let the scouting begin!

We started a new adventure on Wednesday-Marcus and Cale joined Cub Scouts!  We've been thinking about doing this for a while and signed them up for the pack that meets at our church.  It's not the closest group to our house, but it's the one that works best with our schedule since we already have Wednesday nights blocked for church.  When we first told the boys we had signed them up for Scouts, Cale was excited.  He likes to be part of a group and to get to wear a uniform to make him look special was an extra bonus.  Marcus, on the other hand, promptly told us that he hated Scouts and did not want to do it.  He hated everything about it and it was the "worst day of his life" (exact quote).  We kind of ignored this outburst (okay, we just ignored it) and didn't bring up the subject again for a couple days.  I guess that didn't matter, because the next time we mentioned it, again, major drama.  In fact, I was a little worried about how Wednesday night would go until I saw Marcus and Cale comparing their handbooks yesterday morning.  No tears, no drama.  That afternoon, he willingly put on his scout shirt.  In fact, he was happy to go and had a blast at the meeting (probably because they practiced bike safety in the pouring rain and then got to ride the bikes in the gym).  You know, that is just Marcus's personality.  He has to be given plenly of warning before a new activity starts.  Now, he will probably have lots of fun and really enjoy himself. 

And, Cale?  Well, I think Cale had some fun too.  Turns out, I got slightly guilted into being the den leader for his group-the Tiger Cubs.  I agreed to do it because they had no one signed up to do it and I was told it was a lot of delegation of activities to the parent helpers.  (I do like to delegate).  We didn't do as cool as an activity as bike riding, though.  Our topic was family and we worked on starting a scrapbook :-).  Last night, I had three Tiger Cubs in my group, plus Ewan, Liam and Kella (my honorary scouts).  The meeting went okay and after some remedial scout counseling by one of the pack leaders, I am starting to have a clearer picture of what I should be doing.  And, Andy is helping as he can-which I am thankful for. 

This should be a fun year!

preschool work

 Here is some of the first work that Ewan and Liam  have brought home from preschool.  The first 2 pieces are Ewan's homework.  Every week, he gets a folder to bring home with 2 things to do.  This week (and the for first semester) one of the things will be working on writing his first name.  The other paper focuses on a skill, like tracing.  It was a little rough to get him to do his work.  Ewan did not want to sit down and do it at all!  But, as you can see, he did well for a homework "first-timer".

Here is work that Liam did in class.  Looks like they are working on learning about farm animals and colors.  Today was the color red.   I think he did okay coloring in the lines.  Pretty good for a 2 year old.

*editor's note

Oops! The day after posting that Cale lost his first tooth, he corrected my by saying that he had lost another tooth before.  Now I remember that Cale lost a bottom tooth last school year.  Actually, Andy pulled the tooth because the permanent tooth was growing in behind it.  That tooth was loose, but need a little coaxing to come out.  It all makes sense now because I would have thought that Cale would have lost at least one tooth in kindergarten.  So, I guess this is his second tooth.  The second of many :-).

first lost tooth!

Cale lost his first tooth yesterday!  I think it was a combination effort between Cale and the school nurse-a lot of wiggling and a little pulling.  He brought it home in a little, plastic, blue treasure box and was excited to leave it for the tooth fairy.  The tooth fairy was very generous-Cale got a dollar and a note.  Cale has at least 2 more teeth that could come out soon.  He'll be making some $$ in the near future!

new things for Kella

Baby Kella is doing some new things!  After weeks of effort, she had finally managed to get her fingers/hand into her mouth.  She's not a pacifyer girl-maybe she's moving in the thumb sucker direction.  She fell asleep a happy baby.

Then, today, I was inspired to get out the walker to see if she would fit in it.  Kella likes sitting upright and looking around.  She's got pretty good head control, too.  Guess what-she loved it!  I know she likes being tall and seeing things from a new vantage point. 

 The boys thought it was neat, too.  Cale sat there for about 10 minutes just spinning the toy on the corner of her tray.

 Wait a minute-jealous much?  Liam was very happy to see a new toy to play with!

Let's see what Liam says about the walker...

Well, I guess that says it all!

another apple orchard field trip :-)

Ewan's preschool class took their annual trip to Farlow's Apple Orchard.  We were counting up the number of times we've been on this trip and came up with 6.  This time was no different.  The kids got to see a model of a beehive, see where they sort the apples, get a ride in a wagon and get to pick an apple.  Exciting for a preschooler.  Andy went with Ewan (I guess every kid had a parent with them-great adult to kid ratio)-I think Andy's been on this trip 5 of the 6 times.  I think he goes for the cider :-).  Ewan had fun.  He's proud to share with his brothers that he got to do something special.

Which should he eat first?  I think the red one is Andy's-Ewan said that he (Ewan) ate a yellow apple.

last week in pictures

Nothing too exciting happened last week, but I thought I'd share some of the photos that I took.  First up, Kella's crazy hair.  This is an all-natural "up do". 

 Then, poor Marcus was sick all last week with some kind of stomach bug.  He felt miserable the first 3 days and then was just really tired.  The nurse in me thought he need an IV and some fluid for his mild dehydration, but the doctor convinced Marcus to drink lots of fluids.  He was finally getting back to his old self on Sunday and went to school today.  Can't wait to see how much make-up work he has to do.  We did have him read while he was home and he finished 2 Magic Tree House books-his favorite books right now.  So far, no one else has gotten sick (fingers crossed). 

 Liam, doing some of his favorite things-singing and dancing.  He was twirling around on the patio singing "God is so good", wearing his very favorite VBS tshirt and a lanyard with ducks on it that he hijacked from Cale.

 Ewan, with 2 of his best little friends.  They play together as much as they can.  I think this picture is from Friday night-they played outside until it was dark.  It stinks to think that outdoor playtime is winding down with the start of earlier nighttimes and cooler weather.

After 4 years, we have finally started to hang pictures on our wall in the family room area.  Here's the first one-a replica of a bicycling poster, clearly from 1947.  It takes so long for me to decide what I like-hence 4 years of naked walls.  The upside is that when we repainted, we didn't have to take any pictures down or cover any nail holes :-).

Ewan had his 5 year check-up this week.  He's lookin good and the doctor was excited to see him.  Ewan even showed her a cartwheel.  I'm sure she was impressed.  His growth is in the 75-80th percentiles for height and weight-44 inches and 45 pounds.  He's holding pace with hie brothers who were 45 in/50 lbs (Cale) and 48 in/63 lbs (Marcus) at this age.

We did other stuff too-karate, gymnastics, library, playing, preschool-normal weekly things for our family.

That's it.  Just a normal week for us.