Fourteen

 When I first started this blog, the twins were five years old and in Senior Kindergarten.  On April 17th they turned 14.  Brevity of time and all that.

 They are graduating from gr. 8 this year and being confirmed on May 9th.  Possibly, they have only four years left living with us; one of the sadder facts of living so far from the city and its universities.

 They are such great kids.  One of the best part about their entrance into high school is that they are not going to high school.  (Let's call this the big homeschool reveal.)  Rather than attend our local public high school, we felt strongly that attending the Virtual Learning Centre (Ontario curriculum entirely on-line with teachers, classrooms and exams) was the right choice.  Happily, Jacob and Hannah are both thrilled at this new chapter in their lives.  Remaining in one's pyjamas might have something to do with it.

They are incredibly self-motivated learners and attending the VLC holds the possibility of moving through the curriculum faster than the typical four years.  I have asked them if upon graduation they might consider working for one year, and then attending OLSW (our local fledgling Catholic university) for another year, and then maybe working for another year, and then maybe staying around for just one more year.  Is there anyway to keep them here forever?

Seven Middle of the Week Takes

1.  We recently had one of Sarah's friends stay overnight while her mother had a baby.   She brought with her a purple scooter covered in Disney princesses.  Noticing that she had forgotten to take the scooter with her, Joseph generously offered to run with the scooter and drop it off at her house.  I don't think he completely thought this through.  I just looked out the window as Joseph began a mile run carrying a purple Disney princess scooter over his shoulders.  I hope he runs fast.

2.  Come to think of it, this might be a familial trait.  Another friend of ours walked over yesterday with her double stroller and two of her children.  For a variety of reasons, I drove her home and she left the stroller here.  I haven't yet decided if I will load the stroller into the truck or run it over there empty.  The latter option casts my mind back to the odd women in my childhood who through some sad circumstance of life pushed empty strollers or dolls in strollers.  I'm not yet sure if I am ready to identify with that crowd.

3.  I cracked open ten eggs this morning to make scrambled eggs.  All of these eggs came from the same carton.  Eight of them contained double yolks.  That's one fertile hen!  I think she has reason to consider NFP.

4.  Holy Week snuck up on me.  Life has been very full lately, but I think the persistent presence of snow hasn't allowed any of us to fully enter into the coming of Easter.  Yesterday it was a glorious 20 degrees and the mothers of this town (strollers in hand) escaped their houses en masse.  Today it was back down to 5 degrees.  The other night, while lying in bed and listening to freezing rain mixed with snow come down outside the window, I was bitten by a mosquito.  Strange climate zone.

5.  Sarah told me recently that if my hair goes grey, I will have to ask Jesus to change it back to brown.  Then her more practical side kicked in, "Or, you could just dye it."

6.  A few weeks ago I backed Dave's truck into the pillar protecting the propane tanks at the gas station.  (Yes, the truck is Dave's.  The stroller is mine.)  Confused, Dave asked how I could possibly have hit something when the truck has a back-up camera.  I shyly answered that I had become fixated on watching someone at the pumps who reminded me of someone's son on a blog that I had once read.  I vaguely remember all the other gas-station patrons perplexedly watching me.  The really sad thing is that the pillar wasn't even close to where I had parked.  It was a full 25 metres away.  My mother told me that I still didn't have her beat, as she had once backed into the one car in a very large and almost empty parking lot.

7.  And here's the saddest part:  I just checked my last post and I had already recorded the previous story.

Not to be forgotten

The kids say some awfully funny things that I really don't want to forget.  So, in the interest of posterity, here they are:

Hannah recently purchased herself a penny whistle off of Amazon.  For a while, along with the March Break countdown, there was also a "days until the penny whistle arrives" countdown taped to the fridge.  When it finally arrived she holed herself up in her room with sheet music and her whistle.  One day I was cooking supper when I heard Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence wafting down the hallway.  I absentmindedly asked myself aloud if that was really The Sound of Silence that I was hearing.  Forgetting that Jacob was in the room, I was surprised to hear his reply:
"Yeah, I know, I thought it would be quieter.

Today I came out from my room wearing black pants and a white shirt.  Jacob took one look and commented, "You're rocking the ying-yang look, Mom."

This is really a whole 'nother story, but I recently backed the truck into a cement pillar guarding the propane tanks at the gas station.  I have many excuses, chief of which was a killer migraine.  Nevertheless, I had to face Dave with the damage to his truck.  Jacob stood outside with his father as Dave stared plaintively at the dented bumper.  I later asked Jacob if Dave had said anything while surveying the damage.  "No,"  said Jacob, "I think he was just mourning."

Ben followed me to my bedroom with a look of complete frustration on his face.  He had been playing with this brothers and had grown tired of their antics.  I asked him what was wrong and he answered with a look that said sheesh, "I know I am one, but: Boys!"