Paul at Cub Scout Camp

Nature time at cub scout camp was cool! Dr. Brown brought in his critters.

Paul liked the frogs.

And the snake...

But, the bunny got the most love. She was so sweet.

Paul at Cub Scout Camp

Nature time at cub scout camp was cool! Dr. Brown brought in his critters.

Paul liked the frogs.

And the snake...

But, the bunny got the most love. She was so sweet.

John Henry and the flower bed

Again, working on a merit badge, John Henry did a flower bed for another part of his family life merit badge. The whole crew shopped for flowers and bushes, mulch, and ground cover. It took us a loooooong time, but it was fun. Everyone picked their favorite color and I picked out the bushes.

So here is the before...

And here is the after...plus the boy scout!

Good job, son.

John Henry's family project

Again, working on a merit badge, John Henry did a flower bed for another part of his family life merit badge. The whole crew shopped for flowers and bushes, mulch, and ground cover. It took us a loooooong time, but it was fun. Everyone picked their favorite color and I picked out the bushes.

So here is the before...

And here is the after...plus the boy scout!

Good job, son.

John Henry's Family Life project

Before..... Our bicycles are just a mess. The more folks who ride, the more of a mess the bikes make in our backyard.

John Henry measured and cut all the pieces.

He got a little help from his siblings!

LOOK!! So much neater and nicer looking! It makes me so happy! Great project, John Henry.

Blogging on an iPad!

I have been neglecting this blog for a long time, but I have an excuse, I got an iPad. I tried mightily and just could not figure out how to blog via this iPad. I gave up, but recently decided to try again with the app called Blogsy. So far, it is pretty easy, but I will just have to see long-term!

So much has happened with the kids since my last post.

The boys are now GREEN belts in karate!

John Henry has braces and broke his arm.

John Henry just returned home from AU football camp

Lizzy is enjoying her move up to the three year old Sunday School class! She is still putting on fashion shows daily, too.

Paul and Sam moved up to their next rank in cub scouting. Paul is a Webelos 1 and Sam is now a Wolf! I don't have pictures of this, but we attend cub scout camp next week and it will be well documented!

And in extended family news!
My nephew Turner graduated from high school and signed to play football at UNA!!!

I cannot remember everything, but I am just going to start now and go forth.

Where have I been?

It has been a few months since I updated this little blog of mine.
I lost my mind.

Sometime in the fall last year, I started having insomnia. This wasn't too horrible, except about the same time, Lizzy began coming into our room each night and getting into bed with us. Her favorite position is any that allows her tiny feet to push into my back. She sure is cute, but I quickly became seriously sleep deprived.

In October, I had a kidney stone and had to have surgery to remove the monster. It was a horrible few weeks and I sincerely hope it never happens again.

We had a nice fall, but with every passing week, I became more overwhelmed. Co-op classes, parties, field trips, cub scouts, church programs, karate, and boy scouts were all in full swing and keeping us out four nights a week, plus sometimes 2-3 events during the day!

I started to have heart palpitations.
Still not sleeping.
Overwhelmed.
And becoming depressed.


I made some attempts at self help. I trained for and ran a 5k!!! That is pretty huge for someone who never ran before. JH and I ran the Woody and Buzz Best Friends 5k at Disney World in January. It was fun. I will do a post about that soon,

I finally gave up and went to an OB. She was the doc who delivered John Henry, but no longer delivers babies. She did tons of bloodwork and found I had just completed menopause! WHAT? She prescribed some hormone replacement therapy and after a little over a month, I can tell you, I feel almost human again!

So tomorrow, I will start updating and posting the highlights of the fall and winter for us.

Orange belts!!!!!

Here they are.... my three orange belts. I am so proud of them all. We took the month of July off this summer during camps and vacation time. It was a nice break, but the boys were so sad to not be ready to test in August. Sensei Michelle spent a couple weeks of class with them and she declared John Henry almost ready to test, but sadly, she thought Paul and Sam were just not ready. I knew the day was probably coming, but it surprised me. Still, she is the sensei and I trust her judgement.

A date was tossed around for mid-September for testing and then Sensei Michelle went on a vacation and Sensei Allison took over our noon-time classes. She seemed to think the younger boys would be ready, but they needed to really tighten up and be more serious about their lessons. Again, whatever they think is fine with me.

Sensei Michelle came back from vacation and the boys went to class on a Monday. She told me prior to the lesson that she'd scheduled Wednesday for JH to test for his orange belt. I left and tried to figure out how to lessen the blow for the little boys when they realized they would be left behind.

SURPRISE... when I came back to pick them up, Sensei Michelle met me with a happy,"They are ALL ready to test!!!" Hooray!

They tested and passed!

First Cub Scout Campout with new pack

Paul and Sam are members of a new cub scout pack. We are really enjoying it's small size and excellent supervision of kids. This weekend, we went on a campout to Mt. Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama. We hiked to Pulpit Rock, about a mile hike. Lizzy was a trooper as usual and the boys loved it. Mama was only a little freaked out by the height and the sheer dropoff at the top and... well you get the picture.

Here is Sam with his buddy, Ben. They were lamenting the loss of their favorite sticks to the Stick Police.

This is the Observation Tower on top of the mountain. It was a really cool view and the kids loved it.

We enjoyed our campout SO much. The boys earned two beltloops, made some new friends, participated in skits round the campfire, slept in a tent in their own sleeping bags, and ate with their new camp ware! It was a fabulous weekend for them. Lizzy also enjoyed sleeping in her new sleeping bag and playing with the kids. She collapsed prior to the campfire, but she still had a great time.