Life's still busy, busy, busy! So much for our relaxed Home Ed schedule lol.
Had a fab day on Friday learning all about the ancient Greeks at a wonderful Home Ed workshop. And spent most of the weekend working on our Spanish project for Geography Club next week (or playing Minecraft if you're DS!!!) :-)
Yesterday I was at a funeral, so the kids were with Granny for the day. So today we have had a nice, chilled day at home just reading, chatting and hanging out. The kids played for hours this afternoon in the garden, while I cracked on with sourcing the worksheets etc for our Geography Club group tomorrow. And preparing our Spanish fare for the food tasting table :-)
We made Spanish Magdalenas (light lemony sponge cakes) and Almendras Fritas (almonds fried in olive oil), and managed to restrain ourselves from eating them all! Yummy!
What an eventful day we've had!
A nice peaceful start to the day, while I continued to plough through the mountain of post-holiday washing! Then, after lunch, DD and I decided we'd have a go at making the Fairy Garden we've been planning to make. We did ask DS if he wanted to join us but he was in a Minecraft kind of a mood :-)
So, we broke out my new glue gun and set to work! I gave DD free reign on what she wanted to make, how she wanted to make it and what materials we used. I deliberately held back, only gave my opinion when it was asked for (although more often than not I bounced it back with it "what do you think you should put there?" Or "where do you think it should go?") Lovely to watch her confidence soaring and her grin spreading as she scampered to and fro getting it all how she wanted. She was great with the glue gun too, under supervision, no incidents :-)
And look what she made......
I think she's done a super job! And I've just been out to check on it, and it looks like some fairies may have visited already........
....... I can definitely see what looks like Fairy Dust sparkling... ;-)
We then went to a local playground to meet up with some old friends from school. Unfortunately, DD then fell off a low climbing frame, landed awkwardly and bent her thumb back!! Luckily, the friend I was meeting is a paramedic, so we had an immediate one-to-one assessment & consultation! :-) It is swollen, it is bruised but we're sure it's just a sprain. Obviously we'll keep a close eye on it over the next couple of days but she said it was feeling alot better this evening and she was able to move it quite freely, including holding a pencil and managing to eat her dinner. She's been very brave, so I'm extremely pleased we managed to get something nice done in the afternoon before it happened as it is not only her writing hand but she was due to go horse riding and rock climbing this week, neither of which will be happening now :-( Hopefully a visit from the fairies will cheer her up a bit xxx
Firstly, I must apologise for the break in posts. It's been a really full on, challenging few weeks. School holidays still mean transitions for us as all our regular clubs and meets break for the holidays and DH is a teacher, so it re-introduces him in to our schedule which can be hard for the kids to cope with as it is a change in routine. We've had lots of tears and anxiety, and a wonderful Big Talk about the issues the kids face :-)
The Big Talk was prompted by a tearful meltdown from DD, who declared "I wish I didn't have difficulties!" Time to face the beast, I thought...... So I sat them both down and explained there are two ways to view 'difficulties' and that they must learn to see themselves as Zoo's. The analogy being that Zoo's are super exciting places to be - there is loads to see and do and they are packed with exciting and interesting experiences. But in the Zoo are a whole variety of different animals that require different care - and they can view their 'difficulties' in the same way. For example, every-one wants to see the majestic lion, the King of all the animals. And sometimes we want the lion to come out an roar in all his glory, but sometimes we need to put the lion away for a while, as he may scare some of the other animals, or he may be tired and need a rest. Similarly, it's super fun to see the penguins - they are so cute, and lively, and funny. But their enclosure is definitely on the smelly side, there's no denying it, but it doesn't stop people queuing to see the penguins :-) So we talked about all these things, and how they can view their difficulties in the same way. But ultimately to remember that, although running a Zoo is a lot of work, it is also the most wonderful, magical place to visit or be around. It helped me too, to think of it this way. Now I am not a frazzled, put upon, out of her depth Mum. I am a CEO of two fabulous Zoo's :-) :-) :-)
And, in other news, I'm posting a link here of a friend's 8 year old daughter's recent article featured in The Guardian. Bea is 8 years old and has Apergers. She writes a beautiful account of what this feels like, on a day-to-day basis. It's a truly moving, captivating account and I am so proud to share it, as I truly believe she will help so many friends & family of ASD children (and adults) through her wonderful insight -
Too Much Information by Beatrix Aged 8 (dirtynakedandhappy.wordpress.com)
Read it, share it, big up her awesome Mum with your support. Way to go Bea, you are gonna help change the world xxx
