Snow Day

Hot chocolate...fireplace...movie...sledding...Balderdash...present-wrapping...cookie-baking...husband home...snow day...HOORAY!

Thanksgiving

I was struck over and over again this year by the simplicity of Thanksgiving. It seems to me that Thanksgiving might be the only holiday without a bunch of hoopla surrounding it. It's just about being thankful, spending time with family, and eating some really good food (at least for us it is anyway). Sure, you could go crazy if you wanted to - get a turkey centerpiece for your table, put out the pilgrim salt and pepper shakers, designer placemats for everyone, autumn-colored streamers over the doorways - but I think for the most part, people stick to just trying out a new recipe or two and watching a little football while coming out of your turkey coma.


We spent Thanksgiving in Rushmore with Nedra'a family - no extra guests this year - just Mom, Dad, Dana, Nedra, Martha, Hal, and kiddos. The thing I was most thankful for on Thanksgiving day was lack of drama - not that we ever really have a whole lot of drama in our family, but I was just thankful for peace. In a world where siblings don't speak to one another, divorces abound, and grudges are nursed for decades, I'm thankful that our family fully enjoys spending time together. It truly is a rare gift - and this not of ourselves, but a gift of God and only by His grace. Dennis and Phyllis, Dana and Nedra, Hal and Martha - husbands and wives are still madly in love with each other! The cousins ADORE each other. In our relationships, communication isn't strained and forgiveness reigns. Don't get me wrong - it's not like we're "eating rainbows and pooping butterflies" (I love that quote from Horton Hears a Who) - it's just ... comfortable.


As our children get a little older, I ponder what "traditions" they are going to remember from their childhood. Even though Mom and Dad say it was only maybe 3 or 4 years that we did it, I remember Thanksgiving at my Aunt Ardith's up north. We'd get to leave school a little bit early and it seemed like we always traveled in a blizzard. So what will my children remember? I really think the most cherished traditions are those traditions that are not intentional - the things that just sort of fall into place because they work so you just keep doing it that way. Mom carves the turkey (with assistance from one of the son-in-laws), with white meat on one half of the plate and dark on the other.

Dad makes the gravy, usually at the last minute as he's coming inside from some project he's been doing out in the shop.


Nedra sets the table and is the "gopher". Martha mashes the potatoes. We share something we're thankful for over dinner. Someone makes a comment about the sweet potatoes or cranberries - get 'em! - (it's an inside joke). Meal consists of old faithfuls like turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole (Ethan's favorite - for him, it ranks right up there with pizza!). After dinner, Grandma announces, "I'm done in the kitchen. You guys are in charge of clean up." Pumpkin pie later in the afternoon. Leftovers for supper. Those are the things I hope never change...


Will there be new traditions? This year we watched a Christmas movie and put a puzzle together over the weekend.

Ethan, John, and Grandpa were out in the shop working on a "project" for Christmas.

The kids made the traditional visit to "the farm" to see the kittens and horses. We made Christmas cookies.

We watched some football and the boys played a little football on Nintendo.

I love Thanksgiving. It's like the calm before the storm of the holiday season. Black Friday Schmack Friday...I could take it or leave it (we did brave the crowds for an hour or two this year, but in Worthington, MN you can hardly call it a crowd...and we did get a couple of sweet deals). I'll close with a wonderful picture of my hilarious husband who had a blast playing "redneck" all weekend. He chipped his tooth in 4th grade. It was recently re-repaired, but apparently not well. We got that fixed as soon as we got back to Mankato :o) Love you honey!

Swimmers

Essential gear for a swim meet:

• swim team swim suit
• goggles and extra goggles
• swim cap and extra swim cap
• 2-3 towels per swimmer
• sleeping bag to "crash" on (this marks their area to keep their stuff and hang out between events)
• books and games to keep you entertained between events
• snacks and extra snacks plus a little $ to spend on snacks (no big meals when swimming)
• cozy robe
• cozy PJ pants (the wilder the better)
• flip flops or slippers
• shampoo and conditioner
• lotion for after swimming
• brush
• clothes to wear when done swimming (don't forget the undies)
• laundry basket to haul all this stuff in
• camera
• stop watch
• pen and notebook to record times
• take most of these things times 3 for Ethan, Hannah, and Sarah

Hannah, Megan, and Claire during warm-ups; we usually arrive at home meets around 7:45am and warm-ups begin by 8:15 or so with the meet starting around 9:15. Lots of waiting around so Dana and I volunteer to write numbers on arms. Each swimmer gets their events written in permanent marker on their arm so they don't need a program to know what they are swimming. It looks something like:

7
100 Med Rel (3)
2/4

This means Event #7 is the 100 yd. Medley Relay and this swimmer swims 3rd (which is the butterfly). She'll compete in Heat 2 in Lane 4. Each of 4 swimmers will swim 25 yards (backstroke is first, then breast stroke, butterfly, and freestyle) for a total of 100 yards. In each meet a swimmer usually swims in 5 events (3 individual and 2 relays)

Ethan playing Rush Hour with a couple friends between events; favorite activities while waiting include cards, iPods, reading, games, cheering for your friends, snacking, coloring, and goofing off with friends.

Sarah and Laney; As you can see, the friendships are just as important as the swimming...

Sarah just learned to dive this week; up until now she'd get up on the block and look like she was going to dive, but would then do a leap frog move into the water...it was cute, but not efficient. We should see some faster times now!!!

Now that the high school girls swim season is over, many of those girls are helping to coach at the YMCA. Sarah LOVES these girls!!!

...maybe a little TOO much!!!

Don't forget the Moms! Dana and Nedra usually time at home meets. It's a great way to have a perfect view of the action and it makes the the time pass quickly (plus this year timers get free pizza :o)

Hannah and Kirsten

We try to encourage the kids not to worry about what place they finish in - just try to better their own times. This year, we're offering a quarter for every second they shave off their times. So far, it's been quite motivating, but they've been swimming in a lot of different events so we haven't had many times to compare. Nedra and Dana can't keep quiet when our children are swimming so we can be heard cheering them on. Some people see this as intensity, but mainly we're just excited (and really proud). Hannah listens for Dana's whistle during the breaststroke.

Hannah's specialty has been the butterfly this year. That's mom and dad's favorite event to watch her in. She looks so strong! Her favorite stroke to swim in practice is the breaststroke; she says it's relaxing!

5 short whistle blows means "Get ready for the next event"
One long blow means step up onto the starting block (or get into the water on back stroke)

Swimmers, take your mark...

Buzzer sounds and they're off! Ethan does very well at the relays. His friends and the crowd cheering him on really motivates him to do his best. Just look at that spectacular dive!

Next up: St. Cloud on December 19th
Good luck kiddos!
Go Marlins!

Sheeps

All you Patenaudes out there should appreciate this one...

We were playing Cities and Knights a couple weeks back (all 5 of us - yes, our children all play - Sarah with some assistance). Sarah was collecting a ton of sheep when she exclaimed, "Hey Mama, I got the sheeps!!"

Perspective

Our washing machine has been making horrific noises lately. Today, it died. The repair man said it would cost more to repair than getting a new one. Our emergency fund has recently been depleted. This purchase is not in the budget. Our van is making strange noises... (Trust)

I'm all alone today and craving everything I should not... (Discipline)

The girls were supposed to get their bus passes today, but the paperwork wasn't properly filled out so I was late picking them up for school on just their second day. I walked into the school to be greeted by the principal saying, "Is it the plan for you to pick your children up everyday?" He was unaware of our paperwork issue and the fact that I had only minutes before been notified they wouldn't be able to ride the bus. The girls were confused... No Mr. Principal, I'm really not one of THOSE parents, I just look like one... (Humility)

Our son tried to deceive us tonight by skipping swim practice and going to play video games at the Y instead. Unfortunately (for him), tonight Mom finished her workout earlier than their swim practice ended and went in to watch... (Wisdom, Grace, and Forgiveness)

My husband had an early dentist appointment this morning. He was in a meeting when I tried to call him to discuss the washing machine thing. He donated plasma after work. We were gone already for swim practice when he got home. He'll be at an elder meeting at church most of the night tonight. Missing him... (Patience and Love)

Believe it or not; my attitude is still positive... (Hope)

These "minor" mishaps are not so bad when taken in the proper perspective... (Truth)

Jesus is my Savior. He is always on His throne. He loves me more that I can even imagine. He is working all things for my good... (Peace)

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion... Phil. 1:6 (Faith)

Praise the Lord!

The Children Speak

Hi, this is Ethan. Mom said the kids can post something on our family blog. So here goes...

My fall wasn't that fun because the leaves didn't fall off the trees soon enough. Also, it was raining a lot and I'm ready for snow. I want it to snow really bad. Now it's Hannah's turn...

I'm excited about swim team. We have a meet tomorrow. I hope I get to swim 50 Butterfly and 100 IM. My fall was fun, but it wasn't long enough. The leaf truck came to get our leaves right after they fell off the trees. We'd like to show you some random pictures...

Can you guess who this is?

We love our pets so much! They are so cute. Dudley likes to play with his pink and red toy. Dudley is very wild and crazy. Whenever he sees Selah, they chase each other around the house and he tackles her. And Selah growls at him. They lick each other a lot too. Rudy does lots of tricks and likes to play too. Selah likes to play with Rudy. She teases him. Selah can jump so high. It's funny when she tries to catch bugs (like ladybugs) on the door or on the ceiling. She tries to jump up to catch them. She is very sneaky. Once she actually caught a moth and ate it. She ATE it?! Oh, I don't remember that part! (Ethan) Rudy likes to play fetch and chew on his bone. He's soft and snuggly too when you want him to be.

This is me and my cousin, Elysa. She was at our house for a week this summer while my brother was at her house with her brother, Evan. We like to go swimming as you can kinda tell. We are silly together. Whenever I see her face and she's making a silly face and I see her I laugh and then she laughs and we can't stop. (And then it gets really annoying - Hannah)

Random thoughts on:

Food -
Sarah, "I really love food. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't be alive."
Ethan, "I love pizza!"
Hannah, "I'm glad my mom doesn't like tomatoes so we don't have to eat them."

Daddy -
Ethan, "He's always gone except on weekends...so I like weekends."
Sarah, "My favorite food is fettucine alfredo and when we have it, he always eats it."
Hannah, "He's big - a lot bigger than I am."

School -
Hannah, "I'm gonna love my new teacher."
Ethan, "I have too much homework."
Sarah, "I really love my new teacher. I'm excited to meet new friends. I already made one when I went to the conference. Her name is Sierra.

Swimming -
Ethan, "I'm doing way better this year than I was last year in 100 IM."
Sarah, "Last year I only was able to do 25s; this year I can do 50s. And that's the truth!"
Hannah, "I don't like to practice very much, but I love the swim meets."

Poop -
Sarah, "Poop and pee is very gross. Sometimes when I go poop really hard and fat, it hurts my butt like today."
Ethan, "In the movie called 'Shorts', the pteradactyl pooped on Loogie's head."
Hannah, "Daddy's smells really bad and so does Ethan's."

Computers -
Ethan, "I am a computer geek!"
Hannah, "I love playing Cake Mania."
Sarah, "I someday will make a blog about Selah and one thing I'll put about her is that she goes, 'Meeeeeoooooooow' (pronounced Mee - oo in a very high voice)because Selah can't go on the computer, but I bet that's what she'd say."

Blogging for the first time -
Ethan, "I can't believe Mommy let us put something on here about poop."
Hannah, "I wish I had my own blog and Facebook and Twitter."
Sarah, "Blogging is dumb."

That's all for now folks!

Moving On

We've come to the end of our homeschooling days over here. The girls will re-enter the public school system on Monday. We'd been praying about this decision for about a month now, and have decided this is what is best for our family. School has gone much better this year than it did last year. Attitudes are very much improved. In theory, we love homeschooling; in practice, we struggle. Our reasoning for homeschooling never really had to do with academics, although at one point we were excited about the opportunity for a more individualized approach. Many homeschoolers report a renewed love for learning in their children when they homeschool - that their children were somewhat stifled in the school system. I'm sad to report the opposite in our family. Our children are now more resistant and bored with academics than ever. Where they used to love school and the academics that came with it, they now view their work as something to check off the list so they can move on to something more exciting. They are extremely discouraged and resistant to learning and being corrected by their mother. I'm sure there are things that I, as the teacher, could do differently, but I'm ill-equipped and unmotivated to do so. I do not have a teacher's heart. I have a discipler's heart. The "spiritual" aspects of homeschooling met with eager and receptive hearts from both mom and children. We love reading books together (esp. missionary biographies). AWANA verses and Bible study time are highlights of our day. Our desire in homeschooling was to disciple our children in the Lord. This is still our heart. Homeschooling was what we felt we needed to do for a time in order to do our best for Him. We've learned a lot in this last year - the children did too. Our relationships in our family have been strengthened. Homeschooling was not a mistake for our family; it's just time to move on...

I've had many thoughts and feelings in the past few weeks...Am I a quitter? Am I a failure? Did I do enough? Am I just lazy? What will people think? What is God calling me to (rather than away from)? Mostly though, I just felt relief...

In the past couple of days, God has released me from any burden I had put on myself. I am as excited for the girls to go back to school as they are. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm hopeful. I'm prayerful. I'm moving on...

Nedra