Merry Christmas 2007

I’m standing at the counter making some toast when I hear an inquisitive, “Dad?”

Turning, I’m greeted by Wyatt (7) with his index finger shoved two-knuckles deep up his nose. As with any experienced parent, there is not even a flicker of “You are a really weird kid!” on my face. “Whussup my young friend?”

“Dad, what’s that thing up there that keeps my finger from going all the way up my nose?” I think, but don’t say - It’s probably your brain, you little freak.

No sooner am I back to my toast than I hear from Walker (5), “Guess what I can do Dad?”

I turn to see Walker holding a brim full glass of orange juice to his lips with one hand, and the other hand is on the down stroke of bouncing a basket ball. Guess what Walker can’t do? I must not say what I’m thinking. I must not say what I’m thinking. I must . . .

So begins another day.

Much has happened since last year.

Our oldest son David and his girlfriend Gina had a brutal breakup of their relationship last fall. One year later they’ve set a wedding date of March 1st/08. God has been good to David by bringing Gina into his life. She’s a fine, fine person.

I was putting Freedom (2) down for a nap one day. As I was pulling the bedroom door closed, I heard her say to herself, “Gampa loves me, Gamma loves me, God loves me, Jesus loves me, eddybuddy loves me.” What a great way to see life!

Wendy has decided that it’s time to take better care of her body. For every two kilograms that she’s lost, I’ve gained one. The measurement of my waist is surpassing that of my in-seam at a staggering pace. She looks great and I feel guilty.

While we’ve met some really nice people since moving here, getting a baby-sitter ($30.00/hr. for five kids) has limited our seeing people socially. This is an area that Wendy wants to change as soon as possible. On the other hand, Wendy has a really good friend in town (they’ve known each other since high-school) and they meet regularly. Wendy also gets together with a group of women once a month, and volunteers at the school in each of the kid’s classes. Her life is pretty much the same as it was on our first go-round with kids. The creative side of Wendy is moving us toward renovating / expanding the kitchen. Maybe next year. Wendy works harder and puts in more time, energy and prayer at being a good mother than anyone I know. She takes the kids to all types of lessons, does crafts with them, makes excellent meals and reads books with them throughout the day. So far it’s been appreciated by six of our seven children.

Speaking of Erin, she completed four months of a six month sentence at the Pine Grove Correctional Centre for fraud. The last two months were spent at a half-way house in Saskatoon. She is living and working about 15 mins. from our place so we see her a fair bit. Sometimes Wendy and I just look at each other and blink in stunned silence as we contemplate a daughter who seems to be living in a parallel universe. Her rationale for her approach to life is as fascinating to her as it is foreign and baffling to us. She's home for Christmas and it's going good.

I was out for a hike with Walker one day. We passed a group of people and a little bit later Walker said, “Dad. I think people smile at me because they know that I’m cute.” He’s all that for sure.

I’m doing some pro bono counselling. Not a lot but just enough to keep my mind occupied. My Remicade is still doing wonders for my arthritis. It would have to rank in the top five things that have added to the quality of my life. It would come right after,
1. Jesus
2. Wendy
3. Remicade
and just before
4. My computer
5. My snow blower.

For those of you who are not in the loop re: Christianity, I should explain that the drop in quality from Jesus to the snow blower is precipitous in nature. Still, I’d highly recommend the 12 Horse, 34 inch “Yard Man” if you need one.

At the end of one of Chelsey’s prayers one night she said, “And please help me to not be afraid of chickens.” You just never know what’s going on in a kid’s head.

So, after another year, Wyatt is in grade two and doing well. Riley is in grade one and struggling mightily. Chelsey and Walker are loving kindergarten and Freedom is enjoying some alone time with us a couple days a week.

The kids have been going steady at piano, swimming, ballet, soccer, kid’s club, basketball, skating etc. They seem healthy and happy. I never realised before that a child in a larger family always has someone to play with. It’s kinda cool to watch.

With the help of my wonderful sisters and their husbands (who are pretty wonderful as well), Wendy and I were able to go to Hawaii for a couple weeks in March. Catherine and Gordon, along with Carol and Wayne stayed at our place while we were gone. The kids loved them. In fact, when Wyatt is angry at me, he sometimes says, “You should go on another holiday.” We were also able to go to Fairmont in July and short trips to lakes that are close by in the summer. Overall, life is good. Overall, life is hard and overwhelmingly difficult. Overall life is an adventure.

It’s bed-time. I wander into the boy’s room to see how they’re doing and find Riley (7) just sitting on the bed. “Whatcha doing bud?” He looks at me and says with perfect innocence, “I’m just thinking about who I might marry.” So ends another day.

We hope this finds you and yours experiencing the grace of God the Father and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a great 2008!