That's a first

Monday 1st July: Wow - July already. Time for the children's photo again. Lovely to be able to get Asher smiling a bit for the photo.

I get fresh milk on Mondays and Thursday as the moment (as the farm I normally buy from have dried off all their cows). I have been motivated again to get some cream cheese / cottage cheese made and so had a go with a different recipe today. The milk needed to be kept at 25 degrees and that was the temperature of the kitchen through the whole day - so that worked really nicely and I did not need to worry about actually keeping it warm while it set.
It's such a quick cheese to make and it's so rewarding to have it ready by the end of the day.
Top left - the curds starting to have the whey drained off. Right - using a bit of weight to speed up the draining process (just using the whey that has already come out to put weight on the curds). Bottom left - amazing how much volume that whey takes up.

Tuesday 2nd July: There have been some beautiful sunrises and although it's not nice having such short days (sunrise before 8am and sunset just after 5pm) it is nice that everyone gets to enjoy the sunrise. This photo captures a bit of the richness of hte colour.

While this photo captures a bit more of that delicate beauty. It really is amazing to think about how much our eyes can take in. Photos (especially taken on such a simple camera and totally unedited) just capture a glimpse of the beauty that we get to enjoy.

There was a tractor working over the road today and Hezekiah just loved watching it. Eventually he got frustrated with his view from the deck though and wanted to get closer. I watched him head over to the gate and try and open it. I am so glad the latch is on the OUTSIDE as he was not able to get it open.
He did let me know how much a monkey he is though on Saturday (sorry this is a bit out of order). Brendon and I were working on the chook run and the younger girls and Hezekiah had gone off to play. We assumed they were watching him and they just got distracted and thought he was around with us. I heard him calling "help me" and when I looked over I got such a fright. He was ON TOP of Brendon's shed.
I took a photo afterwards to show you. He was standing where that red arrow is and he was NOT asking for help to get down. He had followed Patches and she was on the garage roof. He was standing calling us to help him get onto the garage.
There is a gap between the shed and the garage - so I am very pleased he did not try on his own. Although I got a huge fright both Brendon and could not help smiling. A real little monkey with absolutely no fear.
We can only think that he climbed up the wood stack on the right, onto the little wood shed, over that thin piece of metal and onto the shed roof (navigating past the old antenna that is lying up there).
Thank you Lord for keeping him safe.

Wednesday 3rd: I bought a copy of Trim, Healthy Mama a couple of weeks back and have been trying out some of their recipes.
It's the first time I have every used things like Stevia, almond flour and coconut oil. One of the things that was a very quick success was their "bread in a mug". They gave the idea of using it as a pizza base and so Rachel and I spent a bit of time today making a stack of pizza's for Brendon's lunches. I cooked the "bread" in a frying pan, topped it with tomato sauce, bacon, pineapple and cheese and then popped them in the over to melt the cheese. How nice for him to have such a "treat" of a meal but it be so good for him.
No carbohydrates in this meal - just loads of wonderful protein and fat. And all he needs to do is take one out the freezer in the morning and pop in on the toastie at work to heat it up for lunch. We were so pleased at how impressed he was with our efforts. :-)
Asher still stirs half way through her long nap after lunch. As I was so busy in the kitchen with Rachel I asked Hannah to lie next to her and if she started waking up - to just check that she had her dummy and help her get back to sleep. Hannah liked posing for this photo (which Ruth was so pleased to take). :-)

Thursday 4th: I try to find different things for Hezekiah to play with and give him different ideas. It's always lovely to see how the girls enjoy the fresh ideas though. Here is Ruth's creation with the Jenga blocks.
Friday 5th: We have been in this house for over one and half years and for the first time the wind was so bad that it moved our trampoline from it's safe spot in the far corner of the garden. Those big hedges had protected up till now - just look at the distance it has been moved. (And although we did originally have plans to tie it down we never got around to it and thought after a year that it would be fine.)

I got quite a fright when Ruth told me the tramp was outside the kitchen window. I was concerned that another gust would blow it into the glass around the back door so I called Brendon and asked if there was a chance he could come over and help get it saver. He was so surprised to hear it had moved because there had been no wind on the farm - and it's just 10 minutes from us.
Thankfully he could quickly pop over and with a bit of work we managed to take the canopy off (so sad as it was such a big job getting it on and we did such a good job of securing it this time). We then moved the tramp back to the corner and Brendon quickly used his straps to secure it to the boundary posts. It's going to be a big job getting it into a usable state again.
We have to take the net off and check the condition of all the poles. Some are bent but we will have to see if they can still be used. It's rather frustrating and sad as it's going to take a bit of time to get fixed and I had been enjoying getting out and playing on it with the children over the last week (which they had been absolutely loving too).
A friend had said she would pop in this morning and with all this drama I was running a bit late in getting to the toy library. So she stayed with all the children (she had her grandson with for a visit too) and I got to go on my own which was a nice break after a rather stressful start to the day.
I had gotten this "exersaucer" for Hezekiah when he was a baby and thought Asher would enjoy it now too. She was thrilled and already has a few favourite toys.
It was so funny to see Hannah and Ruth taking photos of her. Lately they have been taking a lot of photos and videos with the iPod and the iPad. Isn't it incredible how technology goes. They won't be asking for a camera as a present - it will be an iPod of their own so then they have a very multi functional tool.
I had a day of experimenting on Saturday. I had a packet of walnuts that I thought I should try and use up.
I attempted what looked like a lovely recipe for walnut and date biscuits (that had NO flour or sugar) but had no idea how HUGE dates were in America.
So when it asked for 10 dates I counted them out. Only when I looked at the next recipe I wanted to try did she say - 200g of dates - about 11 large dates (and she had a photo). My tiny 10 dates were only around 50g. So these unfortunately went in the bin and we will have to try again.
I did managed to make walnut butter - but that also confirmed for me that the walnuts were actually too old and needed to be thrown out. I now know what "rancid" tastes like. Yuck!!! I look forward to ordering almonds and perhaps other nuts on my next "bulk food" order and having a go at some nut butters and nut flours.
Sunday 7th: One of the other items I got from the toy library was this train set. Rachel had fun designing a track for Hezekiah today. Well done Rachel (she managed to use all the pieces and make such a fun track.

And that wraps up April

Friday 26th: Toy library time again today and Hezekiah just LOVES this car. By far his most favourite item yet. I can see us keeping this for at least 4 weeks and then perhaps having to get it out again a couple of weeks later. The sweetest for me was when he told me to give Asher a ride. I told him she was too small but he insisted. So I got her sitting on the seat (holding her there) and he gently pushed her around. What a wonderful big brother you are already.
And talking about Asher - I got her under the play gym for the first time today. There are just so many people in this house to hold her that I had to make an effort to get her to spend time on her own. :-) She is just over 2 months old and is reaching out to the toys so nicely. Hand still tightly closed (but it did not take long for her to learn to open her fingers and start grabbing the toys).
Also take note of that sweet little tongue sticking out in concentration. Definitely her Father's child. :-)

Hannah has been allowed to take on the task of lunch dishes now (as there are only plastic plates used). She is just THRILLED. I am sure she could have done it sooner but I also needed to make sure I had the energy to supervise and teach her to pack them in the dishwasher properly (and life has been just a tad busy lately). So Ruth has now moved to breakfast dishes and so Rachel is also THRILLED as that's another job of hers handed over.

Saturday 27th: Today Brendon went to fetch a 2nd hand swing set and slide that we had bought. Hezekiah just loved the big trailer that Dad used.

Hezekiah has gotten to swing on the new swings a bit but they are more for the girls so that they don't put too much weight in his plastic swing. Now all three of them can swing together. And the new swing set doubles up as a climbing frame too.
The slide is a small toddler one which Hezekiah loves. I had to spend a bit of time with him showing him how to use the wall with the holes to climb up so he could get up onto the little platform. It's actually nice that it is just too high for him to get on - as it has really helped develop those climbing skills.
Hannah and Ruth enjoy playing on it too. I can see Hezekiah having loads of fun on here though. Just today he spent ages on it - up and down, up and down. Such a great way to get rid of some of his energy.
During the week Hannah got stung by two wasps - two stings each. Brendon had found the nest but as it was in the ground he could not really do much about it.
So today we had someone come over to sort it out. Hannah was rather traumatised by the experience as it was so painful. Thankfully I had heard of a friend treat a bee sting with glyconutrients and he had such great results (previously he would react terrible and this time he did not even have a reaction at all). So I gave her high doses of glyconutrients and it was amazing to just watch the swollen red area just disappear over the next hour or two. She felt much better knowing they were gone.

Sunday 28th: The girls seem to always work out a different way to play with toys. This time it's getting Hezekiah to go really fast in his toy car.
I took a video (below) as they were having so much fun. It also shows why we ended up with a bit of a science lessons on centrifugal force (although the actual name did not come into it). Ruth then put the rope on the other side so that the door would stay closed when they swung him around.
And while we are looking at videos - here is another one I forgot to load from earlier this month.
We finally got a quick video of Hezekiah doing his favourite thing on the keyboard - getting the demo to play and wiggling around to the music.
Brendon enjoying a little shut eye with Asher after a nice Sunday lunch.

Rachel enjoying some time with Auto and her friends.

Monday 29th: Rachel has really enjoyed these holidays with having friends come over. It was also nice that this week they spent a lot more time at our house - so Ruth, Hannah and even Hezekiah got to enjoy time playing with them too.

Pigs, pine cones, pony and pal

Saturday 23rd: Brendon had to work this morning but as a nice change for us Holly had asked if we wanted to come and collect some pine cones before the rainy Autumn weather makes them all wet.
Hezekiah helped a little bit and then wanted to head back to the car. He picked up a cold from another little one on Thursday night and so I don't think he is feeling all that great.
Thankfully he got over it really quickly - so I know his immune system is improving as we get more glyconutrients into him. It's so much easier with the older girls as they can just swallow tablets.
He did have a fun time being around such big pigs though and tried to get to touch them.

The Hawarden Derby was unfortunately cancelled for tomorrow as they did not have enough interest. Christine has said that she would be happy to take her to a ODE (One Day Event) outside Culverden next month though - so that helped ease the disappointment. At least all her jumping practice won't go to waste. She did a few more big jumps today and although I was taking it from the house (so it was rather far away and did not get focused properly) it was great to get this shot of her. She looks so comfortable (and what a big jump for someone who has only been riding for a year).

Sunday 24th: Hannah has always loved raw celery and now she has someone in the family to join her. :-)
I am hoping to be able to take Rachel to watch a Shakespeare play that is being put on next weekend - on her birthday. So in "preparation" we wanted to see if Asher would take a bottle of expressed milk. She managed but was not that happy about it.
Monday 25th: Chops on the BBQ yesterday and so today Hezekiah had a left over one as part of his lunch. It seems to be working well now to just give him the whole chop (rather than small pieces that he just shovels down). This boy really loves his meat.
What he also loves is this toy from the toy library. He will sit for ages pushing the cars through the "garage" and the "car wash".
And I always smile when I see that little tongue sticking out as he concentrates so hard.
Tuesday 26th: Louisa came to our place after school today so that she could go to ballet with us. Rachel decided to ride up with Auto so that they could walk back with her. The idea was to allow Louisa to get a ride on the way back but they were a little late and so gave her a ride once they had all her things at the house.

Louisa's mum had a rather busy evening and so I suggested Louisa just stay over for the night and head up to school in the morning from our place. Hannah and Hezekiah enjoy having another "big sister" to play with.

Thursday 28th: Today Hezekiah decided that he wanted to help with the vacuum cleaner. It's a bit heavy for him to do on his own but he was happy to just be able to help.
I had to smile today when I saw Hezekiah put his boots into Dad's boots.
My boy - if you walk in the footsteps of your father you will make me very proud.

1 month weigh in

Wed 13th: It was fun to watch Hannah this afternoon. She was playing with the barbies and found this little hanger amongst all the beautiful ball room dresses the dolls have. She could not find a place to hang it though as the hook is really small. Eventually she found this cord was the perfect size and so she managed to get it strung across as her clothes line.
You can also see how long that fringe is getting. It won't be long now and it will be able to be tied back with the rest of her hair. It is forcing her to get to actually brush her hair every day and she is now even learning how to put clips in on her own. :-)

Ruth then joined in with the barbie game and it was sweet to see them playing next to Asher and talking to her and including her in their game.

They found this little "doll" to give to Asher. And look at her pretty top. A friend blessed us with a couple of bags of girls baby clothes and it's been so special to have lovely girl clothes again - and all new and different. Ruth and Hannah used mostly the same things as babies - so it has been nice to have all these "new" things. This was the one reason the girls said it would be nice to have another girl - all the pretty clothes. :-)

Thursday 14: It's really nice to see how careful Hezekiah is with Asher. He would love to be under there with her but he is very aware of being careful and not bumping her or lying on her.

He is going to be a great big brother.

When I saw Asher sleeping like this this afternoon I had to smile. I can remember the others sleeping exactly the same. Little froggy legs and arms up. :-) Getting nice and tall too.

Friday 15: Asher will be 1 month old tomorrow - so we had a final visit with Sandy today. It's normally at 6 weeks but I was happy to have our last check up now. A good 4.49kg so she has done really well in her first month (720g). You can also see that she is not as skinny as the above photo makes her out to be. She is 58cm already - she grew 6 cm in this month. It's just incredible. No wonder we have to already move so many clothes out of her draws as they are way to small already.

It was lovely to have Kerry drop in for a visit today as well. I am so glad I got this photo.
This is really special as it reminds me of when I got a cuddle of Joshua when he was just over a month old. Here is the photo from August 2010 (left). He was born at just 29 weeks - so even though both 1 month old in these photos - Asher had 13 more weeks in the womb than Joshua. I can't believe Joshua will be 3 in a couple of months. It's been wonderful to watch him grow.

The girls also headed down to the toy library again today. This time we asked Dad to pick the tractor up on his way home. Hannah and Hezekiah were thrilled. We normally have the toys out for 2 weeks but as it will be Easter Friday in two weeks we will end up keeping this one for 4 (and just pay double). I am sure it will be well used through all the weeks.

Saturday 16 March means Asher is 1 month old.
Our sweet little girl is growing well and I thank the Lord for her.