Thursday's three things

1.  I let the boys have the day off school today.  We spent a ridiculous amount of time getting the wheels finished and mounted for their pinewood derby cars, the house was a DISASTER after 2 days of me ignoring it, and I had to prepare my lesson for art this afternoon.  So, no school and not a minute of practicing happened.  And it felt great!

2.  Results of the pinewood derby:  Brigham and Mosey tied for 2nd, and Joseph came in 3rd.  On the way there, Ben and I gave the boys a pep-talk about sportsmanship and the importance of pinewood derby results in the eternal scheme of things, etc., etc., etc.  Maybe because of this, or maybe because they're growing up, there was NO crying this year, and everyone had a good time and was a very good sport.  Of course the pretty good race results probably didn't hurt.  :-)  (Although last year a 3rd place result did not inhibit the tears.)  Brigham was so cute-- he did NOT want any of the Turner boys to come in 1st because he wanted to "spread the winning around."  As it was, he still felt bad that the three of them bunched up in the 2nd and 3rd spots.  I liked the way the race was run this year.  There were about a million heats, and in the end the results were tallied for final placement-- no quarter finals, semi finals, etc.  And no mention was made of the results during the awards ceremony (every boy got a blue ribbon prize for the best something or other car).  So boys who cared could look at their results, and kids who didn't just had fun racing.  And the million heats made it so by the time the races were over, the boys were pretty tired and I think were more interested in the ice cream sundaes waiting for them in the kitchen than in the race results.
Its not that I'm against competition.  Not at all!  But the truth is that the boys most likely have little to do with how fast their cars are since it all comes down to axle polishing, wheel prep, and wheel placement, most of which has to be done by a parent.  Unless there are some extremely dexterous and patient 8-year-olds out there.  There aren't any 8 or 10 year olds in our house like that. I wish there would be a pinewood derby in which the competition is for design, and not speed.  After all, regardless of age or manual dexterity, almost all of the boys have the ability to design the car all by themselves, and probably build most of it themselves, too.  And that is far and away the most fun part of making a derby car.  Polishing axles is really, really boring (I am SO glad this is the last year I have to prep wheels and axles for 3 cars!  Too much work!).  Sawing and sanding and painting and gluing are way more fun.  After the design competition, there could be a race just for fun for boys who really like to race.  As it was, the awesome firetruck car that came in last place in the races didn't get much attention.  But it should have because it was a really creative and well-executed design.  Anyway, the point is that the competition should revolve around the aspects of the derby car that the boys themselves are most involved in, and not depend on which kid's mom or dad was willing to spend the most time getting those wheels and axles *just right.*
(My prolific and detailed thoughts on pinewood derby racing are a direct consequence of my trying as hard as I can to avoid thinking about politics.  Can someone please just wake me up next November when the whole thing is over?)

3.  There were ice cream sundaes for refreshments after the races.  Lot of ice cream, and bowls and bowls of candy toppings.  Mosey's topping of choice: skittles.  Actually pretty good with vanilla ice cream!  The ice cream ends up tasting a little like creamsicle popsicles.  (Did I write about Mosey's sundae he concocted on Sunday night?  At his "It's Great to be Eight" fireside sundaes were also served for dessert.  Mosey dished up vanilla ice cream, caramel topping, gummy bears, skittles, mini m&ms, and reeces pieces.  He told me, "You have to write this down mom, because this is the BEST sundae in the world!")  Joseph ended up with a great big bowl of candy, with a little bit of ice cream buried under it somewhere.  Oh, my sugar-fiend boys.  We bought girl scout cookies a few days ago, and have already eaten 3 1/2 boxes of them.  So much for my New Year's commitments to cut back on sugar.  :-)

4.  OK, one more.  Did anyone else see the Cheshire Cat moon tonight?  The crescent moon was oriented so it's illuminated curve was sitting like a smiley face in the sky.  The Cheshire Cat followed us all the way home.