Quotes of the Week

Dana: "I feel like Charles Ingalls going away from his family to find work." (He's working with my dad this week while we're missing him in Mankato - hey, even the Mankato reference is so Little House:)

Ethan: (when asked what he thought the lesson was in the movie "Up") "I'm not sure what the lesson is, but I know it has something to do with, 'It's just a house...'"

As we were driving in the van last night, Sarah couldn't get her seat belt clipped and Hannah told her she'd help her. The next thing we hear (about 20 seconds later) is Hannah saying, "Ouch! I just clipped my tongue!" Nedra: "How in the world did you do that?!" Hannah: "I was playing with my hair clip and it just snapped shut on my tongue!" Needless to say, the misunderstanding was quite humorous.

We've been trying to narrow down activities for fall. As Sarah was considering her options, she said, "Well, it depends on what I get to wear..."

Nedra: "There are these chemicals in your body called hormones and sometimes they really mess you up." (In a discussion with Hannah about irrational and out-of-control emotions)

What can I say?

Ethan: Hey mom, did you know that Brett Favre is playing for the Vikings now?
Hannah: So what? What's the big deal about that guy?
Ethan: He's a really good quarterback and he used to play for the Packers, but now he's on our team.
Nedra: Yeah, I'm just not very fond of him though...
Ethan: Why don't you like him?
Nedra: It's not that I don't like him. I just don't respect the way he makes decisions.
Ethan: Like what?
Nedra: He's said that he's retiring so many times and then he always comes back. It's like he doesn't have anything besides football. I think that's kind of sad.
Ethan: If he doesn't have anything else but football, why doesn't he just get a football video game?!

(Spoken like a Wii-crazed 11-year-old boy:o)

Our Crazy, Yet Wonderful Summer Schedule

We've been absent from blogging for some time now and have decided to update our blog by letting you know where we've been and what we've been doing.

We traveled to Tyler, MN the last weekend in July for the Bovbjerg Family Reunion. (This is Dana's mom's mom's maiden name.) We met many relatives we'd only heard of. The kids enjoyed running around with cousins (and 2nd and 3rd cousins). Altogether there were over 100 people in attendance. Our highlight was the variety show on Saturday night during which people showcased their talent (or lack thereof :o) There were 2 professional opera singers (mother and daughter), a banjo player, violinist, a weapons demonstration, dances (Sarah and her cousin, Elysa, made up a special dance on the spot), singers (Dana sang "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash with his brother and an extreme falsetto version of "Bread and Butter" with his cousin and brother), skits, etc... Hannah even brought Rudy up on stage to showcase his tricks.

We left the reunion minus Ethan and plus Elysa. Ethan went to Crookston for a week to stay with Aunt Jessica and her family. They went camping, picked juneberries, butchered chickens, and played games at Grandma's house. He loved his time with cousins, Evan (6) and Katelyn (3). Ethan said Evan was a "sleeper inner" so he played with Katelyn every day until Evan woke up. Evan and Ethan mainly played superheroes - their own made-up game where body parts become weapons. When we picked him up on Sunday, their fingers were knives and they were playing that if they touched each other, the place they touched no longer functioned. Ex. If Ethan touched Evan's eye, Evan had to close his eye and continue to play without that eye...you get the idea. Funny how the games we played around our house that week were quite a bit different...

Elysa (8) came home with us so we had all girls for the week. We even had a couple of extras when Olivia (8) and Sidney (9) came to stay for a few days at the end of the week. We went to the pool, experienced a day at the Patenaude spa, sewed ponchos, made friendship bracelets, rode bikes, picnicked, performed dances, and judged a fashion show. Nedra even got to get away to scrapbook for a couple of days while Dana was the only man among the 5 girls. The week was fun for everyone, but unfortunately there seems to be a major bug that is making its way through both of our families now... Sarah just came down with it tonight.

We left Mankato on Sunday afternoon (the 2nd), drove to Alexandria to pick up Ethan, and were at Nedra's parents' house near Worthington by 9:00 that night. Nedra and her sister canned beans the next day (37 quarts) while the kids went with Grandma to VBS and Dana helped Grandpa with a roofing job. Nedra, the kids, and Grandma went to Sioux Falls on Wednesday to go to the doctor and do some shopping. We drove back to Mankato on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, we took a somewhat spur-of-the-moment trip to Valley Fair. Some quotes from that day:

Sarah -
"I thought you said we'd only get a little splash, not a big soak!"
"The Scrambler is a 10!"
"Are you going to talk to me to make me try that ride too?"
"I'm ready to spend some money now."

Hannah -
"My favorite is the Wild Thing!"
"Mommy, don't scream on the rides. It embarrasses me."
"Why can't you go on the rides without shorts on?"
"I was brave enough to try the Power Tower!"

Ethan -
"My favorite was the water park. The Raging Rapids is AWESOME!"
"I don't care if it takes all my money - I'm getting a funnel cake."
"I don't want to eat anything else that smells good."
"Oh no! The icee places are closing. When can we get my Icee?"

Nedra -
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Bring on the Mini Donuts."
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Where did the kids go?"
"We're just going to shut our eyes for a 5-minute rest."
"I'll take Sarah. You take the other 2 and we'll meet up in a little bit."
"I've got a headache."
"I need to go to the bathroom."

Dana -
"I just want to try Steel Venom."
"You'd like it, Honey (or Ethan...or Sarah)" Hannah doesn't take much convincing.
"We should wait to do the water park when it gets hot out."
"I thought YOU knew where the kids were."
"We should have made them share a cotton candy."

On Friday, Nedra tried to get the house in order while Dana went to work and the kids went to the pool. Saturday brought us back to Tyler for the Elsing Family Reunion (Nedra's mom's maiden name). Sunday was Camp Patterson with our church family. Today, Sarah is under the weather and Dana and Nedra are exhausted. Plans for homeschooling have begun. (They better begin as we're starting next week.) Summer is fun. Gotta take advantage of it while you can. Right now, I think we're all just longing for some sense of routine...

Closing down the park at Valley Fair

Sarah's Sob Story

I was downstairs helping Hannah with something when Sarah came down and stood next to us with a melancholy look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she broke into tears...big, all-out sobbing tears...and said, "I DID SOMETHING REALLY BAD!"

This statement comes from a girl who for the most part is unfazed by her messes and wrong-doing. A girl who cried, "Why would you do that to me?" when she got her mouth washed out with soap. A girl who drips syrup all over the floor and then just leaves it. A girl who regularly tips things over, creates huge "play" messes, and gets into tussles with her siblings without so much as an "oops". So my mind started going places...

Sarah was so beside herself that she couldn't speak so I just said, "Show me." I cautiously allowed Sarah to lead me upstairs telling myself to stay calm no matter what I saw. Hey, she confessed, that's got to count for something. I brace myself as she points to the dining room. I see nothing but Dudley sunning himself on the floor. She points to the cat who looks just fine to me. The tears start coming even faster and harder (if that were even possible). Realizing this was probably not as big a deal as Sarah thought it was, I relax and start questioning,

"Did you step on him?"
"No!"
"Does it have to do with Dudley?"
"MmHmm."
"What happened?"

Sarah doesn't respond. Then I see it. There's a little bit of hair missing from Dudley's back :o) "Oh, I see. You cut Dudley's hair."
"Yeah."
"Why did you do that?"
"I don't know. I wasn't thinking."
"Were you thinking no one would notice?"
"Yes. I thought you wouldn't be able to tell, but now he looks ugly!" More tears...
"It's OK Sarah. You know you shouldn't cut anyone's hair, even the cat's. But I'm glad you told me instead of trying to hide it."
"But LOOK at him!"

I now realize her main concern is that Dudley will be doomed to live with this imperfection for the rest of his life and that she'll be forced to feel the guilt every time she looks at him knowing she caused this. (Horrible thought to a girl who adores animals more than life itself)

"It'll grow back honey."
Tears immediately slow down, "It will?"
"Yes, it'll grow back and you won't even be able to tell. Now love Dudley up and tell him you're sorry."
A tiny giggle..."Mommy, he doesn't even understand me!"
"He understands that you love him and want to take care of him."
"Don't tell Daddy, OK?"

(OK. Is it all right for me to blog about it though? :o)





As you can see, Dudley is doing just fine...that tiny little spot is what caused all of this.

10 things to do while Slip 'n Slidin'

10. Army crawl through the water tunnel.




9. Try to drink from every hole that has water squirting from it.


8. Run on the slip 'n slide and then fall flat on your bum.




7. Ham it up.




6. Race.



5. Go on your knees.




4. Go on your belly.


3. Wonder if your sister might be crazy.

2. Essential: Keep your tongue out!





1. Have a blast and keep cool on a hot summer afternoon.

Dudley

As many of you already know, one of the two cats we got after Christmas lived a very short life due to an unhealthy liver. Judah met his end a few weeks ago after a vet visit that confirmed the worst... The girls cried their tears. Ethan was relatively unemotional and very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. With very little fanfare, we buried Judah in a box in the backyard with a popsicle stick to mark the grave. The children never even really asked the "Did Judah go to heaven?" question you hear is so typical for children to ask. I know we've talked before about animals being different than humans (not made in the image of God, therefore do not have an eternal spirit) and it seemed like they were all ready to accept that as truth even when faced with the death of a beloved pet. Sarah did wonder about what would happen to Judah when he died. When I said we'd bury his body, that was enough for her. After the burial, there was some discussion about what happens to Judah in the ground (a very nice little biology lesson by the way). The kids excitedly asked how long it would be before we could dig up the grave and see Judah's bones! So as you can tell, the grief passed quite quickly...







Nedra inquired with the Humane Society about whether or not we could get a deal on a new kitty, and as they have been blessed with an over abundance of kittens at this time, they were willing to give us a new one. So in order for Selah to have another playmate (and to keep Mommy happy), call us crazy, but we picked out another kitten last Saturday. It was Nedra's "birthday" present since we picked it out the day before her birthday. They had named him Cheddar at the Humane Society and we were originally going to keep that name, but got sick of it after a couple of hours, so the search for a new name commenced. Nedra came up with a list of 7 names and everyone in the family got to rank their favorites. Alas, Dudley won out over Wally (Mommy was able to sway Sarah's vote to her side:o)





He's a 10-week-old kitten and is everything that goes along with that label - playful, energetic, adorable, curious, funny, frisky. He loves attention. He's into everything (if you've ever had a kitten, you know that they don't do boundaries). He goes in the litter box - hooray! He adds much life and laughter to our household. Rudy thinks Dudley's great, and the feeling is mutual on Dudley's part. Selah wasn't so sure at first. She seemed determined to mother him and boss and hiss him out of his chaotic behavior (she's a much more refined playful at now almost a year old), but today we caught her letting Dudley crawl all over her. She even ended up giving him a bath. The kids love everything about Dudley except the fact that he hasn't been declawed, and they have the scratches to prove it... Mommy and Daddy enjoy all of the fun things we can do with his name - Dudley Do-right, Doodles, Cuddly Dudley...you get the idea.




So here he is! Isn't he cute?!

Lake of the Woods with Grandpa

We made a long overdue trip to Lake of the Woods for some Walleye with Grandpa Patenaude. Ethan, Grandpa Meyer, and myself made the long drive north three years ago (I think). Hannah had been fishing once before that, but no one can remember. However, I know that this was Sarah's first time fishing.


Sarah and Hannah lounging on the front of the boat in Springsteel Marina.

It was a little on the windy side on the lake. It was also cloudy, which kept things on the cool side. Once we got the bait on the hook and wet the lines, the girls retreated under blankets to wait for the fish to bite. Since this was Sarah's first time on the boat, she also enjoyed hanging out in the cabin of the boat. I think she actually took a little nap under there for awhile.

Grandpa decided to anchor between 4 and 5 feet of water right next to a weed bed. Dad had taken the Christensen's up on a previous trip and they had had success there. Fishing was slow but steady. I only took one picture of a fish (between baiting hooks, untangling lines, handing out snacks, and jigging a couple of lines I didn't have photos on the brain). This picture was of the biggest one we caught. It was caught on Hannah's rod. The girls each tried reeling it in, but it was fighting pretty hard and in order for Grandpa to net it, I took over on the rod and brought the fish in.




We ended the day bringing home seven walleyes. Ethan caught the most (three) while using leeches as his bait. He was very patient and make an excellent fisherman.


The girls did very well in their own way. They didn't complain about being bored, but kept themselves busy snuggling in blankets, jigging their fishing poles every once in awhile, and lounging around on the front of the boat. Towards the end of the day, Grandpa decided to pull up anchor and try a few different places before leaving. We didn't catch anymore fish, but the girls enjoyed bouncing up and down on the front of the boat (while eating pudding cups).



Grandpa only had the boat docked at Springsteel for a month and so when we were done fishing, we loaded up the boat and drove it back to the farm. Grandpa treated us all to ice cream in Strathcona on the way home.

Thanks for a great time Grandpa!