Our family's life in New Zealand
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was getting behind on my work, so I declared today to be a school holiday. Would you believe, no one objected! I was able to get a lot of things off my list: The beans Esther picked Monday got snapped (while I read to the boys, so we did do some school).
The cabbage the boys picked for me Monday got turned into sourkraut.
We had a freezer go out this week, so I cooked up a pile of bags of plums from last year. One big pot turned into jam (didn’t follow the recipe, so I’m not sure yet if it set or not–it will be syrup if not!). 
Another big pot has had the pits picked out and has been pureed, but I’m bringing it to a boil tonight so it will be safe to leave till morning. The last big pot (yes, I have a lot of big pots–love them!) is also coming to a boil and I’ll decide tomorrow what to do with it.
And, we got in a field trip of sorts this afternoon and evening. Our landlord started combining wheat around 4:30, and the children have been watching intently! He’s running his own combine and having someone else run their Klaas combine to get the job done quicker. The combines are harvesting faster than the trucks and tractors can haul it away! They are getting about 180 bushels to the acre. One truck that’s being used must be from the ’50s or early ’60s, and frequently backfires–“Mom, what makes a truck backfire?” “I don’t know, ask your dad. I just know that’s what that noise is!”
Our landlord’s combine.
The boys were all finished with their “hard” subjects by lunch time, and two of them got busy playing a game of New Zealand geography that a friend gave us yesterday.
The youngest was being himself,
while the oldest was working on her high school.
She’s using the Far Above Rubies curriculum, and loving it. She’s been putting everything she does with it on a blog.
It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten anything on here. Daily life is busy! Here are a few glimpses of yesterday (I planned to post this yesterday, but….) I had Esther grab her camera and take pictures of what all her brothers were doing.
Two little boys were busy coloring pictures in the morning–look at that concentration!
This boy was reading a book on our new Kindle.
This boy was making tent pegs to give to some friends.
Oldest boy was mowing–one of his favorite jobs.
Lunchtime–think they like salad?!!
I had a bit of time in the evening to zigzag around the squares of flannel from an old nightgown that I was making into wipes for the new baby, and Joe handed them to me.
I am not one to plan a wonderful birthday party, but Seth turned 12 today and we had a small party for him. He got to have a friend over for the night last night, and another friend’s mother brought her children for a couple of hours this morning and then took the first friend home with her so his dad could pick him up. I had imagined that the boys would spend their time playing outside–but it started raining this morning! They were out for about half an hour, but then came in. We had to quickly think up inside games for a group–not my forte, either! They ended up playing Musical Chairs, and then Elephant Stop, which is a fun variation of Blindman’s Bluff. After that, they each made an individual pizza, and while the pizzas were baking they played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I learned how not to do that! I had printed out a donkey, on four sheets of paper, and they felt the edge of the paper. Then, they felt each other’s tails and used them as a reference point to put their own on. I decided that it would have been better to trace the donkey onto a larger sheet of paper, and then draw the tails on with pencil or marker–have to make it more challenging for my crew! They seemed to have fun, though.
Musical Chairs–down to the last two!
Elephant Stop
The birthday boy with his cupcakes!
Enjoying his ice cream!
This has been another normal, interesting week. The “mud” in the title comes from Wednesday evening, when the three youngest boys slipped outside after supper when I wasn’t watching. They went into the garden, which they had been told before supper not to do, and played in the mud. I’m sure it was fun–but what a mess! I didn’t get a picture of it, but it looked worse than this one from Michigan two and a half years ago! This time, they were coated from head to toe in thick, sticky clay! Because they had disobeyed, and because they knew beforehand what the penalty is for getting muddy, I had no compunctions about hosing them down with a cold-water hose. I had to hose and rub with my hands to get the quarter inch of clay mud off their clothes, then had them take off their clothes, and hosed them again, and then sent them to the bathroom to finish off with a cold shower! And it wasn’t a warm evening. They all decided they don’t want that again. While the youngest watched the other two getting cleaned up first, his lip stuck out farther and farther as he considered his coming fate.
One warm evening, the kitchen door was open, and Ginger came along to see what we were doing.
I spent a couple of days this week sorting clothing. Does this look anything like a secondhand shop? or a garage sale? We’ve been blessed with lots of hand-me-down clothes for the boys!
Next step: sort through what each boy had in his drawers/closet and decide what to keep and what to put away/throw away. Here is Seth’s stack (think he had more than he needed?):
One rainy day, Esther decided to make a batch of bread, since it always raises better on that sort of day. I gave instructions while I worked on clothing. It turned out pretty nice!
One day this week the sun shone! I did lots of laundry (and it all got dry!) and we weeded the strawberry bed. We found a number of ripe strawberries. Yumm! We have to get them quickly or the slugs eat them.
Aren’t Esther’s kids cute?
We went to Gore Bay for a baptism this afternoon, and when I mentioned we wanted a family picture, one of the ladies there offered to help take one. It took quite a few tries to get one with everyone’s eyes open, and this is the best.
After the baptism, we went to the home of the girl who was baptized for a meal. Joe discovered this wheelbarrow and had so much fun with it that they gave it to him when we left!
So there you have it–several tiny glimpses into our week. It was a good one!
We had a spur-of-the-moment picnic at the ocean tonight. I threw together a quick casserole by baking sausages and cutting them into little pieces, then mixing in a couple of cans of baked beans and topping it with leftover mashed potatoes, while Elijah made Ants on a Log (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and Esther cut up fruit. Then, while the casserole baked, we milked quickly and then left. The children had great fun digging in the sand, while Gayle and I got to be by ourselves and walk down the beach to the rocky cliffs at the other end. What a lovely end to the day!
Looking south along Gore Bay
Is he really having fun?
One of my sweet boys picked this bouquet for me on the way back up the cliff!