Potpourri

Since I have been so long in posting, I thought I'd give you some of the highlights of last week. Friday was Jason's Kindergarten program at school. He had a speaking part and everything (..."there's something here that's not quite right!...") which Jason and Hannah have hammered into my memory forever. Grandma Jenson came to watch as well as Grandma and Grandpa Seeley. It was adorable and Jason did a great job. He has loved Kindergarten and will miss his teacher, Mrs. Larsen!
On Friday night, Cade came back from his week of business trips to North & South Carolina and Iowa to a beleaguered wife and 5 excited children! He jumped right in and we got the house and yard in shape just in time for our friends the Cummings and the Taylors to come over for a reunion barbecue on Saturday. They are our long-time friends from BYU. We were all in the same singles ward so there was plenty to laugh about and catch up on! I forgot to take pictures of the incredible fun we had, so you'll have to just take my word for it!

In preparation for our reunion BBQ, Cade retrieved the trampoline from Cade's parents house that belongs to Cade's sister Dorrie, and set it up in our backyard for the kids. Now, we've had some mixed emotions about owning a trampoline due to last year's memorable experience while living with Grandma and Grandpa Seeley:
Yep, Jason broke his leg due to a trampoline mishap at the exact moment I was pushing a baby out of my "tummy" at the hospital. The trampoline did not have a pad or a net and, according to Jason, when he tried to get off the tramp, he got caught in the springs, flipping him forward where he "hanged-ed upside down" until Grandpa could retrieve him. Poor, sweet Jason! Not many kids start their first day of Kindergarten in a full leg cast and a wheelchair. On the up-side, it propelled him to superstar status at school with the sympathy he evoked from ALL grade levels, mostly girls (who can resist those dimples...really!)

So now there's at least a pad on the trampoline for safety's sake, although it didn't do me much good on Tuesday night when I decided to show off my mad front flip skills to the delight of my children. Unfortunately, I was a bit overzealous and sprung myself right off the trampoline, crashing rather ungracefully to the ground! Thankfully, my dignity and pride were the only casualties of the day, although Hannah insists "the wind blowed you off, Mommy!" which sounds a little less lame (...that would have to be quite the wind-storm!) Fortunately, I have NO photo documentation of the "event". Here are the kids having fun:
Last, bot not least, we've been busy car-making, in frantic preparation for the infamous "Pinewood Derby" wherein the self-esteem of all boys from the ages of 8-11 is put to the test...I mean, race! Of course we bought into the hype of the Pinewood Derby...what loving parent wouldn't?? We learned our lesson the hard way at last year's Pinewood Derby wherein we bought the kit, assembled the car, painted it, and off we went...to the slaughter! Tyler's car did...not good. It was obvious the hours and hours of hard work and dedication that were invested in about 90% of the cars (thankfully, there were a couple of other dummies there besides us!) and so despite Tyler's award for "fastest looking car" (ha!) it fell short and we (mostly Cade) went home with our tails between our legs, vowing to do better next year. So this year, with the fragile self-esteem of both Tyler and Adam on the line, we (mostly Cade) worked very hard on the cars, carefully researching and implementing race-winning strategies into a couple-a blocks-a wood! He made sure the boys "helped" in two-minute increments about every 5 hours or so, which Cade carefully documented for all of posterity which I won't bore you with. Maybe I can do a slide-show on my next post so you can feel like you were there!

Tyler won the "Sleekest Car" award and took 3rd place overall!
He left the church on Tuesday night with his self-esteem fully intact.

Adam received the "Blue Coolest" award (???) and although he didn't place in the top 4, his car did quite well. Fortunately he had just enough self-esteem in reserve to emerge virtually unscathed from the Pinewood Derby!

Here are the racers with their top mechanic!

Good job, boys. Until next year!!