The month of November seems to have went by like a blur, I cannot believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away. This holiday season has certainly been very different for me, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm struggling with emotions during this time of the year. I literally didn't pull any decorations out until my own mother came to the house and offered to do it for me. There's something hard about pulling all those beautiful decorations out to know that the only people who are probably going to see them for any extended period of time are the five people in our immediate family when I am used to regular traffic of someone coming in and out on a daily basis. Jason put lights up on the house, and we went and cut a tree down as a family so we certainly aren't robbing the kids of any holiday spirit, it's just a different kind of holiday season than we are used to.
The month has been relatively quiet for us. For the first time since moving here, Jason is on a days work schedule which means we can have a relatively normal life of dinner together in the evenings, and books before bedtime read by either one of us. Alex is trying basketball for the first time, and was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed it. So before anyone insinuates that I forced Alex to do something he didn't want to do, or our kid's lives are so busy with activities. . . I can assure you that neither is true. My own experiences in extra curricular sports activities has largely shaped my feelings on kids in sports, or any activity above and beyond academics for that matter. A lot of people don't know that I myself was a three sport athlete most of my high school career. I made the varsity basketball team as a freshman (and if anyone recalls how good the basketball team was, this isn't exactly a brag), we were a state qualifying volleyball team our senior year, and softball was what I did to pass that last semester of school by a little quicker. At no point in my life did either of my parents suggest I participate in any of these activities, it was just something that I tried, I enjoyed, so I continued to participate. It meant countless hours of practice, carpooling or relying on Grandma White to get me where I needed to go, and weekends and weeknights spent watching a ballgame vs. having any sort of social life for the adults around me. When I was younger, I did it because I enjoyed it. Now that I am older, the value of those experiences is so much more apparent: I learned responsibility in the form of going to practice every. . . single . . . day . . . , whether I wanted to or not. Responsibility of getting decent grades so that I could participate. Perserverence in practicing during the off season. Respect for coaches, even those who might not deserve it, respect for teammates to show up every night and give 110% because we were all working towards a common goal. Problem solving skills in the form of playing with teammates who you wouldn't exactly consider your friends, executing a specific play regardless of how well you might have been getting along that day because you are a team. Self confidence when the practice paid off. Learning to accept disappointment, such as being benched at the state tounament when it's apparent you are not going to win, or losing countless basketball games. By my senior year of high school, I realized that the reason I participated in organized sports was to keep myself out of trouble. My parents had taken a business risk early in high school which left both of them largely absent in my life during that time; that risk left them drained both physically and emotionally. I made a conscious decision that I was going to to do whatever I could to make their lives that much easier-and not be a burden. So before anyone who doesn't truly know why I participated in sports makes an assumption that I'm some kind of sports pushing parent . . . I'm not. I can see the countless ways extra curricular activities are so valuable just through my own experiences; however, I won't push my kids to do anything. I will suggest that they try something, and hope to hell they enjoy it as much as I did, because time will move so fast and that experience of organized sports will pass and it's an experience you will never have again in your lifetime. Alex has been involved in baseball for years; however, this past summer he truly had his first experience of what it's like to participate in a team sport with great coaches. After the season was over one of his coaches told Alex, "Don't change Alex, the world needs more kids like you." I'm guessing Alex, along with myself, will never forget those words and the positive impact that experience had on his life. I know that not one of my kids will be a professional athlete, musician, etc; however, I will suggest they try anything their heart desires, and continue to do it as long as it's fun and I will support them in that journey.
I should have included this with my last post, but here it is. As you can see, all Ainslee wants for Christmas is her two front teeth. . . . unfortunately the tooth fairy had to settle for this note. In case you can't read it, it says: Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my tooth on the bus tooth fairy. I love you, Ainslee Ruth Wuest.
Laura has taken an interest in chemistry, she will often check out a non fiction science book that details a particular experiment and then she will leave me a detailed list with the items she might need from the store. . . such as cornstarch or food coloring. Here she created a volcano at home, which she took to school and presented the actual erruption to her classmates, Ainslee's class got to come in and see the presentation. Yeah, she did this on her own-no science assignment.
Alex shot his first buck this past gun deer hunting season, and as you can tell by his smile in this photo he is very proud.
All of the kids got their first report cards a few weeks ago, and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of each of them. They were not only transitioning from a physical and emotional move, but they were also transitioning into the public school system from private where the accountability standards are very different. The kids transition into their school has by far been the best of our experiences on many levels.
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