L had a dentist’s appointment today so stayed at home with Bob; 6 opted to do the same, so I left a pile of resources and a list of ideas for them to use as a basis for the day. Carrot cake was made 😀 Bob may have to tell you the rest, but it all sounded nicely productive.
Meanwhile K, A, J and I set off for the station, only to discover that Bob still had J’s season ticket (having renewed it at the weekend). Buying a ticket meant missing the normal train and hanging around for the late one, which J hates as it means he has to run at the other end – mind you, if he hated it that much you’d think he’d get up and out more reliably 😉
We spent the day with E and S, doing normal HE type pottering. E was very tired and droppy, while A was tired and grumpy, so it was a nothing much kind of day, really. We looked at some Sir Cumference videos on youtube over lunch 🙂 and I cut out the guard for E’s kirtle, pinned it into place and then somehow got carried away and sewed it on too (it still needs catching up/hemming though). I also managed, while the children played outside, to finish putting together the layers of 6’s bodice, so that when we got home I could cut the skirts to fit (and have now just spent the evening hemming the first couple of sections; my fingers hurt too much to carry on tonight though – lightweight!). Reading happened, piano happened, French happened (with E, at least), a little bit of maths happened (can we count Sir Cumference for that too?) and the children collaborated on Sumdog and Gridclub for a while too – then we realised that there was blood on the carpet, looking rather gruesome. Everybody checked for wounds and we realised A’s blister, which had been covered with a plaster, had come uncovered whilst trampolining and had obviously split; blood was dripping down her heel. I chased everybody out (A, S and K to do jobs in the conservatory, E upstairs to do some English) so I could attempt a clean-up – pale carpet and blood not a good combination!
Careful planning around a swimming lesson came to naught as the lesson was cancelled, but since J’s after-school activity was also cancelled that meant we could collect him and get home sooner than expected, which was a definite bonus. Unpleasant drive home though, with a “discussion” about J’s DT project, which he was meant to have gone to teacher about last week, but still hasn’t (he missed the final lesson, so hasn’t completed it and needs to arrange a time to do that, preferably before the projects are marked and he gets into trouble for not having completed it). As usual, it is everybody’s fault but his *sigh*
Then we got home and I had another unpleasant discussion, with L this time, who had not done the grade 2 music theory paper I had asked her to do as a priority and then decided she was utterly unable to do it, and so of course became utterly unable to do it 🙄 Lots of tears and wails and sobs, some shouting (blush) and eventually she got her head down and gave it a proper go. After tea she had a look through the grade 3 one and was surprised to find how much of it she could do, or thought she would be able to do. It’s amazing what a difference attitude makes!
K, after some persuasion, did a short ‘cello practice, as did A. J did some homework, but not as much as I’d have hoped, given extra time tonight and less tomorrow. Ho hum. I found a 1000 first words in English book for 6 and went through the first double page of that with her – lots of pronunciation practice and also a discussion of English versus American English words, as the book had “faucet” and “closet” which we changed to “tap” and “wardrobe”.
Skirt pieces now cut out and first one hemmed. I need my fingers to toughen up!
Category: En Famille International
A stitch in time
Normally our Sundays are filled with church commitments, whether choir, preaching or simply going along to a service, Sunday school an so forth. This week was no exception: K had eucharist and A had a choir rehearsal. The rest of us, however, were unusually free so Bob took those who needed to go to church, J elected to stay at home and catch up on sleep and homework and I took 6 and L to a costume making day at Kentwell, or rather upstairs in the pub at the end of the drive at Kentwell. Since 6 should still be here when we’re being Tudor she will need suitable attire and a costume day is a good way to kickstart the process. We also needed to try the finery L will be borrowing, as we knew it was likely to require lengthening (4 or 5 inches, as it turns out!) and Thomasine had very kindly made a pattern for J’s hose for me so I wanted to collect that too. We gave a lift to another future Kentwellie, so left a little earlier than we might have done, but at least that meant Bob and the others could get up and out too.
6 is exceedingly ticklish, we discovered, as Bess attempted to pin and then mark a toile 🙂 Eventually it was done though, and we decided to head off home straight after lunch, rather than sticking around to get on with sewing as well. This was partly because space was limited and partly because my energy levels currently are very low; I can manage a few hours of real activity a day but then have to recoup – not easily done in a busy room full of chatty people wielding scissors, irons and needles 😉
We got back theoretically in time for the St George’s Day parade, from which L had already excused herself for costume stuff and which A then decided to miss because of a sore foot – a nasty blister. Instead, the children all opted for trampolining and general decompression. Karine from EFI phoned in the evening, to check how things were going: all well so far, but I need to think of things to get 6 talking a bit more. I think as her confidence grows this will get better (and in fact today she has spoken much more already, as well as doing some reading aloud and pronunciation practice with me) and I hope we will be able to give her the confidence she needs.