First Bonfire of the Year and May Long Weekend

My parents have a bonfire pit at their house and, as long as one follows the carefully prescribed rules put out by the local fire brigade, it is quite possible to roast marshmallows while in town.  One must only burn one hour before dusk up until one hour before dawn, the fire must be at least 100 feet from all neighbours and it must clearly be for cooking.  Thus, the necessity of marshmallows.  I'm perplexed by this photo of Sarah.  Channelling her inner Irish dancer?m

 Bonfires always involve beer and here is the master of the house caught red-handed.

No matter where Mariana stood she somehow managed to find herself exactly downwind from the smoke.  Poor little girl.  She was also one week into her toilet-training regime and so the evening drew to an abrupt close when we realised that she was quite wet and soiled.  Three weeks on and she is completely diaper-free and we have nine blessed weeks until we are back in diapers, albeit much smaller ones. 

 The May long weekend brought lovely summer weather and a trip to Dave's mother's grave to say a decade of the rosary along with Dave's dad, sister, twin nieces and in-laws.  We finished up the night with a spaghetti supper at the farm.  This photo also marks the first photo of me pregnant with this eighth baby.  I am 28 weeks pregnant in this photo and using the gravestone behind me as support.  If I did hashtags, I would write #pregnantat40.

And here are the kids along with their twin cousins, Clara and Chelsea.  It was actually May 20th when we took this photo and, if you look closely on the gravestone, that is the day that Dave's parents were wed 46 years before.  Two children and ten grandchildren later - I'd say they have left quite a legacy.

April and May Combined

I don't think I should even apologise anymore when it comes to my long delays between postings.  There is so little time, true; however the real reason seems to be that I have no device on which to write, and when I do, the phone with its photos is at work with Dave.  Such is life with growing children, two of whom are well into their teen years.  (Yes, only one phone.  Yes, a bit of an "on principle" thing for me.)

 Well into their teens?  Why, yes.  Jacob and Hannah turned 15 on April 17th.  My parents' birthdays quickly follow that of the twins, the 19th and 23rd.  Thus, we decided that a combined birthday party at the better of our local restaurants was a good idea.  I booked it and then we were struck by a stomach flu.  Amazingly, Jacob, Sarah and I escaped its wrath, but poor Hannah spent three days (one of which was her birthday) doubled over.  Gravol finally did the trick and I spent a few hours in the middle of a long night praying in thanksgiving for whoever it was who invented that wonder drug.  The birthday cake was bought, frozen, re-frozen and finally defrosted for the birthday supper.  Sadly, the cake was disappointing and not because it was made by my hand.  I had put much thought into this cake and purchased it at a high-end bakery in Pembroke.  Better luck next time. 

Close on the heels of the twins' birthday comes that of Benjamin.  This year he turned 12.  Twelve!!  They are all growing up far too fast!  Thank God there is another baby on the way in 9 weeks.  Ben's cake was much better than the bakery-buy.  It is a gluten-free bundt cake made by my mother and, since my parents' move to BB,  has become the standard birthday cake for the past year.  The kids, not knowing what a bundt cake is, ask for Grandma's donut cake with the strawberries.  Truthfully, I think the icing seals the deal.

Cakes aside, we are so blessed and delighted by the presence of these three children in our lives.  Jacob and Hannah initiated us as parents and Ben arrived as our first singleton.  Our lives are immeasurably better since their conceptions.  I simply cannot imagine life without any of them.