Busy Weekend

Hannah was named the Star of the Week for this week and that meant that she got to bring Fiona, the class mascot, home. We took pictures of all the things Hannah and Fiona did and put them in Fiona's scrapbook to share with the class. Here are some of the photos.

Hannah and Fiona working on Hannah's poster
Hannah, Fiona and Hannah's gymnastics teacher, Julie
Hannah and Fiona at Sunday School
Hannah and Fiona color at lunch


We also had the Blue and Gold Banquet last night. It's the big party where all of the boys get their new ranks. Jacob got his Webelos award and Daniel got his Wolf award. Jacob is the most decorated Webelos in the fourth grade and that's pretty cool. He has 10 Webelos pins and is well on his way to his Arrow of Light (one of only two Cub Scout awards that can be worn on the Boy Scout uniform). The last requirement for him is to visit a Boy Scout troop and do an activity with them but he'll knock that out easy. They had a magician there last night and Hannah got to be part of the big finale. She was so excited about going up there. After it was over, she kept asking me, "did I float?" LOL!

Daniel's den won the centerpiece award for the second year in a row (thanks for the macaroni art idea, Deb!) All of the centerpieces were really nice but ours had a lot going for it. The boys really did theirs on their own, it wasn't just a store-bought project that the kids assembled and we tied Scouting in with it. Plus, they looked really awesome! Here are the photos from the evening. (you can click the photos to enlarge)

Jacob in front of his den's centerpiece project. They made this out of foam.
Hannah levitates while the magician runs a hoop around her.
Daniel won a door prize...a crank/solar powered flashlight/radio
This was our Packmaster's last Blue and Gold. He's been running our pack for 9 years and will be heading up to Boy Scouts with his youngest son. Rodger is the guy sitting in the middle. This is a photo of our whole pack.
All of the Webelos I boys.
Daniel's den centerpiece project.
Daniel's den.


Jacob woke up this morning with a stomach bug. Fun fun. I just wish the boy could keep something down. Not even water is making it. Ugh. It's going to be a long day.

Bloobedy Blah ('Cause I Can't Think of a Title)

The kids had a four day weekend and were finally headed back to school today. Before Dad gets all mad about the days off, Monday was President's Day (we don't get Lincoln's b-day like in IL) and yesterday was a teacher's in-service. Anyway, we'd noticed last night that Hannah's eye was a little gooey and I was crossing my fingers that it wasn't pink eye. This morning, she woke up with a big gooey, crusty eye and I knew she had it. Ugh. I hate pink eye. So, instead of all of them being back at school, Hannah had a sick day and we packed it up for the Walgreen's clinic to get drops. It's already looking much better.

Last night, Daniel's Wolf den came over to make macaroni art. We copied Deb's Wise Guys but morphed them into presidents. We've got an Obama, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln and Washington and I did Ford as an example (he was the only Eagle Scout). They look awesome!!! Here's the one I did.


Jacob got his High Brown belt in TKD last night (Mike got his Saturday). Now, we start preparing for Recommended Black. Jacob wants to test in December, which I'm told is a good goal. Mike would like to test sooner. It's a lot of work.

*All forms from White to Recommended Black (with only 3 mistakes allowed, total, from white to high brown...that's 10 forms plus Recommended Black)
*10 3-steps
*Board Breaking (hand and foot)
*500 Acts of Kindness
*50 hours community service
*Make up with an enemy
*Written test on a variety of Korean words and phrases

It's all cold and dreary here...I wish the sun would come out.

Pinewood Derby, Chili Cook-off and Some Stuff

I just realized that I never posted the photos from the Pinewood Derby. We did much better this year. I can't remember the exact standings but I think Jacob came in 8th of 14 and Daniel was 7 of 21 or something like that. Every year, we learn a little more about how to build a better car. Jacob did win Most Realistic Looking Car, and he was excited about that. Here are some photos.

Hannah and her friend, Katie, watch the race.
Rodger gives Jacob his award for Most Realistic Looking Car.
Mike and Jacob watch the Webelos I race.
Jacob and friends watch the Webelos I race
Daniel and friends watch the Tiger race.

On Saturday, our synagogue held it's annual Chili Cook-off. Mike signed me up as a competitor and I took in my chicken chili. It was a blast. I didn't win but that's okay. We made a bunch of new friends and the kids won some prizes as well. We did win the big raffle of the night, which was a $250 portrait package for the family. Nice! Especially since we didn't do family photos last year. Here are some photos from the Chili Cook-off.

Jacob and Mike with their silent auction win...a big plate of chocolate! All of us right after set up.
Daniel's poster for my chili
Hannah's poster for my chili
Jacob's poster for my chili. If you can't read it, it says, "Vote Mom's Chicken chili. (It's the best) Good with chips! Try it with cilantro! Yummy!"

Jacob wanted to win soda (it was all he talked about for three days before) and he did!
They asked a former player for the KC Chiefs to come help and he did! Here's Daniel and Hannah with him. (I can't remember his name!)
Friday, my van decided to freak out on me. It starts but whenever I slow to a stop, it stalls. It starts back up again but it's really annoying. So, it's off at the dealership getting fixed. Ugh. I hate it when I don't have a car!

More Snippets

I couldn't believe how well Daniel and Hannah got along with each other on Sunday after Jacob left for camp. I didn't have to raise my voice once all day Sunday. Even now, they're playing so nicely together and have been getting along so well. They really miss their brother, though.

Mike's been calling a couple of times a day to let me know what's been going on at camp. Sunday, he called to tell me that Jacob passed his swim test and was considered a Level 3 swimmer and had full run of the pool. Awesome considering he's never had a single lesson.

Apparently, the tents sleep two. The adults are in their own tents and the kids are in theirs. Jacob is sharing a tent with his friend Alex and Mike is with George, Alex's dad. Monday morning, Mike goes to wake Jacob and Alex up and when he peeks into the tent, he sees Andrew and thinks he has the wrong tent. He then sees Jacob's blanket and realizes that Andrew and another boy have slept in Jacob and Alex's tent. When asked why, they said that they heard a raccoon outside and got scared. Too cute.

Last night, they were making hamburger bundles over the fire for dinner. Each scout got to make their own and could put whatever they wanted to in it. There was hamburger, carrots, onions, seasonings, potatoes, etc. After they made their thing, they'd bring it to Mike to wrap up and put on the fire. When Jacob brought his to Mike, Mike was not expecting to see the meat and a whole pile of onions. Mike says something like, "Jacob that's awesome! You like onions?" Jacob looks at Mike and says, "No. I hate them. I'm just using them for flavor, like Mom does." I've taught him well.

I had to take Daniel and Hannah with me to jiu jitsu last night, which I hate doing but Stephen and Roxanne's boys are usually there too, so they have playmates. In the middle of class, I look over to the waiting area where the kids are and I see Daniel and Jett playing Daniel's DS and I see Hannah calmly brushing Quinn's hair. She must have brushed that boy's hair for 15 minutes. A little later, Roxanne nudges me and points to the kids. Now Hannah's sitting while Quinn's brushing her hair. Too stinking cute.

We Made It!!!

Well, we made it through the big sleepover and everyone seemed to have a good time. I was pleased that most of the boys were asleep by 11:30 and the final three (Jacob included) were down by 11:45. The boys all seemed to get along pretty well, which was nice.

By the time everyone left Saturday morning, I was completely exhausted. Hannah and I both napped in the afternoon.

Last night, we went out to get our final supplies for Webelos Camp. Jacob kept saying that he wasn't looking forward to camp and didn't want to go. I told him that that was the same way he felt about day camp and he ended up loving it. Over and over again we heard that he just didn't want to go. I then told him that going to overnight camp this year and next year will pretty much guarantee he'll get his Arrow of Light Award (think Eagle Scout for Cub Scouts...the only Cub Scout award that transfers to Boy Scouts) when he's a Webelos II...he still didn't care.

This morning, he was so excited that he couldn't eat. He was dressed, complete with hat and shoes, about 1 1/2 hours before it was actually time to go. Mike ended up leaving about 10 minutes before it was time to actually go because of the excitement. I know that the first thing they are going to do after getting settled into camp is swim, so that should be a lot of fun for him.

It's going to be strange to be missing both Mike and Jacob until Tuesday night. I can't wait to hear about the fun they had.

Last Day of Camp in Pictures

It stormed last night so we were a bit concerned about the status of camp this morning. The rain cleared out around 7am and cloudy skies gave way to sunshine and humidity. That's fine, though. We still had a great day. Sherri (another mom) took a photo of me and the boys first thing this morning. (Click on the photos to make them bigger)
The theme of the week was Spy Cubs. Every station had a James Bond theme to it. During opening ceremonies, the boys were introduced to James Bond himself! They thought it was cool.
Our first station of the day was Secret Agent Training Camp where the boys tackled the rope bridge,

they learned how to properly dangle from a helicopter,
and how to ride a bull (that's Daniel).
While at this station, I stopped to talk to Rodger, our Packmaster and Director of the entire Day Camp, who came to watch the boys.
Our next station was Bond, James Bond where the boys learned about spy gadgets,
and how to get away from a bomb while tied to another person.

They also learned how to knock someone over with a handshake.
We then stopped for lunch and one of the boys' grandfathers (a heavy duty Boy Scout himself) gave the kids a knot lesson.
He even showed Hannah how to make a square knot. She got it very quickly.
James Bond came by to tell us about a special bead the boys could earn and posed for a photo with our pack.
Their last station of the day was License to Grill which was a cooking station. They made "sub" sandwiches with grilled bologna.

and martinis (ginger ale, lemon juice and orange juice) They also made hand bombs (marshmallows, frosting and licorice)

It was then back to the tent for free time (have I mentioned how much I hate free time?) until closing ceremonies. For some, that meant more knot tying.
Right before the end of the day, Rodger came back over for a photo with his pack.
We all headed home, exhausted, but having learned a lot from our week at camp. Next month, Jacob and Mike get to spend three days and two nights at overnight Webleos camp.

This One Time at Cub Scout Camp...

No no no. It's not like that! LOL!

It was a late arrival day for camp since it was Family Night and it ran until 8pm. We only stayed until a little after 7, though. Today's activities were fishing, leather crafts and codes & ciphers. I think that the boys enjoyed the fishing most of all.

We separated the boys into three groups for the fishing. Along with the bluegill that were swimming around, there were also painted turtles in the water looking for a worm. Daniel managed to catch the same one three times. However, because it's a heavy turtle and they were using little bamboo poles, it would fall off just as Daniel would pull it out of the water. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. That was good for about 20 minutes of pure entertainment.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until free time towards the end of the day. Before I tell the story, I have to ask who's genius idea it was to give these boys free time? I mean really. It's the worst part of the day for sure. Anyway, we had about 1 1/2 hours to kill before parents began arriving. One of the packs next to us set up a baseball pitching machine using PVC pipe and a leaf blower. The boys loved it. There was also a pick-up game of football, as well as your standard water gun fights. The kids were enjoying it. Some of the other parents and I were talking about the day's events when two boys (I'll just call them K and W...no they were not my boys!) fly into the tent, rolling on the ground. We broke up the fight and sat them both on their sit-upons for 10 minutes to cool off. After 5 minutes, I noticed that they were not cooling off since they were glaring intensely at each other. I had K turn around so that they couldn't look at each other for the rest of the time. After their time was up, we scolded them for fighting, told them to stay away from each other and sent them on their way. Five minutes later, one of the moms sees K trying to tear W's leg off. Before she could get there, a punch from W is thrown and lands right on W's mouth. K's lip is split open and is really bleeding. W is placed on his sit-upon for the duration as K is sent to the first aid tent.

K returns about 10 minutes later with ice. He, too, is told to sit on his sit-upon until his parents arrive. With about 10 minutes to go before parents arrive, I heard someone ask K why he was sitting in the tent. K tells this boy that it's because he's bleeding and we don't want blood to get everywhere. I decide to remind K of exactly why he's been placed there. He tries to tell me that he was not fighting, that he was punched for no reason. Good try buddy. Anyway, Jill (one of our walking leaders) talked to both boy's parents about the incident and I guess we'll try again tomorrow. No, they were not expelled from camp. It's been a long, hot week and something was bound to happen eventually. I just wish I knew why they were fighting.

I don't know if I want to know what's going to happen tomorrow!

Camp Photo Post

Wow! I'm exhausted from my first day at camp. The kids had a great time, though. Hannah loved the fact that she got her own shirt. The boys earned their BB gun belt loop today. Of course, Daniel had his gun taken away for a few minutes because he fired before he was told to. In all fairness, it did sound like the guy said to fire. Anyway, I got to shoot, too, and I impressed the heck out of some of the dads that were there. It was a lot of fun. No belt loops for adults, though! :( Here are some photos...

Jacob sits before opening ceremonies.
The BB gun instructor gives the kids a quick lesson in gun safety.
Jacob gets the gun ready (he's just to the left of the guy in Maroon)
Jacob fires!
Daniel just before getting the gun taken away.
Daniel took one of me shooting, too!
The next station was learning how to make flashlights. Daniel shows his off.
During the lunch break, the kids like to soak each other with water. Hannah was the recipient of a lot of water. She loved it!
Jacob gets Daniel!
The challenge for today was dropping an egg from a tree and having it not break. Our little contraption worked!
They were learning to be spies in the afternoon. Here, they had to disguise themselves as fast as they could. Jacob gets dressed.
Daniel was upset because the clothes were too big. Because of his complaining, his team lost!

And we get to do all of this all over again tomorrow!