Pinewood Derby Car #1 is FINISHED!!

Have you ever seen a happier kid?!? That's going to change, drastically, the moment that he finds out that he can't actually race his "Duhbby Car" in the Big Race. YIKES!


The real Cub Scouts in the family (and Daddy) were working very hard on their Pinewood Derby cars this weekend. There was a "mistake" made on the first car, which resulted in a trip to the store buy a new kit, and a very happy 3 year old. Otherwise, the work has progressed very nicely.

You'll have to stay tuned for the finished results...

In other news, Charlie has a new "pose" for pictures. As if the cheesie grin wasn't enough, he now practically closes his eyes when I want him to pose for a picture. It was not easy getting a picture of him with his new, most prized possession. "Charlie, smile", "Charlie, hold up your car", "Charlie, give a nice smile, I can't see your car, CHARLIE....OPEN YOUR EYES!!!".

...one day pictures will get easier, I'm sure.

Winter Fun...

In my opinion, "winter fun" is totally an oxymoron, but all of my boys do look like they are having fun.

Jack

Drew

Charlie

Smash-up Derby at the bottom of the hill... "Runaway Sled Game"

Ouch!!

Obviously, I didn't take these last pictures....they are way too good!!

Thanks Phil!!

You're not THAT good!!

We have good kids. I like my kids a lot. I really do think they are nice little boys and am very proud of them. But, I spend a LOT of time with them so, I know all about them....the good, the bad, and the UGLY! ;)

The boys are preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which they will be making in a couple of weeks. Since the boys are getting all of their Catholic education from Religious Education (1 night a week), rather than going to a Catholic School (every day, all day), a lot of material is convered really quickly. Last night, the 2nd graders were given a "crash course" on the Sacrament that they will soon be receiving. There was soooo much information for their little brains to process...they have to tell a Priest their sins, they have to learn a prayer, they have to tell a Priest their sins, they will be given "the wonderful gift of being wiped free from sin and given absolution", and, oh yeah, they will have to tell a PRIEST their SINS!!!

On the way home, I asked the boys what they thought about what they had just learned at RE. Unfortunately, the only part of it that they really seemed to have taken away was the "I have to tell a Priest my sins" part of the lesson.

Lovely.

Obviously, this is not good because there is so much more to it than that and I really do want them to understand as much as their 7 year old little brains are able...I guess that we've got some work to do over the next week, or so.

On the bright side, the conversation on the way home was pretty funny and the "inspiration" for this whole post. Enjoy.

Me: "What did you think about what you learned in RE today?"

Jack: "You mean about when we have to go to the Priest and tell him our sins?"

Me: "yep, that"

Jack: "It's fine."

Me: "that's it?"

Ben: "Well, I can't really think of anything."

Me: "You can't think of anything that you learned tonight?"

Ben: "No, I learned stuff, I just can't think of any sins that I am going to tell the Priest."

Me: "That's ok, you still have some time to think about it."

Drew (to Ben) , in the cool, confident, casual voice that he does so well: "Well.........I can't think of any sins that I did either. If I can't think of any by next week, I'll just go and do one".

Seriously?!?! That's right, that's my kid that thinks it is a good idea to commit a NEW sin, because he just can't dig deep enough in his brain to think of one that he has already committed. I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall when Drew goes in to "talk to the Priest"! Look out Father!!
Wish us luck!!

My "Angels"...

Who caused more damage...

...the 8,000 kids (and 14 adults) that we had over for New Years Eve, or a little mouse?

Here is the damage caused by the "8,000 kids"...

(sorry about the poor picture quality, but it was New Year's after all!)

Spencer was all worried that we would not have time to clean the basement before our party... which we did. I guess that it turns out that we really shouldn't have worried about it. :)

*********

As for the little mouse, here is the damage caused by that little stinker...



Here is a hint to my question about who caused the most damage...

Only one of them is going to result in our first claim to our HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE!

Did you guess the mouse?

You are right if you did.

Congrats, I guess. :(

Here is what happened...while we were on vacation, the little mouse made a feast out of the rubber piping the carries the water into the dishwasher. I know YUCK! But, the bigger problem is that the first time I ran the dishwasher, I was in a hurry to get to church. I started it up and then ran out the door without turning back. I was quite surprised to find a pond in my kitchen when we got home an hour later. The water never made it into the dishwasher, but rather poured out all over the floor. Not good...not good at all! In addition to having a broken dishwasher, we ended up with warped hardwood floors in the kitchen. One of my Facebook friends said that the mouse was probably really mad about being left at home while we went to visit his cousin Mickey. ;)

Luckily, my handy husband (and his little helper) completed their first plumbing job that did not end up with me being short one piece of Tupperware. :) And, my diswasher is functional again. Unfortunately, my handy husband doesn't do hardwood floors.

Here's to a less destructive 2010!! Woo Hoo!!

Last Disney Post (I promise)...

What do "little brothers" do while "big brothers" ride roller coasters???

Well, they "hat shop". Of course!!!

And, play in the cool Disney playgrounds...

Buffets...

Buffets are not my favorite....especially with a handfull of little kids. It is just too hard and not very relaxing or enjoyable.

A couple of years ago we thought that we'd give the new "Sweet Tomatoes" that opened by us a try....and I had a coupon. I knew we were in trouble when we walked in and immediately found ourselves in line (a very long line) for their salad bar. I didn't even know that "Sweet Tomatoes" was a buffet. It was terrible. We weren't in the restaurant for 2 minutes when Charlie cracked his head on the metal tray shelf thing. We should have taken that as a sign and LEFT, but we didn't. We forged our way through the salad bar with a very upset toddler and 3 kindergarteners that pointed out everything that they didn't like on the salad bar...."Mom, I dooon't like lettuce", "Mom, I dooon't like green food", blah, blah, blah. After finally making it through the salad bar, we paid and had to hunt down a table for 6 people in the very crowded restaurant, while carrying food and drinks for 6 people ...one of which was extremely grumpy and the other 5 were getting there. The experience was totally not my idea of a relaxing dinner out so, over the last few years, we have tried to avoid buffets, whenever possible.

I recently discovered that the boys LOVE buffets. We have had a couple of team outings at a local, "kid friendly" pizza buffet. They think it is the coolest thing in the world. I totally took advantage of that a few weeks ago when I cleaned out my refridgerator and made a "buffet" for dinner. They ate everything because I called it a buffet. If I would have just loaded it on their plates, they would have whined and complained about the junky dinner. But, because it was a "BUFFET", it was "the best dinner ever Mom!!".

While we were preparing for our trip to Disney, we figured that a trip to the buffet at Hollywood Studios would be enjoyed by all.


Of course the "big boys" reminded us that they were too cool to be excited about the Little Einsteins and JoJo's Circus, but they forgot the "coolness" factor when they saw all of that food.

And, what do you think Drew's plate looked like after hitting the biggest kid-friendly buffet that he has ever seen???

Yup, that's 4 pieces of cantaloupe and FOURTEEN chicken nuggets...(YUCK!)

Me, I loaded up my plate with the yummy seasoned sirloin steak and chocolate mousse. I guess I missed the chicken nuggets portion of the buffet...or maybe there were none left. :)

Jumping water at EPCOT...

Isn't that jumping water at EPCOT cool???

Hee Hee....

They loved this!! Who are these kids? I guess that I should be more clear, Ben, Jack and Drew loved it, Charlie was in tears right after the last picture was taken. See him sitting innocently and happily in the background. Well, this spray of water bounced off of Ben and hit him. He was NOT happy. I just noticed that lady walking by. I wonder if she got hit too. LOL!