Epic Post Needed...

I am SO far behind on this blog thing it really is not funny! Somehow, between Facebook, G+ , and mostly Flickr, life does get documented, but not so much in words these days.

Where to begin...

October 24th ~ our household became a 2-teen house. Taz turned 13 (and got a haircut a couple of days after this shot!)

His world still pretty much centres around drumming ~ it is his passion and his dream! And he is PRETTY good!

November 27th ~ Another Birthday...

Lilo is now doing pretty well in school. Her reading is improving weekly, in accuracy and fluency. She is still quite well behind her 'peers' for literacy I'd say, but I know she will close the gap over time and I am not worried. She is a happy, well balanced, intelligent, creative child; who would happily spend all her days drawing and colouring and living in a make believe world! Who knows ~ maybe she will write a book someday! Strange as it may seem, I think she is the one of my children MOST likely to do so. She tells me she gets herself to sleep at night by making up stories in her head!

She's been working on 'Explode the Code' online for a few months now and I do think that's help her confidence tremendously, but because it was free (with lots of trial codes we are now up to almost 6 months free) I signed all the youngest 5 up for reading eggs/express. Lilo does 2 days of ETC and 2 days of Reading eggs and together they are working beautifully ;D BUT she often chooses to do extra on the RE site ~ because there is simply more to do & it is loads more fun!!

December 21st   ~ birthday number 3 ~ Baby turned 1!

We did smash cake and bubbly water play for his 'party' fun. He was hesitant about both, but soon got into the cake! The bubbles never quite worked.

Since his birthday he has begun to babble more meaningfully and make clearer non-verbal communication too. He also took off on his pins this last week and has practised it to mastery. He doesn't crawl hardly at all now, and is not even very tottery. That seems to be the theme with my children ~ wait until they can and then do it really well!

Oh ~ and he has also mastered ascending and descending the stairs! We keep the stair-gate on though ~ just so we can contain him safely on one floor!

And he started to refuse being 'fed' so now he makes a hideous mess, but feeds himself...

Other STUFF...

On the day before Christmas Eve, my eldest little girl became a 'woman'. We've thought it was around the corner for quite a while, but it doesn't seem fair to start at only 10 (11 in Feb). That said, she is almost as tall as me ~ there's only a fraction in it,  and her feet are already bigger than mine! She is turning into one beautiful young lady ~ one half woman the other half girl ~ she is very much that just now :D

Stitch got a 'big boy' haircut ~ he was looking a mess in his mop I'm afraid!

SCHOOL STUFF

We've done some interesting Art so far this year, looking at Op art, in the style of Bridget Riley

(L-R, T-B: Mine, Bugs, Minnie, Lilo, DD, Bugs being coloured.)

And surrealism in the style of Rene Magritte.

(L-R, T-B: Mine (XXX), Lilo (8), TP (10), Minnie (11), Taz (13) & Bugs - not quite finished (14) )

We had some fun with geomag...

This was almost entirely DD's (6) own creation ~ I just helped him stabilise it a little ~ he did EVERYTHING else alone. It took him about 2 hours!

....and Stitch did his very first 'real' drawing ~ it's just not something he really has tried up til' now.

Shame it wasn't on paper and could have been kept ;(

Stitch has been keen to learn to read and as such has also moved on a LOT from this (taken in November)

...and is now reading really well ~ map 5 on Reading Eggs for those 'in the know' and reading almost everything he attempts :D No pushing from me at all ~ it's all been his own doing. 2 maps in 2 weeks ~ and he's doing the worksheets too!

We had a snow day...

But it did only last a day and a bit, so we made the most of it and just had fun that day!



We might be getting some more this week..!

Ten Minutes From Home wise...

I've done two paid photo-shoots now, plus a semi-informal one for the toddlers Christmas party at church.  I am selling the pictures to the mums like the schools do, with proper envelopes and all. I have done some commission work for my B-I-L and have some more lined up for a friend of mine who wants some images to help promote the re-branding of their business. I have also been asked to shoot for the wedding of someone at church. I am praying about that one though ~ it's not something I ever envisaged doing, Weddings are a LOT of hard work, but they do pay well ;) So things are beginning to take off ~ which is nice :D

And that's us really. I can't promise when the next update will be, but I'll TRY not to leave it so long.

Let me just leave you with a little more baby cuteness, mostly from just last night (click to see them bigger)...

Ignoring the Fact...

...that I haven't blogged since October! Maybe another catch-up post is in the pipe-line, but meanwhile, here's tonight's thoughts, which nearly went on G+ /Facebook, but got a bit long for that!

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That's it then...Christmas is over for another year. The beautiful tree is stripped bare & gone, soon to become fire wood - when it will leave us with it's lovely pine-wood scent in the air, just to remember it by :( The decorations are down and the toys have found homes. I fear there may be tears in the morning ~ we all really LOVED having a real tree this year - it was such a treat :D.

Not only that, but the holidays are over too, and it's back to 'school' tomorrow. Am I ready? Well, the marking is done (all except one boy's History, which I will just have to do tomorrow evening now), but all the same probably not! I still feel like I left my tail somewhere back in mid-December!

In some ways I look forward to getting back into routine, but another part of me loves it when the children play games together, and make sketches together, and do silly stuff that there just isn't usually too much time for.

The big boys have been getting on better than they have in I don't know how long ~ even choosing to spend time 'playing' together with Knex today - involving seeing how spectacular a mess they could make of each other's creations when they smash-crashed them into each other in mid-air - and making mini-clips of it all!

The girls have spent endless hours since Christmas day playing extremely detailed (and very messy) games with their ever-growing collection of Sylvanian families. The school was this year's addition to the mix.

We have my Nan staying with us while she waits for sheltered housing, and DD has delighted in enlisting her to play endless games with him: from Uno, to Top-Trumps, to Othello ~ she's most often willing and more often free than I am :D

Lunchtimes have been extended by the addtion of this in the kitchen,

...meaning that now we have waiters and chefs serving us real, and pretend, lunches and the whole affair is double in length-of-time, but so much more fun!

I am grateful to have had this month ~ it's been a LOT of fun. But I know that sooner or later the fun will run out of it all and then the melt down will happen, so back to learning it is. Although, I say that, also knowing full-well that this month there has been plenty of learning taking place amongst the fun ~ just learning of a different kind :D

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'll do my best to blog again in a few days ~ and fill in the gaping hole between October and now!

But ~ to everyone listening ~ Happy New Year! May 2012 be your year of happiness & fulfilment of dreams ~ home grown and God given!

Frogmum Doesn't Blog Much Anymore...

Sorry to all who might have been waiting on a post ~ I never seem to have the inclination much these days...and the truth of it is my photography has very much become my blog these days. If it's happening I shoot it, edit it, upload it. But I somehow feel that people who read here are not SO interested in the pictures ~ and I am not so interested in the words, which leaves blogging in a slump really! And hence I haven't blogged since July ~ a whole summer ago!!


Summer 2011 in brief;


Lots of time at home playing.


TP went to stay at her Nan & Grandad's with her Cousin B ~ she had a brilliant time and amused us greatly by arriving home with a diary folder of 'what we did', together with a list of all the 'funny people we saw', which was basically a list of people that, had she been a little younger, she would have laughed at for one reason or another. It pleased me that they had the tact to just jot it all down instead of pointing and giggling. In it was listed "a lady man" ~ I don't think she has ever seen a person who she could not determine the gender of before, but Portsmouth being a multicultural, jam-packed, diverse city (as opposed to her sheltered little country existence), and travelling about on buses for a week, she saw some more 'colourful' sites!

The following week Taz went up to Scotland with his friend for the week ~ and had a ball driving ride-on mowers and caring for ponies.

Having STILL not sold our 9 seater (because Paul actually hasn't even tried yet...sigh!) and so, still being one seat short of seating all of us, with Taz away we made the most of the opportunity for some days out with the other children:


Day 1 ~ an attempted trip to the Cinema and Pizza Hut for lunch, but the Cinema was sold out for ALL suitable films, so we came home and booked! In the evening we were at a party so all was not lost!


Day 2 ~ an attempted trip to the beach @ Kirby, but as the skies turned grey and threatening by the time we got as far as Chester (half way) we opted for the indoor alternative of Blue Planet instead . Rounded off with tea @ Frankie & Benny's this actually was an expensive, but lovely day :)

Day 3 ~ a day-trip to Birmingham to have a day with the cousins! Paul's other sister & nephew were staying there too. It's fabulous when the cousins get together, they are SUCH good friends all of them!

Day 4 ~ a successful Cinema (Cars2) & Pizza Hut trip, rounded off by an afternoon in the village park, where they were celebrating the 'grand opening' of the new play equipment and almost the whole village was there, so that was good fun too!

That weekend our good friends J&T came to stay which was a lovely way to finish of our 'Staycation' :-)

Over the summer I also did some photo-shoots for friends, which led to canvases on walls and the final push toward launching as a professional photographer. SO, as of Sept 1st 'Ten Minutes From Home' came into being. I have yet to do a shoot under that name, but I do know that people are already finding me on the web and by word of mouth, so only time will tell... I've invested a little money (and a lot of time) into getting it up and running, but if at the end of the day nothing comes of it, I have lost only a little money, and at least I tried! I do not want to ever regret not having tried. And if it takes off, then great, the little extra income will be lovely!

As summer came to a close I also took a little time to think about how home-education might look this year. By the end of last year I have to admit I was spent and felt I wasn't enjoying it anymore, so I'm pretty certain the kids weren't much either! I had lost my passion & drive for it. If I am 100% honest I am not totally sure I have re-found that either, but I have found a way to make it work, make it more interesting for the children and make myself more available to them all without over-stretching myself. It has meant a return to a slightly less autonomous approach, but it's not a full U-turn! 
I have stuck with my mini-skool approach, because actually it really works for us. But I have had to help the children arrange it more this year. Essentially I have assigned the mornings to the youngest three, alternating who I am working with and that being no more than two at a time on a shared subject. The third child works independently, usually on a computer task (e.g. ETC online), while I work with the other two. During the morning I cover maths, Science and reading/writing/spelling with the youngest three. Then just before lunch we all come together to work on a 'family' activity. This is where we do Geography, History, Art / Cooking (2 weeks of each alternately),  or a Lapbooking project (currently Astronomy). After lunch the youngest two go off and play, Lilo has a couple of independent tasks to do and I make myself available to the older children. During the morning the older 4 are told that if there is anything they are struggling with they should mark the place and then do as much as they can. In the afternoon they can ask me about anything they needed help and we will work on it together. 
As regards to it being more prescriptive this year, this is only because there are some things that need to be worked around and so the other activities have to be slotted in the right places to make it work, but there is still autonomy within that. The children and I arranged the charts together at the beginning of term, so it didn't all come from me. Also they often have more than one book to fit an activity. For example when Minnie sees the 'S&S Science' token she has 6 topic books to choose from and so can do what she most fancies that day! Also Bugs has been encouraged to add in some additional subjects this year, and so he is doing 'business studies' and IT. I was so pleased to get such a generous HEdders discount with Lonsdale (paying teachers prices). 

So far everything seems to be working really well. My biggest challenge is getting Stitch to take part ~ but I am insisting that he engage with learning in the mornings, as much as possible, because he is so bright and really needs to be kept busy to stay out of mischief!! I have also arranged a raiding-shelf for Baby as he is very much on the move and into raiding mode now! Fortunately he does sleep a portion of the morning and afternoon still :).

What else to tell... Minnie took her Grade 2 ballet exam, but unfortunately didn't pass. However it seems the examiner was quite harsh and a number of girls failed this time. Their teacher was so fed up (this is not the first time this lady has marked harshly) that she has decided to change syllabus, so I don't think it was all down to lack of skill! TP and Lilo have decided to give up Ballet, but I didn't want them to do no sport at all. Admittedly Lilo does swimming lessons, but this is not a thrill to her and I know she will stop as soon as she's finished. They both asked if they could do gymnastics. So I figured why not, and while I was at it thought it might be nice for the younger boys to do something to. They both agreed to give it a go too and it has been an all round hit :-). The girls are loving it and TP is practising things in her spare time (more than Lilo). She would love to be really good I think. And DD has been picked out after just three weeks of going to try out for the boys squad!! So on Tuesday he did a 2 hour session and came out chuffed as punch, still jumping and really pleased with himself because he had managed to hang the longest from the bars with his knees in tuck position, with a 'brick' on his lap (against two other boys I think ~ both older than him)! I am really pleased for him ~ I'm just dreading how this is going to affect our pocket!! If he is picked for squad he jumps from 1 hour on a Saturday (when the others are there), to 2 hours (Tues) + 1 hour (Sat, but later). It's also going to mean a lot of too-ing and fro-ing, which Paul will not be so happy about as he does all the driving around everyday. I don't think I expected any of them to get picked so soon (although I did think if any did it would likely be DD)!

This week of course the sun came out again, so with not having got the tent out this summer we felt it need an airing. So we pitched it in the garden and the children have lived out there most of the week, doing school & sleep! Unfortunately we didn't get it down in time before the bad weather set in again (Paul was at work) and now we need to wait for it to dry again and pray that it hold with the pretty strong winds that are out there right now!! It's a tough tent ~ we are pretty certain it will be OK ;)

Baby milestones @ almost 10 months ~ chuntering; "dadadadada", "babababa", etc.... Crawling properly (just beginning to abandon the commando style he has been doing for weeks now), pulling to stand and beginning to cruise the furniture, also beginning to try and use the brick truck and chairs to move around! Firmly attached to me still, but mostly only taking a full breastfeed in the morning, the rest of the time he's just wetting his whistle on me! Eats like a trouper :)

Is that me all caught up? I think so...

TOO Long..!

What more can I say than ~ my goodness, where did that month go?
I'll try to catch up with a little help from my old friend flickr.
I guess the over-riding theme of it has been sadness though :-(


June is a month of birthdays for us (as I already blogged) and I decided my gift to myself this year would be a 'new look', so I enlisted the help of my good friend (who was once a professional hairdresser) on the day before, and hey-presto;

TP joined in and decided she'd like a drastic chop too. I've always resisted her pleas before, but couldn't really in the light of my own change! So off came hers too...

The day of my birthday was tinged with sadness and worry. I woke to a bazillion lovely wishes on Facebook and my family gifted me with many lovely camera accessories from my Amazon wish list. It couldn't have started better! But later in the morning I was rung by my Nan to say my Aunty was extremely poorly and nearing the end of her battle. Later my Mum called me (when she arrived there) and we discussed my travelling down after I put the kids to bed (leaving a friend to babysit until morning) ~ to say my final farewell to Debbie. I really wanted to say I loved her just once more ~ before she left this life. It had been too difficult to phone her in recent weeks as her sleeping patterns were so erratic and prolonged. Mum, however, felt she would make it to morning and thought I should book an early train, as to arrive late at night might be too disruptive ~ so that's what I did. Due to arrive at lunchtime next day (it's a 3hr trip). I went to bed with a heavy heart. I woke to a text that said my Aunty Debbie had passed away at just before 5am ~ when the stay-awake nurse nipped to the loo and everyone else was sleeping :-(.
I still can't believe I didn't go by my instincts ~ or that I didn't get to hold her hand and say goodbye ~ or kiss her goodnight :-(. I still feel a little cheated. BUT I know she knew I loved her, I was praying for her everyday and I love her still. I hope she knew I tried!
Her loss is deeply felt. Ours is a very small family ~ just my Nan, my mum, Aunty Debbie, Alan (her husband), Sam (her son ~ only just 16) and me. We are close. Debs was the one who always brought the laughter with her ~ she was so creative, so artistic and SO witty! She was only 14 years older than me and I shared a room with her whenever we stayed at my nan's when I was small. She was the closest thing I will ever have to a sister really. I loved her immensely and it's really crap that she's gone (s'cuse my choice of words, but that's what a blog is for...)!!
I stayed with my family for a couple of days and while we were there Baby cut his first tooth! Paul came to pick us up on the Sunday morning. The funeral was on the following Thursday ~ just a week after she died, so we travelled down again for that (taking only Bugs, TP and Baby). Paul's Mum was kind and came up on the train, to look after the other children for a couple of days for us. 
The funeral was hard ~ so many people I knew from years ago when I was small came (school friends of Debbie's) . Our extended family came ~ the last time I had seen them we were celebrating Debbie's 50th Birthday together ~ just 3 years ago :( and I had a different babe-in-arms then! But it was also a lovely celebration of who Debs was and what her life had meant to so many people. I miss her...
RiP my beautiful Aunty.

Then it was back to normal ~ home-ed carried on. The children and I all needed to keep things 'normal'. We've enjoyed some lovely family times during these warmer evenings ~ water fights and family football being some of the highlights.

Baby cut his 2nd tooth and is thoroughly enjoying the feel of them, showing everyone his toothy grin (taken 30th June)...

and then he learnt to sit (he's really stable now, but still likes to launch himself backwards) ~ this was taken the first day he did it (20th June)...

About 10 days ago he learnt to drink from a cup, but he prefers us to hold it still...

Yes ~ there have been definate UPs, but then... 
as if this month wasn't sad enough... we woke one morning to find Mr Rosie (pet rabbit) dead in the run and minutes later Beth (his sister) laid down and died too. Cause unknown. They had their nails clipped at the vets just the week before and a 'once over'. They appeared healthy and well. It remains a mystery. They were about 5 years old.
The children were amazing. TP and Taz dug a hole at the back of the fern field (less visible from the house in the event of a fox...), put them together in a cardboard box and buried them. Paul made a little plaque for them and engraved their names. So sweet. So sad :-(

RiP Beth (black) & Mr Rosie (grey).

On Thursday last week we finished up 'school' for the year with a games day ~ always good fun...

Friday, Paul was away at a church leader's conference for a couple of days, so I dutifully trooped 7 kids on the bus with me into town for the Toddler group, end of term, 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' (that cost a mint!). The buses in both directions were late of course. They only run once and hour to our village (and we missed one by 7 minutes so had to play hide-'n'-seek for an hour in the church grounds while we waited) and then it's a mile walk to (and from) the bus stop home ~ we were all a little weary by the time we got in, but it was fun!! Stitch especially enjoyed the 'bumpy bus', but not so much the walk home at the end of the day!

On Saturday it poured with rain, so we stayed in and made pizza - from scratch! It was delicious and fun!!

And yesterday ~ we had a fabulous day in church...

• Paul was 'promoted' to Associate Pastor (from Assistant ~ small title change, big impact on position we hope).
• Sunday School prizes were given out for the year and the Youth Band led the whole service (they were brilliant).
• And 'we' (the church as a whole) moved into our OWN premises!

Other thing of note ~ Taz has begun having 'proper' drum lessons. We found a good teacher (someone who used to work with Paul in fact) and he is doing well, although the teacher says he still hasn't quite got a handle on what Joel is capable of ~ I think Taz is better than the teacher thinks he is!! But he is learning to read drum music and a few 'polishing' things so that is great too :-)


It's been a month of so many ups and downs...maybe the summer will be a bit more stable. I don't anticipate being bored though ~ I have tonnes of 'stuff' to get done, for 'school', home, church and maybe even me. There's some photography tutorials I want to read, as well as catching up on my magazines and I also want to do some more of my genealogy work I started last summer)! I think we are holidaying in September, so at least I don't have to fit that in just yet..!


If you got this far, well done!!
Catch you later :-)