Life, Lessons, and Benjamin's Birthday

We are well through March, and this is only my second blog post this year. It is looking likely that 2015 will have the least posts since I started this blog 8 years ago! I think I just make the posts impossibly long, and with far too many photos at a time - so  more like several posts in one! ;-)

I certainly take a LOT of photos of wee Fergus! He's just soooo much fun, that I can't help but take photos of him! These were taken last week at 20 weeks old. I can hardly belive that he's coming up to 5 months old next week! He's growing up toooo fast!

Fergus is really taking an interest in everything around him, and grabs *anything* he can get his hands on. He hasn't yet rolled over or done any major moving about - I think he's too fat! ;-) LOL But he certainly uses his hands a lot!

His brothers were very excited to see he could join in with Duplo and grab the pieces. But they weren't so sure about the wet bricks put back in after he chewed on them! [oops!]

A few weeks ago at 4 months - he weighed 18lbs 8oz, so is certainly putting on the pounds!

19 weeks old here

At nearly 17 weeks

He loves to hang out on my back in the sling ...

... his smile proves it! :-)

He's had a cold for weeks - hopefully he'll soon get over the cough and stuffy nose. He wasn't looking quite his smiling self here.

Me and my smallest boy and smallest girl!

Last week my biggest boy turned 8! :-)

Looking to see what Moshlings they'll find inside!

Benjamin opening presents

Looking pleased with what he's finding inside!

Lego is always exciting!

Yes, birthdays usually mean bricks (and wrapping paper!) all over the floor! :-P

Already captivated by a birthday book

Cake - he requested Wallace and Gromit figures on top. And he wanted them to be something he could keep and play with later - so that was nice & easy!

Candles

Birthday boy and his mama

As if I haven't posted enough photos of him already - he was delighted with Elijah's cuddly spider "Woolly"!

"Oh, are you watching me?!" :-D

We've been learning about cells in our anatomy & physiology curriculum, and the kids were very excited when there was a suggested activity to make an edible cell. We used jelly (Jell-o in USA) and various sweeties (candy) for the parts of the cell. They all had a lot of fun - and was even better that a couple of their friends were over for the afternoon to join in! :-)

Deborah's cell

Abigail and Rebekah's

Benjamin's cell

We had lots of sunshine last week, which was enjoyed by all of us!

One final photo - dear Fergus sleeping on my back this afternoon!

I guess I'd better get this posted. I can't think of anything out of the ordinary happening here - just plenty of the usual daily stuff! A few of the family have come down with a worse cold or possibly virus of some sort this week, so yet to see who will get it next. Fergus hasn't quite cleared the cold he got over 3 weeks ago, so really hoping he doesn't get something worse on top of it.

Half way through February already?!

I've decided that it's a good thing I did not make any kind of "New Year's resolutions" about keeping up with my blog better! ;-) I didn't start 2015 off very well without a single post in January, and now nearly in the middle of February before I finally get down to it again! There's no good excuse or reason for my absence here, just busy with living and lots of small people to love and look after! :-)

Here's Deborah & Fergus tonight - he'll be 16 weeks tomorrow. Time is flying by - I feel like he was hardly a newborn at all! But I guess his big size to start with made him seem to grow faster! He's thriving and weighs over 17lbs now. As you can see, his older siblings are still very much in love with him.

Yesterday, the middle 3 decided to have a "Great British Bake-off"! They told me the challenge was a 40 course meal (!!!) and 3 tiered cake. They even had a timer to see how fast they could do it, and "Judge Clement" was making all kinds of comments about something being raw in the middle, or burnt on the edges! LOL

Elijah still enjoys hanging out in the real kitchen - he's there most evenings when I'm cooking dinner! The only time he seems to be too distracted from it is when he's on the Starfall website, where he loves to work on phonics and basic maths. It's great that he thinks he's just having fun, but is actually learning quite a lot!

Deborah is making good progress with writing words. She's not reading yet, but she loves to write!

This was Fergus the other night - chilling out while I did the dishes. He's not so sure about the flash on my camera - makes his eyes look like they're popping out! [oops]

My birthday was on Monday this week - now the grand old age of 33! The children greeted me nice and early with lots of birthday cards. I think Deborah had made me at least 4! The TY Beanie toy cat was from Benjamin - he asked his dad to take him shopping and picked it out himself. And the silk scarf was painted by Abigail and Deborah - they spent many hours working on it in the summer, and then kept it hidden away until now. They certainly made sure I felt very loved! :-) And then I made some cupcakes for them! ;-) They can't imagine a birthday without cake - so had to bake something!

Fergus is busy teething! No idea how long it will be before a tooth appears, but he seems mad about chewing everything he can get his hands on!

We've had some wonderful mild weather recently - I actually got washing on the line for the first time in *many* months! And we've had lots of sunshine this week, which I always love! And kids playing in the garden again is the best part! They've been in the house toooo much over the winter, and they always have tons of energy! :-P So it's great when they are outdoors again.

Fergus at midnight the other day! Yes, he sometimes likes to have fun with his toys late at night! And then he had a long lie-in the next morning - wasn't awake until 10:30am!

Abigail continues to be a big help! It's wonderful having an older daughter who can give the baby a cuddle when I'm in the middle of dishing out dinner, or doing the washing up, etc.

3 youngest boys!

Deborah "reading" a book to Fergus! He was totally taken up with the book and the story that Deborah imagined was on the pages.

Yes, they ALL love him! And Fergus loves them too!

Elijah playing dressing up - and looking a bit too cute for the scary warrior he was meant to be! ;-)

Going back in time - this was at 11 weeks old.

Enjoying his toys - 12.5 weeks old.

He really is nearly always happy - the most content baby I've ever had! :-)

Tummy time at 13 weeks

14 weeks old

I love all his funny faces he makes!

Looking shocked (at nothing in particular!) and then dreaming the next minute! :-)

Giggles at 12 weeks

My little boys!

We've continued to make progress clearing out the house in Dingwall - we finally got the kitchen all done a couple of weeks ago.

This was not slave labour - honest! The children begged to help scrub. But eventually I had to chase them out, before we had soap & water everywhere! :-P

Well, I guess there's not much else happening! We've just been busy with ordinary days and homeschooling. In history we've been learning about various Spanish Conquistadors, Ferdinand Magellan and the voyage around the world (not that he made it, or even planned to go around the world!), and most recently we've got to Martin Luther and the Reformation. We've just finished the science course we've been studying for the past 18 months or so - all about astronomy. Elijah has enjoyed hearing about planets and the moon & stars and will probably continue to talk about it for some time to come! :-) Not that he's anything like school age, but they all enjoy sitting around and listening when I read aloud - though sometimes I think they like to see if they can talk louder than me! :-P Abigail is looking forward to starting a new science book next week - she's very keen to study human anatomy & physiology! I have to admit I'm excited about that too! I studied two levels of it at college in Texas and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I can't wait to explore the subject with Abigail, and I'm sure the other children will have fun too! Though I'm planning to try a new science curriculum with the younger children, which has simple hands-on and visual activites to do each day. It doesn't look too involved or messy [yay!] so I'm hoping Clement & Deborah will enjoy that.

Another year nearly finished...

Well, we're nearly at the end of 2014 - this year seems to have gone by very quickly. I know the highlight of the year was the arrival of Fergus in late October - what a joy and blessing he has been in the short 2 months since he was born! :-) He is a very content little boy and it's so sweet to see the smiles he gives when his siblings come to talk to him - and plenty of "baby talk" or cooing to them too. I just love to see the bonding between a baby and their older siblings - such special times!

Here he is tonight - already 9 weeks old this past Saturday. And being a 6th child, I must admit that it's only tonight the box of baby toys was pulled down and he got something to "play with". [oops] But with a sibling always stopping by his pram to chat with him, show him what they're doing, etc (not to mention his mama talking to him lots all day long! :-D ), he doesn't much of a chance to be bored or lonely! But I think he will be interested in exploring these hanging toys.

"Helping" mummy with the laundry last week - 2 months old!

Also taken last week - Abigail was holding Fergus while I cooked breakfast. And from the kitchen I heard his little voice and looked to see him smiling and "talking" to Deborah. :-)

Photo from today - Elijah was helping me bake cookie, though I think he did more eating than baking! We made teddy bear and butterly shapes.

This was at nearly 6 weeks old

6 weeks old

6.5 weeks old

7.5 weeks old

Nearly 8 weeks old

Last week we spent a couple of days in Dingwall trying to sort through Peter's dad's house. He passed away back in June, but the summer was busy with the holiday house in Edderton, and then Fergus being born. Well, there was a gap between the last guests and his birth, but I started feeling unwell with raised blood pressure only 2 days after the final guests of the season left! :-P So yeah, with a busy year/summer and all, it means there's still a fair bit to sort out. Peter managed to clear out quite a lot from the bedrooms over the summer, but I hadn't been able to do much until now. So it was good to make a lot of progress last week - and hopefully we'll get back there again this week for another couple of days. Photo above shows the lounge - only the bookshelves left to sort through (and plenty of stuff for charity shop/dump etc - but at least it's in bags/boxes).

I figured the slower/quiet time of year and school holidays would make it the ideal time to devote some time & energy to sorting the house there. It's a bit of an adventure doing it with 6 kids hanging around (as seen above!) :-) but they took along jigsaws and loom bands, and drawing stuff, which kept them mostly occupied.

We had a bit of snow a few weeks ago, which the children enjoyed! It was only a thin layer, but they still made the most of it! :-)

Also a few/several weeks ago (before the snow), I was home with the youngest 4 while Peter took the oldest ones to the homeschool group. We'd been down with a nasty chesty cold and the younger ones (and myself) hadn't quite gotten over it. So I took the little ones out for a brief walk and some fresh air. It felt quite easy to have "only" 4 children to get organised in "winter gear"! :-) I don't get out for walks very often at all - it seems to take so long to get 6 kids ready, that by the time everyone is ready, there isn't time left for going out! LOL

Me looking full of a cold there - and Fergus very cosy in a sling (and with a warm poncho covering him).

Out for a walk and looking at the noisy small stream below.

Elijah wasn't feeling very well here - but still trying to smile!

Sooo, I guess that's all I have time for now! I sometimes think what I might write about when I finally sit down to update my blog, but time runs out! There's still laundry to finish doing, and floors to hoover - and it's already past 10pm! But I wanted to update this with some recent photos before 2014 was gone.

Wishing all my family and friends a very Happy and Blessed 2015! :-)