Miss Joy

Miss Joy Turns One

August 26, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy had her birthday last week. We have a one-year-old again! We finally celebrated tonight; first, Esther was away, and then everyone came down with a tummy bug. Tonight, finally, enough people were feeling better that I made a pumpkin custard and we whipped some cream—two of her favorite foods. We gave her a bowlful of it and she was delighted!

She continues to be a very busy little girl. We sure enjoy having her in our family! She loves books.

She loves water and was thrilled to figure out that she could reach things at the sink one morning.

Little Miss gave her some food—and she gave it to the cat!

Escaping outside is so much fun—especially when there’s mud!She has fallen in love with dolls, especially this one, although she also lugs around the ones that are nearly her own size, too.

She loves to play the piano, too.

She got hold of a small New Testament today. I was in another room sewing, and was showed this picture by a happy big brother.

Miss Joy in July

August 17, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

I just looked over my photos from July, and most of them were of Miss Joy! Do you think we’re enjoying her?

This was just before she started walking; she figured out that she could push the crate around.

We roasted a turkey one evening, and she was delighted to be given some of the bones.

I made a carob cake with a fudgy frosting, and when she climbed up to the table she was delighted to find something yummy!

One of her brothers got these pictures before he left for work one morning.

She loves to climb into the window and look out.

She has been eating—and loving—ice cream for months already, but this was the first time she was handed a cone of her own. She loved it!

All worn out!

Simon with his little sisters.

Mr. Intellectual with his little sisters.

Checking out the cat’s tail! Princess has trained her by now to leave her alone

Yes, we took her down from here as soon as the photo was snapped! She’s rather daring.

Toes are so fun!

She loves my cup.

She discovered the piano recently.

She likes lettuce—especially the dressing on it!

Videos for Grandma

July 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Back in May, Mr. Imagination and Little Miss decided they wanted to put on a show for us. They practiced and prepared all day, holed up behind a box or two at the end of the hallway, and I wasn’t supposed to look. They presented the show to us in the evening, while their older brothers were all outside working on some project. I was instructed to take a video of the whole thing for them. My camera doesn’t work the best anymore, and drained a couple of sets of batteries during this show, but you can enjoy at least part of what they did! If the singing doesn’t sound quite on tune, just remember that this is the boy who never even attempted to sing until he was about five years old. He didn’t quite inherit his father’s talent with music, like all the other children did, but he’s making a joyful noise! As far as the skit, they had watched a video of someone reading Stone Soup aloud.

Also back in May, Miss Joy discovered the picture window. We set her up on the window seat one morning, and she was delighted to be able to look outside–and then she discovered that the glass squeaked when she rubbed her head on it! We were in stitches as she squeaked her head over and over again! She had also just learned how to wave. The other two clips are from last week, when she learned to climb up into the windowsill. She was thrilled to figure out how to open the window.

May 2020 Photos

July 12, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Here are the rest of our photos from May! Miss Joy is a favorite subject.

My oldest and youngest!

Miss Joy went into Esther’s room one evening and found her crocheting bag. She spent half an hour making a mess of this ball of yarn. Then, Esther got to straighten it out! Miss Joy had fun.

We cleaned up a strip of land beside our garden, which was covered in large rhododendron bushes. Esther got a picture of the end of the process. We’re now planting fruit trees in that strip.

The boys also finished cleaning out the last of the corn stalks that day.

This little girl does not like coats!

While she was away, Esther recorded herself reading a book she had started to read to the younger ones before she left. Here they are listening to another chapter. Can you tell that Simon loves stories, too?

I was pleased with the green beans I harvested from the greenhouse in mid-May!

The younger ones did art for school for a few days—just art! They loved it.

Sleeping beauty. I love holding her when she’s asleep. She doesn’t last very long that way, though; she sleeps a lot longer if I put her in her bed.

She loves sourkraut!

While Esther was away, Mr. Intellectual got to make the bread for the family. He was quite pleased with how this first batch turned out.

Miss Joy is in love with this blanket!

Miss Joy

April 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy is growing fast! At nearly 8 months, she crawls anywhere she wants to go. She stands up against anything that will support her—or not; she’s always experimenting to see what is solid and what is not. Nearly everything goes in her mouth; you have to find out if it’s edible or not! She has learned to leave the cat alone. That tail is so tempting—but the cat has made sure that Miss Joy knows she is off limits! No scratches, but there were definitely some warning slaps and growls. We’re also treated to a fast-growing repertoire of sounds, as she practices with various syllables. She has the funniest growling cackle that makes us laugh every time she does it. She was sick the last two days with a mysterious fever, which made her quite lethargic. We enjoyed the extra cuddling time, but we’re all thankful today that she’s well again, after a solid night’s sleep. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: We thoroughly enjoy this baby!

I think this first picture was from early March. She was thrilled to find a window she could see out of! She likes being outside better than in the house.

The dishwasher is such fun to explore! I have to take the cutlery basket out and put it out of reach when dishes are drying, or spoons and forks end up strewn all over the floor.

She was tickled one day to find the pea vines in the bathtub planter. Peas are so yummy!She crawled into Esther and Little Miss’s bedroom one day and gave Esther this beautiful grin. See those two little teeth?

Tomatoes are so delicious.

Little Miss asked Esther, “Is it all right if we share germs?”

Mr. Imagination got out the box of games and puzzles one day. It was such fun to climb over and through, and then sit up in!

She found an apple under the table. Mr. Imagination took this first picture. I love it even though it’s blurry. Esther got two more, which are clearer, but I don’t think they’re quite so cute. The poor baby ends up stuck under the table sometimes because she can’t crawl under the benches.

Here are a few video clips we made of her laughing. I love how she laughs so hard sometimes that she loses her balance!

This Week

March 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We took quite a few pictures this week! Miss Joy has been quite busy, and she is so cute we can’t resist taking pictures of her. She learned to climb up on things, and one evening she was delighted to get up on a box and find another box within reach, with delicious peaches in it! Then, she sampled the zucchinis that were next to her.

We were given a lot of black boy peaches last week, and spent several days canning them. Isn’t canned fruit beautiful!

I came home from my trip to town this week and found these “zumpkins”. Now I know who picked them! We left the self-seeded pumpkin plants in the garden; obviously some of them were a cross between spaghetti squash and zucchini. They are good with meatloaf baked in them.

After we got home from town, I carried Miss Joy into the house in her carseat. The next day she was playing in the living room, and climbed into it. Somehow she tipped it over on top of herself. She wasn’t worried; she just crawled away, with the seat going with her! Someone called her a turtle.

Mr. Sweetie was washing the kitchen floor, so I told him to turn a bench over to keep Miss Joy out of the kitchen. She immediately crawled over to it, stood up, and put her leg over it. So much for that idea!

Storytime!

And game time!

While I was making lunch today, I went out to the garden to harvest veges for our stir-fry. I brought in this kale, silverbeet (Swiss Chard), basil, spring onions, and a rock melon. I told Gayle I had been to the shop. He said I’m the kind of woman who goes to the market every day. I replied that it’s sometimes several times a day! Sure enough, by the end of the day I had been out there three times, even though it was raining. This is my favorite kind of shop!

This is the stir-fry I made. Except for the chicken breast, it was all fresh from the garden. We’re eating well right now.

Miss Joy

March 1, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy turned six months old a week or two ago. She learned to crawl about that time, and she is moving very fast now. She pulls herself up to anything that doesn’t move under her, and gets very frustrated when we block her from such wonderful playgrounds as the basket of newspapers we keep in the living room for fire starter! She loves to play outside in the grass, and in our bedroom, much better than in the living room—although the kitchen is almost as good as outside. She’s so tiny she can easily sit up underneath a chair.

She loves my teacup with the picture of our family on it.

She still sleeps well—although for a week or so before she got her first tooth this week she wasn’t sleeping as well. She’s a thumb sucker—the first we’ve had.

She loves ice cream! Before she was really crawling, Esther got her to move all the way across the living room by holding spoonfuls of it in front of her.

One afternoon when Miss Joy was a bit grumpy I put her in a tub with water in the kitchen. She played in the water for awhile, and then stood up and found the cabbage I had nearby! She was delighted that she could reach across and taste the cabbage!

January 2020 Photos

February 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Little Miss, right around her 5th birthday

Mr. Intellectual made oars for their boat. Here are Simon, Mr. Intellectual, and Mr. Diligence, rowing their boat on Orwell Creek.

Miss Joy has discovered a mirror!

She also enjoyed being in a box!

A flower was fascinating, too—for a little while! She quickly becomes bored with almost anything.

We had more brilliant sunsets while the Australian bush fires were sending a lot of smoke this way.

Little Miss loved getting presents for her birthday!

We had a cookout down in the paddock our cows live in when a family from Timaru was in the area. We roasted sausages over a bonfire of gorse branches.

Mr. Sweetie put Miss Joy inside the closet one day.

What fun! A bowlful of greens to play with!

I thought it was pretty cute to see her sitting beside Simon, talking to Mr. Intellectual.

At the end of January, we made another trip to Canterbury. The boys reassembled the trampoline for our friends. They had disassembled it when we were there in November, because it needed fixing.

The younger children played in the sandbox.

Little Miss with one of her dearest friends.

After the trampoline was fixed, they went for a swim.

Apparently, Simon helped Miss Joy wash dishes!

Five months old, and moving around!

Videos of the Children

January 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

The boys were using their forge one day, and Esther took some video clips to send to a little boy who had just broken his leg. She put the best ones together here so Grandma can get an idea of what they are doing.

These are just a few cute video clips of what Miss Joy was doing in the latter part of December. We’re enjoying her so much!

She had just found her feet when I took this video, and while I was taking it she got her toes into her mouth for the first time! That was three weeks ago; now, every time she’s on her back her hands go to her toes–until she decides to roll over and get moving.

Miss Joy, 3 Months

December 7, 2019 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

These first two pictures were taken when Miss Joy was 2 1/2 months old, in early November.

This is her 3-month picture! She loves to taste everything she can get her hands on. When she’s laying down, both hands are up, with one almost always tucked behind her head, as here, while the other tries to stuff something into her mouth.