Cub Scout!

A couple of months ago, I (and all the other parents of kindergarten boys) received an e-mail asking if Oliver would be interested in joining Cub Scouts, which starts the summer before 1st grade. Well, anyone who knows Oliver knows that Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are right up his alley! I asked him to be sure, and he said, "CAN I START TODAY?????!!!!!"  Ha ha ha.  :-)  

So far, we're just getting started. He hasn't gone to any scouting events yet (where they earn badges or belt loops), but last night he did go through the "bridge ceremony" where new cubs are presented with a neckerchief (don't call it a handkerchief! It's a neckerchief!) and clip, and welcomed into the pack. 

(These next photos are from before the ceremony, and, in case you're wondering, he's wearing a neckerchief and clip because I didn't realize he would be given one at the ceremony, so I bought him one at the store when I bought his uniform. So now he has two sets. Which is great, since we'll probably end up losing one anyway. :-)  

My baby is so big. :-( 

All 5 of us went to the ceremony, despite it starting at bedtime. Theodore lasted approximately 5 minutes before Dennis had to take him outside. :-)

Oliver being welcomed into the pack with a special handshake:

Walking across the bridge:  (Yes, they had a real bridge -- small, but a real one! -- for the cubs to walk across.)  

 Being presented with his neckerchief:

Standing with the rest of his friends:

 The rest of the ceremony took another 45 minutes, during which both Theodore and Buttercup spent their time outside, playing near the fountain:

It's so hard to realize that my first baby is old enough to be in Cub Scouts, and that in another year he's going to be old enough to go on scouting expeditions and events without having a parent along!  We are super proud of him, for growing up and being courageous and just being him. We love you, Oliver! 

The Bad List

Over the weekend, Oliver and I were cleaning his room, and I came across this slip of paper from his first week of kindergarten.

It reads:

Bad List
Satin {Satan}
Emis {enemies}
Layla {one of his classmates}

Poor Layla! I wonder what she did to get on the bad list?!! Ha ha ha!

Lemon Pound Cake

If you've ever had the lemon loaf from Starbucks, you will like this recipe!  Not only does it taste almost like their cake, it's also very easy to make. And it tastes even better a few days later, after the glaze has really soaked into the cake. YUM. 

(Recipe from Picky Palate)

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix

4.3 oz cook-and-serve or instant lemon pudding mix (I only found cook-and-serve at my store)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup skim milk

4 large eggs

8 oz light sour cream

6 tbsp lemon juice

Icing:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.

Mix all ingredients together, pour equal amount into each loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until done.

To make icing, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice and stir until it's smooth and creamy. Drizzle onto the warm cakes and enjoy!

Buttercup's dance recital

Last week, Buttercup had her first dance recital! The girls performed a very cute tap routine and they all did SO well! It was so cute. I'm bummed that we weren't able to video the performance, but here are some cute pictures from before they went on stage!

Buttercup and her friend Lucy

Rehearsing

Theodore was so good during the performance. I thought he was going to be interested enough in it to keep still and quiet, but I wasn't sure! Thankfully though, he did great! The only problem was the 10 minutes or so that we had to wait for the performances to begin . . . and he also did not like it when the lights were turned off. :-)  But other than that, he did very well!

Patiently waiting for the show to start

Needless to say, Buttercup has the dancing bug now and has decided that she wants to continue to take dance classes. Yay for her! I'm glad she has found something that she loves to do! :-)

Cute Theodore videos :-)

Here are some cute videos of Theodore doing his cute toddler stuff!

Buttercup-isms

I haven't done this in a while! Here are some of the funny things Buttercup said yesterday. :-)

-- Oh, you know the word "ping pong"? That sounds just like "quinoa!"

-- When Jesus comes back, is He going to ride on the fire-breathing dragons? Are they His friends?

-- I love everybody in the world! Except for you [Mommy], Oliver, Theodore, Daddy, Aunt Anna, Granddaddy, Grammy, Grandma, and Grandpa. (I'm pretty sure she meant especially, not except.) ;-)

-- [Looking at one of my bras] Hey Mom, my friend Ellen has a pair of those overalls.

-- [After everyone was dressed to go to her dance recital] Oh, we look so nice! We look like we're about to go fly kites!

This last one was from a month or so ago. I was talking to Oliver and Buttercup about miracles, and asked them if they had seen a miracle, or if Jesus had answered some of their prayers. Oliver nodded yes and gave me an example. Buttercup got a pouty look on her face and said, "I asked Jesus to give me a unicorn horn, but HE HASN'T!!!" 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!  I love my silly girl. :-)  

Pictures!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks. :-)  

Theodore didn't want to nap in his bed one afternoon, so I drove him around for a while to get him to sleep in the car. He finally fell asleep about 20 minutes before we had to pick Oliver up from school. :-)

This is from Science Saturday at Oliver's school -- the kids drew on themselves with highlighters, and the ink  glowed under black lights. Pretty neat!

Oliver getting started on the biggest Lego set that he's ever put together (over 1,000 pieces!). It took him about 3 hours to finish. I would still be working on it, ha ha! :-) 

Theodore having fun wearing some old boots and squirting water into a bucket.

Hanging on a tree!

Washing his hands :-)

Playing in the sprinkler for the first time this year!