He totally rocked the court on Saturday..

They all did... he had 2 baskets go in and a handful of shots not to mention rebounds!  Proud parents we were.  Last week we worked on being more aggressive and taking the ball and stopping shots ( mostly because I'm yelling "Take it" and "Get him... and that's your guy" (eeks competitive parent or what?)..maybe a tad too much for this week since he had quite a few fouls... but awesome job!  He was just as proud.

Last night was the much anticipated Pinewood Derby Race.  We had no idea what to expect and were surprised by the official looking track when we walked in...

Little Bug was beyond excited to say the least...

We had another re-weigh in and then it was time for the races to begin.  Each boy got to race 4 times getting a different lane each time in case one lane was faster than the other.

With that many races and the entire pack participating this was a 2 hour event!  Each time was recorded by us parents... that was a project in itself and I'm glad I had my better half helping me out.

Each race for Bug and the rest of us was a nail biting event...

Here's the orange streak in action down the track...

When the event was finally over the times were tallied up and Walker had won 3rd place!!!  Us parents were awarded with a major headache but were shocked and excited for him...

He was still giddy when we got home... so very proud of him and the Daddy for their hard work...

This is a rare sight...

He tolerates reading... he doesn't love it and there has been many arguments about him getting his 30 minutes of reading in daily.  Lately he's been breezing through the Diary of a Wimpy kid series and much to my shock and joy has been reading them without fit throwing and even (gasp!) without being reminded... sometimes even reading past allotted time!

A rare sight indeed... one that I hope we see more often.

She listens better then the kiddos...

They were all outside playing in the new snow fort and I yelled outside, "Okay guys it's time for dinner!"... guess who heard the word dinner and came right inside.  Yep Miss Willow!! It wasn't even Willow's dinner time yet but I had to give her a cup just because she came right in... love Miss Smarty Pants... at least she listens to Mama.  Need to train the kiddos now.

The only good thing about all the cold weather and snow we've gotten is that the kiddos have been spending a lot of time outside playing, building, having snowball fights across the fence and loving every minute of it...

This was tonight's project...

I could personally due with out all the snow shoveling, coldness and grey days.  But love that the kiddos enjoy it so.

Walker had a Living Museum report due last week.  This was a new concept to me and it was actually quite brilliant on the 3rd grade teachers part.  Instead of researching and giving a normal report the kids had to research, make a report, memorize it, make a poster, dress the part of chosen person and then give their presentation to all who stopped by.

When they first started a list came home that had famous Americans on it and the kids had to pick their top 3 choices.  The usualls were on there presidents, famous athletes, artists, etc.  I knew that he'd only get excited and work hard on the project if he was truly excited about his famous person.  I told him to ask if he could choose John Muir... being the National Park want-a-be.

It was a go and he did a great job... didn't want to wear a beard with the costume (choose your battles... right) but had his report full of details, memorized and spoke clearly and loud for all to hear.  So very proud that he did all of this when we stopped by but also for other parents that stopped to listen.  It's pretty cool to watch your child from a distance speaking to others as if it was you standing there.

While looking for photographs of John Muir we found this one... two American icons..

The cool part is this photo I found from when we were in Yosemite... we were almost standing in the exact spot as these amazing men stood...

She had a birthday party to go to at the roller rink today and came down dressed like this...

So my first thought was, "Oh my that's bright! and does that even match?"  But she wanted to wear it and it's totally her... bright colors, sassy attitude and a cute smile.  She totally reminded me of Punky Brewster from the 80s.  Remember her.. she dressed all funky and wore her hair in two pigtails??

This past weekend it was all about turning a block of wood into a derby car for scouts.

First it started with an idea of how Walker wanted it to look...

Then the parents had to Google exactly how to go about making the actual car and find out the exact rules... since we didn't want to unknowingly cheat and be disqualified on our first derby.

First Little Bug had to trace his design onto the block of wood...

Then the "master of tools" took over knowing exactly which tool to use where. There was a little lesson on what to do and what not to do with said tools...

And then Little Bug was on his own...

With a little help from Daddy cutting and a lot of sanding later it was shaped into this...

Then the tricky part came... after you take off the excess wood... now you have to give it back weight so that it will go fast down the track. After a trip to Walmart for lead weights, a scale and paint it was back to work...

The finished product... ready for the big race in a couple weeks! So very proud of the boys... no tears were shed... no choice words were said... all in all a great first derby project.

For the past few week this has been going on...

Ainsley got molds of her mouth... clearly her expression says it all... "This is so not fun... nor does this flavor of strawberry taste as good as the dental hygienist said."

Then it was onto the meeting with the orthodontist and financial person... so many choices... hearts, stars, footballs, soccer balls... not to mention the colors!  After a small car loan is taken out (ha!) she gets an appointment for braces to be put on in April... right before turning 11!  She will be rocking her beautiful new smile  for roughly 18- 24 months... we've already informed her that we hope she enjoys her early car allowance present (ha!)..while she's walking to high school she can flash everyone her beautiful smile with her gorgeous straightened teeth!!

Walker has been learning all about Basketball and loving his 2 days of week practice... next weekend we will resume our position on the bleachers and will be there every Saturday until the middle of March cheering him on.

He's also back into being obsessed with the Titanic... currently it's all about the debris field and the hypotheses that go along with it.

Today is a snow day... meaning a no school for the kiddos or work for this Mama!!  There were lots of "whoo hoo's"  at 7am!

There was also a mad scramble to get outside first thing this morning to play... Willow was the most excited!

Lots of smiles...

And laughing...

And a wee bit of snowflake catching on the tongue...

fun times.