Isaac turns nine

Oh dear, am I ever behind when it comes to blogging these milestones.  I do have legitimate excuses, though.  We have been in the process of selling our present home, renovating our next home and (just this weekend) moving to that new home on the family farm.  Also, with two teenagers who attend highschool online, it is nearly impossible to get near the computer from which I blog.  In the midst of this semi-chaos, kids still have birthdays and time marches inevitably on.  With that forward movement of the calendar, our dear little Isaac turned nine.  And there he is in all his Isaac glory:  a pile of joy (and a good deal of feelings on the other side of the scale as well).  He never stops moving and, when he does, he falls almost immediately asleep.  He once told me that a good cure for insomnia was to count to, wait for it, 5.

For his end-of-August birthday, he asked if we could take a family hike together.  I chose a trail that I had only ever heard of and for which little to no markings of its location existed.  All we knew was that it was on the way to Algonquin Park.  Rather than rack this choice up to my failure to plan, I chose to approach this adventure as a find-the-mystery-trail sort-of event.  Dave doesn't take as much joy in the mystery as I do.  #marriage

Just as we were about to hit a point of frustration, both Dave and I (in separate vehicles) spotted a piece of orange surveyors tape tied to a tree next to a teensy-tiny sign that read:  Use at own risk.  We assumed that this must be our destination (oooh, danger) and quickly found a beautiful trail that led upward to some stunning views.

Joseph after he let the dog off lead.

Joseph and Isaac pretending to fall into a deep, dark and dangerous body of water.  (A three-inch creek)

Mariana being pulled upward by her father.  Amazingly she made it a full kilometre uphill without complaint.

The summit.

I feel like this is some sort of paparazzi photo of Dave and me on vacation.  It just has that blurry, hey-they're-real-people, sort-of vibe.

The proud parents nine years later.

A closer shot of parents who are only slightly less tired than the day on which Isaac was actually born.

Mariana, alas, refused to hike downhill.  Interesting.

Matthew stayed at home napping with Jacob during our hike, but he reappeared for supper at the grandparents' - lasagna, Isaac's favourite.

Grandpa looking wild.

Slightly more civilised Grandpa.

The inevitable GF donut cake carried in by a loving brother.

Isaac with his cake and beer.
Grandma looking on benevolently.

Yet another view from the top.  What lake is that?  I have absolutely no idea.

Lastly, our fourth-born boy, Isaac David.  We call him the squirrel because he seems to scurry around at an alarming rate.  He feels very, very deeply and I sometimes forget to take the time with him that he really needs to express that emotion before he, well, falls asleep.  He often snores through family prayer time and quite frequently wakes up in a different place than where he first fell asleep.  His smile is absolutely winning and his face lights up like the sun when he flashes that smile.  I love this boy to the moon and back and wish I had more time just to get to know him.  Many years, dearest Isaac.

Matthew's First Birthday

And just like that, another year has flown by and the newborn we brought home last summer is a fully-fledged one-year-old who has begun to walk and takes advantage of his many siblings to help him practise.

As I am sure you know, one-year-olds tend not to be interested in their birthday gifts; but their three-year-old sisters often are.

He briefly enjoyed his new wooden train until it was confiscated by Mariana and his attention was distracted by a box in which he could sit.

 

How I love his face.  He is one of my best sun-tanners and has quite the farmer's tan from days spent watching his brothers' and sisters' swimming lessons at the beach.  Note the difference in skin colour between his neck and leg.

Jacob thrown in for good measure because he doesn't appear that much around the blog anymore.

Isaac looking like something is bothering him.

Ben wearing an unfortunate side glare.

Matthew clearly upset by the paparazzi.

Dave in farm clothes, or maybe these are renovation clothes.  He hasn't had a day off this summer between farmwork and helping with the renovations at our new house.  He was actually glad to get back to school today.

The box that distracted Matthew.

Classic Matthew face.  He has quite the eyebrows and often pulls in his lower lip to form the face you see above.  My sister calls him my be-eyebrowed baby.

Train appropriated by older sisters.

Grandma and Grandpa in attendance at all birthdays.  Actually, if it weren't for Grandma, the last few babies would have been present-less on their first birthdays.  I figure that the baby doesn't know either way, but Grandma thinks otherwise.

Joe wearing an undisclosed expression.

Mariana next to one of her favourite people, Grandma Julie.

Matthew absolutely loves corn-on-the-cob and his birthday falls exactly at the best time for eating it - fate.

He does love corn, despite the facial expression.

The iconic GF donut cake made by Grandma Julie.  This cake has become a staple at family birthdays and is expected by all the kids.

Matthew also loves strawberries.

Mommy making an effort to get into photos.

He had no idea what to do with his candle, so I took the liberty of blowing it out myself.

First taste of chocolate icing.

Shock and awe.

Wondering why this food had been kept from him for so long.  He needn't have wondered long based upon the wicked bum rash that appeared the next day.

August birthday buddies.

Stuffing it in.

Looking for more, with authority.

Siblings playing around with their baby and the camera.

One of Hannah's greatest gifts to me was to photograph Matthew on his monthly birthdays.  She started when he was a few days old and continued until he was one.  I do believe she will keep going.  This is such a great record of the past year and I do wish we had done it with all the kids.  Matthew, we love you so much.  You are pure gift and it seems as if you have always been here.  Whatever did we do without you?

Sarah's 7th Birthday

Sarah turned 7 on the sixth of June, so let's start with a photo of Joe.  Hmmm.

 Dave looking very young and very small.  And the iconic donut cake with Sarah off to the left.  Mariana is clearly getting ready to make her move for the first taste of icing.

Sarah's best friend Ella was away in the States for Sarah's birthday so they enjoyed some Facetime shortly after supper.  Sarah is showing Ella her new Lego set in this shot.

 Sarah has inherited an abundance of hair that comes down from both her maternal and paternal sides.  She also has the most gorgeous and natural deep-side part that makes me quite envious.  My hair has a decided stuck-in-the-70s middle part.

 Shortly before her birthday, Sarah lost 3 or 4 teeth.  Her teeth are taking so long to grow in that one of the ways her swimming teacher discerns between her and Ella is to ask Sarah to open her mouth.  If her teacher sees the missing teeth, she knows the girl before her is Sarah.

 Ben looking puzzled.  Ben is often puzzled by the behaviour of other humans.

 Dave is wearing his Tommy Copper shirt in this photo.  It helps with posture by using compression technology.  The boys love when Dave wears this shirt because suddenly their father is "ripped", a quality highly sought after by boys of a certain age.

 Hannah chose all of these photos to post and I am merely typing the captions.  Matthew looks very Matthew in this photo.  He has a very particular way in which he sets his lips.  Combined with his gifted eyebrows, he has an extremely expressive face.

 All grandparents accounted for.  Also, opinions are being expressed in this photo; not unusual around this house.

 Our gorgeous seven-year-old in a new dress sewn by Grandma Julie.

 More opinions.

 Tilt the cake.  Dave will be tilting cakes until he dies.

 Two candles down, five to go.

 Never has Dave appeared so much in one blog post!  Must be the shirt.

 Not sure - artsy shot?

 It's photos like this that make me see how much Matthew is like Ben.  Ben wore this same expression countless times as a baby.  Not a bad brother to take after.

 Grandma Julie.