It was a fine day for racing.
Old Pueblo District Pinewood Derby
Webelos II Division
Catalina Council race, “Here we come!”
Category: Richard’s projects
Surprise find in the garden
Look what Richard’s garden produced! There’s a brother tomato still out on the vine.
Speed Demon 3
Hey, guys, you just won the Pinewood Derby. What are you going to do next?…
I believe we will take you to Disneyland.
And Richard, that was a smoking computer program you wrote for our racetrack timer.
Everybody was talking about it.
Dreams encapsulated
…in wood and psychedelic designs. No, Richard, I don’t need help with the camera. I want the photo to look like this.
We just need a coat of poly and the precious wheels with their polished surfaces and flawless axles. This car is poetry.
Speaking of poetry, Daniel wrote a Pinewood Derby Sonnet last spring. I share it with you now to bring you into our circle of anticipation:
Pinewood Derby Sonnet
The shining pinewood racing cars lined up,
In anxious silence racers waited there,
They were all thinking of the derby cup,
The happy talk and brownies they would share,
The wooden cars zoomed down the gleaming track,
The cars pulled close together then they tied,
The winning cars were hung up on the rack,
Results came in; with Joy the people cried,
With happy hearts the winners shook the hands
Of disappointed boys who lost the race,
With joy the people shouted in the stands,
There was a smile on everybody’s face,
In years to come our sportsmanship will keep;
In days to come, true happiness we’ll reap.
~Daniel Ross
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
It’s our tradition to send a Christmas DVD to the grandparents each year. Here is our opening number or, “The Rosses like you’ve never seen them before.” Merry Christmas!
I was a Hunting Widow this week
Today after church I stood outside the building, apparently looking listless. The boys were playing in the bushes and Paige was in a meeting. Someone yelled from their car window, “Are you a widow this week?”
And I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn’t told many that Richard was gone. But I’m no good at hiding things. I was anxious to get home to see if he had made it back safely.
He noticed my clean house and my new haircut (Love him!) right away.
I missed him. The above are the creatures he “shot”… with a camera.
More on the hunting trip later.
How My Man Spent His Weekend
My man made these today.
I just enjoyed their sweet whole grain goodness. Yes, he even ground the wheat to make the flour.
He also took the boys swimming this weekend so I could help set up a pinewood derby track.
He bought the wood for the Pinewood Derby trophies and took Mark shopping so I could set up for art class.
He changed the oil in the car.
He watched Mark during our art class on Friday and saw that Mark was on time for his portrait.
He set up a mailing list and website for a local club.
He helped me work on Grandma Ruth’s family tree.
He brought us food when we were hungry at the art class.
He got take-out for me on Friday night because we couldn’t go on our usual date (Paige was baby-sitting elsewhere).
He drove Paige to her YW activity in the wee hours of Saturday morning. (Paige went rappelling!)
He rocked Mark to sleep at church.
He is at church meetings tonight while I get to sit and do things that I want to do. He never complains about that!
He’s amazing.
If you’re going to be quoted…
We’re not sure why Richard was quoted in this newspaper article, and why the author of the article omitted the line about the members of our church fasting (in addition to praying) for the Hess family. Richard had been in contact with this reporter about some other church business in the news and he had submitted photographs to be used by the paper. However, this is all the evidence of his work with this reporter. But I guess when all is said and done, if you’re going to be quoted in the paper, you’d better be saying something worthwhile, and I think he did just fine.
Looking for a worthwhile cause? Visit Team Ryan Hess or this blog post to find out how to help.
Back Yard Boys
I feel some real satisfaction when I see my boys playing with army men outside in the dirt instead of watching t.v. or playing computer games. 15 minutes of computer time a day gives them plenty of outside play time.
Richard is finishing up our rain gutters. And just in time for all the monsoon rain.
Mark can do a somersault. Doesn’t it seem like it should be spelled “summer salt?”
Since we put the trampoline in the ground, it gets a lot more traffic. All the boys love it.
Paige took these photos. I was tied to the stove, but it was nice to be able to say, “Hey, those boys are looking cute out there. Can you go take some photos?” and know that she would do a good job.
Princess Waltz
Dear Paige,
Since you have so many adoring fans, Dad decided to create this video of your Princess Waltz ballet number. This version was edited for content, as the original had too many babies screaming in the background. There are benefits to being the only daughter… you can have as many ballet lessons as you like. And fans, please note that Comments are Open on this post so you may request Paige’s autograph and congratulate Richard on his cinematography and editing prowess.
choreography by Michele Brady