Award Night

The Cub Scouts' annual awards banquet was last night. Along with several other boys, Tyler received the U.S. Heritage Award, which is an actual medallion rather than a patch (Ooooooo). The boys had to learn about the United States' heritage and do some research and tasks related to that. Visiting Washington DC in September helped Tyler out with that some. Tyler also moved up to the next level, which is Webelos 1. Webelos is the bridging unit between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. They will switch to brown Cub Scout shirts and the plaid neckerchief. In case you know anything about Cub Scouts, Tyler's shirt is missing a couple of his recent patches. We have to transfer his patches from his CS shirt to his BS shirt, so I just didn't bother to put them on his soon-to-be-old shirt.

Reading Material

This was on the back of my stall door in a public restroom today. Tyler said the back of his door had information about "gas" and a picture of a whoopee cushion. I think I would have preferred that.

Our New Floor

Ron has been installing laminate flooring over our vinyl floors. The trim isn't done yet, but all the floor boards are down and you can get a pretty good feel for how it's going to look when it is finished. He's done a great job, and I love the way it looks. I posted a couple pictures last month. Here are a few more before and after pictures.

For the Birds

I guess the kids didn't scare off our momma robin after all. She was back this morning and worked continuously until almost dinner time to create her nest. It was very interesting to watch her gather the materials, drop them in the nest, and then mold them into place with her body. When the nest was almost complete, she started using mud. I'm guessing she'll start laying eggs tomorrow. Hopefully our resident cooper's hawk and neighborhood kitties won't notice her or her nest!!

For the Birds

Well, sadly the chickadees didn't stick around. I suppose Mrs. Chickadee found a house she liked better in another neighborhood. This morning we were excited to see a robin making a nest on top of the nesting box. The wires across the top didn't seem to bother her. The noise from the kids playing in the yard must have, though. She didn't resume her nest making once the kids came inside, so we might have lost another tenant.

The other day I saw a couple killdeer chicks. The babies have such long legs compared to the rest of their body. I think this little guy looks like he's wearing a sweatband around his head. He kept popping up in the air and stretching his body way out. He was cute to watch.

Dance

Tonight was Danielle's first dance - a Daddy/Daughter Girl Scout dance. More specifically, it was a square dance. Danielle was so excited about going.

Ron said his 7th grade gym class square dancing unit paid off and he was at least familiar with the calls. It seemed very well organized and sounds like they did a great job teaching everyone what to do with each dance. Ron and Danielle danced all but one dance, and he was worn out. Danielle, on the other hand, was quite wound up by the time she got home. Ron said Danielle did a lot of giggling. It sounds like they had a great time together.


Tyler and I had a nice evening together, too.



Like those pink cowboy boots?! She needed some boots for her horseback riding camp this summer and I found these on sale for cheap cheap cheap. She LOVES them.

Peep S'Mores

The kids didn't get much candy in their Easter baskets, but they did get the Easter "must haves" - jelly beans and Peeps. Tonight we made Peep s'mores. In my opinion, they weren't as good as genuine s'mores cooked over a campfire, but they were certainly good enough! And they were fun.