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Happy Days

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This is just a collection of random pictures of happy times over the past couple of months—pictures I never found a spot for before. Mr. Imagination was so happy to have puddles to splash in! This was one of our first rains in March, and was some of the first puddles he had the opportunity to play in for a couple of years. 07-20170313_113735

All these lovely people, plus a few more, slept and ate at our house for a day and a half! We really enjoyed that weekend. One family had lived with us for two and a half months; they had to fly back to America a couple of days after the picture was taken, and the other family had come to say goodbye to them.

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Mr. Intellectual was doing a science experiment, with help from Mr. Inventor and Esther. It had something to do with how pulleys work.

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A friend came one day to say goodbye before she goes to America for a year. She loves children, and spent a lot of the day with the little ones. You can see how Little Miss loved her!01-IMG_2145

I believe this is a cup of hot chocolate from the friend in the picture above. Think Little Miss likes it?

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We were given a big box of clothes, and Mr. Inventor had great fun dressing up and trying to look as ridiculous as possible! (And now I notice a cat enjoying the box!)

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I came out of the bedroom after praying with Gayle at bedtime one night, and found that, not only had the boys not gone to bed, Mr. Inventor was busy tying Mr. Diligence up!

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When we happen to have a Sunday afternoon at home, Daddy sometimes plays a game with the children. They love it!

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Kubb

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We have learned a new game this year. It’s very fun, everyone can be involved, and it gets people outside and active. Win, win! This game is called Kubb, and apparently originated in Sweden—possibly as far back as Viking times. Basically, you throw batons to try to knock over pieces of 2x4s, while avoiding a larger piece of wood set up in the center. It’s very easy to make the game—just get yourself a length of 2×4, a length of 1-inch dowel, and a chunk of 4×4. Read the rules on the Wikipedia page here. We’ve learned that Mr. Inventor is the man to have on your team; he almost invariably wins. This game is addictive. I’ve found that you want to keep going, hoping against hope that eventually you’ll actually hit a target! Here are pictures of the game we played together last week.

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The spectators. We had to keep moving them out of the playing field. Once, they were stretched out on their tummies, watching us throw!

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Sometimes you get to stack up several Kubbs. That makes it easy to knock them down!

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We were all amused when Princess chased one of the throwing sticks!

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It can be very difficult to get the stack to balance sometimes!

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Fun at the Park

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We had to go to Christchurch last week for Mr. Inventor’s orthodontist appointment. While he and I were in there, the rest of the family walked to a playground down the street. That was quite a treat for these country children! Here are Mr. Handyman and Little Miss.DSCF1030

Mr. Intellectual

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Mr. Inventor watching Mr. Intellectual, Mr. Imagination, Mr. Diligence, and Mr. Sweetie.

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Esther gave Little Miss a swing ride. Apparently, Little Miss loved it so much she was quite upset when they quit swinging.

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Summer Afternoon

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a post one afternoon while I was outside watching my three little ones play. Here are a few more pictures I took that afternoon.

Little Miss took a long nap on my lap. That got rather uncomfortable, but she liked it! I got five books reviewed.

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After playing in the water in the old bathtub for awhile, the little boys warmed up in the sun with the inner tubes.

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Mr. Inventor’s geese checked us out.

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After she woke up, Little Miss went exploring again.

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That was such a lovely afternoon!

This Afternoon and Last Night

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It’s pretty hot today, so I’m letting my little people cool off with water. They would love to go to a swimming pool, but the big boys are all at work so I’m giving them the next best: cold water in a bathtub, with a plastic tub for Little Miss. This is when I really like having a laptop, so I can watch them while still getting something done! This is what I see as I write this:

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When I went outside last evening to take a few pictures for the post I did featuring the garden, I got to enjoy a brilliant double rainbow. It was much more beautiful than these pictures show.

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This is one of this year’s experiments. Right after we planted the tomatoes, I had broccoli and cauliflower that also needed planted, but didn’t have any space for them. I put some between rows of tomatoes. A chicken ate most of them while they were tiny, but some of the broccoli survived. It’s getting taken over by tomatoes by now, but I noticed that some are starting to form heads!

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The sunset was gorgeous, and I always enjoy seeing the Indian Runner ducks running in single file across the paddock. The geese were pretty active, too, but the turkeys were going to bed. It was dark enough that my camera flashed, and in this picture, the second one I took, they were getting nervous.

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Evening Antics

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One evening the little boys were playing church just before bed. Mr. Imagination used these two stools.IMG_1262

Mr. Sweetie was preaching from the tall stool, and then Mr. Diligence took his place.

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Mr. Intellectual was at his usual occupation. (I’m enjoying having a child who is as much a bookworm as I am!)

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Mr. Inventor was enjoying his baby sister. This is one of the best pictures we’ve ever gotten of him—he has a hard time putting on a natural expression.

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How to Make Egg Cake

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Our ducks have been laying their eggs in puddles–especially in the large “lake” in the paddock in front of the house. The boys ate some of the first ones they found, but decided they tasted like swamp muck. We cooked the rest of that batch to feed to the chicks. The next time some came in, I told the boy responsible that either he would cook them, or we would throw them away. My 9-weeks-pregnant tummy couldn’t handle the thought of possibly cracking open a rotten egg! Of course, he opted to throw them away. Boy #4, however, had a brilliant idea: cook with them! Here is the video he and a brother made of his creation. And yes, he is up high in a tree. What can I say–we have real boys!

Little Boy Having Fun

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Our  littlest, who recently turned two, loves playing outside. One evening, I looked out the kitchen window to see him hanging over this gate! His big sister grabbed the camera, then ran to his assistance. It turns out that he had climbed up, dropped a pen he was playing with, then couldn’t get it. Poor little fellow was quite distressed. After he got the pen back, though, he was fine. The next act was to try to stare down the calf—and then he pretended to shoot him with the pen!

Another day, I was hanging laundry and he came out and wandered over to the shed where a puddle forms instantly under a leaky rain gutter when it rains. At that time, we hadn’t had rain for a few weeks, and he sadly commented that there was no water there. Within a few hours, however, it started raining and he happily discovered the puddle again!

He somehow manages to lose his pants frequently, and we often don’t get them back on for awhile. He likes it better this way.

One day, Daddy was fixing a door and had to lay down to see what to do with it. He had helpers!

This little fellow’s favorite activity for a couple of days was “cooking”. He would get all the pots he could carry from the cupboard in the kitchen, then spread them out on the floor in the living room and “cook eggs”. Those pots were HOT! he said.