Seth's Sunday

Last Sunday was Seth's Sunday!! After church we drove to Excelsior Springs to attend Seth's scout ceremony where he was promoted from Webelo to Boy Scout. The ceremony was held in Excelsior Springs High School and kicked off with the District 'Scout Guy' addressing the group.

Little Miss Sunshine sitting next to Papa.

After the cub scouts were promoted to Wolves and various other animals it was time for the Webelos to take the stage. I love the 'guy' body language in this shot.

Seth's troup is pretty large - and ten (give or take) were promoted. The gentleman behind Seth is one of his scout leaders, Mr. Parnacott. Mrs. Parnacott (sp) is one of the others.

Obviously the boys thought a lot of their scout leaders. Here Mr. Parnacott is getting a spontanious group hug.

The boys are waiting to walk across 'the bridge'. You'll notice their scarves are not fastened. The tradition is once you walk across the bridge your Webelo scarf is removed at the same time your new scarf is put on. This signifies there will be 'no break' in your scout path.

Here Seth has just crossed the bridge.

His new scout leader and one of the senior scouts are putting Seth's new scarf on. His old one was just removed. Afterwards he will go down the steps and join the new troup and receive his new shoulder decorations.

Here Mrs. P is having everyone with January & February birthdays stand up so we could sing Happy Birthday. It was also the Boy Scouts 100th birthday (shy of one day). Steph & Seth both had to stand!

You can get a better picture of the bridge here. Each diamond indicates a step along the way to this ceremony. Seth was very proud of himself and rightly so. He worked very hard for this.

This is Seth's new scarf - pretty cool!

Afterwards everyone went to the commons area for cake & ice cream. There were TVs showing a DVD of all of the boy's activities in the last year.

Guess which cake wizard made this one?? I'm so glad she is a member of our family - saves everyone from my crummy Wal-Mart cakes. I just cook so my family doesn't die!


I swear Steph was not the only one serving cake but it sure looks like that here.

The guys!! I LOVE this picture.

Seth watching some of his activities on one of the TVs. In between running around like a wild man and eating cake of course.

Proud Mom & Dad,


and proud Papa & Nana!

When thing started winding down at the school we headed back to Steph & Jeff's for Seth's birthday party (remember - it was HIS day). It was snowing but not too heavy at that time. Poor Seth had to share his birthday with the Super Bowl - kind of like the day he was born. All birthday activity stopped when commercials came on!

He received a subscription for kid's National Geographic from Grandpa and Grandma Wells. He was pretty excited about that! Here is an inflatable globe he got with the subscription.

And then the Wii accessories started. Don't you love the pure lust in Noah's eyes and the body block from Seth?? Some things just never change.

Shame he is not excited isn't it?

The card worked great with the Star Wars theme.

I have to point out the obvious - you would never, ever see a girl howling in excitment over a video game! Shoes, maybe, but never a video game!

Here Seth is blowing out his candles with the help of a new bioncle.

Pretty neat kid with a pretty neat cake!

Where other super bowl parties may have required lots of recycling for cans this one just needed a flat space to assemble gifts.

And then the drive home . . . . . spring can come at any time!!

Happy Birthday Seth & Congratulations!! We are all very proud of you - keep up the good work!

Our Mockingbird

The kids will tell you that I thoroughly enjoy our resident mockingbird. Even if he breaks into song at 3 a.m. on a summer's night I have to smile. Most of the time he (or she) is perched on top of the power pole by the big garage. Lately though we've been visited by the little guy checking out the living room through the bay window. Right outside the window is our chimera (sp) with a wooden top. That is his current favorite spot to 'people watch'.

Last Sunday Katie discovered our neighbor and they studied each other for the longest time.

She was quite thrilled to watch as she was being watched. I have a number of stuffed birds which sing their various birdsongs when squeezed. She went through all of them trying to find a match. I guess my next stop at the farm supply store I'll need to find a mockingbird.

Christmas videos

I didn't take many videos over Christmas since I was too busy enjoying everyone but here are two you may enjoy. Katie, Natalie and I had a 'quiet' corner in the living room and I was fortunate enough to get the two of them on video. If you are insulin dependent you might want to watch your blood sugar!

This was taken New Year's Eve while we were discussing what game to play. Not actually playing the game yet, just discussing it! The kids were ready for bed (Audrey brought her old, old nightgown - much to her mother's dismay) but they were right in the thick of it. I believe Shane was voting Ryan 'off the island' - gotta love brothers! I would like to point out that for our New Year's buffet we did make an attempt at healthy eating.

Celebrating Family

The Lord started this season with a mother and child so I don't think I can do much better than that! Jerilyn and Natalie take a few moments to just look beautiful.

Shane, Christy, Alex, Tyler, Jerilyn, Jackson & Natalie all arrived on the same flight Wednesday (after Christmas). We sort of 'smushed' everything together with Thursday morning being our Christmas morning then swinging right into New Year's Eve and New Year's day. On Saturday we celebrated Alex's birthday and then Ty, Jerilyn & kids flew out Sunday. Shane, Christy & Alex left Monday with John & Lindsey driving home on Tuesday (before the next snow storm). Everyone made it home safe & sound. We had a wonderful, wonderful time so come along with us.

Christmas Morning

Happy chaos of Christmas morning. The kids are checking out their baskets.

Jackson isn't real sure about this elf hat thing

Tyler checking out Natalie while Ryan checks out his video.

I'm explaining to Katie that this ornament is 'Princess Katie' since she knows ALL the princesses and this one didn't look familiar.

Katie and Natalie sharing a moment during the gift opening. Natalie was fascinated with her and Katie was fascinated right back.

Katie showing Papa her new book

Audrey patiently waiting - it was wonderful to see her keeping up with everyone. Her color and her energy level was amazing!

This bag has a masculine flair doesn't it?

Pat and I did a family calendar with pictures from the last few years. Everyone's birthday and anniversary is shown with their pictures and just lots of other fun pictures throughout. It was fun watching everyone look through them and remember when the pictures were taken.

Noah is looking a bit concerned about one of the pictures - maybe I should have gotten a release.

Jackson enjoying looking at his new car . . . . .

Jackson NOT enjoying that big guy taking his car and claiming to help get it out of the box!!!

Alex with her new bead kit. Christy put in hours later helping the girls string beads. She's a better person than I am!

It was great watching Jackson dealing well with the commotion. By the end of the weekend he was holding his own and running around like he owned the place. He loved Katie and he played 'by' Caleb a lot.

Natalie, on the other hand, was good with the commotion from the start. She spent most of our Christmas morning passed out on Papa's lap. She is the most beautiful baby with a darling little personality. Very laid back and absolutely thrilled when someone talks to her.

Noah and Seth with their personalized baseball bats

Noah was very excited about a new bionicle!!

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Christmas morning passed and before you knew it we were setting up the buffet for New Year's Eve. We played a number of games but mostly just enjoyed visiting and eating.

The following are just a few shots taken throughout the weekend.

Blue eyed Caleb spent most of the weekend with this sweet smile on his face, just hanging out with whoever was willing to give him some time.

Shane catching up on life outside the house

Jackson LOVES vehicles of any kind. As long as you kept wheels on the computer screen he was your guy!

Jack playing with Papa

Papa and some of his girls

Jackson and Lindsey discussing the 'walking on sunshine' music button that the adult kids hate and the little kids love.

I love Ryan's mouth showing Caleb how to eat. Trust me, Caleb does not need to be shown how to eat but some parental responses never change.

Caleb 'farming' with Joy - we started this during the month spent in the waiting room after Audrey's surgery

When the going gets tough the tough go to bed and watch a movie!

Did you know that humidifiers will make your hair stand up? Caleb was thrilled when he discovered this.

Joy and Katie heading to the sledding hill by the pond. Check out Lindsey's blog for pictures of sledding activities.

Audrey, Alex and Katie helping Shane mix up Great-great grandma's sugar cookie recipe.

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Saturday we had a very special treat. Lindsey & John made homemade pasta and Shane made a wonderful creamy red sauce along with bruschetta.

Lindsey showing Noah how to use her new pasta machine.

And finally eating the fruits of Shane & Lindsey's labors. I had no idea homemade pasta was as light and delicious as it was. Shane always makes wonderful sauces but he outdid himself on this one. We sat and ate and talked for a long time.

Alex's birthday is December 3rd so when they come home for Christmas we throw a birthday party for her. Aunt Steph bakes a great cake and we all get to celebrate. Here Papa helps her read what her new CDs are.

Another one of Steph's creations

Cake lighting by committee. We were thrilled Steph could be with us since she has been working 12 hours shifts for over a week. She dispatches the snow plows and then write the reports for the city of Lee's Summit during snow events. Jeff was even able to be with us on Friday. He has been working 6 days a week and sometimes more.

Katie watching the cake process - notice the tiny bit of sauce on her cheek. That was probably equal to her total calorie intake for dinner!


Hanging out in the kitchen while cake is being served. Come to think of it we probably spent most of our time hanging out in the kitchen - not a bad way to pass a family weekend.