There's no place like home

We had two consecutive days at home followed by two consecutive highly busy days.

Thursday and friday were At Home Days. Thursday was very relaxed with lots of watching and computer games, play dough, colouring. The children were relaxed and i got to spend concentrated and uninterupted time with each of them. Plum, 5, and i put together the new rabbit hutch which took 2 1/2 hours in total. Bean, 10, popped out every now and then and gave us a hand and pippin, 3, kept an eye on proceedings in between cartoons and playdough. Bean went out with daddy and bought a pumpkin in the evening.

Friday bean carved a pumpkin with me as his did not turn out as expected earlier in the week. Pippin and plum and i baked a marble tray bake to take to fireworks at the church in the evening. Pumpkin didn't get up until after midday! And in the wvening we went to the church with friends and had fireworks and sparklers and soup.

Saturday we were up and out looking at houses and home for a late lunch. Bean and i went into town to spend his pocket money. He had been planning on saving it to buy a nerf gun with pumpkin but three days from getting the next instalment he decided he wanted to spend it. He bought a remote control skateboard, a lolly for himself and kinder eggs for the other three. Then it was back home for a quick feed up before daddy took the big three to fireworks at the cricket club with their friend T.

Sunday was church day followed by a trip to Polesden Lacy where we meet friend A and J and did the Wizard of Oz trail, perfect for Plum who has recently watched the film several times. We had a great time rolling down the hill and walking along the trim trail in the woods. Plum climbed a tree higher than i have ever seen her climb and bean helped guide her back down again. By the time we got home everyone was exhausted and we relaxed all evening with food and The Simpsons.

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We met with friends on Friday. They were one of the first families that i met when we first stepped into the HE community and although we have seen each other frequently at HE events it is not until now that our children have connected. Bean, 10, and Pumpkin, 8, spent more than an hour at their house whilst i took plum, 5, and pippin, 2, to the nearby play park with K, 12. We had a great time at the park and played on the zipline, roundabout, swings, slide, pirate boat and the adult gym equipment before we got a call to return to the boys. We then stayed a little longer watching a film before we left. The plan eas for pippin to sleep, which she did on the return journey but promptly woke when we got home.

Saturday we went to Pilgrim Hall for our church away day. The children played all day with SGG and SGS who did clay models and kite flying and pictures and junk modelling with them. Daddy and i sat next to each other all day and we took the children swimming in the outdoor pool. Pumpkin didn't want to swim so swang on the tree swing a while and then went and played table tennis and table football with a friend.

Sunday we went to church and then collapsed in the afternoon. All the children took themselves to their own corner and lay and played on their tablets. We did the same Monday too. Both saturday and sunday we had had to wake the big three to get them up and out for the day, monday was blessed relief.

Monday their was some Magic: the gathering, playing in the paddling pool, painting, playing mummies and daddies, minecraft, and a lego zip wire. I also took plum and pippin to the park for an hour.

Tuesday we took Archie dog out for a walk in the woods. We had to go and buy him some tennis balls as he didn't have any. It started to rain just as we were leaving. The remainder of the day was spent with water beads and den making, minecraft, youtube, gaming, and film watching.

Summer Days

I have't posted for a week! Life has been busy. The day light hours are getting longer. Today is the summer solstice. The weather forecast is set at 34° today. Our home ed aim for today will be to stay cool.

Bean, 10, has spent the last week mostly involved in oreparing and displaying his Bakugan project. After weeks of trawling ebay, Saturday we found an auction listing in nearby Shoreham and they accepted our buy it now offer. Daddy took Bean down to collect a new case and 18 bakugan. Monday he displayed his project.
He has also been watching a lot of extreme sport tricks and world record holding stunts on youtube. Tight rope walking over niagra falls and the grand canyon, rock climbing without equipment up sheer rock faces, jumping without parachutes, skateboarding into the grand canyon, extreme mountain biking etc. He says he wants to overcome his fear of heights so that he can climb higher.

Pumpkin, 8, has helped taste test cakes for me for daddy's birthday party and we have been trying to faciliatate as much time as possible at home for him in between a very busy schedule. Friday we stayed home all day and made cakes and wrapped daddy's presents, Saturday morning i stayed at gome with him whilst the others went out and he and i stayed at home sunday morning whilst the others went to church. Then we drove FA#3 and family to the airport and had a beautiful drive home, just the two of us.
Monday, Pumpkin and Bean played with a HE friend that we have known for years but for the first time really connected and they have plans to go and play at his house.

Plum, 5, busy busy busy as always. Plum helped make and ice all four cakes that we made for daddy's birthday. She played relentlessly with her cousins C and H and enjoyed having them for a sleep over at the weekend, she made a new friend at the project showcase who shared their hoola hoop with her. She also took her my little ponies to display and another HE teen helped her to mix slime. She has met a friend at fisher's farm and played in the new indoor area together. And when she needs a rest she takes her tablet up to her room and watches youtube.

Pumpkin, 2, is a delight. She's there mixing cakes with us and hanging the laundry, she hides every nappy change under the duvets and sheets and then i have to hide from her too, she chops vegetables for dinner and feeds the rabbits with me, she colours and loads her own films to watch. She has begun to copy the dancing in films, her best being madagascar' "move it, move it," nut job's "gangnam style," and frozen "do you wanna build a snowman?" Her sleeping patterns are unpredictable as she transitions from regular afternoon nap to no nap through late afternoon nap which the heat is contributing to.

We have also managed to complete our lego card collection, pending promised cards, watched lego batman together, played at Fisher's Farm Splash Attack and go karts, where bean gave plum and pippin rides around the track, and went to the animal handling, held daddy's birthday party and played with lots of friends.

Today we will stay at home and rest, with no specific plans, except to stay cool in the heat.

That snail is fast

Sometimes our days are slow and steady, some days are all go. Today we all busy, all day.

Plum, 5, was up 3 hours earlier than normal as she had a birthday party to attend today. So at 6am this morning we were making cards and wrapping presents because we didn't want to forget to do it.

Bean, 9, has been building mechanisms with lego and elastic bands and turning them and timing them and ading more elastic bands and working out which combination of elastic bands and number of turns gives him a mechanism that turns the slowest and how long this takes. This led to us trying to make our own kitchen timer with a kit we had but we were stumped by not having a soldering tool. We have since sourced two that we could borrow but for now he moved onto his electronics kit and mostly tried things out with the magnet and reed switch today.

Meanwhile, Pumpkin, 8, got out a range of pots and pans and spoons and created a junk drum kit. Plum, 5, joined in and Pippin, 2, too. He made some music, deliberate, repeatitious, purposeful music. Plum tried out all the different sounds that she could make and we watched some Stomp clips on YouTube together.

Plum and Pippin played on the see saw and washed plates and cups in the garden and played on hoppers.

After lunch, which today was ice cream, we went and met friends and played in the church garden. I took a picnic with us too. Bean took his remote control monster truck which worked well on the paved car park area. Pumpkin took hulabaloo which everyone enjoyed. They played It and Stuck in the Mud, hide and seek, and Grandma's footsteps. Pippin played catch with Bea and then Bean and Pumpkin went to our friend's house whilst i took Plum and Pippin to V's party.

We played searching for dinosaurs and on the swing and the trampoline mostly before party tea and birthday cake. Then we collected the boys who had had an amazing time and thanks to our friends we managed a win:win for the afternoon and avoided a sticky situation.

Quick stir fry cooked by daddy to celebrate our 14th Wedding Anniversary and then off out to friends for the evening.

We Can work It Out

Today has felt like a day of negotiations and somehow we have made it through without incident. Everyone seems tired after the visit from our friends and Bean, 9, woke up still angry with Pumpkin, 8, for not wnting to finish watching Pirates of the Carribean 4, which as it is Pumpkin's means that Bean can't watch it either.

We went out today. We went to Box Hill and met with other Home Educators. They are relatively new families to us who we have only met once before. Pumpkin wasn't keen to get out of the car because he didn't want to walk in the fog. Getting out of the car always takes a while anyway. First we had to pay for parking, then one by one the children decided what they wanted to wear (hat/coat/gloves etc) next i changed Pippin's nappy and then went back to check on Pumpkin. He was adament that he didn't want to come. We talked through the options and negotiated that we would be only an hour and off we went. We walked through the mud and the fog, climbed trees and played on the nature trail. Not one of my children had wellies or walking boots on, in fact, Pippin was even wearing odd shoes. Bean got on really well with one of the other children and asked if she could come back to our house to play. I tried to keep our lot moving so we had time to play in the den area as this is what Bean had said he wanted to do more than anything other. The three families sat in the giant den and ate food and talked about spider's webs. Bean began to recount interesting facts to everyone and then him and Pumpkin moved onto jokes. Before we left we finger painted our faces with some coal that was found in a tree log.

Back home Bean and Pumpkin went to play on the gaming pc and Plum, 5, played with mummy and Pippin, 2. We began with a board game of pirates treasure, then doll's house, cbeebies games, followed by watching Beethoven. Half way through the film she took her tablet upstairs and lay on my bed.

Bean came downstairs and watched Monster's University with Pippin whilst he counted his pocket money ready for a trip to town tomorrow. Pippin played dinosurs and dressing up. Pumpkin and him sat and watched The Loud House whilst i helped Pippin to bed and they also put the dressing up clothes away and got their own snacks. Plum was now lying curled up with her tablet in her bedroom, daddy found the toddler bed mattress for her so she can sleep on that. Plum went to bed in her own room again.

Down the road

The boys play a series of five donut games every morning, best of five wins. Pumpkin immersed in watching walk through Simpson's game play of Simpson computer games and Bean is working his way through Poke money episodes.

Today we went to see friends that we haven't seen for far too long, and they only live 15 minutes down the road. The county we live in is teaming with Home Educators and the ever growing means we are oil to for choice for activities and friendships.  The smalls all played in the playhouse and climbed trees, swung on the swing, played hot wheels and played with weaponary.

Pippin only slept in the car and then woke and was sick. We cleaned up and cuddled.

We ended our day enjoying The Great British Bake Off.

Common blue

Saturday 20th April 2013

Today's adventures took us to see our best man and his family for the day. We see them maybe two or three times a year but this didn't hinder the smalls all playing along together like they see each other every day. Our best man's daughters are both a little older than our boys but it makes no difference and they spent the whole day moving between one game and the next. They had a till and food out, a tent, tricycle, guess who, chess, elefun (he really was a fun elephant!), they played 'it' all the way to the park and then hide and seek, climbing, see saw, general park running around and climbing. There was not one cross word from any of them all day.

The mummies took the smalls to the park whilst the daddy's stayed at home, rested and had a catch up together. We found a butterfly on the path on the way to the park and we all stopped to look at it. Pumpkin stopped longer than the rest and made me take a photo of it so that we could look and see if we could find it on our butterfly spotters poster. He also made me move it under the shade of a tree so it would be safe and we had quite the discussion about whether it had gone to heaven.

Bean was disappointed to see that we hadn't sold anything again today. But he has new plans afoot! He managed to stay awake on the journey home and watched a little before taking himself to bed. Both pumpkin and plum fell asleep in the car but it took a while to settle plum when we arrived home. She wasn't awake but she was very unsettled and was refusing cuddles and milk for a while. She eventually took the milk, calmed and slept.

Frog spotting and leaf collecting

Title: Not a song lyric or book quote today rather the response me and daddy came up with to the question, "what hobbies do you have in common?" We were asked this when we first told people we were engaged and we couldn't think of a real answer so decided this would be it. We had rather imagined ourselves out and about putting spots of paint on unsuspecting frogs. But back to reality.


As well as the usual one hour in at gymnastics, followed by an hour in the play park, we met went frog spotting at Warnham Nature Reserve today with fellow home ed friends. The plan was to go frog spotting as it happened the mums were rather frog marched around the reserve. The children moved at an alarming rate along the paths and thoroughly enjoyed a good walk around, dipping in and out of hides and climbing the occasional fallen tree. Pumpkin did spot a snail shell when he was riding in the buggy and Bean came for a closer look using his magnifying glass from his National Trust explorer kit that grandma and pops got him for his birthday. We decided that as the snail was missing it would be okay to collect the shell and bring it home so he doned his gloves and put it into an appropriate sized pot to bring home.


The day had begun with some craftiness. Bean emptied a box of craft bits and constructed a picture of our garden and a picture of daddy's steam train (the one that takes him to work.) What I love about the craft movement is that although it took Bean almost five years to show any interest in anything arty he is really finding things he is good at, home ed allows there to be little restriction in the time he spends on it or which medium he wants to work with, and there is only room for exploration and his own sense of accomplishment in his work. There is no-one to tell him he can't use pink or draw flowers or put the sandpit in the sky or daddy on a steam train. I think these things combined has helped him move on in his art work and not stunted or hindered him from continuing.

The remainder of the day saw us entertaining friends, making chocolate cakes (again), watching some iplayer, playing games on mummy's phone, and Pumpkin finally falling asleep at 5pm and not waking up... I feel a 3am wake up call approaching!

You've got a friend in me

I'm guessing that those of you who have read the blog more than once will have noticed that my boys, Bean and Pumpkin, are pretty much inseparable. It is rare to find them following their own pursuits or doing their own thing, although it does happen. Even when you would assume that the two different things they are playing would not easily come together, they find a way. Today it was cowboys and pirates! 

The other pursuit that has dominated our day is Bean's need to clean everything! Particularly the windows. Pumpkin and him spent happy hours this afternoon washing down the conservatory windows.

The boys each have a doll. Pumpkin has been playing with his lately. Last week we even took the buggy to the library with us. This week Bean found a collection of baby doll accessories in the bric-a-brac shop at Amberley Museum and today it inspired a baby feeding session, then nap time with dummies.

There has also been a lot of sticking and painting and drawing and making following our trip out to Little Builders where they had a Father's Day theme. Sometimes it is a good job we do visit the mainland occasionally otherwise certain events would pass us by and whilst we're not into big celebrations it is a nice idea to show some appreciation to daddy. I just happen to think that maybe this should be a natural habit rather than a once a year, inspired by commercialism, event.

Plum is continuing to enjoy her playtime with food. Today included peaches (which Pumpkin had picked up to try and declared too hard, it probably was but waste not want not!) cucumber, apple, avocado and carrot. I'm enjoying catching up with the how's and why's of Baby led weaning and am always a bit apprehensive (maybe relieved) at how easy it is. I've copied a bit more of the web pages I shared yesterday. It sometimes looks like a lot of reading but basically it comes down to the natural development of your child, you will know and they will know when they are ready. 


Baby Led Weaning shouldn’t be started before your baby is ready, i.e. showing signs of interest in solid foods (which can start as early as four months, but hold out for six), is able to sit up on their own, and is six months old.
Baby Led Weaning is about the experience of food, rather than the nutrition only of it. Food is fun till one. Until they are around one, milk should be your child’s primary source of nutrition, and food should be introduced for the touch, feel, smell factors. Food should be mushed in the fingers, sucked, gummed, smelt and experienced, and how much is eaten is rather irrelevant. Around the first birthday, your child will automatically start eating more of the food.
Baby Led Weaning doesn’t mean you give your child food and then walk away. It’s not ‘hands off’ in the way that scares parents looking in to it. It’s still weaning, there’s still parental involvement. It’s just baby led.
Babies don’t need teeth to eat. They are perfectly capable of breaking down foods with their gums – be smart though. A 500g rump steak isn’t a good idea.
A baby’s gag reflex is in the middle of their mouth, unlike an adults, which is more towards the back. Your baby might sound like he or she is choking, but it’s unlikely. The gag reflex is precisely there to prevent chocking. At the same time, don’t leave an infant unattended when they are eating.
If your child doesn’t like something, it doesn’t matter. Remove it from the plate, and offer it again in a few weeks time. Tastes change as taste buds develop.
Try to use organic foods, and don’t boil them. You’re trying to maintain the flavours – bland food isn’t very interesting. Steaming works best for hard vegetables, or we often pan-fry in a non-stick pan with no oil.
If there is a history of allergies, asthma or eczema in either parent’s family, try to avoid milk products (cow’s milk, cheeses and yogurts), shellfish, citrus fruit and their juices or eggs, until your baby is around eight months old. If there are allergies, also avoid sesame seeds or peanuts. If you’re really concerned, do a blood allergy test, so you know for definite what to avoid and what not. There is also a school of thought that says avoiding these things increases the risk of allergies, rather than reducing it – do your research and decide for yourself.
Honey, salt and wheat products are not recommended until the baby is a year old. This is a strange one for me, as, for example, in South Africa we give babies œbiltongâ– dried, cured, salty meat for teething. ‘Regulations’ and ‘recommendations’ vary from country to country and over time, so do what you feel is right for your baby.
You can change to baby led weaning at any time, even if you’ve already started puree feeding, but be aware that babies used to swallowing purees first may be more likely to try to swallow and then gag on finger foods.
We’ve never puree fed, and you don’t have to start with mush.
When you were pregnant, your baby became accustomed to your way of eating. If you’re breastfeeding more so.

The Little Red Hen

Plum is feeding 3 hourly again at night but as it is bank holiday i got to sleep in an extra bit this morning, 7.30 up.

The plan was to make a jubilee cheesecake this morning but when it came to it the boys were more interested in playing. I made it anyway as we bought all the ingredients. I felt a little like the little red hen, i'm sure the boys will enjoy eating it.

Daddy spent time playing puppets and making stories and joining in jokes that only small children understand. Bean has been busy playing with a balloon he got from yesterday's birthday party. He had it attached to an aircraft he had made and was pretending it was a bomb. It was mummy and daddy's job to defend the town using a selection of vehicles and some imagination: hurling mud from the tipper truck or hooking the string with the crane claw. Daddy was better at this than mummy.

Pumpkin has had the car garage out again for the sixth time this week. He had the cars parked on the top floor today and got very upset if they were moved. He also lined them up as if in traffic and then one by one drove them off to line them up parallel to the first line.

We went into town to join the jubilee celebrations, bumped into several people we know. Listened to a lot of music from various decades and daddy took the boys on a bus ride. We even found a random toy soldier in the sand tray outside elc...i wonder how that got there???? :)

Can we build it?

The day began with daddy and Bean going out to the men's breakfast at church. Pumpkin and I stayed at home and made our own special pancakes for breakfast. He really enjoyed the mixing and of course the eating.
We hosted a couple more smalls today, our God daughter and her brother, similar ages to Bean and Pumpkin. It intriged me how the introduction of two more adventurous brains turns the direction of a favourite toy. The cardboard boxes became a house and a boat with trailer but today they also had bear and a book for the journey and were selotaped together, all because there were extra smalls involved.
I was explaining to J that Bean loved to build things and as if he had heard me he set about building throughout the house, lego here, wooden blocks there, cardboard boxes in the garden, bricks in the doorway, bedding upstairs.
I had some 1:1 time with Pumpkin this morning. I went out to buy suncream recommended to be by fav auntie #1 and he opted to come with me. I let him sit in the front of the car and we had the window wide open and he choose the music. A very special time and we should try to do it more often.







Other highlights today included: painting the patio and toys, using a variety of brushes and mops, with water; Bean chalking a hop scotch on the floor complete with numbers 1, 2, 3 (he's never written numbers before); more paddling in the paddling pool; and a lot of sword fighting.