JHTplus12

New Blog

2010-06-17T00:24:00.001+01:00

Moving on, my blog is now at http://jhtplus.blogspot.com/

See you there!

2010-06-16T09:14:00.001+01:00

This gets worse! How do I get rid of the sickly green? Need to get one of the children to have a look at it for me. . . I liked the old style blogger better. Far better. Groan.

New look

2010-06-15T15:01:00.002+01:00

Not really sure what I've done to my blog and I don't partic like it, but don't have time to fix it just now.
Hx

Saturday

2010-06-14T13:11:00.005+01:00

Having lunch together on Saturday

Me and Anne

Me, Anne, Joanna

Anne
Const and Anne

CRR

Weekend

2010-06-14T12:34:00.004+01:00

Had a lovely weekend out with friends. I met Joanna (a friend I have known for a long time, though I see fairly infrequently) on Friday afternoon at Sloane Square and we went (window!) shopping in Harrods, and had lunch.

Then we met up with Anne and went out for dinner.

It was really good to catch up with them both again - we chatted until nearly 2am after we got back from the restaurant.

More photos

2010-06-10T17:30:00.004+01:00

Hamley's - a life size bear wearing the England flag, and a Playmobil display.
At the station in the morning - Sebastian took one of his "Beanie Babies" along for the day. Here is Sparkle making an appearance.

Lovely day!

2010-06-10T17:14:00.002+01:00

Today I took two children who have reached half way through their catechism out for the day. (Anni and Seb: Henry got to come along for the ride).

Normally, when the children get half way through, they get money to spend on toys of their choice. But instead of shopping online as we often do, we decided to go into London, to visit
Hamley's Toy Shop , the world's finest toy shop (or so they say)

At McDonald's in Oxford St
On the tube on between London Bridge and Oxford Street.

Photos from last week

2010-06-01T00:40:00.004+01:00

These are some pics taken the other week when we had a brief spell of warm weather. The children begged to be allowed to play in the garden with the hose/sprinkler and I finally gave in. .. they got very wet for about an hour, then came in tired and happy, got dressed and warm, and all had an early night.

Henry Sebastian

Anni, Henry, JoE, Max

And the same again

I love warm weather and days spent in the garden with the sprinkler.

2010-06-01T00:32:00.004+01:00

Julius is not looking too impressed here! (Please don't worry, Jeremy was well aware of Julius's presence and was sure not to swing the crow bar near him). Jake was enjoying himself, and we got through a lot of hard work, fast, with the children's help. (If you click on the photos you can see them enlarged)

Bank Holiday pics

2010-05-31T16:20:00.004+01:00

Bank Holiday weekend

2010-05-31T16:16:00.002+01:00

It has been dull, cool and somewhat wet all day, so we didn't do much of interest. We did (I mean J. did) get the lawn cut, and then we tidied up the garden and finally managed to dismantle the disused greenhouse and get it taken to the tip.

Jeremy and Lucy did most of the hard work in taking it to pieces, while the younger children helped to pick up the garden. The older three children are studying for exams, so they were excused garden duty.

Then Julian came with us (me, Joseph, Annabelle and Max) to visit in St Margarets. That went relatively well, many of the residents are pleased to see the children and there is one lady who visits all day every day (she's 78 and visiting her mom who is 97), so I always sit and have a chat with her. Annabelle played dominos with a couple of people, first time we've done that. Aunt Marie didn't want to play, though she was happy to chat to Julian.

Photos in next post

More photos

2010-05-25T18:55:00.004+01:00

2010-05-22T22:42:00.002+01:00

Today we found out that one of the old ladies in Aunt Marie's care home is dead.

She was Alice, the first lady we spoke to (other than AM). The children always spent time with her, especially Max, who she was very fond of.

Alice had dementia, and was very confused, and always asked the same questions. She loved to see the younger children, and to hug and hold them and she was always pleased that they recognised her and knew her name.

In all the time we've been visiting St Margaret's, Alice never had a visitor.

Last Sunday I was there with Annabelle (9), Joseph (11) and Max (6). We spent time with Aunt M, and a few of the other residents, Max spent quite a bit of time with Alice. He was colouring in a bible workbook, reading out some verses and just chatting.

One of the carers (Terri) came to talk to me, to explain that they had to bath Alice, and that she would hate it, she would scream, shout and make a lot of distressing noise. Terri wanted me to know that they weren't harming Alice, and could I explain this to the children, since the children might be distressed if they heard Alice screaming.

Max was chatting away to Alice, telling her bible stories etc, and then they came to take her away in a wheelchair for her bath. She didn't complain, and when she came back later (all clean and in new clothes) she seemed happy and settled and we chatted with her again.

I said to Terri - the carer - that we had heard no noise at all, and Terri said she could not believe how compliant and easy Alice had been, they had never seen her so serene and easy going.

I hoped that maybe having the children round her had relaxed her and therefore she'd been easier to handle. I thought that maybe next week we would try to spend more time with her. . .

We waved goodbye to her on Sunday; and on Monday she died.

We didn't find out till today. Wow. I am stunned to think that someone who was part of my life is now in eternity. It's - well I guess it is a hard fact of life, that "no matter what you can say about the young, the old don't have long left".

It has been a sobering reminder to us all, that death is near. Far nearer than we might want to think.

Tomorrow, we hope to visit again . . . and since it is Sunday, the children will read bible stories to various ladies.

I pray that God's word may find a place in their hearts and the children might be blessed and made a blessing.

2010-05-21T08:37:00.003+01:00

Birthday photos

Alexander going to vote for the first time
Decorating gingerbread men

Football in the garden - risky business with the kitchen and dining room windows so near (the greenhouse in the background is derelict)

Henry's potato plant - it's getting big (that's one of his Ty toys in the middle of it)

2010-05-18T13:11:00.002+01:00

Sorry not to have updated this in a while, just the usual things going on. We are into exam season now, so there is a lot of intense studying (and some equally intense nagging if anyone is tempted not too study hard enough).

Alex and Julian were in court for two days this week, Alexander really enjoyed the litigation process. Most cases he works on get settled long before they get to court, so it was interesting for him to see one go all the way.

The children are getting excited about their upcoming US trip. We've decided to send Jeremy and Jemima as well as the older four, so I'll be at home with only the six youngest. (JJ and JP will be there for two weeks, with Julian; the others for nearly a month).

I have a few photos from the last couple of weeks to post, will do that next time

2010-05-08T11:55:00.002+01:00

There is a saying "no matter who you vote for, the government always get in".

Well, that used to be the case, though right now, despite millions of people voting, we don't have a government. Can't believe Gordon Brown is still at No. 10 - I hope he's packing.

"Harold Wilson was the only Prime Minister to be elected four times: Gordon Brown is the only Prime Minister to be unelected twice"

Voting

2010-05-06T17:23:00.002+01:00

I went out to vote earlier today and took Const as well as the four youngest with me (we were going to visit Aunt Marie and stopped off to vote en route). Polling station officials were kind to the children and handed out chocolates. The children were mildly interested in the voting process, though they are too young to understand much.

I hope to stay up tonight to watch the results unfold. Alexander, Const and RJ will stay up too - not sure how long they'll last. It depends, I guess on how interesting it is. Some Elections are obvious quite early on, but this one does not seem as though it is going to be.

Hope you all voted - if you don't vote, you can't really complain about the government. I like to complain (grin) so I always vote. Helen, are you allowed to?

I had thought that the turnout would be low - a lot of people seem too fed up to bother voting, but the local polling station officers said they had been flat out busy (this was at 2pm), so who knows. I really have no idea whatsover as to what might happen this time. It's the most open Election I've lived through. Which makes it all the more fascinating!

2010-05-03T14:38:00.002+01:00

Sebastian and the presents

Julius

Max

Birthdays

2010-05-03T14:27:00.002+01:00

Max turned six on Saturday and Julius seven the day after. Today is a Bank Holiday, so the birthday celebrations are ongoing! They both enjoy being the same age for one day.

We got them Playmobil. Over the years, we've found it a really good value toy. Although it isn't particularly cheap it is indestructible and has *hours* of play value. The children (girls as well as boys) have spent many many happy hours playing with it.

This time we went for the fire engine and police car (as well as two smaller helicopters). And since Julius collects stuffed polar bear toys, he got one of those as well, and all six younger children got some gifts.

Happy times. Photos in next post (or already on FB)

It is a holiday here today - and often we'd go for a picnic or day out at this time of yr, but it is sooooo cold here that we've not been outside much. Friday, the children were sailing and it was windy, but nice. But since then it has got colder and colder, till this morning I turned the central heating up and put on some extra sweaters.

Despite the weather, Alexander, Rupert, Lucy and Jemima have gone to the gym to play tennis (outdoor tennis that is).

Curriculum giveaway

2010-04-30T08:54:00.003+01:00

Hi, I need some addresses if I am to post the books people wanted. Alice, yours has been posted. Sarah, I have your address.

Mary I need your postal address, and those of Clare, Emma and Mandy. You can either comment here or email me at henrrietta@hotmail.com I'll mail the books off as soon as I have your postal addresses. If I don't hear from you in the next week, I'll assume you are no longer interested.

Apologies to Maple Liang, but it is not worth posting these books to Thailand.

Photos

2010-04-26T09:24:00.003+01:00

Our potato-growing experiement.
Const and JP on the way home from the Conference

Friends at the Conference

More friends

A rather pensive Lucy

Const and LJ

Weird photo!

CRR on the train

JP on the train

2010-04-24T19:44:00.002+01:00

Another busy Saturday, and still no photos - sorry! I think I've been too busy to take any, though there are 100s of the girls at the Canterbury Conference on my disc which I could edit and post. . maybe next time.

Today I had a dental appointment - I was meant to on Tuesday, but my dentist (along with his dentist wife and infant daughter) were stranded in Tenerife. They eventually got back late last night, a flight from Spain was supposed to land in Gatwick, but instead landed more than a hundred miles away in Birmingham. They were so tired that they got a taxi home (hate to think what that cost them). I was impressed that they made it in to work today (the practice is not normally open at weekends).

I'd not been in the house more than two minutes after getting back from the dentist when there was a terrific crassshhhh! Alexander had kicked a football through the dining room window. Not as big a disaster as it sounds, since the children have done this regularly over the past ten years, and they are fairly competent at replacing broken glass.

Julian and I took a couple of the infants to visit Aunt Marie. We took her outside into the garden - St Margaret's has a beautiful garden, with lots of places to sit and walk, it has a fountain, bird boxes, wind chimes, etc. Max was fascinated by the steel stairs of the fire escape, but I wouldn't let him play there.

J's dad turns 82 tomorrow. I spoke to the hospital, they've ordered him a cake (which I thought was very kind of them) and our cards and packages had arrived.

J's mom is also in hospital still. My parents are doing better - they had a bit of the stomach bug/virus which we had a few weeks ago, but are back on their feet now.

Update

2010-04-21T12:39:00.002+01:00

Aunt Marie remembered how to play the piano and had a great time playing lots of old favourites for the other residents. We hope to make the piano playing a weekly event for her.

Still no photos, sorry, will try to remember my camera next time. We are settling into a routine at St Margaret's, where I take five or six of the children (one older one and the younger ones) along for an hour a day. We have tea (the carers bring the children juice and biscuits) and chat for a bit, then the younger children get out some soft toys and show them to Aunt Marie, then they go round the rest of the residents chatting to whoever is awake. And the rest of us play a board game or two with Aunt Marie.

We finish up before she gets too tired, and when we leave I give her a newspaper, so she has something to sit down and relax with.

So far, it seems to be working well. We are getting to know a lot of the residents (there are only 20 of them) and most of the staff.

Annabelle and Joseph are the most relaxed with the older ladies, esp those who are very confused and don't mind repeating the same answers to the same questions constantly. Jeremy is excellent with Aunt Marie, getting her involved in games. I get to sit in the background and make sure that no one is getting too rowdy, or knocking any zimmers over and generally making sure that we're not in the way. And I get to chat to the carers about how Aunt M is doing.

Lovely sunny day

2010-04-20T15:21:00.004+01:00

Lovely sunny weather her just now, I do enjoy the sunshine. The five youngest and I went to visit Aunt Marie yesterday and today I took a different set of five children to visit. The children (esp Anni and Joseph) are very happy to chat to all the other residents too, so we can spend an hour there quite easily, playing board games or just chatting.

I mentioned to one of the carers that Constance plays the piano and has a portable keyboard and they practically begged me to send her along to play, so this afternoon she and Jeremy took the keyboard along. I've yet to hear how she got on, she loves to play and Aunt Marie used to be able to play very well. I'm not sure if AM will remember how to, but we are hoping she will.

This afternoon I re-potted some baby geraniums, they will probably die a miserable and swift death, since I'm the world's worst house-plant keeper. But I do enjoy the flowers while they last. My hyacinths have been replaced a few times, but are so far doing well - though they have a tendency to fall over (which is why the are held up by string - anyone know how I can stop this happening)

Curriculum give away

2010-04-19T09:40:00.007+01:00

Leave a comment if you would like any of the books/videos/workbooks
This is a bound photocopy of the March of Time (out of print)

Video

Inside of book below

Photos

2010-04-17T18:50:00.005+01:00

Ann with the food

Joshua and Lucy at the trampoline

Ann and Roarke

Ann's birthday party

2010-04-17T18:30:00.002+01:00

A good friend Ann, turns 40 tomorrow so had a "few" friends round this afternoon - there were fifty of us in the end, some home schoolers, some of Ann's church friends, some of her wider family and various other friends.

I got to meet some ladies I've only previously known on email/Facebook, as well as catch up with some I've met before at Ann's.

I had eight of the children with me: Alexander, Lucy, Joseph, Henry, Annabelle, Sebastian, Julius and Max. They had a great time, the under twelves spent most of the day on the trampoline - when they weren't eating the amazing food. I only contributed the drinks, chocolate and grapes, most other moms brought dishes of food, cakes etc. (Ann knows I can't cook, so gave me the easy option :-)

Pics in next post. . . or on FB

Friday

2010-04-17T00:30:00.002+01:00

Today I got to meet Cousin John. He'd been stranded in London because of the volcanic ash problem, so made the trip out here to visit Aunt Marie.

It was good to see him (we've only met once before, when I had four dc, at my brother in law's wedding in 1996) - we keep in touch online, so it wasn't like meeting a stranger.

Again, sorry I don't have photos.

St Margaret's was busy today - there were four or five other visitors there today. Normally we are the only visitors. And on Fridays a hairdresser comes to do the ladies hair.

I visited with Anni, Seb, Juju and Max; and then Cousin John turned up; so Aunt Marie had a busy day :-)

In other news, the girls came home early. They were due to come home Friday night (or Saturday morning) but I got a call this am from Const telling me that Pai had been sick in the night. She was hoping it was just tiredness/over excitement. Const gave her some anti sickness meds and sat with her till she slept.
But in the morning, after Luce and Const had breakfast (leaving Pai to sleep in), Const thought that Pai was looking too pale to continue, and they made the decision to come home.

Since getting home Pai has slept a lot and was then up and about and relaxing. I'm hoping it's not another (different) virus - but I do think her sickness was most likely to have been over-tiredness. She's looking a lot better now (and having an early night).
Luce is also looking a bit pale.

They very much enjoyed their time away, but are glad to be home.

There are foxes in our garden - two dens of them. They rustle around (and bark) in the garden late at night. . . I don't hate foxes, but I do wish they'd be a little quieter sometimes!

Still no pictures

2010-04-15T21:16:00.002+01:00

Still no pictures, sorry, Const has taken my camera to Canterbury, and I've not had time to get J's out (his is a digital SLR and I'm never very sure of the settings)

Const, Lucy and JP are in Canterbury at a conference and seem to be having a great time. I don't think they are getting much sleep, I have to say, and I think they'll be exhausted when they get home (sometime Friday pm is the current plan)

The house has been running fairly smoothly without them - and as always happens, when you remove some of the older children, you realise how much the younger ones can actually do. Seb and Anni have been a big help the last couple of days.

Rupert went to St M's today to see Aunt Marie. He took Julius, Seb and JoE with him. Julius is great to take along, since he chats non stop to anyone and everyone, and is good at breaking down barriers or stopping embarassing silences. They took a few of their teddies (Seb had two Beanies, Annette) along and invented a story which the old ladies then watched with enthusiasm!

I'm hoping to see her tomorrow, and I may also manage to see J's second cousin John, who is travelling in Europe following retirement from his job in Canada. He was due to fly to Romania tomorrow, but because of the volcano in Iceland, all flights into and out of the UK are currently suspended, so he might be stuck in London tomorrow. If so, we hope to meet him and visit Aunt Marie.

I'm so glad Julian's not travelling right now, it would be hard to be stranded (though I guess if you are stuck in Scotland, you can get a train to England, the difficulties are when you need to cross the Atlantic and there are no flights. . . . Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports, and it's weird to think of it being closed)

England feels sort of "isolated" right now, though I guess/hope flights will start again sometime tomorrow.

In other news. . .J's parents are doing ok, they've been transferred to the same hospital, which will make visiting easier for Ian, J's brother, who lives nearby. Not sure how much progress is being made towards returning to independent living. Time will tell.

Alex, Rupert and Jeremy are at the gym tonight, playing basketball - they really enjoy the team sports they can do at the gym.

We're still "off school", but hope to get back to lessons properly next week.

On Saturday I have a friend's 40th birthday party to go to. Am looking forward to that a lot, she has boys similar ages to some of mine, so I'll take a handful of children along with me. 40 seems old to her (she's 39 right now) but it seems young to me! I do think 40 is a real milestone for women (akin to an 18th or 21st birthday, or maybe similar to turning 65 . . .), so I'm glad she has a chance to have a celebration.

Will take photos and update later.

Curriculum clearout

2010-04-13T12:29:00.003+01:00

I hope to clear out some curriculum bits and pieces over the next couple of weeks. Idea from http://ifnotschool.blogspot.com/2010/04/curriculum-clear-out-17-april-30-april.html

Will post a list at the weekend, there are many books gathering dust here that I'm happy for someone else to have.

Family

2010-04-12T22:55:00.002+01:00

We have had a busy few days with wider family. My dad in law was taken back to hospital on Friday night (he's been home less than two weeks). And today mom in law (she had a fall on Saturday) was also taken to hospital for a few days.

We feel bad being so far away from them right now, but hope and pray that things will work out well for them both

Another day, another dollar . . .

2010-04-12T22:44:00.002+01:00

Busy weekend. Julian was up early on Saturday - before 7am. He wanted to put a wash hand basin into the upstairs toilet. We had ordered the parts (sink, taps, cabinet) at Christmas, and they had been sitting in boxes for months.

We thought it would be a simple -half-day job, and J hoped to take the children to the park in the afternoon.

He worked and struggled and worked and struggled. Jeremy(14) and JoE (11) spent the day working with him, fetching and carrying and holding and helping.

J was using a blow torch and at one point - about 7pm (yes, the job ran way over schedule) - he burnt his fingers quite badly. Ouch!!!!!

Eventually, they got the job finished, and we had the cold water running again (which meant I could use the dishwasher and the washing machine - they had been off most of the day on Saturday)

I didn't take any photos, unlike me, but I was pretty caught up with running the house/children/life/laundry (all without water).

Thankfully the Sabbath was very restful - we did visit Aunt M (at least two of us go every day), but other than that, we had a quiet day.

And today? Well, pretty much back to life and lessons. J &A back to work, Const was working at the swimming pool all morning, and was back again to do her lifeguard staff training course this evening.

And tomorrow the three older girls are off to Canterbury for the Plumstead Brethren Conference till Saturday. We'll miss them terribly. Lots going on - many revolving doors. But for now, sleep I hope!

Sunny Days

2010-04-09T12:17:00.002+01:00

At last everyone has recovered from the sickness bug and we are enjoying a week off lessons. It's been lovely and sunny the last couple of days and the children are making the most of being outside. Our potatoes are slowly beginning to grow, and there is much fun to be had in the "camp" areas of the garden. The grass has been growing slowly,but once the children start spending more time outside, I suspect it will suffer. Someone said it's impossible to raise grass and children at the same time - I think that might be true!

It is with much relief that we heard the other day that the Govt had withdrawn most of the Children, Schools and Families Bill in order to allow it to be passed before the Election on May 6th. Labour have promised to re-introduce all the contentious parts of the Bill if they are re-elected.

The Election looks like being one of the most unpredictable for many years - although we live in a "safe" Conservative seat, several areas around here are marginals, and it will be interesting to see what happens there.

I'm always interested in politics, and the next few weeks we'll use the Election as a "school" subject - the children will get their once-every-four-year crash course in British politics :-)

Aunt Marie is continuing to do well in St Margarets. Const and I went to a "families of residents" meeting the other evening. A few other families attended and complained about some very trivial issues ("my name was spelled incorrectly in last meeting's minutes"; "the television is in the wrong place" - that was followed by a discussion after which it was decided that wherever the TV was situated, it was still going to be in the wrong place. Then some genius (not) suggested getting two televisions. . .as though it isn't noisy enough with one TV blaring loudly all day, I hate to think what it would be like with two, showing different programmes at the same time . . )

Const and I had a nice chat to one of the staff - a lady who has been there for ten years. She said to please bring the children to visit as often as we could, since it really brightens up some of the residents to see children. Some of the children find visiting very easy, others are more awkward, but I guess with time we will get used to it.

Looking forward to a quiet weekend, God willing.

Sickness

2010-04-05T16:00:00.002+01:00

Everyone here is sick. Well, not quite everyone, since Const, JP and Juju were sick last week and they are now better; and Alexander hasn't yet been sick and feels great. I'm feely pretty ropey, though haven't been violently sick yet - unlike everyone else.

What a hectic weekend. Thankful for the long weekend/days off; and for the washing machine/drier (which have been going non stop for days now)

Look forward to the recovery of health and strength

Aunt Marie and St Margaret's

2010-04-03T21:46:00.003+01:00

Const, LJ and Julian, with AuntM;

And with me

Her room

Max and Aunt M

Busy weekend

2010-04-03T21:39:00.004+01:00

It's been busy since we learned on Thursday that Aunt Marie was to be moved to a local care home on Friday. I was surprised that they would do the transfer on Easter Friday, but I guess hospitals and care homes run without regard to the calendar.

We've spent a lot of time moving her belongings to St Margaret's - she has a nice sized room and we were able to bring in as much of her own possessions as we could - and clearing out her flat.

It's kind of sad - she'd lived there a long long time - since well before I knew her; and it is sad that she has lost the ability to live independently. But I'm so thankful that she has moved nearer us. We can visit her in a few minutes in the car, or maybe 20 mins without it; whereas in her flat it took 90 mins on public transport and almost the same in the car.

We are hoping she'll settle and be happy.

This afternoon we went to see her - I hadn't been to St M's before and wanted to see her, and J&C came, of course, and we also took Lucy and Max. Max was a great hit with several of the other residents - I don't think they see many young people or children. Max was happy to sit next to another lady and let her hold his hand and chat to him.

The home seems very nice indeed. I'm so pleased it is so pleasant and homely - and it is small, which is unusual for a care home.

Pics in next post. Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow.

2010-03-31T21:30:00.003+01:00

Today several of the children went Tenpin Bowling with some local home educated friends. There were 16 teens there, and they really enjoyed it - thanks Mish for organising it. I had hoped to get to a Pampered Chef Party being held by a friend, but life right now is very full - and unpredictable.

Const has been unwell for a couple of days. She was due to be working this afternoon and was up bright and early (ahem, well, at 0830) and had breakfast, started lessons etc, and we thought she was fine. She then got sidetracked, doing a couple of the boys' haircuts, and half way through cutting Jeremy's hair, she went very very pale (almost green) and thought she was going to faint.

Thankfully she didn't, but had to cancel work, and spent most of the day resting. And thankfully Lucy was able to finish Jeremy's haircut (I couldn't have done that and he'd have looked a little odd with half a haircut at bowling)

In other news.. . . . not sure there is much. Julian continues to be very busy at work. . .we've not seen Aunt M for a couple of days since C has been sick.

I had a phone call from an old (as in known a long time) friend tonight. We chatted for an hour about everything and nothing - it really cheered me up!

And to end with a photo - Max watering my hyacinths

Royal Albert Hall

2010-03-29T14:02:00.002+01:00

For anyone interested in their (heavily subsidised) programme, the Royal Albert Hall have lots more going on - contact them at l&p@royalalberthall.co.uk

More misc photos

2010-03-29T13:27:00.002+01:00

Latest Chatterbooks session focussed on Origami - children came home with swans, dogs and water bombs :-)
LJ, Buzz and JJ en route to the gym to play basketball - taken on Buzz's iPhone

And Bluffy, giving a whole new meaning to "Muuuuum! She's on my laptop again!"

Miscellaneous pics

2010-03-29T13:05:00.003+01:00

Planting potatoes: Max, Julius, Seb

Seb with his potato - we got sent six potatoes, three each of Emeral and Rocket, so they all chose their own and planted it complete with labelled sticks, so we can see whose grows best.

Max grimacing for the camera

Filling the planting bag with compost. Anni was finding it hard to hold the bag up while Seb filled it.
Joseph and Henry also chose to plant Tesco potatoes (ie ones we were going to cook and eat) so that they could compare progress with proper seed potatoes.
Anni with her potato about to be buried in compost

Birthday

2010-03-29T12:46:00.004+01:00

It's Jeremy's 14th birthday today (well it was yesterday, but we are celebrating today), so we are having a day off - yeay. After last week's various ups and downs (starvation diet and colonoscopy under GA) I'm glad to have a quiet day. To be honest I didn't do much on Saturday or Sunday - I did go shopping on Sat to get Jeremy some birthday presents, but other than that have had a quiet weekend. He's not the easiest of children to shop for, esp since I'd said I didnt' want to buy him any electronic media. I did get him clothes, books and some board games in the end, as well as sweets and two chocolate cakes (one is never enough)

I'm still glad to have a day off lessons today. I've managed to sort out one more shelf in the classroom, and have a couple of dozen books to give away (already advertised on various email lists, but might list some here if no one wants them - though at least half of them have already been taken).

Jeremy has spent most of the day playing games - Cluedo, card games and now a multiplayer PC game. I've not yet managed to get any photos of him - he's quite photo phobic right now.

I need to post some photos - we've planted pototoes as part of a schools' competition/experiment; and I've got hyacinths growing on my desk from bulbs. They cheer up the classroom and they smell lovely. And last longer than cut flowers.

Aunt Marie is still in hospital and Const is busy with visiting her, but J's father hopes to get home today, which is great news.

Dad was back to preaching yesterday, in Stratherick. It's the first time he's preached since prior to his knee replacement op in November, so that is also great news.

My Auntie Aggie turned 92 yesterday, there are some lovely photos of her on Facebook will post one here, hope that is ok, Anna.

These are Calum, Iona, Alexandra, Auntie Aggie and Cousin Anna. Auntie Aggie (my great Aunt) reminds me a lot of my grandmother - my mom's mom. She is the last suriving member in the family of that generation.

Friday

2010-03-26T18:32:00.003Z

Yesterday was a difficult day, since today I had some hospital tests (all clear, no worries) that meant I wasn't allowed to eat from 10pm Wednesday till after my general anaesthetic this afternoon. Thankfully, Const (and her siblings) were a big help and did all they could to make the day easy for me - running a household on a thoroughly empty stomach is not my strong point.

I got into hospital this morning before 9am, and was finally allowed home about 4pm. They might have "released" me sooner, but would not allow me out without an adult to collect me, so I had to wait until Julian had wrapped up his week's work. Thankfully, he works a few minutes' walk from the hospital - London Bridge Hospital - which is also only a minute or two's walk from the train, so we got home quickly.

I was impressed with the LBH - definitely recommend it to anyone. Spotlessly clean, competent nurses and all round great care. And of course I liked my consultant. I got a few - "oh my goodness do you really have twelve children?" but nothing offensive.

And now I'm glad to be home taking it easy. The children did a sterling job of running the house while I was out - it is convenient that Alexander works for J and can come home to "babysit" whenever we need him - and right now Const has gone the second (or third) mile and gone to visit Aunt Marie in hospital.

London

2010-03-25T13:17:00.003Z

Aunt Marie looking at photos on J's iPhone
Const and J on the bus on Kings Road

J in the hospital

Const and I having lunch

Const and J at lunch - London Bridge Pret a Manger

Aunt Marie again

Busy

2010-03-25T13:14:00.005Z

Yesterday was very busy. Constance and I travelled into London to meet Julian and then go to the Chelsea & Westminster hospital to visit Aunt Marie, and then J. had to discuss her future treatment/needs with a multi-disciplinary care team.

She is ready to be discharged from hospital, but it doesn't look like she'll be well enough to go home on her own, so we are looking at options for her to move to Sidcup. It will make visiting her much easier if she was nearer. Constance has visited her weekly for the last 18months and it's quite a trek into central London.

While we were out in London the children were busy too. Lucy was out for the day, and Alexander had come home to help babysit. Jemima had her (removable) braces fitted in the morning at the orthodontist, and Joseph who had his the day before was in quite a bit of pain.

In the afternoon Joseph, Henry, Anni and Seb were at the local library for a "Chatterbooks" session - they learned some Origami, and had a great time.

When we finallly got back from London (7pm) Alexander went off to the gym, and Julian took most of the children swimming (all except Const and LJ who were both too tired)

Pictures to follow in next post.

2010-03-24T13:15:00.003Z

Another picture post. Below, Henry and JoE, planting potatoes as part of a science experiement.

Last weekend J and the boys spent many hours replacing fence panels in the garden. This is J in the neighbouring garden, with Henry.

Julius and Max, standing in the gap where the fence was/should be, our garden in the background.

And from the other side of the garden - "once more into the breach. . ."

And a random shot of Alexander, 18.

2010-03-24T12:58:00.003Z

Last post was words, so this is a picture post. Just some miscellaneous pics taken recently. Starting with Julius and Max - they were watching a video and Max fell asleep on his brother's lap - cute!

This was taken by Julian - Tower Bridge, with some strange exhibition going on in front of it

Someone at the dentist recently!

This is one of my nephews, Andrew, playing the clarinet

And Sarah, one of my nieces (I have three nieces, two of whom are called Sarah)

And a picture for Annette :-) Seb with his Beanie Bear collection (and Julius and Max)

Comments

2010-03-22T12:25:00.004Z

A good blogger always replies to comments (so I'm told) so here I go.

Dawn, nice to meet you, and hope home edding goes well when you start - what age/stage are you family? My parents are from Lewis, and I spent many summer holidays in Stornoway as a child (though I've not been back in years). Thanks for coming out of lurkdom - it's good to know who is reading.

Wife to a Rock Star - have added your blog to my reading list - how did you come across my blog, look forward to getting to know your family.

Hi Sarah, yes, hectic as ever, but it's fun as well as busy.

Helen - good to hear from you too - you sound pretty busy too. How is Bruno doing?

Nikki - sorry, another example of things getting lost in translation - I have someone anonymous who makes anti-home-ed comments regularly, and I apologise for assuming that you were ze. And I'm sorry if I sounded disparaging about the school children, I was only trying to be descriptive (and I amended my description :-)

That's all for now, will post soon again with an update on our weekend (fencing, mostly)

Friday's photos

2010-03-20T10:45:00.005Z

J in the box A view of the lights

JoE and Henry before the start

Anni watching the crowds

The orchestra getting into place

Anni and Seb on the Tube

The Royal Albert Hall

And the view directly opposite our box

The door revolves. . .

2010-03-19T22:45:00.004Z

Another hectic day in the Turnbull household. J&A left for work around 6am as usual, and after breakfast (and some tidying up) we started lessons by 7am.

But this wasn't just an average Friday - we had tickets to a schools' classical music performance at the Royal Albert Hall, and had to be in London by midday, to meet Julian and get to the RAH by 1.20.

All went ok till we were about to leave (ok, we had 45 mins to go, but I was getting organised) (in case you don't know me in real life - I obsessively hate being late). And one child who shall remain nameless *could not find hir shoes*. Ze looked. I looked. We all looked. And the shoe refused to turn up.

Ze could have worn hir trainers, but I wasn't sure that was appropriate for a music performance, so I ended up dashing round the locals shops and managed to find a pair just in time.

We set off in a rush, but thankfully I didn't forget anything, leave anything behind, and I even had the right date (long story: we had an outing planned recently and er, well, when we turned up, we were a day late. . .)

Arriving in London a little early, I went to buy a sandwich for Julian (I knew if I didn't bring him one, he wouldn't eat) and we bought a bag of cookies to share; then met up with J and got ourselves to the Royal Albert Hall. Thankfully the Tube was quite manageable at that time of day - taking children into central London on public transport isn't my favourite thing to do.

The Royal Albert Hall is pretty impressive - I've seen it on TV, but this was the first time I'd seen it in real life. I thought it was amazing. Somewhat less amazing were the 4,800 school children who were also trying to get in the same time as we were. (This was a subsidised/ free performance just for school children, which has been recently opened to home educated children too).

As we got near the RAH, there were hundreds and hundreds of children in every sort, kind and colour of school uniform swarming around. From the scruffily dressed inner city school-children, bringing their lunches in supermarket carrier bags; to the immaculate (with hats or caps) public [which in the UK means private] school children all totting matching Gucci/Ralph Lauren bags. And there was one school who had rather enterprisingly dressed all their youngsters in bright yellow fluorescent jackets - making them more easy to spot amongst the crowds.

When we finally (it wasn't too long a queue) got inside, we were shown to the second floor, and - wow - the steward there flourished a key and opened a door showing us into our own private box.

The children were thrilled to have such a great view and I was glad that we had our own private space - it meant that the children could stand up without getting in anyone's view, and we could finish these cookies.

The concert itself was like a mini version of the Last Night of the Proms, with added fireworks, an incredible laser show, and men dressed up as soldiers from 200 yrs ago, firing muskets in the gallery during the 1812 Overture (oh, and there was a cannon which was fired too)

Will put pics in the next post, though it wasn't easy to get decent shots cos of the lighting etc, and none of the pics we took capture the thrill of the performance.

There was an incredible violinist (made me think of Sam)(cos he's the only person I know who plays the violin in real life), who was only 23 - Charles Siem. And a tenor who is apparently the face of the "Go Compare" adverts currently being shown on TV.

When the concert ended we were the first to leave the building via our exit and made our way asap to the Tube, since we were very conscious that there were thousands (the RAH has a seating capacity of 5000, and was very nearly full) of schoolchildren not far behind us, and that the Tube would get crowded, delayed or maybe impassable.

We arrived at the train station somewhat early for the next train home, so I took the children to Burger King as a treat - it is ages since we've done that, and they enjoyed it. (And I managed to get to Pret a Manger for some soup - my favourite food in the world right now is Pret a Manger soup)

Finally got home about 5pm, "tired but happy" as the saying goes, and then realised that Henry, JuJu and Max had swimming lessons that evening. Bit of a hectic runaround, and off they went.

Const had been working in the charity shop this morning, and after we came home she went off to visit Aunt Marie, and wasn't back till 9pm. By which time she was exhausted, and most of the rest of us were very tired.

And while HV, JTJ and MOS were swimming, LJ arrived home (she'd been out helping out a local home ed mom); and Alex arrived home from work, and set of shortly afterwards to play tennis at the gym.

Given how tired we all were, I'm not sure why I am writing a blog post at this time of night!

Thanks for the comments on my last post, will respond in my next post.

Looking back

2010-03-17T23:27:00.005Z

I spent some time today re-reading my blogs from this time last yr, and the yr before. . .I used to write a lot more than I do now, and my posts were generally chattier and more personal. I realise that I don't say too much now, and that I mostly just post photos with comments.

Couple of reasons for that. Partly cos I am on Facebook and I give more personal updates or make more comments there; and partly cos I don't have as much time as I'd like to write blog posts. But the main reason is that I'm aware that not everyone who reads my blog is my friend (unlike Facebook where you get to choose your friends, blogs are open to all the world) and I've had some "negative feedback" which makes me somewhat nervous of being too personal.

Such is life. I guess in the end if I choose to have a blog and to talk about my life, it is inevitable that I will get comments from some losers who have nothing better to do than criticise/complain about what I write. And sadly, some of that comes from people I would have counted as friends.

But moving on, I guess if I am going to continue blogging I have to ignore these sorts of things. And for now, I will.

So what have we been up to lately?

Julian went to Scotland to visit his parents - his dad is in hospital (he had a fall a few months ago and contracted an infection which hadn't really cleared up). He's doing ok, but it's not easy to be elderly and unwell.

J's aunt who lives near us in London has been in hospital for the last couple of weeks. C has been to see her most days. J goes at weekends, and we're doing what we can to support her.

The children have been busy with life and lessons. We're looking forward to sailing starting again soon. French and football lessons continue, as do gymnastics, swimming and self defence.

We often have "revolving door syndrome" - I guess it happens to all familes with teenagers, but more so with larger familes. I use the term to describe what life is like when one child goes out, another comes in, then two more leave, and a third returns, and I go out and before I'm back another leaves, and returns shortly after I do. You get the picture - constant coming and going. I wouldn't have it any other way - but we do have to write down everything we do, are doing, or plan to do, on the classroom calendar, or we would inevitably forget something.

We still have a flurry of dental appointments (mostly me and Constance) and JoE and JP are due to have braces fitted soon - which will mean we have five children undergoing orthodontics, on going dental appts and a few minor medical issues.

I am very thankful for health insurance and the standard of care available in London. And most thankful for the good health we have been blessed with. We have a good friend who has been diagnosed with melanoma right now; and is waiting to find out if or how far it might have spread.

And since this is a wordy post, I will post pictures soon.

Weekend

2010-03-13T17:46:00.004Z

Alexander

Children on their way out this evening

Julian is away this weekend - he flew up unexpectedly on Friday morning to see his parents. His father was taken into hospital last weekend, so Julian decided to go up to visit him in hospital and spend some time with his mom.

So I'm being a single parent till Monday evening, when J. hopes to come home. We've not done much other than the normal weekend things - gym, CRR at work, chores etc till this evening, when most of the children have gone out to a local bible study. Which means I have a quiet evening, only RJ and the three younger boys at home. Peace! So far. . .

Roofing work

2010-03-13T13:48:00.004Z

Our roof has finally been finished. This is the roofer who did most of the work.
RJ on the roof

RJ and JJ - neither of them is at all scared of heights

JP using the scaffolding as gymnasts' bars

2010-03-08T13:46:00.003Z

Just made lunch - we used two large loaves, one kilogram of cheese and half a jar of peanut butter. Followed by a handful of left over muffins and twelve cupcakes. Wow. And that was only ten of the twelve children at home. And I wonder why our food bill is so large. . . .!

Well, I don't wonder, I realise that five teenagers, and seven younger children are going to eat me out of house and home if they get a chance, though we are pretty good at eating on a budget - lots of baked potatoes, bread, pasta and vegetables. And most of our cakes, biscuits etc are home made by Lucy (and Henry).

We have the roofer working on the house this week: it's a bigger job than he thought and there will be two men working here tomorrow, if it stays dry.

Spring has sprung?

2010-03-01T20:18:00.003Z

Finally, today was sunny. Very cold early this morning (I had to go outside to empty the paper bin), but the rest of the day has been mild and sunny. I love sunshine, it always cheers me up.

Today I got round to editing some photos that were taken earlier, see above. Haven't taken many pics in the last few weeks - we really have been too too busy with just life and lessons - not to mention our leaking roof

Update

2010-02-26T20:22:00.003Z

I have been meaning to update my blog all week, but time is short. We've had a fairly average week - up early for lessons, French, football, family swimming, gym, swimming lessons - as well as five of the children going to our local library's "Chatterbooks" session on Wednesday.

Constance also visited Aunt Marie, and she and RJ were both at their part time jobs. And Julian was hyper busy as is normal here.

I ordered a batch of CGP Books (the lesson workbooks we mostly use) - and Max (5) was so excited since he knew there was a new book for him. Lucy and Jeremy were pleased to get their Shakespeare books too. Grin, do we have a boring life, when the children are excited at the delivery of school books.

We also had grass seed for the lawn arrive this week - and - which caused more excitement, we bought the "Story of the World" book, along with the audio CDs. This is a comprehensive history course (we have started with volume 3, Early Modern Times, which goes from Elizabeth I to "the Forty-niners" (I mistakenly thought they were something to do with the Irish Republic, but no, it has to do with the American Gold Rush))

I like having audio CDs since we can listen to the book while working at something else, and, for emergent readers, it really helps to be able to read a book while listening to it at the same time. And best of all, I don't have to read aloud!

And in this house (I guess we get it from my dad who was once a History teacher) we love History. Geography, on the other hand, is very much a poor relation.

But tomorrow (Saturday) will be more about grass seed than History. . . .

Back to work

2010-02-22T13:21:00.003Z

Last week was half term, and since it seemed like spring had sprung I was busy with spring cleaning - well, tidying out the classroom, going through spare/unnecessary resources, and getting rid of countless bags of rubbish/paper.

The classroom never really does get very tidy, but for now it is reasonably organised. I was looking forward to taking the children to the park this week, since the weather seemed to have turned brighter and warmer, but it has been cold and absolutely bucketing rain the last couple of days, so we won't be going very far till the sun comes back.

The rain (which has been unusually heavy for this part of England - though I guess it would count as normal in places like Lewis or Harris :-)) - has started coming the roof, we have a small leak. Thankfully we know a compentent and inexpensive roofer, so he's been round to see what needs done. . . I hope it's not a big job.

War Museum Photos

2010-02-18T07:35:00.004Z

This is me (with model American soldiers in the background)

Henry and Joseph dressing up; and below, Anni, Henry, JoE and Seb

And Henry again

This is a photo from 2005 - RJ as a sailor

And RJ and Lucy

Mid February

2010-02-16T20:37:00.006Z

How time has flown, can't believe it is half way through February and I've not blogged for a few weeks. It is half term this week so I am catching up with myself (sort of).

The children aren't very well this week - Const is positively poorly and might have flu, while most of the others are coughing and sneezing and I'm handing out paracetamol like sweets.

So what have we been up to since I last blogged? We have had several educational outings with home educating friends. Julian was off work when we went to the Science Museum, so we drove, but I took some of the children on the train to the War Museum. Public transport and children is not a great mix, but I only had Joseph, Henry, Anni and Seb (11, 10, 9, and 8) and we only had to get one train, with two short walks, so it was relatively easy.

The Science Museum is huge and no matter how often we visit, I never feel like I've seen half of it, far less all of it. The Britain atWar Museum on the other hand is small and I've been round it very thoroughly before.

As usual we took lots of photos, most of which are on FB, since it is so much simpler to upload pics there, but I'll post a few here.

Today Max, Julius and I had a fun time going through old photos - from 2005. I found some from a previous trip to the War Museum. I am always glad when I look back that we take so many photos, it's fun to have a window into the past. I've almost given up printing them out, though, most of our pics are now on CD and online, rather than in albums gathering dust.

Imperial War Museum

2010-01-26T20:59:00.005Z

It was really cold and snowing; we parked a few minutes' walk away and I was frozen when we arrived.
Enigma Machine

JoE and big guns

A 1940s Evacuees' School
Seb and me; 1940s house

Air Raid Shelter
Bunks in a submarine

Educational Outings

2010-01-26T20:46:00.003Z

As well as the zoo, we took some children to the Science Museum and also some different children to the Imperial War Museum. Both are free (other than paying to park) and brilliant places to go with children.

Today (Jan 26th) I took Joseph, Henry, Anni and Seb on the train into London and we met with some other home educators to visit the Britain at War Museum. I will add photos in another post.

No Annette, our bathroom is not finished yet! We are waiting for some parts to arrive, and for our plumber. But Rome wasn't built in a day. . .

Working on our bathroom

2010-01-18T10:49:00.007Z

JJ and JE hard at work - we'd taken several layers of wallpaper off by now.
One wall down to the Victorian plaster slats
Same wall with some old wallpaper

View from the other side
Sink out
This is how dusty it was while J was sanding

We sprung a leak for a moment - Jeremy managed to keep it under control until J fixed it

Sink on its way out

J, JJ, JP, RJ

Back to work

2010-01-15T15:39:00.003Z

I've not blogged for a week, since we've been busy getting back into routine properly. We had trips to London Zoo, the Imperial War Museum and the Science Museum the second week of January, but this week have been doing more routine lessons.

No one has been very keen on getting up early (myself included) but I hope by next week we are more into the swing of things. Alexander's been home studying for exams, so J has been going to work alone.

We have the plumber coming to discuss how to rebuild our bathroom (will post pics of the current building site) this weekend, I'll be glad when it is finally finished.

And a special thank you to Annette for the beautiful scarves she sent the girls and [me], and the Beanie Baby she sent to Sebastian.

More of the annual pictures

2010-01-07T15:39:00.003Z

The girls - Jemima, Constance, Anni and Lucy; and below, the bigger boys - RJ, Alexander and Jeremy
All eight boys
LJ and Anni
Two youngest - Max and Julius

Annual photos

2010-01-07T15:13:00.004Z

These are the children in reverse age order

(Current ages:Max 5, Julius 6, Sebastian 8, Annabelle 9, Henry 10, Joseph 11, Jemima 12, Jeremy 13, Lucy 14, Rupert 16, Constance 17 and Alexander 18)

2010-01-04T19:58:00.004Z

Zoo

2010-01-04T19:52:00.002Z

J and I took the five youngest children to London Zoo today. It was minus 4 degrees according to the forecast, and didn't get above zero the whole time we were out. We were very well wrapped up - I had cotton tights, two pairs of cotton leggings and a thick denim skirt; as well as two pairs of socks: and then two short sleeved cotton t shirts, one long sleeved cotton t shirt, a thick knitted sweater and a hoodie sweatshirt - plus a cashmere scarf, leather/silk lined gloves; and a woolly hat borrowed from LJ. And my cashmere and wool black coat.

The children also had several layers on, but I think I had the most!

We had a great time, despite the cold, since it was sunny and dry, and the children just loved the animals. The amphibian house was a favourite, as were the lion cubs, otters, meerkats and giraffes. They did not like the bearded pigs nor the pygmy hippos.

There are more pics on Facebook, but I'll post a few here too.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T19:22:00.003Z

Happy New Year to all. And happy new decade. I remember going from 1979 to 1980. I was 13 and living in Perth, with my parents and siblings, at school, with no clear idea about what I wanted to do with my life.

I remember going from 1989 to 1990. I was in my about-to-become inlaws' house with my fiance, having finished a law degree and now working in London where I'd met Julian. We spent Christmas with my parents, and New Year with his - getting engaged in between - before I came back to living alone in London, and marrying later in 1990.

I remember going from 1999 to 2000. I'd just (in November) had our eighth baby, Henry. Alexander was eight, Const seven, Rupert six, Lucy nearly five, Jeremy three, Jemima two and Joseph one. I was home educating the four older children, and we lived in Headcorn, in the depths of the Kent countryside.

And now we move from 2009 to 2010. We have twelve children, I am still home educating - but only have ten students, the older two are now no longer officially home school age. Alex is working full time, Const part time. Our "baby" is five yrs old.

The end of a decade is a time to look back and be thankful.

"It's the end of a decade
In another ten years' time
Who can say, what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of [two-oh-one-nine]"

I don't know what the future holds. But I know who holds the future.

And some more pics

2009-12-29T00:48:00.004Z

Hope I got these dates right. . .!

December 2007

December 2006
December 2005

December 2004

December 2003

December 2002

More pics

2009-12-26T18:26:00.002Z

These are miscellaneous, from the past six to eight years.

(Below, one child is not ours :-)

Professional picture, taken by a photography client of Julian's

The children in the summer; in their new "school uniform".

These are miscellaneous, from the past six to eight years.

Photos

2009-12-26T13:49:00.003Z

We have not had a white Christmas after all. Instead, it's milder, but cold and wet, dull and rather miserable.

I've been sorting through photos: one of my self imposed holiday tasks. I've been looking through old CDs (in the days before DVDs I had to store photos on CD) and found some cute pictures.

Guess the year, anyone?

Will post more next post, since blogger gives me grief when I try to put things in order. . .

Snow!

2009-12-22T11:00:00.005Z

Tried to get some pics in the snow, but wasn't very sucessful. It was good fun to play in, briefly

Anni
Conni trying for an artistic pose: it was cold!
<

Monday

2009-12-21T11:06:00.003Z

Constance got herself in the local newspaper again (Sidcup Chronicle, can't find a direct link). This time they not only printed the picture of her with our MP, but also added an article she'd written herself. It's small, but it is a start!

We are technically off lessons this week, but some children are doing catching up. It's not universal "free time" yet - or at least not all day every day. There are always the normal household chores to do do. It's cold, despite the heating being on. I guess we lose a lot of heat through our (old and ill fitting) windows.

Anni turned 9 on Saturday. Lucy made her an enormous cake which the family decorated.

Sebastian is next, then Lucy, and that will be us at the end of "birthday season" for a bit.

Cold cold cold!

2009-12-16T15:03:00.005Z

I had to take Constance to the dentist today (again!! :-( ) It was very cold on the way there - not sure how many layers of clothes I wore, but it probably wasn't enough, despite all the layers, hat, coat, gloves and scarf, it was freeeeezing. On the way home, it started to snow.

(children doing art)

I doubt the snow will last, there isn't much of it.

We have a leaking pipe (I thought Julian had fixed it on Saturday, but it hasn't stopped dripping slightly) and are waiting for the central heating engineers to come to mend it. They were mean to be here on Tuesday, but called to cancel since several people had called in with broken down boilers (and no hot water or heating), so in the grand scheme of things, a slightly dripping pipe isn't that important. They hope to get here in a few days. I'm glad our heating and hot water are working well.

More photos

2009-12-16T14:54:00.003Z

Joseph with Julius - photo taken by Auntie Anne when she and my parents were visiting.

Anni at lessons
Joseph's 11th birthday - with Max, Sebastian and Julius

Joseph again

Photos

2009-12-12T19:51:00.003Z

Boys in pyjamas.

Laughing uproariously!

Saturday again

2009-12-12T19:18:00.006Z

Nearly a week since I updated my blog - dh fears it is getting neglected cos I spend time on Facebook instead. The beauty of FB is that I don't have to write a paragraph, just a line at a time. But for the time being, I'll continue my blog too.

(The other reason I prefer FB is that it is soooo much simpler to upload photos)

We've had a busy week. I was out last weekend staying with Joanna, and this week there were three trips to the dentist, Const was helping at a local charity twice as well as visiting Aunt Marie; Julius was invited to a friend's party and although I'd hoped to go with him, in the end Lucy took him; and today seven of the children and I went to visit a home ed friend with four children (who had several other families round at the same time) - we had amazing food and good company.

And while I was out Julian had to deal with a leaking pipe - bit of a nightmare, but thankfully he got it fixed in the end.

I also got our annual photos edited, and cards and calendars ordered, and they arrived this morning! So I need to get busy with those as well as with sending out TBS Calendars to various outreach groups.

It was really cold here today: we took two different buses to visit our friends, and while we were waiting for the second bus I thought it might snow. It was very cold standing around, even for ten minutes. I do wonder *how* do homeless people cope?

Also this week, some of the children were at their local "Chatterbooks" group - it is like a reading group or book club for children. Jemima won an award for the best general knowledge; though since she is the oldest child there that is maybe not as big an achievement as it sounds.

And Alexander was presented with the "Best Student" award at his self defence class.

And added to all that, Const and Alexander got their picture in the local paper. They went to visit our MP a couple of weeks ago and he sent the photo and a short note into the paper, who published it without our knowing.

He was complimentary about home education, which was nice!

This week also had football lessons, swimming lessons, family swim and gymnastics. Whew! I'm exhausted.

Twickenham

2009-12-05T20:57:00.005Z

Twickenham!

Pics from today. I went with Joanna (an old friend - think we met first in 1984?) and her nephew and his friend.
Despite the weather forecast, it stayed dry until the end of the game, thankfully. (We'd gone well equipped with layers and layers of clothes as well as an umbrella, gloves, scarves and hats, in case it was freezing, but it really wasn't too bad.)

There were dozens of buses laid on to take tens of thousands of supporters from the nearby station to the stadium. The buses were technically free, but everyone was asked for a 50p donation (less than a dollar) to go to the MacMillan Cancer Fund. The All Blacks (who we were supporting since Joanna is legally a Kiwi, and Chris and Stacey are 100% Kiwi) lost, but it was still a fascinating experience.

I was surprised how "near" the pitch the crowd actually are, the stadium wasn't small, but the way it is designed (I guess it is similar to a theatre stage) means that the crowd is relatively near the players.

The ground has a capacity of 83,000; and today there were nearly 64,000 people there. I have never been in a crowd that size in my life. . . and I was amazed and relieved to see how quickly the crowd was able to disperse after the game.

Rugby

2009-12-01T14:45:00.002Z

I am looking forward to a day out on Saturday, need to read up on the rules!

Passports etc

2009-12-01T12:17:00.004Z

(Thanksgiving projects)

Julian took eight of the children (the eight younger ones) to the US Embassy yesterday. They had to turn up in person to get their US passports. It was a cold, wet and wild day, so getting all of them to the train station, then on to the tube, then from the tube to the Embassay was quite an expedition for Julian (Constance went with him to help).

It all took time, but thankfully all went ok. The officer asked the children their names and ages, and also asked what they had to eat for Thanksgiving. Other than that they weren't interviewed at all.

Today four of them have gone sailing - it was too cold for the younger children to go. I hope those who have gone come back without hypothermia, but I'm not convinced.

I can hardly believe there are only 30 days left of this year, it seems to have gone so fast. We are looking forward to having time off over Christmas.

Houses of Parliament

2009-11-27T14:42:00.003Z

Alexander went with Constance this morning when she met our M.P., Derek Conway, to hand in a petition against the Government's plans for home educators. Mr Conway was very pleasant and helpful and gave them a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

These photos were taken by his assistant, and emailed to Constance a few hours later.

Thursday 26th November

2009-11-26T10:41:00.004Z

We are busy with various home school projects on the First Thanksgiving, and Lucy is cooking dinner - turkey, corn, sweet potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie. I doubt our table will look as good as this:

but we still hope to enjoy it! We also have a lot to be thankful for.

Pizza Hut pics

2009-11-20T23:10:00.006Z

My parents take the children to Pizza Hut on the last day of their visit, which this year co-incided with Henry's 10th birthday. We took some photos.

Henry, with Max - having had toooooo much ice cream!

JuJu
Lucy, Anni, Seb, Mom, Henry

Group pic

Anne, my sister, left London at 1600 hoping to get home at 2100; but a landslip at Preston meant that her train was very much delayed.

Mom and dad travelled overnight, and thankfully, their sleeper train got through from London to Inverness, only a little delayed.

Given the news reports of terrible weather, we have so much to be thankful for. It is sad to read about the police officer who lost his life while helping people caught up in the flooding.

Travel disruption is one thing, but loss of life is quite another.

Parents' visit

2009-11-17T20:53:00.005Z

My parents are in Kent for their (annual, almost) visit to see the grandchildren. They haven't been down since March 08, so there is a real difference in the size of some of the children.

They arrived this morning and came to see us this afternoon. We hope to see them a couple more times, God willing. Anne is also with them, and it was good to see her again too. Jeremy took most of the photos today. Julius, Anne, Max, Henry, and Alex; below Alex and my dad

Anni, mom and dad

Mom, dad, Alex

Anne

Dad, Alex, me

Jem, Seb, Anni and mom; below; dad.

Seb, RJ, Mom

Clothes

2009-11-16T11:49:00.002Z

I've been sorting through some children's clothes recently and if anyone can use boys' "dress" winter coats (only used for church) ages 2, 3 and 5; or girl's dress woollen jackets ages 5/6 7/8 (all ex John Lewis) do let me know via comments (I won't publish comments so feel free to leave your address).

More Remembrance

2009-11-12T12:41:00.004Z

More pictures - poor quality, need to fix my camera issues. We've done some studies based round WWI, Armistice Day and the Poppy. I took the younger six to our local War Memorial where they left their poppies.

Joseph and Henry reading the inscription which read:

"Dedicated the memory of all those from Sidcup and District who passed out of the sight of men in the Path of Duty"

Remembrance Day

2009-11-09T11:25:00.004Z

Yesterday was Remembrance Day. We will do some study on the history of Remembrance Day this week, and last week bought poppies for everyone to wear. Hopefully we'll visit our local war memorial. We don't know anyone directly involved in the British Military; but we are thankful for them and the sacrifices that they and their families make for us and for our freedom.

I know there are debates about whether UK troops should be in Iraq or Afghanistan, but whatever the political decisions, it is good that there are soldiers who are willing to risk their lives to fight.

I recently met (only briefly) a couple whose 25 year old son had been injured in Afgahistan in the last few months. He is still in hospital, recovering (in as much as one does recover) from having lost both his legs in a land mine incident. Meeting real people who are personally affected by the wars, does bring it more home to us.

Freedom is not free.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Fireworks again

2009-11-05T12:57:00.006Z

More pics - but poor quality, camera was low on battery, and it is hard to get pics in the dark without an SLR. Mhairi and Leonidis.

Lucy, Jemima and JoE
Children entranced

Ann and Jonathan

Alexander and Roarke

These are tapers, not cigarettes :-)

Alexander and Max on the bus: my oldest and my youngest children, sharing a moment. . .

Fireworks pics

2009-11-05T01:00:00.003Z

At the bus stop: Seb, Anni and Henry; with Luce behind them.

JoE at the bus stop

And a close up, at the bus stop - Conni, Luce, Henry and Seb - with Buzz in the background, and JP behind Henry.

Fireworks

2009-11-04T23:04:00.002Z

We had a great time tonight, went to a home educators' (home-schoolers') get-together, with food, friendship and fireworks.

The kids really enjoyed it, esp the littler ones who prob don't get out to quite as many social things as the older ones. (You know the principle, "you can't home school if you are never home"?)

I thought it was a really good home ed occasion, everyone mixed and I didn't see any anti-social behaviour or anyone being upset/angry/diffficult etc, they all just mixed and mingled and had fun. Children and young people from 18 down to 4 months; a few dads, and young moms, older moms and at least one grandma.

My camera battery was dying so my pics are pretty rubbish, but I'll add a few in here. Have put more on Facebook; it is easier to add pics on FB than on Blogger.

I talked a little to a lady with two children (3 and 1?) who made me feel a bit of a fake cos I have 12 dc and she thinks I am superwoman, when in reality, like I tried to say to her, once you are a parent, it is a 24 hr job, no matter how many children you have.

I'm not a greater or better parent because I have more children. Maybe a busier parent, but not a better one. The lady was asking very directly about home ed and exams etc - I usually try to avoid these questions, since those who need to know already do, and those who ask usually don't really want (or need) to know.

Pics to follow.

More Photos

2009-11-02T10:23:00.005Z

Buckingham Palace

On our way to lunch

St Paul's

Buckingham Palace

Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, who rebelled against the Romans

London Aquarium; housed beneath the old County Hall building

Cleopatra's Needle - the oldest momument in London, c. 3000 yrs old, gifted to London by Egypt to mark the victory of Lord Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.

Tower of London, below

Big Bus Company

2009-11-02T08:56:00.004Z

Big Ben and below the London Eye

HMS Belfast - which could shoot a 100 pound shell fourteen miles in 40 seconds. Wow!

A replica of Shakespeare's Rose Theatre.

The Tower of London

The offices of the London Mayor (very near where Julian and Alexander work)

On Saturday we took American friends on a Big Bus Company Big Bus Company tour of London. It is a good way of briefly seeing most of the famous sights. Although the day started off rather dull, the sun finally came out and Julian got some good photos.

We also had a river cruise as part of the trip; and had we had time, could have gone on several walking tours as well.

MiniBeasts

2009-10-27T14:58:00.004Z

I'm just back from the library - should have taken my camera. Jemima, Joseph, Henry, Anni and Seb went to a MiniBeast Session. They got to see/handle a terrapin, a toad, a corn snake, giant snails, and hermit crab.

Then I came in towards the end of the session with Max and Julius (who were too young to be there the whole time), and they got to see and handle a giant millipede, some stick insects and some very big stick insects.

Then the man running the session brought out a tarantula. I couldn't look at it at all; but managed to hold on to Max's hand while he stroked it. The library staff were amused at my determination to fix my gaze on the carpet at the other side of the room. Anni was a bit worried that I was worried, and Julius was none too keen on the creepy crawlies either, but the others were fascinated.

It's great to live so near such a great educational resource.

Photos

2009-10-27T13:28:00.004Z

Conni and LJ en route to London, below, and in the West End above.

Conni with Juilan the night before her birthday.

Boys at the library - you can see the dark shadow on Julius's right eye from his skull fracture.

Playing times tables snap - Julius was more interested in the laptop in the background, I think he was playing Education City.

Monday again

2009-10-26T14:40:00.003Z

I really don't do catchy post titles, do I?

Anyway, back to Monday. We only remembered late on Sat night (I know, we are a bit out of touch) that the clocks went back, and therefore we had an extra hour in bed. Grateful to Facebook (and Ann!) for the nudge.

Last week was very very busy.

Among other things; on Wednesday some of the children had a Chatterbox session at the library; and on Thursday the younger children also had an art/reading session there.

Julian had to go to a work meeting/dinner on Thursday, which meant he wasn't home till late, and on Friday Conni turned 17, so I took her and LJ into the West End of London, for a trip round Harrods, just general tourist-type sight-seeing. Great fun, but next time, don't wear high heels :-)

Six of the children had a football class with home ed friends; while LJ spent a couple of hours helping out at another home ed friend's house.

Plus there were swimming lessons; body combat class at the gym; Alexander was at the House of Lords, and several children were at gym tennis.

And it was my mom's birthday. As well as the birthday of a good friend, Carolyn. The postal strike has wreaked havoc with our card-sending plans, but cards are on their way.

And on Saturday Conni was helping out at an evening event with the older ladies who run the charity shop she helps out in, and the disabled adults (who are cared for by the charity) and their carers). (And she was helping out on Sat at the charity shop).

There were prob other things going on too. . .but I've prob forgotten, it has been so busy.

Photos to follow.

Dearth of Photos

2009-10-21T13:58:00.003+01:00

I hereby apologise for the dearth of photos - normally we take dozens every month, but seems like we have been too busy lately. This is a particularly busy week: last night Alexander had been invited to a reception for Members of Parliament at the House of Lords, to represent home education outcomes.

He was out till quite late last night, and seems to have enjoyed it very much.

Today, Anni is at a friend's birthday party, and then the three little boys have a library art session. And tomorrow more children will be at a different library session - part of the Chatterbox scheme. And LJ is out a at a friend's today. And on Friday it is CRR's birthday, so LJ and I will be taking her out.

And somewhere in amongst this Julian has to attend a black tie dinner, CRR has a work related meeting (the charity shop she works for on Saturdays). And two of the girls had gymnastics lessons and another three will have swimming lessons later this week.

"You can't home school if you are never home" - grin. This has been a week where we have a lot on. Most weeks are less interesting - or at least less active.

Talking of home schooling, yesterday our order of exercise books for the year arrived: I think there were 250 altogether, in different sizes and with different line spacings. The children were pleased to see them, since we had almost run out of the ones I ordered last year. And we had yet another order of CGP Books arrive (workbooks widely used in schools and at home), but there are still a few that I need to get hold of.

I'll finish with a photo from last month: Max and his number workbook.

Problems with email

2009-10-19T16:42:00.003+01:00

Just to say, if anyone is used to contacting me on my momys.com address, it has - for no apparent reason, and I can't get hold of anyone who can help - ceased to function. So if you were used to talking to me there, I'm not ignoring you, I just can't access my mail.

If you need my current email address it is henrrietta@hotmail.com or first name. last name@btinternet.com

And I hope everyone who can has responded to the Govt's horrendous proposals to impose itself between children and their parents.

"First they came for the home educators. . ."

Monday 19th

2009-10-19T07:03:00.002+01:00

Sorry no to have updated in ages, I am busy with home education, and with fighting for the right to home educate without government interference. There is a Govt. consultation ending today which I'd urge everyone to fill in, if you haven't already done so.

Click here to read and respond

In other news, RJ turned 16 last week, and Const turns 17 this week - so for one week I have two 16 yr olds. I didn't get any pics of RJ's birthday, though he enjoyed his day with home made birthday cake, some small gifts, an iPod and new clothes. On Saturday I took two of the boys shoppping (early in the morning) to get new clothes for work etc, and we managed to get in and out of Bexleyheath by 10am, which was quite impressive.

That is my ideal way of shoppping - walk into one shop, collect the first things that fits, and buy it quickly. I am not a browse-round-all-the-stores-admiring-their-new-collections type, much to the despair of my daughters!.

Also on Saturday J. put shelving up in the laundry room so we can store towels etc; it was quite a big job and he got it done quickly. Jeremy worked hard to help him. The trickiest bit was going out to get wood, since we discovered that the car battery was flat. So they had to go on the bus - which was simple, but we weren't sure if the bus driver would let them on the bus on the way home with several metres of wood. In the end, he did, but otherwise they'd have had to walk the mile and half home.

We now have our heating on again for the winter so are all cosy even when starting lessons at 6.30am.

Seb

2009-10-05T14:45:00.005+01:00

Pics of Seb with his "paint-your-own-t-shirt" - a gift from his "Godmother", Annette.

Monday

2009-10-05T14:35:00.005+01:00

Monday again.

Suddenly, it almost seems like winter. Not sure where autumn went to, but last week it was sunny and bright and we were enjoying an Indian summer; yet today it is cold, dark, wet, dull, dark and miserable.

Maybe that is because it is Monday. Or because I have caught the virus that several of the children have had: sore throat, sore head, mild temperature and significant nausea. None of the children have been very unwell, thankfully, and I hope I won't be either.

But anything that interferes with the household running at 100% is . . . well an interference.

There's lots to do this week, dental appointments, lessons, sailing, football, JoE has to have his arm x-rayed, and there are still more lessons to do.

I do not like the winter. Autumn ("season of mist and mellow fruitness" etc), I love. Winter, I really don't like. Esp the cold, dark, miserable days. I don't mind full blown snow and ice.

This time last year we were getting ready to travel to the USA. This year we don't have any exciting plans.

Visit

2009-09-30T10:43:00.004+01:00

Recently we had a visit from Mr MacRae, J's ex employer/ colleague.

He'd come round to donate some more computers and printers to our ever-growing stock of educational necessities.

We were very grateful.

Before he left we took the obligatory photos.

Does anyone know why I can't get paragraphs to show up in the above text? It is sooo anoying since it looks ok when I type it, yet on preview it shows up all messy and worse when I post it.

Sigh