Ralph: Confirmation!

On April 8 Ralph was confirmed.  

Ralph was nominated to do one of the readings at mass.  He whole heartedley accepted the nomination.  

Ralph's sponsor for confirmation was his godmother and my friend since 3rd grade - Theresa Delahoyde.    Ralph's chose Saint Andrew as his Saint ~ mostly because St. Andrew was Jesus' 1st disciple.  In Ralph's CCD class Ralph was the 1st "go-to" of his classmates when they were being quizzed on the information they needed to know.

Ralph: Phase 1 of Braces!

Today was a big day for Ralph  - it was a day Ralph did not want to experience for awhile.  Phase 1 of braces has commenced.  Ralph.   Ralph had just over a week to mentally prepare; he was super nervous this morning.

The main goal of this phase is to correct his deep bite/create spacing. This is a bit of a nontraditonal approach - no impressions were taken in the process of getting these braces. There are 3-4 different wires - 1 connecting the front two teeth together; 1 connecting each side of the back teeth, and one longer one connecting the front teeth to the back. We are expecting these to be on for 12-18 months.

A trip to yogurtini was in order after the orthodontist . . of course, we were afraid to put any toppings on. 

Middle left photo: need room for one more tooth in each of the empty spots

Middle right photo: 2 teeth need to fit in the spaces on each side of the front teeth

Bottom middle: the front teeth should not be blocking the bottom teeth as much as they are.

Ralph: 1st boy scout camp out

Ralph experienced his 1st boy scout campout this past weekend and participated in Cornhusker Council's The Big Idea Service Project and Camporee.    Seven scouts from the Troop attended including Ralph and 3 other scouts in his patrol.  The Camporee was at Prairie Pines located at 112 and Adams; not far from home.

They set up camp Friday evening and experienced a thunderstorm overnight.  Saturday morning was a morning of service (Ralph pulled honeysuckle) as the Preserve is getting ready for the season of public use and programming.  After lunch the participants heard from Jack Riggins, a former navy SEAL who promotes teamwork and teambuliding.

The Troop made eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns for breakfast, lunch was provided, and the Troop made spaghetti with meat sauce for supper.  

After Friday's storms and Saturday's declining weather with lows in the 30's overnight the decision was made to come back Saturday after supper rather than stay until Sunday morning.

Ralph looked like he was sleep walking when I picked him up.  He had had a very busy week - waking up a bit too early a day or two and staying up later than usual at least one day.  He had minimal sleep with the storm Friday night (suprisingly two of his scoutmates slept through the storm).  Ralph tried to slip into bed without showering but he did get a shower in.  Somewhere in the course of prayers Ralph fell asleep.

Ralph did enjoy the "camping" part of the weekend.  He is looking foward to the next campout in May.

Yearly Checkups!

Last week the boys had their yearly checkups.  I moved up the boys' yearly checkups this year so we could get the paperwork completed for boy scout camp for Ralph.   

Ralph weighed in at 88.2 pounds (67%), 59.75" (85%), and a BMI of 17.4 (52%).  New this year for Ralph was a non-fasting cholesterold check with a finger prick (168 points).  Ralph also received 3 shots.

Henry weighted in at 56.2 pounds (16%), 51.625" (25%), and a BMI of 14.8 (17%).

In addition to me filling out a questionairre for each of them, Ralph is now at an age where he also gets to fill out his own questionairre and will continue to do so each year.

All in all, nothing unexpected to report.

Ralph: From Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts!

Ralph crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts on February 22.  The ceremony was new this year ~ the boys were not quite sure what to think of it nor being the center of attention.  The week after he crossed over Ralph went to a "Merit Badge University" with 4 other boy scouts from his Troop and earned his 1st two merit badges - Pulp & Paper and Chess.