Alex had a birthday!

For Alex's birthday I took him lunch from Braums. He picked Nico to be his table guest. My special surprise was that it was Cops in the Cafeteria day. Super Fun! A and N didn't get up and dance, but we enjoyed the silliness anyhow!
Alex is now 11. To celebrate we went to cub scout pack meeting. Both boys were jipped of parties this year. We agreed that a summer shin dig is in store. :)

DI

On March 1st our DestiNation Imagination team had their tournament. They spent the whole month painting, practicing, and prepping.  These are some of their  creations.

Here is the team. We had (3) 5th graders, (1) 3rd grader, and (2) 2nd graders. It was a cool concept they came up with, but they just didn't have enough time to practice. So tournament day sort of flopped, but they gained so much all season that it was OK. They are friends, which is great for these bro/sis combination. I told the parents, next year we'll have playdate Wednesdays because that is all they really wanted to do. These kids are over booked and don't have enough time to invest into this sort of program. Dan said 'no' to managing a team this year. Which I followed until my friend couldn't fulfill her commitment, so then I had to step up. Dan has said 'NO' to next year. And I agree. If Ryan wants to do DI on his own with his friends and then occasionally ask me to buy a bottle of paint, so be it. Until then, no way!

Cub Scouts



Here is another look at the arrow I made.

Here is Ryan earning his Bobcat. He is wearing Alex's camp shirt since Alex is wearing Ryan's uniform. The boys only overlapped by 2 months. At the next Pack Meeting Alex will wear a Boy Scout uniform, and Ryan a hand-me-down scout shirt... It is tough being second.

 Us with our youngest scout.

Alex earned a lot of awards this month including his Webelos, his compass, 2 compass points, and 4 activity badges. One month away from Arrow of Light, super achiever and Crossover!

 Group photo. I'm not sure why Macey is being a pirate.

Uh, here is Lucy, not Scout-ish, but very scruffy. The before picture!

Middle Jan Update

It has been a month since Christmas. We keep busy with all our after school activities.

I am putting together a slideshow for Alex and his friends' Arrow of Light Ceremony. I went up to take some more pictures of 'my' boys. I love these kids!

This year for Destination Imagination I'm sharing the workload with my buddy. Our team is 3 5th grade girls and their little brothers. Ryan is the lone Black in the group. Maybe next year we'll have just the four boys do it...

From my youth I heard rumors that I am part Native American, and having brown hair and brown eyes (the only grandchild in the Staudt family with those traits) Gma Betty would call me her Indian Princess. It is true that I DO have NA in me but I'm not sure that I've found the one that everyone refers to. Anyway, I found myself making arrows for two awesome boys last week. I even used arrowheads found in NWA (by Gma Betty herself). Maybe arrow making does run in my veins... not bad for a novice, right?

 

This is what Macey's dinner looked like the other night when she got to load her plate. Bacon and Doritos. Huh, not going to grow many brain cells on that diet.

I went out for Girls' Night last week. We went to Dave and Busters. We had fun conversation and yummy food.

We even played a few games. 4 person air hockey was our favorite.

Lucy went to the groomers. It is nice to see her face and her eyelashes. The rest of her is a choppy fluff still. It is winter and I didn't want her fur too short.

At pack meeting we had a magic show. Our buddy Nico performed for his friends. It was great!

January Fun

Here are some random pictures of the fun we've had the first week of January. I don't have a picture of us on New Year's Eve, but we spent the evening with the Sumners playing games and sharing treats. We saluted the New Year at 11, with the Time's Square Drop. It was a fun night!

 Macey's 2 Build a Bears. You can see her princess pillow on her bed (thank you, Grandma Frassa).

 Lucy going for a ride. Our black dog won't be black after her first groom. I'm sad! but it will be cute to see her change from Puppy to Dog.

 Sophia over to play. That is quite a tower. Did dad help you?

 Snuggling with Grandma.

 You can't see the book Macey is carrying, but all week she has carried 'A Mammoth in the Fridge' everywhere we go. It is a great book. Uncle Mike came to spend the weekend with us too. Here he is holding sister's hand as we walk over to the puppy park.

 On Saturday we took the family in town over to the Contreras to have the Rosca. The tradition is that there is a plastic baby in the cake and whomever finds it, gets to host the February 2nd party. Our family found 3, so I guess it will be up to me!

 Part of the tradition is that you have to cut your own piece, not matter your size.

 Mike found one.

 I found one.

Sister got one!
The grown-ups also played a few rounds of Pit. It was super fun!

It's Great to be Eight!

Being a Christ following Later Day Saint Family, turning eight means you get to be baptized and become a member of the church. Ryan has a simple and pure testimony of God's love for him. We were very excited to have Ryan make this first covenant with the Lord to follow him.

 Dan was able to take Ryan into the waters of baptism. A special day for both of them.

 Me and my boy. He was so big and handsome on this day. I can't believe how grown up he is.

 Grandma and Grandpa came from Arizona for this special day.

 Thank you for coming so far!

Ryan also invited two of his best buddies from school. This year we'll go to First Communion for Gabe, and in a few years we'll be at a Bar Mitzvah for Sawyer. We were so glad to have these boys and their families come and share our love of God with us.

 It was also a day to celebrate Ryan and his awesomeness!

 Here are some boys at the brunch following the baptism.

I told Alex a few days later that I loved the brunch because everyone that we care about most in Plano was there. We had sports, school, neighborhood, and church friends there all mixed together and everyone could feel welcome and special. He responded that we were missing a few; true my visiting teachers and our home teachers weren't there. But they had come to visit us before, and I knew they wanted to be there if they could. Here the men had gathered to talk sports.

 The women gathered to talk school.

June and I went to Costco the day before to get the food. What I had was yummy. I hope everyone found something they could enjoy. Not much was left over, so I know we had enough to keep folks satisfied at least!

Grandma June made Ryan a quilt for his gift. It is bright green on the back. I am so glad that we have family and friends that can support Ryan as his testimony grows.