Leapin' Lizards!

Jellllyfeeeesh!

Isn't it beeeeoooteeful?

We caught another one which had a tiny fish INSIDE of it, eating the jellyfish's brains out! Of course, jellyfish don't actually have brains. Or so they say. But it was extremely cool anyway! We kept this one for a while, in a 2-liter soft drink bottle with the top half cut off. We didn't think that the residents of our other temporary aquarium would appreciate sharing with Medusa Of Death.

Island life!

Things We've Found In Pockets

It's the holidays! And, for many of you, it's Summer! and what does this mean? Many Things in Pockets. Wacky Mommy and I have had an ongoing tally: She's found a rusty nail, a green pin shaped like a bicycle, a guitar pick. I've found plenty of sand, shells, snack wrappers, cookies (eew), and some money (any money found in pockets areound here is legally mine!) A friend found some gum, and opted to toss the pants out BEFORE putting them in the wash. Very wise. Though she could have tried the old peanut butter trick for gum removal. Depends on the shorts, I guess!

What have you found in pockets this holidays, folks? We are longing to hear! Leave your list in comments.

Big Decisions, Big Moves

Late last year, we decided to pack ourselves up and head to England to live and work. I mentioned it here, and then I stopped mentioning it because it was taking so looong to get organized! Anyway, WE ARE GOING! Cue gnashing of friends’ teeth and pouring of ashes upon heads.



We have a million reasons for wanting to go at this time: Sean has been working for an English company and flying through the UK to Africa, so he was in London for weeks at a time. My sister is getting married in January, and is excited to have me closer to her while they start to work on their little family. My grandmother is 92 and has no family living very near. I love her town, on the south coast, so I’d be happy to live there and know that if anything happens to her I’ll be just down the road. The boys are at a great age to move them, with Chas ready to start Secondary School. (Yes, he's giving up his space at Fatima College. Yes, I let him do the exam even though we were "probably" leaving. Some other lucky boy will get his place. Chas will sit another entrance exam in the UK, and he has experience under his belt now.) The education system seems to be friendly, though we won’t know till we‘re in it. The social work that I’ve been doing here for free counts as a “real job” in the UK. I am looking forward to furthering my own work and education in that field. Our family is ready for an adventure together.



My brother and sister both finished their schooling in the UK - My brother from the age of thirteen when he went to stay with our aunt and uncle and five boy cousins. I never wanted to go to school in the UK, and since I got a government scholarship to a “First Choice” and very academic girls’ school, I didn’t need to. (I went to Bishop Anstey, in case anyone’s wondering! Not a Convent girl, can you tell? Boy, are we a brainy family or what?) (Disclaimer: Convent girls are brainy too! *ducks and looks for flying missiles from convent friends*) Then I did hospitality management at the Hotel School here, and that was that. I travelled around, waited tables in the States, enjoyed working in England, planned to head to Nepal, and then fell in love and settled down. The first year that Sean and I were married, we spent in England. I worked while Sean did his Helicopter Pilot’s Licence, and Chas was born. It was a great year. We were happy to come home though. For eleven years, our boys have been warm-weather kids, potty training naked, wearing flip-flops all year, swimming and sailing and snorkelling in all seasons. But now, we are going back.



It’s pretty exciting, and it looks like we’ll be leaving in August. Yikes! Nine-tenths of me is ecstatic. The other tenth is groaning. The Cold!!! I am a tropical flower! I wilt in the grey English winter.



Did you know, the Weather sucks in England? The Weather is what worries me about this move. It’s the one-tenth factor. It might even work it’s way up to a four-tenths by October or November. In my two years of blogging, I have seen my bloggy friends get more and more antsy as the winter drags on, and I know how they feel.



I know that I can DEAL WITH IT. When I was pregnant with Chas, I worked a slightly later shift so that I could walk to work in SUNSHINE at ten o’clock in the morning. That half-hour walk in the daylight was the only light I saw for the day, and it made all the difference. I know that the exercise helped too. In previous winters, I went to aerobics. It helps me! It is so easy to slip into Hibernation Mode, roll up in a blanket on the couch and communicate in grunts from October to May. Eating mashed potatoes. Watching the grey seep in. It doesn’t have to happen though! There is so much to do and NO EXCUSE for drooping. There. I have given myself a good talking-to! You must remind me of this in October, when I start to mildew. The south coast isn’t as cold as the rest of the country, and the summer can be very nice, even if it only lasts for two days. I will take my vitamins, install a sun lamp or two, and get a grip. At least I know what to expect, right?



And truly, I will be better than fine. This is going to be great.

Brilliant Boy Gets "First Choice" School In Major Exams!

Congratulations, Chas!

Chas is walking around with "Fatima College" written on his forehead. We are SO PROUD of him! Our loved ones also did well: Tash's son Zac also got Fatima, and cousin Thalya got Laxmi Girls', a great school too.

Yay, you guys! The hard work really paid off! I am a happy Mama!

Mama's Memes

Last week, (or was it week before?) Green Girl In Wisconsin sent me a really great meme, and I have been so distracted with the Great Vacation of 2009 that I haven't yet posted it or passed it on. I think that this is an excellent exercise for ALL of us Mommies, so I am not going to limit it to just five of my favorite Blogger Moms: The original instructions say "Send this to FIVE other Moms of the Year that deserve forgiveness and a reminder that they, too, are the best moms they can be! Remember to send them a note to let them know you’ve selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you." I think that anyone who would like to, should do this:

Admit that ONE thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you’ve written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. It’s over with, it’s in the past. Remember, you’re a good mom!

Well, my Bad Parenting Moment for today takes us waaaay back, to when Chas was a baby and I became pregnant with Sam. And then when Sam was a baby and I became pregnant (surprise!) with Max. When I'm pregnant, the sun does not shine. The birds do not sing. I am not a nice loving fun mommy at ALL. I remember so many times, yelling at my tiny sons for NO GOOD REASON, not wanting them to be near me, feeling too exhausted to function. I remember feeling nauseous one day and little Sam came up to me and put his little hands on my face and said, "I yuv you, mum", and I said with disgust, "EEEW! WASH YOUR HANDS!" and at that moment I knew that I was pregnant with Max, because a little sane corner of my brain said "You are not behaving like yourself." I spent the next nine months trying to act like a grownup and mostly failing. I wonder what the boys thought, in their tiny little brains? One minute, Mum was Mum, and the next minute she is standing outside the bathroom screaming at a two-year-old and a three-year-old "JUST BRUSH YOUR FUCKING TEETH!"

I am sure I traumatized my kids with my weird behavior. I remember sitting on the bed sobbing FOR NO REASON, and Sam putting his arms around me and rocking me, and singing Bob Marley's "No, woman no cryyyy" which made me cry more, of course. I remember Chas becoming much more grownup and responsible than he should have. I need looking after when I'm pregnant, and it's awful that the babies had to do so much of the looking after.

And then, the baby is born and I quickly become Myself again: Exhausted and overworked, but able to deal with life's day-to-day crises with Logic and Love and A Sense Of Humour. Suddenly, the sky is blue and look! A butterfly!



To remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list SEVEN things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself of EVERY DAY that you rock!


1) My kids are so inventive! There is always a game going on, with all kinds of rules and sub-plots, maps, costumes, made-up history and language... Maybe they get this from books? I sometimes detect a flavour of "Narnia" or "The Hobbit", and I just love to listen to them play. There's a constant chatter, and everyone has a say.

2) They love to cook and eat, and to be in the kitchen. Grating cheese, washing dishes, making smoothies, making a huge mess, cleaning up, setting the table "like a restaurant" with flowers, asking "would anyone like some water?" when they get up to get some for themselves, making brownies or cake out of a box, stirring sauce or fudge, or just sitting at the kitchen table chatting while life goes on around them. They will eat pretty much anything, which makes the whole mealtime thing pleasant. I remember explaining to Sean, back when Chas was just a baby, how important it was to me that we have a kitchen table and use it. We went out and bought a great table and six chairs at Court's, and it is so dinged up now, stained with paint and glue, scratched, and even a little wobbly but it is the absolute centre of our household.

3) They are BRAVE. Sometimes, I have to look the other way but they are usually the first kids to jump from the highest jetty, swim the deepest, climb the highest, ride the fastest, swing the furthest. They never tease other kids or try to make them do daring stuff (except sometimes Chas and Sam dare Max!) but they LOVE to do the daring stuff. I like their fearless natures, and I try to keep them informed: what to do if you are bleeding/someone is knocked out/a child is drowning. Teaching safety and first aid is my way of staying calm! Even quite a young child can learn basic safety and when to holler for a grownup.

4) They follow the rules. They listen. They obey. My kids know when to bend or break rules, and can become temporarily deaf (Sam in particular), but generally, if there is a crisis and orders are snapped out in quick succession they jump. They can be relied on to do what's necessary if we're packing for a weekend away, loading or docking a boat, running from a squall, donning life jackets, standing still for sunblock.... sometimes other kids drive me batty because they just can't follow simple instructions, and I feel sorry for them. My boys will do what they have to and be off whooping and hollering while other kids are being followed around with the sunblock or life jackets, whining. I think that obedient kids are happier AND safer.

5) Lately, the boys have been bargaining. They will approach me or their Dad with a unified front, and lay out all of the reasons why they should be allowed a later bedtime / a Nintendo DS / more computer time. They are so persuasive that they may even get their DS (they have, together, saved enough to buy a second hand one on Ebay including games), forcing me to go back on my solemn sworn anti-gameboy word. Interesting. I like the discussions.

6) They are loving, compassionate, touchy-feely boys. If I lie down and say "Uuuuuurgh, I'm pooped and my feet hurt", there will be a boy there with expert massage technique, kneading my aches away. They like to receive a massage too, and will ask for a back rub when they've been very active. They also notice when someone's not feeling good, and offer tea and sympathy and practical help.

7) They tell me that I'm the best Mum in the world. They think their Dad is the coolest. Usually they think that their family, though a little odd, is wonderful. They love each other. And when they don't, it's only for a few minutes. That's something special, and I know we'll go through phases where they are horrible or we are dreadful or teenage sullenness sets in; but it won't last. We will enjoy one another's company always.

*********************

Speaking of enjoying each other's company, we are heading out for our annual Summer Hols Treat, so I will be mostly off the air for the next week or two. I have a few posts scheduled, though, so stay tuned! Comment! Email! I will try to get online when I can, and catch up with everyone's latest. Hope your holidays are sunny!

Poem Of The Month

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us-don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary, to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

-Emily Dickinson

Blog Withdrawal!

Hello, Blog! I haven't written in DAYS and I've MISSED YOU SO!! I feel like hugging you tight and saying DON'T EVER LEEEEAVE ME AGAIN!

Except it's me that keeps leaving you. Our lifestyle of permanent vacation has been taking me to places where no WiFi has been before. Hardly even a radio wave! In fact, this weekend, in order to see the World 2020 Cricket on TV, this guy Mark had to perch outside on a ladder at the end of a long cable, with an antenna held aloft, and wave it slowly around while five guys inside yelled "Oh gad, now we can't see anything at all... WAIT go back? Back more? RIGHT THERE! No, no, no, come again? Can't you hold it higher? Okay... riiiiight there, a little more, YES MAN! Take that man a beer!"

You could tell how serious the situation was, since the ladder was situated exactly where Mark could see the Match on TV, from outside through the open door, even while standing at the top of the ladder. Eventually, with the help of several more beers, they managed to attach the antenna to something, so that he could come inside, with occasional forays to adjust the signal whenever the breeze got too breezy. The picture, at best, was so crackly that you couldn't see who the players were, let alone where the ball was, but our intrepid cricket fans didn't let that quench their spirits, no sir. Anyway, you can understand how an Internet connection would be hard to find in such a place.

I abandoned the Cricket and hopped out to the beach, where there was no static and a picture of such clarity and excellence that all I could do was marvel. The boys surfed in a frothy sea, the beach was covered with perfect stones which all begged to be picked up and held (we even found two shaped like hearts!), the breeze blew breezily (to the annoyance of cricket fans), Tobago winked in the distance. It's a beautiful place.

The only downside to the weekend was when the bar next door threw a very noisy fete on Friday night, (Friday was another public holiday here. Again.) which lasted until nearly five on Saturday morning. There are no noise laws around here, and the windows rattled. All. Night. Long. As Sam grumbled at about one a.m. "It's not even good music!" And? We had slightly over-populated the house, so there were more people to a bed than was really comfy. Usually, I can sleep fine with two of my boys in a bed, but if everyone keeps waking up to scrunch more pillows on their heads it's just not snuggly. More elbowy and crabby. Sean didn't even get a bed, he was in a tent, so I shouldn't complain!

It kinda took me back to the days when we would overpopulate a beach house, fete noisily all night, and all that. Except in those days, the Mummies would have attended the fete, instead of spending the night pretending to be asleep. And seven kids wouldn't get up at dawn the next day to have meltdowns and throw sand in each others' eyes. Stinkers. We survived the day on DVDs, parental understanding and the promise of an early bedtime. And the rest of the weekend more than made up for the one uncomfortable night.

"A Man's Got To Believe In Something. I Believe I'll Go Fishing."

Fishing is serious business, and it takes hours and hours. Fishermen don't mind, they will stand or sit and gaze at the water in a meditative trance, thinking about stuff. If they are all grown up, they will drink beer because, as the saying goes, "Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer for the rest of his life."

For little fishermen, we use a pliers to flatten the barbs on their fishhooks for several reasons:

1) It is easier for small fingers to remove unbarbed hooks from the fishes mouths. Fish have spines and slime and teeth already! Learning to hold a spiny fish is a challenge.

2) It is less destructive and tearing to the poor fish when there are no barbs on the hook.

3) It would be easier to remove an unbarbed hook from a child, if needed. So far, we have been lucky in the hooks-in-children department. (Knock on wood!!)

With very small kids or those without casting experience, don't use a hook at all. Attach a swivel above the sinker, and press bread into the swivel. They will have the fun of feeling little fish biting their line, but will never catch anything. Little ones don't mind this too much and by the time they want a real hook, they are pros at casting where they mean to, and not into the person behind them.


This is a small plastic aquarium with a lid and handle. They are available at aquarium supply shops, and often come with dividers for breeding fighter fish. We take our aquarium everywhere, and use it for holding larger bugs, small snakes, tadpoles, and pond slime. It's fun for the kids to look at their catches for a little while, but don't keep fish for longer than a few minutes or they will run out of oxygen. If necessary, change the water.


When you're a big, experienced fisherman like Max, you can go out banking with Daddy and catch REAL BIG FISH! This is doubly awesome when your terribly superior big brothers didn't catch anything!

Angst and the Suspicious Parent

"Denial is not just a river in Africa" -Oprah. (I think!)

Bloggy friends, if someone told you something bad about your child, would you immediately believe them? or would you say, "It's just not possible"?

I believed them. I spent months trying to get to the bottom of it.

But the accusations weren't true.

What is worse, letting your child get away with lies and wrongdoing because you love them and trust them completely, or looking askance at them and trying to catch them in a lie when they have been telling the truth all along?

Parenthood. It ain't easy.

More Action Weekends

We have been Down The Islands AGAIN! Another public holiday in the land of perpetual bliss. Does the fun never stop? Do these people ever get any work done? Is it all about fun and merriment?

No, Sometimes and Yes.

In case anyone is new to this blog and wants to hear all about work, traffic jams, exhaustion, stress, fast food, homework overload and parental juggling, they will need to scroll back a few months. Don't look here now. We intend to remain completely irresponsible until September. Thank you.

So we've been fishing, wallowing in the sea and snorkeling. The boys and I came home because there is "Open House" at Ajoupa Pottery, and there is much work to be done in the morning.

And then we'll head back Down The Islands, till whenever. We are trying to visit Gasparee Caves, because Lou's photos of Caves this week had me in awe and I want to show the kids some real caves. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, for eco-reasons) it is very difficult to get to see the caves. Our fingers are crossed for Sunday.

If we don't get to go, we will just have to fish and snorkel all day instead. I will let you know how it goes, and post plentiful pictures.

I hope everyone's Corpus Christi weekend has been excellent!

Charmed, I'm Sure!

My friend Witchypoo, most charming of them all, as in "one who works charms"? has awarded me this pretty decoration! I love it. Doesn't it look nice against my green frame?

This award is given to the writers of blogs that “are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Now, I have been ruminating on this one for a while. Eight charming bloggers? Friends? Who didn't already get this award? How about:


Theresa at Angel's Mama, a real-life friend whose blogging days are few and far between. Theresa is a Charming Mama with a Charming Angel Baby!

Islandgirl, my Tea-For-Twoesday buddy. Sharon has a new website going and ought to write more!

My Chutney Garden, "The Other Sharon", whose last post "Butterfly Doula" was so lovely.

I Can Fly, Just Not Up, too busy to blog daily these days.

Bluebella, because there's always a party going on on the island, even when the toddlers are potty training.


Those Charmers above don't post every day. Some of them used to, some of them are just busy. I keep them in my blog list, and always smile when one of them pops up with a new post. Below, some daily writers who keep me going, comment, offer advice, and make life merrier:


Life As I Know It, who needs some luuurve now in her chocolate-free existence!

Green Girl In Wisconsin, doing marvellous things with compost.

Wacky Mommy, with regular book reviews, recipes and all things Wacky.

Wacky Mommy said, in her post yesterday, “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” (E.B. White, “Charlotte’s Web".) This is true of all of the bloggers I give this Charming Award to. They are good writers, and I consider them to be friends. New friends, old friends, friends I may never meet and friends who pop over at a moment's notice. Life is better with friends!

We'll Make A Bookworm Of Him Yet

"If only books were waterproof, we could keep reading in the shower."

-Sam, the boy who reads while eating, going for a drive, listening to music, listening to story CDs (how???), walking and tidying his room. I think he has a radar that keeps him from bumping into things while his nose is in a book.

Recently, Max announced "I am not a bookworm", in a decided tone. In this family, that's like saying that you're not keen on chocolate. His reading skillz are good, but he's not ADDICTED, and this concerns me somewhat. On one hand, I am fine with it. I told him that I would read to him for ever if he likes, even if he starts reading on his own, just like I read to his bookworm brothers, and he looked happy. He loves being read to, and listening to stories on tape and CD, it's just the reading itself that isn't exciting him.

And then it hit me: The only thing that Max has ever read on his own, without prodding, was Calvin and Hobbes. A strange choice for a seven-year-old, I thought at the time, but I said nothing. He chuckled in the right places, and asked me to explain odd words to him, so he must have been understanding something. Max seems to have a very different taste in books to his brothers!

So off to the bookstores I went this afternoon, to look for comic-strip style literature to tempt Max's odd sense of humour. Anything with unusual layouts, gross drawings, and funny story-lines. Tonight I commented that if he liked, he could keep his bedside light on for a few extra minutes and look at a book.

When I went back in, he was deeply engrossed in "The Teacher From The Black Lagoon". "Five more minutes!" he said. "Weeeeeell, okay, just five," I replied, and skipped out to hide my glee. I will let you know how it goes!

To Every Thing, A Season

And the season that's coming is not my favorite. I have been praying for rain, looking at the sky, announcing that this full moon would be IT!..... But it wasn't. A few drops have fallen, and we had a real shower one day last month, but not enough to fill our tanks.

But it's coming. I know. As I sit here, happily snuggled in bed thinking "I should really be asleep. Go to sleep." Bugs are coming in to my bedside lamp. Big fat bugs that bite, little wood-eating bugs. Moth bugs. Is mildew a bug? Rainy season is bug season.

When the rain DOES start to fall, we will rush outside and dance. And then I will start to cuss and fret and light mosquito coils in every window to keep the rainflies out. Ninety-nine different varieties of rainfly, all swarming on different nights! Damp tarantulas will come in, in search of warm dry bedrooms. There will be floods. And landslides. The mystery leaks will leak. The chickens will stand bedraggled and sorrowful. The dog will come in and go out and come in again until she drives me mad. Muddy footprints will be everywhere. Mildew will grow on everything. (It IS a bug, isn't it?) Black clouds will hang over us for days and days, pouring rain.

I'm complaining in advance. You know how some people "Loooove Rain"?? They are the ones who hop into a warm dry bed with a good book. Don't ask them to change a tyre or take the trash out. I propose that these people do NOT love rain, they just love the excuse to get into bed with a good book. Rain is damp and cold and dark ... who would love that?

Ah well. Come on rain, fill our tanks. Bring on the mildew. Soothe our cracked earth. Green the plants. Just don't expect me to love you.

What's Up In Homeschooling

The boys are doing math at the moment. And mostly complaining: "I KNOW how to multiply fractions!!" They have to do some math every day, otherwise I worry that they will have forgotten everything by next term. Apart from math revision, we are having a blast. We are heavy on the sciences: The solar system, matter, atoms, rocks, plants, . It all ties in, somehow. We are asking many questions, and most are being answered. We are doing TONS of reading and plenty of research on the Internet. The boys say that they have learned more this term than ever before.



One thing that has been exciting all three of the boys is Photography. They are documenting their days, and even taking photos through the microscope - The funny-looking round photo there is "Pollen"! The camera has a "macro" function and Chas' interest in tiny science is evident.

Above is a picture of a small frog being attacked by a centipede, which Chas took. VERY exciting! Chas said that the frog escaped the attack, and went to higher ground, but the venom killed it anyway. The centipede followed, and got to the frog after it had died. We live in a great place for natural science!

In photography, they have also been taking videos on the camera, and then watching them in reverse. Or sloooow. Writing short scenes and videotaping themselves. Drawing little flip-animation scenes on scratch pads and playing them back. Then videoing them. Trying all of the settings on the amazing Olympus Stylus 790 SW, Shock+Waterproof+Boyproof. Best camera ever. Playing with different photoshop programs.

Of course, music is happening.

The boys have been honing their kitchen skills too: Cooking, clearing up, washing dishes, and more cooking. And eating. Eating while stirring, eating while grating, eating while chopping. Max has been reading aloud every day, and I am proud to say that his reading skills have really improved A LOT. We have almost finished his first chapter book, "Treasure Island", which he has read with FEELING and a real pirate accent whenever the pirates talk: ' "Aye, he's dead," agreed one of the pirates. "But he died bad. If ever a spirit walked, it would be Flint!" ' Max reads this in a gravelly accent of doom, and you KNOW that the pirates are in for it. I am pretty impressed. A couple of months ago, I would have said that Max was struggling. He still stumbles occasionally, but his confidence is soaring and he reads smoothly and with understanding.

Chas and Sam are bookworms, so they are reading a lot too. Maybe soon I can call Max a bookworm too! Can you tell that reading is a big huge deal for me? We have been looking EVERYTHING up in the dictionary, and have done some research into Word Origins which was really interesting. Now, when we look stuff up, we check the word's origin too.


Dirt in its myriad wonderful forms has absorbed us for much of this term. We collected it in a huge jar with rocks, sticks and leaves and water, and stirred it vigorously. We discussed what would happen if a huge flood washed over our hill and everything collected in the valley below. Then we watched our dirt settle in its jar in LAYERS. It doesn't look very layerish in the photo, so you'll have to take my word for it. Sam lay on the ground with the camera and pretended to be a fossil, and commentated what the archaeologists of the future would have to say upon digging him up in the valley. (apparently archaeologists of the future speak like soccer commentators!) What would they make of the camera? Would they figure out that there had been a flood?

For further dirt absorption, Max threw pots on the wheel, and we made a volcano on the beach with Uncle Tim. It was awesome!






And we have been gardening with huge and exciting success! Sam is the main gardening enthusiast.

We have planted many types of tomatoes and other salady things, peppers galore, and sundry vegetables. They are growing! All we have to worry about now is the chickens, who are standing by with feigned innocence, waiting for the day the seedlings are planted in the ground. They are going to scratch them up if they can.

Computer skillz are being honed: Typing, photo retouching, Internet searches, music and iPod and MP4 management, and even *gasp!* games. We have a chart on the fridge, where I add and subtract game minutes from the boys according to my evil whim. Sam sighed "Oh what a mess this bathroom is. I'll clean it. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm." And when he had cleaned it he went and did a little dance next to the computer games chart. He cracks me up... But of course, I added games time! If the boys are trying my patience, all I have to do is pick up a pen, head to the fridge chart, and raise my eyebrows. They instantly settle down and get back to work. It's eyebrow abuse. Sean downloaded a Flight Simulator Program this morning and walked the boys through it, so they are begging me to get off the computer now.

We have plenty of time for building puzzles, playing board games, doing sudoku, and painting. We will do more painting soon, as I AM in fact an art teacher and it would be weird if I didn't focus on what I'm good at! I would like to cover illustration, as we have some future scientists who will need to be able to draw a proper diagram. We will also do some watercolour painting. We need to clear the decks for that.

Oh, and lying around under tables pretending to be a cat. That's educational too. They are, after all, superior beings and one must be able to emulate that.