265th box sold!

Did I share that Alyssa sold 265 boxes of cookies this year?

She kept reaching a goal and then heading for the next goal. She was 28 boxes away from the next award at 265 boxes in which she earned a basketball, water bottle and neoprene water bottle holder. We had just over a case of thin mints and an assortment of other flavors and we started on our quest to reach 28 more boxes sold. 

We encountered several no homes and no thank you's, but several "oh I just ran out of thin mints, I will take one more." We also had two people approach us and bought 6 boxes and 4 boxes. For awhile we sat at 18 boxes sold and at one point, she almost quit but I encouraged to do a few more houses and when we had hit 24, I was thinking I'd just buy the remaining 4 but she kept knocking and sold the last 4 exactly! And we ran out of thin mints so it was definitely time to pack up!

Her little legs were tired so I pulled her the rest of the way.

And treated her to some celebratory TCBY yogurt!

At the end of the sale she sold a total of 278 boxes, and she wasn't trying after that! I was stunned. I didn't expect her to be that determined or to sell that many but she did!

vex - 25th in the nation

A long story so I will try to keep it short. Vex is/was the robotic program that Jaiden was in last Spring and again this year with our neighbor, Nasser and Dennis as the team coaches. Vex took over Homa's dining room last Spring and this year, once our flood family moved out from our basement, Vex took over a huge part of that space. 

Our Vex team is Kickbots and consisted of 4 4th graders - 2 girls and 2 boys. It seemed like a good fit and they worked well as a team, however, when we got to the state tournament level, one of our girls dropped out at the very last second... the very last second. Like the afternoon that everyone was driving down to Pueblo to compete the next morning at 8 am! 

The remaining 3 pulled it off. They decided to continue to compete. Jaiden and Lilia were driving Tobor 2000 and Bradon who was supposed to be matched with Emily decided to drive Tobor (our original robot) by himself. The kids did really well. Dennis shared a few photos from his phone and my particular favorite was this one ...

Tobor 2000 and Tobor playing against/with each other! Of course, it was the highest score both robots ever did through the entire tournament!

In the end the kids did not make the cut for going back to Los Angeles. They were beat by a middle school team. They did secure 2nd place in the skills challenge for the state, and in the end ranked 25th in the nation! 

more cousin fun...

Just a small collection of photos from Wesley and Courtney's visit. It was a great visit. The kids played and played and very rarely sought Cyndi or I out for something... maybe for food and an occasional craft but they kept themselves busy with each other and it was wonderful!

The girls were the only ones who went out in what little snow was left in the backyard.

Do you want to eat more, Alyssa?

 I could NOT believe she sat in the snow with no snow pants, just thin leggings!

These two are happy posers for the camera except Alyssa couldn't stop eating snow!

One thing, Jaiden really wanted to do was take Wesley to laser tag. We tried to go with Tutu when she was visiting but hit it at the wrong time and it was swamped with some day care that was there. Jaiden was pretty upset about that but the cool thing was we received 4 cards with 2 games of laser tag on each card! Perfect for the 4 cousins to enjoy!

There is also one of those video game areas in the back that you earn tickets to cash in for cheap prizes. I have no idea why kids love that so much but I went to check on them and saw this...

They looked so cute - the 4 of them playing some fishing game and they were all into it!

Courtney and Alyssa's matching dragons! Not sure why they set them up like that but they did and it made me laugh!

This is probably my absolute MOST favorite photo and taken with my good camera instead of my phone...

Nothing like dolls, stuffies and cousins!

And this photo (above) cracks me up. They actually wanted to go to the park after we went and saw the Lego movie but I am not sure what 2 4th grade boys found entertaining about pushing each other in baby swings?!

That concludes the cousin visit and next time I need to remember to take more photos.

for the love of cousins...

I was reminded of my sister's and her kid's ordeal in trying to come visit after we encountered ours recently at the airport and I realized I had not posted any of the fun photo moments I grabbed quickly with my phone. I'd have preferred using my nice camera but somehow when I am with family I forget to bring out. I want to soak in all the love, the silliness, the loud crazy talking and giggling, and then when it's quiet again, I remember I forgot to bring out my camera.

So the story began on Friday night when Cyndi, Wesley and Courtney were supposed to arrive. They were to fly in and arrive at about 9:30 or so. My kids were anxious and could hardly sit still, and the clock ticked that unusually super slow tick that it does when you can't wait any longer but have to. Finally, I check their flight status and the text says on time arrival but the map shows the plane flying back to Seattle. No biggie, I think, it must be a system glitch so we head to the airport. 

About a half hour into our drive, I get a call from sister saying don't come get us, we aren't there, and I am thinking she's pranking me and now I am worried because I am still over 20 minutes away and she's early. But no, she is serious. It turned out the plane they were on had a cracked windshield and they had to turn around. So I turn around to home with both kids crying in the backseat, and for the next 2 hours am frantically searching for other flights  online. Nothing is available until Sunday and the one flight on Sunday is outrageous, of course.

Long story short and lots of tears later, we are at the airport again waiting on Sunday afternoon. I look over and see my kids watching the escalators and can't help but take a photo. They are being so good waiting, giggling, hoping to catch a glimpse of Wesley or Courtney.

 And to every one's relief, they arrive and so does their luggage. And now they can't stop smiling, laughing, talking.

These aren't the best photos but they certainly captured and remind me of the moment they reunited with their cousins, the strong connection they feel to them, the love and just how happy they all were.

i ♥️ you

Aaah, valentine's day! I am so lovin' Pinterest these days. It makes homemade valentine's not only hip but easy to find clever fun ideas. This year, Jaiden chose to make 30 rainbow loom bracelets... 

 well, technically 31 but the 31st one was a special star burst for his cousin, Wesley who was to arrive that evening. Wesley's is below...

 Alyssa chose to re purpose broken crayons into colorful hearts. Her class is 24 including herself but she made several extras as well to pass our to her Girl Scout friends and a special one for her cousins too.

I wasn't too sure about making hers especially after I found out the heart molds I bought at Ikea for 25 cents were actually for ice cubes and specifically said do not put in the oven! Oops! Dennis said to try the microwave instead and thankfully it worked because we had saved them to the last minute and I was starting to break a sweat on how to do a quick change of plans for her.

 My favorite part of their valentine's though has got to be hands down their sweet writing on the back. 

Jaiden takes the shortcut and just signs his name. He tried to convince Alyssa to do the same because "that way you don't have to try to find every one's name. You can just pass them out fast! I learned that in kindergarten!" A true no nonsense 4th grade boy, right?

Alyssa had no ears for that kind of nonsense and hand wrote every single student's name with a special note from her! So love that!

Happy ♥️'s!

true troopers!

Backing up a bit again but this was our last day of ski school for the ski season and what a day it was! The whole beginning of the ski season was unusually cold and snowy. I mean, it's normally cold and snowy but this was very different in that temperatures were often below zero and visibility was incredibly limited ... but the skiing was deliciously thick with powder!

On the last day, I was able to follow the kids around for the 2nd half of their lesson. Jaiden was a little skeptical about me coming with him, I mean, after all he was concerned I wouldn't be able to keep up! He clearly doesn't know his mama's skiing ability or maybe that was his polite way of saying I'd rather you weren't there, but in the end, I think he enjoyed showing off for me!

First run with his group... Mule Shoe, a black diamond run! I had skied it earlier in the day and it was thick, ungroomed and full of beautiful powder. A bit tricky given it's slope,  moguls were forming and flat light so seeing those darn moguls wasn't easy either.

I am standing at the top, looking down - it's a long steep run - you would think it ends where you see the trees start to narrow... but it doesn't! He is the kid almost smack in the middle, 2nd down and just finished his turn so he looks like he is traversing aka going sideways to the hill.

 Making his way down.

 And a big smile on the lift heading up Corona for another black diamond!

Because there wasn't a lot of time and Dennis wasn't with me to tag team these two kids, I dashed off to hopefully find Alyssa and her class. 

And lo and behold, I did! Would you believe I was skiing past this run and spotted her? 

And waited at the bottom until I saw this bundle of pink cuteness!

She was happy to show off for a run with Mommy and wow, despite the very second day of ski school when she told me she wished they'd close the big mountain and I requested a transfer to a lower level class, she did amazing this year! She was happy as a lark, cruising down the half pipe and Sundance run going at top speed but in nice control!

 And this ended our ski lessons for 2014! How I love to watch them ski and enjoy the mountain like I did when I was kid and still do. They both did amazing this year!

pinewood derby

This year, the Pinewood derby was not as memorable for some as others or perhaps would like to be forgotten by some!

Jaiden's car was up first. He is the 3rd car from the right. It's purple and in his signature style...

however, it was not his signature style racer... in this photo, while a blur of motion, his sadly was the last place...

... every single race. He was so down that I didn't take many photos.

Alyssa wanted to participate again too but she just wanted Hello Kitty and Scott to race again. Hers is on the far right end with Hello Kitty and Scott ready to ride!

and she led the way over and over and over! 

Then it was Daddy's turn with the ultimate "fan" car as the kid's nicknamed it!

Perhaps feeling a little worried about the competition?

Looking satisfied ... I think the other cars were still riding the ramp!

Yep, that was my "fan" car!

And still no cars following!

So that was the 2014 Pinewood Derby - sad for some, delightful for little girls who want to play with Hello Kitties and pink cars and then predictable for others!

music to my ears

Last week was crazy... like crazy busy but I think I might say that every week. After a very full day at the HTC at Children's for Jaiden's yearly clinic visit (besides the normal drama, he is doing fantastic! Thank God!) on Thursday, we arrived home just in time to pick up Alyssa, go home and do a bit of homework before heading to Jaiden's 4th grade concert.

This is actually a 3rd through 5th grade concert on a big stage in a huge auditorium with lights and sound and well, our music teacher really does it up. We were treated to a phenomenal band called FACE - seriously you should check them out on YouTube here http://youtu.be/3ySvAvkscbA - a really amazing a cappella group. But after seeing them and if you watch the video, you will know why my kids keep saying "in, in, out and in... in, in, out and in" and you may also hear them trying to say "boots and cats, boots and cats" without saying "boots and cats". 

 Here is the full stage of the entire 4th grade class. Jaiden is in the 2nd row, light blue shirt on the left side of the photo.

... and here he is singing his heart out! 

And oh, how I love to watch him sing!

better than the post office...

... yes, come sunny, rain or snow ... and lots of snow! 

This little brownie ventured out in ski coat, pants, thick boots, gloves for eating snow and on top of it all she is coming down with a pretty good runny nose and cough - but yet, she was determined to go. 

We had to drive to a different neighborhood because ours houses 6 girl scouts in it! I figure we walked a block of about 30 houses - a few had no solicitation signs, several not homes, a few no thank you’s and 6 houses for a total of 12 boxes sold in an hour and a half but then she was cold and hungry so we headed back in...

and ate cookies - no not really! 

But she did help me make this idea I saw on Pinterest although I can't find the source since the back link on the pin didn't work... but you get the idea!

Then she got motivated and wanted to work on a new badge called "Computer Expert" so she helped make 35 postcard thank you's that you might be lucky enough to receive ... hint, hint...

In the meantime, downstairs, robotics was in session and Dennis shared these lovely photos with all of us team parents.

They successfully made a C60 buckminsterfullerene using Dots candy and toothpicks.  

So in case you are wonder what a C60 buckminsterfullerene is, here is some interesting facts that they learned and Dennis shared with the parents in the email...

What is a Bucky Ball?

Buckminsterfullerene is a carbon allotrope. The molecule has 60 carbon atoms that bond together in 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons.  The come together to form a ball, similar to a soccer ball.

History of a Buckminsterfullerene

Buckminsterfullerene was first discovered in 1985 by Richard Smalley, Robert Curl, James Heath, and Sean O'Brien from Rice University in Houston, who teamed with Harold Kroto from the University of Sussex.

The scientists were doing experiments to see if they could recreate large carbon molecules that were observed in space, using special instruments and telescopes.  They put graphite (another carbon allotrope) in a chamber an blasted it with a high power laser.  During the experiment, they measured C60 molecules.

Dr. Smalley used models to try and build a C60 molecule that would be stable.  He found that he needed a mixture of both hexagons and pentagons.  The structure looked like a geodesic dome.

Dr. Smalley and the others named the new C60 molecule buckminsterfullerene after R. Buckminster Fuller, an American architect who is famous for designing geodesic dome structures.

Drs. Smalley, Curl and Kroto won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery in 1996.  They are often credited for the invention of nanotechnology.