Tim is a member of a large Cub Scout Pack and there is a lot of competition. Timothy’s dome, exposed engine, and lightning on red design really impressed the crowd. Decided by vote by families and Cubs, Timothy received one of the two trophies offered at the pinewood derby:
Nice work, Timothy and Dad!
Timothy has been a busy Cub Scout this month. One morning he took a break from school to lead the pledge at a community breakfast. The color guard was the ROTC from a local high school. It was impressive and quiet Timothy’s voice was clear and strong.
January is also the month of Pinewood Derby preparation. Preparing wheels, axles, and designing a car take a lot of time.
Our kitchen table has been a work bench for the past few weeks. Timothy and Richard finished the car last night.
Wish us luck tomorrow at the Pinewood Derby. His car looks great.
Around our house we do JOBS, not CHORES. I find that names carry a lot of significance. It’s better be employed in a job than a chore. One implies importance and meaning; the other implies drudgery.
But doggy pick-up truly is a chore. Notice the improvised gas mask.
Running the electric blower is the favorite outdoor job. It’s loud for little ears, so Mark chooses his red ear protection and he’s ready to go.
Here’s the list of the jobs the kids do on Saturdays:
bedrooms: change sheets, clean, dust, and vacuum
help clean bathrooms
vacuum and dust family and living rooms
help with dishes
dust mop the hallways
clean, dust, and vacuum school room
clean up patio and lawn areas
help in the garden or other outdoor tasks
doggy clean up (we usually pay 10 cents per… you know)
wash windows
put away laundry
fold towels or help with socks
One of Richard’s coworkers gave him a Wii because she felt sorry for us, the only family on the planet without computer games. It is not something we planned on purchasing, but we decided that since we have one, we will let the kids play it one day per week (Saturdays) after the jobs are finished.
I hope the Wii doesn’t take over our lives.
I worry that it will.
I really don’t like the Wii.
Timothy celebrates a birthday on Christmas week. I have a good friend who has a theory that people most enjoy the season in which they were born. If this is true, it wouldn’t be difficult for Timothy to love his birthday season with its generosity of spirit, lights, and hot cocoa. However, having a birthday so close to Christmas, it is a challenge to organize a party. Our solution for the past few years has been to leave the party games and food to Peter Piper Pizza.
I embroidered a hat for each guest.
Timothy’s friends ranged in age from 5 to 15. Timothy is irresistible; he is handsome, brave, generous, quiet, a good listener, funny, and a very good friend.
Games and pizza made for some happy friends.
I think we will remember this Christmas for all the company we kept. In the week leading up to Christmas, we stretched ourselves and visited folks, went caroling (I played the fiddle); we threw two birthday parties, and were lucky to see Sarah and Bryan. We finished a puzzle during their visit.
Here we are at Christmas dinner, the kids at the bar and the adults at the table. We had the missionaries join us.
The missionaries were good to play with our boys.
The greeting
cards have all been sent,
The Christmas rush is through…
(Are you singing that Carpenters song yet?)
We’ve spent the past few days finishing up Christmas details.
We even made some goodies for the neighbors, despite my plans to skip it.
When you hear the call to bake, you’ve got to bake; homemade toffee is always a good idea.
I entered the world of cellophane wrapping and I’m never going back. It’s the lovely detail I’ve been missing.
Each year we make a list of things we want to do to celebrate Christmas. Here’s an excerpt from our list:
Go caroling
View Christmas lights
Watch It’s A Wonderful Life
Decorate small gingerbread houses
Finish reading The Book of Mormon by Dec 31st.
Watch Scrooge with Alastair Sim, hiding from scary parts.
Make the Annual Christmas Video; record piano performances & dances.
Watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Kings Singers concert (especially Oh Holy Night)
eggnog
eggnog
chocolate
Surrounded by friends, we watched Paige’s dance studio perform The Nutcracker this weekend. I decided that it’s better to watch her when I’m not looking through a camera, so I don’t have many photos, and I have no photos of three of her numbers. I lived the experience instead of trying to preserve it and share it, because ballet is very emotional and best enjoyed live.
We loved the snowflakes.
Paige closed the first act with this pose and snow falling all around her. The show could have ended there because it was so beautiful.
Richard and Daniel were on the technical crew this year. Daniel manned the spotlight and Richard filmed the performance.
Sarah and Bryan were able to come. It’s nice to have family to cheer you on.
In 2010, we went on FOUR vacations. This year we have had ONE vacation.
Timothy’s last Wolf requirement was to visit someplace historical or important in the community. I couldn’t believe it. Since he turned 8, we haven’t taken part in ONE of a series of ubiquitous opportunities in every child’s life to visit a police or fire station, town hall, or historical site.
So at the end of 2011, we’re trying to make up for it. Here are some photos of our trip to Golf -n- Stuff.
Daniel was on a winter camp out with the Scouts and Paige decided she’d rather stay home and do chemistry and math homework.
Sigh. Childhood ends too soon.
Who is more excited, Richard or Mark?
Watch out for my son. I’ve decided to rename him Butch because he’s so tough.
A water fight in 40 degree temperatures?
Oh, why not?!
We try to take our guests to the Sonoran Desert Museum when they visit us. It’s gorgeous weather right now, so our outing with Joe was really a lot of fun.
On the drive to the museum, we travel on a rollicky up and down road through a saguaro forest. We raise our arms high in the van and feel our stomachs drop as we dip and turn.
Mark really gets into it.
At the museum, we learn about animals and plants. This was an American Kestrel we saw along the path. A docent patiently explained the life history and habits to each group that passed.
Buddy
The desert museum has an ice cream shop along the trail. Since it was lunch time, we decided to call our ice cream cones “lunch” because that’s what you do when cousins come to town.
Dear world, this is my family who loves me even when my hair looks like this.
Timothy the ham.
Cousins
Cave explorers
Joe and 3 of his kids
Excavation team
What is Richard so anxious about? A charging javelina? A desert tortoise in the path? You never know what you might encounter in the desert.
It was a good day and we were so glad to have family visit us.
This little gem of a pose was discovered in the background of a shot we took today at the Desert Museum. How fun it is to have cousins in town!