We had a great week. We didn’t go anywhere all week so the kids had lots of time to be creative and play to their hearts content. It makes me happy when I can provide that for my children. I’m a big proponent of free play time for kids. I don’t think they had screen time the whole week, they were so busy playing when not doing school or chores.
Sunday: Playing the Ukulele
I love Sunday afternoons where kids play the piano, write in their journals, talk to each other, and just take a day to relax. Kaitlyn loves to play children’s songs and hymns on her guitar or ukulele. This Sunday she taught Talea how to play “Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam.”
When collecting eggs Kaitlyn found this tiny bird trapped in the corner of a shed and rescued it.
Monday and Tuesday: Adventures Outside
Monday the kids took the ducks down to the big pond close to our property. They threw the ducks in and watched them swim. I enjoyed hiking down and back with Talea holding my hand. The rest of the kids stayed and swam with the ducks. It’s not quite swimming weather for me! (It was mid 70’s.)
Tuesday Sam and Andy packed up backpacks and hiked all afternoon in the woods. Then they came in for dinner and prayer. They convinced Kait and Kenna to join them and the 4 of them slept in a tent in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately it started raining at 1:30am and by 2am they were soaked (4 kids in a 1 man tent!) so they trekked with all their stuff back to the house in the pitch black and pouring rain. But they didn’t complain. They thought it was an adventure!
We also spent a lot of time hauling manure and dirt to the garden beds (me and the 3 younger kids) and hauling and stacking firewood (the 3 older kids who are home right now.)
Have you ever seen such beautifully colored eggs?!! They’re so fun! I’ve always wanted Easter eggers and now we have some! Also, the purple crocuses are in full bloom and I promise that’s the last picture! The rain pummeled them later in the week.
Creative Fun
First, I have pictures of Cute Talea milking Maisy with me and Kaitlyn. I love how eager she is to help, even when it’s cold and drizzly out. Most days I let Maisy out for a bit to eat the green grass around our yard. She’s good to go back in her fence when she’s full. She has several acres, probably 4-5, but it isn’t very green yet so she mostly still eats hay when she’s there.
Thursday I said we’d all prune the grapes. This turned into me pruning and the kids playing with the pruned grape vines. They love to weave them into nests and crowns and just play with them. Then they started playing with one of the roosters. Check out how funny he is!
Friday the kids had a birthday party for Makenna’s doll. It actually lasted 3 days. 🙂 This is a beloved doll she’s had since she was 2. Every year her party gets bigger. 🙂 The kids put out all kinds of homemade crafts, flipbooks, origami, buttons, beads, and other trinkets for the other dolls to come around and buy with their cardboard coins. They had fun for days! I’m glad they didn’t have any places to go and could just enjoy doing this for 3 days straight and really immerse themselves in it.
They also spent part of a day making a fort mansion. They had part of the doll party in here and also wrote and read each other’s stories in it. Everyone had their own room and even slept in it for a few nights since all their blankets were in it.
Have a great week!