* january *

ah, January..... 

it came in with snow, which was just so beautiful 

{especially as it sat heavily on our Christmas 

tree which was still sitting out on the deck}

  

 the old asylum looked magical......

and we were treated to some lovely warm,

comforting fires to keep our toes toasty and 

make our marshmallows squishy and squashy....

{just perfect for making smores.....}

Evie learned to play cribb at Christmas....

she was more than happy to be my teacher......

{I did lose the game though.... she's ruthless that girl......}

there was a bear's birthdays to celebrate.....

so of course cakes had to be baked

and decorated......

so that celebrations could be had......

I picked up a big bag of duplo from an op shop for the small
people in our family to enjoy......

and let's just say that toys for 'little people' never lose their appeal

 {even when my little people aren't so little anymore.....}

Evie added to her playmobil collection....

{this is another toy which is a favourite in our home and never loses its appeal......}

Brian and Evie spent a fun afternoon making a dinosaur

landscape diorama, which actually turned out really well....

and Isaac decided to use his typewriter to do his schoolwork on.....

i do so love the clickety clack of an old typewriter.......

and that was january here in our home.....

quiet, gentle and 'homey'..... just the way we like it......

and so to work........

 and so it was, that as soon as isaac's birthday was over

we 'got back to it'.....

the kids find this a challenge sometimes

after an eight week summer break

but we ease ourselves in with shorter times

'at the table' and the adjustment doesn't seem

so bad after all......

 

i even found this 3D jigsaw in an op shop*, something which isaac 

had been hankering after for quite some time 

{the 3D jigsaw that is, not the op shop.....

just wanted to make myself clear.......}

 so he was able to complete a whole week's worth of geography 

just by putting together a jigsaw..... smashing.....

{* you'll be glad to know that all the pieces were there, I just 

took the photo before he had actually finished putting it together......}

here's evie, giving me her best, 'I really don't mind sitting here doing this

maths work when I could be outside playing in the sunshine' smile.....

 and let me tell you, this little chap, along with his scrummy brother,

have been distracting the children tremendously when they should be 

'getting on', but then who can blame them, they are rather

squeeze worthy....

a few weeks into our term and it was time for the students

of Bristol University to arrive back for their new term, so the kids and I

 took a jaunt up to Bristol to help out at our annual church 

'let's feed the 5,000' burger event.....

during freshers week the church give away 1,000 burger every day to

 students who have arrived in Bristol to study......

it's great to be able to meet so many interesting people from all

over the world and be a friendly face for them when perhaps they

don't know anyone......

i knabbed the best jobs for my two......

evie was on candy floss duty.......

which included quite a lots of  'quality control'

taste testing......

 and isaac was on ice cream machine duty......

which seemed to include quite a bit of 'quality control'

taste testing too......

 

I, as their mother, also felt it my duty to make sure that the

quality of the food being consumed was 'up to scratch'......

it was......

the new foyer at church was packed out for the

entire 2 hour lunch period every day and so was the inside of the building.....

both the kids loved helping out during the week

and I don't think it was just because it meant they didn't have

to do any 'school work' at home and

eat ice cream and candy floss in abundance.....

but then again, maybe it was......

ooooooh, I've been very lax.......

time flies by and suddenly I realise that I haven't written anything on here for AGES......

I guess it's because I don't feel there's much worth writing about when really all we are doing is our 'day-to-day' stuff......

but then, that's what life mostly consists of isn't it.......  the 'day-to-day'......

and let me tell you, I'm not going to complain about the 'day-to-day'......

I love my 'day-to-day', my 'ordinary' if you like........

I get to do the best job in the world...... every...... single....... day........

what's not to love......

and so, in our 'ordinary' we have recently had.......

haircuts........

evie and brian also joined in the haircutting frenzy, 

but for those of you who know Brian and his haircut of choice,

you will understand that from one haircut 

to another there is not a lot of visible difference in 'style' 

so please forgive me for not posting a recent picture of him......

you can just imagine him the same way as the last time you saw him 

and you would probably have a pretty accurate picture....

other things of note are........

that we have holidays coming up in just over two weeks' time 

and then it's crazy birthday season in our house.......

evie is going to have her ears pierced for her 10th 

{yes the littlest one is going into double digits}

birthday and she is VERY excited about the prospect

of wearing earings....... 

she has waited a number of years for this BIG event to happen

{I think she first asked us about having her ears 

pierced when she was about 7 years old}

and now that the day itself is within spitting distance she can

hardly contain herself.......

however, in the meantime, life goes on and she has been busy 

learning about the circulatory system in science.......

recently she made a cracker, marshmallow and icing model of how the blood flows through the heart

it was pretty cool...... and eating it was cool too.....
I think science may be her favourite 'subject'....

{let me tell you, if I had been able to scoff marshmallows in science class
at school, it would probably have been my favourite subject too.....}

the doctor is in......

Dr. Evie was in class this morning 

and did a grand job on her maths work....

she had her 'bag of tricks' with her and was ready 

at a moments notice to attend to anyone who felt in the least bit 'off colour'.....

she used her stethascope to make sure we all had a heart..... 

and off we went....

the middle ages.....

yes, it is coming upon me bit by bit 

but that is not the 'middle ages' I am talking about.....

no, in school at the moment the kids and I are reading 

about the middle ages in history..... 

I really enjoy reading/doing history with the kids

 because I must have been asleep in school and missed it first time round...... 

{another joy of homeschooling is that you get to learn stuff all over again..... 

especially good for a girl with very little brain..... 

stuff I've learned seems to fall out my ears after a short while

 so it is good to restock it every now and again.....}

today Evie got to make dinner for us - 

a split pea Monks' soup with freshly baked bread......

and she got to do a page of illumination, complete with guilded bits.....

back to life, back to reality......

back to the here and now.....

well, back to school at least.....

we've done a week or so of school now and are just beginning 

to get back into the groove of the days...... 

trying to fit things in..... 

making sure there is enough time for 'just reading' 

{although I don't know that I would ever be able to give Isaac enough time for 'just reading'......}

whilst having a bit of a clear out I came across these folders 

with lots of those magazines you would 

"buy fortnightly and build up your collection" - 

and by the end of the collection you would have 

spent a million pounds on the magazines......

I remember starting to collect them for Brian, before we were married, 

to give him as a Christmas gift because he loves classical music.... 

I didn't get very far in my collecting I have to admit

 though, it all got a bit expensive.....

and truth be told they have not been looked at much over the years 

but they have been kept, along with the accompanying CD's, 

and carted around the world waiting to be 'discovered'.....

well guess what? Isaac discovered them and is now happily 

spending time reading about great composers and trying to 

play the sample pieces of music supplied in the magazines on his keyboard....

sometimes I am very grateful that I hoard a little.......

other things that we have been up to include......

bug saving and releasing back to the wild after a good ol' look at it....

experiments involving baking soda and vinegar which 

of course meant the need for protective eye gear.......

the making of a human cell using jelly and various sweets...... 

{forgot to use extra gelatin which meant we had a bit of a cell 'collapse' 

on turning it out of the basin.... still, it looked good and tasted quite nice too.....}

then the consuming of said human cell......

yes, we're getting back into the groove......

glorious days.......

the weather has been spiffing here in Ballarat for the last few days and we have been enjoying the benefits.....

I even sang a little song to my kids one morning.....

you know the old one, 'the sun has got his hat on, hip, hip, hip hooray'?.....

funny, they didn't appreciate it!

well, what better way to finish off the school year than to have school outside....

I love our large covered deck out the back where we can enjoy the warmth in the air without frying under the sun's glare...... perfect......

our bits and bobs migrate out onto the table......


the morning tea snacks are consumed.......


and look..... I get to take my stuff outside too.......


there's a place for everyone......

AND there's a splash of sunshine inside too thanks to my lovely man.....

Aaaahhhhhhh.......

School is out.....

Look at this table.....


usually it is laden with books and files and pencils and glue sticks and projects and more books..... you get the picture.....

we have a two week winter break to celebrate and I love to completely clear all the school-y stuff away and use this table for 'other things' (like pattern drawing and fabric cutting, you know, important stuff!)

On our final day before 'clear up' we put some more touches to our Ancient Civilization time line map..... Evie did the colouring in and Isaac cut and placed all the coloured strips for the time lines, I got to do the labelling!



The kids are really enjoying our 'walk' through history at the moment. We're focussing on the ancient civilizations and they love hearing not only the stories and legends but the facts about what life was like and how people lived thousands of years ago. We start next term with the ancient Greeks!

The time line map we have made is really a take off of this poster which I didn't want to spend over $36 on - so I just printed out a blackline map of the world and we did the rest ourselves - I think the kids enjoyed it more this way anyway!

We have no plans for this holiday except for a couple of days at the beach right near the end..... but there will be lots of pyjama wearing, hot chocolate drinking, book reading, happy crafting going on, I can tell you....

Postcrossing......

Have you heard of Postcrossing?

I read about it recently and thought what a fabby idea it would be for the kids and I to get involved in......

they are really excited......

I reckon it can definitely count as part of our geography studies for the year!!!

This is our first postcard which we sent off today and it's off to Germany....


will let you know when we get our first one back.... oooooooh, I wonder where it will come from.......

Chemistry and art.....

After a quiet start to the week we did do some quite fun stuff under the pretext of studying chemistry......

We were separating mixtures..... first with ink from biro's swished into rubbing alcohol and then allowed to seep up filter papers.....


then with felt tip pens, filter paper and a few drips of rubbing alcohol....



The colours take on a whole new look when they separate and the kids had lots of fun watching them change...... they were amazed at the colours contained in colours!

Isaac even put a few of his together and gave them a title - like a piece of artwork!! They are now hanging on the wall in our 'multi-purpose space'!

A little rest.....

Today is a little bit of a quiet day.

Evie isn't feeling too well.... nothing serious, just a sore throat and headache, so she is resting.


No schoolwork needs to be done (Isaac did his early this morning so he is having a more relaxed time too - lego and jigsaws!), we can catch up another day.

So we've been reading books (The Golden Goblet is our read aloud right now, we're studying ancient Egypt for history at the moment so this one fits in there, plus it's just a really good read!) and listening to The Spiderwick Chronicles, which we have listened to before but which is such a good story that we will happily listen to it again.

I've just made some muesli for Brian and am going to try out a new recipe for Florentine Slice using corn flakes!! We'll see how that goes..... will probably have some with my morning tea.......

Homeschool highlights......

My kids love science...... I mean they seriously LOVE science....

If they can do experiments and learn why things work the way they do then it makes for happy children..... especially for Isaac who, I am convinced one day, will take something really important apart (like the laptop) just so he can see how it works! I don't mind him pulling apart some things...... but please.... not the computer!

Now Evie, well her selection of books from the library ALWAYS includes books about living things (a girl after my own heart) and 'nature' is definitely her 'thing'!

So this year we are doing a course called Real Science 4 Kids and I have to say, they are loving it!

Every week we read a chapter in the textbook (it's chemistry at the moment) and every week they get to do a hands on experiment illustrating the stuff talked about in the chapter. Now, I was rubbish at chemistry at school, it was the one science I dropped out of ...... but let me tell you it is so much fun learning it second time round with kids.....

So here they are learning all about how molecules are formed..... with marshmallows and toothpicks..... I even bought the four coloured marshmallows so that we could make distinctions between the different type of atoms!! What fun we had....



To begin with they were allowed to build molecules with no rules..... ah, what weird and wacky shapes they came up with!



Then they moved on to building molecules following simple rules. And after all of that..... we played fluffy bunnies.......