Cub scouts

I originally had this tacked on to the end of my previous post, but I thought I'd save it, because Ronan deserves his own post. This was about 6 weeks ago now.

Post picture here.

Ronan and I went to his Cub Scout activity tonight. This is a dreaded event. Ronan's group is huge, and there are some REALLY rambunctious kids. The event tonight was a tour of the Jaffrey Historic Society. So picture nine 7-8 year old boys walking through a building filled with old, breakable stuff, art, and rooms of Women's fashions from the 19th century, all lead by a very sweet, very old man with a quiet voice. I must say, the parents were a wreck. STOP. QUIET. BE POLITE. DON'T TOUCH. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO ASK YOU? HEY. QUIET. ONE MORE TIME AND...! Ugh. I told Ronan before he went in that he needed to have the courage to stand alone. That even if his friends were goofing off, he needed to be polite and quiet and keep his hands to himself. I have to say, he was as good as gold. I was so proud. Not one time did anyone have to speak to him and ask him to stop. Or be quiet. It was unbelievable. Not only that, but he was so proud to have me there. I must say that I am eating that up. I am so happy that my kids don't act like their parents are the plague. We are trying to have conversations with them about some of the things typical teenagers do, in an effort to help them understand that they are silly and unnecessary. (An idea we stole from our friends the Johnson's) We'll let you know how it works. Needless to say, I was as proud of Ronan tonight as I have ever been and we had a special night. Thanks, Ronan.

Post another picture here.

Slow in the fast lane.

Hay, man. One of my favorite roadtrip views.

Once again, a long span between entries. Maybe I'm not cut out for this blogging stuff. This entry won't be much. Fortunately hardly anyone reads this, so I'm not bound by any expectations. (Whew!)

Lately I have been dreaming of the West. The east coast is really something. Trees everywhere, water in surplus, half a dozen states within a half day drive. American history sites. Church history sites. Boston. NYC. The list goes on. Nevertheless, I keep daydreaming of driving in Twin in Dad's truck, at dusk with the windows down, warm wind blowing. (maybe stopping at Sonic) I think of driving through the outskirts of Boise/Meridian/Nampa breathing in the exquisite smell of the mint fields. Driving from Rexburg to Driggs watching mile after mile of dry farms speed by in a continuous blanket of undulating gold. Sitting on Mom's back porch as the sun goes down conversing with family and friends I miss so much that sometimes I ache. Walking down Highlander in the middle of the night going from Mom's house to our old house after a day of work. I guess the siren is calling me home. There is a full moon out tonight. I mean the kind that makes a cast shadow on everything and allows a person to walk through the woods in the middle of the night without stumbling. I think that is what started my melancholy mood. That and we had the first day of 70 degree temperatures today. Driving. Windows down. Seems to be a recurring theme. Many of my memories involve driving. Road trips with the parents. Mom telling Dad in Mountain Home that she thought she left the iron on. Turning around to make sure. Iron was off. Big blue van. Station wagon. Ford Fiesta trips to Idaho Falls with 4 kids to do dental work. Back and forth to Weiser. Back and forth to Utah. Back and forth to Rexburg. Anniversary trips to Jackson Hole.

Driving with windows down.
Warm wind blowing.
What a great feeling.

Warm.
Windy.
Happy.


Hmmm. Rambling now.

By the way, the background texture in the new header is one of the ampersand patterns.

Over and out.

"It'll tickle your innards"

Some of you may remember that in my "I'm it" post, I mentioned Diet Dew as one of my bad habits. Well, I started on the real stuff back in high school. Then, in 2003, when I lost 40 lbs, I switched to diet to facilitate that effort. It worked. However, when I started eating Hostess Fruit Pies, Little Debbie Fudge Rounds, Fritos, and California Burritos from Beto's in Salt Lake, the Diet Dew just couldn't compensate. But I digress. I have always battled with drinking Mtn. Dew in front of the kids. I tell them that they shouldn't drink it because the caffeine is not good for little kids. Which is true, but if we are going to be honest, it's not good for me either. So, for some reason Lacey picked up on the word caffeine from when she was little, and as a result, when she asks me for a drink of my soda, she asks for a drink of my "caffeine". DOH! Nothing like driving home the error of your ways. Reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes. "It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds." Anyone know where that one comes from? There I go, tying in one of my other bad habits. Haha. The other night my sweetheart organized the kids for a Daddy family night. I'm sure it's because I was being a total curmudgeon when I got home and she wanted the kids to think good things about me, even though I didn't deserve it! Everyone wrote some fun memories they had with dad and put them in a jar and I got to pick them out and read them out loud. I tell you, the kids love it when you let them know how much you appreciate their thoughts or actions. At the end of the FHE, Laur made a little quiz about daddy's favorite things, and one of the questions was, "What is daddy's favorite soda?" As soon as it was out of Lauralee's mouth, Lacey raised her hand and shouted out,"CAFFEINE!"

Maybe I should cut back.

BTW-"It'll tickle your innards" was the Mtn. Dew slogan that was introduced in 1965 and printed on the bottles.

Mtn. Dew bottle cap image used without permission from the website of Laura and Benjamin Beamer.