My new racket arrived yesterday (thank you ebay! Only £1.30) and you will be amazed to learn that my game has not improved. Guess a swish new (to me anyway)racket does not automatically play better. Still, Sam and I had fun-and he is improving which is the whole point of the excercise. The courts are always completely empty when we go, it is like having our own private court. The benefits of home ed!! I am sure that if we were to go on a weekend they would be packed.
More normals and david attenborough the last two days. While watching yesterday's dvd Sam suddenly remarked that david attenborough looked very similar to the grandfather in jurassic park. Talk about powers of observation-even knowing that david and richard attenborough are brothers I struggle to find the resemblance-he made a connection between them and didn't even know that they were related. He was interested to learn that the brothers spent quite a bit of time here in leicester as their father was dean of the university.
The weather has been so glorious the last two days that we have spent our afternoons outdoors. Today we played some long complicated game involving invisible pteradons, the gang from scooby doo and two hot wheels cars. I love it that he is developing a good imagination-even if it does involve dangerous reptiles and goofy teenagers.
Today was the award ceremony at the library for all those children who completed the summer reading scheme. Sam was chuffed with his certificate but even more pleased with his spy pen. It is one of those ones where you write the message in one color ink -which appears to be invisible, then when you rub over it with the other side of the pen your message magically appears. He has spent all evening writing out messages to me.
A quiet morning tomorrow and then french in the afternoon. If it is nice again we may try and fit in a game of tennis on our way home.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Too much of a good thing..
I should be grateful that sam is starting to embrace reading, that he feels confident to try his hand at reading most anything and when he does try he is usually right. I am not that happy however, because he has discovered that he can read-on his own-two children's joke books that we have recently acquired. I thought that I would read a couple of jokes a week to him and that would be that.. Oh no!! He spent all of yesterday following me reading out joke after joke, I wouldn't have minded so much but they jokes were truely unfunny. I am happy that it least it did not contain knock knock jokes as after reading a few real ones he goes on to make up his own and then insists on telling it over and over again! It wouldn't be so bad if he would vary the punch line but he doesn't. All joking aside I am a very proud mommy that he can read his own joke books, even if the jokes aren't that funny and some of them don't make sense. He is gaining in confidence everyday and I am sure that it won't be long until he is on to books with funnier jokes. He loves telling the jokes and M and I make sure that we laugh at every single one. I feel like we have crossed our first major hurdle. My next major one is to get him to love numbers and math. It is such an important part of everyday life and I don't want him to grow up numberphobic.
We had a fairly laid back weekend and didn't really do anything of note. We spent most of yesterday out in the backyard as the weather was so nice. We played lots of games and then went on to junk modeling to build a race course for sam's hotwheels. I even managed to sit and read for a while. I just finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and it was fantastic. I can not recommend it highly enough. It is about life in occupied france and what makes it more captivating is that it was written without the benefit of hindsight. The author lived through the first part of the occupation and had great plans for a novel on the scale of war and peace but unfortuantely was sent to the camps and died there. It is about people getting on with life despite what was going on around them and the author had the chance to finish the book I am sure that it would have been even more unputdownable.
We had a fairly laid back weekend and didn't really do anything of note. We spent most of yesterday out in the backyard as the weather was so nice. We played lots of games and then went on to junk modeling to build a race course for sam's hotwheels. I even managed to sit and read for a while. I just finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and it was fantastic. I can not recommend it highly enough. It is about life in occupied france and what makes it more captivating is that it was written without the benefit of hindsight. The author lived through the first part of the occupation and had great plans for a novel on the scale of war and peace but unfortuantely was sent to the camps and died there. It is about people getting on with life despite what was going on around them and the author had the chance to finish the book I am sure that it would have been even more unputdownable.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Into the groove
We have certainly gotten back into the habit of a more structured approach to our day-hence the lack of blogging. We are busy all morning and early afternoon with school type stuff and then playing or out for the rest of the day. Sam certainly seems happier to be doing stuff and there have been no tears over math lately. ( shouldn't have written that should I? now there are bound to be tears on monday!) His reading is coming on in leaps and bounds as his his general comprehension. He will now drop facts into conversation-things that we may have covered days before or not at all and he has picked them up on his own. He seems to have boundless energy at the moment so am trying to keep him active in the afternoons. We played tennis on monday-he is definately improving, though the same can't be said for me. We hope to fit in a trip to the pool tomorrow and he has tennis lessons on sunday morning so it should be a pretty active weekend.
We have had two playdates this week L and M who live in the next village and V and I who live right around the corner. I is a bit younger than Sam but the two got on really well and it is nice to know that we have friends within walking distance. Sam and M and tons of fun when we went round there to play and L and I got to catch up on what had been happening all summer. Haven't yet made it to the local home ed group, forces keep conspiring against us. We will make it there though this side of halloween.
We have been collecting the David Attenborough DVDs in the paper this week and sam has been mesmorized. We all have learned so much and been so entertained that we are considering getting the box set of all the series for xmas. By the way it is only 100 days until xmas so time to start panicing about the shopping. Have already bought sam two things but that is all I have done so far.
We have had two playdates this week L and M who live in the next village and V and I who live right around the corner. I is a bit younger than Sam but the two got on really well and it is nice to know that we have friends within walking distance. Sam and M and tons of fun when we went round there to play and L and I got to catch up on what had been happening all summer. Haven't yet made it to the local home ed group, forces keep conspiring against us. We will make it there though this side of halloween.
We have been collecting the David Attenborough DVDs in the paper this week and sam has been mesmorized. We all have learned so much and been so entertained that we are considering getting the box set of all the series for xmas. By the way it is only 100 days until xmas so time to start panicing about the shopping. Have already bought sam two things but that is all I have done so far.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Pretty good week so far..
All in all it has been a pretty good week so far. We are back on track with normals thanks to a new updated timetable-that offers lots of science and make and do for sam and written work to satisfy me. He had lots of fun with latin this morning-we had to make up sentences describing people we knew. thankfully they were all nice descriptive words-like clever and pretty. He really enjoys languages and math-he must have a very ordered mind.
There have been three highlights of the week for the young master-the first was receiving a treckker microscope from my aunt. It is a hand held field microscope and is very cool. He has spent the last few days collecting things to look at. The website is www.looksmall.co.uk. I can really recomend the microscope-just don't take it out on a walk if you are in a hurry to get somewhere-chances are your journey will take twice as long!!
The second exciting thing from sam's pov was the grand openning of starbucks in the shopping center that is 5 minutes walk from us. It openned on monday and he insisted that we be there at 8, just incase they were giving away free muffins. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard it has to be said. While they weren't giving away free muffins we did get our whole order free (including a bag of ground coffee and a newspaper) because the chip and pin machines weren't working yet!!! The manager was very apologetic and insisted on giving us the order. What a way to start a monday!
The day only got better too as the third highlight of the week was getting together with all the boys. As usual it was complete bedlam but a good time was had by all. We haven't seem much of them over the summer and now I don't expect we will get to see anyone until half term. A is the exception to this as he is now home educated much to sam's delight.
Yesterday was sam's first swimming lesson of the term. He has to wear a yellow swimming cap which pleases him not at all but I expect he will soon get used to it. He seemed to enjoy himself and I chatted to one of the other moms so it looks promising.
There have been three highlights of the week for the young master-the first was receiving a treckker microscope from my aunt. It is a hand held field microscope and is very cool. He has spent the last few days collecting things to look at. The website is www.looksmall.co.uk. I can really recomend the microscope-just don't take it out on a walk if you are in a hurry to get somewhere-chances are your journey will take twice as long!!
The second exciting thing from sam's pov was the grand openning of starbucks in the shopping center that is 5 minutes walk from us. It openned on monday and he insisted that we be there at 8, just incase they were giving away free muffins. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard it has to be said. While they weren't giving away free muffins we did get our whole order free (including a bag of ground coffee and a newspaper) because the chip and pin machines weren't working yet!!! The manager was very apologetic and insisted on giving us the order. What a way to start a monday!
The day only got better too as the third highlight of the week was getting together with all the boys. As usual it was complete bedlam but a good time was had by all. We haven't seem much of them over the summer and now I don't expect we will get to see anyone until half term. A is the exception to this as he is now home educated much to sam's delight.
Yesterday was sam's first swimming lesson of the term. He has to wear a yellow swimming cap which pleases him not at all but I expect he will soon get used to it. He seemed to enjoy himself and I chatted to one of the other moms so it looks promising.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Low key..
that about sums up our weekend. M was on nights so sam and I pottered while he slept and then we had a family trip to the pool.
Saturday and and I ventured out in the wind and rain to sign him up for tennis lessons. We went to one of the local clubs who was having an open day. He starts on sunday and his coach is the same man he had earlier in the summer. The lessons will be indoors thank goodness but are at 9am on sundays! Oh well, at least starbucks will be open he finishes and we can do up there for a sunday morning treat. We also joined our local tennis club so that we can go along and practice while everyone else is at work and school. Even managed to find myself a racket on ebay for only £1.31!! he is very keen to get going and can't wait for his first lesson.
This morning we organised all our school books and now I feel almost ready to start the new school year. I also did lots of planning for craft activities and art projects so short of finding all the supplies we are pretty much there. It is so nice to have the books in some sort of order, they were just dumped on the shelves when we moved in and not organised. Just hope that I am able to make this year fun for him, it disheartens me when he says he doesn't like doing this or that because I feel that I have failed. He needs to learn but above all I want him to enjoy himself while he is doing it. I console myself with the thought that at least he is having more fun here than if he were at school.
All of his lessons, swimming, tennis and french start this week so it should be a good chance for us both to start making more local friends. I also have the schedule for the local home ed group so we will go along to an event very soon. the french class is run by the local home ed group so that will be a good start to getting to know the local scene.
Saturday and and I ventured out in the wind and rain to sign him up for tennis lessons. We went to one of the local clubs who was having an open day. He starts on sunday and his coach is the same man he had earlier in the summer. The lessons will be indoors thank goodness but are at 9am on sundays! Oh well, at least starbucks will be open he finishes and we can do up there for a sunday morning treat. We also joined our local tennis club so that we can go along and practice while everyone else is at work and school. Even managed to find myself a racket on ebay for only £1.31!! he is very keen to get going and can't wait for his first lesson.
This morning we organised all our school books and now I feel almost ready to start the new school year. I also did lots of planning for craft activities and art projects so short of finding all the supplies we are pretty much there. It is so nice to have the books in some sort of order, they were just dumped on the shelves when we moved in and not organised. Just hope that I am able to make this year fun for him, it disheartens me when he says he doesn't like doing this or that because I feel that I have failed. He needs to learn but above all I want him to enjoy himself while he is doing it. I console myself with the thought that at least he is having more fun here than if he were at school.
All of his lessons, swimming, tennis and french start this week so it should be a good chance for us both to start making more local friends. I also have the schedule for the local home ed group so we will go along to an event very soon. the french class is run by the local home ed group so that will be a good start to getting to know the local scene.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Books
Thank you Elle at Ellesfuntimes for tagging me-sorry it has taken me so long to post.
ONE BOOK THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE: The FountainHead by Ayn Rand. I read it my senior year in high school and it helped me to make sense of the world around me.
ONE BOOK THAT YOU’VE READ MORE THAN ONCE: a Traveller in Time by Allison Uttely-one of my all time favorite books, I love the romance of it and I would love to be able to travel in time like the main character.
TWO BOOKS YOU’D WANT ON A DESERT ISLAND: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and an omibus edition of all the paddington books by michael bond. Bewteen the two of them I would have all the reading material I need.
ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU LAUGH: The growing pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend. I laughed all the way from Boston to Florida by train while reading this.
ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY: My Best Friend's Girl. Not many books make me cry but this one made me tear up in places.
ONE BOOK YOU WISH HAD BEEN WRITTEN: Harry Potter
ONE BOOK YOU WISH HAD NEVER BEEN WRITTEN: Can't think of any-every book has its merrit even it you don't believe in its message.
ONE BOOK THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING: The Man of my dreams by Curtis Sittenfield. Really good so far-I can really relate to the main characters college experience.
ONE BOOK YOU HAVE BEEN MEANING TO READ: Suite Francais
FIVE PEOPLE YOU TAG:
MK
Merry
Helen
Fiona
ONE BOOK THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE: The FountainHead by Ayn Rand. I read it my senior year in high school and it helped me to make sense of the world around me.
ONE BOOK THAT YOU’VE READ MORE THAN ONCE: a Traveller in Time by Allison Uttely-one of my all time favorite books, I love the romance of it and I would love to be able to travel in time like the main character.
TWO BOOKS YOU’D WANT ON A DESERT ISLAND: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and an omibus edition of all the paddington books by michael bond. Bewteen the two of them I would have all the reading material I need.
ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU LAUGH: The growing pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend. I laughed all the way from Boston to Florida by train while reading this.
ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY: My Best Friend's Girl. Not many books make me cry but this one made me tear up in places.
ONE BOOK YOU WISH HAD BEEN WRITTEN: Harry Potter
ONE BOOK YOU WISH HAD NEVER BEEN WRITTEN: Can't think of any-every book has its merrit even it you don't believe in its message.
ONE BOOK THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING: The Man of my dreams by Curtis Sittenfield. Really good so far-I can really relate to the main characters college experience.
ONE BOOK YOU HAVE BEEN MEANING TO READ: Suite Francais
FIVE PEOPLE YOU TAG:
MK
Merry
Helen
Fiona
sam cubed
Not only do we have one new neighbor with a son called sam but now we have two!! That brings the total of boys named sam to 3 in oliver close. Not bad considering that there are only 7 children in to total here. One sam is 9 and lives in the house attached to ours, the other lives in the big house at the end and looks as if he is about 17/18. My sam is over the moon with sam next door and sam next door for his part seems very happy to play with my sam despite their age difference. They have been in and out of the two houses all week and sam falls into bed exhausted each night with all the bike riding and soccer they have been playing. It is such a novelty to have a playmate living next door-sam is so delighted. For my part I have had some time to me while they have been playing-managed to start a new knitting project and do paper work all in the middle of the day. My sam can't understand why sam next door wants to go to school and thinks he should stay home and be home educated so they can play together.
A bit of a non descript week-we did normals, we sorted things out for the new school year, we explored leicester and we spent time with M. Have been in a funk most of the week-it is the end of summer blues. The nice weather has just about gone and it is time to turn my attention to more serious matters other than having fun and exploring. We are pretty sorted for the new school year-just have to sort out all the crafty bits for the first month.
We expect to have a low key weekend as M is on nights but hope to get out to the local tennis club who are having an open day tomorrow. Sam is very keen to join and as they haven't answered any of my emails this seems the perfect chance to find out more about them.
A bit of a non descript week-we did normals, we sorted things out for the new school year, we explored leicester and we spent time with M. Have been in a funk most of the week-it is the end of summer blues. The nice weather has just about gone and it is time to turn my attention to more serious matters other than having fun and exploring. We are pretty sorted for the new school year-just have to sort out all the crafty bits for the first month.
We expect to have a low key weekend as M is on nights but hope to get out to the local tennis club who are having an open day tomorrow. Sam is very keen to join and as they haven't answered any of my emails this seems the perfect chance to find out more about them.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tennis anyone??
Today was sam's third day of tennis and while the novelty is wearing off slightly he is still enjoying it. He is so eager and keen to try but he still only managed to get it over the net once today. It hasn't discouraged him though, he still marches up when it is his turn full of confince. I am a bit disapointed that the instructors have not been more hands on. This is a beginners class, not once have they been shown how to hold a racket or swing properly. I have tried my best to show my but has many of you out there know my tennis abilities are severely lacking. We had a go when we got home with a tennis ball and the rackets from his swing ball set and I think he is starting to catch on. I am very proud that he hasn't given up (because I know that I would have) and that he is still keen to joing a tennis club and do it on a regular basis. I have emailed the local tennis club about classes and hopefully they will have a spot for him.
He has really enjoyed the activies we have done through the council so will be on the look out for them at half term and the xmas break. We haven't gotten to know anyone new but at least he has had the opportunity to play lots of sports and meet a few new faces.
He has really enjoyed the activies we have done through the council so will be on the look out for them at half term and the xmas break. We haven't gotten to know anyone new but at least he has had the opportunity to play lots of sports and meet a few new faces.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Sportsman of the week..
goes to young sam who has now played cricket, rugby, badminton and golf with tennis to come next week. Not to mention is weekly swimming lesson. So far he has enjoyed badminton the best, which surprised me as I thought he would really like ruby. I think he was put off by the fact it was tag rugby and he couldn't just go around tackling people at will. Once he has finished tennis next week we have said that he can choose one other activity (other than swimming) to do on a weekly basis. We have managed to find swimming lessons, though not sadly at the pool he is currently at. There the waiting list is about a year long! He will have to wear a swimming cap at these new lessons which he is not that keen on but he has no choice.
The week disapeared in a haze of sporting activities and thunderstorms. Managed to get caught in the bad one on thursday as we went into the sports hall for cricket. When we left two hours later my jeans were still soaking wet! Friday we went back to pborough for the dentist and to get the car serviced-luckily both had reasonable out comes. Managed to meet up with two of the boys which was delightful. Sam played for all he was worth and was on such a high that he didn't stop nattering the whole way home. With any luck we should be seeing all the boys at the beginning of sept before they go back to school.
A quiet weekend-we popped into the city centre yesterday to look for fil's bday present. Spent some time wandering aroundthe lanes-could be a very dangerous place to go shopping! lots of lovely stores-so mustn't go there without a sam escort. He is my voice of reason and will say "mummy you are not supposed to buy anything remember" So young and so wise. The boys bought an airfix model of the stealth bomber and spent the evening putting it together. I think all they have to do now is paint it.
Just pottered today-had a very lazy start to the day with a magic school bus marathon on dvd while we all snuggled under the duvet.
Busy week next week with tennis 4 out of the 5 days. It is in the afternoon though so no rushing out the door at the crack of dawn thankfully. Plan to spend the morning doing normals and the afternoon wearing sam out. sounds like a good combination.
The week disapeared in a haze of sporting activities and thunderstorms. Managed to get caught in the bad one on thursday as we went into the sports hall for cricket. When we left two hours later my jeans were still soaking wet! Friday we went back to pborough for the dentist and to get the car serviced-luckily both had reasonable out comes. Managed to meet up with two of the boys which was delightful. Sam played for all he was worth and was on such a high that he didn't stop nattering the whole way home. With any luck we should be seeing all the boys at the beginning of sept before they go back to school.
A quiet weekend-we popped into the city centre yesterday to look for fil's bday present. Spent some time wandering aroundthe lanes-could be a very dangerous place to go shopping! lots of lovely stores-so mustn't go there without a sam escort. He is my voice of reason and will say "mummy you are not supposed to buy anything remember" So young and so wise. The boys bought an airfix model of the stealth bomber and spent the evening putting it together. I think all they have to do now is paint it.
Just pottered today-had a very lazy start to the day with a magic school bus marathon on dvd while we all snuggled under the duvet.
Busy week next week with tennis 4 out of the 5 days. It is in the afternoon though so no rushing out the door at the crack of dawn thankfully. Plan to spend the morning doing normals and the afternoon wearing sam out. sounds like a good combination.
Tagged by Merry
1. One home schooling book you have enjoyed. Any of john holt's books. They really made me stop and think about the way children learn and the education system.
2. One resource you wouldn't be without: The Internet without a doubt.
3. One resource you wish you hadn't bought: Easy-Muzzy. To expensive, too dull and not at all fun.
4. One reasource you enjoyed last year: Young Scientist Club. A firm favorite with us all.
5. One resource you will be using next year: sonlight core 1.
6. One resouce you would like to buy: The entire inventory of amazon! Would like to buy a proper microscope and the set of minimus story books.
7. One resouce you wish exsisted: Friend in a box. For those times when sam is desparate to play with someone and I am not good enough.
8. One catalogue you like reading: Sonlight and Rainbow Resouces
9. One website you use: Google! We goole whenever we have a question we can't answer-which is a lot!
I tag:
Chris/Helen
Elaine
Jax
2. One resource you wouldn't be without: The Internet without a doubt.
3. One resource you wish you hadn't bought: Easy-Muzzy. To expensive, too dull and not at all fun.
4. One reasource you enjoyed last year: Young Scientist Club. A firm favorite with us all.
5. One resource you will be using next year: sonlight core 1.
6. One resouce you would like to buy: The entire inventory of amazon! Would like to buy a proper microscope and the set of minimus story books.
7. One resouce you wish exsisted: Friend in a box. For those times when sam is desparate to play with someone and I am not good enough.
8. One catalogue you like reading: Sonlight and Rainbow Resouces
9. One website you use: Google! We goole whenever we have a question we can't answer-which is a lot!
I tag:
Chris/Helen
Elaine
Jax
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
All round sportsman
that's my boy-or maybe not. Today he went to a tag rugby session and from where I sat it looked like he was having fun but when I asked him afterword if he had enjoyed himself he wasn't sure. I think he enjoyed the running around and the throwing and catching the ball, what I think he can't get his head around is being part of a team. He played well with the other boys and wasn't shy or subduded, he just hasn't grasped the concept of working together for a common goal-at least not in this context. We do team work at home all the time-but not in a sports context. Maybe the whole competitive thing is throwing him-he wants the ball and to do the running and doesn't quite get that he is there to help the other members of his team not work against them. I know it will come in time. Tomorrow is cricket so it will be interesting to see if he is starting to develop a bit more of a team spirit. Next week is tennis so it will be interesting to see which he prefers-team sports or solitary ones.
The last few days have been nice-way back on saturday my friend M and her family came to spend the day with us. The children spent their time alternating between lego and playmobil while the grown ups got to have a good gossip and I got lots of cuddles with my goddaughter. We had a wonderful time with them, we just wished that they were closer so we could see more of them. Despite only being in touch sporadically over the last 15 years we seem to have been able to pick up right where we left off which is so nice. I hope that sam is able to keep up with all his friends in the years to come as good friends are so important in life.
Tuesday we met my sil and nephews in pborough for some quality play time at activity world-everyone including the grown ups were well pooped by the time we left! After leaving them we met up with Fiona and her children at the maize maze near oundle. it was so tricky!! Even with a map I was afraid that we were going to have to set up camp there for the night! thanks to fiona's good map reading we managed to make it out. It was really good fun and there is one by the same designer near to leicester so i think we will have to have a family trip there soon. I will send the boys in while I settle down with a good book. should be worth at least an hour of mommy time!
Can't remember if I posted that our new books from sonlight have arrived. Sam was so excited you would have thought it was xmas. The read alouds and science books look great as does everything really. He will be working at a first grade level for most things, except for sciecne where we are already up to second grade. Can't believe how fast our first official year has flown by. We have accomplished just about everything that we set out to do and hopefully have had fun along the way. Today we finished 1st grade science, so it is just as well that the books arrived when they did.
The last few days have been nice-way back on saturday my friend M and her family came to spend the day with us. The children spent their time alternating between lego and playmobil while the grown ups got to have a good gossip and I got lots of cuddles with my goddaughter. We had a wonderful time with them, we just wished that they were closer so we could see more of them. Despite only being in touch sporadically over the last 15 years we seem to have been able to pick up right where we left off which is so nice. I hope that sam is able to keep up with all his friends in the years to come as good friends are so important in life.
Tuesday we met my sil and nephews in pborough for some quality play time at activity world-everyone including the grown ups were well pooped by the time we left! After leaving them we met up with Fiona and her children at the maize maze near oundle. it was so tricky!! Even with a map I was afraid that we were going to have to set up camp there for the night! thanks to fiona's good map reading we managed to make it out. It was really good fun and there is one by the same designer near to leicester so i think we will have to have a family trip there soon. I will send the boys in while I settle down with a good book. should be worth at least an hour of mommy time!
Can't remember if I posted that our new books from sonlight have arrived. Sam was so excited you would have thought it was xmas. The read alouds and science books look great as does everything really. He will be working at a first grade level for most things, except for sciecne where we are already up to second grade. Can't believe how fast our first official year has flown by. We have accomplished just about everything that we set out to do and hopefully have had fun along the way. Today we finished 1st grade science, so it is just as well that the books arrived when they did.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Out of the mouth of babes..
We went to pborough this afternoon for a mudpud picnic. It was great to see everyone and to meet a new family-they have a 6 yo son so sam was delighted. While in the park we ran into three other people we knew and in the end several of the mudpud children ended up playing cricket with sam's friend peter and his familly. What made it so nice was that we were in a place that we know and love with friends we know and care about-everything and everyone was familiar. It felt comfortable and relaxed. On the way home sam said exactly what i was thinking "It was like old times mommy" and it was. We love our new home and our new life here but we are sorely missing our friends and all our old familiar places. It isn't as if we saw our friends everyday or even every week but the idea that they were only a few minutes away was a comfort. We could ring someone up for an impromptu play where as now it involves lots of planning and a full day out. I know that in time things will be as familiar and comfortable here I don't think I realised though just how hard a process it was going to be. I should have, we lived in pborough for 13 years, these friends and familiarity did not happen over night.
All in all it has been a good week. Sam has enjoyed the two badminton classes and doesn't appear to have inherited by lack of coordination! He is all excited about cricket and rugby next week-though I imagine that he will be disapointed when he learns that it is tag rugby rather than full body tackling.
I think that his reading confidence is growing. He has always loved books but now he is actually starting to read them to himself rather than just looking at the pictures. He called down night before last to let me know that he had read a book all by himself. It was a ladybird-peter and jane book and I was amazed. Although he can read harder things and he does during our daily reading sessions he doesn't usually read to himself. Tonight he volunteered to read me some Dick and Jane stories (the american version of peter and jane)-he even went and got the book! As his confidence grows hopefully he will start to pick up more challenging things-things I know that he is capable of but wouldn't try on his own.
Tomorrow is the big day-H &F are comming and we are both excited. Playmobil world is awaiting their arrival, though it may need a few last minute adjustments as a tornado swept through there is morning. You will all be relieved to here though that the cats, rabbits and mice are okay as they drove off on the bus to go and shelter in the recycle truck! Hope the weather is better tomorrow.
All in all it has been a good week. Sam has enjoyed the two badminton classes and doesn't appear to have inherited by lack of coordination! He is all excited about cricket and rugby next week-though I imagine that he will be disapointed when he learns that it is tag rugby rather than full body tackling.
I think that his reading confidence is growing. He has always loved books but now he is actually starting to read them to himself rather than just looking at the pictures. He called down night before last to let me know that he had read a book all by himself. It was a ladybird-peter and jane book and I was amazed. Although he can read harder things and he does during our daily reading sessions he doesn't usually read to himself. Tonight he volunteered to read me some Dick and Jane stories (the american version of peter and jane)-he even went and got the book! As his confidence grows hopefully he will start to pick up more challenging things-things I know that he is capable of but wouldn't try on his own.
Tomorrow is the big day-H &F are comming and we are both excited. Playmobil world is awaiting their arrival, though it may need a few last minute adjustments as a tornado swept through there is morning. You will all be relieved to here though that the cats, rabbits and mice are okay as they drove off on the bus to go and shelter in the recycle truck! Hope the weather is better tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Fore!
The golf session went well today-there were probably about 15 children between 5-7 and sam fit right in. He was a little shy at first but once he had been there a little while he blossomed. I sat in the car and read so that I was there if he needed me but not involved so that he could enjoy the experience on his own. He came back buzzing with excitement saying how much fun he had had even though his team had not won. They split the children into two teams and had them play various hitting and relay games with child size clubs and balls. Hopefully this means he will be just as ease tomorrow at badminton. I may be evil mommy and once he is settled in sneak off for a run.
After golf we came home for lunch then headed out for Ashby de la Zouch castle. It is only about half an hour away and it was our first trip. Sam had a ball exploring the ruins and running back and forth down the secret passage way. He asked lots of interesting questions, and is taken with my sad past time of spot the ancient graffitti. he was scouring the walls for the writings of the tourists of yore. We were excited to find one dated as early as 1703, only about 60 years after the castle was destroyed in the civil war. I know it is a sad hobby but I got hooked on it when visiting ancient monuments in the med and egypt.
English Heritage ( who run the site) are currently undertaking a small archaeological excavation to understand the gardens better. Sam was excited to see real archaeologist at work (what am I, chopped liver-he has seen me dig in the garden) and I had to explain everything they were doing. He was very disapointed that they wouldn't let him help-he was keen to get out there with his trowel or better yet pickaxe. The finds weren't very spectacular but then you wouldn't expect much in the garden area. In anycase they weren't looking for finds but rather to understand the layout of the now vanished gardens better. I must look to see if there is a local fieldwork group that allows children to participate. I don't think that he can join the young archaeologist club until he is a bit older.
Another game of monopoly after dinner tonight-he is becoming quite a monopoly fiend. He won tonight and took way too much pleasure in beating me. Tomorrow night victory will be mine!
After golf we came home for lunch then headed out for Ashby de la Zouch castle. It is only about half an hour away and it was our first trip. Sam had a ball exploring the ruins and running back and forth down the secret passage way. He asked lots of interesting questions, and is taken with my sad past time of spot the ancient graffitti. he was scouring the walls for the writings of the tourists of yore. We were excited to find one dated as early as 1703, only about 60 years after the castle was destroyed in the civil war. I know it is a sad hobby but I got hooked on it when visiting ancient monuments in the med and egypt.
English Heritage ( who run the site) are currently undertaking a small archaeological excavation to understand the gardens better. Sam was excited to see real archaeologist at work (what am I, chopped liver-he has seen me dig in the garden) and I had to explain everything they were doing. He was very disapointed that they wouldn't let him help-he was keen to get out there with his trowel or better yet pickaxe. The finds weren't very spectacular but then you wouldn't expect much in the garden area. In anycase they weren't looking for finds but rather to understand the layout of the now vanished gardens better. I must look to see if there is a local fieldwork group that allows children to participate. I don't think that he can join the young archaeologist club until he is a bit older.
Another game of monopoly after dinner tonight-he is becoming quite a monopoly fiend. He won tonight and took way too much pleasure in beating me. Tomorrow night victory will be mine!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Sportsman Sam
Sam is all geared up for this week of sporting activity-tomorrow golf, followed by badminton and then his weekly swimming lesson. I don't know who is going to be more pooped at the end of the week-him or me! We have had endless discussions today about golf-had to look up lots because my knowledge is very limited. Hope he enjoys it tomorrow and hope that it is well run. Our experience of things run by the local council (except the swimming lessons) hasn't been good.
The weekend seemed to fly by-saturday was chores and then M went off to an ITU bbq. Sunday M's parents and grandmother came up for a visit. It was Nan's first trip to the house and I think she liked it-apart from all the stairs! It was lovely to see them all and sam was in his element. He was given a hot wheels set and a piece of star wars lego, both of which kept him occupied for the rest of the day (and today even!). M headed out later in the day for a two day course somewhere up north. It was a long drive by all accounts but he arrived safely. Sam and I are now on our own until tuesday night, so you can guess whose bed he is sleeping in! Between all the fluffers and books I don't think he has left me any room.
A peaceful start to the day-he is insistent that we reconstruct all his playmobil sets so that when his friends H & F come at the weekend they are all ready to play with. Last week we resurected the airport, today it was the turn of the barn. Thank goodness that I saved the instructions. By the time we are done his room is going to out playmobil the playmobil section of John Lewis. He insisted on putting up the barn in front of Orlando's tank so that he could see all the animals. Just hope that he doesn't decided to make a break for freedom so that he can eat them. Don't think a playmobil mouse is as tasty as a real one.
Following our visit to planet playmobil we did normals. Added a few sticker books and pictoral crosswords to liven things up a bit. I think sam enjoyed the crossword once he got the hang of it. Have printed off another one for him tomorrow.
Was very proud of myself today as I managed to drive into the city centre and park at the huge multistory car park without either getting lost, having a panic attack or yelling. Did two mystery jobs and explored the sale at ELC. Got a few pressies for the pressie drawer and even managed to buy Sam a couple of xmas presents without him noticing. Sam spent most of the evening studying the new ELC catalogue and revising his xmas list and making new plans on what to save up for after he has finished saving up for his lego dino attack helicopter. He is finally learning that he needs to save up for things he wants. I think that we are going to have to expand his chore list so that he can earn a little more than he currently does. Not sure what the going rate for allowance is for 5 year olds-anyone have any suggestions?
The weekend seemed to fly by-saturday was chores and then M went off to an ITU bbq. Sunday M's parents and grandmother came up for a visit. It was Nan's first trip to the house and I think she liked it-apart from all the stairs! It was lovely to see them all and sam was in his element. He was given a hot wheels set and a piece of star wars lego, both of which kept him occupied for the rest of the day (and today even!). M headed out later in the day for a two day course somewhere up north. It was a long drive by all accounts but he arrived safely. Sam and I are now on our own until tuesday night, so you can guess whose bed he is sleeping in! Between all the fluffers and books I don't think he has left me any room.
A peaceful start to the day-he is insistent that we reconstruct all his playmobil sets so that when his friends H & F come at the weekend they are all ready to play with. Last week we resurected the airport, today it was the turn of the barn. Thank goodness that I saved the instructions. By the time we are done his room is going to out playmobil the playmobil section of John Lewis. He insisted on putting up the barn in front of Orlando's tank so that he could see all the animals. Just hope that he doesn't decided to make a break for freedom so that he can eat them. Don't think a playmobil mouse is as tasty as a real one.
Following our visit to planet playmobil we did normals. Added a few sticker books and pictoral crosswords to liven things up a bit. I think sam enjoyed the crossword once he got the hang of it. Have printed off another one for him tomorrow.
Was very proud of myself today as I managed to drive into the city centre and park at the huge multistory car park without either getting lost, having a panic attack or yelling. Did two mystery jobs and explored the sale at ELC. Got a few pressies for the pressie drawer and even managed to buy Sam a couple of xmas presents without him noticing. Sam spent most of the evening studying the new ELC catalogue and revising his xmas list and making new plans on what to save up for after he has finished saving up for his lego dino attack helicopter. He is finally learning that he needs to save up for things he wants. I think that we are going to have to expand his chore list so that he can earn a little more than he currently does. Not sure what the going rate for allowance is for 5 year olds-anyone have any suggestions?
Sunday, August 06, 2006
three generations
M's mum and dad and grandmother came up today. It was lovely to see them, I hope that they enjoyed the day as much as we did. This is sam with M's dad and his mother.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Nice way to end the week..
The week started off very slowly, with normals and errands to run. It finished on a high note, however, with a visit to Snibston Discovery Park yesterday and a play date with the puddles today.
My friend Louisa spent the day with us yesterday so we took ourselves off to Snibston Discovery Park which we have been meaning to visit ever since we moved over here. It was an old coal works which the council has turned into a hands on science museum. Sam had lots of fun doing all the experiments but the best thing from his point of view was the huge playground with lots of waterplay. He spent most of the afternoon with a group of children making floods and watching plastic boats get washed away. He was so wet that by the time we left he was stripped down to just his shorts. After the park we headed to Donnington Le Heath with is a restored medieval manor house which is also owned by the council. It is isn't big but it has been very well restored and we enjoyed our visit. Sam spend ages questioning one of the rangers about the garden and the types of butterflies and moths that were to be found there. Am beginning to think that that boy is going to give david attenborough a run for his money.
Today we spent with the merry and the girls and it was so nice to see them. Sam was overjoyed to have someone to play with-especially 4 someones! they all played together really well and merry and I got to have a good natter. We are both looking forward to seeing them again next week at the mudpud picnic.
A quiet saturday but busy sunday as M's parents and grandmother are coming up. We are really looking forward to seeing them, sam especially can't wait to show off orlando. hopefully he will come out from under his water dish so everyone can see how cute he is.
Have finally got the Leicester EO schedule so hope to go along to something of theirs very soon. Next week is quite busy as sam has golf, badminton and swimming. Good thing Merry just lent me a good book because it looks as if I will get a chance to get lots of reading done. I suspect that parents will be enouraged not to stay and watch but I very much doubt that sam will look favorably on being left somewhere where he doesn't know a soul. Hopefully we will both make a new friend or two.
My friend Louisa spent the day with us yesterday so we took ourselves off to Snibston Discovery Park which we have been meaning to visit ever since we moved over here. It was an old coal works which the council has turned into a hands on science museum. Sam had lots of fun doing all the experiments but the best thing from his point of view was the huge playground with lots of waterplay. He spent most of the afternoon with a group of children making floods and watching plastic boats get washed away. He was so wet that by the time we left he was stripped down to just his shorts. After the park we headed to Donnington Le Heath with is a restored medieval manor house which is also owned by the council. It is isn't big but it has been very well restored and we enjoyed our visit. Sam spend ages questioning one of the rangers about the garden and the types of butterflies and moths that were to be found there. Am beginning to think that that boy is going to give david attenborough a run for his money.
Today we spent with the merry and the girls and it was so nice to see them. Sam was overjoyed to have someone to play with-especially 4 someones! they all played together really well and merry and I got to have a good natter. We are both looking forward to seeing them again next week at the mudpud picnic.
A quiet saturday but busy sunday as M's parents and grandmother are coming up. We are really looking forward to seeing them, sam especially can't wait to show off orlando. hopefully he will come out from under his water dish so everyone can see how cute he is.
Have finally got the Leicester EO schedule so hope to go along to something of theirs very soon. Next week is quite busy as sam has golf, badminton and swimming. Good thing Merry just lent me a good book because it looks as if I will get a chance to get lots of reading done. I suspect that parents will be enouraged not to stay and watch but I very much doubt that sam will look favorably on being left somewhere where he doesn't know a soul. Hopefully we will both make a new friend or two.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Salve!
We have had lots of fun doing latin today ( no that isn't a misprint). Found a fun piece of free software called before you know it that teaches languages in a fun an easy way. We spent the day doing colors-first by doing the on line flash cards and then by making stickers to go round sam's room. Did you know that orlando is canus (should have a hat over the a) and fulvus? Sam seems to be really enjoy languages and is good at retaining the words. Am going to investigate the before you know it french programme to restart us on that. I am just not sure if we will do our saturday french lessons in peterborough when they start up again. As much as we love the teacher it will take up the whole day and Queensgate shopping centre (where the classes are held) is a nightmare in the run up to christmas. I am sure that there is something similar locally, it is just a matter of finding it.
We had a very clean weekend. M and Sam gave both the cars a thorough clean inside and out and put the grille strips on the front of the cruiser. I managed some gym time-yipee!! and we all went pond dipping.
We also stopped in on the Jurassic Leicestershire Roadshow which is touring the county-it was Syston's turn this weekend. I think that we were all a little underwhelmed by the event. They had set up camp at the main park in town and there were a few funfair type things on offer as well as some sandpits with bones to excavate. The obligatory face painting of course and some coloring in tables. There were models of two dinos, which weren't even labelled. We weren't expecting the natural history museum but I think that we were expecting more than this, especially as there has been so much publicity for the event. I forgot to mention the dino trail which was esentially a series of poster in shop windows giving the answers to the quiz questions. Between the 3 of us we managed to do most of the questions without completing the trail and I am sure we weren't alone. While I am sure that the whole purpose of the roadshow is to bring a bit more business to local retails (cynical or what) they could have done a lot more. Sam was so keen to go and when we got there and he saw what was on offer his disapointment was palatable. He can't have been the only dino fan who was disapointed. I only hope that children who knew nothing about dinos came away with some knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject.
We had a very clean weekend. M and Sam gave both the cars a thorough clean inside and out and put the grille strips on the front of the cruiser. I managed some gym time-yipee!! and we all went pond dipping.
We also stopped in on the Jurassic Leicestershire Roadshow which is touring the county-it was Syston's turn this weekend. I think that we were all a little underwhelmed by the event. They had set up camp at the main park in town and there were a few funfair type things on offer as well as some sandpits with bones to excavate. The obligatory face painting of course and some coloring in tables. There were models of two dinos, which weren't even labelled. We weren't expecting the natural history museum but I think that we were expecting more than this, especially as there has been so much publicity for the event. I forgot to mention the dino trail which was esentially a series of poster in shop windows giving the answers to the quiz questions. Between the 3 of us we managed to do most of the questions without completing the trail and I am sure we weren't alone. While I am sure that the whole purpose of the roadshow is to bring a bit more business to local retails (cynical or what) they could have done a lot more. Sam was so keen to go and when we got there and he saw what was on offer his disapointment was palatable. He can't have been the only dino fan who was disapointed. I only hope that children who knew nothing about dinos came away with some knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
sam sam the newt man
Yesterday we walked to our local country park to attend an event put on by the park rangers. It was essentially a bug hunting and pond dipping morning and Sam was in his element. Following the visit by the cricket he has gone into an insect/wildlife phase and spent all tuesday afternoon with his head in the nature books. As a result on wednesday he was overflowing with info which he passed on to all and sundry like it or not! I was amazed and what he knew, things I certainly had not read to him. He knew all about great diving beetles, caddis fly larvae and the like. I was a bit disapointed that the rangers weren't able to answer all his questions, especially about the names of some of the critters we found. He got fobbed off with-'oh it only has a latin name which I can't pronounce" or "there are so many species of moths/beetles that not all of them have names". Sam was not to impressed with these answers and neither was I. Why are the latin names so hard to pronounce, they aren't if you try and at events like this they should be aiming to give the children as much accurate info as possible. The highlight of the morning for sam was without doubt catching a young newt. At first he was very concerned incase it was a great crested newt as he knows they are protected and you aren't allowed to catch them. Once he was assured that it wasn't he spent ages watching it in the temporary tank. He had a ball and has plans to take M pond dipping at the weekend. As long as they don't bring home what they find I don't mind!
Today S had his second swimming lesson and he really seemed to enjoy it. I think it makes a big difference that the teacher gets in the pool with him. Now we have the car back we can start going to the pool on our own again. We could both use the exercise.
Picked the car up today-yipee!! We have managed really well without it but it will be nice to have it back. Just the freedom of being able to go where we want when we want will be nice. To be fair the bus and train service round here isn't bad and now we have the hang of it we will probably use it more.
Off to the library tomorrow as well as running a few errands and hitting the pool in the afternoon.
Today S had his second swimming lesson and he really seemed to enjoy it. I think it makes a big difference that the teacher gets in the pool with him. Now we have the car back we can start going to the pool on our own again. We could both use the exercise.
Picked the car up today-yipee!! We have managed really well without it but it will be nice to have it back. Just the freedom of being able to go where we want when we want will be nice. To be fair the bus and train service round here isn't bad and now we have the hang of it we will probably use it more.
Off to the library tomorrow as well as running a few errands and hitting the pool in the afternoon.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Sunny Days..
and oh how we are enjoying them. We are spending every moment we can outside, soaking in the sunshine. I will be so sad when this tropical weather leaves and typical british summer weather begins. I only have two complaints, lack of decent airconditioning in public buildings and all of the men who feel it is somehow acceptable to walk around without a shirt just because the sun in shining. It may be hot but that is no excuse to walk down the street half naked!
Had a quiet week last week in the end as we were carless ( and still are). We managed to make a couple new friends on thursday. We met a lovely grandmotherly woman on the train from here to loughborough. She walked us in the loughborough and made sure that we knew where we were going. She even gave sam money for an ice cream which stunned him. We both protested but in the end I let him accept it for fear we would offend the kind lady. Funnily enough we ran into her the following day in our local park. Had a fun session at loughborough museum doing dino crafts. On the train on the way home met a little girl sam's age who lives near by. The two got on really well and hopefully we will see them again at the park. I should have taken the mum's phone number to arrange a playdate. Sam really needs some local playmates, I think he is getting bored with only me to play with.
This week has been equally quiet. The only excitement of the week so far has been riding in the tow truck while taking the jeep to the garage. Yesterday we spent the whole morning scrapbooking at sam's request. He did several pages all on his own, which meant that at last I was able to start my book. We both had fun and sam couldn't wait for M to get home to show him his pages. Spent the afternoon doing normals and playing. Sam found a cricket so put it in the empty stick insect cage and observed it. It seemed very friendly and it was very cute. We will let it go this morning, once the rain has stopped.
Today we are going to walk over to the local country park for bug session. Not too sure what it involves but sam hopes we will get to do some pond dipping.
Had a quiet week last week in the end as we were carless ( and still are). We managed to make a couple new friends on thursday. We met a lovely grandmotherly woman on the train from here to loughborough. She walked us in the loughborough and made sure that we knew where we were going. She even gave sam money for an ice cream which stunned him. We both protested but in the end I let him accept it for fear we would offend the kind lady. Funnily enough we ran into her the following day in our local park. Had a fun session at loughborough museum doing dino crafts. On the train on the way home met a little girl sam's age who lives near by. The two got on really well and hopefully we will see them again at the park. I should have taken the mum's phone number to arrange a playdate. Sam really needs some local playmates, I think he is getting bored with only me to play with.
This week has been equally quiet. The only excitement of the week so far has been riding in the tow truck while taking the jeep to the garage. Yesterday we spent the whole morning scrapbooking at sam's request. He did several pages all on his own, which meant that at last I was able to start my book. We both had fun and sam couldn't wait for M to get home to show him his pages. Spent the afternoon doing normals and playing. Sam found a cricket so put it in the empty stick insect cage and observed it. It seemed very friendly and it was very cute. We will let it go this morning, once the rain has stopped.
Today we are going to walk over to the local country park for bug session. Not too sure what it involves but sam hopes we will get to do some pond dipping.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Don't you just love..
warm sunny mornings in a quiet house with a nice big glass of fresh juice. It makes the day seem so full of hope and promise and sets you up to feel good all day, no matter how things pan out. Sam is upstairs completely zonked out due to the heat and the excitement of yesterday. I am sure he will be up soon-he never sleeps very late.
Yesterday was a fun day that ended with a bit of excitement we could have done without. We met up with Sarah and her girls at Twin Lakes (www.twinlakesparks.co.uk) it is a small theme park about 15 miles from here. Apart from not offering one jot of shade it was fantastic. There were rides, playground and two big indoor play centers. It wasn't very crowded so we didn't have to wait in line anywhere. The kids had so much fun they were all in tears at having to leave. We managed to last all day but we were all extremely hot and sticky by the time we left. Sam drank so much water I was sure he was going to turn into a fountain.
The excitement didn't stop when we left the park-the clutch cable snapped on our drive home, luckily I managed to pull into a gravel quarry where we awaited the arrival of the RAC. M, my knight in shining armour arrived first bringing a nice air conditioned car for us to sit in while we waited. The RAC towed us home and this morning I need to sort out getting the jeep to our mechanic. Hopefully it is just the cable and nothing more drastic. We are stuck at home until it is mended but that is fine, we can do some work and play in the sprinkler.
Yesterday was a fun day that ended with a bit of excitement we could have done without. We met up with Sarah and her girls at Twin Lakes (www.twinlakesparks.co.uk) it is a small theme park about 15 miles from here. Apart from not offering one jot of shade it was fantastic. There were rides, playground and two big indoor play centers. It wasn't very crowded so we didn't have to wait in line anywhere. The kids had so much fun they were all in tears at having to leave. We managed to last all day but we were all extremely hot and sticky by the time we left. Sam drank so much water I was sure he was going to turn into a fountain.
The excitement didn't stop when we left the park-the clutch cable snapped on our drive home, luckily I managed to pull into a gravel quarry where we awaited the arrival of the RAC. M, my knight in shining armour arrived first bringing a nice air conditioned car for us to sit in while we waited. The RAC towed us home and this morning I need to sort out getting the jeep to our mechanic. Hopefully it is just the cable and nothing more drastic. We are stuck at home until it is mended but that is fine, we can do some work and play in the sprinkler.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
lovely weekend
sorry I couldn't think of a catchier title but that one fits so well. We went to M's parents yesterday and had a really nice time. FIL had made sam the most fantastic castle (pics to follow) -thank you!! He has played with it non stop. They even managed to find all M's old soliders and knights to go with it. sam was over the moon. It is now safely installed in his bedroom-so that he can play with it while we are asleep (his words!). We had a nice visit with them and M helped his dad set up his new mac.
Today my wonderful husband installed my new dishwasher-yipee!! This is the first time in 20 years that I have had a dishwasher and it was so nice not to have to do the washing up after dinner. He did a fantastic job, despite my assistance. He also put my clothes line so had a very domestic goddess afternoon hanging all my washing out and loading the dishwasher.
Sam helped us with all our jobs and played for ages with his castle. I felt bad that I wasn't able to play with him properly, but he seemed to understand and we did spend the evening trying to put swamp beast back together again. Think we may need to contact hot wheels to get a new set of directions as neither one of us can remember exactly how it goes.
A busyish week ahead, we are meeting friends at a local theme park tomorrow (Twin lakes) and then going to a session on roman life at a local museum ( to tie in with our latin) and he starts swimming lessons on thursday. It is at the pool just down the road so hopefully he will get a chance to make local friends. We are carrying on with normals over the summer, just at a slower pace.
Today my wonderful husband installed my new dishwasher-yipee!! This is the first time in 20 years that I have had a dishwasher and it was so nice not to have to do the washing up after dinner. He did a fantastic job, despite my assistance. He also put my clothes line so had a very domestic goddess afternoon hanging all my washing out and loading the dishwasher.
Sam helped us with all our jobs and played for ages with his castle. I felt bad that I wasn't able to play with him properly, but he seemed to understand and we did spend the evening trying to put swamp beast back together again. Think we may need to contact hot wheels to get a new set of directions as neither one of us can remember exactly how it goes.
A busyish week ahead, we are meeting friends at a local theme park tomorrow (Twin lakes) and then going to a session on roman life at a local museum ( to tie in with our latin) and he starts swimming lessons on thursday. It is at the pool just down the road so hopefully he will get a chance to make local friends. We are carrying on with normals over the summer, just at a slower pace.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Turkish Delight
We went out last night for our anniversary and had a fantastic meal at a wonderful turkish restaurant in town. We sat outside and with the sun and the turkish music we almost felt we were there. Expected to walk out into the streets of Istanbul or a lovely coastal town. They treated sam like a god and brought him his slightest request. When we left they gave him a whole box of turkish delight as well as giving M a box of coffee. We will definately be going back, the food was fantastic and the prices reasonable.
We have had the last two days off school work. Yesterday we met my sil and her sons in ferry meadows. The boys played until they could play no more. They were absolutely shattered when we left. I am so glad that we live close enough so that sam can get to know his cousin and see them on a regular basis. Moving around as much as we did I never got the chance to live near my cousins until I was in high school.
Today Fiona came over with becky and peter and we spent all afternoon in the garden playing lego and a ball game that was a strange mixture of t-ball, rounders and cricket. Never did quite catch the rules but everyone had a blast. Met the new neighbours for the first time as becky managed to hit a ball across two gardens into theirs. Luckily it didn't hit anything and they were home and were good natured about us retreving it. thankfully sam can't hit that hard yet or we would have to ban t-ball from the garden.
Next two days we are stuck at home waiting for deliveries-tomorrow it is the shed and friday it is the dishwasher-yipee! Just home the dishwasher is easier to get up the stairs than the sofa was. Maybe if I smile sweetly at the delivery man he will bring it up. Better yet I could bribe him with cookies.
Ordered sonlight 1 last week and am patiently awaiting its arrival. I opted to have it sent M-bag so it could be months before it arrives. Just hope it doesn't get lost somewhere. Sam is very excited about the new read alouds and the new science. We are almost done with science 1. Have decied to set a side one day a week to do all the experiments we haven't yet had time to do. that should help make things more fun and draw out science 1 as we will be done way before science 2 arrives. think we will probably do it on a friday as that is a nice way to round out the week. So starting this friday you all have an open invitation to participate in science day if you are over our way.
We have had the last two days off school work. Yesterday we met my sil and her sons in ferry meadows. The boys played until they could play no more. They were absolutely shattered when we left. I am so glad that we live close enough so that sam can get to know his cousin and see them on a regular basis. Moving around as much as we did I never got the chance to live near my cousins until I was in high school.
Today Fiona came over with becky and peter and we spent all afternoon in the garden playing lego and a ball game that was a strange mixture of t-ball, rounders and cricket. Never did quite catch the rules but everyone had a blast. Met the new neighbours for the first time as becky managed to hit a ball across two gardens into theirs. Luckily it didn't hit anything and they were home and were good natured about us retreving it. thankfully sam can't hit that hard yet or we would have to ban t-ball from the garden.
Next two days we are stuck at home waiting for deliveries-tomorrow it is the shed and friday it is the dishwasher-yipee! Just home the dishwasher is easier to get up the stairs than the sofa was. Maybe if I smile sweetly at the delivery man he will bring it up. Better yet I could bribe him with cookies.
Ordered sonlight 1 last week and am patiently awaiting its arrival. I opted to have it sent M-bag so it could be months before it arrives. Just hope it doesn't get lost somewhere. Sam is very excited about the new read alouds and the new science. We are almost done with science 1. Have decied to set a side one day a week to do all the experiments we haven't yet had time to do. that should help make things more fun and draw out science 1 as we will be done way before science 2 arrives. think we will probably do it on a friday as that is a nice way to round out the week. So starting this friday you all have an open invitation to participate in science day if you are over our way.
Monday, July 10, 2006
13-lucky for some..
today is our 13th wedding anniversary, so happy anniversary sweetheart. Here is to the next 13, may they be even happier! We had a quiet meal in tonight and are going out tomorrow night to celebrate.
A good start to the week. We did normals this morning and then headed over to pborough to play with sarah and her girls. sam had a blast and it was nice to catch up with sarah. She has very kindly asked me to be godmother to her youngest and I am thrilled to pieces. sam and the girls spent the entire afternoon charging around and jumping on the trampoline. He should be shattered but I can hear him still moving around up there.
Last week disapeared in a haze of settling back into life here. Signed sam up for lots of sporting activities over the summer. He is very keen and hopefully it will help us to meet some local children. We also spent the weekend cleaning out the garage and finishing the unpacking. We are more or less there, with only a few boxes to unpack and a few pictures to hang. I have hung lots of pictures in the playroom so it feels cozier.
This week we are social butterflies, we are seeing friends everyday but thursday. At some point our new dishwasher should be delivered-yipee!! Just hope it is easier to get upstairs than the sofa was. Sometimes I am not convinced that the kitchen on the 2nd floor is a good idea-especially when it comes to carrying up the shopping.
Sam was so excited about the summer reading scheme at the library that we had to go along on saturday ( the day it started) to sign up. I think the librarian was bemused by my over enthusiastic 5 year old who cornered her at the counter and asked (very politely) to sign up for the scheme. We have agreed that this year he has to read half of the books himself. Our first two books are a famous 5 mystery and a magic key floppy book. He has finished the floppy book already but we still have several more chapters of the famous 5. Will try to stretch it out this summer as we usually finish the 6 books in about 3 weeks. I am glad that he is so keen to do it, I can remember as a child being just as keen. I would have spent the whole summer in the library if my parents had let me. It is a shame that they don't let children volunteer at the library because I think sam would enjoy helping out there.
A good start to the week. We did normals this morning and then headed over to pborough to play with sarah and her girls. sam had a blast and it was nice to catch up with sarah. She has very kindly asked me to be godmother to her youngest and I am thrilled to pieces. sam and the girls spent the entire afternoon charging around and jumping on the trampoline. He should be shattered but I can hear him still moving around up there.
Last week disapeared in a haze of settling back into life here. Signed sam up for lots of sporting activities over the summer. He is very keen and hopefully it will help us to meet some local children. We also spent the weekend cleaning out the garage and finishing the unpacking. We are more or less there, with only a few boxes to unpack and a few pictures to hang. I have hung lots of pictures in the playroom so it feels cozier.
This week we are social butterflies, we are seeing friends everyday but thursday. At some point our new dishwasher should be delivered-yipee!! Just hope it is easier to get upstairs than the sofa was. Sometimes I am not convinced that the kitchen on the 2nd floor is a good idea-especially when it comes to carrying up the shopping.
Sam was so excited about the summer reading scheme at the library that we had to go along on saturday ( the day it started) to sign up. I think the librarian was bemused by my over enthusiastic 5 year old who cornered her at the counter and asked (very politely) to sign up for the scheme. We have agreed that this year he has to read half of the books himself. Our first two books are a famous 5 mystery and a magic key floppy book. He has finished the floppy book already but we still have several more chapters of the famous 5. Will try to stretch it out this summer as we usually finish the 6 books in about 3 weeks. I am glad that he is so keen to do it, I can remember as a child being just as keen. I would have spent the whole summer in the library if my parents had let me. It is a shame that they don't let children volunteer at the library because I think sam would enjoy helping out there.
Friday, July 07, 2006
5 things
thank you for tagging me helen, here are my answers:
1. 5 things in my fridge
bottle of key lime juice ( for key lime pies)
half eaten hersey bar (not mine I swear!)
milk
3 types of cheese
sam's easter eggs
2. 5 things in my wardrobe
way too many t-shirts
a black velvet cloak
shoes I never wear
scarves
suits from my days at work
3. 5 things in my handbag
a shuffle
my calendar
leaflets sam has collected
lifesavers
my wallet
4. 5 things in my car
bottles of water, some full, some not
the galt catalogue ( sam's fav reading material)
a cardboard box to go to the tip
car seat
lego
I tag Merry, Jules, Mary and Dinelle
1. 5 things in my fridge
bottle of key lime juice ( for key lime pies)
half eaten hersey bar (not mine I swear!)
milk
3 types of cheese
sam's easter eggs
2. 5 things in my wardrobe
way too many t-shirts
a black velvet cloak
shoes I never wear
scarves
suits from my days at work
3. 5 things in my handbag
a shuffle
my calendar
leaflets sam has collected
lifesavers
my wallet
4. 5 things in my car
bottles of water, some full, some not
the galt catalogue ( sam's fav reading material)
a cardboard box to go to the tip
car seat
lego
I tag Merry, Jules, Mary and Dinelle
Monday, July 03, 2006
Feeling hot, hot, hot,..
especially as our car has no air con! Sam and I went out to go swimming and run a few errands and came back dripping. Even with all the windows down in the stop and start traffic there was no breeze. I am not complaining because I would much rather be too hot than too cold, just wish our car had air con. Despite sweating buckets we have had a nice day.
Spent the morning doing normals, sam is really enjoying our science unit on the body-hope this is not a sign that he is destined for the medical profession! We did all our work outside in the sunshine and broke it up with relay races and sword fights with plastic baseball bats. We rounded off the session by working on sam's new scrapbook (thank you auntie lyn!!) He was so absorbed and concentrated so hard, I was amamzed. He did 4 pages, he chose all the photos and the stickers and I helped with the writing and sticking things down. He is very proud of his efforts and rightly so. Hopefully we will get the chance to finish the book this week. Big hugs to my aunt for giving us the books, I can't wait to start mine. Will blog photos of sam's album when he has done a few more pages.
We now have neighbours-neither are attached to us so we can still make lots of noise (at least for the time being). They both seem very nice and we plan to have them over in a couple of weeks. No one with children so far, sam is so deparate for a neighbour with children. I hope we get one and that they are his age!
Spent the morning doing normals, sam is really enjoying our science unit on the body-hope this is not a sign that he is destined for the medical profession! We did all our work outside in the sunshine and broke it up with relay races and sword fights with plastic baseball bats. We rounded off the session by working on sam's new scrapbook (thank you auntie lyn!!) He was so absorbed and concentrated so hard, I was amamzed. He did 4 pages, he chose all the photos and the stickers and I helped with the writing and sticking things down. He is very proud of his efforts and rightly so. Hopefully we will get the chance to finish the book this week. Big hugs to my aunt for giving us the books, I can't wait to start mine. Will blog photos of sam's album when he has done a few more pages.
We now have neighbours-neither are attached to us so we can still make lots of noise (at least for the time being). They both seem very nice and we plan to have them over in a couple of weeks. No one with children so far, sam is so deparate for a neighbour with children. I hope we get one and that they are his age!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
PE in the extreme
In one fell swoop today we covered off PE for the next week. On what is undoubtedly the hottest weekend of the year we cycled all 26 miles around Rutland Water. It was hot but fun. Sam was on his tag a long so he worked as hard as we did. It was nice to be out in the sunshine, if only the whole trail was off road. It is absurd that 4 miles of it is along road, and without the benefit of a special bike lane. I am a nervous rider as it is without having to worry about cars. It took us about 2.5 hours to go round and we all headed for the shower when we got back!! Spend the rest of the day pottering, M and Sam washed the car and then we fired up the bbq. M loves his new bbq, a huge thank you to my in laws.
Orlando had his first feed this weekend. His food didn't freak me out as much as I expected but I still couldn't bring myself to touch it. He ate it quite happily so he must be settling in. He is lots of fun to watch and we can't wait until he gets a bit bigger so we can handle him more.
Spent all day yesterday working in the garden. We now have lots of new fruit tress and herbs so hope we don't get a hosepipe ban up here. The cats love the garden and are out all day. It is so nice to have the space and to be able to leave the doors open all day.
Friday Sam and I did a session on the 4th of July for our home ed group. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially the softball game. We talked a little bit about the history of the 4th and then the children did a variety of craft activities. We finished off the session with a flag relay race and a softball game. Thank you to everyone who came and helped to make the session fun.
Orlando had his first feed this weekend. His food didn't freak me out as much as I expected but I still couldn't bring myself to touch it. He ate it quite happily so he must be settling in. He is lots of fun to watch and we can't wait until he gets a bit bigger so we can handle him more.
Spent all day yesterday working in the garden. We now have lots of new fruit tress and herbs so hope we don't get a hosepipe ban up here. The cats love the garden and are out all day. It is so nice to have the space and to be able to leave the doors open all day.
Friday Sam and I did a session on the 4th of July for our home ed group. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially the softball game. We talked a little bit about the history of the 4th and then the children did a variety of craft activities. We finished off the session with a flag relay race and a softball game. Thank you to everyone who came and helped to make the session fun.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Back to reality
Well, the clothes are all washed and put away, the suitcases back where they belong and all the film developed or pics downloaded so I guess the vacation is well and truely over. We had such a great time and enjoyed visiting with everyone so much that getting back into the swing of things isn't easy. We also miss the california sunshine!! Life is always better when it is sunny. I don't miss the bay area traffic though, it makes leicester at rush hour look deserted. Don't know how they are going to solve the traffic problem, everytime we go home it gets worse. Give everyone one a segway!! that would make it less crowded and more fun.
Back to normal today with only a minimum of fuss. I think we will carry on over the summer, it gives some structure to our day if nothing else. Sam is very keen to start his scrapbook of the trip. My aunt who is very into scrapbooking gave us two beautiful albums and lots of cool paper and stickers. If only we had taken pic of him at the ball game to put in there!
Today we went to find the latest edition to our menagerie-you guessed, the long anticipated snake. It is a grey rat snake and very cute. We have reserved it and will go pick him up later in the week, once we have made space for him in sam's room. Not sure who is more excited, Sam or M. I am not thrilled about what it eats but am trying not to think about that. Sam hasn't decided on a name yet, suppose it depends on if it is a boy or a girl.
Have found a few more ideas for friday, just have to give them a test run tomorrow and make sure we have all the supplies. Sam and I looked at the Declaration of Independence today as well as the Constition. I hadn't read them since high school and had forgotten how elequent they are. Jefferson was a genius. This is going to sound really corny but it made me feel proud to be american-despite all its faults and problems.
Back to normal today with only a minimum of fuss. I think we will carry on over the summer, it gives some structure to our day if nothing else. Sam is very keen to start his scrapbook of the trip. My aunt who is very into scrapbooking gave us two beautiful albums and lots of cool paper and stickers. If only we had taken pic of him at the ball game to put in there!
Today we went to find the latest edition to our menagerie-you guessed, the long anticipated snake. It is a grey rat snake and very cute. We have reserved it and will go pick him up later in the week, once we have made space for him in sam's room. Not sure who is more excited, Sam or M. I am not thrilled about what it eats but am trying not to think about that. Sam hasn't decided on a name yet, suppose it depends on if it is a boy or a girl.
Have found a few more ideas for friday, just have to give them a test run tomorrow and make sure we have all the supplies. Sam and I looked at the Declaration of Independence today as well as the Constition. I hadn't read them since high school and had forgotten how elequent they are. Jefferson was a genius. This is going to sound really corny but it made me feel proud to be american-despite all its faults and problems.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
We're back....
from our globe trotting. We all had a fantastic time, especially sam who fell in love with every dog he met and delighted in playing with cousins and making new friends. We had a busy time so have come home shattered. Still not quite sure what time or day this is. Poor sam is so out of sync that he didn't get up until 12:30 today, I was beginning to wonder if he would ever wake up.
Everything about our trip was so great that it is hard to say what the highlight was. Yosemite was breathtakingly beautiful and we would have gladly spent the whole trip there if we could have. The camping facilities weren't brilliant but the scenery more than made up for it. Lots of wildlife, though we didn't see any bears. We saw deer, chipmonks, ground squirrels and a coyote. Sam got into hiking and managed a couple 5 mile hikes. My dad and stepmom camped a short drive away from us so we got to spend time with them in the park. Sam was thrilled at seeing them again and so were we.
From Yosemite we drove to the santa cruz/monterey area where the highlight for sam was undoubtedly the monterey bay aquarium. It really is outstanding and we spent the better part of a day there. We also spent time in santa cruz and carmel and went to a state park to see some giant redwoods. Sam was delighted as we had a gopher take up residence next to our tent and whenever we were eating it would pop up. There were also lots of tree frogs around and sam couldn't believe his luck when one jumped in his shower one morning!
Next it was up to the wine country to camp with my dad and do a little wine tasting. we also met up with my uncle. We stayed at an excellent campsite-complete with petting zoo, pool and playground and dad and amy watched sam for us while we hit the wine trail. M did the tasting while I did the driving. We bbqed with dad everynight and he even did a proper breakfast for us in the morning. Oh the joys of having a motorhome! It was so wonderful to see them and sam adored spending time with them. We were all very sad when we had to say goodbye. They headed up north whie we went down to the bay area.
Took sam to his first baseball game and he had a blast. He was really keen to catch a foul ball but unfortunatey we were sitting in the wrong part of the stadium. Next time we will get tickets behind home plate. He is now a confirmed As fan and was gutted when is baseball cap was stolen out of the rental car. We spent two days playing in SF-dad came down on the first day to go with us to exploratorium. It is a hands on science museum and sam was well and truly in his element. Not sure he understood all the experiments but he had fun doing them. I think we all did. We also go to spend time with my cousin medea and her family. They kindly took us out to dinner and sam fell in love with her boys all over again. Her sons are 15 and 10 and talk about hero worship. Sam was enthralled and spent the whole evening playing with them (we brought lego!) and was gutted when we had to go. I was impressed at how patient max and dylan were with sam, they didn't seem to mind the fact that he was 5. they all got on so well that we adults were able to catch up on everything.
We said goodby to M on father's day as he had to return home, while we went to spend a few days with my aunt and uncle. It was so nice to see them. we had a pool party the first day, my cousin and her 5 year old son came as did a friend of my aunt who had 3 children. We were in the pool all afternoon and you have never heard so much laughter. I think sam drank half the pool between giggles. The children all got on really well, no squabbles or tantrums at all. The next day we went to the Jelly belly factory, where they make jelly belly jelly beans. We did a tour of the factory and then headed off to the shop for lots of free samples. I think that sam had more jelly beans in one morning than he has had in his whole life! His fav were the root beer ones.
we were also able to spend the day with an old school friend and her husband. I hadn't seen her for many years so it was nice to be able to visit in person. Sam loved playing with her cats and dogs, though not sure they felt the same. We visited a ghost town and the local zoo with them, but had to call it a day when temps climbed over 100. I love the heat but it felt like we were baking in an oven. At least it was not humid. We had a wonderful visit with my aunt and uncle and were so sad when we had to go. I hope that we will be able to go back and visit soon.
So now we are back to reality and all that entails. This week is pretty quiet-my main job is to plan the 4th of July session I in charge of for our home ed group. Am distinctly short of ideas-except maybe for a game of softball. Sam thinks we should make a giant paper mache model of the US but I think that is was too ambitious for one session. I will do some posters about the flag, the national anthem, the declaration and so forth but am short on things for the kids to actually do. Off to trawl the internet for inspiration.
Everything about our trip was so great that it is hard to say what the highlight was. Yosemite was breathtakingly beautiful and we would have gladly spent the whole trip there if we could have. The camping facilities weren't brilliant but the scenery more than made up for it. Lots of wildlife, though we didn't see any bears. We saw deer, chipmonks, ground squirrels and a coyote. Sam got into hiking and managed a couple 5 mile hikes. My dad and stepmom camped a short drive away from us so we got to spend time with them in the park. Sam was thrilled at seeing them again and so were we.
From Yosemite we drove to the santa cruz/monterey area where the highlight for sam was undoubtedly the monterey bay aquarium. It really is outstanding and we spent the better part of a day there. We also spent time in santa cruz and carmel and went to a state park to see some giant redwoods. Sam was delighted as we had a gopher take up residence next to our tent and whenever we were eating it would pop up. There were also lots of tree frogs around and sam couldn't believe his luck when one jumped in his shower one morning!
Next it was up to the wine country to camp with my dad and do a little wine tasting. we also met up with my uncle. We stayed at an excellent campsite-complete with petting zoo, pool and playground and dad and amy watched sam for us while we hit the wine trail. M did the tasting while I did the driving. We bbqed with dad everynight and he even did a proper breakfast for us in the morning. Oh the joys of having a motorhome! It was so wonderful to see them and sam adored spending time with them. We were all very sad when we had to say goodbye. They headed up north whie we went down to the bay area.
Took sam to his first baseball game and he had a blast. He was really keen to catch a foul ball but unfortunatey we were sitting in the wrong part of the stadium. Next time we will get tickets behind home plate. He is now a confirmed As fan and was gutted when is baseball cap was stolen out of the rental car. We spent two days playing in SF-dad came down on the first day to go with us to exploratorium. It is a hands on science museum and sam was well and truly in his element. Not sure he understood all the experiments but he had fun doing them. I think we all did. We also go to spend time with my cousin medea and her family. They kindly took us out to dinner and sam fell in love with her boys all over again. Her sons are 15 and 10 and talk about hero worship. Sam was enthralled and spent the whole evening playing with them (we brought lego!) and was gutted when we had to go. I was impressed at how patient max and dylan were with sam, they didn't seem to mind the fact that he was 5. they all got on so well that we adults were able to catch up on everything.
We said goodby to M on father's day as he had to return home, while we went to spend a few days with my aunt and uncle. It was so nice to see them. we had a pool party the first day, my cousin and her 5 year old son came as did a friend of my aunt who had 3 children. We were in the pool all afternoon and you have never heard so much laughter. I think sam drank half the pool between giggles. The children all got on really well, no squabbles or tantrums at all. The next day we went to the Jelly belly factory, where they make jelly belly jelly beans. We did a tour of the factory and then headed off to the shop for lots of free samples. I think that sam had more jelly beans in one morning than he has had in his whole life! His fav were the root beer ones.
we were also able to spend the day with an old school friend and her husband. I hadn't seen her for many years so it was nice to be able to visit in person. Sam loved playing with her cats and dogs, though not sure they felt the same. We visited a ghost town and the local zoo with them, but had to call it a day when temps climbed over 100. I love the heat but it felt like we were baking in an oven. At least it was not humid. We had a wonderful visit with my aunt and uncle and were so sad when we had to go. I hope that we will be able to go back and visit soon.
So now we are back to reality and all that entails. This week is pretty quiet-my main job is to plan the 4th of July session I in charge of for our home ed group. Am distinctly short of ideas-except maybe for a game of softball. Sam thinks we should make a giant paper mache model of the US but I think that is was too ambitious for one session. I will do some posters about the flag, the national anthem, the declaration and so forth but am short on things for the kids to actually do. Off to trawl the internet for inspiration.
Friday, June 02, 2006
sunshine at last
what a glorious day, shame we spent most of it running around doing jobs. We did manage to get back in the afternoon and the garden really came into its own. sam spent ages in the sand box creating a dino excavation site for his playmobil people while I was a very lazy mom and sat and read the paper in the sunshine. Even the cats were out enjoying the nice weather. Marquesa couldn't understand why the birds did not want to be friends with her!
Sam picked out a few lego toys and knex for the plane with money very kindly sent by M's aunt. He has been very good about saving them until the day, though he complained bitterly about it to the tesco's lady and to M's aunt when he phoned to thank her. I have squirrled them into his carry on so hopefully out of site out of mind. One of my overwhelming memories of childhood holidays was the excitement of picking out books and toys for the trip. Mom and I would go to the bookstore on base and I would be allowed to choose a few titles for the trip. Waiting to read them was so hard and once or twice when I read them before the trip I was so disapointed because I then had nothing new for the long drive or plane trip. Sam is equally excited about his books and toys and hopefully they will keep him amused for 11 hours as the movies on board look dire.
We have had a good week, most of our friends from pborough have been over for a visit so we haven't done much formal work. Instead we have both had a ball catching up with friends. In fact sam was so disapointed when I reminded him that no one would be coming over to play today that I had to remind him that we would be seeing lots of friends over the weekend.
M's family is coming for a bbq tomorrow (fingers crossed for nice weather) and we are going to my goddaughter's christening on sunday. There will be lots of children at both events so hopefully he will be so tuckered out that he will have a nice long sleep on the plane!
Sam picked out a few lego toys and knex for the plane with money very kindly sent by M's aunt. He has been very good about saving them until the day, though he complained bitterly about it to the tesco's lady and to M's aunt when he phoned to thank her. I have squirrled them into his carry on so hopefully out of site out of mind. One of my overwhelming memories of childhood holidays was the excitement of picking out books and toys for the trip. Mom and I would go to the bookstore on base and I would be allowed to choose a few titles for the trip. Waiting to read them was so hard and once or twice when I read them before the trip I was so disapointed because I then had nothing new for the long drive or plane trip. Sam is equally excited about his books and toys and hopefully they will keep him amused for 11 hours as the movies on board look dire.
We have had a good week, most of our friends from pborough have been over for a visit so we haven't done much formal work. Instead we have both had a ball catching up with friends. In fact sam was so disapointed when I reminded him that no one would be coming over to play today that I had to remind him that we would be seeing lots of friends over the weekend.
M's family is coming for a bbq tomorrow (fingers crossed for nice weather) and we are going to my goddaughter's christening on sunday. There will be lots of children at both events so hopefully he will be so tuckered out that he will have a nice long sleep on the plane!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
final countdown
T-5 and counting!! not that we are excited about our upcoming holiday at all. last week just flew by in a haze of normals and seeing friends. On friday we went back to pborough to our home ed group and took L and M. Neither of the boys was that keen on the african drumming that was on offer so we had a good walk aroud ferry meadows instead. We then went back to merry's which gave us a chance to see her beautiful new home. the children all had lots of fun and we were all sorry to leave.
The weekend passed in a haze of running errands and sorting out the house. Yesterday we went to get a new gas bbq ( a house warming pressie from the in laws) and the boys spent an enjoyable afternoon putting it together and sorting out the garden. Despite the frequent showers we managed to use it and now sam wants to bbq every night!
It is half term and while lessons haven't stopped completely they have slowed right down. Had some of the boys over day and it was so nice to catch up with everyone. The children spent the day playing jurassic park (whose idea do you think that was then?!) and mucking about in the garden. The house was so empty after they left. We filled the void by walking to Asda to get a few bits that I managed to forget when I ordered the shopping. Sam took frolic in the toy push chair and raced along the sidwalk like a maniac. He has decided that frolic is the only stuffed animal going on our trip as it was getting too tricky to remember who he was taking. Am quite pleased about that as his dragon was originally on the short list and dragon is taller than I am!
We have more friends coming over tomorrow and thursday which is a lovely way to round off the week. We do miss having our friends close by but are grateful that they are willing to come all the way over here to see us.
The weekend passed in a haze of running errands and sorting out the house. Yesterday we went to get a new gas bbq ( a house warming pressie from the in laws) and the boys spent an enjoyable afternoon putting it together and sorting out the garden. Despite the frequent showers we managed to use it and now sam wants to bbq every night!
It is half term and while lessons haven't stopped completely they have slowed right down. Had some of the boys over day and it was so nice to catch up with everyone. The children spent the day playing jurassic park (whose idea do you think that was then?!) and mucking about in the garden. The house was so empty after they left. We filled the void by walking to Asda to get a few bits that I managed to forget when I ordered the shopping. Sam took frolic in the toy push chair and raced along the sidwalk like a maniac. He has decided that frolic is the only stuffed animal going on our trip as it was getting too tricky to remember who he was taking. Am quite pleased about that as his dragon was originally on the short list and dragon is taller than I am!
We have more friends coming over tomorrow and thursday which is a lovely way to round off the week. We do miss having our friends close by but are grateful that they are willing to come all the way over here to see us.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
curious sam..
Went to a free screening of curious george in nottingham yesterday and we both really enjoyed it. We met up with friends and the 4 children were absolutely spellbound, not a peep out of any of them for the whole movie. In fact, I have never heard such a quiet movie theatre(except for giggles and laughter in the right places) considering there must have been about 75 children there. The sound track was great too, we all like jack johnson-he is so very jimmy. He is gettting a lot of airtime at the moment, just hope jimmy does too when Hoot is released over here.
After the movie we hopped on the tram and found a park for our picnic, the children ran around like loons while we mums played catch up. We were lucky with the weather and the heavens didn't open until we were safely on the train home. Nottingham looks like a fun city (yes I know it is the most violent city in the uk but not in the very centre) and worth getting to know. It is only about half and hour by train so we will definately be heading back up there.
Came home to find the phone line was down, which meant, horror of horrors, no internet!! After lots of irate calls to BT the problem was finally sorted today-appears the line was accidently cut by guys working down the road.
Sam's map of the solar system is more or less done, it looks good and he has enjoyed doing it. Will photograph it tomorrow once he has had a chance to add stars and space ships. He is really enjoying our space unit, not so much for the planets but for the probes and space ships. All is knex has now been made into probes and droids and aliens, who seem to be locked in some type of battle for the universe. Me thinks he has seen star wars one to many times!! He is also enjoying latin-mainly I think because two of the characters are a cat and a mouse. He has been saying 'mus exit" all day, which is the last line of one of the stories. He can't get over the fact that the characters in the story actually existed-we must get up to vindolanda this summer and show him the fort and where the family lived. More california project tomorrow-this time looking at the european conquest. last week he had fun building california indian dwellings out of mechano. He is always building something.
The boys gave the lawn its first cut today, sam loved working with M and M was very patient with him. I think that they both enjoyed themselves.
After the movie we hopped on the tram and found a park for our picnic, the children ran around like loons while we mums played catch up. We were lucky with the weather and the heavens didn't open until we were safely on the train home. Nottingham looks like a fun city (yes I know it is the most violent city in the uk but not in the very centre) and worth getting to know. It is only about half and hour by train so we will definately be heading back up there.
Came home to find the phone line was down, which meant, horror of horrors, no internet!! After lots of irate calls to BT the problem was finally sorted today-appears the line was accidently cut by guys working down the road.
Sam's map of the solar system is more or less done, it looks good and he has enjoyed doing it. Will photograph it tomorrow once he has had a chance to add stars and space ships. He is really enjoying our space unit, not so much for the planets but for the probes and space ships. All is knex has now been made into probes and droids and aliens, who seem to be locked in some type of battle for the universe. Me thinks he has seen star wars one to many times!! He is also enjoying latin-mainly I think because two of the characters are a cat and a mouse. He has been saying 'mus exit" all day, which is the last line of one of the stories. He can't get over the fact that the characters in the story actually existed-we must get up to vindolanda this summer and show him the fort and where the family lived. More california project tomorrow-this time looking at the european conquest. last week he had fun building california indian dwellings out of mechano. He is always building something.
The boys gave the lawn its first cut today, sam loved working with M and M was very patient with him. I think that they both enjoyed themselves.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Because of Winn Dixie..
is an excellent family movie. We got it out of the library and really enjoyed it. It has all the right ingredients, cute dog plus other assorted animals, funny bits, sad bits and tug at the heart strings bits. It was originally a children's book so will look for it when we go home.
We had hoped to have friends over today but they were not well so we spent the day doing normals and generally amusing ourselves while avoiding the frequent rain showers. We had lots of fun with the latest young scientist club kit-photos to follow. The raising experiment was a hit as usual and M was mesmerized as he hadn't seen it before. We also got to make slime, though ours seems a bit rubbery rather than gooey. Sam is very eager to get the next kit as it is all about volcanos and he loves making them.
We managed a swim at our new gym yesterday and I am sorry they lied--that pool is not warm! Even sam said it was chilly and he plays in the sprinkler. Once we got splashing around it wasn't too bad but it could do with being about 10 degrees warmer. M is taking sam tomorrow while I get my hair done and he is really excited about it. We hope to go at least once a week, more if we can.
L and M came to play yesterday and the boys spent the whole time playing some complicated monster hunting game. they both had on safari hats and seemed to be hunting the monsters from scooby do. It is amazing how well they get on, it is like they have always known each other. L and I had a nice visit and she brought us a lovely flower for the garden. We are so lucky to have found nice friends so quickly.
Car is all better, only a blown fuse-but I won't even tell you how much they charged us as they work at an outrageous hourly rate. I wouldn't mind so much if the guys doing the work actually got half of that per hour, but I bet they don't. Forget college-sam is going to open his own garage!!
We had hoped to have friends over today but they were not well so we spent the day doing normals and generally amusing ourselves while avoiding the frequent rain showers. We had lots of fun with the latest young scientist club kit-photos to follow. The raising experiment was a hit as usual and M was mesmerized as he hadn't seen it before. We also got to make slime, though ours seems a bit rubbery rather than gooey. Sam is very eager to get the next kit as it is all about volcanos and he loves making them.
We managed a swim at our new gym yesterday and I am sorry they lied--that pool is not warm! Even sam said it was chilly and he plays in the sprinkler. Once we got splashing around it wasn't too bad but it could do with being about 10 degrees warmer. M is taking sam tomorrow while I get my hair done and he is really excited about it. We hope to go at least once a week, more if we can.
L and M came to play yesterday and the boys spent the whole time playing some complicated monster hunting game. they both had on safari hats and seemed to be hunting the monsters from scooby do. It is amazing how well they get on, it is like they have always known each other. L and I had a nice visit and she brought us a lovely flower for the garden. We are so lucky to have found nice friends so quickly.
Car is all better, only a blown fuse-but I won't even tell you how much they charged us as they work at an outrageous hourly rate. I wouldn't mind so much if the guys doing the work actually got half of that per hour, but I bet they don't. Forget college-sam is going to open his own garage!!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Education but not as we planned it..
Sam and I had a nice day planned, normals in the morning, the space centre in the afternoon and then a swim at our new gym. The day didn't quite happen like that as the jeep decided not to work but in the end we had an even nicer day. Sam got a good lesson in mechanics and physics from the two RAC men who came to the house, the first to try and fix the car and the second to tow us to a garage. Sam kept offering helpful advice to both men who took it with a smile. We then did a bit of geography as the garage was in a part of leicster that we only vaguely know. Then some diplomacy as I did my best not to explode when the woman told me that she wasn't sure that they would get a chance to look at it today, let alone fix it. As it turns out the garage is about 1/2 a mile from the Space Centre so we covered off PE on our walk over there. I sort of assumed that being a tuesday morning it would be empty but boy was I wrong. It seemed like every school in leicseter was there. I am sure in my day we only got field trips at the end of term--not in the middle-who said they could be out of school-not fair!!!
We managed to enjoy ourselves, despite the noise and chaos and I my interested was sufficiently peaked that I am going to look into doing an OU course on the planets or the solar system. Sam enjoyed the museum much more than last time we went about a year ago. It is still aimed at older children but having done some planet stuff at home he was much more interested at the museum. I still think that their entrance fees are outrageous when you consider how big the science musem in london is they don't charge a thing. luckily, EO members get a discount.
The Abbey Pumping Station Museum is right next door so we headed over there when we were done at the space centre. It was delightfully empty and we were able to browse in peace.
More PE as we walked to Abbey Park and explored there. It includes the remains of Leicester Abbey where Cardiinal Wolsey died and was buried. There are quite a few remains to seee and we had some interesting discusions about the dissolution, funding for archaeological digs and the layout of churches. I just love the fact that not only does HE allow us the freedom to do this but that he is interested in all these things. His focus changes so quickly too, one minute he is going to build a space craft and the next he wants to know what happened to the monks from the dissolved monastaries.
More lessons in dipolmacy was we walked back to the garage (it was gone 3 by this time) to be told that they still hadn't properly looked at the car and that they would not get round to it until tomorrow. GRRRRRR.. what happened to being nice to your customers. If only our wonderful mechanic wasn't away at the moment. They graciously agreed to give us a lift into the centre of leicester, wheere we explored some more while we waited for M to get off work. The museum at new walk is great and even better it was empty!! Definately worth another visit when we can stay longer. We got a lift home with M and were both shattered.
We had a good day, just not the one we had planned!!!
Have a great time in LV Dad-can't wait to see you guys.
We managed to enjoy ourselves, despite the noise and chaos and I my interested was sufficiently peaked that I am going to look into doing an OU course on the planets or the solar system. Sam enjoyed the museum much more than last time we went about a year ago. It is still aimed at older children but having done some planet stuff at home he was much more interested at the museum. I still think that their entrance fees are outrageous when you consider how big the science musem in london is they don't charge a thing. luckily, EO members get a discount.
The Abbey Pumping Station Museum is right next door so we headed over there when we were done at the space centre. It was delightfully empty and we were able to browse in peace.
More PE as we walked to Abbey Park and explored there. It includes the remains of Leicester Abbey where Cardiinal Wolsey died and was buried. There are quite a few remains to seee and we had some interesting discusions about the dissolution, funding for archaeological digs and the layout of churches. I just love the fact that not only does HE allow us the freedom to do this but that he is interested in all these things. His focus changes so quickly too, one minute he is going to build a space craft and the next he wants to know what happened to the monks from the dissolved monastaries.
More lessons in dipolmacy was we walked back to the garage (it was gone 3 by this time) to be told that they still hadn't properly looked at the car and that they would not get round to it until tomorrow. GRRRRRR.. what happened to being nice to your customers. If only our wonderful mechanic wasn't away at the moment. They graciously agreed to give us a lift into the centre of leicester, wheere we explored some more while we waited for M to get off work. The museum at new walk is great and even better it was empty!! Definately worth another visit when we can stay longer. We got a lift home with M and were both shattered.
We had a good day, just not the one we had planned!!!
Have a great time in LV Dad-can't wait to see you guys.
Friday, May 12, 2006
friends old and new
The last two days has been filled not with boxes, thankfully, but with friends. Yesterday we met up with new friends, L and her son M. M is the same age as sam and they also use sonlight. Sam and M got on like a house on fire, in fact we hardly saw them they were so busy playing. I really enjoyed chatting with L and hope that we will see a lot more of them. They only live the next village over so are nice and close. Sam was delighted to have made a friend close by and I was too.
Today was filled with old friends-Merry and the girls came to play and it was wonderful to see them. They are our first official visitors and it was fun showing them around. Sam and the girls had lots of fun, playing some made up game involving most of his fluffy animals, especially the snakes. We didn't see much of them as they spent most of their time in sam's room or the playroom, which merry and I a chance to catch up. We were both sad when they left, we miss all having all of our old friends close by.
Sam really enjoyed learning about the la brea tar pits today as part of our california project. He spent ages drawing a picture of the pits and various animals getting stuck. Next stop on our california tour is the native population. He finished sinagpore 1A today, though with some protest. I can't seem to make math fun for him, maybe because it isn't one of my favorite subjects. Must try harder though as I don't want him to become mathphobic. The Minimus latin books arrived today which was another excitement. Am very keen to start the programme as I think he will enjoy it, especially as the two main characters are a cat and a mouse. We are going to take it very slowly but hopefully it will be fun. It should help him with his french and his english grammar.
Today was filled with old friends-Merry and the girls came to play and it was wonderful to see them. They are our first official visitors and it was fun showing them around. Sam and the girls had lots of fun, playing some made up game involving most of his fluffy animals, especially the snakes. We didn't see much of them as they spent most of their time in sam's room or the playroom, which merry and I a chance to catch up. We were both sad when they left, we miss all having all of our old friends close by.
Sam really enjoyed learning about the la brea tar pits today as part of our california project. He spent ages drawing a picture of the pits and various animals getting stuck. Next stop on our california tour is the native population. He finished sinagpore 1A today, though with some protest. I can't seem to make math fun for him, maybe because it isn't one of my favorite subjects. Must try harder though as I don't want him to become mathphobic. The Minimus latin books arrived today which was another excitement. Am very keen to start the programme as I think he will enjoy it, especially as the two main characters are a cat and a mouse. We are going to take it very slowly but hopefully it will be fun. It should help him with his french and his english grammar.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Settling in..
slowly we are settling in here and it is starting to feel more like home. Most of the boxes are hidden away in the garage and all but the playroom and office are just about sorted out. There are pictures on the walls and clothes in the cupboards, which is a relief I can tell you. I wore the same pair of jeans for almost a week because I couldn't find anything else to wear.
We are all finding our feet-sam and I have been to our local country park twice and have a playdate tomorrow. M is delighted that his commute is so short and we are all benefitting from the extra family time.
Thank you all for your good moving vibes and your nice comments, it really helped to make things go better. Evenything went as smoothly as these things go, a few minor hiccups but they have all been sorted. Now the boxes are all hidden away you can all come and visit!
We are back on track with normals. Sam has finished explode the code 2 and should finish singapore 1a tomorrow. We are looking at planets and the solar system in science so will probably head over to the space centre at the weekend. We have also started a project on california-and discovered that most of it was underwater in the triassic, jurassic and creteous. tomorrow we are looking at the la brea tar pits and then on to the native american population. There has been lots of imaginative play with his fluffy dinos-I think they were all engaged in a game of hide and seek this morning that invovled using all the sleeping bags. It is so cute the way he talks to them and he says that he is their dad and that he loves them all very much. It is hard to reconcile that side of him with the one who wants to crash into things and generally create chaos.
We should have gone to t-ball tonight but instead had a family run around the park. M pointed out all the birds and butterflies to sam, while he was on a snake hunt, having been informed by a fellow park goer that snakes are often spotted there. We didn't spot any, which was probably a good thing because he would have wanted to take it home.
We are all finding our feet-sam and I have been to our local country park twice and have a playdate tomorrow. M is delighted that his commute is so short and we are all benefitting from the extra family time.
Thank you all for your good moving vibes and your nice comments, it really helped to make things go better. Evenything went as smoothly as these things go, a few minor hiccups but they have all been sorted. Now the boxes are all hidden away you can all come and visit!
We are back on track with normals. Sam has finished explode the code 2 and should finish singapore 1a tomorrow. We are looking at planets and the solar system in science so will probably head over to the space centre at the weekend. We have also started a project on california-and discovered that most of it was underwater in the triassic, jurassic and creteous. tomorrow we are looking at the la brea tar pits and then on to the native american population. There has been lots of imaginative play with his fluffy dinos-I think they were all engaged in a game of hide and seek this morning that invovled using all the sleeping bags. It is so cute the way he talks to them and he says that he is their dad and that he loves them all very much. It is hard to reconcile that side of him with the one who wants to crash into things and generally create chaos.
We should have gone to t-ball tonight but instead had a family run around the park. M pointed out all the birds and butterflies to sam, while he was on a snake hunt, having been informed by a fellow park goer that snakes are often spotted there. We didn't spot any, which was probably a good thing because he would have wanted to take it home.
Friday, May 05, 2006
still here but no broadband!!
we survived the move, all people, fish and cats accounted for. the house feels huge and is still full of boxes. we are running between the two houses at the moment trying to get other one ready for our renter who should move in in the next couple of days.
sam has taken everthing in his stride and is settling in well.
we don't have broadband at the house yet (grrrr!!!!) so am sitting here at the local library-had to get my fix somehow. we should be back on line on tuesday so will update then.
talk to you all soon
sam has taken everthing in his stride and is settling in well.
we don't have broadband at the house yet (grrrr!!!!) so am sitting here at the local library-had to get my fix somehow. we should be back on line on tuesday so will update then.
talk to you all soon
Sunday, April 23, 2006
The final countdown..
has begun. Counting tonight, we only have 4 more nights left in this house. We have spent 10 happy years here, I still can't quite believe that we are going. The next few days are going to be very busy so not sure how much I will be able to post. M will shut down the network here on wed so we won't be up and running again until broadband is installed at the new house (should be friday).
We have had a busy weeek, HE wise we have gotten back on track and continued with the tudors. I think the session on friday went well, though I am not sure who enjoyed the butter making more, the parents or the children! Thank you everyone who helped out, I appreciate it. I hope the candles acutally burn. We are going to save ours for the new house. Not sure how much formal learning is going to go on this week, though I am sure there will be lots of informal learning-lots of opportunities to study physics (fitting thing round corners), language (swear words), geography ( us getting lost looking for the nearest homebase), PE (carrying boxes), diplomacy (mommy trying not to loose it when something goes wrong), archaeology (finding all those things we thought we had lost once the house is clear of furniture), animal science (trying to coax 3 cats into their cat baskets), the list of things to learn is endless, do you think the lea will approve?
We have had a busy weeek, HE wise we have gotten back on track and continued with the tudors. I think the session on friday went well, though I am not sure who enjoyed the butter making more, the parents or the children! Thank you everyone who helped out, I appreciate it. I hope the candles acutally burn. We are going to save ours for the new house. Not sure how much formal learning is going to go on this week, though I am sure there will be lots of informal learning-lots of opportunities to study physics (fitting thing round corners), language (swear words), geography ( us getting lost looking for the nearest homebase), PE (carrying boxes), diplomacy (mommy trying not to loose it when something goes wrong), archaeology (finding all those things we thought we had lost once the house is clear of furniture), animal science (trying to coax 3 cats into their cat baskets), the list of things to learn is endless, do you think the lea will approve?
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