Category Archives: Stringbean’s HE

card city here!

firdt half rolling out today – somewhat underwhelming as not particularly glittery – I miss glitter!

Christmas tree and vomit

being the 2 main things that characterised our day today.

The vomit was BB‘s, she has vomited through the night and on and off through the day, so I have been doing a lot of bf – no change there then! She feels a bit hot, and has a cold, but no obvious dredful anything, and apart from when vomiting, she has only really seemed a bit tired, rather than particularly out of sorts.

Before I flickr it, try and imagine what you think our Xmas tree would be real/artificial ;tasfeful colour scheme/whatever; less is more/deck the boughs. Anyway, Chris had to curse and swear with getting it i the right places, as no good helping with a broken hand. Only one set of lights working, so severly underlighted [I do like lighting to have somthing of an operating theatre intensity about it!], but will sort out something. Last year I divided the decs into breakable, and fairly sturdy, and so gave SB the fairly sturdy to do the lower bits with. WHY NOT ONE OF THESE SHE SAYS, OOPS! I guess there was the reason. The other main showstopper was realising BB was quietly munching on one. hmmm. After excavating most of the shards from her mouth [expect interesting nappies] I realised she has 9 teeth in full biting order. SB chose Christmas chants as the accompanying music – she has excellent taste, before we moved on to more traditional carols. SO all decced up there. Some decs put on staircase, and nearer the day, may prune non berrying holly and strip some ivy. Frugal princess or what!

what else? SB and BB went to library with Chris, and did a sticking Christmas activity and chose about 600 books [minor exaggeration]. We then read 4 on the trot until I insisted she read 1, she did 2 pages anyway with sounding and working out. Beans on cheesy toast. We considered the protein, carbohydrates, fats, vits and minerals to discuss further the book we had read yesterday.

After lunch we did 4 whizzing pages of Singapore maths primary 1A. Very easy pages and romped through them. SB definitely sure of odds and evens. Doing much more mental maths as well without using fingers. i have decided i prefer the primary maths to my pals are here, though both very similar. When we get to 2, I think I will stick to the primary maths series.

Rest of day taken over with Christmas tree business!! i did print the family Christmas cards, with a front and back picture showing my 2 meeting Father christmas.

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yesterdays blog

Hmm, well I really do need some sleep ? the combination [boring though it is getting] of these broken bits means I just don?t get a decent sleep for love nor money. When combined with SB having nightmares about being made into mushroom stew by a witch ? that girl has too much imagination, and BB feeding non stop?..

Anyway, we actually have had a good day, so I shouldn?t moan, even if adult tempers frayed significantly as the beanies bathtime approached.

We started with cards ? as sooooo far behind on both the early years list, and those for friends and family. How did Xmas get so close?? Then a fair bit of just playing followed by tidying up. I read to SB the why we eat usborne science book, so we did a few of the experiments out of that as well. Lunch was disregarded by both the little beans as neither fully chipper. SB did feel well enough for an icecream though?.

After lunch we had a group play session, which BB thoroughly enjoyed. Then we painfully did 4 pages of explode the code 1. SB great at the reading and ringing bits, but finds writing dreadful. Must sort the getty and dubay. She then did lots of sprinklies over the house picture, rather than more xmas cards. Her next book for me was all about magnets. We had quite a long chat about them. BB asleep fitfully in lap, so didn?t do experiments, but discussed the brio trains and the fridge magnets as reference, and we bought a magnet and iron filings set from brightminds as xmas pressie ? so will use that later. When the book got to electromagnets we thought we would have a break.

At this point BB vomited rather impressively all over me. Lovely. SB cheered her up by gentle stroking [read manic mauling] and was then persuaded to put on a music and dance show ? something she needs only minimal encouragement for!

Over tea with did a lot of counting in German and some mental maths ? adding and subtracting. SB also through the day has being coming to me with one liner queries regarding the concept of tens and units, so something percolating there!

Internet connection down, so done this as a word document. Hope it springs back soon!

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Simple Sunday

BB gave us a dreadful night last night, so we have felt a bit zombified.

SB drew a lovely piccie of our house and all the expected Christmas guests in it. She also put the pub next door in as well for GrandadF. Surprisingly, she also drew a route to the seaside [hmm, artistic license?]She then has done a sparkly [very] red Xmas decoration for the tree.

We did go swimming, and I pootled about. It was still rather painful though – possibly due to the 2 children, rather than the actual pootling in the water. SB investigating swimming backwards and dolphin dives. BB just chuckles around the pool.

on the return we did some hama – another glow in the dark star, 2 pages singapore maths 1A, SB read a red nose reader to BB, and I read a variety of books. We never did get to the explode the code. SB then looked at the new webland.

Lots of sindy and barbie playing. WHilst i was otherwise busy [snoozing if I;m honest, with BB asleep on my lap] SB got some blu tack, and is now fully understanding on the reason why you don’t squidge blu tack into a barbies hair – yuk! Any remedies??

We also did a lot of singing paractise – actually going up and down with ploacing our hands on feet, knees, tummies, head and up in the air. After discussions at Okehamton, I’ve decided to be pro active, and hopefully SB will sing better than her dad!

Finally vietnamese stew for tea, and Sudoku for SB and me – it does make it rather more challenging when you aren’t that sure what the numbers are! She has had her bath and is shining my pen torch through my cheek – sigh!

Other things – Chris planted out the garlic [at last] BB played with her musical toys, the tambourine was a real hit. She also had a great giggle at SB playing chase with her. She has enjoyed walking about – shut herself in the downstairs loo in the dark!!

I must see orthopod next week, as arm still really painful. Also, although they did views of my scaphoid, the base of my thumb is still hurting. I can’t think work is going to be that impressed if I need more time off.

Tomorow, Christmas tree.

May try and google child bonds tonuight. would like an ethically friendly one if ok – smile seem to do one through someone else. My dad alread has a babybond with the childrens mutual for each of them [i think] so i don’t think we can have another one?

Oh, and I finally won 2 ebay dressing up dresses for SB within the specified gift price from little Nanny- yippee! [helped by ebay postage coupon]

Easy day

we thought we might relax a bit!!

Lots of sindy/barbie playing. some cutting out and colouring paper angels. SB read to me bouncy ben [or from heart!]. i read quite a lot of books. Some cbeebies games. A game of shops – we made the money with different denominations and did lots of sneaky addition and subtraction.

Last stagecoach – SB got a glowing report. She now says she really wants to go back. I think we will put on hold for a bit. We are organising swimming lessons and ? gym instead.

the fruit trees have arrived and have been heeled in.
washing has been sort of done.
I think I may have deleted finally all the spam comments
i have started albumising last years piccies – on June!

Post camp always feels like a bit of a deflationary exercise. I think we have all enjoyed the more relaxed day today. I might try a gentle swim – or at least pootle in the water – tomorrow.

Must look at my diary for visits
MUST do tax return!
MUST do babybond – has anyone any recommendations for stakeholder/shares based ones?

Well…

Not sure if I’m going to write a huge amount! We had a great week in Okehampton – thanks Sarah for arranging it. Got to chill and chat with people i just don’t see enough. Slightly more tricky due to broken arm, but hey, amongst friends!

Highlights: has to be BB walking! SB picking up with her friends with great ease. Pennywell. Good food and drink. SB hugely excited to meet Father Christmas.

Lowlights: broken arm. long painful journey, SB being sick!

Credit due: Sarah – for alsorts. Alison and Sarah for being commis chefs, and Jax for being my sous chef for the curry! Ady – for lots of things! Kirsty for remembering my books – thankyou. [that map one is really good!] ‘Tilda for her creche idea!

home-ed moments: well apart from the socialisation, drama re-enactments, story telling, crafts etc, I have enjoyed SB’s determination to count to 100 [can get to 59 now], and managing to write I luv uu [sic] in a card for me.

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calming down

chris much better. i’m not, but really expected!
we are hoping to set off tomorrow – and i have packed [very slowly!] the clothes.
will text if we don’t.
i have loads of ebay bids on dressing up clothes, and will see if i have won any on return – chris laughingly thinks i will win the lot, but not wiht my max bid!! prob none.
BB well and jolly, and SB hasn’t caught anything

Actually done a fair bit of home ed stuff – lots of reading, story books, books on engines – plus ad hoc experimenting!] Hama beads, mental maths. lots of role play, sindy playing, lego playing. Some christmas cards – not too glittery actually!

Mistakenly looked at finances after an im with Jax – so back into depressed mode! But decided to ignore until after Xmas, and just be prudent until then – apart from an increase [dramatic] in the alcohol budget.

We unfortunately missed SB’s last stagecoach show, as I broke my arm the week before, we weren’t told, hadn’t been the week before that as Nic visiting, so this week she was taken by grandparents, who stayed to watch it. I’m less upset than I thought I would be – prob because the grand scheme of things problems are a bit large at the moment. SB did us at least 6 ballet shows to make up!

BB a treasure also, very happy laughing and cruising around. [shouting!] only the odd unaided step though. May bring her walker toy with us. Sh’es got great dimples.

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Down but not out

l feel issue ridden, but not a good time.
BB still dread-ful with purulent eyes.
-*also helping me to typ++e ++++++++a+t th+e- moment – mainly the plus sign, you will have noticed.
lots of sleeping and milk.

SB did 4 pages explode the code with nanny, lots of sindy playing. drove me wild with her bouncing on the spacehopper – only suppose to be done in corridor, but knocked my arm. bowled bb over and final straw my much needed cup of tea. and with it my patience,
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [bb again]
cue totalmayhem and appaling cheekiness and strops. finally settled with sitting beside me quietly for 3 mins, doing an errand [getting bb's cardi], a hug and some tears. she was an angel for the resr of the day. odd. need to get this under control, as cheekiness horrid.

lots of book reading [mostly reading books, included ulysses, a+--nd caught mum to giggle at goriness. She learnt it in latin!], lego and the spent over an hour on a maths cdrom dad brought. we aLso did come german

dad nearly finished pink bedroom, and chris has managed to help a bit.

my arm killing me, if anything worse as had to keep BB ok, as unwell she is not into mummy substitutes.
+

Some ed achieved

yesterday we did a hama spiral glaxay [rofl], some addition and takeaway with beads, and read many books including the buddhist tales from barefoot.

Today we did 4 pages explode the code, 4 pages singapore maths, making letters with maxi hama, christmas cards – stamps and sitckers – for the early HE list. A sudoku grid. Nanny took her to the park to wear her out [failure]

BB has dreadful conjunctivitis, but is trying to be a gorgeous smily star anyway. She got to push the dollies pushchair today – what a big girl! A few single steps, and finally got the swapping hand on hidden thing gag!

TBH

I’m really not in a blogging mood.

We mostly played with Sindy’s today. in a fit of ‘i really wanted one these as a child’, I bought SB a 70′s sindy cooker with grill and lights from ebay – nice and cheap and came really quickly. I was going to stuff it in as an xmas pressie, but forgot about it, so when a parcel arrived this morning, assumed it was a late BB present. Oops, anyway, she/ [we :?))] has/have had great fun with it. I said it was a christmas present she has had early, and hse is happy.

She did a fair bit of mathsy stuff as well. she did the cubes with chris – not sure exactly as SB explained some massively convoluted game to me where I lost the plot. Later, we did sticker subtraction maths together – with bonus sweets to help with the first 5 before all eaten [rofl].

We also read both Hercules and Jason and the argonauts from our usborne cartoon style book. She really likes her greek myths, and def getting the pantheon of greek gods sussed! We looked on the globe where greece was, and Tiryns, colchis, atlas mountains etc. Sb couldn’t wuite understand why Heracles walked to gibraltar and crossed to africa rather than getting a bot, and have to agre with her. Mind you, we decided that the island he went to was maybe one of the canaries, so not in the med anyway. In the book there is a map of the voyage of the argo, and SB a bit grumpy beacuase all the land was white. She says that unless its ice, it shouldn’t be white. So we did a bit on different ways to look at maps with the maps and globes book. Like her mother, she is still sure she is right.

She made a fuss as she wanted a ‘thing’ that she saw at the library. After some delibertion on what this thing was, it was a paper shuffler – no idea of their proper name, but I made a few of the paper shapes I know, including the ‘shuffler’ that i used to play with at school – you know, the thing with numbers and colours that then said something awful inside. It was the right thing, so we undidn it again, had a look at how the squares and triangles were over it, and then coloured and put back together. She is very happy with it, even though it has no messages anywhere!

Other things – well we discussed photos together – looked at Nics baby photos – very cute!! Which led back to a discussion about cords, why they were there etc. And the to us looking at some older ones of SB and her helping decided which ones she liked and we should put up. She doesn’t understand why i tag so much either, but one day she will be a tag convert!!

Other miscellany – playing with BB, she likes the toy radio she got and jigs to that. She has eaten numerous crayons. She can get spoon in mouth without losing all the contents, she has a lovely smile!

Well, TBH, my unwilling blog not so diferent from a willing one, eh! Chris and I slowely returning to land of living – losing migraine makes life bearable again. A cold only is not so awful.

Oh, and the DVLA lost my driving licence application [as moved] and with it, bloody passport!!!!