teacher training

Half way through my teacher training year and it's absolutely flying past.  This week has been good. I've been in year 1, teaching time, talking about timelines in history and getting the kids to jump up and down for a minute :). Also had our first proper "Art" training and we were let loose with paint and brushes to make a colour wheel.  It was very relaxing and I loved it!  Funny how doing something as simple as that is so therapeutic. 

Christmas hols

Finally the holidays are here and I've completed my first full term as a trainee teacher!  Just two more to go. It's been really good and I've enjoyed the Friday sessions at Reading uni a lot.  It is however completely exhausting and I have found I value my sleep more than ever.  Honestly don't think I will be seeking a full time position when all this is done but maybe four days a week. Need some time for "me" otherwise I would probably make myself ill with working and looking after the boys.   But when I look back on my old life in sales this job is far more rewarding and although the money is crap I'm not in it for the money these days. 

Teacher Training

First week of teacher training at Reading Uni and it has been pretty full on with lectures about theory, standards, policies and so on. But met some nice people and it's been good to do this part away from school.  It's back to school next week to year 3 for a few weeks. 

I found out that I'll be back at my old school for my placement in January which will be a huge help logistically as no more need for morning breakfast club for a few weeks anyway. 

I can't quite believe how far I've come in the last 3 years and it has been quite revealing as to how unsuited I was to my previous work - I had literally been putting up with it and putting on a face. Acting. For the last 15 years or so.  We were discussing values today in the lecture and had to discuss which values we hold ourselves relating to the teaching profession.   It was interesting but not surprising that the three of us all mentioned kindness, doing to others as you would like done to yourself an the concept of being 'Christian' without necessarily being religious. The need and want to instil a sense of kindness in young children and to just want to help others. To want them to grow up respecting that other people may not share their ideas but not to undermine those ideas or berate them.  The feeling that I had at school in the 70s and 80s was that I adored school. I never wanted to leave.  I want other children to love it as much as I did and to make it fun to come to lessons. 

We also discussed the 8 teaching standards and how we need to show evidence of meeting these over the next six to eight months. 

So I'm slowly getting my head round everything.  The student loan money has come in so as long as I can make it last we should be ok. 

The boys are finding going back to school ok - although mornings are tricky. They don't ask about my day and that is hard sometimes. Not having another adult to come home to and offload to, celebrate successes with etc.  But J is being helpful and it's good to hear D has been enjoying his lessons more now he's in year two.  In two years' time we will be preparing for Joseph to start taking driving lessons - he is already quite sensible and mature in lots of ways but in others he still struggles a lot and meltdowns just happen for smallest things. 

He's been taking the dog out though and it's evident that having Sam around is good for both of the boys.  Benjy too had even started touching noses with Sam! 

Clean Eating

So while I was on holiday with my new kindle in Mallorca I decided to buy Alice Liveing's book to see what all this clean eating fuss is about.  I was inspired by it and have been busy trying out all sorts of foodie recipes since we got back. 

1. Easy avocado and mackerel on sourdough bread.  Score 5/5 for taste. Quite easy to make and full of good fats. Not sure why but sourdough bread and rye feature quite frequently in the book. 

2.  Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Again very easy. 

3. Super-easy chicken nuggets with a twist.  I dipped the lean chicken in egg and rolled them in a mixture of oats and Cajun spices before frying in coconut oil 

4.  Sweet potato fritters with egg and avocado. Yum. 

5. Frittata made with salmon, courgette, peppers, onion. These were delicious and ideal for my packed lunch when I wanted a no-bread option. 

Also I've made banana and cinnamon muffins which weren't from the book but I found the recipe online and added oats and used agave nectar instead of normal sugar. And replaced butter with coconut oil. 

So far so good and feels like we are all eating much more healthier. 

I forgot to mention the breakfast!  This is sooo easy and so delicious.  Chopped nectarine and banana fried in a little coconut oil with a dusting of cinnamon, on top of a small bowl of Greek yoghurt and a dash of agave nectar. 

Will write more when I've done a few more recipes as I'm interested to see how I will manage taking a packed low carb lunch to work each day. 

Euro road trip

Last Sunday we drove about 350 miles through France and Belgium to get to Holland where Dylan is going to spend most of his school hols. 

We had a nice day and walked around the lake, had a meal in the hotel and then on Monday J and I drove south to culemborg to meet Diana and have lunch. 

We then went to Antwerp (not such a nice city) and Bruges (a nice city) before heading home. Despite the rain it was a good trip and the new Vauxhall Meriva was good to drive. I like having an automatic! 

Bye bye beetle!

Today I sold my VW Beetle ... :( 

But it was time.  Since having Sam we just needed a bigger car. 

Road trip to Holland and Belgium summer 2016

We have brought Dylan over to Holland to spend a month with Tristan during the school holidays.  The dog has come too and it's been an experience to say the least! We are getting the hang of it though and he seems to be taking everything in his canine stride :)

We had a lovely afternoon all together at Haarlemmermeerse Bos (lake near Hoofddorp) and walked the dog all the way round before having a nice dinner together at our hotel.  

After a rather emotional and weird good bye which was really hard, we got on the road today and drove south towards Utrecht and then Culemborg to meet my friend Diana for lunch. Wow is all I can say. It was the most delicious pasta meal I have eaten. Chicken, Gorgonzola and herbs. Lemon maybe?  Anyway very good indeed.  The building was cool and unusual. It used to be the station house and is now a cafe called Una Volta, which also rents out work space and meeting rooms complete with table tennis - and a swing! The area is called gelderlandfabriek. 

Here are Joseph and Diana 

We then walked around the local area and saw how the local people live in 'hofs': groups of houses arranged around a communal garden where inhabitants each share an interest and responsibility for the gardens' upkeep.  The houses have solar panels and some are built into the ground or have walls made from hay bales. It's meant to make their inside temperature more regulated in both summer and winter. 

We then drove south west towards Antwerp to the Novotel where we are spending the second night of our trip.  It's not a very pretty city but it was on the way and is fairly cheap.

 The dog can stay in the room and since neither of us fancied the dish of the day "Dutch weed burger" we decided I would venture out to Albert heijn and buy food (salads and crisps) and drinks to bring back to the room.  I'm exhausted now and although I know Dylan will have a wonderful time and holiday with his dad I do miss them.  But for now, it's time to have some quality time with J and he is doing so well so far on this trip.  More pics and updates to follow....