First Class, Scissors, Storehouse, Les Mis, and Thumb

With this family blogging, I'm also getting better at taking quick snapshots so I can remember what I need to update.

Sammy officially earned his First Class scout rank.  This was a HUGE deal for him, because he's been at a roadblock for a long time since swimming and Sam don't get along.  I was at the scout office a month ago for the scout camp interviews, and had decided while I was there I was going to find out if there was a way we could get past this.  Our district executive, Kevin, wasn't there, but I talked to another exec there.  He asked someone else that said, "He needs to get over his fear," which I already figured, but by the time our conversation was done he asked me where Sam's scout book is and said he would just sign it (figuring that he had completed everything during swimming lessons, though I wasn't as sure).  He sent an e-mail to Kevin telling him to sign it, so then Kevin contacted me asking for more details.  While we were talking, he offered to take him swimming himself and help him through it.  Fabulous!  He had been the aquatics director at camp before, and even called up another aquatics director friend of his to help.  They met us at the pool the Saturday before Christmas, and with both of them swimming on each side just ahead of Sam, encouraging all the way, HE DID IT!  The only time Kevin touched him was at the end of the 3rd lap before the backstroke.  Sam was pretty tired and started to stop, but Kevin flipped him onto his back and told him to keep going.  So so thankful for two more scouting heroes.

Almost done!

His patch is on his shirt now, but the shirt needs to be washed before I can get his picture with it.  (See the schmutz on the pocket?  There is more elsewhere.)

Miss Madeleine's two-year-oldness hit again (hopefully turning 3 in March will help that).  She took a pair of scissors to her shirt Monday.  Yah.  Why it wasn't a sad thing while it was happening, I don't know.  I took it off, then put it back on to get a picture (reminding myself it will be laughable someday, but it was one of my favorites of hers!), and suddenly she was sad.  Almost makes me feel sorry for her.  Almost.

But THEN, when she pulled that big hole above apart, the other girls all started laughing, so then it was hilarious.  Hopefully the lesson isn't unlearned.  (Yes, mom, the scissors were up high.  But she climbs too.)

Tuesday Adam, Sam, and I went to the Bishop's Storehouse with our homeschool group, our first time getting to serve there.  It was a lot of fun, and a lot of great work.  I bagged apples the whole time, Sammy bagged potatoes the whole time, and Adam was all over the place doing different jobs.  One of the youth with us mentioned that when he can drive he wants to go serve there every day.  Adam agreed.  And sadly, my phone died before I got any pictures of him there.

One of the missionaries there jumped in the picture, a lot more happily than the youth.

Thursday night Melanie, Carolyn, my parents, my sister, and I went to Les Miserables put on by a high school in the area.  My niece is playing a keyboard in the pit, so we all went to support her.  I was impressed with how well they did, and Mel and Carolyn really enjoyed it too.  As soon as Carolyn found out she got to go she started singing the songs, and Jamie and I told her he can't sing during the production (we went to Phantom of the Opera on our honeymoon and the guy sitting next to me kept singing - baaaahhh!).  Jamie said she would have to sit on her lips.  Funny daddy.  :)  Melanie has been asking to go to the real production showing in the local big city this summer.  Now I'm worried I'll have two girls bugging me.  We decided tonight that after we finish reading our current family book, All-of-a-Kind Family, we'll read Les Miserables together.

We were out part of today for the kids' choir group, and a while after getting home Adam started complaining that his thumb was acting weird.  I didn't think much about it, but he kept bugging it and complaining about it, so I took a look.  By the feel I couldn't tell anything different between thumbs, but he showed me that he could bend one thumb back and the wonky thumb wouldn't even straighten all the way.  At dinner he showed us that one hand would relax flat and his thumb on the other wouldn't.  It doesn't hurt, though.  He sat for a while stretching it back and said it was doing better, but we'll have to keep an eye on that.  I asked about any roughhousing when his choir group wasn't singing and he said they hadn't, that it had been fine when we got home, and it was a while after before it was a problem.

Wonky thumb on the left, trying to bend both back.  One works, one . . . not so much.

Trying to flatten it on the table.

*Update on the thumb:  Adam sat for a while last night stretching it and it was doing better before he went to bed, then the next morning it was just fine.  WEIRD!

And totally random, I went dancing and singing into the kitchen earlier and got a lovely, "Oh brother," look from Adam.  I told him he's lucky, because probably not very many moms are cool enough to do that.