Pinewood Derby

Another year and another pinewood derby under our belts. I wish I had more pictures, but they just didn't turn out so well. However, here is Tyler's car in his second race. It's the one on the right. Sadly, he didn't win - but it's all about the experience. Right?

Allen and I decided if we ever have to do this again, it would be totally worth it to get some college kids who want to help and pay them for a winning car!

The biggest attraction for the little kids of course, was the pinewood derby cupcakes. For whatever reason, that I don't understand, the scout leaders put them out on a table at the beginning of the evening. All night, there were little kids that just couldn't stand it. They would take out the toppers of the cupcakes and lick the frosting off. Sometimes, they just put their fingers in the frosting and licked. Gross. Lesson learned, don't eat the cupcakes. However, Braden couldn't stand to be left out. At the end, he got a cupcake too.

Days of My Life

Some crazy things going on lately. A lot of randomness. I decided I really wanted to learn to make rolls. I have made bread. I make it all the time and it is extremely easy to do. I throw all the ingredients in my bread machine, it has a seperate compartment for the yeast, I put it on the dough setting and just like that...I have dough. I don't know why I want to learn to do it by hand but I have been trying and trying for awhile now. After many attempts, here it is. My dough, that I mixed by hand. There was a lot of dough so I also decided to try and make cinnamon rolls. I have never done that either and I really wanted to know how. So here was my attempt at that.

After many failed attempts, and I really do mean that, I actually got a pan of good rolls. YAY! Such an exciting thing for me.

They even actually tasted decent. YAY! I am sad I don't have a final picture of the cinnamon rolls. This is my friend Erin's recipe and she has a recipe for cream cheese frosting to go with it. They are to die for! Very good!

Another part of my life is Braden. I know I have said it before, but he is a constant from the second he wakes up to the second he goes to sleep, I have to be on top of it. He is so quick to get into trouble. Seriously, I think I had twins as a precursor to what Braden is. I could easily go back and have twins again compared to Braden. I have resorted to putting those contraptions on the door knobs in the house. My older children, as well as I, struggle with getting certain doors open. I hate them, but they are necessary.

I have put locks on the cupboards and the fridge. Yes, the fridge. Braden loves opening the fridge. He pulls things out and he likes to climb in. I am afraid the door will shut on him and I won't be able to find him.

The other day I was getting ready in the bathroom. I don't have a lock on the cupboards, however it was tied together and it isn't an easy thing to get off. Both Allen and I struggle with getting them off. I left to run into the kitchen for just a moment. I came back in the bathroom and there Braden was sitting on the floor with this pulled out.

He had put it in his mouth and he sprayed it. I heard him trying to spit it out. I just couldn't believe it. It only took a minute and a half, he had gotten the tie off and opened the cupboard. I looked on the back of the bottle. It said to drink water and call a physician or poison control immediately. So, I gave him water and called poison control.

I always use to wonder - seriously - what kind of parent would let their kid get into poison? Who would leave it out in the open? I found out a couple of things through this process. It doesn't necessarily have to be out in the open. Second, I am not the only person who calls poison control. I was actually put on hold for 5 minutes before I got through.

The nice lady that helped me told me that they don't have this poison listed which means they must not make it anymore. I couldn't find anywhere on the bottle where it listed the ingredients. She finally told me to just make him drink a lot. Anything he wants to drink to give it to him, as long as he is drinking. Then she told me if he starts drooling excessively - like a lot of drooling, I should take him immediately to the emergency room.

The lady called back a hour later. He wasn't drooling excessively so she decided he would be ok. So far, so good. But my goodness! I am ready to make a suit out of velcro and stick him places. So I know when I put him somewhere, he'll be right where I left him!

Also another random thing. The girls had a really good day together. It was so great. They were loving playing together and had a great time creating. They took pictures and wanted me to post what they had made. So here it is!

Anyway, crazy busy couple of months, but we are all well and haning in there!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Hopefully everyone had a great St. Patricks Day. Our kids woke up to a special breakfast with Leprechaun juice. I told them they all had to drink it before they got their donut. Tyler was not going to drink it at all, Kylie wasn't sure, but McKenna took the plunge without a problem. Once she told the other two it was just milk, then they were ok with it. Those other two take after me I guess. Sometimes, you just can't get past the color thing. I think that's why you don't see green ketchup anymore?

They were all decked out in their green for that day so luckily they didn't get pinched. Next year I'll have to try and celebrate this holiday more. I feel bad that I don't. I grew up in a home where it was definitely celebrated. We would set traps the night before and try to catch leprechauns. They would always leave things messed up. Good memories.

Braden's 2nd Birthday

Well, it happened. Braden turned two. It's hard to believe two years have gone by, and at other times, I truly wonder if we will even survive until the end of the day. He is an absolutely wild and crazy child, but can also be so sweet and loving. I took him in for his 2 year appointment and the Dr. said, "He looks like he is a great kid sitting there so quietly." I laughed out loud. I said, "Honestly, I am wondering if he has ADHD." So for the update, Braden is in the 50th percentile for his weight (28 lbs) and only the 30th percentile for his height. Poor little fellow. I hope he grows some more inches soon.

He had a great birthday. All day I tried to prep him for his moment. I kept telling him Happy Birthday, kept trying to get him to say two and even sang for him once or twice.

We had my parents and Uncle Dave over for dinner and cake. Before we ate, he really enjoyed playing with the balloons.

We are so talented, we even were able to make the balloons stick to the ceiling without tape or glue.

Braden really enjoyed making the little party favors blow out. He was very proud of himself.

Then came the momen we were all waiting for. Food. The plastic for the table cloth was too long, so I cut a strip off and lined the kitchen chair with it.

We really enjoyed the pizza and salads. But seriously, who wasn't ready for the cake? This picture is upside down, but at least we know what it looked like.

The moment we put the cake in front of Braden with the candles, he realized finally that this was all for him. He's seen other birthdays, and it clicked that this was for him. Funny moment.

We blew his candles out and then Allen took the cake away to go and cut. This shows perfectly his frustration at having it taken away. He was not too happy.

All I can say here is yum!

Braden was expecting a normal cake, not an ice cream cake. This was the picture that followed after taking his first bite into his cake.

With only a couple of brain freezes, it was time to move onto presents, and he was more than ready for that. He understands opening them and he was excited to do that.

All in all, it was an excellent day with so many fun toys. It was fun to have him be so happy and I'm glad he enjoyed his day. Happy Birthday to my child who has definitely brought so much joy into our lives.

Student of the Month - Tyler

A fun month for Tyler. He was chosen as student of the month for January. He got to eat lunch with the principal and the principal gave him a cookie. He got a jamba juice certificate and of course this really cool certificate. He was really excited about the jamba juice! Great job Ty!