I'm in a bad mood. Not just a little sort of rubbish day meh sort of mood but a big fuck off humdinger of a bad mood and I don't even really know why, well that's a bit of a lie I do know why but when I think about the reasons most of them are so petty and whiny that I want rip off my own head and play football with it. But then again this is my blog so I can be petty and whiny if I want to and if I want to moan I will. *Stamps Foot*.
After the perfect day yesterday Lucy woke up in a vile mood and came down screamed at a few of us and told her sister that she would prefer her to be under a bus. This resulted in a trip back upstairs for Lucy and there she stayed for three hours sulking and refusing to apologise.
Lola was up in the night which was impacted by the fact that I didn't fall asleep until 2am which is because MRB has got new shitty hours which means he doesn't get in until 10.30 every night so to get any wind down time together (read time without the kids) we have got into this odd routine of staying awake until the early hours usually doing a lot of overtired hysterical giggling. I am not good without sleep, who is? But today my body has protested and slumped.
Surprise surprise we overlaid this morning and then Poppy decided her ear hurt so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her stay home. Big mistake my lovely never naughty 5 year old had pulled the wool over my eyes and lied. She has had the most boring day ever at home but has given me a monster headache because of her low level whinging about how bored she is.
The washing, the housework and the cooking.
The Son, I want my little adorable son back not this rage filled imposter who has come to live with us, he confuses me one minute he is cuddling me and the next he is raging at me. Everything I do is wrong, everything his dad does is wrong.
Lola, I love her to bits of course I do but if she had been my first I don't think I would have such a large family she is a whirlwind and now I don't know if I just had abnormally well behaved babies and toddlers before and she is normal or if she has actually been sent here to destroy me.
She will not stop breastfeeding I know it's lovely that I've managed to do it for so long and all the rest but am I allowed to say it is really really annoying me now? I wouldn't mind if she just wanted a quick feed in a morning or at bedtime but she looks at me like I am a walking talking milkbar if I sit down she will crawl onto me and yank my top down, hence why I always look like a badly dressed scarecrow because she has wrecked all of my tops.
My kindle, my replacement arrived this morning my second replacement and it's all well and good that Amazon are so good at sending new ones out but now I have lost all my samples and I am now terrified to use it in case it bloody breaks again.
My family, arghhh so since the row about two months ago I have not spoken to my sister at all and don't really want to if I'm perfectly honest. I have seen my mum once she came up and it was all very awkward I think my dad made her come although I can't be sure she doesn't ring anymore and we used to speak most days I miss my mum, I also miss my other youngest sister, this month made it a year since we spoke. We used to be best friends and her son is my Godson I haven't seen him since Christmas although I did see her younger son a couple of weeks ago which was lovely. But I miss my youngest sister so much and she hates me she really really does. I saw a photo the other day of my mum and both sisters they had been out over the weekend and my mum looked so proud to be stood in the middle of these two beautiful girls that it made me wonder if I she has given up on me, they do the right things in her eyes and I think to her I might be one big embarrassment.
And that is why I am feeling so ragey today so apologies for the mammoth ranty post but some things are better out than in.
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Monday 23 May 2011
Lucy Led Learning
So the Lucy-led learning is going ok. We have had a few hiccups but things are smoothing out and coming along nicely.
I have been brave and put the feelers out with our local HE group and made a few plans to meet up with some other HE families, I knew this bit would be hard when we started HE as I don't drive and have to stick within school hours as I have the other kids to pick up, so we can't go to the meet up's all of the time which is a shame as some of the sound fun. But hopefully we will make some new friends and work something out.
We have been doing loads I was going to take some photos but The Son has stolen the batteries from my camera for his X-Box controller. So you'll just have to put up with me wittering on I'm afraid.
Lucy made bouncy balls using this set from Amazon. I was very surprised how easy it was and how quickly you go from crystals to bouncy balls (that really bounce) it literally took 5 minutes from start to finish for each ball and was so simple I can't recommend it enough.
It has been a very creative week. Lucy has been writing a lot of stories most of them seem to involve Lola which isn't surprising as she adores her and Lola really looks up to her and follows her around like a little shadow, it's very cute even though Lola can't say her name and walks round calling her Alice! But Lucy dosen't seem to mind too much.
They did some arts and crafts together this morning Lola sat with the play dough while Lucy made her a couple of cards for her birthday next week, it was a very peaceful hour which is a rare in this house.
A lot of reading has been going on we started reading The Railway Children which is one of my old favourites but my Kindle broke :( so we are waiting for the replacement before we can finish it. She is doing really well at reading aloud I love listening to her. I bought her this version of Romeo & Juliet she pulled a face when it arrived this morning but was hooked from the first page. The text is really simple and very easy to follow and she was hanging on to every word by the end of it which was brilliant as I have never seen that reaction to a book with Lucy before. It only took 15 minutes to read out loud and now she is full of questions about it so well worth 2.55. I will definitely be buying some more of this series
We bought some grow bags, seeds and compost over the weekend and will be planting those this week, we have big plans for the garden and I think MrB is finally taking notice and has offered to help.
Other stuff Lucy has been up includes searching her globe and looking up info about whichever country catches her eye, she has developed an odd interest in Taiwan and is full ofuseless facts about the place.
She has been playing brain training on the DS and has just started doing a daily challenge on maths training.
So all in all a good few days, I hope it continues.
I have been brave and put the feelers out with our local HE group and made a few plans to meet up with some other HE families, I knew this bit would be hard when we started HE as I don't drive and have to stick within school hours as I have the other kids to pick up, so we can't go to the meet up's all of the time which is a shame as some of the sound fun. But hopefully we will make some new friends and work something out.
We have been doing loads I was going to take some photos but The Son has stolen the batteries from my camera for his X-Box controller. So you'll just have to put up with me wittering on I'm afraid.
Lucy made bouncy balls using this set from Amazon. I was very surprised how easy it was and how quickly you go from crystals to bouncy balls (that really bounce) it literally took 5 minutes from start to finish for each ball and was so simple I can't recommend it enough.
It has been a very creative week. Lucy has been writing a lot of stories most of them seem to involve Lola which isn't surprising as she adores her and Lola really looks up to her and follows her around like a little shadow, it's very cute even though Lola can't say her name and walks round calling her Alice! But Lucy dosen't seem to mind too much.
They did some arts and crafts together this morning Lola sat with the play dough while Lucy made her a couple of cards for her birthday next week, it was a very peaceful hour which is a rare in this house.
A lot of reading has been going on we started reading The Railway Children which is one of my old favourites but my Kindle broke :( so we are waiting for the replacement before we can finish it. She is doing really well at reading aloud I love listening to her. I bought her this version of Romeo & Juliet she pulled a face when it arrived this morning but was hooked from the first page. The text is really simple and very easy to follow and she was hanging on to every word by the end of it which was brilliant as I have never seen that reaction to a book with Lucy before. It only took 15 minutes to read out loud and now she is full of questions about it so well worth 2.55. I will definitely be buying some more of this series
We bought some grow bags, seeds and compost over the weekend and will be planting those this week, we have big plans for the garden and I think MrB is finally taking notice and has offered to help.
Other stuff Lucy has been up includes searching her globe and looking up info about whichever country catches her eye, she has developed an odd interest in Taiwan and is full of
She has been playing brain training on the DS and has just started doing a daily challenge on maths training.
So all in all a good few days, I hope it continues.
Tuesday 17 May 2011
The sun has got his hat on
The sun has got his hat on hip hip hip hooray the sun has got his hat on and we've been out to play :d.
So Lucy's book arrived this morning, this one and it got her crafty juices flowing so we decided to go to the park and then pick up some art supplies on the way back.
The park was lovely still really quiet as it was quite early we went into the walled garden first and it really is like stepping back in time to a Victorian garden , its just really really beautiful full of arches and an old fountain with ducks waddling around, the roses smelt beautiful I could have stayed there all day, especially when Lucy and Lola found a little hidden spot and we watched 2 squirrels sat on a picnic bench eating some breakfast, it was very cute.
We set off to the main park and discovered some new park equipment, a huge hammock and a climbing frame made from ropes, the girls had me pushing them around on the hammock and Lola had a huge tantrum and I had to wrestle her back in her pram.
Found a craft shop and the lady who ran it was brilliant she gave us loads of free loyalty points because it was our first visit and told us about the classes she runs one sounds interesting for Lucy filmo modelling, think we are definitely going to go along on Saturday.
So Lucy's book arrived this morning, this one and it got her crafty juices flowing so we decided to go to the park and then pick up some art supplies on the way back.
The park was lovely still really quiet as it was quite early we went into the walled garden first and it really is like stepping back in time to a Victorian garden , its just really really beautiful full of arches and an old fountain with ducks waddling around, the roses smelt beautiful I could have stayed there all day, especially when Lucy and Lola found a little hidden spot and we watched 2 squirrels sat on a picnic bench eating some breakfast, it was very cute.
We set off to the main park and discovered some new park equipment, a huge hammock and a climbing frame made from ropes, the girls had me pushing them around on the hammock and Lola had a huge tantrum and I had to wrestle her back in her pram.
Found a craft shop and the lady who ran it was brilliant she gave us loads of free loyalty points because it was our first visit and told us about the classes she runs one sounds interesting for Lucy filmo modelling, think we are definitely going to go along on Saturday.
Monday 16 May 2011
DIY ANGST
Its been a pretty lazy week if I'm honest MrB had a week off and that tends to make me go into weekend mode and want to slob around in my PJ's /blush/ I do think it has the same effect on him as none of the DIY jobs he was going to do are done, the stairs are still banisterless (is that a word?) and the bbanister is unpainted in the porch, the lawn is still long and the bedroom still has the old wallpaper up. I am hopeless at DIY but I am seriously thinking of looking for a local college course and learning some skills.
Thursday 5 May 2011
Thursday 5/5
Ok so the past two days have been fun, We have decided to get a rabbit, 2 rabbits if the kids have their way, 1 if I get mine and none if MrB gets his ! We have a hutch all ready now we just need to find a bunny or two.
Lucy had an art pack I picked up in Homebargains last week and it had instructions on how to draw a dog this led to Lucy drawing all kinds of things from a bee to teapots.
Cleaned the garden, Lucy read a chapter of Danny The Champion Of The World to me and then did some maths work online, we watched a recorded programe Junk Food Baby which was interesting and inspired Lou to research healthy food and plan a meal for next week, she also asked if we could have a go at making lemonade.
Today MrB, me, Lucy and Lola ended up messing about with rubber bands for the morning it was more fun then it sounds! Lucy has made a catapult and has basically played with it all day we worked out what stuff worked best with it and found out why lighter things went further then heavy things and she has been using old cans as target practise. We also tried to make whistles from sticks and failed miserably but hey ho never mind.
We were going to do some maths this afternoon but my brother and nephew turned up and we haven't seen him since Christmas so we had a lovely afternoon in the garden watching Lucy, Lola and my nephew bounce around on the trampoline, he has grown so fast it was lovely to be able to give him a big hug I've missed him so much.
Lucy had an art pack I picked up in Homebargains last week and it had instructions on how to draw a dog this led to Lucy drawing all kinds of things from a bee to teapots.
Cleaned the garden, Lucy read a chapter of Danny The Champion Of The World to me and then did some maths work online, we watched a recorded programe Junk Food Baby which was interesting and inspired Lou to research healthy food and plan a meal for next week, she also asked if we could have a go at making lemonade.
Today MrB, me, Lucy and Lola ended up messing about with rubber bands for the morning it was more fun then it sounds! Lucy has made a catapult and has basically played with it all day we worked out what stuff worked best with it and found out why lighter things went further then heavy things and she has been using old cans as target practise. We also tried to make whistles from sticks and failed miserably but hey ho never mind.
We were going to do some maths this afternoon but my brother and nephew turned up and we haven't seen him since Christmas so we had a lovely afternoon in the garden watching Lucy, Lola and my nephew bounce around on the trampoline, he has grown so fast it was lovely to be able to give him a big hug I've missed him so much.
Wednesday 4 May 2011
Baked risotto
Than is is a very simple midweek recipe brilliant to do after a busy day, it's just a chuck it in a dish and bung in the oven type meal (my favourite kind).
I have linked to the recipe below but I left out the prawns and added in bacon, it is the type of dish in which you can add anything to and is really filling.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11451/baked-spanish-risotto
I have linked to the recipe below but I left out the prawns and added in bacon, it is the type of dish in which you can add anything to and is really filling.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11451/baked-spanish-risotto
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Onwards and Upwards
Am breaking blogger silence, I seriously can't believe how fast this month has gone! They say time flies when your having fun and we certainly have been with the hot weather and double bank holidays everyone seems to have been in laid back holiday mode, today was the first day of normality and routine for a long time.
We haven't done much apart from hang about in the garden and catch up with friends and family but the down time was very much appreciated and needed. It was lovely to just sit and listen to the children laugh and have fun outdoors, Lola loves to be outside and toddles around examining everything she finds, the other girls love to ride round on their bikes or learn new tricks on the trampoline, even the teen ;) came out of his room and sat with me in the sun and he didn't mention Xbox for a whole 15 minutes.
I just hope this warm weather is here to stayuntil October for a while.
Have sort of lost our mojo with regards to Lucy's home education probably due to the other kids been at home from school and the fact that I have discovered that Lucy and I are just not the sit down and do three lessons a day type people [blush].
So I have done what all the books and forums said I would eventually do and decided to let Lucy take the lead, (I'm just textbook me!). Anyway instead of the usual mumbles I have been getting from Lou lately she was very excited and came up with loads of ideas including wanting to learn about Italy, baking, cooking French food, making her own bath products and trying to design and make candles, growing stuff in the garden and having her own small patch, making bouncy balls, photography, redesigning and helping to decorate her bedroom and so on and so on.
We have decided that on top of this we will sit down and do some maths at least twice a week and she will do some sort of written work every day, we will also continue with reading of course but after that I am just going to follow her lead.
I so hope that this new routine works for us, it does feel as though a weight has been taken from my shoulders I was trying too hard and it was almost as though Lucy was back in school and the strain was starting to show with both of us. We have only been HE for 4 months so I suppose we were bound to hit teething problems, but now the only way is UP :).
We haven't done much apart from hang about in the garden and catch up with friends and family but the down time was very much appreciated and needed. It was lovely to just sit and listen to the children laugh and have fun outdoors, Lola loves to be outside and toddles around examining everything she finds, the other girls love to ride round on their bikes or learn new tricks on the trampoline, even the teen ;) came out of his room and sat with me in the sun and he didn't mention Xbox for a whole 15 minutes.
I just hope this warm weather is here to stay
Have sort of lost our mojo with regards to Lucy's home education probably due to the other kids been at home from school and the fact that I have discovered that Lucy and I are just not the sit down and do three lessons a day type people [blush].
So I have done what all the books and forums said I would eventually do and decided to let Lucy take the lead, (I'm just textbook me!). Anyway instead of the usual mumbles I have been getting from Lou lately she was very excited and came up with loads of ideas including wanting to learn about Italy, baking, cooking French food, making her own bath products and trying to design and make candles, growing stuff in the garden and having her own small patch, making bouncy balls, photography, redesigning and helping to decorate her bedroom and so on and so on.
We have decided that on top of this we will sit down and do some maths at least twice a week and she will do some sort of written work every day, we will also continue with reading of course but after that I am just going to follow her lead.
I so hope that this new routine works for us, it does feel as though a weight has been taken from my shoulders I was trying too hard and it was almost as though Lucy was back in school and the strain was starting to show with both of us. We have only been HE for 4 months so I suppose we were bound to hit teething problems, but now the only way is UP :).
Wednesday 6 April 2011
Living Well Is The Best Revenge
I love that quote because it is so true. If you really want to piss someone off then do it by living your life to its fullest and not giving them a second thought. It will give them complete satisfaction if you wither and die like they expect so don't do it, bloom and shine and smile and enjoy every minute.
Friday 1 April 2011
The story behind the photo
So my brother decided to be embarrassing as is his right as an annoying younger brother, but be warned I shall have my revenge! He went up to the loft in Mum's house and went through all the old photos and posted them on facebook.
Among all the laughter and pointing at old hairstyles and clothes, he posted a picture of me holding my son when he was first born and it made me gasp!
I looked like a baby, I thought I was so grown up back then but there I am looking like I am posing with a new baby brother rather than my own son.
It is astonishing to realise that my own (not so little anymore) boy is only around 5 years younger than I was when I had him.
I keep going back to look at it and wonder why I thought I could do it, it never occurred to me that I couldn't do it which I suppose was the stubborn teenager coming out in me, although other people were probably thinking I was doing the wrong thing and I know a few thought my Mum was going to end up looking after him, my Grandma used to say I would be propping a book up in one hand and the baby in another, actually she was right about that but he does like to read himself now so yay me.
It was hard he was a lovely baby but his first year was spent among packing boxes, a rowing family (they do like a drama!) and me being pregnant again when he was around 5 months old.
Yes it was hard and in no way would I recommend teenage pregnancy to anyone but when I look at that photo I do feel a little bit of pride at what me and Mr B achieved when a lot of people said we wouldn't cope. But we did and 13 years on all is good .
Dylan had his progress day yesterday and he is predicted to gain A* results in his GCSE'S if he continues keeping his grades up. I am so proud of him.
Among all the laughter and pointing at old hairstyles and clothes, he posted a picture of me holding my son when he was first born and it made me gasp!
I looked like a baby, I thought I was so grown up back then but there I am looking like I am posing with a new baby brother rather than my own son.
It is astonishing to realise that my own (not so little anymore) boy is only around 5 years younger than I was when I had him.
I keep going back to look at it and wonder why I thought I could do it, it never occurred to me that I couldn't do it which I suppose was the stubborn teenager coming out in me, although other people were probably thinking I was doing the wrong thing and I know a few thought my Mum was going to end up looking after him, my Grandma used to say I would be propping a book up in one hand and the baby in another, actually she was right about that but he does like to read himself now so yay me.
It was hard he was a lovely baby but his first year was spent among packing boxes, a rowing family (they do like a drama!) and me being pregnant again when he was around 5 months old.
Yes it was hard and in no way would I recommend teenage pregnancy to anyone but when I look at that photo I do feel a little bit of pride at what me and Mr B achieved when a lot of people said we wouldn't cope. But we did and 13 years on all is good .
Dylan had his progress day yesterday and he is predicted to gain A* results in his GCSE'S if he continues keeping his grades up. I am so proud of him.
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Liebster Blog Award -thank you
The Liebster Award is designed to be awarded to ‘small’ blogs with less than 300 subscribers to spread the blog love and get them out to a wider audience. The rules are:
1. Post displaying the award (done), linking back to the person who awarded you (done)
2. Choose your own blog picks (below) and let them know they’re awarded
3. Hope everyone discovers some new favourites
4. Revel in the blog love!
Ok, so I would firstly like to award this to Jo She is a mum with six children just like me and she also home educates one, just like me. Her posts make me smile and it is nice to hear from someone with a similar set up to my family, And she officially has the coolest blog name ever!.
http://dandelionsducksanddoughnuts.wordpress.com/
Next is the lovely Catbus, who also has a large family and home educates. She writes beautifully and has offered me a lot of advice and lets me moan on at her over facebook about home ed.
http://allaboardthecatbus.blogspot.com/
Lastly I would like to give the award to Skippedydoodah for having the best blog ever (gush). I found her blog by accident after searching BLW and I have been hooked ever since. I love reading her posts and I am mucho jealous of her crafty ability.
http://skippedydoodah.wordpress.com/
So thats it I would love to pass this on to all the lovely blogs I have but if I started I would be here all day and Lola's demanding food, but I would just like to say I enjoy reading all of them for their wit,wisdom,advice,ideas and support.Thank you to all you lovely Bloggers.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Gabrielle
It is Gabrielle's 8th birthday today. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. I was 38 weeks and supposed to be getting induced at 39 weeks but she had other ideas and contractions woke me up at about 6am.
MrB had been sleeping in the other room as I was really uncomfortable the night before and had kicked him out of our bed. I woke him up and told him I was in labour and he grunted at me and said "What again" (we had had a few false alarms) he has never lived it down.
He eventually believed me and got up, the house was still quiet as the older three were still asleep.
It was a very eventful couple of hours - I insisted that MrB go and rescue our kitten who was having a fight with another cat outside, Our kitten then jumped through the window and attached itself to my (quite painful) bump in terror.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a bath and while in it my ctx got suddenly worse- mrb became convinced I was about to deliver in the bath and had todrag help me out sharpish.
Once in the hospital things went really well and I delivered Gaby two hours after I arrived.
Now I know I'm biased but she was beautiful the rest of my newborns have come out looking a bit like plucked chickens and got better as they got older but she was gorgeous from the start, she was a beautiful peachy pink colour and looked so fresh and new and just perfect.
Everyone was amazed by her hands she looked like she had stopped off for a manicure on the way out.
We had an overnight stay and came home on Mothering Sunday. Since then she has made life so much fun, she still has her style and can carry off any outfit often comes down wearing bizarre combinations that actually look good.
She is our girly girl, and likes all things pink but has a huge interest in creepy crawlies too.
She is the drama queen of the family and likes to play the diva our nickname for her is Golden Globe Gaby.
It is hard to believe that 8 years ago I was holding my perfect squishy newborn and now I have this beautiful girl who wants to collect worms in the garden during the day and then spend the evening in the bath with a face mask on.
Happy Birthday Gaby boo love you millions.
MrB had been sleeping in the other room as I was really uncomfortable the night before and had kicked him out of our bed. I woke him up and told him I was in labour and he grunted at me and said "What again" (we had had a few false alarms) he has never lived it down.
He eventually believed me and got up, the house was still quiet as the older three were still asleep.
It was a very eventful couple of hours - I insisted that MrB go and rescue our kitten who was having a fight with another cat outside, Our kitten then jumped through the window and attached itself to my (quite painful) bump in terror.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a bath and while in it my ctx got suddenly worse- mrb became convinced I was about to deliver in the bath and had to
Once in the hospital things went really well and I delivered Gaby two hours after I arrived.
Now I know I'm biased but she was beautiful the rest of my newborns have come out looking a bit like plucked chickens and got better as they got older but she was gorgeous from the start, she was a beautiful peachy pink colour and looked so fresh and new and just perfect.
Everyone was amazed by her hands she looked like she had stopped off for a manicure on the way out.
We had an overnight stay and came home on Mothering Sunday. Since then she has made life so much fun, she still has her style and can carry off any outfit often comes down wearing bizarre combinations that actually look good.
She is our girly girl, and likes all things pink but has a huge interest in creepy crawlies too.
She is the drama queen of the family and likes to play the diva our nickname for her is Golden Globe Gaby.
It is hard to believe that 8 years ago I was holding my perfect squishy newborn and now I have this beautiful girl who wants to collect worms in the garden during the day and then spend the evening in the bath with a face mask on.
Friday 25 March 2011
Friday 18 March 2011
Quiet
The house is quiet. This is such a rarity that it feels odd, I don't like the thought of one day the house always being quiet. I moan a lot about housework but I just know when I don't have to prepare a meal for 8 every night or wipe a sticky surface down for the third time that day, I will miss it. I can't imagine my life without a small person needing me and I don't want my house to only have grown up stuff in it.
No cbeebies, No peepo, No giggling coming from upstairs when they should have been asleep an hour ago.
Hold your children close tonight and enjoy the memories you make together.
No cbeebies, No peepo, No giggling coming from upstairs when they should have been asleep an hour ago.
Hold your children close tonight and enjoy the memories you make together.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Bad Mood Bear
Day two of the fog and I am staring to wonder if is having some kind of super scary mind bending power effect on Lucy. Of course I may have just got freaked out by that film The Fog but jeez she is in a really bad mood.
Alice is home today,she woke up in the night complaining of a sore eye and good Mum that I am I gave it a quick wipe and sent her back to bed so felt a bit bad when she woke up with a bright red swollen eye! I did think she had conjunctivitis but her eye is back to normal now and she has come down with a cold (excellent germ sharing skills there Lola) so I think she needed a duvet day.
Anyway Lucy seems to be having jealousy issues today because Alice is home and it is driving me mad. She has spent most of the day upstairs only appearing if she wants to tell me I'm unfair or that she hates Alice, The favourite phrase his hour is "Well she is your favourite" sigh that is so untrue by the way, I do not favour my children I dislike them all equally.
Stuff we have done today this morning Lucy made scrambled eggs for breakfast all by herself and I taught her how to use the washer.. she asked I didn't decide to suddenly train her up as the cleaner.
We did some word games and then we decided to write a book for Lola except Lucy decided she wouldn't help and retreated upstairs.
The book was nice though about a Little Bear who loses his favourite book and goes through a park to look for it. Alice enjoyed drawing and did the front cover and blurb plus all the illustrations.
I think Lucy got the creative bug then as she said she is writing a book but we are not allowed to know what it is ...sigh.
All is calm for now, an hour to go til the school run and Alice and Lola are watching Toy story and Lucy is somewhereplotting against me hopefully cheering up.
Alice is home today,she woke up in the night complaining of a sore eye and good Mum that I am I gave it a quick wipe and sent her back to bed so felt a bit bad when she woke up with a bright red swollen eye! I did think she had conjunctivitis but her eye is back to normal now and she has come down with a cold (excellent germ sharing skills there Lola) so I think she needed a duvet day.
Anyway Lucy seems to be having jealousy issues today because Alice is home and it is driving me mad. She has spent most of the day upstairs only appearing if she wants to tell me I'm unfair or that she hates Alice, The favourite phrase his hour is "Well she is your favourite" sigh that is so untrue by the way, I do not favour my children I dislike them all equally.
Stuff we have done today this morning Lucy made scrambled eggs for breakfast all by herself and I taught her how to use the washer.. she asked I didn't decide to suddenly train her up as the cleaner.
We did some word games and then we decided to write a book for Lola except Lucy decided she wouldn't help and retreated upstairs.
The book was nice though about a Little Bear who loses his favourite book and goes through a park to look for it. Alice enjoyed drawing and did the front cover and blurb plus all the illustrations.
I think Lucy got the creative bug then as she said she is writing a book but we are not allowed to know what it is ...sigh.
All is calm for now, an hour to go til the school run and Alice and Lola are watching Toy story and Lucy is somewhere
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Fed up
I am so fed up today, Lucy is having a meltdown for various reasons.
1)Because I don't want her to sit on Club Penguin all day
2)Because I have given her new clothes, this is not her fault though she has sensory issues and now the jeans she is wearing have been crafted by the Devil himself if you believed her,
3)She doesn't want to come on the school-run with me because it is foggy,
I am fed up because.
1) The toddler has a cold and has also had a wee on the settee so now I have to strip it down and wash it.
2)The house is a tip, I have fell so far behind on housework that the hoover thinks it's a coat hanger and the kids played hide and seek in the ironing pile.
3)MrB although helpful around the house seems to think he lives in a giant wardrobe and has strewn his clothes all over.
4)I'm very tired because I stayed up until 1am,watching the ER box set.
5)TheSon hates me today because I sent a note in to his teacher and put two kisses on it without realising.
6)The dog is on some sort of freak out at the moment and spends his days trotting, yes trotting like a horse upstairs and crying when he can't see us.
Ahhh well better stop moaning and try and get this house and various children back in order
1)Because I don't want her to sit on Club Penguin all day
2)Because I have given her new clothes, this is not her fault though she has sensory issues and now the jeans she is wearing have been crafted by the Devil himself if you believed her,
3)She doesn't want to come on the school-run with me because it is foggy,
I am fed up because.
1) The toddler has a cold and has also had a wee on the settee so now I have to strip it down and wash it.
2)The house is a tip, I have fell so far behind on housework that the hoover thinks it's a coat hanger and the kids played hide and seek in the ironing pile.
3)MrB although helpful around the house seems to think he lives in a giant wardrobe and has strewn his clothes all over.
4)I'm very tired because I stayed up until 1am,watching the ER box set.
5)TheSon hates me today because I sent a note in to his teacher and put two kisses on it without realising.
6)The dog is on some sort of freak out at the moment and spends his days trotting, yes trotting like a horse upstairs and crying when he can't see us.
Ahhh well better stop moaning and try and get this house and various children back in order
Monday 14 March 2011
Making Poo In The Kitchen
So I may have previously mentioned that Lucy is very into the Human Body at the moment. We ordered this book last week and it arrived on Saturday. The book is amazing and well worth the 2.20 I paid for it. It has simple pictures of the body as if it were a machine and explains things clearly and sensibly.
This morning we sat down and looked at the digestive system and 5 minutes later we were in the kitchen mushing a banana through a fake digestive system! Lucy thought it was hilarious especially squeezing the bottle to make the fake poo come out. We also found this site which explains the process very well.
I didn't take pictures our experiment this morning but if anyone wants to try it this is how we did it.
1) Add some food to a bowl (we used a chopped banana)
2)The bowl acts as the mouth use a hand blender for teeth and start grinding up the food, add some water which will act as saliva.
3) When it is suitably mushy pour the mixture into a bottle (food pipe) with the bottom cut away . Have another bowl (stomach) underneath filled with water (stomach acid. If you want add green food colouring to the water. When all the mixture is in the stomach, smoosh it around a bit more.
4) You now need a smallish bottle with a couple of tiny holes pricked into the side. This is your small intestine.
Slowly pour the contents of the stomach into the small intestine when it is all in you can if you want add a couple of drops of paint/food colouring or oil to act as the digestive juices.
5) Now hold the bottle on its side and squeeze gently. Some drops will come out of the small holes. This is the useful particles from the food being taken by the body and used elsewhere.
6) Larger bottle with small holes again for the large intestine ..pour in contents and squeeze to show some water being removed which then becomes part of your blood. You are then left with a lumpy mixture (browny red if you use food colouring) it was a bit too sloppy (TMI) so I added 2 cups of porridge oats and we had made a poo!!!
7) Hold the large bottle upside down over a mixing bowl (toilet :D) and squeeze the bottle squeezes out the poo and that is the end of the process.
I hope this makes sense!!
This morning we sat down and looked at the digestive system and 5 minutes later we were in the kitchen mushing a banana through a fake digestive system! Lucy thought it was hilarious especially squeezing the bottle to make the fake poo come out. We also found this site which explains the process very well.
I didn't take pictures our experiment this morning but if anyone wants to try it this is how we did it.
1) Add some food to a bowl (we used a chopped banana)
2)The bowl acts as the mouth use a hand blender for teeth and start grinding up the food, add some water which will act as saliva.
3) When it is suitably mushy pour the mixture into a bottle (food pipe) with the bottom cut away . Have another bowl (stomach) underneath filled with water (stomach acid. If you want add green food colouring to the water. When all the mixture is in the stomach, smoosh it around a bit more.
4) You now need a smallish bottle with a couple of tiny holes pricked into the side. This is your small intestine.
Slowly pour the contents of the stomach into the small intestine when it is all in you can if you want add a couple of drops of paint/food colouring or oil to act as the digestive juices.
5) Now hold the bottle on its side and squeeze gently. Some drops will come out of the small holes. This is the useful particles from the food being taken by the body and used elsewhere.
6) Larger bottle with small holes again for the large intestine ..pour in contents and squeeze to show some water being removed which then becomes part of your blood. You are then left with a lumpy mixture (browny red if you use food colouring) it was a bit too sloppy (TMI) so I added 2 cups of porridge oats and we had made a poo!!!
7) Hold the large bottle upside down over a mixing bowl (toilet :D) and squeeze the bottle squeezes out the poo and that is the end of the process.
I hope this makes sense!!
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Update
It has been a quiet here partly because MrB was home from work for the week and also Lucy had a rotten cold and all she wanted to do was chill out and watch DVDs.
Things are getting back to normal though, Lucy is into books in a big way especially non-fiction. We must have bought around 40 last week from various charity shops and Amazon. Her favourite is a questions and answers encyclopedia which she is constantly looking through, this has also piqued an interest in the Human body and she has become a little bit obsessed with the documentary channels and the constant A&E programmes they show.
We set up an account on Maths Whizz this morning and I was pleased that she could already do fractions. I am hopeless at maths so when any of my kids show a bit of talent in that subject I am a little in awe :).
Have also decided that we need a little bit of routine first thing or we tend to stagnate all morning and before you know it 11.00 has arrived and nothing is done. So know when the other girls set off for school we are looking at a website called This Day In History. We look at what has happend and then Lucy chooses one which she is interested in and we do a bit of research on it, So soon we we will be full of random General Knowledge!
Other stuff Lucy did some painting with oil paints last week, my bath is still covered in little flakes of the stuff (sigh), then at the weekend we took inspiration from this Blog
and made homemade paint it was a lot of fun and the girls enjoyed making it aswell as painting with it. You can find the recipe here.
Things are getting back to normal though, Lucy is into books in a big way especially non-fiction. We must have bought around 40 last week from various charity shops and Amazon. Her favourite is a questions and answers encyclopedia which she is constantly looking through, this has also piqued an interest in the Human body and she has become a little bit obsessed with the documentary channels and the constant A&E programmes they show.
We set up an account on Maths Whizz this morning and I was pleased that she could already do fractions. I am hopeless at maths so when any of my kids show a bit of talent in that subject I am a little in awe :).
Have also decided that we need a little bit of routine first thing or we tend to stagnate all morning and before you know it 11.00 has arrived and nothing is done. So know when the other girls set off for school we are looking at a website called This Day In History. We look at what has happend and then Lucy chooses one which she is interested in and we do a bit of research on it, So soon we we will be full of random General Knowledge!
Other stuff Lucy did some painting with oil paints last week, my bath is still covered in little flakes of the stuff (sigh), then at the weekend we took inspiration from this Blog
and made homemade paint it was a lot of fun and the girls enjoyed making it aswell as painting with it. You can find the recipe here. |
| Faster Mummy! |
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| A morning at the park |
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| Oil Paint |
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| Lola trying it out |
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Homemade Paint  |
Wednesday 2 March 2011
Gardeners' World?
Just me and Lola today, MrB has the week off and has taken Lou to visit his Mum who is out of hopital now but still ill.
I feel like I haven't spent any time on my own with Lola for a while so I am planning on having some fun with her later and lots of smooshy cuddles.
I just wish the weather was a bit better I am so ovr Winter now and want to spend some decent time outdoors-the garden is like a muddy bog at the moment and very boring to look at, I do plan on changing that in the near future although I am a complete gardening noob, it can't be that hard though can it? [deludes self].
Anyway I am on the lookout for lots of pots for the back of the garden to fill with flowers -which will look pretty and stop the dog escaping hopefully. I want to use the small side for veggies and the big side for the kids to play in.
Watch this space...........
I feel like I haven't spent any time on my own with Lola for a while so I am planning on having some fun with her later and lots of smooshy cuddles.
I just wish the weather was a bit better I am so ovr Winter now and want to spend some decent time outdoors-the garden is like a muddy bog at the moment and very boring to look at, I do plan on changing that in the near future although I am a complete gardening noob, it can't be that hard though can it? [deludes self].
Anyway I am on the lookout for lots of pots for the back of the garden to fill with flowers -which will look pretty and stop the dog escaping hopefully. I want to use the small side for veggies and the big side for the kids to play in.
Watch this space...........
Tuesday 1 March 2011
March! How did that happen?
I can't believe it is March already and that we have been homeedding Lou for a month now! Time just seems to be passing at a scary pace.
Nothing much happened last week all of the kids were at home so it was all a bit hectic and Lucy seemed to be in the mood from Hell for about 3 days too.
We did make play dough which ended in tears (Mine not theirs) after a full bottle of food colouring ended up on the floor.
This week seems to be going much better -we are meant to have finished the Victorian project now but Lucy is still so interested in it all we are just going with the flow. Today she has been reading about Queen Victoria and has just spent an hour working on her Family tree which she found in a book.
Talking of books, we went shopping today and found a load of bargains in the charity shops I am very pleased that I got this lot all for under a tenner:
Nothing much happened last week all of the kids were at home so it was all a bit hectic and Lucy seemed to be in the mood from Hell for about 3 days too.
We did make play dough which ended in tears (Mine not theirs) after a full bottle of food colouring ended up on the floor.
This week seems to be going much better -we are meant to have finished the Victorian project now but Lucy is still so interested in it all we are just going with the flow. Today she has been reading about Queen Victoria and has just spent an hour working on her Family tree which she found in a book.
Talking of books, we went shopping today and found a load of bargains in the charity shops I am very pleased that I got this lot all for under a tenner:
Friday 25 February 2011
5 things I want my kids to know about me
I saw this blog prompt on http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/ and thought I would give it a go, so thankyou for the idea and introducing me to this site 
.
Ok so here goes 5 Things I want my Kids to know about me.
1) I love you all, I know you hear some people telling me I must have been mad to have such a large family but don't ever listen, You are all your Dad and I ever wanted and each and every one of you is loved just as much as the others. You are the best time of my life and I cherish everyday (yes even the stressful ones) . I am amazed by all of you and the way you are all so different from each other, I find it hard to believe that I got so lucky to get you all and most of all I am and always will be proud of of you.
Right have you finished with the sick bucket, Then lets move on shall we?
2) Before I had you I worked in a nursing home and I almost got sacked for taking a couple of residents out, one of them was a 100! We went to the pub down the road where they got riproaring drunk and had the most fun they had had in a long time and although I got into trouble I don't regret liberating them for the day.
3) I wish I had been more confident when I was younger and not just followed the crowd, I would have ideas and thoughts that I knew were worth voicing but not stick my head over the parapet because I was scared of what others would think of me. I'm not so scared now and don't really care what anyone thinks of me but I wish I had been a bit more bolshy in my younger days.And I hope you are all brave enough not to be sheep and follow your own path rather than the loudest person's in the room.Your Dad is confident and will talk to anyone about anything and I want you all to inherit his confidence.
4) I hope you grow up and are happy when you think back to your childhood.I worry all the time that I am doing it wrong or that you will think it was all a bit rubbish, just remember I am human and you lot didn't come with a manual so I am going to screw up sometimes but I always try my best for you.
5)When I watch you all now playing,hugging,reading and your endless pretend games giggling away with each other I really hope the closeness remains when you are adults and dosen't get destroyed by petty rows and jealousy. Please don't fall out and lose touch with each other.
So many families are eaten up by arguments and I would hate for my children to be like this.
.
.Ok so here goes 5 Things I want my Kids to know about me.
1) I love you all, I know you hear some people telling me I must have been mad to have such a large family but don't ever listen, You are all your Dad and I ever wanted and each and every one of you is loved just as much as the others. You are the best time of my life and I cherish everyday (yes even the stressful ones) . I am amazed by all of you and the way you are all so different from each other, I find it hard to believe that I got so lucky to get you all and most of all I am and always will be proud of of you.
Right have you finished with the sick bucket, Then lets move on shall we?
2) Before I had you I worked in a nursing home and I almost got sacked for taking a couple of residents out, one of them was a 100! We went to the pub down the road where they got riproaring drunk and had the most fun they had had in a long time and although I got into trouble I don't regret liberating them for the day.
3) I wish I had been more confident when I was younger and not just followed the crowd, I would have ideas and thoughts that I knew were worth voicing but not stick my head over the parapet because I was scared of what others would think of me. I'm not so scared now and don't really care what anyone thinks of me but I wish I had been a bit more bolshy in my younger days.And I hope you are all brave enough not to be sheep and follow your own path rather than the loudest person's in the room.Your Dad is confident and will talk to anyone about anything and I want you all to inherit his confidence.
4) I hope you grow up and are happy when you think back to your childhood.I worry all the time that I am doing it wrong or that you will think it was all a bit rubbish, just remember I am human and you lot didn't come with a manual so I am going to screw up sometimes but I always try my best for you.
5)When I watch you all now playing,hugging,reading and your endless pretend games giggling away with each other I really hope the closeness remains when you are adults and dosen't get destroyed by petty rows and jealousy. Please don't fall out and lose touch with each other.
So many families are eaten up by arguments and I would hate for my children to be like this.
.
Monday 21 February 2011
Monday
So the week from Hell continued with the washer breaking and my lovely mother in law was rushed into hospital and she was quite ill for a couple of days -fortunately she is on the mend now and should be home soon.
I am hoping this week will be better although I got woken up this morning by Brett telling me "Your iron's broken" Erm it's not my bloody iron and I can't believe something else has broke.
At least yesterday was fun I did some drawing with the girls and have discovered that I am quite good at giraffes but if I draw a dog it always looks like a pooing dog [blush].
I did some more baking with the girls fairy cakes and cornflake buns. The mess was quite something as we went wrong with the icing and ended up with deep blue and pink sugar water!
Me and Lucy did some more reading and then ended up talking about The Tudors I think she was mainly interested in the gory bits as she was fascinated by Anne Boleyn .We watched some clips on YouTube this Horrible History's clip is very funny.
Back to the Victorians today I have all the kids at home because of half term and Alice has teamed up with Lucy to do some work. We have been learning about Florence Nightingale and then the girls decided to make a Lego Victorian village complete with a graveyard (told you they were gory) they have just took a huge cardboard box upstairs and are drawing another village on that I would like to say all is calm but I can hear a row about one of them not drawing people properly ..sigh.
I am hoping this week will be better although I got woken up this morning by Brett telling me "Your iron's broken" Erm it's not my bloody iron and I can't believe something else has broke.
At least yesterday was fun I did some drawing with the girls and have discovered that I am quite good at giraffes but if I draw a dog it always looks like a pooing dog [blush].
I did some more baking with the girls fairy cakes and cornflake buns. The mess was quite something as we went wrong with the icing and ended up with deep blue and pink sugar water!
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Colourful |
Back to the Victorians today I have all the kids at home because of half term and Alice has teamed up with Lucy to do some work. We have been learning about Florence Nightingale and then the girls decided to make a Lego Victorian village complete with a graveyard (told you they were gory) they have just took a huge cardboard box upstairs and are drawing another village on that I would like to say all is calm but I can hear a row about one of them not drawing people properly ..sigh.
Thursday 17 February 2011
Naked Egg
We did this with all of the kids over the weekend it was simple to do and really interesting to watch over a couple of days.
This is where we got the idea from but we decided to put an egg in water and one in coke aswell just to see if anything happened to them.
A fun and easy one to try.
This is where we got the idea from but we decided to put an egg in water and one in coke aswell just to see if anything happened to them.
A fun and easy one to try.
MEH
Meh, this has turned out to be a bit of a rubbish week in all honesty filled with puke, poo, teething babies, broken things and too much noise.
Lola is still teething and follows me round patting me on the leg crying until I pick her up or feed her.
The dryer broke (the new dryer only bought in November I might add) but thankfully was fixed today which means I won’t end up like the old washer woman in the Magic Faraway tree!
Dylan came down with a sickness bug and is still at home today slightly recovered and sulking after an x-box ban for getting Lucy a 24 hour ban on Club Penguin …you couldn’t make it up, are siblings just designed to torment each other throughout their childhood or have I got a particularly nasty bunch?
We made some chocolate orange marshmallow muffins this morning and even though they were a bit misshapen they taste nice Lucy is going to have a go at making some fairy cakes later.
She has asked if we can do some work on Witchcraft and Witches through history [hmm] I don’t know where to start. Any ideas on this would be appreciated.
I will upload the photos from the naked egg experiment we did over the weekend it was really easy to do and keptme them interested.
I’m really tired anyway so going to have a cuppa before the fairy cake making begins.
Lola is still teething and follows me round patting me on the leg crying until I pick her up or feed her.
The dryer broke (the new dryer only bought in November I might add) but thankfully was fixed today which means I won’t end up like the old washer woman in the Magic Faraway tree!
Dylan came down with a sickness bug and is still at home today slightly recovered and sulking after an x-box ban for getting Lucy a 24 hour ban on Club Penguin …you couldn’t make it up, are siblings just designed to torment each other throughout their childhood or have I got a particularly nasty bunch?
We made some chocolate orange marshmallow muffins this morning and even though they were a bit misshapen they taste nice Lucy is going to have a go at making some fairy cakes later.
She has asked if we can do some work on Witchcraft and Witches through history [hmm] I don’t know where to start. Any ideas on this would be appreciated.
I will upload the photos from the naked egg experiment we did over the weekend it was really easy to do and kept
I’m really tired anyway so going to have a cuppa before the fairy cake making begins.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Valentines Day
Lucy has abandoned me today for Club Penguin [sigh] . Yesterday was good though we had a lot of fun.
We started the day by doing a Valentines Day maths worksheet she did really well and is really into subtraction at the moment and keeps asking me to ask her to random questions!
We had a chat about the origins of Valentines Day and watched an intresting powerpoint on it.
Heart shaped bicuits were made and decorated and we had heart shaped egg on toast for dinner.
We had a lovely hour of reading aswell yesterday we took it in turns to read pages then when Lola woke up we decided to make marshmallow stick models (cocktil sticks and marshmallows) this model making took an evil turn when Lucy started making marshmallow Voodoo dolls!
We started the day by doing a Valentines Day maths worksheet she did really well and is really into subtraction at the moment and keeps asking me to ask her to random questions!
We had a chat about the origins of Valentines Day and watched an intresting powerpoint on it.
Heart shaped bicuits were made and decorated and we had heart shaped egg on toast for dinner.
We had a lovely hour of reading aswell yesterday we took it in turns to read pages then when Lola woke up we decided to make marshmallow stick models (cocktil sticks and marshmallows) this model making took an evil turn when Lucy started making marshmallow Voodoo dolls!
Sunday 13 February 2011
Weekly Review 7 -13 Febuary
We have had a few crappy days due to various kids been ill and Lola teething like a good un so she hasn't given up on the crying much and is very clingy.
So I thought I would share a few photos of a few of the things we got up to last week..
So I thought I would share a few photos of a few of the things we got up to last week..
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| Lucy & Lola did some reading together |
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| Lucy made spag bog |
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| And a recipe card |
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| Teething :( |
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Poppy did her own hair   |
Monday 7 February 2011
Collages
The material we bought from EBAY arrived today. We bought it so we could start off a craft box and Lucy wanted to make a Victorian Maid for her Project.
We did the maid together and she is called Annie (but her dress keeps falling off).
Then Lucy seemed to really come into her own and made some amazing pictures while I caught up on some housework.
She searched the net and found inspiration after seeing a dog collage and decided to make her own.
Lucy was really excited by doing this she was chatting away and talking about other ideas she could do. She has had a brilliant idea for some Valentine cards.
We did the maid together and she is called Annie (but her dress keeps falling off)
Then Lucy seemed to really come into her own and made some amazing pictures while I caught up on some housework.
She searched the net and found inspiration after seeing a dog collage and decided to make her own.
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| Buddy The Dog |
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| Bursting With Ideas |
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| Working Hard |
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| Lola Joined In Too |
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| A Mornings Work |
Saturday 5 February 2011
Saturday
I had a lie in today it was lovely,last night was lovely too because the neighbours decided to have a normal party rather than their usual Friday night rave [hmm]. We had a take away and watched True Blood and for once toddlergirl decided to sleep.
She has started talking all of sudden and has quickly changed from this screaming wanting baby into a cheerful little girl. She dances, she smiles,she chats and best of all she cuddles constantly you will be sat on the floor and she launches herself at you for a huge cuddle.
The other kids seem happy today Poppy and Gaby are dressed up and sat under the table which is covered in sheets ...it is their den they have supplies some books, Disney princess perfume and a pillow. Lola keeps going under too but forgets she is actually under the table and tries to stand up.
Lucy and Alice are upstairs on their DS's and Dylan is out for a friends birthday.
I am dyeing my hair later I know I will probably regret it but I have a box of red hair dye and the temptation is too strong and I will probably post later bemoaning my red bathroom or asking for tips on how to get my ears back to skin colour.
She has started talking all of sudden and has quickly changed from this screaming wanting baby into a cheerful little girl. She dances, she smiles,she chats and best of all she cuddles constantly you will be sat on the floor and she launches herself at you for a huge cuddle.
The other kids seem happy today Poppy and Gaby are dressed up and sat under the table which is covered in sheets ...it is their den they have supplies some books, Disney princess perfume and a pillow. Lola keeps going under too but forgets she is actually under the table and tries to stand up.
Lucy and Alice are upstairs on their DS's and Dylan is out for a friends birthday.
I am dyeing my hair later I know I will probably regret it but I have a box of red hair dye and the temptation is too strong and I will probably post later bemoaning my red bathroom or asking for tips on how to get my ears back to skin colour.
Room -Emma Donoghue
WARNING SPOILERS!
I read this about a month ago and was a bit wary at first after reading the synopsis but I am so glad I decided to read it. Rather then the story focusing on the horrific situation the two main characters are in it tends to concentrate on the strength of a Mum;s love and how accepting and trusting small children are.So Room is told from the perspective of a 5 year old boy Jack who you quickly fall in love with. He has never left the room he is in and thinks that everybody lives in the television.
He is very innocent and happy with life. His Mother of course is not happy but keeps Jack safe from their kidnapper and finally comes up with an escape plan.
The escape had my heart pounding I had to stay awake until I found out what had happened I really did care about what happened to Jack and His Mum.
I have to say I enjoyed the first half of the the book more than the second . It was good but I think it may have been better switching and being told from Jack's Mum's point of view ?
But all in all an amazing book I know a lot of people have compared it to the Fritzl case and found this distasteful but to me this was a feel good book, horrible and scary in parts but the power of love between Jack and his Mum shines through on every page.
Friday 4 February 2011
Meal Plan
In No Particular order
Fruits of the Freezer x 2
Chicken and Mango Casserole
Cheesy Veggie Tagliatelli
Spag Bog
Fruits of the Freezer x 2
Chicken and Mango Casserole
Cheesy Veggie Tagliatelli
Spag Bog
Thursday 3 February 2011
A moment to remember
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Wednesday 2 February 2011
Slowly but surely
The rabbit died :(. It was Lucy's bunny and only 9 months old we think a fox may have spooked him. Lucy was very upset she spent the day yesterday crying so not much was done.
It was however a busy day for me firstly I had a planned visit with a lady from an organisation called Parent Partnership. I did think she was going to give me some advice about groups in our area but the conversation soon turned to "Getting Lucy back into school" Hmmm ok then.
To be fair she did give me some good advice about statements but the rest of it was all tied in to help Lucy could only recieve if she was in a school. She also told me I HAD to be a member of Education Otherwise in order to home educate.
During the afternoon we had an unexpected visitor from the LEA I was half expecting it so it wasn't a real shock and she seemed very nice and told me straight away that it was perfectly fine to be doing what we were doing she just wanted to check that we were ok and were sure about deregistering. Once I told her we were sure and everyone was happy she went on her way.
It was however a busy day for me firstly I had a planned visit with a lady from an organisation called Parent Partnership. I did think she was going to give me some advice about groups in our area but the conversation soon turned to "Getting Lucy back into school" Hmmm ok then.
To be fair she did give me some good advice about statements but the rest of it was all tied in to help Lucy could only recieve if she was in a school. She also told me I HAD to be a member of Education Otherwise in order to home educate.
During the afternoon we had an unexpected visitor from the LEA I was half expecting it so it wasn't a real shock and she seemed very nice and told me straight away that it was perfectly fine to be doing what we were doing she just wanted to check that we were ok and were sure about deregistering. Once I told her we were sure and everyone was happy she went on her way.
I am letting Lucy have a couple of quiet days and surprisingly she has started just doing things by herself rather than asking me every two minutes if she can do this or go on that.
She seems to be enjoying working on her Victorian Project most of all -we spent some time yesterday on the BBC History For Kids site and it really captured her imagination she was full of questions and ideas She wants to make a collage of a scullery maid which I think sounds lovely.
To tie in with the Project we are reading Hetty Feather http://www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk/the-books/books-9-11/hettyfeather/ she got it for Xmas 2009 but it seemed a bit old for her then but now seems like a good time to give it a go.
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| Lucy and Alfie. |
So slowly but surely we seem to be creating a routine for ourselves and enjoying going at our own pace. Lucy is enjoying learning rather than looking upon each day as something to get over and done with everyday. I am very very proud of her.
Monday 31 January 2011
Smiling Again
The weekend was a washout Saturday passed by in a rush of tantrums and chores and was over before we knew it. Sunday I spent the day in bed! I can't ever remember really doing that before but I had some weirdy bug thing that left me feeling drained and ill. So all in all a weekend I would rather forget.
I am feeling much more positive today though the sun is shining and Lucy seems raring to go and full of ideas today. We have set ourselves some targets for this month and are ready to get going.
We spent an hour this morning looking at Victorian fashion for Lucy's Febuary project The Victorians.
We had a good chat about different fabrics and textures and Lucy drew some good pictures of various fashions especially good was a very cool riding hat which she added a few extras to herself. This then moved onto talking about Victorian weddings and what flowers they would carry what they would eat at their wedding breakfast and so on and so on.
I need to set up Microsoft Word again as ours has run out an she really needs hates writing with pen and paper ..it amazes me how good her keyboard skills are though.
She has discovered a few sites she enjoys mainly maths skills like this one http://www.ictgames.com/flight_for_fuel.html and this one http://www.ictgames.com/funkymum.html she also likes Tutput which has maths and spelling challenges http://tutpup.com/.
This afternoon she has done her own thing playing with the dog in the garden and bouncing on the trampoline she just looks happier and that is making me happy it is lovely to see my little girl smiing again.
I am feeling much more positive today though the sun is shining and Lucy seems raring to go and full of ideas today. We have set ourselves some targets for this month and are ready to get going.
We spent an hour this morning looking at Victorian fashion for Lucy's Febuary project The Victorians.
We had a good chat about different fabrics and textures and Lucy drew some good pictures of various fashions especially good was a very cool riding hat which she added a few extras to herself. This then moved onto talking about Victorian weddings and what flowers they would carry what they would eat at their wedding breakfast and so on and so on.
I need to set up Microsoft Word again as ours has run out an she really needs hates writing with pen and paper ..it amazes me how good her keyboard skills are though.
She has discovered a few sites she enjoys mainly maths skills like this one http://www.ictgames.com/flight_for_fuel.html and this one http://www.ictgames.com/funkymum.html she also likes Tutput which has maths and spelling challenges http://tutpup.com/.
This afternoon she has done her own thing playing with the dog in the garden and bouncing on the trampoline she just looks happier and that is making me happy it is lovely to see my little girl smiing again.
Thursday 27 January 2011
WorryWart
So I'm worried, I think she's worried and I think we are both wondering if we have done the right thing. Deep down I know I have it was the right decision she was so unhappy and fed up at school but I keep having these fluttery little moments of panic when I realise if I fail at this now she fails too and it's scaring me.
Hello
I've started this blog to record of my time as a Mum. I have wanted to start one for a while and I think taking my eldest daughter L out of school has being the kick up the bum I needed to start one.
So I have 6 children the eldest is 13 and the youngest is 20 months. L has some SEN including dyslexia and probably dyspraxia and has not found school easy it has shattered her confidence and I am hoping to build that up in the next few months.
So I have 6 children the eldest is 13 and the youngest is 20 months. L has some SEN including dyslexia and probably dyspraxia and has not found school easy it has shattered her confidence and I am hoping to build that up in the next few months.
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