Yard Armageddon - Day One

Mike and I have talked for awhile about doing something to the house and yard. It really needs new siding, or at least needs to be painted again. With this new siding comes the problem with the front sidewalk, step, and apron on the garage, and in the back that problem with the deck, that is old, and barely off the ground. The fact that the deck sits so close to the ground means that you don't know what is happening under the deck near the foundation. We've always had a mouse problem in the basement, sometimes worse than others, and we can never do anything about the under the deck part.

Here is the front of the house -

The north side of the house, used to be a vegetable garden but now is just shade plants.

The back yard -

Kinsey didn't know then that she was about to lose her backyard for about a month...she isn't too happy about it now!

A few weeks ago we talked with our friends, Debbie and Terry who happen to have their own construciton company, Terrance Eid Construction. Terry came over and took a look at the house, did some measurements, and we talked about what we wanted.

Last week the first step happened. The concrete people came to do all the tear out of existing lamdscaping, fences, concrete and the deck.

Here are some pictures from that day -

Back yard...

It didn't take long for the deck to disappear!

We displaced some of those little striped ground squirrels, which Mike will be happy about!

There are at least 4 of them, and they are just babies - very cute, and very destructive. They will be happy in a new home out in the country as soon as they are big enough to live trap.

Front yard...

A lot of friends came and dug up plants, and of course I had to move all of my potted stuff.

There will be more pictures coming soon, since now the siding is starting to disappear, and new stuff is getting put up!

Charlie's Homework

End of the school year - lots of major projects due.
Nowadays, you put your school projects on YouTube.

Project number one - Human rights video for AP World History
Charlie chose Gay Rights, and used Flash to make the video, and then set it to the song Billy Brown by Mika, from the album Life in Cartoon Motion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOijc5GeTlw



Project number two - Dramatic scene for English Honors
A dramatic scene about zombies. Like a radio show, no video. Charlie's friend, Kayla, helped him. I offered but he said no, he doesn't like my voice. I don't understand what is wrong with my voice. I think he just likes her better...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Td_nrItRkc
They did the dramatic scene last Sunday night up in Charlie's room. Mike came home from fishing, and asked me "What are they doing up there? There is screaming going on!"

Tomorrow is Charlie's last day of 10th grade. In the old days we would get together with Leo, Anna, Hunter, and Zach (and their moms) and go to the park for a picnic and some time on the playground.

Times have changed, and in some ways that is good, and in other ways I miss him being a little boy.

Charlie

My son, the Eagle Scout

The weekend before the party. Mike is working on cleaning the garage.
He is really excited about it, as you can tell.

He has cleaned off the shelves and is organizing everything into bins, so all of it can get put back on the shelves.

Meanwhile, in the house I am hosting a scrapbooking weekend.
Mainly because I need to scrapbook more Boy Scout pictures and paraphernalia.
Joan, Patty, and Debbie are here to keep me working.

Here is one of my pages, in progress.

FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT WEEKEND!

Saturday, May 16.

THE GARAGE LOOKS GREAT!
15 pounds of sloppy joes are done.
30 pounds of potatoes have been turned into potato salad.
A lot of tuna salad has been made.
Patty, Mike and I have started to put the garage together.

The cake is here, and looks good!

The borrowed roaster and electric cooler are in place.
The kiddie pool is set up for ice and will work great to keep those salads cold.

The scout posters have been hung, this one is particularly cute!
It says "Don't judge a hero by the size of his cape."

Sunday, May 17.

More set up takes place Sunday morning. After most stuff is set at home, Charlie, Mike and I head to the church to set up there. Patty, Bill, my mom and dad head over to our house to get tables and everything else ready before they come to the church for the actual Court of Honor.

Here are all 3 scouts, with us (the parental units) standing at the front of the church.

During the ceremony someone gets up to speak about each scout.
Charlie chose Bob Pollard to talk about him.
Bob has been on almost every hike with Charlie, and knows him better than most people do.
Bob told a story about the hike in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
He talked about how they hiked straight up, Up, UP. Charlie was at the front of the line, taking pictures of everyone as they followed him UP. Sometimes he just shot the pictures over his shoulder as he kept hiking. At one point, they were rising in altitude, and it was take a few steps, stop and breathe, take a few more steps, repeat. Ian got a little altitude sickness. Everyone pushed on. Bob said he could here music, and he wondered where it was coming from...it was Charlie, at the front of the group, hiking and whistling. He earned the "Energizer Bunny Award" on that hike, and was given a pin to wear on his hat.




At another point in the ceremony each scout had to get up and talk a little bit about scouts. "Eagle Reflections" was what it was called. The scout also got to give out a mentor pin to someone who had helped and inspired them along the way.
Charlie started by talking about scouts, and how at first he didn't like it, I think he called it "drudgery" in his speech. If you loose something at scout camp or at a meeting you usually have to sing "I'm a little teapot" to get your item back. At this particular time, Spencer Sellner had lost something and they asked him to sing the Barney song (big purple dinosaur cartoon). Charlie said "You know the Barney song?" And after that he found some friends in scouts and that made it less "drudgery" and more fun.
He awarded his mentor pin to Bob Pollard, because he deserved it.



I wrote Charlie a letter in honor of his rank of Eagle Scout. I have always wished I would have been one of those moms that wrote the child a letter every year on their birthday, so someday they could look back on them and know how their mom felt about them, each and every year. Well, I didn't do that, and its a little late now. So I thought I should do it now, because this is a major event in Charlie's life, that he will carry with him and remember always. I won't put the whole letter in here, it is between me and my son (I think I will put it in the scrapbook though, or else it might be lost forever) but here are a few snippets:

"As I am organizing things for your Eagle Court of Honor I thought that the most important thing to give you might be something personal. A letter from me to you, telling you how proud I am that you are my son."

On playing the trumpet "Last year at Tomahawk, when you did the bugling merit badge you couldn't understand why people kept clapping for you when you played, not knowing how great you sounded, and how impressed everyone was. "

On being a teenager "Having a teenager is never easy for a parent. I often wish that you would talk to me more, and let me in on what is going on in your head. But I know that you need your space, and even though you probably don’t believe it, I try to give it to you. "

I know he read the letter. I don't know what he thought about it, but I hope, that someday, he will look at it again, and know how proud I was of him on that day, and that I will always be proud of him.

Charlie Beck, Eagle Scout.