Another Eagle is in our MIdst

Thomas participated in his Eagle Board of Review tonight and passed!  He is 3 weeks shy of turning 13 and the youngest scout in our council to ever achieve the rank of Eagle.  He wasn't the least bit nervous for his Board of Review and he was all smiles after it was over.  What an amazing achievement this is for him.  He has worked hard and has high goals of continuing along the scouting trail.  He already has 18 additional merit badges, beyond those required for Eagle rank and has a long list of ones he wants to earn so he can learn all sorts of new things.  My heart overflows with gratitude for the inspired scouting program and for great men that Thomas is able to associate with and learn from in this process.

Sammy's Baptism

Sammy was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Grandma and Grandpa Powell were able to be here for the baptism.  Aunt Alanna sent a white bear to remind him of the 3 Bears of Baptism, the covenants he makes at baptism.  The poor kid was shivering from the cold water but he wore his trademark smile.  Gideon was sitting down in the front watching the baptism and as soon as he was baptized Gideon stood up, turned around, and announced, "My turn!"  It was priceless!

He was happy to have Brother Schneck, his piano teacher, conduct the baptism.  He had asked Grandpa Powell and Brother Schneck to be the witnesses for his baptism.  Joel, Grandpa Powell, Brother Schneck, and Bishop MacPherson stood in the circle for his confirmation.

I am so grateful for Sammy.  He wants to do the right.  He has overcome huge obstacles in his life and he has amazing potential.  I admire his love for life.  I am so grateful for his desire to be baptized.  I love this kid.

My "Helper"

Sara has become quite the little helper when it is time to put groceries away.  I think she enjoys the freedom of crawling around after having been on the massive shopping trips with me!  At one point she was chewing the lid of the milk.  Then, when I was putting things in the fridge she was taking them out again.  She really thought it was fun to throw the oranges after I put them away.  Then she started to bite into the oranges and lemons.  Beware of eating fruit from our fridge...it may have been tested by Sara already!

The First Snow

This was first thing in the morning when it was still snowing.  I thought the colored leaves with snow were beautiful!

Earlier this week we had our first snowstorm of the season and our house was full of excitement.  The kids didn't even want to watch cartoons in the morning. They just kept running from window to window exclaiming it was snowing and begging to go out in the snow.  Early that morning they were out playing and having a great time.  Throughout the day Joshie and Gideon were out most of the day and Joshie repeatedly exclaimed, "This is the BEST SNOWSTORM EVER!"  After school Sammy, Spring, and Mary did not even come inside to have a snack.  They just wanted to stay out in the snow.  A couple days later it warmed up and the snow melted away but they are hopeful that this winter will be another very snowy winter like our first winter in Ohio!  I love the magic of snow...especially the first snowstorm of the year!

A New Bobcat

Sammy attended his first pack meeting as an official cub scout last night and earned the rank of Bobcat.  He also earned the Chess, Kickball, and Bowling beltloops along with his first 2 yellow beads on his way to earning the Wolf Rank.  He has been so excited and loving scouts.  I'm so happy he loves to be in scouts.  At breakfast today Sammy was reminding Thomas that he was going to break Thomas' record with cub scouts and earn more arrow points and beltloops.  Spring then told Thomas she was going to break his AR (Accelerated Reader) record at the Intermediate school.  I mentioned, "Hey, records are made to be broken." to which Thomas happily replied, "That's why I set them!"  Love these kiddos that bless our lives!

Another Sammy Moment

Sammy is always good for a laugh and tonight he did it again. We were all at the table and he was the first one finished with dinner. After asking to be excused he exclaimed, "Oh man, I have to go to the bathroom!" Then he added, "And it's P-O-O-P!" We snickered and Joel Biggs replied, "T-H-A-N-K    Y-O-U!" To which Sammy asked, "Oh, That's how you spell poop?"

Never a dull moment at our home! 

Sammy's Birthday Party

Sammy has been waiting, in his words, "YEARS" for his first birthday party with friends.  Our kiddos get to have a friend party on even years beginning when they are 8 years old.  Sammy has been planning his party for probably most of this past year.  He finally decided on inviting a few friends and going bowling.  They came to the house first for dinner...nachos!  Then off they went bowling and then home for cake and ice cream and some time to play with his new toys he received.  He was so excited and happy.  It was really fun for us to watch him interact with his friends.  He kept telling us that was the best day ever!  This kid sure has a ton of  "best days ever!"  I hope he never loses that love for life and the joy in such simple things!

Dishwasher Helper

Sara has decided she is now old enough to help the family with dishes!

This is How We Roll

Sara decided to "help" me make spudnuts!  By the time I realized she was helping there was flour all over her and the floor!

It must have been a good night sleeping to wake up with hair like this!  And a juice mustache in the morning it always a good start to the day.

Here is a fashion expert at the finest!  This is what he wanted to wear to Sue Ann's house.

Love this girl's silliness!

She was a little hungry tonight!

On Fire!

Sammy has been on fire with cub scouts since the moment he received his book.  He looks through it at night reading and learning.  In the morning he lets me know what he wants to work on.  Sunday he wanted to work on cooking skills.  One of the requirements was to cook a meal outside.  He and Joel decided to do dutch oven burgers, beans, and biscuits. He loved making it.  I had to laugh when he was needing to cut the onion.  He got rainbow duct tape to cover his nose so he wouldn't have to smell the onions.  It is so fun to watch his enthusiasm.  He didn't have school yesterday so he cooked dinner for us.  He made oven tacos and they were delicious!  I have to admit though that cooking with Sammy scares me a little! He likes to be a little crazy in everything he does and cooking is no exception.  He jumps around in the kitchen and does ninja moves while cooking.  It is definitely not a clean endeavor when Sammy is involved; however, the meal is cooked, he helps clean up, and he has fun.  So, I think all goals are achieved!  I am learning to be OK with his style...not there yet but I am trying to learn!

 

 

A New Scout

 Can you see the pride and the satisfaction in this guy's eyes!  He is beside himself with excitement that he is "finally a real cub scout!"  He wanted to try on his full uniform tonight and I must say he is one handsome young man!  I love his poses.  He wanted to be sure I got one from the back since his neckerchief says "cub scouts" on it!  He had a hard time calming down tonight because tomorrow morning he gets to go to a Scout service project with Joel and Thomas.  They are working at a Goodwill store helping do things the store needs.  He keeps jumping around saying, "I can't wait for the service project! I can't wait for the service project!"

 I finally got convinced him to head upstairs for bed.  When I got the little ones tucked in I headed in to tuck him in and this is what I found:

He is already working on his Bobcat requirements.  His goal is to finish the Bobcat by tomorrow.  I think he will do it.  He has already been looking through to see what he wants to work on first.  When I was laying in his bed talking with him tonight he told me, "Mom, I'm going to earn more arrow points than Thomas!  Thomas told me I would have to earn 13 arrow points as a wolf to beat him and he said he knows I can do it!"  My heart swells with gratitude for the scouting program and how it helps our sons become who our Father in Heaven wants them to become!  Welcome to the Scouting Family, my Sam!  You will do amazing things!

Happy 8th Birthday

Birthday central continues at our home with Sammy's 8th birthday today.  His dinner request was mini-meatloaves, baked potatoes, and Cesar Salad.  His choice for dessert was Texas Sheet Cake and he asked Joel to cut out an "8" for him.  Amazingly he ate the entire "8" in one sitting too!  This kid is the energy and the spark in our home.  He loves life and he lives it to the fullest.  He loved the transformer Sue Ann gave him and was so excited to get his very own cub scout uniform from the family for his birthday.  He got a card from Grandma and Grandpa Powell with stickers and a note that his present will be coming in a couple weeks when they come out.  And he was super excited to open the card from Aunt Alanna and Uncle Eric with money in it. He is planning to buy a "real life Steelers jersey" with his money. 

 

Sammy loves all things active!  His current obsessions are playing football, the Steelers, playing football, riding his bike, playing football, transformers, playing football, basketball, playing football, being silly, and playing some more football! :)  How I love this little guy of our's.  Hard to believe he is 8 and will be baptized soon.  I'm grateful for the spark he brings to our family.