Finally, an update!

My blog has been neglected for a few weeks as lots has been going on in our life so I'll just post a quick update then hopefully will be back to regular posts.

Peter had his fourth birthday! No longer a toddler and he had a nice visit to soft play and build-a-bear.

Harry has continued to create great pictures at art class and has been playing cello very nicely.

Harry has been reading Beast Quest books and has read the first two Artemis Fowl stories borrowed from the library as well as King of the Cloud Forests by Michael Morpurgo. Peter has started blending sounds to read simple words in the stage 1 Oxford Reading Tree books. He is also using the Teach Your Monster Read app.

Harry has started working from the Galore Park English textbook which is the perfect level of challenge for him at the moment. We are doing some of this each week. He has also been working lots on the basic maths functions using techniques for larger numbers, in Conquer Maths and the Mr Thorne Maths Universe app.

We have been using the BBC Schools Let's Move podcasts based on Ten Pieces classical music programme, so we have been following the podcast through dance and movement then watching some of the Ten Pieces too.

I recently received a set of free challenge cards from Dyson, which contain small science and engineering challenges. We have started following these last week, by using coke to clean a penny, which teaches about chemical compounds.

Harry has been to a family stargazing event at Kielder Observatory with Stuart, which he really enjoyed.

Harry and I have just started following a futurelearn online course about moons. He has always been interested in space and I think we will enjoy this.

We have been working on the Stone Age for a few weeks. We have read several books, looked up details about Germany (where the first bones were found) and visited the Hancock Museum in Newcastle using their downloadable object sheets to discover items in the Stone Age gallery. The boys played a great imaginative game for a long time involving hunting and being Cave Men. Harry also wrote a report back to the future from the Stone Age. 

We talked about Cave art and why it existed and also generally about art and how it can transport us to imaginative places or make us feel emotion. We looked at the posters and pictures in our house and said how they made us feel. 

Christmas craft and beach

Harry finished sewing his Christmas tree decoration this morning. He likes this type of pre-punched sewing kit. 

Peter made a cut-out window decoration and a Lego/jam jar snowstorm. Harry did this a few weeks ago and Peter wanted to make a matching one. The glue-gun glue in Harry's had unstuck too so we used superglue this time on the jar lids. 

We met friends at the beach today too, which was quite mild for December and the boys had a great dig, followed by lunch at the cafe on the beach. We went back to our friend's house and all the children played minecraft together. Harry really likes joining the same world as his friends and helping each other. 

Playing games, craft and swimming

We were all very tired this morning after being away at the weekend. We also had friends over to play yesterday, a bike ride and the Beavers Christmas disco, which was a later night than usual.

We spent a lovely, relaxed morning at home. We played our new snakes and ladders game, which has numbers to 100. I had some tesco clubcard vouchers to use and bought a few new games for us from there. Snakes and ladders has always been popular with Harry and Peter from a young age.

And we played our new favourite game - Uno. Both boys love this and Harry would play for ages but Peter gets bored after a few rounds. 

We also did some sticker and glitter pictures and Harry started sewing a felt Christmas tree decoration. I read aloud too and Peter had a bath, so we were ready to go to Harry's last swimming lesson of the term this afternoon. 

Art, theatre and Christmas giving

We had a very busy day yesterday! Harry finished his gingerbread man at the last art class of term. 

We went to a Christmas theatre performance called I've Seen Santa with friends. It was very interactive and we all enjoyed it.

We dropped off our donation for a local homeless charity called Making Winter Warmer for Those Without. They were collecting shoebox gifts for homeless people so we made one up including warm socks, a scarf, toiletries and chocolates. We usually make a donation of this kind at Christmas and I think it's really important for the children to consider others less fortunate than themselves at this time of giving. 

Harry also had his last enjoy a ball class of term and they had a great time playing lots of their favourite games. 

We are not often out for the whole day and we were pretty tired when we got back for tea. 

Christmas crafts

We played some board games this morning before going to post some cards and presents then joining some friends for Christmas crafts. 

The boys made baubles. We used plastic clear baubles that opened to fill with tinsel and they coloured the outside with sharpie pens. We also made them from strips of shiny card fastened at the top and bottom with split pins then fanned out. 

Peter also made a snowman and Harry coloured a stained glass window style decoration.

They had a good play with their friends too.

Making Christmas cards

We've been making Christmas cards this morning! Peter is getting quite good at writing his name and was determined he would write it in each card! 

It's good writing practise for Harry too and he doesn't complain about this as much as other styles of writing! 

We made some by using double sided tape to create a vague Christmas tree shape, then peeling off the top strip and adding glitter.

I also printed small copies of Harry's snowman picture from art class and we added these to some of the cards.

Harry has been working on the chance section of Conquer Maths and Peter has been doing Reading Eggs. Harry also had his swimming lesson this afternoon and we left in the icy rain, which I think might give us an indication of the weather for the rest of this week! 

Playdough, park and art

We made play dough on Thursday and the boys played with it all morning! They made sweets, monsters and vehicles for Lego men.

We went to the park with friends in the afternoon which was very wintery, so we had nice rosy cheeks! I even joined in playing football to keep warm!

Harry finished his Winter themed picture at art yesterday using watercolours and then the boys both had haircuts.

Harry also had his enjoy a ball class, where they practised basketball skills. 

In between these activities he has been playing minecraft. He bought himself the handbook and has been reading it constantly to learn how to do new things!

We've also been talking about maths a lot. I am trying to establish if we need to do any more year 2 in the Conquer Maths programme so I am asking him questions to check he has remembered the more complex points, such as angles, fractions, shape and measurement. Harry has also been using the Mr Thorne maths universe app to practise adding, subtracting and dividing.

Our busy week

Wow another week has whizzed by! We have been really busy in the evening finishing the painting in our hall, so I haven't had time for anything else. Hopefully it will be fully finished next week. My dad visited again to fit a new front door and the boys were pleased to see him!

Our best day this week was meeting our very new nephew and cousin in Harrogate, Jacob. He is my sister's first baby and the boys loved him. I am sure they will all have some great times in the future.

We have been to sit with Monty the Penguin at John Lewis and Stuart took the boys to Gibside on Sunday for some outdoor adventures.

Harry and Peter baked some cookies using the BBC's Cookie Monster recipe in aid of children in need. They sold them to friends and family and Stuart sold some at work to raise £8. 

We went to a pizza express school workshop with friends, where the boys made their own pizza. We had a bit of a travel adventure too as we went on the train. Harry bought the tickets from the machine and used a map to find the way from the train station. 

Harry completed his latest art class picture, using watercolour for the first time.

We have played at the park with friends.

Harry has been working on his faith badge at Beavers, reading and listening to the Spy Dog series of books from the library and playing cello. Peter has had his enjoy a ball class and has been playing Shut the Box lots. He has also been using magnet letters to (almost) spell his name and practise some letter sounds.

Harry also had enjoy a ball class and won the weekly trophy. He has a friend to sleep over tonight and they are currently working their way through Harry's collection of Sea Quest books: it's a very nice sight!

Art and soft play

Harry practised cello this morning before going to art class, where he finished his latest picture.

It was far too wet and cold for the park afterwards so we arranged to meet friends after lunch at soft play. The boys had a great time. We don't go often but they love it when we do.

Harry has had a very physical afternoon as he also had his enjoy a ball class.

Autumn, robots and outdoors

We have been so busy over the past few weeks trying to fit decorating into our days too, it's been a bit of a whirlwind... and I am still ill! We have been doing our usual reading, cello playing and maths work and these are some of the extra things:

We have played in parks with friends.

Painted faces for a Halloween party.

Made a giant autumn tree.

Baked the first Christmas cake of the year.

Had a visit from Harry and Peter's cousins. We went to the beach and flew kites.

Attended a robot workshop at Durham University, where we learned about the different uses of robotics and tried some out. Harry had to programme a tracked vehicle to go round a cone.