Proud of our scouts

Donovan earned his Webelo (award? rank? badge? whatever you call it) at this month's Pack Meeting along with 2 other pins. He has loved scouts and is always eager to sign off as many things as he can. I'm grateful that Matt loves to work with the boys on scouting stuff too. It's neat to see them working together on a variety of lessons and tasks. So even though Matt does all the work with them, I get the glory at the Pack Meetings. It only seems fair to me.





This was Howie's first Pack Meeting since turning 8 in November. He earned his Bobcat thing as well as a chess beltloop and a gold arrow point. Go Howie! This is his first time pinning something on my "proud parent" ribbon. I know he'll be filling that up in no time. Like Donovan, he also enjoys working on scouting things with Matt.

Heart Stacking

I saw this cute idea for an FHE activity on Pinterest and had our family try it out on Monday. Basically everyone got a pile of hearts and we tried to see who could make the tallest stack of hearts. I was awesome and had by far the tallest stack. Then I decided to take myself out of the contest so others could feel good about their accomplishments. That and I wanted to get some pictures.



Rex mostly tried to reach everyone's hearts. He managed to get one and swallowed it before I could get to him. Thankfully he did not choke.



Nina tried stacking them for a little bit, then realized she could steal other people's hearts while they were focused on balancing their stacks. Such the opportunist.



Cameron tried stacking once or twice, then played defense against Nina and Rex.



Howie was a casual participant. He enjoyed eating and stacking.



Matt was shocked that he could never get his pile higher than mine.



And Donovan let the stress get to him once or twice.



I loved this idea and totally plan on doing it every year!

A small reaction

This was a first for us. Rex got his MMR vaccine the day after his birthday. He had a bruise around the injection site and acted slightly grumpy. Then about 2 weeks later he wakes up with these covering his body:




He also had a mild fever for several days. We called a nurse and she said this can be normal for some children and that it should go away in 2-3 days. That was the case with Rex. The spots started fading after the 3rd day and he has seemed fine ever since.

Did you know?

Cameron is in a big boy bunk bed!



Thanks to an amazingly kind and loving family, Cam is in the bed of his dreams. He feels so grown up and all kinds of proud in Michael and Kyle's old bed. He and Rex's room is a little cramped for the time being, but in no time Rex will be joining Cameron in cool bed land. Until then, all the other kids wait in line for their turn to have a sleepover in Cameron's bunk bed.

No more 1 year olds for us

Which is kind of sounding sad to me, but I am coming to grips with it. Good thing he's little and isn't walking yet. He is a whopping 17 lbs putting him in the 1% for his weight. Rex is such a sweet little guy. He is happy, calm, cuddly and awesome. He is crawling, going up stairs, pulling up to furniture and beginning to cruise the couches. He still sucks his thumb and will go to anyone who wants to hold him. Rex loves his siblings and is very much loved by them.

Rex had a low key birthday. Matt got him some Krispy Kreme's which he inhaled. Then we let the kids all pick out a present from Target. Donovan wrapped the presents while the others frosted and sprinkled cupcakes.











Since Rex has everything he needs plus some, we didn't buy him any presents. Instead we added our money to the money his grandparents generously gave to him and opened up a savings account. Sorry Rex, but you'll thank us later!

A first for Cameron

I love that Skate City gives free skate coupons to our kids every time they have a break from school. This was the first time that Cameron tried skating with the big kids. In the hour and a half that we were there, I think Cam went around the rink a total of 3 times. Not bad. And he looked real cute.






Then he was done. He wanted to join Rex and me on the sideline. We're more fun.








I am looking forward to the time when all of us can go out and skate together. Taking pictures while holding a baby is fun and all, but I'd like to get out there too!