An attempt at weekly posting gone awry

The knitting continues; perhaps providing a reason for the decrease in posting?  I finished one scarf for Hannah.  It is interesting and, I imagine, will be something that we look back on with great fondness and humour as we contemplate its lack of integrity from its home in the dress-up box.  The second scarf, however, is a work of tremendous accomplishment.  For a second scarf.  Even the boys want it, despite its colour.  Dave still remains largely indifferent.  And slightly confused as to how his wife is slowly becoming her mother.

It is Monday and I have run almost head first into Hallowe'en.  I must convince Jacob that wearing last year's costume is really a great opportunity to improve on the prior year's efforts rather than an admission that there is nothing else in which to dress but the cut up bed sheet stored lovingly in the ziploc bag.  (My back hurts too much to fix the grammar in that last sentence.)  Thankfully the two little boys are quite excited to dress as ninjas, costumes for which their wardrobes provide the necessary components.  Thank you Youtube.  Hannah said that she is going as herself and I am unconcerned.  Her ability to run the world will surely produce something great for Hallowe'en.  And Isaac is still completely unaware that there is a major holiday on Wednesday and will likely be compliant when asked to wear the lamb or penguin suit.  Sarah will dress as a baby in a sling who read August's post in which her mother, quite stupidly, wrote that she slept through the night.  Ahh, the gods of sleep will have their revenge.  And it will be terrible.

Hannah and other balms to my soul

It is career day at the kids' school today.  Ben dressed up as a carpenter.  He wore a toolbelt with a few of Dave's real tools stuffed in the appropriate slots.  Joseph dressed as a cowboy after asking if it would be OK if he wore a dragon costume.

Jacob is at home after crashing on his kneecap last night following the scaling of a pole in the basement.  Joseph tried to help as best as he could by placing his eldest brother on the couch with a blanket, some ice and a hobby horse to be used as a crutch.  Jacob vetoed the hobby horse and opted for the plasma car as his means of transport.  The plasma car was our birthday gift to Isaac; consequently Jacob has to avoid Isaac as he navigates the house so as to prevent the high-pitched screaming with which Isaac is so gifted.

And, Hannah, dear Hannah, without any prompting, dressed as a mother for career day.  She wore my apron and carried a measuring cup.  She did, however, balk at the idea of carrying a baby doll in a sling.   For any of you who attended my wedding shower, Hannah is wearing the apron that you helped decorate with drawings and cute sayings.  One of the sayings, written by Dave's sister, is:  "Cooking wears me out, Kissin' don't!"  However, over the years the fabric-painted letters have worn to:  "Cooking wears me out, ssin don't!"  I wonder if anyone will notice.

In other news, I have begun to knit after much prompting by my mother.  I finally sat down last night after supper with two needles, a ball of pink yarn and a youtube video.  In no time I was casting on with ease and purling away.  After an hour and 10 rows of stitches I was still at the table with a baby teetering on the edge of real discontent, two children on my lap, three on the table and one computer playing the full musical of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (minus the questionable scene with Potiphar and his wife).  If Dave hadn't been present the kitchen would have been in complete disarray and I would probably have moved on to Godspell once Joseph had come to a close.  It is amazing the lengths to which a woman will go in order to create something, if only a long pink rectangle.  Dave called us to the front room for prayers where I put down the needles in order to re-ball the mess of yarn made by Isaac who refused to watch Broadway.  I then sat down in the Lazyboy, put the baby into nursing position and turned on Foyle's War while continuing to knit.  The night was immensely satisfying.  I now understand how creativity routinely trumps housework and why so many children wearing handmade clothes can sing Broadway from memory.

The Sarah Edition

A big photo catch-up

I decided to catch up with a big post of pictures so as to tie up the remains of the summer and head into the fall.  After all, according to the blog, the kids haven't even gone back to school yet.  Trust me, they have.
The above are some dangerously eroding cliffs to whose edges the kids kept going far too close.  I had little time to enjoy the scenery as I was in constant high alert that Isaac and Joseph might at any moment plunge to their deaths.  Somehow at least three of the boys ended up in a timeout on the one bench available for seating.

This is back at the beachhouse.  The grainyness is due to the iPad's inability to take good photos when using the zoom function.

We went to this incredibly awesome restaurant in ?? (anyone remember?).  It was run by a young couple, she from Alberta and he from Australia.  They had converted an old house into a funky eatery with fabulous food; you know, the kind that doesn't come with just fries on the side - more like rolls flavoured with dulse.  The place was so good that Dave and I went back two days later to belatedly celebrate our tenth anniversary.  We decided to pretend that we had only one child and Sarah celebrated with us.  She had milk.  On our first visit we ate outside at picnic tables under the shade of gorgeous old trees.  We had the best seats in the house as it was quite hot and the restaurant, being in Nova Scotia, had no A/C.  Thus, our, and that of the other patrons, dining experience was heightened by our choice of seating.  The place also had two hammocks in the trees under which we ate.  The above is Dave attempting to relax on a vacation without the aid of sheer exhaustion.  Notice the difficulty in relaxing his neck completely...

My sister and I both rode horses in our younger years and it was one of her wishes to go riding while on vacation.  So, we found a trail riding place and took the twins with us.  Jacob was put on the most ornery and recalcitrant horse that I have ever ridden.  (Trust me, I attempted to ride him after Jacob's turn.)  This horse resisted all attempts at steering and insisted on following the rear end of Hannah's mount.  At least they kept smiling, until they started crying.

See my hand:  I am motioning to Dave that my back (only 2.5 months post partem) is in a considerable degree of pain.  My ligaments were as well the next morning.

Back to the frigid waters of the Bay of Fundy.  Ben contemplating the lack of sensation in his feet.

Hannah looking after everyone.

Godmother watching over godson.

Not sure about the face.  What a physique, though.  That chest will one day carry me out of burning houses.  Or at least push my wheelchair.

A brave, brave boy.  Who wishes he had more body fat.

Amazed that brainfreeze is not just caused by ice cream.

Oh, my dear crooked-mouthed little boy.  Your cry endears me.

Especially when it ends quickly.

The view of our glorious location on the road in to the beachhouse.  The house was located in the woods on the right and the two bodies of water are the Bay of Fundy and the tidal pool in which we swam.  Those are also the woods to which we almost set fire.  Imagine the devastation...

We finally came home and Isaac turned two.  I licked the icing in an attempt to stay gluten-free.  Pathetic, I know.  Jacob has begun to pray that I will no longer have to be gluten-free except that he pronounces gluten as glutton and thus the prayer suddenly has far graver implications.

Dave's parents turned 70 this year and celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.  We along with Dave's sister hosted a BBQ/reunion at the farm.  Here are my in-laws showcasing another cake of which I licked the icing.  The BBQ was great and the best part was all the second cousins running around together.  They were all equally wild (well, some a little more than others) - Tanya, yours were some of the politest and sweetest kids that I have ever met.  Jacob decided that his best friends are now these boy cousins and the others are waiting for the next reunion.

And then Fr. Mike came to visit and we went to Algonquin Park where trees are the main showpieces.  No cake, no icing at the Park.

Fr. Mike thanking God for a celibate vocation.