Busy day !

We started the day with a bike ride to the shops in the next village. I intended to walk but the children wanted to go on their bikes. On reflection, it was a better choice.

Angel and HRH have not cycled on the road before, so I was a little nervous as its a fast moving country lane, however it only gets busy during rush hour.

I purchased a second hand bike trailer last week for both Luna and Pal to use while HRH and Angel use their bikes. The bike ride went very well. however, both Angel and HRH were very tired when we got back, but asked when we could go again. My legs were a little sore too ;-)

During lunch my landlord arrived and took away some things that needed to be disposed of and I mentioned about having the flue checked for the Rayburn as I am using it quite often and want to make sure its safe. He said he's going to get the chimneys swept soon and I will be shown how to maintain the flue etc on the Rayburn :-)

This afternoon we went to the children's first swimming lesson. Non of the children can swim, which I am very guilty about. The swimming instructor said Angel is almost ready to move up to the next group and it will take only a few lessons, she can almost swim without arm bands, and she was so pleased with herself tonight.

HRH did really well too, he is using armbands etc but his confidence is good in the water so think he will progress quickly.

Luna was really nervous and did struggle during the lesson. She did get out of the water early as she didn't want to do anymore and got a little upset. The instructor was really supportive and suggested she missed the rest of the session but tries again next week. So all in all, I feel it was a positive first lesson and am pleased the children are eager to return next week.

Today we took delivery of 3 ex=battery chickens. We had been expecting them for around a week, so had been busy preparing for their arrival. This morning we finished off the roosting bars and the children were asking questions about chicken feed and diets etc. We talked about chickens digestive systems and the importance of grit for breaking down the food and for forming the shells on the eggs. We drew diagrams of chickens and labelled the digestion system.

The children love the chickens and HRH was a real natural at picking them up and handling them.

Piccies of our new additions :-)

Bit of a catch up

Well we have been super busy since moving house.

I have decorated the children's bedroom as HRH had a reaction to there being a dog in the bedroom when the previous tenants were here. But that is now OK, although he is still on his month long course of steroids :-( but thankfully his asthma is now more controlled.

Most of the boxes are now unpacked however I still haven't found room for all the many, many books we have...I did get rid of lots, honestly ;-)

We are currently making a chicken coop, as our neighbour keeps chickens and she knows someone that rescues ex battery hens, so hopefully in a week or so we will have some of our very own. My dad came over today to make a start on converting our shed into a chicken coop. A very good start he has made too. Pictures to follow.

The children love our new house, they have settled so well. Its great being so close to the country side and to our friends :-)

I thankfully missed a visit from the EWO yesterday, so after telephoning them today I am soon to be visited by the EHE coordinator. How lucky am I ?!?!?!?!?

Here is a mixture of photos of the things we have done today. Mostly spent outside enjoying this glorious weather .

The shed currently being

converted into chicken

house. (guinea pig in place

at the moment)

A mixture of flowers from our garden :-)

Moving on up, moving on out, nothing can stop me!!!!!!!

I’m moving house.

We have secured tenancy on a lovely house some 20 miles from where we currently live.

We are swapping our mid terrace house in a very built up area for a semi detached in the countryside.

Our new house is one of only 6 in the lane, just outside a lovely village. But still only 5 minutes from a busy town centre in Staffordshire.

The children adore it and can’t wait to move in.

The house has a large back and front garden, 3 bedrooms, garage and other storage buildings. A coal fire in the lounge and an aga in the kitchen.

Our tenancy begins on the 28^th, so we are currently sorting, recycling, selling and packing. If you stand still for too long in our house at the moment you may be sold or packed into a box lol..!!

Once we move we are hoping to start keeping chickens and ducks. Although myself and HRH can’t tolerate chicken eggs we can tolerate duck eggs so we will also be keeping ducks. Any surplus eggs will be sold to friends and family.

Things are really changing in our lives at the moment, all positive. I have recently started selling things on the internet, so have registered self employed and hope to develop things once we have moved and settle in. So watch this space!!

A week (or so ) in pictures

There has been too much going on lately to try and catch up; And as I have just uploaded some pics from my camera, I thought I might just put them here to show some of the things we have been doing.

At some point over the past 2 weeks we visited a Local (ish) Roman site, which contains the ruins of a bath house including the an example of the hypocaust system. The children enjoyed looking at the ruins and of course running about with their friends.

Our stick insects are now fully grown and have been laying their own eggs. we moved some of the eggs to a seperate cage and they have begun hatching, at the last count we had 10 new babies....below are pics of the adult sticks and also close up shots of the babies actually emerging from the eggs.

A collage by Luna

Today (Sunday) we visited The Monkey Forest, the monkeys are free-ranging in a 60 acre setting, the children really enjoyed the closeness you get with exploring inside their habitat.

On the main carpark we released some balloons with Mothers Day messages on for Lynsey. Although this is the second Mothers day with out her, we have had many more well wishes and thoughts sent to us today than I remember receiving last year.....its nice to know people are still thinking about us on days such as these. We ahd a lovely day and the balloon wasnt a sad occasion, but a happy, positive thing to do to mark the day.

Busy times

I will do a brief outline of what we have done this week.

Monday - Fencing Session again. Last but one. However there seems to be enough interest for the sessions to continue....so after next week the sessions will continue for a further 6 week block. Both HRH and Angel and very much enjoying them and seem to be getting a lot out of it. Luna and Pal seem happy being left at home with my mom; I forgot to ask Mom how this arrangement is suiting her...Must remember to ask her .!!!

Tuesday- Was a mixture of total free time for the children mixed in with getting things prepared for the Roman information sharing activity at our HE group the following day. Angel had decided to look at the Roman Gods and Goddesses and had particularly liked Goddess Diana, the Goddess of the Moon and of Hunting, She was also associated with childbirth.

Angel found some information on the Web and 'cut and paste' it onto a new document and printed it out. We then cut out the relevant pieces of text and pictures she wanted to use and glued them to coloured card ready to be displayed at the session. Angel also made a moon from clay and detailed it with a 'bow and arrow'.

HRH and Luna finished off their 'Roman Kitchens'. They had made little items of food and pots and pans etc from clay a couple of days previous and today painted them. I helped them make a 'kitchen' to display the items in. They both chose a figure from their toy box and I dressed it in a toga for maximum effect LOL.

HRH painting his 'Kitchen' Luna Painting her 'kitchen'

Luna's and HRH's Finished Roman Kitchen. (did you know Alma and Fred were Roman lol)

Pal enjoyed using left over paints to do free painting.

Wednesday - HE gathering. The children enjoyed showing off their Roman items and were interested in looking at other things people had bought to show the group. Much playing, socialising and eating of shared lunch was had by all. I do love the HE group!

Thursday - Library. Shockingly our books were due back on the 4th December!!!!! Thank goodness no fines are charged on child's books....All children chose 5 books each (new maximum allowed by me !!!) Angel enquired about a new reading group taking place on the first Tuesday each month for children aged 9 +. she seems very interested in going to that, so will do my best to follow that up. Angel now has 4 Jacqueline Wilson books out on loan and I haven't seen her face since we got back yesterday. I even had to say at one point 'can you please stop reading and do X Y and Z' lol.

We took book trolleys back to the car and walked over to the shops to post a letter........Parking fine from staying 3 hours on a 2 hour free car park and forgetting to pay for extra time....oooppppsssss. That will teach me!!!!!!!!

The library and shops are situated around a large area of grass, which makes up a large traffic round about / island. Which has recently been renamed as the Village Green.........which if anyone saw it would laugh like I did, as it clearly is not a village green, or in a village........some smart a*** trying to make things seem better than they really are I think, Any way I digress. On the 'Village Green' work men were erecting play equipment, but I don't think they are the typical swing, slide, climbing frame etc. I think they are intended for adults !!!! I.e. exercise equipment type things....will have to investigate further when they have finished and the weather is a bit better. I do wonder how long they will last though....

We then headed off to the Fruit and Veg farm for Gluten free sausage and Burger supplies. The children were excited about feeding the pigs. In the past we have asked the shop keepers for scraps of veg etc and fed the pigs, but they didn't have any scraps, so we tootled off to see the pigs only to find it 1) extremely muddy and we didn't have our wellies and 2) the pigs were in no mood to leave their shelter. So not a very eventful time had there. We did get our sausages and burgers though lol

Small top up at the supermarket and back home for the usual TV PC and tea time I think !?!?!?!

Friday (today) After making a packed lunch for us all, we headed off to the local large scale indoor play area (Wacky warehouse type thing x huge)

Now I am one of the only people that attends this event who lives the closest to the actual building and I always get lost trying to find it. Its situated on one of the many main roads coming out of the City Centre, but I always forget which one out of the two I think it is. So we were a little late arriving, but as its an all day event it didn't matter. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and I was completely exhausted after helping Luna and Pal around the 'big kids' area. lol. But much fun was had.

Home TV, Tea and Bed.

New Tattoo

These posts seem to get less frequent!!

I'm not going to try and catch up with what we have been over the past days / weeks, mainly because I cant remember. So I will just write about what we have done yesterday and today.

Angel and HRH didn't attend fencing class yesterday as ALL the children have developed coughs and colds. :-(

After much lounging about and TV watching the children seem lots better today.

Last night I was only woken once, so should have felt better this morning, but as always, a good night isn't always followed by a good morning. I felt rough and crabby on waking this morning, so it was a another slow start to the day.

The children are all in the routine of breakfast and doing jobs now, so little reminding is needed on that front at the moment.

HRH decided to paint his 'Ben 10' Alien, he made the alien from cereal boxes and cardboard tubes yesterday and asked if he could paper mache it, but given we don't have any newspapers, ever, I suggested the 'kitchen towel and PVA glue idea'. He liked that idea and proceeded to glue away. Angel joined him and they had a productive hour or so, co-operating!!! Yes, Co-operating, that is something Angel and HRH really are finding hard to do at the moment. I find I am constantly being referee to their scobbles, and its wearing me down :-(

Today I exploded and they both sat top and bottom of the stairs; once I had calmed down I spoke to them about their behaviour and asked them to 'try' and get on. They did manage to be civilised for the half hour left of the evening, its a start!

Also today I have realised this cold and cough episode has left Luna with limited hearing, and she has been falling over a few more times than normal, so have booked an appointment with GP for opinion. Not that, that has proven worthy in the past! But Lynsey used to suffer terribly with glue ear, so don't want Luna having issues too!

HRH and Angel made and wrote in birthday cards for friends at HE group tomorrow.

Angel did English grammar work. Nouns, pronouns and connectives. Again I was impressed with how quickly she picked it up and applied it to the activities and sample test exercise.

HRH is drawing LOTS at the moment and the detail in his pictures is developing greatly and he is adding words and phrases of his own accord, so that's good!

Luna and Pal used the left over paint from HRH painting his alien, and enjoyed painting various pieces.

In the afternoon we went to visit my brothers new puppy. the children are so excited about her. Daisy ! My parents were 'dog sitting' today as both my brother and his girlfriend were working and they didn't want to leave her alone all day !!!!!!

Children enjoyed spending time with Daisy.

Oh and here is a pic of my new tattoo, for those that have not already seen it else where LOL

The seahorse symbolises going with the flow of life. The four pebbles at the bottom are my children. As in, little rocks that support me !!

A Pattern emmerging ??

It seems that when I have a bad day and start to feel like I'm coming back up from being so down things go really well and I want to blog about it....

This morning started off pretty dark in mood and things progressively got worse as the morning wore on.

However today's 'incident' gave me the opportunity to look at things and see where things were going wrong. I spoke to a very good friend (non HE'er) and she helped me identify the problems and suggest some remedies for them. I do miss not having someone to 'moan' at and then see what the problems really are....actually not problems at all, just things needing tweaking a little.

It all hit off when I suggested to the children that we did some activities / work. But as the morning had not gone well so far it was now only 1 hour until lunch, so we were all hungry and crabby. I started to prepare lunch (potato and leek soup) and the children all sat at the table doing their own bits and pieces.

Angel was working on SATS workbook, specifically on punctuation today,

HRH wanted to write his own book,

Luna was happily copying letters on the chalk board, of which she seems to never tire.

Pal was generally moany and needed me!!

However as I was preparing lunch while the children were doing 'work' I was constantly called on to help.

I got stressed, I shouted, and shamefully told them all to go away before I exploded.....major feeling of guilt and general moodiness followed. Leaving me feeling SH*T, that I had taken my incompetence's out on the children (again)

The children all kept their distance while I talked to friend and discussed some solutions.

We / I realised that lunch time is NOT a good time to be STARTING activities, I am fed up with trying to cook and be dictionary, assistant, teacher, organiser etc etc all at the same time. Furthermore doing things at the table in the kitchen does not go well anyway in the morning, as they always have to be packed away for lunch. So one solution is to place a small collapsible table in the lounge so that the children can work there and not have to pack things away mid-way. Done that one already, and its being used as I type. !!

I sat with the children after lunch and explained that I don't cope with cooking AND supervising / assisting them with their activities.

We have written out a timetable. After more than a year of doing this by myself I have found out the hard way that actually I like some structure to my day.

We all sat together (on the living room floor, not around the table lol) and split the day into what are the usual thing we do and at what time we prefer to do them.

The children all drew pictures for the various activities and I wrote the times down the left hand side, and drew clock faces so that Luna and HRH can relate it to the clock on the wall next to the chart.

HRH has issues with structure like me, he copes much better when I say this happens at 3 O'clock for example. So we now have a sort of structure....will see how long it lasts...lol

After writing up the timetable the children realised it was time for activities etc and asked if they could do some painting.

Pal painted his Chinese mask.

Angel did a free painting of spring (it is Imbolc today after all !!)

HRH wanted to do something about Romans, as we are having a history man come to the HE group soon and he is doing activities on Romans. HRH looked through some books and asked to do some Roman Armour. I found a large piece if cardboard and he painted it silver. Then he asked for the Roman sandals I made last year (thank goodness I kept them)

I sat with HRH for a good while reading through some Roman History books we have, He really enjoyed finding out about Roman life, will look for activites to fuel his interest, (any suggestions??)

Luna painted, lots. She loves getting her hands in there and mixing the colours. She did a lovely seaside painting too.

Luna and Angel cleared away whilst Pal had a nap and I read with HRH.

Childern are now watching a DVD as it is past 4 pm lol.......

Collection of Pics from the day (well the afternoon)