Basketball

 This was our first round of basketball and the kids absolutely loved it. After their first game I was really concerned about making sure they were aggressive enough, so I paid them a nickle for when they got the ball and a quarter for each basket they made. It did help but after a couple of games the kids were so concerned about the referee calling fouls, traveling or double dribble that we had to have some stern talks with them about how the game is played. They didn't dare dribble the ball! I told them they are supposed to make mistakes and if the ref makes a call on them its okay. If they get kicked out of the game for hitting or kicking or being mean then that's not okay. I had to double the nickle when they dribbled and to shoot the ball (without making the basket) and that helped significantly.

These were the pictures I took behind the photographer. Then I matted my own so I wouldn't have to pay $10 a picture. The kids were pretty upset when they played their last game and hadn't received a picture yet. I had to reassure them that I was making them and now I hurried and did it!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Samantha had two birthday parties. One was at Uncle DJ and Aunt Whitney's house to celebrate Dani, Chloe, DJ and her birthday together. Aunt Whitney made the fun cakes with sparklers!
The next party we did at the farm on her birthday.

Samantha turned 10 and we love having a 10 year old in our house! She is starting to grow up and her interests are changing with that. She loves to go to activity days and do the activities there with her friends. She is good at nearly everything that she tries. She enjoys acting, singing, sports, and dancing. We wish we could keep up with all those interests! She is patient with us and allows our budget and schedules to do one at a time. Samantha loves to read and has found some fun books to enjoy. She does great in school too and has really enjoyed writing of all kinds especially poetry and narratives! She is growing her hair out and is happy that her old bangs blend in completely. This year she did not get a party with her friends since we have been busy fixing up the farm house. She has been thoughtful of our time. She really loves the movies Despicable Me and The Parent Trap. Samantha is still playing the piano and is preparing for our family recital. Samantha keeps track of our family scripture reading and makes sure we read out of the "big" ones every Sunday. We love our Samantha girl and are so happy she is part of our family. She is beautiful, smart, fun and thoughtful. Members of our ward have said that they are sad since they won't get to see Samantha at age 16 when she'll make all those boys crazy with how pretty she'll be. We don't want to rush that! She really has a glow about her!

Cub Scouts

 Derrick is officially in Cub scouts and earned his Bobcat at the first pack meeting.

 The best way to put the pin on is upside down.

 Good thing I wear my scout shirt so there would be an easy place for him to put the mother pin.

 Hugs!

Derrick also got to show off our reward system in cub scouts. My wolf pack made it. The boys earn beads when they wear their shirt, bring their book, and for being on time. Extra beads are given when their pack does stuff together. It really works too! I've been the wolf leader for over a year and the boys really need a reason to wear those shirts, bring books and be on time! They receive a reward for the day if they do one of those three that is randomly selected on that day. After they receive 50 beads then they get a grand prize.
I was inspired by going to Pow Wow and came up with this idea after hearing the system. It is made out of a piece of scrap wood I found in my yard and I sanded it. We painted it and then hammered in large nails for each boy. We used yarn and a paper clip to hang them up. The boys have to remove the paper clip and thread the bead over the loop to add them. There is a bead tied to the bottom of the piece of yarn to keep the beads on. I love it when simple things work!

Cousin Time

 I was able to babysit for my sister LeAnn while she and her husband went to Hawaii. I only went for a couple nights over the weekend and we had a great time! The girls were happily dressing up and the boys were sword fighting.

We were able to go to the park on bikes, scooters and pulling the wagon. We played baseball as well as we could and Mason had a great hit right to my gut. Man! It's been a while! All I could do is laugh! Don't worry, I recovered quickly. We watched movies, played games and ate! We were happy to have that time with cousins and would love to do it again!