Rembrandt

When we looked at Rembrandt we most enjoyed his delicate sketches

in sepia, sanguine, charcoal and white.

We loved his lions and elephants and his childrenMr6 loved his philistines in shiny helmets.
My darling Mr6 is very much enjoying his collection of dress ups at the moment and I never know quite who will greet me when he comes out of his bedroom.

Medieval Day

Our local homeschooling group held a medieval day today

A wonderful knowledgeable and patient man from the Medieval Guilds Inc. came to talk to us and to show us all of his real weapons and armour, chain mail and costumes.


It was fantastic!

Mr10, knew what a roman gladius was called so he got to hold it!


and was so thrilled


He had to share it with his little brother-


Who thought it was wonderful as well- real swords!


He put on a sword fighting demonstration with one of our older homeschooled boys who has been attending the medieval group at Coffs Harbour.

All the kids got to practice actual manoeuvres with foam replica swords and shields


J was asked to shoot a long bow at our knight so he could demonstrate the effectiveness of his chain mail and armour


My little viking could not resist this little one and made a new friend,
his new friend is a weanling pony foal and tried to suckle from Mr6's shiny buttons down his tummy.


After our special guest finished his presentation we all enjoyed a shared medieval feast.
Then it was medieval activities and the kids could make chain mail, or do embroidery, make wooden dolls, treasure boxes or shields. They could play medieval board games or play medieval outside games, or run around being nights on quests!
A terrific day was had by all.

Beautiful Birthday Boy

Our children grow up so fast-

My darling Mr5 turned 6


That meant it was an early morning


but not too early for sharing


with lovely presents from near and far


He devised the menu for the day


Breakfast- bacon and eggs
Lunch- fish and chips and lemonade
Dinner- chicken and pumpkin pasta bake
Birthday Cake- a 'massive' vanilla cheese cake
I managed everything, the birthday cake wasn't really massive, but it did the job.



His new viking suit was a great hit, and he had to wear it everywhere.


He also planned our activites

Rollerskating- and it was so much fun, DH and I have not done it for over 20 years! but we could still manage and it was the first time for the boys. They have mucked around on skates and blades but not at a rink.



riding his new scooter so Mr10 did some more skating and we had a lovely walk along the riverbank



and playing tennis. We managed the first two and will try to get a game of tennis in tomorrow at the local courts. We just ran out of time- and energy-

Happy birthday my darling boy.

Mr5 is turning 6

So I have been making him some dress ups-

A Viking Helmet-


I used mod wrap a plaster impregnated bandage but was not overly impressed so I reverted to good old paper mache


and a hooded cloak


with a tunic


These are all works in progress, I have a few more days to finish them off.

Patriotism or Yobboism?

The boys are being Ancient Romans today.


Mr10 and I had an interesting chat today.
We were looking at a catalogue and it had a heap of items with Australian, maps, flags etc. clothes, socks, backpacks and more. I asked him if he would like some of the socks and was surprised at his strong reaction.

"No Way Mum, I am not a yobbo!"

We don't have a TV, and have never had one.
We don't do commercial radio or magazines, we do have an occasional newspaper but I don't know how he has formed such a strong association.
I asked him about patriotism- he is proud to be Australian and he loves Australia, he loves where we live but he does not like "that type of Aussie" and does not want to be a Yobbo!

Fantasy Play

Our little one loves to dress up.
In his dress ups box he has costumes to be a pirate, a leopard, a cowboy, an elephant, an astronaut, a cat, an alien, a witch or a wizard, a king, a prince, a ghost, red riding hood or the big bad wolf, he has a green tunic that can be many things- Robin Hood or any number of characters from Brian Jacques Redwall series, a rock star ( he was one of those this morning, singing into his light sabre, playing his ukulele and dancing on the lounge). He has a toga and an ancient greek costume, a roman soldiers outfit and many others we have created from time periods we have been learning about.

He is constantly creating characters and costumes and today he found a bonus-

I have been reorganising things, getting ready for our new year of school and he came across a face painting kit, he immediately went and got his face painting book and started to choose who he wanted to be.

And he wanted to be a vampire.


And he wanted to suck Daddy's blood.


And he wanted to be very scary.


And he was!


And he was a very cute little vampire,


who was so wanting the neighbors to come over or some visitors to pop in.