The One Where We Are Thankful

This was a Thanksgiving filled with family, love, happiness, and sorrow. We have so much to be thankful for. We also had reason for our sorrow. Our pastor's wife, Karol Pruett lost her battle with cancer. Our sorrow lies in that. Karol ran a good race and finished that race in the arms of Jesus. We are thankful for that. She was an amazing woman who will continue to impact lives for generations to come.

Our Thanksgiving also held many happy moments. On Thursday we celebrated in Milaca with Mark's family, and on Friday we celebrated in Waconia with my family. Austin and Noah had many hours of fun with their cousins.

Wes and Bev have made a point of turning their basement into a fun zone. They have a dart board, air hockey and a carpet ball table. This year was our first ever Thanksgiving Carpet Ball Tournament. The competition was stiff, but Austin garnered a championship victory. I was proud of myself when I took 2nd place in the competition.

The boys also had fun goofing around with Alex & Brittany. Brittany likes to keep things calm by playing board games, but the boys always end up in wrestling matches that shake the whole house.

It has become a tradition to meet up with the extended family for bowling on Thursday night. It's a fun way to catch up with cousins that we don't get to see often enough.

On Friday we headed for Waconia to celebrate with my parents. Austin and Noah are always excited to see Uncle John and to show him their latest gadgets. He is always appropriately impressed. We had fun taking family pictures together. After many hilarious outtakes, we ended up with a few decent shots where everyone is at least looking in the same direction!

We ended our day on Friday by playing BINGO with the kids. My grandma Potras started this tradition when her grandkids were small. Whenever the cousins were all together, Grandma used to gather all of her grandchildren at her huge dining room table for fun filled afternoons of BINGO. She always went to the "five and dime" and bought prized for us. She made a huge presentation out of each prize won. With each prize we felt like we had won the jackpot.

When Austin and Noah were small, my mom decided to carry on this tradition. Austin and Noah have had the fun of winning dollar store prizes and having special "kid" time with Grammy. This year, Johnny was able to play his own card. It was fun to see the numbers increase at our own family BINGO game.

The One With the Tree Fort

Mark's energy and talent never fail to amaze me. I've never seen anyone who can get more done in a single day than Mark. He recently decided to build a tree fort for the boys. He used his creativity and talent to design a fort made primarily of wood we had on hand. Whenever he had a free night or a few hours on the weekend, he and the boys would head out to the woods to work on the fort.

The result was a cozy fort complete with ladder and trap door. It has already been used for a sleepover. Mark made it large enough for a pop-up tent. It has also been used as a place to have school. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting high off the ground with a gorgeous view and a good book in hand.

I look forward to all of the fun adventures this new space will provide in years to come!

The One Where Austin is in a Play

His first official High School activity! Now that Austin is in 9th grade, all of his extra curricular activities are done through Princeton High School. The Princeton school district makes it very easy for homeschoolers to join extra curriculars. In September, we gave Austin the choice of football or the fall play. Much to this momma's delight, he chose the play!

The play chose was "The Matchmaker". After auditions, he was given the role of Joe, the cabman. It was a small role. Perfect for his first time on the high school stage. His character is drunk for a good portion of his time on stage. The director, Maureen Palashewski, said she gave him the role because..... he played the best drunk.

It was fun for all of us to have friends and family come to see the show. Mark's parents, sister, and niece all came for the show. My mom and several of my best friends also came.

Austin had a wonderful experience with this show. He is excited to audition for One Act Play Competition in a few weeks.