Bye Bye 2009

Well, here it is the night of the last night of the year. We are home from our journeys, and we had a wonderful, white Christmas. It snowed everywhere- Arkansas, Oklahoma, and even here at home (although we missed that one). It was a major bummer that Chris ended up being sick for most of the time, but we tried to still make the best of it. I'll admit I was trying not to be discouraged and down because he/we were looking forward to/needing this vacation and then bam- sickness. But sick or not, it's always good to spend time with family and have some time away.

So not only is this a new year, it's a new decade. Not only a new decade for the world, but a new decade for the Pate family. It's kind of cool turning 30 and starting a new decade with the actual year. Change is standing in the doorway, peering into our home and waiting to be ushered in. New beginnings. Things we know not of to come, things only in concept and dream for the moment. But it's very comforting to know that our steps are ordered and directed, and they are being laid out as we speak. We are looking ahead and anxiously waiting to walk in them. We are laying to rest days rich in maturing and growing, the kind of growing that comes with growing pains. The kind of growing that makes you ready to just reach the point of growth you're headed towards so you can ease up for a minute. But I wouldn't trade our journey for all the journeys in the world. It's our journey. And it's one heck of a ride.

I'll have to play catch up to get some pics and video on here from the holidays, but I'll leave you with a few from our trip. Here's to the new year and all it holds. Peace out from the Pate house.

Playing the new lady bug game with Granna- lots of game playing over the holiday!

And the Bible Trivia game was going on at the other table- one of Addison's new games

Making a gingerbread house in Arkansas on Christmas Eve

This picture taken before the whole thing collapsed!

Waking up to a white Christmas and checking out the window

Reading Addison's note from Santa

We all got new Christmas PJ's!

Playing in the snow

Making a snow angel for the first time

I love this picture because he's throwing snow in the air

Back in OK riding Sanchez with Uncle Duck

John 3:16 the horse who thinks he's a puppy- he loves to be scratched and cuddled! It was so funny!

The snow in the pasture and open plain was so beautiful!

All bundled up with Poppy! Cadence just loves being outside

A Flurry of Christmas Activity

So here's a little bit of what we've been up to....

Making ornaments for their advent calendars

They each have one of these trees (it is almost filled up now!)

Gotta have a little of this in your holiday season! Peppermint Mocha for mommy, Hot Chocolate for Addison

Our very own hand painted nativity scene! (completed pics to follow soon)

So meticulous as always

And it is quite obvious where our "artsy" child painted!

Going to visit Santa at Christmas Lane- looking at the cute displays

So very happy Cadence was not afraid this year! She was a little shy, though...

Working the I'm-so-cute face for Santa

Hugs for Santa!

He had to think a second to let Santa know if he's been ALL good. He takes it very literally and was very honest in his assessment! We think he's on the nice list though :)

Considering the current awkward photography stage for both of them, we'll take this!!

Letting Addison have his own little tree this year. We only had one so they're "sharing" for now...

A little bit of this with the cousins...

and this....

and this...

equals this.

And my kitchen is still recovering!! Look at those white faces!!

And in non-media mention, Chris and I celebrated nine wonderful years yesterday. We went out on Tues because he is doing a wedding and had rehearsal last night. The time has flown in once aspect, yet in another it feels like this is how life has always been. My life before marriage and children seems to be dusty little memories in my mind now. Which makes me think and leads me to believe that when our children are grown this precious time of them being small will be in that same distant file that I will have to draw upon one day. I am so thankful for an amazing marriage. We credit that completely to the grace of the good Lord. To think we can love another human being apart from His love in us is foolish. It can't be done. Our hearts are wicked, at best. But Hope came to the world that we might be able to live a life full of grace and pour out the kind of love that can't be manufactured or produced in an unregenerate human heart. And thank God we can love like that because of Him. I feel like we've only begun in our days together in the scope of the sum total of our days. And that's exciting, because I know the best is yet to come.

Big weekend around here. The children's musical is Sunday, and Addison has one line and a little singing solo. This is the first year he's old enough to participate, and he's very excited. It's always chaotic for me when I do these, but I love to see those kiddos up there singing their little hearts out. I do enjoy it. And rest will follow. In the good company of family. Which is good, because in this very inconvenient timing, I have found myself not feeling well today. Going to try to take it easy this afternoon before I go to the wedding this evening, survive the chaos of the dress rehearsal tomorrow, open presents at the house with the kiddos since we're leaving, pack our family to be ready to go out of town, have the musical at church Sunday morning, come home, throw stuff in the van, and hit the road! And things in between!

Peace out from the Pate house!

This and That

Well, I seem to be falling behind on my blogging duties! We're entering into the crazy busy part of the holidays, but I actually enjoy all of the chaos. I love this time of year so much that it doesn't bother me to go from party to party, christmas cookie to christmas cookie, etc. We're trying our hardest to savor every moment and bring our children through the journey of Christ and the impact the reality of this season can have on the world. Plus, the craziness will culminate in us packing our bags and leaving for a nice long break so it's exciting!

I have much to say, but I'm in one of those seasons that what God is doing is so deep in my heart that it makes it hard to just sit down and relay the surface details of our daily life. Yet at the same time I still remain passionate about documenting and celebrating our children's lives, which includes the wonderfully mundane and normalcy that is precious to me. And the things they say and conversations we have are noteworthy at the very least! I think a time is coming that I will have an outlet for both, so that this blog can be what it needs to be and I can also begin articulating things written on my heart, even if that ends up being just for me. We have been challenged more than once to be writing during this crucial (and a bit mysterious, at least from cyberspace looking in until more comes to light) season of our lives, and I agree. Just don't know what that looks like yet.

For now though, I have plenty of material to let you enjoy. I'll begin by spreading a little holiday cheer with Cadence's dance class performance of "Jingle Bell Rock". She was very entertaining to watch. I'm sure you'll agree :) Although the video never quite captures the extent of cuteness represented in her little class. Something funny to note is everytime the class is told to put their hands on their hips, Cadence for some reason puts hers way up on her ribs. Her teacher thinks this is hilarious, and we do too!

Unfortunately we do not have documentation of any kind for Addison's musical theater performance of "Hot Chocolate" from Polar Express. I was teaching my class and missed it, and Daddy accidentally forgot to bring the camera to record it. But alas, grace abounds in our home...

More Christmas-y goodness to follow!

Thankful Thursday

Not going to do a list today. Just going to say that I'm thankful. I'm loving life, and I love everyone in it. Thankful to be doing something(s) that I love. All of the things that would sound cliche I am truly thankful for.

If you are a family member reading this blog, I am thankful for you. You bless our lives constantly. You create legacies. We are strengthened and encouraged by your love for us. We are inspired by the roads you have paved before us. For those that are younger, we have enjoyed watching you grow and become the people you are. Thank you for sharing your journey.

If you are a friend reading this blog, I am thankful for you. You have enriched our home with your laughter, support and kindness. You have brightened my days with your words coming through e-mails, the phone, etc. You have made my heart glad when I found you again through the wonders of social networking. You are there for us, you love us, and it's a privilege walking with you.

Thank you all for doing life with the Pates. Our lives are the better for it. And today, I'm thankful for that.

Thursday Almost Ten

Just enjoying a beautiful day around here. We went to the park earlier to collect samples of fall leaves we saw for a little book we're going to make, but I realized that as great as Nelson Park is by our house, it doesn't have a very large selection of different trees with spectacular fall color. Perhaps we will find some in other parts of town (although I do know realistically that this is Abilene, TX). Here are some highlights from a great week- I think pretty much everybody that reads this is now on Facebook so I might be repeating myself a bit, but oh well. Also, I have decided to put all media at the bottom of the post to temporarily remedy the problem with messing up the format every time I add something.

1. We got the Christmas decorations out over the weekend- yay! It's not all put up yet, but it was so much fun to see how excited Cadence is this year. I can already tell it's going to be a fun holiday season! She was just running around the living room with garland singing about the holidays and Christmas. She decorated the kitchen chair. And then she got her ponies out and they had to all be introduced to the Christmas decorations. It was extremely entertaining to watch her! (See Exhibit A below)
2. A quote from Addison when we were doing school work a couple of days ago..."You know, if this page could talk right now he'd be saying, 'Wow, this guy is doing a really good job.' " We'll have the Romans 12:3 talk later. For now, we take on the world! Better to err on the side of confidence at this age!
3. We are celebrating the fact that we are going to have to replace pretty much Chris's entire wardrobe! It's all too big! I am just so proud of the journey he's been on. He is inspiring a lot of people right now, and he's so close to his goal! You're the bomb-diggity man! And we are currently accepting donations for the Don't Leave Chris Naked campaign :) A thank you to Annette who has already contributed to this fund!
4. Addison's most recent song from Musical Theater (See Exhibit B) I knew he'd like this one!
5. We are SOOOO excited to head to Lubbock for Thanksgiving next week. We will be spending our holiday with T, and we will also get to visit our lifelong friends and their new baby girl. And we found out yesterday that we will be visiting the Polar Express on Wednesday. It's a real train, and they make it just like the movie- you go in your pajamas, have your ticket, drink hot chocolate and sing songs on the train, and we are en route to the North Pole the whole time. When we arrive, Santa and the elves will board the train!! Addison got the biggest smile on his face when I told him about it. I was glad, because these days because his excitement about things comes in short supply, plus the fact that it's difficult to get him to "buy" into lots of things. I'm just hoping we can make it one more Christmas believing in Santa :) So you can imagine my own excitement to see him jumping up and down and then he said he was excited because he's never seen a real live elf before. Hopefully when he sees that these "elves" aren't short and, well, very elf-like, he'll still be invested into the thing!! And you should see the cute little matching Christmas PJ's they'll be sporting...oh wait, you will see I'm sure! Thanks so much, T- this will be a special memory for the kids.
6. Chris and I have really come to love our little snuggle time with Cadence in the mornings. Since she is usually the first one awake, she just comes into our room and jumps in the bed between us for cuddles and cartoons. I'll admit, she is pure sweetness in the morning because she (99.9% of the time) wakes up with instant sunshine and giggles, even if sometimes it's a little earlier than I wanted to see her! I'm so happy that I'm not running around in the early morning like I was so I can have this time :)
7. As sweet as Cadence can be, she also tries to use said cuteness to get out of trouble. She has developed a new song that she sings now when we start to get stern with her. (See Exhibit C) We have actually seen a sight so pitiful as her singing this while crying after being in trouble. But after you hear the song you will see why it's very hard for us to keep a straight face. She is kind of quiet in the beginning, but you will get the idea.

So I didn't make it to ten again today. I'm not feeling that creative and just want to crank it out. We'll be having lots of blog love with the holidays so don't you worry. Pate goodness for all. In the meantime, peace out from the Pate house.

Exhibit A- Meeting the Singing Snowmen

Exhibit B Exhibit C

I think that's very "protrocious" of you to Lyrics to Getting Out of Trouble Song:

learn all of those words, son. I'm trying You are smiling, everything can make

to work with him on actually breathing you smile.

between words, but we're not there yet :) You're smiling, you can make me smile.

Zoo Class

It's an eventful week around here! Today the homeschool kids got to be a part of a class at the zoo. It was a little hectic with lots of little ones running around, but definitely the coolest part was getting to go "behind the scenes" and see where the lions and tigers slept. We were also behind the rhinoceros habitat and got to get up really close and touch it! Addison touched the horn so fast I missed the pic! Then Cadence reached (out of turn and not where she was supposed to touch) and just poked it in the side. It was kind of funny. We took our friend Seth with us, too. After the behind the scenes tour we went back to the classroom and the kids designed their own habitat for an animal and drew what it would look like. I definitely enjoyed the art class a lot more and I definitely should not have worn my cute shoes that now smell like rhinoceros, but it was still fun. The kids enjoyed it. I think next time we need to go early and walk around the zoo first, because we had to pay to get back in after the class was done (so we did not go back in). Here's the few pics I did manage to snap:

Right after he was touching the horn, but you can see how close we were to "Macho" (that's his name)

Drawing their animal habitats (or something like that)

Seth drawing his habitat. He was very detailed in explaining his "spider" to me and how dangerous he was. He's always coming up with the funniest things to say!

The Grace Museum Art Class

This fall we joined the Big Country Home Educators, which means we get to be a part of activities and things around town just for homeschool kids. I have to admit, even though some of the people are very different from us, it's nice to be at events where you have homeschool in common with other people. To be able to let my I-have-to-be-ready-to-answer-people-when-they-look-at-us-and-wonder-why-he's-not-in-school guard down and just enjoy ourselves. I'm always happy to share our heart on this subject and I'm obviously passionate about it, but sometimes I feel like it has to be more of a defense than conversation because of judgements or things said from other people. And believe me, it's happening. But I'm not really going to go there- it's quite a soapbox. :) At any rate, we met some very nice people.

Anyway, once a month the Grace Museum opens up for homeschool families with free admission and an art class. We had so much fun! Both of the kids did very well (I was especially impressed and proud of my loud, likes-to-talk, wiggly three year old), and they sat very quietly and well behaved during a small lecture about the artist we were studying, and some things that were way over their head. Well, Addison seemed to be tracking with her, actually. Then she did a demonstration of the art and the kids got to make it. I think this was a good artist for Addison to copy because Mondrian was all about geometric shapes and straight vertical and horizontal line grids- right up his alley! They also learned how to mix primary colors to make different colors of paint. Here are some pics from our adventure:

Here they are patiently and quietly listening and watching the teacher demonstrate what they were going to do. Cadence did turn around and tell me very excitedly, "Mommy, there's a girl behind me!"

Cadence's paint palette only stayed like that for a few seconds before all the colors got mixed, creating every color imaginable. The kids were impressed that she made black! That's Cadence for ya....

And her Mondrian masterpiece, with almost every color possible!

Addison of course was very meticulous, making sure to even make vertical brush strokes like the teacher. The teacher noticed that and praised him for it.

Addison's Mondrian masterpiece. Very good!

And a couple of examples of Mondrian's work to see what they were trying to emulate:

Fun fun morning/afternoon! After we finished the kids romped around in the children's part of the museum, which is also very cool, but I was too tired to take pictures! We'll be back next month for the next art lesson for sure, so I'll have plenty of chances to take pics. And there you have it. Peace out from the Pate house!