13 years of this guy

Happy Birthday, Henry! You are great and you make our lives fun and we're happy to celebrate you today (even though it is another school day birthday). A new basketball, a slurpee, pizza, a movie, some cake, and family prayers all add up to a good kind of day and this one is all for you. Happy 13!

somewhere in be-teen

This is Henry, wearing his favourite outfit, about to go do his favourite thing. He loves baseball with his whole heart, always watching, learning, spewing out stats and facts, and providing colour commentary during the games. He plays with passion, throwing his whole self into every game and cheering as hard as he pitches. Off the diamond, he's a good friend, reliable, fun, and funny, and has such a good band of buddies around him.

But as much as he is that fun, sporty, (almost) teenaged boy, he is a wise, philosophical old man. He's a good listener. Thoughtful. Analytical. Careful. He thinks things through. He writes notes of encouragement that reveal sincere depth and love. He knows his faults and will apologize and correct himself. He keeps scraps of paper in his lunch bag and on his night stand, reminding himself to pray. 

When Henry borrows our phones, one thing is for certain: he will take picture of the inside of his mouth. But when Henry sends a text, you will receive one of two things: either endless lines of random emojis OR sweet words so insightful and helpful you can't believe an (almost) teenaged boy even considered them. So somewhere in between a fun kid and a wise man, here he is. Henry Francis. He is so awesome. 

We love you, Henry. Happy Birthday Eve. 

 

library day

This was Leo's first ever school library book selection...

A cookbook. 

I guess the lunches I pack could use a little help. 

kindergarten vocab

Leo has learned how to use the word "apparently" in proper context. So he's been saying things like:

"Apparently, the fire alarm is very loud."

"Apparently, it smells in here."

And, on the day we walked past the cement mixer on our way to school... "Apparently, this is the best day of my life!"

firsts

Here go my troops, off to various schools by various modes of transportation, but all of them gone for the day to do their learning and their living. 

We've got... grade 10, grade 8, grade 6, grade 4, grade 2, and kindergarten. And we've got mom at home, wondering how the heck time went so fast. 

just around the end

It's the last of our summer days, and we spent them right here on this lake. This was our one family holiday this summer and we were happy to hunker down in this cottage rental (complete with bearskin rug, vintage 1960s vacuum cleaner, and a selection of over 500 vhs tapes). We swam, we played, fished, we kayaked, we explored. We enjoyed hot chocolates on the dock, tracking loons on the water, and explaining vhs tapes to our children. We sat, we talked, we roasted marshmallows, and we consumed a lot of sugar. We said goodbye to our summer in a place where summer lives best. 

These were good days. And they were gone too fast.