Petits Haricots

We had one child each for most of the day. Not my ideal, but seemed a good idea at the time. Chris took SB off for a drama taster session. She really enjoyed it. they celebrated a friends birthday there too before coming back.

BB and i meanwhile, played with the k’nex building aeroplanes, did some painting - actually most impressed by her use of colour, read books and went outside to play in the sun for a bit. We got cold as scantily dressed, so leappadded indoors and had lunch as she was too hungry to wait for chris and SB.

when SB came home they had lunch. SB then did a fair amount of reading, BB and i played with a traintrack, then did SB’s violin practice. I took SB to rainbows and was helper for the session, whilst BB stayed with chris. i enjoyed the helpering actually. they did a great puppet colouring in craft, and i was rather bossy in enabling the girls to share the pens [oops] but 4 of them had piggies, and there were 2 pinks, and initially the all wanted all pink - so we thought of other ways to do things!! Chris and bB were out in the garden.
back home, and we had a watch of some magic school bus, but something went wrong with the server connection, so instead have had a walking with dinosaurs fest! [AKA a nice snuggle on the sofa!] i have started readign SB ballet shoes as a bedtime story
Sis has surgery tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

making a clock

making a heart

library - sb told she reads well, bb’s first playgroup - went ok, sb and daddy play games. nana and grandad visit. violin ractice for nana. i’m home late

I am having a problem with yesterday! SB did some violin practice and something else home-eddy [not sure what!] we read french books, looked at some barefoot stories together and we all did duplo. ermmmm….oh yes, BB and i had a go with some maize pictures. we are nearly out of happy maize and will have to look for something else. oh, some more leappadding and SB curled up with a book.
Mum and Dad arrived, as she went to # clinic for her plaster off today, so stopped overnight. cue much excitement from girls, running around having fun, being read too and lots of games! We also fed the fish, pottered outside, and did the RSPB birdwatch. Whiskey chasing a mouse around, SB crashing her binoculars against the window, and BB ‘popping out to scooter’ probably accounted for the poor show!

today i think chris has been quite busy! Sb practiced violin, did some handwriting, did the horrible science heart kit [which was fun although not a huge success! chris was impressed about how much SB remembered of the heart - 4 vessels, valves, lung thing etc. i have got a very accurate model heart that periodically she looks at, and she is always peering at one of the many body books we have. She also did some DK science cdrom [though a lot of cbeebies as well!] BB had obvously done a lot of duplo-ing! as well has watching nina and the neurons and magic school bus [obviously a science day].

when I got home, we read some lucy chat - actually SB had a stab at reading the french - impressed, moi?? SB went off to ballet whilst BB and I played bob the builder duplo, and a sort of snakes and ladders! [i mostly do what i am told] and we started decorating a wooden spoon.

i took SB to swimming. She seems to have great confindence in the water, but often near drowns herself by huge movements! her rbeast stroke legs are the funniest i have seen, as she gets tangled up, and when it goes ok, she lifts her whole bottom out of the water somehow. SHe has powerful legs though, and however amazing the stroke looks, races through the water. I think we need to go swimming as a family more oten, and have some stroke practice. I think this is why she is worried about the deepend ocasionally. The swimming instructor [steve] has managed this really well, and she gets to swim the width by the edge of the deepend, but i only saw her reach for it 2ce [though she crashed into it going backwards a number of times…]

BB fell asleep nearly the instant we got back, so SB and i played games, including a lot of rounds of uno. BB has her first session at playgroup tomorrow afternoon. SHe waned me to go with her, but I will be at work. This working mum thing really does feel crap a lot of the time. I am with Joanna on the best for family vs me thing.

we forgot to do it today, will try and remember tomorrow.

here is a lovely checklist though with piccies of the most common garden birds!

coming home is always a bit of a downer. luckilly, i had a couple of things from yellow moon to tempt the girls! Both happily painted a piggy bank - well a hennybank for BB and bunnybank for SB! Some more painting from both girls. SB did some stamping and blow painting, and BB did some waterlife stamping.

we read a lot of books together - lucie chat, i can read french, daughters of eve and other barefoot stories. BB and I played hisss and various other games. in particular we did some maths - counting and adding on one. looking and recognising numbers. [she thought it was a froggy game]. SB looked at her leappad for the first time in ages, has kept 3 books, and says the rest are for BB. so i need to find her a leappad to play them on. but both enjoyed the dinosaur book. SB also looked at a body one as well

erm, we didn’t do the horrible science heart thing - maybe tomorrow, but we did a lot of cuddling and being together. BB also glued a pompom animal - she has a real thing for pompom crafts at the moment, so i indulged it.

i am hoping that BB doing lots of things she loves will help, and after lots of talking with people in real life and online, we are ramping up her education - i did think she would be entirely autonomous, but maybe she needs a bit of a push of stimulation, so we are getting singapore earlybird and the before the codes, and will take it from there.

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

we had a lovely time at centreparcs, sharing an 8 person villa with making it up residents! both families were not at peak due to outside stresses and strains, but we had a fabulous time anyway. I have never been to centreparcs before, and would now thoroughly recommend it as a winter break - particularly with friends. We not only shared a villa with some, but were happily surprised to find another family there which we know, who’s daughter and ours has great fun playing together, and i enjoyed having other adults to tallk to as well.

We obviously spent a LOT of time in the pool complex, for 3 days we did a late morning across lunch and late afternoon swim [going for the least busy times] and on the middle and last days went for the long swim and lunch there option. i guess we pooled for about 4-5 hours a day. BB was absolutely ecstatic about her ’swimming holiday’ it [I think] was absolutely what she had hoped for. She loved the swimming, progressed from wanting to hold on a bit, to wildly throwing herself into deep water [the salt pool shelf] and swimming back with her ring on. She has got faster and faster with her swimming, using a ring and doggy paddle. Just so confident in the water. she was very happy to dunk under the water, get absolutely soaked, pop under to pick up diving rings [within standing depth]. it was lovely to see. Sb also had a ball. She is a water baby anyway, far more comfortable swimming under the water than on top [though her stroke there improving] and fearless. she enjoyed the rapids, shoots and slides, waves and diving for rings, and just generally loved being in the water. She loved having friends there to play with as well. i liked the tubes and the hot salt pool best, though the ‘river nile’ [named by SB] was good beacuse we all pootled round that together. the rapids at night were good - in fact swimming outdoors at night was generally good, as something i haven’t had much opportunity to do. chris thought they should have some wilder shoots and rapids!

Other things - well, SB went to the roller disco, except there wasn’t any disco to it at all. however, she did get to try out inline skates and fall over a lot. She def wants some. Good, as i have bought her these for when she finishes her swimming term [i find it hard to believe my wildly confident girl of the last week needs a bribe for swimming bravery mind you!] Must get some padding for her! All children had fun at the playpark. SB was daring, and BB and I had fun. BB did lots of scootering everywhere, which she enjoyed, and SB cycled. we were actually one of the closest chalets to the complex [by luck] so I think SB was disappointed not a longer bike ride. However, it was much easier for the little ones coming back at nearly 8 after evening swim!

A fair bit of crafting was done in the tiny gaps of schedule! both Jax and I brought some craft kits to do, BB was mostly keen, making pompom things, and a pencil craft. Small painted his aeroplane, and SB and Big scoobied, drew and beaded. Big did some fantastic facepainting. [even if a nightmare to clean off!]. An assortment of games had been brought and were played. Sb and BB had broght lucie chat and the other french reading book, which we read a number of times, and big and small also seemed to like. SB had brought her music theory book - and even did some of it!! we adults fed, watered, read stories and provided intervention breaks as appropriate in the day, drank a modicum of wine at night whilst setting the world to rights, and also played scrabble [tim won twice, but it was a close thing. jax moaned about the lack of refreshing screens - rofl!]
So, last day, last swim and meal and home - to loads of yellow moon boxes - rofl. bought ‘a few things’ in the sale. oh and my new swimming costume!! [too late but never mind]. great break. real world submerged me now, but nice to breathe if only for a while.

well, we mostly have! BB was so excited she immediately found all the swimming things, but on a swimming costume, sunhat, and some toys in a backpack. she was ready!! in fact was far too ready all days! I am having a small wibble with the cut of my cossie after eating much to much in my customary stress release. aargh. anyway, clothes all packed, have 2 meal options ready.

we did lots of mucking about playing, SB rattled off some handwriting and maths. she also did violin practice, and we read about the byzantine [buyzantine or bizantine?] empire and emperor justinian out of SOTW. we all enjoyed another of the i can read french books. BB and i read a fair number of books together as well. more block building, hide and seek and simon says. SB watched the ice dance competition, but all the talking bored her. Chris did some baking with BB
remembered to pay for the cars tax disc too - fantastic! little nanny not so well at the moment, and this is a hard time of year for her.

as  I am really enjoying following the primaries ongoing in the states. i obviously miss josh and cj and jeb, but there you go!!

Well, late back yesterday from work, and work has been so stressful this last week, that it seemed the week would never end. however, at least got back in time to see both girls before they went to bed -BB has been consistently asleep. So we did some playing [tummy ache], read more lucie chat books - these from the book people have been a total hit! Read another usborne dragon story, SB and I read some more saxon stuff when BB asleep.

today I had a late start. BB and SB up with the larks watching kids terrestrial tv. I dragged myself out somewhat later… however, SB and I did a violin practice, leading to the post below! all 3 of us read lucie chat, this time all having a go at saying the french and the english all the way through. we also enjoyed a same kind of idea i can read french book. SB and I read about ALfred the great, BB and i did some stickerbooking. We all played various games on the floor, made block castles and towers [with BB rather keen to knock down] hide and seek, tummy ache etc. I did some piano practice [shock horror!]. Girls rampaged about a bit, SB settling on cbeebies website [she doesn’t ever seem to grow out of it] and BB and I made a chocolate cake. SB then did some CIMT maths and BB bathed [necessary after making cake!] Dinner and BB to bed - sigh of release. SB and I made peanut butter cookies to share next week. unfortunately, i left them for CHris to take out when took SB up to bed… [yep, burnt offerings] she is going to be VERY unhappy. we read some knight stories, and she read to me a DK reader children through time.

having felt suitably educational, i am prepared to slump infront of the opium of the masses.

I thought something really short and simple, so minimal practice at the time and then in the concert would work.

So I thought maybe the tambour from p17 a new tune a day for the violin. Has a variety of skills OK

so for confident - or those that have practiced [sill scan in!]
all on D string 4 crotchets then 2 minims : DEF#F#: G G : F#EF#D: E E : DEF#F#: G G : F#DEE: D D played twice

for those just starting opens stings only minim then 2 crotchets: A AA:D DD:A AA:A AA:A AA:D DD:A AA:A AA. played twice. for beginner recorders, playing a G instead of D may be easier

and for total starters, just play load of A’s OR D’S at random any rhythm!

lots of scope for tambourines and other percussion for littlies.

There is more of it we can do, but I was thinking short and sweet prob best.

A BA:G G :F#EF#G:A A :A BA:G G :F#DEE:D D : [REPEATED, THEN FIRST TUNE AGAIN X2]

D DD:A AA:D DD:A AA:AAAA:D DD:AAAA:D DD: [REPEATED, THEN FIRST TUNE AGAIN X2]

What do you think? Should suit any instrument ? if anyone really wants to do this, pop it on the camps list or in comments box. thanks

edited to add - written out [for Sarah], but you may want to write it out again yourself! [I appear to have no control with the mouse!!]. I think for those on strings, if we do the middle bit, might as well make it loud and play D and A strings together. Adds some fun for not tune.

for me, it will always be mattachins from the capriol suite - I can’t remember how often I played it in diff guises growing up!

This morning, girl’s are happily watching TV, until BB threw a basket (smallish, wickerwork thing that came with flowers in) at SB - hitting her right next to her right eye. These things come totally out of the blue.
Yesterday, while eating dinner she threw a Fimo face that SB had made across the table, breaking bits off it - again, she just did it for no obvious reason.

This morning she got banished from the kitchen for a bit for again being horrible (forget exactly what now).

Sometimes she can be really horrible

not-v-local tots group with crafts and latin for girls

Panis romanae

SB been good at piano practice this week, also done some maths and handwriting. both girls watching muzzy german.
fun playsession with rainbowsR

all done by chris as i have had dreadful week of slog! SB been up late, and have played games together

Joyce is doing her bit for breast cancer resarch. to sponsor her, click here, please

cut off my scrabulous!

Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its website by the makers of Scrabble.

Problem I have is that it just seems rather boring - but I did bold things
Morning started with Sb doing some of the music theory book she started the other day with Helen . BB got me to help her with the Ikea wooden construction toy thing making a helicopter. Then they both moved on to the polyhedrons for a - BB wanted a house for lizard and then some general playing about with things. We sorted out books for returning to the library and then had breakfast, SB catching up on a few of the library books, chased them up trying to speed up the getting dressed and sorted procedure which can take forever left to their own devices.

Off to the library in the rain and wind, BB pleased to be using her umbrella to keep her dry. Storytime, selecting new books, home again in the rain via the shops for lunch supplies.

Home, SB settled down with a Rainbow Fairies book, which she knocked of in the hour or so before lunch. I drank coffee and read books with BB and did boring household tasks. After lunch they both did a bit of stuff on various websites, SB piano practised and then entered some kind of educational limbo where she spent 2 - 21/2 hours doing maths and handwriting that should have taken a lot lot less, so we didn’t really get onto anything else much before it was time to cook dinner.

After dinner, I rapidly chased BB up to bed. In one of her Jekyll and Hyde moments, one minute she was sitting happily eating dinner, next minute she was being some sort of annoying mad dervish, out to annoy SB in as many ways as possible. When she chased after SB waving a pair of scissors a swift intervention and imposition of bedtime was deemed appropriate.

SB watched a Roar episode, and then we did the Roman city jigsaw whilst awaiting Helen’s too late return from work.

So she had late bedtime. Tonights excuse for coming down when she should really have been asleep was that she wasn’t warm enough (gloss over that it’s been much colder than tonight before) - told her to wear her fleecy bunny suit.