The boys and Miko. They had a great game of hide and seek in the ruins.
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!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Weekly blog..
seems like this is turning into a weekly, not daily blog. I have bloged tons, but none of it made it to the computer! The last week has seen us busy with mystery jobs, friends, packing, typing and warhammer! I have almost finished all the MINI jobs, only 3 left with which any luck I will get done in the next couple of days. With all the driving I have done in the past few weeks I think that for one I have earned my fee.
C &D came to play last friday. The boys legoed and played while C taught me the basics of quilting. I am making a small sachet which I shall take on holiday to finish off in the car while we are driving. If it turns out well I shall slowly progress and perhaps even make a blanket. That is probably a long way off though as my sewing skills are about on par with my knitting skills.
We also seem to have spent a good deal of time at Games Workshop this week. Sam and M went on wednesday to learn to paint scenery. Sam did a small wall that turned our really well. We went back on saturday for him to finish it off and then back on sunday for him to play! He is starting to get to grips with all the rules, much better than I am in fact. I have huge admiration for the guys who work in the shop, not only are they genuinely friendly but their knowledge is phenominal. The guy who was leading our game knew all the stats for all the characters without having to look them up and it isn't even his favorite version of warhammer. Most of the employees seem to have grown up playing the game and are now fulfilling a lifelong dream by working in the shop. I wouldn't mind sam having a summer job there, not sure about a life long career though! The game is very male orientated, have yet to see a girl play or even a woman working in the shop. Maybe they could do a barbie version with objectives like buying a whole outfit for $100, instead of capturing the enemies tank!
Monday saw us at Belton to meet up with half of the boys. It was so wonderful to see the gang, it felt like old times. The boys had a ball and spent most of the time on the ground wrestling, this give us moms a chance to catch up. The pups were very well behaved, except for Rogue who thought that he was included in the bowls game. They were very gentle with the children and even let C and A walk them without running off too much. A declared that he was Rogue's best friend, I had to tell him that sadly Rogue's tummy was his best friend but that A could be his second best friend. I have never met a dog as obessed with eating as Rogue is.
On the work front I finished all the transcribing and am now on to editing. I fit it in here and there but really need to get into some routinee so that it doesn't infringe on my time with Sam and matthew. The work is on going and it is nice to earn money without having to drive all around the country!
C &D came to play last friday. The boys legoed and played while C taught me the basics of quilting. I am making a small sachet which I shall take on holiday to finish off in the car while we are driving. If it turns out well I shall slowly progress and perhaps even make a blanket. That is probably a long way off though as my sewing skills are about on par with my knitting skills.
We also seem to have spent a good deal of time at Games Workshop this week. Sam and M went on wednesday to learn to paint scenery. Sam did a small wall that turned our really well. We went back on saturday for him to finish it off and then back on sunday for him to play! He is starting to get to grips with all the rules, much better than I am in fact. I have huge admiration for the guys who work in the shop, not only are they genuinely friendly but their knowledge is phenominal. The guy who was leading our game knew all the stats for all the characters without having to look them up and it isn't even his favorite version of warhammer. Most of the employees seem to have grown up playing the game and are now fulfilling a lifelong dream by working in the shop. I wouldn't mind sam having a summer job there, not sure about a life long career though! The game is very male orientated, have yet to see a girl play or even a woman working in the shop. Maybe they could do a barbie version with objectives like buying a whole outfit for $100, instead of capturing the enemies tank!
Monday saw us at Belton to meet up with half of the boys. It was so wonderful to see the gang, it felt like old times. The boys had a ball and spent most of the time on the ground wrestling, this give us moms a chance to catch up. The pups were very well behaved, except for Rogue who thought that he was included in the bowls game. They were very gentle with the children and even let C and A walk them without running off too much. A declared that he was Rogue's best friend, I had to tell him that sadly Rogue's tummy was his best friend but that A could be his second best friend. I have never met a dog as obessed with eating as Rogue is.
On the work front I finished all the transcribing and am now on to editing. I fit it in here and there but really need to get into some routinee so that it doesn't infringe on my time with Sam and matthew. The work is on going and it is nice to earn money without having to drive all around the country!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Warhammer mad..
is how to describe our house at the moment. Sunday we all went along to Games Workshop for a beginner session in Warhammer 40K. We thought it was ging to be some sort of lesson but instead Sam and M got to play against the other lads who were there. Sam was the youngest but a good couple of years but that didn't stop him. He was in the thick of things and had a blast. I enjoyed watching them and sneaking a read of HP7 at the same time. Sam was very good at thinking out his moves and trying his best to achieve the objective. His side lost in the end but he had fun and that was the main thing. They had so much fun that they went back today for a workshop on how to make scenery for your board. I think it turned out well but will need to wait a few days to pick it up as it is drying. Sam and I are planning on going back on Sunday for another gaming session, M has painted a few more pieces for him and Sam is very eager to try them out on the other players.
This last week has flown by in a blurr of typing, teaching and mystery jobs. I finished all my transcribing work and am now editing it. It was hard work but I enjoyed it and hope that there is more work to come. Schoolwise we have started our project on Norway-did you know it was ruled by Sweden for several hundred years? I didn't until today. We are going to look at glaciers and how they are formed as we hope to be climbing on one soon. I am really looking forward to the trip and just hope that everyone speaks english because my norwegian is terrible! I have also been driving hither and yon doing mystery jobs. I have to visit 14 mini dealerships with a 100 mile radius. The jobs themselves don't take long (20 minutes at most) but getting to them does! I have done 6 so far and hope to do most of them before we go away. The pay is very good and all that time in the car is giving sam and I a chance to listen to all his horrible histories cds. Yesterday we did the vikings, WWI and WWII-not bad for a few hours. The pups have been very good in the car and seem to enjoy the ride.
The rest of this week will be a race to finish the jobs and start thinking about packing for our trip. The weather will be about the same as it is here so at least that makes it easier to know what to bring.
Today we met up with S and her girls at Belvoir Castle. The castle was beautiful with lots of interesting things to see but sadly I think sam was more interested in having an ice cream and playing in the playground! We did get to see Holbien's painting of Henry VIII which sam said was cool so at least he took in something. It was lovely seeing S and the girls, my goddaughter G has grown so much and was chatting away. Hopefully we will get to see them again before the girls start back to school.
This last week has flown by in a blurr of typing, teaching and mystery jobs. I finished all my transcribing work and am now editing it. It was hard work but I enjoyed it and hope that there is more work to come. Schoolwise we have started our project on Norway-did you know it was ruled by Sweden for several hundred years? I didn't until today. We are going to look at glaciers and how they are formed as we hope to be climbing on one soon. I am really looking forward to the trip and just hope that everyone speaks english because my norwegian is terrible! I have also been driving hither and yon doing mystery jobs. I have to visit 14 mini dealerships with a 100 mile radius. The jobs themselves don't take long (20 minutes at most) but getting to them does! I have done 6 so far and hope to do most of them before we go away. The pay is very good and all that time in the car is giving sam and I a chance to listen to all his horrible histories cds. Yesterday we did the vikings, WWI and WWII-not bad for a few hours. The pups have been very good in the car and seem to enjoy the ride.
The rest of this week will be a race to finish the jobs and start thinking about packing for our trip. The weather will be about the same as it is here so at least that makes it easier to know what to bring.
Today we met up with S and her girls at Belvoir Castle. The castle was beautiful with lots of interesting things to see but sadly I think sam was more interested in having an ice cream and playing in the playground! We did get to see Holbien's painting of Henry VIII which sam said was cool so at least he took in something. It was lovely seeing S and the girls, my goddaughter G has grown so much and was chatting away. Hopefully we will get to see them again before the girls start back to school.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Tired fingers..
so please excuse tying mistakes!! I have just started doing a bit of transcribing work and my little fingers are numb. I have done it this evening for almost 2 hours and I am pooped! I still have 2 and a half audio tapes to get through ( about 100 minutes) by the end of the weekend. I know that I can do it, I am just not sure if I will have any fingers left! It pays really well and I can fit it in around everything else we do, so provided that she thinks I am up to standard I think I will continue to do it whenever she has work for me. It helps to keep the gray cells functioning and brings in a little money as well.
The most exciting news of the past week (and indeed probably the whole year) is that M has been offered a consultant post here in leicester. It is a locum post initally with a view to it being made permanent as soon as everything clicks into place. I am so proud and happy for him. He has worked so hard and is such a good doctor. All being well he will start the first week in sept. It gave sam and I great pleasure and happiness to be able to give him his consultant present-a very nice watch that he has wanted for a very long time and for which sam and I have been working and saving for quite a while.
Between anniversaries, M passing his exam and getting a consultant job rather a lot of champagne has been consumed over the last week-hope we get more good news next week, I could get used to this!
The most exciting news of the past week (and indeed probably the whole year) is that M has been offered a consultant post here in leicester. It is a locum post initally with a view to it being made permanent as soon as everything clicks into place. I am so proud and happy for him. He has worked so hard and is such a good doctor. All being well he will start the first week in sept. It gave sam and I great pleasure and happiness to be able to give him his consultant present-a very nice watch that he has wanted for a very long time and for which sam and I have been working and saving for quite a while.
Between anniversaries, M passing his exam and getting a consultant job rather a lot of champagne has been consumed over the last week-hope we get more good news next week, I could get used to this!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Reasons to celebrate..
This week has started well for us-monday M received news that he passed the exam he took recently so now he has a diploma in Intensive Care Medicine from the European Society of Intenstive Care Medicine. We are very proud of him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With any luck this may be the last professional exam that he has to take.
This coincided nicely with our 14th anniversary-giving us an excuse to have a bottle of bubbly two nights in a row. We had a nice anniversary dinner out at Mangals which is a fantasic turkish restaurant in the village. Even sam enjoyed it as they gave him a whole plate of turkish delight to round off his meal.
Today has been a very quiet, dvd kind of day as the little one came down with a tummy bug in the middle of the night. We are sure it wasn't the food as we all shared the same food and M and I are fine. We had a pretty sleepless night as sam was up being poorly. He is still a bit under the weather and has spent the day on the bed with the dogs and us watching dvds on the laptop. I even managed to find a dr. who dvd we hadn't seen at the local supermarket which cheered him up no end. Hopefully he will be back to himself tomorrow and hopefully he hasn't passed it on! He is so rarely sick that it is a bit of a shock to us all when he is.
This coincided nicely with our 14th anniversary-giving us an excuse to have a bottle of bubbly two nights in a row. We had a nice anniversary dinner out at Mangals which is a fantasic turkish restaurant in the village. Even sam enjoyed it as they gave him a whole plate of turkish delight to round off his meal.
Today has been a very quiet, dvd kind of day as the little one came down with a tummy bug in the middle of the night. We are sure it wasn't the food as we all shared the same food and M and I are fine. We had a pretty sleepless night as sam was up being poorly. He is still a bit under the weather and has spent the day on the bed with the dogs and us watching dvds on the laptop. I even managed to find a dr. who dvd we hadn't seen at the local supermarket which cheered him up no end. Hopefully he will be back to himself tomorrow and hopefully he hasn't passed it on! He is so rarely sick that it is a bit of a shock to us all when he is.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
I think..
that I should be nominated for the bad blogger of the year award. Can't believe that I have let it go so long again. I have blogged tons this week, honest, but you won't be able to read it as it was all in my head. Haven't managed to put fingers to key board for a variety of reasons (thank you doctor who!) and am very behind on blogging and emails.
The highlights of the week-let's see-home ed group, 4th of july, playdate with V & I and C & D, Doctor Who and diy round the house. I guess looking back it was a pretty busy week, we were out everyday either seeing friends or doing mystery jobs. We had a quiet 4th but did manage to speak to my dad and auntie C which was nice. We went over to V & I's with the intention of doing french as it has now finished for the summer but the three boys were having such fun playing that we couldn't tear them away. We marked it down as socialization and vowed to try again this week.
Have finally gotten all the holiday details sorted out and are looking forward to the trip. Sam and I will be starting our Norway project this week in preparation. I want to do a little bit about the history, geography and mythology. We have learned a few words but I doubt that frosk (frog) is going to get us very far. Just looked at the weather in Norway and it is even worse than here, hopefully it will improve in the next few weeks. It would be nice to have a little sun this summer.
The boys have now started with their Warhammer adventure. We played it last night as our monthly family games night. I use the term we loosely as sam did not need my help at all and I ended up doing emergency gingie surgery while lounging on the sofa. They are playing again now as I type this, sam seems very taken with the game. I think the boys are going to go to games workshop to one of their workshop afternoons to improve their playing skills.
Doctor Who also featured heavily in our week-having received the season finale in the post from grandad ( thank you!). We also had a doctor who dvd from the library and bought one that we were missing. All in all most evenings were devoted to Doctor. The season finale was really good but can't believe that martha is choosing medical school over travelling with the doctor-Rose would never have done that-bring back Rose!! For those who don't know about the doctor here is his webiste:www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho.
Not sure what the next week holds beyond more school a playdate with VI and CD. We are also hoping to go out for our anniversary-14 years on tuesday though we have been together for 19.
After a glorious weekend we now have a tremendous thunder storm, lets hope that we don't have any more of those this week. We are so soggy that the dogs now have gills.
The highlights of the week-let's see-home ed group, 4th of july, playdate with V & I and C & D, Doctor Who and diy round the house. I guess looking back it was a pretty busy week, we were out everyday either seeing friends or doing mystery jobs. We had a quiet 4th but did manage to speak to my dad and auntie C which was nice. We went over to V & I's with the intention of doing french as it has now finished for the summer but the three boys were having such fun playing that we couldn't tear them away. We marked it down as socialization and vowed to try again this week.
Have finally gotten all the holiday details sorted out and are looking forward to the trip. Sam and I will be starting our Norway project this week in preparation. I want to do a little bit about the history, geography and mythology. We have learned a few words but I doubt that frosk (frog) is going to get us very far. Just looked at the weather in Norway and it is even worse than here, hopefully it will improve in the next few weeks. It would be nice to have a little sun this summer.
The boys have now started with their Warhammer adventure. We played it last night as our monthly family games night. I use the term we loosely as sam did not need my help at all and I ended up doing emergency gingie surgery while lounging on the sofa. They are playing again now as I type this, sam seems very taken with the game. I think the boys are going to go to games workshop to one of their workshop afternoons to improve their playing skills.
Doctor Who also featured heavily in our week-having received the season finale in the post from grandad ( thank you!). We also had a doctor who dvd from the library and bought one that we were missing. All in all most evenings were devoted to Doctor. The season finale was really good but can't believe that martha is choosing medical school over travelling with the doctor-Rose would never have done that-bring back Rose!! For those who don't know about the doctor here is his webiste:www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho.
Not sure what the next week holds beyond more school a playdate with VI and CD. We are also hoping to go out for our anniversary-14 years on tuesday though we have been together for 19.
After a glorious weekend we now have a tremendous thunder storm, lets hope that we don't have any more of those this week. We are so soggy that the dogs now have gills.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Swimming in the rain....
no, not sam and I but the young rogue. Sam, S and I took the dogs to watermead between showers today and got rained on-what a shock!! Anyway as the park was empty I let rogue off his leash to go swimming. He had blast and looked so cute, all you could see were the tips of his ears,his little black eyes and a tail wagging like mad. I think he would have spent the rest of the afternoon in there had it not started raining and I decided to call a halt to his fun. Miko seems much more enthusiastic about the water now she has seen rogue go in and next time will take the retractable leash so she can go in if she wants to. I don't trust her off the leash because I am not convinced that she will come back.
We were supposed to be camping this weekend but that was cancelled due to the weather so sam and I had a quiet weekend just pottering. M is on long days so he hasn't been around to enjoy the lovely weather with us. Yesterday we cleaned, ironed an watched doctor who. Today was the last tennis until sept so made sure we were on time. After tennis a few errands then home to get things ready for home ed group tomorrow. The theme is transport again and this time we are doing things to do with air and water. We have lots of fun activities planned and sam has been very good about getting them ready and helping to plan them. If he had his way we would make robots from scratch and do very hard science experiments each session, regardless of what everyone else wanted to do!!
E posted a comment on my last post about sonlight and I thought that I would answer it here rather than in the comments section. Sonlight is a literature based curriculum that relies heavily on good children's fiction for all aspects of study, not just learning to read. In science for example, they use a lot of magic school bus books, which are about a class with a zany teacher who have great science adventures. One series they don't seem to have included yet is the magic tree house series about a brother and sister who journey through time in a tree house and have lots of fun adventures. We use it a great deal to back up history lessons. Core to the programme are the read alouds-fantastic books that parents read to their children and discuss with them. This year we have read Charlottes's, Web, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Understood Betsy and The Wheel on the School to name but a few. All of the books have been excellent and held both of our attention with gripping plots and likeable characters. They have also given us an insight into new lands and people-such as The Wheel on the School, which is about a group of school children in holland who bring the whole village together to attract migrating storks back to the town. The books are so good and so timeless that I can see us revisiting many of them again, especially when sam is more confident to 'read in his head" as he says. Sonlight is very Christian and not being a very religious family, nor creationists we tend to not use those books which deal with this topic in great detail. I am very happy with the curriculum and I think that both sam and I get a lot out of it, he loves the science experiements and the readers and is already pestering me to start on the read alouds that arrived last week.
We were supposed to be camping this weekend but that was cancelled due to the weather so sam and I had a quiet weekend just pottering. M is on long days so he hasn't been around to enjoy the lovely weather with us. Yesterday we cleaned, ironed an watched doctor who. Today was the last tennis until sept so made sure we were on time. After tennis a few errands then home to get things ready for home ed group tomorrow. The theme is transport again and this time we are doing things to do with air and water. We have lots of fun activities planned and sam has been very good about getting them ready and helping to plan them. If he had his way we would make robots from scratch and do very hard science experiments each session, regardless of what everyone else wanted to do!!
E posted a comment on my last post about sonlight and I thought that I would answer it here rather than in the comments section. Sonlight is a literature based curriculum that relies heavily on good children's fiction for all aspects of study, not just learning to read. In science for example, they use a lot of magic school bus books, which are about a class with a zany teacher who have great science adventures. One series they don't seem to have included yet is the magic tree house series about a brother and sister who journey through time in a tree house and have lots of fun adventures. We use it a great deal to back up history lessons. Core to the programme are the read alouds-fantastic books that parents read to their children and discuss with them. This year we have read Charlottes's, Web, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Understood Betsy and The Wheel on the School to name but a few. All of the books have been excellent and held both of our attention with gripping plots and likeable characters. They have also given us an insight into new lands and people-such as The Wheel on the School, which is about a group of school children in holland who bring the whole village together to attract migrating storks back to the town. The books are so good and so timeless that I can see us revisiting many of them again, especially when sam is more confident to 'read in his head" as he says. Sonlight is very Christian and not being a very religious family, nor creationists we tend to not use those books which deal with this topic in great detail. I am very happy with the curriculum and I think that both sam and I get a lot out of it, he loves the science experiements and the readers and is already pestering me to start on the read alouds that arrived last week.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
playing with gingies
MK made these fantastic toys for the dogs. They haven't stopped playing with them since they arrived. WOOF, WOOF, thank you auntie mk!!!
a peaceful moment
Rogue looking very sweet and innocent. You would never suspect that he is a menace!!
sam's latest spaceship
this is the biggest spaceship that i ever built and I am very proud of it. (typed by mom as dictated by sam)
garden visitor
sam's photo of a ladybug in our garden. Being a new garden we don't get many insect visitors so he was very pleased to find this little friend.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
What a silly idea...
Had the shopping delivered yesterday ( I know it is lazy of me but as much as I love shopping I hate food shopping, especially bagging groceries) and for the first time I tried the without a bag option. This is tesco's way of being greeener. It means that instead of packing your shopping, they deliver it all in green boxes which you have to unpack item by item at your front door. When I opted for the bagless delivery I thought that they would leave the green boxes and pick them up next time they made a delivery. But oh no, I had to stand there at the front door and unpack each individual item into the hallway, thank goodness the dogs were secured behind the babygate! It took twice as long as usual to bring the shopping in and was a million times more hassle. I am all for being greener and using less bags but this really isn't the way. Leaving the boxes and collecting them next delivery would be much better, I would even be willing to pay a deposit for the boxes provided that it was refunded at some point.
Grumpy old woman rant over and on with a round of up of what we have been up to since last I blogged. The weekend was quiet as M was on nights. Sam and I pottered during the day, cleaning and taking the doggies out. This weekend has been busy so far. Yesterday was our HE group and we had 3 new families which was great. I don't feel that I really got a chance to chat to the moms though as I was so busy with the experiments. Everyone seemed to have fun and the children readily accepted the new arrivals as if they had always been with us. There were 3 more boys to swell the ranks, the girls are really out numbered at group. Everything is starting to come together and I just hope that everyone is enjoying the group as much as we are.
Today we were up and out early even for us. We had to get M to the train station for 6:30 has he had an exam in London. Spent the rest of the day doing normals and trying to stay awake! Sam was so shattered by bed time that he went without a fuss and didn't even want a shower!
Our second sonlight box arrived and it was like christmas come early. The books are so tasty that sam and I wanted to dive right in. It took all my will power to not give in, if we read them all now we won't have anything for the next school year. The selection of books is fantastic, many of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood-a cricket in times square and the littles especially. I can't wait until we get to read them, I am sure that sam will find them as captivating as I did.
Grumpy old woman rant over and on with a round of up of what we have been up to since last I blogged. The weekend was quiet as M was on nights. Sam and I pottered during the day, cleaning and taking the doggies out. This weekend has been busy so far. Yesterday was our HE group and we had 3 new families which was great. I don't feel that I really got a chance to chat to the moms though as I was so busy with the experiments. Everyone seemed to have fun and the children readily accepted the new arrivals as if they had always been with us. There were 3 more boys to swell the ranks, the girls are really out numbered at group. Everything is starting to come together and I just hope that everyone is enjoying the group as much as we are.
Today we were up and out early even for us. We had to get M to the train station for 6:30 has he had an exam in London. Spent the rest of the day doing normals and trying to stay awake! Sam was so shattered by bed time that he went without a fuss and didn't even want a shower!
Our second sonlight box arrived and it was like christmas come early. The books are so tasty that sam and I wanted to dive right in. It took all my will power to not give in, if we read them all now we won't have anything for the next school year. The selection of books is fantastic, many of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood-a cricket in times square and the littles especially. I can't wait until we get to read them, I am sure that sam will find them as captivating as I did.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Nuts about Nottingham..
We are just back from a fab day out in nottingham thanks to C who arranged a trip for the french gang to Nottingham Castle. The french gang are all the friends that we have french lessons with. In the end it was only V & I and us and C & D who were able to come. Miriam and the boys were able to come as well so it was a really boys day out. There was so much to see and do at the castle that we didn't get it all done before it was time to run for the train. There isn't much left of the medieval castle due to riots and the civil war but the mansion that is there now houses a fantastic, very child friendly museum. There are still ruins to discover in the grounds as well as caves to explore. The boys had a ball in the play park, in fact I suspect that was sam's favorite part of the day. It is definately a place we will go back to, there was so much that we didn't get time to do. Thank you C for organising the day!!!
Having been crated for a good part of the day, the dogs were delighted to see us when we got home. We took them for a long walk around watermead just managing to dodge the showers. Since coming home Rogue has been practicing his new skill of opening doors to let himself in the living room. Shame he can't do the same when he has to go out at 4 in the morning! He is actually getting better on that front and managed to hold it until 6am today-sleeping in until 6, what a treat!!
Having been crated for a good part of the day, the dogs were delighted to see us when we got home. We took them for a long walk around watermead just managing to dodge the showers. Since coming home Rogue has been practicing his new skill of opening doors to let himself in the living room. Shame he can't do the same when he has to go out at 4 in the morning! He is actually getting better on that front and managed to hold it until 6am today-sleeping in until 6, what a treat!!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
A quiet week..
This week is trundling along as per ususal. We don't have a lot on the cards other than a visit to nottingham castle on thursday and french. We are looking forward to the visit to the castle, though apparently there isn't much castle left. We are starting to get to grips with the local history and the past few weeks has seen us visiting somewhere of historical import. Nothing on the cards for next week yet but I am sure we will be able to think of something. There is so much to see if only you know where to look.
Our first sonlight box arrived, it was the non book box and had among other things Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. I am determined that sam learn how to type, I know and it is one of the most useful skills that I have. He has played it twice and seems to be enjoying it and also learning as well. As the first box has arrived that must mean that the second is not far behind. We are both looking forward to that as the readers and read alouds look really good this year. We are currently reading the Theives of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence. It is about a group of children who lived in 79ad and who solve mysteries and have adventures. Sam is hooked and would like us to sit down all day and do nothing but read. The series ties in really well with our latin studies and what we are doing with sotw at the moment. The author really knows her stuff but then she is a latin teacher, archaeologist and an american, what more can I say! I bought the first 10 books in the series from the bookpeople at an amazingly good price, I do love the book people so many good books at such fantastic prices, just as well I don't have a bigger credit limit and more bookshelves.
We have now watched all the doctor who dvds available at both local libraries and will have to travel further afield to find more. Apparently you can not do an interlibrary loan for dvds which is just plain silly. You can do it for everything else including cds and games but not dvds. Everything in the county library system should be available to all users no matter where they are. Think I feel a letter of complaint coming on.....
Our first sonlight box arrived, it was the non book box and had among other things Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. I am determined that sam learn how to type, I know and it is one of the most useful skills that I have. He has played it twice and seems to be enjoying it and also learning as well. As the first box has arrived that must mean that the second is not far behind. We are both looking forward to that as the readers and read alouds look really good this year. We are currently reading the Theives of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence. It is about a group of children who lived in 79ad and who solve mysteries and have adventures. Sam is hooked and would like us to sit down all day and do nothing but read. The series ties in really well with our latin studies and what we are doing with sotw at the moment. The author really knows her stuff but then she is a latin teacher, archaeologist and an american, what more can I say! I bought the first 10 books in the series from the bookpeople at an amazingly good price, I do love the book people so many good books at such fantastic prices, just as well I don't have a bigger credit limit and more bookshelves.
We have now watched all the doctor who dvds available at both local libraries and will have to travel further afield to find more. Apparently you can not do an interlibrary loan for dvds which is just plain silly. You can do it for everything else including cds and games but not dvds. Everything in the county library system should be available to all users no matter where they are. Think I feel a letter of complaint coming on.....
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Catch up ..yet again..
I always seem to be playing catch up at the moment, not only on the blog but with life in general. We have had a good couple of weeks full of trips out with friends, normals and family time. We have had two trips out with V & I, one to the hidden gems of leicester and the other to Belgrave Hall, another hidden gem here in leicester. It is a beautiful Queen Anne house set in grounds about 2 miles from the house and a million light years away from the world around it. It is said to be haunted, though the boys were so lively that they were sure to have sent any ghosts into hiding. I enjoyed looking round as did V, hope the boys did too as it would be fun to carry on these history field trips.
Today C and D came over to play, V and I were supposed to come as well but were too busy baking for I's party. D is in sam's french class and the two get on like a house on fire. They had had lots of fun today and were so quiet up in sam's room that we hardly knew they were there! The dogs adored D, especially as he kept slipping them bits of his lunch.
Schoolwise everything is ticking along. Sam's reading gets better everyday and he is enjoying languages more and more. I am enjoying refreshing my language skills along side him and have finally started my latin course. I am not sure who enjoys the interactive dvd more, him or I. He is still science mad and still insisting that he hates math. C gave me the idea of making a board game to help with his times tables and he really seems to enjoy playing, if only I could get him to remember his times tables for more than 5 minutes. If only I could find some way to link them to hot wheels cars I know he would remember them!
Rogue now has a new trick, he can open doors! Not a good thing I can assure you. Came down one day to discover that he had opened the door to the middle floor and helped himself to a whole loaf of bread. That boy is ruled by his stomach. He is now out of his crate at bedtime which means that for at least part of the night we have two dogs and sometimes a boy in the bed. I think it is time to investigate a bigger bed!
Today C and D came over to play, V and I were supposed to come as well but were too busy baking for I's party. D is in sam's french class and the two get on like a house on fire. They had had lots of fun today and were so quiet up in sam's room that we hardly knew they were there! The dogs adored D, especially as he kept slipping them bits of his lunch.
Schoolwise everything is ticking along. Sam's reading gets better everyday and he is enjoying languages more and more. I am enjoying refreshing my language skills along side him and have finally started my latin course. I am not sure who enjoys the interactive dvd more, him or I. He is still science mad and still insisting that he hates math. C gave me the idea of making a board game to help with his times tables and he really seems to enjoy playing, if only I could get him to remember his times tables for more than 5 minutes. If only I could find some way to link them to hot wheels cars I know he would remember them!
Rogue now has a new trick, he can open doors! Not a good thing I can assure you. Came down one day to discover that he had opened the door to the middle floor and helped himself to a whole loaf of bread. That boy is ruled by his stomach. He is now out of his crate at bedtime which means that for at least part of the night we have two dogs and sometimes a boy in the bed. I think it is time to investigate a bigger bed!
Questions that bothered her so..
1. Why do people who volunteer in charity shops look so po faced when you go in to donate stuff. How do they know that I am not donating the family silver?
2. Why if the library system allows you to return books to any library in the county to librarians looks so grumpy when you try to do so. I returned some books to melton yesterday as we were there rather than taking them to the library where we had checked them out and the librarian scolded me!!
3. Why do shoe manufacturers only make boys shoes in black during term time? Boys need some color in their lives too.
4. Why do children and dogs never sleep in at weekends?
2. Why if the library system allows you to return books to any library in the county to librarians looks so grumpy when you try to do so. I returned some books to melton yesterday as we were there rather than taking them to the library where we had checked them out and the librarian scolded me!!
3. Why do shoe manufacturers only make boys shoes in black during term time? Boys need some color in their lives too.
4. Why do children and dogs never sleep in at weekends?
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
8 things
Thanks guys for tagging me!
The rules are simple…Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Eight things:
1. The longest I have lived in any one place is 12 years and that was in peterborough. Funnily enough I still dont' know my way around all of it.
2. To earn money for our home ed activities I do mystery shopping and sell usborne books. Sam really likes going with me on mystery jobs,especially if they involve buying something.
3. I am a voracious reader but am much more likely to finish a book quickly if it is a library book. Guess it is something about working to a deadline!
4. I went all the way through the girl scouting movement and achieved the highest award-the gold award.
5. I never listen to music radio stations (execpt radio margaritaville!) only talk radio.
6. I have only ever met one other person with the name Tamatha.
7. I have had a variety of jobs including, sales assistant, cpr instructor, camp counsellor, tour manager for Saga, archaeologist and marketing manager.
8. I got to excavate at Sutton Hoo while in college.
I think everyone on the blog ring has already been tagged but if you are reading this and haven't been then consider yourself tagged!
The rules are simple…Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Eight things:
1. The longest I have lived in any one place is 12 years and that was in peterborough. Funnily enough I still dont' know my way around all of it.
2. To earn money for our home ed activities I do mystery shopping and sell usborne books. Sam really likes going with me on mystery jobs,especially if they involve buying something.
3. I am a voracious reader but am much more likely to finish a book quickly if it is a library book. Guess it is something about working to a deadline!
4. I went all the way through the girl scouting movement and achieved the highest award-the gold award.
5. I never listen to music radio stations (execpt radio margaritaville!) only talk radio.
6. I have only ever met one other person with the name Tamatha.
7. I have had a variety of jobs including, sales assistant, cpr instructor, camp counsellor, tour manager for Saga, archaeologist and marketing manager.
8. I got to excavate at Sutton Hoo while in college.
I think everyone on the blog ring has already been tagged but if you are reading this and haven't been then consider yourself tagged!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Hidden History
Would you ever in a million years imagine that this was in the center of leicester? I would bet that many people walk by the castle area and never know it was there.
Smile!
Sam and Richard III. V and I took us on a tour of historic bits of leicester yesterday and we were amazed at what was out there. We saw some amazing buildings. Thank you V & I!
space construction
Sam's space laser made a our home ed group on monday. He then went on to make a space shuttle, a mars rover and a host of other things. I think it is safe to say that he enjoyed the session.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
As said by Sam...
Have been collecting quotes from Sam this week, here are the best.
As said to S as we were walking to the library, "Are you going to get friction or non friction books?"
"I need time away from my family" as said to me to explain why he needed to go next door and play with S.
"I like Rose better, the other girl has a funny hair cut" he answer when asked which doctor who assistant he liked best.
I am sure there were more but my mind has gone blank, it is too early to be blogging.
As the rain cleared up over the course of the week so too did our week get better. We haven't done anything special for half term this week, in fact we have managed to do school work every morning. The afternoons were spent having fun and running errands. Friday evening we went to ikea for dinner and a bit of shopping. It is so empty when you go in the evening, the only downside was that the dogs were absolutely loopy having been crated and so late in the day and did not calm down enough to go to bed until very late.
This weekend we have been in serious diy mode, putting up shelves, mirrors and a variety of other things. Sam was very helpful though I suspect that he had an alterior motive. He was keen to get done as the two doctor who dvds that I got on ebay arrived yesterday morning and he was dying to watch them. In the end the day was so busy that we didn't sit down to watch until 8pm and as it was so late he only got one episode. To say he was upset is an understatement. We tried to explain that he could have more on sunday how lucky he was as if he was watching it on normal tv he would have to wait a whole week. It seems he has forgotten about how tv stations work and is of the opinion that you can just turn on to bbc or whatever and watch what you want when you want. He was stunned to learn that it doesn'twork that way.
Today is more diy and getting things ready for home ed group tomorrow. We are carrying on the with space theme and we are doing fizzy rockets (again), as well as a variety of other fun experiments. V is bring lots of boxes etc so the children can do junk modeling rockets. Sam is very excited about this and has great plans for his rocket.
As said to S as we were walking to the library, "Are you going to get friction or non friction books?"
"I need time away from my family" as said to me to explain why he needed to go next door and play with S.
"I like Rose better, the other girl has a funny hair cut" he answer when asked which doctor who assistant he liked best.
I am sure there were more but my mind has gone blank, it is too early to be blogging.
As the rain cleared up over the course of the week so too did our week get better. We haven't done anything special for half term this week, in fact we have managed to do school work every morning. The afternoons were spent having fun and running errands. Friday evening we went to ikea for dinner and a bit of shopping. It is so empty when you go in the evening, the only downside was that the dogs were absolutely loopy having been crated and so late in the day and did not calm down enough to go to bed until very late.
This weekend we have been in serious diy mode, putting up shelves, mirrors and a variety of other things. Sam was very helpful though I suspect that he had an alterior motive. He was keen to get done as the two doctor who dvds that I got on ebay arrived yesterday morning and he was dying to watch them. In the end the day was so busy that we didn't sit down to watch until 8pm and as it was so late he only got one episode. To say he was upset is an understatement. We tried to explain that he could have more on sunday how lucky he was as if he was watching it on normal tv he would have to wait a whole week. It seems he has forgotten about how tv stations work and is of the opinion that you can just turn on to bbc or whatever and watch what you want when you want. He was stunned to learn that it doesn'twork that way.
Today is more diy and getting things ready for home ed group tomorrow. We are carrying on the with space theme and we are doing fizzy rockets (again), as well as a variety of other fun experiments. V is bring lots of boxes etc so the children can do junk modeling rockets. Sam is very excited about this and has great plans for his rocket.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Another early morning blog..
and this time I will try not to make so many mistakes!! An uneventful few days, monday M arrived home from his camping trip very soggy but having had a good time. His tent will probably take days to try in the garage. Just mooched really, managed to take the dogs out between showers which helped to calm them down a little. Don't know who was bouncing off the walls more during all the rain, sam or the dogs!
Despite the fact that it is half term we are doing school work, mean mom that I am. I figure that he gets lots of time off as a matter of course and we don't need to set aside a whole week to do nothing. Having said that we are taking it easy and spent most of the morning reading to each other. I think his reading is very good and he is starting to slow down a bit so that he doesn't miss words out as much or add extra ones in as often. We have started the next stage of his math text, 2b which is I think second grade level. To give him a bit a of a break we are starting at the back with graphs and will go back to adding, times tables etc when we have finished that.
Sadly M could not get the time off so we won't be going to paris. Just have to hope that he comes back this way again soon.
Not a lot planned for the rest of the week, though we may be going out the V & I tomorrow to see some of the hidden gems around leicester. All depends on the weather as I don't fancy sightseeing in the rain, wimp that I am.
Despite the fact that it is half term we are doing school work, mean mom that I am. I figure that he gets lots of time off as a matter of course and we don't need to set aside a whole week to do nothing. Having said that we are taking it easy and spent most of the morning reading to each other. I think his reading is very good and he is starting to slow down a bit so that he doesn't miss words out as much or add extra ones in as often. We have started the next stage of his math text, 2b which is I think second grade level. To give him a bit a of a break we are starting at the back with graphs and will go back to adding, times tables etc when we have finished that.
Sadly M could not get the time off so we won't be going to paris. Just have to hope that he comes back this way again soon.
Not a lot planned for the rest of the week, though we may be going out the V & I tomorrow to see some of the hidden gems around leicester. All depends on the weather as I don't fancy sightseeing in the rain, wimp that I am.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Duvet Day..
today is a duvet day if ever I saw one. It is dark and miserable outside, just right for going back to bed and reading and watching old movies. Unfortunately the dogs and sam don't argree as they are all bouncing off the walls ready to start the day (it only 6:30am as I write this). Today we have a fun day of cleaning and sorting out the playroom. We are hoping to locate sam's bike helmet as he is currently borrowing mine and it is a touch too big for him. Wish I could figure out a way to include the dogs in the whole cleaning the house event as they are the ones responsible for most of the dirt on the walls,floor and skirting boards!!
The rest of the week passed in a blurr of school work, seeing friends and catching tadpoles. Due to his schedule M was home quite a bit during the day each day which was nice. We managed a few nice family walks. The most recent one was to acquire more family members in the form of tadpoles! Sam has been begging for ages to go tadpoling and we finally gave in. We set up an old fish tank in the back yard and then trotted off to watermead. Half an hour later we emerged with a 2 ltr bottle of tapoles. M and sam spent ages installing them in their new home while the dogs tried to help. Everyone is enthralled with them, especially the two sams who will stand over the tank for ages discussing the activities in the tank. They have even named them, though how they can tell them apart I am sure I don't know. Once they have matured we intend to take them back to watermead, though sam is convinced that our local petshop will take them as payment for the terapin he has been begging for. (so not giving in to that request!!) I have tried to explain that they are only interested in exotic tree frogs but he won't believe me. We need to go in there today to get dog food and I fully expect that he will try and sweet talk his fav sales girl into buying the frogs.
Yesterday we went down to visit m's grandmother and aunt and then his parents. We had nice visits and were thoroughly spoilt by everyone we saw. Sam and the pups were shattered when we got home and everyone flopped straight into bed. Sam made a beeline for M's old lego at nana and grandad's and he and grandad spent a pleasant time putting together the lego train tracks. Lego is such a fantastic invention, I don't know what sam would do without it! he is very brand loyal though and will not even look a megablocks. In fact we had a long conversation in the car about mega blocks vs. lego and the nature of competition and market share and target audiences, all heavy topics for 8pm on a saturday evening! Who knew that my marketing qualification would come in handy as a stay at home mom!
Did another happy dance on thursday when the tickets for the concert arrived. Am saving the really big one for when we find out if we are really going. M still doesn't know if he can get the time off so am not getting too excited until we know. Fingers crossed that he can as it would be so much fun to go, not only that but I could pick up some more french barbapapa books for sam as he is really taken by them.
The rest of the week passed in a blurr of school work, seeing friends and catching tadpoles. Due to his schedule M was home quite a bit during the day each day which was nice. We managed a few nice family walks. The most recent one was to acquire more family members in the form of tadpoles! Sam has been begging for ages to go tadpoling and we finally gave in. We set up an old fish tank in the back yard and then trotted off to watermead. Half an hour later we emerged with a 2 ltr bottle of tapoles. M and sam spent ages installing them in their new home while the dogs tried to help. Everyone is enthralled with them, especially the two sams who will stand over the tank for ages discussing the activities in the tank. They have even named them, though how they can tell them apart I am sure I don't know. Once they have matured we intend to take them back to watermead, though sam is convinced that our local petshop will take them as payment for the terapin he has been begging for. (so not giving in to that request!!) I have tried to explain that they are only interested in exotic tree frogs but he won't believe me. We need to go in there today to get dog food and I fully expect that he will try and sweet talk his fav sales girl into buying the frogs.
Yesterday we went down to visit m's grandmother and aunt and then his parents. We had nice visits and were thoroughly spoilt by everyone we saw. Sam and the pups were shattered when we got home and everyone flopped straight into bed. Sam made a beeline for M's old lego at nana and grandad's and he and grandad spent a pleasant time putting together the lego train tracks. Lego is such a fantastic invention, I don't know what sam would do without it! he is very brand loyal though and will not even look a megablocks. In fact we had a long conversation in the car about mega blocks vs. lego and the nature of competition and market share and target audiences, all heavy topics for 8pm on a saturday evening! Who knew that my marketing qualification would come in handy as a stay at home mom!
Did another happy dance on thursday when the tickets for the concert arrived. Am saving the really big one for when we find out if we are really going. M still doesn't know if he can get the time off so am not getting too excited until we know. Fingers crossed that he can as it would be so much fun to go, not only that but I could pick up some more french barbapapa books for sam as he is really taken by them.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
3, 2, 1 blast off......
yesterday was home ed group and our theme was space (thank you sam!). V brought lots of cool craft things for the children to do including making flying saucers and planet pics and we did the sciency bit. The things that the children enjoyed most were the fizzy rockets and recreating the storms on jupiter. There are some great pics of the rockets in action which I will post tomorrow. The children also enjoyed the space ice cream (thank you dad!) and all the space toys and the planets game (thank you nana and grandad). It was a small group but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and hopefully everyone is looking forward to the next installment of space in a fortnight.
M had today off so after a brief session of lessons we went out and about. First stop was the camping store to get supplies for M's trip this weekend and then to starbucks. Rogue especially enjoyed starbucks as he managed to grab half of m's sandwich!! We then headed out to a garden center that V recommended for veggies for the veggie garden. We got corn, beans, peppers and nasturshums and then spent the rest of the afternoon planting them. This evening has been a Dr. Who marathon as we managegd to get two more dvds from the library. Sam loves the show and is not in the least bit frightened. I suspect that tomorrow evening will be more of the same.
I did a little happy dance today as there is the slight chance that M and I may be going to see jimmy buffett in paris in two weeks. I managed to get tickets but now we need to see if he can get the time off. Fingers crossed that he does as it would be so cool not only to see jimmy but to see him in paris. Not sure if I should wear the grass skirt or not though.... I suspect paris is not ready for a almost forty parrothead in a grass skirt and a crop top.
M had today off so after a brief session of lessons we went out and about. First stop was the camping store to get supplies for M's trip this weekend and then to starbucks. Rogue especially enjoyed starbucks as he managed to grab half of m's sandwich!! We then headed out to a garden center that V recommended for veggies for the veggie garden. We got corn, beans, peppers and nasturshums and then spent the rest of the afternoon planting them. This evening has been a Dr. Who marathon as we managegd to get two more dvds from the library. Sam loves the show and is not in the least bit frightened. I suspect that tomorrow evening will be more of the same.
I did a little happy dance today as there is the slight chance that M and I may be going to see jimmy buffett in paris in two weeks. I managed to get tickets but now we need to see if he can get the time off. Fingers crossed that he does as it would be so cool not only to see jimmy but to see him in paris. Not sure if I should wear the grass skirt or not though.... I suspect paris is not ready for a almost forty parrothead in a grass skirt and a crop top.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
green fingered..
or should that be brown??? We have spent most of the weekend in the garden trying to whip it back into shape! The boys did most of the hard work like digging and planting while I was in charge of filling up the new composter, mowing and taking charge of the dogs. M and sam worked very hard and the garden is looking great. They planted the veggies and fruit that they have grown from seed (zuchinni and pumpkins) and dug a new bed in the front yard. We should have a nice crop of fruit and veg later in the year-blueberries, apples. plums, toms,raspberries,blackcurrents, pumpkins and zuchinni. The dogs were very keen to help, especially Miko who loves to dig holes. Rogue was far more interested in the compost/manure we were putting on the beds.
Friday I had several proud mommy moments, so please excuse me if I brag. The first was when I realised that while I was in the shower sam was reading tintin to rogue. He was doing really well and was explaining everything to rogue as he went along. The second was when the mail arrived and we received rogue's certificate and ribbon for passing his puppy class. He did really well at class but his teacher didn't seem to like him so I was surprised that he passed. We showed him his ribbon and he immediately tried to eat it-that's my boy!! later in the day we were doing french, reading sam's new french barbapapa books when he announced that he wanted to read in french to me. He tried very hard to sound out all the words and did a great job. I helped him out a tad but he was very keen and did really well, especially considering that he has never tried to read french before. He really enjoys the barbapapa books and has already earmarked the ones we need to get next!
Friday I had several proud mommy moments, so please excuse me if I brag. The first was when I realised that while I was in the shower sam was reading tintin to rogue. He was doing really well and was explaining everything to rogue as he went along. The second was when the mail arrived and we received rogue's certificate and ribbon for passing his puppy class. He did really well at class but his teacher didn't seem to like him so I was surprised that he passed. We showed him his ribbon and he immediately tried to eat it-that's my boy!! later in the day we were doing french, reading sam's new french barbapapa books when he announced that he wanted to read in french to me. He tried very hard to sound out all the words and did a great job. I helped him out a tad but he was very keen and did really well, especially considering that he has never tried to read french before. He really enjoys the barbapapa books and has already earmarked the ones we need to get next!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
a little time travelling..
this week we have seen the future-it is nano technology and visited the past in ancient egypt, not bad considering it is only thursday! Wednesday saw us in nottingham visiting the Nano Technology fair with some of our friend from french as well as other home ed families from the area. It was hosted by nottingham university and it was very slick and very professional but lacked one essential thing..a concise and easy to understand definition of nano techology. There were lots of examples of how it helps us and what it will do for us in the future but not even the well produced and child friendly film could give us a simple explanation. In the end sam summed it up by saying, "small things helping big things". Which given my limited understanding of the field seemed a pretty good way to explain it. We enjoyed the event and it was fun meeting up with our friends despite all the rain!!
Today we went up to Derby to attend an ancient egypt session run by one of the home ed groups up there. They had a curator from the derby city museum come to talk to the children and he was a very good speaker. Even sam listened with a minimum of wiggling. After the talk there were craft activities and then the obligatory game of tag. No matter where wer are or what group we are attending it always seems to end in a game of tag or chase. We didn't know a soul at the group but that didn'ty matter to sam who wasted no time in making friends and then joining in with their game. They seemed a nice group and we would probably go back, my only hesitation was the cost. The session was £7 which seemed an awful lot given the simplicty of the craft actitives on offer. Perhaps the hall costs are high, not sure. Think they are going to do a viking session which would fit in well with our trip to norway.
Monday was the second session of our home ed group and we had two new families. The theme was spring again and the worm farm when down well as did the wind power experiment. The children dipped ping pong balls into paint and then blew them across a sheet of lining paper to replicate the wind. Think we used half of V's baby wipes cleaning all the paint off the floor! We had fun and I hope the others did too. Next session we are doing space ( three guess as to who suggested that!) and have found a great DK book with lots of experiments for us to try. Good thing we are doing two sessions on space as there will be plenty to keep us busy.
Today we went up to Derby to attend an ancient egypt session run by one of the home ed groups up there. They had a curator from the derby city museum come to talk to the children and he was a very good speaker. Even sam listened with a minimum of wiggling. After the talk there were craft activities and then the obligatory game of tag. No matter where wer are or what group we are attending it always seems to end in a game of tag or chase. We didn't know a soul at the group but that didn'ty matter to sam who wasted no time in making friends and then joining in with their game. They seemed a nice group and we would probably go back, my only hesitation was the cost. The session was £7 which seemed an awful lot given the simplicty of the craft actitives on offer. Perhaps the hall costs are high, not sure. Think they are going to do a viking session which would fit in well with our trip to norway.
Monday was the second session of our home ed group and we had two new families. The theme was spring again and the worm farm when down well as did the wind power experiment. The children dipped ping pong balls into paint and then blew them across a sheet of lining paper to replicate the wind. Think we used half of V's baby wipes cleaning all the paint off the floor! We had fun and I hope the others did too. Next session we are doing space ( three guess as to who suggested that!) and have found a great DK book with lots of experiments for us to try. Good thing we are doing two sessions on space as there will be plenty to keep us busy.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
we do like to be beside the seaside
Our wanderings today took us to the north norfolk coast, here the boys and miko are on cromer beach. We had lots of fun despite the showery weather and sam was most upset that we didn't stop to make sand castles. Rogue really like the water and had endless fun chasing waves. Miko on the otherhand stayed as far way as she could from the water.
A blustery beach
Despite the iffy weather sam had a blast at the beach. He was soaked by the time we left but didn't mind at all. He jump in the waves, skipped stones and generally ran around like a loon. He and M discovered a cuttle fish, meramaids purse and several crab skeletons.
Rogue attempts to drink the ocean
Rogue had a ball at the beach and spent the whole time chasing waves and digging for buried treasure. Luckily enough I had my wellies on as he kept dragging me into the sea.
Now where does this go?
Concentrating on putting swamp beast back together, luckily we still had the instructions.
hot wheels bridge the generation gap
Sam and Nate reconstructing Swamp Beast. I think that left to their own devices they would have spent the rest of the afternoon playing hot wheels.
king of aqua raiders
Sam and his collection of lego aqua raiders. He put them all together himself without any help. He really is king of lego in this house.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Nate the Great
Today we had the pleasure of spending the day with my cousin nate who together with his wife and her grandmother are spending a week in london. We had originally planned to go down to london but they decided to come up to sunny leicester to see something of the countryside. See the countryside we did but mainly through the winsdshield wippers of the car! We had a great day planned-pub lunch, walking in bradgate with the pups and generally catching up. We did the pub lunch, we did the catching up but the walk in bradgate was shorter and soggier than planned. We had only been there about 20 minutes when the heavens opened. We soldiered on for a little while but it wasn't long before we had to admit defeat. We drove around for a little while then headed back hear to dry off. Sam and Nate spend hours putting together hot wheels games and playing them, I am not sure who was more excited when they finally got swamp beast back together-sam or nate!! I think they would still be up there now if nate hadn't had to go back to london tonight. As a special treat we ordered a gourmet meal for dinner-fish and chips!! Don't laugh-you don't really get fish and chips back home so this was a real treat. We really had a ball spending the day with Nate and the dogs adored him, especially Miko. On the way back from the station sam asked several tme why nate didn't live closer and could we move near him!!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Catch up again...
my level of blogging is dismal these days, sorry. The evenings have been filled with frantic knitting in an effort to finish my current project before the recipient is born. She is due on June 16th so please keep fingers crossed for a safe delivery.I am almost there, having sewed it all together it didn't seem quite big enough so am franticly doing more squares for another row. Have got the backing and the stuffing so it is all ready to assemble. It has been fun doing the blanket but am looking forward to the next project which is a scarf for auntie c.
Not much of note has happend over the last week, lots of little things all designed to either annoy or delight. The microwave and iron both died and the dog sat on the laptop and bent the screen. The first two items have been replaced but the laptop is still working-for now. On the delight front, sam has finally learned to ride his bike without training wheels-yipee!!!! He has gotten the hang of it fairly quickly, helped I am sure by encouraging words from S next door. Despite my kind words of encouragement sam was still very unsure until S said a few nice things, after that he was king of the bike. Guess my little boy is growing up when he listens to his friends over me! He and S have been playing a lot lately, mainly complicated games involving hot wheels cars and setting up show rooms, race tracks and garages. They get so absorbed in what they are doing, it is so cute to watch. Their chatter drives me insane though, now I know why my mom would never stay in the room when I played barbie with my friends!!! The other delight is that my cousin and his wife are visiting from CA and tomorrow they are coming up to see us. It is his first trip to england and from what he has said he seems to be enjoying it. Our plan tomorrow (weather permitting of course) is to show them how lovely the countryside is with a country pub and a stately home or two thrown in for good measure. They are keen to get out and walk around so hopefully it won't be pouring with rain. I seriously doubt that they brought their wellies!! Not to mention that Rogue seems to have decided that he doesn't do walks in the rain. He will jump into a pond no problem but walking in the rain does not seem to be on his agenda.
Schoolwise we are cracking on with first grade and have just ordered the second grade curriculum from sonlight. Apparently the us post office is doing away with m-bag surface mail soon so to get free postage using this service we had to order now. The books all look so good, sam and I can't wait for the m-bag to arrive. We have also ordered the next part of story of the world so will be starting on the byzantine empire, vikings and anglo saxons soon. Will try to time the viking bit so it coincides with our norway trip. Can't wait until we get to the saxon bit, will have to dust off my old text books. If he is really bored I could even subject him to my gradute thesis.
Rogue's last puppy class is this week and we just hope he graduates! he has been very good in class but the teacher seems a bit biased against akitas so she may not pass him. he has done everything asked and hasn't attacked any classmates so hopefully she will be kind.
Not much of note has happend over the last week, lots of little things all designed to either annoy or delight. The microwave and iron both died and the dog sat on the laptop and bent the screen. The first two items have been replaced but the laptop is still working-for now. On the delight front, sam has finally learned to ride his bike without training wheels-yipee!!!! He has gotten the hang of it fairly quickly, helped I am sure by encouraging words from S next door. Despite my kind words of encouragement sam was still very unsure until S said a few nice things, after that he was king of the bike. Guess my little boy is growing up when he listens to his friends over me! He and S have been playing a lot lately, mainly complicated games involving hot wheels cars and setting up show rooms, race tracks and garages. They get so absorbed in what they are doing, it is so cute to watch. Their chatter drives me insane though, now I know why my mom would never stay in the room when I played barbie with my friends!!! The other delight is that my cousin and his wife are visiting from CA and tomorrow they are coming up to see us. It is his first trip to england and from what he has said he seems to be enjoying it. Our plan tomorrow (weather permitting of course) is to show them how lovely the countryside is with a country pub and a stately home or two thrown in for good measure. They are keen to get out and walk around so hopefully it won't be pouring with rain. I seriously doubt that they brought their wellies!! Not to mention that Rogue seems to have decided that he doesn't do walks in the rain. He will jump into a pond no problem but walking in the rain does not seem to be on his agenda.
Schoolwise we are cracking on with first grade and have just ordered the second grade curriculum from sonlight. Apparently the us post office is doing away with m-bag surface mail soon so to get free postage using this service we had to order now. The books all look so good, sam and I can't wait for the m-bag to arrive. We have also ordered the next part of story of the world so will be starting on the byzantine empire, vikings and anglo saxons soon. Will try to time the viking bit so it coincides with our norway trip. Can't wait until we get to the saxon bit, will have to dust off my old text books. If he is really bored I could even subject him to my gradute thesis.
Rogue's last puppy class is this week and we just hope he graduates! he has been very good in class but the teacher seems a bit biased against akitas so she may not pass him. he has done everything asked and hasn't attacked any classmates so hopefully she will be kind.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Happy Housiversary...
Friday was our first anniversary of moving into this house. Can't believe it, time has flown by, it seems like just yesterday we were running around like headless chickens to unpack everything here and to clean up the old house. We all love this house and the opportunities it had given us as a family. We are able to spend a lot more time together doing fun stuff as M doesn't have a huge communte to workl We still miss pborough and our friends there very much but the more we get to know of leicester the more we like it. There is so much to do around here that we could go out exploring every weekend and still not see everything. I especially love the sense of community in our little close. As we all moved in at roughly the same time everyone knows everyone and is very friendly. Sam and S from next door are in and out of each others houses so much that we should have a revolving door. To celebrate our housiversary we had everyone round for a bbq. It gave us a chance to chat properly, and I think everyone had fun. I know that we did. The dogs got a bit over excited though and had to have a nap in their crate to prevent them from eating off everyone's plates.
Today was another big event-the first meeting of the home ed group that my friend V and myself have started. We are holding it in a local church hall which is light and spacious and well equipped. Our theme was spring and we had 5 families in total. They are all people that we know from french class so the children were all comfortable with each other. We had about 6 activities in total, in addition to a play table with games, playdough and hamma beads. Sam's only complaint about the session was that there weren't enough science experiments and he didn't get enough custard cremes! I hope everyone else enjoyed it and hope that the group continues to grow. As we grow and evolve we hope to involve the other parents more and have them run sessions like we did back in pborough. Our next session is the 14th of may so if anyone out there is interested in coming please let me know.
Today was another big event-the first meeting of the home ed group that my friend V and myself have started. We are holding it in a local church hall which is light and spacious and well equipped. Our theme was spring and we had 5 families in total. They are all people that we know from french class so the children were all comfortable with each other. We had about 6 activities in total, in addition to a play table with games, playdough and hamma beads. Sam's only complaint about the session was that there weren't enough science experiments and he didn't get enough custard cremes! I hope everyone else enjoyed it and hope that the group continues to grow. As we grow and evolve we hope to involve the other parents more and have them run sessions like we did back in pborough. Our next session is the 14th of may so if anyone out there is interested in coming please let me know.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
You know your son is lego mad when...
he gets you up at 5:30am because he wants to finish the project he was working on!! You can imagine my response. We waited until the more decent hour of 6am to come down so he could finish the sub that is part of the aqua raiders crab crusher set. He got it yesterday, having saved up for it and spent the evening doing it. He paid for it mostly in small coins and you should have seen the face of the woman in the toyshop-talk about sucking on lemons!!! Guess not everyone who works in a toyshop has a sense of humor. Luckily he didn't notice as he was so focused on the lego. He has been talking of nothing else for the past few days and it has been driving me crazy. Now he has the whole aqua raiders set so I suspect the afternoon will be spent setting it up in the bathtub. Shame the weather is not nice enough for the paddling pool.
A fairly quiet week so far, lots of normals and a few mystery jobs thrown in to spice it up. We are just starting to do multiplication and sam is really getting the hang of times tables. We have only done 2s and 3s so far but he gets the concept and provided you don't ask them out of order he knows all the answers. He tends to add up in his head to get from one to the other so if you ask him out of sequence it really throws him. His is slowly memorising the answers though and I quiz him when he least expects it. He is good natured about it and thinks it is one big game which is perfect. On the language front we have finished our first latin book and are waiting for the next ones to arrive. In the meantime we will use my latin book from my course. We have also started learning a few norwegian words in preparation for our trip. So far we can ask for breakfast and how much something costs-all the important things!
Today sam has a new friend coming to play-we met him last week on the arboritum trip and sam has talked of nothing else since. He is 6 and like sam has never been to school, he also likes all the same things so hopefully the two will get on. If the weather is nice we will go out bug hunting if not we will stay here and the boys can mess up sam's room.
On a dog front Miko is blowing her coat for the first time and there are fur tumbleweeds everywhere. It comes out by the handfull-anyone fance an akita scarf and matching mittens??? I have been manning the phone line for www.jawt.co.uk ( the akita rescue trust we got the monsters from) this week and am astounded at the numbers of calls from people wanting to rehome their dogs. For every 1 call from someone who wants to adopt there are 5 from someone who needs to rehome. The main reason for rehoming seems to be a breakdown in relationship necessitating the partner who was at home with the dog to go out to work. Sadly I know that we won't be able to find homes for them all, but if sam had his way they would all come live here.
A fairly quiet week so far, lots of normals and a few mystery jobs thrown in to spice it up. We are just starting to do multiplication and sam is really getting the hang of times tables. We have only done 2s and 3s so far but he gets the concept and provided you don't ask them out of order he knows all the answers. He tends to add up in his head to get from one to the other so if you ask him out of sequence it really throws him. His is slowly memorising the answers though and I quiz him when he least expects it. He is good natured about it and thinks it is one big game which is perfect. On the language front we have finished our first latin book and are waiting for the next ones to arrive. In the meantime we will use my latin book from my course. We have also started learning a few norwegian words in preparation for our trip. So far we can ask for breakfast and how much something costs-all the important things!
Today sam has a new friend coming to play-we met him last week on the arboritum trip and sam has talked of nothing else since. He is 6 and like sam has never been to school, he also likes all the same things so hopefully the two will get on. If the weather is nice we will go out bug hunting if not we will stay here and the boys can mess up sam's room.
On a dog front Miko is blowing her coat for the first time and there are fur tumbleweeds everywhere. It comes out by the handfull-anyone fance an akita scarf and matching mittens??? I have been manning the phone line for www.jawt.co.uk ( the akita rescue trust we got the monsters from) this week and am astounded at the numbers of calls from people wanting to rehome their dogs. For every 1 call from someone who wants to adopt there are 5 from someone who needs to rehome. The main reason for rehoming seems to be a breakdown in relationship necessitating the partner who was at home with the dog to go out to work. Sadly I know that we won't be able to find homes for them all, but if sam had his way they would all come live here.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
bug hunting
Patiently waiting for bugs to drop on to the sheet. Sam is now totally bug mad again and has to carry a collecting jar whenever we go out. His latest find is a black beetle of unknown origin who is residing in said jar on his bedside table. Sam wants to keep him for a pet and has even given it some miko fur to make a nest with.. Do I blame M or Gerald Durrell?
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