Stable Day

Yesterday was stable day with our homeschool co-op. The children had an amazing time learning about how to care for horses, in fact Cosmo's favourite part of the day was mucking out the stables! They learned about feeding and grooming, caring for tack and they also got a riding lesson.

I was so proud of him, because he had been really worried about taking part, but despite initial nerves he did do it and really enjoyed himself.


I think this is also the longest time I have ever left him anywhere (10am-3pm) without an adult he knows well. It was obviously helpful that his cousins were in the class and he knew some other children too, but I was so pleased with the way the owners of the stable made an effort to make him feel comfortable too.

Lychee was insanely jealous (the stables only had insurance for children over four years old) and spent most of the day pretending to ride horses.

But before you feel too sorry for her, she did get to spend an afternoon playing in the woods with me and Cooper, and in the morning we took her to the Japanese Koi Company aka the free zoo. If you haven't been, and you live locally, you are missing out.

They have raccoon dogs, armadillos, spiders, snakes, bunnies, frogs, birds, all kinds of fish and turtles etc... it really is both fun and educational.


Here's the video:

Bushcraft

Yesterday we spent the morning at the woodland ways bushcraft centre - it's awesome.

I was totally impressed with the way the guy handled a large group of 2-6 year olds, kept their interest and even let them use his fire steel!

Then we had a picnic in the park with friends.

So glad the sun is coming out again!

Lychee using fire steel

then admiring her tiny flame

My mum was really horrified that the children were allowed to use real tools and have open flames, so I made her this video :o)

Writing and Sibling Love

Yesterday Lychee wrote her first word!

It was on the chalkboard in the school room, and she chose to write her brothers name. After walking in and announcing that she was going to do it, she started with the second letter, but with a little encouragement she got the whole word.

I was so proud of her, but when asked if she wanted to try another word she threw down the chalk, snapped 'no' and ran out the room. We need to work on manners for sure!

Still, I love that she chose to write her brothers name and not her own. It's such a reflection of her darling little heart. She loves her big brother so much and 'brother' was the first recognisable word she said, long before 'mama' or 'dada'.

Sibling love. 

Lychee's growing up...

Today Lysh went to her first swimming lesson alone.

Without Cosmo, and without her two cousins.

She was so good, and although a little nervous, she tried really hard and did everything asked of her.

My baby's growing up!!

Cooper!!!

We recently got a new puppy!

He's a labernese (a labrador crossed with a bernese mountain dog).

This:

photo credit

plus this:

photo credit

equals this:

A whole bundle of fun! It's been really great for the kids already this week, building cosmo's confidence around animals, and helping with his separation anxiety (I can now take the laundry upstairs and fold it and he hasn't once cried about being on his own downstairs - this may also have something to do with it being school holidays and he's always more settled knowing that dad isn't at work - even if he isn't in the house!) 

Lychee's speech is coming on rapidly and she talks to the puppy LOADS. 'Don't eat me Cooper!' is one of the first things she says to him before shoving her fingers in his face and giggling when he nibbles at them (luckily he has a very gentle mouth). 

We're so excited about having this new addition to our family, and can't wait until his vaccinations are complete and we can book into puppy training classes. We've found a local class at 9am on a monday morning that we can book him into, which is perfect because it means the kids can come and really take a part in his training. 

As they get older I will be giving them more and more responsibility (already they have some 'chores' with the puppy - Lila gives him his regular 'hugs', William is helping me to teach him recall) and I think that this will be a great addition not only as our family pet, but in helping grow the children in character and emotional maturity. 

Yay for dogs and homeschool!

Growing in Compassion

We don't have a TV license, but we have always kept a television to watch movies on and use the Wii. Don't worry, it's totally legit. 

Initially we had a very small 15" TV which we kept up on a high shelf. I didn't want it to dominate the room and be a constant temptation to the children to ask for DVDs.

But then our TV broke, and being the frugal people that we are we got our next one off freecycle. It was quite a lot bigger, if I remember around 21", but it only lasted six months. The next freecycle offering we got so a whopping 44".

Yeah.

And it broke.

It lasted a good while, but finally a friend was selling his (huge) 72" flatscreen LCD TV, so we bought it from him for a great price.

Cosmos response: This is amazing!!! I can't wait until it breaks and we get a cinema!!

Wow.

The thing is, he had a really similar response to his pets. For his second birthday some friends bought him a pet fish, who we called Finley. Cosmo was devastated when Fin died (selfishly the same week Lychee was born!) but cheered up significantly when he got new fish - Ross and Franji. Interestingly, he didn't have the same response when Franji died within a week of getting home. In fact, his response was positive joy, because 'Now I get to go to the garden centre again and choose another fish!!'

Over the coming series of fish it became apparent that he did not have any attachment issues to a particular animal, he just liked being in charge of feeding it and checking on it regularly.

However, his current fish (Eugenie) killed Lychee's fish (Greg) yesterday. He'd been hassling him for as long as they'd shared a tank and poor Greg spent most of his time hiding in a toy volcano. When I told Cosmo that Greg had died, he had the predictable response of 'Will I get to choose Lychee's new fish? '

However, twenty-four hours on and it seems he's been considering it more than I'd given him credit for. Today he's been concerned that Eugenie was bullying Greg because 'I used to kiss Eugenie through the glass every morning and I started kissing Greg too. Maybe Eugenie was jealous and that's why he killed Greg. If we get another fish I'll try not to love it as much as Eugenie'.

Obviously I assured him that some fish are just bullies and nothing he could have done would have increased Greg's odds of survival, but the boy was welling up.

It seems he does care about his pet's after all.

Knowledge Quest Geography

Just a quick heads up for those of you who, like me, have a little geographobia (despite having a geography teaching husband, I have never studied geography and find my lack of knowledge in this area disturbing!) Knowledge Quest have kindly made their 'GLOBALMANIA: Master world Geography in 7 months or less' text available as a free download (RRP $14.95)

It's a big file, but they've split it for smaller downloads too.

Enjoy mastering the world!