Seven Days

Hmm, so blogger has decided that we all have to use the new updated editor, no democracy in this part of cyber space!  Ah well, it is free service so I shouldn't complain too much.

Another seven days has passed and we've had stress, sadness and continued sickness at this end, but have managed to still keep up with bits of home school and other activities.

Face painting fun.

Flower Girl.

Edible Science.

Yep that is green coloured cake mix!

Sedimentary Cupcakes!

The original edible science recipe called for crushed biscuits dyed with food colouring and sandwiched together using a "mud" of butter and syrup.  Not good with a diabetic kid thrown into the mix so I decided to make our usual low sugar cake mix and then colour with green, red and yellow food colouring.  Each layer contained chocolate chips representing fossilised animals.  I must admit the colour combo looked ghastly so we topped each cake with a little buttercream and a few chocolate chips for good measure!

A cross section... in culinary terms it was a spectacular failure!!  I think I either overbeat the mix when adding the colouring or added to much xantham gum, sometimes gluten free flour can be quite tricky... well that's my excuse anyway.  However in geological terms it really did resemble a rock strata, so yay for that!

Friday was our once a month forest school meet.  I woke that morning and truly did not want to go as I felt so unwell, but the look on the kids faces when greeted with that news was pitiful, so armed with a heat pack and painkillers we made the journey.  I'm so glad that Dave does the driving on the days out for if it was solely down to me, we wouldn't venture beyond our backdoor!

At the visitor centre.

Pip waiting whilst the adults ponder the sudden downpour and hailstones raging outside.  In short typical British weather!

Den building an absolute must given the very changeable weather.

Making wood necklaces using Elder bark. 

Prior to this shot Pip had been a scamp and charged past the tree boundary!  This girl is amazingly fast on her feet and her ancient mother sadly is not. This is not the first time I've called on her Guardian Angel to intervene, especially since she was some way ahead of me and to the right of us both was a very large lake!  She did eventually stop and was very remorseful, I however vacillated between relief and anger, so I was very glad when the craft activity appeared.

Whittling sticks ready for marshmallow toasting.

On Saturday Benedict attended a day cub camp and for the first time ever it was without either Dave or me shadowing him, hurrah!  He was in a "nag free zone!" and Dave and I trawled through months of paperwork and other boring yet necessary activities.

Free Time Fun.

Playing Capture The Flag.

On the way home to bed.

Creative Chaos.

Not wishing to miss out on the fun, Sara and Pip spent some time creating this colourful display using fabric crayons.  The design was fixed using an old sheet to protect the art work and then ironed.  The fabric was an old white pillowcase which I think will be turned into a toy sack by running a casing around the top and then a drawcord through the channel.

We are still in the process of final fixing re the building work and Dave has patiently trawled through several hundred photgraphs to bring you a very small snapshot of the work involved.  I've limited him to a two part blog post containing no more than ten photgraphs per post!  Wouldn't want to bore you rigid!!

We've made some solid progress in the homeschool department.  We've begun our narration on the book "Leif the Lucky" and Benedict drew a lovely opening picture for our work.  He worked hard with Shein this morning and after lunch he chose a lesson to complete from his workbook "Responsibilities For Boys."  The chosen lesson involved making a chore chart and so we first of all brainstormed the types of jobs done throughout the house and then narrowed it down to five easily achievable tasks on a daily basis, with one weekly chore to be completed on a weekend.  He had fun decorating his work with mini drawings, so all in all a good day.

We had hoped to visit the National Railway Museum at York with friends tomorrow but my health is not up for that, so instead we'll visit them at their house.  We all get on really well and S has offered to make a warming leek and potato soup, goodness knows it is needed in this cold wintery like weather.

First Things First

The firsts are Benedict attending Beaver camp on Saturday.  A whole six hours of running, climbing, fire building (under supervision, naturally!), orienteering, friendship making and eating.  Dave went along to monitor diabetic control and act as blog photographer!

Getting ready to play

Collecting wood for the fire

Toasted Treats

Eating the evidence!

Burning off the calories with a stint on the climbing wall

For tea the Beaver leader Tess had made beef and vegetable pie with cake for dessert.  Since Benedict is gluten intolerant aswell as diabetic, he ate the casserole mix and Dave took along an alternative sweet.  He benefited enormously from the day and came home very tired and happy.

Pip was also experiencing a "first" that day, not only was it the longest she had ever been apart from her daddy and big brother but she also refused to nap that day, ack!  Despite having been on the go since 7am, she was quite happy to help with household activities aswell as play time with mummy.  It was a rare treat for me too as so often I'm either caught up with "teaching" Benedict or playing catch up with the never ending chores.

Our other first has been an attempt at putting God first at the start of our day and throughout the day as it unfolds.  Yeah, I know it's a no brainer!  Sometimes spiritual common sense fails to prevail in this household, sorry Lord.  So today after breakfast and chores we headed off to Mass, both Benedict and Pip were really good at sitting still and reading/listening to the Mass.  Once home I prepped part of our lunch and put it in the Remoska to cook, then it was down to work for Benedict and I.  He completed three pages of cursive handwriting practise, two pages of sticker Maths and then using the cheery maths gnomes, looked at how many ways plus gnome could write out twelve.  We used standard math format aswell as pictorial representation to reinforce the learning.

After our lunch break Benedict wrote out plus gnomes evaluation in his Main Lesson Book, whizzed through his spelling sheet using Rummikub tiles as a concrete tool and lastly we shared the reading of the next chapter in " Five go down to the sea".  As a reward for all the hard work we stuck flowers on our picture of Our Lady and baby Jesus and both him and Pip  Hermie.

Pip is also learning too, her latest batch of words are as follows: off, car, cat, down, dink,hat,hair,chair,tractor,book and boots.  New words seem to be appearing nearly every day and her understanding of complex set of instructions is wonderful to see.  She certainly is a very loving and happy little girl.  Hard to believe that she will be two in a matter of months.  Now where did the time go?

All in all a peaceful and productive day.

A Birthday Treat For Daddy...

... was a trip to Ravenglass and a ride on the steam engine.  Not just any old ride mind you, Daddy was invited to ride up front on the foot plate, needless to say he was one happy chappy.  Here are some pictures of our day:

Pip was desperate for a charge around in the car park after the longish car journey.

A welcome cup of tea prior to our steam ride.  Mummy especially was grateful for the warming brew, as she was still feeling slightly queasy from the car journey!

Benedict and Nanna H sharing a happy moment.

Pip fascinated with Grandad's watch.

On the move.

A hopping on and stopping off point, on the way back a walker joined the train at this point having completed his trek.  I bet he was glad of a sit down!

Pip munching on a crisp at snack time!

A very happy Daddy with the engine driver Peter.


After our epic trip we made our way to Millstones restaurant and craft centre for a well deserved lunch.  Sadly there was not much on offer regarding a gluten free diet, they did not even have baked potatoes on the menu!  So we settled for our usual emergency request standby and they managed to rustle up egg and chips for me and the kids.  The others fared better with there choices, Dave and Dad had Cumberland sausage casserole, mashed potato and vegetables and Mum had beef goulash with mash and veg.  We had our usual obligatory mooch around the craft centre and although we did not buy any crafts we were fortunate to spy some activity books for Benedict and Pip.

A very happy Daddy at the end of a busy day!

Day Trippers

We spent the day with morning with friends and shared lunch together at a reasonably priced eating establishment.  Pip and I had a jaunt through town and bought our weekly veggies from the market and our much needed peanut butter from our friend's health food shop.  Just as we were leaving the town centre Benedict and I popped into Marks and Spencer and bought him a lovely warm winter coat, long sleeved T-shirts, underwear and comfy cosy furry slippers.  He was one happy chappy.
Upon returning home we were greeted to the news that, our part of the city was on alert regarding a bomb scare and we were awaiting the army bomb disposal team from Leeds!  Apparently this is the second alert in less than a week, doh my mind must have been elsewhere when the first incident occurred!!  Naturally this sparked a lengthy discussion on how to diffuse a bomb and all such other related information.  Thank goodness for Dad I say, as this depth of knowledge totally eludes me!
Benedict is currently watching another installment of Tin Tin, I can see I'm going to have to read one of the mysteries and see if I can set him some literary and numerical challenges related to the read.

Back on Track

Benedict is now finally virus free so we have once more begun incorporating home school into our daily doings.  Yesterday we took a long overdue visit to the library and came home with twenty books a piece, these should keep us busy during the forthcoming week.  Pip in particular was taken with a book called Rosie's Walk and she cannot bear to be parted from it:

Settling down to read.

Reading to Benedict.
Benedict chose some interesting adventure stories and I found on his behalf a "Boys Book of High Jinks and Adventures"  and a variety of eco/ sustainable living books aimed at children.  I'm hoping one or two of the projects therein will inspire him.  His must have reads at the moment however  are the Tin Tin books by Hergé.  He is very fortunate to have inherited a selection from his big sister Sara and he is also watching a boxed DVD set on loan from our dear friend Beatrice.
We have also finally finished our thankfulness tree.  I'm very pleased with the result and Benedict had the brain wave of adding the sun, sky and the grass, it really brings the whole image to life and is truly a joy to see.

Benedict adding his thankfulness message.

Our messages read as follows:
Mummy is thankful for the gift of faith and God's mercy and forgiveness.
Daddy is thankful for blessings too immeasurable to count and for family.
Benedict is thankful for Pip and for his friends.
Pip is thankful for Benedict and Boo Milk!
Today Benedict worked on his weekly spellings using the Rummikub tiles as a visual aid.  We then took a walk to the local co-op and amongst other things Benedict purchased two small chocolate bars, one for him and the other for Pip.  We have decided to keep Maths activities as concrete as possible and shopping for one's own goods is most definitely tangible, especially when you get to eat the goodies later on!!
After lunch we looked at the receipt from the chocolate bars and using 50 one pence pieces as our math manipulative we double checked to make sure the correct change had been given.  Using the 100 number grid we placed a penny on each square to reinforce place value and counting practise.  We then talked about the fact that, 100 penny coins is equal to one single one pound coin.  Benedict checked the weight of both groups and concluded that, it was better for the pocket linings to hold a one pound coin as opposed to one hundred penny coins!  We also talked about buying items with penny coins and the difficulty it imposes the bigger the value of the purchases.

One hundred pennies on the number grid.
Using a similar principle we placed our two pence coins on even numbers and counted in twos as we went.  This activity enabled us to recap on our odds and evens lesson which had first been introduced prior to Benedict becoming ill.

Counting in twos and even numbers.
Other events that have occurred these past days are discussions about:  Electric Shocks and Static Electricity, Why do security guards wear crash helmets?  What to do when a bus breaks down and Do pigeons get neck ache?!!  Benedict also commented about his latest Tin Tin read entitled The Crab with The Golden Claws - the story was based around the smuggling of Opium.  He decided that, he did not like the topic of drugs but I was able to explain that, in years gone by opium was used for medicinal purposes for general aches and pains.  Like all things when used in controlled circumstances and for the right reasons, these medicines have there use.  Amazing to think that such a topic would appear in a children's series of writings.  I did Google Tin Tin and in the general knowledge section it did hint that, Tin Tin's character was exposed to darker adventures as the series progressed.
Our copy work today was the poem/hymn:

Come, you thankful people, come,

Raise the song of Harvest-home:

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker, does provide

for our wants to be supplied;

Come to God's own Temple, come;

Raise the song of Harvest-home.

                H. Alford.

Vegetable and bean stew with cheese and chilli dumplings.

Stew base is onions, carrots, courgette and pepper sauteed in oil until soft.  Then add one jar of passata sauce and a vegetable stock cube in a little boiled water.  Mix well.  After twenty minutes further cooking time add a drained tin of pinto beans and mix again.

Dumpling mix is 100 grammes flour, 50 grammes of vegetable suet, salt and pepper, pinch of chilli flakes and 100 grammes of grated Parmesan cheese.  Mix well and then bind with a little water.  Roll small pieces of the dough into ball shapes and place on top of the stew.  Cook for a further twenty minutes.

Eve's pudding.

Stewed apple base, unable to give quantities as we are over run with apple sauce mix at the moment!

Topping is 125 grammes flour, 50 grammes sugar, 50 grammes butter/margarine, 2 eggs and vanilla essence.  Mix all the ingredients well.

Butter an ovenproof dish and line with the apple sauce mix and topped by the sponge topping.  Bake in a 180C oven for approximately twenty minutes or until the sponge is golden in colour.  Serve with custard, ice cream or cream.

All in all a good start to the week and long may it continue!

Not Back To School Picnic

We travelled a fair distance to meet another home educating family and fellow blogger.  We were blessed with good weather which was an answer to prayer, as the previous day had seen high winds and constant rain.  The kids had a great time running around.  I would have liked to say that it was a restful time for mum but that would be a lie!!  Benedict refused to eat his lunch in one sitting as he would normally do at home, after all the other kids were grazing why couldn't he?  Needless to say I was constantly carb counting and administering insulin, not good!  Pip decided she would also eat on the hoof so I too wandered around with my tub of pasta salad and fork in hand. 
Where was Dave in all this?  He had done a sterling job driving us to our destination but upon arriving it became immediately obvious that, the picnic area was not accessible for him due to very poor mobility.  So much for a family day out!  He instead ate his lunch in a local pub and when asked later how was lunch his reply was " Shockingly quiet!!".  The final sting in the tail was the adding up of money spent on the whole day and the answer was frightening.  Mind you as I'm often telling Benedict it is okay to make mistakes as  we are given the chance to learn.  In future we need to plan more effectively when going out and Dave needs to swallow his pride and use either a wheel chair or mobility scooter to help him get around.  I'm always telling him they are ENABLERS not Dis- ablers!
Some pictures of our day:

Pip eating a homemade peanut butter cookie and if you take a peak in the bag you'll spy our foraged elderberries!

Colony Capers

Benedict and Dad went on the end of year sausage sizzle with Beavers.  Sausages were in plentiful supply as was good humour, silly songs and boundless energy from the little one's.  Here are some pictures from the evening:

The excitement is mounting!

Water pistol shooting to knock out a lighted candle.

Welly wanging on the top field. 

Edible shoe lace necklace.

Singing around the camp fire at the evening's end.

Playing Catch Up... Again!

Have been having trouble logging in to Typepad and have had to install Fire fox in order to gain access to my account details and dashboard!  Still at least we are now up and running and so here is the account of last weeks shenanigan's:
Monday we visited another Home Edding family not far from us and then made our way to Brockhole National Park for a picnic lunch, a walk around the gardens and a load of fun at the adventure playground.  Our visit was topped off by well deserved ice cream and cup of tea in the cafe.

Don't worry Pip was crawling around the bottom, she hadn't actually come down the chute!

Benedict having some much needed outdoor activity, needless to say he had a hypo shortly after this picture was taken... ah, well!

Ah, five minutes peace whilst Pip munches on a chocolate button and ponders the life, universe and everything!

Tuesday was a home day and still working with the week's theme of "Activity" we had a day of active building, jigsaw making, clay modelling and a first for Pip finger painting.

Raisin snack time after building the den for the teddies!

Close up of a clay model car.

The scene in full.

 

The finished masterpiece!

Wednesday was a trip to The Quaker Tapestry and lunch with Nanna H.  After lunch we bought much needed trainers and sandals for Benedict and our bargain of the week was an almost new game from the charity shop, a book on how things work and a lovely summer top for Pip.

The rest of the week was another episode in damage limitation as rising blood sugars meant increased periods of poor concentration and fatigue.  Despite this Benedict continued to plough his way through his reading scheme, devise intricate pen drawings, usually machine orientated! and build copious Lego constructions.

I'm glad we had an "Active" week it did us good to break from our usual routine of loft work and house work!