Nativity Play at Church

Unfortunately Theo is down with hand, foot, and mouth disease, so we couldn't take him to church and dress him up as a sheep!

 Angel

 Guest sleeping at the inn

The cast

 

Sophia's Ballet Recital

Children of the World Celebrate Christmas

Here is Alathea's Christmas production, which detailed how children in different countries celebrate Jesus' birth. Alathea's class represented China.

First Song Excerpt:
Here is the baby born in a stable.
Here is the baby born to be king.
Alleluia x4.

Alathea says: "We celebrate Jesus with light because He brought light to the world."

Second Song Excerpt:
Decorate the tree of light,
With our lanterns burning bright,
Welcoming the newborn king tonight.
Little Jesus in the hay,
Born for us on Christmas day,
Let our lanterns light the way.

Curriculum Assembly

Sophia and classmates explain some of what they've learned about sound in science.

Bits and Bobs

A few miscellaneous, recent photos:

 Theo at Seashells, a toddler group at a local church.

Theo in his 'haz-mat' suit. Necessary kit for little boys playing in a wet, messy, autumnal English garden.

 Our garden in autumn

 Back of our house/garage/potting shed

All Saints' Day

We like to get in the dressing-up and treats of Halloween but with a more positive focus on the following day, which for the Western Church is November 1, All Saints' Day.

Here's Sophia dressing up as C. S. Lewis, one of her favorite Christian authors.

Here's Alathea dressing up as Mary Slessor, a Scottish missionary to Nigeria, about whom we first learned in the book below. (Mary hit a hippo on the head with a saucepan, among many other brave things, and she did a lot of knitting; hence, the props).

 We made 'edible' saints by covering ice cream cones with white icing...

...topping with chocolate truffles, and garnishing with a mint leaf.

This was our homage to Revelation 7:9 and following: "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands..."

We also made a poster of Jesus the Vine and some of his saints (including us) as the branches, from John 15.

Another One Down the Hole

There's something about loose teeth and my parents' house in Luton. Alathea's lost both of hers there at different times. Sophia swallowed her first loose tooth while there a few years ago, and now Alathea's swallowed one, too! After her current gap was discovered, Alathea calmly informed Grandma, "My tooth is probably in the sewer by now..." Fortunately mommies and grandmas still pay up for gappy smiles, even if there's nothing to show for it under the pillow!

Hard at Work

Here are a few of the things the girls and their classmates have been doing this half term:

A two-wheeled, convertible bus designed and made by Alathea

A class collage of a tuk-tuk, inspired by a story Alathea's class has been studying

An advert, written by Sophia, to attract visitors to the Eiffel Tower

A scale drawing of the Eiffel Tower, by Sophia

Sophia's group's model of the Eiffel Tower, made from tape, foil, and straws

Since Moving

Here are a few shots (some courtesy of my dad) of what we've been doing since moving from Bromley this summer:

 

 New school uniform

Wes' old means of transport

Wes' new means of transport

New look for Grade 2 at East Oxford School of Ballet

Sophia's new glasses

Up a horse chestnut tree in Oxford University Parks

Anglo-Saxon baptismal font in Minstead, New Forest 

Free-range horses and ponies in the New Forest

In the New Forest

In Bournemouth, where forest meets beach

My mom loves old Minis

With my dad in Bournemouth

Water-play in our garden

Sandpit at Florence Park

Backdated: Ballet

Sorry this isn't a very good photo, but it's the only one I was able to get of Sophia's RAD Grade 1 ballet performance. She's in the center.

Backdated: Last Lighthouse

I've been taking one or more of my kids to the Christ Church toddler group, Lighthouse, for about 7 years. It's hard to believe that this was the last time. They all loved it!

Playing

 

 Singing

 Teddy Bears' Picnic

Backdated: Alathea's 1st Sports Day

Alathea competed in a relay, mini howler throw, space hopper race, sack race, egg and spoon race, long jump, the hurdles, and a sprint. She was pleased at the end of the morning to find out that her team scored the most points!

 

Backdated: Seasick Songs

I should give up filming the girls' performing at school while trying to hold onto Theo. I'm sure it makes for a comical spectacle, as he usually tries to wiggle out of my arms and ends up hanging head downward, while the camera in my other hand unintentionally pans to and fro. With that preface, I will finish by saying, if you'd like to hear Sophia's Junior Choir from Parish Church of England Primary School performing silly songs, watch the video below. Whether or not you'll see much is far less certain...

Backdated: Narnian Nuts

Because Sophia and I both love The Chronicles of Narnia, we made her birthday party revolve around the 7 seven books:

 Making Queen Lucy's cordial

 And Queen Susan's horn

Sophia (dressed regally) with her magic cordial and horn

 

 Glowing ring toss into the pools in the 'Wood Between the Worlds'

Two more games: dress as a talking animal and unwrap the parcel to find Turkish delight +

get the Archenlanders in the castle before Rabadash the Calormen attacks

 Pin the tail on Reepicheep

 Quest to find lost Narnian lords and Aslan

 How low can you go to avoid an evil green serpent?

 A bit of archery

 

 Daddy's map of Narnia cake

 And a Narnian board game Sophia and I created.