Pinocchio, but not as we know it.

I’ve been reading Pinocchio as my bedtime story with SB lately. The original story.

Like most people I suspect, my knowledge of Pinocchio comes from the Disney film version. That’s fine, certianly it’s a bit of classic, but it certainly has been Disney-fied.

So far there has been a talking cricket, but Pinocchio squashes it and kills it – he throws something at it IIRC. Though it’s since comes back as a ghost.

Pinocchio has bitten the paw off of a cat (when a fox and cat try to mug him). And they then hang him from a tree when they can’t stab him, here he seems to die, but seems now to have come back to life after having been rescued.

bliggety blog

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.

Musical Monday 5 – Aaron Copeland

I have really enjoyed playing his music – most noticeably the hoe down from rodeo [I coudn't find the string orchestra version on u-tube - far better! Anna should play it sometime...]. but todays main link is to the simple gifts from his appalachian spring. the ‘tune’ might be recognizable to many! There are a number of versions on utube. i chose this one as photos with it. would have prefered a video visual of the appalachians though…

bring me fire!

today had a raucous wake up call, and both girls were kicked out of our bed and went downstairs to watch raven, until SB complained BB was la-ing too loudly [which she was].

we started with crafts, as both girls keen to hama. SB used the fab gold beads from merry to make a lovely heart. BB also hama-ed a heart and played with the maxi hama too. BB then did a sticking play [bits of polystyrene to other bits!] should bin it soon… kept us all occupied for a bit, with general chatting.

i was reading elsewhere disclaimers on what is blogged, and i have to say that i am presuming people will know that i hug, tickle and play silly games, we talk non stop [like wind tunnel here some days] and there is low to high level sibling bickering depending on what kind of day it is. no, i don’t really know why i blog. perhaps in case i get alzheimers, or if there is some external need to remember? i don’t know whether this blog would actually do what i guess i would most want it to, to say to my girls how much i love them, have always loved them and always will. and that i attempted to be the best parent i was capable of being, and i tried hard! it possibly wouldn’t cos i bang on about what we have done, but i guess that is the focussed HE bit. And yes, because i don’t blog our stream of conversation [which i couldn't even if i wanted too] i guess this isn’t the full picture either. but, i am this kind of blogger, so this is what you get. i think if you know me you are more likely to fill me and mine around the words, rather than try and make us out of the words?

anyway, we did some work. I have been encouraging bb, in the hopes that stimulation will improve her stroppiness. but trying to balance this against SB’s needs too. SO today BB and i have played alot with the digicolour, done some pre-handwriting practice, done basic counting and matching and sorting, and looked at some letters. She declined violin or recorder practice. we read loads together and sang and did geomags shapes. when SB first had geomags – and for ages afterwards – she mostly used them to make lollipops. BB is entirely different [well, she is about lots of things!] and really wants to make 3d objects – today she made 3d star and a pentagonal house. [3d]

SB and i did a violin practice together, looked at some of the languages section on education city together. SHe also did some handwriting practice and singapore maths. she has read loads of the magic tree house books, so bang goes the plan of reading books around them, as she’s not so keen on re-reading, ho hum! planning to get some magic school bus chapter books and some dk level 4 readers. we get loads of books from library too, but she is a bit of a reading machine. would like some interesting fact based books to offset rainbow fairies and animal ark a bit! SB declined moving and grooving, latin, piano, science kit and barefoot buddhist tales.

both girls did some cbeebies website and colouredsome printouts, and some fighting over the digicolour. [i failed to buy one from sarah years ago!] we had a long discussion about birds as we fed them, and i bought this patio stand to put some of our defender feeders on, as they are hidden in the trees – good for birds, and not so much for watching girls! but it was significantly reduced! [as are some of the bird feeders]

chris doing some more de-ivying around veg bed and a big burn. both girls helped and played with fire [cringe] but no burnings! [bb was keen to discuss burning and dying] they sort of climbed a tree and messed about a bit. prepared for the big storm if it happens by putting toys away. bit concerned as we have plastic bag instead of a pane of glass in the big window, and the conservatory looks like it might fall down if you breathe on it. hmm.

i think that might be it?

oh yes, Sn did a fiar bit of ds-ing, and she is thinking of buying mariokart with her birthday money. we played continuo for our evening game

Damages – excellent stuff

Finished watching the last 3 episodes of Damages tonight, it’s been a  really good series. Lots of plot twists right up to the end. Great writing and acting (Glenn Close and Ted Danson). But a proper series ending as well, unlike some series which just seem to drag it out endlessly. And it’s set up nicely for what could be a good 2nd series
I think it’s part way through a showing on BBC, but we’ve been watching ones I previously downloaded. Highly recommended.

Hmm, maybe the Sarah Connor Chronicles next, H was always a fan of The Terminator.

Got The Wire sitting around as well, anyone watched that?

red red red red blue yellow

today i thought i had better get organised and be as active and there mother as i could. plan to exude a calm environment and not screech. started off well with chris cooking me breakfast, as i am a bit knackered cos i slept with sb last night at her request – always leads to a dreadful night sleep for me, but it is an occasional treat for her, and i am trying to climb up the motherdaq.

i think i am going to lose track, as it has been a busy day, should have twittered! i know SB did a fair amount of education city. once she found the bit that said what the games were going to be about, she chose grids, multiplication etc, and enjoyed it. i will pay to go up a level, as this one def too easy. BB and I did lots of playing with merry’s borrowed digicolour, and i realised that BB not only can count to 10, but does recognise all the numbers as well [even if it is 1, orange, pink, 3,4 etc...thanks numberjacks! i liked that 12 was purple orange - sigh!!] BB did some games on the ‘puter whilst SB and I read the india chapter from SOTW2 [which i know she has done with chris before] and looked at some pictures of the caves and findings from the gupta empire. we also played a bit of spin the globe with SB and BB, finding which countries we landed on. SB read and did the jigsaws in an explorers book whilst BB and i played, and then SB did violin practice with me. she did some very good sight reading, and we are working on rhythm – at the moment it is easy bits quaver speed and hard bits minim, rather than whats on the page!
then we had lunch…

in the afternoon, the girls were keen to go out skating. there was a fine drizzle so SB was in charge of seeing when it had cleared up. this was obviously a mistake – or perhaps the mistake was in me not confirming, as we ended up going out in heavier than light drizzle! oh well, there i am walking the village with a v straight leg skating sb – who was just starting to losen up as we approached our front door on the way back, and bb, being v cute on her skates.

on our return, BB and I made cookies, i think SB was doing something on cbeebies. then i was bored, so i suggested we made coil pot easter eggcups. luckily both girls thought this was a fab idea, so we all sat down and did coil pot eggcups with air drying clay. SB made hers independently, and BB insisted that i roll her sausages [shes not so keen on mucky hands - despite always painting them!] put proved to be totally fab at winding up the coils. they decided to keep the ridged look and only smooth slightly. SB went on to make a really good model pig for nana, and BB an enormous but fab coil pot. we did this for nearly 2 hours, and I realised that joint craft sessions are what really make a home ed day for me, sitting there altogether enjoying fiddling with stuff. And so sweet that bb said thankyou to me at the end for helping her and enjoyed it. think this might be a cue.

whilst doing this, we had some lovely symphonies in the background to listen too – possibly aiding my chill factor.

washed hands and ate the baked cookies – yummy. SB back on cbeebies and bb and i read some red nose readers together and she was wild for a bit. i think she is a bit like animal from the muppets at times, maybe she needs a drum kit. SB’s birthday money burning a hole in her pocket, and she was thinking of ds games, and stuff merry sells. i remembered that i had found the other 2 games we were given with SB’s ds, and got them out. SO intially SB did a lot of brain training – hence the title, and then went onto the mario game, which she has enjoyed. BB, bless her, pretended to be playing her ds with a picture of a ds. my heart went to her, as she was being totally adorable playing it. she has been told she can’t have one till she can read, so she was making do. i am feeling the need to buy her a present. either a couple of this range, or the new range merry was considering – which is unbearably cute. gah – more of my excellence money spent on the girls!! it did pale sooner than the real deal did for SB, so she watched some bob the builder and magic school bus. At tea, BB insisted that i write her maths questions whilst she ate, i wondered whether she was in the right blogring family! did 2 pages of assorted match and sort!

Anyway i worked really hard today at keeping cool, especially at SB’s diddley daddleyness, and contrariness, and BB’s threeness, and i think it all came together. but i am truly knackered. couldn’t keep this up every day!

diddle daddlying

is what i have been doing this eve, rather than blogging. oops. diddle daddlying is what SB does a lot of. especially when she is supposed to be actually doing something! like getting out of the house for not-so-local-group-north. We got there to find the patch of puddles already there [escaping from their LEA inspection!]. SB and BB took a bit of time to settle in, and its a group i don’t usually go to [being at work] so i did that mooching uncertainty thing [along with max]. the girls got to sow some seeds, start a leprechaun puppet, and do some egg dyeing. The egg dyeing was pretty adventurous stuff, what with melting wax crayons as well as using turmeric or beetroot dyes. Lots of playing outside as well, and then back to merry’s. We had planned to go home and do some home-ed, but that didn’t really happen. oh well!

nots and tots

i just liked that name of the group that SB went to today, already blobged elsewhere! BB went to her playgroup, which she does v much lie. SB went to n&t to do some french, not finish making a roman sandal and discuss hadrians wall. she enjoyed it, and didn’t moan to me there had been no latin (edit – ah, but she did mention the lack of it at N&Ts). might have been my fault as i told her to be careful to remember it all as we hadn’t been for so long! I was left at home, and we will draw a veil over why i was too sick for work…

on their return, they were all ravenous, and sb ate 3 oranges – so multivits and body shop cocoa butter lip slave must have done the trick for the angular stomatitis then! BB immediately got back into her skates – which she totally adores, and skated about. SB and I did a violin practice [with me sitll lying on couch!] and then she skated off too. they all went out for a good skate about in the sun with chris.

BB did some singapore earlybird, and SB singapore2A. Then SB dived into the pile of books we had picked up from nots and tots, and really bookwormed her way through the rest of the day. BB and I read some books together as well. BB and SB both had a short recorder session – I am trying to instill that recorders can make music as well as shrill shrieks. And yes em, i do remember you saying they should explore the noises, but shrill shrieks are killing me!!
The girls did a final bit of skating on a walk with Chris before tea, BB was cream crackered so I then took her off to bed, and Chris and SB started a huge k’nex edifice – a space needle, to find some bits missing right at the end. this is from the k’nex given on monday, so we haven’t had chance to lose them yet, so chris is going to write and complain!

I am feeling very fatigued, but not particularly v, so hopefully things on the up. have watched 2 episodes of damages – which i really enjoy, we are heading to the denouement at juggernaut crash speed. excellent.

i have put piccie possible ideas in a set on flickr, i need to work out what i actually want i guess!

Edit- added by Chris

BB had a bit of a strop when we got to playgroup. She stayed today for lunch for the first time (gives us a bit more time before we have to pick here up if we are out), excited to be taking her lunch in her Thomas the Tank Engine lunchbox. But they are supposed to be put in the kitchen and anything requiring refrigeration put in the fridge. she was not pleased to have to give up her box :-) Of course being BB, she wasn’t that interested in eating her lunch it seems. she said she got grumpy because they wanted her to eat her sandwich – and when BB doesn’t want to do something she can be grumpy ;-) I had meant to say to them to not worry about what she eats of her lunch. So. after getting grumpy, she then fell  asleep so I arrived to find her zonked out on the table :-)

ugh

have woken up in a v but not quite d day. so am banned from work for 48 hours. but have loads i need to do there this week! it is a near disaster. and i feel yucky and girls gone out.

so sorry for myself.

A day at peace

well, no, but certainly more peaceful than the last 2!

quick catchup for chris

MonSports group [SB considering trying the older group now], Nana and grandad dropped off SB’s present – a HUGE tub of k’nex [SB v happy!] ballet and swimming. SB has conquered her fear of the deep, so the inline skates are hers!

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Tuespiano practice, maths 2A [multiplying] library visit am [crafts and book reading], BB in playgroup pm [chris and SB tend to stay for first 30 mins and then she's happy] SB did a fairy craft kit whilst she was there. SB also did some education city – apparently it is now all to easy for her. i am humming about paying to upgrade as she hasn’t done it for ages, but she might do at the right level. guess a side order trial on the cards!

crafting

Today – well, part of the peace came from dividing and conquering! SB went with chris to a drama group – its a 4 session taster for the younger HE’ers in the area. [from the communication, I think the older group is at times 'a little uncontrolled' so not something that SB would enjoy!] The younger group is full of friends. She really enjoyed it.

BB’s morning was spent with me. we started making shapes with geomags, and the twizzlers – which she really liked. She then got out the pattern blocks and pages, so we spent a while there. She is really good at seeing which shapes will fit. painting next – lots of hand art too – as always! we then started to make olive and cheese scones for lunch, and SB and chris got back.

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both girls did some webland – SB is going through a making music phase. BB also did some poisson rouge, and was very excited that a new bit – an art gallery. We had scones and fruit for lunch – sb had 6!!!! [they were very yummy - and i use past tense advisedly!]. SB did a piano practice, and i haven’t done one with her for ages, but she has regularly played older pieces in the book. it seems to have done her confidence good, and now she is much more confident at reading the notes, and so moving the hads around on the keyboard. She then decided BB could have her skates. ‘if we wait until BB has been good, then she will have grown out of them’ fair enough! Though BB did say thankyou beautifully for us ‘boughting’ them. I do love language acquisition, and the variable past tense we get. SO a lot of wild skating ensued, no broken arms.

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SB did a violin practice – very good, and then BB did one too. SB went off to find a craft kit to do, and came back with the cambridge electronics kit. so we made circuits, played tunes and then did the flying disk – always a favourite. some more mad skating – getting wilder and wilder, and finally a calming down infront of pingu before tea and bed for bB, SB and i had a games session, including landlock, where she managed to put 4 gnomes together! i read her a chapter of ballet shoes – coming to the end – and she read me some of the fairy books.

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Chris went out to a meet and greet with LEA. said it was interesting, friendly and useful. doing those channels of communication thing, set up by 1 of our 2 not local groups!