Life with four school children

Yes, all four are in full-time education now.  Sophie, who 18 months ago would not let me leave the room has taken to school in a magnificent way.  She loves it, it has ignited something in her, and she is on the go constantly, amazing us with her speech, observations and zest for life.  In fact she is slightly sad at weekends when she can't go to school!!  What a turn around, and I am so proud that she has done all this in her own time, without coercion. 

They had to go dressed as a Roald Dahl character  the other day, who better to go as than "Sophie" from the BFG! 

 

Ethan went as the BFG and I made him is own Sophie doll to make him a giant.  However, he will not let me post a picture of him dressed up, and I respect that.

 

Luke has had his hair cut, in accordance with his new school's policy.  How grown up he now looks.  



Life with four children out the house has been "interesting".  I have been keeping busy, such as creating some Scooby Doo characters...

...preparing more wool for spinning, in order to fulfill another custom order...

...making brooches to sell at a Guild stall in November...

...making felted soap using the wonderful soap from Michelle over at Handmade Haven.

But I find it so difficult to get motivated.  I seem so much more productive when I have people around me.  I guess I haven't had this emptiness or "me" time to this degree for the last 14 years, and it will take some getting used to.  The frustrating thing is that I can't get down to the allotment in all this nice weather we have had due to injuring my knee a month ago, and still not being able to kneel down. 

Still finding the joy in the world around us though.  Just look at this web that spanned the double driveway and garden the other morning!! 

Wishing you all a wonderful autumn, and those adjusting to a new rythym, I know exactly how you feel!!

And the birthday season comes to a close

Luke brings the family birthday season to a close.  Always an affair slightly overshadowed by the return to school, and this year slightly overshadowed by the fact his presents were delayed!  But he was very understanding and was not left completely present-less. 

14 now, on the cusp of turning into a man.  So many changes that these next few years will bring, but still so wonderful to see our little boy Luke when he is relaxed at home.

 As is tradition, I made him a cake.  I wasn't that happy with it, as it didn't turn out how I wanted it too, and looks obvious that I was really tired!!  However, Luke liked it, and that's what matters!  (By the way it is paints and paint brushes if you were unsure!)

 So, after a day at school, we had a chinese takeaway as per Luke's request, and then they had to burn off their MSG fuelled madness!  What better way than on the trampoline!  That's Luke's legs, he is the most sensitive of the lot of them, and it really is quite amusing just seeing how silly he gets!! 

Luke's hoard of WarHammer turned up the next day, much to his delight, and he now has a full Ork army to construct and paint.  One happy 14 year old indeed!!

New starts

 September is always a time for new starts, and this September is no different.  Luke is off to High School.  Getting there under his own steam, and at a school where only a handful of people from his old school are going.  Also note the hair!  He had to have it cut to collar length, much to our consternation, but Luke accepted the schools decision, and is happy with his new style.

Sophie starts school too, which has coincided with a massive burst of independence (alas not independent in walking, she still prefers to be carried, and is getting really heavy now!)  She is enjoying school, and the first day walked in, waved goodbye to me at the door, whislt all the other parents were going in with their child, all I could do was stand on the periphery and watch her take her first steps to independence.  How she has changed from that child who would not let me leave her at pre-school 18 months ago. 

 

We are seeing how she manages school over the next few weeks, as she has the option of staying doing part-time until Christmas as she is one of the younger ones. 

 

 

Alec has gone back to school minus his best friend who has moved schools.  He is coping well, and is hoping to join a couple of clubs such as photography and chess.  Ethan is in his final year of first school (how did that go so quick?) and is loving being back with his friends. 

 

As for me, I am at home now, by myself for the first time in 14 years!  It can get very quiet, but I have so much to keep me busy, especially with my Aisling Designs shop that has a steady flow of custom orders, and I have been finding time to create extra things to stock my shop with too.

The end of an era

 Today is the last day I will have a child in pre-school.  A sign that our family is growing up.  Sophie went laden with gifts of homemade fudge in sweet little boxes for heer teachers, very excited to give them out too.

 Ethan will miss his teacher, Miss Rose.  She has really "got" Ethan, and has even seen his cheeky side, which is a sure sign he is comfortable around her.  I made a needle felted brooch for her, styled on a rose, which I felt was appropriate for Miss Rose.

 Luke has his last day at middle school today.  He too went laden with gifts for the teachers that have given him inspiration and support. He seems to be taking the whole move to high school in his stride, and is looking forward to the adventure ahead.

Alec hasn't taken any presents in, as he will be having the same tutor throughout his time at middle school.  That isn't to say things won't be changing for him.  His best friend is moving to a different school, and I know Alec will miss him alot.  Fortunately though, he only lives around the corner, so hopefully they will still be able to see alot of each other. 

We are all looking forward to the summer break, with little adventures planned, and the opportunity to work to our own timetable (ie not racing round like headless chickens first thing in the morning!!)  Hope you all have an enjoyable Summer break too, and look forward to the adventures ahead.

Redressing the balance

 Looking through my recent posts one would could easily be mistaken in thinking this was solely a blog about crafting.  The children have been very quiet (well on the blog anyway!)  I can assure you this is not a true representation of life!!  There has been the rediscovering of old toys, even moreso now we have been having a bit of a clearout, they are actually playing with the toys that are due to be found new homes!!

Mum made a whole load of playdough to illustrate something at church in a service she was involved in.  Guess who got the cake tin full of playdough?  Sophie!!  I can't quite remember what had been created here, but it all had a meaning of somekind or other.

 Alec and Ethan took part in a karate tournament.  It was great to see what they had learned, even if it was a bit strange watching them sparring with their opponents.  Alec was just a little too big for the small group, so was against children that were sometimes quite a bit bigger than he was.  He did everso well and gave it his all.  He got a third place medal for the Kata he did.  Ethan was very pleased with a second place trophy and third place medal for his sparring.  They are really loving their Karate, and am glad that they kind  of stumbled into it, as it is probably something I would not have thought about for them.

 Sophie has been doing all kinds of things.  Here we were sorting some sea shells she found squirreled away from a long ago beach trip.

 She has been painting.  She definitely has her own style, and I love he choices of colours. 

 And in a rare dry spell last week (I say dry, it was spitting, but about as dry as it was going to get) we headed to the park.  Sophie was rather disappointed there were no other children there, but I guess everyone else thought it would be too wet or something like that!  Here she is being a pirate (one of her favourite games at the moment)

 And of course, what else do you do with standing water if your name is Sophie?!

So they are around.  Luke and Alec both have tests this week (SATS for Alec and some tests to determine sets for High School next year for Luke) Luke has been fighting off some virus which has left him with awful headaches, stomach ache, and generally feeling bleurgh.  He had us  worried over the weekend though as the symptoms he was showing were similar to meningitis except there was no rash.  A trip to the out of hours doctor allayed our fears, and Luke certainly started to feel better that day.  But it looks like it is going to be one of those things that lingers for a while.  Just what you need when doing tests :( 

And news on the weight loss front, I've lost 6 1/2 lbs in two weeks, so feeling rather pleased at that.

Ok, up to date now!!

Seven Days of Half Term

 The week started with a visit from a friend we have been trying to meet up with for a while.  Car problems and mid-day pre-school runs meant that we had very little time to travel and meet up, so we eventually managed it on the first day of half term. So lovely to catch up and see the younger children play so well together.

By Tuesday we had a car back.  So after dropping Stan and Stuart's brother off at the train station in Birmingham for a little adventure of their own, we went to visit the BBC studio at The Mailbox. There we could have a go at presenting the news, or the weather forecast or a bit of Newsround. Very difficult, and we got some rather funny results, as we saw when we played back what we had recorded.

. 
 We gave the big car a bit of a spruce up.  After it had been used for Stuart's daily commute along the motorway, it was looking decidedly salty, so we restored it to it's original black colour.  Sophie, when asked to clean the wheels, cleaned the tyres, well that will teach me for not being specific enough!!

 Wednesday was a day of utter chaos!  9 children running riot in the house!  Luke had a friend over to play WarMachine.  Alec had a friend over because we had been promising him for a long time that he could have this lad over.  Ethan had a friend over as he was feeling left out, and we got joined by the boys from next door too!  I made a batch of scones using the scone mix I got the other week.  17 scones lasted all of about an hour or two!

Thursday saw Sophie decide to make a house out of a box.  It had windows, a door, and later in the day curtains.

 It got played with by anyone (or thing) that could fit in it!  Sophie was very disappointed that I could not fit in it, and to be honest, so was I!

 By later in the week it was becoming more and more tatty, but still played with!  I am actually amazed at how many people could fit in it.  I found Alec and Ethan using it as a bit of a retreat with the iPad for entertainment!

Another, pretty much, home-based half term, but that is just how we like it! 

Joining in with Jacqui again with a review of the week.

Just a reminder, feel free to enter the giveaway .  Closing date is 22nd February.

A double edged sword

It's strange, I look at all these wonderful blogs and see beautiful crafts people do with their children, or the adventures they get up to in beautiful settings (ok we do have some adventures but not as many as I would like) and I feel a tinge of jealousy that our life isn't like that.  I then bemoan the fact that there are very few blogs that I have come across that share what life is like with older children who go to school, but then don't often blog about what my lot do!  Why don't I blog about it?  Probably because it doesn't fit in with the crafty, slow(er) living, low tech life that I dream about.  But I'm going to redress this imbalance right now and introduce you to Minecraft.

It has taken over the boys lives a little bit, especially since Stuart set up a server for them, so they can now play online with each other and their friends.  So what is it?  It's a computer game where you have to mine for things and then can make items with the things that you mine.  The example that sticks in my head is if you combine water and lava you get obsidian, but you can only mine the obsidian if you have already found diamond to make a diamond drill bit.  The boys create accomodation and have to protect it from creatures that try to destroy it all when night falls. 

Since they have now got a server, some of their school friends are joining in the fun too.  Although it also adds a political element to it too.  There have been occasions when some of the children have been silly, and Luke and Alec who are moderators are sorting things out as diplomatically as possible (I overheard Luke at one point, and was struck with how fair he was being).  They have also introduced a monetary system, which has already thrown up a few interesting results.  For example Luke is now employing Ethan in the making of potions to sell.  But last night somebody started to steal the potions. 

I am really impressed with the imagination and skills this game draws upon.  It is not the most graphically enhanced of games, which I think adds to its charm.  However, and this is the double edged sword bit, it does suck them in to spending alot of time on the computer.  Luke and Ethan are pretty good at regulating themselves, but Alec finds it difficult to to drag himself away, and when he isn't playing it, he is researching things about, but then that is all part of his character, such a focussed child when something interests him.  For half-term we have had to impose a curfew, so that after lunch computer time is ended and we go find something else to do.  I don't like curfews, but without it I know exactly what this half term would consist of!!

So there you have it, technically addicted children, but they are my children, and I can see the benefits they are getting from it as well as the drawbacks!  And right now, it is simply...life!

Oh, and on a completely different note, don't forget my giveaway to celebrate 300 posts.  Just leave a comment here.

Ice

 It has turned cold, eventually!  We've had three days now of hoar frost building up on hoar frost, so it is in places looking a touch like snow.  But what really stirred my curiosity was when going to defrost Hetty's water every morning.  Last year, when we had all that really cold weather the water would be nearly frozen solid, with only the core being liquid,  This year we have little slivers of ice, but they go right through the water container, so it looks web like when you drain the water out. 

So it got me thinking, what is that is different?  Wikipaedia was useless, it just confused me even further!  But guess who came up with a theory?  Luke!  Apparently, the best ice cream is made by rapid freezing, making small ice crystals, but if it is cooled over a longer period then you get larger crystals.  So the theory as it stands now is that last year when it was sooooo cold, really small crystals formed quickly and it became clear solid ice.  This year, with it not quite so cold (but cold enough!) the crystals are growing at a slower rate, making these large slivers. 

Who knew that emptying the chickens water could be so interesting?!

Seven Days

Celebrating the ordinary that makes up our week.  Joining in with Jacqui at Barefoot Crofter.

* trip to the park with neighbours from the present and the past. 
* a working dishwasher, oh the relief!!
* play tent for the children, don't be daft, they're made for cats don't you know!
* just one of those moments
* needing cake, feeling virtuous with the gluten free flour, best not mention the cocoa Sophie insisted on adding, and the chocolate spread I thought would enhance the overall effect.  Very nice they were too!
*Beginning to get Christmas-sy with my first attempt at Christmas cake
* Making Christmas cards, with contributions from Luke, Alec, Ethan and myself.

Thank you again Jacqui for this opportunity to celebrate normal, everyday life.

WarHammer Young Bloods

 Luke has been working on this model for the last few months in preparation for a painting competition at the massive Games Workshop exhibition known as Games Day. The competition he was entering was the Young Bloods competition, for those aged 14 and under.

 (apologies for pictures on their sides, my camera got confused!)  The detail he went into was astounding.  So much better than anything Stuart or I could create.  In fact Stuart reckons he is the best painter in the whole of RedWarSoc.

Can you see the purple gem on the leg below, that is all made to look translucent with shading.  And the diamond tapestry down the side is free hand.  When you think the model is about 2 inches high at the most, that is very fine detail, and one very steady hand!

 The word "courage" was also painted freehand, and is about a couple of millimetres high.

 The cape was pretty hard to do, trying to get the shading right.

With all this hard work that he put into it, you can imagine his disappointment when he didn't get through to the second round.  Out of 100 competitors, only 6 got chosen to go through to the second round, this is what Luke was aiming for.  He was truly deflated.  And I honestly think an injustice was done.  Unfortunately we don't know where out of the whole event came, he may well have been 7th but that will never be known.

How do you pick yourself up from this?  How do you support someone when they feel their best is not good enough?  You talk about experience, what you have learned from doing it, and you plan for next year.  Competition is hard, but entering this has really pushed Luke, and he has produced his best work yet.  He likes a challenge, and his painting will always be a winner as far as I am concerned.

A Teenager in our midst!!

 I know it is a cliche, but really, where does the time go?  That tiny 6lb 8oz baby, that turned our lives upside down, pacing back and forth in the evenings wishing that the colic would go away, gazing in wonderment that we could be blessed with such a beautiful baby, but scared that we were going to get things wrong.  It certainly doesn't seem 13 years ago.  But it is!  Luke is now 13!!

He was rather disappointed that the first day back at school fell on his birthday, but looking on the bright side, he decided it was probably better than a few days into term where he would be expected to do some work!

The war gaming theme continues throughout his birthday.  The cake with dice that add up to 13, along with point counters.

 We decided that a key to the house would be a symbolic gift for him turning into a young man.  We commisioned a key fob with the Protectorate of Menoth symbol (Luke's current WarMachine army) on it from Pippa.  He was absolutely over the moon with it, and was more excited about that than the surprise Xbox!

The day before his birthday was RedWarSoc (the wargaming club), so they took some cakes along that we had decorated with a template of more WarMachine symbols and cocoa powder.  It went down a storm with the geeks!  So simple too!

 And just to show what happened when I got complacent about knowing the recipe for the cake!  Added baking powder by mistake!!  It did make for a nice flat top on the cake though!!