. But for now, here we are!!!

http://www.mckinnonblog.com/ (we are the Stowe's)

Janet

[weliveintheforest]

Thank you for sharing Janet! You guys are such a beautiful family

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by weliveintheforest

Anyone go to the breastfeeding challenge yesterday? We went to the chilliwack one and it was a nice turn out

I meant to go again this year (went in '05 or '06 - can't remember which), but I didn't realize it was happening already! Bummer...maybe next year. I usually only breastfeed to around two years old, so next year is probably my last. Wow - what a realization.

[vancouverlori]

Originally Posted by artparent

am i wrong in thinking that a program like new west, garibaldi, and the future north van version may be a lot cheaper (also local versions for folks) than the selfdesign options? or is it that sd is much more unschooly about things?

My understanding is that SD/Wondertree (as opposed to just being enrolled as an SD distributed learner) is quite a bit more unschooly while still providing a program that runs the whole school day. Also, I have heard that Garibaldi in particular, the teacher there is pretty schooly. I don't know about the future North Van version. Nor do I know about the structure of Garibaldi, but I do know that you don't just leave your kid there every day. New West is only one or two days a week, and then only for a few hours. So yes, they're essentially free-of-charge, but it's not the same kind of thing at all.

Having lots of options is good, but it's more work deciding what you want!

Good luck to you and your husband, Sheila/weliveintheforest! WCB can be such dumbarses some times. Just remember that the (polite!) squeaky wheel gets oiled.

[robugmum]

Janet, what a beautiful family you have!

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by sea island mama

How do you dispose of uniform items? Dh has some golf shirts that just got replaced, but we can't just donate the old ones as they have the company logo on them. They are still in pretty good shape & I hate to just throw them away. I'm sure someone had a suggestion before & I'm hoping it could be repeated .

I make baby clothes out of them if the material is suitable. But I sew lots.