hot hot hot

It has been rather hot lately so we have been spending a fair bit of time in,
on or near the water.
I am a water girl and always like to be around water,
so will take every chance I get to be at the water anyway.

We have had a few days at the pool lately and the boys both went on the water slide for the first time.


Our big boy adores it and just runs up those stairs to slide back down all day long.
This is great for his self confidence and water confidence.
He has been making lots of 'mates' and having so much fun,
He has also had his first sunburn- twice now!


Our little one likes to ride with Mummy-

Here is Mr10 helping Mr5 back down the stairs
as it was just a bit too scary without Mummy for Mr5.

We have also been spending time at our beautiful river
The Mighty Clarence River.



And hanging out in our little pool at home.

Besides cooling off I have had a rather busy time lately.

I have been researching curriculum for next year, I really want to get Mr10s maths back on track, he used to really enjoy maths but a couple of years ago he just lost all the ability he had over the 6 week summer break and he has never really got that enjoyment back again so he has not been enjoying it at all an his learning in this area has been well, stilted-
So I am looking at Maths U See, it is scary looking at the price but I think I am just going to bite the bullet and do it! I think the manipulatives will be just perfect for both of my kinesthetic learners, and besides they are sort of lego- ish so that will make them really cool in their eyes.
I am planning on visiting a local Mum who uses it with her homeschoolers one day next week to have a good look and maybe even borrow a dvd to check it out as well.
I have also ordered in some Jolly Phonics workbooks for Mr5 from the wonderful Book Depository www.bookdepository.com
The other things on my wishlist are Bravewriter- The Writers Jungle and The Arrow at www.bravewriter.com.
and
The Elements- http://ellenjmchenry.com/id98.html

We have also done a big stationary shop, I just need to get some copy paper and a few art supplies and we should be done.

We had a BBQ with my two favourite girls and their wonderful families- as one of them will be starting chemotherapy next week, and as they have both been recently diagnosed with cancer I thought I better get myself off for a medical check up, so I have been seeing my Dr and having some blood tests and I will be off for an ultrasound next week to check out some lumps, and then back to the Dr for more tests- My DH has also been off to see the Dr and have some tests of his own.

We have been fighting an ongoing battle with stinkbugs in our citrus trees for months now.
We have picked off a zillion by hand, we have hosed them off, we have thrown washing up water onto them, sprayed them with flour and water and we finaly resorted to pyrethrum, but they are still coming back in huge numbers-

Dh was out there the other day waging war on them and Mr5 went down to help and he was sprayed in the eye by one.
He started screaming and ran up to the house, it is an acid they spray and DH had got some onto his face earlier in the day and said how painful it was.
Our poor little one was in a lot of pain and so distressed, we flushed it out with lots of water and he had a swim and an iceblock and seemed to be fine.
The next morning his poor little eye was so swollen and purple I took him straight into the hospital, they tested his eye for ulceration and thankfully there was none, they were also very concerned about an infection in that area as it is so close to the brain. So he was dosed up on pain killers, steroids, anti histamines and antibiotics .
The next day- today he is fine, all the swelling has gone and he is back to himself, just a little bit purple under his eye still.
Meanwhile the bugs are still in our citrus trees!