Is It Bedtime Yet?

Last night was a very long night - woken seven times by other members of the family, plus by a car alarm going off - and when I did surface this morning I felt pretty lousy.

Both dh and I have streaming colds. Unfortunately, dh has a condition called Sarcoidosis and, in his case, we have found that a flare up always follows a particularly nasty cold. This morning he was in considerable pain and is presenting many sarcoid symptoms. We are praying that it is not an actual flare up as that could potentially have major financial consequences for us - he would not receive full pay from work if were to go sick, and it can take anything between several weeks, and several months, for him to be fit for work following a flare up.

On a more cheerful note, my brother and (pregnant) sister in law came over today, to bring an early birthday present for ds2, who will be 8 on Wednesday. It is always great to see them (my brother and I get on so much better since we weren't kids!) and they are very much loved by all. We are all excited about the new baby - this is their first, and all my boys are looking forward to having a little one to spoil.

Today ds2, ds3 and I started working on a new project, called The Children Who Live on Planet Food. It looks at foods customs, cultures, nutrition and the distribution of world resources. I like it because I can tailor it down for ds3, or even up for ds1. We started by chosing a country (ds2 chose Northern USA and ds3 England), then learning about the character from that country: their name, favourite food, and why they like it. Though it may seem on first site to be relying on sterotypes, the pack asks you to instead use the chance to challenge them. We can discuss therefore if the people in that country all eat that food (such as burgers in Northern USA and bangers & mash in England!), and where the idea of them doing so came from. It allows us to look at the change in cultures due to globalisation and modernisation, and see how we have affected each others eating habbits.

We'll also go on to make many of the "traditional" foods used in the pack, and then share them with another HE family who is also working through the pack at the moment.

Both boys also did some more work on their typing today - I'm very impressed so far with their progress. Ds1 left it too late to look at his blog, so he will catch up tomorrow.

As hubby is not well, rather than travel home at 1am this morning, he is going to stay over at my Mum's. It always feels wierd here without him, but at least that will be one less thing to wake me tonight! No sherry tonight - I need cough medicine instead.