CAP Promotions

The last meeting in April was the Change of Command ceremony for our Civil Air Patrol squadron. Major Sumner, who has been the senior member commander for many years, decided to "retire", and Captain Williamson is the new commander. Landon, as the senior cadet member, was asked to be the flag bearer for this ceremony.

Major Miles, the Group 3 Commander, accepts the flag from Major Sumner. He then handed it off to Landon, who is waiting in the background. Then they do the reverse process to turn it over to Captain Williamson.


The squadron also had promotions that night. Gerren received his Wright Brothers award, which is a milestone promotion to the NCO ranks. He is now a staff sergeant.


Now that Landon is an officer, he has a minimum of one "sustain" between every grade change (I call this a rank, but Landon says the appropriate term is "grade"). So, instead of moving up every 2 months, they can only change grades every 4 months, sometimes even 6 months. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in February. So, he spent the next two months meeting the requirements for the Flight Commander Achievement. He stays at the grade of 2nd Lieutenant. Then, over the next two months, he'll work toward meeting the requirements for promotion to 1st Lieutenant.


I was not in this picture, because when I went up for Gerren's promotion without Carys, she threw a fit. I had to take her outside. I came back in just in time for Landon's recognition but decided to stand in the back and hold the troublemaker!

Happy 16th Birthday, Landon!

Here is the birthday boy ready to open his gifts!


Chase didn't have any money for a gift (oh, those pesky management fees!), so she made breakfast for Landon with a little help from Dad - eggs, grits, bacon, and toast. She also made him this awesome card!


Awwww, thanks, Sis!


A card from the Department of Energy thanking Landon for using an alternative energy source - birthday candles! Okay, so it was really from Mom and Dad and included an iTunes gift card.


Mechanical pencils were actually on Landon's birthday list, so he got some of a little better quality than the dollar store cheapies he was using.


Hmmm.... what's this?


A graphing caluclator! Cool! Is it only homeschooling parents who give educational stuff for birthday gifts?


Landon always requests homemade strawberry shortcake for his birthday. It starts with a homemade angel food cake. (Ok, it comes from a box! My parents got this cake mix at a store in Belleville, IL, where they live. I can't find one like it down here. It comes with two packages of mix in it. The first is an powdered egg white mix that you sprinkle over cold water and whip on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Then you fold in the other packet. It is the BEST angel food cake mix. My parents can't even get it anymore. It was a brand called Hospitality which may actually be a generic name. I used my last box on this cake, so I know I'm going to be searching the internet for more.)



Here's the finished product. It's a good thing Landon's birthday falls right at the beginning of strawberry season here. I even made homemade whipped cream this year for the first time.


Here's the King of the Day enjoying the creation!


And here's a tribute to a really awesome kid!

An Officer in the House

February 10 was a big day in the Meahl family as both of the boys were promoted that evening at their Civil Air Patrol meeting.

Gerren was promoted to Cadet Senior Airman. Here Major Shewbart pins on his grade insignia.


Major Shewbart, the Deputy Commander for Cadets, Gerren, and Greg.


And Landon was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant! He is only one of two cadet officers in his squadron at this time.


This is Major Shewbart, Landon, and the new Group 3 Commander, Major Miles.


I included this picture of the pinning on of Landon's epaulets for one reason. You can just see a tiny bit of Major Shewbart's face in the background.

If you look closely, you will see that he's talking. While he's pinning on the cadets' insignia or epaulets, he talks to them in a whisper. He said to Landon, "You're doing a good job, Landon. I'm proud of you. Keep up the good work." And I think he added something else more personal. He said something similar to Gerren. He's an incredible godly man who has had an awesome impact on my boys. I am so thankful for the men God has placed in my sons' lives at this crucial point in their spiritual growth (Keith Shewbart, Kevin Spiddle, Bob Ayton, Al Kearse.... I'm probably forgetting someone, but these popped in my head right away). Thank you for giving freely of your time to impact these young men.

Winter Encampment

This year both of our boys attended Civil Air Patrol Winter Encampment. Gerren went as a "doolie", and Landon was a flight sargeant. When we arrived for the graduation ceremony, Landon was drilling his flight. I have no idea who this kid is! He really had his doolies motivated.


Our squadron had quite a few staff members. Ashlyn was the flight sargeant for the female flight.


And Sam was flight sargeant of a flight as well. (Of course, they all call each other by their last names, but I am NOT a CAP member!)


I found Gerren in line waiting to complete his final paperwork before the Pass and Review. Right in front of him was another boy from our squadron, Trevor, who was in his flight all week.


Further up the row, I found John Mark, another doolie from our squadron.


Here is a picture of everyone who attended encampment from our squadron, except Shane, a staff member who was busy cleaning up!


Good job, everybody!

What's Up?

Well, I've decided I need to spend a little more time keeping my blog updated. I like Facebook for keeping up with what my local friends are doing in little snippets of time without having to read long paragraphs. However, it's not a great way for my family members and homeschool loop members to keep up with the details of our lives, pictures, etc. We had a family meeting about fall activities today and how to get it all done. One of the things we've decided to simplify this year is Christmas cards. For years I've written and published a newsletter. For the last two years, we did a fun Christmas quiz. However, these are a LOT of work on me. Most of the information in the newsletter is stuff I wrote about in detail on my blog. So, I found this place where we can order Christmas postcards, put a picture on the front and a message on the back. I can even upload my address book and they'll print those on the cards, too. Much less time consuming. I plan to refer everyone to my blog on the card. This way it won't be a long, boring newsletter filled with old information for our local friends and family who already know what we're doing.

Not much exciting has been happening here this month. In September, we attended an event at the boys' Civil Air Patrol squadron. An artist had given them a new painting he did after 9/11 called Wings of Freedom. Gerren was promoted to Cadet Airman and Landon had his Cadet Honor Society induction announced to all present. Here is a scrapbook page I made of the event for Landon's album. This is a Smilebox layout, by the way.



It's been an emotionally tough month for me because of some half-truths told to manipulate me by a leader of a ministry I'm involved with. The funny thing is that, even though I have told details of this situation to almost no one, many others at church have noticed that I've been hurt and have been an incredible source of love and encouragement to me. What a dichotomy!

We've been running around like crazy trying to deal with medical issues this month, too. My left foot is really bothering me now that the right foot is better, of course! I really believe this plantar fasciitis is exacerbated by my thyroid issues. Anyway, I've been running to the chiropactor 1-2 times a week for this. It helped my right foot immensely, but I'm not getting any relief for the left one. Chase had 2 baby teeth pulled last week (under anesthesia) to prepare for braces which both she and Gerren have put on October 20. I have been referred to an endocrinologist probably to have a fine needle biopsy of a thyroid nodule I have which has grown in the past 6 years. I am being torn between traditional and alternative methods of dealing with my thyroid. I would have thrown over the traditional methods long ago if it wasn't for this nodule. So, it is a source of worry.

Of course, all these medical issues bring a big financial burden, too. We really like our insurance policy/HSA. However, all these expenses are just too much for any family to bear at one time. We're only allowed by law to put $5800/year in our HSA. This is $483/month and $330/month of that goes automatically to braces. $153/month isn't much for a family of 6 for medical, dental, and vision care. We were putting $416/month and basically spending all of that before orthodontics. Help, Lord!

Well, that's the nitty gritty update for now. I will try to take some pictures and get more regular about posting again!

Congratulations, Landon!

Landon was recently informed that he has been admitted to the Cadet Honor Society. You can see the announcement here: http://www.flcadet.com/default.aspx. To be eligible, a cadet in good standing must score 90% or above on an achievement or milestone and maintain that average for 3 consecutive achievements. An achievement consists of a test in aerospace education and another test in leadership for most levels. The purpose of the Honor Society is to "help cadets gain academic recognition and credit for educational and scholarship purposes.

Here's a picture of Landon (in the middle) from his last promotion to Senior Master Sargeant.

Dissection 2: Crayfish

Today, Landon did the second dissection in Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Biology -- a crayfish.

He is really NOT a hands-on learner, and he does NOT really like these dissections. He is doing them nonetheless and doing a good job.








I can't remember what this was -- his brain?





He's always happy to finish!

Where Has the Week Gone?

I can't believe it's been a week since I last blogged. Where has the time gone? Well, Friday was lost in the blur of a migraine for me. It's not often that I get one (once every 2-3 months), but when I do, wowza! Chase was so great and helped me so much that day.

That morning Landon was complaining that his jaws hurt. I could barely see through the fog of pain and told him it was probably his eustachian tubes that were clogged up from the 5 days of awful congestion he'd had. That night when I was functioning again, he complained again and asked me to feel his jaws. I didn't need to do that. When I looked at him directly, I could see that the right side of his face was grossly swollen. No wonder it hurt. We spent Saturday morning in the walk-in clinic to find out that he has parotitis, which is an infection of the parotid gland. This is his 3rd course of antibiotics in 2 months. His tonsils are swollen and seem to be a petri dish for bacteria growth. We had a consultation with an ENT who said they were enlarged but not grossly so, and it was pretty much a matter of his comfort whether we wanted to take them out or not. I guess we're going to choose that option before he becomes resistant to antibiotics!

Oh yes, when I went to fill Landon's prescription, I had them refill my Imitrex as I had taken the last one. The last time I had this refilled (10/06) the cost was $99 for 9 pills. Seventeen months later and a different insurance policy (we now have a BCBS HSA rather than Medical Savings Insurance HSA), the cost was $189 for 9 pills. That's enough to give anyone a migraine. Our wonderful local pharmacy, Brashear's, suggested that I get just 3 at a time since I take them so infrequently anyway. $189! Can you believe that?

Oh, here's a picture of my little fashion queen in her sister's jacket.

Cadet of the Month

Last night at Civil Air Patrol, Landon was named Cadet of the Month. He is now a Staff Sargeant and moving up the ranks as quickly as he can.

This award was passed to him from Ashlyn Wright. She and her two brothers are members of Landon's squadrons and come from a really neat homeschooling family.


Here, the Squadron Cadet Commander, Major Puchala, puts the award (cords, ribbons ???) on Landon.

Congratulations, Landon!

Ewwww! Gross!

Landon LOVES Apologia's upper level science courses (we haven't used the elementary stuff - Sonlight worked well for us on those levels). However, he's not so thrilled about dissecting! I say if we're doing Biology, we're doing it all the way!

Today was the first dissection--an earthworm.

Here "he" is ready to go!


Landon did pretty well, although he destroyed the worm's ganglia (which acts as its brain, according to Landon). He said the experiment information said it is common to destroy this part when cutting the worm open.


This picture proves that Landon actually did the dissection. (As you can see, I forbid it taking place IN my house. He used the back porch.)


This picture proves that MOM actually went outside and looked at the gross thing!


Landon celebrates throwing the worm away.


Thanks to Chase for taking most of these great pictures!