Blue & Gold Banquet

Tyler received his Bear Badge tonight.

Yay Tyler! As soon as Mom sews his badge on, he will have completed his diamond for this uniform. He'll switch to the tan uniform for Webelos.

Getting ready to award Bear badges,and paint their faces.

Ugh! I almost cut myself out of that picture, but decided not to. That uniform is less than flattering. I have recently decided my arms are too long also. There are way too many pictures of me with arms that go on forever.

Big Brother skipped his Boy Scout meeting to be with the family.

That's okay, there was at least one other Boy Scout hanging out with a little brother, I think there were two others. The Boy Scout's assistant Scoutmaster was our B & G chairperson this year, and the Boy Scout Scoutmaster came over for about 10 minutes during the Crossover Ceremony to welcome the graduating Scouts into his Troop. Formalities. After tonight, we're the only family juggling both groups...at least until May.

Little brother climbed all over everything.

He was very well behaved, and when he wanted to get noisy and rambunctious Travis took him out to the courtyard to burn off the energy.

First time ever eating fast-food french fries.

It's the last time too, at least for a very long time. It was $10 for 4 orders of fries! That's outrageous! I realize it's been at least a year since we did fast food, but I didn't know prices were climbing like that.

Travis's Birthday

The Birthday Boy

Everybody Got Involved in the Cupcake Decorating

Looks like some Serious Stuff

How Tyler Decorates a Cupcake

Dollar Store Decorations--Kinda Cool.

Well, would you look at that....the pictures finally uploaded for me.

Of course, these were taken 2 weeks ago. Last week was beautiful, and this week it is raining.

Better Late Than Never

I keep trying to upload pictures, but my connection must be too slow, it just isn't working. I wanted to post the snow pics from last week, and one of my serious-looking Boy Scout who's turning 12 this week.

The weather has actually been beautiful here the past few days. We have been able to walk our mile without bundling up in gloves and scarves. I still have the stroller cover on, as the wind can get mighty cold in a baby's face.

Tuesday, after my workout but before our walk, the doorbell rang. There were two ladies from my old TOPS meeting, bearing gifts, at my front door. They came over after the weekly meeting, to deliver the certificate declaring me the TOP loser in the chapter for 2008, and the gift baskets that everybody pitched in for. They brought fruit, my favorite yogurt, popcorn and ramen for the boys...and sweet cards. It made me cry. Tyler wanted to know why I was sad, and I had to explain that not all tears are sad tears. They are such nice ladies. I need to make them up a thank you card/letter.

Tomorrow I need to do my Bible study, and shop for cupcake supplies. We are making the monster cupcakes again, they were such a hit over Halloween. I had planned to order "Monster Bash" partyware, featuring monsters playing in a rock band, but decided not to spend the money at the last minute. We're not having a super-structured party anyway. It'll just be eat pizza and snacks, play Rock Band, decorate a cupcake, run around playing war like boys are wont to do, have fun and go home.

Mom, I hope you can pick up some pizzas for me on Friday. It would sure save me some time. Jeff should get home from work just about in time for the craziness. After talking to one of the guests tonight, I realized that at least some of them would enjoy creating the monster cupcakes. I'll make some up ahead of time, but will have a decorating station set up in the kitchen. It seems like that's becoming a regular feature at Travis's parties, not so much at Tyler's.

Saturday, Travis will be at a Boy Scout day camp until early afternoon. Jeff will be at work. I will be hosting a Cub Scout den meeting at my house, for the first time ever. We're going to finish the placemats for the Blue and Gold banquet.

After church on Sunday, we are going out to Jeff's nephews house for a family dinner. I had forgotten we planned that when we went out for my mother-in-law's birthday. It'll be the whole gang again.

Monday is the Blue & Gold Banquet. We're supposed to bring a dessert that starts with the letter "L". Tyler and Travis voted for lemon cheesecake bars. Okay, easy enough.

Tuesday I need to finalize everything for the Court of Honor, and do the shopping for it.

Wednesday we have church activities.

Thursday is the Court of Honor. I'm supposed to bring a dessert to that also. Hmmmmmm....more lemon cheesecake bars?

Friday/Saturday I promised Tyler he could have a sleepover. That shouldn't be too much work on my part. Maybe I can blog then. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you'll know why.

Good Night! Enjoy your families!

Did You Miss Me?

It has been a busier than usual week. My internet connection seems to be slower than usual, too; either that, or I have been more impatient than usual. I have thought about blogging, but haven't had time. I started keeping a list of things I thought might be interesting to blog about….so, let's check the list.

#1. I bought my Travis a new shirt for Valentine's Day. Actually, I bought Travis and Jeff both new shirts, and I bought Tyler pants. The thing that got to me was that I bought Travis's shirt and Jeff's shirt off the same rack….when did I start shopping for my baby boy in the men's department? Apparently, just this past week.

#2. Thursday Jeff came home from work and told me that there had been a bunch of lay-offs at work. The way the economy is, the company just can't keep up. Well, with Jeff not working his normal shift for the last couple months, they realized that his position really isn't necessary. Jeff's been doing busy work in the office….they also decided to eliminate a couple of office positions in Bremerton. However, Jeff was really high in demand in Tacoma a few months back…..so that's where he has been transferred to. One of the office staff has been transferred over there also. As soon as he can get back behind the wheel of a fuel truck Jeff will be the senior night driver in Tacoma. Thank God he still has a job!

#3. Poor Tyler….he must be going through an awkward stage. In the last month he has dropped and broken 3 dinner plates (I may need to buy new dishes soon). Well, on Thursday he was being totally sweet, and making his momma a pot of coffee. Unfortunately, he dropped the carafe and it shattered. I now have a new coffee pot, one that I can program to brew coffee in the mornings. Tyler felt so guilty, I felt so bad for him.

#4. New curriculum….oh yes….I found a curriculum I might try next year. It's a bit expensive, but it's all inclusive. It covers all the subjects, comes with all the science supplies, math manipulatives, reading books, everything. It also comes with the lesson plans already written out. It would save me a bunch of time.

#5. I recently had one of those "whoa-" moments, when I realized that I am the same age my grandmother was when my parent's got married in the same church I attend weekly. Well, Sunday I met the man who was the youth minister at the church when my mom was a teenager. It was fun to watch him have a "whoa-" moment, as he made a comment about meeting Norma's great-grandchildren. Oh yeah, mom, I told him I would tell you hello and that I met him.

#6. New week, new start, renewed attitude. Time to start logging my food and get back into an exercise routine. I miss it, and I need the energy.

#7. Valentine's décor…the table looked pretty. I have three mirror hearts that I set out, some cute cloth Valentine's napkins, gold heart candle holders with white candles, and red plastic heart wine glasses. The napkins are white, with candy hearts printed on them. The overall effect was very pretty.

#8. Buried in stuff, I am completely buried in stuff and am trying to dig my way out. Does anybody else have that problem? I know how to deal with the problem, but don't seem to have enough time to box all this stuff up and take it to Goodwill, and it seems like there is always somebody here when Jeff could be helping me….oh well. It will go away…..over time…..I pray.

#9. I took some time out to rock. Josh came over to spend the night on Friday, but I was very upfront with everybody that I wanted to play Rock Band for awhile, and so I did. Jeff worked on Saturday, the baby was napping, so I played drums while Josh played guitar. It was a nice break, a stress reliever too.

#10. I bought red seed potatoes. I may not be able to grow much here because of yucky soil or whatever, but I don't have to plant the potatoes in the ground. We use them all the time, and I am excited to see how this turns out. I have now talked to one person who grew her potatoes in garbage bags, and one who grew his in a garbage can. I have heard rave reviews, and am excited to try it.

That's it for my list. Travis turns twelve on the twentieth! Tuesday is open this week, Wednesday is WOW!, Thursday is Bible study, Friday is the 20^th, Saturday Travis has a Boy Scout event, Sunday is Sunday, Monday is Blue and Gold Banquet for Cubs, Tuesday is a down day, Wednesday is WOW!, and Thursday is the Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. February is a busy month for me.

Tyler is really enjoying the Sunday School class, they are doing Science Devotions, so they are learning scientific principles, and learning Bible truths at the same time….fun!!!

That should be enough to hold you all over for a week or so. I hope you are all having wonderful, productive lives. I owe my dad an e-mail, so will try to do that tomorrow along with gathering supplies for upcoming Scouting events.

Happy Birthday Rainbow!

Wish we could celebrate together. Don't worry, be happy! I'm keeping Cara in my prayers….that woman is a walking miracle.

Good Night All!

More Snow

I did not want to get out of bed when I woke up this morning. The house was quiet, and all the kids were still asleep. It was cold outside the covers. I told Jeff it was too cold to get up, but he did anyway. A few minutes later he came back in the bedroom and pulled up the curtains...."that's why it feels so cold," he said....my backyard was all white and it was still snowing. In fact, it snowed pretty much all day today.


They boys all have colds. Tyler was very unhappy with me not letting him go out to play today, but he did understand, begrudgingly. I smothered their feet with Vick's before putting them to bed, hoping it will help them sleep.

I was talking about that method with some ladies at Scouts last night, and finally got a reasonable answer as to why it works so well. The nurse in the bunch reminded all us home schoolers of how the circulatory system works, and that blood from the feet goes straight back to the heart and lungs before hitting the liver. Therefore, anything that is introduced to your body through your feet will not be filtered out before it hits major organs....interesting, and something to keep in mind if you ever happen to step on something.

I talked to Melissa earlier, and so far they are safe, along with friends and family. The fires are burning about an hour (south, I think) of where they are. It is such a tragedy.

I took some snow pictures, but am too tired to wait for them to upload. Maybe tomorrow. Rainbow, you didn't call me back. I hope Jurnee's meeting went well.

Good Night!

Another Long Weekend

I agree Rainbow, it was a long week, and another week is coming up. I am tired!

Yep! It was my birthday on Friday, and yep! I became 36. I just thought that shirt was perfect for that day. My boys made me cards, and couldn't wait to give them to me. Then Tyler sang me two birthday songs he wrote. Jeff brought me flowers, a card, and an ice cream cake. He also did the dishes this weekend. That was cool.

Tommy has a cold, so he had to skip church today. Jeff stayed home with him. We went in early so Tyler could go to Sunday School. This quarter they are having science-themed classes, lots of fun!

I was expecting my s-i-l Linda to come over about 1:00, but when I got home Scott & Amanda were here, and my m-i-l showed up about 1:15. Linda got here before 2:00, with her 22-month old grandson, Kegan. Wow! That was just about all my in-laws. We had fun watching the little boys play together.

Yesterday we went and picked up the car we're buying from Melissa's family. Yes, Geoff, we are in possession of your nightmare car. Transportation is a necessary thing, especially when you have to run kids all over the place. Most of you know this already. My grandfather wasn't impressed that we down-graded our vehicle, but when I told him what our monthly payment had been, he understood it.

I really haven't had much down time. It seems like even my down time is filled with paperwork or organizing something....I seriously need to consider a break. There's a ladies retreat coming up next month, and I'm thinking about going. It just might do me some good.

Rainbow, I hope your dinner turned out okay. If not, please don't hold it against me. I'm glad Manny made it home safely, and can give you a break from the kids.

Melissa, I certainly hope you are holding up okay with that unbearable heat and the smoke filled air. It's been all over the news here, it looks terrible! Scott was asking what part of Australia you're in, and I told him and that you said it was 115 on top of everything else. Not 10 minutes later it came on the TV, showing the fires and talking about the incredible heat wave and strong winds. They were saying that they think some of the fires were set intentionally. How frightening!

Tomorrow I have to prep for Scouts, we're working on American Tall Tales over in Cubs. Fun, fun, fun! Travis's Boy Scout Troop is going on a field trip to a County Board of Commisioners' Meeting. I've never been to one of those, shows how civic-minded I am.

Good Night for now!

Tommy's Clothes

I spent a good part of yesterday thinning out Tommy's wardrobe. I have a huge pile of stuff for the charity truck next week, and have narrowed his choices down to 10 shirt & pant outfits, 4 pairs of jeans (2 blue, 1 brown, 1 light tan), 14 shirts, 2 sweatshirts, 1 sweater, 5 jackets, 2 vests, 6 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of swim trunks, 3 pairs of sweatpants, a handful of onesies, and 7 sets of jammies. He needs more socks. This inventory is only of size 18 months. Incredible.

We have been blessed with an abundance of clothing for this child. I haven't even begun to go through the rest of the clothes, sized 24 months to 4/5. I also want to go through the stuff he's outgrown, and keep only a reasonable amount for each size (just in case) and pass the rest of it on.

While in the midst of this project, I found several items I don't ever remember seeing before. One of these was a shirt that Tommy just had to wear today, so it was set aside special for him.

Can anybody guess how old I am today?

Too Tired

Hey, I'm really too tired to post tonight. I spent a long day running errands with my mom and brother and all the kids. Had a nice visit with Grandpa this afternoon while Daymon helped him with some yard work.

I am looking forward to spending a day at home and catching up on some housework and schoolwork. The kids are in bed, and I'm headed that way.

Good Night All!

Is it 10:00 already?

I don't know where this day went to. I was up by 7:00, got my workout and shower in, had breakfast, morning chores....where did the day go?

Travis was very enthusiastic about getting his Boy Scout homework done. I was pleased to see that. The very idea of going to the Scout meeting without his assignment was unacceptable to him. Just when you think you have instilled no work ethic, they do something to surprise you.

We had to go out to get some prizes for the boys in my den. At the last den meeting we played Bingo, and I told them I'd bring prizes. We just went to the Dollar Tree, where I could pick up some bouncy balls and Frisbees 3/$1.00. We also got tonight's snack there, to keep the cost down.

At the store, we ran into my friends mom. The grandmother of the boy who spent the night on Saturday. She's a little chatty, but we hadn't seen each other in almost a year so it was nice to catch up. Funny, we hadn't seen the rest of her family since last August either, but saw them all this weekend.

When we left the Dollar Tree, I gave Travis the option of taking a driving tour of downtown, or just going home and having dinner. He opted for the driving tour...his homework was to mark on a map our local government buildings, places of interest, etc... He had the map with him, and driving around while looking at the map helped him to put things in perspective. It's all stuff he's seen a hundred times before, but today it was just a little bit different. I can appreciate when he's motivated to learn.

We were surprised to find Jeff at home when we made it back from the store. I made dinner right away, while the boys finished up their homework. Then I prepped for tonight's den meeting. It wasn't all fun and games like the boys had grown accustomed to. Tonight I wanted them to think a little. I got to start by awarding beads and announcing rank advancements for a couple boys. Yay! Then we had 2 boys do a show-and-tell. We read some folk tales, and looked up their locations on the U.S. map so I could mark some stuff off on their books. They were excited about getting their prizes and awards, but not so much about the map work. Oh well, 3rd grade boys...

I am getting used to the hair. I was a little nervous about going to Scouts tonight, after the reactions at church, but it was much milder today. The one question I don't fully understand, but I have been asked several times, is why I did it. I don't know why....mid-life crisis? Wanting a change? Why do people get their hair cut?

Travis and Tyler don't like it. Tyler said he likes the old momma better. I understand what he means.

Okay, I have to go to bed so I can get up in the morning. Glad to see Rainbow made it back to blogger. Good Night!

Good Game

Well, if my chosen team had to lose, at least it was a fun game to watch. I've seen some Super Bowls that were really boring, that wasn't the case today.


This morning I learned that if you want to draw a lot of attention to yourself at church, all you have to do is drastically change your hairstyle. I can't believe the reactions I got, and the amount of people who said they didn't even recognize me! Most people looked very surprised when they saw me. I had people that I don't normally get a chance to talk to seek me out to comment on my hair. They all had nice things to say, and some suggested I should make it spiky.

It was definitely different not having Ken give the sermon. I can't say if it was good or bad, just different. The nursery went well. I showed the newbies how to work the heaters, where all the supplies are kept, what the snacks are, and how to sign the kids in and out. Afterwards I asked how it went, they had no problems.

Somebody left a file of old nursery policies in my box. I read through it and realized that we are not following all of the policies. That's okay though, for now. Most of the rules and policies haven't been followed for the past few years. It's time to rewrite them to fit the changing church. I'm still not even sure who I'm supposed to report to, or when. With all the changes, I was just told I was hired. I'm doing my best, and I figure God is in control so it will all work out just fine.

There are some neat things on sale at christianbook.com right now. Also, I have changed my opinion about the HOP workbooks for the lower grades. I got to look through some close up, and they are kind of neat. They are at least as good as other workbooks on the market, and they use characters that are in the regular HOP program. That could be beneficial, and I am seriously considering them for Tommy.

I am determined to get back on a schedule this week. The boys went to bed at their (used-to-be) normal bedtime. I am going to try to do the same. That being said, I need to stop typing.

Good Night!

PS.....Rainbow, I posted the picture of the new hairstyle. You need to keep up your end of the deal and BLOG! Melissa, I am looking forward to seeing you back in blogger land as soon as you get settled. Love Ya!