October Summary

Well, Mother Nature has turned the sun on full now! We live in the pool, under the fans or in the air-conditioned car. It really is lovely though, the mornings and afternoons are glorious and the reason we live in the tropics!

Our Home
Dh has been coming and going a little bit lately with work and family commitments. The children and I have been busy with the gardens, dog and home.
Monty is going well, still a little unsure with ds but with some lead work mornings and afternoons, he seems to be getting better. Ds has developed a racing game with the dog, which they both love to play. Dd is now walking around the backyard, still close to us but not being carried or holding hands. A few of her friends have been coming over and she sees them not worried and that seems to help. For final incentive ok bribery she said she would like a bag of lollies if she is walking around with Monty by Saturday – not crying, tantrums, screaming. We will try anything now!



Learning at Home
What has been happening in our home? A week ago, ds came to me and said he wanted to do some ‘schoolwork’. It took dh and I by surprise but now on week 2, he is still very keen. I originally was only going to do a little three mornings a week but he insists on 5 mornings a week. I am not sure how long it is going to last but he must have felt he was ready for something more structured. I was going to start this next year, but he has been bought forward to now. No problems, I have always planned to follow their natural learning path so we are. Dd was defiantely going to be in it so she has a little workbook too – making shapes, numbers and colouring in. Ds is working his way through a maths and reading and writing workbook. We have just finished our fourth Enid Blyton book. Ds loves the family / farm ones – The Children of Cherry Tree Farm, The Children of Willow Tree Farm and we have also read ‘The Story of Pip’ and Billy Bob and other Tales’. I am so happy he loves these books; we have found second hand ones at out local market, which I might get to add to his Christmas pressies.

Gardening
Well at this stage our focus is stopping everything going brown! Ds is in charge of sprinklers (under supervision) and with the little bit of rain we are getting we are keeping everything reasonably green.
We went to our local markets last weekend and bought 6 native plants to fill in some holes in the gardens. They have been given compost, mulch and lots of water so all is good so far!

My craft
A good friend of mine and a fellow homeschooling mum has taken over the website
www.spiralgarden.com.au and wants to stock some of my dolls and toys. I am absolutely thrilled. Even though I LOVE homeschooling the children, and caring for the home and family – I feel this is something of mine. We are going to look at it as a part time job for me and I might look locally to sell my toys too.
This fulfils my need to do something against the poor quality of toys and equipment found in the big department stores too.

Fabric Dyeing afternoon

Yesterday afternoon the I got together all my spare fabric, white shirts from the local discount shop and my dye kit and had fun.

Firstly I tied some material up in rubber bands and made these.

Next I dyed some old sheets and made some play cloths for the kids

Then I got out my clean alpaca fleece I got from the spring fair and dyed it all the colours of the rainbow

I also dyed some knitting wool.

It was great fun and am looking to add fabric dyeing to my toy making.

More Dolls

I have been busy with doll making lately. A friend asked for one for each of her girls so here they are. They really are a lovely doll to have!

Homeschooling for us!

Many family and friends ask us how our homeschooling life is going. I thought a series of photos of what we do during the day maybe the best way to describe our days.

Designing and building wooden towns and cities.

Mornings at the beach

Modelling with wax

Joining in with our local homeschooling group

Our days are full of reading, drawing, adventures in nature, friends, outside play with our dog, swimming and helping around our lovely property. I was talking to dh this morning and we are both really happy with how the children are going. They are both very creative, always busy and eager to participate and learn in life. Life is great so why change it!

Look what Mum send me!

Thankyou Mum!

What a great book, lots of knitted and crochet toys to make.

I am going to knit the unicorn for dd christmas present!

Housework Routine

My Housework Routine

DAILY
Morning – washing out, check gardens, wipe bathrooms, check bills, put bread on
Afternoon – washing in, dinner on
After dinner – sweeping, washing on

WEEKLY
Monday – bathrooms and towels
Tuesday – our linen
Wednesday – Ds linen
Thursday – Dd linen
Friday – dusting
Saturday – vacuum, mop and clean cars
Sunday – catch up day

YEARLY – spring clean
January & July – Our room
Feb & Aug – Dd and office
March & Sept – Ds and playroom
Apr & Oct – kitchen and living room
May – Nov – bathroom and laundry

I try and stick to this routine as much as possible as it really frees up my days for homeschooling, craft and gardening. – I have routines for those too which are alot more flexible!

Handmade Doll

I made another lovely doll over the last three days and here she it

She is made from 100% natural materials and stuffed with wool fleece. Dd now has an order for one!