Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My roller coaster

Life is kind a roller coaster at the moment.

The kids are basically good, but we are fighting colds. Hopefully we are settled into the school schedule...it's only been almost two months already.

I am working to keep up with a class I am taking. I am also trying to collect data for my dissertation. I have made progress with the data, but I am sort of at the mercy of the participants and their schedules. I also had hired someone to transcribe my interviews and his cell phone keeps going to busy. So I am dealing and dealing, and trying not to freak out...too much.

Monday, September 12, 2011

New to us car!

Thanks to the power of the Internet (and having connections in the right places) we have traded the Silver Honda Odyssey minivan for a few years newer Gold Honda Odyssey! Because it's a newer model it has power doors and another seat belt and more room.

Tiger Cubs

Doug and Andy are Tiger Cubs this year. They are both very excited about getting to wear the uniforms and they REALLY want to go camping.

We have had a couple of den meetings, but tonight was our first pack meeting. They got their Bobcat badge, which is the first patch any cub scout has to earn regardless of when they enter cub scouts. They had to learn and understand 8 things, including the Cub Scout promise and the Laws of the Pack.

Various packs have different ways of honor scouts who level up in some way...and the Bobcat is considered a leveling up. In our pack the kids get to "paint" the faces of the parents and the patch is pinned on upside-down until the parent sees the Cub Scout do a good deed.

Well, with Jim working in another city (and having two meetings today) mom was the one who got her face painted. The "paint" was a washable marker. Andy ended up with green. Let's just say I looked "lovely" at the end of it and that at least he only had one minute to make his masterpiece.
Doug, opting not to help his brother do my face and not to paint his little sister's face, found a random parent in the audience and did her face. She was a good sport and I thanked her later. Ironically, her son was in a wolf den and was new to scouting... he opted to do his little sister's face.

At the end of the meeting I was talking to the Pack Leader. Doug, on his own, helped clean up folding chairs. I was very proud of him and told him so by flipping his patch right-side-up. His little chest swelled and he had to run tell the Pack Leader (and then he was extremely helpful after that).
Andy helped Josie with some things after we got home, so I guess I need to sew on some patches now.