Camp Snyder

Cub Scout Pack 1168

Matthew spent last week at cub scout camp. It is his second year going to Camp Snyder. It's a week long cub scout camp. Camp Snyder is about 45 minutes south of where we live. The boys come home each night and then return the following day. I was able to go two days as a chaperone for our pack. I enjoy going and watching the boys do the things that boys love to do. It is fun to watch these boys interact with each other, the leaders and the staff. We have a good bunch of boys in our pack.

Matthew's favorite part about camp wasshooting the BB guns. He actually had a pretty good aim.

Archery also was a favorite.

He also enjoyed making the craft which this year was a car with a driver. Of course the swimming pool. Here you can see all our boys lined up for cannon balls which we all did at the same time. We had a blast cannon balling into the water, along with belly flops and 360's. Matthew especially enjoyed the pool on Thursday when they opened up the slides.

Matthew had an arrow painted onto his arm. The colors all represent different words. So each boy made a secret saying just by using different colors of paint. Then they could pick any thing to be painted onto them.

Above the boys are doing a "big dig" looking for crystals that might fuel a time machine. It was actually a lot of fun. It's hard to see, but there is a tunnel behind the boys. It is there that the boys enter into this big dig area. They first had to crawl through this piping. (We actually got stuck inside these drain pipes for awhile, while we waited for some heavy thunderstorms to pass.)

Matthew had a great week. He is now looking forward to putting together and shooting off two rockets he bought at the trading post. Matthew enjoys building things and figuring out how everything goes together. He definitely takes after his dad.

Priceless Moments of Parenthood

Every night after scripture study and prayers, we play music for the boys to go to sleep too. The music we play is classical music and recently Ryan added some piano music of church hymns and a few vocal songs about the Savior. Playing music at bedtime is something we started back in December when we moved into our new home. It seemed to really help the boys calm down and fall asleep.

This past week we have been reading in the scriptures about the Savior visiting the American Continent. One night when I was reading to the boys, I stressed the importance of paying attention to how they feel inside as I read the scriptures which were about the Savior. We then talked about the Holy Ghost and what it feels like to feel it. It was a special moment as the boys seemed to grasp the feelings of the Holy Ghost as we read.

Last night when I turned the music on the first song that played was a vocal song of "I Know My Redeemer lives." It is a female voice that sings the song with a soft piano in the back ground. It is probably one of my favorite songs. Anyways, during the song I could hear Christopher singing "I know my Redeemer lives" right along with the lady and music. I didn't make eye contact with him, because I didn't want to hear him stop singing. After the song was over, he came up to me and told me that the song made him feel happy and that he couldn't stop smiling. I told him he was feeling the Holy Ghost. He was grinning from ear to ear. It was a priceless moment.

Frying Pan Park

This week for our Friday Field Trip we went to Frying Pan Park. It is a park that is owned by the county and is the last working farm for show in Fairfax County, Va. On the property they have a four room school house that dates back to the early 1900's. The school is actually where Matthew went to preschool for two years.

The boys and I went on a tractor hay ride around the farm. We then walked around the barns and saw the animals. We were able to see a baby goat that was 5 days old. We watched some very active pigs. Probably brothers trying to wrestle and play. We saw some more goats probably two or three months old. They were so cute and very friendly. Their were four of them. I joked with the boys that we could take them home and there would be one for each boy. We could milk them and start drinking goat milk. When I said this, there was one goat who tried to get out over the fence. The boys laughed. We then went and petted two, slobbering cows. Matthew and I reminised about Grandpa Baker and his milking cows from a few years ago. As Matthew remembered it, Grandpa and him put their fingers in the cows mouth to have them sucked on. Funny thing is Matthew was to scared to put his finger in the cows mouth. So Grandpa made Mommy do it. YUCK!

We then saw the rest of the animals, bunnies, baby calves, chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, a peacock and another goat. I think the boys liked the goats the best. They enjoyed petting them and feeding grass to them.

After seeing the animals we had a picnic lunch. The boys ate and played on the playground. Then we went on a walk to the magic rocks. Behind one of the barns there are some big rocks. The kids love to run, climb and slide down them. They call them Magic rocks because they are so big and only in this one spot of the park.

After playing on the rocks, we went hiking in the woods down to a river. When we got there I let the kids play in the river. Thomas had no fear of the water and was the first one in. Christopher loved running and jumping in the water. Matthew enjoyed exploring the river and building dams. Joshua enjoyed following his big brothers. I enjoyed sitting by the river and watching the boys. It was very relaxing.

When we were done at the river, we hiked back out of the woods and up to where we parked. None of my boys wanted to leave. They wanted to go play on the playground some more and go see the animals again. But I decided after being at the park for about 5 hours it was time to go.

Tennis Lessons

Ryan has been playing tennis twice a week for the past year and a half. The boys have heard so much about Daddy playing that each one of them have wanted to learn the sport of tennis. Ryan has taken the boys to the courts this summer for tennis lessons. I went for the first time on Saturday. Ryan had the kids do a few drills. Then he took turns with each of the kids playing some kind of rotational game in which they volley the ball back and forth across the courts. The boys had a great time. Thomas entertained himself chasing the balls around. I think I'd better schedule some lessons with Ryan. That way when their all pros, I will be able to join in on the fun and play some matches with them.

4th of July

This year we broke away a little bit from our usually traditions. As you can see from the picture, we do not have our matching 4th of July shirts. That is what happens out here, when you wait until the last minute to buy things. Everybody was sold out. Oh well, I guess.

We started the day off by going to our local parade. It's a pretty short parade, but the kids don't seem to mind. They love seeing the fire trucks and catching the occasional candy that is thrown their way. Plus it has become a tradition and it wouldn't be the fourth of July with out seeing a parade.

After the parade, we went home and had a war with poppers. This is our second year of buying the poppers and having a war. Matthew and Christopher love to throw them at Ryan and I. They especially love it when they pop on our bare legs. Ouch, it hurts! Okay, really it is just a little hurt. But I of course make a big deal out of it and the boys laugh. Thomas and Joshua love just throwing them down on the ground and hearing them pop.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a barbecue. And for the first time, I was able to try Ryan's famous firecracker burgers. Which was very Yummy! (We usually have a big 4th of July party. The firecracker burgers are usually devoured before I get a chance to eat. But not this year, with moving and still trying to get settled and our crazy, busy lives, we decided not to have a big party.)

This year Ryan lit maybe 5 or 6 fireworks.

As you can see from the picture below. Matthew was very fascinated by the fireworks. After Ryan taught him how to light them, he handed over the lighter and gave Matthew the responsibility of lighting all the fireworks for the night.

Matthew was in his glory. He spent the next two hours lighting the fireworks. He also kept a good eye on his little brothers making sure they didn't get to close. Ryan and I sat back and enjoyed watching the firework show. It was fun to see the kids excitement as they ran back and forth picking out the fireworks they wanted Matthew to light next.

Just a few pictures of the boys enjoying their sparklers. We topped the night off with Root Beer Floats and going to a park to watch our local communities fireworks. It was a fun, relaxing 4th!

I am truly grateful to be an American! We are so blessed to live in this country with all of the freedom and opportunities that abound. It is neat to especially live outside of our Nations Capital. This land is so rich with history. I am grateful for the men and women who sacrifice so much for my family and I to continue to enjoy are freedom in this land.

Painting with Feet

I saw this idea in a magazine, I thought the boys would love to do it. So we got out large sheets of paper, along with some trays of paint. The kids used their feet to paint some pictures. They were a little hesitant. They weren't so sure about sticking their feet in to the paint. But once they did they had a blast painting. Eventually it turned into painting themselves blue. It was very messy, but that is why we did it outside, in old clothes and used washable paints. I enjoyed letting the kids just be kids.

Playground

Ryan and I bought a playground for the boys to play on in our backyard. It took us three days in the heat and humidity to assemble it.

Day One

Day Two

We started bright and early putting the playground set together. While we were busy assembling, we had workers here putting a fence in. YEA! I am so excited to finally have a fence. I am looking very forward to sending the boys out to play and not worrying about Thomas wandering into the street. The boys kept themselves occupied while Ryan and I continued to build the playground. The boys would dump cups of water on the slide, then run and slide on it.

Day Three

Another day of putting the playground together. We caught Thomas several times on top of the ladder. Thank goodness he is good with stairs, but my heart still jumped seeing him up so high. After the swings were assembled, the boys immediately jumped on them. It was fun to watch them squeal in delight, especially Thomas.

Finally after three hard days of working, we finally finished.