Henry turns 9

Henry's birthday always falls near the memorial day weekend...which has positives and negatives that go along with it.  The weather is usually gorgeous, but lots of people are busy, busy, busy as they are kicking off festivities and welcoming in summer.  The rodeo is usually in town the weekend before that, and Sky Ranch starts summer camp that weekend as well. 

This year, Henry invited his cousin Cole over to go to the rodeo with us and spend the night at our house.  They had a blast at the rodeo, and we happened to have a field trip scheduled for the next day at the Sabine River Authority, so Cole got to join us for that as well.  

It was a great way to get started celebrating his birthday.  :)

The following weekend (on the day before Henry's actual birthday) we had a small family party for Henry at the house.  Henry requested white cake with blue icing, and ice cream cones with frosting a sprinkles on the side. 

The next day, on his birthday, the kids and I headed to Dallas.  Grandma Austin had sent Henry the one thing that he wanted more than anything else...skeletoes shoes (or 'toe-shoes' as Henry calls them).  The only problem was that they were not a comfortable fit.  So we went to Dallas to find the store where she bought them and were able to exchange them for the perfect pair.  He couldn't have been happier!  Jonah and Bridget even scored new sandals while we were there.  :)

We made a stop at Henry's favorite place (that we don't have in our area), In-N-Out burger.  It was super windy and kept blowing our napkins and french fries all over the place, but we had a great time anyway.  

I just love of my big 9 year old!  Henry is so responsible that I sometimes forget that he is (only) nine years old.  He continues to amaze me with his willingness to work hard, help others and watch out for his younger siblings.  He has a natural ability to care for animals and he is athletically gifted and good at any sport that he tries.  Henry reads his Bible every morning and diligently works on his schoolwork without complaint.  He is friends with everyone he meets.  Henry, I love you so much and am so very proud of you!!!

Cub Scouts

Sam and I ended up being Cub Scout leaders for the 2011/2012 school year.  We were in charge of the Tiger Cubs (Jonah's troop).  Henry was a Bear Cub in another troop.  I'm not exactly sure how we got signed up to be the troop leaders, but we did enjoy the experience-especially the super cool shirts.

 Jonah was the reason we got involved with cub scouts in the first place.  

 He had heard about it and thought that it would be the very best activity for him.  Since Henry was involved in other sports at the time, we initially told him that he couldn't be in cub scouts, but it turned out that he could go on the same nights that we were there with Jonah.  So it actually worked out wonderfully for everyone!  Bridget came along with us to Jonah's class and was able to participate in the crafts and snacks and games.

The meetings were fairly structured but required a lot of parent participation-and our group's parents weren't very interested in participating.  So we just tried to keep it fun and get the requirements done as best as we could.  :)  We set up a snack rotation, planned games and crafts, and made sure the kids were earning their patches and beads as we went along.  We were also required to set up one field trip a month.  We went fun places like the fire station, and the local Christian radio station:

The cub scouts also had a chance to be in a parade!  When we got to the meet-up place the morning of the parade, it was raining and kind of cold.  Both my boys decided they wouldn't prefer to be in the parade after all, so we opted to watch from the sidelines. 

 Some of the meeting were super fun, like the one where they brought in "The Creature Teacher", who let everyone touch a tarantula.  Yuck!

Before the big cub scout camp out, we had a tent-building meeting.  The kids really enjoyed learning to put up a tent, and we packed them each a s'mores snack in a ziploc to enjoy while they played.

Near the end of the school year, we had one final meeting and had everyone come to our house for a bonfire.  The kids roasted marshmallows, met our goats, and ran around outside for a while.  We had mostly city kids in our group, and they all really enjoyed coming out to our place and having some freedom to enjoy nature a bit.  They all had so much fun!  

   It was fun to be a cub scout leader for a season, but at the end of the year Sam and I passed the torch to another parent to take over the leadership.  We decided that since we have so many other activities throughout the year that cub scouts wasn't the best one for our family.  We also spend lots of time outdoors and enjoy the experiences they were focusing on as a family.  We are thankful for the year that we had with such a fun group! 

Bridget the Bookworm

 One thing I learned quickly when I first met my husband (and his family!) was that I had better use proper grammar or I should expect to be corrected.  (This is all in good humor, of course, and I have to admit that it's a trait I rather like.  I've always been kind of particular about getting words right.)  One of their pet peeves is improper use of adverbs (think "I feel bad about.." vs. "I feel badly about..."). 

So it should be no surprise that my children have always spoken well and used correct grammar (for the most part) since they were toddlers.   Bridget cracked me up with this one today...

She has a book reader that reads the words aloud to her when she flips the pages.  I was in the kitchen working and I could hear her play the same page over and over, about five times.  Finally, she said, "Mom, come listen.  There's a problem!"

I assumed the problem was a low battery and that it wasn't moving on to the next page properly.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  She wanted me to listen because they used the word "townsfolk" and she thought that sounded downright wrong.  "Mom, can you believe they messed up like that?  It should be 'folks' not 'folk'.  So silly!"

She didn't exactly spot an error this time, but I imagine in no time she'll be following in her father's footsteps and correcting my mistakes!    :)

Jonah and Bridget-best of friends!

Am I the only one who got to see a parade today? 

This morning Jonah and Bridget came downstairs to the living room, marching and playing drums. They circled Henry and me once, then grabbed walmart sacks full of candy and started launching the candy at us. 

They followed it up with one final circle and then left with no explanation.

 Life with these two around is never dull.  They are such good friends and whenever they have free time, they are usually together.  

Jonah and Bridget...you crack me up!  Thanks for making life more fun and always reminding me to seize the day.    :)

Spring pictures 2012

I love Springtime...new life, everything is green and blooming, the sun is shining, we can be outside all the time because the weather is perfect...thank you Lord!

Bridget Mary, age 4

Samuel Jonah, age 7

Henry David, age 8 (almost 9!)
I'm so grateful for my three wonderful blessings.

Jonah in the Kitchen

(Jonah in the apron that his Grammy made him for his birthday this year.)
One of Jonah's favorite places to be is in the kitchen, helping with whatever I happen to be working on at the time. I love this of course, because it's also one of my favorite places to be. :)

This afternoon, Jonah was mixing up pizza crust in the kitchen while I supervised and cleaned out some cupboards.

I pulled out a punch bowl that hasn't seen the light of day in about four years and set it on the counter. Jonah asked why and I told him I was putting it into our upcoming garage sale.

"Say what?" Jonah was incredulous. "Why in the world would you get rid of THAT? It's so pretty!"

I explained that it was something I previously found useful but don't use much anymore and now it just takes up space.

Jonah's reply? "Well I would think you could just keep it and give it to my wife when I get married. I think she would like it."