One word? When seven would do…

I had a nice long lie in this morning. Scarlett was up early but came and got into bed with me when Ady went to work, and then got back up and went downstairs with Davies when he got up. I got up to find them happily Xboxing so I pootled about getting washing done and hung out, packed lunch ready and the kitchen tidied up while they had breakfast and got dressed.

Lucy and The Rs arrived and we went off to Magical Mondays. My big clock (and those of you who have been to our house will know just how big I mean when I say that) in the lounge has been running progressively slower as it’s battery runs out which has been really messing with my head. Even though I knew at each stage how slow it was (20 minutes by the end of today when we finally replaced the battery) it kept catching me out. When I was a child I had a digital clock radio beside my bed and a digital clock display on my record and tape player in my room, which you could see both of at the same time from certain places in my bedroom. I used to be obsessed with having them change at the exact same moment and sit for ages getting it synchronised. We got to MM first after Allie and Leo and Allie had got some air drying clay out. It’s made with fibres in which aid the strength when it hardens so by the end of the session we were refering to it as ‘hair drying clay’. :lol:. Allie had requested that it all got used up so she didn’t have to take it to and fro on the bus any more so we took that very seriously and our hearth is currently filled with our creations from today. I made a pot with 20 individual compartments to keep Davies’ teeth in as they fall out. I then made little individual lids for each compartment which he can number when he paints it up. We then made a header bit for it with ‘Davies’ on it and Davies made a little tooth man to sit on top which he used as the dot on the i. He decided to make something for me and his creation underwent several incarnations including pot and volcano before ending up as a mug with a M on it and a handle. He then made a coaster for it (cue much heckling about why you’d want a coaster without a table ;)). Allie had made a tealight holder with cut out shapes which inspired me to create a tealight holder in the shape of a pumpkin cut out with a lid, so Davies made one of those too – infact his is probably better than mine! Then while I made a witch, on a Halloween craft kick he went on to make a Shrek and a donkey. Scarlett made a mug / pot / pumpkin with a lid and then when I went outside to get a stick to be my witches broomstick I asked her to make a cat to ride on the broomstick too which she really went for, creating a really very recognisable cat. Davies actually went back to the clay again later and made a tank complete with a seperate ramp for it to go up for shooting stuff. It was really nice to sit with D&S and do stuff as often they go off on their own at MM while I hang out with the adults instead. Various adults came and sat at the table anyway so we still managed some chatting and banter including an interesting conversation about children swearing.

We then had lunch and Davies and Scarlett did indeed wander off and do their own thing while I did some chatting to adults followed by clearing up. It was another nice session there even though I didn’t manage my planned activity of biscuit baking and decorating. We’re getting a lot out of MM at the moment, which is great, having had various false starts with Home Ed groups over the years it’s really nice to feel so much a part of one and that we are both contributing and benefitting from membership. 🙂

Davies and Scarlett hadn’t really spent much time with Richard and Rebecca at group (Scarlett played with them a bit towards the end) so they were all wanting to have a play back at ours when we got home. Lucy and I were in the kitchen (I was cooking quiche for dinner) and left them to it. Scarlett and Rebecca were playing together in Scarlett’s room so Davies struggled a bit until he came and helped me with quiche making before luring them all to watch / play X box with him. Lucy and The Rs left, the children had an early tea – well Davies did, he loved the quiche, Scarlett was less keen and picked all the pastry off to eat then gave up and painted my toenails instead :roll:. We watched The Sarah Jane Adventures which we’ve managed to miss every episode of up til now then took Davies round to Beavers where he and Scarlett were greeted with people rushing up to say they’d seen them on the front page of Adur magazine :).

Tarly and I popped in the shop to get some potatoes and found Cadburys Wispas back on sale with the tagline ‘some things are best left in the 80s, others are not!’ which delighted me. Wispas were my favourite chocolate bars EVER. So we bought one and shared it on the way home. I’d promised to do a fairy puzzle book with her when Davies was at Beavers so we sat and did that, then watched Storymakers together. Ady was home in time to walk round and collect Davies and then I nipped off to Tescos for various bits and pieces including the ingredients for our Christmas cake which I want to make this week.

I got back to find the chimney smoking with the first fire of the season lit and roaring away and both children in their pjs. I’d bought Davies a new bedside light as the illuminated globe which he was using had blown its bulb and actually is ok as a nightlight but not for when he is reading in bed as it’s not bright enough, so I’d got a clip on goose necked spotlight to clamp onto his bed for him to angle as he pleases. He was delighted with that and went straight to bed to use it!

I’d listed a meet up at a local park in the sussex newsletter and on the local HE yahoo group but I think there is another local regular park meet up on Tuesdays anyway and no one has contacted me to say they want to come along so our plan is to do some painting of clay if it’s dry, maybe make the Christmas cake, wrap and post some ebay parcels that cheque payments clear for tomorrow and watch some of the backlog of dvds I’ve borrowed from work (Lassie, Doctor Dolittle 1, 2 and 3) followed by swimming in the evening.

Feeling quite festive today actually, but this has more to do with wandering down the seasonal aisle at tescos and getting two boxes of my most favourite Christmas delicacy, which I am tucking into as I type. 🙂