Pack meeting ~ 10/29/11

They had a great pack meeting tonight.  Each of the dens  had to do a presentation of some kind.

My Bear brought some of his models to show off "show and tell"

My Tiger did a presentation on the food pyramid

Velcro Boy is farthest to the left

The Tigers recently took a trip to tour a fire station.  Cubmaster had a patch ready to present to each of them.

That's me!  One of a very few rare belly shots that anyone has captured.

Cub scout update

We had a semi-informal pack meeting on September 22nd.  my boys had already been busy completing their requirements...

Velcro Boy is a Tiger this year since he's "in" 1st grade.

The Tiger has to complete 15 requirements (5 in each of 3 categories) to  earn their Tiger badge.      They receive a bead for each requirement they complete,  here he is receiving some of his beads.  VB and I were busy over the summer, since I'm going to be pretty busy later this year and early next year, and he has so far earned 12 of  his requirements.

The Wolves and Bears also earn beads for the requirements they complete.    When The Professor earned his Wolf badge earlier this year, he finished  earning his yellow beads.   They earn 1 bead for every 3 requirements,  for a total of 12 requirements.   He and I were also busy this summer  and he has completed 9 of his 12 requirements, so he now has 3 red  beads earned toward his Bear badge. 

AAA Choo!

Sorry, everyone!  Just had to blow the dust of my blog.  Sorry for my long absence :(  Things have been crazy busy around here, and yet I have little to show for it.  Very few pictures and a to-do list the length of my arm.  How is it that you can work like crazy and not get anything done???

Well, I guess I *have* been doing something...gestating a baby!  The pregnancy is going great.  Healthy, active, growing baby and a healthy mom.  Three older kids that haven't killed each other or torn the house down and are generally happy and excited about their baby brother.  I guess that is a lot to show for the past several months ;)

The pregnancy has been going well.  All tests are normal, I even passed the glucose screening!  I've been having normal pregnancy "discomforts".  Frequent trips to the bathroom, lower back ache, hip ache, etc.  The biggest complaint this time around would be the nearly excruciating pain near my ribs and the corresponding location on my back.  After a very long discussion with my doctor, we've come to the conclusion that it's adhesions from prior surgery and 3 other c-sections.  Which means that there's nothing wrong.  Which also means that there's nothing he can do :(  I have to muddle through as best I can until Tiny is ready to come out.  This means lots of time resting on my left side (the only position to offer total relief) or sitting with my feet up .  Maybe that's why I'm not getting anything done!

Fortunately I only have 9 weeks and 5 days to go!  We have a c-section scheduled for December 20th, so at least I have an end-point to keep my eye on.  And I have a lot to offer up for the poor souls :)

I have a schooling update to post, hopefully I can get that up soon as well as a scouting update.

Giveaway!

They're hosting a great giveaway at Freely Educate http://www.freelyeducate.com/2011/10/giveaway-500-worth-of-science-ambooks-to-ten-winners-50-value-for-each-winner.html#comment-6a00e55098fdaf8833015435f816a4970c.  They're offering a great science program for a $50 value.  Check it out.

It's a ......

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if you can't tell, I'm over-the-moon happy about this!!!  All along I've thought this little one was a boy.  I already have been blessed with 3 others, what else could it possibly be?!? :)

Some pics...

This a cute little profile...

 His perfect little foot!  You can even count the toes :)  With all of the ultrasounds I've had with each of the boys, this is the first time I've gotten one of these shots!

Adorable little hand...again, you can count the fingers.

The tech almost wasn't able to tell the gender :(  Tiny just wouldn't cooperate, I guess he's just stubborn.  Must run in the family :)  She finally got a great shot of his you-know-what, but I'm going to respect his privacy (he he)

We got to see lots of this little guy.  At one point he even had his hand up behind his head, a familiar trademark of ALL of my guys :) 

Cub Scout Camp 2011

Earlier this month, The Professor went to a cub scout day camp.  Aside from the heat (80-90+ every day), he had a great time.  They made lots of projects, of course I only got pictures of a few things.  They did lots of activities, marshmallow guns through targets, water guns at each other, etc.  They even had a station called "concoctions".  They made slime, homemade pasta (red), scrambled eggs (green) and ice cream!  Here are some of the projects he came home with...

Windchimes!

They decorated a canvas bag, his is a plane, of course. :)

a pinwheel...

Believe it or not, this is a kite!  Also decorated with planes :)  

The green strings are the kite strings.

Overall he had lots of fun.  This was followed up with a ballgame, movie and sleepover at the local minor league baseball ballpark.  He did this with his dad, I'm so not a sleep-on-the-ground person :)

The Professor's First Communion Part 2

After the Mass, we had family back to the house.  Unfortunately, some were not able to make it due to illness and others were out of town, so it ended up being a small gathering.

The cake...

The Professor's Nana made him a bagful of stuff.  She typed up and framed his favorite scripture and his favorite Psalm.

I was looking around for cake ideas, and I came across a link to an Etsy shop that sells Lego Rosaries!  I *knew* he would love one, and I was right!!!!  He really looks forward to prayer-time now.

My favorite gift of all (even better than the reaction to the Rosary), was a spiritual bouquet my MIL gave him from her lay Carmelite community.  Those wonderful people have offered so many Masses, holy hours, Chaplets, Rosaries, etc I couldn't believe it.  When I asked her when all of these had started being offered, she said "about a month ago".  I was flabbergasted!  The conversion in his attitude and some things that had been happening around here that just stopped out of the clear blue was amazing.  It was an incredible witness to the power of prayer that continues to move me to this day.

It was such a blessed day.  It's wonderful to see the changes that have come to The Professor in just the short time since he began to receive Jesus.