Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

I love you and hope you had a wonderful day today! I am thankful to have such a wonderful Daddy like you!! We can't wait for you to get here so we can celebrate in person!!! I love you! XOXOX

Pinewood Derby

This past Wednesday was our pack's pinewood derby!! The boys had drawn out their designs much earlier, but it seemed like every time Daddy was going to have a weekend to be able to work on it, something came up and it was generally YM related! That and having him out of town for 3 weeks in February didn't help either. Needless to say, this year I was the one who cut out the cars. I got a jig saw and some clamps and went to town. The boys drew on the block of wood how they wanted things to look and I just followed their designs. The cars turned out fantastic. Brian wanted a gold car and Weston wanted emerald green. (Hey Melissa, it's Smith colors! LOL!!) Here they are right after we got to the church that night and before we added the weights.
The track is a super smancy one that they borrow from a guy in another ward. It is also the track that they use for the district/ regional derby. The kids had to sit behind a line and watch the cars race. Each boy had their car race once on each of the 4 tracks.
Here are the cars ready and set to race. They had the cars here, and then the guy whose track it was, got the cars and raced them against each other. It was all computerized and fancy!! Weston's and Brian's cars are right next to each others on the 3rd row back.
Here is Brian's car ready to race. It is one the farthest track back. All in all, Brian's car came in 2nd in 3 races and 1st in his last race. He placed 5th overall out of the 18 boys in the pack. He actually had the fastest car of any of the Wolves and so he qualified for the regional race. He won't be competing though since we will be in Gatlinburg having fun on the day of the race. :)

Here is Weston's car ready and set to race. He also did pretty good. He also placed 2nd in 3 of his races and then 3rd in his last race. He lost to the 2 cars that placed 1st and 2nd overall. :) Overall he placed 8th. Both boys were happy with how they did and had a fun time. They obviously had good designs to do so well!

Watching the cars race. I was able to catch a few of the races, but spent most of my time in the hall chasing Evan around. :) He really wanted those cars and that track. Next year he will be able to watch it better I think. Amber and Aaron also really enjoyed watching the cars race.

This picture of Brian cracks me up! :D You can see here how the track is electronic. At the end of each race it displays who came in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th and then their times. Pretty cool. We had to dim the lights in the gym though because otherwise the sensors wouldn't work right. It was a fun night. Each of the boys got an award and certificate. We love doing cub scouts! By the end of our cub scout years we will have at least 12 pinewood derby cars (more if we have yet another boy...not that we are expecting....don't go getting any crazy ideas!) Congratulations to Weston and Brian for building such awesome cars and having fun at the derby!

Break my heart....

Today at noon time, Aaron was finishing up his lunch and I was checking to see what updates there were about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that happened today. Aaron walks over and asks about the pictures. I tell him that it was from the earthquake that we had talked about before school today. He then says, "Who lives in Japan Mommy?" I tell him that the Japanese people live in Japan, people just like us. He tells me, "NO! My friend Masaki lives there, remember?! He just moved back!! Is he okay? Type his name into the computer and tell me if he is okay!!" (This boy was Aaron's good friend from the very 1st day of school. His Dad was on a 3 year work period for Toyota here and they just moved back to Japan the last week of January.) Break my heart! At this point all I could do was turn and comfort him the best that I could. We had a prayer together and asked our Heavenly Father to bless Masaki and his family. And then I tell Aaron that we just have to pray for those that were affected by the earthquake and tsunami and his friend and then trust in the Lord and know that he hears our prayers. What I had understood earlier as devastating, just took on a very real personal aspect. We will continue to pray for those that have been devastated by this terrible calamity!

Is is Spring or Winter?

The last few days we have been having nice Spring like weather, but this afternoon, the rain changed to snow, letting us know that it is not officially Spring time yet. I didn't think it would stick, but it has. There is about an inch expected for tonight. I came out from a crochet/ knitting group tonight and the bushes outside my friend's apartment were absolutely beautiful. I had to take a picture. These don't do it justice.
It is a lovely Winter Wonderland outside tonight. We have had a long enough break that having a little bit more snow is nice and refreshing. I enjoyed watching it fall this afternoon!! Full Spring weather is still about a month away, but our daffodils and tulips are beginning to peek out. :) Winter may still be here, but Spring is just around the corner!

Buzzy Bees

I love cute little buzzy bees and fabric and I also love the color yellow. So, when I saw this fabric on clearance sale at Walmart, I had to get it! I wanted to make a really cute dress for Amber with it. I started it last week and finally finished it up last night. I think that this first picture of Amber in her dress is funny because the vent is blowing, making her dress all puffed out. All of my kids love to stand over the vents in the winter time to get warm!! :)
The dress is a dress and a white pinafore. I like the style and think that I may make a few other dresses that can go with the pinafore. It was pretty simple to make. And I love it!!!! :) I think that Amber looks so cute in it!!!

And Evan had to have his picture taken too!! He is getting so big. He loved nursery on Sunday! Getting so big!!! :)

18 months!

My little Evvy Miester is 18 months old today!! My how time flies!!! Some days it is hard to believe that he has gotten so big. He decided to kick his day off bright and early by waking up at 5 ish!!! Not that I get up that early when he gets up. I go and give him his binky and a drink and if he still stays awake, I let him play and talk and then go in to get him at a more reasonable time. :) Things that Evan loves to do are: JUMP!!! He hasn't quite figured it out yet, but he makes this cute little movement where he kind of gallops and throws his hands in the air. It makes me laugh every time. He is trying his best to talk, but doesn't say many words. He likes to say his version of "Hup, two, three, four!" which is what I say to the kids sometimes as we head out the door to school. The only thing recognizable is the "hup" part though. :D He loves to run. And climb. And run. And climb. Really, that is what he does all day long. He is so busy, but so much fun to have around. He loves his brothers and sister and loves to play with cars!!! What a joy he is to have in our family!!! (Oh- and I am so glad that he gets to go to nursery now too!!!!! ;) Ashley, I know you are going to love having him in there!!!) Happy half birthday to my littlest guy!