A 2012 review addition

I forgot something I don't want to forget in the 2012 review. In October Reagan got her tonsils out. Really I want to remember this because someday all my children's spouses will owe me big for giving them a husband or wife that is not the nightmare snorer that they would have been had we not gone through the major drama of taking out their tonsils. To my future children in-laws, your welcome. No matter what sort of crazy things I do as a mother-in-law, at least I did this for you. And I also helped put our ENT"s children through college.

As it was with the other three, the tonsils are a nightmare for a few days then it was over. But the few days are really not much fun. The story I want to remember, or actually I should try and forget, is leaving the hospital.

Reagan was hardly a cooperative patient. She hasn't been great in any doctor or dentist office yet, and so I knew the hospital would be even worse. With all three of the other kids we declined getting the pre-medicine, but I knew with her we would have to do it. I was right to not do it with anyone else because the waking up process was much worse.

She actually went back into surgery fine, the anesthesiologist put a Dora cartoon on his ipad and she had never seen Dora before and was memorized. It went downhill from there. While she was in surgery the nurse explained that when she came back she would have to do a series of things before being discharged including get up and walk and eat a popsicle.

Not long after, Dr. Wobig came out to tell us the surgery had gone great, and he was just shocked at the size of her tonsils and adenoids and he was so glad we took them out. A few minutes later they brought out a super sweet, sleepy little girl to us. Then she woke up.

As she was waking up she became very agitated. She did not want the pajamas on, but also didn't want hers put back on her. She certainly did not want the IV port in, yet didn't want the nurse to touch her. That was fun. She did take one bite out of the popsicle, and promptly spit it out at the nurse. Great parenting moment.

After about 45 minutes she was finally just fully screaming and thrashing around. The nurse said, I think you should just take her home. At that point she had completed a total of zero of the things the nurse originally said she needed to to do be released. That nurse, who was very nice, could not get us out of the quick enough. She handed us our discharge papers along with the post-surgery instructions and said over Reagan's screaming, "you've done this before so you don't need me to go over this with you. If you have any questions just call your doctors office."

We headed out with Andrew carrying our stuff and me carrying Reagan, and by the time we were out in the main hall before the elevators I couldn't physically hold her anymore. We switched and that totally put her over the edge. She was screaming, hitting, scratching, and trying to bite Andrew. She was in a crazy drug induced fit. We made it down the elevator and into the main atrium of Providence Hospital. That big room goes up multiple stories of open air and her screaming just echoed to a deafening level. Everyone, everywhere stopped to watch us, I'm sure they were looking at her to see which appendage had been removed from this child because that is the only explanation for the noises coming from her. Andrew and I just sort of shook our heads and laughed, because what else do you do.

Finally, we reached the car and had a bigger problem, getting her in her carseat. Two grown adults could not get a two year old in the carseat. She was so out of her mind and amazingly that translated into super-human strength. She made herself as straight as a board and we couldn't get her shoved down into the seat. I seriously worried that even if we got her in that the seat belt in her carseat might not hold her. Fortunately one time she stopped for a breath and we caught it at the right moment and were able to shove her little rear-end into the seat and get her in. She continued to scream for about 10 minutes and then almost instantly fell asleep.

Fortunately, the trip out was really the worst of it. The first two days were pretty okay, then days 3, 4, and 5 were pretty miserable and they slowly got better from there. All in all it took a good 10 days for her to get back to normal.

As I've said many times, I wish in our genetic soup we had created something else that was crazy amazing, rather than the size of the lumps of tissue in our kids sinus cavities, but at least it is something that is (relatively) easy to fix. I found on our hospital bills (I was more careful about checking them this time because our insurance is so bad now our deductible means we paid for most of it) that they charged us $17.85 for the half of a popsicle that they gave Reagan. The very one she only took one bite out of then spit at the nurse. We didn't get a surcharge for abusing the nurse, so I suppose I should be happy about that.

And now when you listen to Reagan sleep she doesn't sound like an old man. Success. Future spouse, you owe me awesome grandchildren.

2012 in review- or for the first time.

I am official a failure at blogging. I had planned to do a year-end-wrap up in December to make up for not really blogging anything last year... and here it is, Feb. 4th and I'm just now doing it. While I do a scrapbook of pictures, this is the only place for me to write down a little longer information about what goes on in our family. So I'm going to go ahead and give it a shot- here are some things I don't want to forget about 2012. 

Easter- If it doesn't rain, it is a good Easter Egg hunt! We had the Sunday School crew all come over for a hunt in the greenway. It was very fun. 

And no rain even on Easter day. Cute kiddos. 

Andrew turns the big 4-0! We celebrated with a limo ride. We took the kids out first and drove around Damascus. 

They thought it was really fun. At first Reagan was totally confused, and a little worried. She was probably wondering why she was in a car without a carseat. Then she got on board. Ainsley spent most of the time talking in a British accent. Pretty funny. Then we dropped off the kids, and picked up Eric and Cyndi and Ryan and Jenne and went downtown for dinner. It was really fun!

Our kids LOVE going to "big kid" parties. The end of the tennis season party is probably their very favorite. For the past 6 or so years we have been lucky enough to have it at the Helm's house. Swimming with the big kids is fun, but they especially like hanging out in the hot tub. 

Camden went to preschool at Barlow, with Mrs. Dupuis as his teacher. It was a great experience. We always knew he was a really smart kid, but we also know he is a busy kid, so we didn't know exactly how school would go. Turns out it was amazing. He was a perfect little student and always did great. Except that time he snuck out of class. During calendar time one day in May he actually left the classroom. A student found him in the parking lot at Barlow on his way to daddy's classroom. When we "talked" to him about what in the world was going on, he calmly explained that he was going to Dad's class because he was sick of calendar time. He didn't understand why the kids couldn't figure out that Tuesday always comes after Monday. Of course. We took his graduation picture in front of the calendar. 

Hudson on his last day of school with his teacher, Mrs. Terveen. The cool thing is I was job-sharing with Laura back when I was pregnant with Hudson, and then she ended up his second grade teacher. 

Ainsley with her fifth-grade teacher on the last day of school, and the last day of elementary school at Deep Creek. The last day that is, unless it becomes a K-8 school and she moves back. We will see. 

While our kids started playing tennis at about 4 and have always been on soccer and basketball teams, playing in their first tennis tournaments this year was a big deal. It is quite a bit more pressure to be out on the court all alone than it is to be on a soccer field with a whole team. They both did great and can't wait to do it more. 

We again did fireworks stands with the Strandbergs. It was a great year. We have, however, turned our children into little fireworks freaks. Ainsley and Hudson love to come and work at the tent. This year Ainsley started making posters and little displays that said "Our favorites" and "Ainsley's Picks." After Camden had left one day I discovered that he too had made a display of his favorites, and then taken a pen and written signs with arrows all over the tables pointing to his display that say "Camden Picks." It was so cute, even if it was graffiti. Good thing the tables aren't exactly high quality and that the rental company probably didn't notice. 

Ainsley went to Trout Creek Bible Camp for the second year and loved it again. It is quite possibly the highlight of her year. Sarah, Natalie and Lainie went with her. It was so much fun. She still talks about it and remembers different things to tell us about it months later. So happy she gets to have that experience. 

CALIFORNIA!

Grandma and Grandpa took us to Disneyland! The first day we got to go play at the Santa Monica beach and for the first time our kids got to experience playing on a WARM beach. The Oregon coast will never be the same again. 

We have so many fun memories of Disneyland I don't even know where to start. It was the perfect Disney vacation. The kids were amazingly good, the weather was perfect, and everything went basically exactly as we had planned. We were there for five days. We did three days going back in the evening for the night shows, Fireworks, Fantasmic, and World of Color. The kids really loved all the rides. Ainsley, Hudson, and Camden even all loved California Screamin', Space Mountain, and Ainsley and Hudson even did Tower of Terror. Reagan loved every ride she could go on, she was a total dare-devil. 

Speaking of Reagan, we thought taking a 2 year-old was going to be difficult at best. She however, was AMAZING! She was delightful pretty much the whole time. Before we left I cut her special blankie into fourths so if we lost it we had more, and so that we didn't have to take the whole thing everywhere. It worked perfectly. She slept a few days in the stroller, and pretty much just went with the flow. She loved everything she saw and did. We realized she didn't really know any of the Disney characters though, but she still loved them. Whenever she saw Micky Mouse she would shriek, "Mousey!" She wasn't scared of anything. We even took her in the Haunted House and she said over and over, "Is this scary?" I just kept saying, "No, it is just fun." And she would say, "Okay, and laugh." 

I think the thing I've been the most surprised about is how much Reagan still (6 months later) talks about Disneyland. She remembers so much and will say, "I love California Adventure." Or whatever part she is thinking about. She rode the Ariel ride so many times I can't even count because she did that quite a bit when there were rides she couldn't go on, one time Grandpa took her and just stayed on it three times in a row, waving off the employees telling them that they weren't getting off. She love it so much. 

We were so happy that all three boys got chosen to do the Jedi Academy. We were worried about what would happen if one or two got picked, but not all of them. Fortunately they all did- and loved it. The battled Darth Vader very bravely!

Eleison and Camden couldn't get along better. They have so much fun together. As they get older they will probably not be as good of friends because they are a boy and a girl, but for right now we are enjoying what great friends they are. 

It was such a fun trip that everyone will always remember.

We love going to the beach each summer with the Strandbergs.

Our hike to drift creek falls when were were there was awesome. So awesome, Camden didn't even need a shirt.

Really it is the moms that make the whole thing happen. It is so great to spend time together just relaxing, or you know, cooking for everyone!

The very tough Pate men.

After a great summer it is hard to go back to school, but the kids were pretty excited. Ainsley got to start middle school and we braced for the "middle-school" experience. We are five months in at this point and it has been pretty much wonderful. She has great teachers, works really hard, and has fun friends. Sixth grade has been gloriously drama-free and a positive experience. We hope it continues this way! She started playing the flute in band, and her teacher is Mr. Evans. I taught his youngest daughter (who is now a college freshman!) in first and second grade. I must say, a beginning band teacher has to have the patience of Job. Hudson started 3rd grade and gets to have Mrs. Manzella who he also had for kindergarten. This is good news for him, but was sad news for Camden who was expecting to have her. Instead Camden started out kindergarten a little rocky because he wanted Mrs. Manzella, and instead got a teacher that, to put it mildly, needed to be done teaching. She lasted five days. On day six she didn't show up. It ended up perfectly because Mrs. Brier, who had retired a few years before after teaching kindergarten at DC for 20+ years agreed to come back and just teach his class. She is exceptional and she adores Camden. It has been a great year so far for him.

Ainsley's first band concert. 

A very cool thing we found out the night before school started was that Andrew won the Oregon State Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award. He got lots of recognition, including an article in the Oregonian. His assistant principal is who nominated him. One of the best lines from the letter he wrote was, "If Andrew doesn't walk on water, it is only because that won't help his students do better in their social studies classes." It was a great honor. 

Halloween costumes have become trickier for older kids we have found. Reagan was thrilled with a pink princess dress, Camden and Hudson both found inspiration from Disneyland. Hudson is Indiana Jones, with his hat, whip, and gun purchased in D-land, and Camden is a pirate with his hat also from there. Ainsley ended up settling on being a Greek goddess. They all had a great Halloween. 

And then there is Christmas. Easily one of the most memorable parts was Camden getting to do the opening prayer at the Cornerstone Church Christmas Pageant. Weeks of agonizing over the prayer because he said he didn't know what to say. He finally settled on something, but never would say it for me. On the way to church that morning I ask him to practice it and he said, "It is a prayer mom, your just supposed to say whatever pops into your head to talk to God." At that moment I about died. I think I held my breath from then until he uttered Amen at the end of his perfect little sweet prayer. He said (what he practiced) "Dear Jesus, thank you for coming down to earth to be born in a manger. And than you for dying on the cross for our sins. Thank you for Christmas. Amen." 

Hudson's job was to carry the tent-thing over the wise men. He got to do it with Jackson, so it was perfect. 

 The program couldn't have been cuter.

 Christmas morning we were at home with just our family. It was really fun. The kids had a great time.

 Then we went to Salem to spend the afternoon with Grandma, Grandad, Great-Grandma, and Auntie Kate.

 The next morning we headed to Milton-Freewater for a week. We celebrated Christmas again and had so much fun with Grandma, Grandpa and the Zieglers. Our kids were more excited about seeing their cousins than Christmas presents by far. That makes me happy.

I know I didn't include tons of things, and probably some big things that deserve to take the place of some things here. But at least it is something! I can (maybe) do a blog post here and there without feeling like it is weird because I skipped all of last year. We were very blessed in 2012 and love our little family.

Hudson's birthday number nine!

Dear Hudson,

Happy 9th Birthday! You have been busy this year. Mostly growing. And growing. And growing. Do you remember being little and me reading you the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpiller"? "On Monday he ate through.... AND HE WAS STILL HUNGRY." That is pretty much you right now. And I think this is only the beginning. You are one tall kid and you are only getting taller. Your feet are bigger than mine now (a kid size 5 1/2) and you are 4 feet 9 1/2 inches tall as of this morning.

You've also been doing lots of growing in other ways. The way you think has changed some this last year. You don't always tell us what you are thinking about though. You are the quietest Pate kid, although that isn't saying much. You are a loud, chatty bunch. But you are more likely to need a little prompting to tell us what you are thinking or wanting to do. That evidently isn't the case at school, however. Mrs. Manzella told us at conferences that you are VERY social in class and she often has to remind you to not chat. That seems to be a bit of a family pattern.... starting with your parents. So sorry about that to all your future teachers!

I know I wrote last year about how much you like to play outside, around in the neighborhood with your friends. That hasn't changed. We feel really fortunate that because of where we live you and your siblings get to experience a pretty traditional childhood. You love playing out at the playground, riding bikes, climbing trees, and planning all sorts of intricate battle fields. You spent tons of time this summer setting up little army figures in all sorts of formations. You especially loved getting to use water balloons as little bombs. It provided hours and hours of entertainment. You are in general a very happy, and fun loving kid.

Legos continue to be your favorite toy. The new obsession this year is Lego Ninjago. I honestly don't get it at all, but you love the things so much. Your one request for your birthday was the Lego Supersonic Raider. It is a big Ninjago set and you didn't really think you would get it, so when you unwrapped it this morning you were thrilled. Your birthday party theme today was Ninjago. This was your friend party year. Consequently we had a houseful of boys this afternoon. You all had a great time making ninja headbands, ninja stars, playing lego games, and finally putting together a ninjago set that each of your guest got to take home. You were a busy, happy bunch of boys.

Sports have changed for you this year. You have always liked to play, but this year you found a new intensity. You are a total competitor now. You are focused and work really hard. You started out the soccer season not really knowing if you wanted to play soccer, and ended up loving it and doing really well. You are now even doing futsol (an indoor soccer game) and loving it. You never get tired and really run hard. I think back to just a couple years ago when we would say you were great in the first half, and then checked out in the second. That is not the case anymore. You have great energy and are really strong. Basketball hasn't started for you yet, so you have been going and practicing with Ainsley's team every practice. You never complain about doing it, and are doing really well. It is going to be fun to see you play basketball this year. 

Hudson, you are a sweet, good kid. I think about some of the things I have read about the different types of personalities of men and I believe you will fall into a "strong and steady" category. Your not super emotional, although you do have a temper that can flare sometimes. Daddy and I talk and pray about how to make sure we are reaching your heart. We want you to grow into a man who does great things for God, Hudson. We pray that you would be a strong leader, and yet gentle and kind.

Every line of Proverbs 10 is so valuable as you are becoming the person God intendes for you to be. I love how each line gives two choices. One clearly following God's ways, which are always smart. But the world makes the foolish ways look so appealing, especially in the years you are approaching, Hudson. We pray you would choose wisely. Here are the first few verses of Proverbs chapter 10:

A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

 Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,
    but righteousness delivers from death.

 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

 Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth.

 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

 Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

 The name of the righteous is used in blessings,
    but the name of the wicked will rot.

 The wise in heart accept commands,
    but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

Hudson, daddy and I pray that you would choose God's way each and every day of your life. Better is one day in the courts of the Lord than thousands of days elsewhere. We love you so much and want you to experience the riches of living a life that is pleasing to your God. We make so many mistakes everyday, we hope that in spite of our mistakes you would see God's love for you and he would draw you to him. We love you so much Hudson. Thanks for being such a special, and wonderful boy. 

Love, mom

Excitement over opening your super sonic raider. 

All set up and ready for your birthday party.

You had everyone learn how to fold ninja stars. Folding paper is an obsession for you right now. I'm certain a big portion of the world has been deforested thanks to your fascination with ninja stars, paper balloons, and other origami. You were super excited about a star wars fighter jet folding book we got you for your birthday. 

The great 9-year-old! 

Camden = Six

Dear Camden,

I'm going to steal Grandma Seaquist's line and say, "I love you with all my heart." Today you turned six. Six years ago when I was holding a tiny baby boy I had no idea what an amazing person you would become. The best thing to say is that in so many ways you never cease to amaze us. You have a great vocabulary. In fact, that is one of the things your teacher is impressed by. When I think of how to describe you a whole bunch of adjectives pop into my head. What is funny is how some of them are opposites of each other. Here is a list:

Inquisitive
Clever
Intense
Gentle
Fast
Volatile
Bright
Kind
Fun
Thoughtful
Loving

In the past year you  have grown up so much. You started kindergarten this year and FINALLY got to ride the bus to school like you have wanted to do pretty much your whole life. You love school, although it surprises me that some mornings you complain about having to go. I think you don't always want to leave what you are doing at home. You always come home from school happy. Your teacher is perfect for you, although getting her involved some drama. We thought you would have Mrs. Manzella, but then she got moved to 3rd grade. So not only did you not get her, Hudson did. So then school started and there were 40 (!) kids in your class so they spilt the class and you had a different teacher. After some issues there they ended up getting Mrs. Brier who taught for 30+ years at Deep Creek to come and teach your class and she is wonderful. You love her and she is great with you. At your conference she just talked about how smart you are and how she can't believe the words you use. Her only concern was that you and your friend Richelle hold hands and hug too much in class. Cute. Richelle is super sweet and fun so we get why you like her as a friend. She also looks a lot like Eleison who you adore so it makes sense. We had a little chat after conferences about not holding hands in school though.

Your plan for your birthday party was awesome, although I must admit I was worried. You wanted a "tinkerers" party. Basically you wanted to take stuff apart. So we collected a bunch of old machines, DVD players, remotes, power tools, cameras, etc and let the kids take them apart. It was great. I have had so many of the parents of the kids who came tell me later how much fun their son had and how they just loved it. It was all your idea. You also wanted to give everyone protractors and have them measure angles, and I shut that idea down. There is always next year.

You still like to dig for gold in the yard. And your sure one of these days your going to find some.

You still adore Reagan. You bring out the best in Ainsley. You and Hudson can fight like crazy, but I see the glimmers of a deep friendship between the two of you. The pattern between the two of you is for him to bug you, and you to overreact. Seeing the pattern doesn't help me shut it down often enough though.  I pray for the two of you would be best friends. I know God is going to grant that request and you will be blessed with a great relationship.

Camden, God has given you great abilities. When daddy was talking to Mrs. D (your preschool teacher) earlier this year about how kindergarten was going she said, "that kid will be a millionaire before he is 20." While I don't know about that, and I don't really care about you making money, I agree with her point that you are going to do great things. You are unique and God has a very special plan for your life. I am so lucky that I get to be your mom. I love you Camden.

Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Your machine cake.
Taking stuff apart.Intense workers.

The party kids.