What have you been up to: Nearly 35 months

Sun catcher

What have you been up to?

A seasonal celebration, burnt out vans, a visit from Nanny Linda and Grandad Rob, settling into the Montessori, and acting like you are far more mature than either myself or Daddy.

Which in all fairness, you are ;-)

I was looking at you the other day and just couldn't believe how grown up you seem.  Spending too much time at work definitely makes me notice the changes.
You say things like this to Daddy and I.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright, you can fix it later".
(After Daddy said he'd really like to up for a nap) "Now is your opportunity Daddy".
To me after suggesting that you should really try food before saying you didn't like it "Ah Mammy, I'll probably like it when I'm bigger.  I can try it then".

Credit: here

Painting the burnt out van.

A van and a car were burned out on our street.  I swear we haven't settled in a war zone.  It was a rare bit of excitement.  You were just fascinated by this and kept wanting to go and see them again.  This sparked a big interest in the burnt out pier in Brighton too.  It led to lots of discussions about fire, what happens to wrecked cars, scrapyards, cranes etc. It really made you look closely and really see things. You said the burnt out (blue) van was the colour of the night sky.  You said the colour of the burnt down pier was the colour of my hair. I had the idea you might like to photograph the burnt out van and paint it.  Great idea, but when we walked to the end of the street they had just picked it up! The swines...! I found a photo of another burnt out van on my IPad though so you painted that instead.  You were interested in painting the smoke and the ash with blue, black and white, and the fire with orange.  You painted this a few times on different occasions. It made me think of setting up the environment a bit better so that you can engage in project work a bit more - digging out a camera for you to use, etc.  I'm reading a blog/book by Lori Pickhert Project based homeschooling which is an incredible eye-opener.


You're loving the Montessori, and questioned why you didn't go there everyday.  You said you really really like it. Nanny Linda and Grandad Rob came for a visit.  You enjoy spending time with Nanny so much.  You made bread and generally had a laugh together. You built some models with Grandad Rob (he loved them - he makes model aeroplanes and is a retired engineering surveyor.

Light table

Then we hosted a seasonal celebration to celebrate the Celtic Spring. Or Chinese Year, or Imbolc, or St Brigid's day or the Goddess Brigid's day or whatever you're having.  Basically it was a celebration of the sun warming up the earth bringing new life.
We had a light table in a tepee, with torn up yellow and orange tissue paper and contact paper - a project for the kids to work together making a sun.

 We also had milk bottle lantern making workshop (idea from the imagination tree), hooked them onto bikes/scooters, and whizzed off to the park to bring light to the earth. Ideally this would have been done later in the day, nearing dusk so that the lanterns would have glowed, but morning time suited everyone best, ourselves included. It glows at night and is one the nightlights in your bedroom now.

Then  we made bread together, had a story and song about the sun/spring, followed by more singing.  Then ate lunch altogether. Yellow/Red/Orange food only for the sun effect.

The sun shone.  And I  totally embraced my hippy tendencies.  And everyone seemed to enjoy despite the small house induced chaos.  You love having people here in your own space. I'm hoping to host more seasonal celebrations, like Easter/May Day etc as it is such a meaningful and enjoyable way for everyone to come together.

Love Mam x