Lockdown 2.0, Days 34 & 35

 I didn't post yesterday because I had a sore back and by the evening I just wanted to lie down and not think. It felt a lot better today although still twinged occasionally and I was very careful to not do anything to aggravate it.

I had big plans yesterday to get a lot of tidying done. I started the day playing Hanabi with Amelie (we bent the rules a little and nearly won, it was a lot of fun (with lots of laughter) and my back was so sore that at times I couldn't concentrate on the game. I scrapped my plans for the day, took some anti-inflammatories, and spent about 90 minutes in the bath, listening to music and relaxing. I had a lot more movement once I got out, and I felt well enough to cook the sauces for the vegetable eggplant lasagne I had planed for the evening meal. A friend called by to pick up some eggs (our chickens are giving us 4 a day so we are pretty well stocked). We had a brief (masked and distanced) chat in the carport - it was exciting to see someone outside of our immediate family.

In the afternoon I had my Yarra glen homeschool GRoup Zoom meeting so I was able to lie down on my bed and rest some more while I chatted to 2 of the other mums. I'm really loving this fortnightly connection - and glad I dropped it back from weekly, that was feeling a bit overwhelming. At 4pm I drove down to HEalesville to pickup my milk - the dairy is doing a drop off there once a week so we can still buy their delicious milk. HAlfway there I realised I had forgotten my mask - I had a scarf in the car so I used that instead. I will get a pack of disposables to keep in the car for us all in case we need them.

Tony and Caitlin and I went for a slow, short walk, then I put the lasagne together and spent the rest of the evening on the couch. THe kids and I watched Mulan (which i always find exciting because I worked with one of the animators when I was in Tennesee) then I headed straight to bed.

Today I had no plans, but feeling a bit better meant I was able to get some tidying done, and I made lemon butter. I also did a fair bit of writing in the morning. I had a long phone chat with a friend and got ALL the washing folded - now we have room to sit on the small couch again and everyone's clothes supplies are back up. I went for a longer walk this afternoon (our medium length walk). Caitlin walked and Liam rode with me. I got very tired at the halfway point, came home and got straight in the shower, when I got out I felt so weary so spent the rest of the day on the couch, doing my puzzle, talking to Mum, working on my photos. The girls had Guides and CHeer training, and they played a lot of SIMS today. AMelie spent time on the trampoline and Liam did alot of work on his pull ups and chin ups.

I have been avoiding the news still - the only thing I heard was that Auckland is locking down after 4 mystery cases have been detected. Good job NZ For getting straight onto the problem.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 17

Numbers in the 300s today. So stable-ish but still not great. Number of deaths is increasing and the ages of people in hospitals is getting lower - both are bad.

I was overwhelmed by everything today. Housework, talking to people, thinking about what to do - all too hard. I had a nice long shower and spent a couple of hours on the couch checking email, reading stuff, doing quizzes etc. I worked outside for a while which always clears my head and I enjoy listening to my book while I do it (currently up to Book 5 of the Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians series). I caught up on all the dishes while I listened to my favourite music - felt good to get that done. Caitlin trimmed my hair for me then brushed and braided it - I like this little routine we've added to our days. The girls and I went for a walk in the late afternoon. I slowed them down a fair bit because I took my camera and took a lot of photos.It was another really beautiful afternoon - and we saw the lambs next door (at a distance. The kids saw them close up yesterday when they went for their walk). I lay down after our walk and played with my photos for a few hours.

I have been feeling guilty lately because I've not found lockdown too hard - I've enjoyed lots of aspects of it (especially the first one, not this one as much) - and so many people are finding it really hard. Then I have days when I find it hard, and I feel guilty because I do have it pretty easy, my time is my own to choose how to spend it, I'm not busy or under pressure. But really I do think it's ok to make the most of this time and enjoy it if I can, and it's also ok to have days (or weeks) where it's difficult - being at home all the time, helping to keep the kids' emotional health high, can take a toll. And this is my usual work environment - normally I'm very comfortable with the idea that my job is a full time home-educator mum. That hasn't changed because there is a pandemic. That's still my job and some days are trickier than others. I'm hoping that having a bit of a rest today will help me feel better tomorrow - if not, I'll take it easy for as long as I need to.

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.

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.

Movies and fashion and bears

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day at home. Tony was at work (on a Saturday) and Caitlin had a friend over who had stayed the night on Friday. The girls were up talking quite late, so had a bit of a sleep in, and woke up in good moods. Once they were awake LiAM put Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare on - he hadn't played it in a over a week and was very keen to have another go, and the girls were sleeping in the lounge room so he waited fairly patiently for them to be up. As always he had an audience for much of his playing - either me or one or more of the girls. It's an entertaining game to watch, and he is learning so much about the strategy of the game as he plays, and is levelling up fairly quickly.

After a while the bigger kids went outside to play on the swings. Millie and I played a game of Snap using Donkey cards, and then Go Fish with the same cards - it was a hilarious game, as Millie kept changing the rules to make sure she got the cards she wanted, and the rules would then change back to what they were, and then something different, and she was so matter of fact and sweet about it - it was a lot of fun. I love how she is exploring patterns and boundaries and language in all the games she plays.

After Caitlin's friend left the kids played Minecraft on the computer for a while. LiAM is naming a lot of his equipment and I've been helping him with the spelling - he's starting to have a go at some of the names himself, and he can read the names of things he finds when they are familiar items. It's very exciting watching that skill develop.

Caitlin and I did some fashion designing, using a book of clothes outlines she got for christmas. It was fun, each starting with the same outline and designing different patterns and colourings.

I put on a CD of 80s music that I'd borrowed from the library, and listening to 'Flashdance: What a Feeling' reminded me that I'd borrowed that movie for Caitlin to watch. It was in a double pack with the original Footloose, and she'd seen the remade Footloose at a friend's party last year, so she decided to watch that (she didn't really like the remake). I watched it with her, mainly curled up on the couch together so she could hide under my arm for any of the violent scenes. I'd forgotten how many songs I knew of the soundtrack, and even though I remembered little of the movie I very much enjoyed watching it again. Cat enjoyed it too. Millie had been playing Minecraft in my room and LiAM watching YouTube videos in his room, then Millie joined us on the couch and went to sleep in my lap. Once she woke up the girls and I watched another Barbie movie (we'd watched Swan Lake the day before) - Barbie and the Pink Shoes, which referenced several ballets and had me googling lots of information about the ones I didn't know (Giselle and the Snow Queen).

Millie took the computer back to my room to rewatch Barbie and Swan Lake, and Caitlin started to watch the first Barbie and the Mermaid's Tale. Tony arrived home from work, with one of the Vintage workers who had arrived from Argentina in the morning. We had a BBQ dinner and watched some of the Australian Open Women's Final and then the Final of the Asian Cup (soccer) - an exciting game which Australia won in the end! The girls and I watched the 2nd Barbie Mermaid movie in my room while LiAM watched more YouTube videos in between watching bits of the movie with us. I took Tony's friend home after the soccer then Tony read books to Millie until she was ready to go to sleep (a bit later than usual thanks to her afternoon nap). We gave her the Nick Bland bear books as a starting school present on Friday, and we've read them countless times already - she loves them. And she knows them off by heart and will correct any error in the reading, even very tiny words. She is so involved in the pictures and the stories - and they are fun books to read.

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.

Piano playing

Caitlin and I had a really fun morning playing the piano on Thursday. She likes to play and learn her own way and doesn't want a lot of help (or sometimes any help) so often I tend to wander off and leave her to it, because it seems she wants to be alone. This time though she asked me to stay, and I realised she doesn't want to be alone when she plays, she wants company and someone to throw ideas around with and someone to help her if she has a questions, and someone who won't offer unsolicited suggestions, just be there and appreciate the music she is creating. So I stayed and it was really enjoyable hanging out with her.

She wanted to play 'When the Saints Go Marching In' but there were notes in it that she hadn't played before - it was the last song in one of her piano books, so she went back to the start and played one piece from each lesson to refresh her memory on where the notes were, and we did talk a little bit about timing, then she had a go at Saints, and played it several times, singing the real words and the St Kilda team song words - then we decided to see if we could find the Collingwood team song music - I found them online and she played and memorised the song so she could play it for Tony. We played chopsticks together - she has changed some bits of it to be the way she would like, and sometimes that annoys me - then I figured it was all music and fun and I could adjust the base to fit her own version of chopsticks, and it ended up being hilarious. We mucked around too with 'Do you want to build a snowman' from Frozen - she's able to pick it up from watching her friend play it, and knows the first verse or so. She was able to show me enough that I could play it too. I prefer to read the music (I don't usually remember things by heart) so I might see if I can buy the sheet music for the movie so we can both play it - and all the other songs.

I'm feeling inspired now to find her more YouTube videos of violin pieces - she doesn't like to read music to play the violin, she likes to watch people play, so that's easy to organise. She tried several new songs on the recorder recently too, with new notes, so her overall repertoire is increasing. She tends to do it in spurts like this - play all her instruments quite a lot for a week or two, then have a break. Although, like me, she usually plays at least a little on the piano every day - its easily accessible, easy to walk in, play a tune, then continue down the hall. I know I've said it before and its worth saying again because I think it every day - I LOVE having a piano in my house and I am so grateful to G for making it possible. Thank you again!!!!

Busy Lazy Sunday

I love Sundays - Tony is usually home, we usually don't make any big plans, so we can hang out at home or go out as we wish, and recharge a bit.

I was up early again and Millie joined me again before sunrise - we checked on the sun's progress several times and the best bit was when a mist came up and obscured the mountains and we could see the sun shining through behind it and over the top. Millie did some colouring and printing out from the computer, presents for Tony (a bird and some chicks, I helped her with the chicks) and once Caitlin got up the girls played Harry Potter - Scene It. When LiAM emerged the 3 of them played in the lounge room for a while, then LiAM sorted his Skylanders so that he could decide who he wanted to play with in what order.

Tony had a sleep in, then agreed to take Caitlin busking. She practiced her violin after checking it was in tune, then learnt some new notes and songs on the recorder, then practiced her old recorder songs. While they were gone, LiAM and Millie and I played another game I picked up at the op shop this week, a game of logic/puzzle cards. Some of them were pattern questions, or ones where you lay out the matches and move/remove a certain number to make a different pattern - LiAM and I had a lot of fun with those - or playing card arrangements, figure out the missing card (we did a hard one of those and figured out an answer although we weren't completely sure why that would be it - and we were right! Very exciting). While we were doing the harder questions Millie made her own very cool patterns with the other matches. We also talked then about whether it was safe to be using matches, and situations where it would or wouldn't be safe, the chances of a match accidentally lighting, what to do if it did light and so on. Having had wood fires for most of their lives, and several experiences of lighting outdoor fires, my kids know how to use matches safely and the consequences of not being careful - they are quite respectful and also comfortable around fire.

Caitlin came back with the remains of her haul of $53 from busking!!!! She had bought herself and the others a few treats, and also bought herself an iTunes card as she wants to buy the movie Frozen for her iPad mini. The kids had competitions then to see if anyone could eat a sour warhead without making a face - no one could.

The kids were playing sword fights with their swords from the circus showbags, and Caitlin made up a beautiful song about sword fighting and then walking away and keeping the peace.

Everyone played outside for a while - it was a beautiful sunny day, reasonably warm, perfect weather to be outside in. They played obstacle courses and races, and then Tony mowed the lawn with a bit of help from the girls.

In the meantime I had made up some cake mix to use for cake pops, so Millie and I put them in the cake pop maker. They didn't rise as much as I'd hoped - I think I didn't put enough mixture in each one. They looked like little mushrooms when we had them on their sticks once they were done. Oh - Millie did lots of number crunching figuring out how many sticks she needed, she had a tray with 3 rows of 4 spots and she asked me what was 4 lots of 3, then she had 3 sticks so counted all except 3 to see how many more she needed. Its so cool to see her having the mathematical concepts to figure out what to ask, and to start to figure out the answers she wants.

Millie with the cake pops before decoration

After the cakes were cooked I made vienna cream icing in green and blue and iced them, and Caitlin and Millie decorated them with the sprinkles Caitlin gave Millie for her birthday. They looked fantastic and most of us thought they tasted fantastic - Millie wasn't thrilled with the taste so we'll try some different cake recipes and/or decoration options.

Decorated cake pops

The kids watched Scooby Doo then we all watched House Rules, then Big Bang Theory until most of us drifted off to bed. Caitlin practiced her high leg kick while she was watching TV. LiAM and Tony connected on Terraria for a while before they went to bed.

Friday games

Up early yesterday as Caitlin had school. I think we're finding the Friday morning rhythm easier than we did at the start of the year, although we all still find it hard getting up and going early. Millie discovered she could play music using her hands and arms (clapping, tapping her arm and so on) so she played songs for me to guess, and then we sang the songs (and made up funny words). She then played with adding numbers some more, and added 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 1+4 by herself. She thinks its awesome that 1+4 and 4+1 give the same answer too!

We dropped Caitlin at school where the teachers were excited to see her back after our holiday, and the rest of us went to A&J's for the day. L and I had a cuppa and chatted and I played with baby O who is becoming more and more interactive and friendly and fun to be with. LiAM and A played Terraria and chatted - about the game they were playing, what they'd like to do with it in the future, other games, things they've done this week. They really didn't stop talking much all day. Millie and J played an elaborate super-hero role playing game and played with J's toys. They all also watched TV, jumped on the trampoline, played with autumn leaves. L and H went out for coffee and I stayed with the kids and checked my email as they were all immersed happily in their own games.

We picked Caitlin up from school and came straight home as everyone was tired. Caitlin had spent a lot  of time making Creeper loom bracelets for everyone else at school, and she has a long list of orders for next week. LiAM realised that he knew the way home from the school so he navigated for me all the way home. Tony was already here (he finishes early on Fridays) so we all hung out together for the rest of the day. We got the fire going, Caitlin and Tony tried to start the lawn mower but it wasn't up to it, played some iPad games, I had a bath. After tea we all played Harry Potter - Scene It, which was a lot of fun. LiAM impressed us with his detailed trivia knowledge of the movies. Everyone did well and it was a tight race between LiAM, Caitlin and I at the end. It's a game that we really all can play and have a chance at (we altered a few of the questions for the younger kids) and I'm very glad I picked it up at the Op Shop.

Superman

Yesterday we watched 5 Superman movies.

That wasn't the original plan - in the morning we put on Superman, The Movie, and everyone enjoyed it so someone suggested watching Superman 2, and then Superman 3, Superman 4 (the Quest for Peace) and Superman Returns followed. (we borrowed a box set from the library recently after watching Man of Steel and wanting to compare the older Superman movies with the newer one). We had gaps in between each movie, and no one sat and watched a whole movie without doing other things as well, we just had them on as we went about our day and stayed for the bits that caught our attention. It was a lot of fun.

While the movies were on we also
- played board games - mainly Rivers, Roads and Rails (although our version (from the toy library) has artwork on it, the pictures in that link just have coloured lines)
- did lots of puzzles
- played games on the iPad and iPod, individually and together
- played with toy animals
- played with figurines
- played with soft toys
- pretended to be fairies and animals
- pretended to be Superman and various bad guys
- talked on the phone
- prepared and ate 2 hot meals and lots of snacks
- played the piano and the drums
- designed and made birthday cards
- played with and took care of the kitten
- took care of the chickens and checked on our baby chicks
- did a little bit of housework
- discussed the differences between these movies, Man of Steel, and the Marvel superhero movies
- asked lots and lots of questions, had discussions and looked things up about the movie plot lines, actors, characters and locations. Like - I know Superman is fast, but he seems to flit back and forth between San Francisco and New York quite a lot and it doesn't take any time at all. Or really, does no one other than Lois notice that Clark Kent goes missing a lot of the time. And Clark Kent is really amazingly controlled - how difficult would it be to pretend to have no strength at all when you are really the strongest person in the world. And before you make major life decisions, like, say, choosing to give up your super powers - its probably a good idea to take a day or 2 to think about it (and check that there's not a world disaster happening at the time....). And the main Superman music was written by the same guy (John Williams) who wrote a lot of the Harry Potter music, and Star Wars - is the music similar, what else did he write for (and we also have a CD of his compositions from the library, so we'll listen to it today). And why do ALL the Superman movies end with exactly the same scene - some of us liked the linkage and closure that provided, others felt it was a bit silly.  And if we were Superheroes - would we save our friends first or the big cities, would we have a boyfriend/girlfriend, would we tell people who we were.... We talked all day about Superman (and other topics) and made so many links to other things we knew or had wondered about, it was a restful day full of so much learning, I'm glad I was able to keep saying 'yes' everytime someone asked if we could watch the next movie.

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.

Birthday Party Week

We've been home from Tasmania just over a week now and its been a rather busy week - although on the whole we're all still quite relaxed from our holiday.

We arrived home early on the Friday morning before Liam's birthday, which was on the Sunday. Friday we spent relaxing, unpacking a bit, and some friends came over for the afternoon and brought Stripey back. Saturday I spent fixing the washing machine and dishwasher which had both decided to have their own holiday, and then getting organised for Liam's party.

Sunday we woke up and did Liam's present giving in the lounge room. Caitlin gave him a wooden cat (to match Millie's) and a ceramic dragon. Tony and I gave him a Tasmanian Devil puzzle, a toy lemur (not Schleich, but a similar brand) and an iPod Touch - exactly what he wanted. I'd loaded his favourite games on it so he was entertained for the morning while we finished party preparations.

Liam and his Lemur

Liam and his iPod

At midday we met his friends at Healesville Sanctuary, as well as Fi and James and Mum and Dad. Everyone had a picnic lunch, then I put out party food and the kids played in a large grassed area near the dingo enclosure. We played Pass the Parcel (Tony and I played the drums for music) and Liam (without us looking) won the main prize so he was pretty happy. Liam's presents included lego, a craft kit, a magician figurine, animal books, a vial of gold, and a Schleich dinosaur (velociraptor).

Liam's birthday cake

Eventually we packed up and went for a walk around part of the Sanctuary - we had 13 adults and 13 children there so we were quite a group. We did the wetland walk, the lyrebirds (a couple of us saw the male lyrebird singing), the reptiles and the parrots. We'd invited everyone back to our house because Liam had a piñata waiting - most of his friends came back (actually all our homeschooling friends). The kids played outside for a while then the piñata called - it was shaped like a crocodile and very cool. The tail soon came off and everyone was able to whack it and get a few lollies - and the rest of the body survived so Liam was able to keep it! Everyone stayed and played for a few hours and one the guests provided some dinner so it was a very relaxing afternoon and evening.

Liam's turn

Liam and the piñata

We were back into our usual routine through the week, with ABA, gymnastics, joey scouts, homeschool gymnastics and guides to go along to. In between Liam did a lot of the craft from his birthday kit, we watched tv and read a lot of books, played games, played with the animals (real and toy and imaginary), went to the library a couple of times and went to friends' houses.

On Friday we had Millie's birthday party. It was almost exactly the same group of people as we'd had here on Sunday - Fi and James couldn't make it and we had one other local family come along - otherwise it was Mum and Dad and 4 other homeschooling families. It was a very casual party, the kids (aged from 2 to 10 and an even mix of boys and girls) played inside and outside, with lego, craft, toys animals, on the trampoline and swings, listening to music, looking for our real animals in the yard etc. We had a beautiful cake and Millie's presents included art and craft supplies, a game, books and a felt board with a pet shop scene. Tony had finished work early, it being a Friday, so he was able to be here for most of it. A few of the families stayed for dinner and by this stage some of the kids were playing Minecraft on the computer and they kept us up to date with their new discoveries - playing as a social group they can explore and discover much more quickly than on their own, they really work well together.

In the midst of the evening part of the party Tony took Liam to Chirnside Park for him to go to the movies with his Joey Scout group - they saw Monsters University and Liam was very excited to go without any other family members, and to be able to buy his own snack to eat and drink there. There were still people here when he got back so he also didn't feel like he'd missed out on the party.

The other mothers (and one dad for a while) and I had a great chat sitting in the kitchen, it was a very easy party to get ready for and a very relaxing one while it was taking place.

Yesterday we had a visit from Pete and Cynthia who are staying at Mum and Dad's for the weekend - great to see them and Liam was thrilled because he'd wanted his uncle Pete to come to his birthday party but we'd left it too late to organise. They'd just visited the chocolate factory and came with gifts - giant chocolate freckles for the kids and a chocolate making kit and fondue set for the family. The kids enjoyed showing Pete all their lego (he was the first one to buy us any lego so he kind of has a vested interest) and the animals and their tree climbing skills, and I loved having a casual chat - we haven't had many opportunities to just visit each other over the last 20 years or so - hopefully we can do it more often.

Today Caitlin is going to an archery day with guides, and we have some friends coming over this afternoon while their mother has something else on.  So another social day coming up and looks like this coming week will be quite busy as well - although its the last week of term so then there will be a change in our rhythm for a couple of weeks after that.

The view out my window this morning as I wrote this blog post on a chilly morning of -5 C

Piano

We have a piano!!!!!!!!!!!

On a very busy Wednesday a week and a half ago, we went to a piano showroom not too far from where the kids do homeschool gymnastics, to 'start to have a look'. I initially wanted a smallish piano because we don't have a lot of spare room in our house, but Caitlin was drawn to one that was somewhat bigger than I had in mind. It was beautiful - and when I had a good look I realised that while it was taller than the others, it was the same length and depth, so would take up the same amount of floor space as any of the others. The woman showing us the pianos also pointed out that a taller piano has longer strings - so a better sound. And it did feel and sound so much better than the others when we played it - it reminded me of my Grandma's piano, so was certainly my nostalgic choice, and Caitlin wasn't interested in any of the others once she'd tried this one. I tentatively asked the price - she had to go and check - and it was in our price range!!!! (The piano is a gift from one of my wonderful uncles). It felt a bit weird to buy such an expensive item on our first outing to look at them - but this piano really felt perfect and we've been talking about it for over a year, I'd looked at this showroom online several times - and I have played a bit of piano over the years so know what I like and don't like. So we said we'd take it, and then had 5 very excited days to wait until delivery.

Last Monday the truck pulled up in our driveway to the sound of 5 very excited kids squealing (we had friends over). The delivery guys moved Buckley's balls out of the way before they got their trolley out, and happily chatted to the kids and us about pianos in general and ours in particular. The piano was wheeled into place (I still haven't reallocated all the stuff I moved out of the way to make room for it - that's a job for this week!) and after a bit more discussion (in which the guys told us that they guess it was made around 1925 - and it was definitely manufactured in Melbourne which is exciting (Its a Wertheim)) they left us to it. 

The kids all had a bit of play straight away (with only slight drama about who was going to go first) and the highlight for Liam and Millie in particular was being able to open up the top and watch the hammers and strings move as it was played. This led to lots of dicussion about how a piano works, what type of instrument it is (percussion apparently), how you can make it louder and softer, how the pedals work etc. (The delivery guy had also talked to us about how the strings were set out, and I'd learnt lots of new information).

In the last week the piano has been played by everyone, multiple times a day. Caitlin has worked through both of her beginner piano books and is going back and improving her skills and starting to try music from other books. Liam and Millie are playing improvised music - Millie loves to play a 'cat song' which really does sound like a cat walking gently on the keys. She also still loves to watch in the top of the piano as other people play. I find it hard to walk past the door of the playroom without popping in to play (and I rarely resist) - I'm loving being able to sit down and play (or try) a piece, then get up and go on with what I was doing, knowing I can come back and play again any time. Tony hasn't played music before but has started to learn about reading music and playing a few simple tunes. Caitlin and I also tried a duet with me on the recorder and her on the piano - something I'd love to be able to do more of!

I love that our lifestyle has allowed us to really focus on music as much as we liked since the piano arrived, and that we can use it as much or as little as we like now that it is here - there's no pressure on anyone to play, and everyone is welcome to play how and when they want to.

Dioramas and library

Well I did get a lot done on Wednesday when I was here alone, cleaned out a lot of those corners that get filled with stuff, and cleared out the hallway so now its full of nothing but space! It was tiring and it also felt good to really get stuck into one task for several hours.

The kids were disappointed that they missed the nets going on the vines. However they also had a lot of fun at Grandma's, watching the renovations happening, playing games and reading books with Grandma and Grandad, and Caitlin learned how to read music and play the piano! Mum had bought a book at the 2nd hand bookstore where she volunteers, and it set the whole process out very simply so that Caitlin was able to follow the steps and learn each of the notes and then play some simple tunes. She was very excited and its spurred me on to start researching (and then get on with purchasing) our piano.

We tried to have a quiet day at home on Thursday as a bit of a chance to rest - its been a busy week with more busy days coming up over the weekend and the next few weeks. Caitlin got out the glue gun and began making a diorama to represent Millie and her friend getting married, and she started planning the 'wedding' and invitations. She's put a lot of work into it and its very pretty and clever. I love the way she plans things and can picture a whole event and everything that needs to be organised.

Yesterday we went to visit a friend who is shortly moving to New Zealand (quite sad for us) and then went to the Homeschool Library Activity in Yarra Junction. We had 4 families there and we all know each other well, it was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon hanging out in the children's section of the library, doing the craft activity, reading lots of books, some of the kids played Monopoly, some played on the ipad, the big girls (Caitlin and S) and Millie went out and used the internet for a while on the library computers, the parents chatted in between reading stories. Caitlin borrowed a HUGE pile of books about animals - she went through the shelves and picked all the covers she liked - it was funny, it pushed my buttons about how many books it was 'OK' to borrow, but I did get them all for her, especially because I realised *I* didn't care how many she got, I was simply worried (quite worried) about what everyone else would think.... I'm still feeling the desire to justify it here, but really, I was happy to be able to say yes to her borrowing wishes.  

Music Time

Yesterday we went to Music in Yarra Glen. 

When we first moved to this area, Music was the first social activity we went to (we'd been do the park the day after we arrived from NSW, and a 3 year old started chatting to me, so I talked to his Mum and she told me about Music, and we went the next day). I met a lot of my local friends there, and we went more weeks than not for about 3 years. Then in the year after Millie was born I cut a lot of activities out because we were all so overwhelmed and tired, and other things took the place of Music.

Towards the end of last term I had 3 separate conversations with people who suggested I come back to Music. I also found out that a friend I'd been trying to catch up with for ages, who is also homeschooling her kids, has started going again (we met there 6 years ago). So I figured it was time to try it again - and it seems to fit into our week more easily this term, we don't have anything regular on Tuesdays so we're a bit more open to going if we can. Caitlin was very excited at the thought of returning - she has missed it at times.

So we rocked up and were met at the door by June and Heather - who were the ladies who ran it when we first started going, it was like we never left! And its still only $7 per family/week, which makes it one of the best value activities we go to. When we went in, there were 4 families there who used to go when we used to go, plus 3 other families who we have met since, so we knew just about everyone, and the teacher was Liam's Kindergarten teacher for a term so we knew her as well. The big 2 fitted in straight away, Millie was a bit overwhelmed by the number of people I think and wasn't quite sure what was going on - she joined in for about half the songs and sat curled in my lap for the rest of the time. 

I had wondered if it would feel too 'young' for Caitlin at least (its aimed at 0-5 year olds) but she loved it all and joined in every song. Liam loved the chance to play instruments as loud as he possibly could and when he wasn't sure about an activity he joined in in his own way.

At the end, Cathy asked if there were any songs that anyone wanted to sing before we left. Liam asked for the Collingwood Song (for those who don't know, all the football teams in the AFL (Australian Football League) have a theme song which is sung when they win a game - Tony and the kids are Collingwood Magpies supporters (I want to put in a link to the song but my internet is so slow this morning I can't find one - I'll try to come back and add the link later) Cathy looked surprised then launched straight into the song, with Liam singing along. She faltered after a line or 2, so Liam continued solo and sang the rest of the song himself, loudly and with gusto. Caitlin then asked to sing her wombat song which she composed, and sang it solo (although rather quietly).

One of the things that people worry about with the kids being homeschooled is that won't get the opportunity to perform in public, or feel comfortable speaking (or singing!) in front of others. I love that my kids constantly show me that there's no need to listen to fears like that - they have the confidence to perform in public whenever they have something they want to perform!

After Music was finished we all went to the hall for some lunch and play. My kids played with the other homeschooling family and are very keen to get together again for more play time - great to have more local friends now who may be available during school hours. I was able to chat with several friends who I hadn't seen for a while and we all left feeling socially satisfied. And since it is a pay as you go activity I'm feeling very excited about the possibility of going on the weeks we feel like it and having no pressure to go on the weeks when it feels too hard.