We are busy packing up for a weekend away with our Home Ed bunch. It's only about 15 miles away but we seem to be taking stacks of stuff, most of it toys and craft bits!! Still it should be fun, we go over to Arnside Youth Hostel and take it over for a weekend, we went last year and we hardly saw Eilidh all weekend. Everyone mucks in with cooking, cleaning and making sure the kids are alright so it's really nice. We'll probably come back absolutely shattered but in other ways it is strangely relaxing!!

Not much happened yesterday, we pottered about doing this and that, made some Chocolate Brownies to take with us today and the kids managed to eat half of them so we have just had to make some more!!

We got two bin bags full of clothes for Ben the other day off Freecycle. They are brilliant, some of them hardly worn and all nicely washed and ironed so we were really chuffed. That means he's going to be well dressed for a while at least!! It also meant we could pass on all his ones he is growing out of, he seems to be shooting up at the moment.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MUM!!!! LOVE YOU LOADS!!! (just in case you read this in the next couple of days)

We were woken up last night by Ben squawking in his sleep. Just as I got settled back into bed the bed started quivering (no it wasn't Daves snoring!) I couldn't get back to sleep having visions of the house falling down around our ears, having a huge landslide in our back garden or another tree coming down (obviously drank too much coffee before bed!) Well it turned out that we had the shocks from the mini earthquake but it was very strange and a bit unnerving!!

Yesterday I had taken the kids down to an indoor play area for a couple of hours while I read trashy magazines and drank coffee. It was the first time that Ben has just played and not tried to kill every other child in sight so it was really nice and actually quite relaxing for a change!

Today was library day again, yes Eilidh has read all her books again! Kendal library is a really nice, child friendly library and we waded through a few dozen books before actually choosing some to bring home. Hopefully this lot will see us through at least a week!! We then headed home and the kids settled down to do some painting while I got on with tidying some of the garden. It was lovely this afternoon, sunny but cold. Both of them then appeared to 'help' and decided they were going to water the plants. If the garden was sodden before it ended up like a complete mud wrestling arena by the time they had finished! Still we managed to get quite a bit done although we still have half a chopped up tree in the garden. Mind you my back is aching tonight!

I had been promising the kids for ages that we would go to a farm to see some animals so yesterday we did just that. We packed a picnic and went off to Docker Park Farm. It's a small open farm not too far from here. When we left the weather wasn't too bad, chilly and bright but when we got to the farm it was a really cold wind and we managed to just miss the rain. Last week we were walking around in t-shirts and this week it's back to winter coats, hats and scarfs!!? Weird weather.

We went and looked at all the animals, cows, lambs, alpacas, rabbits, llamas, ponies, pigs, guinea pigs, differnt birds, owl, and some others. There were also a few goats wandering around, one became very friendly with us when he realised we had some food in our pockets. There was also an old, huge pot-bellied pig wandering around loose (called Elvis!) and he gave Ben a bit of a fright when he appeared behind him!! Ben and Eilidh had fun stroking all the animals and helped feed the lambs with bottles and had a play in the play area. Eilidh got a ride on a little pony which made her very happy and then home again.

We never actually got to eat our picnic so we decided to go home in the warm and have a living-room picnic. Unfortunately Ben decided to fall asleep on the way home and slept most of the afternoon so it was just me and Eilidh munching sandwiches on the floor!!

We got delivery of a new (to us!) sofa and armchair today. Some lovely people off Freecycle even delivered it for us which was great. It seems to be comfortable and much smaller than our last one so just what we wanted for now!! We didn't get the decorating done before it got here but you can't pass up a free gift can you??

Dave's work is going well, he is still on a job sorting out our friends mum and dads huge shed which will probably finish this week and he has already got two more smaller jobs lined up from church people (one being the Vicar!). Hopefully it will keep ticking over enough as the weather gets warmer. Unfortunately his shoulders are VERY painful again so we are just hoping and praying they get no worse and we might have to splash out some money on an Osteopath this week.
I have been feeling really tired, probably a combination of forgetting my tablets on a few days, not sleeping very well and doing too much on the days when I am bursting with energy. (doesn't happen very often!!) At least the kids seem to be fine!!

We have been collecting up vouchers from doing our internet surveys and we should have enough to go and buy paint and blinds etc to get our living room re-done this week. The kids will want to help paint (not sure if that's a good idea!!)

We had another really good time at art group today. The kids (& parents!) were all busy decorating eggs with paint, glitter, wool, and anything else they can find. One of the older boys managed to make the whole of Led Zeppelin from boiled eggs!!? There was also basket making from shoe-boxes either painting or weaving, they came out really well. They also has little felt chicks to make, and some more serious watercolour work blending colours for the older ones. Everyone seemed to really get stuck in and enjoyed themselves.

Later on Dave went out into the wild wind and hid some chocolate eggs for an Easter Egg hunt with their newly made baskets. They all paired up, one older one with one littler one and braved the weather to find them all. It was lovely as they all came back in and shared them out so that all of them got the same and there was absolutely no arguments or fighting..fantastic!!

The younger ones then decided to play houses under one of the tables and I think they were going for the record of how many children can fit under one table!!!

Not much happened today. Dave was working, we popped off to the shops to get some matchpots to see what colour the living room can become. Also we had to get some bits for art group tomorrow. We are having an easter theme, so lots of eggs to boil tonight for decorating tomorrow!!

Yesterday we went off to the library as all of the books have been read again. Spent a while reading books and choosing ones to bring home. We even managed to exceed the limit this time!! My arms were dropping off so we popped these back to the car and went back to get some shoeboxes (Easter Baskets!!) We ended up getting Eilidh a lovely pair of boots which were really cheap and came out with two big banana boxes full of shoeboxes for art group. So back to the car again and then on to the next adventure which was a pair of trainers for Ben and veg from the market. Phew!!! We managed to grab a sausage roll from Greggs in between and then finally headed home, exhausted!!

The kids gave me about five minutes to grab a coffee and then it was another mammoth reading session of all Bens library books. Eilidh has a pile of about eight 'proper' reading books to get through. She is really into Animal Ark and Puppy Patrol books at the moment. Of course, one day later and she has already finished one of them!!!

I have got bits to get sorted out for art group as we help out as much as possible and then onto ironing bed linen for the cottages....oh what joy!!!??

Yesterday we went off in search of our friends who had moved into a yurt on a hill just before Christmas! We have been trying to get hold of them but their mobiles don't seem to be working any more so we decided to try and track them down. Unfortunately we knew which hill they were on but didn't know exactly where!! It's private land but has footpaths running up it so we ventured out on a very beautiful, frosty, rocky, steep footpath hoping to find them when we reached the top. When we got to the top we could see for miles over Morecambe Bay, and up into the Lake District but couldn't see any Yurt!!

Eventually we spied what we thought might be a Yurt roof hiding in some trees a little way over and went to surprise them but they weren't there....typical!!! Never mind, we left them a note and hopefully we will catch up with them eventually!! It was a lovely walk anyway and will be great in the summer up there.

Before going on our expedition yesterday, we had someone come and pick our sofas up and take them away. We had decided a couple of weeks ago that they were really too big for our living room so sold them on Ebay, While we are sofaless we are hoping to get the living room re-painted (don't like the colour we did it originally!) and get a decent carpet down (depending on money!) instead of our patchwork carpets from Freecycle which have done us ok until now! So we are back to plastic garden chairs and caravan cushions at the moment!! The kids think it's all an adventure but I'm not too sure!!

Not much has happened in the last couple of days. I've had two cottages to clean so Dave took the kids off to Science group yesterday. They learnt all about senses and density, doing taste tests and making plasticine divers (!?)

Today Dave was working again this morning so the kids got dragged along with me to do our big 'cottage' (actually a four bedroomed house!) Thankfully it didn't take too long so we had some lunch in a park and then headed home.

We got home to find Dave half stripped in the living room with a pretty blonde!! Well alright it was only Wendy giving him a back massage as she is a trained sports therapist and his back is not in the best shape at the moment!!

This morning we went off to Kendal to see our friends Kate, Dennis and Florence. The kids played happily while me and Kate drank lovely coffee and chatted. Kate supplied the kids with chocolate biscuits, yoghurt, little cakes and cheese strings so that kept them going for a while!

We then went off to do the recycling and to do a bit of shopping and then home to get on with ironing, washing and all the fun stuff that needs doing. None of it got done because our power was on and off all afternoon until 4.30pm while the engineers messed about with something!! Never mind, I guess it can all wait.

Now, the kids are in bed and Dave is cooking me dinner (my favourite, curry!) as a Valentines treat....Bliss!!!

We have had gorgeous weather here for the last few days. Dave has some more work now so he was out slaving away while we decided to go on a nice walk and picnic yesterday. We took the ferry across Windermere, parker the car on the other side and walked up to 'Hill Top' which is where Beatrix Potter used to live in a little village called Far Sawrey. Unfortunately the actual farmhouse was closed but we had a quick walk around the garden then onto a playpark along the road for our lunch and a play. It was lovely and warm and the walk was really nice, through woods, fields, alongside streams, over bridges (just right for Pooh sticks!) and just about the right length for the kids to easily cope with (and me!!) Certainly one to do again.

Today Ben had an appointment at the doctors for his MMR and Pre-school booster injections. He was a little star, he had the first injection in one arm, screamed a bit and then had to have the other in the other arm. Although he knew what was coming he sat really still and just sobbed. Eilidh was force feeding him Smarties and showing him a new car as distraction but he did really well. Bless him!!

We then gathered some bits up from home and went off to Fellfoot so the kids could splash in the lake and try to catch fish with their nets. We had another picnic lunch in the sunshine and they had a great time playing in the water and in the huge Rhodidendrun bushes (still can't spell it!!)

Ben was starting to feel a bit rough this evening, complaining of sore arms and legs so has gone to bed drugged up with Calpol. Apparantly any symptons from the injections can take up to 10-11 days to come out so we shall have to wait and see how he feels in the next couple of weeks.

While I was off cleaning one of our cottages, Dave took the kids down to Lancaster as he had to send some parcels from Ebay. They then went off to the Ashton Memorial park which is a lovely park in Lancaster that has a playground, butterfly house, a beautiful domed memorial building and great views over Lancaster and Morecambe Bay. They had a great time discovering all the little bandstands and seats dotted around the park and had a play before having some lunch.

Later on this afternoon some of our friends from Kendal turned up for a coffee and chat. We haven't seen them for ages so it was nice to catch up. They have a boy a bit younger than Eilidh and starting home-educating about the same time as us so it was good to catch up with how they are getting on. I'm very jealous though as they have just got a dog, everyone seems to be getting dogs (except us of course!!)

Eilidh decided that she wanted to go on a nature walk today so after getting bags and bits sorted off we went. Unfortunately Dave was waiting for people to come and pick some Freecycle up so it was just the three of us. We went across the fields and up through a wood further along our road which leads up onto Crunswick Scar (a big fell!) . Eilidh bought some pencils and pads and we had drinks and biscuits and fruit to keep us going. We got up through the very muddy steep woods and stopped at the top for a drink and draw and then carried up to the top of the fell to find the cairn we discovered last time. We actually discovered two more cairns before stopping for another drink at the very big one on top. Ben and Eilidh calmbered up the cairn and found some other kids up there to play with while I enjoyed my coffee in beautiful sunshine. I can't believe that last week it was snowing and blowing gales!! We then headed back down to the Cumbria Wildlife trust garden to look at the pond and water voles (no sign of them again, probably because Ben doesn't know the meaning of being quiet!!) before heading back home. It was a gorgeous day and there is something very satisfying about being able to walk out of your front door straight into beautiful countryside and open fells.

We got back and while Eildih and Dave went off to do some shopping, Ben had a stint on 'You Tube' watching Thomas videos while I cooked a huge vat of vegetable soup YUM! As Dave hasn't had any work for a couple of weeks we might have to live off it for the next month!!

We have had a good day at our monthly cookery group today. All the kids were busy making loads of pancakes between them and eating them of course! There were some very strange combinations of toppings but they all enjoyed themselves. I did see one of the boys load his pancake up with lemon juice, brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup and golden syrup....YUCK! Still they had a run around every so often to let it all go down and then came back to make more! I'm sure there were a few hyper children this evening!! Eilidh and Ben fortunately didn't eat too many and stuck to quite normal toppings!

The usual people who we have at these groups are a good bunch and it's getting really good with a cookery, Science and Art groups all going really well. We also are hoping to start a sports/ games and maybe a music group as well.

Last night Jayne, our friend who organises most of these groups came around to sort out the plans for the next few months art groups. We are going to be starting a country theme to fit in with the cookery, art and maybe even science groups so we can add on bits of language and culture etc as well, which sounds really good.

I was listening to the news tonight and they say that children in this country are starting school too early and we are being tested too much. MMMM, I wonder if that's why more people are home-educating???? It always amazes me that the majority of people we have met through Home Educating are ex-teachers. Just goes to show........

After spending half the day cleaning and tidying and Dave busy killing himself sorting out the garden, the supposedly planned council inspection never happened. Honestly, we rang them an hour after they were meant to be here only to be told that the lady was off sick so would have to rearrange another time!!! Not happy!!! Why they couldn't have rung in the morning so we weren't waiting all day we shall never know!?

Anyway enough moaning, at least it got our bums in gear to get some more stuff done around the house and it does look a lot better. Still loads to do but we are getting there. Eilidh had her face painted again and was then let loose on her own hands to do whatever design she liked. I don't think the face paints will last long at this rate!

After spending the morning cleaning and sorting out, we managed to find the face paints again so Eilidh insisted on having her face painted and then both her hands. Then I had to get mine done too, fortunately I persuaded her that only one cheek would do, so now I have a cactus on my face!? Got some piccies but Eilidh has taken an aversion to having her photo taken and refused to smile....grumpy grouch!!

Yesterday Eilidh and Ben had built a 'house' under Eilidh's bed (which is a high sleeper in case you were wondering!) They then insisted that they wanted to have a 'sleepover' in their new house. They put down some cushions we had from the caravan, got their teddies, pyjamas, duvets and books to read and got Dave to fix them a little light up and both snuggled down into bed and Eilidh read Ben a bedtime story. We were expecting them to be awake half the night and get bored of the idea but they both slept really well, no noise from Ben at all. Well that was until 4.30 this morning when Eilidh got up to the loo and woke Ben up, and then neither of them went back to sleep! They thought it was great fun and wanted to do it again tomight but one night at a time is enough!!

Ben got some new trains in the post this morning for his Tomy track, which we had promised to get him, so we had to build another track for him and he played nearly all day on and off with this. His wooden track has nearly all been sold so he is already trying to get us to buy loads of new bits for the Tomy track he is into now (an entrepeneur in the making!)

Went to church, came home, pottered about doing housey jobs, watched telly.....that's about it!!! Boring eh?

Well i did manage to put another coat on the bathroom door and alter some curtains ready to go up in our bedroom. Yes we have spent a year without curtains which is fine as we are not overlooked but as the days are getting longer I didn't fancy being woken up at when the sun did again this summer!! Just have to get Dave to put up the curtain pole now.........

We woke up to more snow this morning, and the kids wanted to go out sledging. Unfortunately they both didn't want to get dressed and washed and by the time they had got their bums in gear it had started raining. So no sledging, never mind (it meant I could keep warm!)

Dave was out all day, firstly helping down at the church clearing out a load of stuff before the builders get to work and then onto the local jumble sale to help out and clear up afterwards. Eilidh went off with him to the jumble sale as she is the chief bargain hunter in the family, although she had strict instructions not to come back with anything and not to let daddy come back with anything!!!

I managed to get one side of the bathroom door glossed and our windowsill at last. Getting there slowly but surely!

Next door had another tree come down last night, fortunately not on our garden this time, but unfortunately it went across the road and their other neighbours entrance so they aren't having a good week!! The wind kept up most of the night and then today we have had snow, not huge amounts but it did actually settle and will probably freeze tonight.

Dave was down at the church this morning helping to move and deliver bits of carpet to other people. We got on with housey things and building Ben a half decent railway track in Eilidhs room to play with. He then decided to go on 'You Tube' to watch Thomas videos and clips other people have made with their train tracks on there. Most of this afternoon he disappeared into Eilidh's room, making up stories about Thomas and playing with his track. Every time a popped my head around he was completely engrossed in another story he was telling himself!! Bless!! Eilidh did some painting and then helped me sort out some stuff to go to the local jumble sale (five box loads!!)

I've been felling grotty with a streaming cold the last couple of days but got a burst of energy this afternoon and tackled the mess in our bedroom. Tidied, vacuumed and sorted out loads of stuff that I've been trying to ignore for half a year and it looks much better, ok not perfect but it's getting there. Dave sat sorting through a load of boxes of computer stuff and freecycling loads so I feel we have actually done something today!! I also managed to get the next horrible blue door sanded down ready for painting.

Eilidh felt brave and went out to play in the snow, it didn't last long, she came in freezing cold and soaking wet and complained for the next half hour that her finger wasn't feeling right!?