Took Sprite for his hike and had a nice surprise when they said the Beavers were going so Crush was able to go too. He was so excited I thought he was going to burst, fortunately he was dressed appropriately and Sprite had enough food for two in his back pack alhamdulillah....his first hike and what a good 'un; 5 miles and 3 challenges; The Tunnel of Doom, Mount Everest Junior and Log-on! It was quite eventful for him too; he apparently nearly 'killed' a leader when he fell oh him mashaAllah (Crush isn't fat but feels like he's made of solid muscle!) and he had to tell off one of the helpers who offered him a pork sausage! I was very happy to hear that at 7 he felt confident enough to stand up for what he believed in as, although there are mostly Muslims that attend, apart from the Scouts group not everyone involved in the group is Muslim and I do worry that they might eat something inappropriate.

What else.....well, hmmm, well the kids got to relax for the two days I was at work this week as hubby was unwell but I am on holiday for three weeks now so they WILL be making up for it lol! Actually, I think everyone needed a break as we have all had this virus that's going around so alhamdulillah. So we started Weds with Lego's English tutor, then rush back to take my friends daughter to Sports, then back home to pick up Crush & Daisy for their sports. I then get some time for a quick cuppa and then have to drop my friend off at the sports center (she walks back home with the little ones) and I go off to pick up Lego +1 from the tutor. We all get to relax and eat for an hour before we have to get ready and rush off to madressah...back at 3pm sit for a while and then it's off to swimming lessons. This week we had to wait at my friends until the boys were dropped off from Beavers, so by the time we got home everyone went straight up to bed and were asleep in seconds alhamdulillah...Weds is a very busy day for us!

The children's grandmother very kindly paid for the kids to join 'Maths Whizz' and I must say it has really encouraged the kids to do maths and I am able to keep a close eye on what they are doing and keep them chugging along. It has also made it much easier for me as I don't have to plan too much, I just check what they have been doing and print off some worksheets or activities to go along with it...it's brilliant and much, much cheaper than a tutor. Yay!

Still haven't got going with the science yet this term for some reason but I do aim to have our owl project finished in the next three weeks inshaAllah, which will include dissecting owl pellets....not looking forward to that!

Daisy has been doing lots of random writing by herself and, I don't know why, has been copying words, sentences and paragraphs, without instruction, from anything she can get her hands on! Girls are really, really different from boys....she just seems to teach herself whereas the boys need 'gentle' coaxing all day, every day unless it's hands on stuff of course!

Sprite is working on a 'fire safety' brochure using all manner of resources, I can't see how he's going to bring it all together and I am trying desperately not to interfere....it's so hard because they get so disappointed when it doesn't work out but they must be left to make their own mistakes.

We have done little art and craft lately so I think I will also bring out the wellies and we will go for a nature walk with our note books and do some sketching and painting with water colours...it's only a thought at the moment, I may have to start off in the garden if it rains!