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!