The Brick House

Tuesday
– played Horse Isle
– did some of the Excel Extension workbook on bushrangers, times tables and mental maths workbooks, and some of her crocodile report
– did some laundry, outdoor jobs, put away washing up
– played in the garden with K
– Nannie picked them up to go swimming at 1:30, and H and I went to Kaleen PO to pick up a registered letter, he fell asleep in the car so I read in the carpark til they came out at 3:30.
– rode on Kaleesh
– went down to put Smoko’s rug on and groom him
– watched some TV, went to bed

Wednesday
– did some schoolwork (maths, comprehension, more maths) and went down to the horses; Smoko and Becky were kicking at each other which was a bit unnerving. Groomed Smoko after he got muddy and trimmed his feathers. Walked back up, did the rest of her schoolwork, then went back to the horses and had a ride. Trotting in a circle, then went into a more overgrown area up to Sue and Dave’s house, he pigrooted and B nearly came off but managed to dismount safely. Got back on, eventually galloped off, did more flatwork and went through the dam then more cantering and jumping. Went bareback for a trot and fell off and hurt her wrist. Finished off with him then went back home. Went to Hall, grabbed Kaleesh, rode her round the ring and she was kicking a bit, for no apparent reason. Fed and groomed her, let her out, then came home and got on the computer til dinner
– home at around 6pm after spending the day at the farm
– Scouts (sausage sizzle), just playing around.
– learning In The Jungle by watching it on YouTube, playing Horse Isle

Talk Like A Pirate Day got off to a slow start because I couldn’t figure out how to print from my laptop, and eventually had to go and use Meerkat, where I discovered that there wasn’t a graphics program installed which knew what a jpeg is *sigh* So I rang E and he suggested I install Irfanview, so I did, and was able to resize and print out some skull-and-crossbones at different sizes. K painted her flags black and put red accents on some of them, and B made up her own flag because she pointed out that the skull-and-crossbones would have belonged to a specific pirate and we should have our own designs too. So she painted a flag, and named her ship the Lady’s Wrath. K was the captain of the good ship Cubbyhouse. K also painted a hat shape I cut out of cardboard and we stuck a smaller skull and crossbones on it, but until it dried she was wearing a bandanna. We broke out the treasure chest, covered over its contents with gold paper, and filled it with all the bling we weren’t wearing. Then we stowed it away on board the Cubbyhouse, where it was later stolen by the dastardly raiders from the Lady’s Wrath. There was lots of playing outside, so by the time H was tired enough to haul off for a nap, the girls were happy to come in and watch Pirates of the Caribbean on the computer. In the afternoon the ended up discarding their piratical gear and playing with water in the sandpit. We didn’t end up having our usual TLAPD dinner because E didn’t get home with the mince until 6:30, and he and B had to head straight out to Cubs. I put H and then K to bed, but decided it wasn’t worth making the meatballs since B and E wouldn’t get back til after 9:30. The buses are useless for Cubs since the closest leaves the interchange at the nominal time Cubs finishes, but since they are always late in closing she has to wait another hour. Aaargh. They had dinner at the food court instead, and I had toast…

On Saturday we actually managed to get some stuff done – possibly because with no car I was rather less interested in heading out for some Mum’s Time Off, and of course we had no way of getting to the markets. The house was an utter tip, but in the morning I cleared some kitchen space, did loads of laundry and washing up, and cleaned the dining room (not that you’d notice now of course). E did a bunch of tidying in the playroom but didn’t really finish it. We talked about how to ramp things up a bit towards the aim of getting this place on the market next month, and ended up renting a ute (E and B cycled over to Jamison to pick it up), a chainsaw and a storage unit. I packed some more boxes while they were out, and when E was chopping up tree bits and loading the ute. He and K dropped off the first load, while I stayed at home making spaghetti and meatballs. B’s friend Chris cycled over to visit and they took the dog for a walk. In the morning she helped me with laundry and keeping K amused, and this evening she has been sorting/culling her clothes drawers, before going to bed early with a little light reading on Pirates’ Ships and Weapons. K played in the garden and watched Finding Nemo, but she also volunteered to clean the windows – or as she puts it, to “make things ‘weak”. She was very taken with the squeaking of the cloth and the Windex and considers it the most important part of the window-cleaning experience.

Tomorrow Nannie is coming in to collect the girls and take them out to the farm for the day. E and I will start humping boxes across to the storage unit as well as clearing out the rest of the rubbish from the garden and hopefully from the green shed as well (plus the usual packing, cleaning and so on). The house had been filling up with boxes and it was having a negative impact on my mood…it will be nice to get some space!

I got woken up by A Certain Munchkin at 5:30 and gave up staying in bed by 6am. So I had an hour and a half with just H before B got up. She was on the computer from 7:30-8:30, during which time K woke up and helped me with outdoor jobs. Then K went on the computer, and B made her a Dizzywood account. Then it was B’s turn again. H went back to sleep after a somewhat trying period of grizzliness (so you think YOU’RE grumpy after waking up at stupid o’clock do you, boyo?).

When I started this entry K was sitting next to me tracing over the letters of her name which I wrote out for her a couple of times 🙂 This morning she typed in her name a couple of times without any help, so she knows all the letters, but she hasn’t been interested in writing it out before. Then she started drawing, and we drew a composite picture of me. She’s now dotting all over it with the pencil saying “I’m drawing in all the atoms”. Apparently they’re all moving around and squirming in my body, nillions and fillions of them *chortle*

We spent quite a while ransacking wardrobes and jewellery boxes for costumes for Talk Like A Pirate Day tomorrow. I convinced B to be a pirate wench because I found her a gorgeous costume, and when she heard she could still have a sword as well as lots of petticoats she decided that is sounded like a Good Thing. K is a stripy little pirate lad in some things from her wardrobe and a pair of kneelength striped leggings from B’s, and wants me to make her an eyepatch, a pirate’s hat and do some piratical facepaint (eep!). Even H and I have costumes 🙂 After showers and naps and the expenditure of ridiculous amounts of effort getting everyone out of their pirate garb and into their ordinary clothes and shoes, and all pointed in the right direction, we headed out to do a bit of op shopping for some extra bling, scarves and costumey bits, and then to the library to find pirate books. B developed a headache at the first op shop but insisted on continuing on instead of going home, reserving the right to whinge, complain and fall dramatically into chairs as she saw fit. We got home and I gently reminded B that she had been last on the computer, so K had a turn and B drank lots of water, took some panadol and went to bed, where she had a good sleep until she felt better.

I finished my wench blouse, and it looks pretty good with a new maroon sash, black layered skirts, and a dark red bandana! We got dressed up to show E when he came home (then undressed again so nobody’s clothes got dirty). H was tired and grumpy from about 6 so we kept him entertained with FisherPrice baby games then belting out songs like Mahna Mahna and In the Jungle on Youtube. He was pretty much straight to bed once Daddy got home. K is sleepy and grumpy but staying up for dinner, she and E have already had Kipper – quite coincidentally, it was an episode about pirates!

K continued her obsession with the Scrabble game, and it became obvious that she now thinks that all “e”s are magic ones, even the ones in the middle of words and sounding like “eh”. Oops. But she is reaching (unassisted) for the correct tile sometimes, as well as just trying all of the ones in the right colour to see which ones fit. Tis a very awesome game! B was reading in bed and came out eventually, apparently to be annoying to K over the Scrabble game, but we managed to sort that out without too much agro too early in the morning.

We continued to have a very “schoolish” looking morning, with me showing K the shufflebooks (packs of cards with pictures and simple sentence fragments on them which you combine in rows to make stories) and B wanting to do multiplication flashcards. K built towers to amuse H while I did the cards with B, then I took H upstairs in the hope of putting H down for a nap. He did stay down long enough for the girls to get bored with music making in the playroom and go outside to play house. Unfortunately I then dropped a glass in the kitchen and I suspect that was what woke H up. He was, luckily, cheerful about it! I got all Domestic Goddess with making lunch, doing laundry and sweeping the floor. B helped me put some sheets on the line but mostly they played outside til lunch was ready.

We had lots of physical connecting in the afternoon with playfighting and wrestling, which helped with everybody’s moods. H let go of a chair and walked four steps towards me totally unaided! K stayed out in the garden for ages, and B made plans with Grandmoogi about meeting up with them at the farm on Saturday morning so they could watch her ride. B did some of her crocodile project and asked me for lots of spellings, she’s handwriting the first draft without a murmur *boggle* H went down for another short nap in the afternoon but wouldn’t stay asleep without me so eventually I came downstairs with him, and found that B had “kindly” turned on her computer and was playing country music songs to K on YouTube. She alternated between her crocodile project and episodes of Ranma (bloody girl) til it was time to go to the library for the Antarctica talk. There was a last-minute substitution with the presenter, but she still enjoyed it, and came away with some loot. After that B pretty much sat permanently in front of her computer til bedtime (11ish). She’s more compulsive about this sodding show now we’re restricting screentime during the day, dangnabbit! E put H to bed fairly shirtly after he got home, and I read lots of books to K, cooked dinner, read more books to K, and then pooted til she went to sleep on the floor next to me, and H woke up at about 10:30, when I went to bed.

K just filled in one of the Scrabble words entirely by herself (using the colour clues and self-correcting placement of the tiles), then told me that it was a word which needed a “magic e” on the end. It was “pie”, and she was able to tell me that the middle sound was “i”. I told her about the magic e yesterday – once. After B, it’s kinda freaky having a kid who remembers things about reading after only one telling!

H actually did go to sleep at 11am – obviously still tired from yesterday. I came down and had a shower with K, then oiled her very dry skin. She looks a lot more comfortable now! I still have the computer on because I’m shamefully addicted to the kerfuffle and politicking currently going on on the new incarnation of Joyous Learning, but I’m going to try checking in at intervals instead of sitting on here all day!

K read a book to herself and played with the fridge magnets while I made pumpkin soup. Then I read and sang two books to her, and we made toasted cheese sandwiches. She played in the garden, on the swing, while I hung out a load of laundry and put in a load of nappies. After we’d eaten our sandwiches, I read a couple of board books for K, then a chapter from Winnie the Pooh. She had a brief play in the garden then kept me company while I hung out a load of whites, brought in the dry clothes and sorted them, took the dry clothes off the racks and sorted them, hung up the nappies, and put away one basket of clothes in the study. During which time the boy woke up – he had nearly a three hour nap, so I’m not complaining! I read two more chapters of Winnie the Pooh to K while H pottered about, then she settled down in front of Monsters Inc on B’s computer, and I hung another load of laundry on the racks, and fed the boy. He had some chunks of veges from the soup and half a pear for lunch, and liberally coated himself in orange slime, necessitating (what else?) even more laundry.

B came home at about 4:30 and immediately seized upon the fact that her computer was on to insist that she was going to watch some of her show. She had a huge spew at me over the fact that I noticed (when she asked for help) that she had a huge number of game site newsletters in her inbox, none of which I’d heard of before, so I unsubscribed her from everything. She went and grumped outside for a bit, then calmed down and came back inside to put her laundry in her room (and possibly even put it away!) and bring out her dirties. K helped me pick up some of the mess in the family room, then hassled and tantrumed at me to read even more books to her. Nannie read her two books while she was here, and I’ve been reading to her half the afternoon, but apparently that’s not enough. Aaargh. After I’d read her one more book, she snuggled up next to me and nearly went to sleep with her head in my lap, so I got her into Pjs and nappy, made her hot water bottle and got her ready for bed. She decided that she did want dinner after all at that point, so she was still up when E came home at 6:30, and he did the usual bedtime routine. B stayed on her computer despite being asked to stop, and H fell asleep on my lap shortly after K went to bed.

White, K’s Silkie, disappeared sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday. Got paid Wednesday, did supermarket shopping with K and H. Remembered to take B to Scouts: they were cooking and she helped make brownies. Had takeaway indian food for dinner to celebrate not being totally broke.

Thurs – did the fruit and veg shopping at the markets, went to the health food shop, and bought chook pellets, rabbit food and cat litter at the pet shop.

White reappeared in the run in the late afternoon, filthy and obviously very unwell. Took her to the vet, who said she wasn’t injured except for some bruises on her sternum. Theorised that she had gotten stuck somewhere in the run (although I can’t think where – I looked!). She stayed inside overnight in the old rabbit cage, with her sister Charlotte.

Fri – White had to be euthanased, sadly. She was obviously deep in shock, hadn’t eaten or drunk anything, hadn’t moved. We got the earliest appointment we could get, at 10:45, and the vet confirmed there was nothing else we could do, so we left her with him. Poor chooken.

Since we were out, we went to Aldi, then the library and op shop. I originally went into Aldi to get a tray of tinned tomatoes, but came out with a $30 percussion set, a book on Stone Age life, two workbooks and an edumacational placemat for K, and a shopping trolley. Oops! The girls went and played on the playground while I unloaded the shopping, and stayed there while I did a quick op shop run (bought two books). They were in the library when I finished up and went in to give the very grumpy H a feed. B was reading to K in a very loving-big-sisterly way – in fact they were being absolutely lovely together the whole time we were out. I signed B up for a Science Week talk at the library next Thursday afternoon – Life in the Freezer, a talk by the editor of Scientriffic magazine about her trip to Antarctica. Borrowed books.

When we got home and B went to put it together, the shopping trolley was discovered to have a bit missing and we had to take it back for a replacement, to find they were sold out already! Pooh bum. The percussion set got a workout all afternoon and through the weekend, though 🙂 B went out to her horse with Nannie in the afternoon, then had Cubs in the evening.

Sat – B and K to farm; H went to sleep so I got to go out and do some op shopping. E took H out to the computer fair in the afternoon and came home with new memory for a really good price (yay!). I took H, a present and a chocolate cake out to the farm in the afternoon for Pa’s birthday. B stayed overnight, came home 10:30ish Sunday. We went out to Tarago for the day, had lunch at Loaded Dog (gorgeous food!) and checked out the village. Lots of tension with B.

Mon. Still haven’t turned TV back on but computer rules are relaxing slightly. B turns hers back on after 8pm, and watches anime til midnight (is this an improvement? *sigh*). She seems to be doing it to make a point, as she went to bed when I did. Good incentive for me to go to bed at 10pm and see what happens! Rules appear to now be no computer between 8am-8pm.

Pottery was on but not German. Came home, pottered about, went out later and bought new light fittings for living areas. K and I have started playing a game, My First Scrabble Words, which she is seriously enjoying! B and K played with dolls and B read books to K. Pulled out the new threading pieces and made necklaces. The kids spent a lot of time in the garden, even when it was hailing. I cleaned out the rabbits and fed/watered all the outdoor animals. Laundry. B had a slight meltdown over lack of computer/TV but seemed to take what I said about finding other ways to deal with boredom to heart: I suggested she look at the library book on food in history, and that sparked her interest in the Stone Age Challenge book I bought last week. She started planning how we could have a fire and try out some of the cooking ideas, including wrapping fish in paperbark, then started plotting how she could catch a rabbit out at the farm! Erm, I don’t think I’m going to take “natural learning” that far, somehow. E came home and tidied the playroom to within an inch of its life.

Tues – B did some of her workbooks in the morning, we had a disagreement on the subject of column addition. Remind myself that it is not MY opinion of maths workbooks that matters, only hers. Accusations of being brainwashed are not helping – if I can’t be supportive then don’t say anything at all. Played Scrabble game with K. I played blocks with K and built towers for H with the stacking plastic toys. Cleaned out rabbits again and fed outdoor animals. Laundry. No swimming, but Nannie came over for arvo tea. B off to farm with Nannie. I didn’t cope very well with H not going to sleep all day. K brought me lots of books to read – starting to be very interested in non-fiction. I notice she has been getting into the Visual Dictionary of Animals. Daddy saved the day and everyone went to bed happy.

Wed so far – started playing Scrabble game with K, but didn’t get very far. K stacking up threading pieces to make towers. H was a PITA til I made him breakfast. Laundry. K reading to herself, sitting in front of the heater in the nude. H grizzling, should probably go and see to that…

Other stuff: B came home from the farm with E. Nesbit’s The Magic City, and tales of having built a fabulous city herself along the same lines out at the farm (Nannie has promised me photos). She’s still reading The Far Side of the Mountain, and keeps dipping into Calvin and Hobbes cartoons as well. When did my daughter turn into a bookworm?

Also, it occurred to me with previous post that I need to find a list of age-appropriate boxes to tick, since maybe that will be easier to keep up than the portfolio method of recording? Something to look into anyway.