Trees and Briars!

Madi worked out that today she is 7 1/2, which apparently requires a half-birthday cake! I agreed on the condition that she helped make it, and she agreed provided it was Hello Kitty!



Over the past week she has been tree planting with Sherwood Forest Trust...


and attended a tree-themed day at Cottam Power Station...

...where we learnt about and made our own 'Green Man' using moss, leaves and berries collected from the nature reserve...


...talked about what lives in the branches, trees and roots of trees...


...found out about tree-dressing around the world...


...and decorated a tree with our own wishes for the world and traditional Scottish 'clooties'.

She has also managed to fit in plenty of sport this week, with an extra swimming session to be tested on her Brownie Swimmer Badge (thank you Julie!) which she passed 'with flying colours', to add to the Dancer Badge from last week.

Meanwhile, JK has been on a retreat at The Briars with school. As usual it has been difficult to get out of him what they have been up to, but it seems to have included designing an anti-knives t-shirt, writing prayers, and going on some long walks.

Tonight, he is on another long walk- this time the 21st Annual NESST (Nottinghamshire Emergency Scout Support Team) Challenge Walk, hoping to cover 18 miles around Walesby.

Ballet Stories, as told by Madi to Mummy

Swan Lake

There once was a prince called Prince Siegfried and it was his birthday. He went hunting with the present from his mother- a new crossbow. He went to the woods, followed a deep, dark tunnel and there he was at the lake. There were loads of swans. Prince Siegfried went to aim at a swan. Little did he know that something special was about to happen. When he let his arrow go, the swan turned in to a beautiful lady. Prince Siegfried was really, really scared; but then he asked the beautiful lady what her name was. The beautiful young lady also had a beautiful voice and she said “My name is Odette. An evil wizard cast a spell upon me and all the other swans. I am a swan during the day and woman by night. And it is the same for all the other swans. Unless someone says he loves me and promises to marry me I will stay like this forever”.

“I will take you to my ball tomorrow night. There I will need a bride. I shall promise to love you and no one else,” said Prince Siegfried.

The next night began. Prince Siegfried was beginning to get worried as if Odette was not going to come. But then a beautiful lady came in the palace’s doors. When the time came to say who was going to be his bride, he said “Odette!”. Everyone went quiet. As the beautiful young lady stepped to the steps, an old man also known as the evil wizard came to the steps too.

“Do you promise to love she, and nobody else?” the evil wizard said.

“Yes”.

Then, the evil wizard did not have to disguise himself any longer. As he ripped off his disguise, Prince Siegfried could see that the princess that he thought was Odette was only the evil wizard’s daughter.

Prince Siegfried ran from the palace, and ran straight to the lake. And there he saw the real Odette, and begged her for forgiveness. But then the spell could not be broken. Odette went to go and drown herself (as she was still a lady). Prince Siegfried ran to the lake and shouted, “I love you, I don’t love anyone else”. Then, the evil wizard’s spell was broken forever and ever, the wizard was defeated by his own magic. And now they might still live, Prince Siegfried and Odette, living together with children. The end.

The Firebird

Prince Ivan was out in the forest when he saw a beautiful orange bird, and he said “Wow, that must be a firebird!” . The prince grabbed her and the bird cried with pain. Prince Ivan felt sorry for the bird and let it go then she gave him one of her feathers and said, “This will protect you.” Then Prince Ivan walked to a garden full of statues. A group of girls came dancing towards him. But for Prince Ivan, one of the girls in particular stood out the most. She looked like a firebird. The girl was a prisoner of Prince Koschei who only let her out for a very, very, very short time.

Prince Koschei saw Prince Ivan and to turn him in to stone. As he did that, Prince Ivan held out his orange feather and he didn’t turn in to stone. And then in a flash the firebird arrived and used her magic to make Prince Koschei dance until he fell down. “I haven’t got my soul inside me. Only if you find it and destroy it you will kill me,” said Prince Koschei. The firebird helped Prince Ivan find the soul and destroy it. And then the girl that stood out in particular and Prince Ivan married.

The Nutcracker

It was Christmas Eve, and Cara, a little girl, went down to check on the presents. And there was a special one. The morning of Christmas came and she unwrapped the special present first and when she opened it she found it was a toy soldier, but not just any ordinary soldier- a nutcracker. But she did not know that it was special but she did put it in a very special place. When the night of Christmas came, she went to check that the nutcracker was still there, and it was safe and sound in the same place. But then loads of giant toy mice came and the nutcracker came in to action. Cara tried to keep her scream in otherwise she would wake her mum and dad. But she threw a slipper at the Mouse King and he went unconscious. And the nutcracker said, “Thank you, I would never have conquered them if it were not for you”. Cara got minified and then they went to a special place on the nutcracker’s hat. The place that they went to was called the Land of Sweets and the Sugar Plum Fairy was queen. And they played all night long with the fairies, pixies and brownies, until it was time for the nutcracker to go home with Cara. When they got home, Cara got biggified to go back to her normal bed and hoped that she would do the same thing again the next night or whether it had just been a dream.

from the sublime to the ridiculous!

After several weeks of being home most of the time due to snow and Christmas holidays, JK at least has had a very busy weekend. He returned to school on Thursday when he found out that he will be making his options this year rather than next as expected so that he can help the school meet the government's latest performance targets. He had a singing lesson in the evening and is now preparing for his Rockschool Grade 2 Vocals exam, as well as ABRSM Grade 1 Saxophone. Straight from school on Friday evening he went off to Ollerton for the postponed Scouts' Christmas Sleepover, although it appears less than three hours sleep actually took place before it was over! A quick shower at a friend's then on to auditions for West Side Story, and then to an ice hockey match against Nottingham at the NIC. Sting were victorious 8-3 and despite the lack of sleep JK scored 5 goals and 1 assist (the pass that resulted in a goal being scored).

Madi meanwhile, had her first archery session of the new year, and returned to gymnastics now that the centre has found a new coach. Sadly there is no longer any trampolining, but it may be possible to try out some freestyle/street dancing instead. She didn't manage to see the end of JK's ice hockey match as she went to a joint 10th Birthday Disco for Pheobe and Abygail in Beeston.

And we were back in Beeston less than 12 hours later for field hockey training! JK also went on to Oakham for a match, and another win! Madi was supposed to be returning to Sunday Club, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to illness, so we checked out the BBC iPlayer together and really enjoyed the first two episodes of Richmal Crompton's 'Just William', starring Daniel Roche from our household favourite tv show 'Outnumbered'. This also reminded me of a fantastic HE group session at Abbey Pumping Station about 1950s holidays (thank you Sharan!) and how even recent history is still very much history for Madi.

Straight after school on Monday JK attended the second meeting of Sutton Sting's Youth Involvement Panel. Club founder Gary Apsley wrote:

" As the Club gets ready for it’s fifth season we still aim:

• to give youth a voice in club affairs
• to stimulate young people to take up leadership roles in the club and ice hockey
• to think out of the box
• to be open-minded generally and on issues affecting the club.


A secondary aim for the club is to foster the growth of young people becoming involved in Ice Hockey long term either as coaches, officials or administrators. This can be done by giving young players the opportunity to develop as coaches, officials, leaders, administrators and event organisers whilst still being members of the club.

Through the Sting Youth Involvement Panel the club can benefit from having members who are active, enthusiastic and have a passion for ice hockey. Membership of the YIP is open to any member under the age of 18 years. If you share the same passion for ice hockey and want to become involved contact your team manager."

Although it is early days, I think the representatives from each team are going to be much more 'involved' than he realised, and are already organising their own meetings, with their own agenda!

The big excitement of the day though was Madi's return to RYSC. She has been looking forward to this since the performance in December, and it didn't disappoint- she just can't wait to be directing the scene she has written and has so many ideas I can't imagine how it will turn out!

And then, just as we were getting back in to the (very quick) swing of things, JK's 'options' booklet came home. From my first reading they are expecting him to take 14 GCSE/GCSE equivalents, and all are to be examined at the end of year 11.

New Timetable!

Madi has decided that she would like a 'timetable'. Although she is quite a structured person; I thought she had been enjoying a more flexible approach, especially over Christmas, with few if any activities, no car but often plenty of snow, and new toys to play with!

The Playmobil theatre was a huge success, and Madi has spent a lot of time with her little people rehearsing the next performance. She has spent even more time writing scripts! She also received a camcorder with which she is hoping to record her shows, but in the meantime the great news arrived that next term's RYSC will involve writing and directing their own scenes which she is very much looking forward to.

And the car still hasn't come home!

...which means we have had a quiet Christmas at home, which was lovely at first but aft just a few days made me realise quite how much time our home education is not at home!

We have our big Christmas meal on Christmas eve, and the first change to our usual arrangements was that I had to get up early to fetch the turkey from the butchers before Simon went to work. Madi and I also had a walk out to fetch some fresh bread, singing Christmas songs and carols as we went, a word each until one of us went wrong and then we'd start again.

Though I say it myself, the meal was fantastic, although apparently Madi would prefer no turkey, and more stuffing and pigs-in-blankets (both of which, of course, she had made!) Stuffing our faces so late in the evening meant that even Madi slept until 9am. After opening presents, Madi and I went to visit my brother and his family, where my Mum was also spending the day, and got back just in time for my Dad to arrive for a buffet tea.

After more-than-enough leftovers, television specials and films, plenty of playing with new toys, and a meal out with Simon's family, at last the seemingly neverending bank holidays were over, but still no car.

JK had a fantastic day at the first ever PCM Ice Hockey Clinic, and Madi and I met up with HE Friends at an indoor play area.

After the new year, we also took a bus into Mansfield and met up with friends- JK with a friend from ice hockey for shopping and 'hangingout' and Madi and I at Titchfield Park. It was freezing cold, and the cafe and toilets were closed, but the girls seemed happy to play forever! Eventually we made it to Mansfield Museum (via The Old Library for lunch)