Keeping the Boys busy

Last week was all about keeping the boys busy with scouts. David was gone to Cub Scout camp every day. He really enjoyed it. It was a totally different experience for him than it was for the 3 years James went. Every morning David was up before me, dressed and ready to go. Laura W. was his leader and his buddy Dallin was in his group too. He especially loved archery and fishing.

 

Here he is "sitting on an invisible bench" for the closing program. Anyone who has a son that's a scout will see this particular skit more times than one really might care to. I still got a kick out of it, with David's cute style of delivering his lines...

 

On Friday, James had his first Boy Scout camp out without a parent along. He was very excited and spent most of the day packing and getting every detail right. Mark has always been adamant about the boys wearing the full uniform, I didn't really ever see what the big deal was. But, I've gotta tell you, James looked so sharp in his full uniform ready to go! (He actually looked a little too grown up for my liking.) He offered to say the prayer before they left for camping and he made sure to pray for all the Moms, that we might not worry too much about our boys while they were away. Seriously?! I love this kid!

 

He has the very best leaders ever! Brother Swain and Brother Ewell are so great with the boys. James told me that they sat around the campfire that night and the men talked to the boys about the Priesthood and it's duties, importance, etc. They got to ask them all kinds of questions. I'm so grateful for these men and the support they give us parents in raising these strong, awesome boys(ahem, almost young men.-Yikes!)

 

My New BFF

David has a new shadow. There's a cute little guy named Fox who thinks David is pretty darn cool.

 

David had Fox over to "play", which consisted of listening to music, playing Legos, setting up a huge car race track, drawing with markers and oh yeah, trying to get Fox to say things like "shut up" and "stupid". Super Fun.

 

Maybe Fox can be a good influence on David, seeing as Fox does not insist on pulling the cheese of his pizza like David does.

Midway and Cinderella

We visited the Midway today. There was a special deal to get in free for Flag Day if you were wearing red, white and blue. Such a deal!!
James loved getting in the airplanes to check out the controls.

 

Abby just loved doing what her big brother was doing.

 

David is out of the mix for the majority of the week because he is at cub scout camp. Somehow this change in the sibling dynamic has made James act extremely nice towards his sister. He even volunteered to join her stuffed animal tea party. He picked out the tie. And allowed me to photograph him.

 

I put "Cinderella" to work this evening. It started with me innocently asking Abby to clear the placements off the table. She then wanted to wipe the table. I started talking to her in my wicked stepmother voice and she fell right into character. She asked for a bucket and rag. She needed an apron. She began scrubbing the floors. Every so often she'd sigh and look up at me, "am I done yet?", she'd ask with a sheepish smile. I must say, she did a pretty darn good job. I did let her of the hook pretty early. We'll see what jobs I can get her to do tomorrow. I could play this game all summer long..

 

A Little Height Difference

James had his 5th grade band concert recently. Of course, instead of being focused on his performance, I couldn't stop looking at the girl next to him. He's lined up right next to the tallest girl in 5th grade. I can't help but feel sorry for her. She's like a foot taller than everyone else. Most of the pictures I tried to get didn't turn out because she is in the way! Anyways....the performance was great. (I know because I watched the video playback.)

 

These kiddos watched the concert so patiently. They had all already seen the concert earlier in the day during school.

 

Me and Ashley. She just celebrated her 9th birthday last month. Can't believe that! I'll never forget the first day I saw her, right after she was born. I swear she was the prettiest baby I've ever seen. Not much has changed, look at that beautiful face!

 

Be Somebody

James promoted from 5th Grade this week. It was a fun and very surreal event. I still can't believe the year is over. James really worked hard and finished out the year strong. He did really well on his final report of the year and we were very proud. He was still questioning whether he was really going to graduate up until the morning of promotion. I kept telling him there was a 100% chance he was passing, but I don't think he really believed me until they handed him his certificate. Once that part was over, he was all smiles!

 

 

These kiddos used to be in carpool together, back when they were the only kids in their family going to Shoal Creek. Between our three families we now had 10 kids at Shoal Creek this year!

 

James' teacher, Mrs. Killen was a huge help in getting James to achieve his best. We love her!! She kept bending down for pictures so that she would be the same height as the students. I told her to stand up tall because I wanted this picture to be accurate since I'm sure James will pass her up in height sometime soon. This boy is growing!!