And Now They Are Five
And what brilliant, witty, beautiful little whippersnappers they have become in these past five years. If I had the time to make a list of proofs to back up my assertions, I would. But I don't even have the time to blog about it all from time to time, so... I'm sorry, but you'll just have to believe me.
Here they are on their last day as 4-year-olds, crossing off the 27th on the countdown calendar their papa made for them, after countless questions and conversations about how long it was until their "Happy Birthday". It was hilariously cute to watch them get so into this. They tried cheating! (she shakes her head)
Here is my utterly ingenious invention, in order that Jean-Philippe be able to carry six carrot cake-breads (we had to feed 55!) with frosting to school - and get them there in relatively good shape. Grabbed the boxes from the organic store around the corner, and we were set! The box without handles fit snugly in over the deeper one, which did have handles. No trouble with slipping, sliding, balance or smushing! I won't even begin to tell you about the day I spent baking... Okay, no: I will. It started with pumpkin muffins. But 24 muffins took 4 hours. And NONE OF THEM ROSE more than a centimetre or so. Ugh. So carrot cake-bread it was. Eight in four hours. And they don't look like much (especially since six of them also refused to rise, and since I realised at 10pm that we didn't have enough powdered sugar for a proper topping...), but they were delicious! Unfortunately, I start work early on Friday, so I couldn't help with the delivery. But hey! I think I did more than my share, don't you? Heh! heh!
So. Since I am the unofficial family photographer, and since I'm like a lot of bloggers, and find it much easier to post pictures of those around me than those of myself, there are relatively few photographs of me in existence in our collection or even on our blog. The other day, though, I had to make myself an i.d. photo. So I monkeyed around with the camera for a while, trying to get something worthwhile. The next day was the boys' birthday, and by some twist of thought that started with the monkey business, I decided to start a tradition for them by which I would get a morning and an evening picture of each of their parents on or around their birthday each year. I hope they appreciate this. It was fun, but I'm not sure how happy I'll be in twenty years to see the change that has inexorably come over us. Anyway, here's me - their mom - early in the morning and later in the evening of the 28th November 2008 (and that's my beloved mug):
It was a whirlwind birthday weekend, what with work-as-unusual (as in, more than usual), combined with the school cakes to prepare; a dinner on B-Day with their mémé & pépé; the Pirates and Mermaids birthday party with school buddies on Saturday (what a blast!); a school buddy's birthday party on Sunday morning (?!); followed by a long afternoon-into-the-evening with good friends, two of whom announced that they are getting married next August! We were so tired on Monday morning (happily, but still...!) that when the alarm went off, we parents both simply integrated it into our dreams and got another forty minutes' sleep. Gulp! It wasn't the best way to start a school day... (But it was well worth it!)
