Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon

Orin just loves to jump.

Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon

My Mum is a big Neil Diamond fan and she is here with us today so we have him on the party mode setting on the sonos. Of his selection this is my best.

In eleven months of blogging there is a secret I have yet to share with you. It is a bit random but I am scared of buttons. Ever since ever. Not to bad if they are attached to clothes but if they come off and are on the ground. Forget it. And if they have bits of thread through the holes. Game Over. Recently I learnt it has a name.

Koumpounophobia

So the task for today had a high risk attached to it. Replacing the broken duplo and brio plastics crates with fresh ones meant emptying them all out completely. The kinds of places that fluff adores to lurk with the dreaded B U T T O N S always a danger. This was not the scenario A for today, that was a leg wax and eye brow shape but sadly my regular beautician is under the weather. (Get Well Soon. :) So Scenario B came in. A double shame as those few grams of hair loss had been factored into this weeks kilo target ;-)

So it goes. Whilst Grandma took S & E swimming O and I headed to Homebase for some new plastic storage solutions.

Is there anything that encourages play like a clear up! Long forgotten toys greeted like welcome old friends and a test drive ride for Baby Small, 2, in the new crates.

O is really enjoying this Bod book at the moment. There is a line in the story about "Bods Bodnoculars" I anticipate bodnoculars will soon be joining brown paint and orange cheese as another of our family words that are unintelligible to strangers.

In Other News

• Another perfect page of Peter and Jane from Et this morning.

• Painting, playdough, bath bomb making and cup cake making have all featured in our home on this very cold day.

What's New Scooby Doo?

What's New Scooby Doo?

On the surprisingly rare home days that are just the junior trio and I a familiar pattern is often repeated whereby at about 11 o clock I find myself thinking "What now?" Because we have done pretty much everything I imagined we would do in the day and certainly more than I am sure we be covered at school or nursery or wherever and so it so today.

I say surprisingly rare because of course my perception is that the majority of the GP would expect us to be at home at a desk everyday. Regular readers know that is not so. Mondays and Thursdays are the only days it could be just us at home and our general preference on these days is to go out or have friends over.

So this morning there has been painting (inspired by Scooby Doo), an epic shopping delivery delivered, S,7, has written a Mystery Incorporated story with the Barbies and their dog replacing Fred, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Scooby. After three pages of writing she declared her brain was worn out. O and I did some of his ABC book (I have blogged about ABC books before) and without "repetition, hesitation or deviation" (is that phrase from Just a Minute copyrighted?) Et, 5, read me a page of Peter and Jane 3b.

Made it through another weekend with no slip-ups in the treat department so week 4 of operation shift 10kg commences. Am totally in the zone, fresh baked chocolate squares in the board meeting yesterday and a Daddy One munching through a bar of my fave Green and Blacks mint choc bar could not tempt me. Making a full fat milk hot chocolate with the works of marshmallows for the smalls and a mug of 40 calories of options for me has become the new ritual.

Scooby Doo is the flavour of the moment, the trio are currently setting up to act out an episode with the playmobil figures. Practising sound effects with the tambourine to use as lightning clashes and running feet. It seems I am required to be the audience.

Jump Around

Jump Around

Our little two year old has been a super, super star today. For 5 and a half hours he has sat at my feet and played duplo and brio whilst I have been at a La Leche League Book Shop board meeting. He came with me whilst the biggest went swimming with The Daddy One and then finished off their match boxes for the mythology theme home ed match box swap.

Saturday Unschool

Saturday Unschool

Daddy daughter event at Pallant House in Chichester this morning, I was on the case and managed to book S a space on this workshop (they are seriously popular and book up uber fast.)

Jazzy Pictures! Saturday 28 January 10:15-12:15

"Animate a picture inspired by the lively figures and jazzy colours of an Edward Burra painting. Paint and cut out shapes to make jointed figures and mount these on a bright background of colours and words. Jazz music will set the scene whilst you work. Ages 5-8 years; each child must be accompanied by a parent / carer £6 per child."

So, E, O and I headed to the library and park, am really trying to think of ways to sneak in more exercise so we walked, O did a poo whilst we were at the park. It is so muddy at the park and there are no changing facilities when the floor is out of action! Not as much exercise as I had intended but it has been really cold today.

Had another email from the guys in the Brighton lego store, we have had a little dialouge going since I shared the blog with them on Thursday.

"Just a quick note to say it was a pleasure meeting you and your (very articulate) kids, and I hope they enjoyed the freebies.

PS: I’m chuffed to have a sneaky appearance in the background of your LEGO photo on your lovely blog! "

We tested out the bathbombs last night and they were explosive!

With January coming to a close and the blog two weeks from its first anniversary it turned the clock through the 47,000 visits mark (and now has 62 followers. Thanks Everyone :)

Love Bomb

Making bath bombs and some essential oil water for easier hair brushing with S (7) She just loved the old fashioned glass and rubber teat pipette.

Home made cookies :) (none for me :()

Bombs Away! Bulk purchase of acid and alkaline arrived from Summer Naturals. Thanks for the tip off from our friends at Muddy Sandy Life.

Love Bomb

A few bomb related songs today, my first choice was Galliano's Love Bomb but fruitless searches for a link, Bomb the Bass sounded seriously dated and hollow, and Bombastic? Well you know I am not sure about Shaggy! He should stick to Scooby Doo I reckon.

At one point this morning the lush combined smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies infused with the lemon, chamomile and peppermint oils heading into the bath bombs was heading out of the kitchen and up into nostrils. If smell is the closest link sense to memory then that gorgeousness can be my memory of today.

At home day after 4 days out, we bought the ingredients up together for the bath bombs and cookies to make when Smart Sandals came for regular Friday morning assistance.

S and I looked at all the oils we have and talked for ages about why the smallest bottle was the most expensive (chamomile) and the largest the cheapest (eucalyptus) and we went through one by one and googled their properties. S was especially intrigued by the lemon oil as that has played a bit part in the Roman Mysteries we are reading at the moment. Some of the earlier stories were set in the Villa Limona and there are many mentions of the lemon perfume. We read that one Japanese bank has been shown to keep its error rate very low by pumping lemon oil through a diffuser because lemon, amongst other things, aids concentration.

S also found time for some of the Horrible Science Beastly Bodies kit that she had for Christmas.

O and I went out for a shorter walk, only up the hill, not down as well, and cam home to find some scales arrived in the post. S was really excited to weigh herself as was Et. We have never owned our own bathroom scales before and, given that we chose not to use the services of the health visitor, the only time we have had any certainty surrounding our children's weights was briefly after they were born. Well, apart from at the Natural History Museum when we calculated our weight as a percentage of a polar bear last spring.

And I am no exception, having not know my own weight for maybe 8 years, apart from the obvious conclusion that, at 180cm, I am too short, I have decided that I would like to shift around 10kgs. Having a read around 1kg per week seems possible so by Baby Small's third birthday at the end of April seems achievable. Obviously I have no idea how much I weighed 3 weeks ago before the munching of left-overs, crunching of cookies and guzzling of wine stopped but that's okay. Today is fine.

JCB Song

JCB Song

This is a great song "bouncing my bum like berserk" and the "I'm so glad I'm not in school Boss." line make it a home ed anthem for me. When we head off out for the day, colliding (not literally) with the school run (hard not to as our road is being dug up again and leaving the access road is pretty tricky) it is the importance of the connection and togetherness that reminds me what this is all about.

We have had such a fabulous sparkly, strewing morning in Brighton I am really not sure where to begin telling you about it. In fact things turned around pretty rapidly after I hit publish on yesterday's blog post. Sometimes just the act of writing it down is all it takes to sort out your thoughts and clear your head. Etienne's (5) morning reluctance to read which my brain translated into significance far beyond was turned around when he finished Peter and Jane 3a in bed with The Daddy One. All three smalls were crashed out pretty early so we watched a film, a great mid week treat, called Taken and it was fabulous. Sort of a gritty, more urban, James Bond with lots of Audi car chases. Luc Besson (my best film director) loves his Audis. Not the kind of Bond movie that will be shown on Boxing Day afternoon but enough stunts and tricks to take you mind off the everyday. I really miss that lovefilm app on facebook, it was great to see the films friends had enjoyed. It has been under development for like a year or something now.

Anyway back to today, determined to have a stress free sparkly Day The Daddy One and I did a little pre-trip research and decided I would be best of parking outside the Booth Museum then a double decker bus ride down the hill to The Brighton Toy Museum. We had considered a return to Hove Museum but we have seen the robots there twice now so I thought the toy museum might tie in with Sapphire's (7) History of Dolls (specifically Barbie's) project but as it turned out there were no dolls there but still, it was great. Anyway I digress.

The trio adored the bus ride down the hill, especially the steep bends of Terminus Road, but we arrived just before the museum was open so we decided to pay a visit to the Lego Store first. My Paternal Grandmother always used to say that "The sun always shines on the righteous" I have no idea what that really means but I think we were righteous today because the staff in the Lego shop were AMAZING. We were the only customers, these things remind me how much we do adore home ed, and Et struck up a conversation about the mysterious identity of the new green ninja and asked the shop assistant if they thought it was Nya or Lord Garmadon and that was it, short story long, ten minutes later we left the shop clutching free Lego sets, ninjago hologram masks and several magazines. It is our week for customer service. From the Lego store we went to the Brighton Toy Museum which is under the railway arches, it cost £10 for the four of us and was excellent, an extra 10p saw the vintage Disney puppets dance and the boys really enjoyed the epic train tracks. I would say a visit is a must if you have a railway fan in your gang (don't go this Saturday though it is closed for a private function) but the fact it is right under the train station makes it very convenient. S would have liked to stay and do some sketching but the boys were hungry so we headed back up the hill, part walking, part bus, a second ray of sunshine when the bus driver let the children ride for free!

We had lunch at the (very windy) park, by which time we had noticed that Booth Museum which was to be our final destination is closed on Thursdays, but no matter, we can go back. Then some sixth form students approached and asked if they could film and ask about our family Internet policy and attitudes to the children going on line. The children seemed keen (and intrigued by the giant furry microphone) so I said okay.

In the interview I explained that our children have free access to the Internet on a variety of devices around the home and out and about if they need to fact check, I mentioned that they were home educated and Sapphire chipped in with how she likes KS2 bytesize (this time it was okay working with children and animals) and how, ironically, they were probably less bothered about the web now than back when we had tried to restrict screen time and that the web was a fabulous resource for home educators.

They were media studies students, really polite and friendly, they said the interview was great and so I told them I used to be on TV and about my experiences with Tony Blair's media trainer.

In Other News

• Sapphire read Roman Mystery 14 The Beggar of Volibilis on the 40 or so mile round trip.
• We drove off route to have a better look at Bramber Castle on the way home and will go back there soon.

• Et asked loads of questions about the logistics of graffiti painting whilst we were driving on the A27. I think we might be buying some aerosal paints.

• If the title track wasn't jazzy enough for you am loving this too

We will simply gloss over the fact that within 5 minutes of arriving home to a perfectly clean house several rooms had been comprehensively trashed and instead focus on going outside in the sunshine to do some skipping.

Rolling in the Deep

Rolling in the Deep

So, I got a bit stressy this morning, maybe it was the 9 hours sleep, maybe it was the "We are not doing enough REAL learning feeling," maybe I am just fed up with the mess........Anyway Grandma was here to save the day and it all turned around, at 9:30am on the dot, when the man from the Oven Cleaning company arrived we had already made a big contribution to the Mythology themed matchboxes for the home ed match box swap thanks to Grandma's creativity, started on some decorations for the upcoming Valentine's Ball Sapphire has arranged and E had done some reading.

S expressed an interest in doing some symmetry a while back and so I drew some out for her and this morning I found a few online activities but they were all way to hard causing the inevitable frustration and annoyance.

So, as we were heading out the door for our regular Wednesday Fishers Farm coffee and bounce a text arrived to say the bulk order of bath bomb making ingredients would be arriving between 10:32 and 11:32. 40 minutes notice always helpful!

The squabbling supplements are in the water again today, both at home and at Fishers Farm we have had more than our fair share of name calling, pushing and general sibling disharmony. Argh!

We stayed 3 hours at Fishers Farm, Grandma renewed her membership for next year and S and E held Mr Cool the guinea pig and a soon to be sold, very soft rabbit. As there were two other local home ed families we know at the farm park we headed outside to see them. We are generally pretty fair weather at Fishers Farm and, when E fell over in a puddle and then took his socks off to bounce on the jumping pillow. (Outside. In January) I was reminded why.

O cried all the way through lunch before finally starting to eat just as everyone else had finished. So it goes.

We called in to the library on the way home for guess what? Two more Roman Mysteries. There are 17 or 18 in the series altogether and we are nearly done!

Am feeling very dejected about operation weight loss, I could just about cope with a house that doesn't constantly smell of gently simmering bolognaise or fresh baked cookies if it seemed the pounds were falling off. Okay, it has only been two weeks but cooking and food preparation generally is (was!) a huge part of my day. The real mystery I guess is not how little weight I have lost given how little I am eating but how little weight I gained given what I was eating and drinking before! Anyway we have arrived home to such a sparkling shiny clean oven it would be a shame to make it dirty. Wouldn't it?

Something Goes Right

Gonna have a dance to these two brilliant tracks from last night's (this morning's) Gilles Peterson Show on Radio 1 instead.

Revendo Amigos

Beautiful new handmade books and S's portrait of me in a gilt frame.

S compensated for our restraint in the cafe with her: apple juice, hot chocolate, ladybird chocolate and cookie combo.

Revendo Amigos

Today I met someone who has been my friend, in a virtual sense, for around six years I think. Someone who, although she might not know it, has been a bit of a mentor and inspiration to me. You see her own children, who are now all around the thirtyish mark, were educated outside of school back when it was a lot rarer than it is now. She has too been associated with La Leche League and now runs a bookshop in the Lake District with her husband and daughter. We met at Pallant House Art Gallery in Chichester and had a chat around Edward Burra and Enid Marx then we went to Carluccios for a coffee. I came as close to buckling my resolve as I have been in two weeks when a rhubarb tart kept winking at me in Carluccios but I held firm. Sapphire and I went to Chichester without the boys which offered me a rare insight into what I imagine much be the luxury that is possible when you are home educating only one child. She sat and drew mine and my friend's portraits (in the beautiful new handmade books) whilst we chatting. Well, we had to be still for the mouth drawing bit.

What a neat Tuesday, cushioned on 8 hours sleep, Grandma arrived first thing back to her regular Tuesday slot after two weeks of jury service and took S & E swimming first thing. First time they have been in months, they road tested the new swimwear and, much to S's relief, she hasn't forgotten how to swim.

Whilst the biggest were swimming O and I played and then cleaned S's bedroom floor. She is very keen on these glass pirate treasure crystals they sell in gift shops and somehow one had become broken and trodden into the carpet. Small pieces of glass to vacuum, maybe why I wasn't as enthusiastic in the bead shop as I might have been. Testing out the new Rosie Flo sticker books from the Pallant House shop. We will be back there on Saturday for a workshop.

Samba De Gago

Samba De Gago

Joyce. How can you sing this way? So beautiful. We were dancing in the kitchen to this before breakfast.

At 5:30am this morning E and O wanted to pack away the Roman Arena and flip over to castles and battlefields. Can you spot the difference between yesterday's snapshot? A very satisfying 30 minutes removing stickers from the draws I did spend yesterday. WD40 just slides them off :)

The boiler has had its annual service today so I tidyed up a little, mostly to clear a path way for our plumber to make it through with his ladder, as the boiler is located in the loft. Just as we were about to head out I discovered an Everest of sofa cushions had been turned into a camp for Baby Small. #notimpressed

We have been to see some of our home ed friends in Worthing today. Initially all five children played pretty well together (they have a son O's age and a daughter S's age) but then it all became a bit hard to handle just before lunch. Mostly S who hasn't had the best of times. She was offended at the suggestion that her Barbie family are just lumps of plastic and the rest just kind of went from there really. Very hard work to try and bring everyone round and explain that it is not always okay to say everything you feel inside no matter how much you might feel it.

So, after lunch we went to the nearby Brooklands Park which is a great park, right near the beach, with a little train that runs around the edge and chased seagulls for a bit.

I pointed to a clock on the small station and told S we would need to leave when the big hand was on the 12 for 2 o' clock as we had a 3 o' clock shopping delivery and library books (more Roman Mysteries) to collect en route home. After a while when the clock hadn't moved much I realised it was actually painted on the front of the mini station. Doh!

S and I had a great chat on the way home, both the boys fell almost straight to sleep, about whether Barbie would celebrate Chinese New Year because she was designed in America but manufactured in China so was she Chinese, and what was it like in China? Our discussion covered the difference between rural and urban, communism, cheap wages, the one child per family policy. Oh the places you'll go.

Home at 2:59pm with The Charioteers of Delphi in our clutches, a new grater from microplane on the mat to replace the broken one I posted back last Monday and a note to say that the boiler needs topping up with inhibitor. I wonder if the inhibitor is safe for human consumption? Could be handy. Brilliant Customer Service from our plumber and microplane.

So it goes.

Freedom Sound

Freedom Sound

Regular readers of the blog will be familiar with my passion for jazz old and new and know that 5 days out of 7 my posts are named with the title of a classic tune, for newer readers there is a youtube playlist to catch-up.

Well, last night was the annual awards ceremony for the best that is new in the genre of the music that moves me, not the Brits or the Oscars or the Grammies but the Worldwide Awards held in North London. Several tracks and artists that have featured prominently on the blog over the last eleven months were honoured including SBTRKT who are responsible for one of the most perfect songs of 2011 "Hold On" which has been used as a title no fewer than three times. Also "Want you in my soul," which has again been featured several times, was credited and a name check or two to Jamie XX too who produced this. Extra poignant as he worked with Gil Scott Heron on the last album of his life before he sadly passed away last summer. Michael Kiwanuka, who is responsible for the haunting "Tell me a Tale" also bagged a, well deserved, award.

Of course we weren't in Camden last night but dancing round the kitchen is okay for me, especially now it looks like a jazz club :)

In fact if I had given the awards myself they wouldn't have been that different.

Been on a park tour this morning. Horsham and Pond Tail road. As I was collecting hot chocolates in the cafe overhead my Sapphire, 7, and my Etienne, 5, talking about the Roman Mysteries and how, 2,000 years ago, children were often betrothed at the age 12 or so.

"You see the thing is Et we can't get married and have babies because they wouldn't have any arms or legs."

"How do you know that?" replies Et

"Just do." says Sapphire

"What about Grandma? Can I marry Grandma?"

"No, she is already married to Grandie."

"Who will I marry then?"

"Someone kind that you like is best."

"Okay" says Et "I choose Indigo."

"Mum, is my hot chocolate ready?"

Nothing whatsoever to do with home education

On Monday it will be two weeks since any: cakes, biscuits, bread, crisps, wine or children's leftovers have past my lips.

Coffee is now being taken black. Orange, dill and beetroot salad has replaced creamy lemon and black pepper pasta sauces. Half finished hot chocolates or slightly dunked boiled eggs are no longer being guzzled up by me. The biggest revelation has been saying "No." to leftovers, their volume quantifiable in extra rubbish thrown away. It is not a waste. Waste is your body carrying around extra fat.

For obvious reasons operation decorate kitchen flattered my cause last week. Two weeks. Not that I am counting or anything.

We don't own any scales but I am expecting a change when I look in the mirror this week. It's either that or I'll be holding my breath :) 40 here I come.

Did you know the Romans Invented Bikinis?

If you are into Romans, as regular readers will know my smalls are, catch these great mosaics on iplayer for the next few days.

Fast forward to past the 1/2 hour mark if you don't want to watch the whole program. It was all about the Romans before 7am this morning. A Gladiator battle in the arena and S on the floor reading a Roman Mystery. She is adoring this series of books suggested to us by a fellow home educator.

In 2011 we visited Bignor Roman Villa (several times thanks to our membership; I just love the first photo on this post of my trio in costume under the walnut tree) Fishbourne Roman Palace and the Roman Baths in Bath. Roll on warmer weather so we can gallivant again. In 2010 we drove our bus to Tuscany.

Castles in the Sand

Castles in the Sand

Regular readers of the blog will know that we are big fans of lego in our house. Whether it is the bespoke lego table or a family day out at legoland we are there! One of the most popular sets we have owned is actually from Duplo, the lego range for younger children, and is the Knights Castle. We have several sets, 4777 being the largest of them. The Smalls enjoyment of Mike the Knight has given it a new lease of life. Frequent play means pieces are inevitably lost. In the past the guys at lego have been kind enough to replace two lost cannon balls for example.

And today, the postman bought this. A new portcullis for the entrance. The Knights in training have not been seen since. Thanks

Winter in America

Winter in America

Chess has really captured the imaginations. Even E is bringing some of the strategy into his knights games.

From thinking The Daddy One would be in Texas he actually has a home day today. We have, in various combinations along with Smart Sandals, played magic cauldron, made Chinese lanterns, been to the library for Roman Mysteries, visited the allotment, made the duplo castle, work has commenced on S's history of doll's project and, via wikipedia, we have discovered that Skipper has a twin brother call Todd. It's gonna be a great project.

The fragile balance of time in and time out and seeing friends and being as a family was just saved this week. I am getting better at reading the signs. Thanks to Christina and Muddy Sandy Life for the sign posts towards staying connected.

Bonita Applebaum

Bonita Applebaum

Cracking tune by Tribe Called Quest. I think it might have a parental advisory and that is not me as a parent advising you it is a classic tune. Apple was E's new word today and these apples are my snack bowl. Jazz apples.

A third home day today, thrilled we bagged a park day on Monday or it might have been a whole home week! S and Reg and I had a very deep chat about religion and belief this morning and evolution and Adam and Eve. Those apples again. Today is his last day. The kitchen is finished. We shall miss him. S told him she doesn't believe in god.

Our friends from Muddy Sandy Life came over this morning, not before E had done a page of Peter and Jane and these great lego comic strips. Two catalogues from the toy shop on Monday and a new lego club catalogue providing a fresh stock of raw snipping materials. He dictated the story to me and I wrote his words.

For much of today every time two plates have spun one has crashed. E almost had a melt down at lunch (averted by taking him outside) S slipped over on the fake grass of the Barbie camp site, all washed down with a strong shot of the squabbling juice that spiked our water today.

One incident will summarise it all. After boredom caused him to disrupt everyone else's fun I finally persuaded Et that we could do some lego ninjago colouring printouts. Bingo! He loved that suggestion (my 17th) then, the printer wouldn't work. You know those moments.

Been an odd week for The Daddy One who should have been in Texas and has several more, yet to be confirmed, trips up and coming.

Walking round the house today I was struck by how Et plays a similar game where ever he is. The toy soldiers in the garden, the lego mini figs in the lego room, the playmobil characters all lined up in battle. A face off!

Been great to have friends over today. It is almost certain I would have needed Grit's emotions tips (well the ones that are open to me on my current regime of abstinence and with a decorator in the kitchen anyway) had I been the solo adult.

This little bunch of characters were the object of every one's desire at one point first thing, three hearts lusting after them, they raised pulses and voices and then, just now, I fell over them in a deserted heap on a floor. Neglected and unwanted.

E's lego story comic strip

Some weeks back E was keen to know if there had ever been a nude lego mini fig and today we noticed the boxer is topless. (That is not the boxers head, that is the genie's head.)