Pinewood Derby/Blue and Gold

Today at 4pm was McKee's combo pack meeting of the Blue and Gold and the Pinewood Derby. McKee worked on building his last ever derby car over at Damon's house, so we didn't get to see it until they walked in today to the church. He did a great job. His car was silver and very fancy, I think he said it was the corvette design. As the race was starting McKee's car was doing really well, it won every race it ran.

Damon and I were commenting on how well it was running, and then he fessed up. He had done some "treadmill conditioning" to his car. Damon weighed the car down after it was built and painted, put it on the treadmill in his house, and then let it run for over an hour! I thought it was funny when he said at least the treadmill is getting used for something! This made the wheel run smoothly because the paint on the side of the car was already worn, and the tires weren't rubbing up against the paint and sticking! So out of control! I have to give him credit though, after 4 years of making pinewood derby cars, he finally got it down! The unfortunate part is that since McKee is a webelos, next year he'll be in boy scouts, and there won't be any more pinewood derby races. Although, we'll have to remember this when it comes time to do Seth's cars!

We love being at the kids activities to show support for them. Seth and Brooke also love going to McKee's things. Here we are enjoying being there! The Blue and Gold banquet had been canceled in February because of the weather, I think, so it was combined today with the race. The gym was decorated really cute with checkered flags everywhere, and a couple banners from tires, and oil changes, the table cloths were black and white alternating.

It was nice, we had a fun meal of hot dogs and nachos, a veggie tray, and fruit, cans of soda and ice cream sandwiches. Brooke really enjoyed her ice cream sandwich! She made a huge mess!

McKee earned quite a few awards tonight. Seth was really proud of his big brother! He's been working really hard to get some things done. He finished his webelos badge and about 6 or 7 of the activity pins. Right now we're working on earning his arrow of light. We have until August when he turns 11, so I think we won't have any problems. Here are some great pictures from our fun with scouts. By the way, McKee came in 2nd place overall in the derby race! Congratulations McKee, we're proud of you!

A Date Date, or just a Mom and McKee date?

McKee and I went on a date tonight to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. It was awesome! We both really enjoyed it. The performers were from Northstar Christian Academy, and they performed at Olympia High School. I'm so impressed with the talent of these young kids! The boy who played Joseph was incredible! Look out American Idol! This morning I asked McKee if he wanted to go on a date with me and he replied, "a date date, or just a mom and McKee date?" I laughed and replied "a mom and McKee date. McKee you and I will never go on a date date!" It was so funny. To a 10 yr old boy dating means that you have to hold the girls hand and kiss her, and I think he was genuinely worried that he would have to kiss me when it was over! It was so funny. If you ever get the chance to see this musical, I would highly recommend it! McKee's favorite part was when the Pharaoh came out dressed as Elvis, and did a song with a disco ball, did an encore, and then said "thank you, thank you very much!" I would love to find the musical on DVD and have it to watch again and again!

4 days until my b-day...and I'm falling apart!

So yesterday morning out of nowhere my neck started hurting, i couldn't really turn my head, and my arm was pretty much useless, it kept going numb and hurt every time I moved it. So I figured a numb left arm, I should probably call the Dr and see what they say. They were too busy to see me yesterday, so I had to call the after hours urgent care and make an appointment. Mike and I ventured down to Irondequiot after spending an hour trying to find someone to watch the kids, and waited in the urgent care for my turn. We got in there and the Dr did a little poking around, and then came to the conclusion that I have a left trapezius strain. I have to take it easy for a couple days, not lift anything too heavy, stretch my neck, take Advil 4 times a day, and go to see a chiropractor. So today, I was off to the chiropractor. I saw Dr. Brian Justice, he was great! He knew exactly what he was talking about and the treatment was wonderful. I came home feeling like new. He cracked every vertebrae in my back, and shocked the tense muscle and was able to start working on my hip problem too! (I sound like an old lady don't I? the hip stuff is from being pregnant so many times) I was in there for almost 2 hours total, and walked out feeling great! I have to go back next week to follow up, and then he'll re-evaluate me and see what else I need. I have new stretches to do everyday, and some little activities to keep on top of just to get a good stretch and keep my neck in line. I guess the bones in my neck are supposed to move independently of each other, and they are not, they are moving all in one piece. So, those are my woes...just days away from 29 and my body is screaming "YOU'RE GETTING CRUSTY!"

Peace and Quiet

There was a great talk on Sunday afternoon about mothers. One of the pieces of advice that was given was to have some quiet time to yourself as a mother to refill your own cup. You can't get water from an empty well. So, this morning I decided to get up before the kids and enjoy some time alone and in the peace and quiet. It was great! I am right now listening to Seth screaming at McKee for touching his gloves...It was so nice this morning, listening to the birds sing, watching the sun get brighter slowly outside, thinking in a whisper instead of a scream. I will try to do this everyday from now on.

Seth is our Funny Man

This video is an attempt to reenact the conversation Seth and I had minutes before I shot this. Unfortunately it never comes out the same as it was the first time.

The original conversation was Seth"I have the hiccups." Mom "I'm sorry you have the hiccups (after a little bit of giggling on my part)" Seth "It's not funny, I don't think I should go to school today." Mom "You don't get to stay home from school because you have the hiccups. I think you'll be fine." That boy cracks me up sometimes!

100th Post and Dental Hygiene

I've been trying to blog something everyday for the month of April, so some of these posts might seem ridiculous, but hey, you keep coming back for more! :) just joking...As I went in to post about teeth, I noticed that this is my 100th Post on my family blog! That's pretty exciting for me. I should throw a big party like some of the tv shows do when they have their 100th episode. Come to think of it, I should be charging someone as much as the actors do on one of those tv shows!

We try to stress the importance of clean teeth and good dental hygiene with our kids. We take them to the dentist every six months, and we brush our teeth twice a day, every morning and night, and try to remember to floss everyday. I think we must be doing something right because Tyler has become obsessed with brushing his teeth. It's gotten so bad that we have to hide the dental care products from him because he would spend the entire day with a toothbrush in his mouth. Today was a new first, he came walking out of the bathroom with 2 toothbrushes, neither of which were his, and was trying his hardest to brush with both of them! He's so crazy, but he's so cute! At least his 6 little teeth will be nice and clean and shiny.

Conference Sunday

Today is general conference, and I love these days. It's always a great experience to listen to the prophet, and hear the general authorities of the church deliver their messages to us. I enjoy the relaxing day, instead of the usual sabbath day events of trying to get 4 kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door to make it to sacrament meeting on time. With the first session today starting at 12pm our time, we were able to have a leisurely breakfast (here is Mike cooking us some bacon) and take the kids on a little nature hike before coming home to watch the broadcast. We took the kids to Badgerow park, off of Latta Rd. We've really enjoyed hiking there in the past, it's a beautiful path through trees and over a creek. Today we were so excited to see a couple of steel head fish that were in the creek to spawn. At one point of the hike the kids had to jump over this tiny creek that ran through the path and the quote of the day is Seth as he's jumping over on the way back he exclaimed "I'm going to take a flying leap." That boy cracks me up sometimes! After we were done hiking we stopped at the playground on the way back to the van and the kids were able to play on the slides and swings for a bit before we headed home. It's finally beautiful spring weather here, and it was a really nice family outing. I've decided that from now on I want to ask the kids when we do something like this what their favorite part is. It's nice for them to look back at our memories and know what they thought, instead of just my thoughts, and most of the time the kids are really funny. McKee: seeing the fish, Seth: seeing the fish, Brooke: seeing the fish, Tyler: (of course he can't talk) he kept pointing at the trees that were only as tall as him and smiling, I think he liked them at his height. Oh yeah, as I type longer I remember things I wanted to write, sorry it's not necessarily in order! The kids had a great time looking for animal tracks and trying to figure out what they were. They also found some walking sticks and were using those to help catapult themselves over the little creek, it was pretty funny. This was Tyler's first hike on 2 feet, last year I carried him in the baby Bjorn. He wanted to keep up with the big kids so badly, but he isn't used to walking on rough terrain yet. That boy loves to be outside though. He found a stick that was just the right size and tried carrying it like the big kids, it was funny. When he lost interest in the stick he dropped it and squatted right down to look at a track in the mud like the other kids had been doing. It was only my foot print, but he sat there and looked at it for about 2 minutes before we could move on! When we got home, he was pretty pooped out, so we gave him a bottle and when he was done he laid down for his nap, and has been sleeping for the last 2 1/2 hrs. The other kids did a great job of sitting in their bean bag chairs and working on their conference packets that I made for them and listened to the speakers. They were actually paying attention too because I could hear their little comments about what was being said. We are looking forward to the next session that starts at 4pm. It has been our tradition for the last couple years that Bama and Bampa come over for the afternoon session and stay for dinner. We are having a lovely roast in the crock pot with roasted potatoes, and a jello salad and caramel turtle brownies. Yum, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.