The Making of a Pinewood Derby Car-Part 1

After watching his brother and Dad make Pinewood Derby Cars since he was really little......

The time has finally come to where Mason FINALLY, gets to make his OWN Pinewood Derby Car.

He's just a little excited. Just a little. He just got done sanding it-all by himself. He's actually in the garage as we speak, waiting to prime it before they paint it.

This is him telling me he has no idea what color him and his dad are going to paint his car. They might be making a trip down to Ace Hardware tomorrow to pick out a color.

More to come.....

Not Much Going On...Again

I guess the time between Christmas and Spring is a slow time for us. We have been busy with the day to day, but there haven't been many pictures to be taken-or a need to take many pictures.
Mac has been Wrestling and he's really enjoyed it. He's made a few new friends, and over all, he's doing well. He has lost 4 pounds (not on purpose)-and seems pleased when he's lost weight. He had his IEP (Individual Education Plan) re-evaluated this year. 2 of his Teachers and the School Psycologist (the person who evaluates him) expressed to me what a good kid Mac is. They have been empressed with his school work, his work ethic, and how he tries really hard on his school work. He is well liked amongst his peers, and is a good example to others. While I was in the meeting, it was after school. One of the Science teachers were offering homemade cookies to us. He told us that they made the cookies for a experiment, but because the kids were misbehaving (badly) he decided NOT to let the kids in his class eat the cookies, so he was giving them away. After he left, the School Psycologist said "See! This is the stuff we have to deal with day in and day out. We have alot of kids around here who misbehave, but Mac is NOT one of those kids". As a parent, you always aren't sure how you are doing. So as long as Mac isn't being kicked out of school or worse, I guess we are doing alright.
Mason has a conference pretty soon....I bet you $1,000 dollars they are going to mention something about him not sitting in his seat. I'm at his school once a week volunteering, so I KNOW what goes on with him. I am grateful Mason doesn't have the learning issues Mac has. Mason has seemed to inherit Lee's smarts, I guess. Lee has always had a photographic memory, if he sees it once, he knows it. So with Mason...he doesn't like to "practice" reading, or practicing his sight words-because "I know it already!" With Mac, we had to practice and go over things over, and over again. Mason LOVES Math, and loves to count in 2's and 10's. I'm going to enroll him in swimming lessons this spring and summer. He has no interest in anything else. Mason is also getting ready for his baptizim at the end of the month. He is getting really excited about it-and so are we.

Goings On..

We have been busy, but not really busy like when it's Football Season. Mac has decided to Wrestle this year. I don't know anything about Wrestling except they wear a one piece unitard thing (singlet is the offical term used) and they wrestle on the ground or mats. I didn't know what the object of it was until another Mom told me. Then it became exciting for me-and Mac is pretty good at it. He has lost 3 pounds so far since it started (which is common for when he plays an organized sport). It's a School sport and when I went to the school to pay for his fee, I found out a very generous donor paid for the 8th Grade boys to Wrestle. I was blown away. I also found out that Wrestling here in Lake Stevens....very big deal around here. People move thier kids to Lake Stevens for the Wrestling program. I had no idea. Another thing that suprised me....there are girls that are Wrestling too. I was very suprised and we talked to Mac about it before he had his first match. He didn't like the idea of having to Wrestle a girl. At his first Tournament, there were 5 girls from different School Districts who are Wrestling. Not in Mac's weight class though...prayers answered. The other day, kids from South Whidbey came to the tournament. He was excited to see them and they were all "Hey Mac! Is this where you moved too? Is this your School?" Mac told me he remembered them but not thier names (he gets that from his Dad). Alot of the kids who Wrestled were kids that he played Football with when we lived on S. Whidbey. He's doing well in school, and loves his school, loves his classes and has a good group of friends.

Mason has been obsessed with words, and reading his sight words. He's still obsessed with number and math, but the reading is a great thing too. He doesn't think he needs to practice things over and over (like his Dad). I think he may have a photographic memory like Lee in the next few years. He gets frustrated with me when I tell him we need to practice, because he does'nt feel the need too and can't be bothered with it. Yeah, he is definately his father's son. He has been in Cub Scouts for the last 2 months and loves it. It took him a while to love the idea of wanting to go to Cub Scouts. Mason is also getting ready to be baptized next month. A very big deal for him.

Lee has still been working (another blessing). His company has been bouncing him around from different jobs, fixing other people's mistakes, finishing up small things on jobs, and fixing other people's mistakes. Things are slow right now, but they have lots for Lee to do. This is a case where skills are more important than education. There are many Supervisors who have been laid off and are at home because there is no work for them and they have no skills, but a college degree. Don't get me wrong, I think a college degree is very, very, important. Lee is a smart guy, but didn't like to be cooped up in a room (or different rooms) to learn. Then he decided if he couldn't be cooped up in a room to learn, he didn't want to be cooped up in an office all day. He loves what he does, and with all jobs, he does get mad and frustrated sometimes. Right now, we feel very blessed.

I am faced with a few decisions to make. I am feeling the need to go back to school. I'm still working out the how and whens. I know a person can take anything online, but I'm the type of person who needs "hands on" and I ask alot of questions. I'm still working it out, still thinking, still wondering how it's going to affect the boys-all 3 of them. Lee is suportive in everything I do. We have talked about it in detail, and he told me he would "step up" and help out more with the boys when he could or when needed.

That is about all. No pictures...I need to take more. Mac won't let me. Mason is a willing participant, Lee not so much.

Haircuts

When Mason was a toddler, his hair started growing into these beautiful, little red head, curls. The Spring of 2004 I think, his head was sweaty when he ran around, and he was a miserable little guy. So we had to cut the curls off. Lee and I never heard the end of it from the Grandparents, and quite honestly....Lee didn't think I had the guts to have them cut off. Since then, he has always had a "big boy" haircut. In November, Lee was looking at pics of Mason and said "hey, it's winter time now, lets grow Mason's hair out and see what happens". The only person who wasn't "on board" with this idea was Mason. I had to squirt his hair with a spray conditioner every morning so his hair would be less frizzy and less "poofy". He hated this process and over the course of this week particularly, he got mad at me 3 times this week about not getting his hair cut. Then, Lee said something about "well, why don't you cut his hair?" Like it was MY idea to grow it out. So yesterday after school, we went to get Mason's haircut.

The before pic...wouldn't smile because he wasn't happy.

After....a very happy guy!

I picked Mac up from Wrestling practice yesterday, and left Mason with Lee and Mac and I went to the Mall to run some errands for him. One of those things was getting his haircut too. We went to a Mastercuts in the Mall. He wouldn't let me take his before pic. He suddenly became annoyed with me. THEN....a couple of girls his age walked in getting thier hair cut too. I said something too him, and he wouldn't respond. I asked him something else and he gave me "the look". When I give "the look" Lee calls it the "Look of Death". Mac resembles me, so he gave me the "Look of Death". His haircut was over, and then he bolted while I paid for his haircut. So, no pics of Mac. It's not because I favor one child over the other, it's because I have a TEENAGE BOY now and he is a non willing participant. Now it has started, and now I have to be sneaky.

Avatar

Over the weekend, we saw Avatar in 3-D. I have to admit, I wasn't nearly as excited as Lee and Mac were. There has been sooo much hype and media coverage on this movie-I guess that's what turned me off on it. But here I am...posting about it because it impressed the HECK out of me. I loved the movie. Lee thinks that all other movies will be a great disappointment after seeing this movie. Mac thought is was very cool. Mason liked it, he must have because he sat for the WHOLE thing! That is impressive for Mason. It was funny to watch him try to grab things in the air. It made me giggle a little. I did my homework before we bought tickets ( before we got to the theaters-the only way to go). You can see it on IMAX 3-D or just regular 3-D. We saw the regular 3-D and it was still very cool. I can't imagine watching the IMAX one, it would have been sensory overload. Avatar was made to be seen in 3-D. This movie is a must see in theaters (near you). It was a 2 thumbs way, way up from the Bryant Fam...which is hard for ALL of us to love 1 movie.