Down and Derby

We went to James's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby this morning. Everyone had a great time.

Here are the cars lined up at registration:

Here is a close-up of James's classic wedge (red, white, and blue):

Here is James having just lined up his car for one of many races:

And here is James with his awards at the end:

The certificate he earned was for Best Wedge Car. And it was the best wedge car. What you might not have also noticed was the ribbon and medal on his uniform:

That happens to be the award for First Place! Yes, James won the Pinewood Derby! I never had a good car when I was a kid, and I was always upset about it. James is a good boy and I knew he would handle this well. But today, he didn't have to, because he won all the marbles!

On the car, he did almost all the work himself. The most dangerous stuff (chisel, belt sander) was done by me, and Tracy and I offered minimal help on other things, but he built it almost independently. I'm so happy that he had fun building what turned out to be a fast car.

Girl Scout Cookies

I asked Amelia if she wanted to sell Girl Scout Cookies to the neighbors (the orders are due tomorrow) and she said "Why would I want to sell cookies and make someone ELSE rich?!"
I explained that her troop would get some money for field trips, etc and she was okay with that.
If any of you locals are interested in cookies, let me know TODAY and I'll order some for you, with home delivery at the end of February.

James Revolutionary Idea

In school, James has been learning about ancient Mali, where the salt trade was very important. On the way to cub scouts last night, he said to me something like this:
I think I need to consume more salt. Salt is a preservative right? If I eat more, I will be able to preserve my energy.

So there you have it. If you are low on energy, eat more salt.

On a side note, last night was my first night as Wolf Den Leader. I've been assistant for a few months now. For the closing activity, we were supposed to do this cool button on a string trick, where you wind the string tight and then pull and the buttons spins and makes vibration noises, etc. I tried at home and couldn't get it to do anything cool. I passed out the buttons and string and told the boys- I'm counting on you to make it happen. I want to see the cool trick. We tried and tried and aside from a compliment on the quality of buttons, nothing happened. The boys were good sports about it though. When we were pulling into the driveway, James politely asked "Next time, can we do something that works?"

Another Celebrity

I can't believe my luck! I have another famous relative, this time on the opposite coast. Uncle Bruce can be seen here,
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=7228226
about 30 seconds in, when they show the boat head on, he is the one walking across. I sure miss seeing Bruce in person, so am glad to see this glimpse.

Celebrity!

We're related to a celebrity! Uncle Dave is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, so it was quite the surprise to see him on this video!
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-395656?ref=email

He appears in the 29th second, on the left hand side! We at the Kiddodiddo Ranch are so proud of him and the service he is rendering. The kids were very worried about him, when they heard about the earthquake in Haiti, but we explained Uncle Dave is in Florida, teaching Haitians, not in Haiti itself. We are so excited to see him at the end of the year!

Birthday Wishes

Amelia announced this morning what she would like for her birthday: a pet and a goatee.
I think I'll get her the goatee.

Simon's Hand

Here's Simon's hand!


He saw me scanning mortgage documents and wanted a turn.

The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 4)

< The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 3)

We are now approved on paper by both banks to complete our short sale purchase. It turns out that one of the banks did try to foreclose on the current owner, but her agent talked them out of it for now. Now we're getting busy signing things, copying things, and e-mailing things.

I guess it could still fall apart, in which case it would probably get foreclosed. So it's a good thing we saved all our boxes...either for packing or for building a new house, or both.

Overheard

Jonny and Simon are watching a potty training video- it's one they happen to love it features "The Pocket Snails" and has a song at the end where the diapers sing and dance and say good bye.
Today when the dancing diapers appeared, Jonny cried out "Oh no! Here is the evil diaper and his minions!"
I happen to know that phrase does not appear in the video!