Love Will Find a Way, the Video

Remember last week when I shared the video about our trip with you? Well, the kids made another video on the trip although this one is a little different.

While we were in the Fort Bliss Military Museum, Princess and Daylen and some of the kids thought it would be fun to make a short story about a dad who goes off to war. I love that my kids are the actors, but I also think it was a fabulous way for them to capture major parts of the museum.

It's not very long. Take a minute and watch it. I think you might enjoy their creativity and all the fun they had exploring this free museum in El Paso. It's too bad they didn't have access to costumes.

Happy Birthday, Curly!

Drama Queen made him this beautiful picture.

My sweet little guy has been so patient this week! He turned 7 on Wednesday and I let him open two gifts, a box of crayons from us and a giant coloring book from Dog Walker. Other than that, he has mostly waited until today when his grandpa and all of his brothers and sisters could be here. As an added bonus we also got Little Sis and her family to join us for dinner and cake.

He has always been a fan of Cars, so when I was able to buy the Planes 2 vehicles so cheap, we decided to put some of them on his cake and let him open the rest of them. We also bought him the movie and the kids watched it after dinner. It was a real hit!

He was such a grateful boy (as you already know about him) and he hugged and thanked everyone as gifts were given. He was super excited about his new jacket (how many 7-year-olds have to show everyone how soft the lining is?) and his very own football.

His one request was that he wanted Oreos on his cake, so we crushed them up and made them look like dirt and the little bulldozers were spreading them all over. I thought it was pretty cute and he was happy. We didn't want a huge lump of frosting, so we put an upside down cupcake as the hill and then frosted over it.

Then all the kids wanted that extra tall piece of cake, but of course we gave most of it to the birthday boy.

Happy birthday, Curly! 

Guest Blog: Boy Scout Photo Shoot by Bossy

Do you remember back in June when Mom mentioned a blip on taking Sport, Curly, Taco, and Burrito to a casting call for a photo shoot in the middle of a crazy busy day? Well, Taco was chosen to be a part of it and we have been waiting for the pictures to launch. We were so blessed to be given access to download as many of the unwatermarked photos from the shoot as we wanted so Mom asked me to write a guest post and share them with you.

Taco was super excited, he actually had to miss a couple of days of school to participate. He was paid by being allowed to keep his gear from the shoot, fed lunch, and given a bag of goodies. I was very grateful for the free khaki uniform since he will become a Boy Scout in November and it was a huge blessing not to have to buy him a uniform. Also his new shorts are super neat.

The first day they went to a little green space in downtown Salt Lake called Gallivan Plaza and they played games. Taco thought it was strange that they cheered even when a scout missed the bean bag toss and horseshoes.

I was lucky and scheduled a job interview during the time of the shoot, so I checked him in and went to it and then came back. When I was observing him I noticed that Taco was much more athletic than some of the other boys, and he was a leader, teaching the younger boys how to throw and aim. I later found out that Taco was the only real Cub Scout and the rest of the boys were professional models. At the end of the shoot they had them run through a fountain to cool off.

The second day of the shoot we got to go to Camp Tracy. I was so glad that Taco was able to go up there this year because our pack opted to do their own camp so he wouldn't have had the opportunity without being selected for this. It was so much fun being in the mountains watching him educate the group on poisonous plants and kiebos (outhouses).

Because he was the only scout, I was the only scout parent, so I spent the better part of the morning educating the camera crew on patch placement and how to tie a neckerchief. But it was well spent because I think these photos are amazing. You can also see them at www.beascout.org and on the Cub Scout Facebook Page.

One thing I noticed flipping through the nearly 900 images is that Taco was genuine. The professional model kids knew how to angle to the camera and smile and pose, but Taco knew how to be a scout.  The adults (professional models) told me how helpful and kind he was and how enjoyable he was to be around. He taught them a lot about the scouting program.  

Another Busy Week

It's been crazy around here trying to get back in the swing of things. The boys started football and that means practices pretty much six days a week until the games start. The girls have had dance workshops. Crafty has danced as much as 7 hours a day!

Sport had his Board of Review for Scouts so he can get a couple of rank advancements at the Court of Honor on the 30th. No time to run home for his Scout shirt. He had to go straight from practice.

We had two swim parties, one for my Activity Days girls, and one today for the Girl Scout troop. We celebrated Drama Queen's birthday on Sunday and Curly's was Wednesday so we are prepping for his big party on Sunday with the family. He wants a friend party too, but he doesn't start school until Monday, so that one is still up in the air.

We did dentist appointments, eye doctor appointments, and haircuts, as well as a doctor's appointment for Prima Donna and her first day of physical therapy. The Dog Walker washed up all the laundry from the trip, but we had a giant folding party to get it all out of the family room.

My dear friend, Astrid, and I made a trip to the temple yesterday. Honestly, I'm not sure how it fit into my schedule, but the Lord truly does provide and I didn't even miss those 3 hours.

Everything keeps breaking. We had the Dog Walker's car in the shop, then the big van (because we broke the side door on vacation and it wouldn't open). And today Drama Queen had a flat tire and they used the air compressor to pump it up but it went flat about half way to the tire store. The owner of the store came to their rescue, but it will be tomorrow before we can see what she will have to do for the repair. The lawnmower broke and is in the shop, my sweetie's bike derailer broke so his bike spent a couple of days in the shop, and now our fridge is acting up... it's really quite a list!

Then I already told you about the County Fair, and tonight we went to the City Safety Fair. The kids got candy and school supplies, frisbees and stuffed animals. It was fun! I love the pic of Baby Doll and Curly in the old fashioned fire truck and Curly was super excited to actually hit the target in the BB shooting range.

This is the first year they haven't given out free hot dogs and chips at the fair and I have to confess I brought the kids home and we ate cold cereal for dinner. Then my sweetie and I made a lengthy trip to the grocery store before putting in my Tupperware order. Bossy's boys wanted to play football so they have been doing a fundraiser to come up with the registration fees.

Tomorrow I have a big training meeting for the fall selling season for my Tupperware business and I have to do a mini-presentation on fundraising. (I wonder why she asked me to do that???) The boys have jersey fittings for football and practice, Baby Doll has a birthday party in the afternoon and Crafty has one in the evening. It's our Girl Scouts Awards Picnic and I'm just not very prepared for it yet except that I did buy all the food at the store tonight, but there are a lot of hours between now and 6:30 tomorrow...