Since my last entry here then life has grown and changed again with the addition of new children, we now have 7 children and we are getting very busy with Home Education and running a couple of our own businesses as well!

I have started my own DS biz and that company was aqquired earlier this year and brought in under a Parent company which has just this week added another brand to the group which is very exciting but hard to explain to those customers who joined me in the begining.

 I love the new Product ranges though and its great to see the company grow and change

things that don't change quickly become incompatible with life these days in this big ever changing and developing world which is why I find myself always learning new ways to adapt my processes and my thinking and my skill set to make it keep working!

No Pictures here this time as not uploaded them from my phone but if you find me on FB then you will get to see pics there.

 

I must be the worlds laziest blogger

It has been over a year since my last blog update........... I am so ashamed lol

In the last year then we had plenty to keep us busy. We found out we were expecting another baby and our little girl arrived in March 2015, Tamara Elizabeth and shes 4 months old now with 2 teeth

 ( no she didn't follow her biggest brother and have them from birth she got them just after 3 months old). With five children the house is busier but the kids are all doing well.

NJ and EJ are doing well with their studies both reading and writing at an age appropriate level, both flying with their math as long as we can find a way to make it enjoyable. Ie... NJ gets to keep a beat with drum sticks while he recites his times tables and EJ gets to use LEGO to do his addition/subtraction sums. We are using Answers in Genesis's own Science Curriculum for the children which is adaptable to all ages and the kids are enjoying it. then we fit other subjects in around it they get art included in other subjects, R.E. is the base for all education in this house as we start and finish each day with the Bible and Prayer. They will learn Home Ecconomics through their lives at home learning to help with household jobs and how to run a household through budgeting and planning.

We use short films/documentaries to support and add to subject study. for example the boys were discussing what teeth they were using for chewing during their dinner and asked if we can study teeth tomorrow so while its not on the study plan as such then we will look at teeth, Alister will get to practice counting the teeth of each all the family members. we will probably draw pictures of people and teeth and learn the names and locations in the mouth of the different types of teeth as well as taking care of teeth. It should be fun 

AJ is desperate to get in with the study group so is learning his colours, shapes, patterns, numbers and letters and phonetic sounds for the letters. We are having some issues with his speaking as he is not very clear with some of his letter sounds.

As a family we are learning Dutch so this is a challenge with AJ esp not really getting the English letter sounds and combination sounds to then learn the dutch ones but he wants to join in so we are including him. We are using a great online course called Babble.

CJ is growing far to quick hes playing make believe and really likes listening to stories being read to him. hes very good at following round and joining in with his brothers but he also likes to play alone sometimes and is quite happy with a couple of toy cars to entertain himself.

TE is rolling and as I already said has her first couple of teeth. shes been getting herself stuck under sofa's today as shes shuffling backwards and forwards got a slow worm style crawl going. I don't think it will be long before she starts commando crawling around the house. ( will need to really make sure the floors are kept extra clean)

Daddy Odendaal is back studying and changing career which means he has been around a bit more. I got a job last summer and worked for most of my pregnancy so I qualified for Maternity leave and as it stands I will be going back to work later this year and supporting the family for a bit working as a Care Assistant while I get a Diploma in Health and Social care. I don't know how long I will keep working it will be till we are in a position for Daddy Odendaal to support the family with his wages again.

My Lovely friend Louise took this photo among many others on a lovely shoot that she did for us in Salcey forest in April this year. 

From left to right we have CJ, TE, Daddy Odendaal(holding TE)Myself aka Mummy Odendaal, AJ,NJ&EJ, 

The strange expressions are due to being all mid roar for this photo as it was the final group shot of the day and we needed to work hard to get the kids to co-operate lol

and the wheels go around and around

I sat down this morning and thought it was about time for an update here

February has been a busy month for the Odendaal Clan, with all the little boys learning new things and growing up in their own way.

NJ has been working alot on his handwriting this month and is finally starting to accept that practice does improve his penmanship, He's also doing extremely well with his reading and is flying through the Biff, Chip and Kipper, Oxford Reading Tree series and will pick up books He hasn't yet read and having a go at them which is great since it is Him taking initiative with his studies.

EJ has been learning the Reception Common words list and is doing well with his basic Math skills, He really enjoys patterns and numbers alot and his speech is coming along at a great pace though there is a lisp on some words thanks to his tounge tie.

AJ has had a physical growth spurt and is starting to talk more, mostly still just babbles to himself while playing but there are a few more words being used regularly in his speech and hes learnt a few new signs as well which is helping ease the miscommunication and not being able to get his point across. He's getting into Puzzles alot and enjoying them and starting to show some skill holding a pen/pencil/crayon when drawing. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather so we can do some outdoor water paintings on the patio slabs.

CJ is growing so quickly hes 5 months old now and its hard to believe hes only been with us since September. His little personality is showing through strongly in his interactions with us and with his brothers. CJ learned to roll in early Jan from his tummy onto his back going both directions and a couple of weeks ago mastered going from back onto his tummy he now won't lie still enough for a whole nappy change and at each chance he gets is flipping himself over trying to get places.

Quite by accident we had an interesting discussion ( myself and the boys ) through the last couple of days as I was talking with some friends overseas through a Social Networking website that I am sure you are quite familiar with and one of the girls wanted to know how we all sounded when we spoke since only a few of us have met in person or spoken on the phone with each other so we posted short videos of us talking to our children so that we could hear each other speak, Of course the boys wanted to know what I was doing and listened/ watched the other clips with me and heard the different accents and words from across the world. I got questions like " What is a diaper Mummy?" from EJ with his cute little English accent and we had a chat about how in other countries then things often have different names and meanings to here in the UK, I highlighted this by going to the kitchen with them and pointing to the Kettle and asking what it was called, I got the response I expected of " Mummy that's the kettle you use to make the water hot to make your cuppa' teeeeeeeeeeeeeea! " my boys find it quite funny to put a Essex or Cockney twang onto that phrase when they say it and drag out the word Tea accenting it.

We are still holding out hoping for snow, though the rest of the country doesn't want it then to me its just not winter without some snow, there have been a few sleet showers and a couple of hailstorms but only one instance of falling snowflakes that melted on hitting the ground at our house.

so fingers crossed we get some snow on this cold front

Christmas 2013 and the welcoming of 2014

Christmas was magical this year, I stayed up till half 2 on Christmas morning with Mike making sure that each last touch for the following morning was perfect from the Braided Nutella bread for breakfast to the tree decorations being picture perfect including the final touch of chocolate on the tree which always has to wait till the last night else it would be gone weeks before the big day with the tree tipped up to find them.

All the children had a great day on Christmas day lots of excitement, our 2 yr old AJ missed the big meal due to tiredness so ate his turkey and sprouts at 8pm or something like that after his older brothers had retired for the night. It was extra special sharing the day with J&L and my Mum and Dad and introducing them to some throughly english parts of the holidays like Yorkshire puddings on the Roast Dinner, and Terry's Chocolate Oranges which i searched high and low to find last min as I had forgotten to buy them ahead of time. The boys made Giant Gingerbread Men nearly the size of an A4 sheet of paper and we had a feast on Boxing day with a table of biscuts, cakes and a cheeseboard we are still finishing off.

New Years went off with a bang though Mum was asleep as were all the boys but Mike and I shared a bottle of Asti with my Dad and J&L enjoyed the night we watched Grace Card ( fantastic film ) to pass the time after dinner then played a few rounds of Bannnagrams ( which was Dad's Christmas present ) which is a great game and I know I will be buying another one when Dad takes his back to AU with him.

Today ( New Years day ) I didn't get up till this afternoon though I had to wake up a couple of times to feed Christopher and we had homemade pizzas for a late lunch this afternoon. so we are still working out what we are planning to do for dinner and then figure out what we want to do tomorrow as there was talk of a day trip out to see things.

My Parents brought us a second car which they are using while here and our First car is getting a new set of tires on Friday as a Christmas present from us to us to keep the car on the road as we are looking towards a cold probably icy January.

Thats all from me for now since AJ is up from his nap and cranky as anything so needs my attention.
Ciao

Odendaal baby #4

CJ joined our family on the 26th of September 00:01am or actually just before but they recorded the time as this so he's not stuck in the gap between 23:59:59 on 25/09/2013 and 00:01:00 26/09/2013
hope that makes sense

CJ is a extremely happy and placid baby hes a big boy with 9lb 15 1/2 oz as recorded birthweight which is 4.520 kg,
We had a great home water birth and all went smoothly, we did end up in hospital on the night of the 28th due to an ABOHDN which caused Jaundice just the same as we had with NJ though his was picked up sooner. CJ only needed a 2 night hospital stay though with the light therapy and we were home Monday afternoon.
CJ learnt to smile by 3 weeks old and has been smiling just about all the time hes awake since. hes a chatty boy with lots of noises to make and fits in well with the family.
Big brothers NJ, EJ and AJ adore him and always want to help out and take care of him though AJ wanting to help by making sure his baby brother has his pacifier whilst actually sleeping isnt always the most helpful option but he does try and often is trying to drop hints that himself or CJ might need a nappy change or food /drink and bringing me the right things.

My parents are here for the holidays with my brother and youngest sister J and L in tow though currently as I write this they are in Ireland taking a explore around the area that my family originates from. They will be back on Saturday for Christmas and New Year then off to Paris to see the sights before coming back for a final few days before they fly out back to Australia.

Re-starting schooling

Well after the summer we have restarted school for NJ, EJ has gone off to nursery and AJ is always keeping busy getting his little fingers into things he shouldn't be getting into lol.

Mostly at the moment we are working on handwriting through Basic English books and his Reading through Phonics and math work getting reading the time sorted  and all those other subjects like Money that come under the Math umbrella in the early years since he knows what he needs to know for now in the base of Addition and Subtraction.

Home-Education

Ok , For most of this school year we have taken things at a rather relaxed pace there hasn't been daily work done at least not daily academic work for the boys. I try to get some time reading to them each day and encourage them to write/draw/count in some form, mostly It has been practical hands on work helping Mummy around the house and learning numbers and letters and their sounds as we do the housework or prepare meals.

I believe Education is a lifelong experience and encompasses all parts of our lives not just the book based work done in schools and a young person with a well rounded education can function in the society they are in being literate and articulate, able to think for themselves finding out information when they need it and is always hungry to learn new things. endless hours in a classroom from my own experience and in my opinion doesn't achieve these ends.

I have been putting together some worksheets for the boys to do as they are progressing with their literacy skills at their own level and it will be a handy benchmark for me to see where they are at so I can provide them with the opportunity to discover new skills that are appropriate to where they are at in their learning journeys.

Now to get back on with guiding my children through this world encouraging learning experiences for them.