Becoming a Webelos

Next on our agenda was Nick's cubscout graduation. Talk about a change of pace! We go from an auditorium so full people were sitting on the stairs and dolled up little girls everywhere to a small, intimate ceremony complete with lots of muddy-kneed boys. It was the perfect snapshot of our life :)

Leading up to his graduation, we had lots of achievements to complete at home. It was a team effort; I made went through the Bear handbook and picked out activities, Todd made it happen ;) Here are a couple:

Todd covered knife safety with both boys then Nick carved an animal out of a bar of Ivory soap.

 Since he is a Bear scout, he chose a bear :)

 After that they both completed all requirements for their Whittling Chip so Todd took them to buy their first Swiss Army pocketknife. Did that make my heart beat faster? You bet!

 But they love it :)

 Nick also learned about tools and made his own toolbox.

 He absolutely loves building things and figuring out how things go together. He's so proud of his toolbox!

I found out that the pack does many of these at daycamp in the summer so guess where Nick is going this summer ;)

Finally, his big day:

 He's a Webelos Scout now! His den:

 The whole pack:

It was a very nice ceremony. Nick is so excited to be a Webelos now and looking forward to all the fun he will have at daycamp :)

Remember how excited Megan was that her sister brought her flowers? The minute we joined back up at Nick's graduation, she was hugging on her some more :)

I can't believe I didn't get any family pictures with Nick. All I can say for myself is that we were in a bit of a hurry. Why? Because Todd had planned something special to celebrate Nick becoming a Webelos:

A little backyard campout! Our tent is too small for all of us so Todd had planned on camping with Brandon, Nicholas, and Megan but at the last minute, Megan ended up inside with me and we had a girl's sleepover ;)

It was a busy but very good day :)

Ballet Season Finale

Yesterday was a busy day around here as we had two big events marking the end of a couple of our weekly commitments (for now), ballet and cubscouts.Actually, this whole week has been incredibly busy and I have tons of pictures, but this post is all about ballet :)

The fun started Friday with a dress rehearsal. This is a huge production and I'm always amazed at how well everything goes. Miss Sandy knows what she's doing :)

My dad surprised us about an hour before it was time to leave so he had the opportunity to see her in her costume.

 Then came the big day!

Meemaw Diana joined us :)

The second we arrived at the "Green Room" she found friends :)

So sweet! Mackenzie, Megan, and two of Margot's girls, Erin, and Paige. Lindy was already in the backstage area getting ready for her first number. 

Then the performances began:

 The girls were so pretty! They looked like fairy princesses. What more could a girl ask for?

All the dancers did a great job! It was a really good show! Margot, thank you so much for introducing us to Miss Sandy! We have loved every minute of it. And your girls did a fantastic job! I can't wait to get the DVD so Megan can see :)

 After she performed, we were off to Nicholas' cubscout graduation!

 But not before one last surprise from a doting sister ;)

In the car on the way to Nick's graduation, Megan held tight to those precious flowers and said many times how they were her favorite color and her favorite flower. Finally my mom said, "She must know you well!" and to that Megan replied, "She's my sister." That might have been my favorite part :) 

The Birthdays

My birthday is in April and it was great! It started the week before my actual birthday with lunch with Russ and Judy. We had so much fun and the food was delicious! 

Russ and Judy, thank you for coming up to take me to lunch! We had a great time!

April isn't just my birthday though but tons of my extended family including my mom whose birthday is only a few days before mine! So we had another lunch when my dad came up to take me to his favorite restaurant for my birthday. Yes, you read that right...his favorite ;) Crackerbarrel is our tradition and I love that we go there on my birthday :)

My mom joined us and we celebrated both our birthdays at the same time. Efficiency at it's finest! I was able to capture some really sweet moments :

 My dad and Megan:

Missing from all these birthday pictures is Kristen. It stinks having a kid in college. She misses out on so much now that she doesn't get to enjoy the flexible home-schooly schedule any more. Rest assured though that she lavished me with birthday wishes and an adorable picture frame that I can't wait to fill! :)

It was a wonderful birthday :)

The Sun!

This spring has been brutal for me. I look very forward every year for the warm sunshine to return to our little corner of the world and this year it took it's sweet time. I thought I was going to have to move! Sheesh! Finally it's warm and sunny and all I want to do is watch our kids play outside! We're not getting much school work done around here ;) That's ok though, I hear we're in for some more rain so we'll get it done then, right??

Sunny days also give me lots of photo opportunities :)

 She turned her head just as I snapped this picture and I ended up with a sweet little picture of her curls :)

 These two have played together constantly and sweetly. I think sunshine makes it harder to argue ;)

 These next two have smiles, brilliantly blue skies and bubbles...perfect.

 Those were from yesterday. Today was...

reading in tents in the yard:

And now they're waiting for me in the swing. :)

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day:

-I slept in
-Todd brought me coffee in bed
-went to church
-Kristen and Jon joined us
-we all took my mom to lunch
-got two beautiful baskets of flowers, one from my mom and one from Kristen,  that are now on my front porch
-enjoyed every moment of sunshine...immensely ;)

From my mom:

 From Kristen:

 I love them! Thank you!

Then...I received the best gift ever. A gift that so perfectly celebrates the season of parenting we are currently in...

 I love it!

 I'm so very excited about all the family reading, dreaming, talking, morning coffees, relaxing that will happen on this swing! I'm not the only one either! The following pictures were taking at various times Monday:

Early morning:

 afternoon (working on schoolwork):

 evening:

They had their bedtime stories out there :) (Jon and Kristen donated blood which is why the red tape ;))

I can't wait for summer!