Our Tribe

Our Tribe

Friday 29 September 2017

Day 5

Today was our last day of quarantine.

Bean, 10, made a birthday card for Pippin with moving parts. It took several attempts and reworking to get the length of the pulling parts correct and make sure they didn't get pulled out but he did it. He also ent about half an hour playing piano with me. We looked at all the keys and put coloured dots on the matching ones. We looked at notation and how it related to the keys. We played tunes together that we have played before and tried a new one. And then we had fun with the 'excercise' book. In the afternoon he did several 100+ piece puzzles, some with me, some on his own and some with Plum. He had a bath and was counting holding his breath and using a straw as a snorkle.

Pumpkin, 8, is currently immersing himself in 'The amazing world of Gumball,' i think he watched it all day except for when he put the film 'the house of magic' on. He did have a bath. Pumpkin also regained hos appetite today so hopefully, after fuelling up and resting today, he will be better now.

Plum, 5, played doll's house with me in the morning and then continued playing with pippin. They made a cinema for the figures using the doll's furniture and a tablet, the created a beach area using face clothes as towels and daddy's blue blanket as the sea, and they made a play park area too.
Plum played a shooting game with bean. They used unloaded nerf guns and had bases and were chasing each other around the house shooting. And then plum did a 100 piece puzzle with a little help from pumpkin. She then completed a few more with me and bean.

Pippin, 2, had a bath this evening, played doll's house with Plum, cut up veg for dinner, tried her hand at a few puzzles and watched Topsy and Tim.

Thursday 28 September 2017

Quarentine

We have had sickness, that is vomiting, in the house since saturday night. Plum, pumpkin and pippin have all taken a turn. We have consequently been quarentined and a little lethargic. Today we had a terrible morning with squabblong and arguing and tear so i suggested a walk to the play park, not far, some fresh air and a change of scenery. I can't say that it helped massively. The same irritableness between siblings continued and then, after a trun on the roundabout, pippin was sick on the floor. We went home.

Bean, 10, was upset and took himself to his room, pumpkin, 8, lay on the sofa and watched tv, plum, 5, was tired and went and lay on her bed, pippin, 2, had a bath and a change of clothes and some breastmilk and a sleep. I made food for everyone and there was peace.

And the pumpkin was sick again in the night.

I had a doctors appointment to attend. Plum and pippin came with me. Plum has been fearful of the doctors for a while, we rarely go, and i'm not sure where the fear stems from but today was a triumph. We talked about why we were going and she helped hold pippin's hand on the way there and the doctor was super amazing at talking with her, and she came away happy and we now have a lovely experience to refer to when we need to go again.

We went to collect medication and bought doghnuts and dvds to continue our quarentine back home.

Bean went to the green on his own for 20 minutes to throw a bomerang around. We managed to fix his watch so he could tell the time.

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Quick update

Six day blog post. We have had rest days and full on busy days so here goes:

Bean, 10, has been rediscovering his electronics kit. He spent one full day on it and then it came to grandma's house with us, of course Pumpkin and plum managed to get a look in too. He likes to follow the diagrams in the book but also branched out into creating his own circuits. He has astonished us by riding on rides at Paultons park that went high and fast and reriding them many times. He has grown in confidence swimming in our friend's pool and enjoyed a new game called Marco Paula. He has been inspired by our recent theme park visits and designed three rides and a theme park map. He organised a surprise treasure hunt for daddy with written clues and we recorded together a scenerio of mummy eating breakfast but Bean as my hands.

Pumpkin, 8, enjoyed a bike ride to the park on the new estate. We have played minecraft together, building houses and build battle together. He enjoyed Paulon's park, the spinning pirate ship and the catopillar roller coaster. He has played terreria with his friend A at his house. And he has immersed homself in The Amazing World of Gumball. He instigated doing a 200 piece puzzle with bean.

Plum, 5, has had two chapter books read to her in the last week. Paulton's park was a big hit and we enjoyed all the Peppa Pig rides. She disappeared to play with her friend J at her house, and she enjoyed the pool. She spent an hour playing with pippin in the bath yesterday, followed by a room tidy (inspired by youtube) and puzzles with pippin too. She also helped me choose some party items for Pippin's upcoming birthday.

Pippin, 2, continued her love of thrilling rides at paulton's park. She enjoyed the peppa pig theme but definitley enjoyed the bigger rides better. She has been using a lot of play dough in the last week and making worlds from duplo and wooden blocks to play with the people figures in.

The big three all took part in gymnastics.

A bit of a whistle stop tour of the last six days.

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Happy Loud

We are somehow in the midst of a really busy few weeks. It began last Thursday with our first gymnastics session after the summer holidays. Our friends S and E met us there and then came home with us for 24 hours. It was Happy Loud and everyone went to sleep later than they should have and were up earlier than they should have been too but they were all so happy to see each other and play.

After they had left on Friday lunch time we began getting ready for our evening. Plum, 5, and pippin, 2, got dressed up in their Elsa outfits. We drove pudding and booster seats to church, then drove to Crawley to meet daddy, Plum, 5, and Pippin, 2, stayed with daddy for the evening. They got a McDonald's together and went to an outdoor cinema viewing of Tangled and met Elsa whilst they were there.
Bean, 10, and Pumpkin, 8, and mummy got the train back home. We ate fish and chips and waited at the church for SGS who collected the boys and took them home and stayed with them for a few hours until mummy and daddy seperately made their way home. Everyone was later to bed than normal, again.

Saturday, bean and Pumpkin spent the afternoon with their friend O. Mummy and daddy went to the play park with Plum and Pippin. Followed by church on Sunday.

Monday was a legoland fantastic day. Daddy came too. Pippin was above the minimum height requirement and she enjoyed the turning, rocking pirate ship and the rollercoaster the best, she went on both several times. Bean and pumpkin are now above the maximum height restriction and can ride all the rides solo. They rode the log flume with daddy for the first time this visit. Bean rode the rapids for the first time too. They enjoyed the new lego ninjago 4d ride and the driving school area. Plum tried the rides with pippin. She enjoyed the pirate ship and the train that went in circles. She liked the submarine and driving school.

Today is tuesday and we are finally taking a rest day.

Thursday 14 September 2017

Drenched

There was a time when getting caught in the rain would have resulted in a lot of angst and tears and big emotions. Today ot was an adventure. We walked to the library in sunshine, pumpkin, 8, completed the Summer Reading Challenge for the first time, all the children choose a large number of books (considering i had to carry them) and then we made our way home in the pouring rain. Pumpkin asked bean, 10, to ride his bike because he was worried about slipping. We all got drenched. We all had a change of clothes, hot chocolate and marshmallows when we arrived home. No trauma. No tears.

Back home pumpkin put on the Angry Birds followed by bean putting on WallE and everyone ate a hearty dinner. Pippin, 2, came and said she was hungry and asked for broccoli and ham so we cut up some broccoli together and boiled in, put ham on a plate, and she was happy with her meal.

Pippin and plum topped and tailed our trip out with dolly play, doll's house play and role playing mummy's. It was effectively the same narrative but in different forms and places in the house.

Up and down

Tuesday we managed to get up and out to make it to Guildford Air Hop where bean, 10, pumpkin, 8, and plum, 5, bounced for an hour. Pippin had to sit and watch, we did well with stories and sticker books and videoing plum but there were also some moments of sad because she couldn't go on...it'll be another two years before she is eligible for bouncing with the HE crowd!

Bean and pumpkin spent a lot of their time playing in the dodgeball court and plum bounced with her friend V and his mummy. She also enjoyed the pit.

Back home they were all shattered and spent more time in the den that bean created yesterday, more games on the pc, we said goodbye to Zuko, the crested geeko that we have been pet sitting and played chess with pumpkin and then plum for a few hours in the evening.

Bean requested biscuit making so he could use the cutters. We found a suitable recipe and he set about reading it and making the biscuits himself. I worked alongside hom baking my own batch of breakfast biscuits and being on hand for words he couldn't quite read and instructions and techniques he needed help with but i felt significantly more redundant than any previous biscuit baking afternoon.

Pippin nd plum both bathed and i sat on my bed with bean, plum and pumpkin and read stories all curled up together. Bean and plum read Each Peach Pear Plum together, it was beautiful and made my heart happy.

Change of plan

Monday we had planned to go to fisher's Farm for the afternoon, however everyone was relaxed and cosy at home after a busy weekend. I had thought we might need the space and the stretch but as the day went on it became evident that everyone was happy doing their thing and there wasn't a need to interupt it with a trip out. I asked all the smalls individually if they were happy staying home today and they all said yes.

So, it turned out to be an At Home Day in pyjamas. Bean, 10, made a mega den in the living room from dinning chairs and a coffee table and sheets and blankets. The lower level was for himself and pumpkin, 8, and the upper level for plum, 5, and pippin, 2, with a balcony to sit on and watch tv. We played minecraft and pippin and bean had baths. Bean and pumpkin and plum took it in turns to play games on the pc and it turned out to be a quiet day.

Monday 11 September 2017

Weekend Round Up

Friday. We had a playdate at one of the boy's friend's house, O, they played nerf wars mostly. Plum, 5, and Pippin, 2, played with musical instruments including a thumb piano, and some ukuleles. Daddy was out for the evening, bean, 10, and pumpkin, 8, played in the dark in the garden and picked the pears fromPumpkin's pear tree.

Saturday was manic. Bean and Pumpkin and Plum were all really busy. Pumpkin made up a new nerf war game which involves rolling a dice to do certain moves, we also had several all out shooting matches covering the whole house. Plum made and decorated chocolate cup cakes, we had the rabbits in to brush and play for a while. Bean put on Indiana Jones to watch.

Sunday we had a double celebration. Sunday School Anniversary, where the children got to show the project work they have been involved with over the summer. Bean read a sentence out to the church, pumpkin talked about a lot of the things he did and even plum joined i  a little. Pippin wet whilst sitting on my lap and then i had to stand at the front and present the tabernacle collage. We headed to Worthing for our annual Not Back To School celebration of fish and chips. This year we ate inside as it was extremely windy. We stopped at the arcade and made it back to the car just before the rain came.

Back home we all snuggled down and watched Indiana Jones and ate soup.

Friday 8 September 2017

People are important

We made it out of the house today and smoothly past the For Sale sign that caused so much distress yesterday. Pumpkin, 8, ride his bike to town, the rest of us walked. We visited the library where Pumpkin chatted to the librarian with ease and joy about the four books he has read for the Summer Reading challenge, the librarian happens to also be his Sunday School teacher so that made all the difference. He choose a dvd and everyone gathered books to bring home. Bean, 10, continues to gravitate towards graphic novels.

We also visited The Works for a new fidget spinner for Bean, the pound shop where he also picked up a joke kit, and the toy shop for some blind bags. Plum, 5, is collecting shopkins, pumpkin got more grosseries, and pippin picked up a peppa pig mystery egg.

Back home we watched Hop, the dvd pupmkin had chosen, pippin slept and we played minecraft together.

Thursday 7 September 2017

Challenges

Our mornings are fairly predictable at the moment. Pippin, 2, wakes first usually around 7am, give or take half an hour, Bean, 10, wakes next normally about 8 am, followed by Plum, 5, anytime between 8 and 9am, and finally pumpkin, 8, waking anytime between 8am and 10am (sometimes later) The day tends to begin with a box of toys for Pipipin and the others join in or play on their tablets or the computer. I usually have at least one helper to prepare breakfast with and load laundry and feed rabbits. And then the real business of the day begins.

Today was an At Home Day, Bean and I had faced challenge of putting up a new (to us) tent without instructions. Pippin joined in too by passing us tent pegs as we requested them. Tomorrow we will wash and reseal it and attempt to pack it away.

Bean spent hours working on a comic strip he has devised, entitled "oh no!" Each page begins with one disasterous scene followed by two short disasterous stories. Plum joined in and created her own comic strip about a monster chasing a person.

Pumpkin spent the majority of the day playing on his tablet, he is immersed in escape games recently. He did suggest we made cakes but we were out of eggs and alternative suggestions were dismissed. He spent a large portion of the day (three hours) crying as the For Sale sign went up today. We cuddled a lot and he slept for a chunk of time too.


Wednesday 6 September 2017

Jumping straight in

We have entered a lovely rhythm during the summer holidays and as we move into september i am hoping to keep it going, even if only for a short time before the warm weather ends and autumn draws near. So, our week normal includes, a trip to fisher's farm, a day out or possibly two somewhere, one gymnastics class, a trip to town primarily to the library, a couple of play dates with friends, and at least one At Home Day and a whole bunch more of whitespace for relaxing or playing or ongoing crafts/lego/minecraft etc.

Today we went to fisher's farm. It was raining. The type of rain that is non commital. More like various forms ot wet air. The type that, once you've been in it for a couple of hours, you suddenly find yourself soaked to the bone. In short, we got wet. But during the process, bean, 10, went on the skyfall for two hours today. The second hour he jumped for the first time from 6m. He has been up to the platform and back down again many times since the attraction was installed but today was the day that he jumped, andi got his first jump on camera too. He then spent the next hour jumping from 6m. He also went on the tube tabogan and took pippin, 2, with him. Pumpkin, 8, enjoyed the octopus ride and spent 30 minutes on that and played in the sandpit with pippin and went on the rube tabogan too. Plum, 5, rode the carosel with pippin and rode the go karts with bean. She also instigated the crazy golf round that we all played together and had a pony ride today. Pippin also had a pony ride.

Plum also made a card and a bead necklace for a friend's birthday tomorrow and we delivered it.  Bean and pumpkin did a bath challenge and took a bath fully clothed.