Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I am not going to even try

to do a proper catch up, it would bore you all to death. We have had a good few weeks, the highlights were without a doubt my aunt and uncle visiting and seeing Michael Palin. My aunt and uncle had been in Ireland for two weeks and stopped in to see us on their way home to florida. Despite a shaking start-a bad trip up the M1 and getting lost in leicester the visit went well and it was wonderful to see them. We hadn't seen them for several years, so it was a good chance for Sam to get to know them. We didn't do a lot of sightseeing as they were here for such a short time but we did make it up to bradgate for a nice walk on a perfect autumn day. Their visit was all to fleeting and it was sad to say goodbye when they left. Hopefully we won't have such a long gap before seeing them again.

The other highlight of our past few weeks was seeing Michael Palin. Sad person that I am I made us get there mega early and as a result we were about 6th in line. The boys went out wandering and shopping while I held our place in line. Surprisingly they ended up at Dominoes and Gameswork shop! The girls in front of me in line were positively giddy, especially as the witching hour approached. They were quite funny really, you would have thought they were waiting in line to see a popstar. When we were finally in front of the great man we didn't know what to say! I made some inane comments about enjoying his programmes and how pleased we were that he came to leicester. We only saw him for a few brief minutes but it was worth it and I think sam was as excited as we were.

The rest of our time has been spent doing school work, playing with friends and having fun at home ed group. The last session was lots of fun, it was essentially a horrible science and awful art session and we made slime, flubber, snot and quick sand. Don't think that we will be able to top that much mess and gruesomeness at the next session!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sam, my aund and uncle and Miko

Sam insisted that Miko was in the photo!

My aunt and uncle and sam


My aunt and uncle and sam
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
This weekend my aunt and uncle from Florida dropped by for a visit. They were on their way home from Ireland. It wa wonderful to see them and sam was delighted with their company. We took them up to Bradgate to enjoy the Fall sunshine.

Sam's homemade starfury from babylon 5

Our current family obession in Babylon 5 ( thank you C for lending us the dvds!) and this is a copy of a starfury. Sam made it from his Star Wars B-Wing fighter.

another view


another view
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

Michael Palin signing our book


Michael Palin signing our book
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
Last friday we got up early and waited two hours in line to meet Michael Palin. I think sam was just as excited as we were. Managed to engage him in a bit of small talk before being sheparded off.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Sam & Miko


Sam & Miko
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
The boy and his faithful dog Miko

more ruins


more ruins
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
The boys and Miko. They had a great game of hide and seek in the ruins.

Grace Dieu Priory ruins


Grace Dieu Priory ruins
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
We went with V & I to visit these very spooky ruins . They are of a medieval nunnery that is supposed to be haunted.

Our little beaver scout


Our little beaver scout
Originally uploaded by mattamsam
Sam being invested as a Beaver Scout.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Of spots and beavers..

It has been a funny week, since last I wrote sam developed a mysterious rash which we suspected was chicken pox but we still aren't sure. He had a very mild case of chicken pox a couple of years ago and these spots were similar, he however, did not feel ill at all. He was his bright bubbly self and didn't even attempt to scratch the spots. As we weren't sure what they were we erred on the side of caution and spent the second half of the week and weekend in seclusion. I felt bad keeping him in but we didn't want to pass on whatever he had. So the end of the week was filled with lots of at home and dog walking time.

M's parents came up on saturday to help us with the backyard. M and his dad used some of the railway sleepers to create new beds. It looks fantastic, I will have to post a photo (just ignore the poor state of the grass-thank you dogs and boys!) They also put in my new rotary clothes line, you know you have a quiet life when you get excited about a new clothes line. It is fantstic, the dogs can't run through the sheets anymore like they could when the clothes line stretched across the backyard. We had a nice visit with M's parents-thank you for your help and thank you for coming up.

Sam was on tenderhooks all sunday-desparate for M to give him the all clear for monday so he could go to home ed group and beavers. It wasn't looking good at bedtime but by monday am the spots had dried up sufficiently so that M decreed that it was safe for us to go out. We had a ball at home ed group-C organised all the experiments (theme-the body) which were fantastic. V's art projects were spot on and sam was so engrossed in making a skeleton that he completely missed cookie time. By the time he got to the kitchen all the cookies were gone, luckily C saved the day by finding some bourbon biscuits in her bag. Thank you C!

The highlight of the day for Sam was beavers-he was invested into the colony and received his necker. I will post a photo tomorrow, he looked so grown up and serious receiving it. He is very keen to start earning badges so had me email his troop leader today to ask how he gets started. He wants to start with the Hobby Badge-doing it on warhammer naturally and then the animal care badge-where do you suppose he will find an animal to look after??? I reckon he can easily fulfill the requirements for the badges.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Still here..

haven't run off to the tropics or given up blogging honest. They days just seem to have flown by lately and I am too brain dead by the end of the day to blog. I am also doing a lot of transcribing work and seem to spend my evenings typing up somone else's words, leaving little time to type my own.

Things here are settling into a new sort of routine based on M's new schedule. Some weeks he is home more in the day than he was previously and we are all enjoying spending more time together. He and Sam have started doing science experiments on friday mornings which sam is loving. The week before last they got out M's microscope and looked at plant cells and did a few experiments around them. They didn't do anything last week as were at Legoland.


Legoland was a fun but soggy day. Sam had been on a high for the week prior to our visit and kept an almost hourly countdown! We set off at the crack of dawn and actually arrived before they opened. It was more crowded than we expected but we didn't really have to wait at any of the rides. Sam went on his first grown up roller coaster and he and I screamed the whole ride! He said that he enjoyed it but didn't want to do it again until next year. I think his fav ride was driving school and he managed to drive over a roundabout and run a few lights-despite all this they gave him a drivers license! We managed to get through all the rides that he wanted to do before the heavens opened. We then headed for the main shop so that he could spend the money that was burning a hole in his pocket. He was very grown up and spend a long time considering just how to spend his money. In the end he bought some batman lego (in the sale) and an evil bionicle. We then lunched in the car and headed home. He had the bionicle put together almost before we left the car park! All in all it was a good day and sam is already planning our trip next year. This time we have vowed to go when it isn't raining as we seem fated to only see legoland through a haze of drizzle.


Sam's friend D came for a sleepover weekend before last and the two boys had a ball, they didn't sleep but they had a ball. From about 4am they openned our door about every half an hour to see if we were awake. We were but there was no way we were letting them know that. D was so shattered that he was asleep 10 minutes after his parents picked him up. D was a pleasure to have as a guest and we hope that he will want to come and stay again.

Schoolwise things are ticking along. Sam is enjoying learning cursive and has even started leaving me little notes. We got a letts math workbook today and he was so excited by the wizards and goblins in it that the actually asked to do a few pages on his own!