Sarah's Birthday

Oh dear, am I ever behind!  Sarah turned five on June 6th and, well, this is six weeks later.  However, to make up for my tardiness, I will post multiple photos of our beloved daughter to demonstrate how much we love and cherish this little girl.  Then, one day, when she moves into the realms of literacy, she will read this post and forgive her dear mother for almost failing to document her special day.  But, isn't she cute?  I am so fond of this little girl.  I remember when the idea of another child so soon after Isaac was first proposed.  I thought the proposal was ludicrous.  But, yet, that proposal was Sarah.  How easily I could have missed out on this fabulous child; how much better are God's plans than my own!

The problem with posting so late is that I have nearly forgotten how we spent the day.  What I do know is that there was ice cream cake.  Ridiculously priced ice cream cake.  Why do we shell out so much for so little?
Sarah is everything you could ask for in a five year old girl.  She is full of fun and kindness.  Every single morning she hops out of bed with a smile.  When she finds me, she hugs me tightly around the legs and asks for a cup of tea.  She insists on wearing a dress every single day and loves when Hannah braids and curls her hair.  She is extremely easy-going and easy to get along with.  She has a real gift of friendship and is extremely extroverted.  She really is a brand new personality to us and we delight in Sarah - or, as Dave calls her, the little girler.

Also, at some point in the day, Sarah's good friend Ella came to play and joined us for supper and cake.  I also recall lots of jumping on the trampoline and being chased by older brothers.  Ella's mother is the sixth child in a family of 12.  I often think of Ella's mother and the life that she and her husband have established when I think of Sarah.  Sarah is our sixth child and one day she too will lead a life separate from us that bears fruit in its own unique way.  Mysterious.

I think that Ben somehow appears in the background of almost every sibling birthday photo.  Dave has a thing about taking pictures of the birthday cake.  We sing Happy Birthday while Hannah carries over the cake.  Then, without fail (years of without fail), Dave stops the show just as the cake is placed before the birthday child, instructs them to tip the cake slightly upward and takes a shot of child and cake.  I wonder if he realises how unfailingly he performs this ritual?

The other inevitable ritual is that all the other kids (minus two who happen to be slightly better-mannered) clamour for the first piece.  They are told forcefully to sit back down and wait while the birthday girl and her guest are served (and I console myself that this behaviour is strong character in our children and not the result of bad parenting).

Late Spring

 Despite the fact that I am very far behind in regards to syncing our lives with the blog, I am sad to say that the weather still feels a lot like late spring.  There is a large and heavy cloud that has taken up residence over this part of Ontario for the summer and there has hardly been a day that passes without a major downpour.  Dave and his father have been unable to get on the fields to start taking the hay off and, in places, that hay is over 7 feet tall.  A child's dreamworld, a farmer's nightmare.

 I took these photos in late May (or was it early May?) before my parents headed back out east to prep their house for selling.  We had gathered together for a campfire with marshmallows and blackflies.  Blackflies are one of the curses of this part of the world.  Unfortunately, the extremely wet spring yielded a plague-like crop of blackflies.  I have photos of the backs of the kids' necks, but I will spare you.  Suffice to say that many of the boys' t-shirts are stained by blood and the school proclaimed indoor recess on many a day due to the bugs.  We know how to make our kids tough!

 I just like the lighting in this photo.

 And I like the girl in this one.  I suppose she is far more a young woman than a girl now.  At times I feel like my life's work has become organising her babysitting and coaching schedule.  She and Jacob are also taking their Bronze Medallion swimming badge this summer.  Hannah refuses to go on after this level as she is only 5'2 and barely 100 pounds and doesn't feel she has the strength to rescue anyone in the water.  "Too many people would die on my watch, Mom."  Jacob, however, is growing at an astronomical rate and has surpassed me on all fronts - height, foot size and almost weight.  I'll be happy when the last milestone is reached!  He is a fish in water and is going to pursue his swimming instructor certification.

 Sarah seems to be entirely composed of energy.  She bounces out of her bed in the morning and only bounces back under a heavy hand close to 9:30.  Sigh, only 5 years old.  I will have to enter her in an Olympic training program to get through the teenage years.

 These two have become very close friends now that Mariana is approaching two.

Nevertheless, their blossoming friendship cannot always contain our youngest.

Overheard

Jacob and Hannah have built up a store of money from babysitting, lawn-cutting and the like.  We finally got around to putting their money into their (de-active, oops) bank accounts.  Jacob, not in the mood to visit the bank, said, "How about we find a bookstore instead and spend $595?"

Dave and the twins were in Niagara Falls and Toronto the last week of June for three days on the year-end class trip.  Departure time was 5:15 am and the three of them walked to the school in the dawn hours.  Later that day Joe suggested that those of us who remained so sadly at home should go and get ice cream at the local ice cream shop.  I told him that it would be quite expensive.  Joe quipped back, "Oh, you don't have to pay."
I replied, "I don't want you wasting your money on ice cream."
To which he said, "Wellll, technically it's not really my money."
I raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I sort of found it this morning on the way to school when I was hiding my bike in the woods."
"You mean along the path that Dad and the twins walked this morning to school?"
Turns out Jacob had lost a twenty on the way to his school trip and Joe had serendipitously found it.  And offered to spend it just as fast as it had been lost.

An unnamed child, while squishing potato bugs in the garden:  "Mom, the male bugs are on top of the female bugs and, when I squish the females, eggs come out.  I think I'm in potato-bug health class."

Me:  "Do you want to know how 'things' work?"

Child:  "No, but I think I'm getting closer."

Grandpa Mike was over last night for supper.  He likes to tell stories from his and his family's past.  Those of you who know him might be familiar with the story of the gobbler, or the turkey that turned out to be the devil.  No, not joking.  

Anyway.

Last night he was telling us how his dad wanted to turn 98.  (He died at 94.)  Hannah asked why 98 and Mike answered that his dad had a neighbour, Billy LeVair (rhymes with bear), who had turned 98.  Hannah, not hearing correctly, asked, "Billy the Bear?"  

To which Mike responded, "A bear?  There was no bear!"

"But you said Billy the Bear."

"No, there was no bear."

Who's on first.  What's on second...

The joys of a grandparent who won't wear his hearing aid.