Pinewood Derby update

The Pinewood Derby was last night. I helped do Cade, Ethans, and Braeden's (friend) car's. I did the same thing on each car and didn't do anything special in putting the wheel's in. We added weight at the end to each of the cars, with Braeden having a little less than Ethans and Cades. I was rushing around trying to ask people if I could borrow some coins! There were cars there that were right on the weight and much closer to the weight limit than the boys! So........ get this.....Braeden's car won every race but one and he came in second in that one! Cade did pretty good with a few second's and thirds, and Ethans got a few 3rd's but mostly 4th places! So they all did much better than expected and I was totally shocked that Braeden's did so well. So maybe the weight wasn't as important? I don't know! Overall Braeden came in first, Cade tied for 4th, and Ethan didn't get a place, but all the kids got fun trophies and certificates. They had a good time, and Ethan had a pretty good attitude. I tried to take a few pictures, but was distracted by watching the races and talking to other parents. I haven't put the pictures on the computer yet, but will get to that sometime.

So that's the pinewood derby news, thank goodness it wasn't depressing! Dennis didn't want to go, he didn't want to see disappointed faces. He was really surprised when I told him later. Daniel had a game right after that so we went straight to Daniel's game. Unfortunately they lost, but it was a closer lose than the last two games. Daniel had trouble with his hitting and struck out, he wants to do well so bad and is really hard on himself. He is a great fielder though and usually plays third base. He was kept on his toes last night and did a great job!

Just Plugging Along....

No new pictures to put on this time. Things have been better and not as stressful this past week, whew! We are doing okay. The kids have their pinewood derby coming up. We have never fared well in the past, and Dennis didn't even want to do it. He said that we should just forget it and not even worry about it. I felt pressure to do it, and i knew that the boys would want to. So I helped the boys this time, and told them that if they lost every race to just remember that they were doing this for fun! We went to the Hobby Bench to get cars that were already cut out, and then drove to the scout store to get regulation wheels. At first when they started painting, they had used every color, and it looked very interesting. I wondered what I got myself into! But I was committed. I convinced them to paint over it just one main color and then maybe one other color. They turned out ok, but I'm afraid they aren't going to be very fast. We just don't know all the tricks to fast cars. Any ideas out there? The derby is on Tuesday so we'll see how it goes. I will feel bad if they are disappointed. Poor Cade came in last every single race the last time he did it, and Daniel wasn't far behind!

So the school year is winding down, and I'm wondering what in the world I'm going to do with the kids this summer. We are in an apartment, and I need to look into summer things. They have different camps, but they are expensive, even if just signing up one kid. Any one know of anything free? Apartment life has been challenging and i"m ready to get out. Our lease is up in August, and even though I know it's still a little more than three months away, I'm ready to go!

Well, I'm going to go play a game of Uno now with the kids. Have a good week everyone!

I'm learning...

I changed the look of the blog, and lost the pictures of the kids. I guess I was supposed to save it somehow. I'll have to get their pictures back on. I'm still trying to figure everything out!



So this last week or so has been a little stressful. It's hard to be thankful for trials when you are going through them. It's interesting to think that what I consider a trial may not be for another. I need to remember that others may have things worse. I've learned that I don't handle stress very well (just ask Dennis).

Team Pics

A couple of Saturday's ago the boys had their team pictures. We didn't buy any, so I brought my own camera along. I wanted to get closer, but I couldn't so this was better than nothing I thought. Here's Cades team, the Nationals. He is the one standing on the far right in front of the two coaches.
Daniel is on the Diamondbacks. Daniel is standing third from the left.
Here's Dennis and Ethan on the Rangers he is standing on the far right. Dennis isn't wearing his hat because he lent it to one of the kids who forgot their's.