Category Archives: Butterbean

so the rest

typing this round bb – so difficult!

I had a lie in. I’m not sleeping well, and tend to fall asleep 4am and wake wake up with BB at 6-ish and then where possible have a second shot at sleep. I am lucky that chris lets me do it, but it does take more time away form the children.

Whilst I was snoozing, both girls had a wild hama-fest. even BB did a lovely job with the midi beads. SB did me a pattern and put an M in it for mummy, and a lovely wrapping up [luov to mumee from SB]. BB also proud of hers, and we took a picture.

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Both girls also did some colouring in and then some drawing. I read some apple tree farm books to BB, SB read some to herself and then some magic tree house to me. SB then did some violin practice – she declares this new violin is too heavy to hold!
BB did some playdough before lunch and I read to SB some of the rivers book described below. We did the ill fated experiment after lunch! Weather ed indeed!!

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The girls then did lots of outdoor play and running about – getting v wet! Chris finished sorting out the greenhouse, so I moved loads of things there ready to get ready for the great ourdoors [toms for indoors, cucurbits, runner and french beans and sweetcorn] I gave them a good water and some rooster feed.

BB wanted to do happy maize [do you still have any Merry?], so she started on that, and SB did some fimo – she made a face pencil topper and some beads. When she did the hair with our garlic press [thanks merry!] BB also wanted a go. luckily BB made a nice colour rather than brown out of her bits squished together, and lot of hair!

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The girls watched some TV and I hoed the onions and chris made tea. BB fell asleep and had to be jiggled awake – and why I have been blogging with her in my arms! oh, we joined up the princess hats!
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obviously finishing this blog a bit later! SB had britannia and read me a story from usborne young readers for bed. i am getting mentally prepared to go back to work tomorrow. Have a presentation to write as well!

Anyone who hasn’t stated a castle day preference, either email me or go to the protected post below. Thanks

A typical home ed day? Photomeme thingummy

Actually, in many respects it was. We forgot about it to start with [fairly typical!] BB woke up way to early [fairly typical] Chris eventually went down with her leaving me to have a lie in [fairly typical for the weekend!] An brought me breakfast in bed of croissants – not at all typical! Bored now with saying the typical bits!

Errr, its amazing how much you can forget. Have got flickr uploading wildly. Honestly Chris P, I put up too many photos even for me, but its much quicker than sorting them out! One day I will, I promise!!!!

playing who's who

Anyway, at sometime after 11 we started taking photos, and not at all sure what went on before that, as that was with Chris whilst I was reading the paper! But when I was surfaced enough to remember we were taking photos and also to interact, we played who’s who. BB insists on playing, so not exactly to the rules, but enjoyed! BB and I then spent some time hammering baby toys and playing with the rainbow blocks to make lots of noise, and then constructing brio and making the trains chug around [always a baby train and a mummy train with BB!]. We also did a bit of looking after and watering the plants in the conservatory.

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I had suggested to SB that she might do some education city as we have paid for it and she hasn’t done any for ages and ages. SHe fancied webland, so whilst chris got the next edition downloaded, I read a story from the barefoot book of mothers and daughters - the persephone and demeter story which SB knows well, having had a mad love affair with greek myths and legends. SB then spent HOURS on webland! Not very interesting to photo! We had also missed april’s edition, so she did all of May followed by all of April. BB also did some poisson rouge. In a moment of pure inspiration I have put a hand sticker on the left click of all our mice! She now knows which bit to click – hooray! Also getting more controlled with the mouse movt. Does have her mother’s patience though. wiggling it wildly when it didn’t go where she wanted.

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Had lunch and SB returned to do some more webland. I was bored with this, and checked the mail – hooray her new sports sunglasses arrived. [should stay on as she twizzles about on swings and cycles]. The low start of ebay price was completely overmade up by postage – 6 times the cost!!! i did factor that in though.

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BB desperate to do some painting, and SB wanted to make a princess hat, so combined the 2 activities. At least half our paints were put into pots though – gradually getting SB to take responsibility for setting out and tidying away crafts. hmm She did sort of set out, I totally tidied! Anyway, she and BB painted the hats, and then carried on with further painting. SB did a particularly beautifully coloured handprint. Eventually they declared themselves painted out, and a quick hose down and they went outside to play.

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SB and BB scootered/triked about for a bit, but SB hurt her poorly knee, so I re-dressed it, and she read a book about food through the ages with intermittent waily patches. I made them some popcorn to eat. BB played Bob the Builder, moving dirt around the garden, and generally enjoyed rampaging about, playing hide and seek etc.

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SB got fed up reading the book, and wanted to make the egyptian breads we have made in the past from the 120 history projects book. it was sold to BB as a snail cake – the word cake enticing her in from the garden to join in! SO we added mess onto mess in the kitchen, and all enjoyed making the egyptian sweet bread. BB and SB enjoyed competitive flour and butter rubbing, so there was a fair bit of loss!!

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Daddy had been to the shops btw as we were all out of food. He returned as the egyptian breads were put in the oven, and didn’t blanch too much at the appearance of the kitchen. BB being up for over 12 hours was swept off to a bath, and SB has been outside again while I have done this and put flickrs onto the uploader. We do plant to perhaps sellotape the hats up before bed, and SB has promised a violin practice of frere jaques – she will moan when she has to do it after tea, but it has been the only non-negotiable thing to do today! SO since we have done all the autonomy, its time to do the violin! I will obviously be adding photos after the girls gone to bed!

follow up! Well, I had set that up, but chris rebooted ‘puter without checking whether I was doing anything! SB did the violin with enthusiasm – and very pleased that a nearly recognisable tune coming! read britannia, and she read a young usborne readers book [and is in fact still reading it]. Joining up the hats will need to wait till tomorrow, as will eating the egyptian breads!

Links to the last 2 photomemes in the sidebar, and this one will join it now the photo’s are added. Look forward to seeing others’ photo days.

A New Ancient Egyptian sweet bread!

An out and about day

We got up and went to Merry’s house – amazingly within the timeframe I had given her! Girls all ran away to pay. I met fiver the rabbit [of course he knew i was coming with his prescience] and admire the work on the garden. Also dumped/ generously gave some spare toms and peppers and onion sets.

The stock cupboard STILL didn’t have landlocked in it, nor did it have the egyptian thing Michelle brought back from her visit – honestly!! but both are apparently on the way.

While we were there, BB counted to 10!!!! first time she has done that – usually we have 1,2,3,4,6 err 6,6,6. The older girls had a convoluted imaginative thing going. we adults packed boxes and did a minor stock tidy and lots of tea.

We all went to the mudpud group in the afternoon. Its been v quiet for the last year with the loss of Merry and Tammy, and also as there was an insurance problem. SB was really excited to go and loved it. A gardening theme. Some poor misguided organiser left me in charge of the baking – i obviously don’t flickr photos of the chaos afterwards of flour everywhere! Luckilly SB and Merry’s girls were willing helpers in the tidy up.

When we got home, SB did some violin practice – still starting on A. We all made spanish omelette together for tea – yummy. Sb was going to do some maths, but talked me into letting her have some computer time for the new webland – but I notice she is cbeebing. When I’ve finished blogging, I’ll suggest to her we play a game or 2, and perhaps read a story from the barefoot book of mothers and daughters i bought from ebay.

Anyway – we do lots of conversational ed, which rarely if ever gets blogged. But I will blog this one, as SB is concerned about money, charity and people who don’t have enough. My mother sponsors a child through some charity [well i think it is a village thing rather than an individual] and she got a letter when we were there. SB is very keen that we do something too, so will take recommendations if there are any.

pottering, potting and pottying.

Well, couldn’t really think of a title!

Started the day with Chris taking BB for her 2 year check [fine] and then toddler gym at the leisure centre. She loves it! SB did her 2A maths in the conservatory whilst I potted up the final cucurbits, aubergines and peppers.. She was doing hundreds, tens and units. Raced through it until she got to the bit where she had to write them out longhand. SB then helped pot up some final toms to take to people.

BB returned and also sowed some seeds – calendula and sunflowers.We had tea and home made cookies snack. We went on to violin practice afterwards – starting frere jaques on A. Unfortunately, having moved to new size violin, SB has lost totally a sensible bow hold, and the violin is slipping to the front. I am torn between making a big deal about it and putting her off completely, or letting her slip into bad habits to put her off later! Trying to steer middle road!

Unfortunately, BB wanted to ‘do dielin’ at the same time, and because I was tuning SB’s violin at the time rather than paying her attention, she decided to repeated whack SB with her bow. Sigh. SO violin removed from wailing BB, and she was marched to library with Chris to pick up some reserved books. one of these books was about Victorian houses and their maintenance. I was rather gutted to find that the paper in the halls under the dado – now drawn on and torn in one significant place by BB – is prob original. It survives 150 years until BB! The damp from the arch window threatens it as well. We must sort that out this year. aarrgh.

Anyway, SB read some more magic tree house, and I am about to take delivery of some more books. they are really good – recommendation here! they have a 6-8 year old type of story, flexible lexicon and reading difficulty spot on for her.

Lots of playing outside as well – colder today, but both girls twiddling around on their bikes. found chris had put bricks holding environmesh directly on top of my florence fennel, and I have no more seeds. humph!

SB designed a craft activity for BB – she was really excited about it. They put glue lines on card and then glittered them. As you can imagine, glitter EVERYWHERE! But they both enjoyed doing it, and SB was very proud to be showing BB what to do, and enjoying doing it together – a proud mummy moment for me too. This is the great advantage of home ed.

More outside playing and then SB had her ballet lesson. BB and I played snap [sort of!] and read a few books, then took over the curry chris had been making. On SB’s return, we did another science experiment – this time making something appear to roll uphill, as well as a discussion on gravity and what might be really happening. When I got these books from the book people, I didn’t like them, but actually, we are quite liking the forces one. the experiments are simplistic and short and easily done.

After tea, SB played with the leappad whilst i flickred. britannia and bed.

Sneaky Saturday

I was working yesterday [and I am today ? typing this at work in a lull!! ? though the system is logging me doing it as the site is unauthorised]. I came home at lunchtime and had a lovely afternoon with the girls.

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We had lunch and then piled outside to play. After games and swinging about etc, we decided to get the Happy maize out. Now I think it?s a really good idea to have something that damping can stick together so you can build something 3 d without glue and other messiness. BUT? did they have to use dyes that would stain?? Seems barmy to me. Especially as SB was wearing her new skirt and all 3 t shirts simultaneously from la redoute [they sent me a 10 voucher and then I bought some more things!]

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That brings me onto a whole new rant. I bought a denim coloured floppy hat with wired brim. Looked perfect for me for Kessingland on the site, and indeed in the packet. Except?. It only just fits SB!!!!! It is adult. Would link, but its no longer on their site. SB thought the colour too boring for her ? and they now have plenty of sunhats anyway ? but I offered it as one we could add things to in her design and she thought this fab. So while they were maizing, I sowed some lace on the crown ? as instructed ? and it looks v nice. It is planned to be beribboned and belled!!!! [an over the top girl just like her mum!]

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SB did some maths ? as it involved writing, we just did a page as it was v slow ? and she hopped around the garden for about 30 mins to find the best maths place ? by the pond ? no BB was pond dipping and making a mess! The perhaps on the swing, but it kept swinging about making writing harder! So finally back under the MODHEU where it was shady, and the task done.

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BB and I pond dipped ? trying v hard to miss the enormous goldfish that BB particularly wanted to catch ? rofl! Then played in the sandpit ? I was supposed to be eating the dishes she brought me ? she warned me it wasn?t tasty though and just pretend. I filled up the pool with water, and BB had more fun bellyflopping in and out of it. Then she gave me a big cuddle and fell asleep. SB was racing around on her bike having invisible races.

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Chris, who had been planting the final potatoes, raced up and swooped her up into the bath, where she tried to fall asleep. SB read to me some more magic tree house, and then went outside to bellyflop and slide into the water ? which had warmed up a bit.

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I had been supposed to make her up some elaborate story to play, but instead she had beans on toast, got some pj?s on, and then it was game time [BB fell asleep straight after bath anyway]. SB chose our scrabble word game which takes ages.

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Unfortunately on going upstairs, BB woke up, feeling it must now be morning ? sigh! SO SB had Angelina stories and made up ones, and BB then came down with me, and shared my takeout curry [an unusual treat!]. An early night for me.

In the garden we have loads of strawberry flowers – feeling hopeful!

Another lovely day

Chris took BB to toddler gym and SB and I did a piano practice. Since we could do it uninterrupted she did really well with concentrating. We then played games – mostly guess who as she has loved that ever since we went to SOTP last summer. I then suggested SOTW or some more of yesterday’s explorer of north america book, but she fancied our DK exciting bits of history book instead [mainly battles!] So we looked at egyptians in it and the first world war. After that she fancied some science experiments.
SO we got out an experiment book on forces, and the first thing was making a weighing device in Newtons. SB looked at it, found the ‘ingredients’ [with my help] and set too making it. We used some weights we had recently got from home ed bring and buy and some scales weights to calibrate. She was rather thrilled by it, and we ended making 1N of oranges weighed out. [no apples!] We mentioned Newton’s great find with dropping apples though. The only hitch was the loop of hysteresis [i think that is right - prob should google!] and the fact that our elastic didn’t go back to exactly what it was before! She has remembered gravity well, so we had a run about the way gravity holds things together. Chris and BB came back to be impressed by our new weighing machine.

SB did some primary maths 2A particularly quickly today. We unfooded, with her having left over Ken Hom, me curry, and when BB returned she had ken hom and chris curry! We thought we had been so productive in the morning, we piled outside to play after lunch. In all the playing we had a quiet down time, when I read some egyptian myths and legends, and SB confessed she had spent the whole time looking at the birds and hadn’t heard a word!! I was interested anyway.

BB played with some Happy Street and silly games with me – mostly sticking her freezing cold feet up my jumper – aargh!! Lots of cycling, swinging, climbing and general whizzing about. Sb read some more magic tree house book.

When SB went to ballet class, BB and I made chocolate cookies. She was rather proud we were making them without Sb as a surprise – and did them very nicely. Obviously our measurements were flexible. i don’t find usbourne recipes overwhelmingly reliable. However, 5 mins after i thought they would be ready they were. SB and BB enjoyed them on her return.

Anyway, tea time!

A home day

wahay! poor old chris had the dentists first thing, but the girls watched tv and gave me a later start than I thought – 9.30. After brekkie of fried eggs and toast as a treat, i suggested to SB that she bring her maths or story of the world to the kitchen table, but she called me to the sofa with a book about the exploration of america. So we read that, looked at the map of various explorers and discussed native americans [and did some more inuit throat singing!].

We went outside and played for a bit, and the SB did some maths – rather easy greater and lesser than in primary maths 2A. She then demonstrated great trapeze artist skills – and was swinging holding on only by her knees, and somersaulting off – weyhey SB. She does always ask if Violet Portico can do these things -I tend to say yes. BB and I were being Bob the Builder, making things with the Bygga set from Ikea.
SB whizzed around the garden on her bike, and BB on her trike. We started to decorate our papier mache pots, and had some lunch, but due to spotting rain, came in and did both in the kitchen.

BB did some playdough whilst SB and I did some sudoko. When she started to join in more, we called it a day! BB and I played boxes, and also SB and I. good game from schooldays!

I did some weeding and gardening whilst the girls played. BB often helps me off and on. Gardening is going to get it’s own blog post i think. We played chase and confetti with the cherry blossom which was fun, and the just lots of being together. BB played in the sand whilst SB did some piano. We had lots of home-ed type free ranging conversations. e of which i swore I would remember to blog, but I have forgotten them!

edited to add – one of them was about debt – credit cards, mortgages and saving for rainy days. our credit card debt is now 1500 – woohoo , and being steadily paid off. so we discussed why i only want the mortgage as a debt, and how much rainy day savings were thought to be a good idea [3-6 months expenditure!] and that we owned 1/4 of the house. She asked sensible questions and got – hopefully – sensible answers.

A bath, chippery tea, britannia and SB reading to me. BB fell asleep at the table – poor love!

Have I redeemed the blog yet?

wouldn’t want Jax to hibernate us!

So today I know SB did maths as she proudly told me she was doing book 2 – it is primary maths not MPH this time. But I got home to find her rewiring the toaster – well think Chris was – not sure which is more frightening! Anyway we shouldn’t have burnt toast now. She also has done loads of reading – pretty much whatever, whenever.

BB has been ‘a pickle’. But also done some lovely colouring. I try not to take heed of milestones to compare, but BB is def way ahead of SB’s neatness of colouring in at that age. SB would just do 2 scribbles through a whole page. BB very carefully tries to stay within the lines.

Gratifyingly, both could still remember I was a parent of theirs.

We went out in the garden to play and plant. Chris did potatoes [still!!] and I did hoeing and brocolli. Both girls bobbed about helping. The ground is too hard really for them to make good holes though, so got a bit bored.

I found them the papier mache pots they had, so they then enjoyed painting them – pearlescent pink and pearlescent lilac paint from tesco, very girly! SB wants to the put glitter and jewels on when they are dried. Following that they made things with playdough together for a bit whilst i put in the last of the brocolli.

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They both finished with cycling races – SB against her Leeds friends, and BB against sundry similar aged children – rofl! SB didn’t always win, but BB did.

SB has decided she does want to learn joined up writing, so we must do more getty and Dubay, and also the piano lessons! Tonights game was rummy, and then Britannia is the Dick whittington story. SB read more than I wanted of Dr Seuss sleep book!

I have planted out a few more mangetout. We will have 2 short rows of peas – yummy!

BB’s latest milestones

She can now roll sideways down a slope – she rather enjoyed this at the St Georges day extravaganza. She can nearly peddle her trike – downhill only! And she can bounce on the spacehopper.

Sunny Sunday

I fact, I got sunburnt slightly, though had creamed up the girls. As already blogged [the shame of being the last blogger!] we spent a lovely day with English Heritage with Michelle and family at Wrest Park‘s St George weekend. At the very end, we bumped into The Deep End as well.

We started with the end of a redcoat display, and then watch some Roman cavalry officers [transported through time!] rather cleverly shoot bows and arrows. The girls enjoyed patting the horses. Moved on to a falconry display. We were going to the Nelson bit, but the girls disappeared into the middle of a puppet show audience so we had lunch and were in the right place to the watch the roman soldiers drill. SB noticed they were speaking a different language, didn’t cross her mind it might be Latin!!

A nice restorative cup of tea, and we wandered to the living history bits, watched some fire jugglers, and then a mediaeval knight dressing and play – well, everyone else watched that. BB was a bit ’2′ having not had enough sleep the night before, so we looked around all sorts of other bits – particularly liking the musicians – before she fell asleep. Finally we wandered back to the St George ending. BB was convinced it was a ‘dinodoor’ [having just woken up].

We had a slow walk back, stopping for ice cream, race running and tree climbing. A bit more of a look around the living history roman bit as well. The girls wrote their names in Latin and talked to the enactors – SB has really got the hang of just talking and asking questions to adults.

It was a lovely day, good company. We didn’t watch particularly with the girls, as they got very good at squiggling to the very front, looking cutely and smilingly at those near them and then sitting still – it would have been a mean person to send them back, and no-one did! SB particularly enjoyed the St George bit and Chloe being there. Looking at the deep end, it is a shame we missed the nelson bit, but the girls were deeply embedded in the puppet show!

Photo’s to follow as have been manically back flickring to catch up [its been a hectic week!]