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!
Video
Lots of Water!
We still have the aftermath of the big flood Easter weekend. Directly out our living room window, we can see this lake; in fact, I took these pictures out that window! Surprisingly, the boys have only played in it the one time. It’s about too cold most of the time this time of year to want to go swimming. The lake is larger now than when these pictures were taken, since we had another torrential rain a week or so ago. Thankfully, the creek didn’t flood around the buildings that time.
Our landlord’s cows visiting with our steer.
And, a brief video clip I got of the boys splashing.
Training a Sheepdog
One day a week or two ago, I went into the living room and noticed our landlord on the hill above our house, on his motorbike (4-wheeler). He had one dog with him, and the dog went into the trees near the top of the hill and herded a small mob (maybe 50) of sheep out. He bunched them in a tight mob, then headed them across the hill below the trees. The dog took the sheep back and forth a couple of times, with no apparent purpose, but we found out later that he was just being trained. It was quite fascinating to watch!
My Newest Favorite Movies
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!
Dead Boring Concert 2013
Our children participated in the annual Dead Boring Concert on November 2nd (for those who don’t know, Dead Boring is the name of our homeschool writing group). They sang two songs; I’ve included the lyrics in case it’s hard to make them out.
The Value of One
Could it be that up in heaven, God is sitting on His throne
Anticipating another sinner will soon become his own
Years of wasted living and years of toil and strife
Are just about to be over as he receives the gift of life
Chorus:
Go sound the horn! Strike up the choir!
A sinner is saved – saved from the fire!
No more in darkness, he’s received My Son,
All heaven’s rejoicing, that’s the value of one!
The Holy Spirit has been working to soften up their hearts
All He needs is a willing servant to simply do his part
Can you imagine up in the heaven the joy there will be that day
As a sinner bows his head to pray, can’t you hear the Father say?
Start construction on his mansion there on hallelujah’s street
He doesn’t know yet what is waiting when the Savior he will meet…
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear Saviour in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise The Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
Just like the blind man, I wandered along
Worries and fears, I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man, that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I was a fool to wander and stray
For straight is the gate and narrow the way
Now I have traded, the wrong for the right
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
After the concert, while we were standing around eating cookies and chatting, our littlest and another little boy just seven weeks older discovered each other. They spent about 10 minutes hugging, over and over, to the delight of everyone around.
Videos
We’ve had 28 chicks hatch over the past week–so cute!
Short Stuff learned this week to make vehicle noises, and one afternoon he pretended that a nail was a key and he was starting himself up with it! The first time, he started himself, then raced across the room.
He also practiced standing on his head this week.
I posted this one a couple of weeks ago, but the post has totally disappeared. I read aloud a lot to the children, and record some books onto an mp3 player so they can listen to them again later, and one afternoon this little fellow did the same!
Dolphins
Here’s a short video we took of the dolphins we saw from the Whale Watch boat Friday. This was so much fun to see!
Daddy’s Taking a Nap!
This is just fun–I love the giggling in it! Last evening, Gayle was trying to rest on the couch while the dishes were being washed, and two little boys found him. What fun!
Getting Back to Normal
I arrived home Sunday afternoon with the four children who went with me to America, and it is so good to be back! I don’t know if I’ll get around to posting any pictures of the trip or not; I haven’t even looked at them yet. Just to let you know we’re all still alive and well, here are a few pictures from this week. Baby got sick on the way home; as we crossed the equator, he started vomiting. Two days later he finally got well, just in time for all the rest of us, except Gayle, to come down with it. Now, I think we’re all well–sure hope so! We did manage to get a week’s worth of school done this week, and Monday, before the plague hit in force, we did some harvesting.
This evening–nearly bedtime, and the boys are having fun playing games with each other.
An aunt sent these fire truck sets to the little boys. They love them! Thank you much–you know who you are.
Monday was our only sunny day since we got home. The boys got all our pumpkins harvested for the year. I had them wash them and lay them out in the sun to cure. Now it’s raining–we should have put them under cover!
The boys found this “horse mushroom” yesterday–about 10 inches in diameter! It’s edible, so we had it for supper.
Today for Science, I read about magnets to the littler boys. There were a few experiments to do, and they had fun playing with the magnets. One of the bigger boys discovered something fun he could make the magnets do–see this quick video! Grandma, this is especially for you. For some reason, the arrow you usually click to watch a youTube video isn’t showing up for me, but if you click on the video it’ll start playing.
Napenape
Today was Christmas Day. We didn’t have anyone to spend the day with, so we decided to go to a beach we hadn’t been to before. Napenape (pronounced nappy-nap) is just south of the Hurunui River. It is a beautiful beach! It always amazes us how different each beach is from all others. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time there and relaxing this afternoon.
Looking down the hill, across the Hurunui River towards Cheviot (on the other side of the hills)
Hills on the way to the sea
The beach road at Napenape
Napenape beach
We had a picnic for lunch
The boys found this baby shag
On the way to the end of the beach, the boys climbed this little hill. The day was quite misty at first.
This cliff marked the end of the beach we could walk today! The tide was near high.
Baby loved the rocky beach!
About to grab the camera (and taste it!)
Gayle and some of the boys climbed the cliff
We played tic-tac-toe
The mist cleared shortly before we left
On the way out, we stopped so the boys could investigate a spring
They said the spring water tasted good.