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?)
Our Tribe
Friday, 9 December 2016
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.
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.
Wednesday, 7 December 2016
Working Together
I played chess this morning with Bean, 9, then Pumpkin, 7, and finally Plum, 4. Pippin got paper and pens out again and found dolly to play with. Bean resurrected his love of The Escapers and watched DanTDM play the soon to be released Christmas update. And then i had to watch it with him, and then Pumpkin had to watch it and then i had to watch it with Pumpkin.
We meet with our CHEF this afternoon, just three families this week. We tried a slightly different format which worked well and had the story of Joseph. A colaborative building project ensued with straws and connectors and Bean, Pumpkin and friends built a castle as tall as themselves. There was duplo and painting and wrestling and face painting and group games to end with.
Back home the children relaxed and watched their own things on their own tablets. We watched The Simpsons Movie. It was paused for an hour long wrestling match. We ate. Daddy came home and then went out again. Plum and Pippin and me mixed angel delight together and i watched more DanTDM with Bean and Pumpkin. Lydia went to bed and I read stories with Bean and Plum. Bean has requested a hair cut tomorrow. Plum slept in her top bunk again.
Pumpkin went to bed with me about 10.30pm
We meet with our CHEF this afternoon, just three families this week. We tried a slightly different format which worked well and had the story of Joseph. A colaborative building project ensued with straws and connectors and Bean, Pumpkin and friends built a castle as tall as themselves. There was duplo and painting and wrestling and face painting and group games to end with.
Back home the children relaxed and watched their own things on their own tablets. We watched The Simpsons Movie. It was paused for an hour long wrestling match. We ate. Daddy came home and then went out again. Plum and Pippin and me mixed angel delight together and i watched more DanTDM with Bean and Pumpkin. Lydia went to bed and I read stories with Bean and Plum. Bean has requested a hair cut tomorrow. Plum slept in her top bunk again.
Pumpkin went to bed with me about 10.30pm
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Like Monday Morning
Monday: Plum, 4, is out with SGG and SGS at Little Verse. Bean, 9, and Pumpkin, 7, put on Pirates of the Carribean: Dead man's Chest. It seems to me that they like epic trilogy good vs evil type films.
We mostly eat all morning and then ate more when Plum gets home before we go to lego club.
We set up Lego Club last year as Bean was wanting to have more friends. We wanted to make connections with others who had similar interests. It has become a great place for children of all ages to come together and share their knowledge and love of lego. Sometimes it's busy and noisy and vibrant, sometimes it's just a few families and everyone is engaged in the same game or build together, and sometimes, like today, it was just us. And we had a great time together playing games that the children had made up, building duplo with Pippin, 2, doing Build Battle together.
Back home we watched Ice Age and ate chicken. Pumpkin bathed whilst i got food together, Bean bathed four hours later. Plum, having slept 5 nights in her top bunk, slept with mummy again as the previous night she had had lots of nightmares.
We mostly eat all morning and then ate more when Plum gets home before we go to lego club.
We set up Lego Club last year as Bean was wanting to have more friends. We wanted to make connections with others who had similar interests. It has become a great place for children of all ages to come together and share their knowledge and love of lego. Sometimes it's busy and noisy and vibrant, sometimes it's just a few families and everyone is engaged in the same game or build together, and sometimes, like today, it was just us. And we had a great time together playing games that the children had made up, building duplo with Pippin, 2, doing Build Battle together.
Back home we watched Ice Age and ate chicken. Pumpkin bathed whilst i got food together, Bean bathed four hours later. Plum, having slept 5 nights in her top bunk, slept with mummy again as the previous night she had had lots of nightmares.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Explore and Play
Hibernation has only taken a few weeks to set in but it is well and truely here. Today was beautiful outside though, beautiful and freezing, morning temperatures were at -6. Blankets and pillows now occupy our living room space, Pumpkin is wearing vests under his pyjamas, Bean is wearing full pyjama sets, Plum has set up a nest of duvet and pillows and toys on the top bunk.
Bean, 9, spent his morning watching Pokemon and walkthroughs on the updated minecraft. Our computer is no longer able to run the game and he was a bit upset but comforted a little knowing that we have ordered them a new computer.
Pumpkin, 7, spent his morning creating Skylanders and playing lego games on his tablet. He downloaded a new plants vs zombies game, hatched eggs on dragon city and watched Dan TDM.
Plum, 4, was up three hours earlier than normal after having a very disturbed night (for no reason that i can fathom.) Consequently she lay on her top bunk and watched cbeebies and played cbeebies games all morning. I was surprised that she didn't fall back asleep.
Pippin, 2, swept floors, looked at books, played dollies, watched Bing, drew pictures, played with the kitchen set and was generally very busy.
This afternoon we went to Explore and Play. There was only us and one other family. This is the way that Pumpkin likes it. And Bean was happy too. The boys played outside almost the whole time. They created their own games akin to Capture the Flag. They did also try to make dens and hide outs but it became cramped with everyone trying to squeeze in. The soft stuff was popular too and this is what began the idea of others trying to take what they had. The one on the soft stuff had to protect it and the others had to steal it without being caught. This evolved into the enduring game outside.
The girls mostly got busy with playdough and painting and colouring and enjoying the big pile of soft stuff. Plum painted a rainbow and made cakes and lollypops from play dough.
There was also duplo and lego and junk modelling and autumn craft available.
The smalls all jumped around on the bed for over an hour when we got home giving me time to prepare food. Plum disappeared to watch on her bed again after she had eaten and unsurprisingly fell asleep.
Bean, Pumpkin and Pippin all had a bath, Pumpkin and Pippin together, having a great time splashing each other. Pippin had piles of stories and Bean his usual bedtime read with daddy. They have recently finished a Pokemon novel and now continuing with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The last Straw.
Bean, 9, spent his morning watching Pokemon and walkthroughs on the updated minecraft. Our computer is no longer able to run the game and he was a bit upset but comforted a little knowing that we have ordered them a new computer.
Pumpkin, 7, spent his morning creating Skylanders and playing lego games on his tablet. He downloaded a new plants vs zombies game, hatched eggs on dragon city and watched Dan TDM.
Plum, 4, was up three hours earlier than normal after having a very disturbed night (for no reason that i can fathom.) Consequently she lay on her top bunk and watched cbeebies and played cbeebies games all morning. I was surprised that she didn't fall back asleep.
Pippin, 2, swept floors, looked at books, played dollies, watched Bing, drew pictures, played with the kitchen set and was generally very busy.
This afternoon we went to Explore and Play. There was only us and one other family. This is the way that Pumpkin likes it. And Bean was happy too. The boys played outside almost the whole time. They created their own games akin to Capture the Flag. They did also try to make dens and hide outs but it became cramped with everyone trying to squeeze in. The soft stuff was popular too and this is what began the idea of others trying to take what they had. The one on the soft stuff had to protect it and the others had to steal it without being caught. This evolved into the enduring game outside.
The girls mostly got busy with playdough and painting and colouring and enjoying the big pile of soft stuff. Plum painted a rainbow and made cakes and lollypops from play dough.
There was also duplo and lego and junk modelling and autumn craft available.
The smalls all jumped around on the bed for over an hour when we got home giving me time to prepare food. Plum disappeared to watch on her bed again after she had eaten and unsurprisingly fell asleep.
Bean, Pumpkin and Pippin all had a bath, Pumpkin and Pippin together, having a great time splashing each other. Pippin had piles of stories and Bean his usual bedtime read with daddy. They have recently finished a Pokemon novel and now continuing with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The last Straw.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)