Stake Primary Pinewood Derby

Caden's latest art project is a good segue into this post.

The Stake Primary put on a Pinewood Derby for all primary age children.

(We only have 3 in primary right now!!!!)

Timo, Sarah, and Taffy

Since this took place 3 weeks after we moved here,

we were lucky to find the box that held Caden and Timo's old cars.

Taffy's only had 3 wheels at first - it didn't stay on the track too well - but luckily, a Bro. in our ward had an extra wheel and hooked her up.

It was a very well planned and relaxed affair.

There were no rules on making the cars so there were some very inventive creations.

There were the races, of course.  Snacks for all were served between heats.

Train sets littered the stage, for those waiting to race or younger siblings who may have otherwise created mayhem.

A cute edible derby car could be created while waiting to race.

What was most impressive was watching these kids interact as some would win and some would lose.  The judges (some yw and ym including Benny and Caden) would give high fives to both racers.  The winner and loser would often hug and admire each other's cars.

It was like one big (or small, depending on how you look at it) family.

There was no rush by anyone to leave.

The kids played with the cars, the adults and ym/yw helped clean.

Balls were brought out of a closet and we all just played together.

Some of these families traveled 45 minutes to get to the church.

From one end of our stake to the other is about 2 hours.

I forgot to mention. . .

. . . that along with all the beautiful vegetation come a lot of bugs. . .

that BITE!

Pretend Christmas

Jeremy's family has the fun tradition of having a Pretend Christmas every August.

It began when his family would spend summers up in Jackson Hole, WY where his Dad would put on shows.  To say goodbye to the cast each year, they would have a "Pretend Christmas" party. 

Jeremy's mom is an amazingly creative lady and Jeremy tells of the gifts she would make each member of the cast.  It would be specific to them to each cast members' experiences over the summer.

This year, Grandma Baird very thoughtfully sent us a popcorn popper.

Little did she know that I had given away ours when we moved because it was missing the butter holder (which I found when we unpacked here - oy vey).

We were ecstatic! Partially because a friend brought over some delicious white chocolate popcorn and we wanted to be able to make some!

Thank you Grandma!

A little about where we live. . .

Our street is awesome for taking walks.

To the right of our driveway entrance the lovely little road ends in miles of country.

There are no houses to our right and only one by the white fence on the left.

Directly across the street is an empty lot with all kinds of big, beautiful trees and a large pond. . .

. . . perfect for fishing.

As you walk home through the trees our house peeks through. 

It's hard to be grumpy in such a gorgeous place.

A little change. . .

This move had begun a whole new way of life for me.

6 kids went off to school and I had little KD at home.  I've never had one child at home alone since Benny came along.

As I was doing Yoga at the fitness center, soothing music playing in the background, my one child happily playing in babysitting, I wondered, "Could this really be my life now?"

Jeremy (who didn't have to work for 2 weeks), KD and I went shopping, we unpacked, we went to storytime, we went to the gym. . . 

I had 2 hours a day to study for seminary (my new calling).

Life was pretty amazing.

"Do other people live like this?" I thought, "What have I been missing?"

But one thing was missing.

The past 2 years I've been doing online school with various children

(which I will never regret),

and had not been able to do all the "little kid" things with happy, bright Taffy.

And now she was in kindergarten full day, leaving at 7 in the morning and getting home at 4.

I felt a little cheated so. . . 

Long story short, I let her choose if she wanted to stay at home or keep going to school.

She chose home. . . in her words,

"To be with my family, even though Sarah, Timo, Caden, Benny and Jaycie are at school."

She still goes to school for Art and P.E.

The first time she went back I wondered what she would say - if she would be sad and wish she was still going to school.

When we got in the car to go home she thoughtfully said,

"I know I can't go back because I chose to stay home to not have a harder life. . .

but sometimes it is painful in my heart."

I love this kid.

(Did you know toads apparently give kisses?)

Labor Day

Though still in the midst of boxes,

we figured we should have people over for Labor Day.

The party started when Emma, our neighbor, brought over a present for Taffy.

It was the perfect present for Taffy. . . a lizard whose tail was turning blue because it was starting to fall off from being caught.  

Taffy christened him Salo

(because he looks like a sal-o-mander).

Just FYI - after a day, Salo's tail fell off and Taffy generously let him go so he would have a chance at life.  Funny thing is, he keeps showing up and Taffy runs inside yelling, "I saw Salo! I saw Salo!  His tail is starting to grow back!!!"

I digress, back to Labor Day.

We bar-b-qued on the grill Jeremy bought and put together the day before 

(so we could have people over),

played Kub (a very fun Baird family Swedish tradition - we missed Mark),

and swam.

We had some 16 children over and it warmed my heart to see them all playing together like best buds.

Every time we move, I'm struck by the instant family that awaits us in the church.

I am so grateful for that.

We ended the night with another gift from our neighbor.

We can do whatever we want since we live in the county, not the city.

They were awesome and very loud.

Taffy covered her toad's and Salo's ears.

One Sunday. . .

One Sunday we went for a walk at the city park.

It was gorgeous.

Counting turtles in the pond,

chasing ducks into the pond,

chatting along the path,

building memories.

The expanse of green urges one to run and be happy.

Maybe it's all the extra oxygen given off by the trees.  : )

A playset was encountered and the kids don't remember ever having been on a tire swing.

It's really too bad I didn't get a pic of Timo's face when the g-forces first hit.

Petrification. . . no joke.

"The Testaments" and popcorn ended our night.

It was a day to remember.