Author Archives: HHaricot

The weekend was pretty much birthday party and after! Bb shared her party again with j from patch of puddles and they went to the soft play again. They had a fab time, a noisy party tea and fun with friends. Thank you for everyone that came bb loved all her presents and lived seeing you.

We spent the eve with friends at merrys and we grown ups chatted whilst kids watched dr who. Then returned here with Sotp and Kirsty’s a. Bb was a bit disappointed more ppl didn’t stay over . Pancakes for breakfast and chatting with friends. Afternoon and eve spent collapsed!

Hooray! All the deconstruction phase is over we have a bathroom in the garage and a pallet of tiles not sure about the flooring ??
So Dh has commenced building the stud walls. As a man who likes the tool retail opportunities he has found a laser tool to get things square…

Will we be done by Xmas?

No new photos yet I will remember to send some each week wwhen we have FrB with us. SB settled nicely. It has snowed. She has a choir rehearsal of 3 choirs next week she is liking forward to. She has some good French friends she wants to keep in touch with from school, tho currently she doesn’t want to school here. She wishes she had some puzzle books. Apparently I said someone was sending some, only 2 ppl so will ask or buy from amazon fr. Ho hum! Hard on parents but think she is getting so much from this exchange . I am starting to plan for the return pairing now

we are doing reasonably well at achieving our current home ed goals, which are keyed to BB’s aptitude and ability and style. She needs confidence she can do something to keep going, and losing this confidence gives us an agonising stalemate. SO, although I am sure her capability is in advance of where we are working, we are incrementally moving on! Key positives these last few months are:

actual getting on with some french – i read it, she reads and practices it in the week, and then lets me know when we can try a next book. not the quickest and most joined up way of learning french, but it is learning!

finishing explode the code 3 – think we have been doing this for-evah! have started on book 4. it is a great synthetic phonics programme which helps with reading and spelling. SHe can read well enough, but this is encouraging spelling and writing.

continuing to happily do piano practice – on her terms! We are again moving forwards through the books. she doesn’t want to play both hands together, but i think she is feeling comfortable with what she is learning againa, and i am hoping that we can at some point broach the 2 hand thing!!

but maths is going well, reading is absolutely sorted, writing is getting there and the oppositional defiance and total melt if not instantly understood/achievable is less often – possibly because we are working better with her on the aptitude and ability within her parameters thing. it is nice to feel we are working together and progressing

The new art class is also working nicely We have missed the arts award group, and also the pottery group. BB is quite arty and crafty – though like all areas, struggles if her actual doesn’t achieve what her brain wanted. SO having a regular arts group as well as art as a reg section in weds4ed is suiting her very well too. These are from her last 2 sessions – one on shading and making 3d, and the other on using watercolours

BB woke up bright and early to open her presents! I did surprise her though, having been called into work in the night and got home as earlybirds were going in, i decided to rest on sofa rather than disturb DH, so I was there ‘guarding’ the presents . SHe was very happy with all that she got though particularly getting a present from SB

Then our friends turned up for our home ed day now I was a bit under par from lack of sleep, but luckilly they were raring to go kfish got cracking with monet art. discussing using brushstrokes and direction to help show reflections vs real, and also impressionism as a whole. The children then got cracking, each with a different take on things. As they stopped doing this, then TheBabs sorted out some mathsy games, and the kids enjoyed that, but i didn’t take photos as mainlining coffee at the time!

birthday cake following lunch – the first of 2 for BB, both minecraft themed!

in the afternoon lots of the animation got done with em – which I don’t have a pic for. I also did some science. we thought about polymers and plastics, discussed what they were, how they formed, and then made some out of milk. lots of laughing and giggling about making sick and snot, but hopefully a bit of science! i plan to grad tighten up into science with substance, but as we are settling the group, doing science with sniggering instead

clearly finished with some minecrafting and general playing and discussion re coding. so some coding sessions may go in coordinated by jax, as i don’t know anything about coding! perhaps something to discuss more at xmas camp . BB went to judo to get her new belt as with grading she has a green and white belt now.

to our second and last child, BB. She was 15 outrageous days overdue! A straightforward birth pretty much, in the pool until the end, DH only just making it in for the last bit and a 9lb whopper that had a something of the look of a klingon or schnauser. Love at first sight . DH had also his own creative moment, and started off this blog. BB has given us 9 years of joy and delight and love. clearly also with the worries, concerns and trials and tribulations of parenthood. All completely delighted in, all completely worthwhile. The blog has recorded much of this, polyanna style and particularly in the early years a joyful place to chat with friends too. I do miss the commenting. So, his and hers creations, but ultimately both together and shared.

Happy Birthday BB

We probably ended up talking a bit too much about home, so SB was tearful at the end of the call. It is hard, judging what to say and talk about so that the calls stay positive and loving only. Hard, Hard, Hard!

good things : She went to a family wedding yesterday, which she really enjoyed and said was lovely, finishing the reception at 2am! they only got up at lunchtime, which might be tiredness causing her to be slightly more tearful. She had a sip of champagne and a wonderful time I am glad we put a couple of ‘partywear’ dresses in the suitcase, tho not sure whether she wore one of them – should have asked! She liked it, it was a short civil wedding and then loooong and fun reception . She was also proud to have done better than most of her classmates in the biology control and seems generally happier and more sorted at school – has got into the flow! She is happy in her french family, the middle sister has come back from her exchange to canada. SB says that she is having to work hard as her school want her to do all the homework she has missed and be caught up by christmas! hard!!

Things that upset: she hasn’t really done any cycling, despite taking her bike; her art teacher wants to keep her art until the end of the year display, but SB wants to bring it home.

So, as you can see, hugely in the positive balance. I miss her tho, loads and loads. ho hum! christmas presents for all the family despatched via french amazon – hopefully all ok! have warned SB directly, and V via email that most should arrive next week. I think it was the christmas talking that made her sad. SHe did say tho that she was sometimes having to translate out of french to talk to us!

Well, as and when we get some more photos I will add them here. Keep having fun and making the most of your time in France SB x x in the meantime, here is BB talking to her big sis

Argh. Had hoped we would be on construction phase. However I have been informed we are nearly there! DH has been working v hard at it and it will all be fine in the end.

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