Life in a house is a little strange

I'm feeling pretty relaxed as we continue to settle back in to life at home. Occasionally a worry or anxious though flares up, and I'm able to fairly quickly put it in perspective and feel OK about it, and get on with whatever I am doing. The car and trailer are slowly being unpacked, things are getting put away or reorganised, and it's surprisingly easy to keep the house looking tidy. We're all being more efficient with lights, water and power, we're not taking them for granted after living outside for 4 months.

I'm finding it tricky in the late afternoons as the light inside gets dull, but it's still light outside - it feels too early to turn lights on, and I'm not really enjoying artificial light anyway, but there's parts of our house that get dark quite quickly and the low light can bring my mood down a little. So there's still adjustments to be made to living in a house again, and it's helping us see what things we could do to improve the layout and set up of our house, which is cool.

Caitlin is at another sleepover - she'll have 9 nights without sleeping in the same place 2 nights in a row. She's so excited to see her friends again and is full of energy. She's doing heaps of work on reorganising her room and has made a photo presentation to show at Girl Guides this week.

We had our best friends come over and visit for the day yesterday, everyone was so happy to see them and they to see us. The kids played Minecraft and on the trampoline and shared all their new skills with each other, we mums talked and drank tea and enjoyed being with someone we were really really comfortable with.

Tony was back at work yesterday, he found it tiring although enjoyable. I found the afternoon really weird, waiting for him to come home and getting used to having that adjustment each day, time with him here and time with him away. I think we all missed him after being together so much on our trip.

Busy and happy

In the last couple of cays

- Amelie and I played a game where she was a Persian Cat called Purry, who could sometimes turn into a tiger or a person, and sometimes talk even when she was a cat, and I was her owner (and sometimes her mother). She hasn't played games like this quite so frequently lately as she used to, and it was fun.
- LiAM and I have had a couple of late night talks as he's been going to bed (he likes someone to be close by as he settles down to sleep, I've been sitting on a little green chair next to his bed and he's been chatting to me). We've talked about Pokemon and movies and ways that world peace might be achieved and if it's actually possibly, and what would happen if one country took over the whole world, and what civil war means, and Wolverine and Magneto....
- Amelie made little dog treats for an imaginary dog, out of coloured straws
- Caitlin rang up and organised to go back and groom the ponies again, I dropped her off and the owner stayed inside (it was a hot day) and Caitlin did all the work (catching the ponies, grooming them, checking their feet, spraying a cut, feeding them, popping them back in the paddock) by herself - she was thrilled and loved every minute
- we went to the library and read books, played board games, watched youtube videos
- we met friends in the park and played for a couple of hours
- Caitlin found herself some great clothes at the op shop, and I bought a game and a heap of towels iand some DVDs and kitchen stuff
- we went to the bakery and got a yummy snack
- we had friends come and visit for the day, the boys played Minecraft and the Lego Movie video game, Amelie and J played pokemon (cards) and lego and My Little Ponies
- Amelie played a new board game (where you build a wall out of bricks and sit Buzz Lightyear on top, then use aliens to push bricks out and try not to collapse the wall)
- we watched Dragonnest (which reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings) and Bridge to Terabithia - none of us had ever seen it, and we really loved it
- oh last week we watched an anime movie which is now one of my new favourites - The Wolf Children, it was incredible. People who are half wolf/ half people, motherhood, children growing up and finding their own way, friendship, accepting difference - a whole heap of my favourite topics, and very well mad
- Amelie watched more Pokemon and a Barbie movie (Barbie and Swan Lake)
- everyone has played Disco Zoo, and LiAM is getting more comfortable every day at reading the notifications himself
- Amelie and I played celebrity head, and she wrote some of the labels for my head herself (Zoo, Cat). It's such a fun game to play with her, she asks such interesting questions when guessing her own, and answers my questions in a really fascinating way when I'm guessing
- we practised lots more Auslan - I've been doing some every day and I feel like I'm retaining more of the signs than I was, and then I'm able to use them when talking to the kids and they are picking them up
- Tony came home early enough last night (just after 8) to eat dinner then play for a while with Amelie and her soft toys - she was so happy

Rollerskating

Since Saturday morning Amelie had been wanting to watch The Wynx DVDs that she'd borrowed from the library - she wanted someone to watch them with her and it didn't work out on Saturday. As we went to sleep we talked about how we would remember to watch in the morning - my suggestion was that when we saw Winky the cat, I would say 'Hi Winks' (which is what I usually say) and that would remind us... As is often the case, having talked about it at length, we both remembered as soon as she woke up, without needing a reminder.

So we snuggled on the couch and watched a Wynx movie - she's borrowed them so many times that I thought I'd seen them all, but this one was new to me. Quite enjoyable too, lot's of 'believing in yourself even when others have given up' type messages.

After the movie we played her animal game where one person acts like an animal and the other has to guess what animal it is - we haven't played for a while and she's come up with a lot of new animals to act out, it's quite fun (hard to think of animal who I can convincingly act out, so I'm rehashing my old repertoire mainly, still fun though).

Caitlin and LiAM both slept in after a late night on Saturday, so when they woke up they had some breakfast and we got ready to go out. Caitlin made a drawstring bag to use as a bag for a birthday present - she did it slightly differently than the previous bags she has made and was confused for a while as to how to make it work - I made a suggestion and she was able to figure it out and make another beautiful, functional bag.

I dropped Amelie and LiAM off at our friend's house, and I took Caitlin and S rollerskating, part of our present to S for her birthday. I read my book while the girls skated, and I think they really appreciated having an outing without any younger siblings along.

When we got back to S's house all the kids wanted us to stay longer, so I had a cuppa with R and the kids played Minecraft and talked, and after a while went down to the park. Amelie wasn't having a good time so she and I went back to the house and curled up in the armchair and played Hungry Babies. When the others came back they played more Minecraft and then watched Ice Age 3, while we had some homemade pizza for dinner. The kids wanted to stay until dark because they had plans for a game down at the park, we all headed back down a bit after 8. They played for a while then everyone was getting tired (the mothers especially) so we wrapped it up and went to our respective homes. Tony was still at work when we got home - a very long Sunday shift.

He came home while I was feeding the animals and so on, great to see him briefly before we all went to bed after a surprisingly tiring day.

A day with friends

(I forgot to publish yesterday's post until I came to write this one, which means there'll be 2 published today).

Yesterday Amelie was up early and continued watching Pokemon Diamond and Pearl while I checked my email, did some quizzes, blogged, did some work on my photos, did some Auslan learning. LiAM got up around 10am and wanted to play Lego Marvel Superheroes, so negotiated with Amelie to be able to do that for an hour before we went out. Caitlin got up and watched them for a while and played on her iPad.

We left a bit after 11 to go to the H's, on the way we played the car game we've been playing on all our trips lately - counting makes of car rather than colour. LiAM loves to be Mazda, Amelie is usually Toyota (although yesterday Caitlin was and she saw at least 5 times as many as the rest of us.) I usually agree to be whatever the next car that passes us is - on the way to Yea on Monday I therefore got Maserati as my car to count - the kids agreed to let me pick the next one instead, so that I didn't get stuck on 1 for the whole trip. When we arrived LiAM and A immediately started discussing Minecraft and things they'd done in their worlds recently, and then played on and off during the day. Amelie and J went into the front room to play duplo and Caitlin chatted with us and then went to play on her iPad and play with O.

I had a counselling appointment so headed off to that after a cup of tea. The session was helpful and exhausting as usual - the exhaustion will pass and the help will continue to become more beneficial. On the way home I stopped in Lilydale to buy a birthday present for our friend S, because it was her 11th birthday. I also found some swimmers for Caitlin (although I think I bought a size too small, she's growing so quickly I keep underestimating her size when she's not with me). I treated myself to an eclair from Donut King - haven't had one of those for many many years and it was exactly what I felt like - and I'll probably be happy now to not have another one for many many more years.

H had just finished work so I gave her a lift home. When we got back Amelie and J were still playing duplo, LiAM and A were having a sword fight and then went outside to the trampoline and the hose, Caitlin had helped L move furniture around and fill the shelves. I stayed for another cuppa and a long chat, while the kids played.

Eventually we went home, and it looked like it was going to start raining - would have been such a relief on a 41 degree day. It fizzled out pretty quickly where we were, although when we got home there had been enough rain to leave the roads wet, it had stopped by then though.

I cooked dinner (pasta alfredo) and we watched the new episode of Big Bang Theory. I did some surveys on the computer and Amelie came and snuggled with me and helped me answer some of the questions. Tony came home while we were watching 'Here Come the Habibs' and I took Amelie to bed to watch more Pokemon - this series has lots of Piplup in it, who is my favourite, so it's an extra fun one to watch.

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.

Abseiling

LiAM was the first of the kids up yesterday, after having a great night's sleep, and he curled up next to me on the couch while I browsed the internet, and commented on what I was doing, read bits and pieces of the sites I was looking at, then after Amelie joined us we did some Minecraft quizzes on Jetpunk, and between the 2 of them they knew most of the answers.

I woke Caitlin at 8.30 and she got up to get ready to go abseiling with Girl Guides. I got breakfast for everyone and the other 2 played Minecraft. Tony got out of bed just before we left - he didn't have to go to work so was very grateful for a sleep in, and I was grateful that he could be home with L and A while I took Caitlin to her activity.

The abseiling was at Clifford Park Activity Scout Activity Centre, somewhere I didn't even know existed until this week. The setting was beautiful, in the foothills on the side of the Yarra River, lots of bush and some cleared areas and so many activities for campers or visitors to do. I started thinking about potential for homeschool camps and so on - will look into that at some stage. Caitlin was joining Mooroolbark Guides for the abseiling, so it was a group of girls and leaders she hadn't met before (they were there on camp, and opened this activity up and invited girls from all the other units in the area - Caitlin was the only one who joined them).

As soon as we got there 2 of the girls ran over and introduced themselves and took Caitlin off to play with them, while I chatted with the leaders. We made our way over to the abseiling tower and I read my book in the shade while they did the safety talk and showed them how to do it. When it was getting close to Caitlin's turn she wanted me to be closer, so I spent most of the rest of the morning near the tower watching her and the other girls, chatting to the leaders, and taking photos on various cameras (mine, the girls' cameras, and one of the leader's cameras when she went up the tower). Caitlin was quite scared when it was her turn, but she took it slowly and followed the instructions perfectly and went down fairly easily. She had 5 descents over the morning, and she got quicker and more competent each time, although she says it was still really hard and a bit scary each time. I was so impressed with the girls as a group, they were supportive and understanding of those who decided not to try it once they got to the top, and even those who tried and tried and after a long time of attempting to start decided not to go down. I was also impressed that all of the girls who didn't go down at first, went back up several times to try again, and each time got a little closer to abseiling down.

It was a fun morning and Caitlin and I were both pretty tired at the end of it (she was probably tireder, she'd done a lot of hard physical work, I had just stood in the sun for a few hours). We came home and the others had watched Ice Age 3 and were now playing Minecraft again. LiAM was helping Amelie write her signs and set up a zoo. We had some lunch then watched the rest of Heartland Series 5. I had a bit of a rest through the first episode, then started making some pumpkin soup, LiAM helped me chop all the vegetables. Tony had a big long nap on the couch which he found very helpful.

LiAM and Amelie spent ages looking through the pictures in the African Safari book I borrowed from the library, discussing the animals and what they were doing - there are some incredible pictures in the book. Caitlin played on her iPad, and messaged with friends, then once it got cooler outside we all went out and kids lay then played on the trampoline. We came back in one by one and watched the end of Night at the Museum 2, then an episode of Heartland Series 3, by which time Tony was in bed, and I wrapped things up pretty quickly and went to be myself.

Township, Ghostbusters, Pi

After having such a busy week it was a relief yesterday to have most of the day at home. The kids all slept in until mid morning, so I had some time on the computer, then tidied up a little and then had a much-anticipated bath and read my book for a while (Us by David Nicholls. An interesting style, but very readable). Amelie woke up and came and joined me in the bath until we were both hungry so we got out to have some breakfast.

Amelie played Township on the computer and we upgraded the Township app on the iPad, and everyone played throughout the morning. It was fun having the 4 of us involved, discussing strategy and deciding where to spend our money and so on. I haven't played for months and it was enjoyable having a go again.

Caitlin put Heartland Season 5 on so that I could catch up to where they'd watched the night before. I pottered around in the kitchen doing dishes while we watched, and Amelie and LiAM played some Minecraft. A friend called in to drop off my Norwex order, so we had a cuppa and a chat, and Caitlin played with her 2 little girls, taking them out to see the chickens (LiAM also helped let the chickens out), playing on the trampoline with them, painting their nails and showing them how to make loom band bracelets.

After they left I continued to sort out the fruit and veg from the day before and started a chicken stock and a zucchini slice. H arrived for the afternoon and she and Caitlin spent some time planning the decorations that H is going to do on Caitlin's new desk. Caitlin then started practicing her manga drawing and came up with some impressive results, especially for her first try. LiAM played with the Titan character pieces and Amelie played with her My Little Ponies and her Barbies.

AT 4.30 I left with Caitlin to go to acting, and the others stayed with H. I picked up Caitlin's friend and dropped the 2 girls off, both excited and a little nervous about the first class of the year - who would be in their class, and who would their teacher be? While they were there I went to Costco and got some groceries, and a really lovely-to-feel copy of Les Miserables (the book) for $17 - the cover is like rubber, and has words etched into it, I really love it. I also saw some diaries that I would love - the lines are not ruled, they are the text of various novels, in a really tiny font. There's Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Sherlock Holmes, some Dickens... And one with the digits of pi running all the way through the diary.... Definitely on my wish list!

From there I went to the library and borrowed a heap of books and DVDs covering everyone's current and regular interests - Manga drawing, foreign coin identification (Grandad and F both recently let LiAM look at their foreign coins and Grandad has asked him to figure out what country they are from), African animals, Ghostbusters (we watched it on Monday for the first time (well, first time for the kids, I've seen it many many times) and all week we've heard the music in other shows or heard references to it in unexpected places. So when I saw a book about the movie on the feature shelf at the library, it made sense to borrow it), Afghanistan and so on. When the library closed I raced down to k-mart to get more swimming tops for Caitlin and myself, and some shorts for LiAM, then back to pick Caitlin up at 8.30.

When we got home the kids were playing Toy Story 3 and H said they'd had a good evening. I unpacked my cold groceries (playing a bit of tetris to get everything into the freezer) and Caitlin and Tony and I watched Sia sing and then be interviewed on tv, then I took H home (she drove). Once I was back I got everyone a drink and then headed into bed, Amelie came soon after and the others weren't far behind.

Friends and homeschool group

I woke LiAM up around 9 yesterday morning as we had friends coming over and he likes to be awake before they get here. We chatted while he was waking up, about Minecraft and words and friends and movies, I love listening to his insights and following the way his mind works. He thinks so deeply about things and makes connections that I wouldn't have thought of.

He played Minecraft once he was awake enough, and Amelie got up and watched him, after being a Peregrine Falcon and then a pterodactyl for a while. She actually got out of bed because the pterodactyl needed some fish and I wasn't supplying them quickly enough out of my endless supply from my pocket... Caitlin got out of bed and put Heartland on - we have been watching the 1st series on DVD, and despite seeing it so often on TV, there were at least 4 episodes we hadn't seen. We've seen them now, and parts of the storyline make a lot more sense than they did before! While we were waiting for our friends to come LiAM let Amelie play minecraft for a while, and he helped her spell the words she needed to name her world.

L dropped her boys off just after 10, and LiAM showed A the Minecraft server he's been playing on - Mineplex. The boys watched him for a while, then J went outside with Amelie to jump on the trampoline and run around for a while. When they came back inside they played lego and with J's monster toy that he'd brought along. The older boys played Minecraft on the computer then Terraria on their iPads, and watched and commented on Heartland - what they'd do in the situations they were watching, what would have happened if the characters had said or done something different, when things looked or seemed unrealistic - I love the critical analysis skills that they are all developing when reading or watching anything.

While the kids were playing I started to sort out our leftover veggies to make way for our new box, and made a chicken casserole to put in the slow cooker for when we came home much later in the evening. After lunch (sandwiches and chocolate pudding) I got all the kids in the car and we went to homeschool group.

It was only a smallish group this time, 5 families I think, and there was still plenty of activity. LiAM and Amelie and some of the other kids played tag for ages inside (it was loud! and so much fun) then went outside to play in the playground. Amelie stayed in and played lego and cars. Caitlin and a lot of the other kids (and Amelie for a while) started to write and rehearse a play - we'd taken lots of props and costumes, and some other families had brought things as well, and the kids started working on a story which they are hoping to perform next fortnight. There was also lots of craft made, more slingshots and catapults and some pretty, glittery pictures and little people made from oddments in the craft box.

Once everyone had gone home except for us and L's kids, the 5 of them played charades for ages - each thinking of an item or a word and acting it out - the acting was great, and the guessing was thoughtful - it was fun to watch and looked like a lot of fun to play. I locked the hall up and they went outside to keep playing charades, then we had some fish and chips and afterwards they got their scooters and went up to the skate park. I had a brief toy library meeting and sorted out a bit of a plan for the rest of the term, then it was time to get ready for karate.

Amelie decided to try karate again, and did about half the training session - she was tired by then and it was quite overwhelming, there were 6 or 7 new kids, and the hall was very loud and echoey. I had been looking forward to karate all day, was very keen to get the exercise and push myself a bit, and it was fun, I really enjoyed it.

We got home around 8.15 and Tony was not far behind us, so we actually were able to eat dinner together. We finished watching the last episode of Heartland Series 1, and when the DVD finished and the tv came back on, and episode of Series 3 was on - but we turned that off and began to watch Series 5 which we'd just borrowed from the library. Tony and I both wanted to stay up and watch because we all love it - he went to bed though as soon as he could and I tidied up, fed the animals and so on then took Amelie to bed and left the big kids watching. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up sometime soon...

Karate, Guides, friends and car service

This is the first full week of school term and all our activities are back on. On Tuesday we mainly stayed at home. We played Titan, played Minecraft, watched TV, Millie and I watched some Pokemon, we did Sudokus, played cards, played with Barbies and pillow pets, jumped on the trampoline, Millie did some more drawing, we read books. In the evening we went to karate - Amelie came with as Tony was at work - she could have joined in, though chose not to yet. She watched from the side and played on the iPad. I really enjoyed being back - I was a little worried about my knee, but I'd warmed it up before we got there, and strapped it, and I was very careful doing kicks (it meant that I really concentrated on doing them correctly), and it was fine. There was one leg sweeping move that one of the black belts was teaching us that looked too risky for a questionable knee, so I sat that one out - one of the things I love about this dojo, that no one is expected to anything that they are not comfortable with. The kids played in the playground after karate which for Amelie especially made the evening much more fun.

After karate we popped into Coles for more chocolate milk and a snack, then home for a late dinner of potato wedges and dim sims. Tony came home after we did, and had some dinner then went to the shed to practice his darts for Wednesday night. He's trying to get to bed a bit earlier because he's working so much, so I'm doing more of the helping everyone get into bed part of the night, which means I'm going to bed later than I usually do, and then waking up later as well. I think I'm getting the same amount of sleep, just at a different part of the night, and it's taking me a little bit of time to adjust.

So Wednesday morning I didn't wake up until 8.10, and I was dropping the car off to be serviced at 9! I quickly cleaned everything out of the car and grabbed something quick to eat (raspberries and cream). H had come over to be with the kids so I took the car down, then walked to the bus stop in the rain which was quite pleasant. I thought the next bus was at 5 past 10, but there was one at 9.30, so I was home again within 40 minutes of leaving. All the kids were up once I got back and H was getting them breakfast.

H and Caitlin spent most of the day sewing, making a halter neck top for Caitlin. It was very cool to watch the process, as neither of them had done it before and they didn't have a pattern, and they worked together to figure it all out as they went, and tried different ideas and adjusted as necessary. The top is beautiful and looks well made, I was impressed and inspired by the way they just had a go and worked it out. H also helped Amelie make some clothes for her barbies, and they played with the dolls for a while. The kids played Minecraft with H and watched some TV. I was able to a heap of tidying up and cleared most of our kitchen table which was quite exciting, haven't seen that much of the table for a while!

In the afternoon V came over to play with LiAM, they tried to play Jetpack Joyride but we couldn't update our copy, so they played Minecraft and then went outside on the trampoline and swing. I had a cuppa with R, then she took Caitlin with her to get S from school and go to S's swimming lesson. I caught the bus back to Healesville to pick up the car (which now has a new battery, hurray! Hopefully we won't be stuck unable to start the car anymore for a long time now). H had got the kids ready and I piled everyone into the car on my way back through. I took V home and left my kids at his place, H and I took Caitlin to Guides then H drove home. I had a good chat to L while I watched her boys on the trampoline, then back to pick my kids up and a quick cuppa, then picked Caitlin and some friends up from Guides, dropped the friends off and then home. It felt like a complicated afternoon, but it worked quite easily and everyone got to be where they needed to be and had a good time.

We had a bit more food, Caitlin did some more puzzles, we watched Heartland (they are now showing Season 3 on ABC3, which we have seen on DVD but not on TV, so we were quite excited) then Amelie and I went into the bedroom to watch Pokemon until she was tired enough to sleep. I was in and out with the others while she was watching.  Caitlin watched a movie about horses. LiAM did an online survey that asked for a 6-11 year old boy - I was reading the questions for him and he was able to read about half of the answers, picking up a few new words along the way. Tony came home while were all still awake and was able to help LiAM get to bed and we all made it to sleep a bit earlier than the night before (although still quite late). Actually Caitlin has been reading a lot in bed too, so she's going to bed with the rest of us then reading for an hour or two, she's immersed in the sequel to The Princess Academy and she's really loving it.

Homeschool Group, swimming, stars

We all slept in a bit yesterday (except Tony who started work at 7). Millie was first awake after me and she curled up on the couch with me and chatted for a while, then played Slugterra on the ABC3 site. When the others got up they watched a little bit of TV then they all kept playing Titan - getting the hang of the battle rules and strategies and I'm amazed at how well they understand the game, it can be quite complicated.

After lunch we went to Yarra Junction library for the homeschool activity there. The girls joined in and made butterflies by scrunching up small pieces of crepe paper and sticking them on butterfly-shaped cardboard. They came up with some gorgeous designs and Amelie took a lot of time to get hers exactly the way she wanted it. LiAM played computer games with his friend, and I chatted to the other 2 mums who were there - so great to catch up with a good friend I haven't seen since before christmas, and the other family as well. Once the activity was over the kids got some books and DVDs together that they wanted to borrow, and then played Minecraft with their friends. LiAM tried to watch some videos after the others had left but the wifi wasn't strong enough and kept dropping out.

The girls really wanted to go for a swim across the road at Yarra Junction Aquatic Centre - Amelie had been asking to there instead of other pools for the last 6 weeks or so. LiAM was tired and didn't want to swim - I try to not insist that anyone does something they really don't want to do, and try to help the others have what they'd like at a different time or something. In this case it felt like a great opportunity to let Amelie have the swim she'd been wanting for so long, and I couldn't tell when we'd be back over this way again. So I did agree to go, and suggested that LiAM play on his iPod or my phone while we were swimming. He wasn't thrilled with this but did agree. Once we got to the pool he decided to go swimming with the girls as long as we didn't stay long, which was fair enough.

Amelie's confidence has increased again, even in the last week (and coming back to a familiar pool possibly helped as well). She walked down a few of the stairs of the middle pool (where she can easily stand, and it's deep enough to swim around in) and then launched herself off into the water. She was swimming a couple of metres at a time, either with her head above or below water, and happily on the ramp in the big pool just at the edge of where she can stand up - she's starting to confidently push her limits - while remaining careful not to go past her limits.

We swam for about an hour, the big kids mainly jumping and diving into the deep end, and occasionally coming back to Amelie and I. On the way home we stopped at several of the hard rubbish piles that have been left out the front of people's houses, and picked up some discarded items that are still in very good condition. Some toys, pillow pets, plush toys, buckets and crockery. LiAM has been looking forward to this time of year for months so he was very happy.

Tony had baseball so he wasn't home until late and we had the evening to ourselves. I cooked some omelettes while we watched Australia's Got Talent (and then Farmer Wants a Wife which was surprisingly compelling...). The girls and I went and put the chickens to bed (our wayward Mummy chicken now takes her chicks into the big shed to sleep, although she sleeps on the top shelf with the other chickens and the chicks sleep on the bottom shelf. We usually move them all into a laying box - partly to keep them used to being handled, which we did with the previous lot of chicks, and they are more tolerant of being touched than the older chickens. So we moved the little ones, patted the middle sized ones then locked them in (while I avoided a very large spider that was sitting on the door near the lock....) and then looked at the stars for a while, the sky was so clear and we could see more stars than we usually notice. We looked at Orion's belt and at Mars and looked for other patterns, such a great night be outside.

Tony came home while we were stargazing, then the girls spent time drawing and writing more letters to each other to put in the letter box (Millie drew a 3 headed hydra and a crab, so cool). I went to the bed and the kids played Pacman and headed off to bed shortly after.

Writing, drawing, board games, tv

LiAM woke up feeling much better yesterday which is a huge relief. While I don't like that he is on so much medication, the alternative is constantly struggling to breathe, so I am grateful that the medicine is available and affordable and helps him so effectively.

After our late night the night before and a big week just gone, and lots of things coming up this week, we decided to stay home for a rest day. Millie played Minecraft and experimented with different ways of spelling 'Rudolph' as she has a reindeer skin now and wanted to name it. LiAM watched TV and played his monster game and some Minecraft. Caitlin played dexterity games on her iPad mini and is getting really good. She got frustrated with one level on Pivvot and asked me to try - I couldn't last more than a couple of seconds, my brain doesn't work that quickly in terms of reacting to obstacles and figuring out which way to go. She also found an online Soduko site and between us we did several Sodukos throughout the day. Millie also helped me with my Spanish lesson.

In the afternoon the kids decided to play Titan, and Tony joined them. The 4 of them played on and off all afternoon - LiAM is getting a good understanding of the strategies involved, Caitlin enjoys growing her legions but doesn't really like battling, and Millie is learning the rules and understanding how it works quite well.

While Tony was cooking tea the girls made a letter box out of cardboard boxes and tubes, and went outside to paint it. The tubes got a bit wet and started to break, so Caitlin came up with a few great ideas to strengthen them - she talked about stuffing them full of paper or something heavier, using sticky tape for support on the outside, strengthening them with a stick inside - she kept working at it and ended up with a letter box that opens at each end and is supported by a pole, and has the little flag on top that lets you know if there is mail inside. She has set it up in the lounge room for us to post letters to each other - she and Millie spent a lot of the rest of the evening writing letters to each other and posting them. Millie also did some drawing and writing on the blackboard - doing a fantastic drawing of a fish and a dolphin and labelling them F and D respectively.

She also read the word dolphin when we were looking a photos later on. She and LiAM we were looking at the map of Australia to see where our friends are in their bus after leaving 2 days ago, and where they've been and where they are going. We then looked at some of the places we'll be going on our trip and how far they are from us, and then a more detailed look at some of them, including the photos on Google maps, particularly Shark Bay/Monkey Mia in Western Australia, where there are lots of dolphins and Millie cannot wait to get there. We also looked close up at some reefs of the west coast, they looked like sting rays from the wide view, but are actually areas of shallow water and rocks and look fascinating however close up or far away they are viewed from.

Caitlin and Tony did some gymnastics outside (they started in the kitchen where there wasn't quite enough room...) - mainly Tony flipping C over his shoulder, it was cool to watch how much easier and more graceful it became for both of them as they practised. Caitlin was then able to flip Millie over her shoulder as well which was pretty cool.

In the evening we watched Looney Tunes then Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which is entertaining but a little far fetched sometimes (apart from the premise, there were things that didn't quite make sense. I do like that the kids can notice these things and we can talk about them, while still really enjoying the movie. For example, it was getting hotter and hotter where they were, well over 40 degrees, but they weren't sweating or moving slower or seeming impacted by the heat in any way). Afterwards we watched a bit of cricket and tennis, then an old episode of Heartland, then Rage - they had the top 20 on so the kids were quite excited, and thanks to Caitlin listening to Nova radio these days, I actually knew most of the songs. Interesting to see some of the video clips and to talk to Caitlin about what she thought of them - again, being able to critically analyse them and think about why they make the videos like that means that she's not going to be influenced by the messages without thinking about them herself first.

Vintage has started

LiAM came in to my room very early and was coughing a lot and not able to catch his breath. I gave him some ventolin and he settled down on the couch and went back to sleep for most of the morning - I think he'd been awake for a while before he came to me. He's been on only one preventer for most of January - if he misses it though it's only a few hours before he is wheezing, and he had taken it the night before this attack - so we've decided to go back to the 2 preventers and hopefully that will settle things down. A month off the puffer though is more than his body has managed before - so each year he seems a little stronger.

Tony didn't get home from work until after 7, he had some breakfast (or is that dinner?) and went to bed. So Vintage has definitely started and I don't feel quite as ready for it as I thought I would be! The girls slept for another couple of hours so I had a bit of time to myself to check emails and then do a bit of housework and then I jumped in a deep hot bath and read my book (Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - very very well written, I read it quickly and easily and loved it). It was really lovely to have a very relaxing morning on my own.

Once Millie was up we played some games then she played Minecraft. When she is naming her worlds or skins now she types in the first letter of the name and then asks me to write the rest. She read the title of a couple of books that we were looking at too, she's figured out a few words that I didn't realise she knew.

When LiAM woke up he felt better although still wanted to stay lying down, so he put the tv on and watched for a while as well as playing his monster game on the iPod. He and Millie connected for a while in Minecraft as well. Caitlin helped me with the chickens and I discovered some female flowers in my pumpkin patch so attempted to hand-pollinate them, hopefully it will work this time and we will end up with some pumpkins from the massive plants that are filling my garden.

I made pancakes for lunch - they tasted better and flipped better than last time, although I did forget to put the egg in, which would have made them even better. Caitlin went to Yarra Glen park with a friend, and the other kids and I hung out and watched tv and chatted about spies and superheroes.

Tony was potentially going to have to go in to work again on the Saturday evening, around 2pm he found out that he didn't have to go, which meant we were able to go to our friends' house for dinner as planned. They have recently moved to Hurstbridge and we've been talking about getting together for a meal for ages, so we were all pleased that we didn't have to cancel or postpone. We got there around 5.30 and the kids played in the huge backyard and huge playroom, played with their pet blue-tongue lizard, played dress ups and lego and with the billy-cart and built a very cool lean-to cubby. We had delicious pulled-pork rolls for tea, and lots of fantastic conversation with our friends. We didn't leave until after 11, and it was absolutely pouring rain when I decided it was time to leave. We waited a bit until it was a little lighter, and I drove home through rain all the way - I was worried about driving through Christmas Hills in a storm, if it got windy there could be trees and branches blowing everywhere - but it was fine, just rain and we made it home easily and fed the animals and bundled everyone quickly into bed.

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.

Fresh produce, movies, games and Alexander Technique

Having spent a few days with friends everyone was happy to have a quieter day at home. In the morning the kids watched some TV and played on the iPad and we chatted about what we were watching. Caitlin and I watched 'You've Got Mail' in the bedroom and Millie watched Barbie and the Pink Shoes on the computer.

Our fruit and veg box arrived (the first one since a few weeks before christmas) so we had a lot of fun going through that, discovering what we'd been given this fortnight, and cleaning out the old stuff from the fridge and fruit bowl to put the beautifully coloured and fresh new produce in. The chickens were happy with lots of old veggies to eat, and I stewed the peaches and apples that had been in the fruit bowl - I'd planned to make crumble but didn't quite get there, maybe I'll do that today. We all enjoyed having fresh produce to snack on through the rest of the day.

In the afternoon my friend H came over to play with the kids. I had an Alexander Lesson - I hadn't seen my teacher for ages and it was wonderful to reconnect with her, and then to be reminded of all the things I can do to help my body function more effectively. After a couple of hours with her I had no more pain in my back or my knee, they both feel wonderfully free and loose and I am walking without holding everything tightly in place. We also had a good chat about the uses of vinegar and I am feeling inspired to do some pickling, make my own vinegar, drink apple cider vinegar and honey.

On the way home I went to the library and the supermarket, and came back to find everyone happily playing. Millie and H were playing our Neopets board game, then everyone connected in Minecraft for a while. I did a bit of housework then felt extremely tired so sat down and did a bit of work on my photos. The girls all played with Millie's StarLily unicorn for a while. We watched what turned out to be Lleyton Hewitt's last game in the Australian Open. After tea I took H home (she drove) and I had a chat to another friend when I dropped her off, then home to help everyone get organised for bed (including the chicken and her chicks). We looked to see if we could see the 5 planets aligned in the sky but it was too cloudy. Caitlin was in my room watching Heartland outtakes and special features which were funny and interesting - we all watched for a while then turned it off and headed to our various beds.

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.

Home and a concert

I wrote this last week and didn't get back to it to post it...

Tuesday was another day spent at home, although that wasn't originally the plan. We were going to meet some other unschoolers at a park day, however the weather was pretty wet and wild so the meet was cancelled and we decided to stay cozily at home. We watched some TV and played on the iPad and LiAM and Millie played more lego games. In the afternoon we had some friends come over. LiAM and A played on their iPads and Millie and J played lego and jumped on the trampoline. Caitlin skyped with friends and played Minecraft.

In the evening Caitlin and I headed in towards the city. I dropped her at a friend's house for a sleepover and I met my sister at RRR radio station for a Live to Air session by Tim Rogers and the Bamboos.  It was a great gig, fantastic music and wonderful as always to see Tim Rogers. I was astounded to realise he is only 2 years older than me - I hadn't realised he was so young when I used to go and see You Am I play at Newcastle Uni in the early 90s. After the show I went back to F's place, had a play and a cuddle with T - and watched him practice his new walking skill! - then had dinner and dessert with F & J.


The rest of the week was pretty busy and then last Sunday we went camping in the King Valley for 5 days. I will write all about our trip at travellingandexploringourworld.blogspot.com.au - I didn't write anything while we were away, I spent the time hanging out by the river and enjoying having very little electronic communication.

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.

Another busy week

One of the extra exciting things about seeing Cinderella at the movies on Monday was the 20 minute Frozen Fever film that showed beforehand. It was incredibly exciting to go back into the world of Frozen, and see all the characters again having a new little adventure.

It was a pretty big day all up. Before the movie we went and bought Caitlin's karate outfit - she's been training all of term 1 in casual clothes, so this was long anticipated. After the movie LiAM had a go at the claw machine to see if he could win a prize - and he snagged a plush Oh (from the movie Home). It was incredibly exciting. He and Caitlin had another turn each and got lollies this time, but the Oh doll is very much prized and loved. We with to the Pancake Factory and shared a Chocolate Chip Pancake which was delicious! From there we went to Costco and stocked up on some things we were low on, and bought some delicious gelato, and some lollies and chips in bulk - good to get the shopping done, although quite exhausting. By the time we got home everyone was quite knackered.

Tuesday we spent at home and for most of the morning we were all a bit cranky and restless - it happens when we haven't had enough quiet home time lately. We picked up in the afternoon though, it felt a lot calmer. Millie and I had a lot of fun playing with the bicarb and vinegar and food colouring again, and found new ways to make explosive painting work effectively (one of the things I did was to drip food colouring directly onto paper, then cover it in bicarb, then drip vinegar onto it (I'd found a dropper which meant we could control the amount of vinegar we were using). It was a very cool effect, with the bicarb bubbling and then the colour spreading through it.)]

Wednesday we had a quite morning at home then went to Yarra Junction pool in the afternoon, we hadn't been swimming for a while and we all enjoyed it. For most of the time we were there we had the centre to ourselves! We went to Yarra Glen library after the pool and hung out there and at the park, joined by S & V who were coming for a sleepover, until the big girls had Guides at 6. This was their first night in the senior guides, which was quiet exciting. We dropped them off and the other kids and I went home for an hour or so, then back to pick them up. They really loved it. Once home again the kids played Minecraft and went and lay on the trampoline with blankets and chatted and looked at the sky, then watched Dance Academy till they fell asleep.

Thursday the kids played more minecraft, and with kinetic sand, and went to visit our neighbour. We went to homeschool group in the afternoon, where we made Anzac Biscuits. It was a fun group, a few  families who've only come a few times were there, as well as lots of regulars, and it worked really well. Exciting to see the group growing and people starting to come more often. The kids also played Minecraft and Terraria and Lego and with some of the other toy library toys, and rode scooters and ripstiks etc in the park and played on the playground. Once most people had left the kids were hanging out in the library or at the skate park, and we were waiting at the park for karate to start - the kids decided not to come to karate so they went up to R's house with her kids, and I went to karate alone - it was my last training session before my grading, so I really wanted to go and practise, and it was fun and useful, I cleared up a lot of questions I had about the moves and practised effectively and felt much more prepared (although still incredibly nervous!)

A weekend at home

LiAM and Millie were up reasonable early on Saturday and joined me at the computer. Tony was going to go and buy some chainsaw accessories so he could cut wood for our fire, and he took the 2 kids with him to have breakfast at McDonalds and then get his supplies. Caitlin, S & V were still asleep until the phone rang shortly before 9 - perfect timing, as we were leaving at 9.20 to take V to a hair cut appointment. The kids got up and quickly dressed and ate, and we were in Yarra Glen on time to meet R. The girls decided to walk back to S's house to watch some more Dance Academy, and I went to the post office then bought myself a Chai Latte and headed up to open the Toy Library for the morning.

As I was putting the sign out Tony and the other kids arrived. Millie and Tony played a great game with one of the sets of animals, and LiAM watched YouTube videos, while I did a bit more stocktake and chatted to the guy who came to return toys. Once our duty was over Tony took the other kids home and Caitlin arrived back from S's. We made a quick stop at the op shop - and found some kitchenware for our camper trailer, the full set of the Fifty Shades books, and a whoopee cushion (it gets me every time, we have definitely gotten our dollar's worth of value from it already!)

Tony played with Millie for a while, then went to cut wood. I had bought 'TinkerBell and the Lost Treasure' on DVD from the Op Shop, so we watched that (twice). Millie had a bath in the middle of the 2 movies, playing with a water toy (a boat and a water wheel and pump and some other blocks that fit neatly in the boat) that we'd borrowed from the toy library.

Caitlin played her fashion game on the iPad and the others played Minecraft and Terraria, and in the evening we watched Heartland - a new series about a horse ranch, this was the first time we'd watched it and Caitlin really loves it. Millie played with Lego for a while, and also a game where she was an ocelot and I was a human who adopted her. Millie and I went to bed before the others and read a big pile of books together.

Yesterday we had LiAM's friend A come over as his family was taking his sister to the airport and he wasn't keen on the long drive. The kids played Minecraft and Terraria and jumped on the trampoline and played on the swings all day, quietly and with no arguments. The girls joined in when they felt like it and did their own thing at other times. All the kids popped over next door to see our neighbour, they helped Tony unpack the wood from the trailer, then he took them for a ride in the trailer and in the Kabota, down around the dam. At one point when the kids were all occupied Tony and I had time to play a game of Letters and Numbers and just hang out together chatting for a while afterwards. Hasn't happened much in the last couple of months, it was great for him to have the whole weekend off work (and baseball starts next week so he will be away on Saturdays again from now on). In the afternoon Caitlin and I sorted my tea collection - I had 2 shelves of boxes and packets of tea, shoved in there when we moved in and not really touched since, except for the popular ones which were all over the place. So Caitlin labelled everything for me with her label maker, and I sorted and rearranged and put things in boxes that can slide in and out of the shelf - so I can access the stuff at the back and I actually know what is in there now. It was really fun working with Caitlin and made the job much easier - and it's exciting to feel not overwhelmed by my flavoured tea collection and actually feel like drinking some of it now - I think every time I thought about it before it felt too hard to find anything and so I didn't try.

LiAM and I took A home in the evening and the boys had a bit more of a play there while I had a cuppa with L, then home for a roast dinner, another episode of Heartland, then the movie Space Jam and some Star Wars Clone Wars.

A double sleepover

Despite going to bed very late the night before the kids were all awake by about 9am (some much earlier). They continued to play Minecraft in S's world. Caitlin was feeling a bit tired and was getting emotional quite easily, so she had a shower and woke up a bit, then went to see if our neighbour was home. She came back to get S and they rode bikes over to visit. I got a call a while later to say Caitlin was feeling really dizzy and couldn't ride home, so I walked over and found her lying on the ground with the neighbours looking after her. I gave her some water and helped her take off the warmer parts of her clothes (it was 5 degrees when we woke up, but the sun warmed the day really quickly and it was getting hot) - she tends to over heat and get very dizzy so once she'd cooled off she felt a bit better and was able to slowly walk home.

She went to bed and had a good rest for a few hours while the others played Minecraft, watched The Lego Movie, and a Pokemon movie, and some Dance Academy, played on the trampoline, and had pokemon battles with their pokemon cards. Caitlin joined the others later in the afternoon and seemed much better. She worked on her loom bands for a while and they all continued to flit between Minecraft and playing outside.

Someone mentioned the Anzac biscuits the girls had had at our neighbours in the morning, and the others wanted to go over and get some. I suggested we make our own, which everyone was happy with. The boys and Millie helped. I had talked up the excitement of the bicarb bit, where it fizzes up when we add it to the butter - but it didn't fizz and it was very disappointing! I said we could do some painting with bicarb and vinegar to get our fizz fix once the biscuits were cooking.

I took bicarb, vinegar, water, trays, paper, food colouring, spoons, cups, jugs and straws outside, and started by spreading bicarb in the bottom of a tray, then mixing some food colouring and vinegar in a cup, and dripping a bit into the tray - it fizzed up beautifully, lots of blue coloured bubbles. From there the kids and I all experimented in our own way, the boys tipped large amounts of different coloured vinegar into the tray and got large bubbles and mixed colours, the girls used smaller amounts and created more specific pictures, we tried putting the bicarb on the paper in a pattern then fizzing it up with vinegar, or painting with a bicarb, water and food colouring paint and then fizzing that, or just mixing it all together in small and large containers - it was a lot of fun and everyone did their own thing for as long as they felt like.

Explosion!

A great afternoon to be playing outside

Painting with bicarb paint

R arrived with hot chips to share for tea, so we had a picnic in the back yard - throwing the ball constantly for Buckley so he wouldn't join us on the picnic rug, and the kids played on the trampoline and swings in between eating chips and then Anzac biscuits. As it got colder they moved blankets and pillows and iPads out to the trampoline and played and talked out there for a while. Both kids decided to stay overnight again, so R and I had a cuppa and a chat then she went home alone. The kids watched an episode of Dance Academy then Tony put the football on. We watched the football and talked about it and played Minecraft and I went and had a bath and read my book (The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - like everything else she's written, I find it very hard to put down). After the football the kids put Dance Academy on again. LiAM had taken himself to bed earlier and the others watched a few episodes then fell asleep in their beds in the lounge room.