A Midsummer Night's Dream ....

Dh spent the morning making a cardboard Elizabethan Theatre complete with actors & actresses and script for a Midsummer Night's Dream. I bought this for Issy yesterday at the museum. Hettie was helping dad with the building while Issy studied the script - me I stayed well out of the way, but could hear cries of 'mum, dad said a naughty word' and 'mum, dads being unkind about you'. Eventually we were ready. I read the script and my trio moved the stage and actors about.

Amidst much shuffling about and whispering on stage I started to plough my way through the shortened script, shouting stage directions and reading all parts. There was much giggling at the part where Lysander and Hermia meet in the woods and he chances his luck at having his wicked way (we described this as a kiss & cuddle) but as the word bosoms was mentioned full hysterical laughter came on from the stage hands, including dh.

We continued fairly sensibly until Issy decided she would like to read a part and became 'Bottom'. Obviously it was not long before passing wind jokes came about. Despite the hilarity we managed to get through about a third of the script, Issy reading her parts extremely well, with only a little prompting and Hettie managing the stage well, available from Tobar.

Issy was at a party this afternoon and I did some shopping while I waited for her. I bought a lovely book Knit A Fantasy Story by Jan Messent so guess what I'll be doing this evening!

Little trip out...and new phones

We went out today with some of our local home ed group to visit a Tudor hall. It belongs to a local museum and cost a whole £1.80 each. We had a great guy who gave a fantastic talk about living in Tudor times. Very hands on with lots of stuff for the kids to actually get their hands on. Hettie answered several questions to my surprise - she obviously does listen sometimes! Our speaker looked slightly bemused when he asked what they thought the candles were made from and there was a chorus of beeswax. Maybe we're going a bit overboard about the crayons.

Hettie volunteered to dress up as Lord Henry and got to sit at the top table with Lady M.

Don't they look lovely! Actually they were both quite taken with their costumes and wore them for quite a while. K aged 3 joined in whole heartily to the delight of everyone and particularly enjoyed snuffing out a candle and washing her hands Tudor style.

My new phone upgrade arrived today, hooray. I took some time (months) to actually get the courage to change it. I dithered about which phone to upgrade to and eventually asked my nephew G who said 'Auntie Lisa, stick with a Nokia, you're old and probably won't manage anything else' I was a bit put out by this comment about my age and technological knowledge - but my new Nokia is here. Ok so I couldn't work out why it wouldn't charge up until my niece M pointed out I hadn't put the battery in it. I have spent a long evening trying to work out how to use it. So it probably was best to stick to the Nokia.

Issy went on her school panto trip which she seemed to enjoy, and is itching to make the Elizabethan theatre I bought her at the museum today. She's got a party tomorrow at the Bear Factory which she can't wait for.

Dh and I spent a little time this evening looking at Rudolf Steiners Four Temperaments and deciding where we all fit. We decided he and Hettie are Phlegmatic (water), Issy is Sanguine (air) and I am Choleric (fire). Well at least he showed some interest!!

Getting organised...

If I get organised at work, everything at home is disorganised and so on. I completely understand the Waldorf importance of finding rhythm and some days we seem to really get it together, others we just don't. Still we'll keep working on it.

So today we dropped Issy at school, and came home determined to be organised. So we looked at Adam and Eve and Hettie copied some work I had (fortunately) prepared earlier. We had a big discussion about the onion skin pages separating other pages, and decided we would not tear them out. She promptly got in a muddle and did her lovely writing on the onion skin page. Still at least she did some writing:

I had a call from work so we set off for her home ed group meeting half an hour late and then decided not to go. By the time we would have arrived it would have been nearly over, so we turned around and went to our local library instead. We spent some time using the computer to look up books and Hettie actually picked two Dick King-Smiths to read to herself! We actually managed to use our super dooper up to date electronic library check in and out system (under the watchful eye of our not so jolly librarian) without a mistake, which caused Hettie to shout hooray very loudly and earned us another disapproving look.

We bumped into some home ed friends at the shops which was nice. We had a chat without someone saying 'not in school today?'

After lunch we read Merry-Go-Round, Ruth Heller which Hettie really enjoyed and led nicely to some grammar work. So we looked at nouns and after I grabbed Donna Simmons Living Language from the shelf for advice we managed to link to our Old Testament stories to make lists of nouns.

Time to pick up Isobel, and we played spot the noun on the way, which was very loud and noisy as we shouted nouns out.

Issy came home and wrote out half of her party invites and while Hettie went fencing we started the arduous weekly task of cleaning her bedroom. But we found time to play dollies and making tea games so the day ended nicely.

Now to prepare work for tomorrow!

Today...

I really needed to get more bookwork sorted out and planned for Hettie to do some work on her own for an hour or so and she decided she needed to learn maths all morning! Best laid plans and all that.

We kicked off with some form drawing, walking them out around the lounge and then drawing some. Lots of good work but the 'C' shape still causing problems, but we're getting there.

We carried on looking at place value and used our bead frame and base 10's to do lots of practice. I think we managed to get to the point where she realised the importance of the '0'. We read some of our Zero to Ten book before lunch.

She really liked the bead frame, so a worthy investment. She made a page in her main book about different ways to count things, fingers, abacus etc.

Little House on the Prairie still going down a storm. Who'd have thought it after all that Harry Potter.

Isobel is finding school difficult at the moment - again. She spent a lot of last term in the office at lunch and early pm with a variety of ailments and now this term the school has built a sickbay, so its a bit like her personal chill out room. She calls it the hospital room. But school panto trip on Friday so she's looking forward to that. And she's moved up a reading band and has made a new friend.

So to bed ... long day at work ahead.

Had to have a go...

Nicked from Sarah, who nicked from Laney, who I think nicked from someone else, Nosey Meme:

Do you talk in your sleep?
No idea.

Whats your favorite colour jelly?
I don't like jelly at all, never have, yuk. When I was 6 I had my tonsils out & the nurse tried to make me eat jelly & I've never forgotten.

Whats the song that's getting on your nerves right now?
None I can think of but that Leona Lewis one at xmas sounded like a cat in pain.

Current crush?
Johnny Depp, I got Pirates 3 for xmas but Colin Firth as Mr Darcy still tops.
Oh sorry hubbie first .......... of course.

Whats your favorite colour?
Green.

Window or aisle seat?
Window, except on a plane where I feel claustrophobic so I like the aisle.

Ever met anyone famous?
Robbie Coltrane just walking along in Covent Garden, Jools Holland and Sharon out of Eastenders in a shop I worked in, in London.

Do you feel you've had a truly successful life?
Yes, my family are my pride & joy, I love our life and our home.

Do you twirl or cut spaghetti?
It's vile, I don't eat it.

Dr Phil or Oprah Winfey?
Neither.

Basketball or football?
Football but only World or European Cup.

How long do your showers last?
5 mins or 20 mins if shaving of legs involved or I have new smellys.

Do you know how to drive a car?
Yes, I miss my red mini mayfair and my orange beetle.

Are you self conscious?
Not often.

Have you ever given money to a bum?
Yes.

Where do you wish you were?
Right where I am, OK maybe down in windy Devon or Cornwall, in a cottage, with a fire.

Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Yes loads of times, I used to be a nurse & midwife. And with Hettie when she and the dog got tangled up & she knocked herself out cold.

Can you tango?
No but I would love to be able to.

Last gift you received?
Christmas presents, I love my camera.

Last sport you played?
Rounders when I helped at Brownie Camp.

Things you spend money on?
Mmmm tricky, home ed, girls, house, me, hubbie anything really. I love to shop.

Favorite fast food restaurant?
KFC and local chinese (not really that fast)

Most hated food?
Pasta.

Can you sing?
No but I like to, even though kids & dog get out ear plugs and beg me to stop.

Last person you called?
My hubbie.

What's your least favorite chore?
Ironing, followed by any housework.

Favorite drink?
Jack Daniels & Coke (fat) and nice cold bottle Vina Sol

Are you a vegetarian?
No.

Do you believe in Heaven?
Yes.

Do you miss someone?
My dogs (deceased) Millie & Sikes, my cats (deceased) Tinks, Clarence & Jazzy Cat. Not sure why I miss Jaz, he belonged to my hubbie, and attacked me regularly for about 10 years, particularly when carving chicken, eating Chinese (his favorite) and when I tried to comb or de-flea him. Or in fact any opportunity he had.

Have you ever come close to dying?
No but I thought I was when I was in labour.

Are you eating?
No

Do you eat the stems off broccoli?
Yes but only 'cos its good for you.

Do you wear make up?
Every day - I'm from Essex.

Whats your worst fear?
Spiders

Would you ever have plastic surgery?
I used to always say never, now I'm nearly 40 probably.

What do you wear to bed?
Pj's

Have you ever done anything illegal?
Yes, but I'm not saying what.

Do you ever want to get married?
I am married and one husband is plenty.

What kind of trainers do you wear?
I don't

Future child's name?
Not having any more, two are enough.

Do you snore?
Dave says I do, but I think he's lying.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Not sure.

Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
No, with my hubbie.

If you won the lottery what would you do first?
Scream, tell everyone and go shopping.

Gold or silver?
Depends on what I'm wearing, where I'm going.

Hamburger or hotdog?
Hamburger. I like home made but the ones from the burger van after the pub are best.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
Cheesecake.

What was the last thing you touched?
My laptop.

Where did you eat last?
Our dinning room, school room by day.

When was the last time you cried?
Can't remember, ages ago, I don't cry often.

Do you read other peoples blogs?
Yes every day, I'm an addict.

Well not sure what that says about me!!!

Tired ...

I am so tired tonight, its the book keeping. But I have made brilliant progress with the help of my wonderful sis and the end is in sight, and I can confidently ring and book the accountant meeting, which is generally very tedious. He has a very perfectionist & serious outlook on life, which I do not & this makes me laugh and not pay attention & makes me feel like I'm back in school.

Lovely surprise when I got home as Dh & girls busy preparing Sunday roast. This is the first time in 12 years Dh has done this, and I presume probably first time ever. So after pointing out that if we left the chicken (I know, I know, it was free range & organic & expensive) on low it would be midnight before we ate & turning up the oven I left them to it. They invented a new dish, roasted mash and very nice it was too. The whole dinner was lovely. OK so I did step in and make gravy & dish up, but on the whole it was absolutely wonderful not to come home & cook. Thank you family of mine.


They also had managed to tidy & clean fairly well, and get weekly shopping.


Back to 'school' tomorrow. Hettie and I have been deciding whether to do another watercolour for her work on The Creation to round it off as we only managed 2 last week out of a possible 7. We need to do lots more work on place value for maths, with our friendly gnomes of course, and try to work out where to put our nature table. It will be Spring before we get it sorted and time to change it again. I have managed to finish Mother Nature who will be actually making her nature table debut as Mrs Thaw, but it saves me making two figures. King Winter is nearly completed and so I may put the book keeping away tonight and try to stay awake long enough to finish him.


The girls love the figures and Hettie is very keen on the nature table.

I needle felted her head and not sure I'm too happy with it, she looks a bit of an evil Mother Nature, but well if I ever find another evening free I can always make another :0)

Book Keeping...

...is sooooo tedious. I have been doing it all day and have a full day tomorrow. Thankfully I have help in the form of my big sister.

Apparantly the girls have been very good all day with only an odd minor fall out and dh took them swimming this afternoon. He also managed to do a great deal of the washing and build a Knex pirate ship. So all was calm and reasonably tidy when I returned home. No work today but I thought I'd post a piccie of our weaving!