Logan's First Pinewood Derby

Logan had his first Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts over the weekend. Even though his car did, well, horrible, he still had fun.

First off, we really had no idea what we was getting into. We had a rules sheet and that was it. I read a lot online but we decided not to get too crazy. For instance, the car has to weigh a certain amount and we didn't want to add to it just to get there to find out it was too heavy and have to remove weight. We knew there was a fix station but that wasn't a lot to go on.

Logan told us he wanted his car to look like Lightning McQueen. So we looked for a few patterns but nothing seemed to measure up on the block of wood. That's how the car starts: a rectangle block of wood. We also didn't know how well Matt's saw would cut. I didn't even know Matt had the saw he used to cut the silly thing! Cutting turned into a challenge because it was so cold that the saw's battery would not stay charged. It wasn't perfect but Matt finally got it cut. Then Logan painted it. The next day me and Logan ventured out to find some McQueen bling.

I cannot believe how high-tech the race was. Computers and everything. Craziness. Anyway, we got there and weighed Logan's car which was well below the max weight. They asked if we wanted to add some weight and Logan said no.I mean, you are supposed to let your kid do as much of the work as possible. So, his call.

Ol' McQueen managed to cross the line on the first heat. But that was it. Matt added some weight to it and it seriously just made it worse. He thinks it was something with the wheels. I felt pretty bad for Logan. But you know what was awesome: his Tiger Scout friends were super encouraging to him and even cheered for his car hoping that it would, finally, make it to the finish line.

Logan was a little bummed. His best buddy actually won first place and I think Logan had a bit of envy with the trophy. This is what happens when every activity you are in gives everyone a trophy or medal for participating. We told him the night before that not every one would win and to not be a sore loser. I think he did ok and it was nothing that ice cream couldn't fix. I dread the day when ice cream cannot make his little world right. I think Daddy needed ice cream too ;o)

There is a district race in February. We haven't heard a lot of details on that one yet so I don't know if we will participate in that or just go and watch.

Thirteen from 2013

Thirteen from 2013

1. We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary

2) Logan lost his first tooth.

3) I had to have my wedding rings cut off.

4) Logan joined Cub Scouts and is having a ball.

5) I started writing again...and I get paid for it. 

6) Matt ran in two 5ks. 

7) Logan had snow days from school, one of which was on my birthday! 

8) We said good-bye to Grandma :o( 

9) We said hello to 4 new babies in our families.

10) Matt got a new job. In Mattoon!

11)We test drove a dog....it didn't work out.

12) Our house was broken into.

13)Matt and I finally got to go to a Christmas party (for work) that wasn't kid oriented. 

Snow, Ice, and a Busted Pipe

We survived Snowmageddon! Things are slowly (very slowly) getting back to normal around here. The snow days added a couple extra days to Logan's Christmas break, so we are just now back at school.

I didn't really realize we were in for this monster snow until Friday afternoon. I knew about the unusually cold temps that were expected but not about the snow. Thankfully Facebook kept me informed ;o) Friday afternoon I decided that maybe, just maybe, we should venture out and buy some bottled water. Our kitchen pipes have a tendency to freeze (more on this later). That was about the extent of our storm shopping. County Market was a madhouse. We kept on going and went to Walgreens instead. On Saturday Matt decided that we "needed" to go to Walmart. That place is crazy on a good day and Saturday was the absolute craziest I've ever seen. Even though the majority of check-out lanes were open (surprise!) the lines still stretched far over into the aisle. People were scared. Heck, all we went in there for was some sidewalk salt! Fortunately we got into one of the "express" lanes and it wasn't too bad. We were supposed to go to a graduation party Saturday night in Pana, but decided to not risk it. Reports were mixed on when the "stuff" was going to start, and if I'm going to be snowed in someplace, I'd prefer it to be at my own house. The Kindle was charged, I had a few other books, I was set.

We knew it was bad when churches, especially St. Pat's in Pana, started cancelling services for Sunday on Saturday night. At bedtime it still wasn't snowing here, so we went to bed. And woke up in a winter wonderland. We spent the day watching TV/movies, playing (ok, that was the kid), and just staying warm and cozy. Since Logan was still on Christmas break, we didn't even need to pay attention to school closings. Pretty much everything, including numerous roads, shut down. Even Matt got a couple of snow days!

Monday we dealt with the cold, cold temps. I can't remember exact numbers but I know with the wind chill we was well below zero. We dressed and layers and you know it's cold when Matt bumps the heat up to...wait for it...70. We were lucky: we still had power, heat, and running water!

Tuesday cabin fever set in...at least for Matt. I was pretty content at home. Logan was still out of school for another day and so was Matt. We ventured out at lunch time. The roads were still sloppy. I think the road crews did as best they could with what they had and what they had to deal with. But we made it to and from Don Sol fine. It was around noon when I discovered the kitchen pipe had frozen. Again. So we opened up the cabinet doors, cranked up the heat, and waited. We haven't had to deal with freezing pipes in a few years, but it's not something we are unfamiliar with. I know several people were dealing with the same thing around town.

Wednesday Matt went back to work and Logan had another day home. We played inside and outside and got things ready for going back to school. I was surprised that the pipe was still frozen. It had never taken that long to thaw before. So Matt went down into the basement, blow dryer in hand, to check it out. I'm not sure what happened but the next thing we know....busted pipe. Matt shut off the water to the whole house and started calling plumbers. We got on a waiting list for one but didn't know exactly when he'd get to us. We brought in buckets of snow to melt for toilet flushing. I went to the Y and did a quick workout to justify using the shower there. I don't think any of us slept well at all last night. Logan could not settle down because he was stressed out about going back to school. Matt and I were stressed about the situation in the basement. I prayed that we could find someone to fix it sooner rather than later and that it wouldn't be a huge bill. We was very worried about the cost.

I put out a call on Facebook to my local friends for a plumber. A friend sent me a number. I called first thing this morning. He was able to come within an hour after my phone call and had us fixed up in no time flat! He was super nice and we will definitely call him again if a problem arises. And the bill...way, way better than we expected! Thank you God!

All in all Snowmagedon turned out pretty well. Honestly, it was nice to just be home for a few days. And a busted pipe is minor compared to some things people had to endure.

Merry Little Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone already. We had a nice Christmas vacation (Logan is still on vacation, Matt went back to work today). Christmas is my favorite time of year, but this year it was hard. There was a lot of days where I just wanted to skip it all together, and maybe if Logan was younger, I could have gotten away with skipping some aspects. The Elf on the Shelf antics wore thin after awhile, Christmas cards were later getting out (and by the way....cost a fortune in creating and mailing lol), maybe half the Christmas books were read and half the movies watched. The vast majority of Christmas shopping was done online, which was great because I certainly was in no mood to deal with stores and people.

It turned out to be a good Christmas, and we had a lot of Christmas! The Friday before Christmas was Logan's classroom party. Lots of fun. The kids made an ornament, ate tons of sugar, and watched movies. I'm a room mom for Logan's class, so I spend almost the entire day there since I had also volunteered for lunch/recess duty so the teachers could have a nice Christmas lunch. My silly first grader got a little sad after lunch time because he thought I was leaving, but I ended up staying to help clean up the classroom and load up food (donated for food baskets) to be taken from the school to the church. Since Logan's class was just going to have PE and watch another movie, his wonderful teacher let me take him home a couple hours early! This was the perfect time to take care of Matt's Christmas shopping.

Little Christmas

Saturday we celebrated Little Christmas with Matt's parents, sister, and grandparents. I'm not sure how the term Little Christmas started, I'll keep it. We've been doing this since Logan was born. It's a nice time. And we all got great gifts. My sister-in-law got me a really awesome Wizard of Oz Wicked Witch leg lamp (think Christmas Story) and the in-laws got me ruby (house) slippers.

Christmas Eve....I was kind of dreading. First Christmas without Grandma, and how can I have Christmas Eve without Grandma sitting at the piano? But, it was good. We got to Pana early and had some good quality time with Grandpa. Logan brought his new basketball medal and Cub Scout stuff to show him. We visited with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Spoiled the little kids. Played Jingo (like Bingo) for prizes!  My cousin Erica took over the piano.

Logan and Grandpa

We exchanged gifts with Tucker

Baby Maebri gave Grandpa a new picture of Grandma!

Great-grandkids. Missing 6! 

Jingo!

Piano

And I went to the cemetery. My aunt had a little solar light and some other Christmas thing, and my mom said she hadn't been out there since the funeral, so off we went. Grandma has a nice little "spot" there, with a few statues, solar lights, and a little Christmas tree. I'm sure she was laughing at us trying to shove that solar light into the frozen ground.

Christmas Day....so thankful we have a kid that sleeps on Christmas lol. Logan seemed to like all his presents and he finally got the movies he had asked for on his birthday.  We had a few hours at home before we headed off to Pana for lunch at Matt's grandparents house. Then we exchanged presents. The grandkids draw names. I got a cute stuffed snowman. Matt got an Adam pillow. Good times. Then we headed off to my parents house for more food and presents.

Yes...the new pillow is in our room....

And now....to clean up the Christmas aftermath!