Holidays…Dreher Style

My husband and I agree that this past holiday season was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable holidays we’ve had in quite a while.  We did some things differently this year that I think helped our family come together more and focus on the spirit of the season.

We kicked off the Christmas season with a trip to Branson the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed all of the lights and the tree display at Silver Dollar City and had a wonderful meal as we watched the Christmas show at Dixie Stampede.

I picked up $1 Christmas crafts at Michaels during October and November so the kids had fun making their own Christmas ornaments and decorations.

We celebrated the Advent season by reading Scripture about God’s plan for salvation; from the beginning of creation until Jesus was born.  Each day during Advent, one of the big kids placed an ornament on the branch of Jesse.

The kids also had fun opening their Lego Advent Calendar everyday.  By Christmas, they had quite the Lego display built.

This was the first year we celebrated Hanukkah and we’ll continue this tradition.  Hanukkah is a time for remembering the miracles God has given us.  It was during the Festival of Lights that Jesus proclaimed himself to be both the “light of the world” and the Messiah.  The true miracle is that Jesus brought the light of salvation into our dark world.  Oh, what a meaningful celebration Hanukkah was for me.

For the kids, it was mostly about getting gifts for eight nights in a row…though they did enjoy lighting the candles and participating in the blessings.

I really enjoyed having my mom and step-dad, Gil, with us to celebrate my birthday and Christmas together.  This year, I made Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so that I could have all day on Christmas to play with the family.  That’s another tradition I’ll be keeping!

And of course Christmas morning was spent opening presents, laughing and playing.  We started a tradition several years ago where the kids each get three presents: something they really want, something educational and something they need.  We put the “something they really want” in their Santa Sack (that’s what Jacob is opening in the picture above).  They’re always excited to find out what they got!

Lessons learned at the MO TKD Invitational

That’s my boy in the red, kicking with all he’s got at the 2011 Missouri Taekwondo Invitational!  Jacob competed in sparring and Caitlyn competed in forms.  Before I get to how they did, can I just confess something? Watching my kids compete can bring out the “mean Mama” in me when their opponent isn’t competing fairly.  Let me explain.  Jacob had two sparring matches.  In the first match, he sparred someone from Champion, our martial arts school.  Unfortunately, Jacob lost that match, but the other boy competed fairly and was friendly; trademarks of our students.  However, Jacob’s second match was against a boy from another school who repeatedly pushed Jacob.  Now, I don’t know a whole lot about the rules of sparring, but pushing while moving forward isn’t allowed.  And that’s exactly what that other boy was doing.  The referee did warn the other boy once, but that was after he already had a 9 point lead!  And, he continued to push Jacob!  Now, here’s the “mean Mama” part.  Caitlyn and I were sitting right next to the other boy’s parents and I just couldn’t seem to stop myself from making very loud remarks like, “that boy really needs to stop pushing Jacob!  Why doesn’t the referee disqualify him!”  Yeah, you know I wanted those parents to hear me and how upset I was about how their boy was behaving.  That other boy wasn’t displaying very good sportsmanship…but neither was I. 

And there’s my girl with her silver medal in forms!! She had to compete against two different girls.  The first time, she was flawless.  The second time, she forgot her form about a quarter of the way into it!!  I could see the panic set in on her face when she asked the referee what to do.  He told her to start over, and she got it the second time.  She was so surprised to receive second place!
I’d say we all learned some lessons from this event.  Jacob, who a month prior had won a medal for undefeated at our school’s sparring games, entered the competition confident of winning.  But it was not to be.  He still demonstrated an indomitable spirit and got a taste of humility.  Caitlyn, who has never won an individual medal, tasted victory for the first time and demonstrated perseverance when it seemed all was lost. I learned that I can’t always fight my kids’ battles, as much as I want to, and that I should still demonstrate integrity when faced with injustice.
I’m proud of my champs!

Breakfast…Colonial Style

One of the things I LOVE about homeschooling is getting to incorporate the lessons in surprising ways.  Caitlyn and Jacob are learning about early American history so I thought it’d be fun to sample some foods from the Colonial era.  We feasted on a breakfast of dressed eggs and Johnny cakes.

Dressed eggs are fried eggs that are then placed under the broiler to “set” the yolks.  Then they’re “dressed” with a dash or two of nutmeg.  Johnny cakes are liked fried cornbread.  They’re easy to make and they traveled well during the Colonial days.

We also dined on a Colonial dinner of chicken pudding and sweet potato and apple casserole.  Our recipes came from this cute American Girl book we found at the library called, Felicity’s Cooking Studio.  It has great information about cooking in Colonial times.

One really enjoyed the breakfast!

One…did not.  All in the name of education. 

The Joy of Homeschooling

The other morning I walked past the back door to see the kids having a morning meeting on the trampoline.  They had eaten breakfast, scooped cat litter, fed the pets and were waiting for Mama to start school  On the other side of the house stood neighborhood children; their backs laden with heavy packs while they waited for the school bus. 

I managed to snap this picture just before they realized I was watching them.  It’s mornings like these that remind me how blessed we are to home school and how much I cherish their childhood.  I’m so thankful that they’re not standing out on the street; waiting for the bus to take them away from me where someone else makes the rules and the decisions about what they think is best for my children.

And now, for PE. 

Back to School

We are back to school!  Well, we don’t have far to go…just to the kitchen table.  But it’s definitely a change from our lazy, summer days and I, for one, am glad for it!  And I have to say, I’m very proud of my kiddos for the way they’ve jumped right in!  Maybe they were ready for some structure and order to the day, even if they would never have admitted it. 

One of my favorite subjects this year is studying the book of James with them.  They each have their own book called, Boy, Do I Have Problems which is an inductive Bible study by Kay Arthur.  The picture above is of Caitlyn working through her study with her colored pencils; marking common words.  I love that they are learning how to study the Bible on their own and how to apply it to their lives. 

The greatest challenge so far is keeping Abraham content while I focus on the big kids’ school.  He’s almost two years-old now and can throw a mean tantrum when he doesn’t get his way.  Which means, we have our fair share of interruptions.  On the other hand, he’s loves to play with his cars and trains and is content to do so while we get some school done.  And there is usually an older sibling willing to entertain him while the other gets some one-on-one schooling.

I’m praying that this positive attitude toward school will continue (I overheard the kids saying, “School is FUN this year!”) and that I don’t let the constant interruptions bring me down…like I did today.  I love to be a part of what my kids are learning!  And, I love my kids!

“When I Grow Up”

“When I grow up, I want to be a forensic scientist.”  “When I grow up, I want to be in the military.”  “When I grow up, I want to be a garbage man.” “When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer.”

This was the conversation my children and step-children were having in the car the other day.  While each is a worthy pursuit and I’m proud of each of the kids, I noticed that the girls didn’t say, “I want to be a homemaker when I grow up.”  Which made me think, how many girls dream of becoming a homemaker when they grow up? 

I know I sure didn’t dream of becoming a homemaker.  I can recall a second grade assignment that had us list what we wanted to be at various ages in life.  I had listed: rock star, teacher, nurse, and maid. It’s possible I also listed “Daisy Duke”.  Hey, I hadn’t come a long way yet, baby. By high school, I was still clinging to the whole “rock star” thing but, by then, being a television producer or anchor was a little more practical.  Still, I wasn’t going to be a homemaker!

So, a brief stint as a news anchor and producer and many (many) years later, here I am… a homemaker.  I’ve kept one toe in the advertising/academic world, but I’m about to pull that out and be 100% committed.  Okay, maybe that’s not the best word. But do you know, I’m okay with it!  It has taken me a long time to be okay with being a homemaker…even while I’ve been a homemaker.  Because I’m not just any homemaker, I’ve got a Master’s degree for crying out loud!  I should be using it after all, right?  Right? 

While the kids were having their “when I grow up conversation”, I realized I had been brainwashed by the whole feminist movement that was in full force during my upbringing.  Being a homemaker is WRONG!  I can do BETTER than that!  I DESERVE better than that! 

Ugh.  Do you have any idea how much I’ve struggled to purge myself of those lies?  Really, God deserves all the glory for doing that.  He’s shown me that the greatest, most important job I’ll ever have is raising children who love Him, serve Him and have compassion for others.  And He is training and equipping me to be one of the best people for that job.  Not the Sunday School teacher.  Not public or private school teachers.  Not the doctor. Not the government.  Not anybody else. 

Derailing for a moment here, because, frankly, I get very angry when parents tell me “Oh, I could NEVER stay home or homeschool my kids.  They would drive me NUTS!  I can’t WAIT for them to go back to school!  I just don’t know how you do it!”  First, I do it through God’s strength and a big heapin’ helpin’ of His grace.  Second, and I might sound crazy here, but I actually like being with my kids.   That’s not to say I don’t have my days when I want to throw in the towel and put them all on the school bus.  I should add that I’m not talking about moms whose families depend on her income.  She is still serving her family and God will honor that.  I had to put Caitlyn in daycare for four months when she was barely one year old.  I hated every second of it, but our family needed my extra income and God saw us through it.

Back on track…Now I’m on a mission to make sure my daughter knows that being a homemaker is a GOOD thing.  It’s a blessing to be able to stay home and homeschool my kids and I hope she sees that.  I hope she doesn’t rule it out as a possible thing to be “when she grows up.”  I hope she sees the value in it.  I pray she doesn’t have to wrestle with feelings of inadequacy or unimportance as I did.  And when I start to feel like I can’t serve because I’m home with my children, God reminds me that everyday I’m serving Him.  I have a mission field.  It’s my home.

Summer Catch-Up: Branson, June 8 - 10

Oh my goodness.  Where did June go?  It just flew by and now it’s almost the middle of July!  This summer is going fast, so I figured I’d better get around to blogging about it.  Or at least give a summary.

We went to Branson for the first time!  We stayed at Thousand Hills Resort and had a beautiful condo with a nice view of the golf course.  We went to the Dixie Stampede and spent a couple of days at Silver Dollar City.  Scott’s folks joined us and were so helpful hanging out with Abraham so we could take the big kids on some rides.  We had a great time!  The picture above is of the kids with one of the horses from the Dixie Stampede.  Below are more pictures of our trip.Waiting for our grub at the Dixie Stampede.  The kids loved all the food and  getting to use their fingers to eat.Caitlyn was so excited to discover that the chair in the sunroom opened up into a twin bed.  She loved having the sunroom all to herself (and not having to share a bed with big sis).

We found a place for the kids to hang out. 

Jacob tried the small rollercoaster with Michael.  He was a bit scared, but said he liked it.  Caitlyn went on a bigger rollercoaster with me and hated it.  Maybe someday the kids will ride the coasters with me.

The kids loved the River Blast where they could soak and be soaked.

Abraham found a way to get soaked at Geyser Gulch.

Silly hats for silly kids.

After a long day at the park, the kids found a place to rest.