Today we went down to Matt's grandmother's to take her out for lunch. After a nice lunch at a very posh garden center (they were so posh they didn't seem to sell plants!!) we back to her house for a spot of lego building.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Sam and Nan
Sam and his latest lego creation with Nan. Not sure she is too happy that it is a spider!!
Lincoln cathedral from the castle
A view of the cathedral from the castle, M took this pic and it really captures the beauty of lincoln. Apparently the cathedral was used in the movie of the Da Vinci code. We had a nice day out and managed to avoid the showers.
Hanging out at Lincoln Castle
We spent yesterday at lincoln, visiting the castle and browsing on steep hill. This is sam on the ramparts.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Trainspotters!
The boys are all excited, B and J about being on the train and Sam about having just had an ice cream!
Who needs a ball to play catch?
Today we met up with Auntie J and cousins B and J at Ferry Meadows. The boys decided it was much more fun to play catch with sam's hat than with with ball. It was lovely to be back in peterborough, we do miss it so.
Cool fun on a hot day
We met up with Sarah and the girls last week at Burghley's garden of surprises. Sam and the girls had lots of fun in the water and sarah and I had a chance to catch up.
rub a dub dub two men in a tub
At this point they were becalmed in the middle of the lake. The wind had dropped and they had lots of trouble moving. They didn't seem to mind and had lots of fun. It was very swallows and amazon.
Chilling on the lake
Here they are with sam supposed to be in charge of the sail and sam next door in charge of the tiller.
Ready to set sail
On saturday S and his friend Sam went sailing with beavers. They had a blast but spent most of the time either in the reeds or in the middle of the lake.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
The cheeky boys
We met up with A and C today at belton house, where the boys had a glorious time in the adventure playground. It was lovely to see them and catch up with M on all her news.
The cousins
sam and his cousins B & J at Duxford. If the weather had been nicer you would have been able to see that they were wearing matching shirts courtesy of nana and grandad. By all accounts it was a very chilly evening but it didn't rain so everyone was happy.
A cool plane
A Dakota DC3 as taken by sam at Duxford this weekend. He had a ball and enjoyed the music and enjoyed playing with his cousins.
A unique prewash setting
Rogue is such a helpful guy, he really likes to get involved with the housework!
Guess who has a new bike?
Sam on his new red bike, he looks so grown up. He hasn't made it out of the close yet but now the weather is getting nicer we will take it up to watermead.
Good enough to eat!
The cake sam and I made for our 4th of July party. It was very yummy and we had great difficulty in keeping the dogs away from the strawberries.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The boy is back..
after spending the weekend at his grandparents. He had a blast and we had an very quiet house. They picked him up friday afternoon and brought him back this afternoon. He was able to see his great grandmother as well as his aunt & uncle and cousins. They all went to an outdoor concert and airshow on saturday night and sam took about 100 pics! I will post a few of the good ones. By all accounts he had fun didn't miss us at all. It was very strange not having him in the house, though the dogs didn't seem to notice he was gone!! A huge thank you to matt's parents for having sam and allowing us to have a little grown up time. We spent it wisely, sleeping late, going out for lunch and just generally pottering. We have spent a lovely afternoon with matt's parents and sam-we went out to lunch to celebrate our anniversary (thank you!!) and then came home for a Wii tournament. Both Nana and grandad managed to hold their own against sam in tennis, baseball and bowling. We tried in vain to get wii fit but it is sold out everywhere, we are on a few on line waiting lists so I guess we will get one eventually.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Home ed just isn't working..
for rogue-well you didn't think I meant sam did you? He is as happy as larry at home and has declared that he wants to be home educated for college too! Me thinks not! Anyway, try as we might we can't seem to help rogue with his dog aggression issues so we have turned to Rachaael at www.aknak9.com for help. She is a local dog trainer, breeder and dog behavorist. She breeds American Innuits and they are just beautiful. Her alpha female Cheyanne has been helping rogue with getting to know other dogs. Our first session last week was a bit tense and we were glad that rogue had a muzzle on but by the end of the session they had reached a from of entent cordiale. After one to one time rogue and miko and the three of us joined the agility class. Both dogs did really well considering it was their first time, though we humans had a few problems with going around the course! Sam took miko on the last lap and she was definately in charge-poor guy practically flew round thecoanturse-but he loved it. We are going to train with Rachael once a week and hopefully this will help rogue with his issues. We just want him to be happy and he seems very frustrated that he doesn't know how to play with anyone but miko.
Schooling for the monster is going well-we are now on to long division and the 8 times tables. We have started a month long experiment involving corn and beans which he is excited about. We are going to carry on working over the summer but at a much more relaxed pace to allow us to visit with schooled friends and go on days out.
He is very excited at the moment as he is going to spend the weekend with his grandparents this weekend and they are taking him to a concert and airshow at duxford. He will get to see his cousins at the concert and he can't wait to talk star wars with benjamin. Matt and are going out for a belated anniversary lunch on sat which will be nice. I will really miss my little guy but I know that he is going to have lots of fun.
Schooling for the monster is going well-we are now on to long division and the 8 times tables. We have started a month long experiment involving corn and beans which he is excited about. We are going to carry on working over the summer but at a much more relaxed pace to allow us to visit with schooled friends and go on days out.
He is very excited at the moment as he is going to spend the weekend with his grandparents this weekend and they are taking him to a concert and airshow at duxford. He will get to see his cousins at the concert and he can't wait to talk star wars with benjamin. Matt and are going out for a belated anniversary lunch on sat which will be nice. I will really miss my little guy but I know that he is going to have lots of fun.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
A click through to help fluffy critters..
The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.
It takes less than a minute (about 20 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals' for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
It takes less than a minute (about 20 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals' for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Brilliant Barcelona
We have recently returned from a fab vacation in Barcelona and would gladly go back again tomorrow. Everything was perfect, the weather, the food, the hotel, the sights and the shopping. There was so much to see and do that I don't think we saw half of it. We all agreed that is was much better than Paris, especially sam who was treated like a king whereever we went. Some of the highlights were:
the beach, the science museum, the gaudi park, tapas, seeing the new indiana jones movie, shopping and the museums. If anyone is looking for a european city holiday destination then it gets thumbs up from all members of our family.
the beach, the science museum, the gaudi park, tapas, seeing the new indiana jones movie, shopping and the museums. If anyone is looking for a european city holiday destination then it gets thumbs up from all members of our family.
Down by the boardwalk..
One of the highlights of the trip was spending the evenings strolling down by the water. Here is M looking very dashing.
sandman
Barcelona is right on the water and we spent a glorious day at the beach as it was a short walk from our hotel. We bought sam the requiste bucket and spade and he matt had a ball building sandcastles and jumping waves. He asked me to bury hin in the sand and this was the result. I felt very sorry for the chambermaid who cleaned our room as even days after the beach trip sam was still trailing sam around the room.
Not lost really!!
Actually, barcelona was really easy to find our way around and we walked almost everywhere. We did brave the underground and it was very easy to use and very safe.
Gaudi boy
Sam was really taken with all the Gaudi architecture and especially loved the Gaudi park. Here he is with his new friend geckster in front of the gecko statue.
The weekly shop
We stumbled upon the fruit and veg market in barcelona and it was incredible. I have never seen such lovely, delicious fruit at such good prices. The boys especially loved the fresh fruit smoothies-there was a smoothie stall near our hotel and we stopped by at least twice day. If only the markets in leicester looked like this.
Don't try this at home..
The day we left barcelona was the feast day of St. Joan and to celebrate there was a festival of catalonia culture at the waterfront. As part of this festival there was some sort of gymnastic competiton between village teams. There were 4 teams each with different colored sashes and they took it in turn to build structures out of team members. Each structure was topped by small child who must have been very brave. Sam suggested that we should try this at home ed group-I think not!!
Happy boy
This is one happy sam after a fab vacation in barcelona. He had at least one ice cream per day, not to mention pastries at breakfast. He was delighted to find a toy store that sold not only lego but warhammer, needless to say he spent most of his money there.
Smile
Two happy parents as taken by one happy son. We all had a fab time in barcelona and can't wait to return.
Friday, June 06, 2008
The rain in spain..
had better fall on the plain and not barcelona as we are off there shortly. Matt had vacation time to use up and we thought we would get our family vacation in now before the schools get out for summer. He went to a conference there a couple of year ago and liked what he saw so we are off there shortly. We are all looking forward to it, from what we have read it sounds like a lovely city with lots to see and do. Sam is very excited not only is there a beach but also an aquarium but more importantly three Games Workshops!! We have promised him a visit to one of them but we are not spending our whole vacation playing warhammer 40K.
Other than pouring through guidebooks and doing 'schoolwork' things have been prety quiet here. There have been several field trips with our local home ed group and next week we have something almost everyday. Sam and I are both looking forward to the session with local author Chris D'Lacey- he writes fantastic children's books about dragons and we are both big fans.
We have finally tackled the backyard-where the dogs have destroyed the grass we have laid a bark chip path ending in a bark chip seating/play area. It looks really good and grass is starting to grow back in the bald patches which is great. Hopefully in a months time it will be sea of green rather than a sea of mud. Matt has also laid the floor in the utility room and it looks fantastic.
Matt is away for work this weekend so tomorrow sam and I are heading into town so he can play a little warhammer and I can indulge in a little retail therapy. Sunday we plan to tackle the playroom to make it less of a dumping ground and more of a space we can use.
Other than pouring through guidebooks and doing 'schoolwork' things have been prety quiet here. There have been several field trips with our local home ed group and next week we have something almost everyday. Sam and I are both looking forward to the session with local author Chris D'Lacey- he writes fantastic children's books about dragons and we are both big fans.
We have finally tackled the backyard-where the dogs have destroyed the grass we have laid a bark chip path ending in a bark chip seating/play area. It looks really good and grass is starting to grow back in the bald patches which is great. Hopefully in a months time it will be sea of green rather than a sea of mud. Matt has also laid the floor in the utility room and it looks fantastic.
Matt is away for work this weekend so tomorrow sam and I are heading into town so he can play a little warhammer and I can indulge in a little retail therapy. Sunday we plan to tackle the playroom to make it less of a dumping ground and more of a space we can use.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
An audience with the Dalai Lama
Sunday, along with thousands of others in nottingham, we had the opportunity to listen to the Dalai Lama speak about the environment. It was part of a week long lecture series that he had at the nottingham arena and sunday afternoon was set aside for children to ask him questions and do presentations of poems and songs they had written about the environment and their concerns. Sam had entered a poem in the competition but he didn't win, perhaps it was just as well, he would have been nervous reading it out in front of so many people.
The event was one of those once in a lifetime things, it isn't very often that you sit only 6 rows away from a world leader. He seemed so friendly and approachable and genuinely interested in what the children had to say. M and I both really enjoyed the event and while I think that sam appreciated the uniqueness of the occasion I am not sure that he got a lot out of it, mainly because he could not really understand what the Dalai Lama was saying. His english was very good but he is very softly spoken and even the grown ups had to strain to catch everything. He seemed a very wise and thoughtful man and Sam and I are going to now read up on his teachings and tibet and tibetan buddism.
I am glad that we went and I am glad that sam had the experience, it has broadened his horizons and helped him to understand what a varied and interesting world we live in. After the talk we went to the tibetan marketplace that had been set up, it was full of lots of interesting sights and smells-the food smelled delicious, if only we had had time to stay and sample some!
The event was one of those once in a lifetime things, it isn't very often that you sit only 6 rows away from a world leader. He seemed so friendly and approachable and genuinely interested in what the children had to say. M and I both really enjoyed the event and while I think that sam appreciated the uniqueness of the occasion I am not sure that he got a lot out of it, mainly because he could not really understand what the Dalai Lama was saying. His english was very good but he is very softly spoken and even the grown ups had to strain to catch everything. He seemed a very wise and thoughtful man and Sam and I are going to now read up on his teachings and tibet and tibetan buddism.
I am glad that we went and I am glad that sam had the experience, it has broadened his horizons and helped him to understand what a varied and interesting world we live in. After the talk we went to the tibetan marketplace that had been set up, it was full of lots of interesting sights and smells-the food smelled delicious, if only we had had time to stay and sample some!
Pull!
Tony & Christine brought a long rope camping and the children (both big and small) had a blast playing tug of war. The game went on for about an hour and at one point all the children camping on the field were involved. Not sure who had more fun, M or the children!
Taking a break
Sam almost at the summit of Thorpe Cloud. The moutain was littered with sheep and Rogue and Miko were both dying to be able to get a little closer to them.
Are you sure this is safe?
Sam and I crossing the famous stepping stones on the dovedale trail on our trip the weekend before last. Just after this we tried to get miko across and the poor baby was not very happy. She hates getting wet and felt very sorry for herself when she finally got to the other side! Rogue on the other hand willing jumped in the stream and swam across.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Almost there
Matt and Rogue heading up the summit of Thorpe Cloud-we all climbed the mountain but sam and I stayed just below the summit as it was wet and slippery and we didn't fancy taking the quick way back down!
The summit
Matt and Rogue on the summit of Thorpe Cloud. Matt is holding Rogue very tightly as just out of shot is a sheep with whom Rogue wanted to get better acquainted!
Cousin Zeldy at camp
Cousin Zeldy (the big brown one) had to go to doggy camp while her mom and dad went on vacation. Here she is playing with her friends.
This post was created by Miko and Rogue
This post was created by Miko and Rogue
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Climbing the walls
By the end of the session he was climbing like a pro. A future cat burglar or super hero-what do you think?
Preparing to climb
Today C and D took us to the home ed climbing group in nottingham. The boys had a blast and the instructor was extremely patient. He nearly lost it by the end though as three of the boys are warhammer mad (including sam) so that was all they talked about! Sam had a ball and is very keen to go again and for us all to go as a family. While he was climbing I was able to get in some too. I climbed with two of the dads and my arms now ache! I had fun and am keen to go again, it was nice to have a little me time.
Making a robot
This week at home ed group the topic was robots- so sam was in his element. Eoin, J's dad and Martin I's dad helped the children to make robotic bugs. Here is sam soldering his together. The bugs were a great hit, especially with our dogs who didn't know what to make of this thing wiggling across the floor!
Friday, May 09, 2008
Indiana Bones
We have decided to rename Rogue, Indiana Bones as he has spent the last two days excavating and burying the bone that nana and grandad gave him at the weekend. The new flower bed and veggie patch have been well explored for places to put the precious bone. It is now a disgusting black color-I just hope he doesn't manage to sneak it into the house and bury it in our bed-his usual bone burying spot.
future super model?
This was when he was still enjoying the walk. He ran out of enthusiasm as he got hungry and thirsty. We hadn't planned on being out very long so didn't bring any supplies-next time we will go well armed with drinks and trail snacks.
Mom & Dad as taken by sam
We went to Swithland Woods at the weekend and got totally and utterly lost due to lack of sign posts! It was a beautiful walk though and Rogue made friends with a cow (complete with nose touching) and Miko ran into her first friend, Gia the bull mastiff. She and Gia met at puppy class back when they were both much smaller!
new cousin
The puppies have a new cousin-her name is Issa and Dad and Amy adopted her about two weeks ago. She had a rough start but seems to be settling in well. She is adorable and no doubt already starting to boss around her very large afghan brothers!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
stirring it up
Here is the monster making bread on on field trip to Green's Mill Nottingham last week. He had lots of fun exploring the windmill, grinding wheat, making bread and playing in the park. Rather than making a conventional loaf shape he made it in the shape of a warhammer tank! It got a bit crispy round the edges but he said it was very yummy.
smile
Sam and friends on a recent field trip to Wollaton Hall for a session on mini beasts. We had a great time, though I am not sure the bugs and creepy crawlies would agree!!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
two years and only just unpacked!
We have just celebrated our two year anniversary in this house in some respects it feels like we have been here forever and in other like we are still newcomers. It was only at the end of the summer that we finally unpacked all the boxes in the playroom-talk about procrastination!! This weekend we spent lots of time in the garden and ripped out the front lawn and replaced it with blue slate. Not only does it look a lot better but it also means one less place to mow! Not that there is much to mow in the back thanks to the dogs and the boys.
The last few weeks have passed in a bit of a blurr-there is so much going on at the moment, not all of it bloggable. We have kept occupied with all of our usual pursuits-home ed group, normals, field trips, dog walks and mystery shopping. Sam and I have spent a lot of time mystery shopping the last two weeks-I had nine jobs that involved sitting in pretty shiny bmws and lexus but sadly did not get to buy one. Sam and I both agreed that we prefered the lexus-lots more comfy inside and lots more gadgets.
We have also been glued to bbc iplayer watching Dr. Who. Come saturday at about 7:20 we are all snuggled on the sofa eagerly awaiting it to be uploaded. The new season is good but the last episode left us all wondering where captain jack and torchwood were and why didn't they ride in to the rescue. We are all warming to Donna, she is bossy and motherly but still not Rose. Just hope this season is not the last for David Tennant-he will forever be known as the Dr. no matter what he does so he might as well carry on and make gobs of money.
Sam and I are very excited as we have just booked tickets to see Eoin Colfer in Nottingham in August. He is the author of the Artemis Fowl series that we both love. We have listened and relistened to each book and are interested to see if Eoin is as entertaining in person as he is in print. Matt enjoys the books as well but hasn't had the chance to listen as much as we have. ( Racked up lots of miles doing the bmw and lexus jobs) It is nice to see sam so excited about an author and reading.
The last few weeks have passed in a bit of a blurr-there is so much going on at the moment, not all of it bloggable. We have kept occupied with all of our usual pursuits-home ed group, normals, field trips, dog walks and mystery shopping. Sam and I have spent a lot of time mystery shopping the last two weeks-I had nine jobs that involved sitting in pretty shiny bmws and lexus but sadly did not get to buy one. Sam and I both agreed that we prefered the lexus-lots more comfy inside and lots more gadgets.
We have also been glued to bbc iplayer watching Dr. Who. Come saturday at about 7:20 we are all snuggled on the sofa eagerly awaiting it to be uploaded. The new season is good but the last episode left us all wondering where captain jack and torchwood were and why didn't they ride in to the rescue. We are all warming to Donna, she is bossy and motherly but still not Rose. Just hope this season is not the last for David Tennant-he will forever be known as the Dr. no matter what he does so he might as well carry on and make gobs of money.
Sam and I are very excited as we have just booked tickets to see Eoin Colfer in Nottingham in August. He is the author of the Artemis Fowl series that we both love. We have listened and relistened to each book and are interested to see if Eoin is as entertaining in person as he is in print. Matt enjoys the books as well but hasn't had the chance to listen as much as we have. ( Racked up lots of miles doing the bmw and lexus jobs) It is nice to see sam so excited about an author and reading.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Why is it..
that when you are spring cleaning the house always looks worse half way through and you wish that you hadn't started the job. M was working this weekend so decided to start a spring clean, including carpets. Borrowed a Vax from my neighbor and sam and I set to work. I think the toughest bit was clearing his bedroom floor-everything is now piled up on his bed in a mountain so high that there is snow at the summit. I am so not looking forward to putting everything back. Spring cleaning his room will take about a month! In the spirit of the clean I did my drawers and wait for it...my car!! I am ashamed to say to say that I can't remember the last time I washed my car let alone vaccumed it. Sam was in charge of cleaning the trim and he did such a good job that I treated him to lunch at McDonalds. He has been a big help this weekend and really enjoyed using the carpet cleaner. Have decided that we will invest in one, just not sure which one. The Bissell seems to get good reviews-has anyone out there got one? If so would you recommend it?
Last night's Doctor Who was a big hit here for two reasons. One, the monster looked a bit like a bionicle, inspiring sam to go off and recreate it and two-whoever wrote the episode clearly had the same latin books I had as all the characters' names were identical! Fancy Caecilious ( I know that isn't the correct spelling but you get the gist) and his family meeting up with the doctor-that certainly didn't happen in my text book! I wonder how many other people of my age sat there last night and shouted "hey, I know that guy-he was in my latin book"?
My sonlight order should be here on monday and I am looking forward to seeing all of the books we will be reading come septemberish. The selection this year is fantastic and we are both enjoying the readers and read alouds. Several of them have been books that I enjoyed as a child and it is nice to see sam enjoying them too. The Littles, in particular was a big hit, I even ordered a few more books in the series as he wanted to know more. If only he was as keen on math! We have been doing mental math everyday and he is getting better and he is remembering more and more sums without having to count. We need to revisit telling time though as he seems to have forgotten! I am sure that if I could somehow relate it to warhammer he would have no trouble remembering.
Last night's Doctor Who was a big hit here for two reasons. One, the monster looked a bit like a bionicle, inspiring sam to go off and recreate it and two-whoever wrote the episode clearly had the same latin books I had as all the characters' names were identical! Fancy Caecilious ( I know that isn't the correct spelling but you get the gist) and his family meeting up with the doctor-that certainly didn't happen in my text book! I wonder how many other people of my age sat there last night and shouted "hey, I know that guy-he was in my latin book"?
My sonlight order should be here on monday and I am looking forward to seeing all of the books we will be reading come septemberish. The selection this year is fantastic and we are both enjoying the readers and read alouds. Several of them have been books that I enjoyed as a child and it is nice to see sam enjoying them too. The Littles, in particular was a big hit, I even ordered a few more books in the series as he wanted to know more. If only he was as keen on math! We have been doing mental math everyday and he is getting better and he is remembering more and more sums without having to count. We need to revisit telling time though as he seems to have forgotten! I am sure that if I could somehow relate it to warhammer he would have no trouble remembering.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Out for a drive
Watch out Captain Slow, hamster and clarkson, these two are after your jobs!!! They road tested this tractor and subjected it to top gear challenges.
Building a den
Today we met up with S and the girls at a farm centre half way between leicester and peterborough. It was smaller than we expected but the children had fun, especially in the den building area. Sam teamed up with C to create a den built of massive pine branches and old xmas trees!! It was lovely to catch up with them all, G, my goddaughter is so grown up now and a very chatty little lady of 2.5. Sam had great fun with the girls, especially C. He was delighted to learn that A loves top gear too so they spent ages discussing various episodes. It is such a treasure to have good friends like these, friends that sam known since he was born and who hopefully he will have in his life for a very long time.
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