Project 365 - Fabulous 40 - Feb 6 to Feb 11

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• Feb 6, 2017 - Pretty flowers on my walk today.
• Feb 7, 2017 - Scout Rank achieved! Next up: Tenderfoot.
• Feb 8, 2017 - We really enjoy the show Timeless. I hope it makes it to a second season.
• Feb 9, 2017 - My middle finger touched the oven rack today. Owie, owie, owie!!
• Feb 10, 2017 -  Pretty sunset sky tonight.
• Feb 11, 2017 - Luke loves to eat outside, but it's usually too hot, too cold, or too pollinated! But Grub Burger Bar has a very nice covered porch, and it was unusually warm on this February afternoon, so burgers (and chicken fingers) outside it is!

Project 365 - Fabulous 40 - Jan 13 to Jan 18

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• Jan 13, 2017 - My first supremed orange. It was both easier and faster than I expected.
• Jan 14, 2017 - Up at (literally) dark-thirty to send him off with the Boy Scouts for the long weekend. He gets to spend the night on the USS Alabama!
• Jan 15, 2017 - New restaurant for lunch: Grub Burger Bar. Very good, we'll be back!
• Jan 16, 2017 - Kylo always seems to know when I need purr therapy.
• Jan 17, 2017 - Needed some supremely intense pink in my life. Forget Now by Sinful Colors.
• Jan 18, 2017 - Well, it took 18 days, but I officially worked my way up to walking one mile (1.6 km) today. I was still moving faster than a bunch of the cars sitting in traffic! (I could see the interstate from my route.)

Wordless Wednesday - March 25, 2015

Currently feeling: building the Blue and Gold crossover bridge (which he will be crossing next year, sniff sniff)

Blue and Gold Ceremony 2015

Luke recited the Cub Scout promise in front of about 150 people at tonight's Blue and Gold Ceremony. I couldn't take pictures or video because it was right after the Pledge of Allegiance, but he did a great job! We practiced all weekend, and he didn't seem anxious at all. This picture was taken later as they built the bridge for the Crossing Over Ceremony.
Currently feeling: very proud

How to Sew on Scout Patches

Q-snaps, for all kinds of needlework! I use these for my cross stitching, but I was struggling to keep the extra fabric of the shirt out of the way while stitching the Cub Scout patches on his new shirt. Then inspiration finally struck; that's exactly what q-snaps do! They hold the fabric taught and keep the excess out of the way. It worked brilliantly!
Currently feeling: inspired

Pat C

We lost a friend and neighbor this week. The C Family lives just a few houses down the road from us. Pat was the Cub Scout leader of the den a year ahead of Luke. We would see Pat, his wife S, and their son L at least once a month (sometimes more) at scout things. Luke and L also go to school together, though they are in different grades. (L is only 3 months older than Luke, though with the birthday cut off, L is a grade ahead.) I can't say that we were especially close with them, but we did see them frequently, and we (the parents and the kids) liked to chat when we did have reason to be in the same place at the same time. In fact, we discussed getting together for dinner "sometime in March" at the last Pack Meeting. The C's are the kind of people you could always call if you needed help, and we genuinely enjoyed their company and their friendship. So hard to believe that Pat is now gone. I am absolutely crushed for both S and L.


The Cub Scout Pack made a good showing at the memorial today. We had at least 15 boys in uniform, plus various den leaders. I was so pleased to see that it made S and L smile to see the rows of scouts as they walked in. Pat loved scouts and genuinely enjoyed teaching the boys and doing microphone commentary for the various contests. He was also very involved in various neighborhood activities; the annual Halloween Costume Contest just will not be the same without his hosting (and his corny jokes). If you have any good thoughts and prayers to spare, please send them to the C Family.

Currently feeling: very sad

Wordless Wednesday - February 12, 2014

Currently feeling: patchy

Wordless Wednesday - February 13, 2013

Currently feeling: zoom zoom

2012 Rain Gutter Regatta

Luke participated in his first Rain Gutter Regatta on Sunday. I was familiar with the Pinewood Derby from my brother's days in scouts, but the Rain Gutter Regatta was new to me. They have premade kits, similar to Pinewood Derby, that the kids then take and build and decorate themselves (well, we helped with the wood glue part). Luke drew his sail design on a piece of paper, then I transferred it to the sail, since the permanent markers were a bit difficult to handle on the slick plastic. (No, he hasn't seen Braveheart, for anyone wondering. Heck, I haven't seen Braveheart! No idea where the half blue face idea came from, except for maybe Pixar's Brave.)



Then they race their boats in gutters filled with water, or in our case, huge PVC pipes split in half, which I thought was genius! The boats are powered by the scouts themselves in the form of blowing on the sails. The kids had an absolute blast.



Because this was our first year doing it, there was some user error which caused him some problems. We forgot to glue the sail in place before we went, so when he blew on it, it would turn on the mast. That meant it wouldn't go straight for very long without readjustment. I don't think it mattered much with his first race; that kid just had him beat. But his second race was really close, and I think his loose sail cost him. :-(



Still, everyone had a grand time, and we learned quite a bit for next year. Looking forward to the next one!

Currently feeling: on the orinoco flow

Wordless Wednesday - November 7, 2012

Currently feeling: thinking he had fun at the police station!

Bobcats and Pumpkins

We've spent the last several days gearing up for Halloween. I decorated my cube at work:



And painted my nails. This is Sinful Colors Pumpkin Spice over Orly Goth. In retrospect, I should have gone with a plain black creme on the bottom, but it's fine.



And I finally found my favorite Halloween candy (at Big Lots, of all places). I thought they didn't even make these anymore, they've been so hard to find the last few years. These are Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses, in my spiffy new jar from Target (on sale for less than $5).



Sunday, we picked out a pumpkin. I love this picture!!



Pickings were a little slim, but we still ended up with a nice one. It was a little larger than we intended, but we got a good deal on it from a local church. Star was fascinated with it! (We haven't carved a pumpkin since we've had her, so she's never seen one before.)



Since we needed the pumpkin for a carving party at scouts, Luke had to help clean it out. He did quite a good job!



But before we could get to actually carving the pumpkins tonight, we had some business to take care of. 24 boys received their Bobcat badges (the first one you earn, for things like saying the oath), the most ever at one time in the history of the pack. We received our first parent pin, and Luke also got his first beltloop for the bowling trip from last week.



And then it was time to carve!



Luke did the eyes (we helped him turn/restart in the corners) and most of the left wing all by himself.



Even I have to admit, it looks pretty awesome. We used the free Bat-O-Lantern template from Orange and Black Pumpkins.


Currently feeling: ready for Halloween

Bowling, Take 2

So, after bowling on Sunday at C's birthday party, Luke go to go again on Thursday with his Cub Scouts den.



He got better with each game, scored 2 consecutive spares in one game:



... and was the only kid to score a strike! (Yes, the kids used the bumpers to keep the balls out of the gutter, but still.)



I was very proud of him. He played three games and improved quite a bit each time, not just in score, but clearly in technique. We'll have to take him more often!



Currently feeling: like bowling!

Cub Scout Popcorn Fundraiser

Can I interest you in some popcorn to support Luke's Cub Scout Pack? I know there have been times when I wished one of my long distance friends who have children in scouts (girl or boy) would post a link so I could order some cookies or popcorn, because we didn't know anyone for a while who sold them. So, just in case someone would like to buy some popcorn to help support Luke's Cub Scout Pack, this is Luke's referral link. The above picture is just a representative sample; they have all sorts of varieties of sweet and savory popcorn and pretzels, plus microwave and traditional popping corn. Popcorn ordered online will be shipped directly to you. Please don't feel obligated or pressured in any way. This is mainly a "just in case" post. Thanks!

(And thanks to Leah for the idea!)

Cub Scout Wolf

Introducing Luke, Cub Scout Wolf, following in the tradition of Warren family scouting. My father was a scout, and my brother is an Eagle Scout.



I chatted with both my father and brother before deciding to go into Scouts with Luke, but with dropping soccer this year (did you notice? he was just completely burned out on it), I wanted him to have some contact with a group of boys outside of school and to get some sort of physical activity (they frequently do some games and relay races at meetings), and frankly just to get *out* of the house sometimes.

(I think DH took great cell phone pictures of the hiking trip.)


We've actually been involved for a few weeks now, but it didn't seem "right" to post without uniform pictures! As you can see, he's already been on his first hike (that's him in the green; can't believe my child, Mr. Clean, was ankle deep in muddy water!). The scout shop is not convenient to our house, especially with all of the I-285 construction going on between here and there, so it took us a couple of weeks to be able to make it up that way.



The facility is quite impressive, but the shop was actually smaller than I anticipated. Larger than many, I'm sure, and it was absolutely jam-packed with stuff (and people). Did you know the store even has its own patch? So pretty! And I'd really love to repeat this picture of him with the carving every year. We'll see.



We felt we absolutely had to get to the scout store last weekend, though, since he was due to make his first official "public" appearance as a scout: selling popcorn at the pack's sponsoring church before Wednesday night supper. (You may notice that there are no patches on his shirt; I'm working on it. Those things are a pain!!) Hmm, need to work on our shirt tucking skills.



Every time I look at the popcorn picture, I have to laugh. The other three scouts in this picture are Bears, which means they are in 3rd grade. Luke is a Wolf, meaning he is in 2nd grade, and yet he is towering over all three of them! With him as my only child, and not being around other children much, I often forget just how big he really is.



He seems to be *really* enjoying it. I mean, come on, that is a picture of my child not just looking at a book, but eagerly flipping through it and voluntarily trying to read parts of it! I've even managed to correct some behavior issues by making him quote the scout motto. "Do your best!" He certainly is very excited about it, which I love. I hope it lasts. Only another 10 years, since you have to make Eagle before you turn 18. Seems like so far away and just around the corner, all at the same time.
Currently feeling: so proud