A trip down memory lane

My 2 oldest sons had a rummage sale last weekend to support their boy scout troop.  I was tired and bored out of my mind trying desparetely to wake up by smoking a cigarette outside of the church, when strolling in I saw a familiar face. Vern Dohm.  The brother of an old friend of mine. Well, actually it was complicated, but for now I will stick to calling him a friend.  Now, Vern and his brother Vance and I used to hang out quite a bit back when I was 18 or 19, or maybe it was when I was 17.  I'm not exactly sure. 
Anyways, Vern and I got to talking and I soon discovered that his brother was finally not in a relationship with a girl who, hmmmm, how should I say this..... threatened me to not be friends with him anymore.  Really this chic was off her rocker.  She introduced herself to people by saying ' I'm carrie, like the movie' 

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

Eagle scouting and success later in life

We have all heard the theory about how scouting, particularly achieving the rank of eagle, helps you succeed later in life.  You can hardly go to a sn2js or eagle court of honor without the stats being presented.  In case you are unfamiliar with the schpeel, let me tell you..... 

Of any one hundred boys who become Scouts, it must be confessed that thirty will drop out in their first year. Perhaps this may be regarded as a failure, but later in life, all of these will remember that they had been in Scouting and will speak well of the program.

Of the one hundred, only rarely will one ever appear before a juvenile court judge. Twelve of the one hundred will be from families that belong to no church. Through Scouting, these twelve and many of their families will be brought into contact with a church and will continue to be active all their lives. Six of the one hundred will become pastors.

Each of the one hundred will learn something from Scouting, and all will develop hobbies that will add interest throughout the rest of their lives. Approximately one-half will serve in the military, and in varying degrees, profit from their Scout training. At least one will use it to save another person's life, and many may credit it for saving their own.

Four of the one hundred will reach Eagle rank, and at least one will later say that he valued his Eagle above his college degree. Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and Scouting contacts. Seventeen of the one hundred boys will become adult leaders and will give leadership to thousands of additional boys.

One in four boys in America will become Scouts, but it is interesting to know that of the leaders of this nation in business, religion and politics, three out of four were Scouts.

This story will never end. Like the 'Golden Pebble' of service dropped into the human sea, it will continue to radiate in ever-widening circles, influencing the characters of men through unending time."

Another way of saying this is:
Of 100 Boys in Scouting -
* Only rarely will one appear in juvenile court.
* 12 will receive their first church contact through Scouting. 
* 5 will receive church religious emblems. 
* 1 will enter the clergy due to his Scouting relationships. 
* 18 will develop hobbies that will give them a lifelong interest. 
* 8 will find their future life vocations. 
* 1 will use Scout skills to save another's life. 
* 1 will credit Scout skills with saving his own life. 
* 2 of the 100 will reach the Eagle Rank. 
* 17 will later become leaders in Scouting and will pass on their skills, inspiration and leadership to countless youth.

A comparative study of the records of Scouts and non-Scouts in a sampling of schools and colleges shows that Scouts hold most of the major positions of leadership in the student body. The survey resulted in the following statistics in regard to school officers bearing a large amount of responsibility.
* Of senior class presidents, 89% were Scouts.
* Of junior class presidents, 80% were Scouts. 
* Of business managers of school publications, 75% were Scouts. 
* Of student council presidents, 85% were Scouts. 
* Of school newspaper editors, 88% were Scouts. 
* Of editors of school annuals, 77% were Scouts. 
* Of basketball captains, 64% were Scouts.

Numbered among the alumni of the Boy Scouts of America are: 
* 64% of Air Force Academy graduates. 
* 58% of West Point graduates. 
* 70% of Annapolis graduates. 
* 72% of Rhodes scholars. 
* 85% of FBI agents. 
* 26% of the 29 U.S. astronauts.

The idea is that the scouting program sets the boys up to be leaders and teaches them valuable character traits to succeed.  I agree about the value of scouting to help instill those traits in our boys, but i feel that the scouting program is not entirely responsible.  I think that the scouting program require quite a bit of parental support, and that support is the factor that make good men.  Without the strong family support necessary to stick with the bsa program, those kids wouldn't make it, but the families who support and encourage the boys thru eagle play a strong role in how the child turns out. I think its a combination of those factors that make for successful men.

An unexpected snow day gave me time to make the Arrow!

We had the good graces of having a snow day Thursday and Friday.  We had a really bad snow storm moving thru the area that was slated to hit Thursday morning.  School got called Wednesday night for the following day.

I have no idea why people complain so much about snow days.  I should have every reason to bitch, since there is no pay for me if I don't have kids to drive to school.  I am just sick to death of people living in their own insular little worlds that because they live 1/2 block from the school and they can get their kids there then everyone else should have to go to school.

COME THE HELL ON PEOPLE!!!!!

There are alot more streets than yours in a school district.  It has to be safe for ALL OF THEM to get to school.

But I digress, I decided to take advantage of the day off of work and get some errands done.  The storm wasn't supposed to hit until around noon and at 930 I headed out with the 2 oldest kids to go to the Scout Shop to get the uniforms they were gonna need for their upcoming transition into Boyscouting from CubScouting.  $200 later, we headed home.  And the weather had hit.  Not only did it take me an hour to get home when it should have only taken 15 minutes, People were driving like clowns.  (to steal a favorite phrase of my dad's)

I got to sewing and managed to get all the required insignia on both of the boys uniforms.  Then I turned my attention to the Career Arrow Kit I purchased for my son earning the Arrow of Light.  (I had really wanted to make on, but ran out of time)  My snow day turned out to be a blessing.

I planned out how I was going to stripe the shaft (and had to leave stuff off because I ran out of room!)

I ended up using black for a background, and white for the arrow of light, green stripes for each webelos pin he earned, red white and blue for his national good turn, purple and white for the world conservation, dark blue for the webelos rank, silver and gold for the corresponding arrow points, baby blue for bear, red for wolf, orange for tiger, yellow for bobcat, green and brown for leave no trace, and tan for the outdoor activity award.

I think it turned out pretty cool, the only thing I still want to do is get silver pony beads for all the beltloops he earned and thread those onto the eagle feathers.  But they were out of them so I guess it will have to wait!

Arrow of Light (take 2)

So yesterday I talked a little about how I wish I had the time to do a project for my son's Arrow of Light award/ crossover ceremony.

Here's what I planned on doing.

If you click the picture it should take you to instructions for how to make it!

A Career Arrow.  I had my own plans for how I was going to do it after I read that arrows cost like a trillion dollars for a wooden arrow.  (Okay, not a trillion, but in the $20 range which is high enough). 

I was going to use a dowel rod.  I planned on wrapping it in Embroidery Floss for the colored bands.  I wanted to make a fake glued on fletching (the feather's on the end) that would be blue and yellow to represent the Cub Scouts, then I wanted to use a Fleur Di Lis instead of an arrow head for the Boy Scouts. 

I still might do this, but I know it will take a bit of planning and I only have until Saturday!  YIKES!

Growing Up and Moving On

My 11 year old is about to get his Arrow of Light at our Pack's Blue and Gold Banquet, the same night he crosses over into Boy Scouting from CubScouts.  It doesn't seem like it is much, or that it would be such a big deal, but ask any Scoutmom and they will tell you it is HUGE.

The Arrow of Light is the highest award that can be earned in Cub Scouting, as well as the only award that you can wear on your Boy Scout uniform.  The award itself is significantly different from other achievements in cub scouting, and is structured more like a Boy Scout Rank than other awards are.  To earn this simple looking patch, my son (and hundreds of thousands before him) have had to memorize the Scout oath, Law, Motto, Slogan, and tell what it means in their own words.  He had to earn certain Webelos Pins, and 'interview' several Boy Scout Troops.  And perhaps the hardest requirement of all:  He had to sit down and have a ScoutMaster Conference with a grownup all about his work on this rank, without his Mommy holding his hand or even standing by his side.  It was the first of many Scout Master Conferences he will have to attend, and I will nervously be waiting in the wings, biting my nails, hoping he doesn't choke on his words.  It symbolizes him coming one step closer to becoming the man I hope and dream he will become.

I have been an active Scout Mom for the last 5 years, and this marks a bittersweet end for me.  I can now have my weekends and evenings back.  I can clear out my hoard of "I can't throw that out, because one day the scouts might be able to do something with it" junk that consists of dozens of large coffee cans, baby food jars, oatmeal containers, tupperware boxes of glitter, crayons, and gluesticks, hunks of pvc pipe presawed into neckerchief slides waiting to be adorned with clothespins and felt.  I have done my part.  As my good friend Jennifer said to her son "I have held your hand and pulled you thru cubscouts, but now you have to hold my hand and pull me thru boyscouts with you".  The ball is in his court.  His success is now determined by his own determination.  He is the master of his own fate.  I hope he continues on in the path that we have both worked so hard on for all these years.  But I cannot do it for him.

It is a small baby step in the journey of growing a man out of a small boy, and perhaps just a taste of what is to come when he brings home a girlfriend, drives a car, goes away to college, gets married, moves out, and starts a family for the first time.  And I don't know if I am going to be able to handle it all that swell.  I still want to hold his hand, to guide him along, to shield him from failures.  But now that he had "graduated" into Boy Scouting, he will have to walk along this road on his own.

Many cubscout packs give their boys a Career Arrow as a special memento of earning this award and graduating into a Boy Scout Troop.  I wanted very much to do something similar for my son.  But as usual I have run out of time.  He crosses over in just 5 short days and I don't know if I will be able to get it all done in time.  I might just have to try.  I want him to have something to hold onto that is tangible recognition of all that he has done.  I know that it is really going to be a memento for me, because he will always take with him the knowledge and experiences he has gained along the scouting trail.

Slow Cooker Roasted Almonds

My dad is impossibly hard to shop for.  Really, he has enough money to buy whatever he has even the remotest interest in, so you are stuck with ideas that he didn't know he wants.  And he is kind of a technophile (I had to get it from somewhere!)  Which leaves me at an eternal loss for gifts for him.  One year I got him one of those SD cards that automatically uploads your photos to a website for sharing or sends them to your email.  I thought it would be perfect for him since he often works out of town, and my mom attends all the grandchildren stuff.  He could configure the card, slip it in her camera, she could photograph away and BAM!  As soon as she was within range of a WIFI connection, he could view the photographs instantly.  Plus it would auto backup the photos as soon as he took them via wifi so if it was ever lost or stolen the photos wouldn't be lost.  I really thought I did a good thing.

Until I found it in his office, still in the package, 3 years later.  I guess the EYE-Fi wasn't such a cool idea.

So that pretty much leaves him with food gifts.  I usually make him hard candy.  Lemon Flavored.  But I wanted to do something different this year.  See, he has grown accustom to our traditional gift exchange of homemade hard candies for him and something really nice techie and expensive for me.

I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Roasted Almonds and they are JUST LIKE the ones you get from the mall.  And they are super easy.  And they make your house smell good.  Only downfall is that Almonds are kinda expensive as far as nuts go.

Slow Cooker Roasted Almonds
Makes 3 cups

1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups almonds
1/4 cup water

Pour sugars, cinnamon, and salt into base of slow cooker. Mix until evenly combined throughout. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white with vanilla. Add almonds and stir until all almonds are coated with egg wash.

Pour almonds into slow cooker and stir with sugar mixture

Cook almonds in slow cooker for 4 hours on low heat, stirring well every 20 minutes. When 1 hour of cook time remains, pour water into slow cooker and mix thoroughly.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread cooked almonds to cool. Make sure to break up any clumps and don't be afraid to let there be a bunch of 'topping' pooled between the nuts.
(I am too cheap to buy parchment paper so I used cooking spray on a cookie sheet and when the nuts were cooled, they popped right off the tray.)


They were a huge hit, and will probably become a holiday favorite.

Family History

One of my biggest regrets in life was that I didn't remember all of the stories and things that my Grandmother told me.  She passed away while I was a preteen, and although she often told me stories about herself, I don't recall many.  The ones from my Grandfather are even foggier, since he died 2 years before she did, and always seemed 'older' than she was.  He was of course, but even in old age people can just have 'old people personalities'.  Now that I am in my mid thirties, I really would give just about anything to sit down and have a conversation with my grandparents and have all of my questions answered.

My dad's side of the family is just as bad.  My grandmother is suffering from altzheimer's disease, and barely remembers anyone, much less any details about her family or childhood.  At least, I remember a touch more from her stories than my mother's family.  Possibly because my NeNe (my dad's mom) ALWAYS told us stories about her family, and did so up until she began to loose her memory.  I was in my mid 20's by then.

I have been working on documenting my family history ever since I had my first child.  I never wanted him to feel the way I did, or to have the questions I had.

This past Christmas, I put together a family history album for my grandparents about their families.  It was a simple plan.  I wanted to highlight the family as it stand right now.  My grandparents, all of their children, their grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well as their siblings and parents.

I wanted to make the family history come alive for anyone who read it.  I wanted to make it enjoyable and easy to understand, and I wanted to be able to included photographs and documents that detailed the family.
I plotted for over a year trying to figure out how to lay it out.

What I decided to do was feature a main page with an overview of the tree.  I wanted to show both my grandfather LOU and my grandmother JENNIE and their parents and siblings as well as their children and their children's children.  I was thinking of a bowtie tree with siblings listed to the side but I wanted this to be an overview.  With photos and lines only.

It was the beginning of a good plan.  I planned out the rest of the album and decided that the next pages would include a dual page layout of my grandparents, and on that page, I would include smaller photos of thier children (as children).  Each of the pages after that would be of the Childen as adults.... with their children photos smaller on that page.  Followed by pages of the grandchildren (with their children if applicable).

I searched for scrapbook templates to make this easier, since a template and a repetitive layout and style will make for a more cohesive look to the finished project.  Once I found one I created a plan of the pages.

I used google docs to make a plan of the pages, and was able to add scans of things I had found to show the quick plan better.  For instance, I bought some of the Ancestry Pedigree charts and Family Group sheets at a local store and scanned images of them in, so I could plot out how it would turn out.

On the 'Coming To America' page, I wanted to use some file folders to keep an immigration file for each family.  I kept the album interactive by making a place for these file folders to pull out and be read when desired.  I also wanted to include all of the census records that mentioned direct ancestors, so I printed them off and highlighted our family then put them in a flip book style layout.  I provided translations of the census information for ease of reading (instead of writing Doe, Jon Jacob, m, s, 48, farmer, Illinois I would write Jon Jacob Doe was a Single male residing in Illinois during the 1900 census.  He was 48 years old having been born in XXXX in Michigan)  (I just made all that up, so my apologies if you are searching for information about Jon Jacob Doe from Illinois and stumble on this page!)  I found quite a few newspaper clippings that I was able to copy and I wanted to include these marriage announcements, obituaries, and stories of interest as well.

After collecting all my supplies, and hounding my family for old photos,  I set off to work.  And as the saying goes THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN... OFTEN GO A-WRY.  I was off to a great start, but it didn't come together the way I had hoped.  I winged it, and made some changes based on what photos I had. And I put together an awesome album.

Everyone enjoyed it, and I have a few good ideas for how to put one together for my own children.

If all the other kids jumped off a bridge, I know now that my son wouldn't.

I just came to the realization that choosing a Boy Scouting Troop is alot like choosing a college.  You visit the troops, interview the Scout Master and fellow boy scouts, talk with your family, review financial records to see what you can affort, then make a decision and HOPE AND PRAY you didn't make the wrong choice.

My 11 year old has been involved HEAVILY with Scouting since he was in 1st grade.  Actually, he saw the Cub Master at the kindergarten open house and BEGGED me to let him join.  I concented only to find out that he had to wait until the next year.  And he was sure to remind me the very next year, even though we had moved and he had to change schools.

After that first TIGER year, I was recruited into a leadership position.  I ran a den of boys for their WOLF and BEAR years and co-ran a WEBELOS 1 den.  This year he is a Webolos 2 (or a 2nd year Webelos since the webelos program is an 18 month program).  I have been stepping back, and not actively leading a den this year, instead focusing my time on SCOUT COMMITTEE membership.  I have been running an active recruitment campaign to replace all of the leaders and committee members who will be leaving the pack to join a troop this year.

My son want's to earn his EAGLE rank.  I have no doubt that he will earn it, but I want to do what I can to find the right troop for him to do so.  I guess when you think about it, it is similiar to stacking the deck.  I mean we want our children to succeed, and it is the job of the parents to "stack the deck" in anyway we can to set them up on the road for success.  For my children, this means I make sure they have the tools they need to accomplish their goals.  I make sure they have all the school supplies they need, the clothes that won't get them made fun of, etc.  I also know that college will be out of the realm of something I can pay for, so we find something they like, and work the hell out of it so that they can have a shot at something.  My 11 year old wants to join the service.  (really I think it's more of an obsession with Call of Duty games)  He would be perfectly cut out for it.  And he realizes that earning his EAGLE rank will help him in obtaining a higher pay grade upon joining the military.  And he has fun in scouts.

But I digress.  We have been working on visiting troops to find a good match.  It helps that it is part of the Arrow Of Light award too!  For the last 5 years in scouts we KNEW that we were gonna join Troop 942 out of St. Andrew's Methodist.  95% of the boys in our cub scout pack joined there.  And it was the 'big names' of our pack.  The overachievers.  The ones with parental involvement.  It just seemed like a natural progression, both for me and for my son.  We were even sold when we visited the troop.  I spoke with the other parents that had joined in the years before me, and really felt like it was going to be like a reunion for me.  My son liked the active calendar and seeing his old buddies.  The meeting was CHAOS.  Lots of high energy.  I asked a giant list of questions to the Scout Master.   I was hooked.

Until I visited with another troop that the remaining 5% of our cubscouts cross into.  Troop 829 out of St Sabina Catholic Church.  My son and I walked into a small group of Webelos 2's sitting down with the Scout Master.  He was telling the boys all about the differences in Cub scouting vs. Boy Scouting.  It was the way he did it that was so special. He was asking questions and letting the boys tell each other.  If they got stuck, he guided their answers and thought processes by asking different questions.  It was the very embodiment of BOY LEAD with an ADULT guiding the process.

Things just got interesting.

I really was liking what I saw.  I liked how they seemed to be working the scouting system the right way.  Then the meeting opened.  The boys repeated the oath and the law.  It hit me then that I didn't see that in my meeting with 942.  Both troops worked on merit badge requirements, one was more active meeting once a week, and seemed to be into activity and fun, and the other was slower and met only 2 times a month but participated in more of the serious side of scouting.

My mind was made up.  I wanted the serious quieter troop, since they seemed to be 'growing MEN' instead of just providing a fun after school activity.  (don't get me wrong, the busier troop also had plenty of advancement, but it seemed that it was the core super involved parents kids who were advancing, which made me question if my son would do it without me PUSHING him)  I had no idea how to get my son to go along with it.  I was certain that he would want to join the troop we had been planning on crossing into since we found out about it.

Then a miracle happened.  He and I sat down and I asked him which he would like to join.  He told me he was still thinking about it, and wasnt sure how to decide.  I asked him to think about pros and cons of both, and think about what he wanted to get out of being a scout.  He told me he wants to be an EAGLE scout.  And he was kind of thinking that the SLOWER more Serious troop would be the best place for him to make Eagle.

My heart skipped a beat.  I was so astounded that an 11 year old could come to that conclusion on his own.  It helped show me that the Scouting program and all the work I have put into participation has been worth it.  I am raising the kind of kid I want to raise.

Then it got even better.  He informed me that he wants to make 1st class in his 1st year, and he knows that 829 is the best place for that, AND he figures that after he gets all of the basics covered, if he starts to get bored, he can transfer to the more active troop.

It was like he was reading my mind.  I had been thinking that it would be a good tool to have in my parent arsenal that he could transfer to a more 'fun' troop when I start to loose his interest due to cars, jobs, and girls, and sports.  If he joined the more active fun based troop then it would be harder to convince him to join a more  serious troop if the time came that his interest was waning.

So we emailed the Scout Master and told our Cub Scout pack the news, we were going to buck tradition and go with a different troop than most of our other scouts.  We were going to go somewhere that my son didn't really know many of the kids, and we made an unpopular choice.

I think that unpopular choice to go against what the whole crowd is doing is an important thing.  My son learned (and demonstrated) that what everyone else is doing is not the same as what  is best for you, and that it is okay to go against the main stream.

I have never been so proud.

Pinewood Derby

Last night was my son's last pinewood derby.  I am both saddened and relieved.  He is very proud of his cars, and his 3 year old brother is convinced it was his car too. (he even has the trophy to prove it!)  This year we went with a zombie theme and were able to take 2nd place for the pack (about 45 kids!)

My 3 year old got a participation trophy that was left over.  He really believes that he won the trophy because it was his car too.

My Webelos 2 with his 2nd place overall win and his ZOMBIE car!  

I have always managed to do OKAY with helping build a car, but I can definetely tell you when he was just a TIGER ready to race in his first derby my only thoughts were HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO THIS?  Now I find myself helping other kids. But I have a few observations and helpful hints to pass along before I am done with derbies.

1. It's about the kids.  Everybody says that, but it really is.  It is super easy to get caught up in making a car just PERFECT and not letting a kid help.  But let them help.  It is their race.  
2. DON'T let the kid do all the work.  Aside from using power tools at way to young of an age, the cars where the kids had to do it all by themselves never seem to do as good.  And all the kids tend to look dissapointed.  The method that I used was simple at first... I will buy all the stuff you need, you worry about how it looks and I will worry about how to make it fast for you.  I had him sand it (I touched it up when his 1st grade arms couldn't take it anymore) he painted it (I added coats when necessary while he was at school WITHOUT changing the paint colors or placement).  The next year I had him start to help me with the speed tricks.  But it was still a mostly you make it look cool and HELP me make it fast.  Same thing went for his 3rd race.  His 4th race was all up to him, he told me what he wanted to do and I bought the stuff and helped him (he even remembered the speed stuff), same thing for his 5th year.  
3. KNOW YOUR WEIGHT LIMITS AND RULES.  Even in my son's last year, weight was something I was pretty much in charge of.  He knows we need to add weights, and know's that it needed to be 5 oz.  I got that car weighed a bunch of times and got the weights for it and left it up to him how to place them.  A basic 2.3 oz set was recessed in the bottom of the car of course, but we still needed to add .3 oz and I gave him a selection of weights that added up to .3 oz  and let him choose how to incorporate it.  
4. Stickers are your friend.  As are scrapbooking supplies.  And Dremel Tools.  I am not a master painter.  My son isn't either.  We have used stickers in combination with paint, and have raided my scrapbooking supplies to MAKE stickers out of random images.  If your son has a theme in mind go for it.  My son never wanted to make a car that looked like anything other than a car (no hotdogs, skateboards, army tanks, wii remotes, guitars, etc) but plenty of other kids did.  Be sure to check the sticker section of your local scrapbook store for stickers that fit the theme.  
5. Know how your race will work.  Our race has each kid race in 6 heats, with one race in each lane.  Always against different cars.  There are complicated brackets and race formulas for this, but I never worried about this.  I knew that trophies were awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd out of the pack (overall) then after those kids got their trophies, the fastest car in each DEN that didn't win a trophy got a Fastest in Den (all 5 ranks with Webelos 1 and 2 being seperated) then the committee members voted for a BEST IN SHOW of the cars that didn't win a trophy yet.  Then all the other's got a participation trophy.  After our first race, my son decided he had a better chance of winning a speed trophy than best in show.  So we focused on speed vs. looks.  It seems in our pack the cars that LOOK like something other than a car win Best In Show every year.  

So how do we make it fast.......

1. Bake the block of wood.  Put the wood in a 200 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.  Watch it to make sure it doesn't burn.  This helps to dry the wood out and make it as light as possible.  
2. Check that the axle grooves are at true 90 degree angles.  If not, fix them now when it's easier to fix (the wood is still a nice square).
3. Choose and Cut your basic shape.  We usually do a modified wedge shape that is thin in the front and thicker in the back in kind of an S curve shape.  Do NOT go too thin in the middle and back but definetely get alot of that wood out of there. 
4. I use a Dremmel tool to cut a recess in the bottom of the car to hold the weights.  Nothing fancy, I just set the depth collar thingy to the same depth as the weights.  Then I trace the weights onto the bottom of the car making sure they are set as far back as I can get them.   This often means that I have to break the weight bar and put some weights in the back behind the rear axle and the rest in the middle of the axles.  You always want the weight in the rear of the car.  I always cut a channel for the FULL bar of weights and we remove weights later to get the car to make weight.  The weights are removed from closest to the front axle so that the car is lightest in front.
5. Sand that car and sand some more.  Start with 60 or 80 grit sandpaper and move to 120, then 220 and keep getting finer.  The smoother you get your car the nicer the paint job will look.  Wipe the sawdust off the car with a tack cloth (or old sock in our case) to remove the extra dust that gets all over everything.  You can do a lot of shaping with a piece of sandpaper.  The most important thing to remember when doing this is that the cars will rest on 2 pegs at the top of the track, and you don't want to NOT have a place for the car to sit against the pegs at.  If your car comes to a sharp point, it will be harder for the track officials to get it on the starting peg, and you want it to be sitting right when they release the pegs to let it zoom down the track.
6. Rub some rubbing alcohol on the car and let it dry.  This helps to raise the grain on the wood.  Then you can sand it off with very fine sandpaper.
7. PRIMER IS YOUR FRIEND.  When we first started, I didn't think to primer the car.  It really helps the paint look good.
8. Paint it.  We have used acrylic paints, TESTOR's model car paints, and spray paint.  Of theses, the paints you have to apply with a brush were very difficult to keep the brush marks out of paintjob and the paint looked bumpy-ish.  The TESTOR's paints gave the car a very authentic car paint color.  They looked like real cars paint jobs, but they were slow to dry.  The spray paint has been our best results.
9. Add your decorations.  Stickers, little guys, the body details or metal pipes or whatever.  Actually if you are adding the plastic fenders or whatever add those before you primer and paint.  Glue those down and sand the glue to look smooth.

NOW COMES WHAT I THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A FAST CAR AND THE PART THAT I HANDLED FOR MY SON FOR THE EARLY DERBIES HE WAS IN.

• I gathered my axles and put just the pointy tip into a dremmel tool and turned it on.  I was looking for axles that didn't vibrate or wobble too much. I choose the straighest 4 axles that I had. 
• Once I had the straightest 4, I remounted them in the dremmel tool with just the tip in the dremmel. I cut 1//2 inch strips of 220 grit sandpaper and soaked them in water for 5 minutes.  Then I took a strip and sanded the shaft of the nail until it was smooth,  I also made sure to sand the under side of the nail head.  I got some pumice powder and made a paste and used that to further polish the axles.  REVEL sells a kit with these things and instructions in it.  USE IT!
• After I did the axles, I moved on to the tires.  I bought a wheel truing mandral from REVEL and mounted it on the dremmel with the tire on it.  I spun the tires looking for the MOST ROUND least WOBBLEY tires.  I selected the best 4 and then sanded them.  Just the surface that touches the track and only until they weren't shiny anymore.  You want to smooth the surface and make racing SLICKS.  But you DON'T want to  alter the tire, just true it up.   Start with a coarse sand paper and work up to a finer grain and don't press hard, the sandpaper just needs to touch the spinning tire. 
• GRAPHITE PACKING.  Most packs don't allow the use of liquid lubricants and dry graphite is all you have to work with.  Graphite is awesome if you use it correctly.  Rub it into the car where the wheel will or could overlap the car.  Rub it into the tire surface.  There is an instructional video I found that shows how to PACK the wheel with it HERE.    I didn't use the tool but the concept is pretty good.  You mix graphite with rubbing alcohol and pack it into the wheel where the axle goes thru.  Blow dry it to evaporate the rubbing alcohol, and BAM! You have a wheel and axle full of graphite powder.
• I have also seen people use a dot over the axle head stuck to the tire that was filled with graphite so that the graphite can 'feed' into the tire as it spins down the track.  I am too clumbsy and would probably stick the tire and axle together to do something like that.
• Mount the wheels to the car and be sure to keep a slight gap between the tire and the body of the car to reduce friction.  Nothing really big so that the tire will wobble, but 1/16 of an inch or so.  
• Make sure the car rolls straight.  Adjust the axles as necessary.
• Puff dry graphite into the gap between the car and the tire.  Puff it into the wheel where the axle goes. Puff it under the head of the nail against the tire.  

Our first car, a spiderman theme, complete with a spiderman driver.

He won fastest in his den this his tiger year.

Our first car was a preshaped body kit car, because I was overwhelmed and had no idea how to cut or shape a car.  It was made at our kitchen table and we used a knife and sandpaper to round it out.  I hacked the wood out with a butcher knife on the bottom for the weights.  It was probably the most fun of all our cars to build, and I will never forget it.

He won the Fastest in his den that year.  And it was a HUGE den.  Something like 12 or 15 boys.  Large enough that the following year we split the den into 2 separate dens for
managability.

For his wolf year, he won 3rd fastest in the pack!

The BATMOBILE!

This year we won 3rd In the whole Pack.  He was so impressed.  This year was the first year we messed with the axles and wheels.  And the first year we used a dremmel tool.  And the first year we went to our DERBY WORKSHOP.  Our pack holds a workshop with ban saws and sandpaper and paint, so that every boy can show up with the block of wood and leave with a car that is ready to slap wheels on.  It was awesome for us since we didn't have a saw to cut our basic shape.
Our Batmobile car was made from the pinewood derby block of wood with the batmobile add ons sold at Michaels. The add on kit had a pattern for us to cut the block of wood, and plastic fenders, and a batman rubon decal.

The red car in the middle is his car for his Bear year.  He drew the skull himself and used a sharpie to draw it on the Testor's paint job.  The paint color was beautiful, but we learned a hard lesson this year about Testor's needing a LONG time to fully dry and the paint could easily be 'dinged' by touching.  Also, the weight's on the outside of the car were a necessity to get it to 5 oz.  The whole car was really thin, and we didn't have room for a bunch of weights on the underneath. Which I think effected our placement, as we didn't get a big trophy this year.

Another shot of our car on the upper right with the pink sticker

We were fastest in the den this year.

For some reason I don't have a picture of the car by itself that I can find from his Webelo 1 race.  But his is the Blue thunderbird car on the bottom right hand corner.  It was a super fast car.

Our car was the blue one on the lower right with the pink sticker on it.

Another shot of the car, this time from a side angle.  His car was cut from wood ourselves, then we added a spoiler and fenders from a plastic add on kit.  We painted the windows ourselves too.  Very angular this year.  This was a TESTOR's paint paint job.





He got fastest in his Rank this year.  For some reason they had the Webelos 1 and 2's race as one group this year.  He came so very close to a bigger trophy.  They had to do 2 raceoff's to determine the final placements.  A car had jumped the track and hitched a ride with his car down most of the track this year resulting in his only low placement.  Otherwise he had 4 1st place heats, 1 2nd place heat and 1 4th place heat that he had a hitchhiker for.

And of course our Webelos 2 car was the best placement yet!

This year he wanted a zombie themed car.  So we downloaded a picture from DEVIANTART and warped it down to 7 inches by 2 inches.  I had it printed at walgreens and peeled the paper backing off the photograph.  I used some scrapbooking glue to adhere it to the car.  We put the least amount of effort into decorating this car, but I guess after all these years of practice, we knew what we were doing.  He finished 1st in all 6 heats and had to do a raceoff for 1st in the Pack!  He unfortunately lost that raceoff by a 2 tenth's of a second and finished in 2nd place overall!

Exciting week!

So much has been happening this week, it's hard for me to focus on any of the things I said this blog was going to be about.  So I want to get the exciting things off of my chest so I can settle back down and get to working on those projects and resolutions I said I was going to do.

1.)  I just hired an attorney.  A good one too!  I seriously LOVE him.  I liked him quite a bit after the initial consultation, but now that he is hired, MAN!  he is awesome.  I have no doubt in my mind that he is the right man for this child support/custody/paternity thing I have going on.  If you are in the St. Louis area and need a lawyer for family law, I highly recommend Bruce Eastman of the Eastman Law Firm.  He has very reasonable rates, and a wonderful sarcastic bulldog type of attitude that kept me grinning throughout the appointment and made me feel very confident in my case.

2.)  The kids on my new bus route are not too awful.  (except the middle schoolers, but that is typical, and even they aren't too bad.)  If you wonder about why middle schoolers have such a bad reputation, let me tell you about the safety training meeting I attended this summer hosted by GRAYRAM TACTICAL.  They told us that a study was done about school violence and it was determined that most violence was committed by 12-13 year old boys (middle schoolers!) and it was statistically more likely to happen on a Wednesday in the month of October and was most likely going to involve fist fighting.  But really, Middle school kids do not have the more adult common sense of high school kids, and are not as afraid of getting in trouble as elementary school kids are, and are trying to make a name for themselves and to get attention.  It's like in Middle School they are on a bus for the first time, and they think they are grown, and MAN!  It can be a bad combo.  Luckily, I know they just want structure and are only trying their limits and things will settle down soon enough.

3.)  My husband has never met his BIO dad.  And for years genealogy has been a hobby of mine.  It has always aggravated my COD (that's OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order the way they are supposed to be!)  that half of my kids family tree looks like it was hit by lightening and just stopped growing.

This is really what their family trees look like... a huge chunk is missing!

     So I have been hunting for anything about this man who is my husbands dad.  All I had was his name and that he had been in trouble (read: gone to jail at least once).  I was able to find a birthday for him thru the free court search site here in Missouri.  It's called CASENET and can be found HERE.  Most states have some kind of free judicial lookup of court records somewhere if you are willing to dig.   Anyways, I posted on ANCESTRY.COM a message seeking information about the bio dad (we will call him Gary) parents.  I made it very clear that I was not trying to stalk or harass a person who didn't want to be found or who didn't want contact, and that I really just wanted to know Gary's parents names so that I could flesh out a family tree for the kids.  After a year or more of no responses, I got a reply from Gary's niece.  I was able to call her and get a TON of information.  And she seems like a pretty cool chick on top of it all.  So I am hot on the case of investigating all of the new family members and that whole branch of the family tree.  

4.)  I had an IEP meeting with my stepson's school.  Hopefully now the testing will be able to help us help him better.  I have hated to see him struggling like he does, and I don't want to get angry with him for not trying or whatever if he is physically UNABLE to do so.  Now finally, the school district is on the same page as we are, and we are going to be able to begin the evaluation and referral services.  

5.)  The mother of the Stepson (who is like my real son anyway) has lost custody of her youngest and the only remaining child that she had custody of.  If you are counting that makes 3 kids, 3 different dads, that she has LOST custody and visitation with.  I am slightly worried that she will do something stupid and I will have to explain adult problems to a kid who is just starting to settle in here.  I just don't want her to kill herself or something (overdose!)  I am sure she loves him, but needs to get help so she can effectively parent her child.  I don't want him to lose a mother without having the chance to understand that she isn't doing things to HURT him, she just has an addiction and it isn't his fault.  I think right now he is too young to understand that whole aspect of it, and it troubles me that she may force me into having to try to explain that to him.  I don't want him filled with anger at her or at us for any reason.  It's sad really.  However, I am glad that her youngest child is now away from her, for the child's sake.  

Teach your kids some RESPECT!

So I really wish parents would teach their kids a little respect.  Just a little.  Because a little goes a long way.  On my new route I have a middle school.  And it is the common knowledge of all bus drivers that middle schools are the work of the devil.  These kids got so angry that I was driving the bus route home the way the transportation department laid it out (instead of the 'shortcuts' that they wanted me to take) that I was called a BITCH, a FAT WHITE HO, and about a dozen other nasty names.  I started by telling them I was going to drive it the way the route sheet dictated.  That is when the name calling started.  Then I had to pull the bus over and inform them in no uncertain terms that I was not going to be called a BITCH and that they would have some RESPECT... respect for the bus, for themselves, for other people, and for the neighborhood.
One little girl said she wished she would have recorded my little rant.  But sure enough I asked the kids if we were clear, and wouldn't leave until I got a yes Ma'am.  (it took a little prodding).  But the very next day, the kids were polite and behaved much better.  Maybe they were only trying me, but really folks, raise your kids better than that.  Teach them to be appalled at NOT treating others with respect.  It would make the world a nicer place.

Oh the DRAMA!

So much for resolutions!  I had the best of intentions about this blog, and then life got in the way.  First week back at school, I had my seat crew work to do.  Not a big deal, but still less free time for me.  On a side note, KIDS REALLY TEAR UP SCHOOL BUSSES... I don't know why some kids think they can draw giant pictures of men's genitalia, or write some of the profanity I have seen written on seats.  Or rip, tear, pick, or stab a seat with a pencil 100's of times.  They would never do that crap in their parents cars.

So as soon as that week was over, I had a minor incident with a light pole.  Nothing serious, just a headache of drug testing.  But as soon as that was over, I got served with custody papers from Co-Co's dad.  He is 11 years old and we haven't seen a dime of support from him since he was 2.  He never even put his name on the birth certificate.  I have had an active case open with Child Support Enforcement since 2004.  They have not been able to locate him.  Then WHAMMO!  out of the blue he wants to get 50/50 custody, pay no child support, and have his name put on the birth certificate without a DNA test.

I of course am less than thrilled.  It comes out now that my FAMILY has been hanging out with him and getting free tattoos from him for years now.  But no one could speak up and say where he lived.  And my DS didn't even know that his step dad wasn't his Bio Dad.  That was an interesting conversation to say the least.

So my last 10 days or so have been spent interviewing lawyers to see who I liked and who could do what I want them to do, etc.  Begging my parents to loan me the money for the retainer (of course the putz filed right after we splurged and blew the Emergency Fund on Christmas presents).  And as luck would have it, my parents have an IRS thing that they are dealing with, so they just dropped 10 grand on a tax attorney.  So I am tapped out, but stuck trying to figure out how to come up with a retainer to get some legal representation during all of this.

I have been emotionally drained.  I wonder at times if keeping the putz away from my DS was the right thing to do, but then I am reminded of the physical violence that the relationship had, and although it wasn't directly aimed at my son, it was done in a way that my son was witness to it, or could have been a victim of it as an innocent bystander.  So I know I did the right thing.  Now if I can get a lawyer to help me convince a judge of the same thing.

I also bid for and got a new bus route.  Goodbye 51!  Hello 117!  It's a good bump in hours so that is nice, but it will be all new kids to learn and a whole new area to learn to drive.  I hope that it goes well.

I have briefly thought about some of the tools that I will be using to get my life on track as a grownup.  LOL!  I am a grownup but BOY would it be nice to have a safety net of cash to fall back on, or to be more organized.  One of the things I have seen is the 52 week Money Challenge.

It's a pretty simple concept really... you just start with $1 and add $1 to the total deposit each week... and you make the deposit and not touch it for a whole year and end up saving $1378 in a year.  I know the idea is saving some money each week and this is a funish way to do it.  My only hangup right now is that the December weeks (the last 4 or 5 of the year) you have to depost about $50 a week.  I get paid every other week and with 4 kids living at home now and 1 living at her mother's house it is an expensive holiday season for me.... that's 5 kids Christmas gifts, PLUS 2 birthdays in December alone for me.  I don't think I can save $50 a week.  Or $100 out of every check.

I have seen some people do it backwards, which is easier, but still rough for me right now with the need to pay the lawyers retainer.  I am giving it some thought about how to stagger the payments to work with my bi monthly payday's and my family finances.  I will let you know what kind of savings plan I come up with.  But I think my best bet is going to be working the keep the change savings plans, and the $5 plan, in conjunction with this one.

And as scandalous as it sounds, I would need to do this behind Big Daddy Woo Woo's back.  He is a hoarder and a spendaholic, but in a cheap way.  He will spend a few dollars at every thrift store and garage sale in the neighborhood if he knew we had the 'extra' money somewhere.  Saving money isn't his way.  I know he wants to get a house, or a 2nd vehicle, or even a motorcycle, but I am more on the school of thought that we should have a backup fund and get out of debt before we get MORE debt, expenses, and stuff.  Maybe that is why we are such a good balance with one another.... we both can go to extremes but they are separate extremes.

Weekly Wrapup and a birthday gift

I didn't get much accomplished yesterday, aside from looking everywhere for some hair chalks for my Neice's 14th birthday today.  I know she will love them, and I will still be the cool aunt.  I mean who wouldn't love wild hair color (it washes out easily so her mom will be happy too).  I found THESE hair chalks listed online and that is what gave me the idea.  A bit of google searching and I discovered that they are available at Beauty Brands.  There is a Beauty Brands store close to me, so off I went.
When I got to the store, the clerks had no idea what I was talking about.  Even better, they asked the stylists in their trendy onsite salon and none of them had ever heard of hair chalks.  Seriously?  A fat uncool soccer mom like myself knew about something before them?  Not Good.  So I went to Sally's Beauty Supply and they had a different brand but at a much better price than the $12.50 that the other chalks were.  I got Beyond the Zone Color BUZZ for $5.99 each on sale.  She got pink, blue, purple, and red (because the only other color was orange, and orange is kinda a crappy color.

Beyond the Zone Color Buzz hair chalks.  Isn't the giftbag sweet?  It was a Michael's fun find for just $1.50!

We are supposed to be heading over to my sister's house later tonight to have cupcakes and celebrate.  Should be there around 4 or so (since tomorrow is the first school day back after a LOOOOOOOONG 2 week winter vacation it has to be an early night)  I hope she likes them.

Overall, this week hasn't been too bad.  I have:

1. made Seth a cover for his Innotab
2. taken all the Christmas stuff down
3. tagged all of my MP3's correctly (and had to add music to the kids MP3 players)
4. started and kinda fizzled on the FLYLADY system.

Seems like I should have gotten a lot more done after looking at the list of the major stuff. 

I have a ton of household chores to get done today to get us all back on track from the winter vacation, and a few ideas about what I should work on this week.  So far on my upcoming to do list for the week:  organize my photo collection, backup all of the photos and music onto my backup hard drives, clean out my purse/driver bag and restock it with the stuff I need while I drive, weed out some baby toys from my living room, get some storage cubes for the bookshelf to organize the kids toys, try once again to organize the laundry room, and of course some kind of craft project.  

I haven't figured out what my craft project for the week will be yet, but I do know that my scrapbook page for the week will be of my Great Grandfather Andrew Mavros.  

Baby Blues....

Or so I would like to believe.  I once again spent another day doing absolutely Jack Shit.  I think I need some kind of plan to get going.  I mean other than the whole FlyLady thing.  I know there is a ton of stuff on my TO DO list.  But I am a great list maker, and a poor list doer.

I did put all the Christmas crap away though.  That has to count for something.  Besides another item to do on my 'list'.  (clean out shed)

I also finally threw away my old baby bottles.  It was kind of a sad moment for me.  Almost bittersweet.  I am glad to have the cabinet space back, but it was like the end of an era.  I had my tubes tied about 18 months ago, a few months after the birth of my 3rd bio kid (a girl!).  I loved being pregnant.  I wish I could be pregnant now.  But that is normal.  My doctor told me that the number one complication from a tubal was regret.  I thought I was above it.  But I regret it.  Kinda.  I mean, I don't like closing the door on that part of my life, but in my head I know that I cannot rationally afford anymore kids.  But I miss the CHOICE.  I don't know if that makes sense.  Its sad to accept that I will never have another FILL IN THE BLANK of first moments once my daughter does them.

If I was a wine drinker, this is where I would pour myself a nice glass and drink my troubles away.  But I don't drink, or at least I don't drink more than once or twice a year.  So I am stuck trying to forget about it.  I don't know why a part of me wanted to keep those faded beatup bottles.  Maybe it was like holding on to a part of my babies even as they are growing up around me.  Ahhh... the joys and sorrows of motherhood.

I hate file maintence

I have around 1600 songs on my computer.  Maybe I have a few more, maybe a few less, but 1600 is a good estimate.  I don't bother to keep a whole album if I only like a few songs.  I just download the stuff I actually like.  Problem is, some, or most of it was downloaded from the internet.  And most of the tags were off.  I don't mind windows media player, but the tagging/find album info feature SUCKS.  So alot of my tags and album art was massively screwed up.

Thank god for MP3tag.  It is easy to use, and allows you to save and tag and correct until you are sick of it. And trust me I am.  But I can check off the box under my New Years Resolutions for clean up my music collection!

So far the FlyLady system has me shining my sink (did it last night, haven't done it tonight yet) getting dressed up in lace up shoes, and reading her blog.  Well, tomorrow will be the challenge.  I have to write down the negative thoughts I have and say something positive to counteract them.  WOOHOO!  Touchy feely crap.

I am jubilant!

a lazy day and a rant about the economy

After feeling like I finally got something accomplished yesterday, I flopped today.  I spent the entire day playing around on the internet and being reflective.  So many mixed thoughts are zooming around in my head.  Maybe this year will be my year.  I guess I need to check with FlyLady and see what my mission for tommorrow is.  Or maybe even get off my butt and shine my sink tonight.  I guess so that I will keep on my getting things cleaned and organized mission for the year, I should find something simple to do.  Like cleaning the papers off of my fridge and the 3 clipboards hanging on my wall next to my dry erase calendar.  That ought to be a fast one.  And should make a difference.  Now if I could only get the motivation up to do it.

On another note, my aunt just called and told me about a house that is a 5 bedroom with a basement and 1.5 baths for sale for 48xxx and it's not too far away, and wouldn't be a bad change in schools for my kids.  If only I had the credit for a home loan.  But then I would have bought the house I love that used to be a daycare and is NO change of schools for the kids and is only 38xxx.  At least it's still on the market.

I can honestly say that I hate this economy.  After 2 years of drawing unemployment, I am blessed with a GOOD JOB.  And I am grateful everyday that I do have a job.  I wish it was more hours, but I am still low on the seniority list.  But I hope the crappy housing market hangs on until I have my credit sufficiently repaired to obtain a home loan.  The deals in my neighborhood are just too fantastic to pass up.

So this is what my 3 year old has done almost everynight since recieving his Innotab 2S.  I really love that he loves it so much.  One night as he was laying in bed playing with it (well, watching movies Daddy put on there for him) he even spontaneously told us he loved us.  Actually it was "Mommy Daddy Seth Loves"  but we knew what he meant.  I began to worry that he might break it and since he loves it soooooo much I have been checking every store I can think of for the case that Vtech makes for it.  Unfortunately it is sold out of everywhere and I am impatient.  I remembered THIS PIN on a DIY Ipad case and thought I could do it.

I gathered some of my kids books that they tore up.  Well, all their books are tore up, but these 2 were the most tore up with the sturdiest covers.

I measured 2 panels like a front and back cover and 1 spine.  I just used the innotab 2 as a reference, no specific measurements.

 My 11 year old is really rough on his pants, and I had stashed these aside after he TOTALLY blew out one whole leg from the knee all the way down.  I really like denim and figured I would use it someday.  So I cut up the inseam to open them up.

I opened them up so that I would have a large enough area of flat material to work with.

 I broke out the iron and the spray starch for the first time in at least 3 years and ironed and starched the pants front and back since you know how denim gets all wrinkly if you don't fold it right out of the dryer.

 After I ironed and starched them, I decided on which area I wanted to be the 'outside' of the case and used spray adhesive to stick the pieces down (remember the outside should be facing out....)  I left a smidgen of room between each of the 3 pieces so that the thing would close.

I folded the excess over and stuck it down with even more spray adhesive and used clothes pins to hold it in place.

 I cut pieces from another book that were a bit smaller than the cover pieces I just covered.  These are for the 'lining' of the case.  I eyeballed some elastic strips to be corner loops to actually hold the tabtop in.

I used more spray adhesive to hold the loops in place on the back side only.

 I forgot to take pictures of covering the inside panels, but it's just an old baby tshirt that the kids can't wear anymore.  And I covered it the same way as the cover.  The only difference was cutting the holes in the tshirting for the elastic loops to go thru for the spine side of the loops.  Then I glued the whole kit and kaboodle together in a stack....

 This is the outside of the case.

And this is the inside while the innotab 2 is in there.

And since I love denim so much and hated to waste it, I cut the pocket from the other side of the jeans and used the spray adhesive to stick it down on the inside cover.

So that was my craft project for the week.  If I had to do it differently, I would have used an adult sized pair of pants so that I would have more room to work with.  I have some bulky edges because of the seams in the blue jeans.  A bigger butt area of blue jeans would have given me less seams to have to fold over.  But over all, I like it.  And it will do the trick for Seth's TabTop.