Life is change.  Growth is optional.

My name is Kate Hanke and this is my website.

You can click here for more information about me and this website as well as the “cast of characters.”

You will find stories here about our family, life, and thoughts about what is going on in this great and complicated world in which we live.

Please read below for our stories.  I left the light on for you!

I am reading Beezus and Ramona to my class as a read-aloud and there is a chapter where Ramona sits in the basement with a carton of apples and takes one bite out of each apple and then tosses it away.

Today Finn had a play-date.  Well in all fairness it wasn’t so much a play-date as we were watching another little boy that’s 3 and Finn happened to be there, playing and all.  I just looked forward to the time when I could say he had a play-date so that’s what we’re going to call it, okay?  Okay!  So this boy was over and Finn demonstrated his 2 favorite words: NO! and MINE!  He says them both all capital lettery and with exclamation points on the end, as if it a sentence, the last sentence, and the end of the discussion.  The other boy was very well behaved, sweet and was trying to teach Finn about sharing and other things that nice boys do.  Finn wasn’t so much interested.

We baked cookies because we had some to make and I wanted to prove to his mother that I could in fact bake/cook because she wants to sign me up for a show that’s all “you suck, you can’t cook, you can’t even boil water.”  So after we had baked them and they had cooled for a minute I gave each boy a cookie and went to grab something from the other room.  When I had returned his friend had eaten his cookie and was drinking his milk and Finn had finished his and then took one bite out of each of the remaining cookies.

The other funny thing was that his friend thought that Finn’s name was Josh (although by the end of the time, I think he had it all figured out) except my name which was either Kaitlyn, Amy, or Christie.  I could be an Amy, don’t you think?

**Blast from the past…here is what I was up to a year ago**

**I am about dying because it’s such a busy time of year with report cards and conferences.  I will be posting some re-runs that I’m pretty proud of**

**Note from Kate: I have changed the names and details to protect the student’s identity.  This story does not specifically refer to one student or situation and therefore  is fictitious.  Although the significance of the account was taken from persons or situation that I encountered in the years I have been teaching.**

Me: Henry will you please read this to me?

Henry: I can’t read.

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Henry: A business man.

Me: Business men need to know how to read.

Henry: I want to be a policeman.

Me: Policemen need to know how to read.

Henry: I want to be a doctor.

Me: Doctors definitely need to know how to read.

Henry: I want to be a hobo.

Me: A hobo doesn’t have a house; it’s going to be pretty cold sleeping outside in the winter.

Henry: I want to be hobo in Texas.

I was giving a pre-spelling test today and one word was wood.  I cautioned the kids to pay attention to the sentence since there were 2 woods.  “I chop the wood” was my sentence and they asked me for a sentence for the other would.  “Would you please shut the door” was my other sentence.  Later the word was pudding and one boy raised his hand and said “There are 2 puddings.  Like the pudding you eat and I’m pudding that right there.”

Later we were over at Josh’s parent house and eating dinner with our 5 year old nephew.  I asked Finn to pick if he wanted to eat his dinner with a spoon or fork and he quickly went to work on eating.  Isaac asked why Finn would listen to me and he wouldn’t listen to Isaac.

**Blast from the past…here is what I was up to a year ago**

I was reading, as usual, all the blogs I love and ran across this story.  Not only was it a great story, but I also have a passionate love for duct tape, it couldn’t have been better!  Check it out here.  I solemnly swear you won’t be disappointed!  To give you an idea about just how much I love duct tape, I think the plane look better AFTER the make-over!

**Blast from the past…here is what I was up to a year ago**

I used to have SO many pet peeves.  I had so many ideas of what was right and what was wrong.  The world was black and white.  It was my way or the highway.  I knew exactly what I was going to do and certainly what I NEVER would do.  Then I grew up and did many of the things that I swore I would never do.  It’s amazing how your perspective changes when you realize all those pointing of fingers means that 3 are pointing back at you.  Now the only thing I say I’ll NEVER do is say I’ll NEVER do something (right there breaking the rule, see how life is just gray)?

I have ZERO patience for people that are bad at their job.  I don’t expect you to be perfect, but if you don’t give a crap, act like they have to pay you extra to be kind, don’t apologize for your mistakes then I have no patience for you.  When I run into these people I seriously want to tell them if I did my job as horribly as they did I would be out on my ass in half a second.  DO YOUR JOB, PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE.  That’s all I ask.  That’s one of my pet peeves.

**Blast from the past…here is what I was up to a year ago**

Last month we were lucky enough to attend a retirement celebration for Josh’s dad, Barry.  He is retiring from Mayo after 22 years of service.  I can’t go into detail about the work he’s done in the past 2 decades because honestly I don’t know (it has something to do with computers).  I can however say that Josh’s parents are the hardest working people that I know.  I’m not an easy judge when it comes to work ethic because my mom is the single hardest working person I know.  But Josh’s parents are honestly the other hardest working people I know.

I know that Barry was greatly valued by his co-workers and will be missed.  He gave a speech at the end of the celebration and said that his favorite part of working for Mayo was that it was a cultural and ethnic representation of what the world should be moving toward.  I can’t even say how wonderful it is to marry into a family with the same ideals as myself.

It was just another day that it was glaringly clear how lucky I am to call myself a Hanke and I am so honored to be a member of their family.  His celebration was last month but today is his official retirement date.  I hope that Diana and Barry get to do everything they hope for in their retirement.  I hope it is all and more than they hope for, they certainly deserve it!

3 Generations of Hanke Men

Congratulations Barry!

**Blast from the past…here is what I was up to a year ago**