Birthdays, Birthdays and More Birthdays

November 4th: Mariana's 4th Birthday

This little girl:  she is a spitfire of personality and no matter what I do, her hair is a complete mess by the end of the day.  I find her messiness adorably sweet and joked the other day that I was going to dress as Mariana for Halloween.

November 28th: Joseph's 12th Birthday 

The snow had started to set in by this point but we went for one last run together over the frozen fields.

Another donut cake by Grandma.  Grandma uses a bundt cake pan for all the birthday cakes.  The kids, however, call it a donut cake and we joke that we will have donut cakes for their weddings as well.

Joseph, how I love you:  your fire, your drive for justice and your zero-people-pleasing personality.  You will do great things one day, my son.

December 22: My 42nd Birthday

For my 42nd birthday, I took Sarah and Hannah to Peterborough in an attempt to get away and sleep really well.  Ummm, I didn't but I should have expected that.  I sleep the sleep of champions when no one expects me to, certainly not when I should be resting.  My cake looks decidedly unappetizing.  I assure you that it was.

Grandparents present and accounted for.

As a surprise gift, Hannah orchestrated a photo of the children for me.

April 17th: Jacob's & Hannah's 17th Birthdays

I still can't believe that these two are 17 and soon heading out our door to university. Their birthday occurred during the first Covid lockdown and so I had to make my own cake.  Not a success.  If there is one good reason to avoid another lockdown (other than the myriad ones that already exist), my baking might be a good one.

May 9th: Benjamin's Birthday

Ben' birthday is always hit and miss with the weather.  We hope for the beginning of summer heat but we usually end up with winter jackets and a chance of flurries.  Joe, however, organised Grandpa bringing over the four-wheeler so that Ben could take a ride on it.

My mom must have made this cake but it is not a donut so my memory is foggy as to its origins.

June 6th: Sarah's 8th Birthday

Eight years, where have you gone? 

Sarah is a little lady now but she never passes up an opportunity to cuddle or sit on my lap.

August 4th: Matthew's 2nd Birthday

By Matthew's second birthday, he had so changed his looks that I find him quite unrecognisable in comparison with his first birthday.

I never buy the kids presents for their first birthdays.  But my mom can't resist and this grader came courtesy of grandma Julie and Grandpa Nick.  Matthew was so excited by the combo of cake and excavator that he couldn't sleep til nearly 11pm that night.

Matthew will sit for unusually long periods of time reading books.  He doesn't try to turn the page or rush you through the book until we reach his favourite page.  Rather, he settles his head against your chest and listens to the words and scans the pages.

Aunt Martha was here for Matthew's birthday and freed his grader from its confines.  Rosie the puppy looked on and dreamed of things to chew.

Birthdays also belong to mothers, because mothers do a lot of work to make that first birthday happen.

August 30th: Isaac's 10th Birthday

Aneurysm or long-skinny balloon?

Mom has one sweatshirt.

Impressive

A new non-donut cake:  zucchini-chocolate with a chocolate glaze.

Isaac's teacher asked him if there was a fight over who would inherit the farm.  He answered, "Nah, it's between Matthew and me."

September 1st: Dad's (David's) 44th Birthday

What a great photo of Dave capturing exactly who he is.

Without Dave, none of these birthdays would have been possible.  He is the ultimate sponsor of this grand event know as the Afelskie family.  Thank you, dearest husband and father, you really are the best.

Some Updates

Here we go. The elder children of the Afelskie fam are going to attempt to continue mom's blog as she is too overwhelmed with all the chores us kids pile on top of her. 

Today Joseph, Isaac and Sarah attended school at St. Andrews. While it may be crazy times right now due to covid, it it nice to have a quiet(er) house during the day. The eldest three continue to battle through their high school education, and this will soon pay off for the twins! Mariana is currently at home being educated in all the things that a normal four year old has to learn and she is close to being able to read. However, she stresses that mom must continue reading to her even when she becomes literate. She currently can sound out words and thoroughly enjoys writing whatever letters she can on any sheet of paper she can. Matthew sticks by her side providing emotional support even if Mariana does not want it in the moment. He loves repeating any words she is learning by mom's side. 

Speaking of words, Matthew has many under his belt. His favorites include: tractor, moin (more) mulk (milk), Becca (Grandpa), chee chee (chicken) tractor, Je Je (Jesus), pawpy (puppy), and bears. Benjamin has been fueling this last love of his by printing out a picture of a bear, which is now hanging above his bed. Any dark room now apparently has a bear in it.

Mariana also has her moments. During adoration a couple of days ago she looked up at the picture of the last supper and declared, "Hmmm...not too many girls up there." She has also claimed to be an Atheist in the past, "I don't believe in God, but I believe in Mary." And of course, I can't forget Moochie. Moochie is her Texas longhorn which she must have in order to go to bed resulting in a many late night 'Moochie hunts', which requires the entire family searching the house until she is found.

Speaking of Mary, we have been saying the rosary consistently since Covid-19 began. It has definitely been a struggle, but I believe we are getting better each day. Matthew will regularly kneel down with the rest of the kids, spread his arms out in the shape of a cross and proclaim, "Do it," while motioning for all the kids to imitate him. What a holy young lad :)

Isaac and Sarah...what a duo. But whatever we older kids may say or think about them, we cannot fault them for staying true to themselves. Isaac is currently trying to organize pumpkin carving (which should  happen tomorrow night). This afternoon he carted a wheelbarrow down to the woodshed, loaded 9 pumpkins inside, and trekked back home. He has been told that this is allowed to happen if he reads thirty minutes a day, which he is starting right now. Sarah is Sarah. She loves drawing and this takes up the majority of her time. She adores doing anything girly (painting nails, curling hair, etc).

Joseph's new interest involves one puppy. Rosie has been a wonderful contribution to our family, especially after an unfortunate dog-biting instance with our previous canine. She is currently trained to sit, beg, lie down, fetch, etc., all of which Joseph gets full credit. Unfortunately, she only comes when he calls her..perhaps something we have to work on. 

Benjamin is navigating his way around the VLC. His Gr. 8 year was cut short, luckily he was Valedictorian and was able to leave his class with some closing remarks and a wonderful farewell, which involves him running off a dock and splashing into a lake with some sound effects, of course (you'll have to watch the video to understand). For his own entertainment he has purchased a subscription to a biking channel, which he watches daily and claims to be learning lots from. 

Jacob and I are in our last year of the VLC, for which we are both very thankful and relieved. Jacob continues to write, write, write, read, eat, and write. If you can't tell, he loves writing, and listening to music of course. His fountain of knowledge of popular media and everything else continues growing. 

Mom and Dad are surviving. Mom has started supplying in the school system again during the last month because that's what you do during a 'pandemic', right? Thankfully, she has also been able to somehow balance household chores and family life, while also digesting as much information as she can about all current, important events presently going on during her brief naps, which are not really naps and which actually just involve her lying down on her bed with a eye-bag over her eyes, sound machine on and the kids banished to another room ;) Dad is dad. His new job is suiting him well and he is able to stay home every once in a while so that he can ensure that all things are running smoothly during the school day. And of course, he loves hanging out with his wonderful children of whom he is tremendously proud of. 

Anyway...that's all for now :)

P.S. sorry for all the grammatical errors, perhaps my writing will also benefit from blogging!