A Nice Week....

This last week has been a good one....Stu has been off work (he had holidays to use up) and helped a lot around the house and cooked meals....It's been lovely. It's nice to have him home....The company has been great.....I even had a soak in the bath while he did the school run earlier in the week.....

I have found most of the week very.....

 Thursday wasn't nice though.....Ellie usually she loves school....She will complain for a few minutes after waking up that she wants to stay in bed...Who doesn't? She has never once cried at the thought of going to school.....Yesterday she did....In P.E they were told last week they were doing dancing and she didn't want to do that....She was sobbing and quite distressed about the whole thing and my heart broke for her but she has to go to school....She wouldn't eat breakfast and by the time she got to school her eyes were all red and she looked in such a sorry state....She had really chewed herself up over it and it's so not like her at all....

We went straight in and saw her teacher and happened to catch the PE teacher too.....They said she can put her PE kit on and just sit at the side if she really doesn't want to take part....They said it was not like her to be like this....I felt awful leaving her in such a sad mood but the teachers were really nice about it....When she came out of school she was back to her normal self....The PE teacher told us that she had joined in a little bit but he wasn't going to push her....They're doing a performance with a few other schools in a couple of weeks and we actually think this is what's worrying her.....The teachers were so nice and said she can just go and watch if she doesn't want to take part.....

Becky is going to her boyfriends house tomorrow which she of course can't wait for....We have been reassured they will be supervised at all times.....They're just planning on playing MineCraft anyway....lol It will be unusual Becky not being here on a Saturday but Ellie and I have plans.....We have been sent another Weekend Box to review so we can busy ourselves with that....

In fact I have had quite a few nice parcels this week.....Even one off my dad....He runs an auction business and they sell household things and I mentioned to him our Sky remote was not working properly and he sent me one....Bless him, it was nice of him to think of me and send it...Usually I mention something and he forgets....hehehe

I hope you all have a nice weekend!

 

National Pie Day & Birds Eye!

We do like a pie!!.....Especially with a bit of mash and covered in gravy! 

Today is....

I hold my hands up and say I don't make my own home made pies all the time but I do always have some Birds Eye pies in the freezer....They have a great range which we enjoy....In the colder months we have them at least once every couple of weeks!

Puff Pastry Chicken & Ham Pies - Shortcrust Creamy Chicken Pies - Shortcrust Chicken Pies - Shortcrust Meat & Potato Pies - Puff Pastry British Steak Pies - Shortcrust Steak Pie

I think at some point over the last year we have tried all of these pies....

Our favourite is by far the Puff Pastry Chicken & Ham Pies but our local Asda don't always have them in and our Tesco online don't stock them....Boo!!

Last night we had some of the Shortcrust Chicken Pies with mash, carrots & sweetcorn and of course covered it in gravy.....Pie & Mash has to have gravy....

 

When they say they are filled with pieces of chicken breast they really are...Some pies are a bit stingy with their chicken. These are not....There is also plenty of vegetables in there too....We also love the crispy pastry....Very tasty!  

I think Birds Eye really do make the best pies....They are perfect for this time of year....

With it being National Pie Day will you be having any pie today?

I was sent some Birds Eye vouchers in exchange for writing this post....However these are my own thoughts and opinions....

Homework: Too much or not enough?

 

School pupils in the UK get more homework than many other countries in Europe including Finland, Germany, Sweden and Austria but countries like Finland and South Korea have the shortest homework hours but are top performers in international tests....

    In the research by OECD it was found that UK pupils had on average 5 hours of homework per week.

Ellie who is 7 each week has spellings to learn, reading to do, some numeracy and literacy homework to complete...She gets it on a Friday and it has to be completed by the following Wednesday.....All in all I would say she has about a two hours worth if you count the reading and I think it is the right amount for her being only 7 years old....

There was a letter sent home from school a couple of weeks ago saying any child not completing their homework will have a detention on a Thursday after school which I actually agree with after speaking to one of the teachers....

There was a homework club on a Friday lunchtime where the children not completing their homework would go to do it.....Now it's got to the point where there are so many children not doing their homework it's over crowded.... Parents were supposedly not bothered about making their children do their homework and took homework club as the easy option.....Now I'm guessing there are some unhappy parents who've had to make their kids do their homework to stop them getting a detention after school....Especially those who have to pick up more than one child...

Becky on the other hand who's in Year 7 at Secondary school does not get enough homework in my opinion.....You may remember my post about the "Unfair Summer Homework" where before even starting in Year 7 she had a huge list of homework to do....

Since starting secondary school in September she has had barely any to do....A couple of numeracy tests, a little written work, a few drawings to do and that's about it....Nothing compared to what she had over the summer holidays.... Obviously I wouldn't wish for that amount again all at once but some extra would be nice...Even if it's just for me to see what she is learning about.

When I was at secondary school I would have homework most nights to complete....I think my girls have it easy but nowhere near the 5 hours a week that some children get.

Do your children get much homework from school?

How to be late for school....

Leave the house at the normal time not realising that there is so much ice outisde....
Walk like slow, fat penguins trying not to slip on the ice....
Scream "Oh my god" every time you see a frozen puddle....

Stamp on every puddle and break the mentioned ice....

Get that excited you nearly pull your dad enough for him to slip....

Don't walk on the grass that isn't so slippy...Where's the fun in that....
Get your dad to drag you along so you're sliding all over the place....

So stressful!! I hate the ice!! Ellie of course loves it and had a wonderful time walking to school!!