Winter's Arrived

Winter has definitely arrived and the guys couldn't wait to get out to find all the ice. (Tiarnan didn't even want to wait to get dressed so was still in pyjama's and whichever sibling helped him, zipped his coat on backwards but he was happy!) The sandpit cover had filled with water in the heavy rain at the start of the week and was frozen over this morning so they were lifting it off in the biggest sheets they could manage.

Caitlin even managed to make a mini snowman with handfuls of frost who has now taken up residence in the freezer along with Tiarnan's precious piece of ice.

The job for the morning was then to fill up the wood stores in the house. As well as obviously doing a job which was needed it also got the children working purposefully outside, again so that having been physically active they would settle and focus better to whatever activity they decided on once indoors. Justin and I are also very keen on developing a strong work ethic in the children so that we will have contributing adults in the future. As the guys don't have homework as an excuse for not doing chores this is an easier principle to instill. We also get them to work as a team as much as is reasonable and certainly their negotiating skills are improving!

Once inside Orla had a 'maths attack', requesting a workbook which is a very unusual occurence in our house so it must have worked to some extent. Sitting down with a book in a nice warm house then becomes a welcome rest!

Gathering the wood is also a very satisfying job which has a fairly immediate and natural reward as we all enjoy sitting reading or playing games around the fire and appreciate the homely effect which you get from a real fire.

A Morning up the Mountain

 Now that the mornings are so dark, Anna and I have been struggling to get our early morning dog walking fitted in before Justin heads to work. Also the guys have been spending a lot of time in the house (meaning that the boys still have a lot of energy the wrong end of the day!) so we decided to try working the day a bit differently. I have been in the habit of trying to get the guys to do a bit of work once morning chores are done and then we tend to free flow after lunch but the afternoons seem to be very short with it cold by about three o'clock. Therefore I thought we'd try going out in the morning, the theory being that having blown the cobwebs out they'd settle better into something constructive (or at least not argumentative or hyper) once home.
As it was such a good weather day for November we decided to head up the mountain.

 The children were fascinated by the little streams that ran right under the path.

So they tried to follow where they went to.

Eoin decided that this tree was called Arnold and then proceeded to try and find all his cousins!

We didn't quite make it to the top but we got far enough to get a lovely view. It was really something special being up there all on our own, enjoying the peace, having the freedom to explore as far as we chose without chasing the clock, and to literally feel on top of the world.

The children then ran most of the way back down.

I then had a very peaceful afternoon, both children and dogs having had such an energetic morning. Beth sat and read and Anna worked on a photographic project. The four younger ones had an imaginative game going in the playroom doing a lot of cooking with the toy kitchen, so presumably they were running a cafe or similar. When they play like this I often hear myself in the way they talk to each other. Now some days when I've been on a short fuse this is something I live to regret as when they are then mad with someone phrases I wouldn't be proud of get repeated. Today though it was all good and for that I am thankful.

This photo was then taken this afternoon as the sun was setting from inside the house looking over to the mountains where we were this morning.

The Beach

 We are very lucky to live just 40 minutes from the beach and also that it is where my parents live so we get to visit most weekends.
 Even on a grey and cold November day, like Saturday was, I love the beach.

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I love the big open space where children and dogs can just run.

And find it to be a place calming and rejuvenating for the spirit whatever the week has held.

It is certainly the dogs favourite place for a run and explore.

 The rocks are fun too even with Amber trying to share the same one!

The children love foraging for treasures too and we invariably leave Grandma and Grandpa's house with a crab or two (dead) in the utility sink, complete with names, to be minded till next week and a pile of rocks for their stone tumbler (which can only fit in small stones, like the size suitable to make jewelry from!).

The Circus in Town

 The problem with going out into town with 6 children, especially when all other children are in school and you have a foster puppy in tow is that you attract a lot of attention. Add in 4 goats with an appointment at the vets and you feel like the circus going into town!
One thing I've learnt though since having the children out of school is that you can't worry about what other people think. I like to feel that I've reached the point in my life where I'm comfortable with who I am and with the choices we've made but there are certainly days when this is easier than others. One thing I always try to be mindful of, is to be true to the children first and foremost, which again can be easier said than done. I am often aware of people looking at us as we go about in a crowd but try to not let that affect how I am with the children. I've also learnt that if I am tense, say in a coffee shop with a cranky crew in order to break up a long journey, the children will feed off my worry and we're much more likely to induce a full meltdown (there is one Starbucks that I don't think we can return to for a very long time!). Interestingly it's the times we're just out and having fun together and not letting those around us inhibit us that people have come up to us to say how fortunate we are to have such lovely children or how well behaved they are.
To be fair the children more often than not are very well behaved when we are out and about. Before we take on a situation which may be challenging we always try to tell the guys what we expect of them before we start and have found this is far more effective than chastising them afterwards which just turns into a negative spiral. We've also told them that when we have Skye in tow with her jacket on, we are ambassadors for AADI and this always makes the children feel proud to be out with her and they enjoy talking to people who come up to them to ask about her.

The vets are getting used to us now, with us bringing dogs, chickens and now goats to them so I'd say not a lot would surprise them now. Today the goats were getting their immunisations which apparently need repeating in another 4 weeks so the circus will come to town again!

A Full Conversation

Yesterday evening Justin and I went out for a couple of hours on our own. In the last 12 months I think we have only managed this less than a handful of times and even then it was to organised events, usually work do's of Justin's so this was a big deal.
A friend had very kindly offered to mind the children and in order for them to feel it was a fair deal they had organised a 'midnight feast' (to be had at 8pm!) and a double whammy of 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' to be viewed. Fortunately our friend is as dog mad as our children and brought her own dog too so the guys were very happy. Even Tiarnan who often doesn't let me go to the bathroom unaccompanied was happy to wave us off.
We went to a local Chinese restaurant as it is a quiet place not far from home and it felt really special just being the two of us once we got over the feeling of being errant children playing truant from school!
The most amazing thing about the evening was to be able have a conversation with no interruption and being able to maintain a single line of thought without a dozen other stimuli trying to pull it off course. There are many times during my day when I can have one child physically tugging me to go with them, another two trying to hold two different conversations with me at the same time ( believing that I will listen to the one who talks loudest ) whilst another child is calling from some remote corner of the house and needs me now. Therefore this was bliss!
The last few weeks both of us have been feeling that we are spending too much of our time firefighting and that we are trying to keep too many balls in the air. Somehow the balance has been off kilter and it was really valuable to be able to talk through our current issues and review our priorities. There always seem to be so many things going on at the same time that it's so difficult to get the focus right and be true to ourselves and the children at the same time.
It was also invaluable trying to reflect on whether we are meeting the needs of each of the children at the moment. It has always amazed me how six children with the same parents, brought up in the same home can be so completely different. Because of this we have always tried to embrace their individuality and make each child feel special for who they are and the contribution they bring to what makes our family what it is. However this also means we have a major job figuring out how we can best parent each of them and then finding the time to actually do it and create the opportunities they need. Times six. Mind boggling!
Last but not least is ourselves. Justin and I. Together now for 22 years it's very easy to take our relationship for granted amongst the chaos that is our daily lives. We're a strong team, having weathered a few of life's storms together along the way, but every relationship requires nuturing. So for ourselves too we are going to try and carve out the time, every now and again, to take off on our own for a couple of hours and then go home, a little bit fortified, to enjoy our family again.

Fun iThe Leaves

Saturday was another lovely sunny afternoon so we headed down to our local community field with the dogs. There were loads of leaves still on the ground so the guys had a ball making piles of leaves and then either jumping in them or throwing them!

Another thing they love about this field is the trees which are great for climbing.

The bottom of the trees then becomes Hogwarts and they have a great time finding various hidey holes.

Although it was a dry day though the boys true to form still found the only big muddy area in the far corner of the field. It's like a magnet they are powerless to resist! Thank goodness for over-trousers, they have been a life saver these last few weeks and have seriously saved my washing machine from a complete melt down. When they get too caked in mud Justin jet washes them, children and all, and the guys think that's the best game ever!

Harry and Neville Come Home

Earlier this week we heard that Harry was now weaned entirely onto grain and hay and so both he and Neville were ready to be collected. The children had been very disappointed to have had to leave Harry and Neville behind the last time so this news was greeted with much joy! We therefore headed back to the breeders farm yesterday.
As you can see Beth was delighted to have Harry at last and relieved that her fears that he might have unwittingly been given to another home were unfounded!

 Whilst we were on the farm the children also got to see some of the other animals.

 The family's dobermann had had eight puppies six weeks ago so the children were thrilled to be able to get a 'puppy fix' as well!

The puppies were really cute and it would have been very easy to take one of them home along with the goats but we resisted temptation and loaded just Harry and Neville into the van.

Once home we put Harry and Neville in with Hermione and Ron. They were both a bit stressed from the journey but are already beginning to settle in and as we had sunshine again this afternoon they all had an hours playtime outside.

Neville

Ron

Harry

Hermione

Neville again!

Masterchef &The Great British Bake Off

We don't have a television, (could you imagine the arguments over channels or the Christmas lists from adverts with 6 children!) but we do have broadband so if there is something we would particularly like to watch we put it on the computer. Our family viewing over the last few weeks has had a decidedly culinary flavour. We have been following both Masterchef Ireland and The Great British Bake Off (having been tipped off by Grandma). Both had a similar vein with the challenges getting increasingly more tricky and one person being eliminated each time and we began to really feel for the contestants as we got to know more about them each episode!

The children have always been keen on spending time cooking and baking but these two series have captured their imaginations even more and our menu's have gone up several notches, as will our waistbands if  the current rate of pudding plus cake each day continues!

A while back I was finding that the number of sous chefs I had made producing a meal on time near impossible not to mention the mess that ensues when you have a couple of small boys 'creating' shapes in handfuls of flour whilst you're making sure another doesn't cut her hand off or get scalded whilst 'stirring'. Therefore in the name of health and safety, my sanity and to give each child a voice in what we're 'cooking up today' it was decided to allocate one day a week to each child as their 'baking day'. That child then gets to bake something for tea, choosing either myself or an older sibling as their helper if it's one of the younger ones. The older three girls will usually also take over the main meal for the day, hence our menu and shopping list boards. They were frustrated by, not surprisingly, the contents of our cupboards not matching up to the ingredients lists in the cookbooks they were browsing through so we are encouraging planning, whereby they have to put on the board particular ingredients before the shopping is ordered for the week. We also had to include the concept of budgeting at this point too especially once the lists were were leaning towards artisan!

I think cooking is such an important life skill and love that the children find such enjoyment in it. Meals are a big deal in our house and eating well certainly adds to the experience. Often when I suggest doing some maths Anna will tell me she'll be doing arithmatic and volumes etc. when she cooks as making anything in our house invariably involves doubling or even trebling recipes. They are also learning about nutrition and food groups as when they are taking over the family's food for the day they have to seek 'nutritional approval' and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their 5-a-day and get adequate protein and iron. This is further complicated in our house as neither Beth nor Eoin will touch meat or fish so there is a fair amount of creativity and thought required if everything is to be eaten as we have more than our fair share of 'fussers' too.

Making pastry creations from the left-overs is always a favourite occupation.