No pictures

If I try to post pictures to accompany all of the following Afelskie anecdotes, I will never get this post finished. Our pictures are currently split between two computers, two cameras (one of which likes to turn off and on of its own volition) and Picasa (which I still don't quite know how to access - please, don't bother with a tutorial: I wouldn't listen anyway).

These anecdotes will be somewhat random; but, if you have ever spoken to me in person, you will understand that my mind is somewhat random and likes to skip around a lot. But, if you listen long enough, there is usually some sort of thread that unites my many thoughts.

So, first of all: I let Jacob and Hannah watch one of those Yahoo clips about a family with 18 kids. As an aside: why do these families always have to have really big hair (on the ladies) and feel convicted about wearing dresses, even while swimming? Anyway, the twins were, shall I say, super-energised by this family. Hannah was taken by the fact that they had two trampolines. (We don't even have one! Moral outrage.) She has now equated double-digit off-spring with trampolines and is encouraging us to have another baby. Jacob was able to see past the trampolines and into the future. He told me that he is hoping to marry a woman with a really big womb. (To hold all those children.) I just don't know how he can ascertain womb size on a normal sort of date.

Speaking of Jacob, he greeted Isaac and I upon waking by announcing that this is Isaac's 364th day of life outside of the womb. For all of you non-mathematicians, that means Isaac's birthday is tomorrow. Isaac is completely unaware of the upcoming milestone; however, he has taken his first steps and walked clear across the living room yesterday - twice, and in front of all his siblings and both parents. He enjoyed the applause.

He had his one-year check up last week at which our doctor asked if he has any words yet. Apparently 3-5 words by the first year is the norm. None of our children have had anything beyond mama and dada by year one, so I am never worried when I have to answer no to my doctor's queries. I did answer by telling her that he is just a smidgen short of being able to insert a plug into an outlet and shows great interest in electrical circuitry. She didn't record that in his chart. Dave's wondering if Isaac can drywall.

I bought all of the kids new zip-up hoodies for school. Jacob's says Varsity; Hannah's says Nature Club; and, my mistake, Ben's says Rookie while Joseph's says Team Captain. This title is not lost on Joseph and he now believes that he has become the oldest in the family. Joseph is a supremely confident child and, if he could articulate such thoughts, probably believes that destiny guided he and this sweatshirt into relationship. To compensate I mistakenly bought Ben two sweatshirts. (I could write a book on how to successfully and inadvertently waste money.) The second one says Founded in 1962. I don't know if this holds any significance.

We painted the kitchen and the hall is waiting a second coat. Well, Dave painted: I stirred the paint, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I am encouraged by a study that I read this morning that says that the Circadian Rhythm of men wires them to stay up late and sleep in while that of women is the opposite. I suppose that this is the consequence of late-night vigilance around the campfire; now, in the age of modernity, it allows for kitchen renos in the wee hours. It really is quite nice to wake up to a new kitchen. I will post pictures at some point. But for now I will tell you that the grey that we painted a few years ago (and never really liked) is now replaced by a avocado-like green on two walls and a cream on the other two walls. The green was a little two avocadoey for both of us and we agreed to lighten it; but, several days of inactivity (read: laziness) allowed the green to grow on us. Plus, we no longer feel the need to make more work for ourselves. Phew.

The new kitchen/dining-room colour has left us with a bit of an artwork problem. Michael O'Brien's painting of The Assumption used to grace the main wall in the dining room. However, it turns out that O'Brien doesn't look so hot inside of a ripe avocado. So, I came up with the idea of a black-and-white photo of each of the kids in matching black frames. When I told Dave this he smiled knowingly. To which I replied, Yeah, you're right. My plans will more than likely amount to me writing out these plans on a list next to my bed, and then on a list on the dresser and, finally, on the church bulletin on the fridge. By this point I will have written out my plans so many times that I will have successfully expunged them from my mind and I will wonder why we haven't put The Assumption back up. Amazing what Dave's smile can do.

I brought the kids to the library the other day. It wasn't open. Our library has the strangest hours of all libraries on the face of this earth. On one day of the week it actually opens twice: one of those openings being on the half-hour. I am surprised that our library isn't located in a secret location that changes bi-weekly, or something. The kids kept trying to open the back door all the while a voice from the depths of the library yelled, It's not open! At least we found a dead vole in the parking lot that we were able to stare at. We went to the bakery instead so that Dave could get some school work done.

And that's about all. We have a one-on-one marriage prep session with a couple tonight in our home. If you remember, pray for us all at 7:30 tonight. I think that it must be rather intimidating to have to come to an unknown couple's house in order to learn about Catholic sexual ethics (our priest's words, not mine). In fact, this poor couple showed up last week by accident; when I told them that they were a week early, a tremendous look of relief spread across the man's face. When I said sorry about the mix-up, he grinned really big and kept saying, Really, it's not a problem. He then proceeded to run backwards from our house to his truck all the while thanking me for sending him away. I've never seen anything like it. I told Dave that he had better go get a case of beer so that this guy can feel a little more comfortable.