So I applied scientific approach and made a  literature search on “young kids” and  “realistic drawing”. The answer was a Monart method. My uptake is that there is not much of a method, just a common sense based on three things: i) drawing is a teachable subject (but we all know this: it is music that is not (don’t get me started on music!); drawing is like math – everyone can do it if they are taught tricks and then practice!); ii) you can split any object into straight lines, curvy lines, and misshaped dots and circles – so drawing a pirate ship for example is not more difficult than a crossed out oval, just takes more time; iii) don’t fluff around with kids, just go straight into drawing tigers in tropical storms – they can all do it if you split it into digestible steps.

So equipped with these ideas, plus a print out of stickmen (), we started drawing with Tolii. Andrew said that as a result of these lessons Tolii was going to hate drawing just like I hated playing piano at his age (and for the rest of my life). Maybe it is true, but if Tolii sticks with the drawing for as long as I did with piano (8 years) he will end up with a usable skill and not with a useless highly polished box which takes up half the room. Feeling guilty I bought Tolii a set of soft pastels with all the paraphernalia: he is attracted to bright colours and was spotted just sitting with his box of pastels staring at them for a long time. After throwing a few tantrums (along the lines of “I am rubbish at it!” and “It is impossible!”) Tolii produced a pirate ship (which he managed to sell to Daddy for £1 with a promise not to burn it after Daddy’s explanation of the implications of ownership transfer).

My base line idea “draw 5 stickmen every day, and you will be able to do it perfectly in one month” got broken down by a solid 6 year old’s logic: “Do five stick men every day for one day, and then do a 3D snowboarder at the winter Olympics in the Vancouver mountains. Actually two snowboarders competing”.

I have taken to using the train for my commute into Fleet this year; and the time had come to renew the insurance on the X-registration (2000) Honda Civic, plus we had to pay a hefty repair bill to get it to pass its MOT in February.

We decided after a bit of ‘what if’ scenario playing that we can manage with just one car. (One of friends thinks we should be able to manage with no car…but one step at a time!)

So, onto AutoTrader it went last Sunday.  This Sunday it was bought by a lovely couple who drove 3.5 hours from Devon to see it.  After a test drive out to Overton and back, we agreed on a discount because a cambelt was due for replacement.  We sat down outside to enjoy some coffee together, to celebrate the exchange and to fill in the V5C paperwork.

We’re going to put the purchase price towards our summer holiday, and a possible Brompton for me in the future…

A proud 'Star of the Week' (note how he is trying to hide the fact he's sneaking a candy)

Tosha is the ‘Star of the Week’!

He was given the coveted award for his determination to read well.

He reads books most nights to us; and obviously is enjoying reading at school, too.

He was very proud of himself this week, too, for starting on ’stage 2′ books which give him that little bit more of a challenge.

Well done, kiddo!

Something's missing!

We had delicious pancakes for lunch today.  There’s all kinds of tasty things we spread and put on them before rolling them up (for they are quite thin) and eating them.

My favourite is the ‘yoghurt goo’, which consists of Greek yoghurt, prunes, bananas, strawberries and nuts (or seeds) mashed together in a food processor.

Tosha enjoyed his pancakes covered with cream cheese then filled with sliced ham and grated cheese.

Tolii had the same as Tosha, then went for another, this time covered just with cherry jam.

He was savouring the flavour when he said, “There’s something hard in it”.

Tolii has been wiggling a loose tooth since at least November!

Katya said, “Its probably a stone from a cherry in the jam.  Just spit it out here in my hand.”

Tolii spat.  It didn’t look like a stone.  If it was, it sure was white. And small.

Katya looked at Tolii and smiled, “It’s your tooth!  It has finally come out!”

An different kind of smile!

Tolii smiled, and showed off his gaping hole. He immediately put the tooth into an old pill box and put it under his pillow (Is it nature or nurture?)

After lunch, we all went for a long walk around the countryside.  We played a quiz game as we went: 10 questions about teeth.  Go on, try to think of 10 questions about teeth!

One of the questions Tolii came up with was, “What does the Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she collects?”

Hmmm.  I think she grinds them up to make snow. Tolii said she fires them out of fire shooters.  Tosha says she puts them all into a big bowl and rolls them around.  And, Katya thinks she repairs and builds extensions to her castle with them.

A gap for a straw.

As we continued our walk, Tolii discovered an immediate benefit to having a missing tooth: easy entry of a straw into his mouth.  Never was it so much fun to sip apple juice.  Gosh, now that’s something I remember doing when I lost my teeth as a kid!

We are now looking forward to tomorrow morning, to find out what the going rate is for teeth collected by the Tooth Fairy.  Its going into Tolii’s money box to be put towards a Nintendo DS Lite.