Was it National Scout Month? February 2014

February was a huge month for cub scout activities!  I’m not sure why there were so many, but here you go!
First, the Pinewood Derby!  Each of the boys made a Pinewood Derby car (with a little help from dad) and raced it against the other cars in their cub scout pack.  Last year, Jim helped a lot, but this time he let the boys do most of the work—sanding, painting, and decorating.  They did a great job, and their cars performed really well

Notice Reagan in her ballet attire.  The competition was on a Saturday morning after her ballet/tap class.

Thomas came in 2nd place overall and also won the Cub Scout Spirit award for having the best scout-inspired decorations on his car.
Zachary came in 3rd place overall.
And then there was Jonathan.  Each car raced 10 times.  Jonathan’s car came in 1st in 9 out of his 10 races, more first place finishes than any other car, more first place finishes than either of his brothers or the boy that placed 1st overall.  In fact, Jonathan’s car beat all three of the cars that placed. And yet Jonathan’s car came in 4th overall.  We think this was due to a glitch in the computer timing system because there were two heats where all the racing cars registered abnormally faster runs.  All three of the placing cars were involved in these two particular heats, and then 1st place car was in both of them.
Poor Jonathan.  He had watched his car beat every other car out there, and then he didn’t get a trophy, but his brothers did.  He was devastated and confused.  We all were, but we used it as a teaching moment, and in the end, Jonathan was a trooper and mustered up some joy for his brothers.
Since, the top three cars all advanced to the district competition, this story is not over yet, but you’ll have to wait until April posts to find out how it all ended!
Later that month, the cub scouts toured Neyland Stadium, including the really awesome new locker rooms and training facilities.  Then we all went to the basketball game.
And this time we remembered to wear jackets, since last year we forgot them and then froze to death waiting on the shuttle to take us back to the parking lot

Jonathan, Zachary, John Pierce, Thomas, Avery, Reagan, and Jake

Posing with Peyton

Eventually, the kids all left our crowded seats and went to sit where they had a little more space!

Go Vols!

At the end of the month was the annual Blue and Gold Ceremony.  This year it was Hawaiian themed, so the girls did a little hula dancing, and the boys all received their Hawaiian names which are probably long gone at this point!

I should’ve done this with all of them!

Like I said, it was a big month for scout activities!

Oops! Missed a few! Camping, Artwork, Safety City, Lysa, and RISK

I should have known that I would miss some pictures!  These came off my phone and didn’t make it into the correct folders.  Now they are in the right place, and I’m ready to share them with you!
First, in September 2013 over Labor Day weekend, we took the kids on their first REAL camping trip.  That is, we camped in a tent for more than one night  somewhere other than our back yard!  It was miserably hot, but the KOA had a pool and our camping buddies, Josh and Cris and their kiddoes, had a camper with air conditioning, so we managed to survive and have a great time!

Jim holding the big fish Cris caught.  She used hot dogs as bait, and now my kids think that is the only bait anyone should ever use!

All the boys on the playground—clearly it was a game day!  Go Vols!

Actually, I know it was a game day because Jim and Josh worked their tails off in the heat trying to hook up a TV to watch the game!

Also in September, Thomas painted this picture for me.  He said it was a blood machine and told me all about how the different parts worked to carry blood to people who need it.  He’ll make an excellent blood donor someday!

In October, the second graders went to Safety City, and Jonathan and Zachary’s sweet teacher snapped this pic of them and sent it to me.

In November, I went out of town one weekend with my friends Michelle and Katie.  We went to hear Lysa TerKeurst speak and even got to meet her.  It was a great weekend!

Jim also taught the boys to play RISK!  (Reagan and I were gone to ballet and a birthday party.  She wasn’t purposely excluded!)  They had to take a couple of breaks, but they finished the whole game!

Okay, now I think I’m caught up! 

More Snow, More Scouts—February 2013

Well, it snowed some more in February, a little better than the January snow, and I was able to take some pretty cute shots of the kids.

Thomas, Jonathan, and Reagan

 

 

We even managed to finally lure Zachary back out into the snow!  This may be the first time he’s played in the snow since he was about three!

 

At the Cub Scout banquet that month, the boys acquired their new rank badges, Tiger cub.  Jim attached each boy’s new badge.

Zachary

 

Thomas

 

Jonathan

Learning to Ride a Bike: November 2012 (minus Thanksgiving)

The most monumental thing about November was the kids all learning to ride their bikes.  Woohoo!

Our good friends Josh and Cris had shown us the trainer bike they had gotten for their kids.  It’s basically a bike with no pedals.  It allows the child to just practice getting balance.  So Jim took one of our kids’ bikes and removed the pedals to make our own trainer bike. (Note: in case you decide to do this to your kid’s bike, in removing the pedals, Jim made it impossible to reattach them, so that bike was permanently pedal-less)

This is not our bike, but you get the idea!

 

Boy, was that kid not happy! But the others were pretty nice about taking turns with it, especially the boys, and it wasn’t long before they were coasting easily down the street, their feet poised inches above the ground, balancing like pros!

So one day Thomas looked at Jim and said, “Take the training wheels off my bike!” So Jim did, and Thomas hopped on, and in almost no time, he was riding his bike!  Zachary said, “Me too!” and in one day we had two kids riding bikes!  On day 2, Jonathan was riding his too! (His was the one Jim removed the pedals from, so we had to buy him a new one)

Reagan was not happy about the boys taking off and gaining this skill without her, so she put some extra effort into the trainer bike, and within a week, she was pedaling off with the boys too!

I took video of all the kids riding their bikes, but I took it with my phone, and now it’s all sideways.  Nobody wants to look at that, so you’ll just have to use your imagination!

In addition to riding a bike, the kids also went to their first UT basketball game!  Super fun and a lot less expensive than football games!



Go Vols!  So glad Josh, Cris, Carter, and Kennedy invited us on this outing!  It was lots of fun, although I think the kids’ favorite part was riding the bus from the parking lot to the stadium!

Another treat this month was getting to sit it on one of Reagan's ballet classes.  Look at her go!

Superlatives

I realize this is really random, but it seems like a quick and easy way to capture some of the cute and quirky things that make my kids special at this moment of their lives.  So, if five-year-olds got superlatives, here are the ones we would win.
Most likely to randomly lean over and give you a kiss and say I love you…Zachary
Most likely to be sent to timeout…Zachary
Most likely to sing really long songs that have no actual words in them…Thomas
Most likely to sing really long made-up songs with actual words…Reagan
Most likely to be kidnapped by his kindergarten teacher because he is so adorable you just want to take him home…Jonathan
Most likely to fall down on the soccer field…Thomas
Most likely to score on the soccer field…Thomas
Most likely to need to go to the bathroom IMMEDIATELY upon sitting down for a meal…Thomas
Most likely to ask for extra stickers or suckers at the doctor’s office so he can share with his siblings when he gets home…Jonathan
Most likely to come home with a green dot instead of a yellow dot…Zachary
Most likely to get in trouble at school because he is yelling at other kids WHO AREN’T DOING WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING…Zachary
Most likely to get in trouble at home because she’s screaming at her brothers…Reagan
Most likely to ask a bizarre out-of-the-blue question at bedtime to put off actually going to bed…Reagan
Most likely to visit Mom and Dad in the wee hours of the morning…Thomas
Most likely to do a chore without being asked…Jonathan
Most likely to tell you a story you don’t think will ever end…Jonathan
Most likely to ask a stranger in a waiting room to read her a story…Reagan
Most likely to name a pet Rainbow Heart Love…Reagan
Most likely to explain to you very intellectually why you are wrong…Jonathan
Most likely to explain with much crying and hysterics why you are wrong…Reagan
Most likely to just cry…Thomas
Most likely to throw himself in the floor while crying…Zachary
Most likely to still not eat chocolate…Jonathan
Okay, I better stop before this post takes you two years to read.  I’m certain I could think of a hundred more.  Some of you could probably think of a few as well!  Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our little lives!  Happy weekend!

What’s in a Name?

Apparently quite a bit!
Today at VBS we learned about how Jesus has a name, that he received his name from God, and that it means “God saves.” 
Jesus’ name is special and we all have special names too.  As part of the theme of the day, one of the activities the kids did was find out what their names mean.  Apparently God secretly influenced the naming of my children because they are quite appropriate, one in particular!
I admit that what the kids’ names mean is not something Jim and I considered when we picked the names.  We both liked the name Reagan and chose three more presidential names to go with it.  (For the full story, read HERE.)
Little did we know…
Zachary means “remembered by God” as in “God remembers Zachary every day and protects him from incurring the complete wrath of his parents who are driven absolutely bonkers by his whining and constant car noises.”
Jonathan means “gift of God” and fits him perfectly.  God knew how rough it would be sometimes to raise quads, but at least He took pity on us and gave us Jonathan who often makes the rough times just a little bit easier.
Thomas means “twin”!!!!!  How cool is that?!?  Not only does it make sense because he’s a multiple, but also because according to JIM’S ENTIRE FAMILY Thomas is practically a clone of his daddy.  Daddy’s little twin!
Reagan.  If you thought the other names made sense, wait til you hear this one!  Reagan means “little queen”!  Are you kidding me?  It’s like we waited until after she had been around a couple of years and then chose the exact name that matched her personality!
Coincidence?  Oh, no, no!  God knew exactly what He was doing when He picked these names and put them in our heads!
What about you?  Does your name fit you perfectly?

Let the Posting Begin!

It’s Spring Break Summer Break!  Time to blog about Christmas!
Grrr…it’s really ridiculous that I’m just now getting to this!  I seriously started this post back in March.  Oh, well!  On to Christmas! 
By all means, go back and read “Must Finish Christmas Before February” so that these Christmas posts flow better and my sad posting abilities become THAT MUCH MORE OBVIOUS!!.
The theme of this year’s Christmas was Toy Story!

It started with Jonathan asking for a pull-string Woody.  He had seen one at target and wanted it ever since.  Zachary promptly asked for Buzz.  And after watching Toy Story 3, Reagan said she wanted Jessie and Thomas wanted Bullseye.  We were grateful none of the kids wanted any of the seriously CREEPY toys from that movie!
Santa managed to find a really cool Woody/Buzz combo where the toys actually talk to each other!  We were thrilled to death with it…until we discovered that Woody didn’t have a pull-string.  WHY WOULD ANYONE MAKE A WOODY DOLL WITH NO PULL-STRING!!!!!  WHY, SANTA? WHY?!?  Jonathan had specifically asked for a PULL-STRING Woody, over and over.  He never forgot to mention the pull-string.
We debated sending Santa all the way back to the North Pole to get a different one.
Santa was not happy about that.
We decided to compromise.  This Woody was really cool, so maybe Jonathan would be okay with it.  Santa promised he’d bring another one, if Jonathan didn’t like this one.
So we waited til morning…
The first thing Jonathan did was turn Woody over and look for the pull-string.  When it wasn’t there, his arm dropped down.  He was so disappointed!  We knew he was just seconds from dropping Woody on the ground, one of those slow-motion falls, just like in the movie, where poor Woody falls and falls spinning into toy oblivion.
Quick!  Quick!  Damage control! Push the buttons!  Show him Woody talks!  Show him how Woody talks to Buzz!
Luckily, this was cool enough to revive excitement about Woody and Santa was saved from an emergency trip to get another one!
Seconds later, the kids noticed there were actually other presents too, and stockings, and Reagan almost brained herself trying to get her stocking down.  She pulled the incredibly heavy stocking holder down too, but managed to somehow catch it, saving us from a trip to the ER!

The rest of the day was PLAYTIME!!





Finally, it was time for bed.  The day was done and so is this post!  Merry Very Belated Christmas everyone!

Must Finish Christmas before February!

aka Christmas Eve!
On the day of Christmas Eve, we took a trip to Jasper to visit some of Jim’s relatives.  It was our first trip back since the Severe Cat Allergy Discovery of Aught Nine!  We did some pre-trip medicating and kept and eye on him, and this time there were no issues!  Hopefully that means it won’t be over a year before we make it back again!
 
The kids opened presents, and we had a delicious meal!  Of course, they kids’ favorite part of the meal was the appetizer course when Aunt Kathy gave them all the grapes and crackers they wanted!

We even got to play outside for a little bit!


Thank you Granny Kat, Gammy, and Aunt Kathy for hosting us so fantastically!  We had a great time!  Love you all!
After the visit it was time to head home and get ready for Santa to come!

Since we were gone all day, we weren’t able to make cookies for Santa, but luckily I attended a cookie swap prior so we were able to provide Santa with a variety of homemade goodness…probably much more than Santa really needed!
The kids were so excited they could barely be still for the picture, especially Thomas, as you can see!  At least in this shot he hasn’t jumped completely out of the frame!
Despite their excitement, the kids went to sleep really fast.  They knew Santa wouldn’t come until they did!  Yea!