Saint Patrick's Day Parade

A friend of ours is running for Senate.  For the Saint Patrick's Day parade here in town she asked if anyone would be willing to march with her.  Tyler, Kyle, Makai and I did.  The boys looked so handsome.  They were a little nervous, but enjoyed it.  Now they can say they'd marched in a parade.  It was a fun way to spend the morning.

Eleven

Time sure flies!  I can't believe Ty is 11, but he is.  I always have the kids hold up as many fingers as they are old to make it easy to remember which birthday it is.  However, this year that proved difficult for Ty.  However, he figured out a solution.
We had plans for his birthday.  He wanted to go to the pool and have lunch at Olive Garden, but this was all ruined when Trey and Makai both got sick.  There was no way we were going to make it to a restaurant, or to a pool.  Tyler was so understanding.  I made two different types of pasta here at home and took Tyler to pick out the cake he wanted.  Of course, he picked cupcakes with the frosting inside and he wanted trick candles.  Probably the highlight of his day was going to Wild Birds Unlimited, a store here in town that sells bird food for birds in our area.  I sent him in the store with Kyle, their first purchasing trip alone, while I waked in the car with our two sick kids and Kory.  I told him he could take his time, which he did, but he came out all smiles!  He got two different bird feeders. 
Mammy and grandpop sent him all his new scout stuff since he's now a boy scout as well as Fablehaven 5, the book he has been wanting.  He also got a pocket knife from Monty and I and another origami book. Oh, and an Angry Birds shirt. 
As I went to bed last night I said a quiet heartfelt prayer thanking Heavenly Father for Tyler.  He is a blessing.  A wonderful boy!!

Ice!

 One day while in the mountains we came across the biggest ice sickle we'd ever seen.  Monty broke it off and they played with it for a while.  It did brake in two, so this wasn't all of it, but the boys were laughing because it was heavy!  Fun find.

Arrow of Light Campout

Looking through Tyler’s Weblos book we realized that in order for him to earn his arrow of light all he had left was a camp out.  As the weather was still cold (20degrees) I wasn’t excited about this in the least bit.  Because the mountain campsites were still closed for the winter Monty arranged for us to go to a buddy’s house and camp in his backyard.  He’s got about 5 and ½ acres or something like that, so it would be like camping.  Well, the Friday finally came that we had to do it because Monty was leaving for training the following week.  The problem…it was dang cold.  I was going to stay home with Makai, but somehow, still not sure how, got roped into going.  Trying to be a good mom I didn’t do the packing.  I told Tyler he needed to go to the garage and get the sleeping bags, tent, tarp and PADS.  I figured this was good for him.  When Monty got home he took the boys over and set up the tent.  They did a good job.  So, the time finally came to brave the night.  We all packed into the car and drove to the tent.  Cold is an understatement.  Once the sun goes down it’s just a joke to be outside if you aren’t half Eskimo.  Nevertheless, the reality was we were camping.

We started the night with me having Makai, but it became apparent rather quickly this wasn’t going to work, so Monty was on Makai duty all night.  He did great with him.  He didn’t cry all night.  He moved around like crazy which he always does, but he didn’t cry.  I do remember Monty waking up at one point laughing because he had no idea what Makai was doing.  Turns out he had turned himself upside down and was on the bottom of the sleeping bag.  He slept there all night, nice and warm. 

Anyway, shortly after getting everyone into sleeping bags and covered up I began to hear snoring.  At least the boys were sleeping.  I however was not very happy that Ty didn’t pack the PADS, so I was sleeping on rocks, roots, you name it.  I could sleep with out a pad when I was like 10…now, not so much.  I tried my darndest to find a comfy position, but there was no such thing. 

The hours passed and began to pass slower the colder it got.  I realized it was going to be a long night when I discovered I had to go to the bathroom at 1:00am, but was not about to get out of the tent.  At one point in the night I started to laugh hysterically wondering why in the world I was doing what I was.  Those laughs turned into cries a short time later as I began to fear the night was never going to end.  Monty woke up at one point during this and asked me if I was okay.  I didn’t tell him I’d been crying, but just laughed and said I couldn’t sleep.  He talked to me for a little while, but as he drifted off to sleep I laughingly said, “No worries, I’ll keep watch.”   About 3:00am I finally got warm enough, strategically tucking my head into the sleeping bag but angling it just perfectly that I could still breathe.  Maybe I was going to sleep after all.

 Oh, but no, as I began to drift I hear Trey crying.  Dang, this meant I had to move and feel the cold air again.  “Trey what is wrong?”  “My chin is cold mom.”  “I know buddy, so is mine.  How about you cover your face with a blanket,” I say.  Crying he responds, “But if I put a blanket over my face I can’t breathe!”  I started laughing so hard.  “Do you want to go home?” I ask.  No response.  (I was hoping he was going to say yes.)  We tried to get him warm, but it didn’t work.  He was also mad because one of his socks fell off.  Dang again, I didn’t want to hunt for his sock because it was dark and that would mean I’d have to come farther out of my sleeping bag than I already was!  So I ended up having to sacrifice mine.  He still wasn’t warm.  We decided he would come into my sleeping bag.  We got cozy and both felt warm when I heard those dreaded words, “Mom I need to go to the bathroom.”  Oh man.  Mustering up all my willpower I say, “Okay Trey lets do it.”  We got up, found shoes, shivered, and I piggybacked him up to the house(there was no way we were going to go to the bathroom camping style…I have my limits).  Trey was so good on this adventure.  He was so cold, shivering like crazy, but not crying.  We even laughed as we shivered. I tried to encourage him to sleep the rest of the night in the house of our friends, but he didn’t agree.  So, we went back out.  We hiked back to the tent and he said he wanted to sleep with me.  We tucked ourselves in and I have to say, as much as I didn’t like the idea of sharing a sleeping bag, I needed him to keep warm. It wasn’t until he came in with me that we were both warm enough to sleep.  He fell asleep before me, but I actually got 2 hours of sleep that night thanks to Trey.  When I woke up the sun was shining!  It wasn’t working, but it was shining!  Morning had come.  The campout was over!! 

We had breakfast with our friends that morning, which was very nice of them and then we went home.  I put the younger boys in the tub and then when they were nice and clean I hit the shower.  Oh, what a beautiful thing a shower is!! 

So, I am writing this so Tyler can have a record of the night he earned his arrow of light!  For the record buddy, I came.  I froze, I was uncomfortable, I’ll remember that night forever, but I did it because I love you!  But, I must say…I am so thankful that the rest of your campouts, you will be taking with your leaders! :)  Enjoy Boy Scouts!