boy scouts

monday was boy scouts. you have to start out with the pledge of allegiance and prayer. you also have to do the boy scout salute. this is payton's interpretation.

it was awards day for various things. badges were given to the scouts who move up. those who earned different belt loops at camp. there were prizes and badges for popcorn sales. baylee sold over $600 dollars in popcorn. way to go. you got to choose from several different prizes and this is what baylee wanted. he got a telescope and microscope. every day for the longest time he asked when his prize would be in. the popcorn came and was delivered, but no prizes. he was super excited about this.

then to finish the night the boys were supposed to bring a collection and talk about it. baylee brought his seashell collection. i was really afraid he was going to pull each shell out and tell where he got it. i think he made it through around 10 before i could catch his eye and tell him that was enough.

it was a good meeting.

side note: baylee has really become interested in reading my blog while i type it. really annoying especially when your 7 year old catches your typos.

tara

my me.

until payton we never had a kid that had to have a specific thing to go to sleep. baylee loved his elephants but never had to have a specific one, as long as we grabbed one when we headed out the door that was fine. tayte is so easy going that nothing really phases him, so he didn't need anything. then came payton. somehow this blanket became his "me." not quite sure how it came to be this blanket or even why it is called a me, but everyone knows what to look for or grab when we talk about payton's me. he has always been a blanket over the face kind of kid. it use to freak women out at the store that i would lay him in the floor and as soon as i put his blanket over his face he would quit crying. now i didn't leave it there for hours, but if you pulled it off he would fight to get it back on. so he has a me. and he sleeps with it every night. when he wanders from bed to bed he brings his me. the other night he came crying into our room saying his me was stuck. i went into the room to see and when he pointed to where it was i could quit laughing. lee and i had been fighting him all night to get in his bed and stay in his bed. so he climbed into bed with baylee and baylee rolled over onto payton's me. it was stuck and payton couldn't get it. you can see the love this blanket has been given. thankfully that is the only tear we have and this blanket lasts until payton is ready to give it up.

well after payton had a me, tayte saw the affection and care he took to his me and decided he needed a me. so we have larry the cucumber. we have had this stuffed doll for ever and no one really played with it. then tayte took it over and decided it was his me. now him and baylee fight over it all the time. but it goes to tayte because he decided it was his me. that one thing that you cherish and love. now you find larry everywhere you find tayte. and if tayte leaves it in another room payton brings it to him because you always have to have your me.

finally, baylee decided he needed a me. since i am all about them being kids as long as possible and keeping their innocence i let him find one. again another stuffed animal that no one ever played with became something that you have to kiss and hug goodnight as you kiss and hug the children. but, i am sure that baylee would never admit to his friends that he sleeps with a dog.
so we will love these cherished belongings as long as the boys see fit. and then we will pack them up and give them back to them when times get hard. because what sooths us as kids usually can make things a little better as adults.

tara