Pine Wood Derby

Probably one of the most exciting times as a cub scout is the Pinewood Derby.  I know that Zach looks forward to it every year.  As much of a pain as it is for us, it sure is a fun night to watch all of the races.  Things sure have gotten high-tech from when I remember my brothers doing the Pinewood Derby.  Used to be they ran on a simple track and had someone at the end to declare winners.  Now it's all set up on a track where the cars are released with a button simultaneously and there are sensors at the end to determine each place of the race.  Everything is hooked up to a computer and it does all of the calculating and everything.  With 36 cars entered for our ward, they ran 36 races so that everyone had a chance to run 6 different times.  It was a LONG NIGHT, but we had a blast watching.

They had chairs set up around the outside of the track to keep the kids back a little bit, but with every race, they were pushed closer and closer to the track.  Zach was so excited the first time his car was in the race.  He did really great and placed in the first 3 every time.  

Here he is with his car - named "The Heater."

We got started on it a little late this year, so it was a fairly simple design.  And of course we had to add some weight to it so that it would "fly" down the track during the races.

As usual, everyone gets an award, Zach got the "Best Monster Truck" award.  Jeremiah and I got a kick out of this because his "car" wasn't supposed to be a monster truck, but I guess it looked like one anyway.

Tate absolutely loves Pinewood Derby Pack Meeting. He loved watching all of the races!

Hailey spent an awful lot of time talking with Chase Christensen.  They are close to the same age and I couldn't help but wonder if this was just the first of many scenes like this.

Yep, we had a great time.  Zach ended up placing 11th overall, but in a group of 36 cars, that's pretty darn good!  Way to go Zach, we sure are proud of you!

Spring Soccer Season

You might remember my post last fall about soccer and my folly in missing the spring soccer sign-up deadline, thus making it necessary to have both Hailey and Zach in soccer in the fall at the same time, which then overlapped with flag football for a month.  Yes, it was a crazy September, so you can bet there was no way I was missing the spring soccer sign-ups this year!  Honestly, I think I signed up the first day to be sure I didn't forget.  We decided that with flag football in the fall, it made the most sense to sign Zach up for spring soccer and Hailey up for fall soccer.  So both are now signed up and ready to go.

Spring soccer started last month and Zach was so excited!  Luckily Hailey had dance to keep her busy, so there wasn't any frustration about not having something to do.

Here's our 4th grade soccer player getting ready for a game.  Doesn't he look handsome and quite the sports enthusiast?

The first few games he spent quite a bit of time as a forward and scored 3 goals in the first 2 games.  

Not long after, the coach realized that Zach is a natural defender, so he's spent more time in the recent games as a half back or full back.

That means a lot less goals, but he has helped prevent a ton of scores at our goal and they have continued to shut out a lot of the teams.

I am continually amazed at how sports-minded he is.  He definitely gets that from his Dad, since I am not coordinated at all!

Way to go Zach, we are so impressed at how well you are doing, how much you continue to excel, and what a good player you are!  We love coming to see you play!

Hailey's Dance Recital

We have been looking forward to the first part of May for months!  Hailey decided to do dance this spring and we have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of the dance recital.  This year the theme was "Disney Magic" and was centered around the Disney Princesses.  Hailey group did a dance from the show "Brave" and their costumes had them dress up as the princess Merida.  

She looked so cute, I could hardly stand it!

Their teacher even made them a little halo complete with curling ribbon at the back, to make them look like Merida with her long, curly, red hair.

The night of the dress rehearsal was so exciting.  The girls had just received their costumes two day before, so this was the first time we saw them dressed up.  Here she is with two of the girls from her dance class.

I love the dress rehearsal to take pictures because we can get really close and there isn't a lot of commotion or craziness like there is the night of the actual recital.

She was so cute doing all of the moves to her dance.

I can't believe how tall and skinny she is!

She is so great at all of the moves, she really had them down pat.

There were only 5 girls in her class this year, but they all did a great job!

The night of the recital, we got there extra early to get a good seat.  Of course, that meant we had plenty of time to wait before the actual start of the program.  While we waited, we took pictures of her with all of the princess set around as decorations.  Here she is with Tiana and Ariel (her favorite princess).

Here she is with Cinderella.

And Rapunzel.

And last of all Sleeping Beauty.  We almost missed her because she was in a completely differnent part of the gym, but we spotted her and got a picture before it filled up.

Nana and Papa came down to watch the program.  They were troopers because they had already been down for the grandparent program a few days before!

We also got a quick picture of our family with our little dancer.

Hailey and Nana.

Hailey and Papa.

And I had to include this picture - Tate decided the program worked better as a spy glass and ran around saying "arrrr" all night, yes he's into pirates right now.

Way to go Sis, we sure are proud of you!  You were the best dancer up there the night of the recital.  We can't wait until the next recital!  Love you!

Miscellaneous

Here a few pictures I've taken but haven't posted yet.  Thought I'd throw them into one miscellaneous post instead of separate ones.

Tate is usually pretty good about going to the store with me when needed.  Every once in a while he will need some extra "incentive" to go during a show he likes or if he's in the middle of playing.  Times like these, I find the promise of a donut to be extremely effective is convincing him to abandon whatever he's doing and go.  During one of these times, he chose a chocolate donut at the store and after he had eaten it, you can tell how much he loved it.  Isn't there a saying out there that the more you love it, the more you wear it?  If not, then there should be.  And this kid could be the poster child.

After a long time in a crib, we decided it was time to convert it to a toddler bed for our big boy.  We have done it alot sooner for both the other kids and decided that it was time.  He loves it and thinks it's the best to be able to get in and out all on his own.  Of course we were excited for him too, until we realized that he can get up whenever he wants now and most of the time that is 6:30 in the morning!!!  Now we're wondering if this was such a good decision!

Here are our 3 after getting bathed and cleaned up ready for some popcorn.  They were all so cute, we just had to take a picture.  Nothing puts a smile on your face like the promise of popcorn!

Just a few pictures of our every day life.  What would I do without these 3 monkeys to keep me smiling?

Hailey's 1st Grade Grandparent Program

I love school programs.  It's so fun to go and see the kids perform.  This year Hailey is in 1st grade and their class, along with 3 other classes, did a Grandparents Program and invited all of the grandparents to come and see it.  Hailey was so excited and could hardly wait for the day to arrive.  We walked in and spotted her right off.  She was so excited to see us all.  Unforunately, one set of grandparents lives far away and couldn't make it, but we knew they were there in spirit with us.

She is so cute, she just makes me smile.  

Nana and Papa came down to see the special program and Tate had fun climbing all over the two of them the entire time!

I loved the program they put on.  They had so many fun songs and actions, they had us laughing the whole time!

Hailey kept her special part a secret and was almost bursting by the time the day arrived.  The cutest part was that she was to hold up the "T" in the word Grandparents, but she got so excited, she held it up sideways!  It was so darling!

After the program, the grandparents were invited back to the classrooms for a special treat and to be presented with a special card.  We loved the cookies they had for us and Nana and Papa loved seeing Hailey's classroom and her desk.

Tate snuck into the last picture at the last minute, so we decided to do another with just Hailey and Nana and Papa.

And of course, one her and each of them separately.

These pictures turned out so darling!

Thanks Nana and Papa for coming all the way down for the program!  We love you!

Easter 2013!

I'm a little behind in getting some of these recent events posted, but I'm trying to catch up!  We had a very fun Easter this year.  The kids were so excited for the Easter Bunny to come and leave them all sorts of presents and candy. 

Zach loved all the fun things he got.  

He tore into his basket before I could even take a picture!  His favorite thing (besides all of the candy) was the new MP3 player he got - complete with arm band so he can listen to music while mowing the lawn - just like his dad!

Hailey was a little bit more careful and we were able to reconstruct hers before I took the picture.

Hailey's favorite thing was all the candy of course - she's a sugar-a-holic!  But she also loves the MP3 player she got.  She didn't need an arm band, but she was so excited that it was red! 

Tate wasn't sure about all of the presents, but he loved them all.  He was really excited about his new sport ball sheets to go on his crib/toddler bed. 

He also got some headphone and a fun sprinkler to share for the summer.

They all loved all of their gifts!

Once the excitement of the easter baskets died down, we started the easter egg hunt.  The easter bunny always leaves filled plastic eggs around the family room for the kids to find.  Hailey decided to put on her bunny ears for the hunt.

Tate did too and was so excited every time he found an egg, he had to show me each and every one!

After we got ready for church, I had the kids sit down for a quick picture.  They are getting so big and I'm feeling like I'm not taking near enough pictures of them!

How I love these three!  Hope you all had a Happy Easter too!