Just wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008!!! We are seeing the new year in quietly with a family movie marathon. M doesn't have to work tomorrow so we are going to try and make it up to midnight. We just finished tomb raider 2 and are now on to one of the star wars epics-not sure which number but it is the one in the snow with luke, leah and han. Provided we are all still awake I think night at the museum is next.
I don't do new years resolutions so I am not going to make a long list of promises here that I know I won't keep. Instead, I am going to do my best to make 2008 a happy and fun year for us. With aims that broad I should have a fighting chance at succeeding.
Apart from a few blips it has been a good year, there have been some losses but we have also gained-a new dog, a new home ed group and lots of new friends. I hope we are able to say the same at the end of 2008 ( all except the new dog thing! Three dogs would be way too many).
However you choose to celebrate tonight have a wonderful time and best wishes for a wonderful 2008!!
Monday, December 31, 2007
puppy cousins
And you thought our dogs were big! My stepsister and niece with dad's afghan hounds, abe and j.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Lego, lego everywhere..
It has been lego mad here in the last few days. Sam has been busy building the bat cave as well as star wars lego and he isn't done yet. I think tomorrow he is tackling the batmobile. It has been a lovely christmas week, lots of lovely presents, lots of family and friends and lots (perhaps too much food and drink).
Christmas and Boxing day were lovely, xmas day it was just the three of us and boxing day M's parents came up. Christmas day started at a fairly decent 7 am with the first wave of presents, followed by breakfast, dog walking and more presents. Thanks to St. Mary and St. Martha the goose was cooked to perfection (or perfection for me) and we all ate so well that we forgot about the xmas pudding! Santa was very good to us all, especially me-I received beautiful jewellery from M as well as nice smellies from sam and the doggies. Sam was blessed with lots of lego and warhammer as well as games and cds. Santa brought M an iphone and he has spent most of this week learning to drive it. The pups received a bumper pack of toys and treats, most of the toys were shredded within a matter of hours!!!
Boxing day M's parents came up and we had a second christmas, this time with beef.It was a very jolly day and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.
We managed to see golden compass and were bitterly disapointed. Having both read the book and listened to the audio book we all felt that the movie did not live up the original story. I think if you saw the movie without having read the book it would probably be a good fantasy adventure but if you have read the book prepare to be disapointed.
This weekend saw the launch of sam's new radio controlled boat (thank you nan and grandad!)It sails really well and both boys had fun, despite having to retrive it from the reeds several times. Unfortunately we were so busy having fun that we didn't get any pics! Next time I promise.
Saturday we went to lunch at sam's friend J's house. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. All the adults had a good natter while the boys played, mainly on J's new Wii. Sam had a go at boxing and he was sweating by the end of it. M had a go too and I am not sure who enjoyed it more. I have a feeling that "I want a Wii" is now going to be a constant refrain in our house now.
Christmas and Boxing day were lovely, xmas day it was just the three of us and boxing day M's parents came up. Christmas day started at a fairly decent 7 am with the first wave of presents, followed by breakfast, dog walking and more presents. Thanks to St. Mary and St. Martha the goose was cooked to perfection (or perfection for me) and we all ate so well that we forgot about the xmas pudding! Santa was very good to us all, especially me-I received beautiful jewellery from M as well as nice smellies from sam and the doggies. Sam was blessed with lots of lego and warhammer as well as games and cds. Santa brought M an iphone and he has spent most of this week learning to drive it. The pups received a bumper pack of toys and treats, most of the toys were shredded within a matter of hours!!!
Boxing day M's parents came up and we had a second christmas, this time with beef.It was a very jolly day and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.
We managed to see golden compass and were bitterly disapointed. Having both read the book and listened to the audio book we all felt that the movie did not live up the original story. I think if you saw the movie without having read the book it would probably be a good fantasy adventure but if you have read the book prepare to be disapointed.
This weekend saw the launch of sam's new radio controlled boat (thank you nan and grandad!)It sails really well and both boys had fun, despite having to retrive it from the reeds several times. Unfortunately we were so busy having fun that we didn't get any pics! Next time I promise.
Saturday we went to lunch at sam's friend J's house. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. All the adults had a good natter while the boys played, mainly on J's new Wii. Sam had a go at boxing and he was sweating by the end of it. M had a go too and I am not sure who enjoyed it more. I have a feeling that "I want a Wii" is now going to be a constant refrain in our house now.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
tuckered out
Miko as taken by daddy on his new iphone. The dogs had a hard day playing and waiting for sam to drop goose from the table.
warhammer!
Sam was pleased to find that santa brought him two warhammer sets. He and M have now assembled them both and no doubt will paint them in the comming days.
One for daddy
Here is daddy opening his present from the dogs. It was a magnifying lamp for painting his warhammer figures.
merry christmas pups!
Santa didn't forget the doggies, here is sam presenting miko with their bumper pack of toys. Unfortunately all of the fluffy toys are now shredded and the squeekers from the squeekie toys are long gone. They had a good time though, playing with everything.
wow!
The theme of the morning was definately lego. Sam was in heaven and will be putting things together for days to come.
Monday, December 24, 2007
It goes there dad
Sam and M putting together lego from Nan. We met Nan and Auntie S on saturday for a pre-xmas lunch. It was lovely to see them.
The boys and girls together for xmas
We met up with the boys for our annual xmas party on friday and we all had a blast. It was lovely to see everyone and catch up on all the news. We couldn't believe that it has been 7 years since we first met at our antenatal class, time really does fly.
The stockings are hung..
well almost! The boy and the dogs have hung their stockings but we grown ups are lagging a bit behind. Apart from picking up the goose and a couple of things that I couldn't find at tesco yesterday we are done. The boys very kindly accompanied me shopping yesterday, we took a divide and conquer attitude-I split the list into 4 and we each took two parts. M and sam did a fantastic job with their half and we got everything done in record time. The store was almost empty when we arrived but by the time we left it was heaving. Today we plan to spend cooking and relaxing and with any luck we will get to our annual xmas movie. We are all keen to see Golden Compass provided daddy isn't kept too late at work. He is supposed to work late but we are hoping that the list will be short and quiet and he can sneak away.
In case I don't get time to blog later hope you all have a wonderful christmas and that santa is good to you all!!!!!!
In case I don't get time to blog later hope you all have a wonderful christmas and that santa is good to you all!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Gap Boy..Again!
Sam has now lost his third tooth, well not so much lost as daddy assisted extraction. He wiggled it to the point of dropping out and when it wouldn't budge he had M pull it out. This all happened at the bowling alley while waiting for the beaver bowling night to begin. He ran off excitedly to show all his friends his new gap. Despite being told that the tooth fairy was extremely busy and may not be able to manage a hot wheel car but may bring a pound instead he was still bitterly disapointed when he found said pound under his pillow. Our first errand of the day was to wilkinson so he could buy a car!
It has been a jam packed week, starting with a bday party on sunday followed by home ed xmas party and beaver bowling on monday, costco yesterday and the movies today. Tomorrow we are doing more baking and then friday we are meeting up with the boys for our annual xmas get together. By the time tuesday finally comes we are going to be shattered.
Today we went to see Enchanted. I have to confess that I was surprised that he wanted to see it as a) it is disney and b) it involves princesses, I think the clip where the prince stabs a bus and the bus driver tells him off was what sold it. We both really enjoyed the movie, though I did have to explain a lot of the references to older movies like sleeping beauty and cinderella. It was really funny and of course, had a happy ending. A thumbs up from both of us.
Am feeling very pleased with myself because for the first time ever all the present are bought, all the cards are sent and most of the food is organised. All we have left to do is decorate and start the food that can be done ahead of time. We have decided to have goose this year for a change and I am looking forward to the challenge. I have vowed not to do it what I did to the turkey last year, ie turn it to dust. This year it will probably go the other way and be under done! At least this year we have rogue and he will help with any leftovers.
It has been a jam packed week, starting with a bday party on sunday followed by home ed xmas party and beaver bowling on monday, costco yesterday and the movies today. Tomorrow we are doing more baking and then friday we are meeting up with the boys for our annual xmas get together. By the time tuesday finally comes we are going to be shattered.
Today we went to see Enchanted. I have to confess that I was surprised that he wanted to see it as a) it is disney and b) it involves princesses, I think the clip where the prince stabs a bus and the bus driver tells him off was what sold it. We both really enjoyed the movie, though I did have to explain a lot of the references to older movies like sleeping beauty and cinderella. It was really funny and of course, had a happy ending. A thumbs up from both of us.
Am feeling very pleased with myself because for the first time ever all the present are bought, all the cards are sent and most of the food is organised. All we have left to do is decorate and start the food that can be done ahead of time. We have decided to have goose this year for a change and I am looking forward to the challenge. I have vowed not to do it what I did to the turkey last year, ie turn it to dust. This year it will probably go the other way and be under done! At least this year we have rogue and he will help with any leftovers.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Getting there...slowly
the only bad thing about xmas shopping on line is the waiting! Everything is now ordered and am just waiting for it all to either be delivered here or to its recipients. I just hope that everything arrives in time and that I have not placed too much faith in the postal service!!
We have had a very snotty week as both sam and I have colds. Yesterday we spent sunuggled on the sofa watching dvds and napping. Today we made it to french but sam's snuffles are getting worse so not sure what the weekend will hold. At least we are getting all our bugs out of the way before xmas, there is nothing worse than feeling under the weather on xmas day.
Not so much formal schooling this week, though we are now up to date on our raddish project and sam has started Singapore Math 3A which is designed for third graders. He is taking it all in his stride and hasn't batted an eyelid at progessing to the thousands column.
We spent last weekend at M's parents to help his mother celebrate her birthday. We had a lovely time and they were gracious enough to not mind that the dogs covered their kitchen floor in mud! It rained all weekend and everytime the dogs came in they were covered in mud. We got to see my sil, bil and my nephews. It was lovely to catch up with them as we hadn't seen them since september. One of the hits of the weekend was watching everyone play on the pedalo that I got from my friend C who has a great website: www.thewoodentoycompany.com. Everyone had fun attempting to stay balanced and all of the boys were great. Will post a few photos once I have downloaded them.
Managed to persuade sam to watch high school musical 2 and surprise, surprise he enjoyed it! I expected lots of protesting as it doesn't involve super heros and saving the world but he really liked it. He went to bed trying to create the perfect musical with our dogs! Not sure how muscial Rogue is but Miko is very chatty! He even asked if we could rent the first high school musical. If only high school had really been like high school musical I would have had a lot more fun, then again maybe not I would have been too concerned about my gpa to let my hair down.
We have had a very snotty week as both sam and I have colds. Yesterday we spent sunuggled on the sofa watching dvds and napping. Today we made it to french but sam's snuffles are getting worse so not sure what the weekend will hold. At least we are getting all our bugs out of the way before xmas, there is nothing worse than feeling under the weather on xmas day.
Not so much formal schooling this week, though we are now up to date on our raddish project and sam has started Singapore Math 3A which is designed for third graders. He is taking it all in his stride and hasn't batted an eyelid at progessing to the thousands column.
We spent last weekend at M's parents to help his mother celebrate her birthday. We had a lovely time and they were gracious enough to not mind that the dogs covered their kitchen floor in mud! It rained all weekend and everytime the dogs came in they were covered in mud. We got to see my sil, bil and my nephews. It was lovely to catch up with them as we hadn't seen them since september. One of the hits of the weekend was watching everyone play on the pedalo that I got from my friend C who has a great website: www.thewoodentoycompany.com. Everyone had fun attempting to stay balanced and all of the boys were great. Will post a few photos once I have downloaded them.
Managed to persuade sam to watch high school musical 2 and surprise, surprise he enjoyed it! I expected lots of protesting as it doesn't involve super heros and saving the world but he really liked it. He went to bed trying to create the perfect musical with our dogs! Not sure how muscial Rogue is but Miko is very chatty! He even asked if we could rent the first high school musical. If only high school had really been like high school musical I would have had a lot more fun, then again maybe not I would have been too concerned about my gpa to let my hair down.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
So what is your penguin called?
Sam's latest obession is Club Penguin,(www.clubpeguin.com) it is a huge craze among his age group and everyone we know seems to be playing. It is a online game, where you are a penguin and you play games to earn coins to decorate your igloo, buy pets called puffles, buy clothes and generally hang out. Sam is completely penguin mad and has spent all his computer time the last few days playing games to earn enough money to upgrade his igloo. Apparently he and his 4 puffles were too crowded so they have now gone upmarket and have a split level igloo. His next purchase is disco flooring! At first I was a little wary of him playing an online community game for fear of who might be lurking out there but it is very safe. He only goes on the ultra safe server where they can only say set phrases and it is heavily moderated. Users are reminded everytime they log in to never give out personal details to anyone. He really enjoys the games and if nothing else it has taught him a little about the value of saving up. While saving up the 4600 coins necessary for the new igloo he had to forgo the temptation of getting yet another puffle! It is nice to see him enjoy a game that does not involve world conquest for a change!
Home ed group on monday was chaotic but fun. Our theme was holiday celebrations and it was one big make and do fest. All the children came away covered in glitter and tissue paper, all except sam who spent most of his time making fimo creations.
Yesterday we had an outing to the botanical gardens, it had been arranged by one of the moms in our group and we did a special christmas activity trail. The children got to investigate the plants and foods that go into making christmas. Sam's fav part, you will be surprise to learn was getting to eat chocolate. We saw a coco plant and the children learned about chocolate production and got to sample some! It was a fun morning out and it gave us a chance to meet some new families.
Today I have had a poorly boy on my hands. I got up extra early to do transcribing work and it wasn't long before he came padding down. He hadn't been down long when he threw up for the first time. He has subsequently spent the rest of the day snuggled either in bed or on the sofa. We watched Miracle on 34th Street to get us into the holiday mood and to take his mind off of being poorly. I hope he perks up tomorrow it, it is not nice seeing him poorly. The dogs were very understanding and spent most of the day snuggled up with him.
The xmas gifts have started arriving thick and fast and I have almost done all the children on my list, if only the grown ups were so easy to buy for! I hope everyone likes what we have chosen, sam has put a lot of thought and care into choosing everything.
Home ed group on monday was chaotic but fun. Our theme was holiday celebrations and it was one big make and do fest. All the children came away covered in glitter and tissue paper, all except sam who spent most of his time making fimo creations.
Yesterday we had an outing to the botanical gardens, it had been arranged by one of the moms in our group and we did a special christmas activity trail. The children got to investigate the plants and foods that go into making christmas. Sam's fav part, you will be surprise to learn was getting to eat chocolate. We saw a coco plant and the children learned about chocolate production and got to sample some! It was a fun morning out and it gave us a chance to meet some new families.
Today I have had a poorly boy on my hands. I got up extra early to do transcribing work and it wasn't long before he came padding down. He hadn't been down long when he threw up for the first time. He has subsequently spent the rest of the day snuggled either in bed or on the sofa. We watched Miracle on 34th Street to get us into the holiday mood and to take his mind off of being poorly. I hope he perks up tomorrow it, it is not nice seeing him poorly. The dogs were very understanding and spent most of the day snuggled up with him.
The xmas gifts have started arriving thick and fast and I have almost done all the children on my list, if only the grown ups were so easy to buy for! I hope everyone likes what we have chosen, sam has put a lot of thought and care into choosing everything.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The first gift of christmas..
no not a silver bell from santa's sleigh but a book for my nephew. I have at last stopped procrastinating and started shopping (very fun but bad for the budget!!) The first fruits of my labors arrived yesterday and the rest should follow shortly. This xmas I have resolved to do as much as possible on line as the older I get the less tolerant I am of crowds. I just can't see the fun of fighting for a parking space, being jostled in the mall then waiting in line to pay. I would much rather shop at home in my jammies with a cup of hot chocolate or glass of wine.
We had a nice thanksgiving last week and were dining on left overs for days, yum! Pumpkin pie for breakfast is a very nice way to start the day.
Last weekend D came to say and I am pleased to report that the sleepover was indeed a sleep over!! Everyone slept! The boys both had fun and I hope that he will come to stay again soon, so does sam who has a warhammer marathon planned.
Schoolwise things are moving along, Sam has almost finished Singapore Math 2B and seems to have grasped all the concepts really well, even if he does resort to using his fingers still for some of the problems. He is really enjoying the on-line math game timez attach at the moment. What better way to learn your times tables than by fighting monsters and ogres. We had a slight panic when it was suggested that the game contained spy-ware but M has checked it all out and assures me it is safe to play and sam is delighted.
We have just started a radish science experiments and are trying to grow radishes three different ways. We have to observer and record them each day and there is also an experiment to do with each lesson. Sam is enjoying it and insists on checking on the seeds several times a day.
We are well into the second SOTW and are about to start the byzantine empire. Sam should realy enjoy it, the byzantines were a blood thirsty lot. It would be nice if we could fit in a trip to istanbul in the next year to show him where it all happened. Istanbul is such a fantastic city with so much to see and do.
The holds have arrived for the climbing wall so looks like this weekend we will be putting it up. Sam is very excited and has all sort of grand plans about spending all his free time in garage trying to conquer the wall. It will definately be a good way for him to expend energy on rainy days. Shame we can't teach the dogs to climb then I wouldn't have to take them out when it is raining!
We had a nice thanksgiving last week and were dining on left overs for days, yum! Pumpkin pie for breakfast is a very nice way to start the day.
Last weekend D came to say and I am pleased to report that the sleepover was indeed a sleep over!! Everyone slept! The boys both had fun and I hope that he will come to stay again soon, so does sam who has a warhammer marathon planned.
Schoolwise things are moving along, Sam has almost finished Singapore Math 2B and seems to have grasped all the concepts really well, even if he does resort to using his fingers still for some of the problems. He is really enjoying the on-line math game timez attach at the moment. What better way to learn your times tables than by fighting monsters and ogres. We had a slight panic when it was suggested that the game contained spy-ware but M has checked it all out and assures me it is safe to play and sam is delighted.
We have just started a radish science experiments and are trying to grow radishes three different ways. We have to observer and record them each day and there is also an experiment to do with each lesson. Sam is enjoying it and insists on checking on the seeds several times a day.
We are well into the second SOTW and are about to start the byzantine empire. Sam should realy enjoy it, the byzantines were a blood thirsty lot. It would be nice if we could fit in a trip to istanbul in the next year to show him where it all happened. Istanbul is such a fantastic city with so much to see and do.
The holds have arrived for the climbing wall so looks like this weekend we will be putting it up. Sam is very excited and has all sort of grand plans about spending all his free time in garage trying to conquer the wall. It will definately be a good way for him to expend energy on rainy days. Shame we can't teach the dogs to climb then I wouldn't have to take them out when it is raining!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, may your day be filled with loved ones, friends and good food!
We have had a nice day here, Sam and I spent the day making pumpkin pie, guduruni and watching clips on history.com and reading about thanksgiving. Sam was really into the cooking and did a good job with the pie and the guduruni.
We also talked about the things we are grateful for, it is nice to take a day out to think about all the people and things that we appreciate. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband and son and fantastic family and friends who are always there when I need them. Thank you all for being so fantastic!
We have had a nice day here, Sam and I spent the day making pumpkin pie, guduruni and watching clips on history.com and reading about thanksgiving. Sam was really into the cooking and did a good job with the pie and the guduruni.
We also talked about the things we are grateful for, it is nice to take a day out to think about all the people and things that we appreciate. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband and son and fantastic family and friends who are always there when I need them. Thank you all for being so fantastic!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Brilliant Birmingham
We had a great family weekend in birmingham this last weekend. I know it sounds like an unlikely place for a weekend get away, not as glamorous as London or Paris but fun all the same. We stayed right in the center in a nice hotel within walking distance of everything. It had fluffy robes a huge bed and a free dvd library (a big hit with sam). We spent the weekend doing the aquarium, thinktank (www.thinktank.ac) and wandering around the bullring (huge shopping mall) and the center in general. We did lots of window shopping especially at the Apple store and Games Workshop and Borders. There was german christmas market, bringing back lots of happy memories for me. It as a very relaxing weekend and as much as I love the pups it was nice not to have to be up at 6 to take them out. I think they enjoyed their weekend at the kennels, this new one has huge paddock for them to run around.
Thinktank was fantastic, it is an interactive science museum that also covers the history of birmingham. The highlight for sam was the workshop we went to on the Lego Mindstorm Robot. We got to program the robot and the workshop leader set us all challenges to complete. M and I were very impressed with what the robot is able to do so much so that we are considering getting one for sam for xmas. Learning how to use it and programme it would be a good challenge for him and it is the sort of thing that he can make more complex as he learns more about programming.
Apart from Home Ed group we have had a quiet week. Our theme this session was autumn/thanksgiving and it was mainly all craft activities. We also had the woman who runs the local hedgehog sanctuary come along to speak to the children. She brought a young hedgehog called theo and the children were enthralled. They were all allowed to touch him and of course sam wanted to take him home to add to our zoo! I think everyone enjoyed the session, we have a nice group of families who come on a regular basis and I think children and adults alike get a lot out of the sessions.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and sam and I will spend the day baking, doing school work and learning about the holiday. M is home in the evening so we will have a big family dinner and I think that we may even give the dogs a thanksgiving platter.
Thinktank was fantastic, it is an interactive science museum that also covers the history of birmingham. The highlight for sam was the workshop we went to on the Lego Mindstorm Robot. We got to program the robot and the workshop leader set us all challenges to complete. M and I were very impressed with what the robot is able to do so much so that we are considering getting one for sam for xmas. Learning how to use it and programme it would be a good challenge for him and it is the sort of thing that he can make more complex as he learns more about programming.
Apart from Home Ed group we have had a quiet week. Our theme this session was autumn/thanksgiving and it was mainly all craft activities. We also had the woman who runs the local hedgehog sanctuary come along to speak to the children. She brought a young hedgehog called theo and the children were enthralled. They were all allowed to touch him and of course sam wanted to take him home to add to our zoo! I think everyone enjoyed the session, we have a nice group of families who come on a regular basis and I think children and adults alike get a lot out of the sessions.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and sam and I will spend the day baking, doing school work and learning about the holiday. M is home in the evening so we will have a big family dinner and I think that we may even give the dogs a thanksgiving platter.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The birthday boy
Today is Rogue's first birthday! He is certainly an interesting dog, always up to something and always making us laugh.
Sam's bionicle army
This is part of sam's collection of lego bionicles. He has changed and adapted most of them from their original incarnation.
Fun in the sun
Here are the all the boys-and girls! This is the first time we have been all together since last christmas and it was great to catch up with everyone.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Battlestations everyone!
The playroom (hence forth refered to as the games room) now looks like a ready room from the Imperial War Museum. Set up on two wallpaper tables are the two boards that make up battlefield for warhammer. The boys have started to construct a battle field on the boards, complete with hills, wreckage and water features. It is looking very cool and sam is dying to play a game on the board. I think it will be a continual work in progress as there will always be something to add or change. It is nice that we have finally found a use for the games room, it had become a bit of a dumping ground. I think between the climbing wall that is under construction and the games room I am going to have the middle floor to myself a lot in the future! Sam loves going to daddy's gym and gets most indignant when Matthew works out without him. Today sam went down to do pull ups and spar with daddy. Talk about a personalised PE lesson and all without having to endure communal changing rooms. Communal changing rooms was what I hated most about PE in school, especially once I hit high school, thank goodness I only had to do one semester of PE.
Life has been flowing along here, a nice mix of school work, friends and family. Schoolwise we are pretty much back on track after our long half term. Next week we start growing radishes as part of a month long science project. I just hope they fare better than most of our science experiments which can sometimes be less than spectacular. Sam is enjoying drawing and writing at the moment which makes a nice change. His handwriting is really coming on and even his spelling is improving. I think that the daily spelling tests are helping not so much because they are teaching him to spell specific words but rather to get him used to the idea of sounding something out to spell it and the different letter families. Our read aloud at the moment is Strawberry Girl, which is set in rural Florida in 1900 and all the characters speak in the vernacular. Sam thinks it is highly amusing and enjoys copying the words and accents. Things are now 'purity' rather than 'pretty' and so on. He sounds very southern at times, my nana and poppa would be proud of him.
M's parents came up at the weekend and we had a nice visit. We had a special birthday dinner for my mil as the actual day falls while they are away on holiday. It was lovely to see them and to catch up. Sam enjoyed playing lego with them and then after dinner all the boys had a game of warhammer, surprise, surprise! Sam won thought I am not sure that the rules were stictly adhered to on his part.
Sunday saw us venture into the city centre to go to games workshop. As part of his hobby badge for beavers he has to go in and play 4 times. I think in future we will try to go in on a weekday afternoon, it was just far too busy. They joined three tables to make up one game and it was so big that sam only got to fire once in a 90 minute game. Most of the players were pretty fed up by the end of the game. The city centre was just as packed as games workshop, Christmas shopping must have begun. I think I will be doing most of mine on line, I don't function well in crowds and I hate waiting in line. Think I am turning into a grumpy old lady as I approach my big birthday.
Life has been flowing along here, a nice mix of school work, friends and family. Schoolwise we are pretty much back on track after our long half term. Next week we start growing radishes as part of a month long science project. I just hope they fare better than most of our science experiments which can sometimes be less than spectacular. Sam is enjoying drawing and writing at the moment which makes a nice change. His handwriting is really coming on and even his spelling is improving. I think that the daily spelling tests are helping not so much because they are teaching him to spell specific words but rather to get him used to the idea of sounding something out to spell it and the different letter families. Our read aloud at the moment is Strawberry Girl, which is set in rural Florida in 1900 and all the characters speak in the vernacular. Sam thinks it is highly amusing and enjoys copying the words and accents. Things are now 'purity' rather than 'pretty' and so on. He sounds very southern at times, my nana and poppa would be proud of him.
M's parents came up at the weekend and we had a nice visit. We had a special birthday dinner for my mil as the actual day falls while they are away on holiday. It was lovely to see them and to catch up. Sam enjoyed playing lego with them and then after dinner all the boys had a game of warhammer, surprise, surprise! Sam won thought I am not sure that the rules were stictly adhered to on his part.
Sunday saw us venture into the city centre to go to games workshop. As part of his hobby badge for beavers he has to go in and play 4 times. I think in future we will try to go in on a weekday afternoon, it was just far too busy. They joined three tables to make up one game and it was so big that sam only got to fire once in a 90 minute game. Most of the players were pretty fed up by the end of the game. The city centre was just as packed as games workshop, Christmas shopping must have begun. I think I will be doing most of mine on line, I don't function well in crowds and I hate waiting in line. Think I am turning into a grumpy old lady as I approach my big birthday.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
A very multicultural week
We have had a very mutlicultural week here and it is only tuesday! It started last week with Halloween, complete with American treats and decorations (thank you auntie p!), then on to french on friday and rounded off with guy fawkes day and diwali at home ed group yesterday. We had activities for both guy fawkes and diwali at home ed group yesterday, not sure how well they went together, but the children seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully learned a little about each holiday. It was a complete glitter session. My hands are still blue from all the glitter glue on sam's rocket. The fizzy rockets were a mixed bag, the type of lid on the film cannister seems to determine whether the rocket will launch or not, unfortunately we didn't discover that until halfway through the launching process. Oh well, we will know for next time.
Sam is now working on two badges for beavers, the Hobby badge and the Animal friend badge. Three guesses as to the hobby he has chosen-that's right warhammer! One of the things he has to do is to play the game 4 times at games workshop. He and I went on sunday and he was so excited. It was the biggest game he has played, there were about 5 on each side. He held is own really well and was by far the most blood thirsty of all the boys despite being the youngest. He will have to do a little presentation about warhammer to his troop which shouldn't be a problem as he can talk about it for hours! The trick will be to get him to order his thoughts and keep it brief. He is taking care of Orlando for his Animal friend badge and is petitioning to be allowed to take him in when he does his talk. Somehow I don't think that Orlando would enjoy it, especially as monday is his food day.
Sam is now working on two badges for beavers, the Hobby badge and the Animal friend badge. Three guesses as to the hobby he has chosen-that's right warhammer! One of the things he has to do is to play the game 4 times at games workshop. He and I went on sunday and he was so excited. It was the biggest game he has played, there were about 5 on each side. He held is own really well and was by far the most blood thirsty of all the boys despite being the youngest. He will have to do a little presentation about warhammer to his troop which shouldn't be a problem as he can talk about it for hours! The trick will be to get him to order his thoughts and keep it brief. He is taking care of Orlando for his Animal friend badge and is petitioning to be allowed to take him in when he does his talk. Somehow I don't think that Orlando would enjoy it, especially as monday is his food day.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I am not going to even try
to do a proper catch up, it would bore you all to death. We have had a good few weeks, the highlights were without a doubt my aunt and uncle visiting and seeing Michael Palin. My aunt and uncle had been in Ireland for two weeks and stopped in to see us on their way home to florida. Despite a shaking start-a bad trip up the M1 and getting lost in leicester the visit went well and it was wonderful to see them. We hadn't seen them for several years, so it was a good chance for Sam to get to know them. We didn't do a lot of sightseeing as they were here for such a short time but we did make it up to bradgate for a nice walk on a perfect autumn day. Their visit was all to fleeting and it was sad to say goodbye when they left. Hopefully we won't have such a long gap before seeing them again.
The other highlight of our past few weeks was seeing Michael Palin. Sad person that I am I made us get there mega early and as a result we were about 6th in line. The boys went out wandering and shopping while I held our place in line. Surprisingly they ended up at Dominoes and Gameswork shop! The girls in front of me in line were positively giddy, especially as the witching hour approached. They were quite funny really, you would have thought they were waiting in line to see a popstar. When we were finally in front of the great man we didn't know what to say! I made some inane comments about enjoying his programmes and how pleased we were that he came to leicester. We only saw him for a few brief minutes but it was worth it and I think sam was as excited as we were.
The rest of our time has been spent doing school work, playing with friends and having fun at home ed group. The last session was lots of fun, it was essentially a horrible science and awful art session and we made slime, flubber, snot and quick sand. Don't think that we will be able to top that much mess and gruesomeness at the next session!
The other highlight of our past few weeks was seeing Michael Palin. Sad person that I am I made us get there mega early and as a result we were about 6th in line. The boys went out wandering and shopping while I held our place in line. Surprisingly they ended up at Dominoes and Gameswork shop! The girls in front of me in line were positively giddy, especially as the witching hour approached. They were quite funny really, you would have thought they were waiting in line to see a popstar. When we were finally in front of the great man we didn't know what to say! I made some inane comments about enjoying his programmes and how pleased we were that he came to leicester. We only saw him for a few brief minutes but it was worth it and I think sam was as excited as we were.
The rest of our time has been spent doing school work, playing with friends and having fun at home ed group. The last session was lots of fun, it was essentially a horrible science and awful art session and we made slime, flubber, snot and quick sand. Don't think that we will be able to top that much mess and gruesomeness at the next session!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
My aunt and uncle and sam
This weekend my aunt and uncle from Florida dropped by for a visit. They were on their way home from Ireland. It wa wonderful to see them and sam was delighted with their company. We took them up to Bradgate to enjoy the Fall sunshine.
Sam's homemade starfury from babylon 5
Our current family obession in Babylon 5 ( thank you C for lending us the dvds!) and this is a copy of a starfury. Sam made it from his Star Wars B-Wing fighter.
Michael Palin signing our book
Last friday we got up early and waited two hours in line to meet Michael Palin. I think sam was just as excited as we were. Managed to engage him in a bit of small talk before being sheparded off.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Grace Dieu Priory ruins
We went with V & I to visit these very spooky ruins . They are of a medieval nunnery that is supposed to be haunted.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Of spots and beavers..
It has been a funny week, since last I wrote sam developed a mysterious rash which we suspected was chicken pox but we still aren't sure. He had a very mild case of chicken pox a couple of years ago and these spots were similar, he however, did not feel ill at all. He was his bright bubbly self and didn't even attempt to scratch the spots. As we weren't sure what they were we erred on the side of caution and spent the second half of the week and weekend in seclusion. I felt bad keeping him in but we didn't want to pass on whatever he had. So the end of the week was filled with lots of at home and dog walking time.
M's parents came up on saturday to help us with the backyard. M and his dad used some of the railway sleepers to create new beds. It looks fantastic, I will have to post a photo (just ignore the poor state of the grass-thank you dogs and boys!) They also put in my new rotary clothes line, you know you have a quiet life when you get excited about a new clothes line. It is fantstic, the dogs can't run through the sheets anymore like they could when the clothes line stretched across the backyard. We had a nice visit with M's parents-thank you for your help and thank you for coming up.
Sam was on tenderhooks all sunday-desparate for M to give him the all clear for monday so he could go to home ed group and beavers. It wasn't looking good at bedtime but by monday am the spots had dried up sufficiently so that M decreed that it was safe for us to go out. We had a ball at home ed group-C organised all the experiments (theme-the body) which were fantastic. V's art projects were spot on and sam was so engrossed in making a skeleton that he completely missed cookie time. By the time he got to the kitchen all the cookies were gone, luckily C saved the day by finding some bourbon biscuits in her bag. Thank you C!
The highlight of the day for Sam was beavers-he was invested into the colony and received his necker. I will post a photo tomorrow, he looked so grown up and serious receiving it. He is very keen to start earning badges so had me email his troop leader today to ask how he gets started. He wants to start with the Hobby Badge-doing it on warhammer naturally and then the animal care badge-where do you suppose he will find an animal to look after??? I reckon he can easily fulfill the requirements for the badges.
M's parents came up on saturday to help us with the backyard. M and his dad used some of the railway sleepers to create new beds. It looks fantastic, I will have to post a photo (just ignore the poor state of the grass-thank you dogs and boys!) They also put in my new rotary clothes line, you know you have a quiet life when you get excited about a new clothes line. It is fantstic, the dogs can't run through the sheets anymore like they could when the clothes line stretched across the backyard. We had a nice visit with M's parents-thank you for your help and thank you for coming up.
Sam was on tenderhooks all sunday-desparate for M to give him the all clear for monday so he could go to home ed group and beavers. It wasn't looking good at bedtime but by monday am the spots had dried up sufficiently so that M decreed that it was safe for us to go out. We had a ball at home ed group-C organised all the experiments (theme-the body) which were fantastic. V's art projects were spot on and sam was so engrossed in making a skeleton that he completely missed cookie time. By the time he got to the kitchen all the cookies were gone, luckily C saved the day by finding some bourbon biscuits in her bag. Thank you C!
The highlight of the day for Sam was beavers-he was invested into the colony and received his necker. I will post a photo tomorrow, he looked so grown up and serious receiving it. He is very keen to start earning badges so had me email his troop leader today to ask how he gets started. He wants to start with the Hobby Badge-doing it on warhammer naturally and then the animal care badge-where do you suppose he will find an animal to look after??? I reckon he can easily fulfill the requirements for the badges.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Still here..
haven't run off to the tropics or given up blogging honest. They days just seem to have flown by lately and I am too brain dead by the end of the day to blog. I am also doing a lot of transcribing work and seem to spend my evenings typing up somone else's words, leaving little time to type my own.
Things here are settling into a new sort of routine based on M's new schedule. Some weeks he is home more in the day than he was previously and we are all enjoying spending more time together. He and Sam have started doing science experiments on friday mornings which sam is loving. The week before last they got out M's microscope and looked at plant cells and did a few experiments around them. They didn't do anything last week as were at Legoland.
Legoland was a fun but soggy day. Sam had been on a high for the week prior to our visit and kept an almost hourly countdown! We set off at the crack of dawn and actually arrived before they opened. It was more crowded than we expected but we didn't really have to wait at any of the rides. Sam went on his first grown up roller coaster and he and I screamed the whole ride! He said that he enjoyed it but didn't want to do it again until next year. I think his fav ride was driving school and he managed to drive over a roundabout and run a few lights-despite all this they gave him a drivers license! We managed to get through all the rides that he wanted to do before the heavens opened. We then headed for the main shop so that he could spend the money that was burning a hole in his pocket. He was very grown up and spend a long time considering just how to spend his money. In the end he bought some batman lego (in the sale) and an evil bionicle. We then lunched in the car and headed home. He had the bionicle put together almost before we left the car park! All in all it was a good day and sam is already planning our trip next year. This time we have vowed to go when it isn't raining as we seem fated to only see legoland through a haze of drizzle.
Sam's friend D came for a sleepover weekend before last and the two boys had a ball, they didn't sleep but they had a ball. From about 4am they openned our door about every half an hour to see if we were awake. We were but there was no way we were letting them know that. D was so shattered that he was asleep 10 minutes after his parents picked him up. D was a pleasure to have as a guest and we hope that he will want to come and stay again.
Schoolwise things are ticking along. Sam is enjoying learning cursive and has even started leaving me little notes. We got a letts math workbook today and he was so excited by the wizards and goblins in it that the actually asked to do a few pages on his own!
Things here are settling into a new sort of routine based on M's new schedule. Some weeks he is home more in the day than he was previously and we are all enjoying spending more time together. He and Sam have started doing science experiments on friday mornings which sam is loving. The week before last they got out M's microscope and looked at plant cells and did a few experiments around them. They didn't do anything last week as were at Legoland.
Legoland was a fun but soggy day. Sam had been on a high for the week prior to our visit and kept an almost hourly countdown! We set off at the crack of dawn and actually arrived before they opened. It was more crowded than we expected but we didn't really have to wait at any of the rides. Sam went on his first grown up roller coaster and he and I screamed the whole ride! He said that he enjoyed it but didn't want to do it again until next year. I think his fav ride was driving school and he managed to drive over a roundabout and run a few lights-despite all this they gave him a drivers license! We managed to get through all the rides that he wanted to do before the heavens opened. We then headed for the main shop so that he could spend the money that was burning a hole in his pocket. He was very grown up and spend a long time considering just how to spend his money. In the end he bought some batman lego (in the sale) and an evil bionicle. We then lunched in the car and headed home. He had the bionicle put together almost before we left the car park! All in all it was a good day and sam is already planning our trip next year. This time we have vowed to go when it isn't raining as we seem fated to only see legoland through a haze of drizzle.
Sam's friend D came for a sleepover weekend before last and the two boys had a ball, they didn't sleep but they had a ball. From about 4am they openned our door about every half an hour to see if we were awake. We were but there was no way we were letting them know that. D was so shattered that he was asleep 10 minutes after his parents picked him up. D was a pleasure to have as a guest and we hope that he will want to come and stay again.
Schoolwise things are ticking along. Sam is enjoying learning cursive and has even started leaving me little notes. We got a letts math workbook today and he was so excited by the wizards and goblins in it that the actually asked to do a few pages on his own!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
I now know what little boys remind me of..
puppie! It came to me the other day as I watched sam and his pals rough housing. They were a bundle of arms and legs rolling everywhere, not unlike a litter of puppies. They seem to connect by rough housing and seem incapable of playing for very long before it lapses into rough and tumble-just like puppies! Hopefully unlike dogs he will grow out of it as he gets older. I don't think that I can cope with a bunch of 15 year old rough housing in my living room. I am sure that I don't remember being like this when I was a little girl! D is coming to stay on friday night and Sam assures me that they are going to spend their time playing lego and rough housing!
Last weekend was certainly one to remember-sam went on his first sleep over. His friend A invited him to come for the weekend so that they could watch the jousting at lincoln castle. Sam lept at the invitation and spent all week in a state of great excitment. He was litterally counting down the days. When saturday finally arrived, the first words out of his mouth at 6am were "Is it time to go to A's yet?" I was worried that he would be aprehensive or nervous but not a bit. I gave him my mobile and told him that he could call at any time. I expected lots of calls-in fact, he only called once! I had to call him to get a good night kiss down the phone. I think he had a good time and A's parents seem to emerged from the experience okay and are still speaking to us! I only wish that we could return the visit and have A to stay but sadly he is allergic to dogs so can't. M and I have a lovely time-we went into the city centre and a leisurely lunch followed by a spot of window shopping. We then chilled for the rest of the evening and had a lazy sunday morning complete with a trip to starbucks. It gave us a chance to recharge our batteries and remember that we are a couple and not just parents. So a huge thank you to M and R for having sam-we owe you big time!
This week has been quiet so far-lots of school work and lots of dog walking. Beavers was monday and the theme was chocolate-sam came home covered in it and explained that they had spent the session dipping various foods into melted chocolate. It will come as no surprise that he was higher than a kite and didn't drop off to sleep until after 9! He should be invested in a couple of weeks-will post pics of him in is uniform. He looks very cute in it-thank you P for passing it on.
Last weekend was certainly one to remember-sam went on his first sleep over. His friend A invited him to come for the weekend so that they could watch the jousting at lincoln castle. Sam lept at the invitation and spent all week in a state of great excitment. He was litterally counting down the days. When saturday finally arrived, the first words out of his mouth at 6am were "Is it time to go to A's yet?" I was worried that he would be aprehensive or nervous but not a bit. I gave him my mobile and told him that he could call at any time. I expected lots of calls-in fact, he only called once! I had to call him to get a good night kiss down the phone. I think he had a good time and A's parents seem to emerged from the experience okay and are still speaking to us! I only wish that we could return the visit and have A to stay but sadly he is allergic to dogs so can't. M and I have a lovely time-we went into the city centre and a leisurely lunch followed by a spot of window shopping. We then chilled for the rest of the evening and had a lazy sunday morning complete with a trip to starbucks. It gave us a chance to recharge our batteries and remember that we are a couple and not just parents. So a huge thank you to M and R for having sam-we owe you big time!
This week has been quiet so far-lots of school work and lots of dog walking. Beavers was monday and the theme was chocolate-sam came home covered in it and explained that they had spent the session dipping various foods into melted chocolate. It will come as no surprise that he was higher than a kite and didn't drop off to sleep until after 9! He should be invested in a couple of weeks-will post pics of him in is uniform. He looks very cute in it-thank you P for passing it on.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
One of the things that I enjoy most about HE
is the flexiblity and the freedom it gives us. Last week for example was a pretty intense week of formal work. We sat down everyday and worked hard. We have started using a fantstic spelling book and we now do a spelling test a day. The book is called Sequential Spelling and it is great. We have started with the 'in' family and it is building from there. He has done very well, especially since he is not a keen writer. He has also started to learn cursive or joined up writing as he calls it. He is very proud of his new writing skills so maybe that will enourage him to write a bit more on his own. Anyway. last week was a pretty intense week and this week has been just the opposite. Monday was the first home ed group of the term and we spent the morning getting ready. The theme was beaches and I managed to find lots of cool experiments about currents, wave action and sand creation. At group he was very good at setting everything up and did most of the experiments and art activities. He also did lot of running around but that is all part of the experience.
Yesterday he got a first hand lesson in engineering, math and reading when he helped M to put together his new multi gym. He was in charge of ensuring M had the right parts which entailed reading packets, measuring bolts and counting out washers. He did a good job helping and is now very eager to use the machine. I shouldn't think that he will be able to lift the bar empty let alone with a few kilos on it!
Today was back to more formal work-we have now started science 3. We have started off with taxonomy so have spent most of the day trying to classify things. He seemed to grasp the concept quite easily-remembering what everything is is going to be a little harder! I think we will make a big chart of the classification of his fav plants and animals.
Yesterday he got a first hand lesson in engineering, math and reading when he helped M to put together his new multi gym. He was in charge of ensuring M had the right parts which entailed reading packets, measuring bolts and counting out washers. He did a good job helping and is now very eager to use the machine. I shouldn't think that he will be able to lift the bar empty let alone with a few kilos on it!
Today was back to more formal work-we have now started science 3. We have started off with taxonomy so have spent most of the day trying to classify things. He seemed to grasp the concept quite easily-remembering what everything is is going to be a little harder! I think we will make a big chart of the classification of his fav plants and animals.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Loves from Clarissa
This is just a part of clarissa, the burmese python-she will probably reach about 6m by the time she is done growing. Sam was estatic because she gave him a kiss. He insists that she remembers him from his 5th birthday party!
Waiting patiently
Sam and B eagerly awaiting a snake to hold. B had a repitle man come to his party and sam was delighted to discover that it was the same man who had come to his two years ago. He lost no time in telling Mitch (the repitle man) all about Orlando and M's plans to get a royal python!
Three Amigos
Sam and his cousins B & J at B's 6th birthday party. They ran around like loons before the party started hitting all the grown ups with balloons. I think that grandad and uncle p bore the brunt of the attacks.
Orlando's new palace
Orlando in his new home, as given to us by a neighbor. He is so much more active since moving in and spends all day going up and down the levels.
Chillin on friday afternoon
The fab swing in the new playground-just right for chillin' on a friday afternoon.
Just press here
This is a life sized version of the Bop-it game. We discovered it in the new playground at Abbey Park. Sam had tons on fun and managed tc complete level 5 twice. I just hope that the game and indeed the playground manage to survive the wet weather and the grafetti artists.
Monday, September 03, 2007
New month, new beginnings
Happy September everyone. I have always loved this time of year, the crisp smell of the morning air, the bright autumn sunshine and the start of the academic year-packed with excitment not to mention new books, new clothes, new school supplies and new friends. Both of the men of the house have had an exciting start to the month. M started his new consultant post today and I am so proud of him and pleased for him. He has worked long and hard to get to this point and deserves his success.
The little man in my life also started something new today-Beavers. He has been so excited all day, especially after the arrival of a parcel from his friend P containing his old uniform. Sam was over the moon as he thinks the world of P and anything worn by P is automatically cool. I stayed with Sam for the whole hour, at his request but to be honest he didn't need me. The theme tonight was games and he had a blast. The boys are split into lodges and he quickly made friends with all the boys in his lodge. He is currently in red lodge, though this may change in a few weeks when some of the boys move up into cubs. he was full of beans when he came out and couldn't wait to tell M all about it when we got home.
The little man in my life also started something new today-Beavers. He has been so excited all day, especially after the arrival of a parcel from his friend P containing his old uniform. Sam was over the moon as he thinks the world of P and anything worn by P is automatically cool. I stayed with Sam for the whole hour, at his request but to be honest he didn't need me. The theme tonight was games and he had a blast. The boys are split into lodges and he quickly made friends with all the boys in his lodge. He is currently in red lodge, though this may change in a few weeks when some of the boys move up into cubs. he was full of beans when he came out and couldn't wait to tell M all about it when we got home.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Battered and bruised but smiling.
We had a great bank holiday weekend but we all have battle scars! I was attacked by bookshelf and hurt my little toe again, M hugged a paving stone a little too tightly and Rogue decided to nibble on him. Sam was sick in the middle of the night thanks to scoffing too many sausage rolls before dinner. In all seriousness it was nice spending the weekend at my in laws and M was able to help his dad lay the new patio. Sam, the dogs and I weren't so much help but at least we didn't walk on the wet cement! Sam enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and took great delight in singing happy birthday to my fil at every possible opportunity-well it was his birthday afterall. Thank you Nana and Grandad for a fanastic weekend!!!!
We had a good start to the week today-we managed to get orlando a new tank for free. On our walk this morning we noticed someone had put a sign in their window advertising a glass snake tank that they were giving away for free. We called them when we got home and picked it up shortly thereafter. It is a lovely big tank, just right for our growing young snake. We were going to buy him a new one but have now won't need to. Maybe it is a cosmic payback for all the things I have given away on freecycle.
Schoolwise we have almost finished up Science 2, I am trying to get it done in the next week so that we can start all of our new subjects at the same time. I indulged in lots of books from amazon to go with story of the world v.2 and am itching to get started. We wil be doing from the fall of the roman empire down through the middle ages. On a positive note, he is a bit more enthusiastic about math now we have had a long break so hopefully that bodes well for the next few months. He is actually excited about all the children going back to school as it means all of his activites start again. We are going to have a busy week with tennis, swimming, beavers, home ed gym class and french and not forgetting warhammer sessions on sundays! Sam should be very fit by the end of term but I will probably be worn out with all the driving.
We had a good start to the week today-we managed to get orlando a new tank for free. On our walk this morning we noticed someone had put a sign in their window advertising a glass snake tank that they were giving away for free. We called them when we got home and picked it up shortly thereafter. It is a lovely big tank, just right for our growing young snake. We were going to buy him a new one but have now won't need to. Maybe it is a cosmic payback for all the things I have given away on freecycle.
Schoolwise we have almost finished up Science 2, I am trying to get it done in the next week so that we can start all of our new subjects at the same time. I indulged in lots of books from amazon to go with story of the world v.2 and am itching to get started. We wil be doing from the fall of the roman empire down through the middle ages. On a positive note, he is a bit more enthusiastic about math now we have had a long break so hopefully that bodes well for the next few months. He is actually excited about all the children going back to school as it means all of his activites start again. We are going to have a busy week with tennis, swimming, beavers, home ed gym class and french and not forgetting warhammer sessions on sundays! Sam should be very fit by the end of term but I will probably be worn out with all the driving.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Sunny day..
at last!! Don't mean to be weather lady here but this afternoon the sun came out for the first time in ages. To celebrate the sunshine sam and the dogs and I took ourselves out on a walk and ended up in one of the local parks. Sam instantly made 2 new best friends and had a ball playing with them. A fourth little boy whom we already knew showed up with his dad and the four boys charged around like mad. It was one of the first times that that has happened, ususally the park is either empty or full of older children. Considering that none of the boys (except sam and J) knew each other they all played really well and shared the kite and helicopter toy that two of the boys had. The dogs took great delight in pulling me across the park while they chased the kite. Rogue especially was determined to prove that he could jump high enough to catch it and I have the pulled arms to prove it. We could have stayed there all afternoon but after a while Rogue grew increasingly frustrated that he couldn't catch the kite and wanted to be on the move again.
It has been a busy week, we did school work on monday, followed by a play session with V & I yesterday that also encompased a trip into the city center for a historic walk around castle park. It was part of the Castle Park Festival and was billed as walk and talk about the Smashing Saxons and Nasty Normans. Given the title we though that it was going to be a horrible history style walk but alas it wasn't. It was a great walk, the guide was interesting and very knowledgeable but he did not do it a la Terry Deary. C & D met us there and it was nice to see them. I think all the boys enjoyed the talk but sam was disapointed that it was not more gruesome!! We ended up at jewry wall museum where the boys played at being archaeologists and created mosaic pictures. All in all it was a nice afternoon out but not quite as advertised.
Things are a bit stop start with formal school work, we are working on an every other day basis this week! Monday we did tons of formal stuff and tuesday too and even managed to fit in the field trip. Today we concentrated on economics (sam counting out his money to buy lego), art (painting warhammer) and PE a long walk followed by working out with daddy in the new garage gym. You can also add to that social skills as he had long chats with all the shop assistants we encountered, especially the guys in games workshop. They were very impressed that he took his space marines on vacation to paint them.
Tomorrow we are having another formal session in the morning followed by a field trip in the afternoon in search of grandad's fav sausages.
He finished the Big Wild Read this week and seems a bit underwhelmed by the scheme this year. I don't think the stickers are so appealing anymore and I don't think this year's theme was very exciting. Being 'green' is important but sam enjoyed it when it was about pirates and space.
It has been a busy week, we did school work on monday, followed by a play session with V & I yesterday that also encompased a trip into the city center for a historic walk around castle park. It was part of the Castle Park Festival and was billed as walk and talk about the Smashing Saxons and Nasty Normans. Given the title we though that it was going to be a horrible history style walk but alas it wasn't. It was a great walk, the guide was interesting and very knowledgeable but he did not do it a la Terry Deary. C & D met us there and it was nice to see them. I think all the boys enjoyed the talk but sam was disapointed that it was not more gruesome!! We ended up at jewry wall museum where the boys played at being archaeologists and created mosaic pictures. All in all it was a nice afternoon out but not quite as advertised.
Things are a bit stop start with formal school work, we are working on an every other day basis this week! Monday we did tons of formal stuff and tuesday too and even managed to fit in the field trip. Today we concentrated on economics (sam counting out his money to buy lego), art (painting warhammer) and PE a long walk followed by working out with daddy in the new garage gym. You can also add to that social skills as he had long chats with all the shop assistants we encountered, especially the guys in games workshop. They were very impressed that he took his space marines on vacation to paint them.
Tomorrow we are having another formal session in the morning followed by a field trip in the afternoon in search of grandad's fav sausages.
He finished the Big Wild Read this week and seems a bit underwhelmed by the scheme this year. I don't think the stickers are so appealing anymore and I don't think this year's theme was very exciting. Being 'green' is important but sam enjoyed it when it was about pirates and space.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
A week not quite as we planned..
This week was supposed to be a back to back social whirl, seeing friends just about everyday, however things did not go quite as expected. The wiper motor on M's car died this week and it has spent all week at the dealership waiting for the new part. This has rendered us carless so we had to cancel our meet ups. We did manage to see my sil and nephews. We hadn't seen them since easter and it was lovely to catch up. The boys all played really nicely and everyone, including the two grown ups were shattered by the time we left to come home. My nephew B is really looking forward to his upcoming birthday party as he is going to have the same reptile guy that sam had two years ago. Both Sam and B are keen to see if the boa, Clarissa has grown any. At sam's party she was able to fit comfortably across the laps of about 20 children!
C & D came for the day on thursday and while the boys played C gave me another patchwork lesson. I have finished my square now all I have to do is back it and unpick the initial stitches. I have really enjoyed doing it and hope that with C's help I can move on to something bigger and better! The boys got on like a house on fire and spent their time either playing lego or wrestling. We did manage to tear them apart long enough to go to the park where the expended so much energy that I am amazed they were able to walk home. Sam has asked if D can sleep over, he is keen for the two of them to stay up watching magic school bus dvds and wrestling. He seemed surprised when I reminded him that he would need to sleep at some point!
We have started back with school work very slowly, I had hoped that with such a long break sam would be enthusiastic to do some work but alas no. To try generate some enthusiasm I am going to let him help me with the timetable, maybe by scheduling his fav subjects he will be more keen to do those that aren't so much in favor. We have also started morning reading time. He seems reluctant to read at the moment so each morning we are taking 20 min or so to sit and read our books together. He can read in his head or out loud, I don't mind, just as long as he reads. We snuggle up on the bed or on the sofa, usually with the dogs in attendance. So far so good, I just hope it rekindles his love of reading.
We finally got a letter about Beavers ( the boy scout group for younger boys), they have a place for him in the Syston pack and he is very excited. His first meeting is on the the 3rd and he can't wait. It will be a good opportunity for him to meet other boys his age and as he says "to have some time away from the family". I am very keen to get involved and help out if they need me but will be led by sam. He may want to have something that is just his rather than having me hanging around. I hope he enjoys Beavers, I got such a lot out of my girl scounting experience and I am sure he will benefit greatly from being involved as well.
C & D came for the day on thursday and while the boys played C gave me another patchwork lesson. I have finished my square now all I have to do is back it and unpick the initial stitches. I have really enjoyed doing it and hope that with C's help I can move on to something bigger and better! The boys got on like a house on fire and spent their time either playing lego or wrestling. We did manage to tear them apart long enough to go to the park where the expended so much energy that I am amazed they were able to walk home. Sam has asked if D can sleep over, he is keen for the two of them to stay up watching magic school bus dvds and wrestling. He seemed surprised when I reminded him that he would need to sleep at some point!
We have started back with school work very slowly, I had hoped that with such a long break sam would be enthusiastic to do some work but alas no. To try generate some enthusiasm I am going to let him help me with the timetable, maybe by scheduling his fav subjects he will be more keen to do those that aren't so much in favor. We have also started morning reading time. He seems reluctant to read at the moment so each morning we are taking 20 min or so to sit and read our books together. He can read in his head or out loud, I don't mind, just as long as he reads. We snuggle up on the bed or on the sofa, usually with the dogs in attendance. So far so good, I just hope it rekindles his love of reading.
We finally got a letter about Beavers ( the boy scout group for younger boys), they have a place for him in the Syston pack and he is very excited. His first meeting is on the the 3rd and he can't wait. It will be a good opportunity for him to meet other boys his age and as he says "to have some time away from the family". I am very keen to get involved and help out if they need me but will be led by sam. He may want to have something that is just his rather than having me hanging around. I hope he enjoys Beavers, I got such a lot out of my girl scounting experience and I am sure he will benefit greatly from being involved as well.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Nutty about Norway..
I think that as a family we have collectively fallen in love..with Norway. We had a fantastic vacation, one of the best we have ever had. The pics below give a taste of what we saw and did. The scenery was breathtaking, just when we thought it couldn't get any better we could turn a corner and be astounded. We walked through clounds, scrambled over boulders, climbed on glaciers and waded through waterfalls and streams. As you can probably tell it was a very outdoorsy holiday, we spent all our time on foot exploring the countryside. We fit in a bit of culture in Bergen but by and large we spent our time with mother nature.
Our first night in norway we spent in Bergen, looking around that beautiful city. Sam was taken with the fish market and wanted to bring home one of the live lobsters as a pet. From Bergen we hit the road for Flam. It was about a 3 hour trip, hindered by constant heavy rain and a rental car with no get up and go. We seemed to spend most of the journey going through tunnels, in fact, in the week we were there I think we must have set the world record for tunnel driving!
Flam is a lovely little resort town and the end of a fjord. It is very small, with only one hotel, a few guest houses and one restaurant and pub. For a small town there was quite a bit to do and we managed to spend both days there hiking around the surrounding mountains and along the side of the fjord. Most of the visitors seemed to come for the day either by ferry or by bus so they litterally rolled up the sidewalks in the evenings. The boys amused themselves by painting warhammer figures and I caught up on my reading. That set the tone for most of our evenings. The boys would get out the paints and I would recline with a good book. It was very relaxing.
From Flam we travelled through the world's longest road tunnel (12 miles) then on a short ferry ride to the Jostedal valley to go glacier climbing. We stayed in a very small town called Gjerde a couple of miles from two of the arms of the glacier. It is a lush green valley and our nearest neighbors at the hotel were a herd of cows and a rushing river. We spent three nights at the hotel and in truth could have spent a least a week. There were tons of good walks in the area as well as rafting and kayaking. The highlight for us all was without a doubt climbing on the glacier. Getting to it invovled scaling huge boulders and sam was up to the challenge, in fact he was in his element. He was delighted to be able to go bouldering, especially as at the end of the trail was something as exciting as a glacier. Our guide for the glacier was extremely experienced and we felt completely safe at all times. I think we spent about an hour up on the ice, including having a picnic! Only sam was able to sit down as he was the only one with waterproof trousers. It was warmer than I expected up there, in fact at one point there was a warm wind blowing. Had it not been overcast I am sure that we would have been able to top up our tans nicely. Sam was on a huge high we we finally got back to the car, I think he didn't come down until he was tucked up in bed.
Having spent most of our vacation in the majestic outdoors being back in Bergen was a bit of a shock. We spent a few final hours there on our last day soaking up the sunshine and the atmosphere.
All in all it was a fantastic vacation and we definately plan to return.
Our first night in norway we spent in Bergen, looking around that beautiful city. Sam was taken with the fish market and wanted to bring home one of the live lobsters as a pet. From Bergen we hit the road for Flam. It was about a 3 hour trip, hindered by constant heavy rain and a rental car with no get up and go. We seemed to spend most of the journey going through tunnels, in fact, in the week we were there I think we must have set the world record for tunnel driving!
Flam is a lovely little resort town and the end of a fjord. It is very small, with only one hotel, a few guest houses and one restaurant and pub. For a small town there was quite a bit to do and we managed to spend both days there hiking around the surrounding mountains and along the side of the fjord. Most of the visitors seemed to come for the day either by ferry or by bus so they litterally rolled up the sidewalks in the evenings. The boys amused themselves by painting warhammer figures and I caught up on my reading. That set the tone for most of our evenings. The boys would get out the paints and I would recline with a good book. It was very relaxing.
From Flam we travelled through the world's longest road tunnel (12 miles) then on a short ferry ride to the Jostedal valley to go glacier climbing. We stayed in a very small town called Gjerde a couple of miles from two of the arms of the glacier. It is a lush green valley and our nearest neighbors at the hotel were a herd of cows and a rushing river. We spent three nights at the hotel and in truth could have spent a least a week. There were tons of good walks in the area as well as rafting and kayaking. The highlight for us all was without a doubt climbing on the glacier. Getting to it invovled scaling huge boulders and sam was up to the challenge, in fact he was in his element. He was delighted to be able to go bouldering, especially as at the end of the trail was something as exciting as a glacier. Our guide for the glacier was extremely experienced and we felt completely safe at all times. I think we spent about an hour up on the ice, including having a picnic! Only sam was able to sit down as he was the only one with waterproof trousers. It was warmer than I expected up there, in fact at one point there was a warm wind blowing. Had it not been overcast I am sure that we would have been able to top up our tans nicely. Sam was on a huge high we we finally got back to the car, I think he didn't come down until he was tucked up in bed.
Having spent most of our vacation in the majestic outdoors being back in Bergen was a bit of a shock. We spent a few final hours there on our last day soaking up the sunshine and the atmosphere.
All in all it was a fantastic vacation and we definately plan to return.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The back streets of Bergen
Bergen was our first stop in norway. We really enjoyed wandering through the old section and exploring.
Flam hidden behind the clouds
This is the town of Flam, we stayed here two nights and did some nice hikes. This picture was taken from a waterfall a couple of miles from the town.
Waterfall near flam
Our first big hike in norway was to this waterfall near the town of flam. If you look carefully you can just about see the rainbow.
We climbed this!
This is Jostedalbreen, an arm of the biggest glacier in europe. This is the bit we climbed with the help of an amazing guide named Bjorner.
The boys again!
The boys on the way to Jostedalbreen. The treck there took about an hour and was very challenging. Sam was in his element and loved all the bouldering and rock climbing.
Resting at the foot of the glacier
We walked up the the glacier the day before we did it properly. We hadn't intended to go up to it, hence the poor footware and clothing! I did most of the bouldering barefoot as it was easier to grip that way than with my sandals on.
Climbing glaciers is fun!
This was probably the highlight of the trip for all of us. It was an amazing experience and definately something that we would all like to do again. Our guide was fantastic and really looked after Sam.
Snow in August!?
This was taken the day before we left at a lake way up in the mountains. Sam was very excited to see snow but amazingly did not try and throw snowballs at us.
This is where we want to camp the year after next!
There is a company that runs kayaking and camping trips to this bit of the glacier and we would all love to go. Sam is especailly keen to go as he wants to throw snowballs at M!
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