When it's raining outside..

.. and the children are really bored - what do you do? If you've been watching YouTube makeup videos, you break out the makeup of course! I had been watching a video by the brilliant Sam of Pixiwoo do a futuristic look using stickers and eyeshadows. I tried it out on my hand and sure enough, the kids thought it was great and wanted it done on their faces too. They were very happy with the results and I think on the next rainy day we might try it again and create some all-over looks.

Family time!

Our week off was such a relaxing time. My in-laws live in California so it isn't very often that we all get to spend time together. We spent most of the week at my sister-in-law's home, the house where she and Tim grew up. His uncles and aunts live close by and the children had a great time visiting everyone, fishing at the pond, feeding the animals and just exploring.

Max impressed us all with his patience when he went fishing at the pond, standing very still and being quiet. He kept casting his line over and over again without getting frustrated. It paid off when he caught a bass!





Lily adores chickens (as you probably know from previous posts!) and hunting for their eggs. She laughed out loud every time we walked down the driveway and all the chickens would run along side us. Yesterday she and Tim went to the hardware store and saw some baby chicks - she couldn't stop talking about them. We can't wait to have chickens of our own some time in the future. Here she is with her haul.






She was so proud of the "jumbo egg." The next morning when she insisted on making scrambled eggs for everyone she cracked the jumbo egg and found that it was a double yolker! Thanks for breakfast sweetheart.

Noah's Ark

Two weeks ago Max had his spring break. Tim also took the week off so that we could all enjoy it together. His parents were also visiting and we had so much fun just playing in the gorgeous sunshine we've been having.

We went to Noah's Ark, a fantastic animal rehabilitation center. My favorite animals were the giant tortoises and the enormous buffalo, Max liked the monkies and Lily was rather taken with the peacocks that wandered around. I was hoping to find a peacock feather but we hadn't realised it was good Friday and the park was packed.








They have a lion, a tiger and a bear that have all been raised from cubs at the rescue center. They all live in the same enclosure and share a house. Unfortunately it was a very hot day and the clever animals decided to either stay inside or take shelter from the sun under the house. I can't say I blame them! Still, the bear was quite funny, lying splayed out on the porch, turning around to try and catch a breeze.



It really is a wonderful place to visit. It's so nice to see all the animals together in one place, with plenty of room to roam around. It gives us a wonderful glimpse of what the future will be like. Isaiah 11:6-9.

When brilliant parenting ideas don't work...

When you have picky eaters you try all kinds of sneaky things to make them try new food. When I say picky, we are fortunate enough to have two children who love raw fruits and vegetables - so it could be worse - but they are not too keen on trying new things or anything cooked for that matter. My mom bought us a kids' cook book, full of fun ideas and appealing photos. I let the children choose a recipe and they were very excited about cooking their own supper.

They chose a recipe for fish/mashed potato croquettes. They cooked and flaked the fish, made the mash, formed the patties into fun shapes (dinosaur, heart, fish and a cake to be exact). I breaded and fried them and well, that was as fun as it got. After swearing up and down that they would eat every last bite, they barely nibbled the crispy edge and declared that altough it was nice they really didn't want to eat it. In other words, we think it's gross but we enjoyed cooking.

So reverse psychology doesn't always work out but at least we had a blast in the kitchen and hopefully the love of cooking will stick.