Pinewood Derby - January 25, 2012

Nick with some buddies waiting for the race to start.

The cubmaster had Nick come up and repeat the 9th article of faith because last week he was the only cub who could do it word perfect. Way to go Nick! If they can repeat the article of faith they are working on that month then the cubmaster gives them a full size candy bar.

Carly, Annelise, and Isaac enjoying the race.

Here is Nick and his car "The Lego". I think he had a good time at the derby. There were a lot of kids racing - I think close to 30. Each kid raced his car 8 times (twice in each lane). The track was digital so it was clear who won, even by a tenth of a second. During one of the last races of the night, Nick's car won that race. Even though Nick didn't place that night overall, he had fun with his friends and had a great attitude about everything. We're really proud of him.

Isaac

A couple of things about Isaac I wanted to share. Yesterday he was outside playing and he was ready to come in so I told him to wipe his feet. He looked at me, then crouched down and took the edge of his shirt to wipe the top of his shoe - like, whatever makes you happy mom. Looks like we haven't done much training on wiping feet.

Another thing - we did in fact finally get rid of his pacifier. That was our new years resolution - and we've followed through..... then he started sucking his thumb or any finger he had available. For awhile we just told him to take it out of his mouth but that stopped working recently. We tried vinegar and he kind of liked it. Jake attempted hot sauce, but that is too mean and then he would rub his eyes afterwards, too scary. So I looked online and found a nailpolish called Mavala Stop. I put it on him yesterday while he was asleep and I think this might work. The 2nd half of the day yesterday he would do a whole lot of spitting if he put a finger in his mouth - he would look like a mad dog. By the time the night rolled around I think he had accidentally done it enough that he started to wear off the nail polish, so i reapplied after he fell asleep again. Lots of spitting again so far today, and he's keeping his fingers out of his mouth. Cross your fingers for us! I think this might save us some serious dental bills later.
Isaac really likes Thomas the tank engine these days. He also loves playing on the "tramp-e-lean" with his siblings in the backyard. He just bounces right along with them. Generally a happy little buddy.

Fall family pictures

I didn't post these earlier since they were being used in Christmas presents, but still want them recorded on the blog. We took these late September, I think. My good friend Natasha was our photographer. There were tons of great ones, but these are the ones that made it to the wall gallery in our front room, plus a couple of ones I couldn't resist posting. I just love them!

Christmastime

Sadly I didn't take very many pictures over the Christmas break, and of the ones I took, many of them were blurry. We had a great time with lots of cousins and family fun. We loved having my brother Robert and his family stay over for Christmas. At my parents house were my sister Christine and her fam, brother Tim and his fam, brother Donnie and his fam. Some of the fun - finding some great Christmas lights in downtown Sacramento, movies, a great family Bunko tournament (thank you Jennilee!!), a night at the roller rink, and of course - Christmas with all of it's great traditions too. 15 kids ages 13 and under!

Of the holding hands group - Uncle Donnie, Carly, Aunt Karen, cousin Riley, and Uncle Tim

Nick giving skates a try.

Annelise and her favorite Christmas present - a unicorn Happy Napper. "It's so fluffy!" Also, a wrapped present she worked very hard to wrap for her great Aunt Amanda.

Isaac loving his new trains Christmas morning.

Carly with Uncle Donnie & Aunt Jenni

In our little family we draw names before Christmas of who we will give a gift to in our family. Each person is allotted 5 bucks to spend and we all load up and head to a thrift store. Then we split into two groups to go find the gifts. Carly had Dad and Dad had Carly this year. In this picture Carly is really excited to give her gift to Dad.

Here's Dad's gift to Carly - she loved it, plus, as a bonus it came with 4 packs of hot cocoa!

Sadly I didn't take very many pictures over the Christmas break, and of the ones I took, many of them were blurry. We had a great time with lots of cousins and family fun. We loved having my brother Robert and his family stay over for Christmas. At my parents house were my sister Christine and her fam, brother Tim and his fam, brother Donnie and his fam. Some of the fun - finding some great Christmas lights in downtown Sacramento, movies, a great family Bunko tournament (thank you Jennilee!!), a night at the roller rink, and of course - Christmas with all of it's great traditions too. 15 kids ages 13 and under!

Monterrey Bay Aquarium - November

At the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Isaac and Annelise in a glass tunnel where the wave washes over the top, a very fun effect.

They had a great seahorse exhibit.

Another great exhibit, jellyfish.


Over the Thanksgiving break we took the kids to the aquarium. It took a few hours to get there, but the kids did pretty well (it helps to have movies in the car), and it was really fun to watch them experience the aquarium.