Pancakes!!!

I haven't made pancakes for years, I always (unnecessarily) associate them with eggs so just don't bother, but this book inspired me to give them a go. Very, very delicious, especially with the rhubarb puree I made, perfect combination!


This past week has seemed to speed by, quite alarming, I suppose that means I'm getting old.

Rehearsals are well under way for A's drama group production. She's getting a little nervous about it, but has learnt her lines well and is definitely enjoying the group. There's a week long summer school in July with the group, which A is quite keen to attend. I can see a real boost in her confidence since joining the group.

Guides has been another good move - she's been to about five sessions now, and has enjoyed every one. It doesn't seem to be very organised, I never went to Guides but I had this image of girls working towards different badges and completing various challenges. All A seems to have done so far is play sports out in the field. Not that I have a problem with this - if she enjoys it and it works for her then that's great, and they definitely seem to be a friendly group, the 'working as a team' thing is obviously emphasised.

We went off to an interesting exhibition of Renaissance drawings at the Moray Art Centre yesterday, A wrote in the visitors book that she found it 'very inspiring'. Some good classes go on there too, we must keep an eye on their courses listings.
While we were there we bumped into a parent from A's old school, and in conversation it came up that we were home educating. We ended up having a long chat as she has been thinking about home educating her son but is a bit unsure at the moment. It felt really good to be able to offer some insights from our experience of the past two years, and also how we see the future with HE. I actually felt like I knew what I was talking about (rare for me!), which showed me how far we've come. I'm feeling less that I have to justify everything and reassure people that I'm not a feckless neglectful parent, and more comfortable in our choices, because you only have to spend a couple of minutes with A to see that she's flourishing. I gave the woman my phone number and said to phone if she wanted to talk more, which she seemed quite keen to do, so we'll see what they decide.

This may be my last post for a while, as we're off on holiday on Thursday (yipee!!). We're going down to London first, then visiting a few other places to see friends and family, and will be gone for about 3 weeks. Prepare yourselves for lots of photos on our return!!!
I don't feel I'm organised at all, this weekend I'm focusing on work as I have a piece on learning styles that I need to finish before we go, and I just know that the beginning of the week will be a blur of rushing around madly trying to get things in order. I'm making lists, which is a good start, but they inevitably get lost or hidden under piles of magazines/paperwork/books. Oh well, we have our train tickets, and places to stay, so I guess we'll be ok :o)

Edinburgh

Just had a wonderful couple of days down in Edinburgh :o)
Had a FAB conference to go to on Wednesday, so I went down on Tuesday and stayed overnight at a hotel (A stayed up here with Granny).
Spent a couple of hours enjoying the art_gallery on Tuesday afternoon, then had a delicious meal in this restaurant.
The conference itself was really interesting, entitled: Nutrition for Learning, Behaviour and Mood. Some fantastic speakers, lots of evidence and information I can use in my writing, in fact its really inspired me to write more on nutrition. It has also challenged some of my fundemental beliefs about my own diet, and left me in a bit of a quandry about that, but thats for me to try and get my head around :o/

Some pics from my hotel room window:

I'm refusing to blog anything about the election - I cast my vote, we've discussed various issues and followed whats going on, but I find the whole thing too depressing for words.

Thanks to lovely Hannah we made this today:

It caught our eye when we were looking at her blog, and A was very keen to make one ('keen' about maths - whats going on?!?) I think it appeals because of the colours and shape - the 'artyness' of it. It can be used the same way as the multiplication square, but I'm thinking (hoping) that because it appeals in a visual way it might have more impact on taking in the info. Whatever works!

We also rediscovered a story we started writing together well over a year ago (in fact it might be more like two years!). We had done character descriptions, including drawings, as well as planning the skeleton of the story, then put it all in a folder and put it away in a drawer. Once we reminded ourselves of what we'd done previously the story started flowing, and we got a few pages down. Hopefully it wont be another two years before we get it out again!

We Must Go Swimming More Often

A was dropped off at Nonna's for the weekend this morning, where she will get time with her grandparents, and also get the chance to see her little half siblings. She doesn't see them very often (the littl'uns), and always looks forward to it. She really enjoys the big sister role, and is very good at it too - very patient and caring.

So I have the weekend to myself. I suppose I really should work, but I feel that the last couple of weeks have been so hectic workwise that I might just relax and enjoy my own company for a while.

We managed to get to the swimming pool on Friday. I am in a perpetual state of guilt when it comes to swimming. A can sort of swim, but is not confident out of her depth, and I really wish she was. I have tried in the past - sent her to lessons when she was five, but by the third lesson she sat sobbing in the changing room because she hated it so much and I felt like a heartless mummy-monster, so they stopped. A couple of years later I organised one-to-one lessons, but she had a different instructor each week, which was a bit rubbish, and when I watched one of them spend most of A's 'lesson' chatting up young girls it really pissed me off. So that didn't last long either. A has never wanted to attend lessons (I think her first experience put her off), although she does enjoy going to the pool.
So we now visit the pool sporadically, with me repeatedly saying "we must go swimming more often" but failing to actually make it happen. Thing is, I know if we went more often she would improve, I'm sure it wouldn't take much. But the truth is, I just don't like going swimming. The hassle of getting there, the indignity of wearing a swimming costume, the wet hair, the stinking changing rooms, and possibly on some level the memory of being called out of the pool over the PA system to a phonecall telling me my dad had died, then having to drag a protesting 4-year-old A out to get dressed and go up to the hospital and meet my Mum. All of that. Or maybe I'm just lazy. As a 'good' parent I'm sure I should put all that aside and put my child first.
Anyway, we must go swimming more often...