Well, I am now another year older!! I had a lovely quiet birthday on Wednesday. Eilidh suddenly realised on Tuesday night that she hadn't got a present for me so Dave took them both off in the morning to go shopping and to the library. This meant I had a nice quiet morning sorting out Ben's room and pottering about in peace. They arrived back at 2pm and I was banished upstairs to read while they wrapped presents and put away nice yummy food they had also got. I then got to open them all, lots of delicious chocolates, a Jamie Oliver book and garden journal (fantastic!). We then decided we would try the cinema again but just as we were getting our shoes on Kate, Dennis and Florence turned up to play with a lovely plant and some Damson Vodka (mmmmmm!!!).

When they went we decided it was too late to get to the cinema so opted for a DVD with popcorn at home, that was after a 'proper' curry from a takeaway as it's my fave!! The kids went to bed REALLY late and so I had to try out some of Kate's vodka, which was lovely!! A really good day.

Today we have been out most of the day at art group, making paper flowers, painting plant pots, drawing and painting. I've been feeling absolutely wiped out the last few days so blog has been abandoned a bit. I guess that calls for some more of that vodka......

I had one of those 'protective mother' moments today. I was really tired today (probably not helped by missing my tablets for a few days - yes,mum I won't do it again!!) I decided that rather than spend the afternoon getting stressed with the kids we would go and see a film at the cinema. Unfortunately the time on the internet was not the correct one so we missed it! Seeing as we were in Bowness anyway the kids decided they wanted to go and play at the indoor play area so off we went. Usually I spend half the time making sure Ben isn't being too rough but he seems to have calmed down a lot lately and actually has started to find 'friends' to play with.

Anyway as soon as he got in some other lovely child (??!) started following him around calling him 'girlie' because of his long hair. That may not sound like much but he just would not leave him alone, even after I had told him to either play nicely or go somewhere else. Of course Ben's never really come up against other kids being spiteful as it doesn't seem to happen in our Home Ed group. I was really proud of Ben as he didn't just turn around and thump him!! This kid would just not give up so I went all protective and actually ended up going into the play park and telling him in no uncertain terms that if he didn't stop I would be going to see his mother. I did feel a bit of a witch afterwards but hey, sometimes needs must!!

It did make me think back to when Eilidh was at school and coming home saying so and so said something nasty to her. It made me realise that we are so fortunate in having such a great group of people in our local home-ed group and how none of this nastiness seems to happen. They have their squabbles but it never gets to the name-calling stage and pointless nastiness.

The 'lovely child' soon left and it ended up with a whole group of 'new friends' all playing Robin Hood together (led by Eilidh- of course!) and they had a great time.

I think the kids had forgotton it was Easter with all the excitement of having a decent amount of snow. It wasn't until the afternoon that Eilidh suddenly realised there had been no easter egg hunt so I dutifully went and hid all their little home-made easter eggs and a couple of other bits all over the house (tissue paper covered eggs and snow don't really go!!) They then spent half an hour screaming and shouting at each other collecting them all up and eventually finding all of them (I think....I forgot to count them before hiding them so there may be some more hiding somewhere!!) Of course then it was a marathon chocolate eating contest to see who could eat the most before mummy realised!

They had a good day and went to bed happy, snow and chocolate....what a great combination!

We were also keen to get to bed to try out our new mattress, yes we have one at last! well, alright it's new to us, another Freecycle bargain, an almost new king size mattress..brilliant! Shame Dave didn't stop snoring all night otherwise I might have got a good night's sleep!

Today Dave was going to look at some new possible jobs while we went off to sort out our big holiday house. Eilidh and Ben were really good today and sat and watched telly and played while I got on with cleaning and sorting. We then rushed over to our friends Kate, Dennis and Florence only to find them not in so I took the kids to an ice-cream farm in Kendal for a treat. When we got there Eilidh found some calves to stroke, Ben found the sand-pit and I begged them to hurry up as I wanted a coffee! The lure of ice-cream soon got them moving thankfully and then we tried our friends again but they were still not there. When we got home we found out that Kate had just been round to ours to see if we were in......typical!

Happy Snowy Easter

Do we live in a beutiful part of God world or what? Here we are opening our eyes upon the glory of 3" of snow on a bright Easter morning.

After church the kids went playing in the snow until Ben got too cold then Dave took Eilidh over the road to go sledging in the field (whilst Naomi took some pictures & wrote love messages in the snow - how cute).

Eilidh and Ben decided to put on a 'show' this evening, which mainly consisted of Eilidh pretending to ride a horse and Ben pretending to fall off!! It was very funny, they both kept stopping to do wierd and wonderful dances in the middle. I'm never quite sure what goes on in their heads but they seem happy and that's the main thing!!! Being a good, loving mother I had to get the camera out to try and capture some of this but as soon as it appeared they then decided to pull silly faces at me instead.

I think this picture captures what they are both about, Eilidh sitting reading and Ben just a blur, a little whirlwind of energy!!

After all this activity they trundled off to bed quite happily. An hour and half later I was lying in a lovely hot bath still listening to Ben humming away to himself in his bed. He often does this when he is tired, I think it's his way of calming down and eventually it all goes quiet and you know he has completely crashed out. Eilidh always has bit longer to read her books and then turns her light off and goes to sleep. All in all they're pretty great!!!

Last night was horrible, the wind was absolutely howling around our poor little house. We both got woken up by something clattering down the roof and then couldn't get back to sleep with visions of trees squashing Eilidh's room as the wind seems to just whip around the end of the house. We eventually got back to sleep and woke up this morning to a garden in disarray (more than usual!!). The bins had both gone over, some wood Dave had by them had gone over, a car roofbox which was stored outside was halfway across the garden, our new willow screen was flapping about, the welly rack was over on it's side and bits and pieces everywhere. The clatter we had heard on the roof was the top off the chimney coming down!! Great!!

Yesterday we had gone down to Cumbria Wildlife place down the road for an Easter Bunny trail, only to find it had been cancelled, so we had a wander around and headed back home to make easter eggs and an easter tree (thanks for that idea Fran!!!) Dave got on with finishing our new shelves and they look fab! Now we just have to sort out the rest of the living room (dining room, kitchen, hall, stairs, etc, etc, etc....).

I think we are all going through a lazy daisy stage at the moment!! We just can't seem to get out of bed in the mornings, maybe it's the weather. Ben seems happy singing and playing with his trains while Eilidh lies in bed and reads. I have actually managed to have a quiet breakfast on my own for the last two mornings, as Dave has been reading in bed as well! Eventually Eilidh and Dave emerge but Ben has spent the last two mornings playing in his pyjamas and only deciding to come down for something to eat at lunch time!! Honestly these home-ed families, no structure, no discipline (great isn't it?!)

I had to drag myself off to the dentist again today to get some fillings done. Not much fun, but she seems to be a much better dentist than I have ever been to so although it was horrible it was much better that the last filling I had! Still one more to go on the next appointment.

Dave has been busy making some great shelves for our living room out of old pews from church (what else??) and they are nearly finished now so can't wait to actually sort through boxes which still have videos and books in from when we moved.

As the whole house stank of wax polish and I have been whacked out we decided to treat ourselves to tea out, so we went to a pub in Bowness and have a lovely dinner. It's so nice when you don't have to cook!!

Today was swimming day up at Penrith. I even managed to sneak in a few lengths in the big pool as the kids are really confident in the water now. Eilidh spent most of the time diving for hoops and Ben floated around in his floaty suit playing. We had lunch and then went to Weatheriggs Craft Centre which is just outside Penrith, not much of it was really up and running as it has just been taken over but it sounds like it will be good. It is on an old pottery site and they are hoping to have a resident potter, Jewellery workshops, chocolate making, pottery workshops and lots of other little bits as well as a small museum and an animal rescue centre. We did go around the rescue centre as Eilidh is obsessed with animals at the moment and were followed by lots of little piglets!!

Yesterday we went over to our friends in Grange-Over-Sands to take over some bits we had spare for their new camper-van conversion. This is actually a 1972 Russian Army truck and it is huge and heavy and Ben can nearly stand up underneath it!! It looks great and Dave was very jealous!! I ended up chatting and drinking coffee with Jayne while Dave and Ditch disappeared into the truck for hours. They ended up with two other friends and families turning up through the afternoon and all the men seemed to gravitate towards the truck (mmmm, I wonder why??!! ......boys and their toys!!) The kids had lots of new people to play with so they were happy as well.

Today we went off to our monthly cookery group. This time it was decorating easter eggs, making easter biscuits, making easter eggs and doing some sugarcraft flowers. Ben and Eilidh headed straight for the biscuit making and we managed to get a whole batch made before they ran off to decorate their chocolate easter eggs with lovely coloured icing. Bens ended up being decorated with lovely green splodges of icing, a camoflage easter egg!! Eilidhs had orange hair and then got painted all over with orange icing. Yum!!

Ben fell asleep on the way home and went to bed for an hour or so, soon followed by me as I was feeling wiped out.So Eilidh and Dave went shopping and made tea, great!!

Yesterday, Dave had been sorting out some of the garden while I took the kids to a garden centre to get some seed potato's. After finding the first one closed we went on to the next only to be faced with hundreds of different seed potatoe's. I took one look and realised I didn't have a clue what I was wanting so gave up and came home!! I've done a bit more research now so I will be ready for anything next time!!

Well, the gales weren't bad at all, we had worse winds a couple of weeks ago!! Although the weather was pretty horrible today (and Daves shoulders were very bad overnight too) so Dave wasn't working as his next job is trimming a huge hedge for the vicar. I took the opportunity of sneaking off to town to get the veg from the market and browse around the shops all on my own....I know, unheard of!! I actually got a chance to get to Boyes,one of my favourite shops (sad I know!) and came out with some dye for tye-dying and other crafty bits and peices, then onto The Works (2nd favourite shop!) I managed to find some small canvasses which I thought the kids will enjoy painting on to make 'real' pictures. After browsing around the charity shops and not finding anything except a book on horses for Eilidh I gave up and came home. The charity shops around here seem to have upped their prices and most things are ridiculously priced now.

I got home to the smell of simmering soup and Dave and the kids busy making peg boards to do designs with wool on! Fantastic!! They had made a huge vat of soup (I think we're turning into soupaholics.)

Later on Ben went off to play with his trains while Eilidh and I got the acrylic paints out to paint a canvas each. I usually tend to avoid painting as I was always told I was no good at art at school but I actually enjoyed it.

Eilidh and Dave went swimming up at Penrith this morning. Ben opted out as he still has the sniffles and was coughing a lot last night. After initially being upset that he couldn't go in the pool he quite happily waited for them, watched Eilidh swimming from the viewing gallery and ate an ice-lolly!! Eilidh is doing brilliantly with her swimming, her confidence in the water has really come on. She seemed to spend most of her time under the water or jumping in and seems quite happy without armbands now.

After swimming we went onto the Home Ed group at a village hall in Penrith where the kids played while we chatted and drank coffee. They were busy pretending to be Huskie dogs in a rescue centre with another little friend (you can tell Eilidh has been reading the Animal Ark books which are all about animals and rescue centres, vets and things!).

We decided to come back the scenic way from Penrith so we drove down to Pooley Bridge at the foot of Ullswater then all the way down the lake & up over Kirkstone Pass down to Bowness on Windermere then home. After getting the news from Fran last night that they are coming up next month & Fran admitting that she is not coming to see us - just to see some waterfalls (at least that was how Naomi put it - honest Fran I could not believe it!!! Dave.) we decided to get her some pictures to keep her going til then:

Hope you like them Fran.

There are weather warnings out for severe gales up here tonight and tomorrow so I am a little bit worried about the great big trees in our next door neighbours garden. He has got the tree surgeon coming out to sort a load of them out but not until April .....not much help now!!!

Today Dave was off taking down a tree in front of our church so we went off to the library again. Eilidh found another pile of Animal Ark books to read and Ben just wanted to sit and be read to. Then home to sort out a load of plant pots to go to the tip as no-one wanted them on Freecycle! Dave managed to get a recliner armchair yesterday from Freecycle so he is really happy reclining while watching telly tonight!!

My brain has had a complete blank as to what we did over the weekend so it obviously wasn't that exciting!!

Bit behind again, so here is a quick rundown....

Tuesday - went to Brockhole as it was nice and sunny, the kids took their fishing nets but when we got down to the lake it was FREEZING!! So we took our lunch and headed for the adventure playground instead! Unfortunately the crows decided they liked the look of our lunch as well and while I was busy pushing Ben on a swing they pinched one of our packets of crisps!! What a cheek!!

We also spent a while in the bird hide there and spotted lots of different birds, the kids are getting really good at recognising them now and Eilidh enjoyed drawing pictures in the log book in the hide.

Wednesday - we had an appointment at our new dentist, yes we have finally got a place in an NHS dentist in Bowness. There is a serious shortage of NHS dentists around Cumbria so we are really fortunate. Everyones teeth are brilliant except mine! I have to go back and get three fillings, of course I blame it on the kids, ever since having them my teeth have gone decidedly downhill!!!

Thursday - Miserable day, cold, wet and windy so I took the kids to the indoor play area in Bowness for a couple of hours. Every fifth time we get in free so that was great! They found a few new friends to run around with and were hot and sweaty and very tired when it was time to leave. Back at home Ben went off to play with his trains while me and Eilidh made a big vat of tomato soup and some Italian Bread. Yummy!

Today - we got all our recycling done, went to dump some stuff at the tip then on to our friends Lucy, Abbi (6) and Millie's (2) house in Silverdale for lunch. Funnily enough, we ended up making lentil soup this time as Lucy was struggling with a not very happy Millie! Abbi had done a 'treasure hunt' for Eilidh and Ben in the garden, she had hidden eight little foil packets of 'treasure' (chocolate flapjack!) and they had great fun finding them all. Then they decided they didn't actually like chocolate flapjack so swopped it for some chocolate instead!! Abbi had also made Ben a huge train track for him to play with while her and Eilidh disappeared upstairs to do girly things! Lucy ended up having to take Millie to bed but the girls and Ben enjoyed playing for a bit longer while I drank coffee. Eilidh and Abbi get on really well and it's nice having another girl the same age to play with who is also home-educated.

Ben has got the snuffles today and isn't 100% so I'm hoping a good nights sleep will make him feel a bit better.

We have had a brilliant time at Arnside with our lovely Home Ed crowd. The kids are absolutely shattered and so are we but it was fantastic!! Eilidh and Ben had their friends there and some new ones and disappeared for most of the time playing, running around and making lots of noise!! We take over the whole Youth Hostel and as the kids have been there a few times now most of them know all the little rooms they can disappear into. They are all different ages so if anything ever happens then someone older is always around to help out or sort out so it's great.

Every year they all get together (no adults allowed) and put on a play. This year we actually had two!! They sort out everything, story, costumes, props and music etc and they are usually very funny! This year it was about Hannah the evil lord of the manor and a violin of doom (don't ask!!) Eilidh and Ben opted out this year but it was really good and they thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Most of the group are people we know really well through art group etc so it was lovely just being able to relax and have time to chat with them all and catch up with people we don't see as often. There is something strangely relaxing about sitting in a crowded kitchen cutting veg for dinner while chatting away with everyone!! All the food was delicious and there were no quibbles about getting people to volunteer to do anything.

On the Saturday Dave had taken some craft bits to make cards and paper flowers for Mothers Day, someone else had bought some gingerbread hearts for them to decorate and one of the older lads organised a toffee making session so whoever wanted to could do any of them. All the mothers were presented with all these lovely things on the Sunday

Most of us went up for a walk on Arnside Knott on Sunday, and had lunch sitting overlooking Morecambe Bay. It was very windy but nice to get out and blow out the cobwebs!

We got back at lunch time today and Dave entertained the kids while I went out for a trawl around some of the charity shops in Bowness. He is really good at face painting so if anyone needs some entertainment at a kids party............