A Quiet Day

We've had a really quiet day here today, which has been a nice change from all the rushing around we seem to do.

The day started with Hannah sleeping in until 9.30am!! She moved back into her own room ( completely unprompted) last night, and this was the sight that greeted me when i went to check on her this morning :-)

After breakfast Hannah did some activities from her workbooks, and then did some reading and played with her Sylvanian Families, and this afternoon we thought we would take advantage of the glorious sunshine and go for a walk to the park. 

Of course we had to walk past the charity shop, and Hannah bought herself a little suitcase for our holiday next week (we are going to Devon) and this cute little hat!!

Then we went to the playground and i sat in the sun while Hannah played.................

..................it was a really nice day!!

Sustainability Centre Open Day

On Saturday we went to the open day at the Sustainability Centre

It was a lovely sunny autumn day and perfect for walking in the beautiful woodland surrounding the centre.  Hannah took part in some childrens crafts and games and we were able to visit the tipi's and yurts that are on site. There was live acoustic music, yummy vegan curry and lots of inspiring eco living advice. 

The Tree decorating tent - children could write their wishes and tie them to the trees for the fairies.

beautiful woodland path
Bushcraft tipi's and tents around a central camp fire.
the herbalism  yurt
communal cooking area for the yurts
looking from the residential yurts to the eco building area
Hannah and me in a tipi
Hannah found this amazing toadstool
dragonflies were all around the pond
painting!!
making a bird feeder

Favourite Toys

This week Hannah has been playing with her wooden stables and horses,



Her dolls house, campervan and horse box..............

......and her wooden bricks. I found these bricks for £2 in a charity shop and she LOVES them!! They have been out everyday and have been made into castles, houses, gardens and a playground. She has learnt that eventually gravity will pull down her towers, and that a bit of planning makes a better foundation for a house. She has also learnt that she can build anything she can imagine :-)

If Photographs..........

........  could talk then this one would tell you that Hannah had a lovely time playing with her little friend Archie yesterday, they made music, did jigsaws and played with a multitude of wooden animals.

This one would tell you how much better Hannah is sleeping since she moved back into the family bedroom, and how much happier she is,

and these would tell you that even in torrential rain, without wellies, the child CANNOT resist a puddle - she simply takes off her shoes and socks and splashes around barefoot, she is so funny  :-)

Book Sharing Monday

Our book today is 'The Wind In The Willows - The Wild Wood' published by Grandreams and re-told by Anne McKie.


It had been a fine spring day when the Water Rat had taken Mole for his first row on the river. Ratty had packed a picnic and as they began their feast, two of Rat's friends had appeared, Otter and Badger. Ever since that day, Mole had been curious about the mysterious Badger.

This is a lovely adaptation of a chaper from Wind In The Willows, just the perfect length for a bedtime story, with beautiful illustrations by Ken McKie.

Art

Hannah loves to draw and paint, she often goes off by herself now and comes back with a picture or card for us. It's lovely to see how her thoughts are evolving, and see her trying to put her them down in her art work.At the moment she is trying very hard to draw all kinds of animals, especially reindeer................thoughts of christmas are foremost in her mind!!

A happy cat

Her first pig
A reindeer in the mountains

Painting is also a lot of fun, she is becoming very imaginative with her use of colours and spends lots of time mixing different shades and painting things unusual colours. Painting often requires wearing a wetsuit for reasons only known to Hannah !! 

Mixing colours at the table (in her wetsuit!)

She found this little box of paints at a friends house while i was babysitting and set herself up in the garden to create pictures.

Sports Afternoon

Today our home education group had a sports afternoon in Southsea. The children (and some of the mum's) played an hour of beach volleyball on the new sand courts on the sea front, followed by an hour of team sports on Castle Field.  Afterwards most of us headed over to the playground for even more running around. We were really lucky with the weather, and all the children had fun and a lot of exercise!!

Volleyball

Volleyball is hard when you're only little , but..................................
...rolling in the sand is really fun!!
Bulldog
Football