Pinewood Derby

Saturday was Michael's first Pinewood Derby with his Cub Scout Pack.  The design that he and Todd chose was the Batmobile.  They painted it black and silver and finished it off with some silver flames on the side.  When they got to the race, they had to name the car.  They named it Knight Rider.

 

 

While the leaders were getting set up for the race, the pack leader gave out awards for various activities that the scouts had completed.  Michael received his belt loops for archery and BB Guns from the camping trip in October. 

Michael could not wait to go there and race.  I was pretty impressed with the race set up.  I had a circular track pictured in my head with kids pushing the car off for the start.  This was much more organized that that.  There was a long metal track that started higher in the air and came down to a straightaway.  The track had a finish line that gave the automatic finishing of each lane.  Each Cub Scout was able to take a turn to press the button to start the cars on the track, which I thought was neat. 

There were 32 heats, which included racers from each of the dens in the pack.  On the wall, they had a projector that listed each car racing in the heat, as well as the racers on deck.  It was really helpful to be able to see who was racing there instead of trying to look for the car, which was a bit small from where we were sitting.  At the end of each heat, the winner came up on the wall, as well as the time of the car.

At the end of the heats, the leaders tallied the winners.  The pack leader gave out certificates to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each den.  All of the kids in each den got a participation medal.  Michael came in 1st place in his den.  He was so excited, especially since it was his first time.  We then found out that the winners of each den were going to race in a final race.

The final race included 6 heats with 4 racers.  They were in different lanes and some were left open since there were 6 total lanes.  Michael got 3rd place in his pack!! 

  

Bowling with the Boys

Tonight Michael's school sponsored a bowling event for moms and sons.  Michael's first time bowling was only a few weeks ago but he really enjoyed it.  We got a flyer home from school and he asked me if we could go together.  As the time got closer, I asked him if he still wanted to go.  He said yes but asked if we could all go!  So sweet.

We ended up bowling with 2 of Michael's classmates, their moms and brothers.  Michael seemed to have a great time hanging out with his friends and bowling.  After the first game was over, they ate pizza and cookies.  The second game was more of a free for all with all of the kids just taking turns on both lanes as the people bowling next to us left. 

It was a fun time for both of us!

Letters Make Words

Katie has recently taken an interest in what letters are used to spell people's names and words.  When we are out at the store, for example, she will see the letter "K" on something and knows that is what her name starts with.  She also knows "M" for Michael and "T" for Tyler, the little boy I watch.  Over the past few weeks, she has also become interested in writing these letters.  Katie practices the "K" all the time and is pretty good at writing it.  If I tell her how to write a letter or show her an example, she can duplicate the letter pretty closely.

I am surprised that she can write her name so well already and that she shows such interest in it.  Katie will sit at the table with a piece of paper and write the letters that she knows over and over again.  This can keep her busy for at least 15-20 minutes.  She gets upset when she doesn't think the letter is "perfect" and will write it again until it is done to her satisfaction.  Her standards are pretty high for an almost 4 year old!

Here are a few of her writing samples:

Wordless Wednesday

Wonderfully Warm Winter Weather

After several weeks of colder weather, a warm front seems to be moving into the area.  This morning was one of the first in several days that there was no frost on the windshield.  It was in the mid 60's by the time that Michael got home from school.  Katie had already been playing outside for over an hour and he quickly joined her.  They mostly played on the porch with Katie's new Playdoh popsicle set and then did some coloring on the easel.  When it started to get dark, they came inside, although neither of them wanted to.

The final picture is something that I want to remember forever.  My view from the kitchen as I prepared dinner:

Merry Christmas!

Visit with Santa

Tonight we took Michael and Katie to see Santa at the mall.  When we arrived there, we realized that we had once again gone on "pet night".  Every Monday night in December until Christmas, you are allowed to bring your pet to the mall so that he or she can visit with Santa.  Some of these pets are dressed better than the kids there!  One good thing about going on pet night is that the pets don't take nearly as long to tell Santa what they want.  We were about the 8th or 9th customer in line but I think Michael and Katie were the first kids to see Santa that night.  We usually try to get there right when Santa gets back from dinner to minimize the wait.

This year was the first year that both kids were excited to see Santa.  They couldn't wait to tell him what they wanted.  Michael's list had 4 things and Katie asked for 3 things.  The picture wasn't the best but we are going more for the experience of seeing Santa. 

After we left, Katie said that she forgot to tell Santa that she would like some girl Legos too.  I asked Michael what he wanted to get Katie for Christmas later that night.  He told me girl Legos since Katie forgot to ask for those from Santa but he still wanted her to have them.  Wasn't that sweet?