Classroom Free

Welcome to the house of yuck, la la la laa laa.

2012-02-10T14:02:00.000Z

Thank you for being so patient and popping back on here to see what life is like for the Pollards. I'm pleased to say that we are finally recovering from our bleurgh moments, and I hope to be fully fighting fit by the weekend.

On Monday I did something crazily stupid. Our home-ed group had arranged a visit down to the Eden Project in Cornwall. We had also arranged to meet up with a few of the Cornish home-ed families, and we were really looking forward to it. I decided to leave it until the last minute (ie, when we had to leave the house to get their on time, ie, shortly after 9am), before deciding if it was a yay or a nay. On Monday morning, I got up and immediately stuffed myself with honey and hot lemon drinks, hoping that all would be well. The kids came downstairs one by one, and all were seemingly a lot better. I felt ok (not 100% but ok). As I hate letting people down after agreeing to things, and I didn't fancy having to tell the kids we weren't going, I decided to take the plunge and head off to Eden.

Now bearing in mind I've never driven to Cornwall before, which of course in turn means I've never driven to Eden before, and well, it was a bit of a task. I estimated it would take approximately 1 hour and 40 mins to get there, meaning over a 3 hour round trip. Eeeek.

The journey there wasn't too bad at all. Thanks to my fabulous husband who mapped out my route for me on Sunday night, and to the brown tourist signs which marvellously pointed in the right direction, we actually made it spot on time (11am).

We bought annual passes for a fiver each, then had to "activate" them , which was a time-consuming task in itself.
*Note to Self* No more than one child in my next life please.

It was really lovely to meet up with people - friends old and new :) It was all a little hectic and disorganised, with people having to buy their tickets, then activate them, whilst others were waiting around with littlies who really just wanted to run off and explore! We did have a lovely walk around to the Biomes though, and I managed to take a few snaps along the way.

Sadly we were parted from the rest of the group when we went into the Biomes. By this time I was feeling quite rough, with my cold symptoms returning with absolute vengeance and it seemed I needed a tissue continuously connected to my nose. As we had bought the annual tickets, I didn't feel the need to ensure we got our "money's worth" so to speak, as I knew we could return as often as the children desired (finances for fuel permitting, obviously). We didn't take in as much I know we could have, rather whizzing around just admiring and enquiring about things that caught our eye instead of really looking.

Then Tiegan began suffering. We stepped away from the crowds and walked the long way around back to the entrance - and to the cafe, where we stocked up our bodies with hot chocolate and cream. Mmmmm. by this time my head was starting to ache and my eyes were tiring, and dear Tiegan was sneezing more times than I've seen anyone sneeze before - poor love.

We decided to make our exit home - but really couldn't face trying to find everyone again to say goodbye, which was rather rude of us, but I didn't want to linger any longer than necessary. The thought of the drive home was a struggle in itself, without prolonging it. I replied to a couple of "Where are you?" texts, and we left.

The journey home was pretty much ok. The kids were very quiet, all struggling silently with their illness feelings. Callum broke the silence about half way home with shouts of "I'm going to be sick!". Cue me pulling over into the (thankfully very close) parking area on the dual carriageway and Callum being released to do what was necessary and gain some fresh air. Nice.

Boy oh boy, did I pay for that "I am a superhuman being who can do what I want to even though my body is telling me otherwise" moment of stupidity. Very thankful for being able to get home safely (despite taking the wrong turning, heading off down some awful stupidly narrow country lanes, and there not being any brown tourist signs pointing to Pollard Towers disappointingly).

I spent the evening snuggled up on the sofa, feeling mightily sorry for myself, in between ensuring all my bubba's needs were met. Such is life.

We hibernated for the rest of the week, trying to shake off whatever bugs and diseases that had rudely encroached upon our beings. In between the lazy must just lie-down and get myself better moments, I have been busily creating with crochet. Totally loving it :) You can visit my crochet blog if you want to see the progress, and YES, there IS progress!

Sadly we missed out on the Exeter group meeting on Wednesday as I didn't fancy passing our ills on to everyone else, I'm friends with most of the peoples there and would like it to stay that way for as long as possible.

Thursday bought us a nice surprise of a delivery of books I'd ordered. I say a nice surprise because I had ordered them so bloomin' long ago I'd forgotten all about it. I do love the cheap prices over at http://www.bananas.co.uk but the delivery time does make an impatient soul such as myself squeal rather. Never buy anything you need soonest from there. Like I say though, the prices are good. It cost me £6 to get this little lot...

Bargains, obviously.

I shall leave you with a few photos of the week that managed to make me smile.

The first being these. Only my kids could argue over who was doing the hoovering...

Oh we did giggle.

Then there is this little treasure, with her "Rose-tinted lip balm mama? What rose-tinted lip balm?"

*Love the Innocence*

I'm really hoping that normal service shall be resumed by next week. I have so many plans and things I need to do, I really need to be in tip top working supermama order!

Apologies.

2012-02-05T11:49:00.000Z

I apologise for the lack of blog posts.
We have all been hit with cough and cold bugs and it's made for a pretty miserable few days in the Pollard household. Our coping mechanism is lots of sofa snuggles and TV watching, not making very stimulating blog reading.
Normal service shall be resumed asap.

Meal Planning, Study Planning, lots of planning...

2012-01-30T13:42:00.004Z

I seem to be all planned out. I've done meal planning, home-ed group planning, blog ideas planning, home-education planning, and house decorating planning. Phew!

Last week has whizzed by in a sort of super blurry blur, and I feel as if I'm on some sort of exceptionally fast high speed train and I can't find any way to get off. Still, it's almost all good so can't complain.

On Monday we didn't go to our usual home-ed group meeting, preferring instead to have a baking, art, and reading day.

Tuesday was my favourite day of the week, as we headed off to spend a lovely few hours with friends. Pizzas and cakes were consumed, role playing games were acted out, a stroll to the beach was enjoyed, and various movies and music videos were watched. Taisia entertained everyone with her little ways, and I received a lesson in using Powerpoint, so it was a rather fruitful day.

Wednesday, again we missed home-ed group. I spent much of the day rearranging the dining room, sorting through our home-ed resources, and finding lots of things that have inspired me for future "schoolwork". The children played board games, including Monopoly and Game of Life, read books, watched a Viking documentary and helped me work out our finances.

We went to the library on Thursday, and new books were bought home. I always know not to plan anything for after our library visit as I seem to lose the children for a few hours whilst they pour over their new reads. This does give me time to spend with Taisia on a one-to-one basis though which she really does benefit from. She is coming on in leaps and bounds development wise. She can walk steadily (and is fiercely independent, frustratingly so). She often refuses to be carried when out and about now, instead preferring to take things at her own pace and wander aimlessly along. I have to keep reminding myself that the world is fresh and new, fascinatingly exciting to her and a wonderful learning experience. Not easy to do when I am desperate need for the loo or running late for an appointment. Vocabulary wise, Taisia amazes us everyday with new words. She picks things up incredibly easy, quickly mimicking back what is said to her - it means we have to watch what we say! Off the top of my head, words she uses frequently and in context include...

"Pwease" = Meaning please, as she reaches up for or points to what it is that takes her fancy.
"Mama"
"Ta"
"Batpan" = Thanks to Chelsea singing the Batman theme tune.
"Cookie" = When she wants the C is for Cookie song on.
"Chocochoc" = Chocolate.
"Jo Jo" = when calling Joseph.
"Harry" = This is said really clearly when talking about or calling our cat.
"Keer" = Short for Kira our dog.
"Cat"
"Miaow"
"Baba" and "Baby"
"Whatisit?" = What is it? Sometimes said as "Whatsat?"
"Hello"
"Bye Bye"
"Up" = when wanting to be picked up or sit on the sofa.
"Car"
"Pat Pat Pat" = as she's stroking the dog or cat.
"Happy"
"Pwetty" = Pretty.

She roars when she see's dinosaurs, lions or tigers, and miaows when she see's a cat. She "awwws" when she sees animals or baby's.

I've just had an appointment through for her developmental check and cancelled it. I see no point in wasting my time and that of the health visitor's when it's clear she has no issues with vision, eyesight, health, or development at this stage.

Thursday evening was spent with Tiegan and Chelsea heading off to the pantomime with Tiegan's Brownies. Taisia missed Chelsea so much, she wouldn't settle until she returned home again, then snuggled up with her to watch music videos on Chelsea's phone...

Sisterly love.

This snuggling time gave me some much needed respite, and allowed me to get on with planning group meetings for the Teignbridge and Torbay home-education group. I've planned meets up until March 5th, so feel quite pleased with myself! Future meets include visiting a zoo, a National Trust property, travelling to Cornwall, and visiting a park/nature reserve.

Friday. I dyed Chelsea's hair red for her before the teens went to youth club in the evening. She wants it a much brighter red, but we did a basic red as a base coat. The day was spent writing stories, looking at what we needed to get for science experiments, and reading through some bird spotting literature. Joseph did more research into what he needs for a career in forensic science, whilst Chelsea starting researching contacts for the make up industry.

The weekend. Saturday we went to Torquay. We had a snack in one of the pubs, and bought new books. Chelsea got "Kiss, Date, Love, Hate" by Luisa Playa, whilst Tiegan bought "The Longest Whale Song", by Jacqueline Wilson. We also bought "War Horse" by Michael Morpugo, which will be next months chapter book. Tiegan and I went through a few ideas for lapbooks and project ideas, and Joseph read some of the British History book to Callum who has started to show a real interest in historic events.

On Sunday we stupidly decided to go to Trago Mills, which was over the top busy and not particularly pleasant to walk around. I did treat myself to a new knitting and crochet book, which will prove to be very useful I suspect, particularly when I'm creating new pieces for the nature table display or taking part in Season's swaps on the Greenparent forum.

Talking about crochet, do you know what I did at 3am this morning? I made these...

Now, don't look too closely as there are mistakes. I know it's not perfect. I know it's not anything special. I know that I'm bloomin' proud of myself. I know that I'm grinning from ear to ear as it feels as if I've made a breakthrough.

For pretty much 10 years, on and off, I have been desperately trying to teach myself how to crochet. I just didn't "get it". I couldn't see where the hook had to go in the chain, I couldn't see where the hook had to go to make a stitch, I just couldn't do it. Full stop. I'd tried learning from books, from magazines, from website tutorials, from watching people, and from the ol' trusty YouTube videos, but all to no avail, I had almost resigned myself to never being able to crochet which was horrid. There are so many utterly fabulous patterns out there that are crying out for me to make them.

In the early hours of this morning, it all fell into place. Why the change, I don't know, but all of a sudden I could clearly see each stitch and where the hook needed to go (this doesn't mean it always went in the right place mind you - hence the few mistakes!) So now dear readers, I can foresee my home becoming a haven of multi-coloured granny-ness, with crocheted blankets and throws, cushions, artwork, toys - the list goes on and on. Can you tell I'm just a teeny weeny inchy winchy bit utterly fantastically chuffed with myself?

I am.

In other utterly fabulous news, the giveaway is coming together nicely. I am awaiting to hear from a few companies I've contacted, but I am very happy to tell you that the very nice people over at Creative Steps magazine have offered a free year's subscription for the winner. The magazine is only available on subscription, and I was a little dubious as to whether it was good value for money. However, I have been sent a few copies to review, and wow, I really like it. I will write an in-depth review in the coming week when we have had chance to make some of items that are contained within it, but definitely on first impressions I'm loving it.

Tiegan has thoroughly enjoyed looking through and choosing what to make too, so much so it was done before she got dressed or had breakfast...

Watch out for more giveaway information coming soon....

Playing catchy uppy!

2012-01-21T23:30:00.000Z

It's been a pretty good week all in all.

On Wednesday we had a lovely slow start to the day. I had made a conscious decision to no longer stress about time and hurrying. So often on group days I'm rushing around getting everyone up and ready, whilst trying to ensure the house is kept tidy and we've cleaned up before we leave. Husband is often home before us on Wednesdays and although he would never complain, I can't help but think how I would feel if I returned home from a full day of work to find the house in a mess and floors and dishes in need of washing.

With all the nagging and general rush rush busy-ness, I usually end up feeling flustered, deflated and annoyed.

I try so hard not to.

I try so hard to be the kind of free spirited mother who just goes with the flow totally relaxed.

I will be that calm and pleasant to know even in a hurry mama one day, I will! I have already improved a little bit. I'm starting to slow down and consciously give myself time to really think before creating issues and bad feeling.

Look, I even took the time out to have a cuddle before we left with Callum (now a not so light to carry 6 year old).

We finally got around to visiting Exeter Museum for the first time since it reopened in December, and it strangely felt like we were visiting old friends. It had been closed for a long time (4 years?) and the kids have really appeared to have missed the place. We literally only had half an hour or so to waste before home-ed group, so I don't really want to comment in depth on our first impressions as that would be unfair. What I will say though is that I did find it difficult to navigate around (although I know we should have used a floor plan to assist with that). I didn't much like the way things were categorized into eras as opposed to content.

The way the museum used to be set up seemed much more child friendly. The children knew exactly where they wanted to go - usually to the room with the stuffed animals. Now though things are dotted around in various rooms, and we missed some of our old favourites (these may have been absent, or just not seen on our short visit).

We were pleased to see this ol' fella though...

Callum thought that this was interesting...

But alas, it has to be said we were very disappointed by the "Gerald" display. Gerald the Giraffe is such an icon of the museum, and has always stood oh so very proudly all by himself, with head and neck standing proudly above all else. You could really get a sense of his grandeur and immense size as you climbed stairs and were greeted by the head of Gerald as you walked around the second floor gallery. Now though, dear Gerald is plonked beside a bull elephant and a very pretty floral piano - with a whale skeleton above his head. He may well enjoy the luxury of having company, but for me it just seemed odd.

Wrong, so very wrong. *sniff*

This, erm, not particularly pleasant but strangely fascinating piece was met with a squeal of recognition by the children...

Whilst this handsome fella engrossed Callum's attention for some time...

The home-ed group in the afternoon was pleasant as always. Fortunately the weather was dry and Taisia is still absolutely loving the freedom her feet are giving her. It does make things, erm, shall we say interesting at the group. I am constantly on my toes trying to watch where she is going and what she is attempting (that girl she has no fear!) whilst staying alert to the whereabouts of the four others.

Here she is enjoying a quiet moment with two of her siblings...

Unfortunately, I drove home with yet another headache. I don't know what it is about Wednesdays and the group that isn't suiting me, but it seems to be quite a regular occurance. I'm thinking it could be the pressure of the "not able to relax for 10 seconds" thing. With the drive there and back it means full concentration for around 5 hours solid. Joseph has been a bit unhappy at the group for a while too so I think worrying about him may have something to do with it. I'm not really sure what to do, but possibly taking a short break from group stuff might be on the cards.

We shall see.

Thursday and Friday were at home days. Books were read, drawings were done, game consoles were played with, stories were written, discussions were had. Much of Friday afternoon was spent clearing out the "junk room" in order to create this fabulous set up...

Regular Classroom Free readers will know that that set up only means one thing. YES, we are going to be proud ratty owners again :)

This morning we headed out to pick them up. We ended up with three instead of the planned two as I didn't want to leave one alone - I'm such a softie, but also a fairly knowledgeable "ratty person" who is fully aware that a single rat equals an unhappy rat in the majority of cases. I don't want to preach, but please please please bear that in mind if you want to keep rats as pets. They are incredibly social animals and thrive on company - humans just can't replace cage mates no matter how much time you can spare to spend with them.

*steps off soap box*

Our 3 new babies are very similar looking, so it will take a few spot the difference games and close-up studying to ensure a fail proof way of telling them apart. We have named them Rupert, Jasper and Noodles - yes, they are boys, we love cuddly boys!

Sometimes, they like to snuggle and hide a little, but they do enjoy scritches by gentle hands.

Sometimes they just look heart-meltingly cute.

I repeat, sometimes they just look heart-meltingly cute.

Sometimes they pose ever so nicely for photographs.

Sometimes they are just too darn quick!

I can't begin to tell you how joyously filled my heart is to have ratty members of our family once more. Those that have been long-time blog readers will know that rats used to be a large part of our lives, with us taking on small scale rescue duties and having up to 18 rats at a time. My day has been busily taken up with settling in the new fellas and mixing up their food mix. I don't feed an off the shelf ratty food, preferring instead to make up my own. It currently consists of a base rat food, dog kibble, pasta, brown rice, weetabix, cornflakes, and egg noodles. I will also supplement their diet with fresh food every day. Very often they will get a small sample of what we are eating if suitable.

If you have fallen in love with these guys and are considering buying your own, I would implore you to buy from a reputable breeder and not support the pet shop trading in animals. If you wish to know why my feelings are strong on this, please contact me for more info.

You can find a great deal of information on keeping ratties here:

http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk

and the new forum (as the old community forum is now locked) here:

http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk - I am on there as Devonbunny.

I am looking forward to free-ranging the boys, creating hammocks and toys for them, and coming up with new play and food ideas. Just like the old days!

If anyone is interested in rat nutrition, you can buy an excellent book called The Scuttling Gourmet, available here: http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/scuttling.shtml

The children have already asked if they can do a project on Rats - so they are going to be an educational source too!

World Book Day 2012

2012-01-18T00:58:00.003Z

Have you registered yet?

Home-educators are welcome :)

http://www.worldbookday.com/index.asp

Crystals in the making...

2012-01-17T23:46:00.000Z

Another day planned, another day that went bums up and not to the plan. Ho hum.

On the agenda today was reading, a trip to the park, chemistry set opening, blog and website work, and making crystals.

What actually happened was a complete rearranging of the dining room, an overhaul of the home-ed resources, and a thorough on hands and knees clean up.

*sigh*

The day started out very promising.

I made a good start with the tidying up and daily cleaning whilst the children occupied themselves. Reading and workbooks seemed a very popular task today with history, geography, mathematics and french being covered by various small and not so small people. I was able to wash dishes, hoover and mop floors, put laundry in the machine, hang out now washed said laundry on the washing line (yay for nice weather!) and clean the bathroom whilst this "work" was going on. The very littlest person assisted me throughout.

Chelsea started writing her blog again after a very long break away.

She wants to try to blog at least every other day, which will hopefully encourage her to do something interesting at least every other day so she has something to write about!

As you can see, that Haunting Violet book that Chelsea reviewed on her blog is very interesting, even to oh so little people.

I was so pleased that I had achieved so much so early on in the day. I had promised Tiegan that we would look at her Crystal kit that she got for Christmas together, so that was next on the list.

Oh dear.

I got side tracked.

I walked into the dining room (where we planned to do the kit) and was shocked at the total disarray. I knew I wouldn't be able to "work" in there so set about tidying. I should have taken photographs, at one point no one could get in or out of the room as there was so much mess on the floor. All home-ed resources were taken out of the filing cabinet and cupboards, and books were removed from shelves. It was one of those jobs that you wish you'd never started. It took hours. No actually it took hours and hours an hours. It took so long that husband returned home from work, hung around for an hour, and still no dinner had even been discussed let alone started. I ended up leaving the mess and nipping out for a takeaway.

Once dinner was eaten, I set about trying to restore order again. It's almost done, just need to sort through Taisia's toy boxes. That can wait for another day.

At 8pm I was hoovering and mopping the floors and doing the dishes again (I think everyone else has forgotten how to do the dishes today, I have washed up so many times!), After changing Taisia's nappy and putting her into pyjamas, the time finally came to break open that Crystal kit...

I was not going to back out of my promise, even if it was 9pm by this time and my body was yearning for rest.

So, we had a late night science lesson mixing Aluminium Potassium Sulphate with coloured salt.

Poor picture quality sorry!

Waiting for the salt to dissolve. Yes, it's THAT dressing gown again!

We have left it looking like a pure purple liquid in a lidded tub and will check if anything is happening in the morning.

After this we went back into the lounge and the 3 children asked if they could read to me - at 10pm - what is going on? So Tiegan read two chapters of her Jacqueline Wilson "Best Friends" book, Callum read "The Gruffalo" (what else?!) and Chelsea read a chapter of some book I can't remember the name of. I shall find out and add the title tomorrow.

Talking of tomorrow, we are off to home-ed group in the afternoon and checking out the museum that we should have visited last week in the morning. Busy but fun :)

Did anyone else see the programme on Channel 4 tonight called "15 kids and Counting" ? I watched it and now feel incredibly broody...

A sneaky peek into our world...

2012-01-16T23:00:00.000Z

Today went a little bit off what was expected. Usually we go to a home-ed group meeting on a Monday, but this week sadly we couldn't afford the petrol cost to get there. So sad as I was really looking forward to meeting up with friends and trekking on Dartmoor, but it was not to be. Our bank balance is much lighter than usual as it hasn't yet recovered from the bashing it took at Christmas. We would have managed absolutely fine except husband had to take our bathroom and put it back in again as part of his NVQ assessment for college which cost us £90 for parts - eeek. So that was our "spare" money gone and this week we have to be really frugal with our pennies.

So, a day at home for us instead, with a college assessor joining us for part.

Fun.

Our morning started with a quick clear up and reading session. Chelsea finished reading her chapter book - Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey.

Don't you just love this style? Fake glasses that she doesn't need, scarf and a dressing gown over clothes is the new look for 2012 dont'cha know.

I won't share Chelsea's thoughts on the book on here as she is, as I type this, typing up a book review for her own blog over here: http://unschooledmusings.blogspot.com Chelsea would love to have more readers and followers if anyone fancies popping across to read what a 16 year old has to say. If she actually thinks people are interested in what she writes she may actually continue writing - I can hope.

Tiegan is reading Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson. She does love reading so much, I often look over across the room to see her with head buried in a book. Tiegan also really enjoys reading out loud to me too, which she did yesterday whilst I tried to get to grips with crocheting.

Please note, I didn't knock Taisia out as it looks like I did in that picture, I wasn't that desperate to crochet.

I did however, master the single crochet stitch.

You can just tell how chuffed I am huh? That saying simple things please simple minds has never been so true.

We went for a lovely walk around the village, watched birds flying and tried to identify leaves and trees. Taisia is loving her ability to stroll around with us, although it does turn a 20 minute jaunt into something nearer an hour.

Home again to get warm and for Joseph to practice his Guitar Hero talents. He takes it very seriously...

I bought a second hand different version of the game from Gamestation which has a Bon Jovi song on it (just for me) - you can imagine the rockin' that goes on to that one!

Crochet.

2012-01-15T16:47:00.001Z

Right.
Regular long term users of this blog will know that my aim for 2011 was to learn how to crochet.

Well, I did do a teensy weensy ickle bit.

BUT, I found it difficult. I just couldn't get into the habit of holding the hook and yarn the "right" way, and ended up holding the yarn like I hold my yarn for knitting. Trying to see which hole the hook was inserted into to make the next stitch was another issue.

But, I am not one to be defeated easily.

I shall conquer crochet.

I shall. I shall.

So, time for a new goal.

In 2012, I shall crochet at least one blanket.

I'm thinking I will join in with this group on Facebook:

The Leap Year Blanket

The idea is to crochet one square a day throughout the year. I have been totally inspired by Mandy of Cheerymishmash fame who has just started to crochet. She is playing along with the leap year blanket and look what she has put together already...

Isn't it stunning? I think the colour palette is gorgeous and I love the patterns.

So, are any of the Classroom Free readers playing along with the Leap Year blanket idea? I'd love links to your blogs if you have one.

To try and inspire and encourage me, I've started up a "Conquering Crochet" group on Facebook. If anyone reading this also wants to learn how to Crochet, then please feel free to join us. I thought it would be a nice idea to have support from others in the same position, but there are a few wonderfully experienced and very kind crocheters in the group too. I'm sure they will be happy to help with any queries that are posed.

Another thing I've done to try to fuel my enthusiasm for learning something new, is to set up a couple of Pinterest Boards. One is for links for Learning to Crochet, the other for things I would like to make once I've mastered the skill. Both will be fiercely added to within the next day or so I'm sure.

I'm going to set up a blog (YES I know, ANOTHER one), but it will be purely for me charting my own crochet journey and progress (hopefully progress! It will more likely be more about mistake making, but hey, that's how we learn right?) I don't expect anyone to be remotely interested, but if you fancy reading it I'll let you know the link when it's done. I will be adding inspirational links and any tutorials I stumble upon, plus seeking out crochet blogs to share with you. This is something I feel utterly passionate about so I think it deserves it's own blog. It is also something that I have wanted to learn for a long long time and now I feel I should dedicate more time to the process.

Another day, another posting...

2012-01-13T23:30:00.000Z

We had another home day - purely because all of the children were too ~~lazy~~ engrossed in other things to want to go out anywhere. Lee (husband) had taken the car as he had a job interview after work, so we couldn't have ventured too far anyway.

We have (in no particular order and not inclusive of all); played on the xbox, read books, used the globe for location researching, sang along to the radio, watched the Sports Relief Bake Off programme, eaten Chinese Takeaway, thrown the ball for the dog, written and posted a letter to the tax man, walked to the shop with Taisia (who was also walking), made a 10 minute walk last over 45 minutes due to the previous activity, written thank you letters, worn silly hats and danced to make the bells jingle...

looked up on the internet and discussed stories of Big Cat sightings, kissed zebras (only toy ones sadly), played with playdough, baked flapjacks and chocolate concrete cake, and fallen asleep with friends...

The teens went off to youth club this evening and very much enjoyed it once again, whilst I stayed home (in between playing taxi driver) and did a bit of home-ed idea planning. Tiegan and I looked through the Insect Lore catalogue and came up with a few ideas of what she would like to do, the main one being another butterfly project (for the 4th year running). We were also reminded that we have an Ants Habitat and Wormery to set up.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to sort out more home-ed ideas, including what we shall be doing for the Chinese New Year which is fast approaching. Planning our veggie growing will hopefully get going tomorrow too, and I know Tiegan wants me to look at her Crystal science set that she got for Christmas with her. Another busy day planned then, I need to go shopping first!

A full of smilies day....

2012-01-12T22:30:00.000Z

Today has just been a fantastic day.I can't really put my finger on why today was so different to those of late, but the atmosphere in the house was light and fun, and we found amusement in whatever came our way. We had so many giggles my face aches from smiling and my belly hurts from laughing. I'm guessing that's a good thing! Singing at the top of our voices, head banging along to Bon Jovi and air guitar performances have also featured heavily but I think we should keep that sort of confession to ourselves.

We just had a stay at home day. I had hoped (planned) that we would break open the Chemistry set but that didn't happen, but lots of other things did.The main thing to hog our time today was the still current firm favourite - the Xbox. Now I know some readers will have firm views on the value or lack of value in such consoles, but I can see benefits. Today Tiegan and Callum worked as a team on the Skylanders game that Callum got for Christmas. Lots of planning and team co-operation was included and I enjoyed listening to their ideas and problem solving discussions.

Don't you just love the bubba sleeping peacefully on the sofa in the background? In total ignorance to the very important 'must save our world from the bad munsters' game play taking place around her.

Later on, Joseph played on Guitar Hero.

To witness the way Joseph is able to manipulate his fingers at speed on the 'guitar' amazes me. This is the same young man whom can, at times, struggle to tie his shoelaces due to his Dyspraxia and seemingly not having control over his fingertips, but the Guitar Hero challenge seems to be of little contest. We have had the game for less than a week and already he is upping the difficulty level and playing the songs with incredible ease. It makes me smile and keeps that flame of hope burning for the future.

As you can see, there is usually a very keen audience member joining in the fun when music is being played. She bops along and claps her hands with such a sense of delight it really makes us all smile.

Sometimes she does like to take control though...

Taisia has had a pretty good day I think. Her face has certainly been a smiley one on many occasions and she has had plenty of baby chatter to do. I am also very pleased to announce that FINALLY she has got to grips with drinking from a baby beaker. She has been, what may be described I guess, as lazy when it comes to sipping from a cup. We have bought about 6 different types trying to find one that she liked/suited her. But Taisia didn't want to hold them herself, and the very idea of lifting them up to drink from was a complete no no. Give her food, and well that's a different story. She will eat with her fingers or feed herself with a spoon, and she will even pretend to drink from empty cups and do a good job. But do you think she would actually hold a cup (with a lid or without) containing a liquid and drink it herself?

Nope, no way, absolutely not.

I wasn't worried. I knew she had the necessary motor skills as she demonstrated them in many other ways, it was obviously just "her thing". Afterall, why should she do such a thing when she knew there was someone always on hand to help her out (aka, Mama Slave)? But today she walked merrily around the house sipping from her beaker, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not so gracefully...

Bless her, that picture does make me smile!

The big girls and I made a start on decorating the covers of our art journals. We haven't done very much due to having to allow the coats of Gesso to dry, so no pictures to share as yet, but it was a lovely experience to have 2 of my beautiful daughters join me with paintbrushes in hand. Must do that more often.

Chelsea then went on to do some baking, making simple fairy cakes just so we could have a sweet treat.

Taisia really wanted to join in with what her ~~idol~~ big sis was doing.

In the end she gave up and walked off, but not without her trademark tights around the neck fashion style.

I have absolutely no idea why she does this, but oh she thinks she is very funny! She will grab any tights she can find - wet ones from the washing machine, tights that were drying on the radiator, dirty ones from the laundry basket, she really doesn't mind. Around her neck they go and she goes on tour of the ground floor. Don't you just love babies?!

The weather was really mild today and I took the opportunity to hang the washing out to dry on the line. It was a really lovely feeling to be pegging the clothes out in the fresh air for the first time this year. Up until today Taisia has stayed inside when I am doing things in the garden. It isn't really a crawl friendly garden so it was better that way. Now she is steady(ish) on her feet she adored exploring. She walked around chasing the cat and dog, knocked on the shed door as if checking to see if someone lived inside, and picked up stones which she duly put to her ear and pretended they were telephones.

As luck would have it, I walked away from the washing line to put the pegs back in the downstairs room, and I felt spots of rain. The light faded a little, the skies became a threatening grey, and the washing had to be de-pegged and returned indoors. Tomorrow we shall try again.

Once back inside we listened to two Horrible Histories audio CDs - Egyptians and Romans. I do like having the ability to listen to CDs now we have moved the player into the lounge. As always the Horrible History audios were very much enjoyed and many a discussion ensued, I just love things that spark off curiosity.

Of course, Callum hated listening to them, so much so his face stayed like this for much of the time....

These poor children that are forced to learn things.

Callum also did a bit of reading (we are getting there). He has finally let go of the Gruffalo and moved on to "The Highway Rat". Admittedly it is by Julia Donaldson again, but hey ho, at least it's a different tale!

Joseph has started thinking about his future and possible career ideas. He has been researching forensic science and I can see an interest certainly developing. Last night we had quite a discussion regarding job opportunities and avenues, and today he has researched what qualifications are required. We all had a giggly moment when Joe asked "How do you spell GCSE's?" Of course his face hit his palm immediately the words came out of his month as he realised what a silly question that was *grin*. He is keen to find out more and has talked about the many years of study he has ahead of him almost as if he is excited by the opportunity. It's really nice (a big relief!) that he is finding some sort of direction and thinking of the future -even if he changes his mind - completely by himself with no prompting. I didn't think that day would ever come! Mind you, I didn't think Joseph would get a girlfriend so soon and look what happened :)

Tiegan went off to Brownies this evening where they got given a badge to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee and did a bit of work about the Olympics. She returned home with an Olympic Torch.

It won't be long before she moves up to Guides, I can't believe she is getting so grown up.

My excitement of the day came when I put my paintings in frames AND hung them on the wall.

Now I know that the framing and hanging isn't perfect - I will sort that out soon, but I think I did an ok job considering the 14 month old really (no, I mean really REALLY!) wanted to help. I am totally head over heels in a silly teenage crush kinda way with how they look.

I can call myself an artist now because I have art hanging on a wall - so there! *childish smile*

I also added a sketch of mine to a frame I bought months (and months) ago.

I don't think it will stay in that frame, but I like her - I need to work on her eyes a bit more to bring them to life.

I wonder what tomorrow will have in store for us.

**Note**

I can't believe that I have had over 59,500 visitors to this blog, that's quite a humbling feat for little ol' me just whittering on about what my life is all about. I am going to see if I can come up with a special giveaway bundle when I reach 60,000. I've never hosted a giveaway on this blog before so I thought it was a good way to say thank you to you guys, my awesome readers. Check back soon for more information :))

Excuses, always excuses.

2012-01-11T23:08:00.000Z

I got my wrist well and truly slapped at home-ed group today, and I got accused in no uncertain terms of being a "badddddd blogger!" How very dare she! I won't name and shame the person concerned as I don't want to take responsibility for the repercussions, but hmmm, you know who you are missus!

Look, I'm here, I'm blogging. Happy now?! *grin*.

I do have quite a valid ~~excuse~~ reason though. My laptop battery is dying. Actually, I've had 3 laptop batteries die on me since mid-December. Cheap rubbish. I bought one, plugged it in and it worked brilliantly, so bought another two (one for Chelsea's laptop and one for a spare). All three are total rubbish. I'm awaiting a "better quality" one and waiting for a suitable outcome (i.e, refund) for the others. This issue has of course dictated that computer time is severely limited (not a bad thing in this household actually), and I haven't been online a great deal. In turn, this has led to lots of paintings being done which means a very happy creative mama in the evenings (or early morning) when bubba goes to sleep - usually after 1am *yawn*.

Do you want to see what I've been up to? Do ya? Do ya? Well, those of you that said no can just shifty on off now and go and play with your jar of buttons or something, whilst those that screamed yes oh so very enthusiastically can read on...

I've set up a blog OVER HERE to ~~show off~~ share my sketches, paintings and any other crafty bits and pieces that may occur over the next year or so. I thought I'd try to keep that sort of stuff away from this 'ere blog as it is for home-ed stuff and well, an old pink haired mama sat with paintbrush in hand at 2am when munchkins are sleeping isn't related to the home-ed world really is it. I can't promise never to mention it on here ever again mind, but I duly promise to limit the arty talk on here unless the children are involved. To give you a sample of what I've been doing, have a look at these...

A page in my art journal - the day I painted this I felt sad.

This will be framed and hung on MY wall in MY house.

I'm still very much on the learning curve and very much enjoying the journey. Hopefully these photos have tempted you to follow my other blog, I'd love your support as it's something very new to me (and very scary if the truth be told).

I'd love to be able to share with you wonderful things that we have been doing home-ed wise, but I'm afraid I can't as nothing much has been going on. We are just about finding a routine again - with the restarting of our home-ed groups on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Monday we went for a beautiful riverside walk, trying to follow a map, and looking for animal prints in the mud and wet earth.

Today we went to the ~~Soup Kitchen~~ Exeter group which is held in a park and the kids enjoyed a social afternoon with friends. Delicious home-made soup was created which was scrumptiously shared out with garlic bread. Oh life tasted so good! The weather was near on perfect, lovely winter sunshine peering down from a blue sky. Stupidly I didn't take my camera as I would have gotten some cute pictures of Taisia exploring the park using two feet for the first time, her knees stayed clean! I love how free she feels to explore, safe and secure in the knowledge that her mama is never far away. Her smiles are precious and the joy she finds in the simplest of things infectious. Just sitting in a pile of scrunchy crunchy leaves brings such delight, catching a glimpse of a butterfly or watching a ladybird crawl by earns complete concentration and undivided attention. We could learn so much from our little ones.

~ Bear witness to the little things to gain fruit from the bigger picture that is life ~

Other than that the children have still been in "recovering from the novelty that t'was Christmas" mode. They have spent time getting used to having an XBox, and we have recently bought Guitar Hero (well it was on offer!) which has become a firm favourite ~~of mine~~ for all. I'm not sure if the teens are embarrassed or in awe of their ol' mama strumming away (and occasionally beating them - I just had to get that bit in!) Our new board games have been overplayed - Cash free Monopoly has been a big hit (although they all want to use the card machine and it can get a little bit, erm, heated, at times). Game of Life has produced many giggly moments and interesting discussions, and Guess Who has created smiles in abundance. All good. We will get back into project work at some point no doubt, I just can't guarantee when that will be.

So, back on track with the blogging and with life getting back to normal after illness and down in the dumps moodiness stopped play.

Tomorrow we are chemistry set using, art journal cover decorating, and .....??

Confession Time

2011-12-27T17:24:00.001Z

Firstly, thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my blog. It humbles me every time I see the visitor statistics and I thank you for sticking by me even when posting levels are low.

Secondly, I hope everyone has had an utterly wondrous festive season, with many fabulous memory making moments and bucketfuls of joyful smiles. I apologise for being late with the well wishes.

Thirdly, on to the reason for this posting.

I confess that all has not being perfect in Classroom Free world. I've been struggling to get through the days and my mind hasn't been in the best of places. Nothing serious, just severely lacking any sort of energy level and feeling pretty darn low health wise. December hasn't been a good month for us, as we have all being hit by draining flu-like bugs. I was really hit hard and despite my best efforts to keep everything together, I pretty much failed.

On the upside, I do think I had the best Christmas I have ever had, which is strange when I slept through most of it. I had certainly been the most organised I have ever been, and the day seemed to flow really easily. On the downside, Taisia was really quite poorly and has found sleeping very difficult. On Christmas Eve, and for the big day itself, she was covered almost from head to toe in a red rash and was generally feeling very tired and full of grumbles. I spent a great deal of Christmas Day snuggling up with Taisia on the sofa as she was in desperate need for mama cuddles - this comforted both of us , so much so that I ended up closing my eyes and sleeping not once but three times!! The day sure went fast for me! My wonderful husband cooked dinner for us all (I had helped him prepare it the night before), and the feast was scrumptious.

I had really put a lot of thought into each and every one of the gifts I bought and made this year. I have definitely changed in mindset over the past year and instead of just splurging needlessly on useless tat just to increase the number of pressies for the children, I chose to put time and thought into each individual gift. For Chelsea, her main present was a new mobile phone. The look on her face when she tore off the wrapping was wonderful. I have to admit I shed a happy tear or two.

Oh yes, Chelsea now has blue hair and a new cut, did you notice? *grin*.

We have gone for a contract phone which we will pay for over the first year. I like the security of knowing she will always be able to use it if she needs to and doesn't have to rely on having credit. Another of her special gifts was a beautiful Alice in Wonderland themed bracelet I had commissioned the lovely June over at Goddess Jewels (on Facebook). Chelsea was made up when she saw it, and even more so when she knew where it was from and who had made it for her. Other gifts included the new version of "The Game of Life", jeans, make up, a watch, and handmade bath bombs.Joseph (now 14 following his Christmas Eve Birthday) didn't want anything other than money for Christmas which always makes me feel a little uneasy as I like to see an almost even amount of pressies for the children to unwrap. We did buy him a few things that we knew he would like, such as skinny jeans, a new belt, a watch, and the never fails to delight chocolate. He also got a chemistry set, the Monopoly game with the cash cards instead of paper money (we love it!), and Scattergories amongst other things. Good ol' family fun times are planned.Tiegan is now 10 years old. Can you imagine that? I can't believe that my quiet and gorgeous little girl has now reached double figures. It's a terrifying thought. I do love the fact that Tiegan is still very much a little girl in many ways, although shows signs of maturity when needed. Her wants for Christmas included Monster High dolls, books, make-up, and the new Harry Potter DVD. She got all of those, plus a new watch, a crystal growing science set, a felt maker, Disney's Dumbo on DVD clothes,and chocolate. She was smiling!

Callum wanted the game console game Skylanders, the Dinobite game, and a Lego Ninjas set. He got all of those things along with a marble run set, the new version of Guess Who (much better as the cards don't fall out), chocolate and jellybeans, toy cars, playdough (he prefers the bought stuff to the homemade sadly) and clothes. I think he was rather happy with his lot, he kept saying "THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!"

We didn't go mad buying gifts for Taisia as she is at that age where development and abilities are changing so rapidly. We did see quite a few cuddly toys that we fell in love with (or she fell in love with as we were shopping!) She spends a great deal of time cuddling her toys so the softer the better. We did get her some wooden musical instruments, including maracas, a tambourine and bells - they have been a huge hit which I knew they would be. Taisia is infatuated by music of any genre - rock and punk (thanks to the teens!) through to nursery rhymes and classical, it doesn't matter to her.

As a family gift we plunged for the XBox 360. As much as I dislike "screen things", I succumbed due to the fact that our old Playstation 2 is on it's last legs and many stores have stopped selling PS2 games. I couldn't stand to see Joseph's forlorn face any longer when he knew that he couldn't get the latest game for his console, and Lee (husband) has been secretly (or not so secretly!) hampering after one for a long while now. Needless to say it was a big hit and all of us have enjoyed time on it so it was a good gift idea.

I had planned on making a lot of the gifts for the children this year but despite my best efforts (at least I can say I tried!) that didn't seem to happen. I also wanted to make their Christmas stockings too, but my sewing machine died and time-constraints meant making stockings for 5 was putting too much pressure on myself. That is something I have learnt this year. I put far too pressure on myself to be "perfect". I strive for perfection then feel miserable when I fail. I prioritised this year and felt all the better for it. Not forcing myself to to complete everything was wonderful - less stressful for me = happier mama = happy kids. I hope this will be something that continues throughout 2012 and beyond. I can just be "good enough".

I have some gifts for the children half complete that were meant to be for Christmas. They include a needle felted fairy toadstool house...

I'm hoping to finish it off and then add it to a felted fairy playscape.

I started a dinosaur playscape for Callum, complete with needlefelted volcano, so that needs to be completed. I can't find a photo of it at the moment but will share with you as soon as I take another.

I did manage to complete a needle felted Mermaid for Tiegan which she loves, it was the first gift that she opened on Christmas morning and the grin stayed with her throughout. The plan was to make a sealife playscape to go along with it, that shall be done one day soon.

One of the gifts I did manage to finish was a needle felted lady for my mum...

I have also got another needle felted lady to show you, but can't share her right now as she is for the Greenparent Forum swap.We did have a visit by the tooth fairy just before Christmas though, and she left Tiegan a lovely needle felted little fairy lady...

I have really got into my crafting again which I'm loving. I desperately want to learn how to crochet, and have made a promise to myself that in 2012 I will crochet a blanket. I'm really enjoying needle felting, and am looking forward to when I get a new sewing machine (once the bank balance has recovered from Christmas) so I can get on with sewing things for our home. I'm going to take part in the Willowing life book in 2012 too, so have decided to set up a new blog just for my arty and crafty exploits to save clogging this blog up with non-home-ed postings. There is nothing on there as yet, but the address will be http://heartfeltmamauk.blogspot.com. I shall try to remember to tell you on here if I post across there the first few times.

I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am to see my youngest baby smile today. She has been so poorly and quite unlike herself for so long. She slept wonderfully through the night last night, and woke up with happy smiles and offering cuddles this morning - just like in the pre-illness days. Oh how happy am I?! The rash has completely disappeared now (I was very worried at one stage), and she is back to her trouble-making but oh so beautiful self once more.

We did see a glimpse that all was returning to normal yesterday...

but shortly after that photograph was taken Taisia resumed a tired and grumpy state.

Today though she has done lots of playing...

I love how Kira has accepted Taisia, they are good friends with lots of kisses shared :)

December hasn't been a complete and utter washout, although it did feel like that at the time. I had so many things planned, aiming for the "best Christmas ever!" status. We were hardly able to complete anything I had wanted to and spent many days just pottering around at home. I had wanted to visit places like the Babbacombe Model Village to see their festive displays, the home-ed groups Christmas Party, visiting Killerton House to see their decorations, and late night shopping so the children could see all the lights and soak up the festive atmosphere. Illness prevented all of these and many more. I haven't got half as many photographs as I would have liked to have taken, but looking back we had an ok time.

We baked...

We made many, many batches of these!

My first ever home-made Christmas Cake!

I painted...

(That is the first piece of my own artwork to be framed AND HUNG in my house).

We celebrated birthdays...

(The Thomas the Tank theme is a bit of a running joke in the family - I know that most 14 year old boys wouldn't choose such a cake...)

and enjoyed the company of Freckles the Fairy...

Stuck in the washing machine!

Wanting to go for a ride in the pushchair apparently.

We went out shopping and came back to find the children's bedroom doors had been papered over!

Whilst Freckles peeked out of the dolls house in delight.

She got herself in a bit of bother in the Christmas Tree.

And in even more bother in my yarn bag.

The pesky fairy made a bit of a mess sometimes.

Whilst other times she looked like she was having fun just hanging around.

Very occasionally we caught her quietly reading.

Due to both Taisia and myself being unwell, we have spent lots of time sleeping on the sofa in the lounge. This has meant that Freckles was unable to move some nights (for fear of us spotting her!), so she hasn't been able to get up to as much mischief as I'm sure she would have liked!

So, back to normality now, and back to (slightly) more frequent posting. Thanks for hanging on in there!

There is something quite therapeutic....

2011-12-07T07:44:00.001Z

We were first introduced to Hama Beads more than a few years ago when the lovely Merry of Patch of Puddles fame began selling them. I thought it was an interesting concept - small beads with holes placed on a board in picture or pattern formation, then ironed for keeps. We just had to give it a go.

Initially we bought a big packet of multi coloured beads and some peg boards. All of the children have enjoyed playing with them at various times of their lives and numerous creations have been made. I confess that I did get pretty lazy with the ironing stage (I don't iron clothes, the iron is just kept for hama beads!) and on more than one occasion completed designs ended up being knocked and spilled on to the floor due to being left for too long.

Bad mummy.

Lessons have been learnt though - immediate ironing is necessary or the results may be disastrous in a busy household of 7 + 2 furries.

Over the years it has been interesting watching the formation of designs by my different children. Tiegan went through a phase of not trying to create recognisable pictures, but instead just filling up the peg board with various coloured beads and creating patterns. Now I see Callum often does the same. The peg boards come in various shapes and sizes, with more designs being added all the time. We started off with basic shapes such as squares, circles and stars, but now have quite an array including a pony, a girl, a squirrel, and a butterfly. We also have a pattern design book similar to this one which has been a real inspiration to the children.

Sometimes my children just like the beading process and don't want me to iron the result, preferring to recycle the beads back into the box for use another day. This was the case when Chelsea made these riding and pop-up clown designs so I hurriedly took a photograph instead.

At other times I have been hastily summoned to the ironing board in order to secure a design such as in the case of this rainbow and dog.

The rainbow was created by Tiegan using a circular board when she was four years old.

Not so recently Merry asked for people to review a hama-beading kit from her site over at www.craftmerrily.co.uk. Apologetically, life (and illness) got in the way of me getting on and writing down my thoughts, but finally here they are.

We were sent the Dinosaur set which can be found here, and the Garden Night Life set to be seen here. I shall talk about each individually.

The dinosaur set consists of approximately 2000 mixed coloured midi beads (recommended for age 5+), 2 square shaped peg boards, and a design sheet with images of 3 dinosaurs to copy. Also included are 6 stands so the dinosaurs can be stood up once completed, hama ironing paper, and instructions.

As this kit only has square boards, the creator has to count the pegs on the board and match them with the squares in the picture as they are beading. If anyone reading this has done counted cross stitch as a hobby previously, they will understand the process. This certainly makes the design process longer and may frustrate younger children. Callum (6 years old) really loved the idea of this kit and was keen to make the blue dinosaur shown on the box. He wanted to change it a little though, and decided to outline the figure using a darker shade of blue. After 2 days of short bursts of beading time, he completed it and Freddie was created...

I must confess that I worried about ironing this not so little fella. Due to it's size, it is created using both boards supplied in the kit (they fit together like a puzzle piece). With the hama ironing paper on the top, I ironed over the beads (whilst they were still on the boards) using a dry hot iron working back and to for a minute or so. I kept lifting off the paper carefully to see if all the beads were fused, replacing the paper and repeating as necessary. Once cool, the paper was removed and I lifted the design from the board. I turned it over and with the paper on top as before (but no board) I gently ironed the other side for a sturdier piece. It can be a little bit daunting knowing you have your child's hard work in your hands, but it does get easier as you get more confident with the process.

Freddie is already much loved and takes pride of place on the windowsill of Callum's room. I think I will mount him in a frame after Christmas.

At only £6.95 the kit is an ideal stocking filler for Christmas for any Dinosaur loving child. For those with younger children (aged 3+ due to choking hazard) there is also a Dinosaur Maxi Bead Kit, priced at just £5.95. This kit includes one dinosaur shaped board and 250 larger sized beads.

Tiegan (9 years old) took rather a fancy to the Garden Night Life kit. This kit is very different to the Dinosaur one as it has glow in the dark beads (and yes, they really do glow!), and shaped peg boards so no counting is necessary to make up the designs. The set contains approximately 2000 beads, 1 butterfly peg board, 1 flower design peg board, a design sheet, hama ironing paper, and instructions.

It didn't take long for Tiegan to come up with designs she was happy with - but clumsy mummy knocked them off the shelf *blush*. They were soon recreated though, and now after ironing (as before) they look like this...

Aren't they pretty? Very quick and simple designs, but effective. I'm not sure what we shall do with them. I may frame them, add them to a painted canvas, or make a garden themed mobile to hang in the girls bedroom. You can buy special Mobile Rings if you want to. I shall add pictures of whatever gets done with them when completed.

The Garden Night Life kit is priced at £8.95 from Craft Merrily and it comes highly recommended by the Pollard girlies :)

There are plenty of other hama bead designs and kits available from Craft Merrily, click here to see the range of Maxi (3 years +), Midi (5 years +) and Mini (10 years +) beads available. You can also just buy tubs of beads and a couple of boards and let imagination take place.

Our recent hama makes also include...

This festive house design, complete with glow in the dark windows and cotton wool snow.

A more complicated hama bead greenhouse created by Chelsea (aged 16)...

and a small very quick to make red heart that we are going to hang on our thankful tree as a decoration.

We love hama beading as it ticks so many boxes. It's obviously fun to do and great to see how creative you can be, but it has an educational value too. Just as an example, there is the counting aspect, and working out symmetry for some of the designs. It's a great tool for improving hand-eye co-ordination and some children like to use the beads for colour sorting.

As I was going through my photos I founds this one of Tiegan aged four sorting out the many colours...

It's a great rainy day activity, assisting in the development of creative play. It's also a useful tool when you need something quiet for the children to do. Characters for puppet-type shows can be made and played with (although gentle play only, the ironed creations won't last if roughly used). The only downside is of course the clearing up to be done afterwards - particularly after an accidental spillage! The beads are relatively cheap though, so a few being lost in the hoover is no great loss. We often do the tights pulled over the hoover nozzle trick in the case of larger quantities.

So if you are in need of a present for a girl or boy, head over to Craft Merrily and spend your pennies!

Further hama inspiration can be found here: http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/category/hama-beads

Oooh, we have a Fairy!

2011-12-06T10:43:00.001Z

There is great excitement in the household this morning, with the sudden appearance of "Freckles the Fairy".

We opened the envelope to reveal a letter which said:

"Dear Family Pollard,

I hope you don't mind me asking you a big favour, but I really need your help.

You see, there has been a little bit of a problem in the Toy Factory here at the North Pole.

Let me try to explain.

There is a lovely but very mischievous fairy that lives here with us, and she continuously gets up to all kinds of silly tricks. She finds herself in all sorts of troublesome predicaments and we are forever having to rescue her from one sticky situation or another. We love her very much, but do you know how difficult it is to try to keep on working hard when you have a pesky little munchkin insisting on bothering you? As you know, this is our busiest time of the year and we have to keep right on schedule or else there will be some disappointed boys and girls waking up on Christmas morning.

So far me and the Elves have had to put up with our hammers being replaced with foam ones, our scissors being hidden in the snow, our reindeer's being fed invisibility dust (it takes 3 days to wear off, can you imagine?!) and my wellington boots being filled with jelly - don't laugh. I won't begin to tell you about the glitter in the Elves hats, that was some sight. It took an awful lot of cleaning up mind you and even now some of the toys have glittery shiny bits where they shouldn't!

This year I've come up with a plan. We need Freckles the Fairy to leave us in peace as we organise this years delivery rounds, but I need to know that she is going to be loved and well looked after. I think that you might be the ideal family to help.

Would it be too much to ask for you to take good care of Freckles for me? She doesn't need much looking after, just a little bit of conversation each day and a few cuddles. If you would like to show her around where you live, I'm sure she would love that too. Be sure to tuck her up safe and sound in bed each night before you leave her, that way hopefully she will sleep well and have nice dreams instead of looking around for mischief!

One thing I have to mention is that when Freckles is with human people, she won't show any signs of being alive. She will be absolutely still and quiet if she knows that someone is awake and likely to catch her moving. Be sure to know though that she is listening to everything (fairies have tip-top hearing don't you know!) so please only talk to her about nice things or she will get upset.

I would love for Freckles to come and stay on a short holiday with you. Are you up for the keeping Freckles the Fairy out of trouble challenge?

Please say yes!
Lots of Love
Father Christmas xxx"

Isn't she pretty? So soft and gorgeous :)

She came with some goodies for the journey - doughnuts, cookies, and a cupcake!

She even has her own little sleeping bag type bed, hand sewn by the look of it, complete with a sweet smelling lavender filled pillow.

Freckles has been introduced to all the family members, including the furry ones, and is settling down nicely on the fireplace. I am just wondering just how much mischief this little fairy will get up to during her stay with us....

Time is flying, it's nearly Christmas!

2011-12-05T20:30:00.000Z

So what has been happening here at Pollard towers in my blog absence? Let me fill you in...

The weekend was a teeny weeny bit of a shambles. On Saturday we had planned a trip to Bath Christmas Market. We had seen it advertised and it sounded all festive and fun. We thought we would leave the house a little later than usual and eat out for dinner, that way darkness would fall and we could experience the joy of festive lights.

Big mistake.

We drove the hour and a half journey and were met with chaos. There were no parking spaces at all. The car parks were all full, the park and rides were all full, the side streets off the town centre were all full. We were with about a hundred other car drivers searching for a parking space, to no avail. We gave up and headed for home, stopping off for a meal along the way which went some way to please the "what are we doing driving around forever?" thinking children.

We were surprised at the seemingly total lack of parking support there was available. We have been to Bridgwater carnival many years and have never ever had a problem finding a parking spot despite the tens of thousands of visitors all arriving with the same need. The town makes use of every bit of spare land available to make temporary car parking, often with volunteers manning the gates to raise money for charities. There are signs pointing to the various parking options, and florescent vest wearing marshals on hand to answer queries and offer directions. This sadly wasn't the case in Bath, although it needed to be. The only "assistance" that was offered other than the usual city sign posting, was a big illuminated sign on entry saying "All council run car parks full. Park and Ride car parks full."

Helpful.

Never mind. Definitely a lesson learnt.

We hoped that our Sunday would fair better. We had noticed that a Christmas Fair was being held not far from where we live so thought we would head over and take a look. We had been to a summer fair at the same venue previously and were wowed by the standard and sheer number of craft stalls. I wondered if the Christmas fair would match it, and hoped that with it being the build up to that season of joy and jolly-ness it would be a nice festive experience. As I am trying to steer clear of big stores and buy mostly handmade for Christmas gifts this year, I thought it would be an ideal place for pressie buying.

Sadly my expectations were not met and we were left feeling a little disappointed. The actual Christmas fair was being held inside a large house, but it didn't feel at all festive. Apart from the visit Santa in his Grotto kind of thing, you wouldn't have known it was supposed to be anything Christmas-like. There were no decorations, no festive music, no spreading cheer as the season of goodwill and all that malarkey. Nothing. Just a sign to say go upstairs where we found 3 rooms with a few tables in each. The items for sale were nice enough, home made jams and chutneys, a jewellery stall or three, a hat stall, and a dog coat rail. I was on the look out for a nice handmade raggy doll for Taisia, but there was nothing even similar. The only toys on offer seemed to be available in many cheap stores so we steered clear. It wasn't at all like I had envisaged, and I was glad that we hadn't been charged an entry fee to witness it.

I was sad.

My spirits were soon perked up greatly when we managed pick up a huge chunk of the Christmas wish lists on behalf of dear ol' Father Christmas. I tried to support the smaller independent retailers as opposed to buying in the big stores, and as always much relief was felt when the realisation occurs that the pennies have stretched far enough to not have to get into debt.

We decided to stay at home today instead of venturing out to the home-ed group. The meeting was arranged for a venue we had not long since visited. None of us felt like re-visiting it so soon, and I couldn't really blame the teens for finding the small "play area" a little on the boring side. Instead we made more Christmas decorations! We now have a Christmas Tree staircase...

and a fabulous (even if I do say so myself), Reindeer Stable Door in our living room.

I love it, although it took a fair bit of time to put together. Amazing what you can do with some large pieces of thin card, a few thin branches, a black pen and some cotton wool eh?

Tomorrow we shall be Christmas baking - cake, mince pies, and a star cookie Christmas tree :))

And so the real countdown begins...

2011-12-01T22:53:00.001Z

So December 1st is upon us. You would have thought the big Christmas Day itself had been bestowed upon us with all the excitement in the household today. I don't think I have ever had a day where I have giggled, belly laughed and smiled so much.

I love my family.

Our day started with the very important task of opening the Advent Calenders This year we have gone for a standard-chocolate-a-day store bought one, to run alongside our lovingly-handcrafted-by-my-own-fair-hands Advent Activity Basket (well, I didn't make the basket, I so wish I had that talent!)

Both lots of calenders were greeted in equally enthusiastic fashion...

Look Mama, it's Peppa Pig!!! (This was even before she knew it contained chocolate!)

Mmmmm, Mama! This chocolate stuff is yummy!

This is the completed basket, I'm pleased with the result. The little packages are so easy to make. Just make a tube out of paper, stick one end together so you have something resembling a triangle/cone. Add the contents to the package (a very important step or the recipient will be very disappointed!), then stick the open end together but in the opposite direction to the first so it develops a twist like appearance. I used staples for quickness and to ensure they stayed firmly closed, but double sided tape usually works ok too.

Our Advent Activity Basket

You can see that Callum was quite pleased when he stumbled across it....

We had a little giggling fit in excitement :))

I love this child!!!

I nailed a bit of braid to the wall and added Christmas themed small pegs. Each day we will remove the tag from the newly opened package and fix it to the hanging braid to make our own countdown.

Today's activity was to write that important letter to Father Christmas, and to make a start on our Thankful Tree. We did the letters ok...

And (big news!) We finally made a start on the Thankful Tree. We got so far as going out into the garden and chopping a branch off a tree to pop in a pot indoors. Tomorrow we shall make a start on adding to it :)

We were going to go late night shopping this evening, but the weather was a little unpredictable today and I didn't think the children would enjoy fighting the crowds in the sporadic rain. I think Tiegan was a little disappointed that we weren't going when she came home from Brownies, so I may try to take her late night shopping tomorrow evening instead in a different town - we do need to keep those smiles going after all :)

Is that the time?

2011-12-01T02:54:00.000Z

Wow, it's just after midnight, and all is quiet in the Pollard household.

It feels rather strange.

For the past four nights, dear baby T has graced me with her "wide awake, let's play, please mama clap your hands and dance with me" presence, not floundering in energetic well-being until 2am. Admittedly she is very cute, but my tired eyes find it difficult to focus, let alone appreciate such cute-ability at that dreadful hour.

It won't last forever though will it. Will it? I shall look back in time and appreciate the extra cuddles with a smile on my face. I hope.

I was able to fully make the most of the quietness this evening and finally manage to finish off the Activity Advent Basket. I've made 24 simple little packages, popped sweeties inside each one along with a daily activity, made a tag with a number on for all 24, and put them all together within a basket. I shall take a photo of it later on today in daylight - it's a little dull for decent photos right now. Well it is pitch black dark outside.

Here is the list of our activities (in no particular order).

Let’s write our letters to Santa and start our Thankful tree.

Let’s make some decorations out of felt.

Let’s go to see the Christmas Fayre at **** and see the lights. We can eat out too!

Let’s find a local Christmas Fayre and see what fun there is to be had.

Let’s go to the farm with the home-ed group and make Mince Pies when we get home.

Let’s go for a hot chocolate at a Garden Centre and see their animals and Christmas decorations.

Let’s bake some cookies before we go to the home-ed group today.

Let’s go and buy our Christmas cards, then come home and watch a festive film whilst we write them.

Let’s read the Christmas Nativity story.

Let’s make Tiegan a welcome home from Brownie Camp present.

Let’s go and pick up Tiegan, then we can play board games together.

Let’s go out with the home-ed group, then make some snowflakes when we get home to decorate the windows.

Let’s bake our goodies for the Christmas party at the home-ed group tomorrow.

Let’s go to the early and buy daddy a present or three.

Let’s go late night shopping and see the lights!

Let’s walk around the village after dark and see if we can spot any Christmas lights.

Let’s make a decoration for our tree.

Let’s snuggle with hot chocolate drinks and watch a festive film. We can make more decorations or gifts if we want to.

Let’s do our Secret Santa!

Let’s make lots of yummy scrummy Christmas goodies!

Let’s go for a drive around the local towns in the car and see where the best decorated houses are. Be sure to get some change to put in the charity boxes!

Let’s pull some crackers! Shall we have a go at making our own?

Today is Joe’s 14^th birthday. Let’s make his day and this Christmas Eve extra special. Don’t forget to track Santa on the computer and put out a feast for both Santa and Rudolph to enjoy!

Let’s decorate our Christmas Cake. Afterwards,we can go to *Local NT Property* to see their festive decorations.

The month of December is sure to be fun!

I am seriously trying to play catch up. I've made promises I haven't yet been able to keep and that makes me feel sad. The two weeks I was more or less out of action for, either due to my own illness or that of one or more of the children, has meant we have fallen very behind with planned activities and necessary errands and chores. Just yesterday I took back overdue library books. Considering we are so close to the library that is very bad - even the librarian serving me said so. She also said that my children couldn't really get in as they weren't in school *splutter*.

We are oh so slowly we are getting back on track though, and I am finally catching up on my commitments.

Our Wednesday was taken up with home-ed group though, so not much else got done I'm afraid. Exeter was absolutely heaving, I'm presuming it was due to the strike taking place. I didn't like it. My usual oh so lovely and quiet car park was almost full - in fact, three cars behind us and it was full. Those of you that know me in real life will be aware that I hate parking, I NEED big spaces, preferably drive-through ones so I don't have to worry about reversing between parked cars. I love driving, I am confident behind the wheel on the road, but ask me to park in a tight space and I whimper - almost literally. I must work on that.

Home-ed group was good. I was not in the most sociable of moods, for what reason I do not know. The awesomely talented Janice (that flattery should earn me a few extra brownie points) over at Childhood, uninterupted bought in her extremely inspiring and motivational Daily December Journal. I sooooo wanna have a play now and join in the fun. I'm going to make 2011 the first year I journal everyday throughout December. It will be nice to sort out some papercrafting supplies and put them to use again. I have very fond memories of creating tag books and circle journals.

If anyone is interested and wants to share the journey, have a looksie here:

http://aliedwards.com/projects/december-daily

I am quite excited about getting started - yes I know that makes me sound like a sad ol' woman with nothing better to do than coo over and stroke pretty papers as she tries to create yet another family tradition for the holidays. But this is my blog and I shall share my excitement on this 'ere page if I want to, so there.

Also on the Ali Edwards blog is a Project Life thingy me bob, weekly journalling with photos and mementoes. I wanna be organised enough (and committed enough) to do that, it looks fabulous and what a fabulous keepsake to look through when I'm long forgotten and sat in a nursing home somewhere grotty. I am planning to do something along the same lines, but not sure what format it will take or how I will go about it. I won't be using the Project Life album, so I may go down the scrapbooking route, or I may do it in a similar vein to the December Daily per month - ending up with 12 "books" over the year. I could buy a special keepsake box to keep them in and everything!

I have already committed to doing the Willowing Life Book course, which starts on January 1st 2012. If you are interested in finding out more about it, you can do just that here:

http://willowing.ning.com/page/life-book-2012-open-for-registration I am paying via the installments as it makes the cost much more manageable, but I'm hoping that both Chelsea and myself get a lot from it. If nothing else it will be nice to have a project that we can work on together (although smaller peoples may also join in from time to time if their interest is sparked by what we are doing). I'm liking the whole positivity and love yourself message the course oozes, and it should be a time of great thought-provoking self-exploration.

It's all good. I just need to decide if I want to blog about it all here, or set up a just for arty farty crafty stuff blog to keep my two lives separate. Hmm, ponder ponder.

Right, I do need to dash off and get myself snuggled under the bed sheets - it's 2.46am now! Darn pinterest eating my time again. I've just got time to print off the very first day of the village calender over at Activity Village.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/advent_calendar_2011.htm

I think we will colour ours in and string them together for a wall decoration, I don't think we've got room for them to all stand up!

Oooh, it's all going on!

2011-11-28T16:40:00.001Z

I am now the very proud mother of a beautiful 16 year old. I can't believe how time has flown by and I have so many memories of holding my very first bundle of joy in my arms and watching her explore the world around her. In keeping with recent traditions, I made a cake.Now, can I just loudly point out that I am no professional cake baker. In fact, I'm not even a hobbyist cake baker. I rarely decorate cakes, although I have been known to enjoy mixing up a batch of buttercream and playing with the piping bag and nozzles. Read into that as you will.This year the chosen by daughter theme was Alice in Wonderland. I had lots of ideas, but putting them into practice was a learning curve in itself. But, I did love the finished result. Shame the photographs don't seem to do it justice, but then I would say that huh.

I have been reassured by 16 year old big person that it was wonderful and that she had a great day. A big thanks to everyone at the Exeter group for being so bloomin' lovely to her on her special day :)

Moving along...

Following on from my last "I don't do Christmas" whingy whine, I've got some news.

I soooooo DO do Christmas.

Dear Janice over at Childhood, uninterrupted will be so proud of me!Before anyone pounces on me and slaps me hard with a wet kipper, I am fully aware it is only November. I know that people across the nation will groan upon hearing that already we have made a start on our decorations. Our tree is up and we are in full make for Christmas overdrive. It is the right thing for our household, and I am loving it :)

We have new lights for the window this year, they are blue and beautiful. I took this picture just after the tree was decorated (ie. before Taisia set to work re-decorating). I love the blue tinge from the lights.

Taisia loved all the new to her things appearing from boxes, including the singing snow globe snowman. For those I am friends with on Facebook, that's the very same snowman she is dancing to in the video I posted, the novelty is yet to wear off.

Obviously Sock Monkey's like Christmas too!

I've been busily making decorations for various areas of the house. The first thing to be made was a heart garland for the hall...

The light in the hallway is terrible for photos, but I hope you get a vague idea.

We've made a start on decorating the fireplace...

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without handmade paper chains!The fireplace decor will keep evolving over time, as these pictures already show.

Here I've added part of a nativity set I'm needle felting, and I want to add paper stockings and a banner.

I've been trying to make our "Advent Calender" but Taisia is making it's completion very difficult. She has been awake until midnight, even 2am a couple of times, too late for me to start crafting. The calender idea will be a wicker basket filled with little parcels. Each parcel will have a number tag attached and contain a sweet for each child, along with an activity for the day. The activity ideas include going to Bath Christmas Market, watching festive films, doing our Secret Santa, making a decoration for the tree - you get the idea. If anyone wants the full list of our activity plans, do ask and I'll post them up :) Hopefully I will be able to complete the packages tonight, and I will post pictures once the basket has been decorated to my perfectionist liking.

I also want to make a paper star wreath for the back door (inside) and more heart garlands, along with a zillion other things it seems. I've challenged myself to make a stocking for each child too, although the temptation of seeing half decent decorated ones in the stores for a fiver is proving a task in itself to resist.

In other Pollard news, the teens have started going to a new Youth Club, so I now the proud owner of a taxi job every Friday night. Well, what else would a mother be doing? They could catch the bus of course, but it would cost almost £8 for both of them and that can't be justified for a 15 minute journey. Their first time went very well it seems, with around 50 young people in attendance. It's great to have things away from the home-ed scene for them to enjoy.

Today was the local home-ed group meet. The weather stayed dry and it was also a birthday celebration. We had great fun with special friends and a lovely new family.

Now what will tomorrow have in store for us? I fancy making a start on our thankful tree. I've also got hama bead projects to iron, so watch out for a bead review...

A rant about Christmas...

2011-11-22T00:24:00.001Z

Finally we are getting back into the swing of things in the Pollard household. At last the bugs and sneezes seem to be packing their bags and moving on out. Finally I get the feeling that normality is resuming and we can settle back down to what we do best - living a fabulous and joyful life.

Yesterday was our local home-ed group meet. It was a big improvement on last week. Last week I felt really yuck. I didn't really feel up to going along to the group but a new family were planning to come along and I wasn't sure who else was going to turn up so I got my bum in gear, wrapped up cosy and took us all to Dawlish. I'm glad I did, we had a great time although I was sure to keep my distance from people to stop the spread of ill health. We didn't do the planned rockpooling session, the sea was going crazy and the wind was strong. Instead we fed the ducks. This led to so much laughter - the pigeons were viciously trying to get into the act! I can still picture Joseph trying to run away from a pigeon, only to have the said pigeon sitting firmly on his shoulder as he leaps around the place. Hysterical lol. The warmth of the hot chocolate in the cafe was very much welcomed too :) I did feel knocked out by the time we returned home though, so much so that the only other time we went out last week was to the Wednesday home-ed group at Exeter. The other days were spent at home with me trying to recover from the nasties.

The Teignbridge and Torbay group headed to Berry Head yesterday, a place I love visiting. The harsh cliff edges, the fortress ruins, and the military history all adds up to a place of great interest. We were really lucky with the weather - very little wind and quite warm. There were just a few spots of rain from time to time, but we didn't need to find shelter. I'm gutted that I forgot to take the camera, there were some awesome photo opportunities. Still, that gives me a great excuse to head back over that way another day - not that I need any excuse!

Once the children are safely tucked up in bed - apart from baby Taisia, she doesn't do bed apparently *sigh* - I've been taking the opportunity to plan a few festive ideas for the upcoming season. I am sure going to be a busy pumpkin this year, I've got soooo many ideas buzz buzz a-buzzing in my little head.

Now I have a confession to make.

I am usually a real festive party pooper.

Christmas bores me. I am usually just wanting it all over and done with.

The lead up to the day is so hectic and stressful - you can't go shopping without being shoulder barged and trodden on, everywhere is busy even during "quiet" times, and I hate how competitive it turns some people as they feel the need to ensure their children get the biggest, the best, and not forgetting the most.

One day and it's all over and done with, the big day passes and it feels like you've been left with a damp squib at the end of your firework box instead of the spectacular finale you were planning.

It seems gone are the days when Christmas was all about special family time and ol' traditions. Now you turn on the TV and get bombarded with adverts claiming you can only be "the best mum" if the family find an X-Box, laptop, digital camera and the very latest impossible to find anywhere gadget or three under the tree on Christmas morning.

Just pile on the pressure why don't ya, keep on piling on that pressure.

I have visions of precious mama's around the country counting their pennies and checking their bank balances praying they have enough to cover all that is expected from them. Expensive presents, gorgeous wrapping, fabulous decorations, exquisite food, not to mention the need to look utterly fabulous, the list goes on and on. If there isn't enough "real" money to cover the cost, no worries. It's expected that we will find a way to pay, any way - catalogues, credit cards, loans - you have to do what it takes to be a good mama. Then you can spend the months leading up to next years Christmas worrying about paying off this years, it's simple.

*BIG SIGH*

I know I'm not alone in feeling like this, just flicking through some awesome mama blogs out there demonstrates that there are many families out their stripping Christmas back to basics and just enjoying being together as a family.

I'm going to make a declaration on this 'ere blog.

The mama in this household will not be doing any stressing.

This mama is proud to say she won't be feeling the pressure.

This proud mama is going back to basics. I'm going to be introducing new-to-our-family traditions, making lots of handmade gifts, and generally ensuring that I too have an awesome Christmas 2011.

I've been looking for inspiration. Have you discovered Pinterest yet? I am rather addicted to it as my poor neglected family will tell you. But boy oh boy it is awe inspiring! You can see my pin boards here: http://pinterest.com/flirtyjunk/ or my Christmas specific one here http://pinterest.com/flirtyjunk/christmas-2011/ It has created so much excitement in my easily pleased mind. I have so many ideas of things to make and activities to do in order to truly make 2011 the best family Christmas season thus far. I feel like a child again, it's superb! One of the things I've been working on is an advent calender, with an activity a day. Activities range from baking mince pies to crafting with tissue paper, from taking an evening walk to view the festive lights to watching a festive film with hot chocolate and popcorn. I'll pop details on here when completed. We are also doing a family "secret santa" this year which the children are loving the idea of.

So, to end, I will warn you dear bloggy readers, that I will be sharing makes and creations with you over the next few weeks so don't tune in if festive chatter sends you running to the hills!

As for today, I'm in the kitchen creating an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday cake for a certain person's sweet 16 tomorrow...

Mammoth Catch Up...

2011-11-10T08:28:00.001Z

Gee Whizz, I've been AWOL for a long time huh? Things have been really hectic here, most of it a good hectic, but we had a weeks worth of yuckiness of the head down the toilet variety. Not at all nice. I shall try to remember much of what we have done since my last posting.

We had 3 weeks of my parents visiting England from their home in Spain. We spent a lot of time together, shopping and eating meals out. Obviously this limited my computer time somewhat and is a big reason for my absence. One of the places we visited was the Riverside Inn at Bovey Tracey. Despite my previous glowing report, after our meal out experience this time I really don't recommend that place to anyone. A total and utter disrespect for their customers, the food was terrible, the "room" we were put in was awful, and I was highly embarrassed to have sung it's praises to my parents. Oh well, we live and learn.

Can you believe that the little lady of the house is already a one year old?! She had her first birthday on October 31st, which of course is Halloween here in the UK. We had planned on heading over to the Donkey Sanctuary for the day as a family, but instead sickness hit the household (well, Callum initially), and we stayed at home instead. Not that Taisia seemed to mind, she certainly looked happy enough...

The rest of the gang looked pretty awesome...

Ignore the paint patches on the wall, we are in the process of choosing colours :)The rest of the week was an almighty blur. We were all hit by illness and it is a week I'd rather forget. We had to cancel all of our plans and recuperate at home. By Friday we were feeling much better and in need of getting out of the house, cabin fever was well and truly taking hold. We had planned on going to Bridgwater Carnival, and Lee had already booked the day off work, so we decided to stick with the plan and head on over to Somerset - armed with a bucket in the car just in case!I'm so glad we went.As usual the carnival floats were AMAZING. Totally breathtaking. If you have never been before, I highly recommend that you try to make it one year. I'll share some photos with you to give a snippet of what it is like, but they really don't do any justice. Imagine HUGE lorries, covered from top to bottom with hundreds of lightbulbs, with parts moving and spinning, music blaring, people dancing and singing - you get the idea?

There are also majorette displays, and walking carnival entries such as these...

We left the procession and headed for home just before it finished at 11pm. Imagine our horror to hear on the radio news that there had been a horrific accident on the M5 motorway. Of course we were more concerned with the people involved, but it did take some route changing to find our way home. We were witness to the flashing blue lights of the emergency services, and it turned our stomachs thinking of what was going on so nearby to where we were. What didn't get conveyed through the media was the sheer volume of traffic leaving the carnival - literally tens of thousands of people attend. The police and fire brigade also had to deal with a bridge collapse and a landslide. All of the emergency services should be highly praised for their ability to cope with all that was going on, I really don't think they have been given full credit for how they dealt with everything.

Our weekend was spent recovering, other than popping over to Teignmouth to view the fireworks display on Saturday evening. Monday was home-ed group day. We went to Cockington on a fungi hunt. We found a few nice samples, including these...

Tuesday was shopping day, we stocked up on a few Art Supplies as well as the obvious food ones.

Wednesday was Exeter group day. Sadly the rain joined us but as the group as the use of an indoor space it didn't really matter. The children made playdough and did good ol' fashioned gluing and sticking, as well as making a den from a parachute covering a table. I took my girls over to the Scrapstore and bought lots of bits and pieces for our mixed media art attempts.

Today Tiegan is going to a birthday party - bowling and pizza - and I'm taking the others to visit friends to talk about arts and crafts. Tiegan has then got Brownies to go to, where they will be talking about her first every camp :)

Always changing...

2011-10-21T10:43:00.004+01:00

I wake up each morning with a happy heart, and try my best to find a smile in everything that I have to face during the day.

I confess to sometimes failing.

I admit to allowing stress levels to creep to a height they should not reach at times, but I try to remember my blessings and laugh at the little things. the ever echo of "Life's too short" dancing inside my mind.

I am just a go with the flow kinda gal, lulled into the false security that the life I am leading - the life that I am loving - will continue for always. I don't think about it changing. I don't think about what life will be like in years to come, I just focus on the present and the now.

But it is days like today when I am reminded that life is ever changing, even when we don't think of it as so.

Always evolving.

I have never really thought about the distant future - not on any serious level anyway. Obviously I have discussed future plans with the children. I have asked them if they have any idea of a future career choice, or if they intend to do examinations and/or attend college etc. Not to pressure them into deciding in any way, but just to ensure that I am doing my utmost to facilitate their wishes.

Up until very recently I have received vacant blank expressions, shrugged shoulders, and a list of a dozen "possibly maybe" ideas. I was fine with that, mostly. Although I have experienced a few wobbly moments, I have never really understood the power of those "magical ages" - why at 14, 15 and 16 years of age should so much pressure be put on you to decide your future career path? I cringe when I hear how "You must work hard as your exam results will determine your future." I know that's just not true. Good exam results may make things a little easier for you, your path may be a little smoother, but they are not the be all and end all. How many people do you know that are retraining and changing their career path right now?

Thinking that Chelsea was just happily chugging along on her merry home-educated way with no clear future direction, you can imagine my surprise when last Thursday the phone rang and the caller asked for her. After a very polite sounding chat, Chelsea put down the receiver and casually announced that she had arranged an interview for College.

To say I was surprised is an understatement. I was utterly stunned. My parents were sat with us in the lounge at the time so it was kind of difficult to talk about it (I didn't want to open the cross-examination floodgates), but I couldn't believe that Chelsea had been so self-reliant and pro-active. She had chosen her own path, sought her own solution to following that path, and dealt with it for herself.

All I have wanted to achieve from home-education is happy, self-reliant children with the ability to read and write. I have always believed in providing a basis for a love of learning, free of pressure to conform or achieve age dictated milestones.

I'm a very happy mama.

Today was interview day for Chelsea. I gave her a lift to the college and we got there in plenty of time. Chelsea said she was happy to go into the campus alone, not even requiring me to help her find the correct room (that College is pretty big!). I was so proud as I watched (a little open mouthed) as my eldest daughter of 15 years confidently strode away towards the entrance alone, looking as if it were something she did every day. Interview? Pah! Not a problem! I smiled and hoped all would be ok. I hoped that our decision to home-educate wouldn't put any hurdles in Chelsea's way.

I didn't have to worry, the college lecturer that conducted the interview loved her.

Chelsea was told that she is the youngest person ever to have applied for the course, and the first home-educated student to be accepted on it. From the feedback I received, Chelsea did amazingly well for her first ever interview experience (apart from the quick chat with the newsagent owner when applying for a paper round a couple of years back, I'm not sure that counts). The lecturer commented on her confidence, good eye-contact, and lovely smile :o) She said that it was clear that Chelsea was an eloquent speaker with an excellent grasp of the English language, and she had absolutely no qualms in accepting her application there and then.

Chelsea starts her Hair and Beauty course on November 7th.

I know it will mean a big change to the dynamics of the household. The help that I almost take for granted will no longer be there, and home-ed groups will be very strange without one of the "welcome committee".

Our life will change as term-times will have more relevancy, and any time away will need better planning.

I guess it's time to step out of my little home-ed bubble and into the big wide world of reality :)

And what about Chelsea? Chelsea is proud of herself. She is excited about the new opportunities, looking forward to meeting new people and hopefully forming friendships, and getting involved in Student Union life!

We have spent the evening checking out websites for the supplies she needs - uniform and basic make-up kit. And filling in forms.

In other news, Callum has discovered a love of "learning to read" all thanks to the Club Penguin website :) There is a game on the site which involves copying words in book-like form. He kept asking "Does this say...?" and was beaming when he got it correct. Good stuff!

Bad mother moment of the day came when I forgot Tiegan had Brownies tonight - oops!

What happens when your day doesn't go to plan?

2011-10-18T23:30:00.000+01:00

It's been one of those days.

Not a bad day, but a day when all those beautifully laid out plans that were made first thing, all turned into a dark and twisted pear shaped mess.

On the Classroom Free Facebook page this morning I happily chirped away about what we were going to get up to today. After chatting with the children, exploring, hama-beading, and baking appeared on the agenda and we happily anticipated what the day had in store.

For our exploration, we headed to Cockington. I had downloaded their "Murder Mystery" trail, and we headed to the starting point of the big house. The weather was once again warm and dry, and the house looked fabulous in all it's country manor grandeur.

The trail was quite interesting, with clues to follow and items to search for. Chelsea likened it to a game of Cluedo - with its suspect hunting and murder weapon choosing.

After leaving the Manor House, we headed to the gorgeous church where we had three clues to find answers for inside.

It was then time for a walk through the country park, admiring the beautiful colour changing trees and exploring sculptures along the route.

We headed down the path towards to the Gamekeepers cottage.

And walked around the lakes, all the time hunting for the answers to clues.

We heard the clip clopping of horses hooves and paused to watched this motley crew ride past us in their carriage...

Hello fellow home-edders!

Did I tell you that the weather was pretty darn glorious? It was so lovely to be out in the fresh air, listening to the bird song, watching children at play, and witnessing nature's beauty...

The trail took us back around to the main drive again, and into the quaint chocolate box village. We had three clues to answer in the village itself, then headed through the gardens towards the Drum Inn.

Then the walk led us to the Cricket Pavilion where we rested a little, and on to the Stable Yard workshops, before taking us to the organic garden where we enjoyed viewing the bee hives and wildlife around the pond.

We then headed to a part of the estate we have never been to before - the new Arts and Crafts centre. Sadly most of the shops were closed today, but this gives you an idea of the space...

There is a real contradiction between the old and new.

We enjoyed looking through the windows and drooling (cleanly) at the goodies on view. One shop that particularly stood out as being "My kinda thing" was the Kick up the Arts store, full of deliciously painted goodness such as this dining table and chairs (apologies for the through the window reflection).

Love it!

We walked up to the children's play area where we stayed for a little while, before heading back to the starting point via the Rose Garden. So pretty, even at this time of year when it appears rose-less.

Then it started.

The pain.

My head started to throb and my stomach started to churn.

I was relieved that we were already heading back to the car as I figured we should leave for home asap.

The drive was easy (apart from the silly people driving the wrong way down a one way country lane!), and we were soon home.

I headed upstairs to take the baby sling off and ended up flaking out on the bed with the room spinning within my head.

I went to sleep.

2 hours later I groggily awoke, but my head was pounding furiously and the thought of trying to get up almost made me weep. I get a lot of headaches / migraines, and can usually just soldier on when necessary as us mums have to when we have children to care for. But just occasionally I feel so very very bad that I find it difficult to even focus, difficult to even comprehend my surroundings, difficult to even put one foot in front of another. Today was one of those times - BUT fortunately it was relatively short-lived.

My brother phoned. Actually, he phoned many times. My brother has his house up for sale, and he had someone wanting to come to view it this evening but he and his girlfriend had other arrangements. I agreed to drive over to show the viewers around whilst they were out. **Note** If anyone is looking for a gorgeous house, well maintained with wooden flooring (not laminate), top of the range shower and jacuzzi bath, with plenty of off road parking - it's worth a look. Torquay is a fabulous place for home-edding, with lots of us around the area!

Of course, all this meant we have missed out on the hama-beading and baking today. Chelsea decided against kitchen work and instead chose art work, creating this eyecatching piece for her art journal ....

The children then went on a fun website called Sketch Swap. The idea is you create a sketch on screen, then click the button to send it to another user. In return you get a sketch develop on screen from someone else. Some of the artwork is amazing, and it's really fun and interesting to see what is created. This is one that we sent...

I'm not going to make any plans for tomorrow.

We MIGHT go to the home-ed group in Exeter. We MIGHT make cottage pie for dinner. I MAY make a yummy trifle like pudding for dessert, and we MAY just have a bloomin' good time.

Let's hit the beach again!

2011-10-17T19:30:00.000+01:00

It was another day of that all important socialisation today, with a meet up with the Teignbridge and Torbay Home-Education group at Dawlish Warren.

Despite it being a small meeting this week as far as families turning up goes, just 6 this week, we still had a really lovely day and the weather behaved itself beautifully!

The kids played on the beach, explored the arcade, ate lots of chips, and generally appeared to be having an ok sort of day.

Enjoying the View

Making Friends

Yay! We have pictures again!

2011-10-16T23:48:00.000+01:00

Please don't groan.

I LOVE sharing my world with you!

Today was the day when I could pack camera into bag and head for the hills. I was a little unsure as to just how much photo taking I would be able to squeeze into the day as the weather looked dull and a little threatening. Luckily though we escaped showers and I was able to click away to my hearts content for much of the day (and eat ice-cream, that was a good bit too!)

We didn't really have an idea of where we were heading to, our only thought was perhaps somewhere on glorious Dartmoor. We drove around for what seemed like hours, and ended up making our first stop at Roadford Lake near Okehampton. Wow, what a beautiful place. It was new to us, I'd never even heard of it before, so we were keen to get out of the car and explore.
At times the sun was shining...

whilst at others the weather appeared dull...

We were fortunate in that it stayed dry and was very warm, so we felt free to just amble along at our steady pace.Callum was in high spirits today, and after Lee (husband and father) told him that some trees will drop fruit if you shake them hard enough, he proceeded to wander around the lake giving many of the trees a good shiver and a shake...

It did give us a little chuckle as Callum was hoping to harvest fruits such as melons, pineapples, pomegranates, and dragon fruit. All he appeared to harvest was acorns. Bless him. It kept him entertained though, and he was ever so gentle.Roadford was a glorious setting.
There were many paths to follow...

a huge lake to amble around...

and forest walks to explore.As a family we had to make lots of decisions about which way to go...

Callum often thought he knew best...

I love the fact that he is able to have so much freedom.

The whole day had a nice relaxed feeling to it, a really lovely family day...

Tiegan did the all important posing for photographs, as per usual :)

Whilst Taisia seemed to enjoy her day outside too...

After a couple of hours strolling, we decided enough was enough and moved on. We drove around Dartmoor for a while, smiling as we witnessed various animal antics along the way - ponies trying to get into car boots, sheep burrowed deep into holes as they rested at the roadside, calves sheltering under the bellies of their huge mamas feeling safe, along with birds of prey amazing us with their beauty.

Callum meanwhile was in a cheeky chappy mood...

En route we happened to come across an ice-cream van, so we parked the car and ate nice things.

Callum decided it was warm enough to abandon his coat (it was), and explore...

The view was amazing (as is usual on the Moors)...

and Callum was still being the ever loveable cheeky chappy...

All in all, it was an utterly fabulous family day (only barred slightly in places by teenagers bickering!!)

**Note ** Dear Photographs, it is so nice to have you back on my bloggy blog again :))

It's Saturday, no school today so whatcha gonna do...

2011-10-15T22:00:00.000+01:00

Saturday morning was spent desperately awaiting the arrival of a delivery van. I checked the tracking website a dozen times and it assured me that my precious parcel (new camera for those that missed yesterday's posting) was on its way. I received a text saying that it would be with me between 12 noon and 3pm, so that gave me a few unexpected hours in the morning to play with.

Lee (husband) and I, armed with a few of the children, popped out to Torquay in the morning to pick up a few things - including a bed guard for my side of the bed. Not for me you may be surprised to read, but for Taz. We co-sleep with Taisia, but she doesn't sleep in the middle of bed due to the exceptionally hot body heat my husband exudes. Instead she sleeps by my side. We did have a cot running alongside our bed meaning that she couldn't fall out of bed, but as Taisia detests the idea of the cot (who can blame her!) and because it takes up so much space in our room, we have chosen to dismantle it and put it away :) A bed guard seemed the safest option to stop little lady tumbling, I'll let you know if it works or if it just becomes another climbing frame.

We stopped off to pick up a takeaway for lunch on the way home, and then more anxious waiting and peering through windows ensued.

It arrived just after 2pm.

I am now the proud owner of this (not so little) beauty...

I left camera battery charging and my gorgeously generous husband listening to his beloved Stockport County, and headed out on a hunt for a non-black (that bit is very important) camera bag. Along with Taisia and Tiegan, I ended up at Trago Mills. We strolled around the grounds - spotting peacocks and ducks, talking to parrots, and stroking ponies and goats. We really should visit Trago more often. Not for the shopping "experience", but just to enjoy what they have on offer. With a penny arcade, adventure playgrounds, various rides, and animals to see, you can easily while away an hour or two. Much of it is free too - always a bonus.

I found a camera bag that will do for now (will need something bigger when I get more "kit"), popped into the supermarket for yummy goodies, and then headed home to share said goodies with the hoards. I didn't get chance to play with my new toy as Taisia was being exceptionally needy, so frustratingly had to sit and admire it from afar with the occasional glance at the manual.

Tomorrow we shall be heading for the hills to try it out - please weather, do play nicely.

Friday...

2011-10-14T20:00:00.000+01:00

Friday started with another rush to get up and out for a Film Education cinema viewing, just as yesterday. Having cut things a little bit fine time-wise, and not sure of just exactly how much traffic was "normal" for that time in the morning, I decided to play it safe and leave the house 15 minutes earlier. Well, in reality we managed leave the house 3 minutes earlier than yesterday, but hey the plan was a good one right?

We actually had lots of time to laugh about our eagerness today. We got to Exeter a full hour early this time, given that there hadn't been an accident and there was surprisingly little traffic on the road for peak-time. We had time to amble along slowly, visit a few shops, and buy goodies to eat :)

The film we had booked for this time was "The Smurfs" It will come as no surprise that it was light hearted and fun, and I loved it! I giggled along like a child, and Taisia was transfixed for much of the screening - murmurs of "What's dat!" echoed around the room as her little finger pointed to the many strange blue things in front of her eyes.

Once again we were extremely fortunate to have the cinema as a home-educators only zone. This time 7 families were present and I could once again relax that Taz wouldn't cause too much disruption with her coos and awws.

Bless her she loved it.

We headed home again straight afterwards and took Kira for a walk around the village. We then had a lovely afternoon of game playing, lego building and TV watching - really nice and relaxed.

A brand spanking new camera also seemed to jump into an online shopping basket - whoops!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

2011-10-13T20:30:00.000+01:00

*singing*

It was a little bit frightening.

*whistles*

I am very happy to announce *drum roll please*, that today was a good day.

We got past a slightly sticky start when we were almost late to a cinema viewing of "Kung Fu Panda 2". We had arranged the free trip via Film Education. The upside was it was free. The downside was the screening started at 10am. Eeeek! How am I supposed to get 2 teenagers, a bed loving 6 year old, and a 11 month old baby who isn't sleeping at night but enjoying long morning lie-ins - up, fed, dressed and out the door in plenty of time to get into the city? (I have omitted dear Tiegan from that equation due to the fact Tiegan will readily jump out of bed no matter what time she is asked, so it would be unfair to group her with the lazy bones bunch *grin*).

I like to get to the cinema early for these "school" events. It saves having to walk with my kids past lots of gawping school children, with all the "Who are they? Why are they not at school?" whisperings. It's bad enough sometimes sitting watching the film knowing the school kids are finding looking at you far more entertaining than the film, I don't feel the need to add to their level of entertainment.

Anyway, we (rather amazingly) left the house at 8.30am, giving us plenty of time to drive to the city, park, and buy munchies.

Wrong.

There had been a car accident en route, and the traffic hold up was gigantic. It did mean that I could pull into the petrol station along the way and fill up with ease, buy some goodies to eat during the film, and pull back onto the dual carriageway only 3 cars behind the one I had left. That's how slow the traffic was moving!

We pulled up in the car park at 9.50am after a frustrating (and at times clock-watchingly stressful) journey, but fortunately the cinema is only a two minute walk away so we still made it on time.

The film was excellent. I hadn't noticed when I'd booked that it was the 3D version, so we got given "nerdy" glasses to wear. The 3D effects were awesome! What's more, there were no schools present! Home-educators had the whole viewing to ourselves, it was great! There were only 4 families in attendance so we could stretch out and I didn't have to bother too much about young Taz being overly disruptive with her chatter of "What's dat!" as she pointed to all the creatures.

Fab, fab, and in celebration of just how relaxed we felt, fab!

We headed home straight afterwards as my parents were due to visit. We managed to get the house all ship shape and tidied up, and were playing with hama bead sets sent from Craft Merrily for us to review. Callum loves the dinosaur one, and Tiegan the floral and butterflies set (which has glow in the dark beads, apparently making the kit ultra cool don't ya know). I did take some photos (now there's a surprise eh?), of the beading and of Taz being entertained by my parents but - and here lies a tale of great woe and sadness - my oh so beautiful "baby" also known as fabulously fantastic camera has died and I am unable to get the pictures from the memory card as it is too big for our other cameras!

*Sob Sob and throw a toddler wobbler fall on the floor tantrum style SOB*

I shall write a "proper" review of the kits when we get a new camera so I can take photos of the makes, if I have my way, it won't be long!

What d'ya mean I'm no longer superwoman?!?!

2011-10-12T23:00:00.000+01:00

Alas, today is a sad day in Pollard towers.

I am having to put away my unflattering silver lurex over the trouser underpants and edged with gold glitter deluxe model cape, and confess to the entire blog reading nation...

~ I AM NO LONGER SUPERWOMAN ~

Now, whether or not I was ever superwoman in the first place is a different post entirely, but today I have been well and truly stripped of that lusciously lined with velvet topped with fake jewels crown.

I have had such a difficult day. Compared to many people out there, and what they have to deal with on a daily basis, our day will have been utterly wonderful I admit. But for me and mine, today was a difficult day.

I am not going to go into details of why, this blog isn't the place to lay blame and chastise, but I really feel as if I have been to that not so pleasant sounding hot place down below and dragged myself back, ruining my fingernails in the process.

I have had to come to terms with the fact I cannot do everything. No matter how hard I try (and I am a real try hard, honest I am!) there are times I should just admit defeat and put the kettle on.

And eat chocolate.

This morning my to-do list consisted of cleaning the bathroom, peeling potatoes, printing out various items to take to home-ed group, and sort out the laundry. Obviously as well as this list I have the daily tasks to complete - changing nappies and other routine baby care, helping sort breakfast, washing dishes, feeding animals, hoovering and mopping, packing bags for going out for the day, picking up the hundred toys which all jumped out of their toy box home at exactly the same time to decorate our floor all by themselves - as they do frequently - and... you get the idea.

I also planned to leave the house by 10.30am.

You can stop laughing now.

I struggled.
I huffed and puffed, and struggled some more.

Trying to do three things at once AND attempting to persuade a curious and oh so beautiful but bloomin' determined bubba that she really doesn't need to eat the dog biscuits from it's bowl / swing from the cat's tail / pick the dog's nose / poke out her own eye / poke out the nearest furry friends eye / *insert one of 500 other options here* is pretty much tiddly poop poop impossible. I offered bribes - food, toys, things that make oh so annoying noises but bubba's usually love them, even TV (Don't look at me like that, I was desperate ok?!) - but nope, nothing quite satisfies a wee person's soul as much as the latest I know I shouldn't do it but it's oh so much fun craze.

No one came to my assistance. They just left me, hanging off the cliff, fingers twitching and ground crumbling, clutching Taisia under my arm.

Later than planned, we still headed out to the home-ed group. I had packed my foul mood in my bag to come along for the ride with me. It whinged and whined in the car (captive audience), and squirmed as hugs and apologies were offered in the car park when we arrived.

Home-Ed group was good, the drive to Exeter was worth it. I didn't get a huge amount of time for a relaxing natter this week, Taisia certainly kept me on my toes with her speed-crawling. She did pause for breath on a couple of occasions, so I captured this one for future posterity...

And I am just going to see here and watch the world go by...

Whilst Callum enjoyed exploring and climbing...

The car journey home wasn't pleasant, with the engine cutting out around 8 times en route. Not good, not good at all. I hope it sorts itself out soon.

We did get home though (yay go me!) and I had a cuppa, had a whinge and a whine, cooked dinner, washed dishes, and looked after bubba. Just before 11pm bubba finally settled to sleep and I decided as I no longer have my superwoman crown, my little bit tarnished halo will have to do...

OK, so I'm no superwoman, but I am hanging on to my housewife halo!

A day of whoopsie daisy!!

2011-10-12T00:42:00.001+01:00

Our Tuesday has been a good one, it has behaved itself really well and I've very much enjoyed being in it's presence - for the most.

Our morning started nice and relaxed. The children got on with doing their own thing whilst I did the cleaning and tidying that needed to be done. My lovely eldest son did help out by washing and drying the breakfast dishes for me, bless him. Have I mentioned that our dishwasher has broken? It decided to have a wobbler a while ago and completely went on strike. I strangely haven't actually missed it, which is surprising as last time we had to live without the luxury of a dishwasher, I found washing everything by hand an horrendous time-waster. It must be my renewed frame of mind - it's amazing what a happy heart can achieve.

Tiegan has spent much of her time today on the trampoline. She is making the most of the dry and warmish days knowing that they will more than likely be few and far between as the year comes to a close. I love watching her just taking the time to enjoy her days. She is my little daydreamer. So quiet and thoughtful, often seen to be pondering with mind ticking over, always questioning and curious. Tiegan often sits in the fresh air and reads a book, listening to the birdsong around her. Today she told me about two small birds that she sat and talked to, one being a Robin. Harry (the cat) is often seen sitting with her, even when Tiegan bounces gently on the trampoline he will sit seemingly enjoying being with her. They have a great bond.

Callum has had a laptop day. He has visited various websites including CBeebies and CBBC. He really enjoyed a wildlife game where you had to answer questions about various animals in order to progress in climbing to the top of a tree. Other games have included problem solving and strategy ones. Callum has also drawn pictures (there is a definite Halloween theme to his artwork at the moment), and played outside for a while - scooter riding and chalk picture making.

Chelsea started the morning lying in bed as she read. Once up, she spent time on the laptop writing part of a story and a couple of book reviews. I sat with her to watch a few baking programmes, then Chelsea went off to do a bit of art stuff.

Joseph has read a bit about various historical events, written a couple of poems, played with Taisia lots, helped me to work out our shopping budget, and just generally made a loveable nuisance of himself :))

Taisia has just bought joy to our hearts, with so many smiles and giggles...

She can certainly brighten even the darkest of days.Taisia has also discovered a love of drawing. So far she has taken pencil to my books, the laminate flooring, and the cupboard door. I thought it might be an idea to provide her with some paper, but this drawing thing is so much more fun...

The children finally got around to attempting to make butter from cream. I can't begin to describe the issues we've had trying to do this. Think dropped cream cartons, a cream loving cat, and way past sell by dates to name but a few. Finally I thought today was the day for butter making success.

Wrong.

Things started off smoothly. Tiegan poured the cream into the jar and added marbles for friction.

So far so good.

Then there was a whole lotta shakin' going on....

Each of the children took it in turns to give the jar a good ol' shake. I had told them it was a long and laborious process, and to their credit, the children's enthusiasm didn't wane.After roughly 40 minutes or so, Joseph stepped up to take his turn. He shook the jar, up and down, up and down....

Joe continued to shake the jar as he strolled around the house, into the living room, then....SMASH!

Whoopsie, I don't think that is meant to happen...

Whoopsie Daisy - The marble has broken the jar :o/

BUT, not all was lost. Joseph did learn how to clear up the carpet for the first time in his young life....

Always learning, always learning!

It's a shame we had to stop when we did as we were well on the way to making butter....

Maybe we shall try again another day *sigh*

I made a chocolate cake in the afternoon, so the house was filled with a yummy aroma. I had wanted to make jam tarts and mince pies but I didn't have the butter! I was waiting in for my parents to pop by so couldn't go to the shop meaning baking is on hold for a wee while.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Exeter home-ed group. That's if the car gets us there in one piece! The silly thing keeps cutting out the engine when we slow down or stop. We think we know the reason why, it's happened three times before, and in the past has righted itself within a few days - fingers crossed this time is the same. Trying to get to Occombe Farm and back home again was not much fun yesterday, I think the engine cut out roughly 7 times in all. Today when heading out to Sainsbury's in the dark it happened about 5 times.

Please dear darling car, try to pull your socks up and sort yourself out. I need you!!!

I've got to travel to Exeter three days in a row *sigh*

Well, hello!

2011-10-11T10:40:00.002+01:00

Here I am, dusting away the cobwebs after yet another week has passed since my last visit. I've searched high and low for time. I just can't get a hold of any extra anywhere, and have gotten quite frightened by just how quickly it whizzes by without me noticing. I must try to hold on tighter to it and stop losing it through the holes in my pockets, I'm sure that is the only way time can be escaping - that and maybe down the plug hole as I'm washing the dishes.

Can you believe that my little bubba is almost a one year old fledgeling already? I sure can't. Scary, oh so scary. When I was a wee slip of a gal, I clearly remember Christmas being celebrated. I then remember just how long afterwards it seemed that my birthday celebration would be (August). Following this, Christmas seemed like an eternity away. A whole year, from Christmas to Christmas was too long to wait! The months appeared to drag on by and

So what has the past week had in store for us?

On Wednesday we headed out to Exeter to the home-ed group. The novelty still hasn't worn off for young Callum, who relishes his time at the park with new(ish) found friends. I spent much of the time this week talking to people new to the group, AND and AND guess what? There was an awesomely fabulous lady at the group who showed me how to crochet!!! Just how long have I been wanting to learn how to crochet? How many times dear readers have you read my frustration and determination. I had challenged myself at the beginning of the year, that by the end of 2011 I would know how to crochet, and wow, thanks to that crocheting angel, I've almost succeeded! You can imagine my joy and thankfulness.

There was a little lady that was also thrilled to be at the group once again....

Taisia went on an entertainment spree and performed all her "tricks" to get attention. Thumbs up, tongue out, fake laughing and coughing, babbling on and on, she did it all. And it worked, she was much loved and cooed over.

Taisia has a firm independent streak developing and is ready to get on out there and explore her world. I *love* that. I find joy in the way Taisia is secure in the knowledge that I am there if she needs me, but she is happy to go it alone and experience her surroundings. Sometimes she will head off to find "the gang", at other times she will scamper away from people and be completely alone, she knows she has the choice and is happy to take us or leave us as it suits. She is always wanting a cuddle when we are reunited though, usually accompanied by a pat on the back or three.

Thursday was a stay at home day. Chelsea (that absolutely fabulous eldest daughter of mine) spent almost the entire day baking. She made bread rolls...

Awaiting the baking process.

Along with an apple pie, a tear and share cheese and onion loaf, and rather scrumptiously delicious cookies.

Tiegan went along to Brownies in the evening, which she enjoyed immensely as always, and our day was done. I was hugely relieved that the day was done actually. I had struggled. I had felt sad and harassed (for no reason), a little lethargic and under the weather, as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders (which I didn't). It was just a down dark want it to be over soonest day.

Friday was immediately brighter, as it was the day my parents were due to fly over to England from Spain. There was great excitement in the household as you can imagine - it's been almost a year since we last saw my mum and dad. The morning went in perfect almost Stepford-like fashion. I cleaned and tidied all that I had planned to, hoping to live up to the oh as high as the sky standards and expectations. I needed to head into Torquay to run a few errands, but was pleased with myself when they were completed and I was sat on my sofa with cuppa in hand within the allotted time I had set for myself.

You just know this blissful happiness is not going to last for long right?

Everything went well and truly tits up.

Firstly, I flicked through the delivered post and realised that the concert tickets for Chelsea and Joseph hadn't arrived. Oh not to worry they will arrive soon. Erm, actually it's time to fret just a little bit - the tickets were needed for that night. I scrambled through piles of paperwork trying to find the booking confirmation details, but failed miserably to find anything remotely connected. I switched on the computer for the first time that day to search for the booking office contact info, and whilst waiting for pages to load came across an email from a friend needing an immediate response. Coupled with 4 frantic phone calls from my brother who needed to speak to my parents urgently, and well, my blood pressure at this point was rising ever so slightly.

A hastily written but heartfelt email reply got sent to friend and a phone call to the booking office was made. I made numerous attempts to phone my dad via a mobile number that appeared to be disconnected on behalf of my brother, but had to admit defeat and hope that my dad would be in touch with me soon as said brother was heading off to Spain to take their place (house swapping at it's best!)

Slowly the situation(s) got resolved,and all was fine again with the world until Chelsea read something on one of the concert booking office websites that threw doubt upon whether Joseph would be able to get in to the venue. Another moment of ARGH!!! But I decided nothing could be done at that moment and it was best dealt with at the venue.

At 5pm my parents arrived and many hugs were enjoyed. They stayed for a lovely hour of catch up natter, then I had to head out to the Lemon Grove in Exeter to take the eldest two to the concert.

Picture the scene.

It's 6pm and the light is beginning to fade. Around 1,000 fans of the band "Black Veil Brides" are awaiting outside the venue. White faces with black make-up are in abundance, along with black head to toe clothing, and the seeming obligatory long black hair.

I (little ol' me) had to stand in that queue for over an hour wearing a cream long jumper, cream knee high socks with a pretty bow on the side, and purple cute mary-jane shoes.

You can stop laughing now.

You can just imagine, that at my age, in this outfit, along with my bright coloured wow look at me hair, I well and truly stood out like an Ostrich in a Guinea Pig pen.

But, it has to be said, after my initial *oh please I'll do anything for the ground to swallow me right now* moment, it was actually ok. Everyone was friendly, in a fabulous excited and joyous mood, with no judgements (to my knowledge) being made about the person that clearly shouldn't really be there, aka moi . Half an hour later than stated, the doors opened and little by little the crowd flooded in. I had to confirm a few details about my payment card before Chelsea and Joe could go inside, but once done, off they went.

Oh be still my fast beating *they are too young, they are still my babies!* heart.

Chelsea and Joseph had an absolutely amazing time and I am so glad that I trusted my instincts and let them go. They met up with friends once inside and came out at 11pm absolutely bursting with stories to share. It was so special to hear the enthusiasm in their voices.

It was of no surprise that their Saturday started much later than usual - they had to recover.

Much of our weekend was spent at home. We did meet with my parents in Torquay and had a lovely relaxed coffee and chat in one of the cafes and peruse around the shops. On our way home we popped into B&Q and bought a "Bird Feeding Station" so we know our little visiting feathered friends will be well looked after over the Winter months. We have popped the food outside our lounge window so hopefully we shall have a good bird spotting point to witness the visitors. If I clean the windows well enough I may be able to get a good few photographs. The feeding station is currently stocked with fat balls, peanuts, various seeds and water.

Sunday was a stay home and sort through rubbish sort of day, not fun, but something that had to be done.

Then we come on to yesterday. Our Monday. Once again it was group day for the Teignbridge and Torbay home-education group. This week we met up at Occombe Farm. There were three new families at the meeting and it was lovely getting to know them all. We sat and watched the children explore the play equipment for a while, then headed off for a walk around the farm. We visited the "Garden for Victory" area...

The Bunker (I got shut in here and the children wouldn't let me out until "we hear the sirens!")

We saw these beautiful flowers - which were welcome on such a grey and dull (but dry!!) day.

We walked with friends in beautiful surroundings...

We ooohed and ahhed over baby cows...

and we smiled - a lot!

We came home and the children went off to do various things. Chelsea helped me cook dinner and then did some reading. Joseph went on the laptop, whilst Tiegan bounced like a mad 'un on the trampoline with Callum. Then this little visitor was discovered in the garden...

It was a quick google search to discover what type of caterpillar the little fella was...

Just to add, Chelsea isn't ill in this picture, she is wearing white foundation.

So there you go, all up to date and caught up with the news.Today we are baking. Jam tarts have been requested, I wonder if it's too early to start on the Mince Pies....

Sling Recommendations Needed Please...

2011-10-04T13:36:00.000+01:00

I am in desperate need of a woven wrap sling to carry my not so little any more bubba around. She's now 11 months and I'm finding the front carry a little heavy. I don't want to start resorting to constant pram pushing as she loves being with her mama (her face beams when she see's me putting the sling on and she puts her hands high in the air awaiting to be picked up *heart*). I would love to start back carrying, but there is too much stretch for safety in my (beloved) Kari-Me and Moby slings.

I'd love something bright and colourful to cheer me up through winter, 'cos that's the kinda gal I am.

So hit me with it - what do you recommend I buy?

**Cheeky Note to Sling Sellers**

If you would love to donate a delightful woven wrap for me to try out and review on this 'ere blog, I would be more than happy to do so - although I will point out I'd be honest with my opinions. I won't just play nicely 'cos it's a freebie :)

On to happier things.

2011-10-03T22:00:00.000+01:00

Really needed to quickly write a more perkier posting than the one previously, so thought I would share our Monday with you :)

Monday is our local home-ed group day, as regular readers to the blog will know. This week we headed off to Teignmouth, to visit the playpark and beach. Oh how lucky we were with the weather - brilliant sunshine! Before we met up with the group, we headed to our friend's house to deliver a little gift. It was so lovely having a mini-natter catch up with someone I haven't seen in far too long.

We headed to Teignmouth seafront and met up with familiar faces. I'm loving taking my little bubba around and about and watching her explore everything and learning about her world. She decided that today she wanted to be "one of the girls"...

She also decided that she loves sand. Apparently it feels so good in your hand, and as it falls between your fingers it makes you giggle. Surprisingly, it tastes oh so good too! I lost count of the amount of times I had to empty sand from her mouth today *shudder*

Taisia was fascinated by the wet stuff...

and really wanted to join in to see what all the fuss and frolicking fun was about...

Meanwhile, Chelsea seemed happy to be alive...

Whilst Joseph appeared to be trying out for Baywatch...

and Callum showed off the fact that he had enjoyed his hot chocolate...

We came home after having a fabulous day, the kids all buzzing with happiness and joy - just as I like it :) Tiegan was beaming as she talked about her day and making new "friends".

I didn't feel particularly well (think it was a tiredness headache creeping in), but I couldn't help but smile as this little lady coming to see if I was ok...

We had a delicious dinner of home-made pizzas (I make a scone-like base as it's quicker than dough), finished off with sweeties from the shop and a relaxing evening in front of the TV.

Another day done and dusted - roll on Tuesday :)

**If you see a picture of your child on this blog and would prefer me to take it off, please do ask. I do try to make sure that the children are not easily recognisable, but if you are unhappy just let me know**

Please hold your children close and love them with all your heart.

2011-10-03T18:00:00.000+01:00

I fancied trekking around the moors or woodland again as a family this weekend, but that idea was poo pooed by a certain 6 year old so it didn't happen. Husband, myself and two youngest daughters did venture out on a little shopping trip on Saturday though, but it is not one that will rest joyfully in my memory bank. I came out of the store literally shaking - anger, fear, frustration, helplessness.

What happened?

We had just got to the counter for our goods to go through and be paid for. We had a fair few small items so it was taking time to get through checkout. As I waited, with Taisia in her front sling at my chest, I watched two children walk into the store with their father. The children were happy and smiling, chatting to each other. Both headed to the turnstile wheel at the same time, and pushed it in the wrong direction. The spring back was hard as they let go and the turnstile hit the little girl (say aged 5) straight in the mouth. Her brother (around 7) looked absolutely horrified by what had happened, but before he could say anything his father started to yell.

My heart immediately started beating so fast, I knew this wasn't going to be good.

The father yelled. He shouted. He berated that poor boy. He kept grabbing the lad by the arm and shoving him around. "Look what you have done! LOOK. LOOK what you have done to your sister. YOU are naughty. YOU are so naughty. Now say you are sorry."

The boy whimpered. He sobbed. He looked pleadingly up at his father as he muttered "It was an accident daddy, I didn't mean to do it. I'm not a naughty boy daddy, I'm not, it was an accident."

"You are horrid and nasty, you are a naughty boy, now say you are sorry to your sister."

Boy can hardly speak at this point, the tears are flowing down his face, he looks confused and bewildered, not sure what just happened. He whispers he is sorry as he struggles to calm down and breathe.

"Say sorry properly, that's not properly, apologise now for what you did you naughty boy."

Boy says sorry with tears, looking at his sister with despair.

"Now, shut up. No rides or ice-cream for you today. If you don't shut up now you will get your a*se battered. Just wait until we get home and see what you get for being so naughty and spoiling our day."

"I'm not a naughty boy daddy, I'm not."

That sentence and howls of sadness echoed around the store as he was dragged away by his father. Oh the noise made my heart bleed and my arms hug my babies tight.

What did I do whilst this was playing out?

I'm ashamed to say, nothing.

I just watched.

I did try to say it was an accident, I raised my voice and said it was an accident, the boy hadn't meant to hurt his sister - that was clear for all to see. Not loud enough it seemed as it was ignored.

I hated being witness to such unjust behaviour on such a helpless child.

I hate myself for not doing more.

The incident affected me so badly, that when I went to offer my card to the cashier to pay for my goods, my hand was violently shaking. I apologised to him and said how witnessing such an incident had made me feel so angry and helpless - he was just blank, seemingly not understanding how it made me feel as a mother - yet he too had looked shocked as it was played out right in front of us.

It took me a long time to settle down. My stomach was in knots, I was shaky. Furious that it had happened. Furious I had allowed it to happen without intervening. What kind of person does that? A person who doesn't stand up for the rights and wrongs, even when she passionately believes in something being unjust.

Sad.

I have had two nights of interrupted sleep. As I close my eyes I can still see that little boy's face. I see the fear in his eyes, the sadness, the bewilderment and hear the echoes of "I'm not a naughty boy daddy, I'm not naughty."

No dear sweet boy, you are not. I am so sorry I didn't help you. I am so sorry that as you looked around at all of the adults watching you and your father, pleading for help with your eyes, many of us being emotionally affected by what we saw, that not one of us stepped in to do *something* I am sorry that I made up excuses in my head for not coming to your assistance - The queue was too long behind me and I couldn't get past the line of people. That I couldn't hold up the line any more as people would get angry. That you had gone out of sight by the time I was through checkout and I couldn't re-enter the store and chase you around as that would be weird. That I had a baby close to my chest and she needed to be protected.

I let you down.

Of course, what could have been done in reality I do not know, but I wish I had done *something*. I will regret that for a long time to come.

**Before anyone jumps on me to accuse me of being judgemental and spout on about how the parent acted out of embarrassment, shock and humiliation, please don't bother. You had to be there to hear the pain in that child's sobbing voice and see the fear in his eyes as his so called daddy crouched over him, face twisted with anger, eyes burning with hatred. I can only begin to shudder at what probably goes on behind the closed doors of home. I saw the immediate reaction of the child when the incident happened, his face told a whole sorrowful story. I don't believe his "daddy" gave even a single thought to others being around him. He just flew into a red misted rage despite it being an unquestionable accident. The girl was ok, her mouth not bleeding, her tears stopped within a minute. If you can think of any sort of excuse for that behaviour from an adult towards a child in that situation, I don't even wanna hear it.**

*Heart is Breaking*

It's almost the weekend!

2011-09-30T23:48:00.000+01:00

This week hasn't been a bad one, we've had lots of love and laughter shared and only a couple of not so pleasant moments.
There are sadly few photos in this post as my camera has been playing up all week and struggling to focus. Today it has seemed a bit better though so I'm hoping that the clever thing is healing itself.
Our Tuesday didn't run at all to plan. The plan was to go rockpooling for the day with the children. The reality was washing sick from sofa and floor. Poor dear Callum. We don't know what bought it on, and the rest of us seemed to escape whatever it was. By dinner time Callum was back to his cheeky chappy self again, we were much relieved but a little puzzled. Instead of visiting the shore, we stayed snuggled indoors watching dinosaur documentaries and reading stories.

Wednesday is usually group day, but this week Chelsea had an orthodontist appointment in the afternoon so we had to give it a miss. Chelsea spent the morning baking bread and creating a Victoria Sponge cake - both of which were very yummy. The orthodontist appointment went ok, Chelsea's teeth haven't moved so the brace that she wears as she sleeps is doing its job.

Thursday was my favourite day of the week. We had been invited to visit friends, so first thing in the morning Joseph was scampering up the apple tree to bag up some of its fruit as a gift. Chelsea baked another cake to take with us, and we headed off just before lunch time. We had a really lovely time. After eating cake and drinking far too much tea (always good!) we headed down to the beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day weather wise. The children scampered around rock pools finding lots of hermit crabs and a sand eel. They had so much fun. Taisia was also scampering, way too fast as she crawled around exploring. Guess which stupid person forgot to take the camera? I could have kicked myself, there would have been some great shots. At 5pm we all went home full of big smiles and promises to return very soon.

Then came today. I had a few errands to run this morning, so that took up a bit of time. When we got home, there was washing to hang out and tidying to be done. We ate lunch and read stories, then I dyed my hair again. This time I went for a slightly redder colour and I LOVE IT SO!!! I think it is my absolute favourite shade thus far and one I envisage keeping for a while.

Of course, once a gal has a new "do", she has to show it off right? So here's a few piccies of the youngest two and myself enjoying the sunshine in the garden...

I am such a contented Mama

My beautiful boy! I just love those eyes and cheeky grin, and of course that hair is to die for! Taisia just wants to get hold of a big piece of it and pull....

My Superman!

We collected up the windfall apples

and felt the cold grass between our fingers

We also looked utterly adorable!

We are going to have an absolutely fabulous weekend, and I just know you guys are too!

A bit on the unusual side...

2011-09-26T21:36:00.000+01:00

This post will be a bit different to those that you have been reading of late. Why? Because it will be short and have no photos! Is that a sigh of relief I hear and a smile I see? Tut! :))
Today we went along to Decoy Park in Newton Abbot with the Teignbridge and Torbay home-education group.

The weather was warm - a little on the dull side, but dry. By the end of the meet, it had been attended by 10 families, with a total of 22 children between them age ranging from 10 months to 15 years. All played along in the play area seemingly happily with very little intervention from the adults.

I was oh so very tired. Sunday night had been a tough one for me, with Taisia struggling with teething and totally unable to settle. Just as she quietened at 4am, our dog started to get restless. She was pacing around, trudging up and down the stairs - her claws tippety tip tapping on our downstairs laminate floor. Not good. I got up to see what was wrong. The clock seemed to smirk as it proudly displayed 5am and I opened the door to let the dog into the garden. I could barely keep my eyes open. I headed on back to bed after locking up, and managed to doze off just before husband got up at 6.30am ready for work. *sigh*

Despite my "mama needing sleep" look, we headed out to the park meet. We spent 4 hours there. 4 whole hours for the children to explore the play equipment and still Callum asked if he could stay "just a little bit longer..." Callum loved playing with "A" and proudly told his dad when he came home that A is the same age as him, quite a novelty for him so it seemed.

Not much went on once home - it was 4pm-ish after all. I cut up veggies and made a stew, tried to nap on the sofa whilst Taisia did the same, had Callum almost sit on my head (by accident I hasten to add) so promptly decided to wake up quick smart and play on the Wii with him and Tiegan instead.

I'm hoping that a nice relaxed evening will follow - nature journal planning and reading please.

I'd like to order a good nights sleep too :)

Hi ho, hi ho, it's up the Moors we go....

2011-09-25T21:52:00.003+01:00

Strangely, after my long posting this morning catching up with the weeks events, we still had time to do *something*.

Why is it, that some days you have what seems like oodles of time?

More often than I care to admit to, I can be using the computer for what seems like half an hour, look at the clock and frighten myself silly when I see more than a few hours have rudely whizzy whizzed on by without so much as a wave.

Today was pleasantly not that kind of day.

We set off in the car, prepared for all weather conditions because it was one of those can't second guess what the weather will be doing in half an hour sort of days. We had no idea where we were heading. I just instructed ever so patient and lovely husband to drive - somewhere - anywhere. We ended up heading for the Moors a different way than we are used to, but still ending up in familiar surroundings which is always reassuring. We stopped at the visitor centre in Princetown and picked up a book on the Archaeology of Dartmoor, a few leaflets and a Ordnance Survey map. Time was ticking by at this point and we decided to just keep on driving this time and stop somewhere along the way for a wander, saving our reading materials for the comfort of our home. Dartmoor makes up it's own rules. The light can fade without warning and weather conditions can go from wonderful to stormy within minutes - I know, I have experienced it doing so on many occasions.

This time the weather was ok - warm, dry, but a little grey. It didn't make taking photographs very easy for me as lighting conditions were right slap bang in the middle of light and dark. Here are a few that I did manage to take though...

The view at Haytor...

A little hazy.

We walked (huff and puff)...

We climbed...

Callum wandered alone...

and he had great pleasure rolling Joe's drink bottle down the hill for them to retrieve...

We slipped over (actually, only Joseph slipped over, about 6 times!) ...

We rested...

Trying to have a nice serene mother and daughter photo taken. Taisia had other ideas, playing silly wotsits with her hat :))

A little better :)

We spent time alone...

Alone with his thoughts.

and we proved that we were number one...

Callum won the race back to the car :)

Oh so tired...

2011-09-25T12:06:00.001+01:00

I do apologies from being AWOL since Tuesday but I've been struggling. Taisia has been the cause of a severe lack of sleep issue and I've been feeling really out of sorts and down about things due to tiredness. There isn't anything wrong, no great problems or ill health, just really letting things get on top of me due to lack of motivation, energy and enthusiasm.

I had a pretty good nights sleep last night, and my gorgeous husband took Taisia downstairs when she awoke so I could have a lazy lie-in and a luscious shower. Now feeling good!

So what have we been up to?

Wednesday was our Exeter home-education group. Thoroughly enjoyed by all of us once more, it's really nice to be back there - many people that attend we have known right from the very start of our HE journey.

The weather remained dry and the children were free to roam around the park. Great excitement ensued when lots of ladybirds were spotted...

There were dozens of them, all around the edge of the park, in the bushes and on the fence.

Meanwhile, Taisia adored the feel of leaves and dirt...

It amused me to see the reaction of some of the children watching Taisia. There were lots of "Oh, do you think I should stop her?" and "Shall I move her and wash her hands?" It reminded me of how far I have come on this parenting journey malarkey, and just how relaxed I am now. It made me think so much I am going to write a blog post about it to share with you - hopefully within the next few days, Taisia permitting.

Thursday was a day at home for us, I was feeling rather more than zombie-fied and wanted to do only what was necessary - so the minimum of housework got done, and the children pottered around content with their own company. We watched a couple of documentaries about Egypt together that I had recorded, Chelsea and Tiegan wrote part of a story each, Callum built lego houses and played on various website games including mathematical and spelling ones, whilst Joseph read from a few of our history books, and tidied his room a little more (it's a long drawn out process so it seems). Tiegan spent a lot of the day outside, playing on the trampoline and looking around the garden...

Friday was a good day. I was determined to find the last spoonful of energy and get out of the house. We popped on our wellybobs and headed for Stover Park. We had a great time, and as is often the case I took far too many photographs which I shall now bore you with.

We read poetry...

Chatted together...

Played silly wotsits...

Joseph doing the carrot and stick thing to get Chelsea motivated lol.

Titanic scene re-enactment anyone?

I've no idea. Perhaps best not to ask.

Balanced and climbed...

Spotted lots of fungi varieties (Tiegan's favourite thing to do)...

The children spotted an egg in the water and decided to take a closer look...

Callum lay down...

We loved spotting various sculptures and man-made things...

We admired the beauty around us...

and checked out the water for pond life...

Tiegan was in full model-posing for photographs mode :)

and there was plenty of exploring and role-playing to be done...

Once home we relaxed and read stories, whilst Taisia entertained us with funny faces...

In other news, I have been doing lots of soul searching recently, not sure what I'm looking for, but feel I need *something*.
My current reading material ...

I can honestly say that I never thought I would return to Bible reading again, but I have just been drawn to it for reasons I am yet to fathom. I shall update my thinking when I have, well, battled with my thoughts!

Today we are off armed with wet weather gear (just in case, it's stopped raining now) to where I do not know. Moors? Woodland? Nature reserve? Time will tell.

Running out of titles...

2011-09-20T23:56:00.000+01:00

You know. I've been doing this whole blogging malarkey for a fair wee while now, and one thing that I have never improved upon is the coming up with a title for the post. It's ok if I have something half interesting to share with you, I can usually pull out a line from the post and use that as the headline, but if I'm just rambling about our day in a Dear Diary sort of way? I'm lost.

Today dear reader, I'm afraid to say is one of those Dear Diary sort of days. I've nothing amazing to share with you. Nothing thought provoking. Nothing inspiring. I'm just going to record my day as it happened as that was the original reason for setting up my tent in the corner of this webspace in the first place. I set it up for myself, as a way of collating together what we did. I'm blown away by it's popularity, and even more so by the sheer number of emails thanking me for it. But I'm writing for me and me alone, although friends are always welcome to share.

This morning was rather blissful. Lee (dear husband) had got the van from work so we were a two vehicle family - just for the day! It meant I could have a sleep-in and not have to try to drag myself from my pit at 6am. My utterly gorgeous little florence - aka Taisia - very kindly went along with the plan and didn't stir from her slumber until 7.45am! We had a much better night together. I awoke feeling totally reacquainted with my inner eyelids. Isn't it amazing what a difference a few hours of good sleep makes to your whole wellbeing?

For a short while, it was just Taisia and I downstairs alone. The house was pretty much silent, bar our little chatterings and giggles. I managed to do a few of the day to day chores whilst Taisia ~~emptied kitchen cupboards, scattered the contents of the laundry basket out on to the floor, gingerly tested to see if the dog biscuits were edible for human consumption~~, ~~terrorised a wayward slug~~, innocently pottered around at my feet.

Soon we were joined by Callum, and a game of peek-a-boo began, giving me the opportunity to clear up the afore mentioned "Taisia woz 'ere" footprints. Do you ever have one of those days when you are just going around in circles, seemingly chasing your tail, moving from one mess to tidy to another only to find the original mess miraculously reappear? Every day? Oh me too!

The delightful joys of motherhood.

One by one my other blessings joined us downstairs, breakfast was consumed and the day got properly under way.

My offer to give Joseph's room a thorough clean and tidy was refused, with Joseph preferring to tidy it himself - that was him gone for most of the day. I'm not really sure how much tidying went on. I know lots of listening to YouTube videos went on. But, you could see a fair bit more of the floor, so *something* had happened.

Chelsea meanwhile started her day slowly :)

She had a bath, she played with her hair, experimented with make-up looks, then returned downstairs to read a bit about Edgar Allen Poe. Later on she worked through a section of her Maths text book, and read a chapter of the human anatomy book we are working through together.

Tiegan started her day just as any other - looking after Misty her bunny. I really am so proud of how seriously she takes the responsibility of pet ownership. Never once has Tiegan had to be prompted to check on her rabbit. Each morning - usually before her own breakfast - Misty is fed, watered, cuddled, talked to, and his litter tray emptied. On dry days he is placed in the run, on wet days he is bought inside for play. Once Misty's needs were seen to, Tiegan came inside and built lego houses for her dolls. Role playing games ensued, with quite elaborate storylines at times. She also wrote a poem, illustrated it with a painting, and completed a few pages of a maths workbook.

Callum played along with the lego building, read me a few pages from a book of his choice, threw the ball outside for the dog in between rain showers, and went on the laptop. He is going through an "Angry Birds" phase at the moment since discovering he could play it online. I'm thankful as it saves my phone battery.

After lunch, Tiegan and I went to the shop, walking on a little farther to drop a book off to a friend first. On our way back we strolled through the park and went on an acorn hunt. I want to needlefelt some coloured acorns, placing them within real acorn caps, as a mantelpiece or hall table decoration. We found a good fair few caps during the short while we were looking, but we continued on our way once the rain started to pour as neither of us had worn waterproofs.

Despite having a better nights sleep, I was flagging by this point. The lack of sleep build-up was still taking it's toll, so I snuggled with Taisia and we both ended up having a snooze.

In my absence, a chocolate cake was made, downstairs was hoovered, dishes were washed and the kids' piles of clean laundry were put away. I think I should sleep during the day more often!

We managed to fit in a quick visit to the library before it closed this evening. I got a few books out to share with Taisia and she seemed to very much approve...

Callum still likes to listen to his mama reading....

Tiegan also enjoyed reading, so much so that she was colour-coordinated with her book...

I made dinner - something that resembled traditional corn beef hash, but with added red and green peppers, sweetcorn, peas, and beef stock. And we ate the girls' chocolate cake with custard for pudding.

After dinner, we watched the Inside Nature's Giants programme from last week about the Cassowary together, which led to some really interesting discussions. I've recorded tonight's episode about the Thoroughbred Racehorse to watch at a later date.

and we ended the day on a real high, with cuddles....

Tomorrow? Another group meeting day :)

Another Monday, Another Groupday...

2011-09-20T02:15:00.002+01:00

Monday means group day which means meeting up with friends day.

Today we were due to go to Paignton, so we didn't have to leave the house too early to get there on time. This was just as well as it was one of those mornings where the minutes super whizzed by at lightening speed but motivational mojo seemed to be in very short supply. It wasn't down to us not wanting to go to the group - we all had a smile within our hearts as well as on our faces when we talked about going - it was just that we were all in ... go... sllloooooowwwww ... time ..., which can be frustrating and fun all in a mixed up pickly tickly sort of way.

We arrived at the park at near on 11am and the children immediately set off to explore the play equipment - all except Joseph.

Joseph immediately set off to explore the bags containing food.

The swings are always a firm favourite at the playpark, and the children didn't care a jot about getting soggy bottoms from the recent rain.

It wasn't long before there was quite a gathering of home-educators congregating within the confines of the play area walls. 7 Adults and 15 children - not a bad turn out on a rain-threatened outside meet.It led to photo opportunities such as these...

Just great to see all ages enjoying outside fun together.

Us more sensible older people had interesting chats about home-educating "methods", how we ~~try to~~ do things, and what we have tried in the past, etc etc. We talked about different children suiting different styles, even within the same family, and how we shouldn't (although we all admitted it is difficult not to) compare ourselves or our children to others and try to emulate - it usually doesn't work. All interesting and thought provoking stuff, so thank you ladies.

We were visited by this rather stunning creature...

We have since identified it as a "Forest Shield Bug" which apparently are quite rare to see as they usually live high in trees. I love home-educating, I know I learn as much as the children, probably more so!

One site we really enjoyed looking through as we were on our identification trail was this one:

Garden Safari

Lots and lots of photos and information.

So after our top-up of socialisation we were fortunate enough to reach the comfort of home before the skies bestowed the wet stuff upon us. Once indoors the children scurried off to do various things once the identification of the bug had taken place. Tiegan picked up her Harry Potter book and firmly sunk her nose within it's pages. Callum went on the laptop and played various games including Angry Birds which you can now play via Chrome (yay, he doesn't have to pinch my phone any more!) Chelsea read more of her Manga story book, sketched a little, and cooked dinner for me (Meatballs with pasta spaghetti in a tomato sauce). Whilst Joseph read a book about Victorians and looked at various websites on the computer.

I suddenly felt as if I couldn't stay awake. I had been awake for much of the night with Taisia again (this time she had decided that attempting to climb onto the bedside drawers and chattering from 3.30am through to almost 6am, is the utmost of fun. Normally I would agree with her for most part, but already being sleep deprived for the past week and I didn't quite feel up to my popping my climbing boots on and brushing up on my conversational babble skills!) We had to get up just before 7am to take dear husband to work so we could have the car for the day.

By 3pm I was severely lacking in the energy department. Actually, to be more accurate, I was severely lacking in the eye staying open department. I was oh so very tired! I have the most wonderful children though. As I snuggled up with Taisia on the sofa and we both drifted up to sleep, my two teenagers scurried around hoovering and washing dishes so I didn't have to when I awoke. How very precious.

Taisia and I managed just over an hour before we needed to wake, but it was enough to keep me going until now - just after 2am. I'm starting to flag again, but have managed to cross a fair bit off my organisational to-do list.

Baby steps dear mama, baby steps...

Scavenger Hunt in the Forest

2011-09-18T23:18:00.002+01:00

** Warning - Too many photos. Warning - Too many photos. **

We have had a wonderful Sunday of family fun. Donning wellybobs and waterproofs we dared to venture outside into the arms of mother nature and embrace the beauty around us.

In the rain.

I am so glad we didn't let the weather put us off, we had so much fun!

Before we set off, I printed out a scavenger hunt of sorts for the children to do. I find that if their minds are occupied by actually looking for things, it really heightens their awareness of their surroundings. Aren't we all guilty of just strolling on by, completely immune to the wondrous nature around us? We are all often too eager to take the time and really look. We miss the creatures that are hiding, the spider's webs that being constructed, the various natural foods in the offering, the changing colours through the transforming of the seasons - nature offers us so much to amaze, so much beauty, so much life.

As soon as we arrived at the car park to the forest, we were buzzing. We were all in such wonderful moods, I don't think anything could have dampened our spirits - although at times the rain showers gave it a pretty darn good try!

We walked down lanes and trekked through tracks, bearing witness to such stunning scenery that filled our hearts with joy and put a spring in our steps.

Initially we glanced at the scavenger sheet I had produced, but we soon got far too carried away exploring and forgot to keep checking what to look for - just as I had hoped.

Together we searched for fungi, and found a huge assortment...

Tiegan and Chelsea ensured they were always warm and cosy, both wrapped under the cover of their "teddy" hats...

Callum thoroughly enjoyed climbing and exploring, often running ahead to find things first...

but Tiegan wasn't to be outdone!

Of course, the old "I is boy, boy must have stick" thing applied as much as ever today....

Just what is it about boys and sticks?! :)

Of course, puddles were there to be jumped in. I'm so glad we were able to restock our wellybob supply at Asda on the way.

We all enjoyed scouring the forest looking for hidden man-made treasures such as this carved snake...

and these very helpful trail signs...

Of course, walking for hours is such tiring work, and we were very happy to come across seating areas...

even my gorgeous husband tried one for size...

and beautiful Chelsea couldn't resist trying two...

We were presented with a couple of firsts, including (ahem), deer poop....

You can imagine my teenagers response to me taking this picture. Something along the lines of "Urgh! Mum! Why??! Urgh!!"

and tree sap...

we also saw old hedgerow favourites such as blackberries...

I loved looking at all the different tree varieties, and the shapely twists and knots that are created over the years...

Such a wonderful family day, one that I shall look back on with many happy memories bursting within the walls of my heart. Here is a family picture (with Taisia and I behind the camera)...

and a picture that Lee (husband) took with his mobile phone, so we aren't left out...

Dear Taisia looks tired and fed up in that picture, but actually she was just being bloomin' nosy and wouldn't oblige with a look at the camera! She didn't fall asleep until we were almost at the car, about an hour and a half after this picture was taken.

I just have one more photograph to share with you (are you still with me?) This is our little hedgie garden lodger, eating hedgehog food from the plate under cover of darkness last night. He/she is fed nightly, with a mixture of tinned cat food (meat variety, not fish), and specialist hedgehog food which comes in a dried biscuit form with scatterings of fruits.

We love having such a prickly resident sharing our world with us.

Thank you for sharing my little bubble of life on the web. If you have made it down this far you deserve to make yourself a cuppa!

Museum Revisited...

2011-09-16T22:20:00.000+01:00

This morning we were on a real go slow, so nothing seemed to get done. I had a few things online that I needed to sort out and catch up with so, as it seems always so when I sit behind a screen, the minutes whizzed by at the greatest of speed. Before I knew it, it was time to get ourselves organised and ready for our afternoon out with friends.

We had decided to meet up and go to Torquay Museum. Despite going there just a couple of weeks ago, the children were eager to return. I was more than happy to go back in a more relaxed capacity.

We had a great time!

I'm yet to meet a child that hasn't been fascinated by bones and skeletons, and Torquay Museum has them in abundance...

There are also many hands-on activities to explore...

and sister's to box...

"I didn't do anything mama, honest! Look, I'm cute!"

We enjoyed spending time walking around the visiting Secret Egypt Exhibition, which is only on until 25th October. Sadly (but fully understandable), photographs are not allowed to be taken of the exhibits as they are on loan from various larger museums including Manchester, Birmingham, and the British Museum in London. There were so many amazing artefacts on display, so many things I would have loved to have shared with you - including the bandaged mummified body of a 60 year old lady - but alas it is not to be.

What I can share with you is this smaller mummy of a boy which is a permanent exhibit. The story behind it is quite fascinating when you read the literature. It has been scanned twice over the years as technology has improved, and a reconstruction of the skeleton produced a statue of what the boy may have looked like which is displayed nearby.

With both Tiegan and Callum looking at Ancient Egypt as an interest project at the moment, the museum was a useful resource. We bought a couple of Egypt related goodies from the museum shop too, great prices!

One of Callum's favourite areas is the Charles Darwin floor, with displays showing the evolution of animals and their habitats.

It is amazing how many new things we notice in the display cabinets that we have missed before.

I quite like the ol' Devon farmhouse reconstructions as I dream of living in such a home.

Chelsea and I were both fascinated to see this tiny needle, made from (possibly) a bird bone.

Tiegan helped Callum complete the unlock the safe challenge so he was able to get a prize this time.

Look we found treasure!

One thing we really like about the museum, is that many of the items have been found locally. The human leg bone fused into the rock for example, was found near Broadsands beach, a favourite haunt of ours. Many of the animal bones have been excavated from Kents Cavern, where we visited with the group a few months ago. It really helps the children to get to grips with the exhibits as they recognise the places from "their world", creating a deeper understanding and lots of "wow, we've been there!" moments.

It was really nice catching up with friends again, some of which I hadn't been in touch with for a long time.

We got home just before 3pm and yet again I had another headache. I know they are due to tiredness but there isn't a great deal I can do to change that situation at the moment *sigh*. Still, it won't be forever :) Headaches really do hamper my efforts to do anything though, so it did mean an afternoon of what felt like a waste to me, but the children were happy. The new Egyptian book from the museum was mulled over and it appears to tick all the boxes. Laptops were played upon, the trampoline was bounced upon, the animals were showered love upon, and sketch books were drawn upon.

Chelsea made dinner of Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Basmati Rice, followed by a choice of Rhubarb or Cherry pie with cream for pudding. Yum.

Bleurgh, Bleurgh, Bleurgh!!!

2011-09-15T23:52:00.000+01:00

So, as I'm trying to blog daily, I guess I'm going to have to include the good, the bad, and the darn right ugly. If you are searching through looking for blogs full of positive inspiration of how home-education can work, this isn't a good post to read. Feel free to skip this post and read further down, there are lots of good days I have shared with you. If instead you are here searching for a blog to tell you how it is home-educating 4 and a bit children in the real world as a real live human being, well grab yourself a cuppa and pull up a chair.

Today has been a bad day. Perhaps that's too strong a phrase as nothing bad has happened, maybe a disappointing day is more how I am feeling.

I guess I had set myself up for failure from the moment of waking as I had such high expectations. After discussions with the children about what they fancied studying/looking at/working on/reading about, last night I was full of hope that I would be in a place where my plans and ideas would be achieved and completed.

As you can guess, I wasn't.

What I did have was a teenager who didn't rise from bed until 12.15pm. Another teenager who was happy to just tidy his bedroom or watch the news. A 6 year old who politely refused to do anything we had talked about doing last night. And a dear 9 year old who would have been happy to do whatever, but had her head behind a book for most of the day.

Being totally honest, I was really struggling to stay awake. 10 month old Taisia has been restless in bed for 3 nights in a row now and it really hit me hard today. My week has been a busy one, with plenty of driving and out of the house visits, and on the days that I have been at home I've not stopped "working". Lee (my precious husband) has been working so very hard these past few weeks. I've been dropping him off at work at 7am and he hasn't been returning until 7 or 8pm some nights. Long days doing physical work. In the faint hope of relieving some of his normal weekend at home chores for him, I've been doing jobs around the house that I don't usually do, such as cleaning windows and mowing the lawn. With the addition of often having Taisia in her sling to do such work, you can imagine it's quite tiring. With the lack of sleep, my body just gave up today and told me enough was enough. I just wanted to curl up on the sofa with Taisia and sleep when she slept.

I am actually feeling a little sheepish after my over enthusiastic status update on Facebook and Twitter this morning, an excerpt of which I'm placing here to haunt me...

" Today we are, at the children's request, Ancient Egypt studying, Edgar Allen Poe discovering, Korea exploring, story reading, nature walking, cake baking, butter making, possibly film watching (with the all important popcorn eating), and we shall be breathing! Phew, sounds like a busy one!"

We did nothing on that list except the story reading. We are re-reading the Lemony Snickets series, and we read Chapter 10 of book 12.

Instead I spent most of the day on the sofa fighting off a tiredness headache, only leaving such comfort to hang washing on the line, wash dishes, cook food, change nappies, hoover floors, make tea, drop off and pick up husband to and from work, empty bins, hoover floor again, clean the bathroom sink and toilet, put more laundry in the machine etc etc. All of the usual day to day household chores without any "home-ed" stuff thrown in. So what did the children do?

Callum spent a lot of his time to-ing and fro-ing from the garden (trampoline jumping, scooter riding, playing with the dog, and bug hunting) to the laptop. He visited various websites including counting games, storytelling games, paint and draw sites, and problem solving games. He doesn't need my intervention very often when using the computer, he uses google to search for what he wants, occasionally asking me to check on a spelling or two.

Tiegan spent her day reading, visiting and playing with her rabbit Misty, reading some more, playing on the trampoline, bug hunting with Callum (watching grasshoppers is so engrossing), playing with Taisia, brushing the dog, and amusing Harry (was kitten, now adult cat) with various moving things for him to chase after. She went to Brownies tonight, and thoroughly enjoyed being back after the summer break.

Joseph tidied up his room, made me cups of tea, read a bit about the Titanic, played various games on the computer, watched TV, read a few pages from a British History book, spent more time on the computer chatting with friends, discussed the Libya conflict with me, played with Taisia in the garden, and annoyed Chelsea with awful music found on Youtube :)

Chelsea. Dear Chelsea missed half the day due to having trouble sleeping at night too. She spent much of the day reading various chapter books, but also went on the computer where she did various things such as chatting with friends, creating digital art, playing strategy and problem solving games, and writing emails. Chelsea also did a bit of pencil sketching and helped me with a few chores.

Actually, writing it all down makes me feel better about the day. Perhaps it wasn't such a failure after all. Instead it just wasn't as I had planned, which had led to my disappointment. But, does that matter? Not one little bit We have no timetable to fit around. We don't have a curriculum to follow. My children have the freedom to work at their own pace, following their own interests, with no pressures. Left to there own devices with little intervention from me and they still manage to learn something - even if it's just "Mama is better left alone when she looks like her eyelids need propping up with matchsticks and it definitely isn't a good time to squabble loudly with your siblings over nothing of any importance."

At the end of the day I've had children laughing, children smiling, and children hugging me. I've answered questions and had in depth discussions. I've been there to support them and to see to there needs, but they have also gained independence.

I have to let go of control and trust my children.

Full of busyness...

2011-09-14T22:22:00.001+01:00

I am feeling a little tired today, as if I've been rushing around a bit too much and need an early night to bed. Will that happen? Well, that will depend on how long it takes me to type this blog post and organise a few things for tomorrow. Tomorrow we are having a much needed home-day. Much needed as we plan on being out again on Friday and have only been at home on Tuesday this week. Busyness, a week full of busyness.

I like it.

So what have we done today?

The morning didn't go quite to plan. I had planned on doing the ol' make butter from cream activity with the kiddo's, but stupid stupid stupid me forget we had used the extra thick double cream on a chocolate cake for pudding a couple of days ago. Whoopsie. Bad home-ed mama moment. We had a couple of disappointed faces when I explained my error, but luckily the kids understand that even their mama dearest makes mistakes sometimes as she is (as hard to believe as it is *grin*) only human. Instead we got on with the task of making home-made Cottage Pie for dinner, 3 loads of laundry washing in the machine, hoovering, mopping, lunch preparing and dish-washing, before heading on out to a home-ed group meet about half an hours drive away.

Just as last week, we arrived at the meeting a little too early so had a stroll around the shops. We went to The Works and picked up a few new sketch books for the children to take out with them (99p for an A5 size spiral bound sketch book with good quality paper), and to the library to get a few books. It's been a long time since we have paid a visit to the main library - over 5 years for sure! I'd forgotten what big libraries have to offer.

It was soon time to take a leisurely stroll up to the home-ed meeting place. The sun began to peep out from behind the clouds, and any sign of possible rainfall soon disappeared. The group was busy, and I was introduced to a few new faces which always makes me happy. Chelsea and Joseph were particularly glad that there were others of their age group (and music and fashion taste!) there today. Both of them really enjoy going to group stuff, but teenagers attending groups are few and far between and I often feel for them. Today I hardly saw them as they huddled around a picnic table exchanging tales and laughter.

As always, I carried Taisia in her sling. I so love to do so, holding her close is so special, and she clearly loves it too. She is at her most content when being carried around, able to see all that is going on from a good height (even though I'm small in stature) instead of from the seat of a pushchair. As the weather had dried up, I thought Taisia might like a bit of freedom to explore.

I wasn't wrong.

She set off at great speed, chattering as she went...

It was soon time to say "bye mum!"

As she headed off to join the gang.

So to all those (often complete strangers) who feel they know best and have told me outright that I am "spoiling my baby" and she will never want to be apart from me, and I'll be carrying her around forever - take a look at the pictures. Does she look like a child who suffers from separation anxiety issues to you? Does she look scared and lacking in curiosity of the world around her? I think we are doing just fine :)

We all really enjoyed the meeting today, and fortunately I didn't have a repeat of the migraine experienced last week. We arrived home just before 5pm, so as I set about preparing the rest of dinner and dealing with the laundry loads, the children went off to do their own things.

Callum went on the laptop (no surprise there then!)

Whilst Tiegan was far more energetic and went on the trampoline (apologies for the poor quality photos, but I had to be quick as she was in motion.)

Tiegan did take a bit of time out for a rest with friends though...

Joseph also went on one of the laptops, this time to do some research...

Kira begged everyone to just throw the ball for her...

whilst Chelsea and Taisia had hair accessory experiments going on...

After dinner we had a chat about current interests and if anyone wanted to do any project work or the like. Here is what we came up with...

Joseph:
Vikings.
The Titanic.
Japan.
Winston Churchill.

Chelsea:
The Victorian Era.
The Plague.
Korea
Edgar Allen Poe.

Tiegan:
Ancient Egypt.
Great Fire of London.
France.
Cleopatra.

Callum:
Ancient Egypt
The Ice Age
Germany.
Henry VIII

Should be interesting stuff going on in the next few weeks!

Ooooh, it's been one of those days...

2011-09-13T23:56:00.000+01:00

Tuesday has been one of those days, one of those nothing goes to plan no matter how I try kinda days. It has been ok, I'm not complaining, just maybe a little frustrated as I had so many nice ideas like making butter and going for a nature walk.

Instead I cleaned kitchen cupboards and mowed the lawn.

Seriously.

Let's start at the very beginning *singing*...

I dropped husband off at work at 7am this morning and stopped off at the nearby supermarket for a few essentials. As so often happens, that small list I carried in my hand (it only had four items written on it!) seemed to grow and grow as I wandered around the aisles. I sorted out dinner for this evening (lamb steaks with jacket potato and peas), and for tomorrow (will be home-made cottage pie, prepared before we go to home-ed group if I'm organised enough in the morning), and remembered the cat food and baby Taisia's essentials. Then I came to the "Seasonal goods and end of line items" aisle. Oh boy, I shouldn't have looked.

3 dinner sets and a doll for Tiegan later....

The dinner sets were ultra lovely though, all spotty and dotty, all colourful and very "me". At only £6.50 per 12 piece set, I'd have been silly refuse wouldn't I? Wouldn't I?!? Please tell me that the no doubt comical exhibition I performed in store, whilst trying to balance 3 boxes of dinner sets in one of the (already nearly full) smaller trolleys (as I only had four items on my list remember?!) was worth it. There were more than a few chuckles to be heard as I huffed and puffed and performed balancing tricks a tightrope walker would be proud of. No-one seemed to want to come to the aid of the strange "lady" (term used very loosely) with shocking pink hair...I don't know why *shrug*.

The shiny new dinner sets and I eventually made it safely to the car, and thus home. I set about unpacking, and had a brainwave along the lines of may as well rearrange the cupboards whilst I'm replacing the dinner ware. Silly idea at 8am in the morning, silly idea.

Two hours later...

I am now the proud owner of clean and tidy kitchen cupboards and an aching back.

I checked in with the children and all were amusing themselves watching a documentary about Mount Vesuvius I had recorded for them a few days ago. I sat with them and rewarded my cleaning efforts with a cuppa and email check.

After the TV watching session, the children drifted off to do their own thing. Chelsea and Callum took turns on one of the laptops, Joseph tidied his bedroom whilst watching the news, and Tiegan playing with Misty her rabbit. I changed the bedding.

Lunch ensued and the afternoon was hastily upon us. What shall we do? I had fancied a nice walk around the village collecting various bits and pieces for display on our nature table, but lacked the energy and enthusiasm for it after my cleaning spree - as did Callum apparently. I have a vague idea that I would like to try to update the seasons table monthly, but we shall see if that works or if we just continue with the quarterly update.

We decided to stay at home.

Chelsea read, played around with her make up (she wants to start doing make up tutorials on Youtube), cuddled and played with Taisia, worked on her World War 1 project, and baked a giant cupcake...

Tiegan drew pictures, read a couple of books to Callum, wrote part of a story, brushed her rabbit, jumped on the trampoline, went on the computer, played with a ladybird in the garden and engrossed herself in Harry Potter...

Callum went on the laptop, drew a few pictures on the megasketcher, jumped on the trampoline, rode on his scooter, played with the dog, role played a hundred (it seems) games, and built houses with lego.

Joseph did some more room tidying, laptop stuff, played with Taisia (until she went to sleep on him), helped me with some chores, and made me laugh a dozen times.

Taisia helped me mow the lawn...

One less job for husband to do at the weekend.

Taisia actually went to sleep as I was working on that lawn. The movement and warmth of my body and the constant sound of the lawnmower really seemed to soothe her.

My evening has been spent cuddling Taisia until she decided to allow herself to sleep (10pm tonight, quite an early one for her!) then catching up with emails and of course writing this here blog post.

Joseph has just this minute come downstairs to show me a poem he has written (it's nearly midnight here!). I wondered why he had asked to borrow my lap tray with the light I use for crafting!

I love our home-ed life where the learning never ends, the lessons aren't controlled by the clock, and the thirst for knowledge is seeming ever in existence.

I'm signing offline now to go and snuggle with Taisia in bed and read the book "Parenting A Free Child: An Unschooled Life" by Rue Kream - anyone read it?