Our children made a couple of movies last week. I enjoyed them so much that I want you to have the opportunity to see them, too. I know some of you already have, but for you others–enjoy!
Children
Supermoon
After a full week of rain, we figured there was no way we’d be able to see the full moon last weekend. However, the skies cleared just in time! We got to enjoy the brilliant moonlight as we drove home from a midwinter dinner Sunday night–we could even see it shining on the snow-capped mountains off in the distance! When I went out to milk the next morning, the moon was about to set over the hills in the west and was so beautiful that I ran back in to grab the camera.
Last glimpse of the super moon.
First rays of sunlight hitting the snow-covered hills to our west.
And, here are some random shots from the week. Sunset through the trees in our front yard.
New way to play piano: When your clothes are being changed, jump up and run away to big sister, lay down in her lap, and play the keys with your feet!
Elijah made a pinata this week, in honor of Daddy’s birthday. We had great fun cracking it last night.
Crooked Grin
A few days ago, Baby invented the funniest crooked grin. It cracks me up every time I see it!
This grin is also typical–especially when he’s coming for a hug!
Guess who liked the pancakes for breakfast!
Pretty pleased with himself–he found a whole roll of fruit leather that someone left on the table.
The two oldest boys were wrestling. They seemed pretty evenly matched!
Birthday Party
We had a birthday party last week for the boy who turned nine. I am not one to plan an elaborate party, so I just invited a few families with boys that my boys like to play with, and they had a fun afternoon together the day after his birthday. The game of choice was apparently Red Rover–I think they played it nearly all afternoon!
They took a break when two boys banged heads.
This boy actually had two parties–we had a friend over the night of his actual birthday, and had pavlova.
Water Fight!
Spring is here; today is warm! The big boys are away, working for our landlord (they get to drive tractor!), and the younger boys asked if they could have a water fight. I am trying to say “yes” more often, when I can, so I told them they could. They have been having great fun! Baby is having fun, too; he’s been crawling around the yard going from bucket to bucket and getting himself all wet from the wet grass. Don’t worry about baby and bucket of water; it’s empty now. 
No, this isn’t the water fight, but I thought it was cute. This happened this morning.
Flower Boy
A big brother tossed the dandelions to the baby, and of course he had to figure out how they tasted! I hear that dandelions are quite nutritious….
This Past Week or Two in Pictures
I keep thinking about things to blog about, but real life keeps getting in the way. So, here are a bunch of pictures to give you a glimpse into the past couple of weeks.
Now that he can get around we have to be more diligent about cleaning up ashes!
Last Tuesday we had the biggest hail I have ever seen. When it hit a boogie board in front of the house it bounced up 3 meters (10 feet)!
After the storm passed, the cows finally made it to the trees for shelter–and when the sun hit them a cloud of steam went up!
Hail on the trampoline.
Almost crawling!
Gayle and the boys built the framework for raised beds on Saturday.
On Sunday we stopped to explore some rock pools along the coast.
Starfish
Sea anemone
Music
Last evening I came into the living room and found Gayle and the two youngest at the piano. The second-youngest had told his daddy that he wanted to sing him “a beautiful song”. Totally spontaneously, he was singing, “Jesus is on the cross” and playing the piano to accompany himself. It was so sweet that I grabbed the camera to record the scene! The blurry places in the video are just because the light was dim.
Beach and Playground
Yesterday the sun shone! We’ve had several weeks of mostly rainy days, so when it was nice yesterday I challenged the children to finish their schoolwork by 11:00. Everyone was done by 11:30, so we went to the beach for a little while. We wanted to be home by 1:00 to be around when our landlord’s son came over to work with a wild cow that was here, but the beach is less than 15-minute’s drive away so we can go for just a short time.
A cold wind was blowing off the Pacific, so we didn’t stay out there very long. I told the boys to see who could find the most interesting item washed up along the high-tide line, and they came up with some good ones. There was part of a horse mussel shell with barnacles on it, a sponge attached to a shell, and a clump of several different seaweeds with various shells through it. The 2-year-old collected a lot of sponges. (When his Daddy came home from work, he wanted to show him his “seahorses”!)
The trail that goes up and over a small bluff to the beach.
Off on the search for treasure!
The clump of seaweed and shells.
I carried baby, in his wrap, and the sponges that 2-year-old collected.
After spending awhile on the beach, we went to the playground on the other side of the bluff. There is just enough of a rise of land to break the wind, and it was lovely and warm there. Some of the boys just climbed around, but most of them spent time one time or another figuring out how to balance the seesaw with their various weights. A seesaw, by the way, is a great way to learn how a balance scale works, and how you can use your weight on a lever in different ways!
Balanced!
Baby woke up and enjoyed the bright day, too!
On our way home, we drove through the Cheviot Domain–an area of public land–to admire the daffodils.
Times Have Changed!
Yesterday when we were cleaning I saw some notebooks I used to keep a journal in for the older children when they were young. I tried to write something once a week for each of them. I actually kept that up for about four or five years before life got too busy! I brought out the book I wrote for our oldest, and read her a few excerpts. She enjoyed that so much that she copied some things into her blog, and scanned a few pictures from the photo album I made her when she was small. I was reading that book and looking at pictures from back when we had a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a baby. How times have changed! Back then, if something needed doing, I did it. Now, I can assign it to be done. Then, I was working with babies all day, with no adult conversation–no wonder I liked talking on the phone! Now, I can converse intelligently with my nearly-grown daughter, and the boys are even old enough to really talk to. And, they can do so much by themselves. For example, yesterday afternoon the 8-year-old wanted some play dough. He had come across a recipe in one of our science books. I told him to make it himself. He did, with only a little coaching while I was working nearby, and then he taught two of his brothers (10 and 6) how to, also! He also made dinner rolls, but was confused about Tablespoons and teaspoons and used the wrong one to measure the salt! Oops. Now we know what happens to yeast when too much salt is put with it. He made the rolls into tortillas instead and I’ll use them for a casserole that needs salt.
Notice the tabletop. So many blogs I read have pictures of immaculate kitchens. They always seem a bit unreal to me. This is very real life in our house! The ingredients for a meal or two are sitting there waiting to be used!