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You are here: Home / Archives for Activities at Home

Activities at Home

September 2023 Photos

October 29, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the rest of the random photos from last month. I don’t remember what the occasion was for the pie, but I took this picture because we made the ice cream from a recipe that my sister-in-law gave me. It was delicious!

Simon spent a few of his days off fixing the old ute to make it able to pass its inspection. We were thankful not to have to junk it, too–the gray van couldn’t pass, so we have just replaced it.

James started building a sleepout for himself. Here he is setting up the joists and building the floor. It hasn’t gotten past that yet.

There are lots of Lego creations around. I thought these were pretty nice.

Mr. Sweetie requested a chocolate pizza for his birthday cake. (If you don’t understand, read The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Esther baked a base from sweet roll dough, and we spread it with Nutella, then topped it with M&Ms and miniature marshmallows. Next time, we’ll make the dough thinner–it was too thick.

Our little lime tree produced a lot of fruit this year! I fermented some, and juiced the rest to freeze for later use.

Somehow, I don’t think Princess appreciated having a pillow on top of her.

Mr. Sweetie made these moccasins for himself.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Random Photos

More Birds!

October 22, 2023 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Every so often, when I look at the camera, I find evidence that someone has been using it besides me. Some of the pictures are nice, some get deleted. Here are a few of the ones I found this time. Apparently, Jo-Jo wasn’t interested in the mirror, but Kea was!

Miss Joy loves the birds! We can’t touch Kea, but Jo-Jo will sometimes be persuaded to sit on a shoulder.

I took this one. One of the children was sure that the yellow-headed bird he saw in the empty section beside our house was a budgie–I took the picture, then zoomed in to show him what it really was.

I also took these two pictures when I was at Arthur’s Pass on the way home from HEART South. First one kea was considering eating Esther’s car, and then another joined it. They didn’t get any bites, though!

Gayle took this picture one day when he was down in the paddock with the children. These are the chicks I hatched in the incubator in May.

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Birds

Elijah’s Birthday

October 8, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Elijah had a birthday last week. Most of us went in on a high-lift jack to go along with his truck, and when it was delivered here, on his birthday, I decided to hide it in the truck. It has tinted windows, and we knew he wouldn’t be using it that evening. That gave us the idea to make him a treasure hunt to find it, so the other children all put their heads together and wrote up a trail of clues. It took them about five minutes to write and distribute all the clues! I got a video of the last two stops so that Simon could share in a little of the fun, since he couldn’t be here. The first clip shows him finding the clue for which he was given “Words in Red.” He found the last one there, which was, “Red Monster,” meaning his truck. Then, though it’s dark, you can see him finding the gift. After that, everyone came back inside and he was given a few other things. First, James challenged him to an arm wrestle–the winner could have the gifts! Unfortunately for James, Elijah is quite a lot stronger still! After that, James started a newspaper-ball fight with the gift wrapping. (Do you get the idea that James keeps things lively here?)

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Elijah, Video

More Children’s Fun

September 24, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Our children are always coming up with new and creative ways to have fun together. One Sunday afternoon on our way home from church we stopped and let the girls pick a few daffodils beside the road. Then, Esther took a selfie with her little sisters and their flowers.

Mr. Imagination built this contraption for Miss Joy. It’s supposed to be a tractor; it’s more like a go-kart. They have spent a lot of time pushing each other around in it.

One afternoon, I noticed the girls playing that they were going shopping with the book bags Grandma made while she was here. I didn’t want to distract them by going in the room to get my camera, so I grabbed the iPad to take a picture. It didn’t turn out very well, but it’s precious to me anyway.

Miss Joy loves Goofball! Goofball isn’t sure she loves Miss Joy, but she puts up with a lot. She’s a very gentle cat who keeps her claws in.

Gayle frequently walks “around the block” with the children. One time, he let them slide on piles of gravel at the bottom of the hill. They sure had fun–and they sure came home dirty!

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Ahaura, Children

Palio

August 27, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Sometimes a book we read aloud together really strikes a chord with the children. We’re studying the Middle Ages right now, working our way through the TruthQuest History guide to the Middle Ages. One historical fiction suggestion was Palio, by Marguerite Henry. This book isn’t set in the Middle Ages, but it describes a race that has been happening twice every year for over 700 years, following the same rituals as at its beginning in the Middle Ages. I happen to love Marguerite Henry’s books, so it was a great excuse to reread one of them!

All of us thoroughly enjoyed reading Palio. By the time we reached the last half dozen chapters, I was getting questions about whether the Palio is still being run, so I promised that we would look it up online after finishing the book. We did, and sure enough, it is still being held every July and August. In fact, we finished reading the book on August 14, and the next running of the Palio was only two days away! Esther found us a video online that showed the event through the eyes of a Sienese native, and then we watched one about the horse lottery that happened that week. The day the race was run, we searched for another about the day’s race, and got to watch that. It was a lot of fun to be able to see the continuation of a tradition we had just read an engrossing story about. Having read the book, we were somewhat familiar with the various neighborhoods of Siena and were able to recognize them even though the broadcasts were in Italian.

Reading aloud is so much fun! It is definitely the favorite part of the school day for both the children and their teacher. I read to them for 30-45 minutes every morning while the breakfast dishes are being done before we start our school day, another 40-45 minutes in the afternoon while lunch dishes are being washed, and also to each of the little girls separately, for 15-20 minutes each, some time during the day. Winter is great for being able to do that! Summer is more challenging; I still read during dishwashing time, but it’s harder to fit in the little girls’ reading (although by now Miss Joy makes sure I don’t forget her–if she realizes in the evening that I haven’t yet, she announces, with great drama as if it is a catastrophe, “You haven’t read to me yet!”).

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Book Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Homeschooling

July 2023 Photos

August 20, 2023 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Here are the last several photos from July! The boys found this typewriter at the dump one day. They brought it home and we found that it worked fine. I bought a new ribbon for it so they could actually use it, and they occasionally do.

Mr. Sweetie working hard at his school work while Princess enjoys her favorite resting place–the penguin that matches her coat.

We went to North Canterbury to visit friends in late July, and saw a lot of snow on the way home. This is near Hanmer Springs, and there was even more near Lewis Pass. We didn’t stop to play in it, though, because Miss Joy was asleep and we didn’t want her to wake up. Travel is a lot easier when the youngest is asleep!

It’s the time of year for rainbows, and this one, viewed from our living room window, was especially beautiful.

Our homeschool group spent a couple of months building and racing go-karts. Mr. Sweetie was the leader of this team; here, they are putting on the final touches before the big race. Unfortunately, his team lost.

We killed a steer in July. The boys are getting very good at this job! Simon and James built the crane, which mounts on Simon’s tractor. It works well! Sure is easier to skin an animal this way than if it’s laying on the ground.

A few days later, Esther and I did our bit, breaking down the carcass and boning it out. This first picture is both hind quarters; the second is the front quarters.

We ate lunch outside that day! We were thankful to have a warm mid-winter day, since the kitchen table was so full. Simon fried up some scraps of meat that were too small to make into steaks, but very tender. Yum!

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Butchering, Random Photos

Girls and Cats

August 13, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

When I looked through the photos I had from July, I noticed a lot of pictures of my little girls, and several of the cats–and some of both girls and cats.

Princess spends a lot of the winter in front of the fire. Usually she is curled up facing it, but this one day it looked like she just flopped down as she was walking!

One of the boys took this picture of Miss Joy while he was supposed to be doing school.

The girls love walking with their daddy! He often takes them around the block or down to the river.

The fad for awhile was crowns. Little Miss found a book on our shelves that showed her how to make a crown out of foil, so she made a number of them.

It’s always special to get Jo-Jo to sit on your shoulder!

One evening, Miss Joy was quite cranky. When I remembered that we had recordings of Grandma reading several picture books we have, I spent a few minutes transferring the recordings to my iPad and finding the books on the shelf. Her evening was suddenly transformed; she spent the next 45 minutes till it was time to eat totally engrossed in stories.

Goofball

A craft project we did one day was to make fans, since we had just spent a couple of days learning about Japan. The girls then packed a tea party and took it outside.

Goofball is Miss Joy’s favorite cat, because she is always gentle. We had our homeschool group meeting here one day, and while the children played outside, these two sat on our vine-covered stump and watched for quite a long time.

Our little mommy. She loves her dolls!

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: cats, Girls, Little Miss, Miss Joy

June 2023 Photos

July 9, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are last month’s pictures!

I was working in the garden one day, digging oxalis corms and buttercups out under the edge of the greenhouse. Miss Joy came along and laid down flat on the freshly-dug soil, and started digging through it, finding earthworms. I suggested she “plant” the earthworms in soil in her container, so she did, and then tried to dig them out.

Jo-Jo the cockatiel and Kea the budgie get along pretty well most of the time.

We had a lot of frosty mornings the first two weeks of June. Mr. Sweetie used my camera one morning to get pictures of the sun coming up through the trees across the road.

He also got some pictures of a cold kingfisher that sat on this post for awhile. Once, we saw it fly down to the mud, pick something up, and eat it–probably a worm.

Another day, the children found this tiny frog in a flax bush behind the house.

Miss Joy loves to brush hair. One morning when Little Miss needed her hair brushed, and Miss Joy was at loose ends, I suggested she brush her big sister’s hair. She was delighted, and it kept her busy for quite awhile. She’s very gentle, and does a good job.

Mr. Sweetie was outside with my camera one day and took a picture of Grizzly. That cat is always looking for a new place to sit for a nap.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Ahaura, Random Photos, West Coast

Busy Birds

June 25, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Several months ago, I took several of the children to the library. One book they picked out was about birds, and the three youngest enjoyed acting it out. Mr. Imagination is reading the book while his two little sisters do the actions. This video clip is rather blurry and shaky, but there are enough cute parts that I thought Grandma might enjoy it.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Video

May 2023 Photos

June 18, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

May was a busy month–but not many photos! Here are the ones I have to share.

I was sitting here at my desk one rainy day (it rained the entire month of May) and glanced out the window to my right. There were two wekas walking around in the drainage ditch!

This was a Sunday afternoon that we spent at home. A friend came for lunch and played a game with the children. It happened to be Simon’s weekend off, so he was here, too.

This was the most exciting thing that happened in May. We hatched some eggs in our incubator! We started with 36 eggs, but threw away 21 after a week and a half because they were duds. We ended up with 9 babies. So exciting to have some success!

Our jalapeno plants in the greenhouse, did very well this year. There were so many that I decided to try pickling them. I thought this bowlful of sliced peppers was so pretty!

The final product is pretty, too. I used a few slices in a soup I made for church today, and they flavored it very nicely. The boys like to add these to hamburger sandwiches or tacos.

We often see James sleeping in odd places when we finish family prayers in the evening. He goes hard all day, and then sleeps hard at night.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Chickens, Random Photos

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The Family:


Dad and Mom (Gayle and Emma)

Girl #1, Esther, my right hand

Boy #1, Seth (Mr. Handyman)

Boy #2, Simon (Mr. Inventor)

Boy #3, Mr. Intellectual

Boy #4, Mr. Diligence

Boy #5, Mr. Sweetie

Boy #6, Mr. Imagination

Girl #2, Little Miss

Girl #3, Miss Joy

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