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….
Children
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!
This Past Week
It’s not real easy to write when most computer time involves multi-tasking (which being interpreted means feeding the baby!). I’ll just put in a few pictures from this past week.
Baby thinks life is rough! He even frowns in his sleep!
For Dead Boring last week, we met in a gym and the children played while the moms talked. The group is so large now that we’ve had to split in two, but still want to all see each other occasionally. Four times a year we plan to meet this way, and just have a social day without sharing writings like we normally do. The children played hockey.
These are two of my boys, James and Simon.
The child farthest left and the one third from right are mine.
Baby studies things–mostly to figure out how they’ll taste!
Haircuts last night! This was the pile after I cut six heads of hair!
Bedtime story! We’re reading Horse of a Different Color, by Ralph Moody, right now. Baby was asleep with his mouth clamped tightly shut.
On our way home from church today, we stopped for half an hour at the beach, where the Kowhai River empties into the sea just south of Kaikoura. The waves were very high today. I love those cliffs in the distance, just south of Oaro.
Brotherly love–the bank at the edge of the parking area, going down to the river’s edge, was steep, with these large rocks. I like this one so well I put it on my desktop screen!
This is the boy who reads the best, enjoying Naya Nuki by Ken Thomasma for the fourth time.
Big sis was playing with her new tripod, and caught this picture. Glad that leg was up to hide everything else!
Six Boys
Six boys live in our house. Want proof? Today’s game: tackling (till too many got hurt and came in the house saying they were done!).
Gayle butchered a goat yesterday and a couple of the boys decided to tan the hide.
….And number six would dearly love to join the fun! He can’t wait till he’s big enough.
Sorting
The boys needed something to do tonight, besides playing with legos and looking at lego creations online, so I assigned them to sort the container cupboard. It had gotten to the point where it was frustrating to try to match a lid with a container, and I knew there were lid-less containers and vice versa. They started out grumbling about having to do the job, but when I told them they could have the mismatched containers they were suddenly enthusiastic and the job got finished quickly! Now the cupboard has lots of room and is tidy (for a short time, anyway).
Baby was entertained for awhile, listening and watching.
Baby’s First Outing
Today was Baby’s first time to leave home. We took a picnic lunch to Gore Bay, and the older children played in the sand for a couple of hours. Esther and Grandma enjoyed taking pictures!
Baby slept happily on the way to Gore Bay and for an hour or more while we were there.
Lots of waves and lots of foam today!
When the waves went out, there was still enough water in the sand to make reflections. 
Daddy, Grandma, and the boys.
Baby was not happy about being in his seat when we left, and cried until he fell asleep (in a couple of minutes!) with this aggrieved expression on his face.
Camping
Last night, the children all decided to camp out! They pitched our two 3-man tents beside the pear orchard, and three slept in each tent. Esther came in a little after 6:00 this morning, because she hadn’t slept well, but it seems as if the boys all slept fine. They built a fire this morning and cooked sausages for their breakfast–then came in and most of them are eating cold cereal to finish off now! The only thing that would have made the night even better is if baby would have come. Oh, well.
