Amber was a bit different today. Spending a full day at our house. Only one mistake today because I didn’t get her out of the house in time. She was a bit more lively. While Kim did dishes in the kitchen, Amber just sat on the floor and watched. Romped and played in the family room with a big thick rope to chew on. Still a bit sedated though and slept a lot. She likes to curl
Amber took it easy on us last night. She didn’t make a sound after putting her in her cage. She didn’t make a sound all night or when I came down in the morning to let her out. Well tonight it a different story. After letting her out for potty the last time for the night and putting her in her crate, she proceeded to yelp, cry, wine, and otherwise fuss for… oh… half an hour now.
We did what we probably shouldn’t have… went down and tried to calm her town, let her out to potty again, only ran around. Sat with her till she calmed down again, and put her in her crate for the night. She still doesn't like it, wonder how long this will last. I will be up for a while catching up with work… maybe I will update the post.
On the weekend before Christmas, we planed to take a drive up to PA to visit family. And would you know it, on the day we were to leave we were supposed to get a snow storm here in NC that would move up the east coast towards PA. Fortunately it was to hit here in NC early enough that it concerned all the schools and they had early dismissal before even a flake had fallen.
With the early closings we were able to get out of NC before the storm hit and let it chase us all the way to PA. There was a bit of a white-out that we hit in Virginia that limited visibility to about a quarter mile, but luckily that only lasted about 25 to 20 min. Well we made it to PA just fine late Friday evening, and snow was to arrive over night….. well…. I woke early, 7-ish and looked out side… but not a flake of snow on the ground. Well, clearly I was disappointed.
It wasn’t till late Saturday afternoon that snow began to fall in Allentown. Sunday we ended up with about 6 inches. This was great, because my kids have never seen more then the measly 1 to 2 inches we typically get in the Triad. We had a blast playing and snow tubing in the fluffy white stuff for several hours on Sunday and Monday. Below are just a few of the many pictures we took on Sunday. You can view the slide show or hand pick a few pictures to view from the thumbnail images below the slide show.
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Hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures… I know we enjoyed the snow.
his past weekend the family (all 5 of us) all went camping (in one BIG tent) to the Woodfield Scout Preserver for the Cross Over ceremony. The Cross Over or the Arrow of Light ceremony is for those Webelos scouts (cub scouts) that have achieved the Arrow of Light and are crossing over into Boy Scouts. Collin was one of those Webelos. In the past few years he achieved Tiger, Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelos 1 and Webelos2.
The weather for the camp out was quite nice, mid 60’s during the day, but quite code as low as 29 degrees over night… Can you say burrrrrr. The boys were real good with paying attention and helping out setting up camp and taking it all down and pack. We took a few hikes and enjoyed some free time. The main purpose for the camp out was the Cross Over ceremony. The ceremony was after dark was done quite well. About 40 boys crossed over to Boy Scouts that evening including boys from other packs.
Collin is looking forward to bigger and better things in Boy Scouts.
Below are just 24 pictures (of the 140+ pictures taken over the weekend) in a slide show.
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The Arrow of Light story read at the ceremony:
In the ages past, when the Nations of the red man spread across the land, there was a young member of one tribe called Akela. Akela wished to be a warrior as the older men of his tribe were, but no one would consider him so. "Little Akela, he is too young to join the hunt," they would say. "Too slow to run with the Bobcat clan. Not clever enough to hunt with the Wolf clan. Such a young one is not strong enough to join the Bear clan." No matter how hard Akela worked, all ways were barred to him. But the Aged Chieftain of the tribe saw Akela differently than the rest. "The spirit of this young one burns brighter than the largest fire. Akela has served his brethren well for one of his age. The time will come when the tribe will need only that which Akela can give."
One night in the fall during the harvest, a party of warriors was canoeing back to their village after a hunt. On this night, the fog rolled thick across the river. The fog was so heavy, the river path back to the village was hidden from view. A nearby river path to the right led to a roaring chasm. The warriors did not know the safe path to take and were trapped. Akela had been practicing his hunting skills in the hills above the river and had seen the danger to the canoe. He wrapped an arrow in a skin, set it aflame, and shot it into the sky toward the safe river path. The warriors in the canoe saw the flaming arrow through the fog and followed it toward the safe river path and the village.
The warriors went to the Chieftain saying, "We were trapped on the river and the Highfather sent an Arrow of Light through the sky to guide us." The Chieftain smiled and said, "The sign which led you to safety came not from the heavens but from one who you thought was too young to do anything." He brought Akela forward to the surprise of the warriors. "Akela has proved himself worthy to wear the name of warrior. He has aided his brothers in their time of greatest need. Hereafter, all young members of our tribe shall become warriors only after meeting the challenges of the Arrow of Light. Let them each be filled with the spirit of Akela and follow his example of unselfish service to our brethren." And it was made so and carried through to the present day as you Webelos stand before us now, ready to receive the Arrow of Light.
ell it was 5 years over due, but snow finally arrived in NC on March 1st, 2009. And as with any snow prediction, weather a dusting or several inches, the stores were mobbed with panicked shoppers trying to stock up on milk and bread. Depending on where you are in the Triad, you got 2 to 5 inches of the fluffy white stuff known as snow. How beautiful it was to look out the window that morning and see that beautiful blanket of white.
Oh, and as usual in NC, Schools were closed for not one day, but 2 days and on the 3rd, there was a 2 hour delay. As a former Yankee, this is still frustrating and hard to handle.
Below you can view the pictures one by one or watch the slide show.
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