Amelie had a dentist appointment yesterday so the kids and I went down to Healesville to have her front teeth checked - she had banged them hard on her knee when we were in Esperance a few weeks ago, then hit them again on LiAM's head a week or so later, and they have been bleeding and looking a funny colour since then.
The dentist said they were about to fall out (they are both baby teeth) and there's nothing to worry about, so that's a relief. He wants to get her back in for a filling - I'll wait and see when she's ready for that then book her back in.
Seeing as we were in town I was happy to hang around and explore somewhere. The kids wanted milkshakes from the fish and chip shop near Coles, where we often used to buy milkshakes before our trip. We started walking over, then talked about going to the library - LiAM realised that he'd want the iPad and his iPod if we went to the library so the kids kept walking to the shop and I went back to get the car. I couldn't find them when I arrived, then Caitlin texted to say they were in the library - the guy at the fish and chip shop had said they couldn't do milkshakes - unsure if that was just for today or permanently.
We hung out at the library for a while, reading books, finding books and DVDs to borrow, and playing on the playstation (Lego Indiana Jones) then Caitlin went over to the ice-cream shop to get milkshakes from there. They were delicious - more expensive and much tastier than the ones we normally get.
Everyone was keen to go to the Sanctuary, and I was pleased I'd thought to suggest it. We can go as often as we want on our membership, and it's so close to home, I hope we continue to pop in whenever we are in Healesville. We saw a lot in the couple of hours we were there. There've been some changes - there are cassowaries, a cool new koala exhibit and we hadn't been in the new lyrebird exhibit either. We watched the bird show, excellent as always, and we were all very very excited to see the wedge-tailed eagle when she came out. We went to feed the parrots - Caitlin was able to hold a red-tailed black cockatoo, it wouldn't go onto the arms of the other kids, and none of the parrots were interested in the food we offered them (provided by the keepers) - it was still great to see them and Caitlin was thrilled about the cockatoo. We saw the pelicans, bats, wallabies, more birds and the goannas, then raced back for the dingo talk, which seemed even more relevant after meeting dingoes on our trip. We learnt that the biodiversity on the dingo side of the dingo fence is in better shape than the non-dingo side. Makes sense really, if you take out the top predator, things change a lot. Also the dingoes keep the cat and fox populations under control. We saw echidnas and discovered they have rear facing claws on their rear feet. We saw a keeper syringe feeding a very old koala and talked to her about how they were helping this koala (she was 18), and LiAM asked about the echidna claws - it's so they can scratch themselves without getting caught in their own spikes.
It was a very enjoyable afternoon and I'm looking forward to going a lot more often and remembering to really explore our own region like we did at all the places we stayed on our trip.
Showing posts with label playstation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playstation. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Horse experience
Yesterday we had nothing planned except for Caitlin going to Guides at 6pm. We were having a relaxing morning - LiAM and Amelie were playing Lego Marvel Superheroes on the Playstation, Caitlin was getting ready to reorganise her room, I was chatting on the phone and folding washing, when Caitlin got a call in response to her ad for unpaid horse experience. This lady had rung a few days before, asking Caitlin to come and help out at her riding school, and at the time they couldn't work out a which day would suit them both. When she rang yesterday, she asked if Caitlin could come straight away - so Caitlin changed into clothes that were more suitable for working with horses, I gave everyone something to bring with them to eat in the car, and we headed up to Castella.
The women we met at the riding school were lovely, friendly and obviously very much into horses. They chatted to Caitlin about homeschooling and asked her about her experience with horses, then I left her there for a few hours to help them out. The other kids and I debated whether to go and do a forest walk while we were up there - LiAM wanted to go back home, Amelie wanted to walk, so we decided we could walk after we picked Caitlin up. Back home the kids continued playing on the PS3, and I pottered around and did some more tidying, a bit of research for our trip and so on.
A few hours later we headed back up the hill to get Caitlin. She was very happy, and so were the women she'd been working with. She'd spent the 3 hours helping them with their every day care of the horses, and they'd let her do everything that they were doing - it is exactly the type of experience she was looking for.
From there we drove around the to the Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre - I've been meaning to go there since I first heard of it, about 8 years ago, and we've never made it. The Discovery Centre was closed 'until further notice' but the bush walks were still available, so we meandered off on the Yea River Walk. It was beautiful - lots of tree ferns and tall gums, and quite cool walking in the forest even though it was a warm day. Amelie was a little frightened of the wolf spider holes in the ground, so she kept close to me except when she was exploring the ferns. The river was small and pretty when we reached it (on 2 occasions). The kids pretended to be horses and jumped over any logs or branches or dips in the path. LiAM made a crown of fern leaves for Amelie and put it in her hair - she happily became 'The Princess of the Jungle'. All the kids were very tired by the time we made it back to the end of the loop - Caitlin was nearly asleep on her feet.
Back home the younger kids kept playing their Superhero game, and Caitlin had a bit of a rest then sorted out her room, moving in some more drawers to store her hair and makeup equipment. It frees up some room in the other kids' room so I can reorganise things in there a bit.
At 6 I took her in to Guides and then came home and finally got to the dishes I'd been planning to wash all day. We had a quiet night - the kids watched some Kung Fu Panda and played a few games and I went to bed as soon as I could, I was quite tired myself after our fun and unexpectedly busy day.
The women we met at the riding school were lovely, friendly and obviously very much into horses. They chatted to Caitlin about homeschooling and asked her about her experience with horses, then I left her there for a few hours to help them out. The other kids and I debated whether to go and do a forest walk while we were up there - LiAM wanted to go back home, Amelie wanted to walk, so we decided we could walk after we picked Caitlin up. Back home the kids continued playing on the PS3, and I pottered around and did some more tidying, a bit of research for our trip and so on.
A few hours later we headed back up the hill to get Caitlin. She was very happy, and so were the women she'd been working with. She'd spent the 3 hours helping them with their every day care of the horses, and they'd let her do everything that they were doing - it is exactly the type of experience she was looking for.
From there we drove around the to the Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre - I've been meaning to go there since I first heard of it, about 8 years ago, and we've never made it. The Discovery Centre was closed 'until further notice' but the bush walks were still available, so we meandered off on the Yea River Walk. It was beautiful - lots of tree ferns and tall gums, and quite cool walking in the forest even though it was a warm day. Amelie was a little frightened of the wolf spider holes in the ground, so she kept close to me except when she was exploring the ferns. The river was small and pretty when we reached it (on 2 occasions). The kids pretended to be horses and jumped over any logs or branches or dips in the path. LiAM made a crown of fern leaves for Amelie and put it in her hair - she happily became 'The Princess of the Jungle'. All the kids were very tired by the time we made it back to the end of the loop - Caitlin was nearly asleep on her feet.
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| Yea River |
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| Princess of the Jungle |
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| Taken by LiAM |
At 6 I took her in to Guides and then came home and finally got to the dishes I'd been planning to wash all day. We had a quiet night - the kids watched some Kung Fu Panda and played a few games and I went to bed as soon as I could, I was quite tired myself after our fun and unexpectedly busy day.
Friday, 4 March 2016
Homeschool group and painting
Yesterday we had homeschool group in Yarra Glen, where Caitlin and a bunch of the other kids worked on a play that they are writing and hoping to perform next fortnight. There was a bit of disappointment as we'd been told we could use the stage but the hall was locked - they worked around though and sorted out the costumes and the stage directions and the script and all seemed to have fun. The kids also spent time playing with duplo and on their iPads, and out in the sandpit and on the other playground equipment.
After homeschool group was over we hung out in the library and playground for a while and had some hot chips, then Caitlin, LiAM and I went to karate. The kids all had a little practice tournament, while I worked on self-defence techniques (which pleased me, I'm get a bit anxious when I think about tournaments...).
Tony had gone to the pub for tea after finishing work slightly early (7pm) and had taken Amelie with him, the rest of us joined him after karate and had dessert. The kids played in the playground there - a huge group of kids all joined in playing tiggy and hide-and-seek, it was fun to watch. It was also cool to meet some of Tony's workmates.
Earlier in the day V had come over for the morning and he and LiAM played Lego Marvel Super Heroes for a couple of hours - they'd both been looking forward to playing together all week, so they were very excited.
Amelie saw something on tv that inspired her to get out the paints and some paper plates. She hasn't finished making it yet so I'm not sure what she's planning, she's got a very definite idea that she's working towards. Caitlin got out her paints that she received for christmas and painted a farm scene and then a dot painting - it's the first time she's used her good paints and she enjoyed it so much she said she's going to try to do it every day.
After homeschool group was over we hung out in the library and playground for a while and had some hot chips, then Caitlin, LiAM and I went to karate. The kids all had a little practice tournament, while I worked on self-defence techniques (which pleased me, I'm get a bit anxious when I think about tournaments...).
Tony had gone to the pub for tea after finishing work slightly early (7pm) and had taken Amelie with him, the rest of us joined him after karate and had dessert. The kids played in the playground there - a huge group of kids all joined in playing tiggy and hide-and-seek, it was fun to watch. It was also cool to meet some of Tony's workmates.
Earlier in the day V had come over for the morning and he and LiAM played Lego Marvel Super Heroes for a couple of hours - they'd both been looking forward to playing together all week, so they were very excited.
Amelie saw something on tv that inspired her to get out the paints and some paper plates. She hasn't finished making it yet so I'm not sure what she's planning, she's got a very definite idea that she's working towards. Caitlin got out her paints that she received for christmas and painted a farm scene and then a dot painting - it's the first time she's used her good paints and she enjoyed it so much she said she's going to try to do it every day.
Friday, 26 February 2016
Sewing and karate
On Wednesday night Caitlin had found a library book called 'Made by Me', with lots of patterns and ideas for things to make and sew. She said that she'd start making some of them on Thursday, and she did. She made a doll, several drawstring bags, and some other little decorations. She worked really hard and spent hours sewing, asking for help or ideas when she was unsure, and taking a break when she was getting frustrated. I am always impressed with her sewing skill, and this was no exception, the things she made looked fantastic and she did them fairly easily.
LiAM played Lego Marvel Superheroes again and realised he was close to the end so was excited at the thought of completing the whole game. At one point something had happened in the game where he'd missed his chance to do a vital action in order to finish that level. He tried lots of things and I looked up the walkthrough, and in the end it looked like the only way to finish the level was to start that section again, which was a lot of work. He was pretty upset, feeling like all the work he'd done so far had been wasted. He stopped and had something to eat and eventually decided to go back and do it all again, and was able to calm down enough to enjoy it even though he hadn't wanted to do it. When he got back to the same spot I was able to read the walkthrough to him (he really didn't want to miss his chance again) and he defeated Rhino and Magneto and was thrilled. I'm impressed at his increasing ability to calm down and continue when he's upset or anxious. He still feels and expresses his disappointment, when he was younger though it could mean the end of the game, now he's more able to work through it and get some perspective.
Amelie watched and helped LiAM play, did some more pokemon and planet quizzes with me, watched some more Pokemon, played with her My Little Ponies.
After a while LiAM had enough of his playstation game, and spent time playing with the Titan characters.
When Caitlin had finished sewing she went to visit our neighbour next door and took her creations with her - everyone there was quite impressed too.
We went to karate in the evening. Amelie joined in and trained for the whole class this time. She was quite overwhelmed by the end of it, it's a lot to take in (and at the moment there are 7 kids who have just started, so the group she's training in is quite big which would make it much harder). Afterwards she had a quick play in the park, while LiAM talked Terraria with some of the older kids.
Back home and we had a bit more to eat, and watched Degrassi (far less full on than the previous night) then Heartland. Tony came home and went almost straight to bed. The kids put on a pokemon movie and I went to bed, they got themselves to bed once it was finished.
LiAM played Lego Marvel Superheroes again and realised he was close to the end so was excited at the thought of completing the whole game. At one point something had happened in the game where he'd missed his chance to do a vital action in order to finish that level. He tried lots of things and I looked up the walkthrough, and in the end it looked like the only way to finish the level was to start that section again, which was a lot of work. He was pretty upset, feeling like all the work he'd done so far had been wasted. He stopped and had something to eat and eventually decided to go back and do it all again, and was able to calm down enough to enjoy it even though he hadn't wanted to do it. When he got back to the same spot I was able to read the walkthrough to him (he really didn't want to miss his chance again) and he defeated Rhino and Magneto and was thrilled. I'm impressed at his increasing ability to calm down and continue when he's upset or anxious. He still feels and expresses his disappointment, when he was younger though it could mean the end of the game, now he's more able to work through it and get some perspective.
Amelie watched and helped LiAM play, did some more pokemon and planet quizzes with me, watched some more Pokemon, played with her My Little Ponies.
After a while LiAM had enough of his playstation game, and spent time playing with the Titan characters.
When Caitlin had finished sewing she went to visit our neighbour next door and took her creations with her - everyone there was quite impressed too.
We went to karate in the evening. Amelie joined in and trained for the whole class this time. She was quite overwhelmed by the end of it, it's a lot to take in (and at the moment there are 7 kids who have just started, so the group she's training in is quite big which would make it much harder). Afterwards she had a quick play in the park, while LiAM talked Terraria with some of the older kids.
Back home and we had a bit more to eat, and watched Degrassi (far less full on than the previous night) then Heartland. Tony came home and went almost straight to bed. The kids put on a pokemon movie and I went to bed, they got themselves to bed once it was finished.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
A hot day at home, and Guides
LiAM had been looking forward to yesterday for a few days, as we had most of the day at home and he would have the chance to play Lego Marvel Superheroes for a nice long chunk of time, rather than squeezing in half an hour or an hour between other activities. When I got up around 7.30 he was already awake and playing, said he'd woken up at 7. He really enjoyed his long play, was able to really work at some of the difficult levels, get a heap of new characters, and really become immersed in the game. He chatted away the whole time he was playing, telling us what was happening, what he was thinking, talking about the characters and how they react to situations and whether he thought it was true to their character or not, or things he would have done differently if he'd made the game. The girls and I watched, commented, looked up walk throughs when he got really stuck (I love that I can read an instruction that makes no sense to me and he immediately says 'oh yeah, that would work!') and the girls both played with him on and off.
When Amelie woke up she curled up with me on the couch and we watched LiAM for a while then we did some quizzes - one on the Disney Princesses, (we got all of them except Merida from Brave), and one on the planets. Amelie is fascinated by the planets at the moment, we chat about them most days and we've talked about the difference between a moon and a sun and a planet, and the names of the planets in our solar system, and why Saturn has rings, and which planets are hotter, and why Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet (I still need to look that up). She has a little model of the solar system with the sun and the planets revolving around that, and we play with it a few times a week - she grabbed it yesterday to help remember the names of all the planets - all the names are familiar to her now, and she's starting to associate more of them with the correct planet and remember some without looking at them. It's cool to see an interest develop that's completely hers, not something that has grown out of things the others were interested in.
We also all spent time looking at an alien book we'd picked up the day before, lots of great pictures and discussion starters about whether there really are aliens, what they might look like, what they'd think of us and so on.
Amelie watched some more pokemon and I watched with her for a while and played Hungry Babies, then Caitlin came and joined us. She played some Coolmath-games while she watched, and discovered one called Coffee Shop, where you have to buy supplies, set a recipe for your coffee, and sell it to make a profit over a fortnight, as well as get a good reputation for your store. She really loved it and asked me to play a round of it - it was fun and challenging (and I made a profit of $184, I was pretty happy). There were so many factors to think of, Caitlin was fascinated and it started a great discussion about all the decisions and planning involved in successfully selling products.
I spent a good chunk of the day catching up on some of the housework that had accumulated from us being out and about so much lately and me not having the energy when we got home to do much about it. I got quite a lot done and felt happy that it wasn't too much to handle.
It was another hot day and we had an unexpected power outage in the afternoon (which brought a stop to Lego Marvel Superheroes). We got ready to go out as there was no way we could stay in the house for very long without cooling. The girls had Thinking Day activities at Guides and were dressing up as someone from a country they'd chosen (out of the countries that have World Centres for Guides). Amelie was England and wore a pretty dress to be a princess, and Caitlin was Mexico, we found a flowery, swirly skirt and an embroidered top, and Tony's sombrero. Once the power dropped out the girls got into their costumes and I gathered up the library books and we left as quickly as we could. (Still not quick enough to avoid feeling hot and sweaty and cranky before we left, but once we got into the car and got it cooled down everything felt a bit better). The power came on just before we left but seeing as we were ready to go we kept going. The girls were asked to take food from their country as well, so we went to the IGA to buy supplies - and it was closed due to the power outage. We went to Coldstream IGA and Caitlin got corn chips and salsa, we couldn't find anything that Amelie wanted to take. We really wanted scones but I hadn't felt up to making some. We went back to the Yarra Glen bakery and the best I could do was a tea cake, so at least we were taking something. We dropped the girls at Guides then LiAM and I went to the library, he watched some youtube videos and I read my book and it was lovely and cool and relaxing.
Once the library closed we sat outside and read/watched for a while longer, then went to the bakery again for LiAM to buy an apple cake - they didn't have any so the girl helped him decide what else to get (the girls who work there on a Wed afternoon know and love him) and he got a French Vanilla Slice instead. I also bought some chocolate milk for Amelie as she'd been wanting some all day. We picked Amelie up and went home to a house where luckily the air con had worked enough to cool it back down again (enough to be inside anyway). The kids played some minecraft and some more Lego superheroes, until Big Bang Theory was on at 7.30. We taped it so that we could watch with Caitlin when she got home, and it was a relaxing hour after a bit of a full on afternoon out. When it finished we watched a bit of Degrassi, which had some full on issues being discussed, so we talked about that a bit - standing up for people who are being victimised, and how hard that can be, especially when the person in the wrong is someone you are close to - and then watched Heartland. Caitlin was also playing a game on her iPad which requires amazing dexterity and quick reflexes, I love watching her because she's so calm and so good at it. I had a try and I'm a lot clumsier. She was trying to get to 10000 gems to buy a new sub-game and worked hard at it for ages yesterday, and eventually got there - she was so happy and really enjoyed the new game.
Amelie and I went to bed and she was going to watch Pokemon but got distracted talking to me, then the others came in and they were playing a game on my bed, and massaging my feet while we all chatted. We'd been talking about starting to read Brisingr again as we hadn't done so for ages, with the big kids doing more things in the evening they hadn't been wanting to stop and listen when Amelie was ready for bed. So we read a couple of chapters and it was great to get back into the story - we could all remember different bits of what had happened so far, so we were able to keep going from where we were up to and piece together the story.
When Amelie woke up she curled up with me on the couch and we watched LiAM for a while then we did some quizzes - one on the Disney Princesses, (we got all of them except Merida from Brave), and one on the planets. Amelie is fascinated by the planets at the moment, we chat about them most days and we've talked about the difference between a moon and a sun and a planet, and the names of the planets in our solar system, and why Saturn has rings, and which planets are hotter, and why Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet (I still need to look that up). She has a little model of the solar system with the sun and the planets revolving around that, and we play with it a few times a week - she grabbed it yesterday to help remember the names of all the planets - all the names are familiar to her now, and she's starting to associate more of them with the correct planet and remember some without looking at them. It's cool to see an interest develop that's completely hers, not something that has grown out of things the others were interested in.
We also all spent time looking at an alien book we'd picked up the day before, lots of great pictures and discussion starters about whether there really are aliens, what they might look like, what they'd think of us and so on.
Amelie watched some more pokemon and I watched with her for a while and played Hungry Babies, then Caitlin came and joined us. She played some Coolmath-games while she watched, and discovered one called Coffee Shop, where you have to buy supplies, set a recipe for your coffee, and sell it to make a profit over a fortnight, as well as get a good reputation for your store. She really loved it and asked me to play a round of it - it was fun and challenging (and I made a profit of $184, I was pretty happy). There were so many factors to think of, Caitlin was fascinated and it started a great discussion about all the decisions and planning involved in successfully selling products.
I spent a good chunk of the day catching up on some of the housework that had accumulated from us being out and about so much lately and me not having the energy when we got home to do much about it. I got quite a lot done and felt happy that it wasn't too much to handle.
It was another hot day and we had an unexpected power outage in the afternoon (which brought a stop to Lego Marvel Superheroes). We got ready to go out as there was no way we could stay in the house for very long without cooling. The girls had Thinking Day activities at Guides and were dressing up as someone from a country they'd chosen (out of the countries that have World Centres for Guides). Amelie was England and wore a pretty dress to be a princess, and Caitlin was Mexico, we found a flowery, swirly skirt and an embroidered top, and Tony's sombrero. Once the power dropped out the girls got into their costumes and I gathered up the library books and we left as quickly as we could. (Still not quick enough to avoid feeling hot and sweaty and cranky before we left, but once we got into the car and got it cooled down everything felt a bit better). The power came on just before we left but seeing as we were ready to go we kept going. The girls were asked to take food from their country as well, so we went to the IGA to buy supplies - and it was closed due to the power outage. We went to Coldstream IGA and Caitlin got corn chips and salsa, we couldn't find anything that Amelie wanted to take. We really wanted scones but I hadn't felt up to making some. We went back to the Yarra Glen bakery and the best I could do was a tea cake, so at least we were taking something. We dropped the girls at Guides then LiAM and I went to the library, he watched some youtube videos and I read my book and it was lovely and cool and relaxing.
Once the library closed we sat outside and read/watched for a while longer, then went to the bakery again for LiAM to buy an apple cake - they didn't have any so the girl helped him decide what else to get (the girls who work there on a Wed afternoon know and love him) and he got a French Vanilla Slice instead. I also bought some chocolate milk for Amelie as she'd been wanting some all day. We picked Amelie up and went home to a house where luckily the air con had worked enough to cool it back down again (enough to be inside anyway). The kids played some minecraft and some more Lego superheroes, until Big Bang Theory was on at 7.30. We taped it so that we could watch with Caitlin when she got home, and it was a relaxing hour after a bit of a full on afternoon out. When it finished we watched a bit of Degrassi, which had some full on issues being discussed, so we talked about that a bit - standing up for people who are being victimised, and how hard that can be, especially when the person in the wrong is someone you are close to - and then watched Heartland. Caitlin was also playing a game on her iPad which requires amazing dexterity and quick reflexes, I love watching her because she's so calm and so good at it. I had a try and I'm a lot clumsier. She was trying to get to 10000 gems to buy a new sub-game and worked hard at it for ages yesterday, and eventually got there - she was so happy and really enjoyed the new game.
Amelie and I went to bed and she was going to watch Pokemon but got distracted talking to me, then the others came in and they were playing a game on my bed, and massaging my feet while we all chatted. We'd been talking about starting to read Brisingr again as we hadn't done so for ages, with the big kids doing more things in the evening they hadn't been wanting to stop and listen when Amelie was ready for bed. So we read a couple of chapters and it was great to get back into the story - we could all remember different bits of what had happened so far, so we were able to keep going from where we were up to and piece together the story.
Monday, 22 February 2016
Dancing and swimming
I woke early to the sound of hot air balloons being inflated - there were 7 of them in the paddock next to our house, it was a particularly spectacular sight. They take off from here often enough that I don't bother waking the kids to see anymore - I've never seen 7 at once though, and there were 4 all in a row with their fabric pushing into each other as they inflated, it was a great wall of colour beyond our little pond.
The kids all had a bit of a sleep in, and when Amelie woke up she didn't really want to get out of bed and wasn't talking much. I was feeling tired and so I jumped back into bed with her and we played Hungry Babies and then Township on the iPad. It was really lovely, snuggling in bed and chatting about the games, working out our strategies, me relaxing my desire to 'just get on with the game' so that she could have fun just exploring and looking at things and talking and thinking about them. LiAM came in and watched for a while then the 2 of them went out to the lounge room to play Minecraft and I had a little nap, which set me up nicely for the rest of the day.
When Caitlin woke up she did some more manga drawing, she's now able to create her own characters rather than copy them, and she's really getting the hang of it. She and Amelie looked through a loom band creatures book and talked about which creatures Caitlin might make.
I'd borrowed a Just Dance game from the library so when the kids found that they cleared the lounge room floor and spent 3 hours dancing and singing. They took it in turns to be the main dancer and the rest of the time joined in as backing dancers or encouraged those who were dancing. LiAM was good at picking which moves gave good feedback so could help Caitlin maximise her points. He also figured out the points structure and how many points were needed to be awarded each star. Once they'd had enough dancing LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes for a while and everyone had something to eat.
It was a surprisingly hot day after a whole string of milder days, and a few hours of dancing left everyone feeling pretty warm. We went down to the dam for a swim, the water level was much lower than last time we'd swum, and there was a lot of pond grass visible below the water which freaked everyone out a bit. The mud was very slimy too, so it took us a while to get comfortable with being in the water - but it was lovely once we were in, a perfect way to cool off. Amelie came out as far as she could stand up, and swam around a bit, that is by far the most confident she's been in the dam.
We didn't stay long as the sun was blaring down and not everyone had been that keen on going, so a quickish dip was all we needed. Well, it was probably 40 minutes or so, which is quick for us when it comes to swimming. LiAM and Caitlin lay in the mud and covered themselves in it a couple of times, then rinsed off and we headed home. On the way we chatted about the grapes, whether they were ready, why we can't eat them, whether 'the wine making company that Daddy works for will pick them one day' (Amelie), when they might be picked, how they pick them, why it's ok for us to walk on the roads around the vineyard but not between the vines, whether Buckley is safe wandering off through the vines and how he could get away if a tractor was coming.
Once home I cooked some dinner and we watched Australia's Got Talent, then Degrassi, then Heartland. Tony finally came home around 9 and it was great to see him briefly before he and Amelie and I went to bed, while LiAM and Caitlin stayed up for a bit longer and played Lego Marvel Superheroes again.
The kids all had a bit of a sleep in, and when Amelie woke up she didn't really want to get out of bed and wasn't talking much. I was feeling tired and so I jumped back into bed with her and we played Hungry Babies and then Township on the iPad. It was really lovely, snuggling in bed and chatting about the games, working out our strategies, me relaxing my desire to 'just get on with the game' so that she could have fun just exploring and looking at things and talking and thinking about them. LiAM came in and watched for a while then the 2 of them went out to the lounge room to play Minecraft and I had a little nap, which set me up nicely for the rest of the day.
When Caitlin woke up she did some more manga drawing, she's now able to create her own characters rather than copy them, and she's really getting the hang of it. She and Amelie looked through a loom band creatures book and talked about which creatures Caitlin might make.
I'd borrowed a Just Dance game from the library so when the kids found that they cleared the lounge room floor and spent 3 hours dancing and singing. They took it in turns to be the main dancer and the rest of the time joined in as backing dancers or encouraged those who were dancing. LiAM was good at picking which moves gave good feedback so could help Caitlin maximise her points. He also figured out the points structure and how many points were needed to be awarded each star. Once they'd had enough dancing LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes for a while and everyone had something to eat.
It was a surprisingly hot day after a whole string of milder days, and a few hours of dancing left everyone feeling pretty warm. We went down to the dam for a swim, the water level was much lower than last time we'd swum, and there was a lot of pond grass visible below the water which freaked everyone out a bit. The mud was very slimy too, so it took us a while to get comfortable with being in the water - but it was lovely once we were in, a perfect way to cool off. Amelie came out as far as she could stand up, and swam around a bit, that is by far the most confident she's been in the dam.
We didn't stay long as the sun was blaring down and not everyone had been that keen on going, so a quickish dip was all we needed. Well, it was probably 40 minutes or so, which is quick for us when it comes to swimming. LiAM and Caitlin lay in the mud and covered themselves in it a couple of times, then rinsed off and we headed home. On the way we chatted about the grapes, whether they were ready, why we can't eat them, whether 'the wine making company that Daddy works for will pick them one day' (Amelie), when they might be picked, how they pick them, why it's ok for us to walk on the roads around the vineyard but not between the vines, whether Buckley is safe wandering off through the vines and how he could get away if a tractor was coming.
Once home I cooked some dinner and we watched Australia's Got Talent, then Degrassi, then Heartland. Tony finally came home around 9 and it was great to see him briefly before he and Amelie and I went to bed, while LiAM and Caitlin stayed up for a bit longer and played Lego Marvel Superheroes again.
Monday, 8 February 2016
Terraria, horse riding, games
My tiredness continued into yesterday - I obviously pushed hard all last week and then collapsed a bit on the weekend. Tony had yesterday (Sunday) off work though and we had no big plans so I was able to take it fairly easy. It got hot early and I found it quite exhausting, especially when I was in the kitchen.
I was up early and had a bit of time to myself, then LiAM, Millie and Tony came out. LiAM was very excited that Tone was home for the day, and the three of them played Terraria for a while before breakfast.
Caitlin went to a friend's house in the morning, I took her over there and then stayed while she had a horse riding lesson - I hadn't seen her ride much and was impressed at how straight her back was and how comfortable and confident she looked in the saddle. Her friend then had a lesson and I left Caitlin there for the day, and I went to pick up V to bring him back to our place.
Once we got back Tony, LiAM, V and Amelie all played Terraria together and spent a lot of time negotiating with each other to swap armour and weapons, and coming up with team strategies for defeating the bosses. They played on and off all day and I loved listening to the conversations. I don't find Terraria easy (or very enjoyable) to play, but I do know a lot about it and enjoy hearing other people playing. LiAM was reading the attributes of the items that he found too, without any help - he doesn't realise he's reading when he does that, because the words just make sense to him, and he still thinks that reading is difficult. When he understands what something says without having to try hard, he says he wasn't reading, he just knew the words. Which at first was kind of true, he was recognising certain words that he already knew, whereas now he often reads things correctly with no context, and with words that he hasn't memorised - it's quite fascinating (and exciting) to watch his reading develop so naturally.
Amelie watched some more pokemon and finished the series she has been watching. She then watched 'Annie' (the new one from last year), while the boys played Halo on the xBox. I did a lot of work in the kitchen and cleared most of the kitchen table and all of the area under it, ready to reorganise things a bit with some new furniture I picked up from hard rubbish. Tony and I did a scout around the house and yard to see if there was anything we could put on our own hard rubbish pile, and did manage to find a goodly sized pile of broken chairs, a ripped mattress, broken ride on toy and a few other things. Glad that we remembered to do it before things start getting picked up today.
Tony and I did a couple of geography quizzes - we work well together, we remember different things - and were going to play 'Letters and Numbers' but I felt too fuzzy and didn't think I'd be able to think quickly enough. I hope we get another chance to play soon because we both really love playing and it's rare to have an opportunity when we're both home and the kids are happily occupied without us. Amelie spent a lot of time in the afternoon during her elephant puzzle, both as a full puzzle and just making up each elephant separately. LiAM also played with it for a while after V left. Amelie also spent hours playing with her My Little Ponies, they had a great time flying around the house rescuing each other and then having a party on the kitchen table. StarLily (the Magical Unicorn) joined them for a while too.
Amelie and I learnt some signs for colours in Auslan, and refreshed a few other words. Now she can ask for pink milk, chocolate milk and hot chocolate by signing, which is very handy for all of us.
Caitlin stayed at her friend's all day and had fish and chips in the park, then they brought her home and she showed her friend around the property, especially looking at the chicks. Tone met the parents and the guys had a beer and we all chatted for a while. After they left we ate dinner and watched 'Australia's Got Talent', then the kids played some puzzle games on the computer, and Caitlin cleaned up the lounge room a bit to play Just Dance on the playstation - but couldn't find the game so played Book of Spells instead, which then led her to joining the Pottermore site on the computer.
I was up early and had a bit of time to myself, then LiAM, Millie and Tony came out. LiAM was very excited that Tone was home for the day, and the three of them played Terraria for a while before breakfast.
Caitlin went to a friend's house in the morning, I took her over there and then stayed while she had a horse riding lesson - I hadn't seen her ride much and was impressed at how straight her back was and how comfortable and confident she looked in the saddle. Her friend then had a lesson and I left Caitlin there for the day, and I went to pick up V to bring him back to our place.
Once we got back Tony, LiAM, V and Amelie all played Terraria together and spent a lot of time negotiating with each other to swap armour and weapons, and coming up with team strategies for defeating the bosses. They played on and off all day and I loved listening to the conversations. I don't find Terraria easy (or very enjoyable) to play, but I do know a lot about it and enjoy hearing other people playing. LiAM was reading the attributes of the items that he found too, without any help - he doesn't realise he's reading when he does that, because the words just make sense to him, and he still thinks that reading is difficult. When he understands what something says without having to try hard, he says he wasn't reading, he just knew the words. Which at first was kind of true, he was recognising certain words that he already knew, whereas now he often reads things correctly with no context, and with words that he hasn't memorised - it's quite fascinating (and exciting) to watch his reading develop so naturally.
Amelie watched some more pokemon and finished the series she has been watching. She then watched 'Annie' (the new one from last year), while the boys played Halo on the xBox. I did a lot of work in the kitchen and cleared most of the kitchen table and all of the area under it, ready to reorganise things a bit with some new furniture I picked up from hard rubbish. Tony and I did a scout around the house and yard to see if there was anything we could put on our own hard rubbish pile, and did manage to find a goodly sized pile of broken chairs, a ripped mattress, broken ride on toy and a few other things. Glad that we remembered to do it before things start getting picked up today.
Tony and I did a couple of geography quizzes - we work well together, we remember different things - and were going to play 'Letters and Numbers' but I felt too fuzzy and didn't think I'd be able to think quickly enough. I hope we get another chance to play soon because we both really love playing and it's rare to have an opportunity when we're both home and the kids are happily occupied without us. Amelie spent a lot of time in the afternoon during her elephant puzzle, both as a full puzzle and just making up each elephant separately. LiAM also played with it for a while after V left. Amelie also spent hours playing with her My Little Ponies, they had a great time flying around the house rescuing each other and then having a party on the kitchen table. StarLily (the Magical Unicorn) joined them for a while too.
Amelie and I learnt some signs for colours in Auslan, and refreshed a few other words. Now she can ask for pink milk, chocolate milk and hot chocolate by signing, which is very handy for all of us.
Caitlin stayed at her friend's all day and had fish and chips in the park, then they brought her home and she showed her friend around the property, especially looking at the chicks. Tone met the parents and the guys had a beer and we all chatted for a while. After they left we ate dinner and watched 'Australia's Got Talent', then the kids played some puzzle games on the computer, and Caitlin cleaned up the lounge room a bit to play Just Dance on the playstation - but couldn't find the game so played Book of Spells instead, which then led her to joining the Pottermore site on the computer.
Saturday, 30 January 2016
Rainy Friday
The kids were all up relatively early, the others coming in from the bus when they woke up and my kids getting up when they heard their voices. Millie had really wanted to play Toy Story 3 on the Playstation with one of the other boys, so they did that as soon as they were both awake. The 3 boys and Millie then played Minecraft and then Terraria for a while, then the boys played Halo again. The bigger girls woke a bit later, and hung out in Caitlin's room. L and I had a cuppa and chatted some more, then H arrived to play with the kids. She and Millie played Minecraft for ages.
L took all the big girls into Healesville to do a few things while the boys kept playing. I pottered around tidying things up while everyone was occupied. The kids had some fruit and sandwiches, and after lunch our friends headed off, planning to make their way up the coast to Sydney over the next few days. LiAM and Caitlin both pretended to stowaway in their bus, it would be so great if we could see them more often or for longer - but love seeing them anytime for any amount of time.
H played Monopoly with Millie for a while, then she drove home with me. Tony had been scheduled to work at 10am, and then was pushed back to 5pm, so I was able to leave the kids at home with him while I took H. Once we got to her place I had a chat to my friend and the kids showed me some cool stuff they'd bought. From there I went to Lilydale to get LiAM's medicine and do a quick grocery shop - getting to the shops at 3pm on a rainy Friday afternoon of the first week back at school wasn't a great idea - there were people and cars everywhere, and everything took way longer than I'd expected. I managed to get groceries and medication ok, then back via Yarra Glen library to finally pick up Caitlin's on-hold books and return some things, and then home just in time for Tony to go to work.
The girls watched Saddle Club in my room, followed by some Barbie movies (they'd already watched one while I was gone) and LiAM and I watched Highlander - which was my favourite movie for a very long time. It has aged somewhat, still loved it though and found it interested which details I had remembered and what I'd forgotten. All the kids then watched the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner movie - and LiAM read every bit of text that came up in the movie. It's the first time he's been able to read everything and not asked for help - and I don't think he even realised that he did it. After the movie Caitlin did her nails, LiAM played his monster game and Millie played on the tablet for a while, then everyone headed to bed without much fuss.
L took all the big girls into Healesville to do a few things while the boys kept playing. I pottered around tidying things up while everyone was occupied. The kids had some fruit and sandwiches, and after lunch our friends headed off, planning to make their way up the coast to Sydney over the next few days. LiAM and Caitlin both pretended to stowaway in their bus, it would be so great if we could see them more often or for longer - but love seeing them anytime for any amount of time.
H played Monopoly with Millie for a while, then she drove home with me. Tony had been scheduled to work at 10am, and then was pushed back to 5pm, so I was able to leave the kids at home with him while I took H. Once we got to her place I had a chat to my friend and the kids showed me some cool stuff they'd bought. From there I went to Lilydale to get LiAM's medicine and do a quick grocery shop - getting to the shops at 3pm on a rainy Friday afternoon of the first week back at school wasn't a great idea - there were people and cars everywhere, and everything took way longer than I'd expected. I managed to get groceries and medication ok, then back via Yarra Glen library to finally pick up Caitlin's on-hold books and return some things, and then home just in time for Tony to go to work.
The girls watched Saddle Club in my room, followed by some Barbie movies (they'd already watched one while I was gone) and LiAM and I watched Highlander - which was my favourite movie for a very long time. It has aged somewhat, still loved it though and found it interested which details I had remembered and what I'd forgotten. All the kids then watched the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner movie - and LiAM read every bit of text that came up in the movie. It's the first time he's been able to read everything and not asked for help - and I don't think he even realised that he did it. After the movie Caitlin did her nails, LiAM played his monster game and Millie played on the tablet for a while, then everyone headed to bed without much fuss.
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Pool, movie, party
We've had a busy couple of days. On Monday Tony had to work (he originally had the day off, but was asked to work as there was a lot to be done before the grapes start coming in later this week or next week). The kids played the Lego Movie Game in the morning, while I got ready to go out, sorting some clothes to give to my sister and a friend of hers, and a box of old CDs, tapes, videos and discs which can be recycled at a place in Clifton Hill. Millie made up a song and danced to it on the trampoline for me, a beautiful performance about flowers. Caitlin helped me cook pancakes for everyone's lunch before we left.
Around midday we went in to Yarra Glen, dropped some stuff off at the op shop and then went to the library - but the hours have changed so we weren't there at the right time and couldn't return our books/pick up our holds. From there we drove to Fitzroy pool - the kids have asked to go there several times, whenever we drive past it on Alexandra Parade, and so it seemed a perfect place to meet up with my sister today, as she lives not far from there. It was a fair bit cooler than the days we've been swimming lately - in the low 20s rather than the high 30s - but the water was heated and was quite pleasant once we were in. The breeze that was blowing made us all feel pretty cold when we were out of the water, so we stayed under as much as we could and it was beautiful.
The kids and I played in the big pool until F and T arrived - Millie doing lots of underwater swimming, her confidence and skills are increasing every time we go to the pool. T came in the water with Caitlin but found it too cold and wasn't very happy, so we all moved over to the very large, rather warm wading pool. T was in and out, running around the little park next to the pool, and LiAM and Caitlin kept an eye on him. F and I were able to have a good chat while we lay in the pool, and Millie climbed on me and chased me and swam happily around us. L and C went back to the big pool for a while, then returned to us for a bit more floating around, then we all went back into the big pool. Millie went deeper than she'd been before and even tried treading water for a couple of seconds - and then she was tired and hungry and we were all ready to get out.
We drove back and met Tony at Yering - we'd swapped cars because the engine light in my car had been coming on, and I didn't want to drive all the way to Fitzroy in it. He was going to baseball in the evening, and I was going to the Bayswater Outdoor Cinemas, and taking some extra kids, so I needed my car back. The engine light had been on while Tony was driving it - and didn't come on again once I switched back into it. Odd.
We went home, had some tea and a shower and got food and blankets and pillows organised, then headed out again to pick up S and V, and then on to the Outdoor Cinema. We found a spot to park fairly close to the ground, and were able to find a place for our blanket at the back of the area for blankets (in front of all the chairs) and not directly in front of a speaker (which would have been too loud for Millie). The big kids ran around the oval while Millie had a jump on the Frozen jumping castle, then we settled down on our blanket to watch 'Hotel Transylvania 2'. I had only seen bits and pieces of the first (the kids have seen it) and I wasn't expecting much, especially when I saw that Adam Sandler was in it - and I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved it, and found it extremely funny. I laughed, loud, often. The kids all enjoyed it as well. Afterwards they ran around the oval playing tiggy in the dark (it wasn't completely dark, there were spotlights on) and enjoyed that as much as they did the movie. I took the others home, had a bit of a chat to R when I dropped them off, and eventually made it home after 11pm. It took a while to get everyone settled so it was a very late night for me.
Yesterday morning I was still up early as usual, and the others had a bit of a sleep in. Mum and Dad came down and I went for a walk down to the creek with them. Once we got back the others were all awake and playing Toy Story 3 on the playstation.
In the afternoon we all went to a housewarming party at the house of some of Tony's baseball friends. It was a lovely afternoon. LiAM played cricket and jumped on the trampoline with some of the other boys, Millie jumped for a while and then watched a movie, Caitlin jumped, watched some of the movie, chatted to the adults, practiced her cartwheels and bridges. I had some good chats with people and Tony really enjoyed seeing his friends. We got home around 7pm, and S and V came over after that for a sleepover. R and I sat outside chatting until it was dark, then she went home. The boys were playing The Lego Movie game again, and the big girls did some work in making Caitlin's room more private, and then spent time in there chatting. Eventually I took Millie to bed and the other 4 stayed up playing minecraft, Lego Movie and watching movies.
Around midday we went in to Yarra Glen, dropped some stuff off at the op shop and then went to the library - but the hours have changed so we weren't there at the right time and couldn't return our books/pick up our holds. From there we drove to Fitzroy pool - the kids have asked to go there several times, whenever we drive past it on Alexandra Parade, and so it seemed a perfect place to meet up with my sister today, as she lives not far from there. It was a fair bit cooler than the days we've been swimming lately - in the low 20s rather than the high 30s - but the water was heated and was quite pleasant once we were in. The breeze that was blowing made us all feel pretty cold when we were out of the water, so we stayed under as much as we could and it was beautiful.
The kids and I played in the big pool until F and T arrived - Millie doing lots of underwater swimming, her confidence and skills are increasing every time we go to the pool. T came in the water with Caitlin but found it too cold and wasn't very happy, so we all moved over to the very large, rather warm wading pool. T was in and out, running around the little park next to the pool, and LiAM and Caitlin kept an eye on him. F and I were able to have a good chat while we lay in the pool, and Millie climbed on me and chased me and swam happily around us. L and C went back to the big pool for a while, then returned to us for a bit more floating around, then we all went back into the big pool. Millie went deeper than she'd been before and even tried treading water for a couple of seconds - and then she was tired and hungry and we were all ready to get out.
We drove back and met Tony at Yering - we'd swapped cars because the engine light in my car had been coming on, and I didn't want to drive all the way to Fitzroy in it. He was going to baseball in the evening, and I was going to the Bayswater Outdoor Cinemas, and taking some extra kids, so I needed my car back. The engine light had been on while Tony was driving it - and didn't come on again once I switched back into it. Odd.
We went home, had some tea and a shower and got food and blankets and pillows organised, then headed out again to pick up S and V, and then on to the Outdoor Cinema. We found a spot to park fairly close to the ground, and were able to find a place for our blanket at the back of the area for blankets (in front of all the chairs) and not directly in front of a speaker (which would have been too loud for Millie). The big kids ran around the oval while Millie had a jump on the Frozen jumping castle, then we settled down on our blanket to watch 'Hotel Transylvania 2'. I had only seen bits and pieces of the first (the kids have seen it) and I wasn't expecting much, especially when I saw that Adam Sandler was in it - and I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved it, and found it extremely funny. I laughed, loud, often. The kids all enjoyed it as well. Afterwards they ran around the oval playing tiggy in the dark (it wasn't completely dark, there were spotlights on) and enjoyed that as much as they did the movie. I took the others home, had a bit of a chat to R when I dropped them off, and eventually made it home after 11pm. It took a while to get everyone settled so it was a very late night for me.
Yesterday morning I was still up early as usual, and the others had a bit of a sleep in. Mum and Dad came down and I went for a walk down to the creek with them. Once we got back the others were all awake and playing Toy Story 3 on the playstation.
In the afternoon we all went to a housewarming party at the house of some of Tony's baseball friends. It was a lovely afternoon. LiAM played cricket and jumped on the trampoline with some of the other boys, Millie jumped for a while and then watched a movie, Caitlin jumped, watched some of the movie, chatted to the adults, practiced her cartwheels and bridges. I had some good chats with people and Tony really enjoyed seeing his friends. We got home around 7pm, and S and V came over after that for a sleepover. R and I sat outside chatting until it was dark, then she went home. The boys were playing The Lego Movie game again, and the big girls did some work in making Caitlin's room more private, and then spent time in there chatting. Eventually I took Millie to bed and the other 4 stayed up playing minecraft, Lego Movie and watching movies.
Thursday, 21 January 2016
After the sleepover
It was a quiet morning here yesterday, with the girls away on a sleepover, and the boys sleeping in for most of the morning as they'd stayed up playing The Lego Movie game until late. It was raining too which was fantastic, there really hasn't been much rain at all this summer and it was lovely to be out in it, letting the chickens out, checking on my plants etc.
I was able to get heaps done since I had so much time to myself. I sorted out a lot of the stuff that was piled in our walk in wardrobe, so Tony can now easily get to his work clothes, and heaps of stuff has been put away, put in the op shop pile, or recycled. I also helped Winky get a rat out of the bathroom - she killed it then had no idea what to do with it, it was so much bigger than anything else she's killed before. I'm not happy with the idea that we had a rat inside, although very pleased that Winky was able to take care of it.
When the boys woke up they kept playing games on the xbox. I made them some French Toast for breakfast and had some myself after lunch - hadn't made it for ages and it was fun (and so yummy!). I also made lots of butter with the cream I'd bought on Monday, and doing lots of batches meant I could experiment with adding different amounts of oil and salt and see which version we like the most (I'd prefer no oil, but it does help it spread better, so figured I'd try and find the optimal amount).
Mid afternoon the girls came back and everyone had a bit of a play here, before the others went home, and everyone collapsed a bit - late nights for everyone and being out of their comfort zone can be exhausting. I got everyone some ice cream (and made some home made stuff for me and Caitlin, with cream and frozen banana and frozen raspberries), and we watched tv, played with the animal/fish puzzle, played on the iPad and had a very relaxed afternoon. Millie wanted to watch Toy Story 3 and the others wanted to watch Modern Family so they went into my bedroom and Millie and I watched in the lounge room. I made some pasta for tea and took it to everyone where they were. Millie and I moved Snowy and the chicks, which was a little scary because Buckley decided to help and made it much much harder! Once the movie was finished Millie wanted to play Toy Story 3 on the playstation, so I played with her until LiAM came back out, then he took over. Caitlin watched the Heartland Christmas Special on the Heartland series we currently have out, and everyone went off to bed fairly easily once that was over.
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
A day out shopping
Caitlin and her friend woke early (around 7) and lay in bed chatting for a while then played Harry Potter - Scene It, then went outside to play on the trampoline. Her Mum came and picked her up around 9.30, by which time my mum was also here, as I had an appointment and she was looking after the kids for the day.
My appointment was at 10.20, and I didn't get called in until about 11.20, which meant a lovely hour in the waiting room reading my book uninterrupted! (Currently reading 'The Girl In Times Square' by Paullina Simons - it's a kind of sequel to Red Leaves, which I enjoyed, and I am really seriously loving this one.) My check up only went for about 5 minutes, so by 11.30 I was out!
I was going to buy some stuff from a fabric shop in Lilydale, but they were closed, so I went to the Salvos op shop instead. A friend met me there, and we decided to go to the Mustard Tree Op Shop where we could also sit and have a coffee. We sat and chatted for ages, not often we get to talk for so long without kids around. Eventually we had a bit of a browse and bought a few things, then went to Not Quite Right (which I always think is like an Op Shop but for food). I grabbed quite a few things from the dairy and freezer section and it only cost $15, it was pretty handy.
From there I went to Lilydale Market Place and got a big plastic tub from the Reject Shop - I need lots more tubs for tidying up the house, and for when we go away later this year, so I'm working on grabbing one whenever I see a good price. I browsed in Spec Savers for a while, trying to work out what I want for my reading glasses. I did an Aldi grocery shop, then headed back to Yarra Glen to the library, and then home, feeling fantastic after a day of nurturing myself.
Caitlin and her friend S had arranged to go home with Mum and stay the night in Yea, so they were keen to get going once I arrived home. I helped them get out the door, and LiAM went with them to have a play with V for the afternoon/evening. Tony had baseball all evening so it was just me and Millie at home. We played The Lego Movie game on the Xbox for a while, then watched the Lego Movie. We spent ages playing a new puzzle game I bought at the op shop, where we have to put marked tiles on a variety of base boards, following certain rules (fish can only be on water, animals only on land, nothing on a snake) and it was challenging and lots of fun. We went outside to check on the chickens and Snowy had her chicks in the same corner behind the shed so we tried to move them into the pen. She wasn't quite settled enough yet and ran away whenever I got close, taking her chicks with her. I tried to chase her into the pen but she kept circling around and going back to her spot. (And her chicks kept wandering off so she was much more concerned with finding them then with running away from me). Millie thought that perhaps a trail of chicken food would lead them to the pen, so she spent a lot of effort making a long trail, and it worked for a while, they made their way along about half of it, then got spooked and went back to their corner. We decided to leave it until she had fallen asleep when she'd be easier to move.
Millie played with her Barbies, one of them in the new Dr Barbie outfit I bought today, so she became a vet and was fixing all of Millie's animals. I tidied up for the evening, then when Tony came home we went and moved the chickens. LiAM came home soon after and played Harry Potter Lego - he'd finished Year 7 Part 1 before he went out so was keen to finish the story off completely. I went to bed to keep reading my book and the others came in after a while.
My appointment was at 10.20, and I didn't get called in until about 11.20, which meant a lovely hour in the waiting room reading my book uninterrupted! (Currently reading 'The Girl In Times Square' by Paullina Simons - it's a kind of sequel to Red Leaves, which I enjoyed, and I am really seriously loving this one.) My check up only went for about 5 minutes, so by 11.30 I was out!
I was going to buy some stuff from a fabric shop in Lilydale, but they were closed, so I went to the Salvos op shop instead. A friend met me there, and we decided to go to the Mustard Tree Op Shop where we could also sit and have a coffee. We sat and chatted for ages, not often we get to talk for so long without kids around. Eventually we had a bit of a browse and bought a few things, then went to Not Quite Right (which I always think is like an Op Shop but for food). I grabbed quite a few things from the dairy and freezer section and it only cost $15, it was pretty handy.
From there I went to Lilydale Market Place and got a big plastic tub from the Reject Shop - I need lots more tubs for tidying up the house, and for when we go away later this year, so I'm working on grabbing one whenever I see a good price. I browsed in Spec Savers for a while, trying to work out what I want for my reading glasses. I did an Aldi grocery shop, then headed back to Yarra Glen to the library, and then home, feeling fantastic after a day of nurturing myself.
Caitlin and her friend S had arranged to go home with Mum and stay the night in Yea, so they were keen to get going once I arrived home. I helped them get out the door, and LiAM went with them to have a play with V for the afternoon/evening. Tony had baseball all evening so it was just me and Millie at home. We played The Lego Movie game on the Xbox for a while, then watched the Lego Movie. We spent ages playing a new puzzle game I bought at the op shop, where we have to put marked tiles on a variety of base boards, following certain rules (fish can only be on water, animals only on land, nothing on a snake) and it was challenging and lots of fun. We went outside to check on the chickens and Snowy had her chicks in the same corner behind the shed so we tried to move them into the pen. She wasn't quite settled enough yet and ran away whenever I got close, taking her chicks with her. I tried to chase her into the pen but she kept circling around and going back to her spot. (And her chicks kept wandering off so she was much more concerned with finding them then with running away from me). Millie thought that perhaps a trail of chicken food would lead them to the pen, so she spent a lot of effort making a long trail, and it worked for a while, they made their way along about half of it, then got spooked and went back to their corner. We decided to leave it until she had fallen asleep when she'd be easier to move.
Millie played with her Barbies, one of them in the new Dr Barbie outfit I bought today, so she became a vet and was fixing all of Millie's animals. I tidied up for the evening, then when Tony came home we went and moved the chickens. LiAM came home soon after and played Harry Potter Lego - he'd finished Year 7 Part 1 before he went out so was keen to finish the story off completely. I went to bed to keep reading my book and the others came in after a while.
Monday, 18 January 2016
Chickens
Sunday was a much quieter day compared to our busy Sunday. For the most part we stayed at home. LiAM was feeling quite worn out from being at the rodeo (and he did 20000 steps on Saturday, so figured he could sit still all day on Sunday and still have 10000 steps per day for the weekend) and watched a fair bit of tv and played Plants v Zombies and Lego Harry Potter. He and Millie also played Minecraft for a while.
3 new chicks were hatched early in the morning, 2 black and 1 yellow (we have SO many black chickens now). They were still in a laying box in the main pen, so we needed to move them to the chick pen. I put on long sleeves and gloves as Darkness, the mother, is quite vicious when she has chicks (actually she's vicious most of the time, just more so (understandably) when she has chicks. We had another hen (Snowy) have chicks in December and although she's very protective, and a very big hen, she's way less scary than Darkness). I grabbed Darkness out of her box and Millie carried the chicks one at a time to the new pen and I popped the mum in with them. It all went pretty smoothly (although one chick fell under the hay in the new box and couldn't get out, so I braved Darkness again and went in and rescued it, and rearranged the hay a little so that it was unlikely to happen again. Later in the day I went to check on them and one of the chicks had become stuck under the bottom bar of the pen. Trying to rescue her I got a sharp bite from Darkness - but I got the chick out and she looks ok.
Apart from chick wrangling I spent most of the day pottering around and catching up a bit on my general tidying. In the afternoon Tony took Caitlin to meet a friend at Healesville pool, and Millie went next door to see our neighbour. LiAM and I stayed home and watched some Green Lantern and a couple of other shows. Caitlin's friend came home with her for tea, and then it was organised for her to stay overnight. The girls played Lego Harry Potter with LiAM, jumped on the trampoline, went for a bike ride, played on the iPad, chatted lots and had a fun evening.
When they put the chickens to bed they discovered that Snowy and her batch of chicks were not in the main pen - I'd hoped that when she couldn't get into the chick pen (because Darkness was shut in there) she'd take her brood into the main pen. We lost 2 chickens probably to foxes earlier this week when they didn't get shut away, so I really didn't want to leave a hen and 5 little chicks out. I searched for ages and eventually found them all tucked in between our brick pile and the shed, she was quite well hidden. I had all the kids help me - once again I grabbed the (shrieking) mother and the kids grabbed the 5 chicks and we safely moved them all into the main pen.
After all the chicken excitement we all got ready for bed (it was quite late by now anyway) and wandered off one or 2 at a time.
3 new chicks were hatched early in the morning, 2 black and 1 yellow (we have SO many black chickens now). They were still in a laying box in the main pen, so we needed to move them to the chick pen. I put on long sleeves and gloves as Darkness, the mother, is quite vicious when she has chicks (actually she's vicious most of the time, just more so (understandably) when she has chicks. We had another hen (Snowy) have chicks in December and although she's very protective, and a very big hen, she's way less scary than Darkness). I grabbed Darkness out of her box and Millie carried the chicks one at a time to the new pen and I popped the mum in with them. It all went pretty smoothly (although one chick fell under the hay in the new box and couldn't get out, so I braved Darkness again and went in and rescued it, and rearranged the hay a little so that it was unlikely to happen again. Later in the day I went to check on them and one of the chicks had become stuck under the bottom bar of the pen. Trying to rescue her I got a sharp bite from Darkness - but I got the chick out and she looks ok.
Apart from chick wrangling I spent most of the day pottering around and catching up a bit on my general tidying. In the afternoon Tony took Caitlin to meet a friend at Healesville pool, and Millie went next door to see our neighbour. LiAM and I stayed home and watched some Green Lantern and a couple of other shows. Caitlin's friend came home with her for tea, and then it was organised for her to stay overnight. The girls played Lego Harry Potter with LiAM, jumped on the trampoline, went for a bike ride, played on the iPad, chatted lots and had a fun evening.
When they put the chickens to bed they discovered that Snowy and her batch of chicks were not in the main pen - I'd hoped that when she couldn't get into the chick pen (because Darkness was shut in there) she'd take her brood into the main pen. We lost 2 chickens probably to foxes earlier this week when they didn't get shut away, so I really didn't want to leave a hen and 5 little chicks out. I searched for ages and eventually found them all tucked in between our brick pile and the shed, she was quite well hidden. I had all the kids help me - once again I grabbed the (shrieking) mother and the kids grabbed the 5 chicks and we safely moved them all into the main pen.
After all the chicken excitement we all got ready for bed (it was quite late by now anyway) and wandered off one or 2 at a time.
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Sorting, party, and rodeo
On Thursday a anFriday I spent most of the day sorting through all our sewing and craft supplies. They were piled up on and under the sewing desk, which is set to become Caitlin's dressing table, and in tubs in the hallway. I got through most of it, and while I didn't get rid of a huge amount, it is now all organised into tubs and boxes, I know what we've got, and Caitlin's room is nearly free of extra stuff, so she can really make it her own.
We'd just borrowed Season 4 of Heartland from the library, so while I sorted we watched that - it's such a compelling show, and a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of days (planning to finish the series today), and it made sorting the sewing seem easy as I was happily entertained while I was doing it. And we were all hanging out together which was really lovely as well.
LiAM's friend V came over on Friday evening for a sleepover. We had pizza for dinner and the boys played Lego Harry Potter, Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare and Minecraft on the Playstation and Xbox, with the occasional trip outside to jump on the trampoline, play on the swing, run down into the paddock to see if they could get closer to the kangaroos (they couldn't - the kangaroos ran as soon as they saw the kids coming). They stayed up pretty late playing and talking, and were up again early in the morning and kept going. They really had a lovely time together.
On Saturday morning I'd heard about a garage sale in Yarra Glen, and Millie had been asking lately to go to a yard sale, so it seemed like a perfect chance to go. LiAM was interested too but decided to stay and play with his friend, and I said I'd buy anything that I thought he'd be interested in. Caitlin came along as well and the 3 of us had fun browsing through all the goods on offer, and came up with a selection of DVDs, bowls, a cool plate and cup for Millie with a strawberry pattern on it, a few stuffed toys (I found a very cool monkey for LiAM, and a penguin for Millie - she'd also been saying recently that everyone else in the family has a toy penguin and she wanted one too), a washing basket and a few other bits and pieces.
The girls put some blankets out on the back lawn and had a tea party with most of their stuffed toys. Millie had also bought a 3 part serving dish, which was perfect to house some tea party food. After the tea party Caitlin and I headed off to a friend's house for a Norwex cleaning products party. I hadn't seen my friend since before christmas and hadn't been to her new house at all (Tony and Caitlin helped them move in, but I hadn't been), so it was great to catch up with her and her husband, see the new place, and catch up with some of her other friends that I know as well. I could have bought a lot of stuff as well - I just grabbed a few things that I'm pretty sure I will use because I don't have anything like them and have been wishing I did.
From there we raced back home to pick up LiAM, and Caitlin's friend S, and the 4 of us went to the 1st Annual Yarra Valley Rodeo. I could not believe the number of people who were there - the biggest crowd I've ever seen in Healesville! We parked a little way up Chum Creek Rd and walked back to the racecourse, and joined the long (but fast moving) ticket line. Because I'd had a rushed afternoon I'd forgotten to get our hats out of the car, and the water bottle, and I didn't have any food with us - which wouldn't have been a problem if the crowd hadn't been so big and all the lines so long! Luckily I had sunscreen so waiting in the sun wasn't as bad as it could have been. Once we got in we found the water station and all had a good drink.
Caitlin confidently led us through the crowd up to the front near the arena and we found a spot where people were sitting on the ground and we squeezed in there (there were no grandstands, it was people sitting in their own chairs around the arena, and people standing behind them, so I had been worried we wouldn't be able to see at all). It was a good view, and Caitlin was pretty excited to be so close to the horses. Once we were settled I left the kids there and went to line up for food and drink. It was one of the densest throngs of people I've been in for a very long time - I'm glad I was able to leave the kids and just get through it myself. Eventually I got to the front of the line and discovered there was a very long wait for hot chips (which the kids wanted) - so I got roast beef sandwiches instead, I didn't want to be away for even longer. I made it back and they were happy and still settled - happier once they had something to eat and drink.
It was very dusty and LiAM was a bit worried about his asthma, but we managed to keep it under control with some telfast and rescue remedy. I'd seen a friend of the girls when I was heading out for food, so she sat with us as well. After we'd eaten the kids needed the toilet, so we made our way out and did that, then wandered over to the dodgem cars and all 4 kids had a go - they loved it. We also ran into some other friends of the girls and it was a fun place to be. We made our way back to our spot and squeezed in to a slightly smaller space to watch the rest of the rodeo. So cool seeing all these events for real, especially after watching them in Heartland quite a lot this week. I loved the team roping and the bareback. Caitlin was hanging out for the Barrel Racing, which was the 2nd last event, and was very exciting when it finally happened. Those girls are fast, and so in control of their horses. I was surprised how much I loved the bull riding - and I'd planned to leave before the open bull riding so we could beat the crowd - but the 2nd division bull riding was so great, we decided to stay and watch at least a few of the top level guys, and I'm glad we did, it was spectacular. We left after 3 bulls, and saw another one on our way out of the crowd. Another toilet stop, then the last bull ride happened as we were heading for the gate, so we weren't completely ahead of the crowd but were in front of most of it. Getting out wasn't too hard, the kids were pretty pumped so the walk to the car not difficult (although they were disappointed that I went back a different way which meant we didn't have to jump/climb across a big ditch in the dark (we'd come through the ditch on the way in and they all enjoyed it)). We took S home then back to our place where we watched the end of the cricket and crashed pretty quickly into bed.
We'd just borrowed Season 4 of Heartland from the library, so while I sorted we watched that - it's such a compelling show, and a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of days (planning to finish the series today), and it made sorting the sewing seem easy as I was happily entertained while I was doing it. And we were all hanging out together which was really lovely as well.
LiAM's friend V came over on Friday evening for a sleepover. We had pizza for dinner and the boys played Lego Harry Potter, Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare and Minecraft on the Playstation and Xbox, with the occasional trip outside to jump on the trampoline, play on the swing, run down into the paddock to see if they could get closer to the kangaroos (they couldn't - the kangaroos ran as soon as they saw the kids coming). They stayed up pretty late playing and talking, and were up again early in the morning and kept going. They really had a lovely time together.
On Saturday morning I'd heard about a garage sale in Yarra Glen, and Millie had been asking lately to go to a yard sale, so it seemed like a perfect chance to go. LiAM was interested too but decided to stay and play with his friend, and I said I'd buy anything that I thought he'd be interested in. Caitlin came along as well and the 3 of us had fun browsing through all the goods on offer, and came up with a selection of DVDs, bowls, a cool plate and cup for Millie with a strawberry pattern on it, a few stuffed toys (I found a very cool monkey for LiAM, and a penguin for Millie - she'd also been saying recently that everyone else in the family has a toy penguin and she wanted one too), a washing basket and a few other bits and pieces.
The girls put some blankets out on the back lawn and had a tea party with most of their stuffed toys. Millie had also bought a 3 part serving dish, which was perfect to house some tea party food. After the tea party Caitlin and I headed off to a friend's house for a Norwex cleaning products party. I hadn't seen my friend since before christmas and hadn't been to her new house at all (Tony and Caitlin helped them move in, but I hadn't been), so it was great to catch up with her and her husband, see the new place, and catch up with some of her other friends that I know as well. I could have bought a lot of stuff as well - I just grabbed a few things that I'm pretty sure I will use because I don't have anything like them and have been wishing I did.
From there we raced back home to pick up LiAM, and Caitlin's friend S, and the 4 of us went to the 1st Annual Yarra Valley Rodeo. I could not believe the number of people who were there - the biggest crowd I've ever seen in Healesville! We parked a little way up Chum Creek Rd and walked back to the racecourse, and joined the long (but fast moving) ticket line. Because I'd had a rushed afternoon I'd forgotten to get our hats out of the car, and the water bottle, and I didn't have any food with us - which wouldn't have been a problem if the crowd hadn't been so big and all the lines so long! Luckily I had sunscreen so waiting in the sun wasn't as bad as it could have been. Once we got in we found the water station and all had a good drink.
Caitlin confidently led us through the crowd up to the front near the arena and we found a spot where people were sitting on the ground and we squeezed in there (there were no grandstands, it was people sitting in their own chairs around the arena, and people standing behind them, so I had been worried we wouldn't be able to see at all). It was a good view, and Caitlin was pretty excited to be so close to the horses. Once we were settled I left the kids there and went to line up for food and drink. It was one of the densest throngs of people I've been in for a very long time - I'm glad I was able to leave the kids and just get through it myself. Eventually I got to the front of the line and discovered there was a very long wait for hot chips (which the kids wanted) - so I got roast beef sandwiches instead, I didn't want to be away for even longer. I made it back and they were happy and still settled - happier once they had something to eat and drink.
It was very dusty and LiAM was a bit worried about his asthma, but we managed to keep it under control with some telfast and rescue remedy. I'd seen a friend of the girls when I was heading out for food, so she sat with us as well. After we'd eaten the kids needed the toilet, so we made our way out and did that, then wandered over to the dodgem cars and all 4 kids had a go - they loved it. We also ran into some other friends of the girls and it was a fun place to be. We made our way back to our spot and squeezed in to a slightly smaller space to watch the rest of the rodeo. So cool seeing all these events for real, especially after watching them in Heartland quite a lot this week. I loved the team roping and the bareback. Caitlin was hanging out for the Barrel Racing, which was the 2nd last event, and was very exciting when it finally happened. Those girls are fast, and so in control of their horses. I was surprised how much I loved the bull riding - and I'd planned to leave before the open bull riding so we could beat the crowd - but the 2nd division bull riding was so great, we decided to stay and watch at least a few of the top level guys, and I'm glad we did, it was spectacular. We left after 3 bulls, and saw another one on our way out of the crowd. Another toilet stop, then the last bull ride happened as we were heading for the gate, so we weren't completely ahead of the crowd but were in front of most of it. Getting out wasn't too hard, the kids were pretty pumped so the walk to the car not difficult (although they were disappointed that I went back a different way which meant we didn't have to jump/climb across a big ditch in the dark (we'd come through the ditch on the way in and they all enjoyed it)). We took S home then back to our place where we watched the end of the cricket and crashed pretty quickly into bed.
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| LiAM on dodgem cars |
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| Caitlin in front of the ring at the rodeo |
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| Bull riding |
Friday, 26 June 2015
More birthdays and lots of activity
Sometimes when there's a lot going on, I find it a lot harder to write than when we are plodding along not doing anything out of the ordinary. The last couple of weeks have been a mix of big events and quieter days. Here's a bit of summary (in no particular order)
- LiAM turned 9. He had a lovely quiet day at home, playing with lego and playing Halo on the PS3, and playing with his Minecraft and Terraria figurines. He had a friend come over for a little while in the afternoon. For dinner we had a family meat pie and a family apple pie - his favourite tea, and some chocolate cake.
- We had a birthday party for LiAM. The kids played on the trampoline and with the lego and on their iPads and with soft toys (that was mainly Millie and her friends) and the adults chatted and relaxed - a very easy party to organise and to host.
- On a cold morning Millie and I saw hot air balloons taking off in the paddock next to our house. We walked down to watch them go from close up, and chatted to the ground crew. On the way back to the house we looked at the way the frost had formed on different types of leaves and blades of grass and the vines.
- We had an extremely cold morning, still below 0 at 10am (the morning of LiAM's party). There was ice everywhere outside which was lots of fun to explore.
- We have had 3 new chicks hatch. One of them died on the first day, the other two have survived that very cold night and morning and are being well looked after by their mother. One is black and one yellow and as always we can't believe how tiny and incredibly cute they are.
- The kids and I went to Bounce, finally, after talking about it since at least early last year. All four of us had a very fun time (I didn't jump, I wandered around watching and talking to the kids, and giving encouragement when they were trying something new and/or difficult (like Caitlin learning to jump up on to the wall in the performance trampoline area. She hasn't quite made it yet, but she made a lot of progress in this first session of trying)
- Caitlin had 2 performances with Victorian Youth Theatre. We all (And her friend S, and Grandma and Grandad) went and watched the first one, and F and I went to the 2nd one. As with last year, the productions were professional and very impressive, and Caitlin was great in her roles.
- We've been going to karate
- We've watched lots of movies
- We've started learning Auslan (Australian Sign Language)
- Caitlin and I have both (separately) learnt how to crochet a beanie, so we've been making those. I've also been crocheting head bands and I'm working on a scarf, Caitlin has been making beautiful flowers (she made one for each kid in her acting classes and took them in on the night of the last class)
- We've been to friend's houses and had friends visit here
- We've played with lego
- We've played big imaginary games with Millie's toys or LiAM's animals or the Skylanders or combinations of them all
- We've been to homeschool group
- We've been to the playground
- We've hung out at the library
- I've played the piano a lot
- I went to a rally, #bringbackasha, protesting against having babies sent back to offshore detention centres
It's the end of school term today so most of our regular activities will stop for a couple of weeks. As always at the end of term I am looking forward to some time with less scheduling and more going with the moment.
- LiAM turned 9. He had a lovely quiet day at home, playing with lego and playing Halo on the PS3, and playing with his Minecraft and Terraria figurines. He had a friend come over for a little while in the afternoon. For dinner we had a family meat pie and a family apple pie - his favourite tea, and some chocolate cake.
- We had a birthday party for LiAM. The kids played on the trampoline and with the lego and on their iPads and with soft toys (that was mainly Millie and her friends) and the adults chatted and relaxed - a very easy party to organise and to host.
- On a cold morning Millie and I saw hot air balloons taking off in the paddock next to our house. We walked down to watch them go from close up, and chatted to the ground crew. On the way back to the house we looked at the way the frost had formed on different types of leaves and blades of grass and the vines.
- We had an extremely cold morning, still below 0 at 10am (the morning of LiAM's party). There was ice everywhere outside which was lots of fun to explore.
- We have had 3 new chicks hatch. One of them died on the first day, the other two have survived that very cold night and morning and are being well looked after by their mother. One is black and one yellow and as always we can't believe how tiny and incredibly cute they are.
- The kids and I went to Bounce, finally, after talking about it since at least early last year. All four of us had a very fun time (I didn't jump, I wandered around watching and talking to the kids, and giving encouragement when they were trying something new and/or difficult (like Caitlin learning to jump up on to the wall in the performance trampoline area. She hasn't quite made it yet, but she made a lot of progress in this first session of trying)
- Caitlin had 2 performances with Victorian Youth Theatre. We all (And her friend S, and Grandma and Grandad) went and watched the first one, and F and I went to the 2nd one. As with last year, the productions were professional and very impressive, and Caitlin was great in her roles.
- We've been going to karate
- We've watched lots of movies
- We've started learning Auslan (Australian Sign Language)
- Caitlin and I have both (separately) learnt how to crochet a beanie, so we've been making those. I've also been crocheting head bands and I'm working on a scarf, Caitlin has been making beautiful flowers (she made one for each kid in her acting classes and took them in on the night of the last class)
- We've been to friend's houses and had friends visit here
- We've played with lego
- We've played big imaginary games with Millie's toys or LiAM's animals or the Skylanders or combinations of them all
- We've been to homeschool group
- We've been to the playground
- We've hung out at the library
- I've played the piano a lot
- I went to a rally, #bringbackasha, protesting against having babies sent back to offshore detention centres
It's the end of school term today so most of our regular activities will stop for a couple of weeks. As always at the end of term I am looking forward to some time with less scheduling and more going with the moment.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Perfect start to the week
I was away at an ABA conference over the weekend, so yesterday the kids and I were all in need of some down time and reconnecting time. We had a really lovely day at home, all doing things together and individually as the mood took us, and it all flowed really well.
I spent time checking my email, reading my book (Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the 3rd book in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater), learning Spanish, playing the piano, doing bits and pieces of housework, chatting on the phone, reading bits of LiAM's game for him, talking to the kids about the games they were playing & shows they were watching, painting with Millie, cleaning the blocked drain in the shower with Caitlin, playing Minecraft (Pixelmon) with Millie, and playing Titan on the iPad on my own and with Tony(Titan is a fantasy board game that Tony and I both played a lot in our younger years, and we get it out occasionally now. The kids and I have been playing and LiAM in particular was so excited about it and finding it frustrating to wait to play when either Caitlin or I were not available. So I found an iPad version and it is very accurate and means we can all have a play on our own even if the others are not available).
Caitlin visited our neighbours a couple of times, on her own and with the other 2 kids, rode her bike, skyped with friends, played Minecraft (with friends), made loom band present charms, watched a Disney version of A Christmas Carol, helped me unblock the shower drain, painted with Millie (we all did butterflies), played with the cat.
Millie played Minecraft, watched Liam play Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare, played with her stuffed toys, played duplo lego dinosaurs and horses, visited our neighbour, helped us play Titan, painted lots of butterflies.
LiAM played Titan, played Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare, helped Tony and I with our Titan game, discussed all the games and the strategies he was using in a lot of detail, played Duplo lego dinosaurs and horses with Millie, visited our neighbours and went for a run.
There was conversation flowing on and off all day, and everyone seemed to have enough downtime and time alone to feel recharged, and enough time playing with other people to feel connected. It was my favourite kind of day, a home day with everyone doing their own thing and interacting and co-operating without any pressure.
I spent time checking my email, reading my book (Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the 3rd book in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater), learning Spanish, playing the piano, doing bits and pieces of housework, chatting on the phone, reading bits of LiAM's game for him, talking to the kids about the games they were playing & shows they were watching, painting with Millie, cleaning the blocked drain in the shower with Caitlin, playing Minecraft (Pixelmon) with Millie, and playing Titan on the iPad on my own and with Tony(Titan is a fantasy board game that Tony and I both played a lot in our younger years, and we get it out occasionally now. The kids and I have been playing and LiAM in particular was so excited about it and finding it frustrating to wait to play when either Caitlin or I were not available. So I found an iPad version and it is very accurate and means we can all have a play on our own even if the others are not available).
Caitlin visited our neighbours a couple of times, on her own and with the other 2 kids, rode her bike, skyped with friends, played Minecraft (with friends), made loom band present charms, watched a Disney version of A Christmas Carol, helped me unblock the shower drain, painted with Millie (we all did butterflies), played with the cat.
Millie played Minecraft, watched Liam play Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare, played with her stuffed toys, played duplo lego dinosaurs and horses, visited our neighbour, helped us play Titan, painted lots of butterflies.
LiAM played Titan, played Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare, helped Tony and I with our Titan game, discussed all the games and the strategies he was using in a lot of detail, played Duplo lego dinosaurs and horses with Millie, visited our neighbours and went for a run.
There was conversation flowing on and off all day, and everyone seemed to have enough downtime and time alone to feel recharged, and enough time playing with other people to feel connected. It was my favourite kind of day, a home day with everyone doing their own thing and interacting and co-operating without any pressure.
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Sleepovers, playing and numbers
On Monday the kids had 2 friends (brother and sister) come over for the day. They spent a lot of time playing Terraria, connected to the same world using 4 iPads/iPhones, all 5 kids curled up together on the same couch, Millie watching and commenting even though she didn't have a device to use to join the game. The sharing, negotiation and respect that was obvious in the constant chatter that accompanied the game was inspiring to listen to. In between playing Terraria they were outside eating ice-blocks and playing on the swings, listening to music, talking about all sorts of things, making up dances, checking on the new chick in our chicken pen, playing the pokemon trading card game, playing with lego and other toys around the house. Mid-afternoon we all headed in to Yarra Glen and went to the chemist and post office, then down to the library where they watched Minecraft videos on You Tube, played the piano in the hall, made up more dances. From there we went up to the friends' house and had a bit of a play, then S (the sister) came back with home with us for a sleepover, while LiAM stayed at their house for the night.
Back at home the girls made up more dances, and traded animal cards that they had gotten from Woolworths. After dinner on a rather hot day Tony and I took the 3 girls down to the dam for a swim. The water was a lovely temperature - a few cold patches if we went out a bit deeper, but lovely to get in to near the edge. Swimming in the dam at sunset is a glorious experience, the light and the view are amazing, it is peaceful and refreshing and I'm so happy that we have this experience available to us regularly. We even had ducks swimming towards us on the water, they didn't come all the way over to us, though it really did look like they were checking us out and coming as close as they felt safe. I was also impressed with Millie's swimming - last time I took her to the dam she stuck her toes in and then played on the dirt at the edge. Tony has taken her a few times, and she has obviously gained confidence. She asked me to carry her in, then took the kick board and lay on it and kicked around confidently and happily, even in the deeper water. At the end she did a little bit of swimming back and forth between Tony and I, she scared herself once by going under but then had another few goes. Back home (Caitlin and S and Tony rode their bikes) for a shower and to watch the cricket and then the Asia Cup summary then the girls went to bed on the sofa bed - and didn't stay up talking very late, I think they were both pretty tired!
Yesterday we watched a Barbie movie (Barbie as Rapunzel) and then Another Cinderella Story, which is my favourite of the many cinderella themed movies we have watched in the past several months. When it finished we watched it again. The girls and I continued playing the lego/skylander/toy animal game that has been going for about a week now. There was more playing on the swings and listening to music and dancing, including dancing with Dance Star on the Playstation. The boys returned here about 2.30 and the other kids stayed until about 5, lots more playing on the swings and playing Terraria and watching a few Minecraft videos.
Last night we kept playing the lego game and finally got Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare set up to work on the Playstation. I was surprised at how excited I was to actually get it working, and we all enjoyed watching LiAM play. It was interesting how we could all change allegiance so easily as he kept switching sides and the side he was on always seemed to be the 'best' side.
Millie and I had some great conversations about numbers and letters. When Plants v Zombies was installing she came and told me it was up to 79%. I said I wondered if it was up to 80% yet and she said 'or 81. or 82. or 83...' and continued until she said 'or eighty-ten' Then she laughed and said 'eighty ten isn't a real number'. I said 'What would eight-ten really be?' and she said '90'. Then she asked me to keep going with saying eighty-eleven, eighty-twelve and so on, and she told me the 'real' number (91, 92...). She went all the way up to eighty-twenty five (105). She spends a lot of time counting and adding and subtracting and is starting to be able to go up to the next decade after she reaches a number with 9 in it. She was playing Pixelmon on Minecraft in the morning and wanted to spawn a pokemon called Eevee. She knows how to get up the command that brings in the new pokemon, and she had figured out herself that Eevee might be evve. I think that's her first attempt at writing a word on her own and it shows that she really does understand how letters work together to form words. Every day I'm amazed at the developing mathematical and literary skills of all 3 kids - it's so exciting to watch and be part of.
Back at home the girls made up more dances, and traded animal cards that they had gotten from Woolworths. After dinner on a rather hot day Tony and I took the 3 girls down to the dam for a swim. The water was a lovely temperature - a few cold patches if we went out a bit deeper, but lovely to get in to near the edge. Swimming in the dam at sunset is a glorious experience, the light and the view are amazing, it is peaceful and refreshing and I'm so happy that we have this experience available to us regularly. We even had ducks swimming towards us on the water, they didn't come all the way over to us, though it really did look like they were checking us out and coming as close as they felt safe. I was also impressed with Millie's swimming - last time I took her to the dam she stuck her toes in and then played on the dirt at the edge. Tony has taken her a few times, and she has obviously gained confidence. She asked me to carry her in, then took the kick board and lay on it and kicked around confidently and happily, even in the deeper water. At the end she did a little bit of swimming back and forth between Tony and I, she scared herself once by going under but then had another few goes. Back home (Caitlin and S and Tony rode their bikes) for a shower and to watch the cricket and then the Asia Cup summary then the girls went to bed on the sofa bed - and didn't stay up talking very late, I think they were both pretty tired!
Yesterday we watched a Barbie movie (Barbie as Rapunzel) and then Another Cinderella Story, which is my favourite of the many cinderella themed movies we have watched in the past several months. When it finished we watched it again. The girls and I continued playing the lego/skylander/toy animal game that has been going for about a week now. There was more playing on the swings and listening to music and dancing, including dancing with Dance Star on the Playstation. The boys returned here about 2.30 and the other kids stayed until about 5, lots more playing on the swings and playing Terraria and watching a few Minecraft videos.
Last night we kept playing the lego game and finally got Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare set up to work on the Playstation. I was surprised at how excited I was to actually get it working, and we all enjoyed watching LiAM play. It was interesting how we could all change allegiance so easily as he kept switching sides and the side he was on always seemed to be the 'best' side.
Millie and I had some great conversations about numbers and letters. When Plants v Zombies was installing she came and told me it was up to 79%. I said I wondered if it was up to 80% yet and she said 'or 81. or 82. or 83...' and continued until she said 'or eighty-ten' Then she laughed and said 'eighty ten isn't a real number'. I said 'What would eight-ten really be?' and she said '90'. Then she asked me to keep going with saying eighty-eleven, eighty-twelve and so on, and she told me the 'real' number (91, 92...). She went all the way up to eighty-twenty five (105). She spends a lot of time counting and adding and subtracting and is starting to be able to go up to the next decade after she reaches a number with 9 in it. She was playing Pixelmon on Minecraft in the morning and wanted to spawn a pokemon called Eevee. She knows how to get up the command that brings in the new pokemon, and she had figured out herself that Eevee might be evve. I think that's her first attempt at writing a word on her own and it shows that she really does understand how letters work together to form words. Every day I'm amazed at the developing mathematical and literary skills of all 3 kids - it's so exciting to watch and be part of.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Playstation and Homeschool Group
I had a very early morning yesterday, was awake at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and sent a few emails, organised a few things that had been on my to do list for a while. By the time the kids were up I was feeling quite tired, and LiAM wanted to play Toy Story 3 on the Playstation with me, so I happily stayed lying on the couch and played with him for an hour or more. We've been playing quite a lot lately and I'm enjoying it - and I'm improving! When I first played a few weeks ago, Amelie said she liked watching me play because I was much worse than her at it - I could never figure out which way I was facing or how to run in the direction I wanted to go, I couldn't jump or fire at a target, and I constantly forgot which buttons on the controller to press to do anything. LiAM has been quite patient with me, and I'm slowly improving. I can now navigate and jump and fire and run, and I usually remember what buttons to press, even if my reaction time is still a bit slow. The part of Toy Story 3 we usually play (Woody's Roundup) has a lot going on in it, and we've pretty much divided up the tasks and can each go about our business, and help each other out on the harder bits. The girls (and even Tony) sometimes sit and watch and comment so it can be an activity that the whole family is involved in, and I'm really enjoying the time doing something specific with LiAM. It's also been a handy reminder to me of how social and bonding playing a video game with someone can be, and how much the players can learn. And it's not sedentary either, we jump around a fair bit, and we talk and laugh about all sorts of things while we play.
After a while yesterday I left him to the game and got us all ready to go to Homeschool Group in Yarra Glen. We left a bit early because I hadn't yet bought all the equipment we needed for our activities. We went and got those then opened up the hall. We had 8 families come along, a couple with kids from other homeschooling families in tow, so there was a big group of kids. Most of them played outside, and at one point one of the mums saw ALL of them, from the 4 year old up to the 15 year old, on the roundabout together in the park. The kids came in and out throughout the afternoon and some of them made decorations when they were inside - we did snow globes in glass jars, and decorated oranges with cloves.
After Homeschool Group we hung around in the park and/or library for a short while, then headed home. I was exhausted and didn't feel well so the kids put a Barbie movie on and I lay on my bed with the iPad and recharged a bit. Amelie came in and played with me for a while, then Tony brought home fish and chips for tea. Caitlin and LiAM skyped and played Minecraft with a friend and I read my book (The Railway Man) until I was ready to go to sleep.
After a while yesterday I left him to the game and got us all ready to go to Homeschool Group in Yarra Glen. We left a bit early because I hadn't yet bought all the equipment we needed for our activities. We went and got those then opened up the hall. We had 8 families come along, a couple with kids from other homeschooling families in tow, so there was a big group of kids. Most of them played outside, and at one point one of the mums saw ALL of them, from the 4 year old up to the 15 year old, on the roundabout together in the park. The kids came in and out throughout the afternoon and some of them made decorations when they were inside - we did snow globes in glass jars, and decorated oranges with cloves.
After Homeschool Group we hung around in the park and/or library for a short while, then headed home. I was exhausted and didn't feel well so the kids put a Barbie movie on and I lay on my bed with the iPad and recharged a bit. Amelie came in and played with me for a while, then Tony brought home fish and chips for tea. Caitlin and LiAM skyped and played Minecraft with a friend and I read my book (The Railway Man) until I was ready to go to sleep.
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Birthday Party
LiAM's birthday day and birthday party were lots of fun.
We were all up early before Tony went to work so LiAM could open his presents. Millie gave him a packet of berry flavoured mentos (and a packet for herself as well (she wrapped them together)), Caitlin made (hand sewed) a tail warmer, blanket and hat for LiAM's toy lemur, and we gave him some Schleich animals (a red panda, a baby crocodile (which LiAM thinks might actually be a caiman - 'definitely a crocodilian of some type') and a baby hippo), a dream lights puppy pillow pet, and 3 skylanders figures, so he now has one of each element. He was thrilled with his presents and turned the playstation on straight away to play with his new figures. Tony made pancakes before he left which was a lovely birthday breakfast.
The rest of the morning was spent playing with birthday presents, making loom bracelets and charms, tidying up the house (including putting away the rest of the stuff that had come out of the car after our trip), assembling the party bags and the pinata, and making the cake - half chocolate mud cake, half chocolate cake, in the shape of an 8, with green and blue icing to represent grass and water, with animals on it. It was a lot of fun to make, even working out how to manufacture a ring tin because I only had one, and then realising that there was too much mud cake mix for the subsequently smaller tin, and having to do a bit of a rescue operation in the middle of baking so that both cakes didn't end up smelling or tasting burnt. It all worked out beautifully.
The party started at 2pm, and LiAM had 4 friends come, along with their siblings, so there were 10 kids all together, plus 2 babies. Mum and Dad and my sister (with her baby) came as well, and all the parents stayed, and it was a fantastic afternoon spent with friends and family. The kids played with LiAM's birthday presents, with the marble run, with our other animal toys (soft and Schleich), on the piano, on their iPads (I think there were up to 4 people connected to the same Minecraft world at various points), and with Skylanders. LiAM also received anothe Skylander, some science kits, Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, and a transformer type robot. We hung the pinata in the carport - a very cute dinosaur, who I think was a bit heavily full of lollies, because he kept breaking his string when he was hit, and then one big whack pulled the loop right out of him - so the kids took it in turns to shake the lollies out of the hole on to the ground. There was also a game of musical statues which everyone was so good at there was no winner - Caitlin had made some prizes so she worked out some other way to distribute the loom band prizes and everyone seemed happy.
Tony came home from work and was here for a little while before heading out to a baseball committee meeting - we had gone to the pub for birthday dinner the night before which worked quite well - Tony could still go to his meeting, and we didn't need to wrap up the party and then get ready to go out, I was quite pleased we'd done the evening meal the night before.
Once all the guests left we watched a movie (Finding Neverland) and some TV, had bacon and eggs for tea, LiAM watched some YouTube videos and we had a relaxing evening. I ended the day feeling so fortunate to have such a great group of friends, and feeling very relaxed and happy and content.
We were all up early before Tony went to work so LiAM could open his presents. Millie gave him a packet of berry flavoured mentos (and a packet for herself as well (she wrapped them together)), Caitlin made (hand sewed) a tail warmer, blanket and hat for LiAM's toy lemur, and we gave him some Schleich animals (a red panda, a baby crocodile (which LiAM thinks might actually be a caiman - 'definitely a crocodilian of some type') and a baby hippo), a dream lights puppy pillow pet, and 3 skylanders figures, so he now has one of each element. He was thrilled with his presents and turned the playstation on straight away to play with his new figures. Tony made pancakes before he left which was a lovely birthday breakfast.
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| LiAM with hippo and crodolian |
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| LiAM spotting his new skylander figures |
The rest of the morning was spent playing with birthday presents, making loom bracelets and charms, tidying up the house (including putting away the rest of the stuff that had come out of the car after our trip), assembling the party bags and the pinata, and making the cake - half chocolate mud cake, half chocolate cake, in the shape of an 8, with green and blue icing to represent grass and water, with animals on it. It was a lot of fun to make, even working out how to manufacture a ring tin because I only had one, and then realising that there was too much mud cake mix for the subsequently smaller tin, and having to do a bit of a rescue operation in the middle of baking so that both cakes didn't end up smelling or tasting burnt. It all worked out beautifully.
Tony came home from work and was here for a little while before heading out to a baseball committee meeting - we had gone to the pub for birthday dinner the night before which worked quite well - Tony could still go to his meeting, and we didn't need to wrap up the party and then get ready to go out, I was quite pleased we'd done the evening meal the night before.
Once all the guests left we watched a movie (Finding Neverland) and some TV, had bacon and eggs for tea, LiAM watched some YouTube videos and we had a relaxing evening. I ended the day feeling so fortunate to have such a great group of friends, and feeling very relaxed and happy and content.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Tiring day
Yesterday was one of those days where we ended up doing too many different things and we were all exhausted. I was saying to a friend yesterday that I've learned not to do extra things just because we're in the area - and then I did exactly that and wore us all out!
We had a pretty relaxing morning at home. The kids played Minecraft - exploring a couple of adventure maps they have on the computer - and read some books. Caitlin learnt more of 'Harry's Wondrous World' on the piano. Tony and Caitlin and I rearranged our chicken set up which ended up being a bit more complicated than we'd planned. We've had 2 broody chickens, and one of them had 6 chicks hatch over the weekend. On Tuesday we moved both chickens, with their eggs and chicks, into our spare pen - they were in a box with 2 laying areas, one chicken in each side, so that was pretty easy. Then the chicken whose eggs hadn't hatched yet decided that it would be easier to simply look after the chicks that were already born, rather than sit around and wait for her own eggs to hatch - so we kept ending up with 2 cranky mother hens and 6 chicks all in the one box. We tried various combinations with an aim to get her sitting back on her own eggs, but in the end the solution that made every hen and chick happy was to have both mothers and all the chicks in the pen together, with one big box that they could all fit in to. So now we have 2 very happy co-parenting hens and 6 adorable little chicks (5 yellow, 1 black).
Around 11.30 Tony went to work and the kids and I went to Homeschool Gymnastics. Friends of ours were there this week as well so it was a bit more fun for the older kids. Once it was finished I grabbed some of the bread we like from the bakery nearby, and also some spelt chocolate hot cross buns. Next stop was to one of my ABA group's trainee breastfeeding counsellors, to give her the raffle tickets so that she can coordinate this years national raffle for our group. While I talked to her Caitlin read books to her daughter and Millie. She lives right near Chirnside Park shopping centre, so I figured we might as well pop in and get a few things that we needed... I replaced our soda stream canister (finally - its been several weeks without soda water on tap and we've really missed it), we picked up some new Skylanders which were on special, Caitlin found a new dress, I got a new nose ring, we stocked up on cat food and (saved the exciting bit till last) we bought a whole coconut from the fruit and veg shop. We were all pretty knackered after our shopping, there was a lot of walking and browsing and it would have been nice to go home at that point. On the way back to Yarra Glen we stopped at a gluten free bakery I'd been meaning to go to and we all picked something yummy to eat - I was impressed with the quality. (Less impressed with the girl insisting Millie say 'please' before she'd give her the finger bun - Millie had no idea what she was talking about and started to get a bit annoyed - next time I'll try to step in earlier to keep everyone happy) Back to Yarra Glen and dropped Caitlin at Girl Guides, while the rest of us went to the library, read some books, watched minecraft videos, borrowed some new things, then went outside and played on the swings in the smoky air - I was a little worried about LiAM playing outside in the smoke but he coped ok, it mainly seems to affect him at night. Picked Caitlin up and met a new family who has just started Guides in Yarra Glen and then finally back home.
I made a cuppa and disappeared into the bedroom with a book for a while, and the kids played with their new Skylanders. Caitlin cooked frankfurts and cheese for the kids and I made myself something to eat, then we watched Top Cat (the movie) which we enjoyed more than we thought we would. Once I got tired I went to bed and read Anna Karenina, and Millie came in and played the iPad next to me. Eventually the others came in too and played games, chatted, read until we all fell asleep.
We had a pretty relaxing morning at home. The kids played Minecraft - exploring a couple of adventure maps they have on the computer - and read some books. Caitlin learnt more of 'Harry's Wondrous World' on the piano. Tony and Caitlin and I rearranged our chicken set up which ended up being a bit more complicated than we'd planned. We've had 2 broody chickens, and one of them had 6 chicks hatch over the weekend. On Tuesday we moved both chickens, with their eggs and chicks, into our spare pen - they were in a box with 2 laying areas, one chicken in each side, so that was pretty easy. Then the chicken whose eggs hadn't hatched yet decided that it would be easier to simply look after the chicks that were already born, rather than sit around and wait for her own eggs to hatch - so we kept ending up with 2 cranky mother hens and 6 chicks all in the one box. We tried various combinations with an aim to get her sitting back on her own eggs, but in the end the solution that made every hen and chick happy was to have both mothers and all the chicks in the pen together, with one big box that they could all fit in to. So now we have 2 very happy co-parenting hens and 6 adorable little chicks (5 yellow, 1 black).
Around 11.30 Tony went to work and the kids and I went to Homeschool Gymnastics. Friends of ours were there this week as well so it was a bit more fun for the older kids. Once it was finished I grabbed some of the bread we like from the bakery nearby, and also some spelt chocolate hot cross buns. Next stop was to one of my ABA group's trainee breastfeeding counsellors, to give her the raffle tickets so that she can coordinate this years national raffle for our group. While I talked to her Caitlin read books to her daughter and Millie. She lives right near Chirnside Park shopping centre, so I figured we might as well pop in and get a few things that we needed... I replaced our soda stream canister (finally - its been several weeks without soda water on tap and we've really missed it), we picked up some new Skylanders which were on special, Caitlin found a new dress, I got a new nose ring, we stocked up on cat food and (saved the exciting bit till last) we bought a whole coconut from the fruit and veg shop. We were all pretty knackered after our shopping, there was a lot of walking and browsing and it would have been nice to go home at that point. On the way back to Yarra Glen we stopped at a gluten free bakery I'd been meaning to go to and we all picked something yummy to eat - I was impressed with the quality. (Less impressed with the girl insisting Millie say 'please' before she'd give her the finger bun - Millie had no idea what she was talking about and started to get a bit annoyed - next time I'll try to step in earlier to keep everyone happy) Back to Yarra Glen and dropped Caitlin at Girl Guides, while the rest of us went to the library, read some books, watched minecraft videos, borrowed some new things, then went outside and played on the swings in the smoky air - I was a little worried about LiAM playing outside in the smoke but he coped ok, it mainly seems to affect him at night. Picked Caitlin up and met a new family who has just started Guides in Yarra Glen and then finally back home.
I made a cuppa and disappeared into the bedroom with a book for a while, and the kids played with their new Skylanders. Caitlin cooked frankfurts and cheese for the kids and I made myself something to eat, then we watched Top Cat (the movie) which we enjoyed more than we thought we would. Once I got tired I went to bed and read Anna Karenina, and Millie came in and played the iPad next to me. Eventually the others came in too and played games, chatted, read until we all fell asleep.
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