Chandelier and Avatar

Weekends have been so nice this year. Saturday morning breakfast has turned into a traditional one of homemade waffles with homemade jam. The rest of the day was really busy. We had the normal Saturday activities – laundry, cleaning the house, and grocery shopping – and then others. Steph found a piece of furniture we can use as a shoe cubby from Big Lots that we got set up. We went to Home Depot to find some wood and hooks to hang up above the shoe cubby. The boys like going there on Saturdays because they always have free popcorn. We also found a hanging light fixture that we really like for the dining room. I would call it a chandelier, but Steph says that sounds too fancy. :) It is black with 5 lights that curve back up and are inside white glass containers. We’ll post some pictures soon. This was our first electrical job and it turned out great, and no one was electrocuted. The one we had before is gold and light brown and just doesn’t fit with the changes we made to that room.

This year is the 100th anniversary of Scouting, and as part of that, there was an event at the mall that we took the boys to. Several troops had tables with different events or activities set up, like building straw rockets, making ice cream, and an obstacle course. The boys loved participating. It will be so much fun once Kolby starts Cub Scouts.

I was able to get our taxes done earlier this week. Our children still continue to be a blessing in so many ways, including with taxes. They give us so many deductions that our taxable income ends of being quite small. As a result, we ended up with a nice return coming this year. Maybe now we can work on redoing the bathroom and finish the basement – we’ll keep you posted. We plan to work on the bathroom when I have a week off work in May.

Steph and I both had youth activities to help out with on Wednesday night, so we had to take all the boys with us. One of the ladies from church offered to watch them for us over there, which was really nice. Stephanie works with the 10-11 year old girls, and they had an introductory activity for them with the 12-18 year old girls. I am now working with the 12-18 year old young men, helping with activities on the first Wednesday each month, to help the boys earn an award from our church called the Duty to God award. They have to perform several activities over the entire 6 years, from categories like spiritual, physical, personal, and family development, as well as doing service projects and keeping a journal of their progress.

Thursday night I had Roundtable for scouts. There was a child psychologist who came and spoke about how to deal with the “helicopter parent,” or the parent who is always hovering over their boy and won’t allow to participate in the activities. He explained an A-O-C model, or actor-observer-critiquer. A person takes these roles to learn and become self-reliant. Then there are other people that are constantly observing and critiquing – parents, leaders, friends, etc. – so if they are not working together they can pull the person in lots of directions, causing lots of confusion. But if they are working together, then they help the person to grow. It was quite an interesting concept.

Friday night Steph and I got a babysitter and went to see Avatar in 3-D. The story was one we have seen before – I think it was best when Steph said it was a mix of Fern Gully, Dances with Wolves, and Pocohontas. But the colors and animation/special effects were breathtaking. I was totally pulled into that magical world and loved the experience.