The Popcorn Kernel

Yes, that is me...the Popcorn Kernel for Isaac's Cub Scout Pack. Tonight was our first Pack Meeting for this new scout year. Isaac is a Wolf this year and is excited to learn more and do more activities with the other boys. Tonight was also our Popcorn Fundraiser Kickoff...hence my wonderful corn cob hat. Don't you just love it? The scouts just laughed at me and the parents were probably very thankful that they were not asked to be the Popcorn Kernel. I was able to get the scouts excited to sell popcorn and even bribed every one of them with a great raffle of popcorn products and marshmallow shooters. The shooters are great. They are pump action guns that shoot out either small or large marshmallow. Funny thing is...the den leaders and parents wanted the shooters more than the boys did. I guess that would be one way to get someone's attention...just shoot them with a marshmallow!

Annette turned 50 - Oh my!

Well my sister Annette is now 50! Yes, that's right...50 years old! I decided to throw her a birthday party at Build-a-Bear Workshop...the perfect place for a grown woman to go to. Hee hee hee! She was a bit hesitant to start with then she actually started to like the idea. Now you should have seen her there trying to figure out which animal to choose, how soft she wanted it, and then picking out clothes. Picking the clothes took the longest, of course. She had to try everything on her little girl bunny "Blossom" to see what fit and looked the best. You know...the normal thing to do if you're a girl. The boys had a blast as well. Isaac made a turtle named "Tortoise" and Max made a monkey named "Peter". My bear, "Books", sits on my bed and my cat Haydn actually curls up with him. I must have made him "just right". Annette went on to spend the evening at Disneyland with Phil and enjoyed a dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant. The boys and I took Grandma C back home with her new pet cheetah. She was in seventh heaven with yet another stuffed animal.

Lamb Family Reunion at Lake Crowley

Right after Isaac started school we took him out for two days to go up to Lake Crowley in the Mammoth Lakes area. I know not the best time to miss school but this was the only time we would be able to see Jeff's brother Jack and his family this year. We went up to Bodie Ghost Town to look for ghosts and take lots of photos. The kids enjoyed looking around at the buildings and finding little treasures lying around. Little Elise was a blast even though the boys weren't too sure about playing make-believe and role-modeling. Max did this a lot better than Isaac. Elise and Max even made Jeff a pretend birthday cake for his 41st birthday!

Jeff took the boys fishing. Max looks like a pro here...a little Jeff. Unfortunately only Uncle Jack caught fish. The highlight of the fishing trips according to Isaac was that a black bear came to Convict Lake while they were fishing and walked by. Jeff had to get Brandon and Isaac out of the way to let him pass. Isaac was so afraid that the bear would take his stuff...as if the bear really needs a fishing rod and reel. The bear settled on checking out an ice chest left by another fisherman. Jeff wasn't too happy that his fishing time was over after this.

It was nice having a couple of days off during a summer that was packed with a lot of other activities for the boys. Jeff was happy he was able to go up to Crowley three times this summer himself. The first two times he went with his friends that he works with. This trip was his last hurrah before starting back to teach for the new year.

Welcome Tennyson!

The Lamb household has now grown by one more! No, we did not have another child. We have rescued a 9 month old puppy from the local animal shelter. Tennyson is a pit bull terrier/labrador mix. Wondering how he got his name? Well the boys' favorite cartoon is Ben 10. Ben Tennyson is a kid who can change into different aliens to fight bad aliens. I'm sure those of you with boys totally understand this. Anyhow, Tennyson is the sweetest dog I have ever had. Now our cats probably have a totally different perspective on him. Scooter, our 18 month old cat, has been teaching Tennyson that he is THE LOWEST in the household heirarchy. Tennyson is not quite agreeing with this but Scooter is very persuasive when he smacks him on the snout with his claws. Haydn, our 16 year old Grannyman, doesn't really care either way if the dog is here as long as he maintains his spot on my bed and sleeps with me.

After a hard summer of clearing our yard of weeds, debris and trips to the dump, we were able to put up a chain-link fence to not obstruct our view of the golf course. Jeff had a little bit of fun using the 36 inch wide Bobcat bulldozer to level the yard. We were able to actually extend our yard by a couple of feet before it slopes to the golf course. But let me tell you....putting up a fence is not exactly what I wanted to do this summer. But I now have the knowledge and skill to do another one. I just hope I don't ever have to.

The boys are so excited to have this dog. We were able to go to the Dog Park this afternoon to check it out. Wow! It's really nice with lots of big shade trees and benches to sit on. Tennyson had a blast checking out all the scents and playing with the other dogs there. We will be training him next month so he'll be a bit more manageable. But considering his age he does real well already.

Limboing Lamb

Isaac finished off his First Grade year with a Carnival-style field day with all of the first graders. We were able to get lots of mommies to help out and set up different stations. The game stations included Limbo Stick, Musical Chairs, Face Painting, Coin Toss, Sponge Toss, and a few others. I think Isaac's favorite was the bowling station. The pins were plastic pineapples and the ball was a coconut. After they knocked the pins down, each kid had to reset the them for the next player. I think the mommy got pooped out bending down and told them to do it themselves. What a cheater!


Isaac did really well with the Limbo Stick. But I think that Mrs. Sigsbee showed them all up! Not only could she go low low low but she had style to go with it along with the music! I am so grateful that he had such an awesome teacher who just loves boys! I am hoping that this next year will be just as great.

My Wolf Cub

In June, Isaac bridged from being a Tiger Cub to being a Wolf Cub. And what a wolf he has become! He has either a hollow leg or a tapeworm. Not sure which...he just eats and eats and eats. Our first year in Scouts was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to this coming year. We were able to attend Cub Scout Day Camp at the end of July and Maxwell even got to tag along. Both boys had lots of fun and Isaac was able to earn his Marbles, Ultimate (frisbee), and Wildlife Conservation beltloops. In addition to the beltloops he also earned his BB Gun, Archery, and Wildlife Conservation pins. That's a lot of work (and play) done in one week's time! No wonder why I was so exhausted every night.

I get to be involved in planning this next year as an Assistant Den Leader with Adrienne, our fearless Den Leader. And once again, I am the "Popcorn Kernel" for our Pack. This means that I am in charge of the popcorn fundraiser that our Pack does in September. I even have the opportunity to wear "the Corn Cob" hat. Now that will be something. I'll see if I can get that posted later. Adrienne and I were able to increase sales by almost 50% from the year before. This will be a hard goal to beat this year. But when you clean up those Cub Scouts and have all them dressed in uniform it makes it too hard to turn them down at the grocery stores when they ask "Would you like to buy some popcorn and support Scouting?" Who can resist that?

Hopscotching Grandma

Charlotte's friend, Shelly, lives in neighboring Norco and owns a horse. In May, Charlotte was able to make arrangements for Grandma C to ride Shelly's horse, Hopscotch. Grandma was in Seventh Heaven. After an emotional moment of her recalling lots of memories from her horse-owning days, we were able to get her up on the horse. Okay, it actually took us two tries to get her on the horse. Not bad considering she is 81 years old and has had a hip and knee replaced. We almost shoved her over the horse on the first attempt! Thank goodness for stepstools and a very patient horse.

As soon as Grandma was settled, Hopscotch took off. Luckily she is a seasoned rider and, believe it or not, Hopscotch was able to tell that and decided to mind her and not do his own thing. It must have been that "I'm the boss" tone she used. I'd behave too if I were the horse.

The boys and I were allowed to ride as well and the boys had a blast. I'd like to be able to get them some riding lessons when they are just a bit older and bigger. I think that they would really enjoy that.