Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween 2011

Davis was a mouse for his halloween party at school, and Belle was a little lamb. I think they have worn these costumes at previous halloweens, but his party had a barn animal theme...so mouse it was.








The kids LOVE halloween. Is it the candy or the decorating...or BOTH! Magan found Sam and Davis in the backyard shortly after this picture rolling the trees and our new fence with toilet paper. Apparently Sam had seen this or heard about it on the bus. I later explained to him that this act of rolling was only done for ex-girlfriends that dumped you unexpectedly or for close friends that you wanted to ensure their parents got to clean up the next morning.




Sam and Davis then got to go to another halloween party. This was a friend of Sam's in his class. Magan said it was pretty neat all of the stuff they had for the kids to do at this party. And they had a hay ride if you can't tell by Sam's pants below.








And finally on Halloween night, Sam decided to paint his Lotso face on instead of wearing the hat. Belle loved trick or treating and they gave her candy everywhere she said thank you...I wonder how magical this must have been in her mind. Then her mom let her have a sucker, and she was ready to just ride in the wagon then...no more trick or treating necessary.










We ran into our superhero match...Captain America Dad with his Green Lantern boy, and Green Lantern Dad with his Captain America boy.






Happy Halloween 2011!!!....starring

Dad as Green Lantern

Mom as The "Wicked" witch

Belle as Dorothy

Davis as Captain America

Sam as Lotso the Huggin Bear

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cub Haunted Scout Camp

"Do Your Best"...It was time to go on our first overnighter camping trip with the scouts. Our destination was Camp Seqouyah near Mt. Cheaha. The boys were very excited, and so was I thinking about how great it would be to do this more often. Temperature in the upper 60s, and sleeping on a cot in an adirondack style tent...How bad could it get?







Our initial time at the camp included some games which were similar to a harvest carnival games. Not real impressed, but Sam and Davis are HUGE fans of cheap toys and easy games. :) Can you see Sam above in his disguise? Next Sam got to practice Archery. He first had to learn safety rules and then the proper way to load his arrows and shoot. I was impressed, he followed the directions well, and hit the target on his third try. He also gets to earn his first belt loop for his work in archery.


After Archery we had dinner at the dining hall. This was a great place and had lots of room for the 400 scouts and scout families staying the night. Unexpectedly had a really good dinner of chicken fingers (or they looked liked chicken fingers and had a yellowish tint I have never seen before on food), veggies and bread. After dinner, we went on a Haunted Hayride, and get this...the tractor "broke down" right near a patch in the forest that had strobe lights. So we had to get out of the tractor and walk through this area of ghouls and goblins.


Here is where I had a problem. Davis was frightened and saying he didn't want to go. Sam wanted to go but not without me. So I threw Davis up in my arms, and told him to close his eyes, and lean into my neck. Then we were on our way. Let me just say that I hate these events where stuff is jumping out every which way causing near bladder leaks and irregular heart beats, but we pressed on...Davis jumped and squalled the whole time, while Sam was laughing at every gross scene we passed. Sam waved at the Wolfman as he jumped out at us. I know he was scared too, but he played it pretty cool. Davis...not so much.


We finally made it back where "luckily" there was another tractor ready to pick us up and take us back to the campsite. Sam and Davis where then laughing as the tractor driver continuously could not figure out how to get back to the campsite, and we had fun telling him which turn to make and hoping we were right. :)


Back at the campsite, they had a crafts area set up. Perfect for Sam and Davis, we made a Scary Halloween House made of Popsicle sticks, a pumpkin made of rolled up string, and a Bat again made primarily from a posicle stick and stickers. It was then time for the BIGGEST campfire. This was a fun time to sit in front of the fire as the scouts performed some skits and even had a ghost story about a ghost that lost his "Hairy Toe".



After the bonfire, they had what they called a cracker barrel, which was basically cookies and hot chocalate. They also played a Scooby Doo Movie while we enjoyed the snacks. This would be the end of our easy going night. I knew with temperatures already in the 40s, and expected to be down to 30, we better enjoy this warmth as long as possible. So we did, we stayed in the dining hall till about 11 then made our way back to the tent.


So I got the boys some new socks and double socks and then sleeping bags and then blankets and we went to bed.

Then 12:30 AM I woke up freezing. So I checked on the boys and they were OK


Then woke up at 02:00 AM...to the sounds of coyotes...boys still OK


Then woke up at 03:30 AM...to the sounds of coyotes much closer...boys still OK


Then woke up at 05:00 AM...Davis whining...Sam basically snored all night. I squeezed close to Davis and he finally got back to sleep.


Up at 6:00 AM and then I went ahead and starting getting ready to leave. Sam and Davis were not so chipper in the morning as it did get down to 31 degrees as we read on Davis' thermometer he got at the trading post the previous night (Sam got a compass). But we made it up, and to make it back to church on time I loaded up everything on my back and we hiked back to the dining hall for breakfast, then on to the car to load up. Davis did not stop talking the whole Hike back..."My knees hurt...I can't make it...How much further..." Look at his face below. He was definately struggling, as was I, but we made it through, and except for the extreme cold, we had a great time.


Monday, October 10, 2011

Scout Trip to Shelby County Sherriff's Office


Sam and Davis are the second and third from the left. One of the requirements for the Tiger badge is to visit a Police Station or Fire Station....and since their den leader is a deputy, boo yah, we got to visit the sherriff's office training center. We got to ride in the SWAT van, we got to all carry equipment out of the SWAT van, we got to watch a K9 cop find some maryjwana, and we got to watch prisoners in their cells, then sit and pretend to be sherriff. Sometimes I wish I could earn badges...















Friday, October 7, 2011

Working with Dave

Magan had her very first mini-sessions a few weeks back with her photography, and I had the task of cleaning up the hill on our yard (pulling weeds, killing ants, mowing the grass, etc…). It was on my Friday off, so Sam was in school, and Davis decided that he would put on his work boots and Go Diego workgloves to help Dad out.

I began pulling the weeds and throwing them in large piles to the side for Davis to pick up. And Davis was great with this task for about 3 seconds, before he informed me that it was hard for him to stand on the hill, and that he needed to be at the bottom to pick up weeds. So he went to the bottom and I started throwing the weeds that way.

Davis then starting talking and I don’t even know what he was talking about, only that he did not shut up for a second. I think he was telling me all about how much he likes working and telling me about his wheelbarrow and how it worked and …. “Davis, would you at least work a little bit and put some weeds in that wheelbarrow instead of just talking about it” I finally said, slightly aggravated because I get really into whatever task I am working on. He looked a little sad, so I continued “just pick up some weeds and we can keep talking”. He smiled and picked up one weed, put it in the wheelbarrow, then started talking again, apparently thinking that was enough work…Oh well.

A little later while I was still picking up weeds and he was standing at the bottom talking while he “worked”, he started asking me about a girl that he got to play with one time. She is the little girl of a friend of mine from work, and they have played together a couple of times. He explained to me that she was kinda shy (She only speaks Polish, so she couldn’t understand Sam and Davis when they came over), and that he wanted to have another “playdate” with her because he might “marry that girl”. He then told me that he thought she liked him. I stopped working and looked at him like he was crazy, then through some more Davis words of wisdom in “Dad, sometimes you just got to pull weeds for your wife”. Dear me, that kid kills me.

After pulling all of the weeds and finally getting Davis to help a bit, we got some weedkiller out and were spraying around in different areas. I asked him if he needed me to spray some on him cause he was growing like a weed. “NO Dad, If I was a weed, you would have to kill me” he explained.

Finally with all of the work complete, he looked up at me and asked if he could ride his monster truck. I told him “sure”, and went to get the battery that was charging. He helped me lift the “hood”, and I told him to watch his fingers or this heavy battery would chop his fingers off. “If it chopped my fingers off, I couldn’t be a boy scout” he told me raising his two fingers in a scout sign. I laughed at my fun work day with Davis as he rode out into the backyard, radio blasting, in his Pink Power Wheels Jeep.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Old Baker Farm (Davis' Field Trip)

This is Davis' best friend Tyler, and they were on a field trip to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, AL. The are in the monkey class and both a little monkeys. Davis was so happy to get some cotton. Magan and Belle got to join them for the fun.














I don't know if Davis hangs out with the girls, or they all hang out with him. :) Magan said that when Davis saw Mrs. Cheryl (his teacher below) he told her "Mrs. Cheryl, you look cute in that green shirt".







Magan did not get to go on the hayride...too bumpy with new baby on board...but davis was ok with leaving her to go pick his pumpkin.