Category Archives: General

my blog post – the weekend

yep, i am feeling challenged with title finding! in fact, feeling challenged wrt blogging at the mo. but we have done things, so should do it.

Fri - well, the morning was chris’s – looking at his bright kites [cos thats how i know anything!] SB took ages to do some maths, BB fimo-ed more snowmen [merry, you need to teach her to make something else now!!] and chris tidyed up the room of doom!

chris’s parents came over, and my sister and family on the way back from their family holiday, which was lovely, but we had family news to impart to each other which meant hugs were in order. the kids ran about wildly and then collapsed in front of the tv, we adults drank lots of tea. my sister left, nana and SB played games and me and BB played games. I think we did some french all together, and SB did some piano for nana, i think that was it!!

later that night i consumed too much chocolate. i wish stressful things made me not eat, as i would be really thin rather than really fat.oh, and nana bean went off and did the dcsf consultation!! well done. she did laugh at mine, as i printed it off, and it was a bit ranty!!

Sat - a rude awakening as there was an emergency at work, and although not rostered, it was an all hands affair. so i sobbed all the way home in the car some 3 hours later. i was hoping for a better year this year, but … I will just have to hope for more resilience instead. BB was adorable, and hugged and kissed me loads. SB rolled her eyes, and carried on reading her book [ ? this one Narga the Sea Monster (Beast Quest) i bet the author is laughing all the way to the bank, there’s loads of those books, a bit like those rainbow fairies, and SB and other of her friends love them], hmm!! but, proudly, i did then spend the afternoon being at least moderately cheerful, and def interactive!

yep, we were rang by chris’s mum about going out that evening for an early celebration of her 70th at a local italian, so we had no pressies, and set about making them. BB made a fab fimo butterfly pendant, and SB a princess pendant – also fab and took her ages. they painted cards and then both did a painting of a tropical bird for sketch tuesday. i was most impressed as bB did a humming bird how much she seemed to know about them. SB did ‘one of those with hair’ and hers was rather dramatic, and def exotic. we had nearly run out of green paint, so i have overordered paint from baker ross!!

getting into the car, BB realised she didn’t want to part with the butterfly pendant, and instead gave nana bean the snowman she had made the day before. there i was thinking we could make snowmen our geocache theme!! we took flowers.

so we went to the italian and actually the girls were pretty good for the 2 hours we were there – service a bit slow, and waitress obviously new. but they liked the garlic bread and the pizza and ice cream. it is a shame that sb and bb decided to draw toilets and then proceed to scream that quite loudly :roll: and BB lost it totally at the end over something trivial, so i carried her out, and then she was sweet as pie again!! bless her, but SB fell asleep in the car on the way home, she is so exhausted and has a bit of a hacking cough. hope it clears up soon.

Sun: i overslept. so wasted the morning, but did need the recuperation time!! got up and got going, we did some snuggly HE on the sofa, as BB wanted to do maffs, so we did some earlibird 1B – getting towards the end, and then a little bit of her before the code before she got bored and went off to skate around in way to big inline skates. she is pretty good at skating in these inlines. if she had a nearer birthday, and wasn’t going to get a ds, i would be tempted to buy a pair. [hmm, googles!]. SB had another go at a bit of galore park english – i think we are chapter 1 part 4 now, and this was underlying nouns. we had a bit of discussion about whether day was a noun, since it isn’t a person, place or thing, but a time :roll: . SHe also did some music theory.

after lunch SB and i did some baking – well, TBH, SB did it with me being companionable and listening to Handel’s firework music. we then set of the egg in vinegar experiment – btw it still hasn’t finished bubbling, and the shell still hard, so we are leaving it in vinegar overnight. BB went off practicing pedalling with chris, and then had a ride on the back of the tandem [my heart in mouth, its not been used since SB's accident as she won't use it again]. they watched a bit of magic school bus, then chris and BB baked cup cakes, and me and SB started her new piano book!!Sugar and Spice: Rhythms and Tunes for Beginners

SB and BB did a lot of skatering about, and we then read a french book on days of the week [ Les Jours De La Semaine (Max et Mathilde) ], and then listened to the correct pronunciation on the CD! we finally finished with tea and the second part of the cybermen part 2. Oops, SB and I also played a lot of games today, blokus, castle keep and landlock.

chris’s blog

thurs
stuff at home, too tired for nots and tots, read loads of

went to absolutely fab home ed thing on forensic science – piccies on flickr – girls really enjoyed it oh, and i know another way [or hopefully do] of getting dna from kiwi…

tree of happiness award

i would like to thank Ellie’s treasures for the award. Some days are good to spread some happiness around.

write 6 things that make you happy
1. cuddling my girls and reading them a book
2. snuggling under the duvet to read a book, with a cup of tea on the bedside cabinet
3. making music with others – partic playing my violin
4. wider family all togethers – like christmas and easter
5. camping with family and friends
6. playing silly games with the girls

actually a lot of things make me happy. the important thing is to keep noticing them, even when life seems determined that you will be sad.

i am sending tree of happiness awards to jax, nigel, joanna, nikki.

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fossilised daleks

what a fab title! today was latinetc, and we should have been on time, but a section of the road we were travelling down was being lifted up, and it was only when we got to the front of a several mile tailback that we found this out. harrumph.

As usuall SB enjoyed the latin – and apparently did know more than one word! and loved the music and bells, and was trying to tell me all about the hand signals – is that the doh a dear stuff? thanks gina for link!] the littlies started with a fimo workshop from Merry, where they made snowmen. BB was most happy, and impressive snowmen turned out by all. we then did science. we have put chicken bones in jars of vinegar and sealed, and in 2 weeks will see what has happened. we discussed the properties of bone, what it might be made out of, and then made wild guesses about what might happen to it in the vinegar. A little segue, and i got out some of our fossils – a lot of belemnites, some gryphea and some ammonites. much impressed by ancientness – though obviously the many stones in the garden they have touched are ancient also!! [could side track into ramble on relativeness of ancientness]. we looked at pictures of what it is imagined they looked like, different ways fossils are made and then we got to work making our own fossils out of air drying clay, real or imagined! when i did the bigger group, pretty much along the same lines, but with more detail J had fossil designers block. I suggested instead he could contemplate what might be fossilised today for the future. so he as done a dalek! rofl!! I had in my head that i would get loads of ammonites, trilobites and a few extras, but i should have known that this group has their imagination always on!!

an interesting aside, is that we always have some free questions and answerings in science, and the biguns surprised me by asking about madeleine mccann, and the evidence her parents killed her. I am of the opinion that they didn’t, and that there is no evidence to say otherwise. we talked about how it focuses minds of parents to keep children safe, and not leaving them completely unsupervised, however ‘free’ it might seem. they then moved onto shannon, it is always an honour to hear a group of children discuss these things with you as an equal. i do wonder whether some of them knowing about the current consultation has perhaps kickstarted some thinking.

some fab playing, some french games for the littlies – bb now doesn’t have a problem with staying glued to me, which is nice! BB found a newt in the garden, which she thought was a toy [like her stretchy lizards!] but C then took charge, and all the children got to hold and have a look before it was released into mud world. BB was quite liberally covered in mudworld…

SB was getting a bit worn though, as she wasn’t at her best [though this has meant lots of bonus cuddles for me, always nice!] but she had a bad night on mon, so i slept with her last night, and she did wake and stir most of the night [so not so good for me! but it did settle her more quickly]. SO for once she asked to go home, and so we did. Some of the group were moving on to a museums thing, and we had considered going, but SB was too fragile really for crowds and tramping about.

Merry and co came back with us, as she had a late pass!! and a bit more fimo-ing was done by the children – another fab snowman by BB. She really has quite an eye for detail, and is keen to get things right. playing around and about. but merry’s girls had loved the music at melrose, and were keen to repeat, so a quick sort out of merrily we row, and off we went! a full house of players. J is obviously another keen glockenspiel player, BB had SB’s violin, she recordered, and Merry, ahh, she brought a viola. it was fab. we will hopefully keep this going, and perhaps this will enthuse and encourage.

BB went to bed without too much wailing [ok, i fib slightly] chris read The Beagle with Charles Darwin (Inside) to SB, and she carried on, having really enjoyed it. we are looking forward to Darwin and Evolution for Kids: With 21 Activities: His Life and Ideas (For Kids Series) and The Evolution Revolution arriving. talking of arrivals, my rspb order arrived with ripped packaging – sigh – so now going to get a replacement. the felt also arrived ready for next latinetc.

and back again

sad to leave Melrose, especially as next year it will be closed for refurb, so maybe not the opportunity to go again. our journey there and back have been made much better with the acquisition of a few audio CD’s that we all enjoyed a lot [well, BB was mostly asleep, so it is not tested on her!]. We learnt a lot, they’re not in depth, but enjoyable, with background, yarns and the important stuff!! i would highly recommend!!

go, on!! they’re worth it!! 2 CDs in each etc etc. SB loved the scientists one best, then the inventor one. it is amazing how many were home educated!!

We stopped off at the angel of the north to start with as migraine needed a break. it is rather a fabulous art piece, and SB in particular loved it. we had a long chat about how to commission art.
we then stopped at scotch corner as a lunch break. I often grumble about it being called scotch corner, its not as if it is anywhere near scotland. no doubt there is a reason, and i could probably google it! SB and I missed kirsty and family, whilst chris and bB didn’t.

luckilly :roll: we got to meet later on, so SB didn’t feel left out. as we got near wetherby the car started to wobble alarmingly. chris thought it might be a puncture and kicked the tyre on the hard shoulder, and then we wobbled all the way to wetherby services. having brightkited, we had loads of messages of support and assistance – thanks guys. kirsty rolled in and provided chocolate and moral support, and chris eventually decided a weight thingy was declared missing from a wheel, and the wheel changed and we set off – thankfully wobble free!!

SO we arrived far later than planned to SOTP for feeding, playing, chatting and book swapping. as well as a discussion on evolution resources – listed below. some of which are overtly and some perhaps covertly anti-creationist rather than ignoring it. [i think we all know i favour evolution :wink: ]
the next day lots of play, particularly sweet with J and BB. and SB, C and M put on a show. I was impressed with SB’s modal tune, which she reprised later. As always C sang beautifully, but M also has a voice to be proud of.

Finally we set off home, and got in at 11. unfortunately BB has got her times all wrong, and was then awake! but never mind. we had a fab week, and lovely to visit friends on the there and back again.

Melrose 2009

well, where do you start? it was utterly fabulous. I have always been greatful to mrs muddlepuddle for starting out the melrose early years winter camp. this year was no exception. and we had snow!

we arrived just in the nick of time to put the pasta sauce on for the starving hordes, and well received! we met and gret [meeted and greeted?] new faces, old faces and firm friends, made from the very first muddlepuddle camp we ever attended 4 years ago [did i mention i was greatful?] then we got down to business, children playing elswhere and parents chatting, wine timing and playing games. the kids might call this ‘the snowy melrose’ but for us adults, it might well be ‘the games melrose’.

snow: oK, i am not going to do a blow by blow account – quite! we all had fun in the snow. the sledges [i got more off as it came to under a tenner for 2!] i bought at the last minute – and nearly sent back :roll: due to colour arguments – were well worth the pennies, and were used a lot every day by our kids and others – was pleased how well the sharing thing worked. the portico also brought sledges – rather cool silicon mat type thingies. so yes, snow was a key part of the melrose experience this year.

Gaming, was a v adult part of the experience! i really REALLY enjoyed stone age and Pandemic, and would be happy to play those lots. others played carcassonne and mission 44 and blokus, but i settled for those 2! lots of the adults got involved, and what with those stitching beside giving helpful commentary, it was all v sociable.

communal food was all delish. thanks to all the other makers. luckilly i didn’t over cater on the cooking front quite so outrageously. things to remember for next time 3kg rice is plenty. 5kg potatoes, 4 tins peas, 12 tins toms, 3 caulis, 1 tube garlic paste, 1 bag red lentils, 1 bag split yellow peas or channa, 10 onions, 1 tube tom paste, 1 spice pot bombay spices, 1 spice pot korma. only need 1 large yoghurt pot! with 1 little bag mint leaves and 1 cucumber.

crafts/activities. three cheers for nattyandplusone [avoiding google hits there!!] for providing felting and a computer gaming workshop. both my 2 got a lot out of them. i particularly loved the care and effort and significant attention bb put into her dinodoor scene [shh, its a secret present for daddybean], and they both worked hard on their ideas and looks for the computer game. finally they, courtesy of bead merrily, fimo-ed for ages, particularly BB as SB was off playing and practicing for the show at the end of the week. i also fimo-ed some aliens, and did a special one to one workshop with Jpie on fimo snowmen.I also did an ad hoc activity, and prepared skye boat song for the instruments available. in the end it was done when none of the guitarrists, or my children, where present. oh well! however, fran did a fab job with the sightreading of a lovelty cello part, various adults held the tune, and various children played d and e at mostly the right time. we heard e’s glock for the first time too.

music: i got to play the violin some more with em. always a joy. we snuck off and remained hidden for a fair while until required to be parents again! next time, if fran there, may simplify the continuo and see if she is interested…

escaping the hostel. well, we didn’t do dynamic earth this year, and though i planned to visit jedburgh and mary queen of scots house, a migraine put paid to that. and somehow – prob due to the snow, we didn’t swim in galashiels either. However, chris, SB and the manor borns walked up to a trig point, and then scudded down on their bottoms in the snow! i had an amble around Melrose with merry and 2 of her girls, and that was about it for us as i failed to persuade SB to walk to trimontium.

playing: well, the girls appeared to do a lot of that. Seemed to be mostly very smooth as well with little flouncing and bouncing – always good. BB also packed in some TV watching. There was a cabaret at the end put on by the kids and compered excellently by gwenny – nice to see the portico holding on to their traditional roles :lol: SB did a fab gym routine and also a leaping lunatics dance, and finally a bit of recordering. after some rather good clowning act moments – including heckling by small – BB also did some recordering. lovely acts from all in it i thought.

challenging moments
: well, i thought i had better before BB was outed too!! ‘i’m not tired’ wail shriek and full tantrum. lovely! I saw you all giggle, particularly Marcus! to say that BB was challenged and challenging whenever she didn’t get what she wanted from her parents is an understatement. Luckilly no more than 25% of the time – :roll: but am wondering what she was doing when out of our view…

So there was melrose. do you wish you had gone? you would have enjoyed it!!

Evolution / charles darwin books



Making their own Music



IMG_6300, originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious.

lost it!

first for today = coming off the road in the snow. actually think due to farmer muck as well. but still scary even if was slow and not ending in the obligatory ditch! so came home to try again at lunchtime, when should be a bit melted. :roll: at self