Homeschool club!!

Yesterday I ran the homeschooling club at the library. I did a session on bees for 1 1/2 hours. My friend Jennifer helped and brought along her microscope set.

The session went well I think and there were 28 of us. We had various tables set up. I took several bees and a wasp (all dead and the children got to look at these through the microscope and through magnifying glasses. We had another table set up with two frames of honeycomb and honey as well as a jar of shop bought pasteurized honey. There were sticks and the children could poke at the comb and taste the honey and taste the difference between natural honey and treated honey from the store. They loved poking about in the frames :)

We had a bee themed board game/ spelling game. A table with coloring sheets and story books and plenty of quizzes, and information sheets/ booklets etc etc. It was a very 'hands on' session. Oh and I also had a table with beekeeping equipment on it for the children to try on, touch etc etc.

I think it was a success :)

Beekeeping class....

Yesterday I ran the homeschooling club at the library. I did a session on bees for 1 1/2 hours. It went well I think and there were 28 of us. We had various tables set up. I took several bees and a wasp (all dead and the children got to look at these through a microscope and through magnifying glasses. We had another table set up with two frames of honeycomb and honey as well as a jar of shop bought pasteurized honey. There were sticks and the children could poke at the comb and taste the honey and taste the difference between natural honey and treated honey from the store. They loved poking about in the frames :)

We had a bee themed board game/ spelling game. A table with coloring sheets and story books and plenty of quizzes, and information sheets/ booklets etc etc. It was a very 'hands on' session. Oh and I also had a table with beekeeping equipment on it for the children to try on, touch etc etc.

I think it was a success :)

Laurence turns 14....

Laurence has his 14th birthday on Thursday!!! He went to see his favourite comedian in the Summer and took a friend with him - and that was an early birthday party for him - so on Thursday he had his presents and we went out for a family dinner before coming home for birthday cake! He got to choose where we went though! He chose Kelseys! We had a nice dinner - it was fun!!

Craft room......play room ;)

My new craft room!! (piccies at request of Tara & Tara hahaha).

So the baseboards are still missing and the gap on the wall on the left hand side is awaiting a pinboard as I want to find a nice padded white one I think with criss-cross ribbons maybe.....so I will wait until I find the right one.

The chaise is the one from the deck which will 'do' until I find the right chair lol - this is mainly for Lloyd to sit on to play his games....and the cats to sleep on ;) I still have a few more things to unpack including my sewing machine and some other craft supplies/ painting supplies but I am happy with how it's looking so far - it's exactly what I wanted - somewhere calming and relaxing to go.

I plan to paint the small brown book case white to match the other furniture in the room.

I found I wasn't using the room at all and had stopped journaling and crafting completely because my supplies weren't in my bedroom any more and so to use them meant I would not be with Lloyd. I found it odd that so many people spent their evenings away from their husbands in separate rooms.

We have now solved that by adding a tv and PS3 to my craft room!! Now Lloyd will happily spend hours in my craft room while I potter and he can watch movies or play games while I craft away and chat with him :)

Perfect!!

I love the decorative little hanger - the colours were perfect as they match the sideboard I bought!! The pot hanging from it was 50c from the thrift store....as was the green tin on the desk. The little suitcase on top of one of the shelves was mine as a child given to me by a very old lady who was a neighbour - when she died.

Fell in love with the sideboard!! I didn't want my craft room to look too much like a craft room as I wanted it to look relaxing and pretty too as its on the main floor of the house for the next two years. So I wanted pieces of storage and furniture that were attractive as well as functional :)

Thought the witches legs were cute for Halloween :)

You may remember the shelf on the wall - I picked this up at a yard sale in the summer!! It was brown wood and was supposed to be up the other way - so the pole bit was actually a towel rail or something!!!

Lloyd added wall brackets the other way round and I spray painted it but left the baskets brown. Now it is perfect for holding some of my mini albums. I love it and am sooooo glad I bought it!!!

I'm loving relaxing in here a lot with Lloyd. Seeing him relax with his new games. He's never been in to games at ALL - never used the computer at home or had a game system - the kids rarely use the ones we have even - so this is something new to us - but it is ideal for in here I think - we can chat and relax together whenever I want to craft.

I don't really scrapbook any more - I will probably get back to it one day - maybe even after my next trip - who knows - or after our next family trip maybe. For now though I am just not in the mood - haven't been for MONTHS!!! I AM enjoying my other crafts though - painting, art journaling, sewing, altered art, collage, mixed media......especially on canvas!!! :) just having fun pottering with things :) and my writing!!! I am writing :) and this room is perfect :) but ONLY now that Lloyd can relax in here too!! I just KNOW I would not use it otherwise - I was really considering taking everything back upstairs again. We had a long heart to heart about how we could change things in here to make it more user-friendly. We decided what it needed to make it work for me and we did that - and now its perfect - or at least getting there :)

Cake time for Laurences birthday

Laurences birthday cake on Thursday - he chose one with a spider and spider web on it - they can pick whatever they like - cheesecake, trifle, ice cream cake, and birthday cake they like - and he picked this one!! :)