Half term has been lovely. Lazy pyjama mornings, evenings in, less rushing around…We celebrated Dancing Toes’ and Grandpa’s birthday, with just about all of my family here; precious times, for which I’m so grateful.
We had home ed friends down one day which was fun; two of Lanky Dude’s friends who have also moved on to formal education. Good for boys to catch up, and for me to chat to other mums, who walk a similar path. We saw some local friends too, but I felt we really needed time out, so scribbled “home day “across the calendar a couple of times, to ensure quiet days. (Worked one out of two!).
I enjoy watching what the children call “educational” films, and we watched two such films over the week; “The Viceroy House”, and “Gandhi”. Both informative, inspiring and moving, and I now understand a lot more about the history of both India and Pakistan.
The pictures below are from a short camping trip we made to Exmoor. It was a beautiful site, at the bottom of a steep valley. The children played in the stream, scrambled up the hill, and swung on the rope swings. We roasted marshmallows on a campfire at night, while listening to “Lorna Doone” on audio book, an adventure based on Exmoor. That all sounds idyllic…. but it was SO cold, the girls and I were in a little mountain tent (boys bivouacked out!), and I’m definitely a fair-weather camper…So, although I tried to be cheerful, a warm bed and hot water bottle seemed very appealing.
HWH and the boys went for a walk which they enjoyed, while I took the girls to a beach, which, once they had both stopped complaining, they seemed to find fun. And it was lovely taking them to old haunts where HWH and I used to come before we had children, and then with the older ones. It was another good remembering place; remembering God’s faithfulness and answered prayer. Dancing Toes picked out a pebble which she gave to me as a remembering stone.
We saw this beautiful old water wheel; I remember Lanky Dude being fascinated by a similar one when he was only four…an engineering mind from a young age. We also discovered some walnuts, a childhood memory for me, which Dancing Toes was probably more interested in.
I always do a review and plan every half term. It’s fairly loose and open to many additions and subtractions, but it keeps me focused, and it’s generally encouraging to look back over the previous few weeks and see that, amidst all the humdrum of daily life, we have achieved some academic study! As it’s been a particularly busy half of term, I was especially encouraged to look back and put ticks by lots of my scribblings. And so into the term which leads up to Christmas.
Mothering through the seasons 