Cutest Cub Scout

Chandler has been looking forward to turning 8 for a long time. His birthday was May 9. He's very excited to be baptized, this will happen on May 31st, and about becoming a cub scout. Our Primary President stopped by Sunday and handed over the application as well as the Wolf Handbook. After school today Chandler and I headed to the Scout Store (I had no idea there was a dedicated store) to get some of his uniform--the shirt, kerchief, and slide. Thirty nine dollars later and a few minutes at my mom's sewing machine and Chandler was ready for his first pack meeting.

He was so excited about it all he wanted to head over to the church 15 minutes early. I convinced him it would be ok to wait ten minutes before leaving. After sitting in the parking lot for about 10 minutes we called another mom and found out the meeting had been cancelled. Needless to say my Scout was disappointed, especially since the next pack meeting isn't for 2 weeks. Oh well. We decided to go to dinner and drown our disappointment in a cookies and cream shake. After playing Road Rally on the xbox and reading Book 10 of The Series of Unfortunate Events, the evening turned out to be pretty decent. I guess that's why I couldn't get Chandler to really display his true disappointment in this pic. We'll see how it goes in a couple of weeks and do our best to help keep up his enthusiasm as a Scout.

A New Man

Saturday morning something unusual happened. My husband sprung out of bed at the crack of dawn...to wash the windows. Ok, it wasn't the crack of dawn but 7:30 am on a Saturday morning is pretty early around the Carr house. This is strange considering he doesn't usually spring out of bed unless he's mountain biking or traveling with his buddies. Don't get me wrong, I love that he was fully energized to get some stuff done around the house. The windows definitely needed a good washing. I just wasn't planning to spend two additional hours cleaning the inside windows and screens and tracks. It was great, though, to see Scott be happy and productive and feel good about so much. Chandler was a big helper as well. He handled a nasty sweeping job with very little complaint and I expect he won't be scarred for life for working side by side with his dad loading up bark and getting dirty. It was a great Saturday to really get things in order around the home and just feel good about a big lifted weight.

Resolution?

Today has been a difficult day in negotiating a concrete visitation schedule with Chandler's mom. But, it's close to being done. The good news is Chandler will continue school in our neighborhood. He will also have a more predictable schedule which allows him to participate in sports and scouts, during the school year anyway. Although I'm still struggling with the details, I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows us and what is best. It seems He has been trying to teach me to just trust Him. I believe things will just work out as we try to do our best.
I promise blog content will be less serious as time goes on. Scott and Chandler really do funny things every day...

The Beginning

I have thought long and hard about creating my own blog...thanks to the blogs of my friends Jen E, Traci, and my cute sisters. I really want and need a spot to record our life happenings, the good bad and ugly, so I can see it from a perspective of gratitude. It is a difficult transition from single and independent to married with a step son and exes. Each day is definitely interesting. It will be good fun to record it all. And, finally, I can satisfy an inner prompting to keep our family history somewhere.
Chandler came to our home full time in October 2006 and it has truly been a joy to watch him grow and learn and become his own person. He teaches me so much and I finally understand why loving parents speak mostly of their children when "catching up" with friends. It's kind of funny to write Christmas newsletters because I could fill the whole page with things just about Chandler. I'm discovering that life is only as good and happy as you make it. I wish I had learned this lesson long ago or that I could learn it more quickly now. This blog is meant to help me make life good and happy daily for myself, my family and everyone else around me.