Home page?

I think I need to make this blog my home page, to remind me to write in it. I chronicle a lot of what we do on Facebook, but that isn't very accessible months or years down the line (ever tried searching for an old status? It's next to impossible because FB only shows you 'selected' stuff when you look back through your timeline). I've decided to have a break from Facebook for a while. I really dislike the dynamics there. It highlights things that wouldn't be highlighted in real life - like if you grow apart from a friend in real life, they just don't see you much anymore... on Facebook, they might delete or block you, and you might constantly be seeing him or her writing on a mutual friend's wall, always bringing it home to you that you are no longer close. I think it's a very artificial environment, and our social norms don't always seem to apply. People say things that they wouldn't in real life. That's always been the case online, but on Facebook we no longer have the excuse of anonymity. It's just that people are more brazen and less thoughtful when they're sitting behind a keyboard. It is what it is, I suppose. But I need to break from it, revive my efforts in real life friendships and relationships where people actually care about me!

So I will sum up our past week, for family and friends who are interested. (One of the things about having a family split across continents, is that someone somewhere is always missing out on your 'news'.)

Monday: A visit to the optician in the morning. He was 'bored' by us apparently, because we're all seeing so well! :) Cora had eye surgery to correct a bad squint when she was 3 or 4. He said she is unusual because not only is her vision in both eyes almost perfect (usually with a squint it causes one eye to be worse than the other), her eyes work perfectly in sync. Essentially, the surgeon did a fantastic job. I was very pleased to hear that! You'd never know now that she had such a squint when she was young.

You can really see the squint here if you look closely!

After that, I headed to visit my Dad in hospital. He had been admitted the night before and had sepsis again. I spent the night in Dundee so I could visit again the next day, and he was in High Dependency both days but seemed relatively okay, despite being so unwell. He's improving now, thank God.

Friday: All 3 kids got haircuts. Maia got her beautiful long blond hair cut! She's wanted it cut for well over a year. I was always reluctant, mainly because she's the baby! Cora had her hair cut by that age so I felt a bit hypocritical. She loves it!

Before (she's not naturally curly, it was in buns the night before!)

After.. *sob*

Handsome boy has been waiting ages for a hair cut!

Pretty girl got the layers chopped off from her old pixie cut

And as for the weekend... that'll have to be in a separate post, or it'll be far too long!

Nature Deficit Disorder

I'm in the middle of reading this report from the National Trust. It's really interesting reading so far. I know despite being home educated, my kids still do get less outdoor time than I did as a child. I spent hours outside playing with the neighbours. TV only showed kid's programming for limited hours a day, and although we had a video player, the same videos over and over didn't always appeal. We do try and get out and explore a lot of our local nature resources. Perhaps I'm feeling it a bit more because it's winter. In summer I tend to kick them out with a picnic and tell them to explore for a few hours, this summer Maia may even be old enough to join them if they're staying in our little neighbourhood. She'd be thrilled to go with them I think!

The trend towards spending lots of time inside with screens - TV, computer, DS, tablet, phone - must have lots of effects for children (and adults of course!). The more time they're watching something like that, the less time they're active. Playing outside requires a lot more imagination than watching a TV show.

I'm going to go and finish reading the report now, but I know I'm going to make a concerted effort to give my kids more time outside and less screen time.

Some of Our Recent Adventures

I really want to write more here. I think I'm going to set myself a calendar reminder for once a week to make a blog post. The thing is, Facebook is a good log of what we do on a regular basis but it's nearly impossible to look back on. And if Facebook ever goes down, that content will go with it. Of course, the same is true here, but it's more likely that I would be able to switch the blog to another platform if Google were in trouble. I love to look back on what we've done over the months! Here are some pics I just sent to a friend:

Calvin making a snow angel

Cora made me breakfast in bed one morning for a surprise

Cora cooking stroganoff for supper

Sledging!

All I want for Christmas is my...

...2 front teeth!

Sweet note from Cora

Her beautiful new hairstyle

The kids with my Dad at his new nursing home

Maia and the almighty stick. She always has to find a good one when we go out!

Maia (3) chopped all the courgette (zucchini) and mushrooms for our supper the other night, all by herself!

With a castle she built by herself - Daddy has taught her well!

Excited for their train trip to Dundee. :)

All ready to go out for the day

Tis the Season to be Jolly

I find it hard to believe that it's the last month of this year. It really seems as if it has just gone by in a whirlwind! I don't know about you, but I always think to myself "when I've got more time" or "when things calm down a bit", I will do X/Y/Z. But that time never comes. I really have to make the time for things or people that are important! 

I'd like to start out by showing you a video that makes me smile every time. This was Maia's idea, but she graciously allowed Cora to join in!

As you can see, this is after the tree went up! In our house we usually put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. The kids enjoy it the whole month of December, with the whole build up to Christmas (and so do I - Daddy on the other hand, is not so much of a fan!). This year, Thanksgiving was very early - the 22nd November. But I didn't want to break tradition! Sadly my Dad was extremely ill and although I was back from visiting him by Thanksgiving, we left that evening to go to Dundee again where he is. So the tree had to wait.

Months ago I had booked tickets for the Enchanted Castle, at Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire. Cora and Calvin really enjoyed it! Maia was scared for some reason but still enjoyed herself in between the 'asking to go home' moments!

With their snacks before we went to the castle

Self explanatory!

Some of the beautiful animation

In the walled garden, the fairies lair!

Calvin on the biggest screen he will probably ever see in his life!

The kids could have just done this for hours I think.

Even Maia stopped asking to go home at this point!

Since the Enchanted Castle was roughly halfway from home to Dundee, we headed down from there. It was quite nice driving at night, we rarely do it, and the kids were much quieter than normal! We stayed at the Dundee East Premier Inn. We've stayed there before, and the rooms are so big for families like ours, love it. Decent rates, comfy beds, and plenty of space for us - way superior to Travelodge in my opinion! My brother and I stayed at the Dundee West one a few weeks ago when Dad initially was taken ill, and it was fab as well. Our next Dundee stay we've booked the Central one which overlooks the River Tay, but enough of the Premier Inn spam!

Every day we visited Dad, but visiting hours didn't start until 3pm so we took the kids into town to do a bit of shopping. We came across a shop that was just opening, and the kids got goody bags and got their faces painted. And on that note I will leave the rest of the story for next time, because Blogger seems to have a problem all of a sudden and won't let me add any more photos - and I had to manually go in and edit the HTML to get the text to align left! So au revoir for now!

Tiger

Fantastic work by the face painter!

The Power of Play

It's coming up to that time of year now, isn't it, Christmas is rearing it's head unavoidably! I personally adore Christmas. Seasonal music on the radio, beautiful lights everywhere, shiny wrapping paper and excitement (and of course celebrating our Saviour's birth!). I continue to be shocked at how commercial it can be though, I know, I know, it's the same old thing. But I think that especially now with social media it's more apparent - friends are posting about what laptop and what iPad to buy their young children for Christmas!

We didn't celebrate Christmas for many years, and when we did begin to again I went very overboard. I bought far too many gifts, and I would say overall only about 10% of what my children were bought was actually appreciated. That was back in 2008, and each year we seem to be sizing down what goes under the tree. I think my children already have enough toys, 9 times out of 10 they play with the large tub of Duplo that we have in the living room.

One of Today's Creations

Maia's House

Literally, a day does not go by that it isn't played with. They also have a large tub of trains and track that Calvin got for his 2nd birthday that is well loved and played with too. I really don't feel that they need any more toys, at this point. They each have some other toys too, musical instruments, dolls, action men... but they just don't see the same light of day. They also love to occupy themselves building tents and colouring pictures.

Artwork in the Living Room

My children really enjoy the times I let them play on the laptop, there are some fantastic educational games available online that they learn a lot from. The same goes for my phone. I know if I got them a tablet they would be absolutely thrilled! However, I know from experience that their imaginative play explodes when their screen time is limited. I see that the days when I let them watch several DVD's because I'm feeling bad, they get 'bored' more easily and can even argue and fight with each other more. So I've made a conscious decision not to buy electronics for them at this point - and that's without getting into the discussion of cost! This year for Christmas I have already organised all their gifts:

• Cora - Fur Real Puppy and custom handbag/hairband matching set 
• Calvin - Pogo Stick, Ant Farm, and Pillow Pet
• Maia - Lightning McQueen Crocs, Worm Farm, and Pillow Pet.

Stockings will be hung up and filled with little craft items such as new colouring pencils, and some treats. They will of course get gifts from others, though I try and persuade people to make memories with them instead of buying things. Take them to the theatre, or on the train for a day out, take photos and write the story down - they will treasure it! 

According to Ribena, in their Plus Play Report, almost half of parents spend over £200 on children at Christmas. I find that hard to believe, because we keep hearing how 'times are tight' and we're having to cut back. And the question is, do children really need so much stuff? Will it make them happy? Will they remember it fondly when they're adults? If not, then perhaps we should reconsider the Power of Play and whether so many toys and gadgets are the answer. 

P.S. If you haven't already, check out my link to Ribena, they have some fantastic ideas about play and templates for making fun things from cardboard boxes!

Haddo House

Haddo from the bottom of the gardens

Haddo House has had some sad memories for us, so it's somewhere we hadn't been for about 2 years. However recently I decided it was time to move past that, so we visited with some friends. We really loved the grounds, they're so big, so much to see and explore! It felt almost surreal in some parts, crunching through the leaves. At one point we walked into a shaded part of the forest and a gust of wind blew. It quite literally began raining leaves then, hundreds of them, all around us as far as we could see! It made us all laugh, and we waited for a repeat, but no such luck.

On our visit with friends

Cora and Calvin sitting on the side of the chapel wall

We had to take a walk to the Pheasantry as well, since Cora and Calvin knew they would be camping there soon with Scouts (Beavers and Cubs). They were so excited to see where they would be, they were planning how it would all go in their heads I'm sure!

A massive tree in the garden with my friend, Cora, and one of her children to show scale!

An old piece of machinery they found in the forest

The house itself was beautiful too, the kids only got slightly bored - but were generally very interested. It was quite poignant really, we were the only ones on the tour until an older couple ran in to Queen Victoria's bedroom to join us. He began to tell us how he had been born there when it was made into a maternity hospital - the tour guide had literally just finished telling the children and I about that. When the tour guide told him he was standing in the very room he had been born in, he was quite overcome! It was very cool for the kids to see 'history in action' - having just heard about the Haddo Babies they then met one in real life! Amazing.

Feeding the very tame Haddo ducks

We're looking forward to going back soon. Our National Trust membership is certainly paying off.

Loaded down with all their gear!

Calvin at his tent

Cora and one of her best friends in their tent

The whole camp, Pheasantry on the left!

Teddy Hammock

Sorting out Calvin and Maia's room today I had a brainwave. Thought I'd share for those of you with bunk beds! I took an old crib sheet and tied it to the slats, voila, instant teddy hammock! Maia loves it, and it's somewhere easy and practical to keep all her soft toys.