The second weekend of October was the cub scout mom and me campout.  We went to Zink Ranch just outside of Tulsa for a one night campout.  This was the first time for me to meet anyone associated with  scouts.  There were at least five other boys from James' group there so I got to know them and their moms.  James got to do archery, BB guns, and leather stamping.  His favorite activity is pictured below.  He and the other boys at our campsite drug wood from all over to build this fort.  They worked really hard on it and were hilarious to watch.  The funny thing is, this activity wasn't even scheduled, they came up with it and worked together on it all on their own.  True Scouts!

 James getting ready to go off the zip line.  The boy in the blue helmet is Aiden and the other is Nevin.  I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of them.  James was pretty nervous about the zip line but he climbed to the top and went off like a pro pushing through his fear.  It has been really fun watching him become brave.  When he was two he would't even look at a worm and he didn't like to be swung around in a circle.  Now, he'll try anything.

 Our campout got really exciting around 4pm.  Thankfully we had just finished all of the activities and were going to the dining hall to wait for dinner when it started raining hard.  The next four hours proceeded with 70mph straight line winds and torrential down pours.  Most moms and sons got in their cars and left but our little group from Hoover toughed it out.  We decided it was more dangerous to drive on dark windy roads than stay put.  Around 8:30pm another mom and I went to the campsite and took up all the tents (completely soaked and disheveled) wrapped them up with all the stuff in them put them in the car and went to the dining hall to stay the night.  James and I had taken our little backpacking tent and I am proud to say it was the only one standing and our sleeping bags were the only dry ones!  I do not like camping without Josh but I was pretty proud of us for figuring it out.  The night on the concrete floor wasn't preferable and we were really sad we didn't get to sleep in the tent together but it was still fun and I don't think we'll ever forget it.

 The third weekend we headed to Beaver's Bend for our annual extended family campout.  Beaver's Bend is so beautiful and fun, we loved every minute of it.  We are thankful to report that there is nothing to report about this trip!!

 You'd never guess it is Oklahoma would you!

 Kristen McCullom (a friend from church) told me it was on her bucket list to run a 5k (3.1 miles) and asked me to run the Tulsa Run 5k with her.  Those of you who know me well know that I do NOT run.  She asked me at the end of September and the Tulsa Run was October 27th!  For some reason I knew the answer was yes.  I have been going to an intense work out class twice a week since January and I am so glad because I went for a run to see if I could even make it down the street and it felt great.  I was up to three miles after a week.  So, we did the run and finished at a pace of 10.5 min per mile.  We didn't walk at all! Now we are planning to do a 10k in March, I think we might be hooked!

 We have been taking Kinley's training wheels on and off of her bike to try to teach her to ride without them.  The last time we put them back on we had them tipping up a little too much and her bike was really wobbly.  Well she ascended the big hill on our street so she could come sailing down it as she's done 1000 times.  I of course was involved with Mallory and not paying attention to how wobbly she was.  I looked up in time to see her flying down the hill at least 10mph she hit a crack and started wobbling and before I could do anything she flipped over her handlebars and landed on her forehead.  No, she wasn't wearing a helmet, we are terrible parents.  All I know is that God was protecting her because what I saw happen does not match the wound that she has.  I knew we were going to be running to the ER.  I am so thankful it wasn't worse. She is tough as nails and only cried for a minute.  She has been bragging about it to everyone and she is loving the attention. 

I over heard her having a funny conversation with Mallory after the accident.  I had told her that it was my worst nightmare for her to fall off her bike on that hill.  I have dreaded it happening the last 5 years.  Every time any of them are coming down I have to close my eyes because I can't bear to watch. Anyway, we were at McDonald's and the kids climbed to the top of the play place and I made a big deal about how high they were and how brave they were and Kinley said "is this your worst nightmare mom?"  I said "no" and she said "it's my worst nightmare!".  You probably had to be there to think it was as funny as I did.

We had James' parent teacher conference and had our socks blown off.  Mrs. Farrell told us that in her 10+ years of teaching first grade she has never had a child that has not missed one answer in the first quarter of school.  She said not only is he intelligent and a hard worker but he has great comprehension and social skills.  She said he laughs and plays with the kids but is also very smart and attentive.  She gives the kids points for certain good behaviors and takes away points for certain bad behaviors.  James is the points leader by 15 points and looks for ways all day to get as many points as possible.  She said that she thought long and hard about what to tell us he needs to improve on and she couldn't come up with anything.  Of course we know he is great but wow, for someone outside of the family to think so was really fun.  James heard every word she said and was modest about it but I could tell it really scratched his itch to be bragged on.  We'll have to deal with the people pleasing issue down the road but for now we are enjoying his love for the "straight and narrow" and his excitement about school.