Finding a new path ...

Well, folks. I bet you have started to wonder where us Hoopers have got to! Fear not - we are still here, just incredibly busy.

Time to fill you in on our summer adventures before Christmas arrives!

In June Kezia had her sports day at school:

From the Ashes from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Then we started our homeschooling adventure, which began on the 2nd July. We have embraced so much learning ... Kecia's first project was all about bee's. We learnt basic bee anatomy, how they pollenate flowers, what flowers they are attracted to etc. We made papier mache bees, bee pictures. We did bee and honeycomb orientated maths and reading and we consolidated all of our learning by creating a beautiful bee garden by the kitchen.

I love the little pockets on the back legs for pollen collection. :D Spot on Kez. 

Kezia chose the flowers from what we'd learnt and she planted them. 

Well, since then we haven't stop taking up more and more projects and activities! Currently we are on a dinosaur rave - everything dinosaur that you can imagine. We're loving it!

In August we went on a fantastic family holiday at our 'home' in Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall courtesy of dear old ma and pa. It was brilliant. David joined us for the week with Anna and we all lazed about on the beach or in the hot tub. We fitted lots of homeschooling in with beach combing activities, discussions about erosion and cave formations - consolidated by investigating the caves at the beach - and of course we just had to go to The Eden Project to see if we could help them track down their missing live dinosaur!
Hols 2014 from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

In amongst all of this we've been on history days out and Grum (aka my mum) graduated with her MSc in Social Sciences from The Open University. Colour us proud - we were there with bells on. :D
Knights of Kenilworth from Emma Hooper on

De-schooling Kezia from Emma Hooper on

Chance has conducted science experiments with Kez and of course there are the clubs that Kezia has taken on since leaving the mainstream school system. We now do swimming club, ballet, and drama classes! To add to that, Kezia joined the local rugby team in Sept and thoroughly loves it. She's already won Player of the Week (although I suspect that each of them gets it at some point regardless of performance!) and Chance has joined the coaching team. Which is lovely for them both. This love of rugby has also taken us to Twickenham - Kezia's first international match was just last weekend when England thrashed Samoa. Get in! We had a superb evening.

We also went to see the poppy installation at the Tower of London just before all the children broke up for half term. It was beautiful, moving ... sad. But again, another lovely day out. We travelled up the Thames to the Tower and had a really nice afternoon going round it. As we were approaching Bonfire Night it was a perfect opportunity to teach Kez about Guy Fawkes, the plot to blow up parliament and Fawkes' eventual demise. She loves a gory bit of history! Dad very kindly brought his 3 guidebooks with him ... Kezia had the one from 1986, I had the 1959 version and Pops, of course, had the up to date one that actually had colour pictures within it! My version was more than a little dry!

Tower of London and the Poppies from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

2 Birthdays and some chickens ...

For us Watkinson-Hoopers the month of May is doubly exciting. Not only do we have dearest mamma's birthday (age undisclosed due to the Official Secrets Act) but it is also the Gal's birthday. So, what did we do this year? Was there any way that we could top the pony for the 3rd birthday and a puppy for the fourth birthday?

Well, let's start off with mamma's birthday. When dearest mamma was a little girl, her dad used to keep chickens in the back garden and she absolutely loved them. She has always quite fancied having them in her garden but,as dear old pops isn't exactly an animal person, she has always refrained.

This year, dear old pops completely excelled himself and bought mamma a chicken coop as a surprise and David and I bought her a chicken from each of us. It was a very exciting day and Kez couldn't wait to help Grum pick the chickens. 

We toddled off to the garden centre for smallholders (chuckle) and came away with two lil beauties called Dandelion and Bluebell. They settled in straight away and were scratching and clucking quite happily whilst we sang happy birthday to mamma and everyone ate some lemon drizzle birthday cake. All in all, a very successful birthday!

Since then, all I seem to have done is prepare for the big 5th Birthday which was looming faster than I could imagine! 

First we had the family birthday party on the 10th May - where I tested all my food ideas for the 'big party' out on unsuspecting grandparents! 

Then there was the Big Day itself on the 13th. Kez woke up early before school and opened a few choice little gifts - including her main present from us which is a tilt n turn scooter. She'd seen other children riding these scooters to school for some time and kept asking for one, so that was her big birthday surprise. Of course, she rode the scooter to school! 

After school we met up briefly with Grum and had a mini picnic on the walk home whilst Kez played with her Birthday Scooter. Then it was time to return home, where I had set up the front room to be a Frozen Party Room and had all her remaining presents (quite a pile!) waiting for her.

The finale was the Big Party for friends, that we did on the 17th May. Kezia had requested a Frozen Birthday, as it is her ultimate all time favourite film, and she wanted all her friends to come in their favourite fancy dress outfits. Way back in sept she also saw a magician called Magic Carl and found him absolutely hilarious. Since then she has constantly requested to have him at her birthday - so that is exactly what we surpassed her with! But, you know me. I couldn't leave it at that. So I printed off loads of Frozen pictures, posters etc to decorate the local church hall with ... I cut 60 cheese slices into snowflake shapes and arranged them on ritz crackers; I created 40 ham sandwiches in the shapes of snowmen and 40 cheese ones in the shapes of snowflakes; I made from absolute scratch some blue strawberry flavoured jelly which I put into tumblers I had hand decorated to look frosty - before adding marshmallow fluff and edible glitter on top of the jelly; I made several cakes - all of them teal coloured when cut; I cooked 104 cocktail sausages and 104 pigs in blankets (coz sausages get cold when they're "Frozen" - get it?!) Then I had to cook another 36 pigs in blankets because the dog waffled a load off the cooling tray. I baked like my life depended on it and made 26 snowmen biscuits - but each snowman biscuit comprised of 6 individual snowman shaped parts so that the children could 'build a snowman' when they got their goody boxes back home. it was manic!  I'm not sure who appreciated it more - the 20 x 5 yr olds that were at the party, or their parents! We played Frozen music when Magic Carl wasn't on and Kez said it was the most brilliant birthday party she had ever had. Success!

I absolutely loved every minute of prepping everything, getting all the bits ready, putting the last handmade touches to her Elsa outfit ... But I am glad to put the cooking bowl and spoon down for a few weeks. I earned my stripes that week!

Kezia's 5th birthay from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Birthday to Ballet ...

made by Kez

So ... following on from Christmas, it was my birthday. Hurrah! And I was totally spoilt by Kezia. Not only did she do me her very own card, but i also got a hand painted blue sparkly pony to help make my dreams come true. Who could ask for anything more?!

In February half term Kez and I took a wee trip to the big smoke with Grum and Grandpa to see Uncle David in Ealing. Kez, as always, was very excited about seeing David and took her new electronic reading books to show him. I think he nearly had the hang of it by the end of lunch ...

After lunch we went back to his lovely little flat that he shares with his girlfriend, Anna. For those of you don't know, my little bro runs his own sound engineering company and is also a very good drummer. As a result, he has an amazing little drum kit in his front room that Kez was dying to play! And so he gave her a lesson - she absolutely loved and actually showed a nice little aptitude for rhythm. She obviously gets that from me *cough* Once she realised that she was allowed to bang this particular instrument quite hard, she rocked it big time! I think I can probably see a drum kit looming into the future when she's older ... I shall thank Uncle David for that little gem later. 

 And so we skip merrily into March ... which saw the return of the equine side of our life. In March, I was given the best Christmas present I have ever had ... my dear husband bought me a wonderful 13.2 palomino pony called Bryn.

He's a welsh section C and I absolutely adore him. He has some truly lovely bloodlines - but I didn't realise that until I got his passport post purchase and researched the names in it. I can get his great grandsire as a Royal Doulton figurine, which amuses me greatly. He has some superb paces and does a lovely flashy trot when he's all excited - which is just hilarious when he's got little ole me on the back of him. Thelwell eat your heart out!

I was lucky enough to return to my old livery yard, and as soon as he arrived he settled straight in.

 2 weeks after Bryn came to us, I went over to Aylesbury to get our gorgeous wee Gilda back from my aunt's house. It was so lovely to see her again and bring her home

 As soon as she was home, she settled right back in again and her and Bryn have been best buddies ever since.

Gilda and Bryn meet from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

We had missed having that mischievous little pony in our lives. Little old Kezia has got stuck straight back into being a 'gal wiv a horse' ... in fact, she has wanted to be really involved this time around. She actively now wants to care properly for Gilda, instead of just wanting to do jobs once in a blue moon. i can no longer go up the yard with Kez without her doing some of the poo picking and she insists on giving Gilda a full groom and hoof check each visit. It is absolutely adorable and really shows how much she has grown up in the last 6 months. 

There was an additional highlight to March, especially for Kezia ... her Lower School PTA paid for an indoor ice rink to be set up in the school hall for the day, and every class got to have a lesson on it. Us parents were given our class's time so that we could also be there to watch and help. Kezia loved it. First few circuits she went around holding onto my hand ... then she moved onto holding just the barrier and by the end of the half hour she was rolling freestyle, so to speak. Ruddy amazing! I could barely stand up!

Just before the Easter Hols it was time to point our toes for another ballet exam. As always, we were allowed to watch the last class of term and Mr Maurice took the girls through one last final exam prep. All the preparation obviously paid off, as Kezia got another Merit. Colour us proud!

Ballet March 2014 from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

The Easter Hols couldn't get here quick enough - the end of the Spring Term seemed to take ages to get here! We had some lovely days out and reinstated our picnic days up the yard.

Grum and Kez had a surprise on one of our field days, as Kez picked up what she thought was a worm only to discover it was grass snake as it flicked itself out from between her fingers! Well, as you know dearest mamma is ever so au fait and at one with nature ... she used Kez as a snake detector from then on!

We ended the Easter Hols with a day trip to Audley End with Grum and Grandpa. It was a lovely day. They have a fantastic interactive nursery at Audley, which means that children (and adults) can use the rooms as if they were theirs (within reason, of course!) and there are toys to play with, chairs to sit on, things on shelves and in bookcases to look at and touch and some clothes to dress up in too. It was brilliant. Pops certainly seemed to find his inner vicar, as he occupied the chair by the fireplace for some light reading!

Audley End from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Is it too late for Christmas?!

Okay folks, so I last left you with fireworks night ... or the perils thereof.

Now I bring you to Christmas - can you remember back that far still?!

Christmas 2013 in the Hooper household was a bit of a weird affair - due to my surgery on the 17th Dec, I spent Christmas with Kez at my parents house, and Chance came over every day to see us. Good job we only live 8 miles away from my parents! chuckle. Anyway, at about 3 weeks post surgery I returned home - so it wasn't too bad and Kezia had a lovely time with her grandparents. Huge thanks to mamma and pops for everything they did to help whilst I recuperated. They basically became full time parents for three weeks - for both Kez and me! Gawd bless 'em.

Still to come - a new ballet video - this time featuring some nifty tap dancing; the return of Gilda and arrival of a new horse!; and not forgetting everything we've been up to this easter hols.

Time to put your Christmas hats back on folks - It's Christmas 2013:

Christmas 2013 from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Spooky ... kerwhizz bang ...

Well, hello everyone!

I can't believe that the last time I posted on here was Sept last year! School sure does get in the way of activities during winter! Blast.

Kezia has had a good start to her academic year.  Her reading and writing is coming on leaps and bounds and she is showing a real aptitude and interest in maths - something she obviously gets from her dearest papa and not me!

The first thing we did in October was to leave our livery yard and relocate little Gilda to my aunt's fields in Aylesbury, in preparation for my surgery in December. I was sad to leave little Gilda over there - so far from me - but she had a little herd of shetlands to introduce herself to and 5 acres of land to punt around in. To get her to Sue's I booked her a place with Gillies transport - which is essentially a little horsey bus that picks horses up once a week on a long UK driving tour and drops them off on the way round ... It was absolutely brilliant. I packed little Gilda up with a comic and an apple for the journey and off she went. She was in illustrious travelling company, as she shared the bus with 3 of the Queen's famous Highland Ponies who were on their way to Windsor from Balmoral ... hopefully she didn't let the side down with her countrified ways! chuckle.

My aunt lives in an absolutely gorgeous part of the world, with lots of high hill, narrow country lanes and twisting roads. Which meant that the lorry could make it to Sue's house, but not to the fields 3 miles away. So little Gilda had a cup of tea and a stretch in the back garden before popping her walking shoes on for a little roadside marathon.

She did very well, didn't even spook when we had to pass a big hedge trimming machine thing, and she was very pleased to see her old field with some chums in it.

She set to straight away, and I have heard that since then she has been teasing the full height stallion ( which is hilarious because she if by far the littlest of the adult shetlands) -she can duck under his electric fencing, tease him with a good show of her bum, and then dart back under the fence before he can get to her. She'll end up in trouble, that one!

Gilda is the little chestnut one in the middle. 

In October Kez had her very first school disco - Halloween themed, of course!


We rushed home after our morning of school, and get dressed in our lovely spooky clothes that Nanny Hooper had bought us for the occasion

Kez was particularly impressed with her dress because the bats on the front of it lit up if you pressed a button - tres chic, mais ouis?!

  halloween from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Then of course, there was Fireworks Night. Throughout my childhood, fireworks night has always involved a much needed element of danger ... as if letting off explosives in your back garden isn't tricky enough, we have to do it with our own loving version of The Incredible Hulk. For years my brother and I have watched dearest pops stagger about in the dark, falling over his wellies, tripping on the way back up the garden, returning to the perilous unlit firework ... it was always an adventure (which, incidentally, seems to have put my younger brother off homestyle firework shows) And this year Kez got to experience it for the first time.

The Peril of Firework Night from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.

Firework Peril from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.