Joey Benjamin Davis

Our latest addition to the family, Joey Benjamin Davis is here!

He arrived 3 weeks early weighing 6lb 3oz and he is unbelievably cute.

Welcome to the World Little Man.x

Proud Aunty Katie

Joey Benjamin Davis

Family

Wildcats and All About Dogs

Katie performed in her first live concert on Saturday. Wildcats Live were at the Cresset Theatre in Peterborough. The show was fabulous! All the kids were amazing and sang and danced their hearts out. Katie was exhausted when we met her at the stage door, but she was buzzing with excitement!
I asked her if she fancied a career on the stage. She replied,
"Oh no, it's far too much hard work!"

 

We've had a day out planned at the All About Dogs Show for a while now. We had such an enjoyable time at our last visit to the AAD show at Newark in April that we booked tickets straight away for Lincoln Showground.
The show was today, so of course, we woke up to rain.. However we still managed to enjoy ourselves whilst dodging between the downpours into the tents selling all sorts of paraphernalia for dogs. Katie seemed to enjoy herself _ well, she is always going to have a good time around dogs as she just loves them!
As always there were lots of different breeds but of particular interest were the husky "sled- dogs"; very noisy with their almost  human vocals but so beautiful to look at.
However, Katie and I both agreed, our personal "Best in Show" was a gorgeous cuddly German Shepherd puppy! So cute.
It's just a pity that our own dog had to stay home. Socialising is not her strong point. It's a shame because I'm sure she would take first prize in the prettiest bitch competition!

Don't be fooled by that cute face!

Heritage Festival

The  Heritage Festival is held in Peterborough, in the main square fronting  the very beautiful Cathedral.
The weather was beautiful, and we spent a lovely afternoon watching the re-enactments, browsing the stalls and chatting to the many volunteers who were only to happy to tell us all about their particular period in history. There were people from history spanning 3000 years icluding Romans, Gladiators, Vikings,Victorians, Soldiers from WW1 & 2, and my favourite......Henry VIII.

The Roundheads:
their muskets were surprisingly loud and there were only 6 of them!
I can't imagine how deafening 150 would be, in a real battle!

 Katie joined in a battle with the Roundheads! She had great fun "defending the colour" and

charging with her "pike" towards the enemy!




Going in again with the pikes, putting the imaginary horse out of its misery!

There was an impressive dinosaur model, and a neat science tent, with mammal skulls and fabulous fossils and microscopes for the kids (and adults)to use.


 

 

 

Katie particularly loved the Falconry Display, especially when one of the falcons flew high up into the branches of a tree and point blank refused to return to its handler! Three hours later and the bird was still in the tree, despite the lure of fresh meat being swung round feet below it. The bird was still up the tree as we left for home at the end of the show. Quite a crowd had gathered and the poor handlers looked rather desperate (and hot!) and at a loss what to do. I do hope the bird is safely home now.

 

Lastly, Dave and Katie had a go at the Archery. Katie did well but Dave was amazing! Three bullseyes in succession! Who knew!!?? The instructor was well impressed! Maybe Dave's found himself a hobby? Ah, but he'll have to wait until he retires (again!)

 

Robin Hood eat ya heart out...

 

Charlie.x

Just had to post this pic of my handsome little grandson Charlie
How cute is he?

Meet Lincoln!

I am a little late with the introductions, because Lincoln, the latest addition to our family arrived a couple of weeks ago. He's settled in nicely, after a rocky start; he was just a little aggressive for a day or two (who knew hamsters could growl!!)
He is much calmer now, and such a funny character. Katie loves him and has taken full responsibility for his care. Apart from the noise (racket) he makes at night while he re-arranges his cage, he is no bother!

So here he is.

Lincoln, named after the city!

And hiding in his house...

He's a little shy!

Kitchen Science (again!)

Katie and I have been keeping up with our kitchen chemistry course. it's getting a little more complicated now, but the experiments are fun!


Making Indicators for Acids and Alkalines

Density




Katie was meant to have moved up to the Girl Guides this term, but it doesn't seem to be happening!

So, she is continuing with Brownies in Bourne despite it being boring (her words). She very rarely does anything at the meetings except chat to the other Brownies and play Bingo...I guess we could call that "socialising" which is VERY important to a home schooled kid (ha ha). Anyway, Katie skipped out of the Brownie Hut last week clutching this, and she was soooo proud, so I thought it deserved a place on my Blog.

It's a Russian Doll in case you were wondering!

 

Belton House in the Rain!

Thought we better make use of our National Trust passes today.
The weather was pants...windy and cloudy with intermittent showers and sunny spells..a bit of everything really. It really was tempting to stay in the warm and have a snuggly PJ day but Katie and I forced ourselves to get dressed and out the door.

So we donned raincoats and boots and headed off to Belton House for the regular HE meet.
Despite being soaked through a couple of times we had a lovely day. There was lots and lots of walking (mainly because we got lost a couple of times and ended up walking in circles!) and even more chatting. I really love talking with other HE parents ;we support each other, allay each others doubts and fears, share our triumphs and generally put the world to rights. I think talking to others who HE re-affirms for me the reasons why we do it, and just how bloody amazing it is!  Feeling so lucky right now, especially when I hear from other parents how their kids have suffered in school,often for years before the family chooses to Home-ed.

The kids entertained themselves indoors (there's a fab indoor play area and café)  and out, and as always, played together beautifully without too many fall-outs.

 

Kitchen Chemistry and Wild Wolves!

Catch-up!
We all headed off to Newark last weekend for the "All About Dogs Show". Now it always, always rains when we visit these types of outdoor shows, but for once, it was dry and even sunny!
There were all kinds of breeds of dogs.They showed off in the ring, splashed in the pool, and leapt around in the agility set up. It would have been lovely to have taken Maisie along, but she still gets so stressed around other dogs, it really isn't worth it.
Of course there was a funfair too and Katie was delighted to see her favourite "Water Balls"

We made another visit to the Anglian Wolf Society in Bedford. The AWS is a well kept secret;it is not widely advertised and the venue is not sign-posted and is hidden away from the main road.
There are only 3 wolves (there were 4, but one of the males has recently died at the grand age of thirteen!) The wolves are special in that they are socialised, meaning they are not afraid of people.
The staff are so friendly, knowledgeable and passionate and they are very willing to teach us all about the wolves.
We had a great time getting close to the wolves. Katie has always been attracted and fascinated by wolves from being very young, so the visit was extra special. The highlight for me was when the wolves unexpectedly howled for us! A group of children and staff went to the other end of the enclosure and all "howled" in unison. At first it seemed like the wolves weren't that interested in the human howling, but then the  two Omegas started to howl. Suddenly the Alpha female joined in and it was so beautiful, really moving. Her howl was so soulful....I feel so privileged to be a part of that.

 

After the wolf visit we headed in to Milton Keynes for dinner

Other news, Katie's new piano arrived and it sounds beautiful...She's practicing hard for her Grade 2 Piano and she will be starting Piano Theory lessons soon.

We (Katie and I) have been doing an online Kitchen Chemistry course run by East Anglia University. The course lasts 6 weeks and you get a certificate at the end. Its been fun, especially reading the comments from other participants. However, we were informed that the experiments could be done using general kitchen supplies found in most folk's cupboards. Errrr...no. We do not have iodine, milk of magnesia, or effervescent vitamin C tablets??
Here is Katie doing a couple of experiments.

Changing States

Carbon!

Vinegar & BiCarb

Making an Emulsion

Krafty Easter!

My beautiful girls getting busy!

 

 

 

My Easter Chick

Jaime's creation!

Krafty Katie!

Katie's Sparkly Egg!

Easter & Family

Jaime, Tony and Charlie came to stay for Easter weekend and it was lovely!
We ate lots and lots of lovely food and delicious Easter Eggs.
The weather was good too, so we went to the park. Charlie's little legs walked all the way there, and back again! Jaime walked all the way too, carrying her 20week baby bump, who we are calling "Tommy" for the time being, until Jaime and Tony can agree on a name they both like!

Mad as hatters!

Higher!

Climbing!

 

Cuddle time.

Katie.x

Monkey man!

Charlie Kisses

 

Time for home.

Home ed advice to myself

I was looking on one of my home ed groups tonight and there was a lady just starting out on the HE journey. She asked a very good question. She asked those of us who have been HE for a while, if there was anything we would have done differently.
This was my reply:

I wish I had known I didn't have to turn our home into a miniature school. I tried to create "school at home" even though my daughter had never been to school! It was for me; I was "schooled" :-(

 I didn't know that children can learn everything they need to know without being "taught" or having a lesson or sitting at the table with a workbook.  This was 5/6 yrs ago, and nobody knew about "de-schooling" then, but boy did I need it!  

 It's taken me a while to get my head around it all, to get the school way out of my system and allow my child to find her own way of learning. It was scary to ditch the workbooks, scrap my lovely lesson plans and just allow her to play and read and discover what is important to her.

 It would have been so much easier for me if my daughter had taken to structure and lesson plans, because I love plans! I saw myself as her "teacher". I needed to see "progress". I like to see results, and files of work and to tick the boxes off. But that was me.

My daughter doesn't learn in that way, so now we follow her lead. She directs her own learning , and it's amazing, because it is such an efficient way of learning! But it requires trust and it took me a long time to trust that my child would learn just by playing and doing the things she loves!  Six years on and it's been the most amazing journey.

So, if I could go back 5 years and give the old me advice, it would be to forget everything I knew about school, to just chill, slow down and listen to my child. She will tell me what she needs, all I need to do is hear her.

Oasby Music and Mothers Day Treats

Practising!

Katie played  the piano on Mothering Sunday at the Oasby Music Concert. She played beautifully, and note perfect! The concert was held, as usual, at Christ Church in Grantham. The music sounded just lovely echoing around the magnificent church.
Afterwards we went to dinner in Grantham. It was a mother's day treat!



Mother's Day Treats

My lush new bag from Jaime!