A little different :)

We know that our family is not necessarily your "typical" family, or at least in terms of our hobbies and choice of activities, or at least in comparison with how the media portrays the typical family.  We're okay with that.  In the past few weeks, however, a few things have brought that to light.  Here are a few samples of those atypical events.

* Anna consistently eats all of the fruit and vegetables that I pack in her lunch.  Getting her to eat the "main" part of her meal has been the challenge.
* Kate really enjoys her Daddy-Daughter dates that involve going to the parts store for truck parks.

* Our kids truly love helping harvest, even if it means they don't get the instant gratification of eating the raspberries while they pick.

* This summer we bought some nature identification books (wildflowers, insects, mammals, etc.) because the girls kept asking questions we couldn't answer when out in nature.  They love paging through them.
* Having the farmer harvest the soybeans was cause for great celebration for our family.

 * Anna and Kate played a game called "race the combine" while the farmer was out harvesting the soybeans.

* This fall the girls made dried apple dolls.  (The idea came from a library book.)

* We have a truck on jackstands in the garage right now.
* We all enjoy our campfires in the backyard on the weekends; Matt likes to start them without matches or firesticks if he can.

* I like to weigh some of our produce.  We ended up with about 3 dozen butternut squash close to this size.

* One Sunday after Sunday School, the girls decided to play "Baby Moses" with their dolls, pretty accurately, too.
* On a Saturday morning when Kate wakes me up at 5 a.m. with a cough, and the rest of the family goes back to sleep until after 7, I end up canning tomatoes before 7 a.m.
* Our cat, Shadow, is known to the family as B.J. Raji on Packer game days because, in Kate's words, she's "really big".
* Our girls play pirates with their dad (a.k.a. the big kid) and any other kids who might be around when they go to a park.

 

One final story that takes a bit more explanation.  Friday I got to go have lunch with Anna at school.  Boy, there's nothing like having lunch in a room with 150 kindergarteners to make you appreciate your own kids a bit more :)  It was an eye-opening experience for me and I think Anna really was glad that I got to come

Besides the basics of lunch, on Friday there is always a special event.  The positive behavior program at Anna's school is all about being a Spartan Star (being kind, responsible, and safe).  Apparently, the kids can either earn Spartan Stars as individuals or as class groups.  Earning Spartan Stars has always been on Anna's highlight list at the end of the day.

Part of the program is that when they earn a star for being exceptionally kind, responsible, or safe, the students write their name and class on a slip of paper and it goes into a big jar.  At the end of the week, the principal draws two pieces of paper and the classes listed on them receive an extra recess the following week.  Well, guess who's name was called on Friday at lunch.  Miss Anna's, of course!  She was thrilled.  Her whole class was happy for her; she got her picture taken and it's up at the entrance to school this week; and her class gets an extra recess this week.  What a blessing that I was able to be there for that particular lunch!