Week Two was a MAMMOTH week for us with Monkey's birthday, associated celebrations for that, and heaps of socializing with our friends as well. We still did some schoolwork (though only a three day week) and simply enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate the momentous birthday for our middle man (#13) and spend time with special friends.
My "tradition" this year is to get special photos of each boy with Pastor A on the Sunday nearest their birthday that suits us all. The day before Monkey's birthday was sunny and beautiful and Pastor A was feeling really well so we did a lovely photo shoot after the service and a quick morning tea break.
There are a few really important birthday traditions in our house, the most important (as far as the boys/men are concerned) being the pancake and bacon breakfast!! It now takes a triple batch of pancakes and an entire kilogram (that is just over two pounds) of bacon to feed these hungry children of mine - so it ends up being brunch!!
Monkey posing with his pile of food!
After breakfast he opened a selection of cards and his present from us - which was a 120 piece set of dual tip watercolour markers/textas.
The obligatory birthday photo!
After a lovely video chat with one of his American grandmothers, Monkey got a further surprise... His best friend arrived for a visit and a snack of Krispy Kreme doughnuts!! These two have such a special friendship and Mr 4 just adores Monkey.
Munchkin worked hard on Monday mixing and baking the cake, mixing the icing, and icing and decorating the cake for his older brother.
The finished product was a work of art. One of my best friends, upon seeing the above photo, said it was a picture of happiness.
The big present when you turn 13 in this house is a phone and a set of house keys. Monkey has had a phone for a little over a year, but has NOT had a SIM card, and has had strict rules and restrictions - the phone was basically for learning purposes (his artwork mainly) and some online communication with friends he can't see if person easily. Since he KNEW he was getting his SIM card on his birthday, daddy surprised him by sneaking it into the phone, wrapping the phone, and then arranging for someone to ring him as he opened it!
Hubby bought sparklers to make the number 13 on Monkey's cake - they didn't work quite as we planned - but it was still super fun to do something special and different.
Wednesday the dining table was needed for some work for hubby, so we did read alouds in the playroom. The younger boys got comfortable on the floor...
Meanwhile, Monster said in a spare desk chair, and I worked through the stack of books you see on the right hand side of this photo...
We also did our learning on the floor on Wednesday - the flexibility of homeschooling is wonderful - even if my hips and back don't always agree!
Munchkin and I went for a late afternoon walk one day and had fun photographing our long shadows.
The Black Cockatoos returned to the neighbourhood and announced (by way of screeching to one another) that more rain was on the way. Can you spot the Cockatoo in the bottom photo? I had sun glaring in my eye so just pointed the camera in the general direction and hoped for the best. If you are stuck, check our the top left hand corner...
Thankfully, on Thursday we were able to work at the dining table again - a quick photo of Monkey and I settling down to work through his math assignment for the day.
Another walk with Munchkin - only this time he opted to ride his scooter and he was really pleased with himself when he lapped me.
Lego at the Library with his best friend...
Two of their creations...
Hard at work creating and constructing...
I like dinner to be simple on Thursdays since we don't get home from the library until sometime between 4pm and 5pm. This particular week I made "Poor Man's Soup/Stew" and though I never make the same kind of soup twice, they always turn out really delicious. Essentially it is ground beef/mince and a selection of beans for protein and then whatever vegetables I have on hand - this time it was carrots, peas, potatoes, and mushrooms.
Friday dawn clear and sunny (though cold) and because of that we were finally able to attend homeschool group - for the first time in 13 months! It was AMAZING. We got to see some friends we haven't seen at all over that year, and also met four new families who have joined our group in that time. The boys were ALSO thrilled to spend the day with their very best friends.
While the older boys roamed around chatting and spent some time climbing the spider web...
Munchkin got reacquainted with two little boys he hasn't seen for a long, long time.
More socializing on Saturday. Two boys came over for a day of Nintendo Switch play. One of the two boys was unable to attend homeschool group on Friday due to some scheduling issues, so his mum asked if he could take the train to our house and hang out. Then the other boy (who lives across town from us) also wanted to come over so the plans were set. Monster and Monkey walked up to the train station (about 800 metres away) while the other boy also walked from his house, and when the second boy arrived on his train, they all walked home together.
In the photo above they are getting everything set up in the lounge room for their afternoon of fun.
Monkey created this "old man Jedi" costume just for fun and laughs...
How do you feed five boys? Four of whom are teenagers? With difficulty... But I cooked up a GIANT pot of my special macaroni and cheese (I added shredded ham and mixed vegetables) and one of the boys arrived with a GIANT (think Costco sized) bag of frozen wedges. That tray in the above photo is only one of THREE trays I cooked for them.
I shooed them outside onto the sunny verandah to eat their food...
The wedges beat them - after everyone (including their father) had eaten as much as they could there were still all these wedges leftover!!
Once they were finished eating it was back to serious game playing.
There was time for Munchkin to tear himself away (they played some 4-player games) to do some baking for morning tea at church. He made a box of brownies and a box of triple chocolate muffins. Literally all I did was put the brownie mixture in the pan, and deal with the oven.
This game was hilarious to watch them play. They had to do different motions like wipe a window, and they would go as fast as they could and when the round was over all four of them would be shaking and rubbing their arm.
Their final game of the afternoon was called Overcooked and just listening to them talking as they played had their father and I cracking up with laughter. Apparently they burned the kitchen down and there were some other disasters as well I believe (game disasters not real disaster mind you)... All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and the mums have already decided it will be a once-a-month event for them. Both of these boys are friendly and courteous and a joy to have in our home. Our boys are blessed to have wonderful friends in their lives.
They packed up the Switch, the two visitors loaded their bags, and my two older boys escorted them back up to the train station where they said their good-byes and headed home. We are all looking forward to next month now, and as the weather warms up they will be able to spend their afternoon together outdoors as well.
Munchkin enjoyed reading my Narnia set again this week...
Monkey learned about the life of Julius and Augustus Caesar...
Both of these books were excellent starts to these series...
More Narnia selections... I think he stuck to his favourites this week.
Our last two non-fiction selections we finished this week.
More independent reading for Munchkin...
We finished off this book at the end of the week. James Herriot was a wonderful writer and we thoroughly enjoyed all the stories in this book.
A cute little series I found at the library for Munchkin. They are well below his reading level, but are acting as a stand in series while I continue my search for better quality independent reading selections for him. I noticed already though, when he has better quality books readily available, he steers himself away from Minecraft and Beast Quest and focuses more on the other books.
Finally, these screenshots from my phone are really only for a point of reference for me. As the rain slows down and Australia returns to more "normal" weather (I hope) - I have made a promise with myself that I will do everything in my power to walk on EVERY day that it does not rain. So I got five days of walking in this week. My daily goal on my pedometer app is set for 6000 steps and although I met or exceeded that each day, I'm not going to raise it yet. I want to see if I can get 14 days in a row first - that of course is weather dependent - and then I will raise the goal to 7000 steps. Ultimately I would like to be doing 10 000 steps per day above and beyond my normal walking that I do within the house.
