After the Feast

Thanksgiving dinner was over, the dishes were done, it was time for pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We Thank Thee

For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in Heaven we thank Thee.

For blue of stream and blue of sky;

For pleasant shade of branches high;

For fragrant air and cooling breeze;

For beauty of the blooming trees,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Great Season

Tuesday night was the last game of the season for the WGLL Minors Orange team. As luck would have it Orange was playing Red (the best team in the league) for the final game. Our guys played a great game. They came out swinging right away and scored 3 runs in the first inning. They scored another 3 runs in the 2nd and kept Red to 0. In the last few innings things began to unravel a little bit. The Red team caught up and actually went ahead by 2 runs. In the bottom of the 5th inning Orange was up to bat. Lucky for us the top of the batting order was up first. The first two batters hit singles and were on 1st and 2nd. The 3rd batter came up and hit a line drive deep into center field. The runners on 1st and 2nd scored to tie the game and the batter got a triple. The 4th batter came up, hit a single and brought our runner at 3rd home to win the game. What an exciting way to end the season. Our guys were really excited!

Orange won the game 9 to 8 and ended the season with an 8 and 2 record.

Congratulations ORANGE!!!

Thursday Thought

"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."

~Leviticus 19:18

Wordless Wednesday ~ End of the Season

His last at-bat for the fall Little League season.

for more WW go here and here.

Raingutter Regatta

Saturday was a very busy Scouting day for Cub Scout Pack 220. We had two big events scheduled. The first was Scouting for Food. This is an annual event in which Cub Scouts and Boys Scout all over the U.S. go through their local neighborhoods to collect non-perishable food items for local food banks. Pack 220 collected 300 bags of food which we donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. It was a great experience for all of the boys. It was their opportunity to put into action several of the values that Scouting teaches (ie. courteous, kind, helpful, loyal, cheerful, and reverent).
The second event of the day was the Raingutter Regatta. For this event each boy/sibling makes a boat that they then race down a length of raingutter filled with water. The kids propel the boats by blowing into the back of the sail. It is fun to watch and a very competitive event for the kids.
My scouts, the Webelos II's, are the oldest boys in the Pack and most of them are very experienced Raingutter Regatta racers. You could really see their boat building and racing experience come through this year. They ran some good races and it took quiet a few heats to finally come up with a winner.

The sisters of the Webelos II den were ready to race too. Most of these girls have several years of Raingutter racing experience, just like their brothers. They ran some good races and they all had a great time!

CJ was very determined to win a medal this year. We (with a lot of help from Grandpa G.) worked hard on the boat this year. We have learned a few tricks in our 4 years of racing. This year we kept the boat design very simple, made the boat nice and smooth so it would glide through the water, and added a Yankees logo for some extra luck.

In the end hard work, determination, and a strong desire to win paid off. CJ won first place in the Webelos II division. We were also very proud of two other Webelos II den members for winning design awards. Colin won "Most Seaworthy" for his Navy Battleship and Gabe won "Most Original Design" for his King Neptune themed boat. Congratulations to all of the boys on a great day!!!

Thursday Thought

When you cease to make a contribution,

you begin to die.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Top 10 Reasons My Blog Has Been Neglected

1. I have been co-chairing the biggest fundraiser that our Cub Scout Pack does all year.

2. I spent a lot of hours planning the first ever Cub Scout Pack 220 Halloween campout. I was responsible for planning all of the activities for the weekend.

3. I am taking classes so that I can earn my K-5 certification and go back to teaching. The school told me to expect to spend 12 hours per week on school work. It is a least that many hours, usually more!

4. I spend 2 hours every week volunteering in the classroom, so that I can earn my K-5 certfication.

5. I am a Cub Scout Den Leader. It is only supposed to take 1 hour each week. I think that is 1 hour in dog years!

6. My son is playing fall Little League (2 practices and 1 game each week).

7. All three of my kids come home with math and reading homework every day.

8. My family produces an unbelievable amount of laundry every week.

9. Grocery shopping must be done or my family does not eat.

10. My housework has been neglected for soooooo long that I think my house may soon be engolfed in a giant dust bunny!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween 2009

for more WW go here and here.