Pine Car Derby II

Well, today was the day. All the pine cars have been submitted, weighed and checked off to make sure they complied with all the rules. Our car passed inspection, let the race begin.

But first, lets do our memory verses.

Our car didn't do very well. During the first three heats, we finished third, second and first. The top twelve cars advance to the finals. In this fourth and final heat for our car, we needed to finish 2nd to advance. Sadley, our car finished fourth.

Wait, there was the design competion. I mean, anyone can put four wheels on a car and hope for the best. The workmanship, the attention to detail and the detailing really separates the men from the boys. Yes, I'm happy to say we finished 2nd in the design category. Simply amazing.

Feels great! Obviously they know a good lookin car when they see one.

Pine Car Derby

Recent conversation with my hubby:

Two months ago:

Hubby: "I am really going to enjoy spending some time with Andrew building his car for this year's AWANA car rally."

Me: "That's great! You haven't spent much time with him lately, being so busy with work. I know he'll be really excited to be doing this with you."

Hubby: "Andrew and I will sketch out the car on the block of wood and we'll get this going."

Me: "Sounds good. You don't want to rush it and wait till the last minute."

One month ago:

Me: "How's the car coming along for the rally next month?"

Hubby: "Great. It's coming along fine. I have a few ideas floating around in my head."

Me: "Have you talked to Andrew about it?"

Hubby: "Not yet, he's been busy with school. I'll narrow it down to a few choices for him. I want him to be proud of his work."

Me: "Ok, but let's not leave it to the last minute. Remember what happened to the Christmas tree."

Hubby: 'Yeah, that worked out great."

Me: "你以为你很聪明"

Two weeks ago:

Andrew: "Dad, how's our race car coming along? Are you ready for me to work on it with you yet?"

Hubby: "You bet, son. Just let me finalize a design and we'll get it going. Remember, there may be faster and better cars built by the other parents. The important thing is that we have fun building this together."

Andrew: "Ok, dad. Is that like showing sportsmanship?"

Hubby: "Yes, now go play with your brother. I'm doing some research on the internet on these pine cars and how to make them go faster."

Three days ago:

Me: "You need to start on that car, you know. It needs to be submitted this Saturday."

Hubby: "Ok, we'll work on it tonight. I'll sketch it out for Andrew while he does his homework. We'll just go with the one design. I'm sure he'll like it."

Two days ago:

Andrew: "Dad, the car is due in two days. Can we start on it?"

Hubby: "Ok, let me get my scroll saw out and we'll start now."

Andrew: "Can I help?"

Hubby: "You're kind of young to be near these power tools. They can be very dangerous. Let me do the preliminary cuts for you. Now, why don't you go play with Caleb while I cut the pattern out for the car."

Andrew: "Ok Dad, but remember the rules - I have to build it."

Hubby: "I've got the scroll saw on and I can't hear you; can you go play with your brother?"

Later during the day:

Andrew: "Can I help now?"

Hubby: "Sure, just let me do some sanding for you. I'll use my electric sander. I don't think they want kids playing with power tools so how about if I just sand it for you. Why don't you go see what your Mom is up to?"

Andrew: "Ok Dad."

Much later:

Andrew; "Can I help now Dad?"

Hubby: "I'm just about finished. I'm just doing some fine detailed sanding work. It's quite tricky. Why don't you get ready for bed and we can work on this tomorrow? You can paint it. That's a really important job. It has to look good."

Andrew; "Ok Dad. I'll go get ready for bed now."

Yesterday:

Andrew: 'Dad, can we work on the car today? We have to hand it in tomorrow!"

Hubby: "Ok, I finished sanding last night and I did a first coat of paint. Let's let the first coat dry. Why don't you watch some TV or play with your DS."

Andrew: "Ok Dad."

Later during the day:

Me: "Wow, Andrew, the car looks great!"

Hubby: "While you were out with the boys, I put on a second coat of paint and did some detailed trimming."

Andrew: "Looks good Dad! Wasn't I supposed to help you do this?"

Hubby: "You did a great job with Mom cleaning up the bits of wood from the cutting and the sanding. Uhh, please don't touch the car, Andrew. It's not a toy."

Hubby: "If they asked, tell them we worked on it together."

Dinner Conversation

My husband had some friends visiting from Australia. There were seven of us all together as the spouses got invited too. One of the spouses was having a chat with my husband. Their conversation went something like this:

Hubby: "Hi David, how was your flight in from West Perth?"

David: "Very well, thank you. We did encounter some wind sheers as we were taking off, but once we reached cruising altitude, it was great. Those Boeing 757 with the enhanced fuselage and new weight ratios have made them very efficient; over."

Hubby: "Oh really, I didn't know that."

David: "Yes, the new light-weight metal composite wings really help too; over."

Hubby: "I'll take your word on that one. How was the walk over from your hotel?"

David: "Really good; the walk was quite refreshing with unlimited visibility and no precipitation. It was ideal take-off weather; over."

Hubby: "That's a really nice watch that you have!"

David: "I copy that; over."

Hubby: "Right."

David: "It's a great watch; I have it programed to tell me the time in 48 different cities; over."

Hubby: "Uhhhh ... wow, my brother would like one of those."

David: "Did you know that it's 6:30 am in Moscow right now. The airports are just opening up; over."

Hubby: "Wow, really?"

David: "And it's 8:00 am in West Perth; runway 3 is just opening up; over."

Hubby: "Let me guess - you're an air traffic controller."

David: "Affirmative and I copy that. Did you know that it's 9:00 pm right now in Chicago? Weather is good, north-to-south east winds; smooth sailing. Over."

Happy Belated Caleb

It's been quite busy around the household these past few weeks and finally, we are able to catch our breath a little. The first order of business is to acknowledge Caleb's birthday. His b-day was actually on March 10th.



We let Caleb choose the cake for his special day. A cheesecake with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream. Good choice, Caleb.





As you can see, it was so, so good. It was a nice small celebration, just the way the kids like it, at times.