Presidential Pie

Every Thanksgiving Kyle makes his special Apple Pie that he learned to make years ago at a co-op cooking class. Its the most popular pie of the day! This year he had a special apron to wear.

The weekend before my friend Aimee and I went to the Food Network Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland. Yes, it was fabulous! The food was great but the company makes it the most fun. Anyway, Aimee and I went to see a presentation done by a White House Chef. Such neat stories about the Presidents and their families I was texting like crazy to Kyle and getting questions from him to ask. He would have loved it!

But he got a cool gift with this official White House Food Service Apron just like the chefs wear at the White House. Brought a little bit more to the pie this year I think!

Thanksgiving Time

Thanksgiving was simple, relaxed, and fun. The kids all have a great time having everyone over but as I told Bill it's not much different than usual Sunday's. We have big dinners every Sunday with many people added to our table so Thanksgiving is not much different. Each night at our daily dinner each person tells what they are thankful for from the day so expressing thanks is done daily. Not that I am diminishing Thanksgiving at all, we love the holiday! We just try to make time each weekend for a "mini Thanksgiving" all year round and give thanks daily all year long.

Erin did have a request this year and that was to play Bingo with everyone after dinner. She has been talking about it for weeks so this was definitely the highlight of the night! She was most excited to hand out boards and play with all her aunts, uncle, and grandparents.

Hope everyone enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving!

When I Was a Little Boy...

Many pictures from the weekend but these are by far my favorite. After many hours decorating, Bill told Erin he had something to show her, something that was his favorite thing to do when he was a little boy at Christmas time. He laid down under the tree looking all the way up for hours when he was little. Erin jumped right down and laid beside him and they looked at the top of the tree from way down below. They talked about the lights, their favorite ornaments, ornament placement and why Erin put things the places she did, and they snuggled.
It was so incredibly sweet to see them under there with their feet sticking out. Can't put those pictures here since Erin had just gotten out of the shower and was in her undies! But it was cute but she would not be happy about those being posted!
These are the moments that they will always remember. We have had such a wonderful time as a family together this weekend. Just being together, hanging out, playing, and not having anywhere to go. I am so looking forward to many more moments like these over the next month.
Here's to many more tree viewing nights!

Ornament Traditions

For the last ten years we have had a tradition of making ornaments and giving to everyone at Thanksgiving dinner. As the boys have gotten older they have gotten less interested but are still willing to help when needed. The girls on the other hand are at the peak age for wanting to make and give.
This year Lindy and Paige used their budding sewing skills to create tree ornaments that they learned to do in their sewing class.

Erin, not being able to sew yet, made clothes pin people. No mommy help required! She wanted to do it all on her own. I had to hot glue the hair on for her but I was not allowed to cut or style anything!

They get so excited to pass out everything after Thanksgiving dinner. I love looking back at all the ornaments they have created!

Scouting

Last weekend Kyle went to support Cynthia at her Scout Leadership Awards Ceremony. They both went to different camps this summer that worked on leadership training. Kyle's awards ceremony is next weekend so more pictures to follow after!

Love this picture of Faith with Kyle!

Learning the Girl Scout Law & Promise

For new Daisies learning the Girl Scout Law and Promise can be a bit daunting. So many big words and things to remember! With each petal representing a part of the Girl Scout Law I tried to make it fun for them to learn what each one will stand for.

The girls created life size daisy flowers taller than most of them! The center of the daisy represents the promise. We used cake discs that the girls painted "daisy blue". The stems were wooden dowels that the girls painted green along with the wooden base that we glued the stems into.

The girls each got a colored petal that corresponded with the petal in the Girl Scout Law. While I read each part of the law, the girls had matching gems to glue onto the petal.

Hot glue held everything together including the petals. The girls wrapped a sparkly green pipe cleaner around the stem and then we glued on two leaves. My plan was to print the Girl Scout Promise onto cardstock so that it could be glued onto the center of the flower but the printer was not cooperating! By the end of the meeting all the girls could recite the promise on their own so they were able to take home the center of their flower for their smocks.

Really a cute and fun project. The one thing they told me at their first meeting when I asked about crafts was that they all love to paint. I think this met their expectations! Paint, glue, sparkly gems = happy Daisies!

Finished product! When the flowers were done we measured each girl against their "daisy" and marked it with a Sharpie. They can then watch their growth through Daisy Scouts and see how tall they get when they are ready to bridge to Brownies.

The flower center is a cardboard cake circle and the base is just a scrap piece of wood.

Petals cut from scrapbooking cardstock.

Erin with her Daisy!

Megan's birthday was the day of our Daisy meeting! She brought chocolate cupcakes with strawberry icing to share with everyone. Lyza had just celebrated her birthday the weekend before so we had lots of happy birthday singing to do!

Vietnam Moving Wall

Last week I took the kids to see the Vietnam Wall that had made a stop in Pickerington. We were so lucky to have it so close to home and right near Veteran's Day. Going the day after Kyle's Veteran Presentation was perfect since the girls had heard all the stories and have a good appreciation for what this means.

I always give the kids a reminder when we go to things like this about being quiet and respectful. When we arrived there was a sign posted that this was "hallowed ground" to please do not use cell phones, no food or drink, no rough play, no smoking etc. Not only were the kids fabulously behaved and respectful (which I would not have tolerated anything but!) Ethan got in the van when we were leaving asking me why other people were so disrespectful.

Right along the walkway of the wall, someone had a drink, a man was talking loudly on his cell phone, and a lady was standing at the end of the wall smoking. I didn't even know how to respond but to tell him I was proud of him for noticing how bad that looks. These men deserve more than that. He said he wanted to say something to one of them but he was afraid. I wish I had known at the time since I think an 11 year old pointing out the proper way to behave at a memorial would have had more impact than an adult saying it.

I know Ethan along with the girls really got a lot out of the experience. I know they will enjoy our DC trip !

Who is Worth Remembering

The title for Kyle's presentation was Who is Worth Remembering. I am in complete awe of my son. Since he was a little toddler there was something about him that was unique, as each child is in their own way. Kyle has a gift and that gift is his passion for History, specifically  military history and Veterans, and he loves to do public speaking.
This does not come from me. It is definitely a Bill trait. I am so fortunate to have Bill as my husband to coach Kyle and help guide him down this path. I try to make every opportunity possible to him in regards to his desire to follow this journey.I take down the directions, drive him where he needs to be, take pictures, proofread writings, and time speeches and, take care of the busy work. These thoughts and ideas that he brings me that are the beginnings of his stories are him. 100% Kyle.
The thing I love is that he is able to tell people he is home schooled. It makes me so happy for people to see what the product of a home education really is. What it does for kids who are able to follow their passions and really take them to the next level. He is in no way restricted in what he wants to learn about and what skills he wishes to take up. I truly believe that is a major factor in his ability to give a presentation to hundreds of people and have them riveted in their seats. He has worked so hard. He had the time and the desire to follow his passion and today it took him far.
Kyle, you are so very welcome for "all those pictures". I have enjoyed every minute of this project with you. I love the talks in the car, the chats we have about your Veteran friends, listening to you rehearse, and most importantly being your mom.

Presentation of Medals

This morning Kyle and I went to the Statehouse to see one of his Veteran friends receive a very important medal, the Knight of the Legion of Honor. This medal was presented by Governor Strickland and a representative from France. This medal is in France the equivalent to the Congressional Medal of Honor here in the States. Mr. Bott was one of eight men to be presented this medal in the Rotunda of the Statehouse. We were kindly invited to attend by Mr. Bott who Kyle has interviewed for his Veteran's Day presentation. Mr. Bott is very humble about his service and has a very powerful and moving story including being captured and a POW during WWII.

We were so happy to be included and Mr. Bott was very happy to see Kyle even with a huge turn out from his family. We were not sure if we would be able to watch the ceremony since we did not have an "official invitation" but really we just did not have a table to sit at. Kyle insisted on wearing his suit to which I told him he didn't have to since we probably would only see the men after the ceremony was over in a hall. I will now always listen to his judgement it what to wear!

It is very moving to sit in the Rotunda and watch a ceremony like this. It was such an honor to be a part of. Kyle was also able to meet Governor Strickland who told Kyle he was doing a great thing in interviewing Veterans.

Kyle -

I know you will be reading this when you look at the pictures from today. Words can not express my pride in what a fine young man you have become. It is an honor to be your mom. I look forward to many more events and activities with you as you continue your journey of school and public service.

Love

Mom

Gov. Strickland and Kyle

Mr. Bott being interviewed for the local news.