This is the 4 little kids after the primary program last week. Can’t believe my last 4 kids are in the program. Seems like just last year my first 4 were in it. The program turned out beautiful this year with all the kids in our church saying their lines and singing with a sweet spirit that brought tears to everyone in the congregation. It’s my favorite Sunday of the whole year and it was a privilege to write it and be a part of it.
Duck, Duck, Rooster
Talea holding a duck, Annelyn, while the kids played some funny run-around-the-yard-game with them.
Ducklings at 3 weeks old. I never knew ducks grew this fast!
Four kids playing another game with their ducks called, “Duck of the Day” where they judge how well behaved their duck is and decide who wins duck of the day.
Nottingham, the rooster, eating yogurt.
All the chickens going crazy for some homemade yogurt.
Cleaning Out Closets
This week we cleaned out our closets, getting out our winter clothes, packing away too small clothes, and throwing away the ripped ones. With 10 children it’s always a big chore, but one that I really enjoy. It’s fun looking through clothes and reminiscing of memories made wearing them (and memories of older siblings wearing them. I can’t tell you how many times I heard, “I remember wearing that!!” when a shirt was held up.) It’s satisfying getting rid of unworn clothes, reorganizing tubs in our shed, and feeling like we only have what we need and nothing more. We’ve never owned dressers, just closets shared by multiple kids, and too many clothes overwhelms both them and me. Keep it simple with fewer clothes and just a couple of pairs of shoes.
We also got clothes ready to sell at a consignment sale. It was a lot of work and probably took too many hours than it’s worth, but I do enjoy it and we had fun together. The 5 little kids helped me and every 10 minutes we got a piece of candy such as a chocolate chip or candy corn. It took us 2 hours to put all the clothes on hangers and pin tags on them and then put them in size order, but we had a great time.
Talea cleaning out her closet. We pulled out every single piece of clothing she has to see what still fit and what was too stained to keep and what could be sold.
Kait and Kenna going through their clothes.
Getting ready for the consignment sale.
After entering all the clothes and printing the tags, I cut them and Tilly organized them so it would be faster to find the clothes they went on.
Talea was also in charge of stacking all the clothes in size order after the other kids and I put them on hangers and pinned tags on them.
Outside Work
Anderson washing our cars. I looked out the kitchen window and saw this. It hits my sweet spot to see kids happily working and playing outside.
Raking grass for the chickens’ and ducks’ bedding.
Miscellaneous Photos
Homemade ice cream party.
We got hit by Ophelia’s outerbands which made for a wet, windy Saturday, but as it cleared the clouds were beautiful. The kids ran around and played, thoroughly enjoying the stormy atmosphere.
During the worst of the storm, Samuel and Anderson played in our storage shed. They made nachos in the house and then packed them in their cardboard solar oven that has a thermometer in it (“it kept our food at 86 degrees.:))” They played hurricane and that they were taking refuge from a ferocious storm.
One morning I came up to the house from milking and found Talea patiently sitting on the porch waiting for help with her workbook. She’d gotten it out and got started on it all by herself. (Right) Anderson showing me his “potato man” lunch. He’d decided to bake a potato for lunch and add some carrots and lettuce. He’s actually a very self-sufficient cook. He has a whole page in his journal where he wrote all the meals he could make by himself.
Fall That’s All Party
Every Autumnal Equinox we have a “Fall That’s All Party.” We listen to “Fall That’s All”, which is really Autumnsongs by John McCutcheon. (We love this CD!!) And we put up our fall decorations. We put candy corn in the candy jars, sing, dance and eat while decorating. It’s my older kids’ favorite tradition and one they sorely miss now that they’re in college when the first day of fall happens every year. I didn’t take pictures during our party but I took a few of the decorations to send to my older kids.
(See how I painted the bricks in our farmhouse living room renovation 2 years ago when we first moved here.)