Patter cake

A really busy day today:

It all began later than usual as everyone had a mammoth sleep, all together on the same morning is rare. This morning was biscuit baking for the third time this week with Plum. We set out to make chocolate cupcakes but part way through mixing the ingredients she decided that she wanted to make biscuits again. Biscuits are really not my strongest baking skill so we tried another recipe today as the first ones have been too sticky to use the cutters with effectively. Today's mixture was too short. Once the biscuits were made I finished off baking the cakes.

Whilst we were doing this Pumpkin had put on Teach Your Monster To Read. I can't even remember the last time anyone looked at it but he was on for about half an hour and this inspired Bean to have a go too. Plum emptied the book cupboard looking for Charlie and Lola stories and Bean spent a while looking through one of his minecraft books and discussing with Pumpkin what they are going to build next. Later on in the day Bean asked me to read him a story. It was The Selfish Giant. I don't even remember the last time he asked for a story in the middle of the day, years. 

Plum and I have also made a necklace today. She sorted out all her beands so that it was a necklace just with heart beads on and then threaded them all so that the hearts all faced the same way. And Pumpkin and I set out to make marmalade (something he wanted to do since seeing the Paddington film.) It wasn't bad for a first attempt although I did the lion's share myself, I'm sure we'll all enjoy the results. 

In amongst all this we also home made a pizza for dinner, hoovered the living room, Got the blackboard out to draw on. Cleared the cupboard under the stairs and did two loads of laundry.

Pippin slept and breast fed and watched me do washing up and enjoyed her daily cuddle with Pumpkin.

Food art is as popular as ever

Playing doll's house together

Thank you for the days

Feeling grateful today that we:

didn't have to rise and shine and get everyone out the door for a school run;

could stay in the warm in our pj's and do our own thing;

can watch 'The Borrowers' together and build in minecraft (a group compilation with Bean, Pumpkin and mummy, inspired by bean's minecraft book that he got for Christmas;)

have a baking happy family. Pumpkin asked for muffins and Plum made some Winnie the Pooh biscuits with her new cutters.

can take time to play Sylvanians and no-one minds that the lego men and Peppa Pig come and join in too.

have home ed friends who suggest us getting together during the week, encouraging us out of our winter cocoon every now and then!

Happy 3rd Birthday Plum

This is my baby Anna (aka Plum):

It was her third birthday this week. You can read her birth story here. 
And now she is three. We celebrated with a Peppa Pig themed gathering. She invited her cousins, Cleo and Hazel with FA#3, and her friends, Eva, Merrilise and Sam with their mummy and new baby. We had it at our house and played Pin the tail on daddy pig, muddy puddles, musical statues and pass the parcel. This was accompanied by Peppa themed food: pigs tails (spiral crisps,) pig faces on cakes, turkey dinosaur shapes (dinosaur, roar!!!!) vegetables and dip (from grandpa pigs garden) which happen to incoperate a few of Anna's favourite foods (that is carrots and houmous) with drinks served in Pepa Pig cups. 

So, now that Anna is three she likes the colours orange, yellow, red and pink. She loves to wear skirts and tights and her brother's Bob the builder t-shirts. This was the year that she gave up breastmilk, she was about 2 and 4 months at the time. She is still not a big eater and can go several days without appearing to eat very much but she does like chocolate and raw carrots and houmous and cereal. She definitely does not like sweets. She loves playing puzzles and doll's house and painting and drawing and playdough and dancing. She does not like her hair being tied up so it is always wild and free. She loves to cuddle especially when she is tired. She falls asleep most nights cuddling mummy in my bed, we then move her to her bed which is in mummy's room. Most nights she wakes early morning and crawls into bed with mummy, some nights this happens sooner, and sometimes she wakes up in her own bed in the mornings. She loves watching Peppa Pig and Mickey mouse, Rosie and Bing, as well as a seemingly strange collection of Youtube videos showcasing Peppa Pig toys or unveiling kinder eggs.  

For her birthday she got an array of Peppar Pig gifts (books, bubble bath, soft toys, small world toys,) a cake baking set (thank you grandma and Pops,) Sylvanian sets (including a woodland toilet and urinal!! Thank you FA#3,) some princess figures and a new set of clothes. All of this was wrapped up in a huge bundle of love. 

2014 in numbers

I haven't posted much this year (something which i hope to rectify next year)
Here is a review of 2014 in numbers:

94 field trips to membership destinations and clubs: 
Winter Wednesdays, Pulborough Brooks, Drusilla's Zoo, Legoland, Boys Brigade, Gymnastics, Fisher's Farm, Swimming, Leed's Castle, INTECH, French classes, Legomania, Cinema (Lego movie, How to train your dragon2, Paddington,) Nyman;s Gardens and Petworth House.

More than 30 visits and outings with family members.

27 trips to parks and nature reserves: 
Horsham Park, Pulborough Park, Rackham, Box Hill, Bax Castle (not that we once did the walk!) Hills Farm Lane playarea, Cissbury Ring, Southwater Country park, Warnham Nature Reserve.

22 playdates - meeting up with friends at our house or there's.

18 museum visits (a little surprised this wasn't more) 
This was made up of the Lightbox, Haslemere, Summers Place, Amberley Museum, Science museum, Natural History Museum and Horsham Museum.

17 beach days

2 foreign visitors to stay (Harien and the wonderful Cate)

1 family holiday to Dawlish Warren, Devon.

One off outings to Loxwood Joust, Baking show, Jaws and Claws, Brick 2014 and archery.

Plus a lot of homedays watching films, decorating the boys room (Star Wars,) reading books, playing games, baking, drawing, painting, making, and exploring our interests in Light, Lego, Bodies and Minecraft.

And the arrival of one beautiful baby.

 

Turn off that TV!

This is a personal account of our journey into the realms of unrestricted access to all things screen based: tv, computer, smart phones, ipad, tablets. It has been 7 months since we made the move and decided that our children would not have a restriction put upon them that was imposed by mummy and daddy. I feel after seven months that we have something to write about that is positive and not just 'they use it all day everyday.'

Previous to the shift the boys were allowed to watch two hours each day, after lunch, when Plum was sleeping, and that's what they did. They sat and they watched. Sometimes we would have a movie night together and sometimes mummy and daddy were just tired so they could have it then too! And sometimes they wanted to know about something so we would look it up together. The point is that it was always determined by mummy and/or daddy when it was allowed. The growing difficulty that we had was that firstly, it didn't match with our approach on every other aspect of our lives (whereby the smalls have control over what they do/ eat/ sleep etc) secondly, it was getting difficult to negotiate when we could use the internet to research/ watch clips/ programmes that were relevant to our interests, thirdly, mummy and daddy use screen based technology all the time for a whole range of reasons all the time, and fourthly, daddy works in social media and it seemed at odds with the things he was engaging with during the working day.

So we wanted to allow our children to access things via screens when they wanted to for the things they wanted to. We deliberately chose not to tell them. They were in the habit of asking if they could use the computer/iPad/phone so we turned our 'no' into 'yes.' The other thing we (mummy and daddy) challenged ourselves to do was not to use phrases like 'you've been on that ipad all day!' Or 'when are you going to do something that doesn't involve staring at a screen' etc and to spend time with them doing whatever activity they were engaged with.

It was noticeable that the first few weeks/months they boys sat and watched and watched and watched. We watched catch-up TV and films and YouTube clips endlessly and we watched them from dawn until dusk. But one of the things that happened fairly early on was Bean, 6, asking if we could turn the TV off at bedtime as it was making him tired. Now we don't have specified bedtimes but give or take half an hour it's normally around 10pm for Bean so we took this time and agreed that we would let him know when it was 10 o'clock and then he decides what to do. Without fail he turned it off and mostly went to bed, occasionally he might do something else for a while first. Now, he will take himself to bed before 10pm even if someone else is continuing to watch or play computer games. 

I would say that we spent five months with every minute that we were at home with the boys playing games or watching something. We still went out and saw friends, visited places etc but always initiated by mummy. The observable difference in this time was what they used it for. They started to play Minecraft together and ask to find out more about different things and Skype friends. They became more discerning in what they used it for, it wasn't just 'I must watch something because this is the only time i have to do it in.'  

Then one day Bean asked as we were eating breakfast, 'can we go to the park and feed the ducks?' He asked to do something that wasn't related to a computer/device. When we first lifted the restriction I was internally crying out for the day when they would chose something that didn't involve a technological device and a little bit of me skipped for joy but I have also been on my own personal journey: The learning didn't stop just because they were using a different medium to access the things that they love. And the activities they use the devices for are multiple and varied (as it is with adults) socially connecting with friends and family (Skype) is not the same as gaming or watching films or creating pictures or shopping and the things that interest them in each of these activities is as varied as all the other things we do and so is the learning that accompanies it.

The second noticeable thing that changed was the things they did whilst they were watching. In the beginning they would purely sit and watch, now there is colouring and Lego and board games at the same time. And sometimes one of them chooses to watch and the other will be somewhere else doing something else.

Thirdly, the things that they do on their tablets/computer have become a spring board for other activities. Bean has grown an interest in rocks and is starting a collection and been to museums to see different minerals and rocks and looked up where different stones are found. Pumpkin takes recipes from tv programmes and we make them together at home, or recreates a peice of artwork from cbeebies Mr Maker, or dresses up to look like a pirate and Plum collects certain items to watch certain programmes, she loves to wear her knight hat and sword watching Mike the Knight, use sign language when watching Mr Tumble, and have Woody and Buzz by her side when we watch Toy Story, mostly she sits and draws whilst the tv is on. None of these things happened seven months ago.

Fourthly, when we go to places where others are watching/gaming, if it is something that doesn't interest them, then they find something that does interest them instead of seizing the opportunity to do something that is restricted at home.

And at some point in the midst of the boys testing out the 'do mummy and daddy mean we can anytime we want to?' We found them both curled up in bed together, about half an hour after they had gone to bed, watching something! "We're only watching this one thing mum" "OK" and they finished it and went to sleep. It's not happened again.

And now, amongst requests to go to the beach/ park/ friends house/ museum, our house is full of activity. Activities like Minecraft and film watching, gaming and Skype, looking up how much the most expensive diamond is and watching YouTube clips of Stampy, activities like baking and drawing and Lego and filming, photo taking and seed planting, water fights and obstacle courses.

Do they spend more than two hours a day using devices? Yes. Some days they watch all day, other days they take in turns, some days they're busy with other things. Does it bother me? No. Are we happy? Yes.

And all the time the learning goes on.

Happy 7th Birthday Bean

Today was all about Bean aka Isaac. Even Pumpkin vowed to not upset him on his birthday and he was super kind to his brother all day. Bean was super kind back and it made a lovely vibe.

Bean was born in the early hours of the morning seven years ago (read his birth story here) and we have been in love with him ever since. He loves lego and minecraft and friends and family, he also likes daddy reading him stories and play fighting with his siblings. He is interested in castles and old houses and likes gymnastics and riding his bike and going to the park.

He has a very keen sense of right and wrong and enjoys the expertise of others, i think he likes the idea that there is a right way to do something e.g. a gymnastics move, and this person can tell/show you how to do it the correct way. He likes things to be in order and tidy and have a definite place for everything (toys in his bed all have their designated spot.) He has an amazing memory and his auditory skills have always been pretty amazing for a young one. His favourite music cd's to listen to are Colin Buckanan.

His choice of party celebration this year was to invite friends and family for a traditional birthday party. Actually, he asked for afternoon tea and balloons. No requested theme as in previous years. He invited 8 families to his party, including grandma and pops, fa#1 and fa#3 (fa#2 had to work-boo,) this equated to 17 children and 14 adults ages ranging from 0-12 years amongst the children plus two bumps.

Bean's plans included:

Ham sandwiches in squares with no crusts.
Marshmallow chocolate cake.
Cupcakes.
Sausage rolls
Party rings
lemonade

And for the games: 

Pass the parcel
Pin the tail on the donkey
Mask making
cake decorating

We expanded on the balloon idea and used these as our primary decoration, supplied a broader range of food items and put out some toys to cater for the wide age range. The sun came out long enough for the garden to be used and a large selection of the children went out to play football for almost the whole time.

And then our friends and family arrived. One brought music and helped do crafty things, one brought her face paints, and my family turned out to be kitchen fairies and general helper/tidier uppers in disguise. 

Bean's presents included a lot of lego, beginning with Pumpkin's choice of gift: a teenage mutant hero turtle set (which Bean loved) so we topped and tailed our day with some lego model building and there's still plenty more to do. The family bought him his own tablet inc cover from Plum and minecraft already downloaded!

Picking up the daisies

Lots of party preparations have been going on this week. Bean turns 7 tomorrow.

We've had some good fun drawing around our bodies and allocating internal bits and pieces. Bean wanted his to be filled with bones, Plum got busy painting hers (and herself) and the boys have decided that they need one of mummy so that we can put baby in my tummy. No dissections this week.

A family trip to Worthing beach. Pumpkin's choice of destination. He loves the beach, collecting shells and sticks and stones and seaweed, and jumping in the sea. It is my plan to make it to the seafront at least once a week for the foreseeable future. 

A visit to friend's to see the rock collection they have borrowed from a museum. 

Big trip out to Legoland on Wednesday was once again successful. Somehow we managed to juggle the needs of all three smalls. Plum being too small to ride on most things and both boys being too small to ride solo on anything. So glad we go when there are no queues and we can just jump on and off as we please. We watched the Pirate Show this year, which was new for us, in fact, Bean, Plum and I watched it twice whilst Pumpkin and daddy went zooming around on the larger rides (viking boats 3 times, dragons apprentice 3 times, large rollercoaster 6 times...and all in an hour) Pumpkin had been very certain to make sure that daddy had remembered his dragon proof coat. Despite loving the large rollercoaster, he's not too keen on the journey through the dragons lair at the beginning of the ride.

The trip to legoland continues our lego interest. Along with regular visits to Brighton Lego shop, saving our money for various sets, receiving the lego magazine, Lego movie veiwing, tickets booked to the lego show in November, this is our third annual home ed visit to legoland.