Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Blogging on the move
Just testing to see if I can blog via email from my new phone. The wonders of the modern age!
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
New school year, new job, new toys
Happy September! Autumn has snuck up on us, the mornings are cool and at the moment the days are warm. We had more of a break from school work than I had planned but it refreshed us and now we are back at work. Sam is enjoying Math for a change, he really likes fractions and will willing do a few pages of them in his math book. Think he must get this from matt because fractions were not one of my fav things in elementary school. He is also coming on well with his spelling and handwriting. He may not necessariy know how to spell a word but he can now recognise that it doesn't look right and will then go look it up. We are in the middle of Sonlight 3 and really enjoying the American History. I think the visit to the Franklin Museum made it come alive for him and now he is keen to read all about it. I am certainly learning alot, colonial life, especially political life was much more complex than I had thought. The biography of Franklin that I am reading is really good, there is so much more to the man than the kite and the lighting story you learn about in school.
I now have a new job as well, I am officially matt's secretary, in charge of managing all the paperwork etc. that is generated from his private work. He has only just started so things are very quiet but as he and his surgeon colleague establish themselves it will get busier. As I am not his secretary he had to get me a proper phone so at long last I have my own iphone. It is compeletly addictive and I wonder how I ever got along without it! Sam keeps trying to get me to buy game aps but have so far refused-he has a few games on matt's phone and can play pacman on mine but I am not buying him shot 'em up games. He has enough of those on his ds!
I now have a new job as well, I am officially matt's secretary, in charge of managing all the paperwork etc. that is generated from his private work. He has only just started so things are very quiet but as he and his surgeon colleague establish themselves it will get busier. As I am not his secretary he had to get me a proper phone so at long last I have my own iphone. It is compeletly addictive and I wonder how I ever got along without it! Sam keeps trying to get me to buy game aps but have so far refused-he has a few games on matt's phone and can play pacman on mine but I am not buying him shot 'em up games. He has enough of those on his ds!
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Productive Day
Having had a lovely relaxing weekend on the boat we came home today and had a very productive day cleaning and tidying. We were on the boat from friday until today as matt was on call. He worked most of friday, all of saturday and most of sunday. Sam and I went into lincoln to games workshop on sunday so he could play warhammer. M and the boys met us there (as did matt) and a good time was had by all. Sam won the game and was over the moon that Al and Conall had come to join him. M kindly took sam back with her for the afternoon and Matt and I had a very relaxing afternoon reading the paper and pottering about lincoln. Sam had a ball at Al's house. It is so nice to have them in lincoln, sam loves having a friend on hand to play with.
Today it was back to leicester, back to housework and laundry! Got lots of both done today while the boys had fun painting space marines and chilling in front of the computer. We are at home for most of this week, hoping to get lots of school stuff done. Sam and I are really enjoying sonlight at the moment, especially after our visit to the Franklin House. We have had lots of interesting discussions about what makes a patriot a patriot and if violence is ever justified. Only wish we could take a field trip to visit boston and philadelphia and dc.
Our plum tree had produced lots of plums this year so tomorrow we are going to try our hand at plum jam and plum chutney. I am not very good at making jam and have never made chutney so should be an intersting experience!
Today it was back to leicester, back to housework and laundry! Got lots of both done today while the boys had fun painting space marines and chilling in front of the computer. We are at home for most of this week, hoping to get lots of school stuff done. Sam and I are really enjoying sonlight at the moment, especially after our visit to the Franklin House. We have had lots of interesting discussions about what makes a patriot a patriot and if violence is ever justified. Only wish we could take a field trip to visit boston and philadelphia and dc.
Our plum tree had produced lots of plums this year so tomorrow we are going to try our hand at plum jam and plum chutney. I am not very good at making jam and have never made chutney so should be an intersting experience!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The old married couple
How did we get so grown up? Seems like yesterday we were students here in london, often ending up here after an afternoon in the Long Island Iced Tea Bar.
Please let me go for a swim dad.
It was a lovely warm day and sam was very keen to go for a dip in the fountain in trafalgar square. Needless to say we didn't let him!
The Franklin House
About a month or so ago I read The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox- a Dan Brown type thriller where an archaeologist and journalist save the world from an ancient and unspeakable evil. The book opens in the Franklin Museum in London-which I assumed was a made up place. Imagine my surprise when sorting out places to visit on our trip to london I googled and discovered that it was a real place! I have lived here over 16 years now and have never heard of it-though it turns out that the museum only opened 3 years ago and the house was almost derelict in the late 80s and early 90s. It is now run by the Benjamin Franklin Trust and is a fantastic museum. You can only go round on a guided tour led by Polly Hewson who was Franklin's landlady's daughter. We were the only visitors and she spent the whole tour engaging sam and drawing him into the story. Neither of the boys usually like guided tours, especially ones led by historical characters but this bowled them over. There weren't many artifacts in the house but Polly's acting was so vivid that you didn't need objects to appreciate and enjoy the house. Franklin was a much more interesting and complex man than I realised and bought a biography him while we were in london and am captivated. If you are in london you must go to the Franklin Museum-it is an amazing experience and well worth the entrance fee. The website is: www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Playing the water harmonica
Our trip to the Franklin House was rounded off by a chance to look and touch some of his inventions. This is sam playing the water harmonica-the first musical instrument invented by an american. The sounds is a bit like running your finger along the rim of a glass and possibly an acquired taste. Apparently some of the greatest composers of the 18th century wrote pieces for the water harmonica-who knew!
An old married couple again!
matt and I as taken by sam. I guess that blue dress wasn't as flattering as I thought.
My handsome boys
Here are the boys waiting for the boat to take us back up the Thames . We had a fantastic time in Greenwich, there was so much to do that we didn't even see half of the sights. It was a blistering hot day and it was nice to be on the water, if only we had had boudicca!
An amazing ceiling
A panel of the ceiling from the painted chapel at the Royal Naval College. It was so beautiful and all the delicate plaster work reminded me of the sort of work that matt's uncle rick used to do.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The bank is coming awfully close
Last night sam went kayaking with his cub scout pack and had a ball. He really enjoyed himself, especially the falling in! He fell in once and turned over once as did most of the boys. There wasn't as much falling in as there was on the sailing trip, mainly because this time they had two instructors telling them what to do and playing games with them. The canal was absolutely filthy and all the boys were made to take showers at the end. Sam was on an absolute high when he got home and he and matt spend the rest of the evening looking on ebay for kayaks!
Paying attention
Not sure what he is thinking here but I think that is his 'I'am concentrating look'.
Yikes!
Here they had to hold on to each other's kayaks and then each in turn stand up and say who they were and where they were from. When it was sam's turn he stood up, announced his name and then hesitated-you could tell he wasn't sure where he was from-leicester? Syston? Peterborough? so in the end he opted for Peterborough and everyone giggled.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Lego Master
Here is the monster putting together his latest lego set. It is some super duper power miner ship, complete with lots of aliens and power crystals. I recently won £500 in John Lewis vouchers from tickbox.net and we have all enjoyed spending them. Sam chose this lego set and we also bought a small tv for the boat. Matt has yet to choose something and I have spend a small portion of mine on make up. Matt and I are saving the rest of ours to spend in london when we go as the John Lewis there is much bigger.
Work in progress
When we moved in we laid laminate in the hallway but over the last three years it has slowly gotten grubbier and smellier (thank you cats!) so we decided to pull it up and lay tile. This is the result. It looks fantastic and makes us wish that we had done it from the start. Hopefully this will make the house easier to sell when we do put it on the market. Sam has really enjoyed helping Matt and my father in law lay the floor, especially the grouting!
Bountiful Harvest
Our veggie garden seems to have thrived on neglect this year and we have had a good crop of lettuce, cabbage, peas, blackcurrents, gooseberries, blueberries and potatoes. These are the potatoes and they were especially yummy.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Piggy back!
Sam getting a piggy back from Charlie at Burghley on Tuesday. It was lovely all being together again but we did miss miriam and the boys.
Sun at last!
The boys and the dogs at Maplethorpe Beach last weekend. We spent last saturday exploring lincolnshire and ended up at the beach. Although we didn't have any beach stuff everyone had fun running up and down the beach and jumping in the waves. Rogue tried to eat the waves while miko didn't like getting her paws wet.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
I confess..
It is our fault that it has rained non stop for the last 24 hours. It is all because we bought sam a new pair of sandals. Perhaps if we had bought him the doc martin's that he really wanted it would be blazing sunshine right now!! I am pleased to say though it is now 2am and it has finally stopped raining. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so wet. Sam and I went into lincoln today and despite the umbrella got soaked and my red leather shoes got so wet that my feet are now also red. I think it is going to take them days to dry out.
Apart from the rain we are having a good week. Monday sam had a summer camp session at the Apple Store. He spent 3 hours learning how to make movies using imovies and had a ball. As parents were not allowed to leave the store (liability issues) they also gave us a session on movie making, it was easier than I expected and sam and I have spent quite a bit of time this week playing around with imovies. `I will try and post the fruits of our labors when they are fully edited. Next week he is doing a session on iphoto so watch out for a blog post with lots of enhanced photos! While I realise that the whole point of these free sessions is to encourage parents to buy software and hardware they are a great idea as we never would have played around with any of the programmes in ilife. I generally just download pics and load them on to flickr and have never thought about playing around with them. Sam really enjoyed the session, not least because he got a free t-shirt.
Tuesday we met up with the boys at the Garden of Surprises at Burghley House. Thankfully we sun was out so the children were able to splash around in the water park. It was lovely catching up with everyone, especially Lisa and her family who are over from the states for the summer. We all missed Miriam and the boys but are looking forward to seeing them when they move back from Ireland at the end of the month. Sam is very excited about Alex coming back as he will have a friend in lincoln-he already has all sorts of plans for the two of them.
Apart from the rain we are having a good week. Monday sam had a summer camp session at the Apple Store. He spent 3 hours learning how to make movies using imovies and had a ball. As parents were not allowed to leave the store (liability issues) they also gave us a session on movie making, it was easier than I expected and sam and I have spent quite a bit of time this week playing around with imovies. `I will try and post the fruits of our labors when they are fully edited. Next week he is doing a session on iphoto so watch out for a blog post with lots of enhanced photos! While I realise that the whole point of these free sessions is to encourage parents to buy software and hardware they are a great idea as we never would have played around with any of the programmes in ilife. I generally just download pics and load them on to flickr and have never thought about playing around with them. Sam really enjoyed the session, not least because he got a free t-shirt.
Tuesday we met up with the boys at the Garden of Surprises at Burghley House. Thankfully we sun was out so the children were able to splash around in the water park. It was lovely catching up with everyone, especially Lisa and her family who are over from the states for the summer. We all missed Miriam and the boys but are looking forward to seeing them when they move back from Ireland at the end of the month. Sam is very excited about Alex coming back as he will have a friend in lincoln-he already has all sorts of plans for the two of them.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Jamming in London
One of the highlights of C's trip was getting to go to see Jimmy Buffett play at the Empire in London. Matt was supposed to join us but couldn't get the next day off and being a sunday there was no way to get back by train after the concert. So matt very kindly stayed with Sam while C and I went. The venue is an old music hall theatre and can't hold more than 2000 people if that. We were in the stalls which was all standing and managed to get very close to the stage. We got to the venue a couple of hours before the concert and had fun waiting in line with all of the other crazy parrot heads. We were amazed at how many people there were, how many of them were english and how sober they all were! At a typical jimmy concert back home most people have had such fun tailgating that they are are bit worse for wear by the time the concert starts. The concert was amazing-jimmy played for 2.5 hours straigh and everyone was singing along. I think he was really taken aback by the amount of people and the level of adoration expressed by the audience. He has promised to come back next year-fingers crossed that he does and fingers crossed it is still at the empire. Having seen him in two small venues seeing him somewhere huge just wouldn't be the same.
Heading to Margaritaville
Jimmy and Mac chatting before the next song. I have never seen a group of musicians who look so unlike a group of musicians. Mac looks just like grizzly adams.
Up close and personal
I took lots of pics but this is the best of the bunch. I forgot to ask matt how to use the video setting on the camera so didn't get any video footage. I still can't believe how close we were to the stage-any closer and we would have been on it.
This is how it works Dad
On C's last day here we ventured up to Magna-a science museum that has been created in an old steel factory. It was very interesting and there was lots of hands on stuff to do. Sam really enjoyed the water section, especially the scale model of locks. Sadly we didn't have time to try out the fab looking playground but hope to get back up there this summer.
Sam aka Huck Finn
The monster fishing back when it was still summer! He natters the whole time he is fishing which is why he probably doesn't catch much!
Trying to catch dinner
Sam and C doing a quite bit of fishing at the marina. Sam managed to catch a baby dace and a baby roach-we threw them all back.
How many cubs will fit on a boat?
The annual cubs boating trip with the boys trying to see how many of them will fit on one boat.
Still dry-just!
Sam had his annual sailing trip with cubs recently. This year due to complete lack of wind they took the sails off theboats and let the boys row. What they lacked in rowing skill they made up for in enthusiasm. They all had a ball and as you will see from the pics below nearly everyone ended up in the water on purpose.
Getting back on board
Not long into the session boys started falling in accidently and then once they discovered what fun it was on purpose. Sam is the one in the blue jacket and orange life jacket and after the first 10 minutes seemed to spend more time in the water than in the boat. He was absolutely soaked and he and matt walked home rather than get the car wet and mucky.
What happened to the boat?
By the end of the session all of the boys were in the water mucking about and having a ball. They all claimed that the water was lovely and warm but I have my doubts.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pox again!
Just as sam got over his chicken pox, the inevitable happened, Matt came down with them. He has felt awful the last two days and has spent them in bed, which is not like him. Normally if he is not feeling well he just soldiers on but not this time. He is like a furnace to touch and alternates between feeling hot and cold. He has a growing collection of spots which so far don't itch. I have a squirt bottle of calamine on hand for when they do tough. I just hope that the feeling awful doesn't last the whole duration of illness, I would hate for him to spend the next week or so feeling like death warmed over.
Things have been pretty quiet here as we cancelled all sam's playdates and activities, not wanting to knowingly pass on the pox. As he felt fine we continued with school work, though at a slower pace than usual. We also spent the week at home, which I think is the first time we have spent a full week on dry land since getting the boat. As the captain now has the pox and won't be at work looks like we will be landlubbers this week as well.
Things have been pretty quiet here as we cancelled all sam's playdates and activities, not wanting to knowingly pass on the pox. As he felt fine we continued with school work, though at a slower pace than usual. We also spent the week at home, which I think is the first time we have spent a full week on dry land since getting the boat. As the captain now has the pox and won't be at work looks like we will be landlubbers this week as well.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Chicken Pox...again!!
Things have been tootling along at what passes for normal in our house/boat. Schoolwork, clubs, playdates, soggy camping weekends etc until the attack of the chicken pox. This is the second time the monster has had chicken pox and so far thankfully it is very mild just like last time. He doesn't feel unwell which is good and hasn't been tempted to scratch the spots. We have cancelled all his activities for next week as we don't want to pass it on to his friends. He does love to rough and tumble with his buddies so I have no doubt that he would spread it among them. My big worry, though is him passing it to Matt who still hasn't had the pox. Fingers crossed he doesn't get it!
As I said life has been pretty normal around here-we had our annual home ed camp last weekend and only managed one night. The heavens opened the first night and our tent couldn't cope. It leaked in so many place it was almost raining inside by the the time we woke up. As the forecast was for rain all sat and sun we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and packed up and went home. Sam was dispointed to leave his friends but very glad to be warm and dry when we got home. To make up for the disapointment the boys went to see Terminator Salvation while the dogs and I had a lazy afternoon.
Sam has recently joined the local junior triathlon club and is really enjoying it. It has really improved his swimming and above all he is having fun. Not sure when he will do his first junior triathlon-there is one mid july not too far from here so if he thinks he is ready we will sign him up for that.
Auntie C is coming to visit at the end of the month and we are all very excited. By happy coincedence Jimmy Buffett happens to be having his first ever concert in London while she is here and we have managed to get tickets-yippee! I hope the weather is nice for her visit but knowing july over here anything is possible.
As I said life has been pretty normal around here-we had our annual home ed camp last weekend and only managed one night. The heavens opened the first night and our tent couldn't cope. It leaked in so many place it was almost raining inside by the the time we woke up. As the forecast was for rain all sat and sun we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and packed up and went home. Sam was dispointed to leave his friends but very glad to be warm and dry when we got home. To make up for the disapointment the boys went to see Terminator Salvation while the dogs and I had a lazy afternoon.
Sam has recently joined the local junior triathlon club and is really enjoying it. It has really improved his swimming and above all he is having fun. Not sure when he will do his first junior triathlon-there is one mid july not too far from here so if he thinks he is ready we will sign him up for that.
Auntie C is coming to visit at the end of the month and we are all very excited. By happy coincedence Jimmy Buffett happens to be having his first ever concert in London while she is here and we have managed to get tickets-yippee! I hope the weather is nice for her visit but knowing july over here anything is possible.
Friday, May 15, 2009
feathered neighbors
The Ds are our feathered neighbors who seem to view us as their main food source. They come by at regular intervals to beg for food and lay siege to the boat if they don't get it. The dogs get very excited when they come by and rouge especially would like to get to know them better.
Mrs. D. on the roof!
Here is Mrs. D laying siege to the boat. She and Mr. D are our constant companions and are very demanding. Mrs. D has been known to climb in the hatch if we aren't feeding her as often as she would like.
schoolwork in the sunshine
Schoolwork is much more fun on boat-it is so warm and sunny ( on nice days) that it is almost like being outside. We are doing the Incas at the moment and here is sam voluntarily reading the Incredible Incas from the Horrible Histories series. He enjoys the series as it covers the gorey bits of history.
madame looking cute
Miko looking cute and fluffy-the dogs enjoy being on the boat, especially when the ducks come to visit!
playing with an electromagnet
This week at home ed group we had a 'bring a science experiment' session. Joe and his dad brought materials for everyone to make their own electromagnet. Here is sam with his creation picking up washers. He was delighted with his magnet and spent the rest of the day trying to pick up things!
Sam as never seen before!
Here is the monster as never seen before-all dressed up in a suit. He looked so smart and was very good about keeping his hands out of his pockets.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A May Bug-Taken by Sam
This little guy came visiting our veggie patch last night . Sam looked him up and discovered that it is a May Bug which is a type of beetle.
The Boys at Easter
A cute pic of sam and rogue at easter. Rogue tolerates sam's rough housing with puppy like enthusiasm.
A sunny day on boudica
Boudica is a real suntrap so on nice days we open the forward doors, and soak up the sunshine. Here are the boys enjoying the warm weather.
Cookie anyone?
Sam and his cousin benjamin at the bake sale sam organized for Blue Peter. All in all he made £16 and worked very hard.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Today's science lesson-the food chain up close and personal..
While out with the dogs today we witnessed not only the food chain in action but also how cruel nature can be. As I may have mentioned spring, in the form of cute ducklings has come to the marina in a big way. We have enjoyed watching the various families and were pleased when the duck we call Mrs. D (the one who keeps coming in the hatch) had finally produced a duckling. She and the very ducking waddled over to say hello as we went to our car. She let us get amazingly close and seemed very proud of her chick. We got in the car and were about to pull away when we noticed a rook swoop down. Mrs. D did a very good job of fending it off at first but she turned her back at one point and grabbed the chick. I lept out of the car and ran toward the rook shouting and waving my arms, it landed twice but I couldn't get close enough to save the chick, it finally flew off boyond the horizon. I was gutted and poor sam was dumbfounded. We all know that this is how the food chain works but to see it like this wasn't very nice-poor Mrs. D was making a huge fuss at me as if to berate me for not saving the chick. She seems to have recovered though because she was back at the boat begging by the time we got back from the gym. Thank goodness life isn't like that for us humans, being a parent is worrying enough but to always have the fear of loosing a child to a predator must be awful. I know I am projecting my feelings on to the duck and that she has probably forgotten all about the chick, but I remember and feel bad on her behalf.
Apart from that real life science lesson we are having a good week. Saturday sam and I went to see monsters vs. aliens-which was better than I expected. Alot of the jokes went over sam's head and I am sure the jokes about fresno and modesto meant nothing to the english audience. We had a nice wander around lincoln after the movies and both ended up getting a pair of shoes. Sam needed really tennis shoes forthe gym, while I fell in love with a red pair of sketcher like shoes. I justified buying them because they were children's shoes therefore cheaper than adult shoes. It is nice to know that I can fit into girl's shoes-children's feet must be getting bigger though because I have an average size foot for a grown up.
Apart from that real life science lesson we are having a good week. Saturday sam and I went to see monsters vs. aliens-which was better than I expected. Alot of the jokes went over sam's head and I am sure the jokes about fresno and modesto meant nothing to the english audience. We had a nice wander around lincoln after the movies and both ended up getting a pair of shoes. Sam needed really tennis shoes forthe gym, while I fell in love with a red pair of sketcher like shoes. I justified buying them because they were children's shoes therefore cheaper than adult shoes. It is nice to know that I can fit into girl's shoes-children's feet must be getting bigger though because I have an average size foot for a grown up.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Where to begin..?
Sorry about the silence for the last month, thankfully it wasn't due to anything bad happening just lots of time spent a float and a boy who hogs my laptop! Whether at home or on the boat the first thing sam does in the morning is have computer time, which is fine except that it is usually on my laptop as it is the one that the games are loaded on and if he should accidently do something to it it is not as big a deal as if he were to hurt daddy's macbook. Add to that he is no longer sleeping in as late as he used to and the fact that my laptop is used as a dvd player on the boat (have to get our nightly buffy fix somehow) and it all equals less computer time for mom! I have started so many blogs in my head this last month but haven't had the chance to write them down. Have managed to sneak some time this morning, got up a little earlier and sam is shattered after a 2 mile hike with cubs last night so hopefully he will sleep a little longer.
Things are busy here, we are spending more and more time on the boat and as a consequence really getting to know lincoln. The more we see the more we like and look forward to moving there once the market picks up and we can put the house on the market. Our mornings on the boat ususally start with a duck invasion-there is one particular mrs. duck who walks up and down the roof and pecks on windows begging for food. If the hatch is open she will march right in and demand breakfast. Most of the other ducks are more polite and just congregate around the hatch waiting for sam's toast crusts. They have started to bring their ducklings who are so cute and getting bigger by the day. There are also lots of fish in the marina and sam is determined to catch one with his fishing net. No luck so far mainly due to the fact that he talks at the top of his voice non stop while fishing, thus scaring away all the fish. Once fishing season starts he and matt are going to recondition the rods and try to catch some fish for real. They had best throw back what they catch because there is no way that I am skining and gutting a smelly old fish!!
Schoolwise things are moving along, we have started basic geometry and sam is really enjoying it. He has grasped the concepts quite quickly and seems eager for more. Makes a change from his usual opinion of math! He has also been enjoying the verbal and non-verbal reasoning work books that I bought recently. He has surprised himself by being better at the verbal reasoning than the non-verbal, not really a surprise to me as he is one of the most verbal children that I know! He is getting more pe than ever as he goes to the children's club at the gym at least twice a week. This week he did basketball and a supervised gym session, it was very disconcerting when he suddenly popped up on the treadmill next to me!
We have started working on the house in a big way. Last weekend we gave the backyard a make over using two tons of slate! It looks a lot better and the slate hides the fact that the dogs have destroyed most of the grass. We have created a new veggie patch and hope that some of the plants survive the large slug population that inhabits our yard. We have put down all natural slug pellets and coffee grounds so hopefully that will keep them away.
Have a sunny day!!!
Things are busy here, we are spending more and more time on the boat and as a consequence really getting to know lincoln. The more we see the more we like and look forward to moving there once the market picks up and we can put the house on the market. Our mornings on the boat ususally start with a duck invasion-there is one particular mrs. duck who walks up and down the roof and pecks on windows begging for food. If the hatch is open she will march right in and demand breakfast. Most of the other ducks are more polite and just congregate around the hatch waiting for sam's toast crusts. They have started to bring their ducklings who are so cute and getting bigger by the day. There are also lots of fish in the marina and sam is determined to catch one with his fishing net. No luck so far mainly due to the fact that he talks at the top of his voice non stop while fishing, thus scaring away all the fish. Once fishing season starts he and matt are going to recondition the rods and try to catch some fish for real. They had best throw back what they catch because there is no way that I am skining and gutting a smelly old fish!!
Schoolwise things are moving along, we have started basic geometry and sam is really enjoying it. He has grasped the concepts quite quickly and seems eager for more. Makes a change from his usual opinion of math! He has also been enjoying the verbal and non-verbal reasoning work books that I bought recently. He has surprised himself by being better at the verbal reasoning than the non-verbal, not really a surprise to me as he is one of the most verbal children that I know! He is getting more pe than ever as he goes to the children's club at the gym at least twice a week. This week he did basketball and a supervised gym session, it was very disconcerting when he suddenly popped up on the treadmill next to me!
We have started working on the house in a big way. Last weekend we gave the backyard a make over using two tons of slate! It looks a lot better and the slate hides the fact that the dogs have destroyed most of the grass. We have created a new veggie patch and hope that some of the plants survive the large slug population that inhabits our yard. We have put down all natural slug pellets and coffee grounds so hopefully that will keep them away.
Have a sunny day!!!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Doubly blessed
On Thursday last week Sam received not one but two Blue Peter Badges in the mail. For everyone back home Blue Peter is children's television show on the BBC that has now been on air for 50 years and in a magazine format with young and trendy presenters. It is on twice a week and each show features a variety of things for children to make and do as well as showing the presenters getting up to fun challenges and adventures. They also have annual appeals where the children help to raise money for a deserving charity that usually has links with children. it is held in even higher esteem here than Sesame Street is back home. Here is a clip.
Anyway, children who write in to the show or send in pictures or help out in the community are awarded with Blue Peter badges. Sam has coveted them for a long while and after one to false starts finally produced a drawing of all the current presenters and pets for the show's 50th birthday. (Silly mom forgot to take a pic before we sent it off!) We duly sent if off to the show, not expecting to hear anything back. Low and behold waiting on the doormat when we got back from the boat was a letter from the show with an ordinary Blue Peter badge as a well as a special limited edition 50th anniversary badge. (Will post a pic of sam wearing them), to say that sam was excited was an understatement. I bet that the whole of the village heard his shrieks of delight. He has worn them everyday with pride and tells everyone he meets about them. As a badge holder he gets in free to lots of attractions and is already plotting where to visit.
The Blue Peter Badges have been the highlight of our last week. We have spent a lot of it on the boat, hence the lack of blogging. Now the weather is getting better it is glorious to be on the boat basking in the sunshine. We now have fishing rods on board and the boys are planning to do a little fishing when it gets a bit warmer. The ducks are getting very friendly and one particular couple swim by each meal time begging for crumbs. Mrs. Duck has even been known to climb up into the open kitchen hatch in search of bread. Luckily I spotted her before Rogue did or otherwise Mr. Duck would have been short a wife!
Anyway, children who write in to the show or send in pictures or help out in the community are awarded with Blue Peter badges. Sam has coveted them for a long while and after one to false starts finally produced a drawing of all the current presenters and pets for the show's 50th birthday. (Silly mom forgot to take a pic before we sent it off!) We duly sent if off to the show, not expecting to hear anything back. Low and behold waiting on the doormat when we got back from the boat was a letter from the show with an ordinary Blue Peter badge as a well as a special limited edition 50th anniversary badge. (Will post a pic of sam wearing them), to say that sam was excited was an understatement. I bet that the whole of the village heard his shrieks of delight. He has worn them everyday with pride and tells everyone he meets about them. As a badge holder he gets in free to lots of attractions and is already plotting where to visit.
The Blue Peter Badges have been the highlight of our last week. We have spent a lot of it on the boat, hence the lack of blogging. Now the weather is getting better it is glorious to be on the boat basking in the sunshine. We now have fishing rods on board and the boys are planning to do a little fishing when it gets a bit warmer. The ducks are getting very friendly and one particular couple swim by each meal time begging for crumbs. Mrs. Duck has even been known to climb up into the open kitchen hatch in search of bread. Luckily I spotted her before Rogue did or otherwise Mr. Duck would have been short a wife!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A chilly day for racing
For his 40th sam and I gave Matt an afternoon at Silverstone driving a caterham. It was a timed slalom event and he had a ball. It was also absolutely freezing so sam and I watched from the warmth of the car!
Start your engines
Here is Matt at the wheel of his new favorite car. He really enjoyed the driving event and his only complaint was that they didn't let him take it home!
He shoots, he scores..
unfortunately into the wrong goal!! Sam had a soccer tournament this weekend, it was for all the cub scouts in the district and sam played with his troop. The reason he scored two own goals was that he didn't realise that afterhalf time the teams switch ends and frankly neither did I! Guess we should have gone over the rules a bit more than we did. His teammates were not upset and all the matches were played in the spirit of fun so sam wasn't upset either. He really enjoyed himself which was the main thing.
We have been afloat a lot lately and life is good on the boat. With all those windows she is a real suntrap and it is lovely to sit there and watch the world go by. We get on really well with school work on the boat, it is really condusive to learning, especially science with all that wildlife floating by. We have joined the gym at the marina as they have a great children's progamme. There is a supervised fun sporting activity each afternoon and sam has been to three different activities so far and enjoyed them all. The best part is that while he is playing matt and I are able to go to the gym. It feels good to be getting back into shape.
We have been afloat a lot lately and life is good on the boat. With all those windows she is a real suntrap and it is lovely to sit there and watch the world go by. We get on really well with school work on the boat, it is really condusive to learning, especially science with all that wildlife floating by. We have joined the gym at the marina as they have a great children's progamme. There is a supervised fun sporting activity each afternoon and sam has been to three different activities so far and enjoyed them all. The best part is that while he is playing matt and I are able to go to the gym. It feels good to be getting back into shape.
Friday, March 13, 2009
The smart birthday boy
Sam's bday was the 2nd and we met up with Matt's parents in London the weekend before to celebrate. We went to lunch at the Royal Society of Medicine which was lovely. The food was delicious and they treated the birthday boy like a king. After lunch we dumped our bags at the hotel and then spent the afternoon wandering around london, surprisingly ending up at Hamleys where sam was treated to some birthday lego by nana and grandad. We picked up nibbles at M&S and then headed back to the hotel to chill. It was a lovely day.
The following day nand & grandad took sam to the Imperial War Museum while matt and I went to the Royal Academy of Art and did a little shopping. We missed the monster but it was nice to have a little grown up time. Sam enjoyed the Imperial War Museum and getting to spend time with his grandparents.
Sam had a "It is my 8th birthday" badge on his blazer and everywhere we went people wished him happy birthday. On the train home we were upgraded to 1st Class because of his badge and they gave him a goody back! How cool is that! I think that I am going to make him where that badge everywhere from now on!!
The following day nand & grandad took sam to the Imperial War Museum while matt and I went to the Royal Academy of Art and did a little shopping. We missed the monster but it was nice to have a little grown up time. Sam enjoyed the Imperial War Museum and getting to spend time with his grandparents.
Sam had a "It is my 8th birthday" badge on his blazer and everywhere we went people wished him happy birthday. On the train home we were upgraded to 1st Class because of his badge and they gave him a goody back! How cool is that! I think that I am going to make him where that badge everywhere from now on!!
Happy Birthday!
Sam was very surprised by the birthday cake that nana brought and very pleased to find that it was a top gear cake! The restaurant treated him like royalty and he lapped it up.
Nana cuddles are nice
After a long day in London, and with very sore feet we retired to the hotel for a picnic and champagne. Wish I could say that we all slept well but the boy bounced around all night, excited about his new lego! Shame because it was a very comfy bed.
Bugatti Veyron
Despite everything we did over the weekend I think that seeing this was just about the highlight for sam. It is one of his fav super cars and he couldn't believe it when he saw it parked just off oxford street. He was very respectful and didn't run up and touch it unlike half the adults who spotted it. I think he was secretly hoping that one of the top gear guys would suddenly appear, hop in and drive away!
I'll help you open that says Miko
As you can imagine, Sam's birthday started early and with a huge pile of pressies. Here he and miko are coming to grips with one of them.
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