Feed My Starving Children

A few weekends ago, the boys and I went to Feed My Starving Children with their Scout troop.  It was such a humbling experience and one I'm glad the boys were a part of.  I tell them often how fortunate we are and how so much of what we have is unnecessary, but being a part of this really helped it hit home with them a little more.  

They helped to pack meals that will be shipped to other countries.

It was an assembly line and it flowed super well.

Chaycers :)

Vann...how cute are they
in their hair nets?!

Ash and I...he was in stinker mode lol. 

Everyone with their troop that participated.

My two cute Scouts :)

This cutie did not want anything to do with his hair net.  He pouted and even squeezed out some huge tears.  It was kinda funny.  In the end, he wore it because he had to and all was good.

If you look at the big screen behind them you can see how much they packed for the children in South Sudan.  

When we were finished, we sat in the car for over half an hour talking about everything and how we need to appreciate and be grateful for all that we have because there are so many out there with much much less.  Also how we need to want for less...this is something I've been working on this past year.  We have so much stuff and stuff does not matter ya know.  So this past year I've really been working on living with less.  It's the reason I didn't buy them 15 birthday gifts like I always do.  That stuff gets forgotten and honestly how many toys can a family have?  So I focused on a fun family outing, a memory that will stick with them forever instead of a toy that will lose it's mojo in 3 days.  Anyhow, I'm still not where I want to be and plan to continue working on living with less and my only hope is that through it all I will pass this mindset onto the boys.  Okay that was deep lol, back to Feed My Starving Children...it really was a great experience that we all enjoyed and I hope to do something like this with them again soon!

Cub Scout Camp - Day 3

Guess who got to take the boys to their last day of Scout Camp??  Me!!  Excited much...you betcha!  The only downfall of spending the day with the boys was that I had to leave my sweet little Ash.  He and Dad had a fun day though...they went to the park, the Dollar Store for water guns, played t-ball, all kinds of fun stuff!

They learned about animal tracks and why they're important.  Then they made some to take home.

Origami!  They loved this one!  

Vann was in heaven making an origami dragon. 

At the end he taught one of the other Scout leaders how to do it as he was kinda confused during the initial lesson.  I loved watching Vann help him!   

The leader finally understood it after Vann explained it to him :)

Archery...both of the boys loved this! 

And they were very good at it too. 

They had the most bullseyes out of their Pack...pretty cool!  Below is a video of Chaycers getting a bullseye!

This game was called Gaga Ball.  

I've never seen it before, but it's really easy to learn.  You just throw the ball to get people out and the last person in the middle is the winner.  

Vann and Chayce were the last two in one of the games!  Vann won, but Chayce gave it his all :)

We picked mulberries off this tree...not quite ripe enough, but still yummy!  Reminded me of my cousins' house...we would sit in the mulberry trees at their house and eat them until we were all
purple :)

Another fav was BB guns.  This is Chaycers.

And this is Vann.  I love how they both have their legs up :)

Love this shot of Chayce.

I shot a round too!  

I had a really great time with them at camp!  I will say some of the crafty stuff could've probably been skipped altogether as they didn't allow for much creativity.  But the games and shooting sports were lots of fun!  When we got home I was soooo excited to give my little Ash a ginormous hug.  I could've squeezed him all night if he let me.  It was a fun filled weekend and I look forward to doing something similar with them next summer!

Cub Scout Camp - Day 2

They boys were very excited for Day 2 of their Scout Camp.  With their backpacks packed they were ready for a fun day!  

Headed off to Scout Camp again! 

I loved packing lunch boxes for them!  Since we homeschool I don't ever need to pack them lunches so, this was a special treat for all of us.  I kept it pretty healthy because that's how we eat at home.  Although I realized after snapping this picture that I went a bit overboard on the fruit and should've included more veggies.  Ah well, next time!  My fun surprise was the little note I wrote each day along with a joke.  They really liked it :)

Chris was the chaperone for their second day of camp.  He didn't snap any pictures, but he did get a video of Vann on the rock climbing wall.  He made it to the top each time...yay!!  Chaycers got about halfway up each time and then his little arms just couldn't reach the next rocks.  Chris said he tried sooo hard though!  

With Chris and the boys at camp that left little Ash and I with a whole day to play by ourselves...yay!  I had an eye doctor appointment in the morning that took about 20 minutes and then afterwards we headed to the park.  We sat and watched the ducks swim around for quite a while.  It was so relaxing, the weather was perfect, there were no distractions, it was just him and I...it was amazing!  We had some great convo and I soaked up every second of our one-on-one time together.  

Look at the ducks Mom!

Silly boy! 

We played at the park for a bit.  Although it's not a very big park so we spent more time exploring around the pond.  We saw a man fishing and watched the fountain which he thought was pretty cool.  

Cuteness!

The ducks were having a feeding frenzy at one point.  They kept diving down and popping back up.  It was cool to watch.

After a quick trip to Costco we headed to another park!

I'm doing Ninja Warrior Mom!  The boys love that show.  

Swinging like a big boy!  

We got home around 2:30 and he was a tired little boy.  He fell asleep in my arms while I was rocking him...love when that happens!  

I did some chores while he slept and impatiently waited for the boys to return from camp.   I couldn't wait to hear about the fun they had!  

Cub Scout Camp - Day 1

The boys had such a great time at their Cub Scouts Camp!  I was super excited for them, but a little unsure of what to do without them here with me.  I must admit it was the longest 2 days without them ever!  It made me realize even more so how lucky I am to get to spend all my days with them.  I love it and wouldn't change it for the world!  

Day 1 - Chris took them to our friend, Nicole's, house at 7:30am.  She along with two other adults were the chaperones this day.  I was at ease knowing they were in good hands with someone I totally trust.  And she knows me well and knew how much I would miss them so, she sent me texts throughout the day which I uber appreciated!  

Off to camp!  How cute are they?!

I wasn't the only one who was going to miss them!  

He cried when they left and asked about a thousand times where they were...poor guy!  He also let me know many times that he really wanted to go with them.

Homemade playdough made him a happy camper again!
Click here for the recipe. 

He really loves this stuff.

He cut it...

And shaped it into an...

Ice cream cone!  

Meanwhile the boys were having fun learning about archery.

And they both did great!

They got the most bulls-eyes out of their Pack...go boys!!  

Nicole dropped them off at home at 5:45pm...long day right?!  That last hour was the worst.  Ash and I were pacing the floor, watching out the window, impatiently waiting for them to pull into the driveway.  There were lots of hugs when they finally did!  And then they told us all about their day.  They had a ton of fun which was great to hear!