Pinewood Derby

Pinewood Derby was a success this year for sure.  Both the boys did their cars all by themselves, with some coaching from Dad.

This was Josh’s first year, and he won 5 races!  I’m always able to breathe easier once my son has won at least one race.

 

Caleb won first place this year!  Perfect for his last derby!

 

The boys on either side of Caleb are his best friends, Robin and Conner.

Cheering for the victor!

Here’s something I found interesting.  During the races, the boys would chant for their friends.  Sometimes that meant everyone was chanting for one boy, and nobody was chanting for the other one.  Nobody, that is, but the moms and the cute girls at the end of the track.  They would cheer for everyone equally.   Girls as young as 8 years old were inherently aware of hurting peoples’ feelings.  Poor Savannah was worried the whole time about the boys that hadn’t won a race yet.  The cheering cub scouts never gave a moment’s thought to whether or not someone would feel bad if nobody was chanting his name.  Thank goodness for little girls!

I was adding things up.  Four boys, (so far), three Pinewood Derby cars each, that’s twelve Pinewood Derby cars for us.  At least!  We’re just getting warmed up!

Town house, Country house

* NOTE:  This post is part of my current coping-with-feeling-yucky strategy:  being more aware of the things that make me happy.  

Technically, I live right in the middle of the city.

But in my back yard, you’d never know it!

I wake up most mornings to the sound of chickens and ducks outside my window.

I have a little orchard of fruit trees.  Oranges and lemons, apples, plums, peaches, apricots, pomegranates, pecans and figs.

When I look out the back window I see nothing but green.  Acres of grass and big trees.  And a few horses.

I have no home owners association to fine me when the grass gets too long and the lawn mower is broken down in the middle of the front yard.

But…

I can get to Costco (and Taco Bell) in about 2 minutes.  I can get on the freeway just as quickly.  School, church, piano lessons and ball practices are all within a mile or two of my house.

This is definitely what they call the best of both worlds!

Count your many blessings

Here are some things I found to be sincerely grateful for today:

My sweet kids, who played nicely together, and then surprised me by cleaning the house while I was at the grocery store.

The 52° weather.  It means that summer is not quite upon us.

The heavenly smell of the orange blossoms in my driveway.

The proximity of Taco Bell.  Otherwise my daily craving for a bean burrito would be quite inconvenient!

Wallowing

I know it’s been a long time since I have posted.  I have been very busy, you see.  Busy wallowing in my nausea and self-pity!

It’s such a vicious cycle.  I feel tired and sick, so I’m not very productive.  Then, because I’m not productive, I start mentally beating myself up about being so lazy and wimpy.  That, of course, makes me feel even worse, and I get cranky.  You can see the downward spiral.  And you would think that by the 7th pregnancy I would be better at it than this!

I had set my psychological timer for 12 weeks.  I could deal with the sickness until 12 weeks (pregnancy timeline), and then I would magically feel better and get a boost of energy and motivation!

Unfortunately, 12 weeks came and went, and I don’t feel any better.  My only choice is to pick myself up, put on a happy face, and try to stay busy enough that I don’t have time to whine and complain.  Right?  I can’t think of any other workable options.

So this is my formal declaration.  I’m done wallowing!  Wish me luck!

Some Disneyland moments

I'm not very good at picture editing, but you get the idea.