Round These Parts.

I think we've all been suffering from the February Blahs, so we've walked away from formal desk work and generally pottered around the home.  The extra rest has been greatly appreciated and I'm hopeful that we'll be back on track by the start of next week.  Here are some pictures of these past days:

 {Garden Time}

{More Valentine Crafts}

All you need is pipe cleaners.

A tub of assorted beads and a ...

... whole heap of patience...

... and concentration.

One satisfied crafter and ...

... a ta-dah moment.

The bead craft idea was courtesy of this blogging mama over on here:

Easy Valentine Craft 

so thanks Joxy for sharing this. 

{Park Day}

On Sunday Pip attended her first ever birthday party and after an initial bout of hanging onto to my legs she soon joined in and had fun.  Whilst we were there we met another home edding family and will hopefully be meeting them on Tuesday, at a large indoor soft play area near to us.  I'm not holding my breath that things will work out as we've been let down so many times before but as they say "nothing ventured, nothing gained" so fingers crossed.  Whilst Pip was doing her thing, Benedict and Dave went to the big park in town and Benedict had fun riding his bike up and down the very steep hill:

At the start.

 Gathering Speed.

Wobble, wobble on the way back up.

Easier to get off and walk, this is great fun!

Until you've done this over and over again!

Time for a well deserved tea break and one of mum's banana oat cookies eaten discreetly in the cafe!

{Museum Monday}

It was raining and pouring and we were thoroughly fed up so after lunch we visited the:

Maritime Museum 

It provided a welcome distraction for the afternoon and as always the museum staff are very child friendly and keen to help in any way possible.  Here are some pictures from the visit:

 At the start of the trail playing with the shells.

Learning about the different knots.

One of the curators telling a story of daring do from the old days.

The Get Knotted display.

Smelling and Guessing.

From the left: Rum, Coffee Beans and Tobacco.

All togged up and ready to work on our local gas terminal.

How they used to travel in the olden days.

As always on the weeks when I feel very little has been achieved, I look back and am often surprised by how much we do manage.  In addition to the above we've also had two maths sessions this week and watched two educationally related documentaries.  I'm off now to play a non competitive board game with Benedict it can be found here:

http://www.myriadonline.co.uk/products.php?id=195&name=%3CP%3EWinter%3C/P%3E 

{Pretty Happy Funny Real}

Joining Aunty Leila over on here:

http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/ 



{Pretty}

Big Sister Kath/Youngest Twin (eldest twin in the background picture) and baby sister.

A very large Valentine bouquet for Kath from her beau Steve. Inter flora must have done a roaring trade that day!

{Happy}

Happily counting coins with Grandad H

Happily Digging.

 Happy Lego Spaceship  Building...

... complete with pull down staircase and star wars storm trooper in the background.

Happily baking with Mummy.

Yummy Banana Coconut Oat Cookies with Chocolate Chips.

{Funny}

 Arabian Knights perchance? or...

... a Jedi warrior... it's amazing what you can do with a couple of muslin squares!

{Real}

Lego, Lego everywhere but thanks to the green storage trays it is an easy job to tidy up! 

A big thanks also to my friend Eva.

  This gal has helped me in so many ways since we began our blogging friendship well over a year ago.  Through her faithful postings I've gained insight and helpful links, she has blessed me with her words of encouragement and loving prayers and when I've been at a loss she's given her time through email contact too. 

  So it is entirely due to her that we used lap books as a means of learning this past week.  Benedict and I were both worn out from sickness management but I was acutely aware that, we also ideally needed to be doing "something".  Working on the long forgotten space lap book totally fitted that bill and I'm pleased to report that we have made good progress.

Information hunting.

 Colouring the space man for the front cover.

We also worked on our Valentine gifts once again Eva's Valentine blog post gave me the link I needed:

Home made matchboxes.

A box in progress.

 Paper Dali very kindly provided the St Valentine picture and the front cover verse.

As a passing nod to our Age of Grace Curriculum Benedict worked on some independent crafting of his own:

Construction in progress... totally love it that he still opens his mouth when cutting with scissors!!

One free form paper castle designed and constructed by Benedict.

I've learnt a lot these past few weeks of continued sickness, the primary lesson being that, learning can and does assume many forms.  All things considered, I think we're doing just fine.

{Pretty Happy Funny Real}

My first attempt at joining in with Aunty Leila over on here:

Like Mother, Like Daughter 

All the shots below were taken in one morning:

{Pretty}

 Sweet Face and a Pretty Embroidered Dress.

{Happy}

 Happily Colouring.

 A Cacophony of Colour

 Happily Concentrating.

{Funny} 

 Removing the paper from the crayons and then...

... snapping then in half... sigh

{Real}

Using said crayons to draw on the hallway wall!  Thankfully both crayons and wallpaper were washable!

Wholefood Cooking :: Diabetic Doldrums.

Well I managed to avoid couch sleeping last night, changing the basal rates seems to have worked for the time being.  We are still not hitting good readings and still have crazy figures of 32mmol/l but at least these are balanced by more manageable readings in between.

  Frustratingly we did receive a snotty letter from the consultant as we missed yet again another appointment due to sickness.  I did have the courtesy to inform the sister in charge of the clinic that this would be the case and that we had good reason for being absent.  The team have no idea what we go through each day just to keep Benedict out of hospital, it's not the first time that family members and friends have commented that I do to good a job in keeping him safe and out of ICU.  Needless to say a reply will be landing on the consultants in tray within the next few days outlining, just how bad things are.

As an attempt to lift my spirits and deal with my lack of enthusiasm in the kitchen I signed up for a three month wholefood course, over on this website:

Beauty That Moves

Tonight's menu was :

Sauteed Kale with Pineapple and Caramelised Onion

Raspberry Oat Bars

Having been upset by the horrid letter from the hospital, I was not the most organised of kitchen cooks, which can be a little disastrous in such a small space!  Despite this, the evening meal was ready just before six.  The children were not keen on the main course, Benedict's blood sugars were affecting his appetite and I think Pip was led by his behaviour.  The adults however thoroughly enjoyed the meal.  Needless to say the raspberry oat bars were a hit with both kids and adults alike.  I made double the recipe and intend to freeze half of the bars so that we can take them to the grandparents when we visit next week.  Kath one of our older daughters is suspected coeliac so she in particular was interested in the oat bars.

Raspberries, Flour, Walnuts and Egg.

Dry ingredients of walnuts, flour, oats and cinnamon.  Added to this was agave syrup, melted butter and beaten eggs.  Once combined the mixture can be pressed into a greased baking tray.

Frozen raspberries were squished on top followed by the remainder of the crust mixture, it was then baked in a 180C oven for about 30 minutes.

 We served the bars with vanilla yogurt for dessert.

 

Sauteed Kale with Pineapple and Caramelised Onion.  Served on a bed of Quinoa and sprinkled with pumpkin seeds.

All that is left for me to do now is to tackle the mountain of pots in the kitchen!!