Hansel & Gretel House: Day Two

I secured the roof on the gingerbread house last night. It was quite steep using the cutter set compared with last years one so it was tricky.

We headed out to a sweet shop in town this morning and had a lot of fun picking out some things to decorate the house with. He didn't have a great choice of light weight sweets and mentioned something about not managing to get hold of any Halloween themed sweets. We also got some honey hazelnuts from the market.

After lunch we set about sticking on some decorations.

We learnt that jelly beans are too heavy to stay on and that things slide if you pile them on top of one another like we did with the roof tiles! There was an almighty avalanche off the roof at one point and we thought it was going to be ruined but we managed to rescue it!

We are quite pleased with it though.


What do you think?

It's going to require a lot of will power from Cameron not to lick or pick at it until tomorrow evening I think!

Hansel & Gretel House: Day One

We made a Hansel & Gretel house last year and it seems to have become a tradition as Cameron said he would prefer to do a gingerbread house instead of having sweetie treats for Halloween.

I decided that if I was going to do a house every year then investing in a set of house cutters might be better than using cardboard templates so I bought this set and used the recipe that came in the box. I wasn't overly impressed with the recipe, it was a bit butter heavy, so felt a bit greasy before baking, and was quite difficult to work with too. I much preferred the recipe from All Year Round that we used last year (although be warned that that one makes a HUGE quantity of dough!).

Today we baked all the pieces and stuck the house together. Now we'll leave it overnight to strengthen before decorating it.

Face Painting

Cameron bought some face paints today so he could have a go at making himself into Pichu.

It led to a quite lengthly make-up session, for which I am very grateful there were no pictures of me! We spent a lot of time experimenting with bits of old make-up I've saved for Halloween-type events.

I ended up with zombie eyes, red rosy cheeks and fake bruised scars over the backs of my hands - very gruesome! It was really fun :o)

An Education Update

It's been a while since I posted what Cameron is up to, so I thought I'd do that today.
Over the last few months Cameron has developed some "normals" that he does on weekday mornings. This tends to consist of a page of NHM Maths books that we got with the curriculum box earlier in the year, some writing, usually about an A5 page - sometimes stories he's made up, sometimes copying from a book, sometimes he writes me letters, usually they have pictures too. He will also choose something from the other books, his favourites tend to be Mummies and Pyramids, Geography Success and various science experiment books. He's also reading at least a few chapters a day of whatever he's into (this week, Secret seven, Fantastic Mr Fox, and a Pokemon book). He has started using index and content pages to find information in other books and becoming a whizz at finding information on the internet (bulbapedia being a favourite).
In the afternoons, if we're not on a trip or walking etc, he's tending to choose arty activities - painting, Fimo, making Pokemon accessories and houses so far this week.
Pokemon is his new "thing" at the moment and that takes up a lot of his time. He's also still madly into the Beano and reading book after book whenever he can.
There is a strong interest in cookery at the moment and Cameron has even started making up his own recipes to try out, which are surprisingly successful.
He's wanting to spend increasing amounts of time together with me, doing activities such as the candle making and bread dragons which is a real joy for me as he hasn't always wanted to engage in joint projects.
And of course there are all the usual things still going on, plenty of drawing, lego, playing and generally being sweet and amazing.

I can generally tell how the day is going to go by how Cameron wakes me up in the morning - today he woke me up by waving bicarb of soda and vinegar under my nose and asking where he could get a plastic bottle from!... Good times :o)

An Eventful Weekend

Thank you so much to everyone who sent me kind and supportive words and wishes after Fridays post, on the blog and in private. It meant a great deal to me that I wasn't collecting tumbleweed after sharing our news.

By Saturday morning I'd pulled myself together and we went off on an early train to the National Media Museum. We had booked to see The Snowman as part of the Bradford Animation Festival. We absolutely adore the film and were jumping with glee at the chance to see it on the big screen.
We got to the museum early so we wandered around some of the familiar exhibitions.

Before the film there were a lot of animation shorts shown. They were absolutely amazing!

After the film we went out for lunch, where Cameron announced that he doesn't want to go to school after all (he said he thought "it looked fun at first, but doing it everyday would be a nightmare").

We did a bit of shop browsing (Christmas decorations, I can never resist a look) before heading back on the train, feeling really proud of myself for doing a city centre visit on a Saturday.

On Sunday we woke to find the electricity had cut off at some point in the night. It turned out that half the street had also lost power and that the cause was a fault with underground cables. A large chunk of our street was dug up and the four men worked, without breaks, in the cold, wind and rain until the power was back on - around 6pm. I am very grateful for their efforts!

Power cuts are always so educational, I find, even for me. It's scary how much we rely on electricity and take it for granted. During the daytime we went out to a cafe for lunch and visited Grandad.

Cameron experimented with Grandad's guitar and we chatted, played Lego etc. As we were about to leave we saw a huge, unbroken rainbow - it was fantastic!

We had a lot of fun thinking up ways to entertain ourselves, in the minimal light of late afternoon, while we waited for the power to come back on. I taught Cameron to play hangman and we made up some other paper based games. Cameron read, and I cooked beef stew - both by candle light, an interesting experience.

I'm still catching my breath from all of that really! Today has been pretty much catching up on washing (that I was supposed to be catching up on at the weekend!) and emptying the ruined contents of the fridge and freezer - which is rather sad as it contained a lot of things I worked hard to preserve for the colder months when not much is growing. I had a huge stash of frozen berries, boxes of soup and other things - all wasted now :o(

Cameron is busy working on a design for this half-term competition.

Torn

A few weeks ago we attended a meeting at our new local Children's Centre which is attached to a primary school. Cameron said that he liked the look of the school and asked if we could look around, with a view to maybe attending on a flexi-school basis.
My initial reaction was NOOOOOOOO! But I took his views seriously, we talked it over, and today we had a tour around the school.

It's a nice school, as far as schools go. It's well kitted out with computers, interactive white boards, a library (non-fingerprinted usage), a nice big yard to play in with staggered play times to make it less crowded. The staff were very friendly, if a little intense after we admitted we were home educating. They spoke to Cameron in a nice way, not condescending or dumbed down.

Cameron was very quiet throughout the visit. He was obviously bothered by the noise and smells of school dinners cooking but had a good scoot round and surveyed the computers and library particularly thoroughly. He got to see what his year group classes (sizes 24 per classroom, but plenty of space) were doing that morning.
I was trying desperately to keep up with the head teacher as she bombarded me with information, some good, some ringing alarm bells in my ears.
We talked extensively about special needs and they admitted that they don't have anyone to offer support in his year group and explained that a statement would need to be in place before he attended, to fund an extra staff member.

Before the tour Cameron and I discussed what he would like to do if he liked the look of the school and he said a trial day. We put that to the head teacher and we agreed a morning after half-term for Cameron to attend on a trial basis, with support borrowed from another class. While Cameron attends, I will be in a meeting with the head teacher, a parent partnership coordinator, someone from the local education authority and the school special needs coordinator to discuss Cameron's needs and to plan a transition into school if he likes the trial morning. They didn't dismiss the option of flexi-schooling which made me quite hopeful and they seemed committed to getting it right and getting the support in place so that it runs as smoothly as possible for Cameron.

Cameron was quiet on the way home. He says he liked what he saw, but he was clearly anxious and started a head shaking behaviour that he hasn't done in a really long time, although he's calmed down now we're home again.

There's a big part of me that wants to put my foot down and say - I don't think this is the right thing for you. After seeing him so broken and depressed after coming out of his last school I'm so fearful that going back into the system will wear him back down again.
But - there's another part of me that is so damn proud of him, and myself, because up until a year ago he wouldn't have even walked past a school - let alone go inside one and consider attending. We would hide away in the school holidays and take alternative routes to avoid situations populated by school groups. This is a huge step and shows that the healing process has been working. It's a really great thing that Cameron feels able to try again and I can't let my fears cloud him. I have to let him try.

We've had a big chat about making sure Cameron communicates with me, and others, about his needs/struggles so that he can get the best support. I've made it really clear that he can change his mind at any time. All I can do now is support him in his decisions.

Today was not a good day to run out of tissues!

Being careful about what you wish for

For a few months now, Cameron has been saying things like

"wouldn't it be great if all you could eat all day was chocolate. Munch munch, nom nom. I'd never get sick of it, you can't eat enough chocolate. I wish we bought more chocolate".

He didn't believe me when I tried to tell him it would make him feel bad, or any of the other reasons I used for why it wasn't a good idea. So yesterday, I offered him the chance to try it out and, of course, he jumped at it.

He ate chocolate for breakfast, chocolate for elevenses and chocolate for lunch. He noticed his concentration was rubbish, he kept forgetting things, he realised he wasn't staying full for very long and by lunch time he started to feel a bit sick.

He ate a bit more chocolate but by mid-afternoon he sheepishly asked if I'd cook a proper tea later on! Around 5pm Cameron got peckish and went for more chocolate and so decided he might have a chocolaty tea after all. He got extremely jealous when he smelled my home cooked healthy meal on the stove and eventually ended up having some proper food before going to bed, exhausted, and a bit green around the edges.

A few lessons learnt to a much greater extent than any healthy eating or nutrition text book/lecture could offer, I think. Moderation is the new buzz word in our kitchen!

Five Pointed Window Star

I had a go at a five pointed window star this week and found it really difficult to assemble accurately. There's something about odd numbers that I struggle with, I'm not sure why.

It turned out quite pretty anyway, as long as you have misty eyes from the cold autumn air and don't get too close!

My Christmas Obsession: an explanation of sorts

Anyone who knows me will know that I start plotting and planning for Christmas sometime in Spring - I like to be organised!

We aren't a religious family but we look upon the festive season as something to focus on during dark, cold times before Spring. As generations before us, Cameron and I suffer quite badly with the seasonal blues and so make an strong effort to invest in our happiness during that time.

Like everyone else, I get disheartened by the commercialism that comes with Christmas nowadays but I don't believe you have to buy into it. I guess that's easier said than done depending on how much media/advertising you have in your life.

Of course, we love presents as much as the next person but it isn't all about that for us.

I get cross with people who are annually grumpy about the whole experience but continue along the same path - I got disillusioned about Christmas around 2006 and decided to change things so that it suited us better - afterall, childhood innocence is so fleeting. I wanted to make sure I sprinkled some Christmas magic into Cameron's memories before it was too late and cynical conversation around the telly, next to a fibre optic tree wasn't quite what I had in mind (no offence intended to my family!).

My view is that celebrating Christmas is not mandatory - if you don't like it, change it or opt out. Many people in our own family get grumpy about Christmas, and that's fine for them, but I insist that if people want to be included in our plans or visit then they keep their grumpiness and cynicism to themselves because we find it unnecessary, it doesn't achieve anything and it spoils an important time for us (rant over!).

For us, the approach of Christmas is punctuated with a series of activities and traditions, on a slow boil from mid-autumn, building up anticipation for a Winterval, if you will - a time to celebrate, indulge in festive foods, enjoy each others company, exchange home made (and thoughtfully bought) presents, decorate the house, dance and sing to songs you can't get away with at any other time of the year and generally be merry. So, I just wanted to say that, if at any time our festive arrangements seem a little OTT to you, just know that we are investing in joy for the Winter months and (hopefully) some magical childhood memories that may be carried down to other generations.

**********

We began that investment when we made our Christmas cake this week, so that it can have time to mature. I thought we were really late making it compared to our usual routine but I checked back in the blog archive and last year it was November 7th!

We use the same recipe each year - one I devised in 2005 just by experimenting and worked out very well. We make a very small cake because we are a very small family and the cake often gets forgotten about until the abundance of festive chocolate and home baked cookies has gone, by which time we are usually craving salad and a jog around the park! I think I enjoy the process of making the cake more than the eating part but this means that even if the birds end up eating it, we've all gained something from the experience.

Candle Making for Diwali

Each year we celebrate Diwali by making candles, and sometimes diva lamps. And also with a story (usually the one from Festivals Together).

This year for the candle making we decided to use cold, mould-able candle wax from candlesontheweb.co.uk (although I'll warn that they were quite slow at posting).


We had a lovely morning playing and experimenting with the wax.

We had a friendly competition to make the slowest burning candle and some very educational discussion about why some shapes burn/melt faster than others.

The way they melted down and swirled on the plate was really amazing to watch.

I saw this Diwali message on the Sunnydaytodaymama blog and couldn't resist sharing it here too!

Window Star Progress

You may remember this post, where I was having a bash at some basic window stars but wanting to progress to more complicated ones.

This week I had a go at something a bit more complex and I think it turned out quite well. I'm rather impressed with myself! (Please excuse my mucky kitchen window in the photograph.)

I plan to find time to keep working on building my skills with these stars. I'm really enjoying making them and they're so cheerful to look at don't you think?

Double Chocolate Pistachio Jigsaw Biscuits

As predicted yesterday, I'm posting a recipe today.

I'm calling this my own creation because I have evolved the recipe to the point where it no longer resembles the original.

I hope you enjoy them, obviously you can make them any shape you like - I just wanted to play with my new jigsaw cutter.

Double Chocolate Pistachio Jigsaw Biscuits

Makes about 12

For the biscuits:

75g butter

75g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

100g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

Topping:

White chocolate

Pistachio nuts

• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.


• Beat in the egg yolk.


• Sieve (if you can be bothered, it isn't essential) flour and cocoa powder on top of butter mixture and mix to a dough.


• Chill the dough for at least an hour. Whilst waiting, find a helper to crush the pistachio nuts for you!

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C.


• On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 5mm thick and cut shapes. Place shapes on a greased baking sheet.


• Bake for 10 minutes, checking regularly as they can burn easily. Take them out just as they start to brown on the edges.


• Cool on a wired rack.


• Melt white chocolate using your preferred method.


• Decorate biscuits with white chocolate and sprinkle the crushed pistachio nuts on to the chocolate before it hardens, so that they will stick.
  

Government Consultation

My time over the last few days seems to have been dominated by the Select Committee hearings on elective home education (still available to watch here). I'm feeling completely drained by the whole process which has sucked so much precious time away from many home educators since the review was announced in January.
I am having a lot of trouble putting into words how I feel about it all, I've said before that I'm not great at the political stuff. I'm learning so much about the process but feeling overwhelmingly disappointed at the lack of understanding by government officials, of both home education and the huge amount of pressure and intrusion that their proposals will create, not just for parents but for children, particularly children like Cameron who have been severely let down and damaged by the schooling system.

I think there are some excellent posts around at the moment that sum up my thoughts better than I could say it myself. Posts from Jax, Helen and Merry are well worth a read. I think there are more on this theme but I am way behind on my blog reading!

I would strongly urge you to respond to the consultation if you haven't already. Get your family's views heard! There is a great post on the Dare to Know blog that walks you through the consultation and is a must read.

There is a petition here to to Reject the Report to the Secretary of State on the Review of Elective Home Education in England by Graham Badman.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has worked and contributed in any way to protecting our freedoms. We have had a pretty rough year and I haven't been able to contribute anywhere near as much as I would have liked. I really wish we had been able to get to the mass lobby yesterday - it looked fantastic. Elizabeth wrote a lovely post about her family's experiences there.

Back tomorrow with something a bit less serious, probably comfort food!

Pumpkins

No.25 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days was Grow a Pumpkin.

I have a bit of fantasy about carving a halloween pumpkin lantern that I've grown myself, which is how this item came to be on the list. All the books say it's really easy and a good beginners project because they take care of themselves but for the last two years we have failed miserably at it!
Funnily enough, it seems I may have been trying too hard because this weekend we visited the allotment which, I am ashamed to say, has been rather neglected during the last few months due to injury and other things going on. I was surveying the new weed growth and mourning the loss of my leeks when I noticed something orange - and on further searching, discovered TWO pumpkins! Only little ones, about the size of medium melons, but pumpkins none the less.

They're currently sitting on the kitchen windowsill which is a bit of a sun trap. I'm hoping they'll get a bit more orange in the next week or so.

I'm so excited to be able to cross this item off the list, although I'll probably have a go at a different pumpkin variety next year.

Wishing I had a pause button

Apologies for not posting at the end of last week - time kind of ran away with us!

This weekend I celebrated my 28th birthday. Cameron made me a fantastic comic style card which I adore!

We went to Granny Karen's house which was a 7 hour round trip on the train - really hard for me to do, and exhausting - but worth it to see family we don't see very often. Cameron was particularly pleased to be able to talk Pokemon with his Uncle, who has vast knowledge on the subject!

They baked a huge chocolate cake and sang to me before I blew the candles out. I think the last time that happened for me I was about 16!

We went for a walk and collected conkers and had lovely home made hot chocolate.

On Sunday Grandad took us out to a garden centre and I chose an apple tree for the allotment for my birthday present.

We are still tired out from the travelling! We're going to try and catch up on some things at home this week but we seem to have more things planned again - it's funny how we bumble along for months at a time just by ourselves and then other times we barely get a minute to catch up with ourselves! I have Christmas projects in the pipeline too - I love the festive season but it's creeping up so fast this year. I wish things would slow down a bit so I have time to really savour the season.

Cameron Shares: WOS Battle Cards

Cameron asked me to share something he's been up to, here today. He's been working really hard on these World of Superheroes Battle Cards.

He drew the lines to make the cards exactly the same sizes, did the drawing, colouring and worked out a system for ranking and rarity.

Aren't they fantastic?!

Cameron seems to be quite the little entrepreneur in the making. World of Superheroes is his latest brand idea. He is very aware of brand power and how it works. He enjoys thinking up marketing ideas and after making these cards he went on to package them too.

I love hearing about his latest plan to conquer the world and become rich and famous, they are always so well thought out and are based on talent and hard work - not a TV audition!

Chalk drawing and book thrifting

Taking full advantage of the beautiful Autumn sunshine, Cameron has been enjoying chalk drawing in our little back yard. His interest in chalks has been renewed since we bought these gorgeous blackboard chalks - so much better than the few pale pastel colours you get in an average box of chalk.

This time he drew some of his comic characters with signs of their favourite seasons.

I also thought I'd show you some books we found on a recent thrifty shopping outing.

We have found this amazing antique shop that rents spaces inside to different sellers, and each seller has a different focus - some are full of kitchen accessories, some vintage linens, some furniture, some collectable pottery, ornaments, memorabilia etc. We have a couple of areas that we always go to first because they have such interesting books.

This time we came home with a first edition Secret Seven, a 1950's(?) copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, a Whizzer and Chips Annual 1975 (Cameron is loving these old annuals, reading and re-reading them again and again), and Readers Digest What our Grandmothers Knew, Hints Recipes & Remedies of a Bygone Age, from 1979.

The latter book has important tips for the "housewife of today" such as; Keeping white hair at bay, how To clean white kid gloves, Reviving cheese and ham, How to cure hiccups, and Hints for straw and rush! There are a lot of interesting things in it aswell, I'll certainly be giving a few of them a go.

Celebrating Harvest

We chose to celebrate harvest this weekend to coincide with the harvest full moon.
We visited the farmers market and brought home this fantastic organic pumpkin to make into soup

and a local, free range organic chicken for a roast dinner feast.

We really enjoy celebrating the seasons and the anticipation of the meal to come - preparing the food and setting the table in a special way together. Lighting a candle really makes the occasion and brings us into the moment.

It was a perfect time to use my thrifted pyrex dishes.


We finished the meal with hot, home baked tapioca pudding. It was a really great evening.

Celebrating Autumn Vicariously

Catching up on some much needed housework jobs today with Cameron, who is being a rabbit, hopping about around my feet - very cute! I think my rabbit would be much happier hopping round the woods though so we will definitely be headed there tomorrow.

I'm way behind on reading all of the blogs and sites I follow but have been peeking at a few and loving the autumnal celebration that is occurring! I thought I'd share with you some of the posts I've come across and enjoyed. Hope you enjoy them too.

SouleMama is doing a series of posts on celebrating Autumn. So far, I particularly enjoyed the one about apples. I'm extremely jealous, I've been hunting for pick-your-own farms in our surrounding area for a year now and not managed to find one with less than 2 hours travelling each way.

Syrendell wrote a lovely post here about celebrating Autumn a little bit every day. I so want to have a go at those star lanterns!

Emma Bradshaw posted this fantastic picture of her son in her post hedgerow harvest... Really enjoying her blog.

Conker Spiders with Yarn Webbs over at Becky's blog Wonder Years, and Spiderwebs at pheasants, frogs and banana bread.

Halloween town at the fantastic The Toy Maker site. Particularly loving the pumpkin book marks.

Fall Paper Crafts at Craft Jr via the Crafty Crow where I also saw these Painted Fall Leaves from that artist woman.

That's probably enough links for one blog post!

Wishing you all a happy weekend :o)

Fimo & Sculpey play

In contrast to a rather awful day yesterday (that I wont bore you with the details of here) today had a nice relaxed pace. Cameron has been negotiating extra money in exchange for housework jobs so that he can buy Power Gogos. We had a little walk out to the supermarket to look at the halloween things which was rather funny.

We also had a go with some Fimo and Sculpey that we ordered from Merry, which arrived amazingly fast! Cameron had asked for something clay-like that he could make his own Gogos out of, based on the characters from his "World of Superheroes" and I suggested Fimo. We looked at some Fimo pictures on flickr and Cameron was sold on the idea. But we ended up buying mostly Sculpey as it was better value.

He has worked really hard on them so I'm really nervous in case I end up burning them in the oven by mistake!!