Bears Earn their Rank

I am very excited and proud of this achievement. Most packs wait until the Blue & Gold Banquet to earn rank, but a lot of boys in our pack also take part in sports in the spring. So I tried to schedule the curriculum with us finishing rank by the Holiday Party in December. It worked out pretty well since all but one scout earned rank (the other is VERY close). The theme for the meeting was "stars", so I cut out a star and put each scout's name on it along with a quote or saying that matched the theme glued on the front. On the back, I taped a piece of paper in the shape of a pocket to hide away the rank patch in. The idea was to have parents and scouts together and give the star to the parents, saying that the parents, rather than the children, were the stars, and that our children were our moons because they reflect back everything that we shine upon them. I am sure I am not the best orator, so I hope they understood what I was trying to say in such a short time. We only had a short time as the main focus of the night is on the crossover ceremony from the Webelos 2, which was an awesome event. My friend Jennifer's son became a boy scout tonight!

Here are some Bears and parents very proud of their achievement!

Here is my den, from left, Will, Zachary, Kurt, Konrad (in front), Dallas, and Bryan. (not pictured: Jonathan, Marshall, & Hayden - they were all there but left before I could get this picture).

And here is Dallas holding his star:



Since I was busy facilitating the awards ceremony and Dan was busy with Savanna & Bailey, despite having a camera with us, I did not take any pictures. These were generously passed along to me, and I think there are some that have Dallas in the frame and hopefully of Noah's ceremony also. I sometimes feel like a horrible mom not capturing these precious moments on film, but I get to experience a lot more being the den leader and in the thick of things. It is not really natural to have the camera and make them all pose in the middle of the ceremony. I am thankful to all of those who can sit in the audience and take pictures and share them with us. God Bless you!

Here is a picture from the back of the Webelos 2 crossover ceremony; they actually "cross over" a bridge:

I will add more soon if I get them! I hope to get pictures from other parents that will hopefully have my kids in them.

Bailey Turns One

Bailey's birthday is December 10th. We had a party for him Saturday. He is officially a toddler now that he is walking. It has been a tradition since Dallas for us to get a cake especially for the baby turing one (and another cake for the rest of the family) since it is a milestone for them: their first honest to goodness sugar attack! I never let them have candy or cake other than maybe some small tastes, so this is truly the first time they are allowed to go crazy and have as much sugar as they want. You can see the progression from cute calm baby to full fledged sugar rush and finally to the quiet calm from having a belly full of cake.

Bailey opening presents with Mama, Savanna helping:

Say cheese!

Happy Birthday to you! He's shaking a glowstick:

Hmmm. What is this stuff?

Still testing the waters. But it's looking really good!

Oh, yeah, this is great! Sugar rush! My sister-in-law Monica is enjoying the show, and her son, our nephew Alex, is sticking his tongue out at Bailey. Bailey is a very good copycat!

One of Dan's family traditions. Cake somebody! Noah was a good sport about it.

Bailey is caking himself!

Okay. I'm getting full now, but i can't bring myself to stop putting my hands into the cake. It beckons me!

So now I will feed mama! I must keep attacking the cake!

Alex gets caked:

Hee hee hee. This is vintage Bailey. He makes the funniest little faces as he loves to entertain. I think, however, here it is a reaction to so much sugar in his blood!

Cake anyone? I've had plenty, but there's lots more here to go around.

Sister Savanna has had her fill:

And me, too. Just sucking my fingers now. Stop me, somebody, please!

If you have time to watch a few cute videos, here are some from the party. Savanna Helps Herself to Cake, so funny because she decides to take matters in her own hands while I am ignoring her to watch and tape the Bubby show. In Savanna Cleans Up we see her need for clean, she is an obsessive clean freak for someone who can make a pretty good mess herself! And finally, Bathing Bubby is the perfect end to a perfect day as we clean away all the sugar and macaroni. Bailey can sure party hardy! He slept very well that evening...
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Happy Birthday, Bailey!!!

Breakfast With Santa

Dan took the kids to Breakfast with Santa at the school so they could get pictures with Santa. It was not all that spectacular, just muffins, juice, and waiting in line, but as you can see from the pictures, they managed to find a way to have some fun roaming around the empty school. Here is some cute shots of Savanna and Noah outside the school before they went in:

Savanna dragging her bubba around - she's the boss, you know...

Look at us! We're so strong!

Savanna running to PaPa (Dan's dad):


Hugging PaPa:

Hugging Noah:

Hugging Dallas:

Dragging Dallas around - Savanna's the boss, you Know!

Reading in the Library:

Waiting in line for Santa:

Getting their picture taken with Santa (Savanna doesn't look too thrilled! You have to click on the picture to see the larger version to see her face):

"Nani Go Round-Round"

Here's Bubby in his walker. Dan was trying to show me how Savanna liked it when he spinned her around and around really fast (to get her dizzy - it's somehow entertaining to get kids and cats dizzy and watch them try to walk like little drunkards), or as she says "Nani go round-round," but she wouldn't do it. So as always if you want a kid to do something, do it with the sibling, and they will inevitably get jealous and do what you want. Oh, how deviously we can manipulate our children! (Hey, it sometimes works on adults - I mean, how many movies have you seen where the girl tries to get the attention of a guy by going out with someone else!)

And here's Savanna getting jealous as planned:

Nani go round-round!

I love the way you can see the effects of velocity on her hair!

Bubby Walks

Here is a new video titled Bubby Walks. He has been trying to walk for a couple of weeks now, but after 1-2 steps would hit the ground crawling. I don't think he felt safe walking. But he is getting more and more brave every day, and I took this video earlier today. It is the most steps he has taken so far. He might have started walking sooner if I did not have to keep him in his play yard so much. It is not an easy task keeping up with 4 kids, and that is the safest place for him! I cannot keep him in the walker anymore because he has started to bring his feet up and try to rocket himself out. So I would literally have to keep my eyes on him every moment, which ideally you are supposed to do while they are in those things, but with Savanna around, this is impossible (she is high maintenance... still). So I can't put him in there! I lost my camera for a month which is my way of saying I have been super sick for a month, one thing after another. It is sad to lose a whole month of my life; I was only able to do the bare minimum for my family. Dan was sick for a couple of weeks himself, neither of us could just lay up in bed like we wanted to. I am thankful for my renewed health and hope it will stay this way for a while!

Bailey hasn't changed much in the face - same 'ole yummy cutie pie. He'll be one Sunday (Dec 10th). All my babies except Noah waited until they were exactly one to start walking (Noah was walking at nine months, and he did not hesitate for a moment. Once he figured out he could walk, he was running and chasing after Dallas). Hope you enjoyed the video - I know it got a little crazy towards the end. I had Bailey in the room by myself, but then the whole gand arrived and chaos ensued. Bubby might have walked longer if it wasn't a madhouse in there! That could be another reason he has waited so long to walk - he does a lot of people watching around here. It's better than TV to him!