holiday home days

The holidays are slipping by faster than I always think they will. We have spent lots of time at home the last week or so with a sprinkling of visits to the shop or the beach. We have had lots of visitors though which has been lovely. The weather is pretty changeable so we have had lots of indoor play (while I have been doing lots of knitting and reading and a little birthday crafting). Here are a few moments from the week: 

Rebe is (I think) a kangaroo carrying this explorer in the sling

Joa's never ending love of dogs

 3 of his dogs (called dogger, seven and Katie) eating yoghurt under the table

Rebe bought herself this dog with her pocket money from the charity shop and made him this harness and lead.

I spent a lovey evening updating my endo-something book

This morning the window cleaner came, this is pretty much a bi-annual highlight for the kids who follow him all over the house supervising (and undoing) a lot of his work. He's lovely though, very tolerant and didn't mind having jokes fired at him from Rebe's Ha Ha Bonk Book while he was high up a ladder.

Benny helped him and was even allowed to borrow some window cleaning equipment

the shed has been converted to a 'Tiger Club' club house

I managed to set the castle up again..I don't think I swore once even though we've lost the instructions

we've all been reading lots too

So all is good and peaceful here Under Rainbows, hope it is good for you too!

play

The weather has broken and it's raining again and so our play has returned indoors. 

The dug out house on Plum Creek and Pa playing his fiddle by Rebe

A few months ago a dear friend of ours gifted us On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, we have never read any of her books before and we are really enjoying it. The kids can't stop talking about it, the characters, what is happening in the story. Benny is enthralled with Pa and Rebe loves Laura (of course). To bring the experience even more alive we are so lucky to have a copy of this cd, also given to us by the same friend. The kids really think that it is Pa playing his fiddle and the family singing on the cd.

dancing to the Arkansas Traveller

 Yesterday we just got to the part where there was a plague of grasshoppers that ate everything the family had. We've been so worried about the family all day. Benny said that if daddy gave him any pocket money he would send it straight to them if they were still alive. Gosh, it just shows how much the kids take in and internalize what they hear and see, even something fictional! But we are pretty sure that they will be ok, after all Pa has just set off to find some work and it has rained there too :-)

 There has been lots of elaborate (messy) play. They have played schools quite a lot.

This is Thomas, he is a school boy who basically runs backwards and forwards between home and school with a bag on his back. Seems quite an exhausting way to be a school boy to me :-)

 Pirates in a boat with their fearsome cannon

and I don't know what this game was...but there is no way I am clearing it up (well today anyway!)

some moments from the may bank holiday

the bank holiday was a good mix of at home time, visiting friends and wandering around the village

 Rebe is really keen to be in the kitchen, on her own, cooking and baking. She made these cookies all by herself (a love heart for me, a dogger for Joa and of course an armadillo for Benny). She also cooked breakfast for the boys a few times, eggs and porridge.

 I finished off another doll, this one is an exchange for some beautiful handmade soap from this shop. I can't wait to try it :-)

 there was some pleine eire painting

 Rebe has for some time been drawn to cursive handwriting and for the past few days I have been teaching her

 wild garlic- bread...yummy!

 lettuce in the green house ready to eat

 a game born out of boredom and inspired by Mrs Tiggywinkle

 and Dame Washalot (or Mr Washalot Benny prefers)

 some of us didn't quite get the game but enjoyed the getting wet

 2 cutlass mum the pirate chief, by Benny

lots of eggs by Joa

With all the business I was wiped out on Monday so took it easy, the kids stayed in pj''s all day, they watched some movies and I relaxed and read.

Hope you had a good bank holiday too :-)

loving

Things seem so much easier today. I feel steps closer to knowing where I am and what I need to do and that helps. The kids are all on the mend and there is a lot of love in this house...

We're loving this song, and it is good to remember that 'it's alright to cry'.

We're loving bedtime stories, particularly Mrs Pepperpot.

I'm really enjoying visiting this blog and have bought a copy of this great book as a result...really makes you want to 'stick it to the man'

 loving painting and drawing and making

 loving a fantastic armadillo exchange that Benny is having with my friend Melissa (Benny stitched that tiny baby armadillo all by himself!)

loving raw milk, I have finally found a source, oh the taste takes me back to my childhood in a German farming village :-)

loving our newly adopted cat, or rather he has adopted us. Big and soppy and ginger and Benny adores him. He's called Jack :-)

loving finding extremely accurate diagrams drawn by Rebe

loving finding an egg in the box who disguised herself as a chicken. We're saving her to make into a special cake, she's too swanky to just be scrambled :-)

loving loosing another tooth (guess which one by this picture I found that Rebe painted of herself)

loving knitting cable, my first attempt in vintage Irish wool yarn

loving doll making, as always.

There is so much that brighten's my day, so much love and I am grateful for that.

:-)

perfect day for a walk

 We awoke to a beautiful day, we dropped Rebe to school and the boys and I decided to skip playgroup (and all the lovely cake) and go out for a walk.

 Everything was beautiful...

... tiny, tiny dew drops on a blade of grass.

At breakfast we had been having a conversation about feelings. We were playing with yesterday's 'calm down jars' and we went on to visualise what other feelings looked like:
Proud is a big red balloon in our chests.
Sad is cold rain drops running down the window pane.
Excited is a 'fizzer' (one of those effervescence vitamin C  tablets)
Happy is a big yellow moon or the sun
 Benny carried our conversation through into our walk by finding things that gave him feelings. It was really brilliant and made me realise just what a good exercise the' calm jar' was and how giving feelings 'an image' can really be helpful for the kids when they are expressing themselves.

 This is a dangerous thing, like a knife

 this is hoping

 ...erm I can't remember this one to be honest

 this is funny

 There was no rush on our time so we could go where we wanted, stop to admire and stare...

 We met our next door neighbours gardener, who is really nice, and who gave Benny some pennies to buy himself something at the shop.

 Benny decided to buy himself and Joa a sweetie and then spent the rest on a chocolate bar to give to the gardener on our way back. He was delighted and very touched and we could reflect on those feelings too and Benny felt pleased.

 On the way home we stopped for a good play on the beach,

 and I admired my boots (oh how I love these boots!)

To make the day even nicer I got home to find the post had been to deliver the Christmas present I had ordered for the kids (more on that another day) but also in it were a gift I had bought for myself...

 2 hand crafted tumblers. Aren't they beautiful...they scream MULLED WINE to me ;-)
But to top that off was a surprise gift from my bestest friend...

 Pure love, just for me, just because....
Oh what a heavenly day :-)