Wednesday

We had A's friend S around today to start work on the teddy bear room project. They have lots of ideas and would really like it done yesterday!!!

A trip to Hobbycraft to get some supplies and my purse is significantly lighter.....but it is for a good cause. If it gets them fired up with a project!

J, feeling a little left out, has decided to do his own project on space rockets and the moon. Balloons and paper machie here we come!!!!

Joint effort painting going on.

Crazy drunk minion.....

Today was always going to be a tough one. J was booked in for two tooth extractions...ouch. J didn't want to go.

We went for a walk early to Roosthole woods (legend has it a dragon lives there) as we were over that way at camping world. Looking at camping mats. As our air bed would have us hitting the roof in the van!!!

Boys have been making films on their go pros and today was no exception. They mainly involve commenty whilst walking round the house.

So J, after a while we manged to get him in the car without a struggle. He had a bit of a wobble when we got to the clinic but went in and had magic cream....which he then ripped off whilst having a paddy in a waiting room full of girls. All ok in the end apart from an hour and a half wait.

He did some quite impressive minecrafting, played a number game and searched for toys for people to buy him.

Into the dentist chair, canola in the arm (bit painful as he had rubbed the cream off) and que eye rolling small child.
10 mins later he is recovery, talking gibberish and reminding me of daddy after a heavy night 😂😂😂

I had to carry him to the car...he is heavy....and then home with a drunk minion...with double vision...still talking about it all not having happened.

His best line was..'i still have my teeth they didn't do it' fingers in mouth 'when did they do that my teeth are gone'.

He ate everything possible once home and the person that said this tired and lethargic boy would hang about until at least tomorrow clearly never met J, bouncing off the walls J.

Learn nothing day.....fail.

Feeling tired today. Had a lovely afternoon at a garden party yesterday and I think the heat may have wiped us out a bit. Boys were already tired from their previous last night, although they consumed enough sweets to ensure they didn't stop for a while!

Today we decided to tackle the bus and make some beds for it. Off to Wickes to source wood and hinges and a tube.

Captain diy got his saw and tape measure out once back home and we fixed up a bed for us and a front seat one. Two small people will be sleeping on the floor amd all in all its really good!!! We should have done it ages ago but we had completely over thought the whole design and so didn't!!!

A trip has been scheduled for next week end to road test it, and our lovely friends have lent us some insulated window covers so we are all set!

It was also learn nothing day today, so we had a meet up in the park to celebrate it. Pretty hard as we all learnt things today. J being the best one 'dont do that with the drill you will sna....' and he did and he did snap it too.

A has learnt about perspective when drawing and has also been discussing his teddy room with S.

H has mainly been shouty today.

Big day for J tomorrow as he is having his teeth out.

Tonight.....

Tonight's blog is bought to you by.......

Many glass's of wine 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷

Morning of paperwork and playing,shopping (wasn't too bad, A and J took the trolley back!) afternoon of playing, a bit of minecraft on a friends realm and a walk in the woods. A and J decided to climb a mud face and needed a bath afterwards!!!

Home in time for daddy to suggest the pub....always a winner in this house!

Well the pub was full of school kids being it the last day and all! I might just add that my children were much better behaved! And a funny thing was that the children across the road from us were there too and playing with the boys....even though they didn't realise it! 2.5 yrs later 😂😂

 it's a scary thought that this dude would be due to start school in September....... #toosmallforschool #toocoolforschool

Boys had had dinner, we got some dinner at pub, boys ate it before we breathed and  so chip shop it was.

H in bed and A and J watching the 2012Olympics??? I just need another glass of wine please........

Pokemon in the wood...

We picked up one of A's friends this morning so she could come to walk milo with us. We went to Hesworth Common in Fittleworth, not somewhere we go regularly but it was nearer to where we were. Quite a long walk talking about tooth removal, dog logic, and the start of a summer project for A and S.

We discovered a poke stop at the carpark, I got a quick lesson and collected a few balls and Pokemon! Then we stopped at the park and H collected some more Pokemon!!!

Took S home and played for a while at her house. She and A were designing the layout for the house/room they are constructing for his bears. It is quite impressive and hopefully he will get his teeth into it over the summer. They have painting, making and designing to do. I feel Skype may become busy soon!!
A was a bit cross as when we had got home he was unable to use the laptop as I needed it and then daddy came home and he needed it too.

H had a horrible sleep last night with an evil nightmare about mermaids stealing me and him whilst at the beach. No idea where this has come from. We drew some mermaid pictures and talked about them being mythical so hopefully it won't happen again tonight.

Staggered bedtimes are interesting.

Brunch on the beach....

Let's start yesterday, it was damn hot.
Lazy morning, walk in the woods, lido in the afternoon. Really busy and quite expensive but it cooled us down which we were thankful for! Lazy afternoon until I went to give my first blood donation. Boys came with Gaba and went to park....still really hot though as it hadn't cooled down. Blood donation took ages!!!!! But I felt quite accomplished afterwards and I hope that it can be used to help save someone 😃
Late night for the boys and a very stuffy hot night too. Amazingly they all slept in this morning!!!!

We had decided last night that we would go and have breakfast on the beach this morning. So bacon and sausage baguettes loaded in the bag and off we headed. Until we got stuck in traffic and had to turn around and go a different way. Finally by about 945 we were on the freezing cold misty beach.....what the heck.....it was literally 100 degrees during the night!!!!!!

We had parked near the go karting on the sea front and as it was empty A was tempted into having a go. He has been desperate to be 8 and to be able to kart so here was his chance! He was terrified but he did it!!!!!!

By the time we got home the sun was out and the house was a hot box.

Icecream sundaes it was then!

A has been creating beastquest themed board games and H has been playing under a blanket. J has wandered about feeling hot.

Sun, sand, sea.....

Such a lovely day today. Not heavy on the wingey moaniness, so it was a happy day.

The sun shone, we went to the beach with one of my oldest friends, we went in the sea....well me, K, J and H did! We had ice cream, we had capri sun and we bodyboarded!!!!!

J really enjoyed the sea once he got in it. And he loved bodyboarding, as did I so it was a win!!!!

H was so brave getting in the sea, as he is not it's biggest fan, but he did it. So happy!!!!

Beaver end of year BBQ this evening and a run about with friends in the woods. Good news is that A will be going back in September as a Cub!

Zoooooooo

Up and breakfasted, pooch walked and picnic packed. A relatively uneventful journey to Kent to Port Lympne Zoo to see the boys animals that they sponsor.

Such a long walk round and so very very hot today! But we reckon that there was probably only 30mins worth of moaning and crying altogether through the day...  Result!

Home via a pub for dinner. Poor J and I had the hottest chillis known to man on our pizzas but we conquered them with red sweaty faces!

A quick promised play on the wii and bed in the sauna that is our house.

Busy busy busy.

Not much to write about for yesterday,  and the fact that I forgot...

Today however, hot.
Download Pokemon Go and we had a little search for a few in the park this morning! We now have caught 3.
Then we headed over to Chichester to the Police Station open day. Really good, loads to look at and climb in.

Me and the boys locked in a prison van!!! They started to panic a bit as it was quite stuffy.

We did a speed race, J went in a fire engine, we had ice cream, met some lovely people and a few Search and Rescue dogs before a dressed up person dog came along and H had a crisis. Poor dude.

Next on our agenda was the Village Treasure Hunt!! Quite a lot of walking especially for H, and being so warm it was tough going but we completed it with minimal fuss. Didn't win £100 though.

Next to Gabas for a bbq and and a drink.....definitely needed :-)

Hopefully everyone will have a good sleep as we are off to the zoo tomorrow.

In other news I ordered a checklist of targets that should be met for yrs 1-4 alongside the national curriculum.
I need to go through it properly but it looks as if maths is the one we need to work on most, writing skills next and science made me laugh as even H has covered most of the year 4 targets.

And do you know what.....it all looks so boring 💤

But definitely number work will be showing an appearance in the very near future.

It's funny to see how much of all of it depends on a child's ability to basically read and write. Which is why they are taught that in school first of course.
Now A is an avid reader but this didn't occur until he was nearly 7.5 and his writing is still a bit ropey but he does try, a lot more than he used to due to a fear of getting it wrong :-(

J can recognise some words and he points them out when we are reading, I think he can see this new world that A is now in and he wants to be there too.

H shows great ability, he can sound out words and tell you what letters are in them and he can recognise most of them. But his pencil usage is rubbish. It didn't used to be but..... I found the pencil grippers and he was using them earlier.

Pokemon Go

So this morning we did this. All before 9am.

Then we packed up a picnic of sorts and went to meet our friends at the swimming pool. H has got his swimming groove back and A is capable of being on his own, so that just leaves J who can be slightly tiresome in the pool.

Changing rooms were busy so A and J went in one together and proceeded to be ridiculously stupid. Out to the park where friend S had managed to download the new craze Pokemon Go.
So off went A and J with their friends to hunt some Pokemon. It's quite a clever game....we have yet to download it!

Home to a terrible headache due to constant arguing and shouting amongst the troops. We had a long talk about behaviour and manners and swearing that clearly went out the window about an hr later. Oh well the struggle continues along with vacuuming twice today to deal with dog hair and sweeping up again after all that due to someone's bright sand idea.

I do hope tomorrow will be a better day. We might go geocaching somewhere exciting.
We do also have to go shopping though at some point as we are running low on provisions!

It smelt pretty and looked nice.

Wednesday.

Early dog walk then picked up Nana on route to Lordington Lavender in Chichester.

A field of lavender, not quite sure what I was expecting but that was pretty much it. Maybe a few poster boards explaining exactly what they did with the lavender, how it is harvested and what bees mainly buzzed near by would have been good.

Pizza for tea then me and Daddy went to a networking summer bbq. Guess what? It rained.

Also it's quite exhausting doing the whole network thing (and I didn't even really talk!)

Wet wet wet

HMRC what's the point in them.....really? 45 minutes trying to do an apparently simple renewal.  Made me mad, and interestingly A became quite sensible and brought me a drink and told me to walk away from the computer until I had calmed down. Such a pity he doesn't take his own advise yet!!!

We have something to do pretty much every day this week. Today was attending a Japan Day, set up by one of our friends and hosted by a good number of home ed kids. I believe there were around 50 people altogether young and old. We popped in for a bit to sample some Japanese sweeties, and take a look at everyones set ups. It was really good.....but really hot in the venue! So we didn't stay for long. We also had Milo in the car as we had done a round trip of buying new shoes and running in the park.

We will definitely be returning to the venue though ' Crossbush Farm Shop'.

On the way home we decided to stop at Whiteways for a play in the woods and a coffee.

But as usual when we stop here....it rained. Poured with rain!!!

Home to a new Half Shell Hero, paper work and Despicable Me.

Pops cake made by H.

Monday.

A decide to make a battle scene this morning. He had a jet flying over the top, a catapult, and a cannon. Oh and a flame thrower too!

We had a surprise visit from Gaba before going about our day. Birthday present shopping for Pops, a long play in the park supervised by Gaba whilst I did a bit of shopping and then home to finish off the battle scene.

We have Beavers tonight so right now every one is having a rest and watching 'Gnomeo and Juliet'.

After the film we took Pops his present and birthday cake that H had made for him. Very tasty. Will get a picture!

No sleep. Small children. Rain. Camping.
That was today ☺

So this was good to read this morning!

http://creeksidelearning.com/quit-homeschooling/

We are at a mini music festival tonight so I have limited signal.

Friday...at last.

Rediscovering old drawings this morning, J tantruming over thieving money, H in the sand tray.

Quick walk/run around the field for Milo as I suddenly realised time was getting on and we were meeting friends in the park!

Had a lovely hour and a half running about with nerf guns and friends. It's good to have grownup friends too!!

Suddenly got really hot and humid and we had to go on a shopping expedition for our camping trip tomorrow.

J is suddenly spotting words that he knows, be it in books he flicks through or signs when we are out.

It still completely baffles me that my normal children become raging buffon type minions on entering a shop. Even when there will be something for them in it.

The screaming and fighting and general unkindness continues, indispersed with beautiful kindness and happy playfulness. It's making me go slightly crazy, sometimes, most of the time really.....this is more than hard.

I think it's probably time for a routine shake up again.

5:55am

5:55am

Everyone got up.....don't know why, and pretty sure they all regretted it by 8:00am.

 Teaching your little brother how to play chess.

 Discovering a Minecraft based maths book. Unfortunately a little bit repetitive and after a bit was put to one side, I'm sure it will reappear again.

Lots of imaginative sand play today, in singles, doubles and triples!

H spent the most time in the sand today.  There is now more sand outside of the tray than within it!!

Before lunch we met up with a family of friends and went swimming. So nice now that A can go of by himself, he was being taught how to float on his back by his friend S, and then they all got together and played find the floaty weight things the quickest.

H is almost back to his old self with regards to jumping in and swimming about.

Park afterwards for lunch and a run about.

We had a bit of a stroppy afternoon, J has been scouring the house looking for spare change to get to the grand total of £7 unsuccessfully, but stories and an early night will hopefully sort that out.

Wednesday 6th July

After a teary farewell yesterday to aunty H, I wondered how the boys would be today without her here. H's first words to me this morning were "is aunty H coming round today?" followed by "I'm not going to cry" whilst hiding his tears in a cushion. 😢 J had glistening eyes too.

We had no car for most of the day and had made a few plans for buses and what not, but in the end decided a walk to the Zombie Camp (woods) would be a good idea. But gee it was warm out there and 3/4 of the way there A started to get itchy so we turned back and headed to the shops for ice creams via popping into Gabas.

This afternoon we had 1.5 hrs in two different parks, whilst waiting for the car, bubbles, climbing and more sand play.