Our Cute Cub

I can't believe that Caden is old enough to be a Cub Scout already! Look how cute he is in the slightly over-sized uniform! Tevye is loving this. He took Caden to register and buy his uniform at the scout shop last week. I only drew my own blood twice while trying to sew on his patches (I wish that Tevye would let me iron them on, but it makes more sense to sew them). Today, Tevye took Caden out to sell popcorn in order to raise money for scout camp, etc.. Before they left, Caden practiced selling popcorn to me and did a great job. By the way, if anyone who reads this wants to help Caden by purchasing popcorn, just let me know.

Caden selling to the neighbor. He has way more courage than I ever did at his age. In fact, it is a good thing that Tevye is taking him out, because I still don't feel comfortable doing stuff like that.

Unfortunately, not many people were home today, but he did sell to three people, and two others said to come back later. Tevye said that Caden did "really good."

New Smile

Before

After

Father and Sons Camping

This post is a bit late (from last May). Every year, our church has a Father and Sons camp out. The boys really enjoy attending with Tevye. I, however, dislike being left alone. I guess that it is a good thing that I will have a daughter at home with me next year! The camp out lasts just one night, but they come home covered in about a week's worth of dirt. Judging from the pictures, the boys got to run through an obstacle course.

Here comes Vance's friend, Jacob!

Wrestling fun!

Yum- burnt marshmallows.

Vance's 1st Day of Kindergarten

As some of you know, Vance has been protesting against going to school for quite some time now. Usually, he simply and calmly has stated, "I'm not going to kindergarten," or, "I'm still not excited for kindergarten." Tevye and I have been confident that once he got into school he would love it, but still, Vance had me a little bit worried for that first day.

Well, the day finally arrived, and not only did he refrain from protesting, but he also was very excited. It helped that I told him I would take him to Wendy's for a frosty and lunch right before school- to celebrate, not to bribe (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it). My mom came out that day to take Caden to soccer practice after school (I had a doctor's appointment), so Vance was excited to have her and Caden accompany us.

Unfortunately, Caden wasn't feeling well that morning and ended up puking right before we got into the car. Thankfully, Mom was able to stay home with Caden while I took Vance out. Vance was very bummed that they couldn't go, but in the end, he and I had a really nice time together (and I brought some Wendy's back for Mom and Caden after dropping off Vance).

Since we were in a hurry, I let Vance eat his frosty first- he thought that was awesome!

While we stood in line waiting for the teachers to let the kids into the cafeteria, I could tell Vance was a little bit apprehensive, but he was courageous and didn't let on to that fact. He walked right up to the teacher and told her his name, gave me a hug and kiss, and took off without looking back. When I picked him up at the end of the day, he was as happy as could be and very talkative. His only complaint was that he didn't get to play with the play dough and had to settle for the bears and blocks instead. Also, he figured out who the two trouble-maker kids were in class ("naughty" as he called them) and said that they didn't get a pretzel or m&m's like the rest of the class. Vance really like that he got to eat the pretzel and m&m's.

I am so proud of my Vance-man! Their is something about his personality that captures my heart. He will do great this year!

Silverwood

Recently, our good friend Ryan invited us to go to the lake on his nice boat. I opted to stay home, but Tevye took the boys and Calee. As you will tell from the following pictures, it was an enjoyable day, and they all had big grins on their faces when they returned home. Thank you to Aunt Calee for trying to keep them covered in sunblock- the burns were minimal.

Captain Ryan in his natural environment.

Tevye catching air on the wakeboard. He hasn't had a chance to do that in a very long time.

Calee showing off her moves.

The boys loved, loved, loved riding on the tube!

If it weren't for Tevye's grip, Caden would have gone flying for 20 feet or so. Thank goodness for life vests!

Vance held on really well to the handles.

Splish, Splash

A couple of weeks ago, my mom brought my nephews, Nolan and Cole out to visit us. I was so excited to have them over! Since it was so hot, we took the boys to the pool in order to cool off. Coincidently, Tev's sister, Calee, showed up right before we walked to the pool, so we were able to invite her to swim, too. She is always fun to play with!
They had a great time. Thanks to the Scouting program, Nolan is CPR certified, which was a relief to me, since I am not (I really should look into doing that, though).
The boys played with the kick boards and diving stick, and then, Vance came up with the idea of "group jump." He kept trying to get all of them to jump into the pool together. "Come on guys," he would announce, "group jump!" He kept calling for the group jump until everyone kindly obliged him.

I love Nolan and Cole so much! Nolan is a teenager now, but he still takes the time to play with his younger cousins and is so patient with them. Cole is a sweetheart, and he has a way of making us feel so loved when we are with him. I am so grateful that Caden and Vance have them as role models in their life!