The day started off with a few creations...

Then off for a walk down to the park.

Danielle wasn't impressed with Nathan driving her doll's stroller through the sand and it sticking to the wheels...

Danielle's snack she went off to make...Ants on a Log (carrot with peanut butter and bits of cracker stuck into it).

Monopoly with Nathan that seemed to go on for a few hours. He really stuck at it, buying houses, then hotels and then bankrupting me lol. I'm sure we modified the rules, but he enjoyed it.

After dinner we spent a bit more time in the garden watering and checking out our things growing.

We're about halfway through the Wizard of Oz book now.

Off camping tomorrow!

Yesterday was shaping up to be a bit of a miserable day weather-wise (nothing new for this strange summer we're having) so I suggested that we go to the movies to see Alvin and Chipmunks that they'd been wanting to see but we'd been waiting for the discount day. A friend then texted to see if we wanted to go swimming - with a bit of humming and harring we went off and did that for the morning and the day fined up beautifully for it. So swimming went on for a good 2hrs before racing home for lunch and off to the movies. Nathan's self-teaching himself to swim and is coming along really well and is figuring out diving down under the water and freestyle. Danielle's still not keen on getting splashed but still enjoys being in the water.

Hmmm, previous two weeks...

Danielle's little homemade dollshouse.

Nathan was interested in looking at an illusion book that my mum bought him.

Restacking firewood in the rain.

A quick dip in the garden bath-tub.

A bit of blackberry picking after dinner.

Nathan's reading more and more spontaneously. He'll be following picture instructions in a book to create something and realise that he can also read the words alongside. I think he surprises himself that he *can* actually read lol.

Both kids planned and did a series of short skits to show me - they had dressups on, finger puppets and a bit acting.

Danielle's still working away on her phonics programme and enjoys sitting down with me for 5mins most days to do it.

I notice we've been asked a few times if I give the kids a break over the school holidays. My response to my dad was "well, if only they'd *stop* asking me questions..." ;)

Yesterday we gathered up some things from around the house and garden to try a bit of stamping. We found some neat little flower seed pods, oxalis and toilet tubes.

In the afternoon we met up with a friend down at the park (brrrr, it turned cold!).

I found this arrangement this morning when I got up. The dollshouse pieces were laid out

We've been spending a bit of time in the garden. Kids swing between helping and chatting to me and then up in their sandpit concocting all sorts of things.

Today as I was digging out compost we saw masses of baby worms including a weird heap of them that appear to have been freshly laid or something. It was a crawling mass that was quite fascinating.

Danielle chose The Wizard of Oz as our next chapter book, so we made our way through a few chapters. I read this to Nathan a while ago, so we are making our way through them again so she can get to enjoy the story too.

We played snap. We went over some more phonics for Danielle (interestingly it's helping with her speech too).

Nathan did a bit more of embroidering his bear. Danielle wanted to make one too so went off and drew a butterfly for me to transfer onto some hesian for her. She emboidered the tummy but then asked me to complete it for her. She decided she didn't want it sewn onto a cushion cover, so instead I turned it into a little wall hanging that is now above her bed.

Let's see...

A few days back we did a gravity experiment - dropping different sized and different weighted objects showed that they will fall at the same speed and hit the ground at the same time (unless they are something like a feather or paper that have very little mass where there is air resistence to slow it down). Interesting.

Today was pretty much an outside day - Nathan got interested in bugs and beetles he saw in the garden as I was tidying up the herb garden. He spotted a ladybird so raced inside to get his Lifesize Guide to Insects to identify what kind it was. He spotted a spider carrying her egg sac on her back - he then identified her and we read about how from the egg sac there will be about 100 babies that she will then carry around on her back. He then found a large green shield bug and recalled the one over winter that he'd found that was a different colour due to the season.

We made some herb ice blocks that they both enjoyed.

There has been playing with paper dolls and dressing them up.

There has been making wizard crafts from a library book. Moving forward on the reading lessons for both.

Climbing trees, roller blading, rolling hoola hoops down the driveway, painting the fence with water...

A pottering kind of day

We had no outings planned today so just decided to chill around home. We did start off by going for a short walk though and went down to the beach and back (too windy and chilly to stay though). There were a few investigations along the way...

A little bag of nature.

Danielle has been wanting me to sit with her and go through learning letters and sounds, so I re-found a free phonics programme that I had briefly looked at for Nathan a few years ago that he never really ended up needing since he was self-learning it all anyhow (it has a daily lesson but I keep forgetting and she reminds me that we haven't done it yet! lol). Nathan wanted in as well though once he heard me working through it with Danielle. After she'd done her little lesson, he and I sped through the first half of the programme and learnt a few rules that helped him right away.

I went around the house and noticed little projects that had been enjoyed and then moved on from. Some I was called to share with me what was going on and others I got involved in.

This has been WIP. Nathan spent some Christmas money on a rather large boxed set of Lego. He built the helicopter over the first few days and has been modifying it ever since.

Moving on from the two sets of wheels of yesterday, to four sets lol.

Danielle's Pet Shop.

Vege box arrived - box was turned into a Jet Pack

Nathan burst into the hosue all excited to show me how he'd got some water siphoning out of the bucket to fill up the bottle.

We played a game of Trouble that Danielle had received for Christmas.

Nathan sat down and worked on a little more of his embroidery project.

We read library books.

My pair of kitchen helpers.

I've noticed recently that Nathan's style of drawing has taken a turn.

The Eiffel Tower with a sunset behind it.

A friend standing in a ray of sunshine.

Contraptions

I've noticed that Danielle's moved into a new mode of play. Her focus has been designing and building contraptions. A chocolate factory; then a contraption that involved music, buttons and moving parts that made her water bottle give her water (the one pictured below); and a playground with lots of activities for her pony. I'm thinking that her inspiration comes from a visit to the local chocolate factory last month, the short movies of Wallace and Grommet and some of the Blues Clues programmes that have been on TV recently.

I ended up with a sick little Danielle late morning (Nathan had been sick over the weekend but I thought the rest of us had escaped it!).

So, while she was doing a bit of this...

Nathan sat on the floor sorting pins in colours and types lol.

He then mentioned wanting to do some hand sewing. Since I'd been recently browing through The Creative Family and spotted a project in there, I suggested that he go and do a simple drawing that we could trace onto some hessian I am trying to use up and he could emboider it and then I'll sew it onto a spare cushion that is in his room.

This is now work in progress. He completed the circle of the head (and I need to borrow my mum's embroidery hoop to make a bit easier to handle).

Danielle then perked up slightly...

Trying out his two-scooter skills...

I'm currently reading a book that I had ordered into my library about a year ago but had forgotten about since I didn't reserve it at the time. It's called I Love Dirt!

It's got some neat ideas for exploring and enjoying nature (is laid out seasonally) - even though this is very much how we live anyhow and a lot of the ideas and activities just occurs organically, there are still some new ideas for us to explore.

I'm really looking forward to the Blue Moon coming up on the last weekend of January. We'll be away camping with friends at the local Organic River Festival - so perfect for doing a moonlit walk in the bush with the kids, making moonlit shadows, investigating the wildlife etc.

Then, 10 days later we are off to homeschool camp as a family. There is quite a line up of activites happening which hopefully both kids can get involved in.

A Day in Pompeii

Ooooh, forgot to write that the A Day in Pompeii exhibition is in town and I knew that Nathan would be keen as to get along there. He spent a lot of last year learning about and being fascinated in all things Pompeii so it was awesome timing. We went along a few days after Christmas with my parents. He was most looking forward to seeing the body casts and wasn't disappointed.

Pre Christmas decorating...

Busy with new Christmas gifts...

Fun in the sun with friends...

Just hangin' at home...