Pinewood Derby Video Fun

I love my new camera! With it, I shot some HD video of the races. Here are four quick clips. Enjoy!


Race #1





Race #2







Race #3






Race #4

Last Pinewood Derby Ever!

We've reached a new milestone in parenting. We've just completed our last Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car for our youngest son. We've put 4 boys through Scouts, and we're closing in on the end of Cub Scouting.

John and AJ made his car this year. They put all of John's experience (and everything he read on the Internet) into this car. AJ designed the car, cut it, painted it, drilled it, polished axles, and all the other good "secret" stuff people do to make a winning pinewood derby car.









Here are the results.


The night of the derby, everyone checked in their cars.





Then they raced. AJ's car won a couple of races, and he came in third overall. Everyone had a great time that evening. The leaders did an awesome job recognizing all the boys' hard work and made it a really fun night.

Mission Accomplished!

AJ has been begging me to teach him to make ramen (on the stove) for the past couple of months. A week of so ago, I took a few minutes and walked him through it. Here's his first bowl of ramen he made himself.

Human Boots

I guess that title could be really bad, but I promise it's not.

AJ loves to hang on John's arms, legs, etc., so that's not an uncommon occurrence. It was quite funny when Michael joined in the fun and together they became John's "human boots." Or as AJ calls them "Iron Boots."

Food Storage

John and I feel like we really need to get our food storage in order. We've bought a few things recently, including stuff from Emergency Essentials last time I was in Utah (getting David ready for BYU). But we have felt that we need to do more. We just placed an order with Walton Feed (through a wonderful women in Lancaster), but I wanted to see how we were doing after all that food was added to our food storage.

I used Emergency Essential's Food Storage Analyzer today, and it was great! I could put in all the stuff I had, and it told me how I'm doing based on my family. It figured the amount of calories needed for each person, nutrients, etc. It really helped me feel better about where we are, but also to help direct my future efforts and know what I really need to buy.

If you want to check it out, click on the link below. It's quick, easy, and worth your time! Also, if you do, and you review it on your blog, Emergency Essentials will send you a free $10 gift card with no strings attached! What a great way to assess your preparedness and be paid to do so!

My New Sign

I was at the church bookstore on Saturday and saw this sign. As I've been called a "mean mom" many times over the years, I decided to embrace the title and buy the sign. It's in my kitchen.

Michael's Moving Up

Michael's been working hard as a Boy Scout and has earned a lot of Merit Badges, but until recently hadn't advanced much in Scouting. He was worried about the swimming test. But this year, he was determined to pass it. He practiced swimming a few times, and then realized he could pass it pretty easily.

Once that was done, he earned his First Class rank. He's also ready to earn his Star rank, but he must wait several months between ranks (I think it's 4 months).

Congratulations, Michael!

AJ Is Officially A Webelos Scout!

At AJ's last cub scout pack meeting, he was awarded his Bear rank and 3 arrow points (one gold and two silver). He turned 10 while we were on vacation, so he is now "officially" a webelos scout. He's really enjoying his new den and can't wait for the Pinewood Derby next week.

At this pack meeting, they played water balloon battleship. It was a great success.

It's Not A Vacation Without Mini Golf!

While in the Outer Banks, we went miniature golfing with some of our extended family. The mini golf places in OBX have some extreme themes. One had a dinosaur theme, but we went to this one that had an "Indiana Jones" type theme. Well maybe not that extreme, but it it was fun.

An Evening On The Beach

One night on our vacation, most of the kids went out on the beach to play, hunt for crabs, and wear glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets. (AJ made his into a belt.)

Fishing in OBX

Fishing is a popular sport (if you can really call it a sport, because the fish don't know they're playing) in the Outer Banks. People hop in boats and try their hand at it. They hope to come home with some big fish.

We took the kids to see the fish. And we waited...

And waited...

And waited...

Until the boats arrived.

Some had some large and unique fish.

Bodie Lighthouse

While in the Outer Banks, NC, we visited the Bodie (pronounced "body") Lighthouse. It was a beautiful place, and the kids really enjoyed corralling their cousins.

This Makes Me Feel All Warm and Fuzzy

When we visited the Bodie (Body) Lighthouse in the Outer Banks, there were several of these signs located along the paths and walkways. Doesn't that make you feel safe, so much so that you don't need to worry about where your children are walking?:)

Kitty Hawk Kites

Right after the show at the Fudgery, we visited Kitty Hawk Kites (in the same shopping center across from Jockey's Ridge). While the kites are amazing, the kids were drawn to the area with a variety of interesting "juggling" toys. There was a very nice man who demonstrated all these items and taught the kids to use them. It was great!