These two are ten! (A pre-Isaac post)

 Jacob and Hannah turned ten on the 17th of this month.  As a mondo birthday gift from their maternal grandparents they got to fly to Halifax for March Break with me and Sarah.  March Break always coincides with Tim Horton's Roll-Up-The-Rim campaign; incidentally, RUTR also coincides with Lent.  Having no Tim Horton's in Barry's Bay, we roll up the rim every chance we get during March Break.

We only ever win donuts and coffee, and re-essayers.  Apparently one of my father's university students was in a lecture when one of the male students began to yell and wave his coffee cup around:  he had won the Toyota Rav 4.  One day, one day, I say.

Hannah is peacefully resigned to coffee and donuts.

Why not when you get to spend March Break by the ocean?  (where there is no snow unlike one's hometown.)

We had big plans for the twins' tenth birthday.  Needless to say, we were blindsided by Isaac's illness and the twins spent their tenth birthday apart.  It was all rather poignant.  I only just realised that I have no photos of Jacob on his first double-digit birthday.  I didn't even get to hug him.

Jacob was slightly more upset by the separation than his twin sister.  (He is cut more from my cloth.)

He tends to be slightly more philosophical than his womb-mate.

Hannah, much like her father, hides her contemplative side and leans toward the practical side of things.    They are tremendous blessings under pressure.

The March Break trip was wonderful and a great time to re-charge with my oldest two children.  How providential that they had such a momentous pre-birthday celebration.  As I left for the hospital on Sunday morning, Jacob prayed that Isaac would be discharged from CHEO on the twins' birthday.  His wish was granted with only hours to spare.

And here's Sarah in my parents' kitchen sink.  Interestingly the twin propeller plane on which we flew to Halifax had a set of 6 week old twins, a set of nine year old twins and a set of eleven year old twins.  On the flight back another set of twins sat directly in front of us.  Well, directly in front of Hannah, Sarah and me.  Jacob sat in the window seat next to a massive muscled man who promptly fell asleep and refused to be woken by a nine year old boy who needed to use the washroom.

Just thought I'd throw these ones in for posterity.

Little did I know

Little did I know that Isaac wasn't getting any better because he had something far worse than any of the others.  To make a long story short, he was diagnosed with a massive pneumonia of the left lung last Sunday morning and airlifted to the Children's Hospital in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon.  He was admitted until Wednesday evening after making a rapid recovery.  Praise God for specific antibiotics!  We came back home on Thursday and have entered the convalescence period.  Please pray that he would drink more.  He used to guzzle down three to four bottles a day but will not touch them anymore and it is all we can do to get him to drink sips of juice or water.  We even used a medicine syringe to force water into him yesterday.  I am unsure if he has made some sort of association between drinking and the hospital; however, he needs lots of fluids to prevent a relapse.  (And, yes, we have tried popsicles:  he smiles at me, accepts the popsicle and holds it in his hand until it begins to melt.)

I will definitely put together a longer blog post in the near future as I actually have pictures from beginning to end.  While taking these pictures I often wondered if I was being ghoulish snapping photos of my son at various stages of his illness.  However, the photo-chronicles did two things:  gave me hope that he would recover and that we would one day review these photos and wonder at the whole event; reassured me that I had photos of him no matter what the outcome proved to be.

Also, pray for our family as we settle back into normal life.  This event was a tremendous upheaval and I feel more than a little shell-shocked.  I hate the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (for a myriad of irrational reasons), but I think that there might be a little of that around here.

Poor little town, poor little family

The flu season this year in our little town has been particularly brutal.  Those in the school system and those in seniors homes bear the brunt of the assault.  We cancelled our marriage prep weekends in February and moved them to April so that we wouldn't have to deal with sick children.  Little did we know that the kids would still be sick come April.  I hesitate to say that we have made it through the worst of it all.  All the kids, with the exception of dear little Isaac, have crossed the river of sickness and are standing in the promised land.  Isaac, however, is still wading toward shore and would appreciate any prayers that you could direct his way.  Thanks.

A discovery

In the days previous to this I had mistakenly believed myself to be a wife and mother.  Now, with a potentially broken washing machine and a repairman who has yet to return a phone call, I have discovered that I am, in fact, a laundress.

I have become like a mariner without the stars, an adventurer without a compass, a modern without a GPS.  I wander from room to room trying to order my day without the buzz of the washer or dryer only to discover that those buzzers had become like the bells of the monastery calling me to my next task.

Now, I sit unguided at the kitchen table unable to decide between dishes, supper and the crying baby.  Such decisions used to be simple ordered by the whites, the colours and the darks.

Onward and upward.  I will sort again.  And perhaps I have been reading too much David Warren.

Benjamin

'Bout Time

Survived Lent.  How about you?  Apparently I am so happy to be through with fasting and abstinence that I am enjoying the kitchen again.  Either that or below is a paparazzi shot of me on my new reality cooking show.  I'll let you decide.

 There's a theme here, you know.  It's called "Someone stole the camera and mom just discovered these photos of which she has no memory".  This one is of Benjamin sprouting out of my head.  I always tell Dave that Ben was a good idea.

 I'm ahead of the game when it comes to catechesis:  Sacramental preparation for the Last Rites.   Even Isaac is surprised by the sudden turn of events.

 Sarah:  "I am born sixth.  I have four older brothers.  I have two guardian angels."

 I confess to taking this picture.  I have a real fondness for taking pictures of the kids while they sleep.  I like to review these photos right about 3pm when they all pile in the door from school.  Each time that I look at this photo I think of an ultrasound scan of a woman pregnant with triplets:  "Look!  One baby, two babies, three babies!"  That's one big womb.

 This photo is not a very good likeness of Sarah but it reminds me of her cousin Miriam.  What do you think, Rebecca?

 I am so glad of this photo as it is the only evidence of the 8am shuffle to school:  Dave and his ducklings.

 Look, Mom, no hands....

 There are consequences to everything.  Happiness cometh before a fall?

 Not really sure.  Do you have a title?