Busy!

I have this plan to blog at least every Sunday but then life never quite goes how you plan it, does it? So this is a bit of busy post covering some of our activities and outings over the last couple of weeks.

 L had her orthopedics appointment, have to say the consultant was wonderful, great with children. We were shown into the consulting room and had to wait for the consultant, so we carried on reading a story, he came in,introduced himself and asked if he could listen to the story. After a couple of sentence he asked her a couple of questions and then could he have a look  at her toys feet and legs, putting L completely at ease by the time he examined her, couldn't of wanted a better appointment. Anyway the outcome of the appointment was confirming my suspicions of flat feet and hyper mobility, as they aren't causing her pain or stiffness at the moment, just some occasional discomfort and annoyance at her bendy ankles as they make her a bit wobbly, they won't do any treatment, just something to be aware of. I've had a date throughh for my next appointment for my drug allergy, unfortunately its not till January next year, hoping they will have all the answers then if not this could take years to sort out what medicines and anesthetics I can use safely. Feeling somewhat frustrated at the long waits, very aware that adult allergy services in this country are few and far between and those dealing with drug allergies are even rarer but it does mean real delays in treatment and even surgery. Anyway back to happier things, we are of to view kittens tonight so hoping they are ok and we can have new pets in a couple of weeks, I have very excited children here to say the least, the girls are counting down the hours till we see them! In trying to distract them we have been having fun making different paper aeroplanes and looking at how we can alter their flight path. Different size paper spinners and seeing which ones, spin better,how size and different materials affects what happens.

 We also made a tissue paper parachute, much to everyone's amazement it really worked even if it did have a few cliff crashes, aka the chair we stood on to launch the parachute.

Demonstrating jet propulsion with a balloon and a straw, which we repeated again and again, amazed the balloon didn't pop! L thought it was very funny watching the balloon whizz along the string.

Hubby had a Friday of work, the original plan was to do some jobs round the house, not urgent ones luckily but as the day was so sunny we decided on day trip out to Beale Park. Lots of animals and birds for the girls to see, otters and meerkats being their favourite, also had a train ride round the park.

Mongoose.

 We watched the otters for ages and came back to see them a couple of times, they are so wonderful to watch and love their faces.

Hellebore in the Japanese garden at Beale park were stunning.

 I have only just started reading Jane Goodall's a Reason For Hope, she writes in such a lovely way you just want to keep on reading, at the moment she is talking about her childhood, the time when Jane was little and took a handful of worms to bed to study and her Mum patiently explaining that they needed dirt and wouldn't survive in her bed! There are several other stories of similar incidences and then she writes about how she was so lucky to grow up in a household with a mother wise enough to provide nurture and encourage her passions, that children should always try their best, that she didn't stifle Jane's passion or indulge in senseless discipline. Her mother understood the importance of discipline but she always explained why some things aren't allowed etc, she was fair and consistent. You can see how her passion was there from such a young age and how her family supported and encouraged her, a remarkable story. On a knitting front, I have 3 works in progress, 2 baby cardigans and top for L, finished of this little cardi sirdar 1325, hadn't realised that what I thought was a plain pattern stripe between the lace was actually every stitch knitted through the back of it, gives the plain knitting more definition, not sure if the photo shows it that clearly.

Some photos of walk we had when M was at her gymnastics class, these are all taken by L, I let her have my small camera and she had a lovely time taking photos of her choice. Its great to get home and load up the photos not really having a clue what they will be like or exactly of what.

Advent

There is something special about lighting the advent calendar for the first time, I love the excitement and anticipation at what this month will bring. 24 crafts and activities planned, one for each day of advent, books sorted, happy times ahead. Now I had planned for the first of December to be a day at home, crafting and story telling, instead ended up in town shoe hunting for L. L has very narrow feet and we hadn't been able to find anything in the out of town shoe shop, had ordered a couple of different styles, gone back but these didn't fit either. So town was the next choice, won't say how long we were in town for but we now do have some nice sensible shoes, that fit and according to L are  very comfy, though I did have to talk her out of some pink suede boots. Yes the did look nice but pale pink suede footwear on my tree climbing 5 year old, maybe not the best choice. On the way back to our car, realised that they have moved all the payment machines, so ended up having to walk through one level of the car park, to find one and then up the stairs we don't normally use. M was going up first, turned the corner and quickly turned to come back down, heard a man's voice apologising and then stuck his head round the corner, slight panic initially from me but as he stayed sitting and was very apologetic, that I trusted my instinct that he was ok. Turned out he had come to what in theory was the quietest staircase, to get out of the cold to try and get some sleep, one of the towns many homeless. He was so apologetic that he had worried my oldest daughter and was busy moving his bags out of the way for us to pass, while still apologising. Me by this time had recovered from the initial shock and was feeling guilty that we had disturbed his sleep and had been busy buying a few Christmas decorations while he will be spending another night out in the cold. He was saying that a new shelter was opening over the Christmas period and he was hoping to get a bed there. In the meantime he had been given a new army sleeping bag by one of the local charities, so it wasn't as bad as it had been, he was so polite and positive about his situation, we wished him all the best and hope he does get somewhere warm to sleep. So this post is written with real mixed feelings, the joy and happiness I want my family to feel at this time of year and the sadness for those that are in difficult, stressful situations now, those that are homeless and those that the threat of eviction is on the cards. We as an individual can make difference but at times it never feels enough, where we live the cost of housing is so expensive, the situation is only going to get worse.

Our advent reading this year, we have 2, for L we are reading  Advent Stories and for M The Christmas Mystery, the age range for this is 6 to 11 year old, we are only on day 2 but actually M,L and I are all enjoying the story, its lovely to have a Christmas book that we all can all snuggle up and  enjoy, well the girls the menfolk aren't so interested.

We are reusing an advent calendar we made a couple of years ago, under each tag is an activity, craft, poem to read, we always read The Night before Christmas on Christmas Eve. So our first craft

was making Christmas cards for Grandparents and realising that we have loads of Christmas stickers, think I have picked up more than one pack in the sales after Christmas, won't need to buy any for a couple of years.

I have finished L's Odila cape pullover, she loves it, its roomy enough to pull over another jumper if she is cold, if you are wondering what she is doing, she is using a periscope that her Dad and her made the other week. Which she has thoroughly enjoyed playing with and experimenting with trying to see round corners, above worktops. Joining Nicole for Crafting On

A Week of Firsts

I would like to say I don't know where the time is going but I do its busy working with M and her IGCSE coursework, it is going ok but its a lot of work for her and I! On top of this she has been practising badge work for gymnastics and wanting me to check her positioning etc, she's now achieved her bronze and learning drama speeches for her Lamda exams which we had hoped would be Easter but are now the beginning of February.  She has now mentioned that she might be put in for her ballroom and Latin exams in February too, these are all classes she loves but it is extra work, we have also manged to do some Christmas shopping.

Hubby realised he still had holiday to be used up before Christmas, still waiting to find out if he will be on call over Christmas but it does mean he will be having some long weekends, so have some day trips planned.

L has been desperately wanting to go on a train, so Monday last week, we took the bus into town and then the train to Oxford. While there we visited the  Oxford Natural History Museum so she could see some fossils another first and the Pitts Museum. She loved the train ride and on the bus on the way home hubby took her upstairs, another thing she has been desperate to do, I do not like the stairs on the bus especially with a small child.

The Natural History Museum is lovely, lots to see and do with out being overwhelming, L loved the fossils, the various animal displays, the black bear was adored and the displays of birds from around the world. Though she did get rather upset with one display where a bird had killed a rabbit, so quick talk about life cycles and what might happen if the rabbits had no predators, how different our world would look, upsetting but it is life. Pitts museum, lots to see and maybe a little overwhelming as their are loads of cases, with lots to see! I loved the display of bobbin lace and lace patterns, clothing from around the world, musical instruments, L enjoyed doing the mouse trail, definitely somewhere to visit again.

The other first was taking the girls to a hairdressers, we normally have a lovely friend come to our house but she has been unwell for a while now, felt guilty going somewhere else but desperately needed haircuts. M really didn't want to go somewhere else but actually enjoyed the experience especially the big mirror and being able to watch what was going on, for L it was too noisy, didn't like the clippers and hairdryers going.

We have also been doing lots of baking, M has experimented with scone base pizza recipe but decided she much prefers a bread based one, L and I have made oat cookies and an eggless ginger cake.

Oat Cookies

200g self raising flour

200g oats

125g brown sugar

200g margarine or butter melted

15ml golden syrup

15ml hot water

2.5ml bicarbonate of soda

1. Mix flour, oats and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in the melted margarine and golden syrup
3. Mix hot water and bicarbonate of soda together and add to the rest of the ingredients,mix well.
4. Roll into small balls in your had and gently pat down a little after it is placed on the baking tray.
5. Bake at Gas 4 for 15 minutes.

Eggless Ginger Cake

275g plain flour

5ml bicarbonate of soda

10ml ground ginger

125g treacle

125g golden syrup

125 g margarine or butter

125g brown sugar

150ml milk or milk substitute, we use oat milk

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and ground ginger.
2. Put treacle, golden syrup, margarine and brown sugar in a pan and gently warm until margarine is melted.
3. Add melted ingredients and milk to the dry and mix well.
4. Bake in a lined loaf tin for 1 hour.

I finally made it to the cinema, the last time I went to the cinema was with O to see Jurassic World, so a while ago. It wasn't the planned trip with my husband, still not managed that but went with M and a good friend to see Murder on the Orient Express, loved it wasn't sure how I would feel about a new Poirot, David Suchet was such a good Poirot but actually liked Kenneth Branagh portrayal of him, though still not 100% sure about the moustache.

On a crafting front I have finished the simple little dress, another present done and working on the blue one, loving the simple the pattern. Made the mistake of popping into a local charity shop to browse books and spotted a set of Nicci French ones we hadn't read, so came home with them. Hubby and I have read the first one, Blue Monday and enjoyed it, hoping the rest are as good! Now planning activities and crafts for our advent calendar, we always make one with a different story, craft to do, film to watch for each day of advent, always have way too many ideas for the number of days in advent! Do you have a favourite Christmas film, story or poem, would love to hear what they are.

New School Year

Following on from my last blog post on my thoughts on learning to read and write, I've been thinking more about the different styles of education and why there are so many, which led to these thoughts. When you decide to home educate changing your mindset on what is education and how it can be implemented can be one of the hardest things to do. Once you start looking at home education you are introduced to so many different styles and philosophies, do you do unschooling, unstructered style, or follow a structured time table, do you like the philosophies of Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, or a more eclectic style.  Finding the right style/path that suits your child and your family's learning  style and lifestyle can be an education in itself, everyone brings different things to the table and they all affect how we live and learn, there is no rush, learning is not a race, it is something to fall in love with (well hopefully). Some will come to want structure and some will not, go with what works for you, if you and your child are happy, then you are on the right path. For us our path involves some structure and routine but not a set time table of we are doing maths at 9am, art at 10am etc but more we are doing x. y and z today and then time to see what else happens etc.

As I've said before L is happy to dip in out of phonics but is loving working through her Saxon maths book and I had been planning ahead, expecting to have more surgery so wanted something we could do together. Surgery isn't going ahead due to me developing an allergy to part of the treatment and need to wait till my appointment in January to find out what I might of reacted too. Anyway I came across Funschooling with thinking tree books and they seem to fit, what I was after, she is loving the variety and different drawing activities, without the need to write and read. Seeing her older siblings with their text books makes her want to have her own, so she is very pleased and proud of her book. They are kept in her work basket and it is up to her how much and when she does them, this week so far we have 2 pages, one on drawing anything and then she has been telling me about her picture and I have added her words to the page, at her request.

She has just started on the thinking time page and loved colouring all the pictures different ways.

A couple of times a week we get out one of our Eco Kids magazine and have a read through, today we learnt about the chimpanzee and a bit about giraffes along with a picture to colour in, we watched a short you tube video on chimpanzees. The articles raise many points of discussion, opportunities for crafts and documentary watching.

This afternoon we ended up with a walk to the park and round the woods, home to look at the different apples, some from the shop and some from the allotment, we talked about the different colours, their names and

then they drew them. Now I've always liked the idea of a nature journal but at the same time it's only sort of worked with the older two, so now trying it with L, it will be her nature/science/art journal. During the summer holidays, not that we really stop learning, L and I talked about what she wanted to learn about and one of these was about how plants grow, so as we are coming into autumn I thought we would look at trees and their seeds, starting with apples. 

We then cut them up and looked at how the varied inside and how they tasted they all had their favourites.

So for maths we are working our way through Saxon math , usually between 2 and 4 lessons a week, plus board games, its amazing how much maths can be done through games. Add in logic problems and puzzles to supplement this. Reading and writing we are using a mixture of Reading Eggs and Explode the Code books but have a feeling we will be dropping this for a while, though L wants to learn to read, it is a real struggle for her, so maybe concentrate on the speech therapy side and come back to it later, I'm not against hard work but there is hard work and frustration when it doesn't just come together and it is so important to enjoy reading. Add in what ever else we find that takes our fancy and of course lots and lots of story telling. Art and craft, goes without saying there will be plenty of this. Science/nature study we will be following the seasons and anything that grabs Ls attention, so this month we will look at apple trees and oak and horse chestnut trees and see were this leads, add in Eco Kids magazine for some interesting variety. She has also fallen in love with cosmic yoga and we are using this 2 or 3 times a week.

On an organising and sorting front, my bedroom is coming on well, we have a large wardrobe as in the cupboard that goes over the stairs, I swear this holds a room full of stuff in it, as well as clothes, there's books, crafts stuff, paperwork, shoes. So had a sort through and organise and will probably go back through everything in another week or so, it will give me a chance to read through a couple of the books and think about what craft bits to keep etc. Have in the meantime cleaned out all the drawers, behind cupboards and cleaned windows. We've also finally got round to replacing and doing up the bathroom, replacing toilet and bathroom floor is not an easy job when you only have one toilet and little ones around, we had a leak a while ago, so the floor needed to be replaced but the toilet cistern kept on leaking, not major but much to my husbands annoyance one he couldn't fix and a spur of the moment trip to Ikea meant we ended up replacing the basin with a vanity unit, its fantastic having some drawers in the bathroom, have somewhere to store the toilet rolls, cleaning cloths and spare hand towels, all in easy reach.

On a crafting front, have done a small amount of dress making and some knitting, finally finished Granny Favourite and L loves it, there is growing room in it too. Reading, have just finished reading The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, really enjoyed it, the true story of one families life and how it changed after the Taliban came to Afghanistan. The changes in their lives, going from being able to study at university, to not being able to leave the house without wearing a chadri, having a chaperone and not talking to any males that aren't family. How financially they struggled with the loss of income when the women weren't able to work and the ways they overcame this and helped the women of their neighbourhood.  The other is Sane New World by Ruby Wax a lay persons guide to neuro science, mental health and mindfulness, as well as Ruby Wax's battle with depression. Taken from the book that was written in 2013, that mental illness accounts for nearly half the people on incapacity benefit, that in economic terms mental illness costs the UK £70 billion a year, this is in lost hours of work, treatment etc. mental illness affects people early, 50% of cases before the ages of 14. US statistics 1 in 5 children will be affected by mental health only 20% of those will have treatment, some will not want treatment, others can afford it. When mental illness affects so many people, why is their such a stigma about it? Why are budgets being cut? Why are we having an educational system that heaps on the academic pressure , while reducing the creative subjects that might actually give the students a relief from their studies and a chance to think in a different way?

A thought for the month.

Joining Kat for Unraveled Wednesday  and Frontier Dreams for  Crafting On