Pinewood Derby 2015

A little over a month ago we received a box that contained a block of wood, some nails, and some wheels and told "it's pinewood derby time."  Turning to the one guy in our family that has wood working tools and knows how to use them, this was a job for Grandpa!  Grandpa provided great guidance for Ralph as he observed grandpa cutting the block of wood into something that could be raced and then took a role in sanding, painting, and putting on stickers over the course of a few weeks.  They had a great time working together and have more wood working projects on the horizon.

Last Friday evening was "weigh-in".  Ralph's car weighed in at 4.8 oz though it had weighed 4.9 oz on the postal scale at HyVee - either way it was under the maximum weight of 5 oz.  The cars were then "locked-down" for the night.  There were 13 cars racing in Ralph's tiger cub den. 

Race day: Since there were 13 cars and 4 lanes, each car took its turn racing down each lane.  It took a while to get to Ralph's car.  Finally Ralph's car raced.  It seemed to do pretty well but was also hard to remember the times of those ahead of him.

I tried to get a front view of Ralph during the last heat so I could capture his reaction during the last heat but failed. Ralph's car averaged a speed of 187.2 MPH with a time of 2.64 which earned him a 3rd place finish in the tiger division.  When they announced the top 3 finishers in the tiger den Ralph started scanning the crowd trying to find one of us.  I think I was heading towards the room next door where they would be taking photos.  Ralph spied grandpa and gave grandpa a wink.  It was fitting as they worked together on the car.

Another round of swimming!

The boys took a round of swimming lessons at Rhonda's Swim Academy between Christmas and New Year's.  Ralph continued in level 3 for the 2nd time.  Henry was in level 1, 2 for the 3rd time.  My biggest hope was that Henry would pass and they would both be in the same level again.  Level 3 is combined with Level 4 and leaps and bounds ahead of Level 2.  I do not expect anyone to pass Level 3/4 anytime soon - it would just be nice to get them in the same class so we aren't wasting time waiting for one class to get done and start the next. 

Henry's class met ahead of Ralph's so we had his "parent show" first.  There were 4 kids in his class.  All did great.  Henry was a lot more sure of himself when jumping off the side and the board.    Rhonda was so impressed with their skills that she had the kids jump off the board and swim to the shallow end one by one - something I had never seen in all the Level 1,2 "parent shows" I have attended.  Henry also was a lot more relaxed picking up the shark rocks from the bottom of the shallow end.  Success!  On to level 3 for Henry!

Ralph's class had 3-4 Level 3 students, and 4-5 Level 4 students in it.  Ralph really did enjoy the 4-days of classes this time.  I am hoping he has turned that corner and has found a fondness for water.   He would report on his lesson each day - he wore the floater belt for the first few days; he took it off for the crawl stroke on day 3 but left it on for the back stroke.  On day 4, during the "parent show", he opted to keep it off for the back stroke too.  This effort shows me he is getting more comfortable in the water and confident in his skills.  Rhonda was very close on passing him into Level 4 just based on how he did at the "parent show".  I told her I was just happy they would be in the same level again. 

The boys are signed up for Level 3 weekly lessons in February.  We've always done the 4-day-in-a-row lessons; hope the weekly ones go well.  I think they'll like having their time in the pool spaced out.   I'm ready to sign them up for some of her "open swims" where they can be dropped off for 3 hours (for a fee).  I was stalling until Henry passed level 2 and got a little older/taller.  Unfortunately one is in February - I don't think they need that on top of a lessons but maybe we'll try it in March.

Christmas 2014!

Caution: Do not read with children nearby!

Leading up to Christmas

Ralph wrote a letter to Santa at his after school program a few weeks before Christmas.  He asked for 3 items - 2 of which were Pokemon cards and "a car you ride on".  I believe the 3rd item he wrote down was just something he overheard someone say and not something he really wanted as I have never heard him express any disappointment in not getting it.



I was pretty sure Ralph had been good enough to receive Pokemon cards . .and while he may have been good enough to receive "a car you ride on" there was absolutely no way we could store one in our garage but it was hard to convince him of that.


Ralph heard plenty of rumors concerning Santa from schoolmates  I was asked if Santa was real a few times but would tell a little lie for the sake of keeping the magic real for Henry . . and (more so) for his friends.

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day

We rushed getting home from Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve and forgot to put out out treats for Santa . . I remembered as the boys were going to bed.  I told Ralph I'd put something out for Santa.  In the morning the boys noticed Santa left a bit of milk in the cup left out.  They wanted to finish drinking the milk Santa left behind . . that had been sitting out all night.  The boys excitedly dumped out the stockings while breakfast was being prepared.  After only finding a few pieces of candy in my stocking they decided I must have been bad this year.

After breakfast we opened gifts.  The first gift Henry opened he declared "this is what I always wanted". . .and, almost two weeks later, the Connect 4 is not yet opened.  They were both very excited to see what was in the wrapped gift boxes.  Henry would look at the tags and could recognize his name - and sometimes Ralph's depending on how Santa wrote the names.  Yes, Ralph did get Pokemon cards.  Henry . . .I'm not really sure if he had a favorite gift but he mentions the 'painted' Thomas the Train when people ask him what he got for Christmas.

After opening gifts at home we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for another round.    They could hardly wait!

Santa's handwriting was a little more difficult to decipher at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Henry would toss aside any package that did not have his name on it.  After opening gifts we went upstairs to double check the tree upstairs and Santa left one more gift for the boys.  Ralph did get "a care you can ride on" - his face was priceless.  It's a 2-seater dune buggy type so both boys can ride in it.   Luckily the weather was nice enough the boys could take it out for a quick spin.

Holiday Traditions 

The handprint ornament has become a tradition of the past. Ralph's handprint was starting to get to big they way I was making them so I let it go. I do wish I would have just taken a handprint each year on a different piece of paper rather than make ornaments so they'd be easier to store and continue doing. 

The candyhouse tradition is still a fun one.  We didn't have time to do it before Christmas but did squeeze it in on December 26.  I need to be better prepared next year to do it earlier.  It was a bit rushed but I think the boys still had fun.