gardening

we obviously weren’t too dreadful guests, as we went back to the second messy party at the deependers yesterday. i was at work in the morning, and being called in the afternoon, but luckilly didn’t have to go in. a bonus babs and family were there too, lovely to see them again as well! also some local HE. this time the messy stuff was in the tent [lucky as the day started off v rainy, but it did improve] babs had got some geli baff - weird stuff. i couldn’t get at all messy in case needed to troubleshoot at work. SB got messy eno0ugh for the both of us, in fact she prob was The Most Messy! thats my girl!! certainly was great fun, and nice to have opportunities to sit and chat while children have fun.

[btw chris's thunder is blogging about team read, there are some photos on flickr. girls will be in newspaper etc]

Home and i finally finished fantastic contraptions - woohoo!! read more pirates of pompeii to the girls.

today i was knackered as called at night. but came back from work in tieme to say a quick hello to sb before her ballet and brownies. BB and i read books, leappadded, looked at a dog book and a dinosaur book [her favourite things!!] before picking more sweetcorn, beans and broccoli from the garden for tea. [have offered spare broccoli seeds to Nic...] we have rousted about and snuggled under duvet with the clangers. sb should be back soon, and we must do a quick bit of latin and i need to sort and resource session 2 on forces[a page in sidebar] for wed.

chris might add the things he has done with girls to his blog post - if we are lucky!!

the totally grr bit of today and :rant: was that some old chap was in a dizz whilst parking car at work and forgot to put his handbrake on - rolled back into my back bumper, all bent and scraped. havce only had the car for 11 daYS However, it being NCP, the people there had seen it, and couldn’t move his car so bollarde etc, and put warnings on his and mine and did an incident form. he went and fessed up [though otherwise i would still have had numberplate] so will get chris to chase up tomorrow. still sobbing!!

he says he might tomorrow! so i won’t steal his thunder!!

whilst not at work for a short patch, the girls were keen to ‘do’ things. my mum had brought up some 70’s craft books i had got one xmas [from aunty doris and uncle ralph, i know this, because the tag is still sellotaped inside] and BB chose to make tissue paper flowers with me, which we enjoyed lots, though i actually did most of it! one thing i like in this book is there is a making paper bag masks bit, and the illustrated page of kids wearing them has a toddler running away wailing!! SB wanted to do science, so she did the volcano thing, and got through half a bottle of sarsons! we need to source cheap vinegar!!

also today, after measuring the temp in the kitchen at 13, the heating went on. sb and i went round the whole house measuring the temp in each room - highest 15. def cold! we had a chat about what might make rooms colder - number of outside walls, windows without double glazing etc. once the heating has got going, we will remeasure.

bB and i played no-rules draughts [i lost due to non understanding of the rules, and penalties of my pieces being randomly removed] SB read LOADS of books [including a horrid henry joke book, and we had to listen to them - groan!!]. we picked our own sweetcorn for tea, and also raspberries, blackberries and apples.

i did lots of reading. we read our emilie books [en francais] - 3 of them, and then i read loads of the goblin and ghoul stories too. SB escaped SOTW and Latin, and also music practice - though i did some piano practice.

they had toasted marshmellows on open fire for pudding - though SB burnt tongue and finger despite many warnings to be careful. bless her, she is most accident prone.

And i worked - sigh

edited to add - i forgot to add that i mended one of bb’s stretchy dinodoors with copydex and then sutures. seems to be holding firm at present, and not leaking any more little rubber balls! successful surgery

we usually get back from holiday at the last minute, and i really struggle at work for the first week recovering [maybe something to do with the type of holiday we take!]. so it was rather nice to have a relaxing day today and a return tomorrow instead.

we unwound in the morning, watching downloads, then playing castle games. SB had a total usborne lift the flap fest. the see inside science, the earth, the brain and maths. She is quite keen to have more of them, so if and when i do another book order [some time from now, as we are on the stony side at the mo] i might consider the acquisition of the under ground one. and also perhaps the usborne crusader reading book [i can always think of lots of books - will perhaps get chris to go to the big library and see if any there. there should be really?

together we did SOTW as she wanted to get to the battle of hastings - having read all about william the conqueror on hols. however, we did also go to richard lion heart's castle at les andeleys, so she is muddling the 2 up a bit. we looked at our map book at the vikings.

we went outside and all picked veg - lots of apples are ready, a second crop of raspberries, loads of tomatoes [particularly the ilidi], runner and french beans, some courgettes and spouting brocolli. lots of running about, bb loves eating the ilidi yellow mini toms [they are gorgeous]

back in to play more games with the castle. practice makes perfect, and we played altogether quite happily whilst chris sorted photos of the holidays. the girls then had a bath, whilst i did some catching up with the internet. SB and BB back down, and we watched how things work, and then bb fell asleep and SB and i made some more of her viking brooches - painting and fimo beads. we have refound her science book, and so we stuck in the chromatography.

SHe has also done alot of reading of the arthurian legends, so whilst watching tea, we watched the new merlin from bbc1. now obviously i have a HUGE E-N-O-R-M-O-U-S problem with the basic plot premise, i will let you find that out elsewhere!! but actually, it is an enjoyable romp. i think it is even less true to the basic premise than the tudors is. but i guess the tudors is supposed to be history, and this is a myth, so… i am going to try and forget about the actual plot premise, and enjoy the series, as i think it is going to be v enjoyable. SB and BB quite transfixed.

we have had a mostly screech free day here today. BB is *very* piercing! when I got up, BB had been watching magic school bus - and I found another one i hadn’t seen - the microbe one! [yes, chris is going to get round to it!!] SB started off with doing a jigsaw book on ancient egyptian sites. We then read together a story about ramadan and eid, and she went on to look at a the what I believe book. Then did some self directed recorder practice - getting better at hole covering so not so many shrill bits. BB and I did maths at this point. she is starting to add 1 onto things, and subtract 1’s. BB and I then did some alphabet stuff, as she doesn’t know it at all yet.

SB then looked at our usbourne picture french dictionary [after me telling Katy that we weren't doing french reading - of course SB LOVES reading] so we did the a’s and b’s [she complained that only the english words were always a's and b's ] SO we did it together with my pronunciation and thinking of sentences to put it in.

SB did singapore maths - must buy the 3 series - whilst BB did starfall and i hemmed the Gi thingy for judo - so at least now she can walk without flappy arms and legs!

And then we had breakfast

OK, it was a late breakfast at 11! BB had already had breakfast earlier and SB and I had brunch. SB did violin whilst I still hemmed, and we are being inventive at the moment, with the majority of the time she is finding sounds, or making up tunes for me or playing scales - she likes scales. At this time an amazon bookseller order arrived from way back - one of the 3rd grade detective books, which she loves, so she tucked herself on the sofa and had finished it within 1/2 an hour. hmm! We also had a parcel from the manor borns, so SB moved onto melrose and croc, [most impressed with inscription from Clo] and BB spent most of the rest of the day in lizard related activities - very enthusiastic! [chris went shopping for gas canisters - so that was his day - rofl!]. SB made up some choc angel delight on her own - though BB sahred the task of eating it.

The girls are really in to playing with the castle and stuff at the moment, i was in charge of dragons, SB had romans and courtiers, and BB assorted lizards and dinodoors [as you do] and they had tea parties, swimming parties and hama bead diving competitions [i need to get out the hoover]. I in the end drifted away [i think I did VERY well to carry on for that long] and SB fancied knitting - so she brought back some yellow moon first cross stitch kits, she did the flower [well, at least she started it and did the centre]. BB played with the kit, but didn’t actually DO any.

They then did some convoluted liz game, I went out into the veg patch and picked loads of greenbeans, toms, brocolli and courgettes. they came out and did whizzing about the garden with lizards, but when i went in to cook the curry for tea they came in too. SB hama beaded, BB did liz dives into hama beads games, and i read them a book about remainder of one.

SB has gone off to Judo [first time since broken foot so fingers crossed] and BB watching the ways things work. I am pondering cars and how much i can stretch too.

edited to add: when SB came back, with free choice to watch whatever she wanted, and BB asleep, she chose Muzzy german level 2. and then we discussed protons and dark matter She has been a happy bean all day.

also, any recommendations on good balanced books - pref story related and good for 8 year old who has good vocab skills - about the crusades?

i know i shouldn’t gripe. but i think my ambient temp is between 18 and 22 degrees. when its colder i wrap up warm, but when its this much hotter… well, i hide in the shade and dip feet in the paddling pool.

but, what i really needed to do was give the garden a good weed. but with it being so hot and airless, and me only just shaking off a migraine, i didn’t think it worth the risk [and it would have been seriously unpleasant]. i could go out in the datk with a torch on i guess, but now feeling lazy!

so, the girls spent a lot of the day in the paddling pool - it did seem like the most sensible thing. though they came in for a 2 hour muzzy fest before i kicked them out again. there seems to be a new interest in muzzy, and they’ve watched 3 days on the trot. since we have series 1 and 2 in german, and 1 in spanish, this is a serious amount of muzzy! i do think my german comprehension has improved mind you!
so i chased them back into the garden and we swung, paddled, picked petals off flowers etc. i took out the airdrying clay - actually i love air drying clay, especially hen you buy it in a sale! as it is cheap, and the girls can fiddle about with it to their hearts content. BB immediately said she wanted to make a coil pot, and set about doing it - she remembered exactly how we did it before easter and got going. sb made a thumb pot. they both then made pizzas. i read some of my book - male sci-fi. you have to roll eyes once in a while, but it is excellent escapism.

helped chris net the raspberries before the birds steal any more, and played games with the girls until we went in to cool off [victorian house good at being cool, partic if we leave cellar door open] and we did some french books and SB did violin practice, but we had to do a bit less, as bb also got her violin out, and was demonstrating her new clock song! they fancied pancakes for tea [they don't often get to choose!] so i did that, and whilst i was getting ready, they both did some maths. BB very proud of how beautifully she can now write a 4. read dinodoors and hairy mcclary to bb, and a roman mystery 2 chptrs for sb. SB also had a chapter of SoTW - islam goes to spain.
bath and bed for both of them. though in the gap between the 2, sb and i played several hands of rummy, and then did a simple electronics kit

forgot to say that i have given BB a pretty short bob as well!

it has been v windy here today. from the weather forecast, i hadn’t thought we would be included, but we were! particularly in the morning. no trees down [cross fingers!]

so, what have we done? well, when i got up, BB was engrossed in a castle game - she really has got a lovely imagination for playing games and gets totally sucked into them. SB was doing animal crossing on her ds. luckilly she has spelled all letters correctly this time! so i went on ‘puter to be shocked by the news that a good friend lost her sister last night. many hugs Jax. i don’t have any wise words of comfort, but i am thinking of you, and if you can think of anyway i can help…

girls were both desperate to do one of the experiments out of the horrible science explosion kit. BB wanted the volcano, and SB the snot!! so both were duly done. the volcano is - of course - our vinegar and bicarb type approach, but bB v satisfied. the snot was prob polymer science [i do wish these kits would include some 'real' science explanation - equations, what we actually made - if only for me! so, google being our friend, i think we are talking non-newtonian fluids again! here are some possible instructions for prob similar [unfortunately the glue in the pack just said glue!! so not sure what kind it actually was] . on googling, think we would enjoy having a go at the bouncing balls next!

[ooh, on a different note - it was the instructions that reminded me - look here Michelle for stalactite experiment]

where were we, oh yes, we were making snot. we enjoyed it greatly. not entirely sure exaclty what we made! SB gave it a squidge about for a bit, and then declared herself done. so we read a bit about polymers from here, and reminded ourselves on what atoms where, so what molecules were, and got to poymers. we thought a bit about polymers we have about.

Both girls joined me for a bit of french, and we did la maison [again!]. some lunch, and an interminable time to get dressed and clean teeth possibly because i was outside hoeing the veg bed and planting the last of the cucurbits in that time! then i rousted them all outside saying it was a nice day, so we should be out. we failed to fly kites in the garden - too much turbulence from trees i guess. Sb settled on doing a stamping craft. bb raced about on her like-a-bike, paddled and played in the sandpit. we topped up the birdfeeders [they get through SO MUCH!]

girls played nicely for a bit, so i pruned the bay tree, and we made some herb bundles to hang in the utility room [where no doubt the spiders will make huge webs!] we harvested and ate strawberries, i rousted BB around a lot, and SB felt hot, so went inside to do webkinz, education city and webland. we got a tp swing cheaply from ebay and cannibalised it so that ours can be pegged into the ground and not wobble around as much. hung a swing off the climbing frame at a v low height so bb ecstatic. sb pleased that she can swing wildly on new set up!

i made curry whilst sb ds-ed and bb watched pingu and 64 zoo lane. think thats about it.

Which is pretty much what the kids did today.

Up, a bit of screen time (Pingu and Magic school bus) before getting dressed so we could go across the road to buy bread, milk and marg to have breakie with a bit of Hama beading on the side.  After breakfast SB went off without the smallest reminder and did some maths (subtracting things like £6.13 - £4.85) and piano practise - though had to be reminded a bit how to borrow when subtracting. BB moslty played with the Geomags - she is really into them at the mo, we finally need to get some more I think. That and random 3 yo games with random objects, checked on the mushrooms in the mushroom kit - does;’t like to eat them, but fascinated by growing them.

Then SB started on some more Hama-beading, with BB also doing a bit. Whilst all this was going i was assisting in various ways, and being domestic - washing up, and cleaning out the fridge, cooking chickpeas etc. Sb then moved onto finishing off her T shirt that she was decorating for Amelie (late birthday present) . finished off the design on the front. Decided to write on the back - i wrote it down on paper for her, she spaced it out ok and then finished it off by writing Birthbag instead of birthday ! - it was funny, but I tried not to laugh as she was really upset by it. Helen laughed even more when she got home which didn’t go down well. Will try to rescue it - it hasn’t been ironed to fix it yet. Helen was trying to convinve SB that Ams wouldn’t mind, SB not convinced. all the morning passed without too many arguments
They both went off and did some bits on the Starfall website until lunch was ready.

After lunch I sat down for a ‘five minutes peace’ cuppa and to write an email in my role as Merry’s tech support ;-). BB wanted to do a craft kit she found floating about - making bugs out of pom poms or some such. I said I’d do it once i’d had my tea, but then SB said she would help, so they went off to the kitchen to do it. Not sure how much BB did and how much SB, but they were both happy when I went in to see how they were doing so left them too until they stopped.

They both did some skating about for a bit at some point, so maybe that was now, then Sb helped me start to cook dinner - cutting up the Paneer and onion until H came home.

They played a Dinosaur ludo game - Sb didn’t like getting sent back it seems. Before long it was Ballet, more cooking, home from ballet, playing in the garden, feeding birds, Swimming, home to eat the curry that H finished off  - a treat of cookies that SB bought from the shop (with her own money)  when we got home. Bb to bed, while Sb and h played a game I think. Then I weeded the fruit bed, then time for coffee, chocolate and the last episode of Heroes Series 2 (a bit odd as it was cut very short by the writers strike.

and I’ve even blogged !

I’ve still got to blog my photo meme day from Friday, maybe tomorrow?

well here anyway, as SB and BB had a row about it!

before i start, why is it that as soon as i friends ans family flickr due to an overly persistant re-contacter, chris links to our blog from an everone view photo!! sigh!

anyway, it was another hot one today! started off in the cool with piano practice with SB. she wants to do more piano than violin at the moment, so i am hoping to facilitate that, but keep the violin ticking over. certainly her piano playing is coming on in leaps and bounds at the moment, and i guess this increases the enthusiasm. i’m going to try and find an easy duet book as well for that. [actually if i did more violin duets with her that would prob be a good thing too!]

SB then got on with some maths and handwriting whilst BB and I made some cheese scones [had to hide some so we would have some for tomorrows picnic!!]. we then did some lucy chat books at the beach - v helpful i now know the word for shark! and BB did some alphabet recognition.

All piled out into the garden under the gazebo to do some more crocodile making. SB has embellished hers so much with papier mache that hers is more of a thorny devil. bB’s was more minimalistic, and then she wailed because it was too wet to play with general outside play. chris and i both did bits of hoeing fruit bed, chris weeded some veg patch, i planted and SB watered. we have started hacking at the yew trees as well.

had some camping pancake mix left, so added cocoa powder to it for a chocolate pancake treat [bB's idea] we all prefer plain! Then put up one of our tents in the garden for the girls to play with [the cheapy 2 person 'festival tent']

cooling down now - phew!

SB loves the drama group, but she leaves by 9.30 and returns at 12.30. at 15.20 she goes to rainbows and returns at 17.00, at 18.20 she goes to judo and returns at 19.40. ie, I get to see v little of her on my day free, and I MISS HER! especially today when crappy with migraine, and the heat really hit me just as she was about. we played castle keep and did violin practice, but that was about it. bleurgh. at bedtime we have nearly finished the orchard book of arthur and the round table [a good book, but it couldn't really follow on to michael morpurgo's fab gawain and seem fab]

BB and I have had plenty of time together, and BB is also a delight more often than a tantrum throwing stroppy 3 year old! today we sowed loads of seeds together, watered and potted on [some things might not survive!], she then chose to play with pattern blocks with me for ages [and i had to be careful to only do the allowed bits!] and then we made towers and walls with the wooden bricks. being still dirty from the seeds, we had a bath.
She started getting a bit, well, 3 so we went outside for a run, and read a book all about tigers. i made lunch in time for SB’s return home, but i think the outside bit was the last straw for the migraine i was desperately pretending wasn;t there, so i had to lie down for a bit - grr - in a cool room. cue much wailing and jumping on me to see if better yet. however, chris got out paddling pool and as the temp in the shade became more bearable, i sat out and we narrated stories for each other - BB mostly being a crocodile!

sorted tea and BB then watched a MSB and to bed, SB returned and watched MSB and to bed, and chris has gone out. SB not settling v well, as not used to daddy out.

rainbows camps obviously take a lot more getting over than home-ed camps! even if they last only one night!! SO SB been perk free. i have been reading the worst witch too her, as she initially wouldn’t read it as it was too scary. she has decided that after all it isn’t scary, but quite funny. she is mildred and i am maud! So when ever i do another amazon order [i am booked out now!!] then i may buy some more, buy hoping a few might be found in the library. At least we now have a range of books which she likes to read [animal ark, magic school bus, dk 4 readers, rainbow fairies, horrid henry] that she is happy with for this stage of reading. the next stage i have lots of them still from my childhood!

SB and I played chess twice. i really am no good at it, but chris has bought her a book, which she has been reading on and off all day, so she may beat me shortly. we are relaxed on the no touching rule, and i tend to say ‘did you check all my pieces’ fairly frequently. the book suggests games to get the hang of all the pieces, but SB just wants to dive straight in. fair enough!

BB and i made YET MORE fimo numberjacks!! hopefully she wont break these ones quite so quickly. we also glued the airdrying clay coil pots back together again!! We rang my mum and all sang happy birthday down the phone. she was quite overcome, as my dad had arranged a surprise gathering of neighbours to wish her happy birthday. amazing! she liked the digital photoframe, though hasn’t worked out how to use it. [giggle, that'll give my dad something to do!!]

we all bundled out into the garden as it was gloriously sunny [no snow for us!] though the wind was bitter, and we wrapped up well. we fed the fruit bushes and planted the blueberries into their pots. no sign of the broadbeans and the carrots out in the veg bed. fingers crossed that they will come up!

A bit of wailing and BB-ing, so i came in and read stories to them both, and there was some magic tree housing whilst I cooked ken hom for tea - yummy. As an aside, why aren’t all tins stackable?? chris has been hoping that i will see the pantry like merry’s old sotck room, and enjoy putting away the huge sainsbury’s shop [it wasn't enjoyable!] and it really annoyed me that not all tins are stackable! its nicely sorted out now though!

SB turned down chess for who’s who for our evening games session. chris is now reading her peter pan as her bedtime story

we are on a roll with science here. As you know, we are child led really in our education, with strewing and suggestion. we encourage regular maths [but tbh, minimal encouragement actually required] SB would like to improve her handwriting [her choice for what to get better at this year!], so she is reminded about that, and she wants to learn violin and piano, so i will suggest a violin practice and reasonably encourage her to get on with it. piano is self motivated entirely. anything else we do is suggested in a lull as a series of options, but most things she suggests and does. BB is currently - obviously - entirely autonomous. She does usually want to do anything SB does!

so today, SB wanted to do the other growing experiments, and obviously BB wanted to too! SB thinks she might like to be a scientist now, so I suggested she writes some of the experiments in a ’science book’ she thought this was sa rather good idea, so i printed off some piccies for her to stick in, and some ring the answer type questions, and a few open ended. she loved it, and happily did the whole lot. BB also wanted a science book - so more photos duly printed! i can see that this might be where lapbooking starts!

I busily got the ingredients for the other experiments - soil, pots, relevant seeds, and copious newspaper around, and we were off! so today we have made a shoot maze, sown in eggcups [we will look at root strength] done a strawb and runner, and also sown the toms, peppers and artichokes that so desperately needed doing. thus finishing feb sowings! we are now onto march.

SB did some maths, bB did colouring - which she called maths, but was actually a hedgehog and then a spiky dinosaur - quite good! SB did a violin practice and then a singing practice - she can sing a note to match mine - woohoo! for some this comes naturally [me, BB] but SB has learned to do this, aided by her violin, and I am SOOOO proud. i have never once told her she sings out etc, and always encouraged her singing and it has really worked. she has a lovely singing voice. goes completely haywire when tries to sing with anyone, but hey, she is only 7! BB has done a lot of experimenting with sounds and twanging following on from that music set - it was obviously entirely worth the money as has really got her imagination going!
umm, a bit of tv watching, until i felt guilty [i was cleaning up some of the mess we made in kitchen!] so rousted children into tidying up by having bags i was stuffing things in . SB got the drift quite quickly and was like a dervish, even BB got the idea when i did throw some of her things directly in the bin [broken tat for the most part even if well loved. if i have to make a point, there a good place to start.

[we have torchwood on as i type this, and spike is in it!! - the best reason for watching buffy!]

where was i, oh yes, it looked lovely tidy, i hoovered, bb tried to get the solar panel experiment to work again, putting the panel closer and closer to the light [she watches and learns in between tantrums]. so we got the castle stuff out, they played and argued, SB read a book about ballet [surprise!] i made curry for tea and a not hugely succesful bread and butter pudding to take out tomorrow. oh well. Chris and SB played some games.

i have found my cousin on facebook - we haven’t spoken since i was 19 or 20. weird!

SB at drama - she really has enjoyed the 2 taster sessions she has had so far, so fingers crossed there will be more opportunities for the younger group. ALso hoping they don’t continue to be on Wed - a bad day for us!

BB and i did some more musical instrument making, looked at vibrating rubber bands and saw how the sounds differed as stretched it out, and how ‘fat’ the vibration was. wish we had a copy of fantasia!

We went outside to sow broad beans - v windy. She had been desperate to go outside and do it, and it looked sunny, so no persuading her it was cold coat weather until she got buffetted by a particularly huge blast, and then she put a coat on! We are sowing the broad beans through cardboard again, as they did OK that way, and it significantly reduced the weed growth - weeding is not a forte of mine! Came back in and watched magic school bus arctic.

She then went back to the music experiment box, and we did the filling loads of glasses with water. she was v careful as they are ‘breakaful’ but onfortunately with one of her dongs did put a crack in a glass, so experiment over! Did demonstrate that immediately loses power to make a note. We then did some general messing about!

SB and Chris came home in time for lunch and then watched some dora the explora both singing and actioning along. The goggles have arrived, and SB is trying out some similar to ernests, and a back up plan to whip ‘bb’s’ if the above don’t work. We all played Hisss, though BB got grumpy towards the end when SB got ‘her’ snake. SB chose to do some maths and then was off to rainbows. Seemed like i hardly got to see her.

BB knows its baking when SB off at rainbows, so this time we have baked pink and chocolate cupcakes. yummy. SHe particularly enjoyed the lickings… We played peebo, read a book and then it disintegrated a bit… So we painted her large coil pot and got things temporarily back into balance.
SB returned and there was general raucousness, a bit of horseplay and tea. BB nearly got put in the cellar [ok she didn't but it feels tempting! goggles on a high shelf for whacking SB with, numerous toys in a similar position for being thrown etc] So after tea I took BB to bed for snuggle and story and she fell asleep v quickly.

Sb has been reading and teaching chris landlock in the meantime. time for her bed. We have had a lot of lovely music on during the day, which the girls have danced to etc. They enjoyed looking at some of the utube clips. [no music practice again!]
Back to work for me tomorrow. These last few days off have been a bonus for me. BB is v challenging to parent at the moment. She is utterly adorable but 20% destructiveness and temper, often taken out on SB. It is totally knocking my confidence as a parent and I am concerned about balancing the needs of each. It is clear that only 100% attention really improves BB, but this wouldn’t be achievable if she was an only, as it means 100% full on. However, stretching her with activities and having something at the ready does seem to make a difference, both to BB’s behaviour and the amount of positive attention both girls get. So having this time has helped me see I can still get a rhythm, and although its not perfect, it feels positive. It might be exhausting, but I only do it 3 times a week.

We seem to have been incredibly science-y, bit that is what was requested!! Must make more of an effort to suggest the lovely french reading books again, and a few language vids…

so today i laid late in bed! not actually the plan, but probably did me some good. chris took the girls off to library for BB to listen to stories and do craft, and sb mooch along the shelves! the parents take turns doing the stories, and are always with the children, but apparently need to be CRB checked - uproar. TBH, I cannot see why you would crb check someone doing a free story reading session, not employed by the library, where the children are still supervised by their parents. i suggested SB should do one, and see if they want to CRB her??? She doesn’t want to do it though, as her arms aren’t long enough for the books - fair point. ANyway, she also did some jump ahead - year one so v easy and enjoyable.

they came in and BB woke me up with love and cuddles and kisses and games. she can be v adorable when she has a mind to be. So got dressed and made it down for the 11 o clock church bells! SB got her singapore maths done and her handwriting - finished book c! we are going to take a short break before D and have a go at some copywork - starting with thankyou letters. we had lunch and BB then went off to playgroup. SB and I did violin, and BB returned from playgroup. she wasn’t happy for chris to leave, so it seemed pointless for them to stay.

Nana and grandad arrived and were just sitting down chatting when my order of a new birdfeeder arrived . They have a sale on, so i bought the complete patio feeder, since the birdfeeders we have bought in the past go with them, a couple of seed trays as well. [you can have any hanging feeder for the candelabra bits, but you need theirs to go in the 3 uprights. we then had fun joining them all together and sorting out in the garden, refilling various feeders. then the girls had a bit of a play in a sunny patch, a robin and blackbird investigated. at the same time i bought some dried mealworms for a bird treat. [yuk!]

Back in and BB was showing just how challenging she could be, so i bought out the emergency tesco science kits as they are non messy, and easily done. BB did the music kit, and SB did the dynamics kit. mostly scream and squeak free, but not entirely, as BB had a bit to much of Ghengis Khan about her today. they were cheap and cheerful kits, and you could prob replicate them easily, but nice to have around as stop gap, and at least these had all the ingredients [as opposed to the chemistry one, where i then had to get hold of some iodine!] . the girls did some more skating, and a bit of game playing with the grandparents.

Wehn they had left, my tolerance to BB’s ravening hordes approach to anything SB looked at decreased, so we stuck on numberjacks, had tea and whisked her off to bed. SB then did the music kit, which she enjoyed, and we did the filling glasses with water as well. Nearly finished ballet shoes!!!

i just can’t think of titles!

So, we have had a fun day today. i have decided i really like sitting and crafting or sciencing with the girls, with a easy divisible or multilevel task! SO thats what we have mostly done today. I would love to play the board games, but BB not so helpful - though i am encouraging playing as a team, she gets bored and then destructive! best saved for post her bedtime.

so SB whipped through maths and handwriting, and there was painting of the airdrying clay [after i had glued bits back together again!]. i sorted out seeds, and SB and BB chose what they would like to plant as well. do you know, I have a bit of a blank! SB read her stories from scotland book that she got as a present from Melrose, BB sort of played operation. they both fiddled about with continuo.

After lunch we got out a science book on growing, and the girls, very enthusiastically, wanted to do every single one! We haven’t, but i have found most of the ingredients, and we have started lots of them off. we have beans in jars - of course! some of which we are going to turn upside down when sprouted, we have sunflower seeds that are dry, just right and drowned, we have mustard seeds in  the sun, the dark and the fridge. we have strawberries ready to plant, and carrot tops. and we plan to do the dye thing with a white flower. we did a rather exciting yeast experiment. too bad we haven’t got a working microscope.

SB went off to ballet, and BB and I went into the garden and dug some soil, looked at flowers, and generally nattered and chattered between rainfalls. we then made some more cheese scones for SB to have between ballet and swimming. I took SB to swimming, and she really is coming along in her strokes - they are recognizable now, and she tries really hard. She is by no means the strongest swimmer there - all the others at the present are lads who are possibly a bit older. It doesn’t put her off, and I am v impressed with the coach. SHe does need new goggles though.

Home, tea and BB to bed. SB digicoloured i think with chris. What we didn’t do today - music practice!! and BB was more waily and tantrummy as well.

well, i had a lovely lie in [thanks love] and when i got up both girls were about to start some k’nex models. so BB and i made a dinodor/bird [4 legs plus wings, so a bit unorthodox!] with kids k’nex, and then we all helped make a ferris wheel with SB’s k’nex. I was really proud of how SB managed BB and found her a role and help. we all enjoyed doing it, and it worked! SB the project manager! SB then put various things on the ferris wheel in different places, saw how they slowed the motor or made the wheel wobbly - good hypothesis testing going on! BB played alot with an alphabet bus with me, looking for letters and numbers.

Actually, i do love SB’s totally adoring attitude towards BB. She loves her totally unconditionally, always tries to excuse BB’s outrageous behaviour, and protect her from the consequences [mostly toys in cellar!] loves her, hugs her and incorporates her in loads of her activities. We had a tidy up and then a cafe game before lunch.

After lunch was swimming, would have gone better if chris hadn’t lost the back door keys. by the time he had found them, me and the girls had already gone swimming, the pool was full and wouldn’t let him in.

do you know i am fed up writing this, i have already written it once, for it not to get uploaded, followed chris instructions and lost the lot. so now grumpy. can’t be bothered to particulralry blog all the long swimming blog again. blah blah.

home, and the girls helped chris for a bit drag things to a bonfire and because it was cold both came in and did some painting, followed my watching raven [called raisin by BB] and magic school bus. BB did some numbers and colours match and sort with SB. Out to set fire to the bonfire and generally be pyromaniacs for a bit before coldness took over. we popped some jacket pots to cook as the fire was cooling down. they were yummy for tea!

After tea we packed SB’s bags, as she is going to stay with my mum and dad for 4 days [sob!] SB read her inventions book - which she likes, and then we read ballet shoes at bedtime, and i left her reading the mummies at morning magic tree house book.

due to the lateness of the girls actually sleeping last night, there was a fiar bit of tired behaviour going on. SB was totally shattered all day, as she was found reading her books when we went to bed at 1am! oh, and i forgot to say i gave BB her first all round haricut on sunday rather than just a quick fringe cutting. She wanted me to cut enough off to make a birds nest, needless to say i didn’t!

So today I nipped quickly to the dentist - no probs - phew!! ANd returned to find SB doing her singapore maths, and BB watching magic school house. SB took ages on one of the questions, she knew the right answer, but couldn’t see how to work it out to that [i realised after she cried over me] its taking away across tens and hundreds. SHe also did some handwriting. We were going to do the propeller science kit, but instead she chose a dig out a dinosaur to do. BB made some more things out of the air drying clay. BB continued doing that for a bit whilst SB went off to her trampolining.

BB and i moved onto a bit of reading, including a fun number book to do a fair bit of counting and spotting the numbers with. SHe then did an alphabet jigsaw and some thomas the tank jigsaws. we did lots of hug and tickling games - BB is of the age of hug and tickle games! oh, and she asked to do a violin practice, so we had a play of open strings.
SB returned in a fragile mood, wanting to go swimming, bt no swimming slots suitable for us this pm. SO we did some violin, but abandoned it half way as everytime it wasn’t perfect she was crying. So we had had a lovely hug whilst chris made lunch and read a sir cumference book. After lunch we read the first story in our king arthur book, and also a french goodnight book. Still not feeling up to much, SB sat down in front of some roar back to back, whilst BB and I made carrot cake. hmm, the house has smelled rather lovely ever since. Chris has been still trying to sort out the veg patch during this. we might tame it yet!

SB came to enough to want to do the propeller kit after all. SHe and BB took one thing each, with me helping BB and SB pretty much unaided. it as simple and quick to do, and worked. [always important] . SO we obviously went and had a bath so we could try out SB’s boat - worked, and BB’s dragster worked far better in the water too. Both girls were far too splashy in the bath [i am worried re dining room ceiling!]. That seemed to seal both their energy levels, so some more vegging infront of the square box and an early night for both. think chris and i should try that early night thing too!

isn’t it so stupid being depressed about reminders of mortality. surely the response should be to get out there and enjoy life to the full. instead i have this gripping anguish. hmm.

i had a lie in, well, i am finding sleep near impossible at the moment. heard sb piano practice - she is practicing the bit before she started to find it difficult! will have a piano practice together more often i think! we did a good violin practice as well, but most of today was a lot of playing with train tracks, snuggling and watching roar, schools tv geography and walking with dinosaurs, and BB’s pod mission frenzy.

SB did do some zoombinis, with bb yelling encouragement - which is rather cute! Also she read the usborne beginners elizabeth 1, and tried to follow the quick links, they didn’t all work in firefox, so she went on to a go diego game isntead. a lot of playing outside.

BB and i read a fair number of books, and we looked at polar animals again, with the globe. which she enjoyed.she has spent quite a bit of the day being challenging. i did try and enthuse them on a science experiment, but was unsuccesful. before bed we played set and mastermind.
Chris has been trying to tame our veg patch - a job which may take a while! i beeswax polished all the wooden panels on the main staircase - that was quite a bit of effort! looks better for it.

my sister is home, which is good. i wanted to visit this weekend, but she would prefer it on tues, so the days i think are dragging because of that, and i have my own appt on wed.

i should be at work this weekend, but a dear friend at work is doing my shifts for me, for my head and body are not fully connected. i was going to see my sister, but she would prefer i went down later in the week when she is out of hospital. I have arranged the time. Also workwise, i have had my continuing professional development record checked. i have to accumulate 250 points in 5 years, this was a 3 year spot check, although they discounted all those i had lost the evidence for, I still end up with more than double the points needed over 5 years, so they have attached a warning that they don’t expect me to stop for the next 2 years!!

erm, yes, so home ed. we seem to have a bit of a flow going on at the mo. SB is doing her violin practice and lots of reading pretty much every day. Also lots of science things going on, either with reading or experiments. The k’nex has seen alot of play, as has the train track. BB on the challenging side of 3 today, possibly because i have worked all hours this week, so that she hasn’t seen me at all some days. Neither of them wanted to share me today. Since my headspace messed up already, i found it stressful, but mostly negotiated and pleaded.

BB and i played train tracks, we all read the candlemas and end of while the bear sleeps today, and had a cursory discussion about imbolc and candlemas, and a rather longer one on what we think means spring is here. SB did a violin practice. BB was very determined to show me where we lived on the globe - so we looked at the UK, she told me the polar bears lived in the top cold bit, and the penguins on the bottom cold bit. I was quite impressed!
SB and BB painted spring pictures [well, SB did, BB experimented with putting colour on paper, and mixing] whilst i made some jelly [grape and plum] that hasn’t set well, SB doesn’t like and chris prob wont eat, so will bring it all to Melrose .

SB read to me then I took over a book about pasteur and his microbes. we then looked in a microbiology book, but i had no coloured pictures - well, the virus pictures were electron microscopy, which din’t have a colour version then! [it might do now] but we looked at my cold virus, verucca virus and the rod bacteria talked about in the book. We think when we get a microscope we are going to look at yeast cultures budding. We also had a look at the cell in her usborne science flap book.

more traintrack playing with BB whilst SB read born with a bang and then we all looked together at from lava to life. I really love those books, thanks em for the recommendation. We moved on to a bit of an embryology discussion, but i resisted the temptation to hoike out another textbook.

the sun was shining, and Chris was outside doing some garden tidying. So the girls went out and played whilst I got some sense of proportion feeling shrieked out by BB! i went out and joined them, and we looked for signs of spring - snowdrops, hellebores, primroses and one crocus!

eventually back in for hot choc and popcorn to warm up. decided to slob infront of downloads, so it was pods mission from schools tv [well i think thats where it was from!], tea in front of timeteam, and then bed. SB is having alternating stories from chris and I, he is reading gullivers travels, and i am reading ballet shoes. She says she likes the variety, and it stops chris and i getting confused!

Of the year, though a couple of evenings it would have been nice. As yet not had heating on except the occasional visitor - ie little Nanny!

Today wasn’t as planned, as I anticipated going to Flag Fen. however, both irls having a lot of fun together all morning playing imaginative games upstairs, so decided to let live. Of couse they couldn’t do the same at all pm! SB and BB read Merry’s catalogues, and ticked pretty much everything in it. Hmm! SB quite clued up that she will get v little of what ticked, so I pointed out, that she should tick her MOST favourites only else we will just choose - thats fine apparently.

She did education city whilst BB and I played with the lego and read books. SB then joined in, but her and BB were in a #not quite matching mode, so we all went outside to let off steam. SB and BB harvested all the pears [about 12 - should count!] apples and beans. Racing around duly done!

SB then did some piano practice - very nicely. she particularly enjoys the piano. After that, we played at being housemaids, and beeswaxed the wood panelling on the stairs. Well, SB helped put it on, but removing was a bit like hard graft, so I did that - looks better for it though.

Much general play - mostly with the castle, then watched really wild show downloaded whilst eating cinnamon toasts - mmm lovely! SB and I looked at a maps book [briefly!] before we went to bake cakes - banana choc and cinnamon loaf. Hasn’t risen as much as normal, so no doubt missed something or other out. tastes fine though! SB drooled over the fimo we bought from Merry - particularly the translucent orange one for doing pumpkins!

Hmm, just been looking at earthships [thanks Dani and Gill] . What a fantastic idea. Up for that really - and so much better in a village/community setting. Anyway, back to blogging

ermm. oh, yes, we then watched some mama mirabelle, BB got her numberjacks fix, SB and I had a very long cuddle and snuggle, I read apple tree farm books to BB, Sb practiced ballet moves. Oh, and nearly forgot, she did some violin practice too. in the end I had to be fairly insistent that we finish it, as she had done half an hour, and was getting stressed out by accidentally playing 2 strings at once occasionally. I am wondering if she is too much of a perfectionist for the violin?
After tea, we played continuo. A rather great thinking game, and SB won! She has read me some magic tree house, and is now reading a felicity wishes book in bed.

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!

 
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’ ???

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!

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!

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.

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!