Category Archives: Butterbean

A Chris Catch up – Edited.

Hmm, this time last week I was holed up in Merry’s tent waiting for the rain to stop at Kessingland so I could finsih packing up. Where did that week go then? Plenty of other blogging about Kessie on the ring and Helen did some as well, A and now seems a bit late, but I’ll chuck in a few snippets.

Some of the best bits for me:

Watching the kids playing, SB catching up with old, and making new friends, the endless, gradually morphing games they play, and not to many tiffs. SB loved it.

The three babies ‘communing’ they really seemed to enjoy each others company, much arm waving, leg waggling and toy tussling.

Sitting , relaxing, chatting, watching the kids, eating outside the tents. Making a few new friends and catching up with current ones. Missed you though Sarah from the mix

Being the center of attention – well feeling like it :-) as the area around the front of our and Layla’s/Simon’s tent seemed to become the area where people hung out for some reason. So we didn’t have to go anywhere to socialise :-)

Sitting outside the tent at 6 in the morning (when Helen had gone back to work early), sun up, tea in hand, quiet, watching the ducks patrolling through the campsite.

Merry flaggin down the ‘train’ in the wildlife park, as it was the last one and had already left the ‘station’ He let them on anyway :-) I took BB and Josie off in the buggies and enjoyed ’5 minutes peace’ sitting under a tree. :-)

The rain on Thursday which got SB into a tent and doing some other things such as making necklaces which she said afterwards she enjoyed,and gave some great puddles for them to splash in which I love watching. And of course hearing Kirsty shout ‘Marcus’ disparingly as the last pair of trousers gets wet….

This photo, which really should be a bit of video:

IMG_5289

The girls were taking it in turns on ther ‘pogo-er’ thing. To time their turns they were singing ‘Zip-a-dee-do-dah’ – which SB has learnt at Stagecoach :-)

Worst bits:

The sinking feeling when I realised the tent poles weren’t in the roofbox……

Eventually giving up waiting for the rain to stop on Thursday afternoon, going out and getting wet packing the car, only for the rain to stop as soon as the only thing left was the tent outer Grrrrr :-( Thank’s for getting wet helping though Simon.)

A bit of BBQ related disgruntlement.

Oddest thing.

We never got to go and look at the sea.Which seeing as I love the sea is very strange

We had a great time, loved it, want to do it again :-) I think one or two areas will need a modicum more organising though.

Sorry to all those in statics we didn’t come up and see (though it sounds like if we had we might not of actually identified many of you), but I think we were just feeling too much at home and too lazy on the camping field.

Other snippets of things from this week

Stringbean drawing dots all over her body in felt tip, then joining them up as a dot-to-dot – ‘it’s a dot-to-dot of a my body’ :-)

Nanny finding SB asleep on the landing when she had got out of bed:

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Possibly more, but I have to go and take then to Hospital to see ‘Little Nanny’, may update later, but will publsih incase I don’t

And here we are later….

Another SB snippet. A couple of days ago she was suddenly sick over the playroom floor. I don’t think she has been sick for ages, and didn’t realise what was happening, so it just sort of came out :-( She recovered quickly though. About 20 seconds later she was saying she was hungry, and excitedly peering at it identifying her dinner - ‘Oooo look, noodles!’

Little Nanny is ok, but it’s going to be while before she is walking about well enough to go home, though I doubt she will be back entirley to her pre-fall self. She should be moving tomorrow back to her local hospital to get rehabilitated. Probably better that she is back there, but she seems to have quite liked this hospital (as they go…) so is probably loathe to move. And it will be less convienent for visits etc., for her daughters as they both live a fair way away, whereas we have been a handy coaching stop :-) And of course Helen works in the hospital.

And nice though it has been to have people staying it will be nice to have the house back to ourselves and for us to attempt to have nice quiet family weekend. Though given our current record, you ca’t help wondering what will happen this time….

Stringbean’s Stagecoach group is doing a little ‘show’ for the parents this weekend which should be fun. And try to get a swim in on Sunday as well, do miss the lovely kiddie/baby pools they had at the gym we went to in Leeds though – but not the paying for the privilidge….

shhh, BB asleep

at last!
she does seem to have a very low sleep requirement. She had a good day playing today, and had fun bashing keys on baby toy to make a tune the hit herself with it!

chris took the girls swimming, which they enjoyed.will try and go reg on a sun early morn as well. SB keen on idea of lessons, but as monthly we seem to be spending more than i got for a full year as a student I think we may have to pass. [just done budget, and we are def on that trendy asset rich cash poor thing. ho hum!]. they both enjoyed it. SB also had fun with the baby toys and investigated new webland issue

When I escaped home, me ‘n SB hama’d a bit, read some phonics, podded beans ate tea and cuddled up with bedtime stories [ i fell asleep first]. since then i have budgeted [where is gorgeous alvin when you need him?], whizzed around blog ring, and played with BB – as she last slept pre teatime]. She has finally zedded out.

chris has put shelving in what will be craft cupboard, so hopefully can make headway in creating order out of chaos.

sunny day

And so it needed to be, as first opportunity to play with SB for me since I left Kessie. only got home from work at half 10 and ravenous, but after that went for quality SB time, as get more interaction with BB in the evenings.

Started with playing all together, with me n SB stacking up cups for BB to knock down, and putting toys in them for her to find. BB is such a sweetheart, and her face is all aglow with excitement in these combined games with SB, who it is quite clear she hero worships. [what a long sentence]

BB carried on while SB and I started doing some hama aboriginal dreamtime style piccies. Actually SB not bad, though attention span compromised, so moved on to playing copy each others patterns and sorting out the colours. Particularly including counting, adding and spatial relationship skills. Kept us both happy!

we spent alot of the afternoon playing in the sandpit, burying our dinosaur fossil and then hiding it around the garden.
Sb also put on shows for us to watch. We then dug up potatoes and picked broad beans for tea, but actually had pasta – LOL. Oh well, there for tomorrow. Unfortunately the potato tops have blight, and the whole veg patch weed city. Not done a good job.

Actually whilst on house update, roof leaking, bath taps dodgy, showers not working, 100 year old grapevine dying etc etc. sigh massively!

After tea we read the 10p book from the hospital friends stall on rivers and water. very nice. It also had a picture off newt eggs on oxygenator plants. we of course know that now from last years experiment of what are these eggs, and what will they become [well 2 goldfish and 2 newts].

BB hasn’t been ignored, and has been doing lots of standing practice and manipulating objects. also some tummy shuffling. She is such a bundle of happiness. 3rd tooth nearly through.

little nanny walking with special zimmer, and the girls visited her for a long time yesterday – did nanny the power of good I think. the other ladies also cooed over my girls. SB took in the usbourne pocket science book of why we are ill for little nanny, so she would understand 0 bless. other ed moment sith chris [in case he doesn't blog] were stagecoach yesterday final rehearsal, and my fav, SB asking if the world slowed down spinning in summer so the days were longer. we need a globe I think!

I really would like to organise and arrange our home ed better again [still autonomous, but with the ideas etc ready] however, with the house in chaos and me always at work, I am worried that we are never going to do it as we would like. Early days yet I guess.

oh, and Chris P, 2 ways to my heart, food and calling my child gorgeous! Thankyou.

Kessie photos

You can see a not very select selection of photos from Kessingland here.

Some could do with tweaking etc. but if I wait till I’ve done that the moment will be past.

PS shout if you want one removed

Kessie Brain Dump Post – We Loved It!

Guess I should say something about the week then! Here it is in brain dump mode.

Since I was working, I was only there sat, sun, mon and wed, so chris will have to fill in the rest!

Lowlights ? chris forgetting the tentpoles!!!!; going back to work; BB having a feeding frenzy all one night

Highlights ? meeting lots of people both met before at Melrose, and new; watching how well all the children got on [SB in her element]; basket weaving.

Anyway Alison saved the day with her khyam, so we had somewhere to sleep the first night ? also meant that Chris put up communal tent. Next day he went home at crack of dawn ? lucky not to be thought an intruder by my golfclub wielding dad ? and returned with our little tent. As I was still sulking, he made a good attempt to put it up on his own, though I think Jax and Tim may have taken pity on him and helped a bit!

Sunday was also sunburn day ? Nic had a particularly fetching fingerprint pattern up her arm. Caused by finding the sun tipping the yard arm fairly early and a drinks session in the afternoon. Not just Nic ? I hasten to add! Layla and I decided we had pitched the tents well, as the area in front of our tents turned out to be the communal gathering, pull up a chair kind of area, so without even trying we were very sociable.

On the communal front, ?the other chris? was far more sociable than I had been led to believe. I really enjoyed meeting people [so far more confident ? yes, ok noisy, strident and opinionated ? than at Melrose], chatting away about this and that.

The children played well together, with minimal tantrums. Though SB did bite someone [again sorry]. She really isn?t a biter [or even hitter/fighter] and spent the next 30 mins sobbing in my arms about it. The like a bike type thing from Lidl that we took was enjoyed by most of the children was purchased by other parents after seeing how much fun it was ? so def a Jax started craze!

Also purchased from lidl were 2 sun gazebos to stop further burning by simon. Unfortunately they were child sized~!! [he coped admirably with the teasing] Chris went to homebase for the real thing ? though the kiddies was cuter.

We did no sparky clubbing until the last day, and SB was blissfully unaware of existence. We did go swimming, join in the communal activities, but really left her and the socialisation to its own devices.

BB and the other babies played together in sun cabanas. Mexican waving at each other and eating each other?s toys. They are all of a similar size, so looked v cute.

For me the weather was no prob [though had hideous drive home], a duvet made the bed warm [and BB as the hot water bottle]. I find storms quite relaxing really.

So all in all, really wonderful. Thankyou Merry for organising.
Pictures to follow at some point!

Kessie tomorrow!!!

Today at work noticeable for the massive thunderstorm, and my introduction to the NHS IT chaos in the making which is choose and book!

got home just before the beans returned from nursery. I had my dig it out dinosaur fossil from ebay arrive and a book today – SB thought it was great, and with very little finesse, it is done! SHe was most impressed though, so worth the ?3. I have found somewhere that sells them not on ebay for a little bit less [must check postage], so may buy a few and get them out periodically. also does some egyptian ones too. WIll buy one for nephews birthday to go with jigsaw.

We then went out in the garden to play catch – SB getting better at catching a ball [not one of the family's great skills] Then we picked loads of broad beans for tea – yummy. Whilst waiting for tea [mum cooking] we did some of the puzzle bits on webland. oh, and the fairy garden has germinated, so very happy.

SO although i was at work, I think today I still mnanged to touch base with SB in a good way. SHe had fun at nursery with her friends, and they did ‘PE, playing and eating’!!!!

BB definitely getting more determined to get own way – so yet another strong willed girl in the family. She is quite surprised when she shunts herself backwards, but think she’s getting better at it. SHe’s eating more, and feeding less, and nearly sleeping through! I am finding expressing hard going, but really want to keep the BF going. Life is going to calm down a bit, and I need to keep going until then.

Little Nanny starting to walk. The physios doing a good job, but still way off actually walking, and she is getting fed up. She is a bit confused and a bit depressed, but when she gets back to her won home I think a lot will improve.

ANyway, stagecoach tomorrow, and we will set off at 2 ish, so arrive perhaps 5 ish?? save a big khyam space for us. [don't know our number, but we are pretending to be the clarke's] Look forward to sharing a chat with all those going, meeting old and new faces. I’m not as nervous as I was for Melrose, so actually enthusiastic rather than resigned!

Guess a quick update in order!

so, to recap!…

well, a fair bit this week we have discussed the aboriginal art in our ‘home ed’ [!] room. So today SB and I made some dreamtime pictures. she was really enthusiastic, and as well as dots and footprints, we had lizards, barramundi and honey ants.
We looked up australia n the map, and some of my photos. ALso discussed different animals – AKA the ones in koala brothers! Her geography puzzle book has a dreamtime story about Uluru [ayers rock].

other ed type stuff was in discussing dinosaurs [a recurrent theme] and how the earth was formed. I am going to have to buy fantasia I think!

A lot of bouncing on the spacehopper, climbing, splashing in pool etc also carried out.

BB spent most of the time in the pool so as to keep cool – still blotch queen, but no longer worrying about it being rubella – phew. SHe also enjoyed playing with bead frame and some sponge balls. On lying on her tummy this evening, she managed to push herself backwards, so I think mobility phase commencing.

Mum and Dad staying as Little Nanny still n hospital, surgery seemed to go well, but she still can’t walk, and she and physio getting frustrated. And Little Nanny starting to loose hope a bit again. i am sure it is early days, but understandably there is some panic/consternation about what happens if she can’t walk.

I had a rough on call this week, but made it to the clinical governance meeting. I have to say I feel pulled in all directions in the moment, and it is difficult to retain focus and determination. Just keep breathing!!

i just want to be able to have more home-ed/family days and less stress days at the moment. I think my SB time is again suddering – though with the family around she seems OK with it.

German Measles :-(

We think Butterbean has got Rubella/German Measles :-(

Muddlepuddle Kessingland camp starts Saturday – :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

I have posted a message to the camps list re this

Another home ed day captured

After the last day, I thought every so often I would capture a day in photos again, fairly randomly every once in a while to see what happens.

Today started with me making maggie and the ferocious beast stories up in our bed,, until my obvious sleepiness and halfheartedness persuaded SB to get up! She the started making her fairy garden with daddy – its an M and S kit, with marigolds and cornflowers, and some cut out fairies and a castle.

next was stage coach, where they are practising zippedeedoodah and summer holiday and sun has got its hat on for the end of term concert. SB has decided she definitely likes stagecoach, so thats good. Next sept she will go to ballet in the village as well.

On her return we finished the fairy garden, and put it in a heated propagator to get it off to a good start in the conservatory. While there we heard a live brass band, and remembered it was the float procession through the village today, so SB and I nipped out to the village centre to watch the floats and listen to the band.

Lunch was a pittapocket picnic on the lawn. very nice, and BB woke up, so had her puree on the lawn as well. Unfortunately, being nap free she also pooped on the lawn – sigh!

SB then played on her bike, my hammock and the climbing frame before settling down to pasticine and the monster stick in bits. however, when I brought a bowl of water and some plastic toys for BB to play with, this seemed much more fun, so she got her own bowl to do some more float/sink experiments. BB continued playing with the water all afternoon [with some snacking!]

When SB was starting to be a bit more adventurous with the water [over BB] I got out the paints and paper, and we cut out some stamps from sponges and did stamp picutres – very nice! even an alien world with two huge red suns. So I think we’ve caught up a bit on the craft front.

Before dinner she got out the cuisinaire rods and made patterns with them, and discussed with me the different steps you could make, and which ones to put together to make same lengths. She hasn’t assigned numbers to them. We then did some complicated game she made up, with looking at the phonics flashcard with her bouncing on the spacehopper, and me kicking a ball to her that she had to catch in a cup – a la mouse trap! She read out cat and knew it was cat. was really pleased when she red out fox and knew it was fox, until she admitted she had seen a flash of the back! She went off to teach daddy them with dinner.

After bath she got out her leappad and did the mother goose music one, and the richard scarry one. Both her and BB dancing to the music, with me and SB also singing. Bedtime stories, and the end of the day.

BB mostly investigated grass, a few toys, wriggling around and water today, with a bit of da teh and ra practice and lots of feeding. A bit of dancing, throwing about and general larking about~!

Weather was hot – luckilly a fair bit of shade in garden. We had a lovely day. I have got a box for chris for next week with some maths, some phonics and early readers, bit on the body, bit on people/religion, bit on garden wildlife and bugs so that should fit emergency ideas!

photos will be added to this a bit later.

Added by Chris

SB was having boiled egg for tea. ‘So what is egg yolk made from?’

‘Um, well…’ couldn’t think really of any sensible terms to use for 4 year old, so deflected the question by talking about what it is used for instead.

Summertime ……….

Some photos, following on from the post below.

The new hammock seat

On a hammock seat made for two…..

Butterbean was sitting in the middle of the lawn in her own little baby world for ages, quite contentedly eating grass, playing with leaves etc.