He's done more!

At the woodland session this week, the boys made rafts. No, no the full sized model, but small ones using recycled milk cartons etc. D's came home and made it onto the pond, but as they are away, I'm not sure where it is to take a photo. They have one remaining session which will be held a week tomorrow.

As there was no dancing, Wednesday was a lot less tiring. D had Spanish and we were home lunchtime, having done the shopping. This left the boys free for the afternoon, and mum too!

I finally remembered to take my camera Thursday, so could get some pictures of what D made in art. They had another felt making session. He is going to have to show me how now he's the expert. D did another two smiley faces to go with the one he made last week.

Apparently, they are going to put the three together to make a wall hanging. I am sure he just wants to show that it's not just mum that can do wall hangings.

This week is Children's Festival in Sheffield. As part of this, the boys took part in an Indian music workshop on Friday morning. They both thought it was fantastic and really enjoyed being able to play the different instruments. As you can imagine, it was the drums that were the most exciting.

It was straight to the train station once they were finished. The boys are in Wales for the weekend, and from the photo I received yesterday, they were having fun on a bike ride. It's back home tomorrow.

It's not fair

With it coming to the end of the school year, the swimming baths seem to be getting busier, so the boys only ended up with just over an hour in the pool. This meant we were up at Heeley early.

The boys didn't mind. They went on the climbing wall and were delighted they were able to get up the more difficult parts.

D was delighted when he arrived at art class that they were doing felt making, especially when as he knows that this is something that I've wanted to do for a long time. It's just not fair that the kids get all the fun!

He made a lovely piece of felt with a smiley face. He said it was hard work, but it definitely paid off.

Friday we were off to Monkey Bizniz for the morning, and I was really spoiled in the evening, D did dinner.

He did a spinach salad and used Quorn pieces instead of chicken so I would eat it. It was lovely to have someone else prepare the food.

We cancelled our craft session on Saturday as D was really suffering with hay fever. His eyes were sore and swollen and he would have had difficulty seeing what he was doing. Let's hope it all settles down for next week.

Spot the pumpkin

What fun we have had with the weather over the last couple of weeks. Just before we were due to leave the house on Monday, we had another thunderstorm, complete with hail stones and torrential rain. It looked really doubtful we were going out, but by the time we had to leave for the bus, the rain had gone off a bit.

The weather held off whilst the boys had their woodland session, but it seemed the weather had put a lot of people off attending. There were only four children there this week, and as we had to leave early to go to the doctors, the session was shortened and they finished at three. They spent the time pond dipping, so you can imagine what they all looked and smelt like. They all enjoyed themselves, which is the main thing.

The rain started again when we were on our way home. The highlight of the journey home for the boys was the lightening and thunder bolt that came down in the park right next to us as we were sat at the traffic lights on the bus. Their enthusiasm wasn't shared by all on the bus.

It was showery again on the Wednesday, so we got a bit wet after picking D up from Spanish. He had been doing more naming of body parts. Their pen person, now has more labels on his face.

This was the last dancing session, and they all did really well. More of the parents came to watch to see the progress the group had made. They are hoping that they will be able to get another session in the autumn. I know the boys will be looking forward to it.

Whilst we were out last week, we bought some more plants for D to plant. This pumpkin has yet to find it's final home, but D was really excited to show me this. I think we'd better get it planted pretty quickly so it can grow big enough for us to eat.

Parchment Card

On Saturday D and I went to Craftastic for a parchment card class. Neither of us had done any parchment craft before, so it was totally new to us both.

This is the card that D made. Even though the little cut outs were very fiddly and time consuming, he didn't give up and made a really good job of this card. Everyone was amazed at his concentration. He was concentrating so much, he was really quiet. I know what to do with him next time I want him to stop talking, lol.

Brief Catchup week ending 12/06

Wednesday D had a Spanish lesson his own and has started his own vocabulary page. We went straight from there to do some shopping as J needed new trainers. We just about made it to dancing on time.

This week they went through all the dances they had done preciously and added more to the cha cha cha and the street dance routine. They now have one week remaining.

Thursday saw us at WH Smith. D needed a new Spanish dictionary, his last one had died, and J wanted a Polish book and CD to help him. We also got a Science workbook for D, which he keeps doing at the most inopportune times, but it is keeping him happy. For J, we got the text and workbook for Romeo and Juliet. This has brought back some memories as I studied this play for my O level.

At art on Thursday, D did a fantastic pastel lily. It was stunning. I can't wait for him to bring them home as I forgot to take my camera.

Friday was the last ice skating until the autumn. After this Friday, when they are going to go to Monkey Bizniz, we will be getting an extra day at home. I am sure it will be filled in some way or another.

Last week ended quite warm and sunny, lets hope this week will carry on in the same way.

Into the lions den

As we needed to run a few errands before the woodland session, we left home a bit earlier. By the time we got to the library, my phone was ringing. The session had been cancelled as the roads had been closed leading up to Rivelin Park due to a diesel spillage.

So a slight change of plan. The boys didn't want to go straight home, but with hiking boots and wellies on, they weren't really dressed for going into town. I decided that I would treat them so we went and had some dinner in the cafe, before going back home.

When we got back, he boys disappeared for an hour or so, armed with hammer and nails. After after some banging and a lot of toing and froing, I was summoned to inspect their handiwork. The side you can't see on the right, has a little entrance cut into it for the cat to go in, just in case this side isn't big enough for him.

I love the painting on the side which is slightly protected by the sloping roof (in case of rain. See, they even thought of that) but I think I need to get them to varnish it. Whatever happens to the rest of this, I want to keep the sign. Even the landlord was impressed with their creativity.

The stitching bug

D has always enjoyed doing crafts, though he doesn't always stick to one project at a time.

After I heard the immortal words, "I'm bored", I reminded him of some of the unfinished projects he had that would keep him busy. He came down with this cross stitch cushion he has been doing.


The first evening he completed the petal on the right so there were no gaps left on the flower, then last night, the whole flower is done.

It even has a stem. Now he has done this, he can see how quickly it can be finished. He is going to try to get to the background by Friday. I have promised we will go and get some backing fabric on Friday if he does so I can make it into a cushion for him. Think I had better get a cushion pad too.

He also did a bit of embroidery doodling. As it was his sampler, I said he could do what he wanted on there, even experimenting with stitches. These two little people appeared. I think they are quite fun. It will be interesting to see what other wonders will be added in time.

Planets

Wednesday was the normal Spanish for D. He gets a lesson to himself next week as M is away. It seems he has a bit of homework to do too. They have started to name the parts of the body and the clothes you wear. To help, they drew around M on a large sheet of paper and are labelling it. By the sound of it, they had fun.

Both the boys were suffering with hay fever a bit, so they didn't feel like doing much in the couple of hours we had to fill before dancing. We went and got a bit of shopping from Morrisons than sat in the cafe with a drink reading until it was time to go.

I bought D a copy of the National Geographic magazine for Children and later in the week he did one of the experiments. It was to make planets.

In the jar lid, he put milk and two colours of food colouring.

He had to dip the tip of the cotton bud in washing up liquid and dip it in. He then came up with all these wonderful combinations of patterns.

He promised no mess and he was as good as his word. He put everything away and washed up, very impressive.

Another Glorious Day

We woke up to another gloriously sunny and warm day and thought that housework could wait for another day. Well, at least, most of it anyway. We decided instead, to take a picnic and get down to Rivelin early and enjoy the river before it was time for the woodland session to begin.

It seemed as if a lot of other people thought it was the perfect place to enjoy the weather too. Some of the local schools had a teacher training day, so it wasn't just the little ones around, which was a bit of a shock, but never mind.

After the last rain soaked session, it was lovely for the group to be able to work in the dry. This time they were doing musical instruments and were using grass reeds, just as we used to do as children. I used to do it when the boys were little, but they seemed to have forgotten and it was all new to them.

They made these brilliant kazoos. There is a rubber band through the middle which vibrates to make the sound. Two other bands then hold the two pieces of wood together. They have hollowed out a little mouth piece in the middle. They are fantastic. We are going to make the most of the warmth today, tomorrow there is a 12 degree Celsius drop in temperature, just in time for us going to the beach Thursday. There may be a rethink of plans for this week.