The kids wanted to go trick or treating for Halloween, so we ended up doing some quick Halloween research and reading and decided that the proper way to do things was not to do the commercialised going around begging for candy but to give the neighbours candy.  However we had no time to prepare for that and 10yo's birthday was kind of vaguely in the vicinity so we decided to do a "spooky themed" birthday party instead.

10yo did up a master list comprising of other lists, and lists for food shopping and various party supplies.  JJ took care of the food as he usually does and Nanna and I split shifted picking up party supplies over a couple of weeks.

One of the things 10yo had wanted was a banner so she and 8yo worked on making one up:

July and August were a bit of a blur as some not fantastic events occurred which monopolised my thought processes.  We got reacquainted with death when my last two cats died within two weeks of each other (the one before had died Christmas last year and we had also lost a guinea pig recently).  There were some extended family dramas which didn't involve us directly which fortunately resolved before getting down and dirty with the legal system became necessary rather than advisable.  Sprat was up for the semester break which is always great and the kids and I had lots of interesting conversations.  Unfortunately I can't remember any of them.

We didn't get to do our Solstice Wreath this year due to a little more craziness than usual.  But other stuff got done.

10yo figured out how to make fingerless gloves using her loomband loom and wool after watching a few Youtube videos:

She has since either given this one to her best friend or made her best friend one and there has been a request to teach another homeschoolie how to make them.

7yo made a "quarry" with some collected rocks (not sure where they're from as they collect rocks and never label them...)

Might try to do these as monthly things rather than semi-random ones.

Firstly, we are chick central again.  About three clutches with 7-10 chicks in each one.  Chappie's family want some of the naked necks.  This was the first lot.  Idiot hen had gone next door to brood, kids heard the cheeping and went next door to investigate.  Neighbour was astonished as she hadn't even realised they were there behind the shed, and just as well they'd only hatched that morning as she'd been dogsitting and the dog had left earlier in the day.

The picture of them is as day olds, they're now a week or so and feathering up.

I'm doing a reasonable job doing everything else and an atrocious job blogging.

Perth Zoo

9yo displayed that he does have some organisational skills while we were playing Minecraft and he wandered off and said he had found some mines, then told me the coordinates so I could join him.  He had made a book and quill to use as a journal (and would be less likely to misplace seeing as it's in-game) in which he was writing down the coordinates of our bases and any mines he encountered (which would then be deleted once we'd finished exploring and digging them out).

7yo wrote me a poem:

In which I once more attempt weekly updates on the homeschooling side of things.  Going to see how I go just writing about the bookwork and if I remember to add the Other Stuff we do as I go (and I found out after reading the curriculum outlines that we actually do most of the stuff in the curriculum without making much effort to do it, wonder how long I can get away with that... :).

Also I changed the generated url as punctuation gets dropped.

Maths

Because I don't blog it nearly as often as I should.

Tao's reading is now well and truly away.  He reads everything from street and shop signs that we're passing to books.  His current favourite book is his Pokemon Black & White Handbook that Sprat bought for him. It's not unusual for him to wander around the house with it, have it open on his lap while watching tv, and sometimes he'll be multiscreening, watching tv, playing Pokemon White on his DS and have the book open beside him for reference.  I've known for a while and I think both Tao and Josh are discovering that he can actually parse what he considers large blocks of text when he wants to.

Just randomly (and because they asked nicely), we decided to go down to the park at the end of the road on bladei (okay, fine, Thursday, to be followed up by a trip to City Farmers to stock up on roo meat and mutton, and more flea meds).

The day was lovely, and of course I hadn't brought the camera, missed out on some awesome shots.  I really need to buy something that will cart just the camera with my favourite lens attached, don't really need the monstrosity that is Josh's camera bag (I have enough crap to haul as is).

While Cub slid down the slide, I heard that distinctive crackle as his clothes charged up with static electricity.  Then he ran back up the slide and grabbed onto the metal frame up the top to assist his ascent.

CRACK! "OW!" The surprise on his face was adorable.

The most recent session at Natural Learning Co-op (formerly known as Learning Hub, apparently there's another group in the northern suburbs also called Learning Hub, and which I'll probably shortern to the last word as I'm lazy like that) involved a music session with Alec from Child's Play Music.  He had a huge van full of musical instruments that he'd constructed mostly from recycled materials.