Emily's Wendy Rehearsal

Emily took drama as an elective this year as part of our Truth and Grace co-op.  The kids are rehearsing here and I got a good video of Emily singing her part.  The kids each had a solo and performed a little dance number.  They also learned how difficult it is to sing while dancing and more importantly, to sing and dance together as a team!

Mother's Day Dinner - Homemade Pasta in the Making!

I was very spoiled this Mother's Day.  It is probably the best one ever!  Emily sang at the 9am mass which meant she had to be at church by 8:15am.  My alarm clock rang at 7am and apparently my sweet daughter had gotten herself up super early to decorate and make me breakfast in bed!  Emily said she actually got up at 5:30am because her alarm went off an hour earlier than she had planned (poor thing) and that she had tried to get Lia up to help her but Lia couldn't get out of bed!  So right after my alarm clock went off, I hear "Happy Mother's Day Mommy!" and "I made you breakfast in bed!"  I got cereal with milk on the side (so it wouldn't get soggy) with fresh blackberries.  Emily also wanted Chris to get up early and surprise me with espresso but he didn't cooperate either with her early plan.  He did, however, get up and make my espresso so I could have it with my breakfast.  Am I lucky or what?

And... after church, my crew slaved in the kitchen all day making homemade pasta, Nonna's meatballs, and pasta sauce with hot italian sausage.  Mamma Mia!  I had no idea.

Happy Mother's Day

Cub Scout Camp - Saturday Morning

This morning I got a call from Chris to report that they made it through their first cold night.  David's new adult sized sleeping bag was so big that he could bury himself in it and fold the extra length over himself as a blanket.  Chris said he was like a little heater inside there.  Chris also said the heating pads worked great for his feet.  Looks cozy!

 

And here is the cub scout camp site in the morning.  What a beautiful day!

 

I also got an excited call from my son to report that he spotted a hawk! in a tree, with a nest and 3 hawklettes!  It is difficult to see in the picture, but look closely and you can pick out the babies.  Chris said the mama had gone when he took this picture. 



 

Cub Scout Spring Camput - Friday Night

Today is Saturday, May 4th and I haven't posted a blog entry for 2 months!  What is going on?  Well... I am going to do my best to get caught up on the major events this weekend and try the fancy back dating tool.  We'll see.  But as for the present, we have been preparing for David's cub scout campout at Brazos Bend.  Last November, he went on his very first camp out with his Daddy and his Tiger Cub buddies and loved every minute of it.  This time, Chris and David are better prepared because they learned a lot last time and documented (yes we are a family of engineer types) what they needed to do it better.  What is funny is that it got down to 32 degrees at the fall campout and because of this ultra-strange spring weather we are having, it will be 44 degrees on their first night.  This time they have the flashlights you wear on your head (all the scouts had these last time), walkie talkies, a padded bed roll so sleeping on the ground is more comfortable, a lantern, a second table, heat packs for the feet... and several other items I'm sure Chris will tell me when he reads this blog post.  Regardless, they take a lot of stuff and food to go camping for two nights.  We could not go camping as a family b/c there wouldn't be enough room to put more than 2 people in our car!  Anyway, I got a call that they made it last night and how beautiful the park was.  I also received these 3 photos:

 

 



David was so excited to find this winter tiger cap at Christmas time (since he is a Tiger cub) and knew it would be a hit at the Cub Scout Campout! So next year, I need to find a Wolf theme... what did I start?  Lat year he told the epic story of Gilgamesh around the campfire.  I can't wait to hear what story he shares this year?  He was telling me he was thinking about sharing the Iliad... a shortened version I'm sure.  We spent about 3 weeks reading a lengthy retelling of it last month.  It was full of battle stories and apparently he really liked it!  I love my "classically educated" kid!

These screened in shelters are really nice!  I think 2 families shared each one... but real scouts camp outside, I'm sure.

Chris said there were many beautiful oak trees here.  It looks really peaceful, doesn't it?