Pizza Picnic Party!

One weekend evening in mid-August, we had an impromptu pizza picnic out by the clubhouse. 

Dominic and Anne liked this idea.

The kids all went up on top of the clubhouse to eat their pizza.

Except for Anne.  She hung out on the hammock.

Biscuit, the dog, had to be chained up during this time.

Anthony comforted her.

Boy and his dog.

Then he went off to climb.

Anthony is a very good climber.

Then we went off to the "tree house."

Their tree house is a small clearing in the midst of a bunch of trees and bushes growing close together.

It is hard for adults to go in and out, hence the great appeal.

Time to trim a few trees, so the path is clear.

Catherine

Joseph

Pictures From June

In mid-June, there was a day when the Schwan's truck stopped at our house.  The driver was lucky that Dan was already home, because I probably would have just sent him on his way, especially as it was just about time for dinner.  Dan has fond memories of Schwan's from his childhood, so the kids were excited when he got a box of ice cream treats.

Orange sherbet push-ems!

Also in the middle of June, the twins had their regular dentist cleaning and checkup.  Joseph was very upset because it wasn't his turn.

The protest.

By that time in June, we had had our dog, Biscuit for a couple of months.

Anthony and Biscuit.

Anne giving Biscuit some attention.

Time for basketball:

Joseph took a shot.

Dominic studied the basket.

And the shot went in! 

Does this look safe?

Much better.

It is amazing how killdeer birds will make their nests on the ground, then when something or someone approaches, the mama bird will start making noise and dragging her "broken" wing on the ground trying to lure the threat away from the nest.  The kids liked seeing that in action.

One crazy bird made a nest right in our driveway!  See the egg?  Eventually there were three.

A few garden pictures from the second half of June:

Catherine watering the cucumber plants.

The garden looking all fresh and new!

Rows of corn.

Miscellaneous May Happenings

A while ago, we began listening to The Chronicles of Narnia on CD in the car as we drove to various places and events.  This is our second time listening to the series.  While we were listening to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the second book in the series, we heard about Edmond finding his way into Narnia and about his encounter with the White Witch.  Dominic then asked, "What is Turkish Delight?" (Turkish Delight plays a role in Edmond's treachery.)  I said I wasn't sure, but I thought it was some kind of candy.  Not long after that day, we were in the library and I happened upon a book called Cook-A-Book: Reading Activities for Grades Pre-K to 6 .  It was chock full of recipes that were out of or related to all sorts of children's books.  As I leafed through, a page opened up to Turkish Delight!  So of course I had to check out the book, and this was our attempt at making it:

The cooking part done, we had to wait for it to cool and set.

The topping of powdered sugar.

Turkish Delight is suppose to be a gelled type of candy, but as you can see, ours did not get firm enough, so we used it as an apple dip.  It was delicious!

I found that there are many different ways of making Turkish Delight, and various flavorings.  We made ours with raspberry flavoring.  I do not feel compelled to perfect the making of this delicacy at this time.  Maybe I'll try it again should we listen to the Narnia books again.





A few weeks after Biscuit, our new dog, showed up at our house, Dan made her a doghouse out of leftover materials he had in the shed. 

The kids checked out the new doghouse.

Biscuit liked her new house.

We must have some pictures of the chickens.  These are from early May.

All three of these are Iowa Blues. 

The Rhode Island Reds enjoy the large chicken pen.

Anthony does some "work" on the chicken pen door.

Speaking of Anthony, here is something silly he kept doing for a while, especially when he got in trouble:

Maybe he thought it would get him out of trouble?

Speaking of Anthony some more, he loves to play with Biscuit.  She likes Anthony too, and will put up with a lot from him. 

He likes to put her leash on...

...and sit with her in the lounge chair on the deck.

Boy and dog.

They are nearly the same size.

And finally, here is the last project of the art class that Catherine, Dominic, and Anne took over the spring semester.  They made pandas out of clay and on the last day, brought them home, where we baked them in the oven.

Three very different pandas.  Also a clay stick-horse (Catherine) and a ball for the pandas to play with (Anne).

More Random April Events and Pics

One day, Anthony put on a pair of Daddy's socks and pushed up his pajama pants:

It was a funny sight:

 The three year old provides much entertainment at our house!

Anthony at rest:

In the middle of April, a dog showed up at our house.  She had no collar or anything that could identify her, and we have since assumed that someone dropped her off to get rid of her.  She seemed like a nice dog, well cared for and friendly.  She also seemed used to kids.  We had been talking about getting a dog sometime, and this one just never left, so I guess she is ours now! 

She is protective of the kids.

The dog looks like a Doberman, but is too small to be one of those.  She is too big to be a miniature Pinscher.  We think she may be a German Pinscher. 

The kids have named her Biscuit.

Towards the end of April, I took the kids to the mall.  I needed to get my rings cleaned, and the kids think it is great fun to go there. We brought our lunch and ate at the food court.  I used an Orange Julius coupon for two yummy drinks for us to share!   Most places we go, either people are used to seeing us or the other families have more kids than we do, but at the mall, it felt like everyone was staring at us and we got lots of comments.  Good thing they behaved for the most part!

Catherine and Anne.

Joseph and Dominic.

Anthony.

I have been wanting to teach the girls some sewing skills, so one day I gave them each a little sewing kit, found some scrap material and showed them how to sew on buttons.  They loved it!

They are proud of their work!