January Precious Moments Wrap Up

I can not believe this is the last Friday in January!  Where on earth does the time go?  As always, we have kept ourselves very busy.  We have battled a nasty cold which has seen Lillie on antibiotics and a burst ear drum and A9 with a sea of snot which seems never ending!  In this post I will be looking back over the month of January, and seeing if the goals I set at the beginning of the month have been met, or whether reality is a whole different affair 🙂

• Family time each evening – We haven’t done very well with this at all 🙁  Computers and TV remain on for those who have to work (me) and those who want to relax and aren’t cooking.  We have sat down and eaten more together, especially since we are all taking it in turns to cook each night.  Each person in the family chooses a meal, writes down the ingredients they need, and, on their appointed day, cooks it.  This has been fabulous, especially for me.  It has freed up more time for me to school plan, it has increased the variety of meals we are eating and it is teaching the children valuable life skills.  Just yesterday, Thomas cooked a chicken roast from scratch.  Gary and I were out with the little ones (swimming) and got stuck in traffic, making us arrive home about twenty minutes later than usual.  Thomas needed to halt the cooking of everything and hold off being ready to serve until about thirty minutes later than planned.  I gave instructions over the phone, and he did it – the roast was delicious, and he learnt new skills.
• Date night once a week for Gary and I – Now, don’t laugh….but we have managed this every Tuesday.  The older ones look after the little ones whilst we go for our date at Slimming World (I told you not to laugh!).  We get weighed in, stay for the chat and then get ourselves a takeaway on the way home! – We can have a takeaway on the Slimming World plan, so long as we count it in.  So we do.  I’m not sure it’s the most romantic of dates, but it is a necessary one.  I clearly need help to lose weight and Gary’s knee is giving him so many problems at the moment that a weight-loss might really help.
• Video night – Nope.  We just can’t find the time to do this one!  Inevitably one or other of us are busy with an outside activity and this just does not get done.  We are making home-made pizza tonight (B6’s meal choice which she will cook with my help) and we are all going to the cinema tomorrow to see ‘The Greatest Showman’ – that kinda counts, doesn’t it?
• Games night every other Friday – Yay!  We have managed this!  We are taking it in turns to plan it, which the girls are all very excited about.  I did the first one and Lillie is doing tonight.  So a big tick on this goal!  I am so blessed by my friends.  A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I really wanted Pictionary, because I thought it would be the perfect game for the littles and older ones to play.  This week, I got a knock on my door, and there stood my lovely friend Vikki, Pictionary in hand.  She had seen it in second-hand shop and bought it for us.  How incredibly kind is that?  Thank you Vikki!  We shall be playing it tonight 🙂
• Having people over – Not as much as I had hoped, but we have had lots of the children’s friends over, so that counts, right?
• Blog six times per week – Yes, I have done this, and returned visited everyone who has left comments.  I want to start looking at reposting some of my former posts, which I haven’t done.  Next month, maybe 🙂
• Reignite my Seasons of Joy Post – I am loving writing these.  It forces me to focus a bit on the things which are important to me outside of homeschool.
• Write a newsletter – I am no nearer doing this than I was a month ago.  I’m not really sure where to start and I haven’t had the time to do any research.  Next month, maybe?

Homeschool is going well.  Thomas is almost completely independent.  He does exactly what is required of him.  He has finished his Biology IGCSE and is now just revising for his exams in June.  I have worked really hard with him, teaching him how to analyse prose and poetry.  We are currently working on his transactional writing, which he can sometimes find hard.  He is storming ahead with his maths, sending off one unit a week to be marked.  He also takes a maths past paper each Friday.  In his spare time, he is incredibly busy with his girlfriend and his scootering.  He is now sponsored by an American Scooter Company, from whom he receives discounted and free scootering-ware (there is no such word..I may just have made that up 🙂  )  He also posts videos of him doing tricks to YouTube.

Lillie has been working hard at her photography.  We are only two weeks in and she is already a little behind.  This is such hard work – it’s a good job she enjoys it so much.  Part of her assignment this week was to create a photographic blog, a Facebook page and a business card, which she has done with aplomb.  I’m so excited by how they look.  There is no content, apart from an ABOUT page but do go over and have a peek.  She has finally finished her first (of three) photographic projects and I will be sharing the final piece on Tuesday 🙂

Charlotte has had an easier week this week without exams.  She is also down to two subjects study-wise and so has been focusing on her writing.  She is in the process of editing the two books she wrote on human trafficking.  My mum is kindly helping her.  She has also been writing a rap, which she will perform in June as part of the show Manna (Dance and Drama group) will be putting on.  It has been an exciting week for her too.  Earlier in the week I blogged about how she had written to our local MPs and David Beckham.  Well, yesterday she received a response from the MP.  She was stoked.  It was a really long, well thought out and very informative letter.  We were so happy for her.  I tell you, this girl is going to change the world!

A(9) has spent most of this week ill.  Even though we kept Lil away from everyone last week, A still managed to catch her cold.  Although she is very snotty, she definitely hasn’t been as bad as Lillie was.  We have managed school all week and this afternoon the two little ones are having a ball playing with their PlayMobil dolls’ houses.

Well, that’s it for this week.  Gary and his littlest are cooking pizzas for everyone, after which we will be trying out our new Pictionary.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with lots of fun and laughter 🙂