Playing with literacy

Indi has been showing lots of interest in letters and words lately. Here are some of the things we have been doing together.

The chalkboard has been getting a workout. She likes to draw a picture, then I write the word for her to copy. A few backwards letter in this one!

Again, a few letters around the wrong way, but certainly a good attempt.

This is one we have been doing for a long time ... writing letters in the sand with chopsticks. She has been having trouble with 'e', until we realised it was like a spiral (one of her favourite things to draw).

Other games she likes include wetting a little broom in the pool and painting letters and numbers on the pavers with water, and spraying 'words' on the fence with a water spray bottle.
She has also been playing starfall again. I signed up for the free trial of the Reading Eggs program, but she doesn't seem to be getting into it much. She is more interested in the games they have while loading the next lesson! Having said that, I've noticed a few little things she has done that have come from the lessons, so she is obviously picking something up from it.

Garden log

Just a quick one so I remember when I planted stuff.

This weekend I planted:

more corn and a cucumber out the back
two capsicums and a tomato out the front
parsely and rocket from the nursery 'sick bay' (hey $1 a punnet, I ain't leavin 'em behind!) and the chives out of the pot in the old wheelbarrow.
the philodendron-thingy near the pool filter.

This week we ate:

LOADS of silverbeet
some broccoli
basil, parsely, shallots, and garlic chives

...and the bloody dog dug up the lemongrass! GRRRRR!

I shall return with a wonderful long blog post as soon as the kids remember how to sleep.

Barefeet sandles

I made these for a bare-feet loving friend ...

I wish she'd hurry up and come visit so I can give them to her ... KARISMA! Where are you!

I have to go make a pair for Indi now; she has taken a bit of a fancy to them, which is pretty funny because she can never keep shoes on her feet normally.

First cherry tomatoes

Yum yum yum.

Blog meltdown!

Dear diary

I officially have a case of brain-dead-blog-meltdown.
Meh. Blah. Sna.
I can't think of anything to write!

Well, that's not entirely true. I can think of lots of thing I'd like to write about.
I'd like to write about co-sleeping and how much it sucks for us at the moment.
I'd like to write about ECing, and how Keanu can actually say when he needs to poop now.
I'd like to write about how much I hate Craig being away from home, and how much more he hates it.
I'd like to write about the tons of books that I've read over the last few months.
I'd like to write about christmas and the usual depression it invokes in me and my struggle to keep my kids as far away from it as possible.

There are lots of things I'd like to get out of my head. I just can't seem to find an exit for them all.

A little garden update

Peas that sprouted from the mulch.

Little zucchini starting to grow.

Broccoli flowers.

Silverbeet has been a staple in our meals for the last few weeks.

The potato I planted ages ago has finally sprouted.

The 'quick-grab' herbs growing at the front door. The basil grew all through winter.

Indi's cherry tomato. We'll be lucky to get fruit off this one; she keeps 'accidently' pulling of all the little green tomatoes.

Our star jasmine bush near the front door. I can smell it now as I type this ... mmmmm! I love the way it wafts through the house of a night.

I'm still here!

Ok, so i haven't been blogging lately, and I'm starting to feel it! I do enjoy writing here. It's like a nice comfy little place to come and empty my head.
Time to sit and ponder, however, seems to be disappearing. I have LOTS of stuff in my head that I want to write about, but haven't had the time nor frame of mind to sit down and put it into legible order. I feel like I've had a bit of an intellectual overload lately; studying, reading (like, 2 books a week), homeschooling thoughts coming and going ... It's all been wearing me down so I've spent the last few weeks just 'chillin'; crafting a bit here and there, reading a little bit, dumbing it down with some Facebook (no offence to facebook friends!) but mostly just 'being' and spending time with the kids.
But I want to stay in the habit of writing a little bit every week or so, so I'll start small ...

Last week I finished the blanket I was making.

 

A perfect fit for the cot, that Keanu now sleeps in (through the day ... sometimes! If I can be bothered to take him out of the sling.)

I had to force myself to put it on the cot; it's so soft and warm and snuggly. It had a nice place on the end of my bed for a few weeks there!