4/29/2004
This afternoon we went to the Ponderosa centre , somewhere I've been meaning to go for a long time. We went with my Dad, and they had meercats there, which he really likes, so that was cool. And they had a caiman, which is a medium sized crocodile; this one was about four feet long; and an axolotl, which we exclaimed at (reference for anyone who knows Mog's amazing birthday caper), and some splendid blue and gold macaws, but C's favourite thing was a baby rabbit. M was brave enough to stroke it - she has become terrified of anything furry in the time since our cat died last summer, and we would love to get some more animals, but we don't want to traumatise her too much.
Having been generally impressed with the conditions animals were kept in both at Edinburgh Zoo and Suffolk Wildlife park, Ponderosa was not so good, labelling was very poor, and there wasn't a great deal to see, but it was a good trip out.
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Having been generally impressed with the conditions animals were kept in both at Edinburgh Zoo and Suffolk Wildlife park, Ponderosa was not so good, labelling was very poor, and there wasn't a great deal to see, but it was a good trip out.
4/28/2004
To Montessori or not to Montessori?
This morning all four of us went to look at a new Montessori nursery / playgroup which has recently opened in the village. I've read quite a bit about Montessori but never been in a 'Montessori environment' or seen the activities, globes etc in real life. It was quite eye-opening, and such a contrast from regular pre-school. Now we've got a decision to make.
When C started pre-school at 2 1/2, she went to the one that meets in our church hall. It seemed very free play oriented, if somewhat chaotic, and C very much enjoyed going. We decided to home-ed when she was about 3 1/2, but kept her on at playgroup two mornings a week as she had fun there. However in the past year or so there have been a lot of staff changes there, and whilst I like all the staff, there has been a subtle shift in the balance between playgroup and preschool, and it feels a bit more like a preparation for school, which is, of course, rather irrelevant. Now, the factors in favour of M starting there at 2 1/2 (which happens to be next week) are familiarity, the fact she has enjoyed it every time she's been to visit, and being with quite a large group of children, whom, as we live in a village, she is likely to run into in the future, so a foundation for peer relationships there.
The Monte nursery is small - not yet up to intended capacity of ten, and I think there were just five children there before we arrived this morning; very quiet and controlled, in a way I've read about in the Monte context, but find quite odd irl. I really liked the way the staff related to the children; obviously they don't have the sort of crowd control issues there are in the larger pre-school and in schools. And the Monte type activities, whilst being a preparation for school-type learning, are not a preparation for school in the same way.
I guess I'd better go downstairs and have this conversation with Jonathan really...
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This morning all four of us went to look at a new Montessori nursery / playgroup which has recently opened in the village. I've read quite a bit about Montessori but never been in a 'Montessori environment' or seen the activities, globes etc in real life. It was quite eye-opening, and such a contrast from regular pre-school. Now we've got a decision to make.
When C started pre-school at 2 1/2, she went to the one that meets in our church hall. It seemed very free play oriented, if somewhat chaotic, and C very much enjoyed going. We decided to home-ed when she was about 3 1/2, but kept her on at playgroup two mornings a week as she had fun there. However in the past year or so there have been a lot of staff changes there, and whilst I like all the staff, there has been a subtle shift in the balance between playgroup and preschool, and it feels a bit more like a preparation for school, which is, of course, rather irrelevant. Now, the factors in favour of M starting there at 2 1/2 (which happens to be next week) are familiarity, the fact she has enjoyed it every time she's been to visit, and being with quite a large group of children, whom, as we live in a village, she is likely to run into in the future, so a foundation for peer relationships there.
The Monte nursery is small - not yet up to intended capacity of ten, and I think there were just five children there before we arrived this morning; very quiet and controlled, in a way I've read about in the Monte context, but find quite odd irl. I really liked the way the staff related to the children; obviously they don't have the sort of crowd control issues there are in the larger pre-school and in schools. And the Monte type activities, whilst being a preparation for school-type learning, are not a preparation for school in the same way.
I guess I'd better go downstairs and have this conversation with Jonathan really...
4/27/2004
Dressing Tantrums
Tuesday is the one day in the week that we all have to be out of the house in good time, in fact at about the same time we would have to leave on five days a week if C was at school, and at least neither of the children have to have breakfast before we go out. I feel thankful every Tuesday that we don't have to hurry any other day.
They're still quite tired from the weekend, so they slept in a bit after I got up. It's much easier if I can have breakfast before they wake up, so I let them sleep but I let M sleep a bit too long, so that there wasn't time for all the negotiations that normally have to go on around dressing. I thought I'd do what I do with C when we're short of time, just put the clothes on before she's realised what's happening, but I discovered that does not work with dd2. We had the most enormous rage tantrum, and it still took ages, but C and I between us managed to wrestle into some clothes. It was horrible, I felt such a bad Mummy when I arrived at work (late). All was forgiven and forgotten by the time I collected her from nursery though. I must remember to leave enough time next time.
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Tuesday is the one day in the week that we all have to be out of the house in good time, in fact at about the same time we would have to leave on five days a week if C was at school, and at least neither of the children have to have breakfast before we go out. I feel thankful every Tuesday that we don't have to hurry any other day.
They're still quite tired from the weekend, so they slept in a bit after I got up. It's much easier if I can have breakfast before they wake up, so I let them sleep but I let M sleep a bit too long, so that there wasn't time for all the negotiations that normally have to go on around dressing. I thought I'd do what I do with C when we're short of time, just put the clothes on before she's realised what's happening, but I discovered that does not work with dd2. We had the most enormous rage tantrum, and it still took ages, but C and I between us managed to wrestle into some clothes. It was horrible, I felt such a bad Mummy when I arrived at work (late). All was forgiven and forgotten by the time I collected her from nursery though. I must remember to leave enough time next time.
4/25/2004
I've not posted for a few days as we went to the Lake District for the weekend. We went with another family and stayed in the beautiful holiday home of a mutual friend, and we had a great time.
But it's always strange going on holiday with other people. Whenever I let someone else buy the food I'm always shocked at how high my sugar requirement is, especially on holiday. And after we'd been to the 'Beatrix Potter Experience', gone on a boat and a bus across Windermere to visit Beatrix Potter's house and come back again, I would have been ready to go back to our house, but our more active friends spotted a crazy golf course and suggested we go there, which we did, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Their five-year-old is a very active, co-ordinated, sporty boy, and sports and co-ordination is not one of C's best areas, but she had a good time nonetheless and it was a new experience for her which she is keen to repeat.
C was suitably impressed by the Beatrix Potter stuff - she's been into Peter Rabbit et al for years now. I don't know how much she grasps the lengths of time involved in history. I try to put it in a family context, but perhaps even that doesn't mean much. It's difficult to tell.
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But it's always strange going on holiday with other people. Whenever I let someone else buy the food I'm always shocked at how high my sugar requirement is, especially on holiday. And after we'd been to the 'Beatrix Potter Experience', gone on a boat and a bus across Windermere to visit Beatrix Potter's house and come back again, I would have been ready to go back to our house, but our more active friends spotted a crazy golf course and suggested we go there, which we did, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Their five-year-old is a very active, co-ordinated, sporty boy, and sports and co-ordination is not one of C's best areas, but she had a good time nonetheless and it was a new experience for her which she is keen to repeat.
C was suitably impressed by the Beatrix Potter stuff - she's been into Peter Rabbit et al for years now. I don't know how much she grasps the lengths of time involved in history. I try to put it in a family context, but perhaps even that doesn't mean much. It's difficult to tell.
4/22/2004
After such a long and exciting day yesterday I suppose it was only to be expected that the children were horrid today, whingey, screaming, fighting, doing the exact opposite of what I asked. J was working from home today and suggested we went out for a walk before lunch (not sure if he just couldn't stand the shouting any more!) and that was nice. They brought back lots of sticks and grasses which are now mostly arranged in vases but did spend some time scattered all over the kitchen floor.
Mum and Dad came over after lunch, Mum wanted to help in the garden and Dad came along for the ride and ended up playing with the children, and Dad was tired and ready to go before Mum was tired of heavy digging!
Just before I came inside Mum came out and said "You're in for a shock!" I wondered how many toys were all over the living room floor, but no, Catie had cut her hair. For the third time in about two months. And by far the most dramatic haircut yet. I managed to salvage it reasonably well, especially at the back. She apparently 'forgot' that she wasn't supposed to cut her own hair, and she also said she had 'forgotten' that she wasn't supposed to stuff the cut off hair down the back of the bookshelf!
After her haircut
After my salvage effort
A few days late, here are red wellies.
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Mum and Dad came over after lunch, Mum wanted to help in the garden and Dad came along for the ride and ended up playing with the children, and Dad was tired and ready to go before Mum was tired of heavy digging!
Just before I came inside Mum came out and said "You're in for a shock!" I wondered how many toys were all over the living room floor, but no, Catie had cut her hair. For the third time in about two months. And by far the most dramatic haircut yet. I managed to salvage it reasonably well, especially at the back. She apparently 'forgot' that she wasn't supposed to cut her own hair, and she also said she had 'forgotten' that she wasn't supposed to stuff the cut off hair down the back of the bookshelf!
After her haircut
After my salvage effort
A few days late, here are red wellies.
4/21/2004
Today the children and I have been to visit some home-edding friends who Jonathan and I have known since we were in a church youth group together 11 years ago. They have five children, and another friend came over with her one, so there were a lot of children playing very harmoniously together, and three mums having a good chat about books, children etc.
There's something very comfortable about catching up with old friends who, despite not always having kept in close touch, have made some of the same decisions as ourselves, and are walking along the same path.
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There's something very comfortable about catching up with old friends who, despite not always having kept in close touch, have made some of the same decisions as ourselves, and are walking along the same path.
4/20/2004
When I was about ten years old I went with my parents for a long weekend in a hotel in Dorset, and from our bedroom window we could see rabbits. I decided then that when I was a grown-up I wanted to be able to see rabbits from my bedroom window. (This wish would of course be invalidated if my bedroom overlooked the veggie patch) And this morning we spent ages watching this rabbit through the window. Now, if we could only find a way of making the rabbits stay at the front of the house and not dig up the garden...
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4/19/2004
I have been thinking for a while that although C is good at reading, we haven't done very much on the alphabet, and alphabetical order etc. Now, I have to be careful how I suggest any activities, because if she thinks I've had an educational idea, she'll either refuse completely to co-operate, or insist on changing it so much I lose sight of how it started.
C was busy making patterns out of a game on the floor and M was getting bored so I offered M some cutting and sticking to do. I've been collecting magazines, seed catalogues, anything with good pictures in, for this purpose, so we got some out and started cutting and sticking pictures of potatoes and tomatoes. With an idea in the back of my mind I had also brought in an old chocolate box inner, with about 27 spaces where the chocolates went. Then I started cutting out letters from the magazines and putting them in the chocolate box in alphabetical order. C came over to see what I was doing and joined in, and she carried on for ages, singing the alphabet through each time till she got to the letter she wanted.
When interest was starting to wane, I suggested what I had originally thought of, which was to make words with the cut out letters and glue them on a page. So she used some of the letters we had sorted out to make a message for a friend, but the use of this method of communication in ransom notes did lend it a slightly sinister edge, I have to say.
I had a hospital appointment this afternoon, about as much a waste of time as I thought it would be, but I managed to fend off further unnecessary investigations. I have a prolactinoma (a what?) which as far as I'm concerned doesn't seem to be that big a deal, but I'm not a very good patient, and consultants seem to worry more about sick doctors for some reason. We talked about my plans for a further pregnancy, and she agreed I could actually see the midwife this time, instead of having consultant care (since when do consultants do any routine ante-natal care?)
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C was busy making patterns out of a game on the floor and M was getting bored so I offered M some cutting and sticking to do. I've been collecting magazines, seed catalogues, anything with good pictures in, for this purpose, so we got some out and started cutting and sticking pictures of potatoes and tomatoes. With an idea in the back of my mind I had also brought in an old chocolate box inner, with about 27 spaces where the chocolates went. Then I started cutting out letters from the magazines and putting them in the chocolate box in alphabetical order. C came over to see what I was doing and joined in, and she carried on for ages, singing the alphabet through each time till she got to the letter she wanted.
When interest was starting to wane, I suggested what I had originally thought of, which was to make words with the cut out letters and glue them on a page. So she used some of the letters we had sorted out to make a message for a friend, but the use of this method of communication in ransom notes did lend it a slightly sinister edge, I have to say.
I had a hospital appointment this afternoon, about as much a waste of time as I thought it would be, but I managed to fend off further unnecessary investigations. I have a prolactinoma (a what?) which as far as I'm concerned doesn't seem to be that big a deal, but I'm not a very good patient, and consultants seem to worry more about sick doctors for some reason. We talked about my plans for a further pregnancy, and she agreed I could actually see the midwife this time, instead of having consultant care (since when do consultants do any routine ante-natal care?)
4/18/2004
Days like today make me doubly glad we can have quiet days without lots of people in them during the week. We invited an octogenarian couple from church to lunch as well as my Mum and Dad, who are regular Sunday lunch visitors. C did quite well at sitting up at the table considering the conversation was of very little interest to her, and M managed to spill her drink over Mary. They left mid-afternoon and while I was still clearing up, our other friends who are our regular Sunday tea visitors came round: two adults, two young children and an extra child that they were borrowing for the day.
The two Dads took all five children to our neighbours' house to look at their lambs. J took some fun digital movies of the lambs charging around (here's one) . When they came back they played mostly nicely, but C had had enough day by the end and it showed.
With a LOT of tech support I bring you a picture of some red boots being prepared for tomorrow's photo shoot:
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The two Dads took all five children to our neighbours' house to look at their lambs. J took some fun digital movies of the lambs charging around (here's one) . When they came back they played mostly nicely, but C had had enough day by the end and it showed.
With a LOT of tech support I bring you a picture of some red boots being prepared for tomorrow's photo shoot:
4/17/2004
Our band's playing in church tomorrow so we all went down this afternoon to set up and have a run through, and the late afternoon sun through the stained glass windows made it look like someone had painted beautiful moving pictures on the walls.
C's enjoying Robin Hood and his Merry Men being read to her. It was J's favourite book when he was a child and his Mum's favourite book before that (same copy), so he's really enjoying reading it to her.
Jonathan bought a digital camera this morning so all that's standing in the way of blog illustration is me learning how to use it.
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C's enjoying Robin Hood and his Merry Men being read to her. It was J's favourite book when he was a child and his Mum's favourite book before that (same copy), so he's really enjoying reading it to her.
Jonathan bought a digital camera this morning so all that's standing in the way of blog illustration is me learning how to use it.
4/16/2004
Heating's working!
I had a very long day at work today, and J's had a lovely day at home with the girls by all accounts. Lots of playing has gone on, with lots of toys, that are now in lots of places. Hmmn...
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I had a very long day at work today, and J's had a lovely day at home with the girls by all accounts. Lots of playing has gone on, with lots of toys, that are now in lots of places. Hmmn...
4/15/2004
My friend came round today with her twins, age 6, one of each. Grace and C went off to do girly things, dressing up and putting on puppet shows, and poor Jake was left out yet again. He got out the wooden train set and played with that for a bit. It's funny, I was determined my daughters wouldn't be deprived in the way I was by not having a train set because I had no brothers, but it comes out far more often when there are visiting boys than when we're here alone.
Later we went for a lovely walk. The children found some moorland to scramble over and a stream to splash in, and they ran about and shouted a lot and chased some sheep, and my friend and I sat and watched them and had a good chat.
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Later we went for a lovely walk. The children found some moorland to scramble over and a stream to splash in, and they ran about and shouted a lot and chased some sheep, and my friend and I sat and watched them and had a good chat.
4/14/2004
I guess I'll write lots about the garden, mostly because while I'm digging and weeding I'm thinking about what to write in the evening.
Here's some advice for anyone thinking about converting some land that has previously been rough grazing into a garden: if you rotivate the ground you will cut all the dock roots into convenient one inch lengths, each of which will grow a new dock plant, like something out of the Sorceror's Apprentice. But to be honest, I wouldn't have been keen on the 'zap everything in site with lots of noxious chemicals' alternative.
I feel like I've spent all day dressing M. Our heating's been broken for 9 days now, but I'm still having a lot of trouble keeping children dressed. M ran around for ages this morning with nothing on, and I felt mean getting myself dressed while she must have been getting cold. Then every time she's been to the loo she's kicked off her trousers and knickers, several times insisting on new knickers (fortunately we have lots, but getting lots of washing dried is tricky as we rely on there being warm air in the house and don't have a tumble drier) and it took ages to get them back on her. Then when we were in the garden this afternoon C and M were playing with the outside tap, watering cans and splashing in puddles they made on the patio, and they got absolutely soaked, so yet more dressing negotiations went on. Aargh! 2 year olds!
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Here's some advice for anyone thinking about converting some land that has previously been rough grazing into a garden: if you rotivate the ground you will cut all the dock roots into convenient one inch lengths, each of which will grow a new dock plant, like something out of the Sorceror's Apprentice. But to be honest, I wouldn't have been keen on the 'zap everything in site with lots of noxious chemicals' alternative.
I feel like I've spent all day dressing M. Our heating's been broken for 9 days now, but I'm still having a lot of trouble keeping children dressed. M ran around for ages this morning with nothing on, and I felt mean getting myself dressed while she must have been getting cold. Then every time she's been to the loo she's kicked off her trousers and knickers, several times insisting on new knickers (fortunately we have lots, but getting lots of washing dried is tricky as we rely on there being warm air in the house and don't have a tumble drier) and it took ages to get them back on her. Then when we were in the garden this afternoon C and M were playing with the outside tap, watering cans and splashing in puddles they made on the patio, and they got absolutely soaked, so yet more dressing negotiations went on. Aargh! 2 year olds!
I got wet in puddles. Dictated to Jan by Catie
and i had too wootu the floows bcos i di doont wont them too di
Written by Catie, all by herself
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and i had too wootu the floows bcos i di doont wont them too di
Written by Catie, all by herself
4/12/2004
About time I started one of these blog things I suppose...
We've had a lovely day in the garden today. J's Auntie Heidi is staying, and she weeded the flower bed, my Mum and Dad came round, Mum dug the veggie garden, Dad dug thistles out of the lawn, I weeded around the base of the summerhouse we're getting in a month or so, J put up supports to stop the raspberries blowing over in the wind, C helped me collect weeds into the wheelbarrow and M tricycled round the patio.
We listened to the curlews, our frogspawn hatched into tadpoles today and Geoff's pony came to stay in our field for the summer.
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We've had a lovely day in the garden today. J's Auntie Heidi is staying, and she weeded the flower bed, my Mum and Dad came round, Mum dug the veggie garden, Dad dug thistles out of the lawn, I weeded around the base of the summerhouse we're getting in a month or so, J put up supports to stop the raspberries blowing over in the wind, C helped me collect weeds into the wheelbarrow and M tricycled round the patio.
We listened to the curlews, our frogspawn hatched into tadpoles today and Geoff's pony came to stay in our field for the summer.
