Party Time

This past weekend we celebrated some special people at Aunt Gail's house.

Weston - 2nd birthday

Hannah - 4th birthday

Julia - 8th grade graduation

Sheila - 28th birthday

The Cutest Lil Bugger Ever

Around Home

Just a few pictures from the past week.

Did you know a dragonfly flies 30mph? My kids taught me that. :)

This is, apparently, a "chicken face."

Starting school books :)

Child-led schooling

Daily job

Rich, nutritious soups for the freezer

We have a flock that ranges the yard. Their egg yolks are seriously orange. And so delicious.

My first shot at canning peaches! They turned out great! The kids did all the peeling and slicing. Love them.

Starting a new kombucha mushrrom

My first try at water kefir! Thanks, Marie, for the inspiration!

Celene made refrigerator pickles. They have more other kinds of veggies than pickles, actually. And they are delicious.

Yummy goodness on the counter

This is a daily scene. It must be the year for grasshoppers. They are everywhere!

A Child in Thought

I love it when he looks at me like this :)

Swimming Class

These pictures are also from last spring, before we left. 

But I still want them in my "online scrapbook."

Miles

For the record, Hannah had class too, I just didn't have my camera along, I guess.

She's little fish in the water, and doing really well starting with independent swim.

Eli's First Birthday

Guilty: Eli's birthday was May 20.

But in my defense, we left for Quebec only days later and I didn't have the chance to post some pictures.

Without further ado, here is our dearest little sugar-munch.

On his first birthday.

We love you, sweet lil Sugah-Pop.

First, he celebrated at Aunt Gail's a few weeks before his birthday with the rest of the spring birthdays

Of course he had cake! When you are number 4, social rules get thrown out the window. :)

Showing off a cute shirt from Grandma on his actual birthday.

And birthday cake celebration!

Celene made his frosting and carefully matched it with his shirt using food coloring. Love that girl.

Our little builder boy. We knew he would love this toy.

Of course he put his foot in his frosting. :)

And lastly, here are his professional birthday shots:

Home, Sweet, Sweet Home

Yeah, I know, we've actually been home a few weeks already!

But we literally hit the ground running, trying to make up for a summer of missed projects.

With the expected birth of Baby #5 in Oct., the pressure to clean and fix things is even greater.

And so, not much time on this blog, sorry to say.

We've sure been blessed to be able to see and/or talk with most of you since we've been home,

which is a wonderful blessing.

The night we got home, the kids literally wandered around the house, touching things, commenting, and re-homing themselves, I guess. 

It was really cute to watch.

I don't think anyone was in bed before 11pm.

Since then, a whole plethora of things have been going on:

Visiting and hosting friends and family

Organizing, decorating, and finally moving in to our dining room! (that reminds me to share pictures)

Emptying every kitchen cabinet and washing them

Going through everyone's drawers and closets and slimming down the stash

Filling the freezers with soups and the shelves with canned foods

Installation of a new back door

Pulling weeds, landscaping, and spreading stones

The remodeling of the 4th upstairs room

And many others as well!

We are so thankful for our hard-working and cheerfully helpful kiddos.