Our Tribe

Our Tribe
Showing posts with label Playdate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playdate. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Carving Pumpkins

Bean, 10, and i spent an hour hollowing out pumpkins this morning. I have learnt a few things about carving pumpkins in the past few years and today i learnt more. I remembered that it takes an age to hollow them out and that carving out a large lid is best. Today i discovered that the large pumpkins (which i have previously avoided) have the same amount of fibres and seeds in them as the smaller ones and are therefore easier to scoop out, they are also easier to carve as they have a larger canvas space.

Our friends, A, J, and H came over to play. They all choose pictures for their pumpkins and then their mum and I sat for hours carving them out. Pippin, 3, chose minnie mouse, plum, 5, chose the cheshire cat, pumpkin, 8, chose a scary face and bean chose another scary face. I didn't do so well with Bean's so we have plans to purchase another pumpkin.

Whilst we carved the children played marble run and a fighting/war/battle, there was some tablet games and discussion going on, and a new game based on the enderman character is minecraft which they called Slenderman. And there was food. Pippin got the Bing and peppa small world toys out and was singing Frozen songs over and over.

Later pippin and pumpkin played play dough together. Pippin creates characters and models and pumpkin was dissecting them or performing surgery on them. Sometimes it was a heart transplant and sometimes full amputation, head transplant or swapping limbs. It was brutal.

Bean and i played minecraft and he had a bath, continuing to practice holding his breath.

Plum took herself to her bed and watched/played on her tablet.

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.

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Pets

Friday.
We went to see a friend today, T, 8. He has a new puppy who is energetic and friendly and loves children. Bean, 9, and Pumpkin, 8, immediately went and played upstairs with T where the dog couldn't get to. Plum, 5, and Pippin, 2, sat glued to my lap. Eventually Plum made it clear that she wanted to be outside/anywhere except with the dog. So we went to play in the garden however Pippin didn't like the horses at the end of the garden either. We went back indoors, the dog was now on a lead and the girls became a bit more confident to go and play. Initially Plum went to play upstairs too but returned to play on the keyboard and guitar. The boys finished the playdate with a play outdoors. Plum became inconcolable as we left as she wnted an apple and we didn't have one. I put the timer on my phone and said we would be home in 10 minutes and this occupied her enough to calm her whilst we drove home.

The evening was spent with Plum on my lap as she was feeling anxious about me going out for the day on Saturday. She joined me in bed in the middle of the night too.

Wednesday, 4 January 2017

All by myself

At Home Day: i spent 40 minutes this morning setting up Skype accounts for children whilst simultaneously trying to fix the wii and playing with Pippin, 2, in the boys' room, that is trying to distract her from playing with their toys. It is our first day with daddy back at work. It will take sometime for us to get back into the swing of an adult:child ratio 1:4. However, downstairs, Pumpkin, 7, and Plum, 5, were playing with her cake making playdough kit together and Pippin went to join them. Bean, 9, was lying on his bed playing on his tablet.

With Skype accounts finally set up, Plum had a playdate with a friend, E, who moved away 18 months ago, yet she still talks about her all the time. They showed each other their Christmas presents and then both got pens and paper so they could draw together. Plum made a playdough cake to show her and E shared a book with Plum. It was delightful and will become a regular thing. It fulfilled Plum's social need whilst we were also able to stay at home. During the afternoon she lay next to me and watched on her tablet as i rested whilst Pippin slept.

Bean and Pumpkin played escapists together on the computer and continued watching Gravity Falls, coming to get us to show us the funny parts. It was a restful afternoon.

In the evening Bean took all the dvds that Plum doesn't like and found a box for them and took them upstairs. Bean and mummy played two rounds of poopyhead. Pumpkin had a bath. Plum watched cbeebies hair and the tortoise ballet.

Friday, 9 December 2016

Peace on Earth

A new game formed this morning. Bean, 9, discovered a gun app where you can load and fire various guns of your choice. Pumpkin, 7, downloaded it too and Plum, 4, pretended she had it on her toy phone. They each made a base in the living room and proceeded to shot each other. Over the course of the morning they established rules (like 'reloading') and introduced how to use the mines and bombs. Slowly the game expanded over the house.

Pippin, 2, was feeling full of cold and attached herself to me. We took refuge from the war game in the bedroom and read books and watched Bing and then watched Bing and read books. She also had lots of breastmilk which is unusual and an indication of her not feeling well.

The Big Three ended up in the boy's bedroom playing lego:pirates of the carribean on the wii. Bean and Pumpkin both made multiple avatars for themselves. Bean had made a cosy nook for Plum using beanbags and duvets and pillows on the floor.

In the afternoon we met friends, A, J and H, at the dinosaur park. The older four played time travelling, and hide and seek, and capture the flag, and war games. Plum and H sat on the dinosuars and played see-saw, and slides and built fairy worlds and volcanoes in the sand. Pippin went on the swings A LOT. (And we missed out friend Cindy and her boys.)

The evening was full of baths and The Simpsons, Pokemon, DanTDM, plans to play monopoly, bedtime stories, toast and chocolate mousse (does it have real mousse it it, mummy?)

Thursday, 8 December 2016

Did you know?

At Home Day:

Bean, 9, played a lot of minecraft PE today, i played with him for about an hour we created two new worlds, one specifically to make cake on. He has started a new series of Pokemon and is continuing to enjoy The Simpsons. He had his hair cut whilst Pippin was sleeping. We played Hide and seek in the afternoon and there was wrestling. He asked to play with me on the wii repeatedly but we didn't get around to it today. He watched Star wars: The Clone Wars in the evening.

Pumpkin, 7, played Lego:Batman and we played mariocart on the wii together. We played several games of Chess this morning, i tried looking at our Chess book for some instruction but it was really confusing. He has been enjoying creating characters Tocomini.

Plum, 4, watched on her tablet curled up in a onsie on the sofa all morning. Her friend V came to play in the afternoon. There was duplo and minecraft, play dough, blindfold drawing, hide and seek, cafes, puzzles, and Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland.

Pippin, 2, worked out how to say the word Topsy today.

Monday, 5 December 2016

Problem Solving

Friday: we met friends at Fisher's Farm today. For the first time ever the boys weren't keen on going so we packed all the tablets and agreed that we'd be two hours. Plum was meeting her friend and was very excited. We watched Cars together when we got home.

Saturday: After the boys having a difficult day yesterday we had no plans today so stayed home. All four played hide and seek, and chase, and stuck in the mud all around the house for an hour this morning. Plum and Pippin did some drawing, Bean and Pumpkin played lego together, we watched Pokemon and played plants vs zombies. Bean and I went to the cinema and watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them, we loved it.

Sunday: Church day. Pumpkin has been reluctant to go to church so we arrange to go and then sit upstairs with him for the first part of the service. Today Bean and Pumpkin v mummy playing squares. Pumpkin was also saying that he didn't want to go to CousinC's birthday party. daddy and i were trying to work out how to make this possible. Bean then said that he wanted to go the the Christingle Service this afternoon. We proposed that mummy take Plum and Pippin to the birthday party and daddy, bean and pumpkin ride bikes to the Christingle. Everyone was happy. Mummy took Plum and Pippin to CousinC's birthday party at a soft play venue and then back to theirs for dinner before driving home.

Sometimes problem solving around how to meet everyone's needs can be challenging, difficult, time consuming but it is better for us to work through how we can respect each other than force each other to do things we don't want to do, there are enough times in life when this is unavoidable. It's not always easy when the children are small but as their understanding of time and their ability to wait and problem solve themselves and join in the discussion happens, it does become easier. Today Pippin wanted to watch Bing instead of leaving for the party, we were already running late and what she really needed was to fall asleep. She was crying. I was trying to get Plum's shoes on. And along came Bean and downloaded an episode of Bing on the tablet for Pippin. Problem solved. Pippin is happily in the car and watching Bing.

Friday, 2 December 2016

Motivation

We spend our days doing the things that we love. You can tell when the Bean and Pumpkin are truely engaged or excited in an activity that we have planned as they get themselves dressed and without prompting or help. Today was one of those days. We had plans for in the afternoon to see out friend T. I like it too. It is one of the few places we go where all four children are happy and engaged simultaneously. i get to drink tea uninterupted.

Bean, 9, has continued watching the second series of Pokemon today, he is up to episode 400. There is a part in each episode where you have to choose which Pokemon you think Ash should use in the Pokemon Battle he is in. He pauses the programme and we have to discuss the elements of each Pokeon and choose one each, there is another similar part where we have to guess what the Pokemon will evolve into. We also put together Christmas lists ready to give to famipy members: nerf, lego and films feature heavily.

Pumpkin, 7, has spent time on his Skylanders imaginator character creator again. He also made a Christmas list: Skylanders, nerf and Simpsons lego being dominant themes.

Plum, 4, watched on her tablet again in her top bunk. last night she slept the first half of the night sleeping in it too. Her Christmas list consists of Hello Kitty, playdough, peppa pig playsets, dressing up princess outfits.

Pippin, 2, looked at books and books and books, dinsosaur roar and Penguin are her current favourites. She played with the duplo and dollies too. and took a morning nap.

After pizza for lunch, that Bean prepared for us with garlic bread, we went to our friend T to play. All the children were involved in an extended game of lego (almost two hours) The three boys were the most involved but the girls dipped in aand out continously. Plum had packed and taken a bag with a few items in it, shopkins, books, duplo, doctor set stuff, which they girls played with for a while too. Just before we left there was an epic wrestling match between all five children and me.

Back home the evening consisted of Advent calendar opening (they were all waiting for daddy to come home but he got stuck in London) We had got both the boys lego advent calendars but they had a conversation in the car a few days ago where they decided to have a lego one and a chocolate one so they could share like last year so daddy was on a mission today to find a chocolate calendar for Pumpkin (and we have a lego calendar for next year) We watched Scooby doo movie, Pumpkin took a bath, we burnt day one of the advent calendar, and the big three played a dice board game together. As well as bedtime stories for Bean, Plum and Pippin, and some quiet time with Pumpkin before saying goodnight.

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Tangled (again)

Monday.

Bean, 9, is keen to watch prison break films however we don't own any so we settled for heist movie instead and watched Oceons 11. He is also constantly asking about coding but we are struggling with how to carve time for him to do this so that we can help him and the others are not distracting. Today he also reminded me that we haven't been swimming for a while, he would like to be keeper for a day at Drusillas, when are we going to Harry Potter World, can we go to LegoLand next year? He's definitely a boy with a plan (or two!) We also downloaded Carcasonne today and played it several times.

Pumpkin, 7, had a playdate today. Our friends A and J came to our house to play. Pumpkin and A played Terreria together, build battle on minecraft (their own version multiplayer LAN) and discussed and compared Pokemon. They also played Skylanders on the wii and Bean introduced A to his home made Skylanders role playing game.

Plum, 4, still isn't well. I think she has had this cough for over six weeks now. She is finding it draining and irritating and she is tired. However, she still musters the energy for the things that she loves and so this morning she went out with SGG and SGS to Little Verse. Predictably she crashed on the sofa when she got home, snuggled under a duvet and watched on her tablet for a couple of ours with pizza and apple juice.
When Plum had rested and refuelled she played with her friend J. They played at being dogs together and then playdough and cafes. Plum fell asleep on the sofa after our friends went home.

Pippin, 2, has spent time drawing today and cutting up grapes into small pieces, watching Bing and Topsy and Tim. She managed to stay awake until about 4pm when our friends had left and then she fell asleep on the sofa.

Bean put Tangled on again and Pumpkin asked for his hairbrush and spent the whole film brushing out his knots. Bean and Plum both had a bath tonight and we were all in bed by 10pm dispite the girls late afternoon nap.


Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Changing Rhythms: school holidays

School holidays change our rhthym too, as does the changing seasons. We don't celebrate halloween, for lots of reasons, the dressing up part scares the children. For this reason we avoid anywhere that has decorations up during the half term holiday which mostly means we stay at home or have play dates. Today we met church friends and used the church hall as a space to play together. The big ones began with an extended lego session, Plum and me built a railway track with the brio. Games soon turned to dressing up and chasing the one dressed as the tiger. Bean was Superman and then a clown. Pumpkin was a pirate. Plum a policewoman. We also played four rounds of uno.

Bean had a problem with his phone today and tried several ways to fix it. He patiently waited for daddy to come home who spent some time with google and fixed it in 30 seconds. We spent a large portion of the day watching cats being funny in compelation clips on YouTube and moved on to You've Been framed in the evening.

It all began with Pumpkin and DanTDM and the Don't Laugh challenge, which is very hard and very funny.

Plum slept in late this morning, i was glad it wasn't Little Verse day due to half term, she would have hated being woken up but hated missing it too. She pottered around with the happy land people most of the morning. She is mostly into nesting them and her dollies at the moment.

And Pippin is watching Bing on a loop.

We ended the day watching Wreck it Ralph and all four smalls having a bath. Neither of the boys felt they had had long enough to finish the games they were playing so we will probably repeat it all again tomorrow.