Thursday 19 June 2014

Settling back in to home

We've had a couple of quiet days, mainly at home, which was exactly what we needed after our trip away and then birthday preparations and celebrations.

We made up some of the craft kits that the kids got for their birthdays - plaster of paris fairies for Millie and a glow in the dark T-Rex skeleton for LiAM. Caitlin and Millie also started on a make-your-own Angel doll - there was sewing involved so Caitlin is enjoying it more than I would. We've talked about making cake pops in Millie's new cake pop maker but as yet haven't gotten any further than wiping the surface down with a clean cloth before use. Maybe today...

The kids have been playing Minecraft again - I heard of a server run by an unschooled Australian teenager, so we have logged into that for the first time and they are enjoying playing with other kids and learning how to negotiate someone else's server. I've been impressed with the ease with which they ask questions when they aren't sure about something, and also with the speed that they are answered by more experienced players.

They also played Skylanders, and some new games on the MacBook, and games on the ABC2 and ABC3 websites. LiAM was thrilled to find a new SlugTerra game, which is based on his current favourite TV Show.

We've watched a bit of TV and talked about the shows, played with animal toys, played the piano and the ukelele, read books, looked after all our animals - our little chicks are now not so little - the roosters are now bigger than their dad and soon I'll be looking for options to move them on - I don't think we can easily keep 4 roosters with our flock!

We went to the library yesterday afternoon, nice to be back after a 4 week break. LiAM watched YouTube videos, the girls used the hall to dance, we read some books and borrowed some more, then the girls went to Girl Guides. Millie is 5 now so old enough to begin - I stayed as well in case she found it too much. She loved it and joined in all the activities - and looked so tiny compared to everyone else.

Millie has been practicing her addition facts, asking every day 'what's plus 1 plus 1' and 'what's plus 4 plus 3 plus 2 plus 1' or 'what's plus 68 plus 2'... and she's starting to notice patterns, like that if you add 1 to a number you get the next number! It's quite exciting to explore it with her and be reminded of the patterns ourselves!

I've had a couple of moments when I've been really pleased to back, too. I wasn't quite ready to come home from our holiday - I rarely am (actually the only time I've ever been pleased to finish a holiday was at the end of our 5 week trip to Europe with a 1yo and a 2yo...). And this time I didn't really miss anything while I was gone. But there's been a couple of little moments - like opening our cutlery drawer and seeing all of OUR spoons - where I've felt very content and happy to be back in our space, and grateful that we have such a wonderful space to come back to.

No comments:

Post a Comment