Pinewood Derby race

Saturday, Graham's Cub Scouts had their Pinewood Derby Race. Graham wanted to make his car look like one of his Hot Wheels and I think Marty and him did an amazing job!

We weren't sure how well his car would race since we've never done this before, but Uncle Mike gave us a few pointers. Graham kept telling us how much he wanted a trophy and we just kept telling him what a good job he did making it and that it is about having fun.

His car ended up being the Grand Champion though!! He was undefeated! Obviously he was super excited. He was so funny when they were giving out the trophies because even though he won every race, he didn't know (like Marty and I did) that he was the Grand Champion. And now he gets to race his car in the regional Derby race in March.

A bunch of the cars lined up, some of them where so fun. There was a hummer, a skateboard and a block of cheese just to name a few.

Graham's is the black one with yellow wheels in the middle.

On the starting block, this was the first of five races. We were all nervous since we had no idea how well it would do.

Abbie and Molly did fantastic for the two and a half hours. They would watch a little and then play with their Barbies, watch, play Barbies - they were very patient!

Graham and I during a break

Graham and some of the other Tiger Cubs

Abbie entertaining herself with a Capri Sun:)

The builders with their winning car and trophy.

Graham, Daddy, Abbie and Molly all proud of the trophy

Amy Grant

Our church, Northland, had Amy Grant in concert Thursday night. When I first heard that she was coming I was excited and really wanted to go since she was the first concert I went to as a child. Then once we looked at ticket prices and then paying a sitter, we decided not to spend the money now. I was disappointed but knew it was for a good reason. Then on Thursday night around 6pm, my friend Amy called me and asked "want to get out of the house for a few hours?" I of course said sure, and then asked what for? She had an extra ticket to the Amy Grant concert! I called Marty who was picking up dinner and made sure it was fine. Of course he said yes, so I hurried and ate when he got home and then met Amy at church.

What Amy didn't tell me was that she also had "meet and greet" passes for after the concert, even better! It was amazing to me how I remembered every word to songs I hadn't heard in about 20 years. But I did listen to them A LOT back then. It was so fun to be reminded of certain memories pretty much every old song she sang. For example, when she sang "Father's Eyes" I had this vivid memory of sitting at a table with my dad at a church Daddy daughter dinner listening to a girl my age sing that song. And on another song I remembered baking chocolate chip cookies listening to Amy Grant on my awesome pink Walkman. It was just such a fun night remembering and also a fun night getting to finally hang out with my friend Amy (not Amy Grant, the one that gave me the tickets). Thanks Amy for inviting me it was such a fun blessing!

I didn't even think to bring my camera which was sad, but I did get some pictures with my awful camera phone.

David (who got us the tickets - Amy Grant used to babysit his sister's kids), Brieana (Amy B.'s daughter), Amy, Amy Grant and myself

Kite flying - take 2

Many months ago, I blogged about us trying to fly a kite. You can look here if you want. Well, last Sunday afternoon we tried again. This time we used a better kite and it wasn't as windy as last time. We realize now it was way to windy last time and we were using a $5 kite.

We brought lunch and had a picnic on the little trail behind the park. Graham was so funny saying that this was his first picnic. In his mind the other many times we have eaten outside don't count because we weren't all sitting on a picnic blanket in a field:)

Then after that Marty figured out how to get the kite up and keep it up. Then Graham and Abbie both got to fly the kite for a while. Graham especially loved getting the kite up in the air. Abbie preferred to just take it from you once you got it up. But they both did great at keeping it up and both had a blast! Molly never was interested but she watching some and definitely loved the park. My arms were sore the next day from pushing her so much on the swings. It was a perfect day to spend the afternoon outside as a family! We will really have to do this again soon and not wait 9 months like we did last time!

Graham was way to small for this but loved making it hit the ground.

Molly playing peek-a-boo.

Graham once again being silly (and Molly swinging also). Can't believe that my 7 year old still can still fit in the baby swing?!

Graham excited about getting the kite up!

I took this while I was flying the kite.

Everyone watching Abbie.

Abbie flying the kite.

Lego Buzz

I'm trying to go back and catch up on some blogs so this is old:

November 15, 2009

I found out that the Lego store here was having a day where you could help build a Lego Buzz Lightyear. So we decided we definitely needed to be a part of this. They have each person build a block that the Lego designer then adds to the huge Buzz. They had each person wait in line for one person to give you instructions on how to build the block and then tell you what color. Then after you were done, you waited in another line for someone else to inspect your block to make sure it was done right. Then you waited for another person to give you a "Lego store Model Building certificate."

When we saw the model Buzz, he was built up a little past his black belt, but will be about 7 feet tall when finished. But this is what he'll look like when he's finished:

Abbie all finished with her block.

Molly did pretty good and did it almost all by herself.

Graham in the middle of his. You can see the instructions in front of his block. That's what every person did, just in different colors.

Me, Abbie, Molly and Graham squinting from the super bright sun.

Graham, Abbie and Daddy waiting in line for our blocks to be inspected.

Graham, Mommy, Molly and Abbie with our certificates. Marty got one also:)

Graham telling the Lego designer there that he wants to be a Lego designer when he grows up.

Abbie with a Lego person outside the store. She loved the pink and flowers.

Molly loved the doggies.

After we finished at the Lego store, the girls got to be a part of the "Princess Parade" but I will post about that later:)

Citrus Bowl Parade

Part of the reason our trip to Virginia was so short was because Marty needed to get back to work on the Citrus Bowl Parade, he was the producer. The kids and I didn't get to go last year when he worked it also, because I wasn't feeling well. This year Katie went with us which was so fun to get to hang out with her some.

There were a bunch of these types of floats that used oranges (obviously because it is the Citrus Bowl Parade) attached to the floats. They were really pretty and the kids thought they were so cool and would point out everyone saying "wow that's a lot of oranges!"

This particular float sat in front of us for about 5 minutes, since they were taping the parade it would stop every once in a while. And right after it stopped in front of us started playing "Funky Cold Medina" really loud - not the most kid appropriate song! I just kept talking over it and praying the kids weren't listening.

This was the "Princess and the Frog" float. Princess Tiana is in the carriage, obviously Abbie and Molly loved this one:)

Graham and Abbie with some beads they got from the parade.

Molly and Katie enjoying the parade.

The Shriners riding their motorcycles. They also had motorized coolers that some of them rode that were really funny looking!

There were a lot of different marching bands, but this one was by far my favorite! They were from Mexico. I thought their uniforms were way better than ours and their music was fun also and oh yeah they broke out into dance in one part - very fun.

The kids loved being able to watch the parade on tv on New Years Day. They thought it was really neat that they were at the parade that they were watching - and even better that their daddy produced it!

Virginia - part two

Our trip to Virginia had a lot packed into it. On Saturday when we go there we played in the snow most of the day then that night we had Christmas with everyone. That meant 10 adults and 7 kids opening presents at the same time in a really, really tiny room. It was crazy but nice to be with family. The next day was Grandma Great's party. We spent all morning getting ready for the party and then all afternoon at the party. Then of course as soon as we got back home the kids all wanted to play in the snow. They played for a while outside and then when it got dark Uncle Todd turned his car lights on so they could keep sledding. Graham loved getting to play outside when it was dark and in snow!

The next day we had a birthday party for Graham who turned 7 on the 26th, Molly who turned 3 on the 27th and Luke who turned 7 on the 2nd of January. Uncle Mark also had a birthday on the 30th but didn't want it recognized:) Then that evening we headed back to Orlando. It was a short, jam packed trip. We were so glad to get to celebrate Grandma Great's 100th birthday with her, and it was a fun bonus to have so much snow!

Molly showing me how old she is now!

Some of the cousins watching a movie during one of the short times they weren't outside in the snow.

I know these pictures aren't any good but I was still excited to use my new video camera so once again barely took any actual pictures!

Christmas in Virginia

As I said in my previous post we got to Virginia early in the morning the day after Christmas. We all took a short nap on the living room floor until everyone else got up, then the kids wanted to go play in the snow immediately. There was probably 12 inches left over from the snow storm, of 18 inches, a week before! The kids had so much fun playing in the snow and sledding. I knew Graham would love it no matter how cold he got, but I didn't except the girls to love it so much. I figured Abbie and Molly would say it was too cold but they loved the snow.

The snow had a layer of ice on top and Molly kept picking up big pieces of it and carrying them around. She would get excited at every piece she picked up! She had a pretty hard time walking in the snow because it was ice on top. She would step and then a second later the ice would give way and she would sink past her ankles and so every few steps it would make her fall down. Sometimes she could step on it and not sink though. It was pretty difficult to walk in but she sure was cute trying.

Abbie enjoyed getting to sled down the hill by herself. Her sweet cousins (all boys and older) would help her carry her sled back up the huge hill. She did amazing and I was so proud of how she just tried everything new and wasn't fearful. She kept asking to make a snow man, but the snow was so icy on top but then powdery underneath that we never could figure it out:(

Graham would have played outside the whole day if we would have let him. He loved sledding down the huge hill and even got to sled down on Marty's back once or twice. I know he also loved being with all the other boys! He was a little disappointed that it didn't actually snow when we were there. He said he wanted to catch the snow with his tongue.

Grandma Great's 100th birthday party turned out very nice. She looked beautiful in her favorite color, purple. She was having a hard time hearing all that went on but the rest of us really enjoyed celebrating her life. She is a wonderful, Godly woman and has been blessed to live 100 years!

Molly after playing the snow. She loved the boots Aunt Melody found for her.

Caleb and Graham, with the green sled, on the hill.

Grandma Great lives in a beautiful hillside. I wish I had taken more pictures because the snow just seemed to go on forever and was so beautiful!

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve Marty gave me one of my presents. It was a new video camera - yeah! I am so happy to have a new HD camera and it is at least half the size and weight of our old camera (and way better quality). But since we were so excited to use it, we didn't take one picture on Christmas day:( But we did have a fun morning. Marty was up before me (well he actually fell asleep downstairs on the floor when he was supposed to be wrapping presents, so he was already down there!) so he let the kids open their stocking when they came down stairs. I came down a short time later and we opened our presents. I love the way we have done presents as a family. We let each person take a turn opening and everyone else watches. I feel like it makes it more special and then we all get to see each other's reactions.

Abbie just got so excited at each and every gift opened. She was usually more excited than whoever was opening the present. It was sweet, a little overwhelming at times, but I sure love her excitement!

Graham was hilarious when he got to open his big present that Marty brought out afterwards. He kept saying "I have no idea what this is" even though it was the one thing he kept telling us he wanted. It was a remote control car, actually a huge off road one. I guess since it was so big he had no idea.

Molly still opened her presents very slowly and carefully, making sure she got all the wrapping paper off it. Abbie kept yelling out what it was before Molly had a chance to realize what it was. She didn't seem to mind though. She just kind of slowly soaked it all in.

Then after presents our friend Chris came over for a huge breakfast with us. His mom was supposed to fly in from Oklahoma on Christmas eve but got snowed in from their huge snow storm.

A funny part of our day was when I super glued a plastic Barbie sword to my finger. Yep, I sure did! Somehow I glued the sword to the top of my middle finger. Chris and Marty sure thought it was funny. Did they offer to help me get it off? Nope they just laughed at me. Graham kept saying "it's not funny. it's superglued to her finger" until I explained I could get it off, then of course he was lauging at me:)

Then after Chris left we packed up and left for Virginia. We didn't end up leaving till about 8:30pm, but made great time and made it there around 6:30am. The kids did amazing in the car. Molly woke up crying around 2 but we just put on a movie for her and she was fine. At one point Marty stopped so I could drive but it wasn't at a gas station so there weren't many lights. Once we told Graham that the huge pile in front of us was snow he was even more excited to get to Grandma Great's house.