Elf on the Shelf

Having realised that you can have a frugal version of Elf on the Shelf,  I decided about a month ago to give it a go this year.

It was only a few days ago though that I suddenly had a thought, that we may only have a couple of years left of him believing in Father C, and this made me a little sad, as for the last 16 years we have had the magic of Santa in our homes at Christmas.

So, will make the very most of making these next few years very magical.

Back to the Elf.  The Elf on the Shelf is a children's book explaining the story of Santa's scout elves who are sent to be Santa's eyes and ears at children's homes around the world. The original book and Elf are around £30 on Amazon but you can buy the  DVD from Argos at £2.99 (p&p inc) and I  found a cuddly Elf for £1.99 at the Card Factory.

So basically, this little Elf who I have called Elfie, is supposed to arrive with a letter from Mr C. There are lots of different versions according  to Pinterest, but I like this one:

I hope you are  excited that Christmas is almost here!

As you know, this is my busiest time of the year as I'm here in the North Pole finishing off all of the toys for the boys and girls around the world.  Because you have  been good so far this year, I’ve have sprinkled magic dust on your little Elf which will last until Christmas Eve/

Elfie is going to watch over you and let me know if you’re being naughty or nice so I want you to be on your best behaviour.  As long as you continue to be good then I will be delivering you some lovely presents ready for you to open on Christmas morning.

I must tell you this though, Elfie may be a little bit cheeky and he might get up to a little mischief while he’s staying with you.  He might to play hide and seek and may  find new places to hide and new messes to make so I hope you enjoy looking for him every day and tidying up the mess he might make!

Please leave him on your Christmas tree before you go to bed on Christmas Eve and I’ll take him back to the North Pole with me until next year when he’ll be back to stay with you again – if you’ll have him!

Lots of Love,

Santa

Now I have changed the original letter around and made up the bit about the magic dust. The normal Elf procedure is for him to "arrive" with the letter from Santa, bus as J was with me when I bought the Elf  I decided to go with the whole magic dust thing.

So from the 1st of December for  24 days M and I will have to hide Elfie in different places and also stage his mishaps and naughty antics.  Lots of ideas again on Pinterest, and here are a few of my favs: (the original Elf is more bendy than the cuddly one I have bought, so is less adaptable in certain situations)

I like this idea of preparing a real sugary breakfast of donuts and cupcakes with Christmas crockery and napkins

Other ideas:-
Elf sat in action man car
Sat in a toy digger
With his head in a bag on sweets
Listening to an iPod
On the laptop
Hiding in a glass or jar
Sat in a Lego made chair
Playing cards
Hiding in a pair of shoes or wellies
Playing the keyboard (or other musical instrument)
In the fridge with a blanket around him
Sat next to a family photo - with fake moustaches on the faces
For Christmas Eve, sat looking or in if you have a big enough set, a Nativity Scene.

(that's 24 ideas)

You can also get the printable cards here

October

Still not into the routine I would like, home education wise, but working on that.

After going to the College open day last Tuesday with Becky, we have had a re-think about what exams she should be studying for  now, in preparation for College.  Having talked to the nice Head of Englsih Teacher, Becky can now apply to go onto the English A Level Course, along with English Lit, RE and possibly Sociology.

With this in mind, she doesn't know if she should continue with Biology.  So she is mulling this over during her half term break,taken early as she has a week off of dog walking.

All very please though that the English teacher was impressed with Becky's A Grade in English.

Danny will be studying English, Maths, and three Sciences over the next two years.  I think though it is difficult for him to get into a studying routine, but I think the recent rugby upset from leaving Crediton to Topsham played on his mind a lot, and I think now that he is happy at Topsham (has been from the start, but was nervous about his first few games) that after this half term Mike and I will talk to him about his study routine.

James is not into the routine I would like, but that is probably my fault.  When I get up I tend to be washing, cleaning etc and I let him watch TV, and then I find it difficult to get him away from it.  So during this half term I will be working on a routine for him and getting myself more organised housework wise.

Mike has now adjusted to his role at the ruby as parent and supported, as opposed to Head Coach, and is much more relaxed now, as we all are, that Topsham have played Crediton and got that out of the way - and of course WINNING 27-19!  Very pleased, although at the time we all said it doesn't matter if Tops lose, as long as Danny is OK.  Which is true, but it was an added bonus winning.

I have also been taking James to the Group, which he seems to really like, and this week we are all going in, as Mike has the day off to take Danny to training as they wouldn't let him change his shifts and my Dad couldn't really take him as it is my Mums birthday. There is also a talk on Islam which will help Becky with her RE study.

At the moment I am on day 2 and a half of not feeling well, head cold, bit achy, so not sure what to do today, so may rest another day and plan routines, including study, allotment time, James's routine, Halloween craft ideas, finances and books on Amazon for English Lit and RE.

That aside, October is going OK, but as I said at the beginning of this post, would like to get into more of a routine all round, which will also include daily posts here, which is now for my own personal use and  no one else can read - so crap shit bollocks, bogies poo and wee!!!   LOL.

Also from next week will update my HE Diary for James, but going over there now to update for September and October and do some planning.

Planning for Autumn, but still enjoying the summer

So in July I was going to make a start on Home Ed planning for J.  Actually looking forward to this as my role as a Home Educating Mum has declined a bit over the last couple of  years due to fact that the older two are  studying towards their iGCSE's/GCSE's and therefore have their own timetable and study pattern.  Help is needed occasionally and usually M has more knowledge in these areas, but all in all it feels that I have become some what redundant.

My time is taken up of course with my little whirlwind of a son, and also all my energy I have to say.  Following the same child led approach of my other two, hardly any formal learning has taken place for J in the early years, now, however as he is 7 years old  I intend to start introducing just a little bit of structure to his learning routine.

So I will be gathering all sorts of info/plans/projects etc over the summer months, ready to start with J in September.

In the meantime, learning is still taking place of course and we are spending quite a bit of time at the allotment

Harvesting Potatoes

Nature Walk (which involved a lot of tree climbing)

Making Peanut Butter Cookies

Swimming

Next week - hoping to go somewhere nice  by train and make the most of our free family railcard!

June 2014

Again, cannot believe how quickly the days fly by and that we are in the second half of the year already.

Looking back over June:

"School" has now finished until September.  After B sat her last exam for the year on the 13th of June we decided to finish for the summer.

We then took a short break to Dorset

Looking for Fossils on Charmouth Beach

In the sea

Rockpooling

Crazy Golf Pirate Style

Christchurch Priory

Highcliffe Castle

 Highcliffe Beach

 Isle of Wight

It was also M's birthday while we were away and  we were extremely lucky to have such lovely weather, which lasted all week.

The rest of June has been taken up with the allotment

and of course watching the World Cup - still getting over Englands very early exit :-(

So its June

Where did May go?

The last two weeks seemed to have flown by!

In that time my little boy turned 7

Sporting the wrappings from a Babybel cheese on his nose

His sister made him a magnificent  cake

Sponge Bob Square Pants

and of course lots of presents and cards

Waiting patiently 

Minecraft

We didn't get to go anywhere as unfortunately he had a really bad cold, but he still had a great day.

Half Term Week was the usual for us, B revising for her Maths exam, D had the week off (has actually finished for the summer now) and J was getting over his cold.

This last few days though he has kind of shaken off the cold and managed to make the most of the few hours of sunshine we did have to go and have a dip in the local pool

We also did a few science experiments which included gross snot, mouldy poo, bulging eyeballs and the inside of a heart.  Didn't all go as expected but he had fun

Dressed for the part with his safety goggles

At the allotment his potatoes are growing well, and also his Cauliflower shoots are showing their heads. After all the watering, digging and planting its time for a play

Mud is a great battlefield for Action Men

Hopefully get to the allotment tomorrow if this mucky weather clears!!!