Birthday stuff and more

Birthday stuff and more over at Baby Bear Steals the Show.

Wolf!

David has been working really hard to earn his Wolf before Greg deploys.  And he did it!!

The December Pack Meeting was special for our family.

Greg and David were invited to perform the flag ceremony (or posting of the colors or whatever it's called, sorry).  They made a great team. It was tender to see my boys together in their uniforms.

David received his Wolf badge!  And his first arrow!  He has also earned several belt loops in the last few months (including the Computer and Video Games.)

I am very proud of him.  (And I love Cub Scouts!  Who would have guessed??  Not me.)


Then Greg proved that he has earned his PowerPoint belt loop.  (Ha ha!  That's his joke, by the way.)

He talked to the boys about citizenship--about how they can contribute positively to the different communities and groups they belong to.  He showed pictures of how he contributes to his Air Force community.  He did a great job!  (I wouldn't say that if he didn't.)

I'm very  appreciative of David's den leaders.  They have been super supportive of our efforts to help David earn his Wolf so quickly.  And I am so grateful that they made this Pack Meeting extra special for our family.  Greg won't be at another Pack Meeting in a long time.

Which leads me to this frightening thought...

PINE WOOD DERBY minus DAD equals AHHHHHH!

But for now I'll just be proud and happy of that wolf pin.

Wisconsin summer odds and ends

I found a file of pictures from the summer on Greg's computer.  (I've been so scattered lately, I never know what I might stumble upon!)

Today it is gray and snowy and mushy outside.  It is also Ohio outside.  Perhaps this isn't a bad opportunity to look back at some odds and ends from our last month in Wisconsin.  It was summertime.  And it was Wisconsin.

Sara at age six months

Nothing like a sweet little baby wrapped in a towel.  (Oh Sara and her sensitive skin.)

Karate America Kick-a-Thon

David really enjoyed karate over the summer.  

The last event he participated in was the Kick-a-Thon for the Ronald McDonald House.  They collect pledges and then kick as many times as possible in one minute.  They kick with a partner using X-ray paper to see, hear, and feel the kicks (so they can be easily counted by the partner).

David kicked so hard that he broke the X-ray paper!

Mr. C teases David about the broken X-ray paper.

 It was a fun, short, and meaningful event.

Mr. C is awesome.  He was great with David.

David and Mr. C

Congratulations to David for his 23 kicks!!

Hooray for David's 23 kicks!

Where Sara spent half of her babyhood

These pictures were taken when Sara was six months old.  But they could have been taken any time in the last eleven and a half months.  This is where Sara likes to be.

First Friend

Sara's baby buddy was Quentin.   He is two months older than Sara.  David, Mary, and I fell in love with him before Sara was born.  And then Sara was born and she fell in love with him too!

I miss Quentin, and I miss his mommy, Hillary.  Sniff, sniff.  Actually, more like weep, weep.

Sara was about six months, and Quentin was about eight months, when these were taken.

  Look at these two sweeties!  Oh Sara and Baby Q, may you meet again.

So many people we miss ... 

Good-bye party

One of David's sweet friends (and fellow lover of Lego and Minecraft) is Isaac.  His awesome mom Sarah got some of David's school buddies together to throw a little going away party for David!  It was darling! 

 Ohio-themed games, fun prizes, water games, thoughtful and super cute decorations, and even disposable cameras!  (The boys didn't even know what to think about the cameras--they couldn't understand the concept of film.  So funny.)

And in an amazing and happy twist of fate, David found out just days before the party that his best friend Bailey would be moving to Ohio too!  How crazy is that??  So the boys go to celebrate together at a joint party. 

The party was the day before we left, so it was perfect timing.  Something fun to look forward to that last day and an opportunity for some closure.

David loved the chance to run around (literally) with his friends.

David misses Isaac.  (Isaac is an AMAZING builder!)

And I miss Isaac's mom.  I met Sarah on the playground after school when David was in kindergarten.  You know how there are some people you see and you know you want to know them because there is just something in their countenance and you can see their goodness?  That was Sarah.  She is fun, hard-working, thoughtful, warm, down-to-earth, and kind.  She's one of those people who is so easy and fun to talk to.  And her dedication to serving others--at school, her church, friends, family--is inspiring.  I especially respect and admire her commitment to supporting the school.  (It's fair to say she is definitely one of the pillars of the school community!)  I am so grateful she had this little party for David and Bailey.  (She even made a photobook with the pictures the boys took.  David treasures it!)

Yep.  So many good people we miss.

Another Good-bye

While David was at his party, Mary was having her last play date.  She spent the day with super buddy Abby.  Oh, sweet, smart, fun, adorable Abby.  

They did art projects at Abby's house, and then Mary got to go to Abby's hip-hop dance class.  (Which Mary LOVED, by the way.)  I picked Mary up at the dance studio. The girls said their good-byes.

And I said good-bye to Abby's mom, Renee, another wonderful friend who was so helpful as we prepared to move.  

Yep, yep. So many good people we miss.

Okay.  I have more.  But I have to stop.  My heart is hurting too much.

(Sheesh, this blog is getting depressing...)

Campus

Greg's diploma is framed.

Sadly, that's all the formality he's getting for his PhD.  There was no commencement in August.  So we planned to go back to Wisconsin for graduation in May (and swing up to Door County).  But with his deployment, he'll be on the other side of the world in May.  So then we decided we would go to graduation in December, which is the Sunday before Christmas.  But now he has Evasion and Conduct After Capture training in San Antonio next week.  Darn.  Greg doesn't get to walk and be hooded.  (And I don't get to see my friends.)  But he has a diploma!  And spot on the wall in his office!  (Not that he'll be in his office for much of the next year...)

It would have been nice to go back to campus.

But we did go to campus for a final family outing right before we moved.  It was very hot and humid that day in Madison.  Today in Ohio there is snow on the ground and school was cancelled.  It was an entirely different season back when we moved.  It's been months...over four months.  That's like a third of a year.  Why do I feel like we're still brand new?

Anyway, here is a walk down memory lane ... pictures from campus that I would swear were taken just a few weeks ago ... but it was the end of July ... back when Sara wasn't quite seven months old and David just  barely eight and Mary's sixth birthday was ages away still.

Time marches on.