Language & Culture Belt Loop

The boys are working on earning the belt loop for language and culture this month.  We had a great time talking about other countries and then we sampled some Japanese food to finish out our meeting.  The boys were awesome and had no trouble using the chopsticks and eating some of the food from Japan.  They weren't really excited about the seaweed chips (which smelled very much like fish!) but ate everything else.  These are some of the sweetest boys you will ever get to meet.  I feel honored to be able to work with them.

Seaweed Chips--Dylan tried but wasn't impressed!

Decorated area for the food

We tried origami but they mostly ended up as airplanes!

Chopsticks!!  Brave boys

Back to School Celebration

Ava starts first grade tomorrow.  Last week she and I went to the American Girl store for lunch, shopping, and a visit to the beauty shop for her doll, Carolines new do!  Unfortunately the pictures I took didn't take and I only have one to share.  We had a wonderful time together and I felt honored to spend time with one of my granddaughters.  I wish they all lived close by!

Bedroom Makeover

When I finished fixing our back patio area I started working on redoing the master bedroom and bathroom area.  I am happy with how it turned out.  I never remember to take a picture before I begin but I mostly changed the bedspread and paint color.  The big change was the bathroom vanity.  With my friend Malarie's encouragement I sanded down and repainted the cabinets and then Andy put a new counter-top in for me and replaced the faucets.  I was happy with how everything turned out.  My next big project is redoing the family room carpet and repainting that area and then I am going to tackle my kitchen cabinets!

Down to Business!

More Pictures!

Family Fun Picnic Pack Meeting

On Friday night we had a great Cub Scout activity with the boys and their family.  Thanks to pinterest I had found all kinds of outdoor games for the kids to play.  Ellis and Perry had come over earlier in the month and helped me make all of the games.  There were several highlights but I think hands down the bottle rockets and the marshmallow shooters were especially enjoyed by the boys.  What a great time--I love serving with the Cub Scouts.

Act of Kindness

We were able to go to Utah to spend time with our grandkids and Bill recently.  We had invited Ellis to come along.  It was wonderful and we all had a lot of fun.  One of the days we went to Salt Lake City and spent much of the day at the "This is the Place" park.  One of the activities they had for the kids was panning for gold.  The kids were having a great time picking out little pieces of gold mingled with the sand.  Ellis was quite proficient and had accumulated quite a bit.  I was holding it for him.  After a short time he came over and asked me if he could have some of the gold he had found.  He took about a tablespoon full and then walked over to where Will was panning.  He hadn't found any yet but kept trying.  Ellis said to him, "let's try here" and then helped him scoop out some rocks and sand and then Ellis discreetly emptied his hand over the collected rocks.  He showed Will how to get rid of the rocks and then to start looking for pieces of gold.  Will was so excited when he finally started finding the gold in the sand and left very excited that he had found gold like his sister and brother and cousin had found.  Sweet gesture Ellis.  I was very proud of you.