Despair :o(

I disagree with those that suggest the London riots were in any way political riots. 

In my mind these events have nothing to do with poverty, bankers or politicians. This is about opportunistic louts that have lost or have never had an ounce of respect or decency. My husband grew up in London and in poverty and he knew to respect himself and his community. Where are the parents of these violent youngsters - looting alongside them maybe? Did any of them stop to consider the fact that once the riots have stopped they will have to live in these burned out shells that used to be their home towns?? And WHEN was it ever acceptable to attack and harm ambulance crews and fire fighters, the very people that are there to give unbiased help??

I do agree that the rise of the constant media attention put on the likes of Katie Price and the Beckhams has brainwashed young people into thinking that they have a right to what ever they want whenever they want it. 

I feel very sad today :(

Lammas

Here's a picture of our Lammas bread we baked today.

We also picked poppy seeds on a very hot walk with Indy and made a rhubarb crumble with rhubarb from our garden.

Bright blessing :o)

Thoughts on school

Alice has completed her first 3 weeks at school and has now finished for the summer.

My initial thoughts are that this is going to be so good for her. She is by nature a very quiet and shy person and being at home has been great for her to immerse herself in that but I have started to doubt whether this will stand her in good stead for the future? I would never want to change who she is but I also think that she can sometimes miss out by being too afraid to put herself forward. I recognise her internal struggle in myself and it's only now at the age of 38 I've found coping mechanisms to deal with the fear. My hope is that being with others who don't feel the same worry she will also finds ways of putting her point across without the shutters coming down.

The work side has been really good too. The art department have been magnificent in their efforts to get her caught up with the other students and Alice loves the facilities in the textiles rooms. She has also found a fondness for science which I think she has surprised herself with. After being 1 mark off an A in her first week of being there maybe she has a hidden talent??

It really feels like the world is suddenly opening up for the children and they and I are are excited by this thought. It had felt like something needed to shift over the past year. As wonderful as Home Ed has been for us, we simply had to face the fact that no matter how much we love being at home together it can't stay like that forever and the girls will need to shape lives for themselves at some point.

Izzy and Liv are also very excited about what the future has in store for them. I hope their first weeks are as positive as Alice's have been :o)

School

So the girls have decided after 4 years to return to school!

Alice had her first day last Wednesday and really it couldn't have gone better. She was so brave and calm about it all and when she came in through the door she was bouncy and happy. Everyone had been so kind and helpful and she didn't get lost once!

The last four years have been an absolute gift but it now seems time to move on to the next chapter. The older the girls are getting the harder HE has been for us. We have nothing really local so every to trip to spend time with other home educators is at the very least a 30 minute drive in the car.

Alice is in need of independence and that's hard when you don't have friends that are just up the road. She was starting to feel lonely and really wanted to spread her wings so after a long talk on the train to London we decided to give it a go. Whilst chatting it transpired that Liv and Iz would also like to have a go at school. Izzy is missing friends she has locally and spending an hour with them at Guides once a week isn't enough. Liv the most social of all 3 girls and she just wants to be with people!

I guess I've always thought about the girls as being MY little girls but actually they have needs that are independent of me. When they are small all they want to do is be with Mummy and Daddy but they are growing faster than I could ever of imagined and that just isn't enough anymore. I think we probably have a stronger family unit than a lot of people and that makes this a little easier because we all know that we will support each through whatever life throws at us.

So I'm just sitting back and enjoying the positives this new change will bring and not dwelling on the feelings of failure that keep trying to show themselves.

Happy Birth Day

My newest nephew was born today, he was 9 weeks early!

His Mummy was very poorly so his entry into the world was more sudden than anyone expected. All the indications are good though and both Mother and Son are doing as well as can be expected.

After you read this post please can you take a moment to send a small thought out there to whoever you believe is listening and wish them well.

Thankyou. xx

Time for a return

I've been away far too long!

Things get crazy here and something has to give. Sitting down to blog feels like a real luxury when that happens.

The girls are moving along and happy and that's all I can ask. Paul and I are following our creative dreams large and small. Paul is wrestling with what platform to use for his photos, at the moment it's home is here. I've started drawing again and am really enjoying it but I am very flighty so it might be something very different next week. The point is that creating stuff makes us very happy so we're going with it.

Today is our 18th Wedding Anniversary! I was 20 and Paul 22. We had no idea what we were doing only that we had to do it together. I know people use the term 'soul mates' too freely but we truly are, I can't imagine my life without him.

Anyhow I won't be setting myself any goals with this blog, let's see how we go and where this life takes us.

xxx

BBC Bitesize

We are loving the BBC at the moment. The two younger girls are really enjoying all of the games and activities on the Bitesize pages. Today Liv had a go at the one below!

Alice is still trawling through her IGCSE work, she is so focused and hard working!!