Pinewood Derby 2012

Isaiah participated in his packs Pinewood Derby last night.  He seemed to have fun and his car won a few races...but the Pinewood Derby kind of frustrates me.

Technically, the boys are supposed to make their cars by themselves with minimal help from adults.  What happens is the boy finds an "awesome" car design, dad cuts it out  (because boys can't operate a band saw), boy sands...and sands, and sands..., and then boy puts on a base coat of paint.  From here many parents take over so the car will look truly cool...and not like an eight or ten year old painted it.  I have been on both sides of that coin.  I have let my son(s) paint and detail his car all by himself, AND I have been the parent who has the boy do the base coat and then taken over the project.  It bothers me that the coolness factor overshadows the fun of the boys making their own cars.

The other thing that has always bothered me about the Pinewood Derby is that it truly feels like the boys take a backseat for the adults to have fun.  Once the boys are done designing their cars and the weights and wheels are in place...they aren't allowed to touch their cars...AT ALL!  The adults take the cars from the boys and line them up on a table with "security guards" to make sure that once they weigh exactly 5oz., someone doesn't secretly add more weight so their son's car will win.  "Security" tape is placed all the way around the track so none of the boys can get to close to the track.  A few adults (or older scouts) are assigned to pick up each boy's car and place it in the correct starting gate...and then one adult gets to pull the lever to start the race.  The boys don't race their cars...and it makes me sad.  They barely help make the car and then the adults run the race while the boys watch from behind a roped barrier.

That's all I'm going to say about it.  I just wish it really was more about the boys and less about the rules.

Here are some photos from Isaiah's Pinewood Derby race last night.

I love Caleb's face in this picture!  hahaha!

I thought the car in the middle was unique.  They used a cell phone for the weight!

Isaiah found a Wii remote Pinewood Derby car on the internet and decided that he wanted to do one.  I think it turned out great!

My Rant About School Supplies

This year, I had to buy more school supplies than I ever have...  OK...that probably isn't true, but for the last few years, we have reused many of the supplies from previous years, and this year I had to buy ALL new stuff (because our household goods were still en route and we were living out of suitcases).  Talk about breaking the bank!!  AND some of the supplies were A LOT ridiculous.  What 3rd grader do you know of that is going to need FOUR HUNDRED 3x5 cards?! and why am I stuck with supplying the teachers with dry erase markers?!  I know my kids aren't going to be writing TWELVE pens worth of stuff on any dry erase board...and why do all my kids need HEADPHONES to go to school?  seriously!?  Another thing that really bugs me about the school supply lists is the number of those (black and white marbled) composition books they require.  I have to send each kid in with no less than four of these every year, and at the end of the school year, they all bring them back to me with like 20 pages written on, and the rest is BLANK.  You can't tear out the used pages, because if you do, the back 20 pages will fall out...and you don't ever use them for anything else since the first 20 pages are written on...so we WASTE at least EIGHT of these books each year!  One more thing...  You have to label EVERY SINGLE pencil/crayon/marker/glue stick/eraser/folder/everything!!  I spent FOUR nights and SIX sheets of avery 5160 labels (each one had the child's name printed on it twice...and then I cut them in half lengthwise so I wouldn't have to use 12 sheets of labels) applying their name to every single item on the list!  AAARRGGGG!

I decided to add up all the supplies I bought this year that were required for the first day of school for two elementary school students and one middle schooler.  (Brooklin was easy...one accordion folder, some notebook paper, two pencils and some of the leftover pens from the packs required for the other kids...oh, and $98 for fees/yearbook/activity card).  Here it is:

• Headphones - 3
• Boxes of Kleenex - 4
• A 1 GB thumb drive
• Sheet Protectors - 50 total
• Black Sharpie Markers - 4
• Scotch Tape - 3
• Scissors - 3
• Rulers - 3
• Protractor - 1
• Packs of Post-It notes - 4
• Paper Folders w/ prongs and pockets - 20
• Pens - 6 black, 6 blue, and 4 red
• Colored Pencils - 3 sets
• Pencils - 48 SHARPENED plus 12 MECHANICAL
• Rolls of Paper Towels - 5
• Markers - 3 sets
• 3x5 cards - 8 packs of 100
• Highlighter markers - 10
• Graph paper - 2 packs
• Glue Sticks - 6
• Liquid Glue - 4
• Manila Folders - 6
• Tabbed Binder Dividers - 1 pack
• 3-Ring Binders - 4
• Loose Leaf Paper - 7 packs
• Large Erasers - 4
• Eraser caps - 1 pack
• Crayons - 3 boxes
• Dry Correction Tape - 3 (Liquid WhiteOut was apparently banned for some reason...)
• Composition Books - 12
• Combination Lock - 1
• Calculator - 1
• Book Covers - 8
• Dry Erase Markers - 12
• Multiplication Flashcards - 1 set
• Hand Sanitizer - 2
• Household Cleaning Wipes - 4 containers
• Pencil Sharpeners - 3
• Soprano Recorders - 2
• Accordion Folders - 1

That's the list...I had to go to four different stores to find all of this crap stuff too!  Every store was out of something, so I had to play the game and run to several different stores to find it all.  Ok...done with the rant.  I'm glad they are all in school and that I can have the house to myself for a bit. =)

We are still alive... =)

Hi All,

I have no excuses...I've just been completely lazy! Sorry!

It looks like the last time I posted was the 11th of Oct. On the 11th, the boys had their first indoor soccer games. I was proud of Isaiah...he chased the ball the whole time he was out on the court. I like the indoor games better than the outdoor games, because there is less for Isaiah to look at, and he pays a lot more attention to the ball! Caleb is doing really well too. They have played two games each (both teams won both games...except they don't actually keep score) and tomorrow we have their third games.

Notice the kid in front of Caleb isn't on his feet anymore...that is because of Caleb! hehehe!


Here he is as goalie.

Isaiah is a good goalie also. He does dance a bit, but he's only let one go by him!

On Sunday the 12th, we had our friends, the Daltons, over for Sunday dinner. We had a ton of fun playing Apples to Apples with them.

Tuesday the 14th, we had our homestudy for adoption done. Mark from the Washington office came up and was in our home for about an hour and a half. I was not nearly as nervous this time around as when we did the first one. We have to redo a lot of our paperwork, so we can transfer our adoption stuff from Hawaii to Alaska. We had to be refingerprinted, all of us had to go get a new health checkup, we have to have a new approval letter from our bishop, four new reference letters (from people who have actually stepped foot in our new home here), a new application, and of course new fees...it is $500 for the homestudy update, and we had to pay $50 a piece for the fingerprinting and background check. I called our worker, Nickie, today, and she went over our Dear Birthmother letter with me, and then gave me instructions on how to update everything on the web. She said she got all of the papers we sent her, and that our reference request letters and bishops letter request were sent out yesterday from her office. Hopefully this won't take too long!

Friday the 17th, I had to give an informative speech at school. This is how I started it... "I bet many of you didn't know that I was expecting. I've been an expectant mother four times before this, but this one has been very different. I have lost 10 pounds, I have no due date, and I am 18 months along." Most of the class was very comfused, until I told them I was going to speak about my experiences on getting approved to adopt an infant in the United States. I got an A- on the speech, because I didn't do the outline like she wanted me to, but she really liked everything else. Also on Friday, Darwin, Brooklin and Caleb installed a new mailbox for the house. The other one was really wobbly, so they put up a new snow plow proof one.

On Sunday the 19th, we had another family from our ward over for dinner. They are a couple we knew from before. They have a new baby...I think she is 4 months old, and the kids just loved her! They all were fighting for a turn to hold her, and even Darwin stole her from me once! She is a little dolly! Caleb had a ball with their son. He is 2?? and Caleb played with him the whole time they were here.

To add to our little list of Smarties...London came home with the Extended Learning letter this week! I found out it is only for math in elementary school, but it is exciting to have kids who are doing well in school, and that other people notice it. None of my kids went to organized preschool, and when I went to meet London's kindergarten teacher for the first time, (a few years ago) she actually made a comment about how she couldn't believe that I'd never sent her to preschool, and made a note something like she would be one of the "not so smart" kids in the class because of it....and gave me that look, like wow, you don't really care about your child's early education...!!! WELL HA! I proved them wrong! Staying home and teaching your children in your own home works just as well as dumb preschool! I think even better, but that is my opinion. I think more moms should try it! Ok....venting over... =)

Today, the weather couldn't decide what it wanted to do. It hailed 4 or 5 times, rained inbetween, and it snowed a little two or three times.! It was even clear and sunny once today! Nothing stuck, but it may by in the morning. Right now it is 35 degrees and my desktop weather station says it is snowing, but it is too dark for me to tell if it really is or not, and I kind of don't want to look.

Ok, I will try not to go this long again without posting, unless I have a really good reason. I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs...thanks for not being as lazy as me!

Thumbs up - house signing. Thumbs down - Frontier Inn & Suites

Tomorrow we are closing on our house!! We are so excited to not be in this hotel anymore. And just for the record, if you ever come to Juneau, and don't stay with us: First of all - Why would you do that! Shame on you! And second of all - DO NOT stay at the Frontier Suites. We have been here for exactly three weeks now, and our room has only been completely cleaned ONCE. We have had to take out our own trash EVERY DAY, we have run out of toilet paper twice, the sheets were only changed once - three days ago, (except for Isaiah's...he had a night accident, and I had to change the sheets myself.), and there isn't anywhere to hang the TWO towels they give us so they end up on the floor, and we have to ask for extra (make that any and all) towels EVERY DAY. We have even hijacked a vacuum cleaner from down the hall, and vacuumed the floor ourselves, because it was so gross. Just this morning, we had about 15 squares of toilet paper, and only hand towels left, so I went at 7am to the front desk and asked for towels and toilet paper. When we got home from church at 12:30pm, they still hadn't brought us any, and I had to go and track down a cleaning lady and ask her for some. This is the WORST service we have ever had at a hotel. The only time we've had a worse hotel experience, was in the roach motel next to the Laie Temple, but that was not because of the service...lol...and we ended up leaving there at 10pm to go to another hotel that had less critters roaming the room.

So anyway, we are grateful we had a place to stay, and especially that it had a full kitchen, so we didn't have to eat out everynight, and that the Coast Guard paid the bill, but we will never be staying here again.


This evening, we went on a short walk with the kids on a trail by the airport. We tried to find a geocache, but came up empty. =( There was a really creepy guy on the trail, so we didn't stay around and explore the area very much and luckily, no one won the dog poop award this week, yeah!

One thing about everyone.

Darwin: He seems to be at work longer and later here and has more phone calls about work. It could also be that we are all used to having him around all the time, and need to remember what it is like to have him working.

Melissa: I went into Joann Fabric on Friday, so Brooklin could get a little project to work on to keep her busy. I walked out of there with 60 yards of 20 different fabrics that only cost me $88!! They were having a really good sale, and I totally scored!

Brooklin: She went to girls camp here from the 4th to the 11th of Aug. and had an absolute ball. Her favorite things were kayaking and making new friends. She sang the songs she learned at camp so much, that I had to "hide" her camp songbook.

Caleb: We went walking out in the harbor in Douglas on Friday night, down all the docks, and found Caleb's best friend's family's boat. They have lived on it for the past four years, and we had heard that they were moored up in Douglas for the summer. They just happened to be home, and we got to catch up with them. His friend wasn't there, but his friend's brother and mom were home, and it was so fun to see them again.

London: She is being a good girl. We had to buy her some new pajamas this past week, because she is aparantly growing, and they were just way too small for her. She is almost as tall as Caleb!

Isaiah: We had to explain to him this week, that it wasn't ok to pat grown ups on the butt when greeting them. We would greet someone we hadn't seen in three years, and then while chatting with them, Isaiah would be walking around behind them and whacking them on the hiney! We kind of do that at home...kind of like love pats, and so I guess he thought that was how you said "Hey. How ya doin'. What's new?" He did this to a friend of ours in the store, and then he did it to our loan officer, who is a great big dude! It was getting really embarrassing.

Well, no pictures again, but this week we should have a few to put up. We get to sign papers on Monday; move in, go to a cub scout potluck, achievement days (London), and mutual (Brooklin) on Tuesday; and register the kids for school on Friday. We are leaving Wed and Thurs open to get a little settled. If I don't post for a week, you will know why!

C-Ya!

AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

Moving stinks.


I am excited to move, but the getting to it really stinks.


I probably won't be posting too much until August, because in 5 days, the movers will be coming, and then I won't see my computer until we unpack it in Juneau....as soon as we find a place to live.

Today, we just sold our desk, table and chairs, couch, recliner, and fish tank. The house is getting emptier, and I am still not ready to leave...but my reality meter has swung drastically in just the last 24 hours. Tomorrow I get to get away for a few hours, and spend some quality time with one of my friends for the last time...


My list of things to get done is slowly getting shorter (and longer) all at the same time, and I hope I can get us all packed and ready for the movers by Tues. night. I will be so ready for a vacation by the time it gets here.


Sorry this is not a better post, but I just feel overwhelmed today. I also have to prepare a talk for sunday, and I don't know when I'm going to have time to write it down.


Happy thoughts for today:
The stuff we needed to get rid of is gone
The new furniture is purchased and on it's way to Juneau (I love IKEA!)
My hair will not be gray tomorrow...=)
My kids have been angels today
I have not been a frenzied growly monster today
I had 2 hours of silence so I could prepare for my talk (the topic is service)


Wish me luck...I'm going to need it!

Gas went up again

We are now at $4.27/gallon for gas...uhgg!

I haven't written about this yet...

Adoption.

I think about this more than I do most things. It is amazing how it is such a strong focus in my life right now, and how very little control I have over it. Some days, I am really gung-ho, and some days I feel like it is defeating me. I've let myself get excited over prospects, and I've become saddened when they don't work out. I've been contacted by nearly 15 birthparents, 3 or 4 adoption agencies, and several teenagers looking for new parents for themselves, money for college, and just someone to chat with them because they are bored and up all night. I am so ready for this to have an awesome ending, but I guess the time is not yet, and I still need to have more time and experiences. Darwin is much better at this waiting than I am....at least it seems that way to me. I feel like if I could just do that one more thing, then it will all work out, so I have done everything I can think of, and I don't even know if they are the things I am supposed to be doing. Everyone who has made it to the other side of this tells us that when it happens, it is amazing and you just know that even though you didn't physically give birth to your child, they were meant to be part of your family. I believe it...I just am having a hard time.

While Darwin and I were dating, and after we were married but before we had children, we discussed adoption. I can tell you that I have very different views about it now, than I did 14 years ago. We both knew we were open to it, and that we would be coming down this path eventually. After Isaiah was born and I went through those 18+ months of post partum psychoness, we knew I couldn't give birth again and we also knew for sure that our family wasn't complete. We prayed about our decision for two years...and we know that this is what we were to do next. I really needed some time to get my sanity back, and let my body heal. Our youngest will be six in a few weeks, and I have had an amazing year this year. I have been able to have a lot of time to myself, to do things to fill my cup back up. I know that I really needed to have this year to myself...all the kids are in school and I have been able to take care of me. I am so grateful that the Lord knows me better than I do, and has guided me to this point. I am really stubborn when it comes to graciously giving Him the controls and relaxing for the ride. I know He has the controls already, but sometimes I get a little prideful and think that I could make this happen all by myself.

Anyway, I haven't written about this on our blog yet, and it is something that is always just under the surface of everything I do. Darwin and I were asked to speak at an adoption fireside in two weeks, and so I have been pondering what I am going to speak about, and if I can do it without letting my emotions get the better of me. They asked us to speak, because we are not the typical adoptive family. We have four biological children, we didn't struggle with infertility, and we don't really fit peoples' perceptions of what an adoptive family is. We both grew up in large families, and even though some of that was crazy, we both love coming from large families.

This has been good for me to get some of this out. I am excited and scared, impatient and nervous, and very sure that this is how our family was meant to grow. I know that one of our children is still out there somewhere, and that we are all doing what we can to find each other. I also know that while I am having a boo-hoo pity party for myself, there is an amazing birthmother out there somewhere, with more courage in her little toe than I have in my whole body, that is going to do something truly amazing and selfless, something that I could not do myself...she is going to bring our child into this world and then place her child in our arms. I will be forever grateful for her. She is already one of my heros, and I haven't even met her yet. God knows her, and he is caring for her, and preparing her for what she will face. I need to have more faith in God's plan for me and my family.

It is now nearly an hour since I started this post, and I need to get to bed. The littles will be up bright and early for school and I need to be somewhat rested and alert. =) I'll end this post with my new accomplishment for today. I filled out an application this afternoon for the University of Alaska Southeast! The girl at the admissions office said I should hear back from them in two or three weeks. We'll see how this all works out! I haven't ever been to college, and I haven't been to school for 15 years, so it should be interesting!

My computer is broken

My computer won't turn on. I am very sad. I was going to post the pictures of the butterflies that came out and some other stuff, but Darwin's laptop doesn't have a card reader built into it, and I don't think I have a cord or anything to get the pictures to this computer, so for now, until I can get someone to come and look at my desktop, I am gimping along on the laptop...which I am VERY grateful to have, because I have a slight addiction to email and blogging and facebook, so I am trying not to complain, but I am sad that my computer (that is only 14 months old) is already acting up. STUPID VISTA!!!!