15yo’s cardboard armour had been getting more and more detailed each iteration. I hadn’t seen any for a while and thought maybe he’d finally lost interest in it but one day some parts came in large boxes and suddenly there was more. It was quite detailed with individual pieces cut out and taped together (an entire roll of packing tape was used in this endeavour). I think it was a potential practice run for making larger cosplays (he had dreams of making a Space Marine cosplay like the one he’d seen at the Royal Show and then he realised how much effort was involved and that it wasn’t going to be a few hour thing like his previous projects.

15yo apparently only got beaten once or twice in all the rounds he played in his Warhammer tournament and placed (the winner was someone who had been playing a lot longer). We all agreed it was a pretty good outcome for a first tournament. 17yo was able to pass her level 6 badge in the first competition and 19yo got his level 7 badge in the second one (he had missed the first one due to illness and he and his coach decided to risk the do or die in the second competition as if he didn’t get it then, he was out of states). I think most of 17yo’s kids did alright.

April started with 19yo and 17yo’s first concert. 17yo had found out about a Stardew Valley concert and as she loves the game she asked if we could go. 19yo was interested in coming along for the ride but 15yo refused. However the system wouldn’t let me buy three tickets and forced the purchase of four, so 17yo invited one of her besties (who has not played Stardew Valley and knows nothing about it) along. Bestie came along because she likes classical instruments and is in a school ensemble (I call them baby orchestras).

The rest of the year has just been a blur of trying to keep on top of anything never mind everything. Most of February and March was 15yo painting Warhammer minis. We both thought it would be funny for him to do a faux painting pose as seen on the internet.

I had bought The Art of War in very recent history (can’t remember precisely when but I feel like it’s been at least a year by now) as 14yo had expressed a desire to read it. He didn’t get around to actually reading it until recently, when he suddenly went on a health kick (both physical and mental) and on advice of J and 18yo, started trying to get in at least a little bit of exercise, eat a healthy breakfast (the kids and I don’t really eat breakfast as we never feel particualrly hungry for a while after waking up) and read a book every day.

We accidentally had two excursions this month. I’m not sure whether that makes us “caught up” due to not having one last month or able to chill next month given that the first and second months tend to be organisational and transitional. The last time we went to the Gravity Discovery Centre was in 2010. Unfortunately stuff just didn’t occur to J and I, for whatever reason I thought that we were only going for the night thing even though their night things always include entry into the rest of it, so I didn’t cancel roleplaying, and J assumed we’d be roleplaying and didn’t mention it. And it was unfortunate as the kids would have made the entire solar system walk now, before we only managed to get up to Uranus before we had to turn back.

The year started off great with 16yo and I getting our jobs back at the kids’ gym (they’re “just” volunteer jobs but won’t be too much longer). A lot of stuff has changed, a couple of things are really not great, some stuff is fantastic, and some stuff is kind of wait and see. As well as being put on for an introduction class and a group of level 3s, she was allowed to help with the Kindergym classes seeing as she wants to get into childcare. This is going to make up the bulk of her homeschooling program alongside the monthly assignments. She’s been registered for OLNA and we should hopefully work out where she’s going to sit it as that’s happening sometime in the next couple of months.

August started off really slow and cruisy and them ramped right up into September. It started with the death of one of 13yo’s fish. He was devastated as it had gotten sick but had looked like it was starting to recover before succumbing. We had a little funeral in the side yard, burying it under the rosemary bush. 17yo had another quarter life crisis (he has had at least one in the last two years) where he decided he needed to “get his life together” and once again asked for organisational tips (he has asked me previously for things that I have already told him about in trying to get them to learn my organisational hacks and how to research and experiment with their own). He asked me for a corkboard (full corkboard as I’d bought them corkboard/whiteboard combos previously, apparently it wasn’t big enough for what he wanted to do) so he could pin things he wanted to organise on it. 15yo overheard and said the same.

13yo’s kitchen experiments continued, he made sticky date puddings with caramel sauce. Was delicious warm with ice cream. He made two of them because he loves making massive batches of anything for some reason. Worked out alright as I think most if not everyone in the house likes sticky date pudding.

The month opened with 13yo being inspired by Genshin Impact (a game that 15yo and I have been playing together that 13yo occasionally joins us in) and making a chicken and mushroom kebab, which is one of the food items that can be crafted or purchased in game. There isn’t an actual recipe to follow so he just skewered and lightly seasoned and pan fried them. Was very delicious.