My Lloyd!

As always - hiding from the camera :)

mud glorious mud!

We ALL had so much fun squelching in the mud over by the workshop today......Lloyd was busy trying to pull the trampoline with his quad and we were all walking about in the sinky, squelchy mud :) And no one fell in despite me waiting patiently with my camera lol!

puddle fun!

Sam enjoying all the puddles created by the melting snow!

funny......

Susie was trying to stand on the snowman and her brother Chris scared her and she went flying! It was so funny (she was laughing too!) and the pictures are funny too :)

Run rabbit, run rabbit,

run, run , run.......

Owie................

Abigail slipped on the ice while trying to rescue the basketball.......she has bruised her arm and has a few cuts and grazes but no broken bones thankfully!

Altered q-tips box....

From this:



To this:

Cake time.....

The children all sang happy birthday to Lloyd last night.....he chose a Key Lime cheesecake instead of a birthday cake...it is DELICIOUS!!! Sam loved helping to blow out the candles!

For Rhonda

Rhonda was asking after Charlie, so I thought I'd update! Charlie is doing great......loves being outside now its warmer....still likes his daily apple...loves to root for treats through the long grass.....and is starting to blow coat a bit.....but we have been reassured that it will soon grow back!

Photo challenge.......

The pics above are (in order) the results of the following picture challenge from Scrappers Haven:


Stop what you're doing and try this...

1. Pick up your camera.
Turn right.
Take three steps.
Take a picture.

2. Go into next closest room.
Take a picture of something lower than your waist.

3. Turn around and take a picture of something at waist level.

4. Take five steps in any direction.
Take a picture at eye level.

5. Take a picture of the closest person.
(If you are alone, take a picture of someone's belongings.)

6. Walk to the nearest door or window of the room you are in and take a picture of something outside.

7. Post your favorite here (or link to it) when you get a chance. (That's the time-consuming part, so take your time.)

It's so easy to forget that it only takes a second to snap a picture and that opportunities are everywhere. If you haven't gotten a great shot in awhile, maybe you aren't taking enough pictures!

I love living here :)

When the sun shines and it's warm enough to be outdoors, I LOVE living here :)

We have been outside for much of the day....this morning we drove over to the John Deere dealership to look at tractors......still undecided on that!.....then home and we have been outside playing in the mud, skating on the driveway......and generally enjoying being outside without coats......

We made the most of the weather and cleaned out the rabbits cage....gave them plenty of exercise outdoors.......and also Charlie has been out and about getting fresh air and exercise too........we cleaned out Charlies pen and also Lloyd decided (with encouragement from the kids sigh) that the snow had melted enough to get the trampoline out again!

Ha!!! right now they are struggling with that - they have got it half way from the shop to the site where it goes......

We stopped off at Home Deopt for some sand earlier and so Sam and Abigail also played with the sand toys for a while...

Charlie is 'blowing coat'.......and losing some of his skin....pot bellies shed once a year and it grows back in like a crewcut.....but for now she just looks rather grim! It will be itchy for her and just in case she has mites as well, we have to give her some Seven Seven powder and some Ivomec too - at least once a year to treat worms and other kinds of nasties.......

The rabbits had a blast ouotside....and all our pets have nice clean homes now except the chickens.....as soon as the ground is dry we have to clear out the entire chicken pen and spring clean.....

I have taken a ton of pictures today....including some for a challenge on Scrappers Haven which I will do a separate post about!

I have some great shots of us all in the mud today too...and even some of Chris posing on the hay bales.....

I will post those later...for now I am going to go make Lloyd a cup of tea :)

Happy St Patricks day everyone!

Oh and I DID send an email to 'toxic friend'.....but I was polite and friendly and explained that I am just too busy right now to meet up......I got a reply from that and all is well...I feel happy that we didn't fight because this is someone I will run into now and then but I am also pleased I had the strength to turn down the invitation to meet up!

Oh and Lloyds dorky friend (the jerk) wrote again......I had made a joke about how if he isn't careful he will be come extremely fit but extremely dull and he didn't find it funny! Hahahahahaha! Ah well....he thinks I'm stupid and I think he's dull lol!

Do they do any work?

The kids got home...they played a lot of games today and Susies class watched 'A Bugs Life' this afternoon...next week they have Fairytale day where they have to go dressed as a Fairytale character and they are having a party lunch provided.....

They finish school before 2pm on Wednesdays....they rarely get any homework.....

What with that and field trips and movies and swimming lessons and everything else they seem to do....they don't actually seem to sit and do 'work' at all......its very different from their other schools....much more like we did at home really.....maybe thats why they like it so much and why they are doing so well.....

They love it there...and thats the main thing :)

Easter....

Last year we had a party on Easter Sunday.....50 friends came along and each brought a dish to share...we hid 400 plastic eggs filled with candy and little toys and the children had a blast walking through the woods and our fields to find them all......

Lots of drinking, eating, chatting and playing and everyone had a blast! We decided it was our first ANNUAL Easter egg hunt and party.....

So Easter is a few weeks away.......and I am really not in the mood to plan a party.......I think maybe it is all the snow still on the ground and the cold temperatures and the forecast of more snow.......even if it starts to warm up next week we will still be mid-thaw for Easter which means flooded woodlands and severale small lakes on our land......and very muddy and boggy everywhere...

This year we don't have any baby chicks to meet either........

So I am not sure what we will do for Easter this year...I think maybe we will wait until nearer the time and decide......

Here are some pictures of our Easter last year! Oh and the table is before everyone arrived......this is the table I set up ready for everyones dishes.....but they brought so much it didn't all fit on that table :) Lloyds friend Darren made the most incredible meatballs in a creamy mushroom sauce......delicious! There were cream cakes, shrimp rings, potato salads, chicken, all kinds of dips and other delights.......VERY yummy :)

Sam starts preschool

Sam is doing so great at preschool with the bigger children that they have said he can start for real in the Fall so long as he is out of diapers......officially he shouldn't start until he turns 3 in January but he is doing great :)

Its lovely to see himn joining in with the other children and he looks so grown up sat at the table having snack with them or painting etc...

These pictures show him painting, drawing and gluing a shamrock at the St Patricks Day party yesterday.....oh an dplaying Lego which he sat and played for ages :)

I spent the morning there helping with the party....hiding gold coins for the children to hunt for and helping with the crafts and everything...I had so much fun! I got to wear a Leprechauns hat all morning and the food was good :)

Oh and YES I did get permission from the parents for these pictures :) and the preschool teacher!