Will's Birthday Bash

I know it's more than a month passed his birthday, but I want to record his special day.  This year Will has grown up a lot.  He's now our official lawn mower and he now refers to himself as one of the "older kids" in the family.  This year's birthday was his golden birthday as he turned 11 on the 11th!

 Elizabeth volunteered to make him a birthday cake and did a great job on it!

 His big birthday gift from us was an ipad mini.

He wanted to have his friends over for a pool party.  About 5 minutes after they arrived so did a huge downpour.  Thankfully, it only lasted for about 10 minutes and they were in the pool.  These boys are crazy, but have so much fun together.

Blowing out the candles for his ice cream cake

I made this cake a couple of years ago for Justin's birthday and Will requested it this year.  It was a big hit.  Here's to another great year, Will!  Hope it's your best one yet!

Scouts, Scouts, Scouts

Last week the boys had a pack meeting.  They have both been working hard on earning their ranks.  Bruce hasn't quite earned his Bear badge, but he will soon.

 

This was Will's last pack meeting in Cub Scouts and he cleaned house!  He earned his Webelos badge, Arrow of Light, Religious emblem, and several activity pins.  Yes, we have been busy!  He's really excited to be going into Boy Scouts next month.  

This week our house has been a little (okay, a lot) more quiet.  Bruce is at Cub Scout day camp and he is loving it.  He is exhausted everyday when I pick him up, but has been having a great time.  His good buddy from church Jameson has been there with him and that's made it even more fun!

 

Justin left yesterday for his high adventure scout trip.  How do you like his makeshift garment bag?  That's for his church clothes (they are going to the temple today).  I think the bag proves Justin has taken to heart the scout motto to be thrifty!  He will be camping out for three nights, canoeing, fishing, and hiking.  He lives for this stuff.  His bags have been packed for several days.

Wrestling boys

 Wrestling season is over for these boys and I was a terrible mother and hardly took any pictures!  Will wrestled with a club and had his first season.  We didn't make it to all of the tournaments, but we tried to go to most of them.  He did really well for a beginner and loved it.  No doubt he will be wrestling again next year.

Justin wrestled on the high school team and wrestled 120 all year.  He wrestled JV most of the year, but got in a few Varsity matches as well.  Competition is a lot tougher in high school than it was in middle school.  They go to tournaments in North Carolina, Tennesee, and Virginia so he was very busy. 

Although the season is over you can count on wrestling continuing in our house.  It's pretty much an everyday activity for our boys!

Derby time!

 Last month Will and Bruce participated in their pack's annual Pinewood Derby race.  Here's Bruce and Aaron putting the finishing touches on Bruce's car.

 I think there were 17 cars at the Derby race this year.

 I love how serious Will was when he put his car up to race each time.

 Holding baby Owen was just as exciting as racing cars.

 Will with his third place medal.

Bruce and Will went online this year to find how they wanted to design their cars and then drew it on a piece of paper.  They did most of the work themselves and were so proud of their cars.  Sadly, this was Will's last year to participate in the Pinewood Derby race.  Next year he will be in Boy Scouts!

Pack Meeting

Wednesday night Will and Bruce's pack had a pack meeting.  They were given all of their awards from summer camp and Bruce was awarded his Wolf badge.  I think Will earned 7 belt loops and Bruce got 4.  Perhaps the best part of the evening was the "farm" theme.  They have awesome leaders who make it fun for the whole family!

Day Camp

Bruce and Will spent all of last week at Day Camp.  They had a couple of rainy days, but had a great time and loved all of the activities.  They especially loved the archery and bbguns!

The last day the parents came for skits and awards.  

The theme for camp was about space and the boys got to make rockets that they launched.

Friday night the boys got home from Day Camp at 3:30 and at 4:00 they left for scout night at the drag races at Bristol Motor Speedway with our neighbor.

They had been to a NASCAR race a couple of months ago, but liked this one so much more.  It was at night so everything was all lit up and they had fireworks after.  What a fun week for these boys!

NASCAR race

A few weeks ago there was a big NASCAR race in Bristol.  We were able to get tickets to the race for $10 through the Boy Scouts of America so we thought we'd introduce our kids to a little local culture.  Aaron and our neighbor took over a car full of boys.  

The race was on Saturday so it wasn't the professional series, but we're amateurs so we didn't really care.

I stayed home with the girls (actually went to the mall with the girls :)).  Aaron said it was so loud, we knew they wouldn't have lasted very long.

Here's a tip we learned:  you don't really want to sit too close to the track at a car race.  Even with this fence, there were actually little pieces of rubber from the tires that came through the fence and hit Aaron and the boys. 

Dribble it, Pass it...

...we want a basket!  This is Madelyn's favorite cheer!  The Baptist church here runs a basketball program that Will and Bruce are playing in and Madelyn is cheering for.  She has been so excited to participate.  She is having a great time.  It's pretty cute to hear her cheer.  The woman who is teaching the girls has a strong southern accent and Madelyn repeats all of the cheers the way she is learning them...accent included.

Will is in a league with 3rd thru 5th graders.  Being a 3rd grader himself, he is one of the younger ones.  He doesn't take shots very often, but he is a good little passer and great on defense.

I didn't get any pictures of Bruce's game because I was in with Madelyn for team pictures.  Aaron is coaching both boys teams.  Bruce has practice on Monday nights and Will and Madelyn practice on Tuesday nights; games are on Saturday mornings.  It's been pretty busy for us, but it's really fun watching the kids participate and it's been good for them to get involved and make some new friends. 

Derby boys

Bruce and Will had their annual Pinewood Derby Tuesday night.  I was at Justin's final wrestling tournament so I wasn't able to go.  They had a great time from what I hear.  They have been busy working in Aaron's shop getting their cars ready the last couple of weeks.  I wish I had taken more pictures of that!

This is Bruce's first year participating in Cub Scouts.  After watching his two older brothers race their cars, he was so anxious to have his turn this year.

Both Will and Bruce painted their cars Ohio State colors, no surprise there!  Will ended up placing 3rd and Bruce placed 6th.   

Happy New Year!

At the stroke of midnight (or a couple minutes after), this is how Aaron decided to ring in the New Year!  It was a warm 38 degrees outside.  Our boys had been talking for weeks about jumping in the pool on New Year's, but when it came down to it, Aaron was the only one brave enough to do it.  He gave them such a bad time when he got out, Justin and Will finally "man'd" up and jumped in (Bruce was already asleep).  Aaron told me the next day he felt cold all day.  Go figure!

Future President?

Today Will's teacher told them they could dress up for their Christmas party if they wanted.  This is what Will chose to wear.  He loves wearing a suit!

Will's glasses

Will has been complaining off and on for some time that his eyes bother him. I finally took him in the day before school started and sure enough, he needs glasses. He was farsighted and has a focus deficiency. He will pretty much need to wear glasses all the time when he is in the classroom. He has been so excited to get them! Doesn't he look handsome?

7-11 Birthday!

Will has the coolest day for a birthday: 7-11! We celebrated with free slurpies at 7-11 after going to the splash pad at the park.

Just like Dad: can't ever have too many Buckeye shirts!

Will sold his DSi a few weeks ago. We told him we would pay half for a new iPod touch. He couldn't be happier to have this new device!

Watch out!

To the boy with the best smile in the world, Happy Birthday, Will! We love our super sweet nine year old!

Swimming lessons

These three kiddos have been taking swim lessons the past two weeks at the high school.  Yesterday was their last day.  They all did great this session.  Will passed to the next level.  Bruce and Madelyn both need a little more work, but made a lot of progress.  Naomi can't wait until next summer because you have to be four to enroll them.

So true!

Last week Aaron came in for Donuts for Dad with Will and Bruce. Bruce came home from school Wednesday with this picture and was so proud of it. There is no one greater in his book than his Dad!