Better Late Than Never

To start: Happy Birthday, Mom. I didn't think that I would post the twins's birthday pictures as your e-card but after I spent 45 fruitless minutes scanning half-decent, humourless free on-line birthday cards, I decided that this post might do. The final straw came when Benjamin requested that I please play the card with the singing policeman; seeing that the policeman was wearing a badge and no shirt I decided to shut my searching down. So, here are the glories of last Saturday. Amazingly not one of these gifts outside of the birthday party was provided by Dave or I. Thank you grandparents and godparents - your generousity covers a multitude of my own sins. The above shot is probably taken minutes after dawn.

Ah, the treasure trove all the way from Halifax.

Hannah has inherited my ability to unwrap presents at lightning speed, scan the gift for quality and price and move on to the next unwrapped item. She will need spiritual direction at a later point in life.

The coveted High School Musical Balloon. They have no idea what High School Musical is but jointly concluded that the balloon was Musical because it made funny sounds when it deflated. That's where we'll leave that.

My favourite picture. Sorry, Christine - I had to post it. One of the stations on the scavenger hunt was to take a picture of your team with silly faces. This team won this station by miles. The lady in blue has a PhD...

Very cute little girls.

Beautiful siblings.

Future knock-outs.

Watching the entry of the birthday cakes.

I think that I have procrastinated with this post because I felt so badly about the cake situation. As you can see, one of the cakes is significantly larger than the other. There are myriad reasons behind the size differential; but the end result was Jacob's remark upon seeing his cake, "Why is mine so small?" My reasoning when buying the cakes was quite complex but somehow none of it held any water once presented with the birthday boy and girl and an audience of 20 plus party attendees. Once again, more need for future spiritual direction. The lovely lady standing beside Dave is our friend, Anne-Marie. She is from P.E.I. and met her husband, a Dartmouth boy, in Halifax. We frequented the same groups, held many of the same friends in common and her husband and I even graduated from the same program at the same university two years apart. Yet, we never met until we moved to small-town Ontario. Funny.

At least I had sparklers and he got to be the first twin presented with the cake and song.

Look closely at Jacob's facial expression - some serious cake envy. I had to gaze at this picture for a while before remembering why Dave has his arm raised above his head. It turns out that we have an extremely sensitive smoke alarm above the dining room table. As we serenaded Hannah with, "Happy Birthday dear Hannah...", it began to beep fiendishly as if drawing attention to the inadequacy of the blue cake. The whole fiasco reminded me of their first birthday at which the balloon positioned directly above Jacob's head exploded just as we presented him with his cake. I have a feeling they will remember their seventh birthday for a very long time.

Thank God for Dave who always remembers to take pictures like this one and the next.

By this point Jacob had recovered. After discovering that he doesn't really like ice-cream cake, he was thankful that his was the smaller of the two.

Dogs Don't Like Grapes (Otherwise Titled: In Praise of my Husband)

Our 95-pound Golden Retriever was eating grapes with great earnestness this morning. Joseph would take one bite and throw the remainder down for the waiting dog. I thought, "Strange. Dogs don't usually like fruit. Dogs don't eat grapes." And then I remembered that our poor dog hadn't been fed any actual dog food that day. It is Friday but I don't think that pets in Catholic homes need abide by the penitential demands of the day. No, the problem lies in Dave's absence. He has been away at a conference since early yesterday morning and will be back late tonight. He is the dog-feeder around these parts. Fortunately for Sammy the grapes triggered my dog-food conscience and I hustled together some canine breakfast. But the whole incident only made me long for Dave's presence even more. Now, don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy the occasional solitary evening and I don't pine my days away waiting for the arrival of my husband. But when he isn't here when he usually is here (i.e. before and after work hours) his absence is felt keenly by all. The kids seem to whip up their worst behaviour and my lack of patience and wealth of exhaustion come to a stormy head. Somehow we managed supper (PB&J tonight!), bathtimes and a decent prayer time but the TV was turned on for that last 30 minutes before the banishment to the bedrooms. How could I possibly do this job on my own day in and day out? I stand in awe of the single parent who does his or her job well, or even reasonably well. I need my husband. I need my children's father here at my side. He holds a position of authority in this house that I simply don't have. He phoned today and when I answered, instead of hello, I said, "Come home..." He laughed and said that he would be home by 9 o'clock tonight. Phew, just in time to say goodnight to me. I love you, Dave.

Birthday Solutions

I guess if I ask a question, you will all come to the rescue. Thank you. I am sure that the twins will thank you come Saturday.
We have decided to throw a last minute surprise party for the twins complete with a scavenger hunt, 16 kids and 10 adults. Go big or go home! The kids and their accompanying adults are being supplied by our weekly mothers' Rosary group. (Our Lady always comes through.) Also, we will give Jacob and Hannah 'certificates' to pick out something on our next visit to the big city (thank you Claire and Rebecca; and, Rebecca, our kids still love stuffed animals). I think I might also use Jaclyn's idea of the plant for the garden as an excuse to put in a perennial; but also because Hannah lamented this morning, "I wish I had a plant, I love taking care of nature." Jac, you are truly clairvoyant. And, Mom, the scavenger hunt (resurrected from my 24 year old sister's 7th birthday party) will be a great addition. I just don't know if Dave is willing to dress up as a pirate and emerge from the woods like Dad did so many years ago. If he does, I promise to post pictures and I will likely be the one who pees my pants in laughter. (Ben's birthday (May9th) is so much easier - he's getting a shovel and the promise of a cow. He will be mildly enthusiastic.)

Question

Why is it that, with exactly four days left before the twins' seventh birthday, it suddenly dawns on me that birthday presents just might be a good idea? I am at a loss. A complete loss. I don't want to drive an hour either way to the bigger town to pick something up. I simply can't deal with the fatigue. I would turn to the internet but I don't think that we could afford to rush anything here by Saturday. I could go to our local Stedman's but I really don't want to pick up something quick, cheap and to-be-thrown-out-on-Sunday. So, what's a mama to do? Are they too young to receive money??? Promises of ice cream for breakfast and Kraft Dinner for supper are probably not enough to keep our first-borns from noticing that there is nothing to unwrap. Help.

The last of the Halifax photos

This is the end. Of the Halifax photos, that is. And, if I am to be entirely accurate and up-front, these photos are actually from Dartmouth. Oh the shame ... Halifax natives will know what I mean; Dartmouth readers, congratulations on attaining literacy. (Shameless bid for comments!) These pictures were snapped at Rainbow Haven Beach on a fairly warm day. Amazingly, the wind coming in off the ocean was quite warm; but we still needed to bundle up. The twins were especially courageous as they braved the icy waters time and time again. Poor Hannah was swept over by a wave but a passerby scooped her up before she was entirely soaked. Ben was also overtaken by a wave within minutes of arriving at the shore. Fortunately, I had listened to that inner voice that had distinctly told me to bring extra pants for all the kids. In my father's words, "Mommy has triumphed!" I must record all triumphs as they are few and far between. (The majority of my triumphant moments are diminished by the use of Kraft Dinner and ice cream as bribes.)

And this last photo is minutes before our evening departure to our beloved small town. Dave and I attended a vigil mass at St. Agnes parish; rushed home; bathed and pajamaed the kids; ate still more pizza and bid my parents farewell. I didn't even cry. I did feel the tearing mechanism begin but I quenched its force and tried not to look my mother in the eye. Hannah did cry until around Sackville when she suddenly felt car-sick, was passed the Gravol bottle and told to take a swig. She slept soundly for the next few hours.

And now all pictures occuring on this blog will originate from west of Montreal. By the way, thanks for all the marriage prep prayers. The couples on the weekend were more than receptive. At least two of the eight couples approached us to thank us for the clarity of our teachings and to tell us that they were more than interested in Natural Family Planning. Sadly, as with all marriage prep weekends, this was the first time that most of these couples had heard the forceful and coherent reasoning behind the Church's stand on birth control. When such truth is presented well and enthusiatically, it can be very hard to argue with. As our wonderful Bishop said (who attended the whole weekend), "Why am I always surprised that people are attracted and convicted by the truth? I shouldn't be." We are simply delighted to have been a part of it all. The Theology of the Body, as taught by Christopher West, is easily understood and his analogies have a way of making the hearer say, "Of course. How could it be any other way?" Thank God for Pope John Paul II who responded to the Sexual Revolution with the Theology of the Body. And thank God for Christopher West who helps us to understand it. Have a blessed feast of Divine Mercy: we all need it and none of us are beyond it.

Marriage Prep Weekend

Tonight is the start of our second round at the new Theology of the Body/Marriage Prep/God's Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage weekend in our diocese. The original team of many couples has been split up so that we can more effectively cover particular regions of our very large diocese. Thus, there are only 4 couples facilitating this upcoming weekend. Consequently, Dave and I are presenting three talks this weekend. Two of these talks are new to us (Why Christ? and The Practical Benefits of Natural Family Planning); The Joy of Sexual Honesty Before Marriage is a talk that we have given once before. Although Dave and I met on a NET team, which specialises in giving daily faith-based talks and testimonies, these weekends are still a little nerve-wracking. Giving a talk with one's spouse can be a great occasion for unity ... or fabulous arguments and annoyances. So, I'm asking for some prayer this weekend: for all the presenting couples but especially for the engaged couples who are probably hearing the message of Christ and His plan for marriage for the very first time in a coherent way. Particularly pray that hearts would be opened to the Natural Family Planning message as, above all of its other benefits, the divorce rate among NFP users is 1-2% (compare that with 50% and upwards). Pray that hearts would be softened and opened to the love of Christ. We'll do our best; Jesus can do it all. He can even help me pick an outfit that somehow drops 10 pounds from my pregnant frame! Thanks, Elena.
(Also, any area readers who would like to see what these new weekends are like and possibly help facilitate them in the future, please feel free to drop in at any time. Hint, hint to all NFP users in Barry's Bay and the surrounding area!)

Benjamin, almost 4 years old

Like Bookends

Three years ago this Fall one of my greatest friends moved very far away. She and her husband are Hannah's godparents and every night Hannah prays that her godparents and their children will come back home. Our little girl's prayers were given a little taste of a positive answer last Monday. Hannah's godmother's grandmother passed away last Friday at the venerable age of 89. She lived a beautiful life and her funeral was certainly a witness to the legacy that she and her husband left here in the Ottawa Valley and beyond. One of the side benefits of her passing was that her grand-daughter came home for a quick visit to attend and sing at the funeral. I met up with her at the church but she also popped in that evening for a quick visit and a few pictures. Hannah was elated. My emotions were in line with those of my daughter.

p.s. Bonus points to the reader who can decipher the reference in the title. My money is on my sister and my mother (or perhaps my brother-in-law).

Higher Reading

Originally, I was going to post this under the title: This Photo Needs a Title. But then I mentioned my idea to Dave and he immediately quipped, "Higher Reading." He then remarked that such a title sounds like a new school initiative - he is well versed in the latest school lingo. So, folks, there you have it: this photo was not staged and, despite all safety issues, I took a picture before calling him down from his perch. Have a wonderful Easter Saturday. (p.s. Those are Hannah's feet directly below her brother.)

Some Sisterly Love during March Break

I'm still cashing in on March Break pictures but I took a lot of them and I know that at least my mother will appreciate seeing such documentation. On the evening following our trip to Lunenburg, my sister, Martha/Sr.Ilaria of the red hair came for supper along with one of the foundresses of her order, Sr. Teresa. Sr. Teresa was on NET in the late 80s (she even helped out with the beginnings of NET Australia) and she is a joy to have around. She is incredibly down-to-earth and has a fabulous sense of humour. Join me in congratulating her as she is about to make her solemn profession as a sister this week. She is sort of like a young Mother Angelica; amazing for a woman who once dated Peter Gabriel! (Side note: Joseph is always this happy to see me.) And this is our attempt to keep Sr. Ilaria around a bit longer.

Actually, it is the 'town jail' in Lunenburg located below Big Red's Restaurant. Big Red's is essentially our destination when visiting Lunenburg. In fact, I don't know why we even speak of visiting Lunenburg; we should just say, "Let's go to Big Red's."

Two days after our Big Red's trip we were surprised with a visit by Sr. Ilaria with three of her sisters in tow. It was wonderful and refreshing to get to meet these vibrant young women in person. The two without veils, Sr. Nita and Sr. Georgia, are both postulants and have yet to take on a religious name. Sr. Miriam is the sister to the right of Sr. Ilaria and has been with the order since its founding. She has her roots in Cape Breton and, apparently, can step dance quite well although we didn't get to see a demonstration. Together all four are attending one of the local universities where they are pursuing their degrees. These are brave women as they certainly stand out amongst the university crowd. Thankfully they attend most of their classes together and are able to draw on one another for support. God bless these brides of Christ.

Have a blessed Holy Thursday.