Friends and choosing your words carefully.

I love my friends. There i said it, i really do. I don't have many but those i have mean allot to me. That's why sometimes i try to tread carefully when getting caught up in so called debates that may affect them in some way.
I like a good debate if it is intelligent, thought out & passionate. I don't like debates that become some kind of  bear baiting game. They are often unintelligent, ignorant and just after the joy of seeing others upset.
I am used to it, firstly being a Home Educator, i get used to uneducated people putting their two penn'rth worth in. I have been used to this since at school then going through college where if you don't 'fit in' it becomes a problem, their problem not mine.
I grew up during my college days fun loving but extremely wary of people. In particular female relationships which seemed to have evaded me until recently.
I am lucky that many of my female friends are extremely strong in character, i like that, i admire that. It was not much admired whilst at school or college.
These friends of mine are from all different walks of life, religion & opinion. Some, many have their own businesses or work in great jobs. Some are fabulous mothers/carers/nurturers whatever it is they do in the face of adversity, or just the general shit life throws at you on a seemingly daily basis, they don't let it get them down or at least on the face of it.
I have fought over the years for many things, against many things but i have never wavered in my beliefs. I do sometimes react in a negative way if baited but i try always to go away and cogitate, ruminate, discuss with myself the why's and wherefores of other peoples views. I suppose i pertain to enlightenment not always with success i might add.....perfection is damn hard work so i wont even go down that road.
So i try a higher consciousness.....hehehe..... again not always with any great success but i am conscious, i am aware of my actions and words and the effect that they may have on other people. In the end it depends on whether or not i care about those people in particular as to whether or not i watch my mouth.

Dentist, Auditon, Magician & A Comedy Erin

Sitting here supping Liqorice and Chamomile tea and thinking i must blog this while it is still fresh in my memory.
Visit to the dentist went really well no complaints there, then back home to get Erin ready for her audition at The London Film School. The audition went really well according to Erin who had to sit and chat to a couple of girls about anything and everything. Well it seems after that she was on a roll, we did some shopping/browsing. Decided to go eat and on our way passed a couple of street entertainers. We stopped at one, a magician who just didnt seem to be able to get the crowd going, about to walk away he stopped us and whisked Erin off for what turned out to be a comedy routine OMG i had tears running down my face.
He attempted to have her hold an orange on her head so he could throw a sword at it (all a joke) he went to to do balloon modelling for her as a thank you, he asked her what she wanted as he could make ANYTHING . She asked for a cat......he says, 'would you not prefer a snake, most kids prefer snakes' 'NO' she says 'you asked me so im telling you i want a cat, you said you could make ANYTHING' so he works away and produces......a dog! Erin says 'a dog! you said you'd make a cat'. He then went on to try and get money out of the crowd saying He would give Erin the model for a fiver, i said no & he turned to the crowd at which point she snatched it out of his hand and ran off. The crowd laughing and cheering.......he says ' see if you want something out of life to have to go get it and run off'.......well i suppose you had to be there really and god dam it why did i not video it?!!! i did take pics and will post soon.

The grass is not always greener..........................

After our week away with family in Blackpool, i have come back feeling like i need a holiday. I am exhausted and my back, neck etc all knotty.
Having time away is always good to reflect and re-assess what we are doing, what i am doing.
After a couple of tough-ish years, what with OH being made redundant, me selling my trailer a surprise baby thrown into the mix and the continual feeling of being a tamster on a wheel, wondering why i am doing what i'm doing. Not the Homeschooling side, this is more personal.
Thankfully i come home, not feeling refreshed as such or renewed but content, content in knowledge that i know where i 'fit' in life at least in my life.
A partner who adores us, a home i love, kids i adore and freedom to do what we choose. Also friends who i know i can count on when i need to.

So back on my wheel, what with dental appointments, auditions, piano lessons and ballet & drama classes .....i only came back yesterday.

It has been great to visit family, take the girls to all the places i used to go when i was a kid.  It has been equally great to come home and go back to my routine as manic as that may be ;)

Now i really need to start working on my blog, hopefully i will start pretty-fying it all adding in pics of our Blackpool adventure and so on.

You can't please everyone & I don't intend to...............................

As a homeschooler i am well used to judgement being passed, remarks being made about is my child going to be 'ok', will she be socialised, am i capable of teaching her considering i have no qualifications to speak of. Many homeschoolers go through a whole variety of these questions and more.
What i don't expect is to be questioned/judged/vilified by fellow homeschoolers because my daughter who is almost 7 has expressed and interest in taking a GCSE of some kind (English). Yes it is young, no i am not planning on hot housing her in the next few weeks rather i am testing the waters to see if she is mature enough to be able to withstand the level of study required.
One of the things 'we' homeschoolers fight for is the right to educate our children as we see fit, tailor making their education to fit their needs and ability, something which many, possibly all schools cannot do.  If our child excels at a particular subject should we not encourage them on that road to success whatever that success maybe. If a child struggles with a subject should we not give our time and patience to sit with them and go over it again explaining it in a manner they can comprehend or leaving it and coming back to it at a later date. Again something which many if not all schools cannot do because they do not have the time or maybe the patience with classes of 30 odd children.
Our homeschooling community has enough to contend with on a daily basis without starting to judge others, i certainly do not need to feel that i must hold my tongue when discussing the why's and wherefores of the best type of education i can give my daughter whether that may mean studying towards an exam now or later. remember there are no hard and fast rules of homeschooling and one size does not fit all.........now wheres the Latin book? *shouts* ERIN!

Ghost Town........Homophones & Personification

Erin got stuck into her lessons this morning on Time4learning a great site that has been recommended to us by another homeschooling blogger & facebook friend.
She tackled Homophones & Personification something i don't think i ever covered at school but it was very interesting. Time4learning explains things very well, clearly and concisely & i would highly recommend it to anyone. It's not just for homeschoolers, it can aid school going kids just as well as a top up along side what they do at school. However it is American so would not support the curriculum but could fit in well to work alongside and give indepth learning to subjects i do not feel are covered well at school. There are also some parts that are 'American' that are not useful to us. Other than that, i really really like it, Erin likes it. It's fun & informative.

Enough about that, we then went into Blackpool to the 'rock shop' that's not it's real name but that is how i know it. We bought several sticks of rock for various friends. I just don't remember it the way i used to nor does Blackpool look the way it used to, very much a ghost town and that is sad to see. There is a lot of work going on there though and i do hope it will make a huge difference for the many businesses that seem to be suffering because of it.
We attempted to walk back along the promenade but were thwarted at various points by huge diggers and building sites. After seeing Cleveley's in it's new reincarnation i know it will be well worth the wait.

On another matter of the Posterior  kind, poor Kiki seems to have a very bad bott. Man she stinks! She must have had something that has disagreed with her.....oh well better out than in. In the meantime we are getting through nappies at a rate of knots.....the joys of motherhood.

Ebay....it seems like a long day

So i have been glued to my Blackberry & the laptop for what seems like forever. Since i awoke this morning to more emails. you see i am selling my business. My trailer, coffee machine and genny all up for sale.
Kind of by choice. Last year just before Kiki came along i did an event whilst heavily pregnant, then 4 weeks after she was born i did another event. All hands were on deck and poor Kiki ended up in a box under the sink. That was the moment i thought 'you know i don't think this can go on' it was'nt quite working the way i had envisioned it in my head.

We did one more event and then it was parked up while i debated what to do. I loved my business, i worked hard for it and after years managing restaurants for other people it was great to finally have my own business that i took great pride in. I also had Erin and now a new baby (who was proving to be a little tricky) plus i was homeschooling, something which i had set out to do from the start. The trailer was supposed to fit in around us. Then our little bundle of surprise came along & that really turned things on it's head.

At times it has seemed to be a long hard road for a whole variety of reasons but now we as a family have settled into some semblence of a routine and i feel content enough to say goodbye to the business.

Now there is about to be a flurry of activity on Ebay. I am hoping that the money will go towards our 'Garden Project' another extended part of our homeschooling journey.

Erin has been doing some of her lessons while we have been in Blackpool and it has been working fine. Except the reading. We have even agreed on an incentive to boost her reading level. I would'nt mind it's not as if she can't read, she just won't read a book or out loud. She says the pictures distract her.
So what do i do........... We discussed this this morning and from what she has said i am wondering if i can get hold of books with no pictures at least kid's books with no pictures. Any ideas?
we are also using a magnetic white board in the kitchen something that she can be interactive with and read and write herself. This i know works well enough as we have been doing this a while now.

As i type the trailer has just sold for not too much less than my asking price, so i am happy with that. Now hope the rest sells.

Well must dash lunch date calls.........

I am a Virgin & our Blackpool Adventures

Yes, i am admitting to being a virgin but sssh......don't tell anyone. Ok i am a blogging virgin, not sure i'm going to be any good but hey i will give it a go.

So we are currently in Blackpool visiting family. Who are we? we are: Tammie 39 going on 21, Erin 6.5 going on 16 and Kiki 1. There is also Kev, light of my life daddy to the girls and general all round pain in the rear end.
Our mission is to homeschool our girls to create freethinking individuals who are independent, resourceful, respectful and above all happy. So this is our blog...............

We have had a great day down at Cleveleys a place that holds some great memories for me as a youngster. Visiting my nan and spending holidays mooching around.
We all went to the beach and i counted down the seconds until Erin had stripped off and dashed into the Irish sea NAKED! yes naked, something she has been doing since around 18 months......i wonder if she will ever grow out of it?
Both girls did rockpooling. The only way to get dry was to run around in circles to warm up and dry, then squeezing damp limbs into dry clothes.
Will post some pics later. For those in the know check out FB