The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat visited the Library - do you recognize Thing 1?

Andrew really was the perfect choice for the role. He had a great time running around the room.

But, the Cat finally caught him when "it was time for Mother to come home."

Valentine's Dinner

I think Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday of the year (and I think I say that every year.) It is a holiday of low expectations = high satisfaction (as my friend Laura likes to say.) I love decorating the table and blessing my family with a love-ly meal.

The kids helped me decorate this year. I put all of the hearts on the table and they announced that their Valentine animals (gifts from Grandma last year) should join the celebration.

Andrew also added the heart that he made in school.


Scott is becoming quite the photographer...


He asked me how to zoom and then just walked closer to the animals to take this. I said, "well...that's one way to zoom."
We ate heart shaped meatloaf and had a delicious dessert - graham cracker crust, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips and coated in sweetened condensed milk. It was wonderful - reminded me of Samoas. I baked it in our heart-shaped pan and it actually turned out on the plate without breaking. I would hate to have served a broken heart.

Merry Christmas?

I know it is the wrong holiday, but what better way to show love to an opinionated two year old than to let her pick out her own outfit. This morning it was..."I NEED to wear my reindeer!!" I was pushing for the pink heart dress, but guess who prevailed?



There is so much joy in these pictures, I can't help but love this little one.

Oh, and the pigtails are a bribe. I told her I would take her picture if she would let me put her hair up. It worked!!

Pinewood Derby

This is our first year in Cub Scouts and our introduction to the Pinewood Derby. I had never heard of it before January...but now I think of myself as sort of an expert. It's amazing what I learn as a parent.

Scott made Mr. Frumble's Pickle Car (from the Richard Scarry book)


I was so proud of him and thought it turned out really well. He did much of the work himself, including sanding and painting. Below are all of the cars from his pack. The first row are the Tiger Cub cars (1st Grade). The second row are the Wolf Cub cars (2nd grade). The Bear Cubs (3rd grade) and Webelos (4th and 5th grades) are on the next tables. As you can see, most of the boys chose to make real race cars.


Another great part of the day was hanging out with good friends.


They raced three cars at a time and each boy's car was raced three times. Here are Scott and two others placing their cars on the track.





There they go!!

...and the finish line. I think this was taken after the finish. Scott's car did not win any of the races. The lesson we learned is that we need to add more weight to his car. The starting block weighs 5 ounces and the finished product can't weigh more than that. But, you want it to be as close as possible to that weight...like I said earlier, I'm becoming an expert. :)



This was a family event!! I wonder how many of these kinds of things Amanda will have to endure? Then, I wonder how many "girl" events the boys will endure for her sake.
Overall, I'd say it was the best event that we've done in Cub Scouts this year. The best part was Scott was able to work with Derrick to design and create the car. He used some power tools (with supervision, of course) and really enjoyed doing what Daddy does. It was a great time of bonding for them. And I'm sure we'll participate again next year.

Little bit of snow

Today was the perfect snow day. We awoke this morning to a beautiful blanket of wet snow. School was delayed two hours...the perfect amount of time to sleep late and play for a little bit outside while waiting for the bus. There wasn't even the normal stress at breakfast when we realized Scott had not yet finished his homework. He had plenty of time to finish it.

Other Moms may disagree, but I think we should have a delayed day at least once a week. :)

Farley's Birthday

We began birthday season around here by celebrating Farley's birthday. In the past I've made a carrot/peanut butter cake. It is supposed to be edible for humans and dogs, but without eggs and sugar, Farley was the only one who ever ate it. This year, I just gave him a glob of peanut butter with dog biscuits as his candles. He was four, so there were four biscuits.

19 teeth!!

Some kids lose their jackets at school. Others may lose their homework. Scott lost a TOOTH at school today!

He has been working on it for about two weeks. I asked him yesterday if it was still hanging in there, which I think made him determined to get it out. So, he worked and wiggled it during calendar time today. I had to laugh. Don't you remember fidgeting during "boring" times in the school day? What a perfect way to pass the time! And, Mr. Math has already figured out that he only has 17 baby teeth left. 20-3=17

:)