Touchy Feely

I adore my husband, especially today, when I think about him I can't help but smile and giggle a little.  Here is why:

I can't remember if I have shared the news in my blog that Kent has officially taken over Pack 464 and is now the Cub Master.  What does this mean?  (I had no clue just a mere few months ago).  This means that he is in charge of the entire pack, all 5 dens: tigers, wolves, bears, webelos 1 and 2.  This means that he oversees the leaders and all 54 scouts.  Yeah, that would be a BIG no thank you for me. 

BUT Kent is a leader that is able to listen, delegate, organize, make decisions and make changes when needed.  Already, only a few weeks in, he has done an amazing job of stepping into his new role without stepping on toes.  He has had to expand his little, personal bubble and TALK to new people.  After almost 13 years of knowing my best friend, it is almost unbelievable to watch him transform into this outgoing man.  I am loving it,  which means I need to put my patience threshold into check when our life is becoming consumed by scouts.  As you know,  patience isn't my strong suit.  It has been a sharp learning curve for both of us.

Which brings me to last night.  It was one of Kent's first parent meetings.  He did a great job of getting prepared, meeting with the assistant cub master and making and typing an agenda for everyone.  He was on a roll, and then 3/4 of the way through the meeting he was discussing the upcoming pack BBQ.  Who needs to bring what, who is going to lead different activities, when he says:

"We have some touchy, feely activities for the boys to be involved in." 

Oh wow, I was instantly cringing, mortified for him, but when I looked around EVERYONE was snickering and trying to cover their laughter.  Apparently, Kent didn't even know what he had said until he saw me cringing.  In his head, he told me he was thinking, "We have some lame, wimpy, games for the boys to play."

Holy hell, of all things, the new cub master probably should not be talking about touchy games for boys.  Luckily, most people have gotten to know Kent and laughed it off.  I will keep you posted on if he gets ousted.  :)

Hard Core Salesman

My pup has been working away with his Dad.  Kent and Brayden are earning their way to Cub Country Camp.  Each scout's target is to sell $450  worth of honey or Camp Cards.  I thought it was a ridiculous expectation and I was prepared to shell over the money that wasn't earned.

HOWEVER, my boy has sold 55 camp cards = $275.00
and 83 honey products = $913.00

AND he is not even finished.  He is determined to sell the most so he can be in a drawing for a camel back backpack.  Kent and I are so proud of him, little does he know, we picked up a camel back at Costco today for $30.00, just in case his name isn't chosen.

Look out world, my boy is a determined, hard working, salesman.  He was so embarrassed when he told me how girls and women would comment, "Oh let's buy something, he's so cute!"

Work what your Mama gave you!  :)

TF

Dani lost her first tooth, finally!  It was dangling for weeks!  It was so ready to come out that, the grown up one is already in.  We called her "sharky" because the new one was all lined up and waiting forever. (I never knew, but Kent says, sharks have rows of teeth, once one set falls out the next set is ready to go).

Thank you to Jeromy Dixson for his professional help while I was in a slight panic!  FYI, I guess this is kind of "normal."  Unless your child is in pain, it doesn't need to be pulled, just wait it out.

She even left the Tooth fairy a sweet note:

Dear Tooth Fairy,
Please write back.
Love,
Dani Phillips

On the mend

Here is the latest on my condition.  Thank you to everyone who has been concerned.  Especially you, Lindsey Hill, who did not even pretend to contain her laughter. :)  (Just as I would do).

Last night Kent said, "You have a beautiful, delicious, purple CANKLE.  Bwahahaha!"  This was as he was taking my sock off for me.

I think he got some pleasure in watching me hobble around because he also commented, "How does my girl who works out EVERY day get so injured from one soccer game?  You used to play everyday without any issues."

I kind of growled under my breath and then had to laugh.  This made me realize two things:

1.  I was an extremely bad ass, tough girl when I was younger   OR
2.  I am a wimpy, delicate old lady.

I like to think it is a touch of both.  But seriously, how is it possible for EVERYTHING on your body to hurt at the same time?  Especially when I felt like I was in really good shape before THE game.  I am not kidding, my shoulder blades have never hurt like this, along with my cankle.  I was even trying to remember doing some different kind of weight training that may have caused this soreness.  No such luck. 

One thing I know to be true:

NO amount of training in a gym is equal to playing a 90 minute game of Co-ed soccer (at least when you're 34 years old).

On a side note, I did not make it to Costco yesterday.  That was wishful thinking, I spent the majority of the day going nuts on the couch with ice. However, the girls and I went today, but thankfully I did NOT need the electric scooter.  Lins,they had 4 of them all lined up at the entrance and they were calling my name, but I braved on.  :)  I almost took a picture for you, but it was pretty busy right at lunch time. 

All right, I do realize my blog has turned into a minor (or major) whining session.  I promise to post some cute pics. of the kids and have only happy thoughts on the next post!  The good news is, I am on the mend!

Happenings

Soccer season is underway.  The kids started last week and my oh my is it COLD in Spokane.  I never thought I would be a fair weather soccer mom, but man, playing soccer in 40 degree weather and wind is not fun.

Brayden is on the same team he has been on for the last couple of years and he is doing great!

I am coaching the girls once again on an all girls team.  We are the "Cheetah Girls" and right now there are 6 girls on the team.  This is the least amount of players that I  have ever coached and I am kind of loving it.  Each girl gets lots of playing time.  My girls are doing great and I couldn't be more proud.  Ellie was the first to score a goal and Dani came away with TWO goals last week.  It was awesome!

My first game on my Co-ed team was yesterday.  I was very excited and nervous, after taking a year or so off, I had lots of jitters.  It turned out to be a GREAT game.  My team is amazing, sometimes I catch myself just watching in awe.  However, because the team is so good, our opponents come out hard and play very intensely against us.

I woke up this morning with my shoulder blades sore.   WHAT?!?  I think it's because I had to play with my arms up to keep the guys off me.  They don't seem to slow down when they go up against a girl, which I think is good and bad all at the same time. 

Along with sore shoulder blades I pulled my calf muscle.  This was no surprise because I went into the game with it feeling funky.  I decided to "tough it out" and continue on.  Not sure how smart that was, but I had a BLAST!  However, when I got out of bed, it was still hurting this morning.  I decided to forgo a cardio workout and attend just the body conditioning class this morning (weights and strength).  Not even one minute into our warm up we were stepping side to side.  Before I knew it I was on the ground writhing in pain.  It was all a bit ridiculous, I was mortified.  There were at least 30 people in the room, but I don't think many people noticed.  My friends gathered around in shock, asking what the heck happened.  I was bouncing along and then all of a sudden I was down for the count.  I shrunk into the corner and waited for some ice.  I wanted to cry, it hurt so bad, but I just put on the ugly face instead, forcing my tears to stay inside.

I am assuming because of my weakened calf muscle it couldn't sustain the back and forth movement and my ankle just rolled.  It is now a pretty purple and swollen.  I am lounging on the couch with ice, wondering when the last time I actually watched TV during the day.  It is crazy how fast your life can be put on hold, I don't know how long I can just hang out here.

On a side note, keeping with the injury/getting old theme.  I managed to get in the shower, this may be TMI, which was a task in itself.  In our shower we have little seats in the corner.  I always thought these were ridiculous and pointless, until today.  I sat down, relieved to get pressure off of my leg and I had a flash forward of myself in 20+ years.  I now know these seats will be handy when I am old and tired.  It is a sad thought at the moment, I feel young and healthy, I just wish my body would keep up.  :) 

Happy Monday everyone, I hope your week has started off better than mine.

*I may have another post today, I am thinking about going to Costco and using their electric carts to get around.  It may be a fun adventure with the girls.  I will let you know!

Spring Break Road Trip!

 The kids and I headed to my parent's house in the 'Couve for Spring Break.  We have taken the trip so many times that the kids are pretty well trained and did a fabulous job!  Plus, it helps that they get more screen time than any other day of the year.  :)


This was our first trip to the 'Couve since my parents moved.  I have to say, it was weird.  They are 20  minutes North of where they lived before.  Not only is it a new house, but it's a whole different community.  I couldn't just jet to a friend's house, she is now at least 35 minutes away.  No me gusta!
But their house is really nice and we were able to take it over in no time.

My Dad took the kids on a fun egg hunt at a park in the 'Couve.  It was very well organized with lots of activities.  The girls got their faces painted while Brayden played some games.

 They had an egg relay race, they didn't explain the directions very clearly.  Dani thought it was an egg toss.  As soon as the guy said, "GO!," Dani threw her egg across the field and then stood there in shock because everyone else was scurrying across the field.  I laughed so hard, it was too cute.

 Waiting for the hunt to start!

 Checking out the goods.

 After a fun trip to Kline Line park where it was 78 degrees, crazy warm, we came back to dye eggs.  Always an adventure no matter how old the kids are!

 Ellie went with G&G to a U of P soccer game, so Dani and Brayden held down the fort waiting for the Easter bunny.  Apparently, they were still hot from the 78 degree sunshine, (who can blame them when it was 40 degrees at home when we left), they needed to do this task shirtless.

                                                            Happy Easter!

 My sister came over with her adorable babies for Easter.  No matter how big those kids get, I am pretty sure my kids will always call them "Baby Leila and Baby Cullen."

                                            Assisting in an egg hunt.

                                   The bunny cake that Brayden proudly decorated.

              Cullen, one of the cutest/happiest boys around!

                                  Cousin playtime!

                                                                Beautiful Claire

                                     Gorgeous Leila

 We had a fabulous visit with my Cousin Sarah, which included a perfect Portland day in the park and ice cream!  We so love our time with her!
Next up, was a trip to Albany to visit my Grandma Wagener.  It was great to see her and visit with her over a yummy lunch.  Brayden even got in a few rounds of cards with her!  I love that he is able to play with her because those are some of MY best memories with my Grandma!

I also got to meet up with Lins and Megs, which was such a nice treat!  Thanks ladies, for a fun night out!

After our visit in the 'Couve we headed up to Seattle to visit some college friends.  While they were at work we visited The American Girl Doll store.  It was fabulous and very overwhelming!  We all had a good time checking EVERYTHING out.  The car below is a  VW bug for the dolls, it's a mere $350, I just had to laugh out loud.  This is as close as the girls will ever to one.

We looked at all the time period dolls, and outfits and accessories.

 Then we stopped by the salon where Megan (Ellie's doll) and Claire (Dani's doll) got their ears pierced!  It was all very exciting.  They also style the doll's hair, but we chose to forgo that, and I got some good tips from the stylist instead.  :)

 We had a birthday lunch in the bistro, where Megan and Claire joined us in their own little seats.  They even had their own cups and saucers, it was all quite cute and reasonably priced.  We got the birthday lunch package which apparently included this magnificent cake!  It was so fun, which included memories that will hopefully last a lifetime, because I am not sure we will be back anytime soon.  :)

Brayden was the best big brother and quite a trooper for the hours and hours we spent in the AGD store, not a single complaint.  We stopped at the LEGO store on the way out and he loaded up on a bucket.  It was a good time!

We then got to meet my friend Bethany and her new baby girl, Kylie.  It was a fun visit, I was so glad she was able to see us with her busy schedule.

Then it was on to Kelsey, Brian and Eli's house!  The kids had a blast with Eli, although I think he may have been overwhelmed with my brood at first.  We are looking forward to a visit from them in June!  Thanks for a fun night Graves family!

Mile stone

It is a sad, sad day when your little boy's bum gets too big for the cartoon underwear.  We were packing for a trip to visit my mom and dad for Spring break.  I checked Brayden's suit case after he "packed" it.  One of the many issues was that there were only two pairs of underwear.

Me:  "You are taking two pairs of underwear for 6 days?"

B: "Yep!"

Me:  "Do you think that might be a problem?" 

Side note:  I had finished all of the laundry so everything was ready to be packed.  B failed to put all of his clothes in the hamper, therefore some of his underwear was dirty and still on his floor. 

B:  "I don't like any of the other pairs that I have."

Me:  "What's wrong with them?"

B:  "They are too tight."

All righty then, we can probably remedy this.  Meanwhile, as I am digging through his drawer he bolted into my room.  He came back in and shoved more underwear into his suitcase. 

Me:  "Where did you get those?"

B: "The hamper."

Me:  "Ugh, I think dirty underwear may be worse than no underwear, what do you think?"

Smile wide on his face, just shrugged and giggled.

That brings us to today......shopping at Fred Meyer to pick up some road trip snacks and new underwear for the boy.  He migrated to the Angry Bird underwear.  Unfortunately, it wasn't big enough.....our only choices were white briefs or colored boxer briefs.  He was as crestfallen as I was.  :(  

I may just have to go search out some stores at the mall.  I don't want my boy to have to wear plain jane underwear quite yet.  He has to stay a kid/boy for a little bit longer.......