It's Good To Be Back

Hello all I'm back not just back but back with a vengeance lol. So what have we been up to here at Tilly Towers recently ? Well home school is going fab we are really enjoying it and Brandon is doing incredibly well. Our current topic is animals and we have enjoyed a trip to pets at home where Brandon was able to learn about and handle some of the animals. On Wednesday we are going to a friend of mine for the day who is an extremely talented artist and she is going to give Brandon an art lesson with animals being the subject matter. We are then going to collect eggs from her chickens for lunch and feed her albino iguana and maybe hold him if we are brave enough that is lol.

Not really had much in the way of yellow stickers recently but check out this bad boy that I got from asda last week.....

A Thorntons luxury chocolate and toffee layer cake. It was huge, delicious, did puddings for a week, but best of all was reduced from £20 to £2.90

Brandon turned 7 in October so we had a little party for him to celebrate.

I managed to pull off a little tea party catering for 10 children for just under £30. That was food, dessert, drink, prizes, party bags, and birthday cake.

This is the vanilla haribo birthday cake Brandon asked me to make for him.

I have spent some quality time with my lovely Mr.

I have been busy making snoode style scarfs as Xmas gifts. At £1.33 a scarf a bargain but a lovely handmade gift for someone.

My little mushroom acting as model lol.

I have just finished a custom order for a friends little girl. I hope she likes it.

                                        Mushroom modelling again.

So as you can see we have been keeping busy. It's good to be back :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Stuff It

I so wish I could go into detail about my decision to stop blogging but I can't. What I will tell you is that a certain someone expressed concerns after being informed about my blog. This certain someone holds a little weight where certain members of Tilly Towers are concerned and enjoys making my life as difficult as possible. I have spent weeks trying to think of ways to continue to blog whilst addressing the concerns of a certain someone. None of my ideas received approval I was not even met half way. Sooooo you know what stuff it and stuff you certain someone I am going to continue to blog and if you don't like it you can just go whistle. None of us here at Tilly Towers have had any bad experiences due to the publicness of our lives in fact the reverse we have all benefited from my blogging in many ways. I always ask the boys permission before writing about them or using their pictures and nine times out of ten they are happy for me to do so. I love sharing our lives with you all and have made some lovely online friends through my blogging. I have been blogging on and off for a few years now and its never been an issue until recently. I'm not giving up something I love, something both the boys and I are very proud of. If you are reading this certain someone your concerns have been duly noted and tossed to one side lol.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Time To Say Goodbye

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you all at the end of October I will be taking my blog offline. Due to recent personal events that I am unable to go into I have decided to stop blogging about our lives here at Tilly Towers so publicly. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit, read, comment and follow frugal living you have all helped me in ways you will never know. I would especially like to thank Trudie who has been my longest active follower. Trudie you have always been there with kind words and support when things have been tough and I will always be grateful for that. I will miss you all :( whilst I won't be blogging anymore I will still be reading all your lovely blogs.
Signing off
Much Love Always
Claire and the gang xx xx xx

Catch Up And Home Education

Frugal Living
We have done a few frugal things over the last few days. On Sunday my mum and step dad came down to visit so we took Brandon to the park for a while.

 

Granddad give us a push

 

 

Higher Granddad Higher

 

 

We were then treated to lunch out by the Mr which was very nice. I had a skinny chicken breast sandwich and a still iced water so sticking with the healthy eating.

 

 

Me and my little monster and the Mr's head lol

 

Brandon and Nanny

 

 

Brandon with his  little cat rubbers [50p each]

 

Granddad's whopping big hotdog

 

 

 

On the way back home in Granddad's car

 

Brandon in his new PJ's from Nanny and Granddad

 

 

It was a lovely day and both Brandon and I were spoilt rotten.

 

Today we popped to my favourite charity shop Air Ambulance [no pics sorry]. They were having an end of season sale and all ladies and children's clothes were 4 for £1. I got Ben a pair of school trousers, Brandon 3 long sleeved tops [now the colder weather is setting in he needs a few more], a big baggy t-shirt for me [for crafting sessions with the boys], 2 very nice shirts for me, and a pair of tweed style trousers for me all for £2 BARGAIN. Brandon is getting 10p for every lesson he completes nicely and does a good job in. He has been saving it up since we started so he treated himself to a lovely blue teddy bear for £1 which he has named baby bear 2 lol.

 

 

Healthy Living

I have been sticking to my healthy eating plan and to keep me accountable I will be blogging what I have eaten each day. So here goes.....

Breakfast = 2 banana Weetabix with skimmed milk

Lunch = ham and cheese Panini

Dinner = 2 large mushrooms stuffed with lean pork mince with a thin slice of mozzarella melted on top

Snacks = fruit, yogurt, 2 cereal bars

Drink = flavoured water, summer fruits oasis

 

Now I realise the cheese in the Panini is not healthy but I did ask her to put only a small amount of cheese in it and I ended up giving a 3rd of the Panini to Lee. The mozzarella on top of the mushroom is literally a very thin slice and I have checked and it seems to be the cheese that has the lowest calories and fat content.

 

 

Home Schooling

We have really found our groove on the home education front and I thought I would share how we run our school day here at Tilly Towers and what we are studying.

 

We start with reading I have Brandon on a reading programme with the library and he is currently on the blue spaceship books which are perfect for his reading ability.

 

We then move on to spellings. We are following the year 2 national curriculum on this and I have joined the TES website in order to access all things curriculum related.

 

We then do writing practice. Brandon was having trouble writing his 2,5,9's his 2's looked like a 5, his 5's looked like an S, and his 9's looked like a P. He now has all his numbers down so we have started on big A little a, big B little b, big C and little c. We will be working on three letters a week until he has them all down.

 

We then have a ten minute break. Due to Brandon's autism he loses concentration and patience very easily. I have found by breaking the work down into bite size sessions and having lots of little breaks he comes back to his work focused and with a fresh pair of eyes. This may not work for everyone but it is working for us so I am running with it.

 

We then do one of his English workbooks which is age appropriate and follows the national curriculum. We usually do 3 or 4 pages before moving on to our next subject.

 

We then do maths again a workbook which is age appropriate and follows the national curriculum. Again we usually do 3 or 4 pages before taking our next little break.

 

Ten minute break

 

We then do Spanish which is from a workbook. Obviously this is outside the national curriculum as Brandon is only 6. He is really enjoying this and has already learnt the following conversation in Spanish....

Hello

Hello

What's your name

My name is Brandon

Are you a boy or a girl

I am a boy

As well as being able to name all the members of a family in Spanish and being able to count to 5.

 

We then do one of his science workbooks which is age appropriate and follows the national curriculum. We usually do 2 pages of this as it is a little more in depth and demanding of him.

 

Ten minute break

 

We then do another one of his English workbooks which is age appropriate and follows the national curriculum. We usually do about 3 pages of this before moving on to his next subject.

 

We then do timetables he has his 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's down and this week we are working on his 3's and 4's.

 

On a Wednesday we attend one of two home education groups. One is project based and our current topic is Animals. The other is held in a near by country park where the children learn forestry skills and get to socialize with other children.

 

On a Thursday we attend swimming lessons and go to the library.

 

On a Friday we have book week day where we dedicate the whole day to doing activities around the book of the week which is decided upon by the home education book club we have joined.

 

We do our book work on Monday through to Thursday and at the weekends we do cooking, arts and crafts, and experiments.

 

On top of all this we will be having lots of days out around the topics we are covering and in November we will be joining in with the into film festival. We will get to go to the cinema and watch several films all for free. They even provide you with teaching materials for each of the films. For example there is an anti bullying message in the film Tarzan so we will be using the resources to do some work on that subject as well as watching Tarzan at the cinema for free.

 

Well I hope that gives you all an idea of what we have been up to recently. Are you a home schooler ? do you have any words of wisdom for me or perhaps some tips ?

 

 

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

So Much To Say

Hello readers I have so much to tell you all. There have been a lot of changes here at Tilly Towers some for the best some out of necessity. Two major things have changed and effected all our lives here at Tilly Towers these are what have kept me away from my blogging for quite some time. Things are finally settling down here for us and we are getting used to the changes slowly so I am hoping I will be able to get back to my writing although the genre of this blog may be taking a little detour from frugal living and incorporating a few more subjects.

Let me start with my health. As my regular readers will know I suffer from 2 medical conditions one is Meniere's Disease the other is Gastritis. I have been suffering quite badly with the Gastritis of late and think the liver pain is somehow connected. Gastritis is when your stomach produces to much acid and when you have a flare up the pain is unimaginable [think labour pain but without the breaks in between]. About a week ago I had a major flare up and Ben had to call an ambulance for me. I usually fight my way through the pain until it subsides but this was pain on a whole new scale and there was no way I was going to be able to manage that sort of pain at home on paracetomol alone. When the ambulance crew arrived they put me straight on entonox [laughing gas] and it killed the pain immediately but every time I stopped taking the gas the pain would return after a few minutes so they decided it was best to take me in and get something stronger inside me and do some investigation. Once at the hospital I had an array of tests done and paracetomol was given directly through the vein. I am extremely sensitive to opiates and become very sick on them so I refused any of the very strong painkillers. Thankfully the paracetomol directly in to the vein worked and after 20 minutes the pain had subsided and I was able to stop the gas. The results of this hospital trip are as follows I have low potassium, high liver enzymes, and they think the gastritis may have developed into a stomach ulcer [not good]. I am being referred for a camera down the throat to confirm this diagnosis and have been given a higher dosage of omeprazole [a drug to protect the stomach lining] and antacids. I had a long chat with my doctor who asked about my eating habits and I explained to her truthfully that I don't eat breakfast or lunch will usually have a calorific evening meal and then pick on rubbish such as chocolate, cakes, biscuits, and crisps throughout the evening I was also completely honest and told her I drink a lot of fizzy cola. She informed me that this is what is causing the stomach acid and if I do not change my lifestyle then I am going to die.

This was a major wake up call for me and I am proud and pleased to say that for the last week I have drunk nothing but water and I have completely changed my eating habits and am now sticking to a healthy diet and avoiding all my trigger foods such as spices, seasonings, dairy, fat, chocolate, caffeine, tomato based products etc. etc. It has not been easy that's for sure but I am managing to maintain the healthy eating plan recommended to me. I am hoping that its not to late and I am able to reverse some of the damage I have done to myself but completely accept that this is something I have done to myself and I am the one who has to put it right.

My Meniere's Disease is being well managed and monitored at the moment. I had an appointment with my specialist on Thursday and he is happy that the new medications are keeping the severe vertigo attacks at bay and that the hearing aids have helped with the deafness. The 2 areas that do need addressing are my tinnitus and balance. He has referred me twice already to a specialist balance clinic that will help with these 2 issues but they are still to send me out an appointment so he has said he will contact them again and he will see me himself again in 3 months time.

The second big thing to happen here are Tilly Towers is I have deregistered Brandon from school and have started home schooling him. It has only been a few weeks but we are really starting to find our groove and I am amazed at just how clever he is. Brandon is Autistic and I have been promised since before he started school 2 years ago that he would be statemented and some one on one support would be put in place for him which still had not happened. There have been several occasions I have had to go into the school about something be it his behaviour or lack of support. Anyway after the summer holidays Brandon returned to school saying he hated it and he didn't want to go. He started lashing out at K my friend who did the school run for me and I was called into the school. Lee and myself sat with the head teacher to be spoon fed a load of drivel about how Brandon loves school and no such incidents had occurred despite K coming to my house in floods of tears asking me to go and get him out of school immediately. I asked the head why all the promises of support and statementing had not been honoured and she basically told me that in their opinion Brandon does not need to be statemented and does not need additional support so will not be getting it. I left that meeting that day furious and confident in my decision to remove him from school and educate him at home myself. I am able to offer him one on one support, I am able to tailor his learning in a way that suits him, I am able to discipline him when he does something wrong so he learns right from wrong [she also told me they do not tell him off when he does something wrong because he cant help it because of his autism]. I have never let Brad my eldest son use his autism as an excuse for anything and I am not about to let Brandon go down that road either. It has taken a while but we have a good routine going now. We do structured age appropriate book work for around 3 hours and we spend another hour learning Spanish, reading, and doing handwriting and spellings. On top of this we go to the library once a week, swimming lessons once a week, and a home education group once a week and there will also be the occasional day trips thrown in for good educational measure. On Friday I received a letter from the head teacher basically retracting all her previous comments stating she had arranged for an educational psychologist to come in and assess Brandon and they were going to start giving him one to one support in the mornings. I nearly fell off my chair and had to double check with Lee that I had actually been in that same meeting as she has done a complete 360 on her comments in the meeting. In spite of them now offering what I have been asking for for the last 2 years I have now lost all confidence in the school and feel I am able to do a better job of it at home. In the last few weeks there has been a marked improvement in Brandon both academically and behaviour wise so I am happy that we are on the right path and should remain on our home school journey and not return to state school.

So there you have it lots of changes going on here and as a result don't be surprised to find posts on home education and healthy living alongside the usual frugal living posts. Hope you will all bare with me whilst I get my head around all these changes and find my feet.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx 

President Obama And MD Strikes Again

Hello readers blooming MD is playing me up again hence no post last night and a very short one tonight. I have a really fuzzy head at the moment as well as not being able to walk in a straight line. I can feel an attack is brewing and I'm not sure if it's the change in weather that has brought it on or if I am coming down with a cold (a cold always sets my MD off).

We had a bit of excitement here yesterday president Obama whizzed through my little country town on his way to Stonehenge :)

Anyway off to snuggle and watch Dr who with the munchkins.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

And So It Begins

Hello readers not much happening here at Tilly Towers today just a bit of housework and helping the boys with their homework. We have slipped back into our school routine like a comfy pair of old slippers and it's so nice to have a bit of structure back in the house. Everyone seems that little bit calmer and the boys are not squabbling quite as much which is always nice lol. I love doing things with the boys and getting out and about but I really love being at home with them playing board games and watching films. Not only is it cheaper to stay at home you also get to snuggle up in bed and eat homemade goodies whilst spending time with your babies. One of my favourite activities is snuggling up with a big bowl of homemade popcorn and a good film whether it be with the Mr or the munchkins. I recently read over at frugal queens blog about no spend/ spend less September. The basic idea is to have as many no spend days as possible and on the days you really do have to part with some cash keep it to a minimum. I think I'm going to join in with this one and have a no spend/ spend less September myself. Although it all depends on just how much the boys schools want out of me this month. I kid you not readers within 2 days of being back at school brad has brought a note home asking for £4 towards the cost of hot drinks and biscuits for the term and Ben has brought home a sponsor form asking for money. I thought I may have got a few weeks off of the constant letters home asking for money what with it being a new school year but no it has already started.

Today has been a spend day as I had to buy six pints of milk but I am aiming for a no spend day tomorrow.

Why not join in with no spend/ spend less September ? I would love to hear how you all get on.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx