Monthly Archives: September 2007

Rainbows

ALthough I would have quite liked to be at a not back to school party today, SB was ecstatic to be going to her first ever rainbows. We had regular countdowns throughout the day. SHe needs a blue polo neck – does that mean her group is blue then Michelle?

Anyway, lots of playing first thing with the 2 of them together and separately. Quickly romped through some maths and writing practice. SB is doing measuring at the mo, and so went on to measure all sorts around the house. Being of ‘a certain age’ we have various things measuring in inches, so we discussed why we do waists in inches, and heights in cm – well, actually we do that in feet and inches, just cm for you for clothes!

I read a number of books to BB at this point as a snuggle cuddle, and SB wanted in, so she read to us half of tell me how ships float, and I read the other half. A tie in with the magic school bus programme we had watched the other day. So we decided we could do the experiments in our head, and did so! She then played on the rainforest maths that t-bird had so kindly pointed out. BB also had a go too – but the nursery level is a bit above her so she was grumpy!

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So BB and I did playing with playdough, and she made some cool monsters. Then was doing cutesy stories with them acting out. We were listening to french songs about time on a CD that I got from ebay. SB meanwhile was back with the DS getting her dog to be trained to ‘stick your bottom out’ ???

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I’d had enough of children in different places, so we all reconvened to cut the green leaves to make our rainforest tree, that we were going to do when reading about the rainforest, but never quite got to. The girls loved the idea of sticking it on the wall [chris not so keen, so a paper backing compromise reached!] . SB was VERY tolerant of BB ranting.

SB then started drawing and colouring rainforest fruit and flowers to put on it, and BB and I did a jigsaw. SB remembered a lot of the rainforest stuff – yes, I know it was recent, but I don’t test recall, so never sure what goes in!

Then – drum roll – she cycled off to rainbows with Daddy. She sad it was all right, but will be more exciting next week as they are going on a river cruise – eek!

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BB and I went out into the garden, as she was looking v sleepy. So we harvested beans for tea [surprise] watered the greenhouse and picked 2kg [!] of toms. BB very pleaed with this. I noticed that a lot of her harvested toms weren’t making it into the bowl! [we have some cherry toms as well as gardeners delight and tigerella]. Some of our peppers finally going red – making me v happy.

So I had started making spicy [allegedly mild, but i don't think so] red tomato chutney with our own toms and onions. And that sort of threaded through the rest of the evening. The house doesn’t smell too vinegary!

tomato chutney

SB came back, and the girls did some more flowers and bitterflies, and those and the ruit are now all on the rainforest canopy. We have had a discussion about the understory and forest floor – we are not putting spiders there.

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BB fell asleep in the sling again after tea – she has taken to being put in the sling at teatime. SB was doing her violin practice, so obviously has a soothing effect [rofl] . She then watched Nina and the neurons about taste and saliva before bed time.

She is presently waiting for me to go up and sleep in her bed tonight. I imagine she will force herself to be awake until I get in too. SO might nip up and cuddle her till she sleeps, and if stay awake nip back down.

Flickr has come back, so am flickring a backlog to be tucked into all the last posts!

Blogging for Chris – updated by Chris :-)

Edited to add:

Pah! Gone back to Opera, forgot it doesn’t play ball with the editor in WordPress , does weired things to the formatting of the text. Don’t like it that much anyway, might go back to Livewriter. Though WP editor is better for adding photos with Joe Tan’s Flickr Photo Album Plugin

He can pad this out perhaps?

He can try…. Can’t much get into blogging lately – always seems a bit insubstantial, haven’t really read any or Twitter much either, I did add some bolding though. And capitalised – which bugs me.

Libraryfinished Wild Read. No certificates, medals, presentations or anything! nic, do you have any spare certificates??

It’s all pretty low key at ours, then again it isn’t proper library and is run by volunteers, i’m not sure exactly how the whole thing is arranged anyway. Some of the local town libraries are having a presentation of some sorts. Anyway SB was excited with her magic bookmark :-) Girls sat down on the floor whilst having the ’1st of the month bikkies’ and sat reading books, so a good little advert for HE there :-)

SB done some maths and getty and dubay.Her writing is getting very neat know, when she wants to make is so. I was encouraging her to write smaller to fir the writing in the boxes in the maths book, which seemed to make it neater for some reason. Maths was measuring things and estimating measurements. One bit was about picking the right scale of units for things – so she got highly amused by the idea of very big and very small things for a while.
SHe is v proud bedroom now spotless.Yup, she has organised the wardrobe – he clothes (arranged of course) at one end, BB’s at the other, all the empty hangers in the middle – who does that remind you of… ;-). She was going on about tidying things away a few times a day, and I did hear myself saying one of those ‘OMG I said a parenty thing’ things ‘yes, if you put things away when you’ve finished it odoesn’t get so much of a mess’. Now if only this parent could apply that…..

random playing – some naked playing in the paddling pool, a bit too much screaming and shouting indoors. Some drawing/colouring etc. BB is very much into ‘cooking’ with the play cooker. Have to do something about storing all the food bits though. We’ve got more than we had with SB, and it all now seems to end up all over the floor, and then take ages to tidy up. BB is also very much into playing with various people/animals etc. characters and can sit for ages playing little games.

Swimming – has level 3 and nearly level 4 sign off.Shame dad didn’t have enough change (£2.50) to get the certificate and badge though (shame she didn’t get it to this term, they are included in the cost now). In some ways it’s good to get back to having some things to hang our week on and structure it around, but I do find trisping off to things later afternoon a bit of a pain.

lots of DS-ing, and has finally got her dog trained to some commands!she waited up until 9 for me to get home, and put her to bed, chatting all the while, proud of her swimming, tidying and DSing. we also chatted about rods and cones in eyes.

BTW, last week they stayed over with my parents, went to Hunstanton, for a summer seaside trip. SB likes the seafront fairground there, as was excitedly telling BB about what things she might like to go on BB stayed awake until about midnight it seems…. (sleeping on the way home)

re-edited by Helen – what on earth did you do to the length of the text lines Chris – a right old mess!!

Abbalicious

when I got home from work I was treated to an Abba dance display from both my girls. we will have to start u-tubing again. SB is getting a good wiggle, and was being v inventive with moves. BB was half a move behind, often trying to mimic big sis. lovely.

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Earlier in the day they had been mostly tidying their bedroom! SB also read all the Quentin Blake bookset we got from the book people ages ago. she is turning into a real little bookworm. well, with 2 keen parents, I guess there is a good gene for head-in-a-book.

SB has done a minute bit of maths about measuring in cm and m. Also a single page of getty and dubay B for hand writing. [these were the requested somethings!!]

When I got home, Sb and I did some violin practice together, she did a bit of webland, and was very grumpy because she couldn’t spot what was wrong with the picture! I read to BB, and Sb and BB played cafe before watching a short bit of a magic school bus before tea.

Babywearing

Feeling boring at work and at home, with no sparkle. prob just from such a tough weekend sapping all vitality, but hope to improve!

edited to add. rather amusingly, when I got home chris went out ot buy some veg – i thought to avoid yet another bean meal but we had beans anyway! he then rang me as he had credit card and no PIN, so I had to scurry round the house to find the bit of paper with it written on. SB thought this weirdest of all, as he needed a number? we considered how many number combinations it would be before daddy guessed right, and her head was spinning v quickly!

weekend HE

BB is feeling very autonomous these days! she draws, she tries to read books all the time, she enjoys watching language videos: first fun with french/spanish, and bonjour mes amis. She loves the magic school bus tv programme and pretends her little bus is the same one and it goes on similar adventures! I’ve read to her a lot usbourne starting science books. She loves to sing and dance. go girl!! She also is being rather horrible to SB – often with no cause or provocations – i guess that is strong willed 2, but not happy for SB to bear the brunt of it, so behaviour modification required [for all of us]

SB not quite so industrious [rofl] has done some maths, lots of playing with barbies, tidying her room of doom. when I have been at home [some of today] we read some books together – on castles and evolution. yesterday she looked at countries on the globe and maps looking where nana and grandad and now nanny and grandad have been/are on holiday. She’s watched some nina and the neurons. She’s read lots of books herself – likes enid blyton short stories a lot. She has nearly completed her mosaic suncatcher. that might be about it! Oh, she has finally got to the top of the rainbows waiting list – woohoo!