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.

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.

Loves from Clarissa

Loves from Clarissa
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

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

Waiting patiently
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

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!

Ganging up on Uncle P

Ganging up on Uncle P
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

Uncle P defending himself against an attack by two of the boys.

Three Amigos

Three Amigos
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

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's new palace
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

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.

Quoits anyone?

Quoits anyone?
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

Sam was very good at this game and beat me twice.

A gentle game of bowls

A gentle game of bowls
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

A fun game of bowls in Abbey Park.

Chillin on friday afternoon

Chillin on friday afternoon
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

The fab swing in the new playground-just right for chillin' on a friday afternoon.

Just press here

Just press here
Originally uploaded by mattamsam

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.

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.