Week ending 3-13-22 Playing outside, doll party

Same ol' week: School, play/work outside in the afternoons, rehearsals a few nights a week. Everyone was cooperative and cheerful so it made for a good week.

Monday: I came to put stuff in the shed and found the little boys having a picnic. Although it wasn't a picnic they informed me. There's a tornado outside and this is their tornado shelter and this is all the food they were able to grab before the storm hit.

We had just watched storm coverage of tornadoes in Iowa where my brother and sister live and they're headed our way so that's why they were playing that. It was super warm and windy all day with dark storm clouds.

I was in and out of the house all afternoon and everytime I came in these girls were doing a different craft. Kaitlyn got a craft book at the bookmobile and proceeded to do 10 of them in 3 days.

Madalyn reading on the porch as the storm rolled in.

Tuesday: I just love seeing big brothers read to their baby sister.

Having a birthday party for Makenna's favorite doll.

Part of the party included a shopping trip where they had cardboard money to buy toys at a store. Makenna made a cute stuffed bird and a cage for it which is what she's buying here.

More festivities. I love working around the house and coming into a room or around the outside of the house and seeing 5 kids playing a fun imaginative game together.

Wednesday: Makenna directing some game with the 3 little kids.

I looked out the sunroom window and saw these 3 sitting in a row down by the southern pasture which is starting to turn green

I love watching kids run through the yard.

Later I saw 5 kids sitting in a row.

Thursday: My favorite part of the week: working outside! We ripped out old wire fencing that was half buried in the dirt and leaves from the barn all the way down ravine into the creek.

See all that pile to the left of the picture? So much old fencing.

We made a big pile of it to take to the metal recycling someday.

Daffodil season!

In front of the trampoline/balance beam/campfire area.

Friday: Practicing for a musical number at a youth fireside. I love hearing my children sing.

Cleaning out the woods again. This time we were moving branches that had fallen onto the rhododendrons and other live trees. 

We don't get a lot done before the kids start playing, but that's ok. Here they pulled out their pocketknives and had fun sawing away at this old crumbly log. Above, Makenna and Talea played a game about dragons. Thomas and I did most of the work but we too found a fun vine to swing across the creek on.

Thomas way up in a tree.

The periwinkle is blooming too.

And when I went to town for rehearsal I saw the prettiest flowering tree. I pulled over so the kids could see it. We'll need to go by not in the dark next week and see it again. I took this to show Kylie who misses the Southern spring.

Tilly asked Madalyn to play dolls with her and then when Kait and Kenna joined in she threw a fit that she wanted just Maddie. So these 3 sat and read and made their own reading party while waiting for Tilly to come out and play.

Week ending 3-6-22 Hiking, playing outside, drawing, hauling wood

 

Talea wanted her picture taken with her two dolls and a shirt a friend gave us in Utah.

Tilly's been a great helper this week, helping me around the yard and hanging out with me.

Trying to get a close up of the beautiful blueberry buds but my camera isn't so good.

Tuesday: Taking Andy and Tilly on a mommy date hike. We had the trail to ourselves and had a lot of fun.

It was Andy's half birthday. He's 6.5 and Tilly is 4.5. Very important.

Eating our lunch.

We played tug of war with a long stick for awhile. 

It was fun pulling Andy over the line while he laughed hysterically.

We crossed at least a dozen flood trail places where the water ran down the hillside into the stream that paralleled the trail. I tossed Tilly to the other side, pretending she was jumping off a swing.

When we got home the girls were happily involved with art. Andy immediately jumped in.

I decided to jump in too and took pictures and drew these flowers.

After art we all went outside for the afternoon. I love walking by the tramp and seeing these 4 reading outloud, snacking, and talking. They sit there for a couple hours every afternoon. What great memories they're making. I'm so glad we homeschool and Maddie is home with us to have this bonding time.

Walking past the wood shed to get seeds to plant I saw the little boys happily playing with their cars and trucks. Life is so good!

Talea helped me plant carrot and cilantro seeds.

We also planted some romaine heads.

When we came in for dinner I saw the backs and little feet of these guys. Evidently they moved inside and decided to draw. They found a picture of a dragon or something online and drew it.

Wednesday: I took the 5 little kids to the bimonthly bookmobile and park. Here they were playing dragon school as I walked by on the trail.

Afterward we all hung out outside. Tilly sat in the Japanese maple tree while I pruned the plum tree.

Thursday: Having lunch and a half birthday treat for Andy, 2 days late because he couldn't decide what he wanted.

Thomas cleaning a big bird's nest out of the soffit under the attic roof. He stuck his whole arm in and it just kept coming and coming. That nest was huge!

Guess this was my day to treasure my kids at the table. Eating a breakfast casserole, pumpkin muffins (trying to use up our pumpkin we grew last year), and fruit salad for dinner.

Saturday: "When we're helping we're happy."

We had a great day toting 12 loads to the wood pile and having a campfire.

The 4 little kids tending the fire while we ran and got loads of wood from both the front and back woods.

I cut many piles this size all of February. I love cutting and listening to podcasts. I love cleaning up the woods and making them easier to run through without so many fallen trees although there are still a lot! With 36 acres we're never going to run out of fallen trees.

Wood shed getting filled up! You can see the layer of old wood from Tilly's waste down. And all the new oranger wood from her waist up. We filled that whole side plus a few rows perpendicular to it where Kaitlyn is.

Before

After

I thought it was funny that these 6 kids were eating snacks on the ground when there was a table right beside them.

Love family work days! They're my favorite. It was 75 degrees, blue sky, no wind, lots of space to run around, race the lawn mower, sing and dance while loading, sword fighting with sticks, feeling free. No phones, places to go, or interruptions. No problems on our minds. Just working and playing all day and having fun together.

Nothing like a good book after a day of hard work.

The Crocuses probably at their peak.

So fun to see all the spring signs here. We have no idea what to expect or what it'll look like so it's an exciting surprise.

Sunday: The crocuses on a cloudy day without the shadows.

And a little later, starting to close up for the night.