WeBeLoS

For someone not familiar with Boy Scouts, you may be thinking about the Fisher Price toys that wobble, but don't fall down. However, a Webelo is a boy ages 9-11 that is transitioning from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. WeBeLoS stands for "We Be Loyal Scouts." Loyal to their task is exactly what 6 boys and their dads were last weekend when they attended resident camp. The first night there was no power due to storms, so dinner was delayed. The next night there was a line of severe storms that kept them in the dining hall until almost midnight. Many boys went home that night. Our boys stuck it out. Skills they learned will last them a lifetime. While Hunter completed many of the requirements for his rank, his favorite was earning his whittling chip. This enables him to carry a pocket knife to scout functions. He spent much of the day yesterday finding pieces of wood to whittle. Of course the shooting sports, scout skills, and swimming were a conversation too! These Webelos may have wobbled a little over the weekend, but they didn't fall down. You go, boys! Also, here's one of the first pictures of Hunter in his new shirt. They recommend that boys earn their uniform, so before he went to camp he spent a few hours helping to clean up our contruction mess and any other job Daddy came up with. At least from mom's point of view, he looks so grown up.

Financial Peace

Well, after many, many years of listening to Dave Ramsey and applying his principles of money management we finally officially went through Financial Peace University. What a great opportunity this has been. When we first started listening to him on the radio (it was called "The Money Game" back then), he helped us to get out of debt. Our goal now is to teach our children to use these guidelines in their lives so that they don't make some of the same mistakes that we did. If you're reading this and are anything less than a millioniare, I recommend you check out his website, www.daveramsey.com.

21 Years and counting!

Well, here we are celebrating our 21st anniversary. We've accomplished many things in these 21 years. Our latest project, finishing the basement, reminds me of what a marriage is about. We've worked diligently over the last few months to try to get it done. The latest is the flooring. It takes teamwork to measure, cut, and place each piece of the Pergo. I measure, he manages the saw, I lay down the next row, he hammers it in. Our first few nights didn't run so smooth. We had to get into the pattern, and at least I (LeAnn) made many mistakes in measuring or marking the correct angles. I got left to this, since I'm the math freak. But piece by piece, hour by hour, we've worked out a plan. Once this happened, the next few rooms went well. Then there's the bathroom! From where they dug up for the water fixtures, the floor was very uneven and rough. Before we can lay the tile, it has to be level and smooth. That's just like marriage. Before you can build, you need to have a solid foundation. I'm thankful that our marriage is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Then when we have things come up, we work them out, things run smoothly for a while, then there's a new conflict. Eventually, we're going to finish this project and a basement that we can enjoy will be the result. While completing our marriage will take a lot longer than our basement to complete ("for as long as we both shall live" we pledged in our wedding vows), our end result should be a family tree that hopefully the world can enjoy.

Cub Scout Day Camp - Day 2

Today was about 10 degrees cooler. Regardless, the fire department was to the rescue. They came and sprayed the kids to cool them off. You can tell Jackson, Hunter, and Holly didn't escape the drops (and neither did mom). It's one of those things they will remember forever. They made a covered wagon in crafts and played softball in sports. Hunter is proud of his bulls eye in archery today.

Cub Scout Day Camp - Day 1

There's one word to describe the day - HOT! It was well into the 90's and the humidity so high you could squeeze it out. For the most part though, young boys don't care about the heat, just the fun. We did the usual archery, bb guns, nature (which included finding a snake), sports (today was soccer), and crafts (they made leather totems). In the picture above He, Sam, and Ben are making volcanos. Below is the picture of his target. BB guns is one of his favorite activities. Holly had a great time as well at "little buddy camp." The girls stayed at home to finish up some school projects.

Summer Break!

Well, here's a quick update as to what's happening at our household. School is about complete, minus a few lessons here and there. Hunter and Holly are playing baseball and started Brown Bag Bunch yesterday. Haley and Bekah are engrossed in a good set of books. Tim is working hard on some school work, and I'm keeping a couple of neighbor boys a few days a week. We're working on finishing our basement. We finished one room last night! While this is an overview, I'll give more specifics as they come about.

Moving On

Well, here we are on the world wide web! Our family is about to become an adult as we will be married 21 years later this month. I've been searching for ways for our family to reach out to those we love in the best format possible. While other methods have not worked so well, we'll see how this goes. I first have to find the time to figure it all out. Keep checking back though. I'll do what I can to keep you updated.