A good day

A great day today. We made Christmas cards, some rather excellent Joseph dream coats for our Jesse tree and a fabulous prayer chain out of old Christmas cards. We watched The Grinch, sang carols, ate some rather fabulous Spiced Parsnip and Pear soup and made a spiced house cake ready to decorate tomorrow. I washed some clothes and nappies and managed a sinkful of washing up. However, the house is still a mess and Edward has peeled wallpaper off in the hallway. Somehow, despite his many ways of driving me absolutely crazy, I can never be mad with him. He's just too cute!
Jo
Will upload photos soon.

Portsmouth and the Mary Rose

We had a lovely time yesterday visiting the Mary Rose and both HMS Victory and Warrior. Going to see the rescued hull of the MR was awesome. To think that she had been the warship of Henry VIII and had lain underwater for hundreds of years. Even my boisterous boys were awestruck. They listened to their audio guides perfectly and seemed totally captivated. The museum was very interesting too, with all the artifacts that had been found on board. We also enjoyed Victory, with its tales of Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. But by the time we got to see Warrior we were a tired bunch who were all warshipped out, so we probably didn't do it justice. Would definitely go back, but next time for a weekend as there was just so much to see. We think we'd like to go back in 2011 when the new Mary Rose museum opens. Hope Travelodge has some £9 room rates then. Lol.
One wierd thing, though; my eldest thinks that Horatio Nelson looks like Adolf Hitler????????????
Jo
Now trying to catch up with the Jesse Tree and Jotham's Journey from when we were away.

Friday Feeling

Today I had to edit the church magazine so the boys had a day in church, playing with the girls from the ministerial family. Mag is now published. Hurrah. We are now packing up to go off to Portsmouth to visit the Mary Rose as part of our Tudor project. Will report back with pictures and details when we return. Have a great weekend everyone.
Jo

Ice Skating

My boys went ice skating today and my little one managed to skate on his own without help. How very exciting; I was very proud. We also had a little Christmas party with food. And the guys there are such a lovely bunch of people.

Well, dinner will not prepare itself.

Jo x

The Middlest Wrote his Name

Wow !!!! My middle son aged 3 wrote his name today. I am sooooooooooo proud. He was making some letter type markings and said he was writing his name so I wrote it down for him and said I was writing his name too. And he copied it!!!!!!!!!!! I don't have any intention of teaching him to read/write for quite some time so I am flabberghasted. And very pleased.

Moments like this make home schooling worthwhile.

Jo

We are trying to have a mass Lego tidy in ds1's bedroom but it is not going so well. Ds 2 keeps interfering and the baby has hurricane force wind and won't be put down. Work went well this morning. We finished off painting the photo frames to give to rellies as gifts. We read the Grinch. We read about the angel's visit to Mary and conceived appropriate artistic decorations. We made a lovely globe out of a paper plate to decorate our Jesse tree. We have visitors at 5pm and the house is a mess. But baby is still whingy. What to do?!

Jo

Today was the day that we ventured out into our local park to find branches for our Jesse tree. Actually we should've done it on Saturday but you know what it is when life takes over. I am very pleased with the result and will post pictures as the decorations begin to take shape. In the meantime, please enjoy these pics of the boys on their Jesse tree walk.
Devotions were better today. We read the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah from Luke and then day two of Jotham's Journey. They actually listened both times. We didn't do any other formal work due to the mammoth task of walking around the lake to collect branches. It was beautiful but freezing cold and Edward moved at a speed rather less than a snail's pace. It took most of the morning. We then had lunch at a friend's and did some shopping on the way home.My Christmas gift making plans are way behind. Heeeelllllp!!Jo