Alex The Torpedo

Alex has been swimming faster and faster and Becky caught it on video.

Scout Recruitment Party

Becky assembled the scouts of pack 90 and their families for a pizza & movie party tonight. We advertised it to the whole school, hoping to get some more kids interested. One extra kid and his dad showed up tonight - the dad had been a boy scout and believed in the Scouts as a way to help raise young men. Becky put together a great display of the Scouts and their adventures so far this year.
Wolf Den member Nicolai and I demonstrated what he had learned this year about folding the flag in the school cafeteria.

The kids enjoyed a movie called Down and Derby about parents relieving their Scout Pinewood Derby days through their sons' Derby. I had never seen it before, but it was actually funny, though I think it would be funniest for Scouts and their families, but not so much for the general population. It reminded us that the Derby should be fun and for the kids, not the parents. Our Derby will be in a couple of months.

November Blog Posts

I just finished catching up on November's blog posts. Catch up here.

Talking While Swimming

Aaron likes to talk while swimming. Becky caught it on video.

My Disaster Kit - The Blog

After the ice storm last month in Oklahoma, I've been thinking again about getting prepared for unforeseen emergencies. Mark and the cousins had to abandon the house for a night after their neighborhood lost power. I sent him some links to resources I had used to make some preparations. I realized that I had spent a lot of time thinking about this and putting together several emergency preparedness kits for personal use, for sheltering in the house during a blizzard or power outage, for getting stuck in the car during bad weather or a big traffic jam, and a portable 3 day kit for grabbing and bailing out of the house in the event of a disaster that damages the house. It has made me feel more secure, though I hope I'll never need most of it. I wanted to catalog what I was doing, and I can't seem to avoid wanting to share this stuff, so of course I decided to put it all into a blog. It is not meant to tell anyone what they need to do, but instead to get them thinking about emergency preparedness, and to catalog my specific efforts. I'm going to slowly add to it over time. I have a few posts over there already and will add more when I have time (sigh). Please check it out and comment at My Disaster Blog. There's a link to the right of this screen also that will get you there too.

Touring the Firehouse

Pack 90 took a tour of the Sylvania Fire Station today to learn about fire safety. They got a toor of the pumper trucks and ambulance. The firefighters demonstrated several pieces of their equipment and let the kids try out an infrared camera that they use to find hot spots in buildings. This tour and fire safety lecture got the boys one step closer to completing their Wolf and Bear badges.

Building Castles

Aaron was prepared as he brought his new Black & Decker toolkit that he got for Christmas to the Kids' Workshop at Home Depot. It includes the goggles, the jigsaw he's holding, a real tape measure, and a level. These were a big help (sort of) as he and Alex put together this month's project, a wooden castle bank - more of a box with a lid really.
As a matter of fact, this month's castle project was one of the hardest we'd done, with several pieces attached in odd ways. It was set up so that if one piece was out of alignment, it threw off several other parts. They got the job done (with some help), and took home two new castles.

Memory Band Donations for 2007

We just sent in the donation that we compiled by selling the memory bands honoring Melinda that Becky designed and ordered. We still have a few left over that we weren't able to sell, but all told, we were able to send $390 to Komen for a Cure in honor of Melinda Marie Evans. We have to find a cure. We have some other ideas for fundraising for 2008, but we are still working our the details. For now you get a hint - Pink Tag Sale.

Merry Christmas 2007!

We woke up this morning and had a leisurely breakfast while we opened presents. The boys were excited to see that Santa had brought them something they had asked for. Aaron got a Larry Boy car with Larry Boy and Alfred action figures. Alex got Mario and Donkey Kong plush toys. We were all blessed with lots of presents from our family and friends.
While we received and appreciated many great gifts, the boys were particularly excited about 2 of them. They found out that Grammy and Grandpa Hardage would be taking us to Walt Disney World in Florida for Spring Break. We've been wanting to take the kids for a while but we hadn't been able to coordinate time off and the financing for the trip. Plus we think Aaron is now old enough to enjoy the parks and keep up with the pace of the vacation. Secondly we got the family a Nintendo Wii which has a unique controller that responds to its position in space which allows for some fun moves. You can swing the controller like a bat to hit baseballs for example, or use a bowling motion to throw spares and strikes. Alex though he might be getting a handheld videogame, but was thrilled to see that we had gotten a Wii.
Becky decided that we would honor Jesus's birthday with a Happy Birthday cake for Christmas dinner dessert. A couple of weeks before, Alex asked if we could honor Melinda with it also, since she was in heaven with Jesus. We couldn't say no. We found a cake covered in chocolate frosting and "1000" chocolate chips to honor Melinda's love of chocolate. We smiled as we talk about about what we loved about her. It was sad but nice. We miss her.

We hope your Christmas was filled with love and good cheer. Merry Christmas!

Posing in a Winter Wonderland

It was very nice for Santa to pause his present delivery preparations the day before Christmas to pose with the boys. They did a great job this year in matching sweaters.

They found Santa at the Children's Winter Wonderland that we go to every year. I couldn't go because of work, but Becky was able to take them with Grammy & Grandpa Hardage. That strap across Alex's chest is holding the case for his birthday camera. He's been taking a lot of pictures and video since getting it. Tonight we're going to Nagoya for dinner which is a Japanese hibachi style restaurant where they cook the food on a big griddle at your table. Should be a fun Christmas Eve.

Four Rudolphs

The hand tracing reindeer antlers were such a big hit, theat we all got to wear a pair. A little red face paint on the nose allowed these three to blend in with Aaron's stuffed Rudolph friend. I know it is hard to tell them apart, so I'll help. The real Rudolph is front and center.

Just a Swingin'

Alex and Aaron got to spend the first Friday of their winter break at one of their friends' houses. This family has 5 kids with kids both Aaron & Alex's ages. While Aaron got to attend a birthday party there in the morning (and check out the 5 Munchkin swing), Alex got to spend the afternoon there for a holiday craft party.

They made several crafts and Alex tried them all. One of his favorites was a set of reindeer antlers made from tracings of his hands. I want to add that I am in awe of a parent that will host TWO kid parties in one day in her home. I doubt we'll ever be that ambitious, but we were inspired.

Pulled Out at School

Alex's baby teeth don't stand a chance. This one he pulled out at school and kept going. The school nurse wrapped it up so that he could show us and present it to the tooth fairy. It's hard to believe that I used to spend hours convincing him that his early baby teeth were loose enough for me to pull.

Aaron's Winter Concert

This year's Preschool Winter Concert was a big treat. Aaron had been practicing in class and did a great job. His P-3 class sand several songs with their teacher, Mrs. Meinecke, by themselves. Then they joined the 4 & 5 year olds for another couple of songs. The older kids finished out the concert, and we had a nice reception in their classroom that Becky helped plan as Class Mom.

Those Garlands Look Good Enough To Eat

To decorate the tree this year, Becky continued the tradition of stringing popcorn and cranberries on thread. This year Alex was old enough to help with the stringing with his own needle and thread and did very well. Aaron helped by handing a piece of popcorn to whichever one of them needed it next. Of course, if they weren't quite ready for the next piece he was holding, he ate it.

Alex's Winter Concert

Today we got to attend the Lower School Winter Concert which had a very nautical theme. The Primary classes had been studying the ocean this past semester and the music reflected it. Alex and his classes got to dress up like fish and act out one of the songs, "Swimmy", onstage. The older students took turns playing Christmas bells between acts and when they took the stage they sang a medley of songs about China because of the School's international focus and adoption of Mandarin as the additional non-Western language that they're teaching the older students. The Lower School Choir finished with a holiday medley. Alex really gave it his all this this time and it was fun to see him have this much fun, especially with his favorite song, "Nautical Bash". Splish, splash, splish, splash...

My First Cherry Pie

Aaron wanted a maraschino cherry pie. I found this out after he turned his nose up at my bing cherry pie that I made to honor his request for a "cherry pie". Easiest pie ever. Store-bought crusts, canned cherry pie filling. Dump, top with the other crust, poke some holes, and bake. Oh well, more for Becky and I. Becky thought it was a little tart. Oh well, more for me. It was a little tart, but it is perfect a la mode - or like my dad likes it, with ice cream on it.

Last COSI Visit Ever

This was a bittersweet day. We've enjoyed coming out the local science museum, COSI, for years, from even before Alex was born. It has cemented its place in our lives with the enjoyment our children have gotten out of it.
We came again today, for probably the last time. They needed Toledo area voters to approve a levy measure in the November election to raise the funds to keep it afloat. But the levy measure failed and unless a last minute savior swoops in, they will be closing their doors at the end of the year.
We didn't do everything there was to do here. Just our favorite things. We took lots of pictures and made a few more memories. We hope that something happens to save COSI, but if not, it place in our lives will pop like this bubble was. Not the biggest loss this year, by far. IT seems lately that the only constant thing in our lives is change.

Happy 8th Birthday Alex!!!

Today our firstborn became an 8 year-old. He opened a few presents after breakfast, including this stringless electric guitar from Nana & Papa Evans. He loves rocking out with it. It even has a teaching mode that walks him through 8 progressively harder rock songs.
He had never been to the new Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, so today we took a self-guided tour. One of the large display areas was full of glass jewelry which Becky and her mom loved looking at for inspiration. We sat in a heavily air-conditioned audience and watched a glass blowing demonstration, where the artist made a colored vase in front of our eyes.
He got to blow out a huge 8 on his ice cream cake and open a few more presents after lunch. We played with some of his presents and let his brother catch a little nap.
Alex got to pick the restaurant for dinner and he chose the Elephant Bar at the local mall where we celebrated Becky's birthday. The boys had a great time and got to take home the chimp goggles that came with the kids menus. Aaron is holding Podo, his new puppy that he got to open on his brother's birthday (to keep him out of his brother's presents).

Happy 8th Birthday, Alex! We're so proud of the kid you are becoming.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We stayed at home this year and were joined by Becky's mom, Susan. Becky and Susan weren't feeling well, so I whipped up Thanksgiving dinner. For years we've kept the turkey cooking simple by reheating a precooked smoked turkey. To that I added garlic mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, corn, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Happy Thanksgiving!