Vrrrrrooooommmmm!!!!

So the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race last week was a blast. There were over 20 cars racing, three at a time, in probably over 15 heats. Jake's pack was using a brand new race track this year- about 30 feet long! It is all electronic, hooked up to a special race computer program that displays heats, racers, car names, and race times on a big overhead screen. It's just awesome. The scouts raced their cars first. Then, the siblings got to race their cars. Even though paint held high importance over design in this house, Jake's "Gold Bomb" ended up leaving all of the other Bear Cub cars in the dust!! haha No kidding. He won first place for fastest Bear Cub car out of probably 7-8. Ally's car, "Flower Power", while probably the prettiest car on the track, wasn't all that fast. That's ok though, Ally was very supportive of her brother's win and just happy to be there in general. Overall, the day was very fun. Next up...wooden sailboats for the Rain gutter Regatta in the spring. Tim...come home!!!

The Race Is On...

Well, here we are...the night before the big race. Emotions are high, nerves are on edge. You can feel the excitement in the air. You might be wondering, "when did Kym start following NASCAR?" NOT! Of course, I'm talking about tomorrow's big Cub Scout Pinewood Derby races! Jake and Ally worked diligently for two weeks on their cars. (Thanks to Daddy for carving out the bodies the night before he left.) Now, even though the Scouts have very detailed specs about size and weight of the cars, I quickly realized that what mattered most in THIS house was. . . the PAINT! Oh, how we had fun spray painting our cars. First, several coats of primer, then several coats of base color. I'm sure the dogs just really appreciated going to bed with paint fumes each night in the garage. But, when its 16 degrees outside, you're not going to spray outside. Sorry puppies. But the fun didn't stop there. Oh no, after taking the cars to the official "weigh in" and attaching the correct amount of weights to each car, we got to bring them back home, break out the teeny tiny brushes and get down to the detail work. Jake decided to go with small, simple designs- letting the base color speak for itself, you know? Ally, on the other hand, opted for a bright, bold statement. The kids decided not to name them, but I call them "Flower Power" and "The Gold Bomb". haha Both cars turned out great. I wonder if tomorrow they'll let me stand at the end of the track and wave my pink chiffon scarf to start the race. . . you know, like they did in Grease? haha Maybe I'll just sit on the sidelines and videotape. On your marks. . . Get set. . .

A Day of Change

Yep, first thing this morning, I was racing around trying to dig up enough change ($2.00 to be exact) so that Ally could buy hot lunch at school. I guess buying hot lunch at school is some kind of cool thing because here in this house, it was a must that I gather up the change.
That's the kind of change that matters around here. That, and a clean change of underwear, changing up my exercise routine so that I trick my body into burning more calories, remembering to change out the batteries in the fire alarms, etc.
All day long there will be coverage of the Presidential Inauguration. There are as many empty buzz words floating around as there are people on the Washington Mall. "Hope", "Change", Optimism", "New Day". I really want to be able to get past all the media hysteria and connect with the basic historical significance of witnessing the first black President take his oath. But what keeps me from doing that is all the Hollywood hype surrounding the event. This is one man, one man I did not vote for, taking the same oath of office as 43 other men have before. The only difference this time is the color of his skin. I get the significance of that, but this the United States of America. All things are possible. This is not the first black man, or woman for that matter, to hold a high office in our government. I'm really exhausted with all the talk about this one man being any more significant than any other President. We don't know yet if this man is significant at all. He may in fact, turn out to be just the opposite, although for the sake of our great nation, I sincerely hope that not to be the case. I wish everyone would simply quit being hypocritical, speak with politeness and respect for every President of this nation, and stop pretending that this inauguration is somehow greater than any other in the past. Every one is an important part of our history, regardless of the skin color of the person taking the highest oath. Today, as we change over Presidencies, I would like to extend a personal thank you to President George W. Bush for serving this country and for keeping us safe after 9/11. Thank you, Mr. President.
Now, I may just watch the inauguration with the sound turned off, and continue counting my "change" ...for if this new President can't turn around the economy, we will all be needing as much change as we can get.
As always, God bless the President, and God bless the USA.

As Fonzi would say, "Aaaaaaaa"!

Its that time of year again...report card time. For some, it's a dreaded time- not in this house. I always wait with anticipation for report cards to come to see if my kids are still doing well in school. Again, I am so pleased! Aside from behavior (haha) both Jake and Ally got straight A's for the second semester of school!! Yea!!!
Ally seems to be taking after me, with her "advanced social skills", and Jake seems to be taking after Tim- extremely smart, but quickly bored with class. Oh well, guess you gotta take the good with the ugly, huh? Just as long as the A's keep coming. : )

Oh Deer!

So recently, there has been this very big doe with a badly hurt hind leg who has been coming right up to the front door and nibbling the not-so-digestible potted plants at our entryway. She's gotten very used to me, and knows that food is not far off whenever I show my face. Well today, this doe, I'll call her Helen, (get it? Helen "Hurt" instead of Helen Hunt? haha) was hanging out with a handsome threesome of young bucks, Spike, Manly, and Pretty Boy. I love when the deer come around, which is almost a daily occurance. They are so friendly to the "lunch lady" (that would be me) during the winter time. : )

Ally Reads a Book!

Well, last night was quite exciting. This year in Kindergarten, Ally has been leaning all of her letters, sounding out sounds, and learning small words (I, my, and, the, etc.) Ally is always up for "homework" and doing homework is something cool that big kids do. haha (we'll see how long she holds that opinion.) So, last night I suggested she might be ready to begin reading the collection of Dick and Jane books we bought for Jake when he was in Kindergarten. As I expected, Ally was all for it! : ) We started with book #2 (couldn't find book #1), and I as finished up my work, I let Ally begin sounding out words on her own. We then worked together through the little book once or twice. She quickly got the hang of recognizing repeated words, and sounding out similar words. It was awesome! By the time dinner was cooking, Ally was able to read through the whole book, 2 short stories, all by herself! Yea, Ally!! I quickly got out the video camera and taped her reading one more time. Hopefully, I'll be able to post that video on this blog for everyone to see. I was so proud of her...but I think she was more proud of herself. Last night was a good one!

Welcome!

A friend just sent me a link to the blog she created for her daughter, and I thought it was such a cute and neat idea - I had to create one for Jake and Ally. : ) My hope is that I can make this a fun and convenient place for family and friends to check-in and catch up with all the fun and craziness of our household. I will focus mostly on Jake and Ally, but will post interesting things about me and Tim whenever they come up. Hope you like it!