Ayden is 7!

Ayden is 45 inches tall and weighs 43 pounds.  He loves to snuggle with Mom in bed and take bike rides around the neighborhood.  Penguins and chickens are his favorite animals and he loves to catch and hold chickens when the opportunity arises.  Ayden likes to play doggy and play with his monster trucks.  He has really gotten good at baseball and his favorite color is orange.  Ayden likes to watch Star Wars and drive boats.  Ayden's favorite foods are Golden Delicious apples and grilled cheese sandwiches.  He is so artistic at drawing, painting, and making.  Ayden is full of energy and love.

Ayden's recent love for Star Wars was the inspiration for his backyard, Jedi Training birthday bash!  His small group of friends learned Jedi skills and how to use the FORCE!

  

Perfectly Picked

My favorite thing of fall...APPLE PICKING!  I just love me a hayride out in the orchard to climb in the trees...eating every variety along the way.  It was a perfectly cool fall afternoon for some tasty cider, donuts, and caramel apples.  Nana joined in the fun and helped these two find the perfect apples to add to their lunches.

Caterpillar Pets

Allie Girl Scout troop is building a way station for the Monarch Butterflies!  She was lucky enough to aquire a little pet for the summer to keep her occupied...and one for her brother too.  These two have been so into these little critters.  We watched them crawl, eat, poop a LOT, grow, and change right before our eyes.  We saw a caterpillar transform into its chrysalis and saw a butterfly dry its wings moments after it emerged!  I know they were sad to see these little guys go as we released them outside, but there's a happy place in our hearts knowing we helped them out into the world.

Bridging to Juniors

My BEAUTIFUL BROWNIE is moving on.  Allie has spent many days attending brownie meetings, selling cookies in the cold, crafting and creating, engineering and coding, learning life and outdoor skills, camping, helping others....and making the world a better place...the list goes on and on.  Allie's brownie year concluded with selling over 1,000 boxes of cookies in which her troop used the funds to build a butterfly way station in the community.  I'm so thankful to have a group of ladies to lead our troop with me, who feel as compassionate as I do about girls scouting.  We want our girls to be confident, caring, compassionate, leaders and learners.  But most of all, we want them to build friendships with sister scouts that will last a lifetime, and have a blast while doing it.  

Allie's brownie vest displays her goals and accomplishments, her new found skills, and so many memories....I just love hearing her talk about some of her favorite patches she earned as she looks at her vest.  The Girl Scout Cookie Cruise, troop camping, and helping the dogs and cats at the Humane Society are some she spoke about.

Although Allie is hanging up her brownie vest...today she crossed the bridge to become a JUNIOR!  She is beyond excited to wear GREEN (brown is not a favorite girly color) and to do more mature and grownup things at our meetings...like have a say in which badges we earn and lead the requirements with her sister scouts.  She will also be able to earn a "high award" for the first time as a junior scout too!

  

Our ceremony was small in size due to Covid-19, but it was big at heart.  Special words were shared, a yummy treat was devoured, and the girls received a new hanger for their vests and a personalized flashlight for future camping trips! Everything is cuter with her name on it!

Baseball Star

It was one step forward and two steps back when this little guy started playing baseball this season...but now, oh my!  I’m so proud the progress he’s made and his CONFIDENCE!  When the season started, Ayden couldn’t swing or even catch! Now...he’s hitting, making runs and even played catcher by the end of the season! I’m so happy he’s happy. Lots of games with no strikes or outs!! Whoo-hooo!

This season he set the bar high!  What a great way to end his first season of baseball...winning the CHAMPIONSHIP game!  Yay, TIN🍎CAPS!! 

Toothless

Loosing just one of his front teeth, just wasn't good enough!  While eating breakfast, Ayden yelled for me to find his tooth in a mouthful of toast.  All day long we could see his other tooth wiggle and jiggle with every word he spoke.  During Ayden's bedtime snack of Cheeze-Its, the second one popped out!  The tooth fairy is going to be super happy to find a treasure of  TWO teeth.  Oh, how I love his little smile!

Lake Michigan

A little girls weekend away is just what us teachers needed this summer!  Lots of laughs were had while spending the afternoon dipping our toes in the great lake.  Carol's treehouse on the lake was as adorable as ever and the views were amazing.  However, the highlight of the trip was the Oreo tasting we devoured.  Us teachers love our Oreos!