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.

It's not a tea party, Mom!

"It's a picnic," said Sam. Okay, whatever helps you get through it. Whatever it is... here are two of the best big brothers in the world having a picnic with their baby sister.

Our new desks!!!

I threw a mini-fit last week and started re-designing our schoolroom. All of us at one table was distracting, too-close, and a constant source of irritation for the boys. SO, I decided I wanted each boy to have his own desk. I found plans and built them MYSELF!!! It was not as hard as I thought it would be, as Lowe's made the hard cuts for me! The boys chose their own colors and our first morning working on them was great! Lizzie is warming up Paul's desk while he is reading in his room.

A close up view of Sam's desk.

All three of the boys working at their desks..... ahhhhhhh. Not ONE "he touched me" or "he's shaking the table" was heard this morning!!!!!!

Another shot of them working nicely at their desks. Can NOT get enough of this!

A HUGE thank you to the Knock-Off Wood blog for her plans and to Steve for letting me use all his cool power tools!

Piper

Piper is five years old. He was born in Pascagoula, MS, the night Hurricane Katrina blew through in 2005. His family left his pregnant mother home alone and evacuated the storm. The neighbor's went out the day after the storm and were looking at the damage to their neighborhood and found Piper's mom and her litter of 6 tiny puppies. They went back daily to care for them. One day, they found only the mom and 2 pups alive. One of the two surviving pups, Piper was badly hurt, apparently by other dogs. His littermates were found nearby dead. The neighbor took the surviving dogs back to his home, nursed them back to health and eventually decided to keep the mother-dog. Piper was put up for adoption at 6 months old and I found out about him from a friend. We brought him home and he has been our loyal pet and protector ever since. He is surely nothing much to look at, nor is he all that bright, but he is very loyal and very protective. And these qualities mean a lot to me, home alone a lot with 4 kids.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PIPER!! You are getting a steakbone as a treat today!

Piper hiding under Steve's desk with his stuffed pet, Ugly Baby.

John Henry and Piper while JH was sick this week. Piper LOVES to snuggle.

Birmingham Art Museum

Our first field trip os 2010-11 with our homeschool group was to the Birmingham Museum of Art. We had a really nice time. I would have taken pictures of the tour, but most of ours was off-limits to photography AND I went with a mom's tour, instead of with the children. I could totally get used to mom field trips!!! It was awesome.

Then we had lunch in Linn Park. It was a very pretty day, not too humid, and plenty of shade in the park for us to enjoy. We had picnic lunches and the kids ran around and played. We were able to catch them for one group shot, though!

Nice day!

Newest Cub Scout in the Family

Isn't Sam the cutest tiger cub scout you've EVER seen?? His time has finally come. Sam has been watching his brothers participate in cub scouts ever since he was 2 years old. And finally, 2010 is Sam's year. We ordered his uniform and once it came, he has been just SO proud. He's worn his hat every day, all day.... even attempting to wear it during karate, church, and to sleep! He's worked extremely hard all week in school and was even able to complete his first belt loop AND pin....map and compass.

Here are the three Glenn boys in all their scouting glory. We are extremely proud of these boys. They really enjoy scouting. AND, it is helping to shape them into wonderful young men.

Here's the whole gang. Lizzie is constantly asking,"When I be boy scout, too?" She is so cute here, too, posing like a model!

Here she is again, just 'cause she is so cute.

2010-11 School Year Begins!

The week after we came home from vacation, we started our school year. This year, John Henry is in the 6th grade, Paul is in the 3rd grade, and Sam is in the 1st grade. They are all getting so big and I am so proud of them.

John Henry is now 11.5 yrs old and is in the 6th grade. He is in his 7th year of homeschooling and is such an excellent student. He works hard, he is easy to motivate, and he rarely fusses about doing his work. He loves history, does really well in math, and is constantly working on improving his reading and writing.

Paul is in the 3rd grade and is now 8 years old. He is a good student, too. His only problem is getting too involved in what he is working on and not wanting to move on to the next thing! Such a problem to have! He loves science and reading and is working hard to get better at writing. He starts cursive writing lessons next week!

Sam is now 6.5 yrs old and is in the 1st grade. He is good in all subjects so far and is advancing so fast, it is hard to keep up with him. He is enjoying writing a lot this year and is reading 2nd-3rd grade level books.

I am so proud of my boys for the students they are. We celebrated the first day of school by having breakfast at Legend's Smokehouse. It was a great start to a new year with 3 wonderful students.

Hotel Party....

On the way home from Oshkosh, we stopped midway and had a hotel party. The children LOVE staying in hotels. They are old hats at camping in an RV, but a hotel is a huge treat! The next morning, I went into the boy's room when I heard movement and found Paulie had already made his bed. LOL!!

Oshkosh-2010... The Airshow

Every year for MANY years, our little family has been going to Oshkosh, WI for the annual EAA AirVenture airshow. This year, we invited Steve's cousin, Rachel, too. We drove up in the RV, got there on Saturday, and she flew up on Monday. We all enjoyed it very much again this year. Seeing old friends, making new ones, and just enjoying the cool Wisconsin weather is a fun way to spend a week. Here are all the children with Rachel under the brown arch. We get this picture every year, too! Aren't they cute?

Here is Rachel with one of the really nice airplanes they keep in the Pioneer Airport hangers off the airfield. It is just such a good picture of Rachel, I had to include it.

Here is a picture of John Henry flying a simulator at KidVenture. I've been volunteering at KidVenture for the past two years and the older boys come and spend the time with me there. They go from booth to booth doing activities and I work in my booth. JH flew this sim so much, he filled up two log books! He really loves this stuff. He was able to get about 6 requirements for the Aviation merit badge checked off while he was there as well.

Here is Lizzie "flying" a pedal plane at KidVenture. She enjoyed things this year and talked about them. She is getting to be a real big girl.

The weather prior to our arrival had been the wettest on record for Wisconsin, so there was LOTS of mud and water to contend with. We were even unable to camp in Camp Scholler the first night because of it. Once we were finally IN our camping spot next to the airfield, the boys enjoyed playing in this creek every day. They built a bridge (not a dam, Mom... the water is still moving through!) and everyone who came by commented on it.