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Home schooling Day 1

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How was it for you??? For us it went surprisingly well. I used my set structure to base our learning and I think for us structure is the key. Our school day is planned and I think at this difficult time, structure is something we all require. So, how did it go...well, firstly we started with an old favourite...spellings. Cover, write, repeat, you all know the drill. We also used our spellings in a sentence. And just like school, Friday will be our test day. Next, we logically moved onto English. My older boys had work set from school, while the girls, desperate to use their new notebooks, started with a letter to me, to tell me what they enjoyed at school, what they found a little troublesome (careful not to use the word difficult) and lastly what they would like to improve on. I thought this would give me an insight into how they feel about school and help me to encourage them when they need it and what to give extra help with. After a successful hour and a half, we had exercise t
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Lunchbox Ideas

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We're all back to school now, the Summer hols seem like a distant memory....I could cry about that, I love the holidays......so its time to get back in the swing of organizing. Yaaayyy!!!!!! And I think I've found a little way to help out. Sunday morning. This can be your best friend when it comes to saving you time and money for the school or work lunch boxes for the week ahead. An hours work here could be a real saving. An extra pair of hands...what I wouldn't give for those!!! This post is about 3 items that I know you can make in about an hour, pop in the freezer and get them out, as and when you need them each day. Taking a little stress out of the daily lunch box routine. Sausage and Apple rolls A pack of puff pastry 8 sausages 1 Gala apple 1tsp dried Thyme Sprinkle of onion powder Salt and pepper 1 beaten egg for egg washing the pastry Put skinned sausages into a bowl. Peel the apple and finely grate. Add to sausage meat, along with thyme, onion powder
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Snaggle Tooth Mimi

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Our little Emilia is now 8 months and this post is dedicated to her, so that in years to come we can remind myself how much she has grown and changed. Its also a snap shot of her development at this point in her life. The gap between Florence and Emilia is nearly 4 years and so it has been wonderful to go through having a new baby in the house again. At one point I thought it would never happen and we were very close to leaving the 'baby years' behind us but we are so glad we persevered. Emilia or Mimi as she has been nicknamed, is a bundle of delight from the minute she opens her eyes each morning. She is so full of laughter and so happy and contented. She is adventurous and always off discovering new things..the stairs for example are her latest fascination. Mimi is physically very strong. She has been crawling for a few months now, and she stands and she holds on and moves around the furniture. Given the chance, she would shoot up the stairs, or out the door, if someone
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When life keeps you busy

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Looking back at my recent instagram posts, I have noticed that we have had a couple of 'full on' weeks. The kids went back to school. One starting college, one starting High School, 3 back to primary school and one just starting school. Flossie took to school like a duck to water. Nothing has phased her and not once has she complained about going. Me on the other hand...well I miss her terribly. I know longer have to collect her from nursery at 11.50 and for some reason this change does not sit well with me. I feel like I am forgetting to do something each day. I am sure this phase for me will pass, after all I am at home with Emilia, who is making it her mission to walk (she is only 71/2 months, its not allowed), so lifes not exactly quiet. Its just a new 'norm' to get use to. We took Ellena back to University and helped her move into her new student house. Surprisingly, and probably from Els point of view a little disappointingly, I was not a blubbering mess. She goa
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Portugal...Portugreat

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We have recently returned from a truly fantastic week in Portugal. This is the first time Florence and Emilia have flown. After nearly missing the flight due to road closures and re-enacting the airport running scene from Home Alone we managed to make the flight.The two youngest girls were great on board. We took plenty of snacks, lots of talking to Flossie about what was happening, a little play with my phone and she was all good. The excitement and novelty of the journey, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, was enough to sustain Flossie's interest. Emilia was more than happy with a bottle and a snooze...wouldn't we all. Thankfully the transport was waiting for us at Faro airport, just a 40 minute transfer to the Villa. And, wow what a Villa. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a brilliant pool, and my dream Veranhda. I would so love this back home. Somewhere to eat, relax and chat, whatever the weather...so want one!! Its one of the reasons I chose this Villa. From the minute we arrived,
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A few little words

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Sometimes its not the big speeches that mean the most, sometimes its the simplest of words that have the biggest impact. For us this week,'you are discharged', alters our world. For us it means no more hospital trips, no more waiting on tests, no more cancer lying in the background of our lives. Now that's not to say that I am blinkered enough to think that it will never affect our lives again, I sincerely hope not, but I would be deluded to think that. What I do know is that this chapter has come to pass. Five years ago we were so excited to be expecting our 7th child, Florence, and the week after having my 20 week scan, I sat with John whilst he had a scan to discover if he had a tumour. He did and so it all began. The operation, the chemo, the fear, it engulfed what should have been a great time in our lives with worry and tears. But with the amazing care of our NHS John came out the other side and our lives carried on. Florence arrived, appointments came and went, an
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That Summer list....'Park Life'

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We are very lucky where we live. We have some beautiful walks and parks to keep us entertained. Parks are the saviour of the Summer holidays. Pack up a few drinks and snacks and head off. We have a list of parks on our summer plan that we want like to go to and here in our second week we have crossed off the first one, Cropthorne park. This park holds a little special in my heart, in fact the whole area evokes many childhood memories for me. My Fathers family came from one of the local nearby villages and as such I spent many a weekend visiting relatives here when I was young. Before we moved to our present home, we were very interested in moving to this area, unfortunately, we couldn't find the right house for the right price. I do however, still aspire to live there and maybe one day I will. Couple this with my Dad being buried in the next village and the area will keep on drawing me back. The kids call the park 'Grampys Park' as we usually visit my Dads grave then after
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