We had “one of those weekends” where everyone seemed to spend the day whining, clambering and arguing when Max and i really wanted a sit down and flop day. We seemed to have almost reached the converse of where we were before; the children now get nearly full time attention from one person or another and therefore demand it when we’d actually like them to bugger off for a bit! It was certainly a trying day on Saturday, which eventually we managed to reclaim by all watching “Night at the Museum” in the evening. They liked that, even Josie. Did remind us that now that family film nights are more of an option we really need a new sofa. There are no longer enough spaces for 6 bottoms (especially when some are rather ample! 😆 ) So, since we currently have at least a little spare cash floating around, we’ve decided to decorate the living room (cream and coffee) and get a new sofa, probably a corner one, so that we can snuggle up more easily. And having decided to do that, we’re also having the dining room done (in THE green, all the way round) and the bedroom (cream and blue), have the ‘box corner’ turned into a cupboard and get blinds made for our room and the girls’ rooms. So then we’ll be quite done (and well and truly spent up!!!) And we’ve managed to achieve organising that using all either crafts people we know or people i have met at work, or are related to. Which is quite good really and sort of feels like a return on all the nice people who have bought from me because they know me!
Sunday felt a bit better; tried and failed to cajole everyone down the A1 for a wet and windy nature walk, failed miserable and decided i didn’t have the energy for the fight, made our paltry apologies and departed for work in a state of slight stompiness. But i did get lots done. Max had put up extra packing tables, so we now have a set of 4 in the centre and 2 have higher shelves attached to the back, so effectively we have 2 packing sides with places for leaflets and tools in the centre, which works really well.
With the extra bit next door, i think we’ll do okay for quite a while. I just need to get the decals for the windows printed off now and the sign made and we’ll done and organised. It’s a bit deathly quiet at the moment though and bank holiday weekends are always gulpingly awful. This is of course compounded by the fact that i have to pay my workers for bank holidays!!!!!
While i was out Max and the kids had a nice morning and played Settlers of Catan, among other things.
Monday we dashed through normals, i dropped them with Sue for a couple of hours, dashed into work, did a few bits, collected them and took them to Activity world with a small HE smattering. I can’t say i had a particularly easy time of it on this occasion. I just don’t do small talk anymore, particularly with new (to me) people. I’m probably feeling very oversensitive, but i’ve got a feeling people who have never known me as full time Merry, now brand me as a “not proper home educator” if i mention that Max and i share it. And i got a real feeling of being patronised, like i was brand new to HE or something. It all got a bit much. But it was probably in my head.
Tuesday i had a mental day; i met a marketing person from Staedtler UK who had been brought to listen to my opinions on FIMO (i talked for quite a while!), went to the doctors for a delightful women’s only procedure (blech!), had a meeting with a courier company about an account and then dashed home in time for everyone to have their hair cut. I’m very blonde and very short!!!!! Max had a “bad HE morning” but to his credit, cut his losses, altered his plans for the day and pulled it round, so when i came home everyone was happy.
Max and i watched Elizabeth: The Golden Years in the evening. I quite enjoyed it ‘to look at’ as it were but it kind of lost all credibility by putting Fotheringhay Castle as a huge pile by a Loch surrounded by mountains, as opposed to being a typical medieval hall in the middle of Northamptonshire (with barely a hill or pond in sight!) Their excuse for this is apparently that Fotheringhay no longer exists, but i don’t buy that. Rockingham Castle is just down the road from where Fotheringhay was and would have done nicely as an understated version of truth, along with any of half a dozen other places. Idiots.
Yesterday i had a lovely day with the kids. The car was being MOT’d and serviced (another fellow workspace person and only £180!) and there were going to be various people in and out of the house (blinds man, cleaners, painter); we needed to tidy up and so on but between us we got everything done and made the place feel okay. Then they did some spring crafty kits that Michelle brought ages ago (lovely, thank you) and then i had a couple of these at home and i let them do one each.
I know it is me selling them but i highly recommend them. Everyone from Fran to Josie enjoyed them; the shapes were punched and the needles were plastic so i didn’t have to fret, there was plenty of everything and they all did it all themselves, sewing, stuffing, decorating, the lot. All i did was untangle Josie a few times. Josie’s was intended to be a cat but she wanted it to be a penguin and between them they donated shapes (evil red eyes a bit curious but requested by Josie!) and chopped off ears and arms for her to make it penguinish!
Today i shall have to pop down to work with them and get some stuff sent out ahead of bank holiday post but they’ll take some work and be okay. We got a written thumbs up from Mr LEA man, so i can chuck out some clutter and plan the rest of our Charlotte’s web project so we can start a new one. We’ve finished Mrs Frisby and almost finished The Diddakoi. I know it was on the shelf at school but not enough of it was familiar to know if i ever read it or not. I ‘think’ i did, the bit where Kizzy gets thumped into the tree was familiar, but i just can’t quite remember. They found it hard to begin with because the prose is quite whimsical and dots about, but they’ve really enjoyed it. Must think of the next book.
The Next and M&S clothes were good, the Vertbaudet tops are okay and we are still waiting for Pumpkin Patch but at least it feels like they have something to wear now 🙂 Now i need to prune out old stuff and brave the boxes for summer stuff for the little 2.
Sounds like everything is working well, bad days included! Lovely pictures 🙂
fwiw maybe the commenters (???) about sharing H.E are bit envious? I know I am!
Oh, it wasn’t anything said exactly, it was just a feeling. maybe it was more that they assumed i was a newbie and didn’t know what “HE is really like” or something. I don’t know.
Actually, i was the only one without a little one, so maybe it was just “out of the club” somehow. I dunno. I’m probably over-sensitive. I hate groups.
I’m with Amanda on that–they’re just jealous! I’d love Michael to be abel to be home with us more.
Congrats on the LEA letter. Elle
I love that pic of the four girls! And yes I’m liking the sound of your arrangement to share the work and the HE. I know someone else who does that and it works well for them too.
HE groups are funny things though aren’t they? Sometimes they’re really good and sometimes they’re horrible, without being able to put your finger on why, exactly.