The remains of summer

 At the end of our annual trip out East, we stopped at my parents' house for a few days.  It was intensely humid and rained sporadically throughout.  We (meaning Dave and I) were extremely tired and no longer happy campers.  (Although, in regard to camping, I don't think I can ever be described as happy.)  We headed down to the university track to time Dave, my sister and the kids at the mile distance.  The hockey arena sits adjacent to the track and we had a tiny reminder of the opposite of heat and humidity.

 Then it was warm-up time as the crew leisurely jogged around the track while I sat under a useless overhang that dropped water steadily onto my belly.

Sarah made it around a few times - not always in the correct direction, but around, nevertheless.  Although difficult to discern, she is currently in her pink phase.

In a bid for speed, Isaac whipped off his shirt and attempted to race a university runner of African origin.  The African jogged by with a humouring smile and Joe attempted a different strategy:  run directly in front of the elite athlete in an all-out assault.  We left soon after.

How did we get to 32 weeks?

 Poor seventh baby!  It has taken 32 weeks to finally take a photo of this little one in the womb.  This is taken at the height of summer and I was hot and uncomfortable and wishing that my clothes fit better.  Ben told me that a classmate of his found out that I was pregnant with a seventh baby and she (all of nine years old) exclaimed, "Seven babies!  Seven babies?!  I didn't know a person could have seven babies."  Yes, little girl; yes, a person certainly can.

Since Isaac's womb time, pregnancy brings rosacea along with its many other joys.  Thus, the patches of red on my cheeks.  I found some photos of me not pregnant while I was writing this post and was reassured to see that the weight always comes off - whew!  I gain thirty pounds in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and then very, very little in the second half of the pregnancy.  Still, the amount of people who have commented on my weight gain this pregnancy has been, ummm, hard to take.  Maybe I look more impermeable than I am!  But, I reassure you, water does not run so easily off this duck's back.  Even if my back is a little bit bigger than it usually is.

Birthday Roundup

The end of August and the beginning of September bring both school and another round of birthdays.

Isaac turned five on August 30th.  Five!  Can you believe it?  Weren't we all waiting for his birth just a few days ago on the blog?  (Have you noticed that Joe is always hovering close by when ever a gift is opened?)

New shoes!  Actually, two pairs of new shoes!  Because a school kid needs both indoor and outdoor shoes, and all Isaac has is a pair of beat-up green crocs.

The classic 'Dave and his crew' birthday shot.  Everybody looks a bit worse for wear as it was the end of the first day of school and the weather had been extremely hot and humid.  I think Hannah was just back from a run and Dave hadn't logged much sleep the night before.  Pardon Isaac's face:  I took six photos and in each one he is wearing the exact same expression - birthday weariness.

Sorry for the blurriness of the second to last photo, but I had to include it.  Isaac's godparents and their four daughters happened to be passing through town on the evening of his birthday.  They arrived just in time for cake and a good hour of playing together while the parents caught up over coffee.  I wish the picture was clearer so that you could see that we choose godparents entirely based upon physical resemblance.  Really and truly, Isaac looks like he could be their fifth child!

Well, it's about time!

 It's been almost a month since I've posted.  I think I can be forgiven, as we've been away and getting ready for back to school.  So, I decided to start with a present-day post and work backward from there.

School in our county started a week earlier than in the city.  The teachers voted on the start date last year and decided that they would rather go back to school early and have more days off in June than the other way around.  I am of the opposite opinion, but have no voting power.

 I think that we could call these photos 'spot the introverts vs. extroverts' in the family.

 I've included this series of photos so that you can see what goes on around here behind the nice photos.  Yes, Joseph is drawing back in preparation for slugging his older brother.  Note Jacob's hand in the previous photo.

 Tears will squirt.

 Dave said, "Please, no photos."  However, I couldn't resist as he is the teacher who has become known for wearing a shirt and tie along with his running shoes.  He told me recently that his gr. 8 teacher did the same and he always thought it strange.  Now, after years of daily teaching every academic subject as well as gym, he completely understands.  In fact, he has one pair of dress shoes and they are as old as our marriage.  At the end of his first day, I asked him, "Do you sometimes wish you had a 9-5 office job?"  His voice, muffled in his pillow, replied, "Uh-huh."  "Yeah,"  I (once a teacher, as well) said, "Sometimes I think that teaching is just stupid."

 And this is whom I am left with.  My neighbour saw us in the grocery store and said, "I guess this is your new best friend."  Yes, I agree; and what a pleasant little companion she is.

Another man in the grocery store commented on what a cute little girl Sarah is.  Once again, I couldn't disagree.

We are enjoying lunch together in our ultra-clean house ... because no one lives there other than us from 8am-3pm.  Order disintegrates within minutes once 3pm arrives.  However, we unashamedly enjoy the other 7 hours.