Update

Erin:
opted out of going to after school activities this week. She has been enjoying an after school program at the school across the road for a while now. They play games and do exercises and it gives her a chance to catch up with friends in the community. We started sending her partially because she wasn't seeing any of her little friends now that they all started school (apparently going to school tuckers five year olds out and they don't have energy for a social life - this is me staying off my soap box about homeschooling and "socialisation") and also I like the idea of her having structured, supervised activities with other kids as she gets older - although I haddn't planned to start her on any this year. She was also feeling quite deprived watching everyone go to school WITHOUT HER (the local school is accross the road) and while I stand by our decision to homeschool 100% I did NOT want her to feel that she was completely isolated from kids her own age. So off she has been toddling every week for the last couple of months, with breaks for school holidays and family holidays. When she's been asked if she goes to school yet, she answers "Yes, I go once a week to Active After School!" and has shown every indication that she has been thriving on it. This week however Erin has opted to stay home instead. Why? She is worried that we will do something fun at home without her!!! She cracks me up. It seems we are just as fun as school, if not a little more so!

Billy:
has been having a series of lapses in judgement for the last, oh, fortnight! Really silly decisions like deciding to tear up the flyscreen in his room to throw out toys (toys were confiscated amid other consequences, including his beloved Red Bear for 24 hours). This is just an example among SEVERAL bad decisions the poor lad has made lately. On Sunday he went with his Dad for the day to drive in and get mushroom compost for the garden and spent the day working with him. I won't say that solved the issue, but it has made a difference. Where Christopher will stomp and yell aggressively, Billy will burst into tears and sook to get his own way, the challenge is to recognise it for what it is and react accordingly. He has spent a fair bit of time climbing a shrub in the backyard and I am sure he is part gibbon the way he can swing around in that thing! He is a marvel to watch.

Christopher:
really IS old enough to start toilet training and move into a big boy bed. I keep making excuses to put it off, but it is getting silly. As soon as the back door is usable again for fast access from the back yard we are starting with the toilet training (I HATE toilet training, any good tips are most welcome). As for the bed, we are just waiting for a guard and ladder on the top bunk then he can move out, Anna can get the cot and the portacot can be folded away!

Anna:
The crawling, five toothed wonder kept me up most of last night and I have NO IDEA why. My usually happy baby who sleeps through the night was neither last night. No fever, no possability that she has swallowed anything she shouldn't have (as far as I know!). My only guess is another tooth to even things up to six! Yesterday she was raced up and down the footpath in her pram by Billy as I painstakingly dug out our front weed patch - oops, GARDEN - and she loved it. Another one with a need for speed I think!

Our house:
was doing so well until last night when I decided to leave the dishes a bit late, then went to bed instead! Beloved is on the mainland buying us another car at the moment (more seats, more comfort - the need for both became evident when we were on the mainland on holiday!) and will be away until early Monday morning - when he will get home and get ready for work! I am finishing off some gardening he started at the beginning of the week because there are some punnets that need planting so the house clean up will likely keep me out of trouble while the kids are in bed tonight. I also neglected laundry for a day or two last week, but at least it will all dry outside on the line at the moment! Spring Rocks!

The Garden:
The raised vegetable bed has carrots, radishes, beetroot, beans and parsnip planted from seed in it. We have also dug holes in the ground around the raised bed to plant tomatoes, capsicum, chilli, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini and some other stuff too. Some iris has surprised us with BEAUTIFUL mass displays as well as some exquisite bearded iris. Iris are my favourite flowers so I am thrilled, amazing what pops up in a neglected garden! We have pinks, carnations, granny's bonnets, johnny-jump-ups, peony and half a dozen other bits and pieces popping up. Out the front has largely been neglected over winter but over the last couple of weeks I have dug out an area about 2x3meters which was waist high weeds and a few stumps (Beloved got in there with a bit of pick action with some of it with me). As I sit here I am covered in smudges of dirt and I was only driven inside by the fact that the children and I need to rest or one of us will pass out - no bets on who! I am racking my brains to come up with something quick and easy to feed everyone for tea so I don't have to come in until 5pm but most of it I have already fed them in the last week so we will see what happens. Sausages in bread with sauce is a balanced meal - right? If you have one in each hand that is!

Jess