Jack and the Beanstalk

Went along to The Lincoln Drill Hall's pantomime again this year and was not disappointed!!   See: www.lincolndrillhall.com

(Although Daddy was convinced all the way through they were going to get him on stage as we were so near the front!  Unfortunately for Jamie, they didn't)

Christmas Morning Mayhem!!

Opening Presents on Christmas Eve at Nanna B's

Family Christmas Party

Musical statutes, Put and Take (the Simpson way) and Consequences....

Oh, and Jamie falling out of the patio door in a very 'You've Been Framed' style.  Luckily. no one was hurt!!

Christmas at School

They didn't have a 'Christmas' production but Jamie was asked to read the following as part of the Key Stage 1 play:  Just as they arrived in Bethlehem Mary knew that her baby was to be born - but there was no room for them in any of the inns.  Eventually, all they were offered was a stable and that is where the Son of God was born.  There was no lovely silk lined cot, only a manger full of hay with animals standing  around. Mary and Joseph did what the Angel had told them and named the baby Jesus.

Year 3/ 4 had a 'Vicious Vikings' celebration at the end of term as that has been the term topic.  They told Viking inspired stories, did song Viking dances and showed off their textile work (Jamie still had his pins in his!).  Not very Christmassy - even if they were in their Christmas jumpers!

Autumn Term Report Card - December 2017

Almost the same as this time last year, see:  https://grumpymumtobe.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/autumn-term-report-card-december-2016.html

Reading: Exceeding. (Above expected standards) Your child has made Good Progress.   To help improve he needs to continue to develop his skills in answering written questions about a text, and be able to say what effect an authors language might have on the reader.

Writing: Secure. (In line with expected standards) Your child has made Good Progress.   To help improve he needs to make sure his writing is organised into separate sentences that are not too long, and describe emotions in detail. 

Maths: Secure. (In line with expected standards) Your child has made Good Progress.   To help improve he needs to secure his understanding of rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100, and continue to develop his knowledge and recall of division facts for the times tables he knows.

This year we decided NOT to go to parents evening.

Christmas Jumper / Crazy Hair Day

Jamie thinks he is DanDTM......

Lincoln City Junior Imps Party

Snow Sleepover!!

We had Noah overnight and the next day there was snow!!

It's Snowing Outside but Jamie & Noah are Throwing Virtual Snowballs.....(Honestly!)

Our Lovely Tree

Beavers and Cubs at the Panto.....

Do you think they will behave?  'Oh No They Won't!'
Mummy and Daddy got a chance to have a drink in Lincoln.  Only trouble was, it was the Christmas Market so everywhere was packed and it was very cold....But the Cubs enjoyed it.  'Oh Yes They Did!'

Lincoln Christmas Market (with Santa)

Piano Prep Test Passed!!

Jamie had his Prep test on 6th December.  His exam was only 10 minutes long.  He played 'Swinging through the trees' and 'Dreaming' off by heart.

We are pleased to say that he passed!  He got a certificate he can frame and put with Daddy's piano certificates:

Flunky Monkey

Jamie was so happy to get Flunky Monkey from cubs over the weekend.  He got it for being a good example of a cub to the new cubs, being friendly and welcoming.  But it was also commented on how well he had settled into cubs.

Jamie took him to Sundown with us and he was able to meet Santa.  I put the photo on Facebook to show the other cubs, and said Santa told them all to be good little cubs!

Jamie didn't want to give Flunky Monkey back!

Santa at Sundown

It was a long, cold day at Sundown this year, but Jamie, Seth and Noah loved it!

However, I have a feeling this could be the last year after Jamie whispered; 'He had a fake beard' as we left....

Happy 97th Birthday Nanna Grace

Jamie and Poacher at Lincoln City

A Couple of Recent Family Shots....

Ghostly Goings on....

Ghostbusters at The Collection

How cool is this:

Brilliant afternoon at The Collection in Lincoln, with The Ghostbusters and crafts and even a graveyard dig!  The cheesecake was very tasty as well.. See: www.thecollectionmuseum.com/

Pumpkin Carving with Noah

Halloween in Cheltenham

As Lincoln City were playing Cheltenham away, we decided to visit Uncle Dean, Auntie Chrissie and cousin Lucy in Cheltenham.  I must admit to being bored with all the football talk (Lincoln lost!) but on the Sunday we had a brilliant time at Primrose Vale and their Halloween trail (ideas to be pinched for our party!).  See: http://primrosevale.com/  

York Trip With School

And then, after we took Jamie out of school for one day, to see York, where do they decide to go for their trip this year?  YORK....  Although they did get to do more that we did as school took them on an archaeological dig.   And Jamie said he really enjoyed it (except perhaps the bus journey!).

Blakeney (again)

Every year we initially say No to Norfolk, but come nearer the time we always end up saying Yes.  And Why No?  Jamie loves it and so do we!!

Lovely Day At Cleethorpes

Photo by Daddy....

Children's Holiday Club

As usual, Jamie wanted to attend the Children's Holiday Club that is run by the Christian Churches of the town.  He always makes lots of friends and has a great time.  It runs for just over 2 hours every day for four days.

This time the theme was 'Seaside Rock' and as part of this he brought home 'Fish and Chips', but they were not all as they seemed....

However, on the last of the four days I went along and had real fish and chips with all the other parents, children and organisers.  Very nice....

Junior Poacher 2017

Many years ago Mummy attended Poacher as a Guide for a week.  When the Beavers announced that they were going to the Junior Poacher Day I could not resist offering to help out. I had to ring in work and make up some excuse as someone else had already booked it off, but I wasn't going to miss it for the world!   The Beavers did crafts, zorbing, met some large totoises and Jamie was the punch bag Champion.   At lunch we went and ate our sarnies on the Scouts campsite which took me back - although it was so much more comfortable than the old tents I remember!  We were also lucky enough to meet up with uncle Michael who was there as a Scout leader and cousin Noah with his Beavers.  A tiring but fantastic day!

Blowing A Kiss

Piano Report - July 2017

Jamie has had a successful year learning the piano and is starting to show a natural ability for the subject.  I can tell he loves playing the piano and attending his lessons.  It is wonderful to have such a motivated pupil with such an eagerness and enthusiasm for music and learning new things.  He is completely focused on the task in hand and will always ask is he doesn't understand anything.  He is a pleasure to teach and I have seen great improvement over the last few months. He is enjoying the prep test pieces and he will hopefully be ready to sit this exam soon. 

So far he has learnt the first 5 notes in his right and left hand and C D and E in the left hand. He has learnt a little about rhythm and knows the note values of 1, 2, 3 and 4 and also quavers, which are half count notes.  He has an excellent sense of rhythm.  He has also learned about tied notes, repeat marks and time signatures of 3/4 and 4/4.  

Areas for improvement - Jamie needs to keep his fingers close to the keys at all times as they do tend to wander and then he plays the wrong notes.

During the summer holidays he should revisit everything he has been taught so far. The note recognition app called 'flashnotederby' is a good learning aid for him, giving him the incentive to win and progress to the next levels. This is available from the app store for ipad.

I hope Jamie will continue with his piano lessons from September and the coming year will hopefully see him continue developing skills and techniques and progressing on to take his first piano exam this Autumn.  A very pleasing report.

 

 

Sports Day 2017

Jamie only managed to equal last years best; 4th in his race and his team were 3rd overall.

Jamie and his Unicorn....

Party for Grandad

It was granddad's birthday this week so Jamie organised a party for him.  There were just the 4 of us.  (Nana Mo spends most of her time now looking after Nana Grace). But Jamie took me around Asda to buy party food and a cake!!

Granddad seemed to have a good time, and Jamie definitely did!

Knights Trail Part 2

This time we had the daddy's with us and Bobby the dog.

After all those Knights we were ready for our fantastic fish and chips from the UKs second best chippy: www.burtonroadchippy.co.uk/


And then, to round the evening off, we went to Woodcocks  www.woodcockspub.co.uk/  where Jamie, Elliot and Ella had a fantastic run around in the play area.  No wonder it was so busy. 
Lovely weather.  Lovely Evening.

Goodbye Beavers

Jamie's last night at Beavers......

Annual Report

Jamie was away (98.18% attendance) when the Annual Reports were given out and so we had to wait three days to find out which class he is in next year (same teacher) and to see how he has been doing over the last year.

Jamie has worked really hard this year and has developed his knowledge, skills and understanding well in all areas of the curriculum.  He has a positive attitude towards his learning and always produces a good amount of work in the time.  Jamie makes excellent contributions to discussion, particularly during guided reading.  He has worked really hard to develop his handwriting.  He is polite and helpful and can complete jobs sensibly.

Reading - Exceeding
Writing - Secure
Maths - Secure

Well Done Jamie!

Speaking Part (So Proud)

When Jamie told me that there was going to be a school production I may have suggested that in order to be an actor he needed to volunteer.....  He came home a few days later and said that he had a speaking part in the KS2 schools production of Olivia!  This means we have been hearing the same joke over and over as Jamie is playing 'Joker Number 8'; who is sent to try to cheer up Queen Victoria....

Joker 7: Why is your nose in the middle of your face?
Joker 8: Because its the scenter!

Jamie told me where to sit before the performance, which meant that I was able to get a good piece of film of him (as he wanted!).  It also meant I could see him when they were singing.

The production was very good.  However, it was rather long.... One mother - who was filming her daughter even though we were told not to. After no one told her off, I didn't hesitate to film Jamie - obviously left after her daughter had done her part - HOW RUDE! 

Naked Cyclists in York!!