just another morning here

The best sorts of birthday parties involve curry, in my opinion, and we’re going out for a friend’s birthday meal tonight at a great Indian just near our old house. In fact I often used to hang washing outside where we used to live, while sniffing the aroma of indian dishes wafting across the road from that restaurant, yum

Today Anna’s had Stage by Stage, which despite moaning about having to get up for, she enjoyed as usual. We’ve mooched around at home mainly doing low key but nice things together, colouring (and a bit of writing practice for Abbie), playing, music practice with accompaniments from me, Joe and Anna played with Mollie while Abbie had a sleep, the girls had piano lessons, and that’s about it, really. Oh, and we’ve started a Christmas shopping/making/giving list, too, which was fun – but still has too many blank ‘uninspired’ spaces on it for my liking!

Three things I need to keep me going tonight!

We’ve had a good day so I’m blogging quickly, then off to nurse my sore throat and make some wedding tiaras. Steve worked my day at the office today (phew!), although still not sure who got the easier day, but I was pleased to be at home anyway.

Morning started with loads of tidying up/sorting out/gaming … followed by Joe’s violin lesson at 10am. Violin is a moveable feast, thankfully Mr Featherstone is flexible as we’ve moved lessons for one reason and another over the past five weeks now!

Despite not wanting to go and throwing a wobbly about it beforehand, Joe pulled himself together, changed his attitude, and did really well in his lesson, so he got to choose cookies in Sainsbury’s for elevenses While he and I were at violin, the girls sat in the van – I’d filled their bookbags with activity stuff of one kind or another and asked them to do whatever they wanted, my only request was that they had something to show for their time.

When I got back to the van I was really pleased; they were sitting together doing a sticker flag atlas thing but they’d also spent most of their time writing and illustrating a poem together. Nothing earth-shatteringly amazing in terms of poetry, but they’d had the idea together and carried it through, and obviously made loads of effort, all of which is relatively unusual, so I was thrilled. The handwriting (Anna was the scribe) wasn’t bad, and spellings were pretty good all round. And they were pleased with themselves; they’re now going to write more poems this week apparently!

Went to Sainsbury’s and stocked up for the week, then came home for lunch, more sorting out, music practise for the girls, etc.

The afternoon was completely taken up with swimming and hanging around waiting, but again, it was productive. I did some work with Anna on percentages/fractions, and rotational symmetry, just from one of her workbooks. Abbie did a bit of addition practise which was fairly simple and easy. Joe and I read some Flying Boot books together, and we generally had a nice relaxed time as well as the swimming lessons – chatted to their teacher for a bit as well, and she is pleased with all of their progress, so that was good.

Got home at 7pm to find Mollie and Ruby from our close trick-or-treating, Ruby looked absolutely gorgeous dressed as a pumpkin with matching orange & green stripy socks, irresistable. Chatted to them and their mum for a while, which was nice too, haven’t seen Emma properly for ages.

Baked potatoes and various bits for dinner, kids are just in bed (Monday is such a late night!) and I’m trying to make a list of stuff to do this week – house exchange (this weekend coming) is a great idea but it does mean you have to go away and leave a tidy house, which feels like a bit of a pressure. Still, I’m glad in a strange sadistic sort of a way, as otherwise we’d never tidy it up properly! Feeling fairly naff still, sore throat is a killer, but never mind. Must fit some Animal Crossing into my evening too, as Halloween is a special occasion there I think!

Josiah: has done some writing and colouring on Very Hungry Caterpillar stuff, which he really loved doing. Someone somewhere (magic pencil on Words and Pictures, perhaps? Or at Start Right?) seems to have shown him how to form letters, I was watching him and he was doing them all the right way – a bit wobbly, but starting and ending in the right places. He’s also had lessons in Formula One teams/drivers from Steve, and played with lego and playmobil. He’s done plenty of reading, too, he absolutely loves the Hungry Caterpillar book, unsurprisingly – I don’t know a child that doesn’t!

Abbie: has played on neopets, been shopping with me, and, erm, done nothing that looks educational from the outside at all! Oh no, that’s not quite true – she got a Hi-5 comic from Sainsbury’s with her money. I thought it was going to be awful because it came with a CD but in fact, she and Anna sat with the CD on and went right through the comic doing all the activities – the CD basically just reads the comic and has a few sound effects on it as well. Still, it saved me having to read bits to her! It was definitely beneath them, ability wise, but they enjoyed it.

Anna: has also played on neopets. I can’t work out what the *point* of neopets is – I mean, I can waste time there myself playing games and stuff, but not quite sure if there is a bigger picture I should be grasping – Merry? It doesn’t seem to be instructional enough for the girls to get anything more than playing the games out of it – which might be a good thing if they discovered all there was to discover for themselves, but they don’t/haven’t yet – I thought they would ‘explore’ more than they have. Hmm, there’s still plenty of time, I suppose.
Anna’s also finished off a little art project she’s been working on, but can’t say too much about that on-blog She came to Sainsbury’s too. Her afternoon has been rather spoiled by somehow (during a dance practise session, apparently) falling into the corner of the coffee table, with her eye, or just to the side of it. Despite immediate ice-application she’s ended up with a big purple bruise to the side of her left eye, and has been feeling sorry for herself ever since. I have to say, I felt sorry for her too, it was nasty. She’s currently snuggled on the sofa listening to Big Toe Radio. Taking a photo of it cheered her up somewhat, she’s progressed from feeling sorry for herself to being proud of it now

Steve managed to not sell two cars today, so that wasn’t very good. I’ve bummed around – got the shopping done and planned menus for next week, and kept everyone fed and watered – picked up lots of post-easter-bad-for-you-but-couldn’t-be-refused bargains at the supermarket so it hasn’t been very healthy, and we’re about to end up by having the cooked breakfast that we didn’t get round to this morning. We have countered it by snacking on fruit as well, if that helps at all!

As I write we’re watching Two Brothers – it’s one that I have some activities on CDrom from Film Education for so we rented it because of that really. Not sure what to make of it yet but the tiger cubs are definitely very cute, and the children are enjoying it.

Stuff we have done today:

Josiah: Start Right, followed by lunch, gamecube, running around in the park, zoombinis.

Abbie: Exeter maths, some handwriting, reading (The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl), Noughts and Crosses against me (for what felt like hours), gamecube, playing in the park with friends, and some zoombinis too I think. She’s been pestering me to play a fractions pizza game too, which is another really boring one, but I think I’m going to cave in if she reappears in her pyjamas in a minute.

Anna: Exeter maths, handwriting (she chose to write out the prayer of Jabez having read the book last night – strange reading choice for an 8 year old, I thought, but there we go), cello practise, then school for dance and drama, followed by playing in the park.

Me: folded about five loads of washing, helped the girls, did all the running around, popped to Sainsbury’s with Abbie in the middle of it all for a pair of jeans for her, she’s gone through the knees of two pairs of trousers recently, erm, chatted at the park with other local home ed friends (including a very animated conversation over when children were ready for things like fractions and joined up writing!).

Steve: bugger all. Some banking and played drums for a while. He did go to work but it seems he didn’t do much more than drive a few cars around, by his own admission, I hasten to add!

We all ended up at home from about half past four onwards, and we’re part way through watching a channel 4 documentary on Henry VIII and his wives, which the girls and I are finding really interesting. Joe and Steve were both falling asleep in front of it before tea We’re planning another instalment after bathtime.

Steve and I are sitting here trying out some different radio stations (his dream come true, I’m sitting next to him while he listens to his beloved stereo, *and* I’m blogging!) – currently listening to PlanetRock, which is classic rock (Nirvana, early U2, 70s/80s stuff) … he’s enjoying it . Tomorrow I’ll put the radio back to R2