Wii wish you a Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. Hope you took time this year to reflect on Christ our Lord. We have had a wonderful time in Maine including a beautiful Christmas eve service.

We are enjoying the family in Maine. After a LONG plane ride which involved arriving at the airport at 5pm and arriving at our final destination at 5am (this is just Minnesota to Maine) and dealing with some cockroaches in our plane we arrived and put the trip behind us.

Now we are here for the holidays and a nice long visit. I suprised Serona and the kids with a Wii for Christmas. For the many of you who were in on the surprise and helping keep it a surprise - Thank you! They truly were shocked.

To those of you wondering - no I did not go crazy locating one. I purchased it back in the first week of August! Yes I kept it a surprise for that long!!! Thanks to showing up at one of Serona's best friends houses with box in hand asking if he would keep it until Christmas. A whole bunch of friends and family members were involved allowing me to keep the whole things a surprise.

Now the whole family from Sirah age 4 to grandparents in their 50's are enjoying playing games like bowling, boxing, Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero to name a few current favorites. We have to dodge Ciarans remote control car to do so sometimes though.

We are doing much more than playing Wii. For one thing enjoying this lovely Maine high 30 degree weather! Sledding, Ciarans snowboarding and just being outside in the sun. Playing Carcassonne with grandma and grandpa last night was fun too. Hope you are enjoying your Christmas week.

Merry Christmas
Tenniel

A Boy and a Frog...

Here is a familiar sight for our day today - an image of a Leopard Frog jumping away into water. We took a nature walk today with grandma and Ciaran was quite focused on finding frogs - now I know you are surprised.

Grandma found the first two frogs and pointed them out. Very excited as these were the first frogs seen of the season - until now it has been toads and merely hearing frogs. These frogs leaped away before Ciaran could get anywhere near them. He quickly moved to all the sunny bits of the pond where they might be waiting and sunning themselves. Together they saw about a dozen frogs with nearly as many failed attempts at catching one.

Ciaran looked the part of a little boy on a frog hunt. He was wearing shorts and mud boots. The mud boots were a battle to get him to wear - he wanted to wear sandals - but mom withstood the power struggle anticipating what was to come. Mom was wise. Ciaran was covered in mud and muck all along his boots and legs and his hands where he stuck them in as he attempted to reach the frogs.

Anyone who has ever tried to catch a leopard frog knows it is challenging - they move quick, leap far and are very jumpy and slippery if you manage somehow to be lucky enough to catch one for a moment. It is entertaining and also a little heart breaking to watch Ciaran try to catch the frogs. He is so focused and determined and it is hard frustrating work as he moves through the brush, weeds and muck to follow the frogs. A mother's heart just desperately wants him to catch the frog for a payoff for all his hard work.

Thankfully today we had a brief moment of victory. Ciaran and Rhiannon were along the shore together and found a prime sunning spot - three leopard frogs. They approached each one and it jumped away immediately. The third one Ciaran decided on a different approach - he put himself in the water and the frog had no choice but to jump into the brush. Rhiannon was standing there and moved quickly towards it and the frog leaped towards the water and instead landed on Ciarans chest as his hands quickly went up and around the frog. Success! For a few shining moments he was able to hold the leopard frog - who quickly squirmed out of his hands and back into the safety of the water. But it was the moment he has been waiting for since October when they went into hibernation and the first frog encounter of the season. Whew!

Our nature walk also yielded many other fun things, most especially time with grandma. Sirah found a broad-winged hawk feather and really enjoyed the ducklings. Rhiannon loved finding a sumac tree filled with red admiral butterflies. It really was a beautiful site. I am so thankful for the time spent outside with my kids appreciating and enjoying nature. As I watch them grow in their outdoor skills and love of nature it makes me joy-filled. As Rhiannon correctly identifies a hawk and stands her ground even when I think she is wrong, or Ciaran finds a frog when everyone thinks there is no hope, or Sirah points out a bird she enjoys. Those are special moments that I treasure.

Sure there were some power struggles to get out the door with boots on, some tears from Sirah about walking by herself and definitely a muddy son who needed an immediate shower. But those costs are all worth the reward and the joys we had playing follow the leader, learning grandma's tidbits about different plants and animals, and just discovering nature together. Get out and enjoy God's creation with your children in simple and rewarding ways.

Peace,
Tenniel