A Harvest Sensory Box

At last! A sensory box that Idris engaged with for a length of time WITHOUT resorting to immediatly throwing the contents out of the box! This box came about very rapidly this afternoon after I'd sat Idris on the counter top next to me whilst I kneaded play dough and he started putting the veg scraps for the guinea pigs in and out of a cup and poking them with a spoon. I put a few pots and pans from the kitchen box in an underbed storage box and added a bag of chunky pasta shells and a range of implements.

Idris played for about half an hour, completely absorbed, murmuring to himself quietly as he transferred the pasta from pot to pot using his hands, stirred them, and tipped them in and out. After a while he climbed in, and, being impressed with his sure footedness (is that a word?) he stepped in and out a few more times just to make sure he could do it without a wobble! Then sat down to tip, transfer, poke and shuffle some more!

Then he got fed up and resorted to his trajectory routine! So I added a bag of mixed beans and an egg box and a ladle and he was once again fascinated and absorbed! It was great to see him so involved in something like this i

Support and Friendship for Childminders

I wanted to post a link here that I have added to the sidebar - I have today left the long-established forum that I have been using for various reasons and as I am enjoying the fledgling forum that has recently been formed, and granted permission to publicise it, here it is:

The Staffroom: http://childminder.freeforums.org/index.php

I was saddened by the swift deletion of my account from the other place - I had asked for it to be shut down and been told of the person I had to ask to do it. I hadn't asked that person yet and was halfway through private chats and public posts to say goodbye when I was suddenly locked out. I have been incredibly supportive of the forum since it's takeover,and am sad to have missed the opportunity to exchange contact details with many friends. I know that some of them read my blog and I wish you all well!

Autumn Planters

We made these Autumn planters last week. I found the ceramic pots at the pound shop, and the plants came from the supermarket. We put one Heather in each pot and then some tiny plug plants of citrus coloured Pansies and Primroses. They are grouped together here on my bird table (more like an albatross table, it is made from scaffold planks!). They need to be above ground level so that Idris doesn't 'unplant' them several times! They will wing their way off to various people this coming week, one home with my baby mindee and one at my parent's house as a welcome home present for when they arrive home from a long visit to my brother in Canada. My little mindee aged 11 months had a fabulous time doing these. I've been trying to encourage her to put things into pots as well as take them out and when the compost came out she got the idea and chuckled away as she put handfuls of it in. Idris was more creative with the compost than that.... isn't he always?!!

Long time no post....

It isn't that I haven't had anything to post about, we've been doing loads of things, I just haven't felt like posting much really!

The revised EYFS has been keeping me busy writing the updates needed, I've taken the chance to completely overhaul my policies and cut out a lot of uneccessary flotsam that isn't needed.

The girls have been keeping me busy. They have wanted and needed some more input from me and we've started our new schedule quite gently, getting into doing certain things every day. We've been fairly autonomous for a while but it was the right time to use some structure again.

Our house purchase has taken a few more twists and turns and I'm still managing to be patient and good humoured with the seller whilst not really agreeing with her take on things! The mortgage offer expires on the 16th October though so if she hasn't organised herself by then then it will all go up in smoke!

Autumn is nipping at out heels here and making me appreciate stolen minutes in a warm sunny spot in my garden all the more. I love Autumn, it really inspires me, although I can't decide if I love sunshine and warmth more than Autumn.....

The girls are bonding over a shared game on the patio - it's bedtime but I'm letting it run as Faith spent 24 hours in hospital having neuro obs on Thursday after a big fall. She was confused afterwards so they wanted to play it safe. It would be the day when I was in an unfamiliar city with my car in the garage and my mobile broken..... good friends helped out though and we got through it, albeit very tired afterwards! Eve was distraught about leaving Faith there but when she came home was oddly distant with her...... hence why I'm leaving them to enjoy their game as they need it!

Bad luck continued with the death of a goldfish and an embarrassing incident in a supermarket where my card was declined, I whizzed off to get cash from the machine only to come back and find they'd put all my shopping back on the shelves - I was mortified.... and hungry! I'd eeked out our food until Saturday so I could swap our food shopping day to Saturday from Thursday to fill some time whilst Faith does gymnastics. We literally had nothing to eat left..... and while I stared at the manager in distress, I became very aware that my hair could do with a wash, and there were stains on my t-shirt (the kind that are standard practice with a 13 month old clamped to your hip)..... oh yes and that my darling baby boy had eaten half a punnet of blueberries on the way round the shop (he was most pleased with himself as he'd opened it by himself!!!) and we hadn't paid for them.

Not a great day really.... rounded off by said darling boy biting me at his bedtime feed - someone should really tell him that he shouldn't bite the boob that feeds him.....

I'm starting to see the funny side of my week now that I'm wrapped in a fluffy dressing gown with freshly washed hair and my dirty t-shirt on the wash pile!!! Early bed for me as another action packed day awaits with swimming church and guess what? Yep! FOOD SHOPPING to do!!!!! I will try to get back to some posting this coming week!