Monday, May 24, 2010

The home stretch to summer vacation

This is the last week of school. Mere hours separate Carden and Seth from swimming pools, popsicles, and bottles of sunscreen.


Can't you just see it?

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Seth's sports

Seth wrapped up his first semester of gymnastics this week. He downplays his enthusiasm for it, but it's hysterical to watch him bounce to his event, do his routine, and then bounce back to his seat. And he loves the chalk buckets. I've tried to explain that the chalk is only useful on your palms. But Seth is thorough, and before he gets on the high bar, he has chalk all the way up to his elbows.


If nothing else, he's gained a new way to move about the house (cartwheels), and now has fancy vocabulary to go along with it.

"Seth, please stop jumping on the couch."

"Mom, I wasn't jumping, that was a donkey kick."

"Seth, don't jump on the bed."

"But Mom, aren't I so good at round-offs?"


He's also in the middle of spring soccer, as is Carden. He's jumped into soccer with the same bouncy enthusiasm. He never wants to be subbed out during the game, and he loves to be right in the middle of the action. His signature moves are the "slide kick" where he slides into the chum to kick the ball (usually getting trampled in the process) and the "kick the ball so hard your shoe flies off" kick (self-explanatory).

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

My new shirt

I have a new shirt, and since it's the most expensive thing in my closet, I thought it deserved its own post.


It's yellow. Cheery and bright. I don't have many yellow shirts; in fact, I think this is the only one. About time I branched into new territory.




It's classic. Necklines come and go, but a good old button-down will never fail you.




And it's full of embellishments. Claire loves it when I wear this shirt. So much visual stimulation! So many things to grab, poke, and yank on.






Did I mention it comes with accessories, too? Mainly seven hyperactive 9-year-old boys learning to tie knots, cook over open fires, and use pocket knives.

Don't you wish you had a yellow shirt?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nature and Nurture

Charlotte is a frilly, twirly, girly girl: Nature

Charlotte's mother buys her a pink ballerina-style swimsuit: Nurture

Charlotte only walks on her toes when she wears it: Anyone want to tackle that one?

Pinewood Derby

We had our first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby a couple of weeks ago. After a lot of fear and trepidation on the part of Carden's parents who have no power tools, no engineering knowledge, and no wood-working skills, we discovered the one skill our Silicon Valley days gave us: We know how to outsource.

So with the enthusiastic help of John, one of the older men in the ward, who possessed both tools and a background in auto body work, Carden's car was born.



Beyond Carden's input on color and design ("I want FLAMES!") I'm sad to say it was mostly Carden watching John. Or Carden riding his bike around the driveway while John sanded, sculpted, and shaped. Once in a while I would force him to sit down and help, or at least watch. But Carden is interested in the product, not the process, and I was torn between making it his project and not coming in last at the big race. Tyler had a more realistic outlook: "Kristen, no kid makes his car. It's all about the dads."

The night before the race, Carden discovered a broken Star Wars figure that he wanted to glue in the driver's seat, and then he wanted to put stickers with his initials on. Tyler was sure I'd destroyed the beautiful minimalist paint job just to spite him, but it was all Carden's idea, and something had to look like the brainchild of an 8 year old.


In the end, it was a great night. I'm not sure how they arranged the heats, but the boys were rotated so that sometimes they won, and sometimes they lost, yet they still came up with an overall winner of the night. Carden had a fantastic time, and we only have to do this until 2015.