Fun in the Kitchen

Adam had fun helping me in the kitchen today.  First he helped me make supper by cutting up a pepper

And then he had fun with Eli and I measuring out the ingredients for a cake. He enjoyed baking so much that he was having a difficult time sharing the baking experience with Eli, and would have happily measured out all the ingredients himself if given the chance.  

I love how all children,  no matter the age, engage in and love the process of baking and food preparation. 

Of course no baking experience is complete without a bit of taste testing. 

Eli knits

Grace knitted herself a scarf, which inspired Eli to learn how to knit, so with some training from Donné he is getting the hang of it.

Mother’s day

Grace and Eli were able to independently make breakfast for Donné today! By the time I got downstairs they had made a cup of lemon water and a bowl of (sugary) oats for Donné, which was followed by cards and more cards and chocolate bars and more chocolate bars.

The afternoon was a meander through Vergelegen’s gardens.

Under the Royal Oak at Vergelegen

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Getting everyone to look at the camera and smile seemed to be an impossible task today

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Ride-em cowboy!

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Thank you! 

Adam sits in the back and Grace hands him a chip. He takes the chip and, “Thank you!” Another one, “Thank  you!” and another and another. 

He’s picking up so many new words, like the ones in this video:

Let’s plant a tree

Ads helped Pete to plant Heather’s birthday tree while the ladies drank tea, ate cake and gave moral support. When I say helped I mean, used a tiny trowel to add about one entire trowel full of soil to the hole.

Jawbones

Eli and Adam are both sick, and Eli stayed home today. We know how differently our children engage with activities – Grace goes into the zone of figuring it out, building, etc. Eli takes it and invents some imagined story or game around it, and Adam seems to be more like Grace. 

They were playing with the he Jawbones and Adam got entirely engrossed in clipping all the balls onto a piece. Eli, with some help, built a bike and then started a story about the flying bike and it’s boosters and the man on top. 

Tip, oh-oh, laugh

When you have your brother’s sand in the wheelbarrow: tip, “oh-oh”, and then laugh about it.

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A little bit of help to keep the seeds moist

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Weekend adventures

Our weekend was filled with friends, 

A mini volleyball game with the MacRoberts 

garage door sanding and sealing (with a few too many trips to Benbel!!), cake baking for a friend, Eli sealing his work bench, and some planting of some seeds. All in all it was a good weekend. 

Planting seedlings, a fun activity for all ages

 

Peel that carrot 

Adam gets his first lesson in carrot peeling 

Adam the Gatherer

All 3 of our children sleep with a soft toy. Grace has her beloved Monkey that she befriended at 18 months and who still has a very important spot next to her while sleeping, as well as during reading and watching TV.  Of late she has adopted Oinky into the family and I guess you can say they are inseparable. 

Eli wasn’t really interested in soft toys for a long time, to be honest he wasn’t really interested in sleeping through the night for a long time either.  Going to sleep playing with my hair was more of his thing.  At about two years old he loved Oinky for a bit but then found Mango mouse (aka Simba the lion).  Of course if Grace has two soft toys, then so must he. 

And then there is Adam, he has always LOVED cuddling with his bear (Bears) and now his Woof.  

He is such a funny little guy when he wakes up, he gathers EVERYTHING  he can find, Bears, Woof, remote controls, books etc and then brings them downstairs