1st Place Moments

The Pine Wood Derby has never been something that I look forward to. Because it is a cub scout thing we have our boys choose their own design and help cut it, everything. It is suppose to be their car. However, due to the fact that neither one of us knows what we are doing our cars have never done very well in the races. This year we got help from someone else and worked really hard to make the car a winner! But to no avail. There were brothers who wiped everyone else out of the race. (Come to find out weeks after the race that they bought theirs already finished online!) Luckily our son has a good attitude and left the race disappointed in his car, but not depressed.

Then they announce at the next den meeting that at the next pack meeting there is going to be a cake decorating contest. The wheels in our head started turning. We could come back at them with an awesome cake! I was bound and determined to help my kid shine! This was all I thought about for weeks, planning the layout, finding all the right stuff and recruiting help where I was unsure. The day of the meeting this was all I worked on. It took my entire day! Lucky for me they were serving dinner at the pack meeting or my family would have gone to the soup kitchen that evening! This was our end result, the theme was the great outdoors.

Ev was so excited to take his cake in and let everyone see it. And I hoped that he would win. Well, the awards weren't the same as the Pine Wood Derby. No 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. It was most inspiring or best decorated prizes. Ev's got the best Cub Scout spirit award. I was a little disappointed for him. But hearing him talk about how we did it and what he helped with on the cake made me realize something. He didn't win a certain place with that cake. But doing this cake together gave him and me (and his siblings, we all helped) a fantastic time together. We still talk about making the people or the fire. That cake holds a lot of memories for each of us and that is far more important than a 1st place ribbon.

History has a way of repeating itself

Yes, I realize it has been a long while since I posted. You would think with all of our modern technology and conveniences it would be easier to have more time, but I don't. And this pregnancy really has wiped out my energy, not to mention preschool and 3 busy kids. But I really need to document this funny story, for history purposes.
When I was younger my family lived near some cows. They had a fenced area that was full of mud and other stuff (you know what I mean). Well, my brother got in there one day with some rain boots. It wasn't long before he was stuck. That muck just sucked onto that boot and wouldn't let go. My mother was able to get him out, but without the boot.

Well, 30 some years later it came back around. We have had a LOT of rain this past week and so our ground is very muddy. And lucky for us our kids have turned a part of our yard into a mud hole. No grass lives there, just mud. They even have a hole dug that they can sit in, they really like to be in dirt. Of course the rain filled the hole and made that area of our lawn absolutely terrible. Natalie had a friend over after the rain had passed and they were playing out back. It was so quiet, the boys were gone and I was really doing good on my organizing goals. Suddenly, the back door opened and a very frightened friend says, "Hurry, Natalie's foot is stuck in the mud and she can't get out!" Talk about a flashback in time.

I immediately thought how funny this moment was and wanted to get my camera. I started looking around for it and could not find it anywhere. Then her friend comes back and says, "Hurry, she's sinking deeper and she can't get out!" I stepped outside and told her she would be fine, I just wanted to grab my camera. Natalie looked at me, as she is tugging on her leg to pull it out. I could tell she didn't see my reason for wanting to capture this on film. She was starting to cry, so I went and helped her get out. As soon as she was unstuck she was fine and went on playing, muddy foot and all. She had on a pair of crocs, which have holes in them, so she had mud all over inside the shoe as well.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the moment, but at least I have written it down. She wasn't traumatized after the fact, at least I don't think so. Although her friend might be, thinking that her friend is sinking in quick sand and all her mom thinks about is finding a camera!
I wonder if this will repeat itself again for the next generation?