4.5 seconds

Connor just participated in his final Pinewood Derby. During this race the boys make their own cars, with some support from an adult, and then race them down the track. From start to finish, each car takes about 4.5 seconds to get to the end. If you blink; it's over.


It. Goes. By. So. Fast.

There are options when building a pinewood derby car. You can go for a beautiful car which looks fantastic but which may not make it to the finish line in one piece. You could build a strong, aerodynamic car which doesn't look so great but finishes ahead of all the rest. Or, you could make something in the middle. Something that looks decent and finishes right in the middle of the pack. No matter what you choose to build; the more time you put into it, the better you will do.

This was Connor's last Pinewood Derby. It's not that Connor isn't participating in the derby next year, or that he has chosen not to make a car. Rather, Connor will no longer be a Cub Scout next year. If he chooses to stay in the program he will instead become a Boy Scout. Did you hear that? My son; my baby boy is suddenly too old for something, and has aged out. He is growing up.

Connor has done the Pinewood Derby for five years now. Each year it's exciting and each year we are able to reflect on the changes in the cars and the strategies. But mostly we reflect on the changes in the boys.

Connor's first derby took place when he was six. His car looked great and it ran well. In fact he placed in third place and was able to move to the District Pinewood Derby. Not bad for a newbie!

The second year his car looked nice. And.... that's about it. It was slow moving. Connor had a very hard time with this. Our evening was spent balancing tantrums and learning about how to cheer for our friends. At the end of the night we were proud that he had the worst car but the best behavior. That was our slogan and boy did we work hard to claim it.

The next year the derby happened to be on Connor's birthday. It was fun and carefree. Connor had a good time; people sang to him and he enjoyed the attention.

The fourth year Connor's car was a speed demon. It was far, far ahead of its fellow racers. Until... it fell off the track. That was a blow. There were some tears. We talked and learned and grew from it, and we learned about congratulating the winners.

This year, the same thing happened as above. This year though, Connor was equipped to deal with that and was totally fine. He was happy to participate and happy to have made a car with his dad. This year Connor was overheard cheering for other scouts, and encouraging his fellow scouts to cheer for other scouts. This year my son was thrilled with the progress that his friends had made, and was genuinely happy when his friends did well. This year we talked about not chanting "Go Steve" and cheering for one person only, but rather cheering for everyone. Later on in the evening I heard him passing that same bit of information on. "Guys, it's not fair to cheer for just one person. Let's cheer for everyone".

I teared up.

As I sit back and I look at pictures of Connor at the Pinewood Derby, and I think about each Derby, I am truly amazed at the growth he has made. Yes; he learned about physics and he learned about air pressure and speed and velocity. He definitly learned some wood working skills as well.

But more so; Connor learned how to be a gracious winner. He learned how to be a calm loser. He learned how to cheer for his teammates and how to mean it. He learned how to participate as a member of his community. 

I still cannot believe that this was his very last derby. I cannot blieve that my baby boy wil be eleven next week, or that he will be crossing over to Boy Scouts.

It seems to have gone by in 4.5 seconds.

But when I watched him last night, and I watched how he cheered, I knew. I knew that he was ready. He has learned so much and he is ready for what comes next.

I hope that we have offered him the right combination of looking good and being strong so that he makes it to the finish line at the right speed for him.  I can only hope that we have put in enough effort ahead of time to prepare him for the race. Given what we saw last night; I'd say we are on our way.

Connor's first derby 2009

Connor's last derby 2013.

Feeling the love!

We had an amazing weekend this past weekend. We were able to head back to Massachusetts for the weekend for the O'Connor annual Christmas party. That was on Saturday. On Friday we were able to (finally!) reconnect with close friends of ours from our graduate school days. We had not seen Shel and Dave since, as they remembered, Connor was running around in a diaper while we were camping a few summers ago! (just a few...!) Reconnecting with them was wonderful, and felt like we were picking up right where we left off! I am thrilled to know our children have finally met, and cannot wait to get together again! (Perhaps in Vermont this time?!)

While I have not had time to take pictures off of my camera (these classes are getting so hard!) Shel wrote a wonderful blog post and shared some great pictures. I will share it here.

http://ouronesweetfamily.blogspot.com/2011/12/like-peas-and-carrots.html

In addition, we had an amazing time with my family. Although my childhood was full of ups and downs, my children are certainly experiencing some wonderful family times, and for that I am very thankful!

Seven years old!

Aisling Abigail Frugoli turned seven years old this morning!

I can hardly believe it. She is growing up so fast! She has changed a lot over the past year, that's for sure. She is becoming such a kind and loving young lady, and I am so very very proud of her!

For her birthday she had, as always, a revolving door of ideas. Bounce house, rock concert, pool p[arty, craft project party... you name it, she thought of it. Last week though when we hit the new playground for the first time, she was sold. Playground party! That I could totally support. No mess in my house, and it's free. I am all over that! She also said she wanted to go camping and bring some friends with her. We also thought that was a great idea. That, however, will be another blog entry, as there are so many pictures!

We had her party on Saturday, because Al and Connor left for cub scout camp this morning. When we got to the playground, the kids of course ran off to play on the equipment. After a while they came back to work on their crafts. We found these cute little canvas bag kits at Iparty. The kids could decorate them with the fabric crayons included. They then used those to carry their loot from the Pinata.

Here's the group lining up for the Pinata. Aisling had her close friends, but no one from school. With her having a summer birthday it's always really hard to get a hold of new friends from school. This year her teacher wouldn't give out phone numbers, and I didn't remember about her birthday in time to figure out another way to get a hold of the parents. Well, I am sure she's going to survive this childhood trauma! Thankfully we have very special friends all around us.

(Connor, of course, is ever the joker).See what I mean?
(Random cute little sisters)

The pinata was a pull string pinata, which meant there was no bashing it with a wooden stick. Probably a good choice with this crowd. Each kid got a turn to pull a string and one string pulled the bottom out of the pinata. Great fun!
Then there was the cake; which I obviously did not make again!

Then, of course, there was gift opening.
One of her favorite gifts was from her best from of forever (in-utero?) Vaughan. Vaughan decided to make Aisling a gift. He picked out a t-shirt, hat, and little bag and decorated them with fabric markers. On the shirt is a picture of him giving her flowers. On the back it says "happy birthday Aisling, Love Vaughan". On the bag it mentions her 7th birthday. It is so cute and so very thoughtful.

From one of her other best friends, Nova, she got a cute beach bag, and another hand made gift. This one was a wave tube. She loves this thing, and fell asleep with it last night!
I so love that some of her friends took their time to make her gifts this year! So special! Her other close friend Braden bought her a science kit to make her own bubble gum! She was disappointed because she can't have gum right now with her orthodontic expander. However, when I let her know that in November (when it comes out) she could have a special gum chewing party with Braden, she was good to go!

Given that this was a Hannah Montana party, after the present opening there was lots of dancing. Dancing, of course, can very quickly turn into spotlight stealing by a certain older brother.

The kids played some more, and then we headed for home.
It was a super hot day, so we jumped into the pool.

This morning, her actual birthday, she decided that she wanted chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, so I took her and Siobhan and Wyatt out to the diner for a special breakfast.

Aisling as always I hope you have had a wonderful and happy birthday! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we love you so very much!

Harry Potter!

This morning, at midnight, was the release of the final movie of the Harry Potter seires. Connor and I have read (and loved!) all of them. Shelburne Museum celebrated this movie opening by holding a special Harry Potter event. (Similar to the doll event of not long ago).

Connor and I went along and had some special time, just he and I.(For those who have not read the book, underlined text will take to you a link explaining the reference)

First, we began (obviously!) at platform 9 3/4.It was here that Connor was able to get his wand from Mr. Ollivander, the wand-maker.

Connor was chosen by a wand made with Phoenix feathers. (Similar to Harry's for some reason...)

Once he had his wand, he realized he needed his robes.

We then headed off to the great hall, where Connor was sorted into his house.

He then had to find the sorcerer's stone, taking great care not to wake up fluffy!

Next we went to defense against the dark arts, where we learned how to duel. I was Connor's dueling partner, so didn't get any pictures. I can assure you he won with the old stand by "expelliarmus".

From there we learned the basics of Quidditch. Connor was a beater.



He did voice his frustration at the end of the game that they could not fly. I do agree that would have been a much more exciting game!

From there we left to participate in the maze of the triwizard tournament. Connor made his way through in record time and was able to solve the riddle, earning himself a galleon.

From there it was off to pass his O.W.L.'s.

Thankfully he was able to pass with a grade of "outstanding".

After that it was off to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for some fun. Here we attempted to make a snitch out of golden origami. We failed miserably, but had fun trying.


Next we went off to find all seven Horcruxes. This was a challenging quiz through which Connor sailed like a pro! I was actually surprised at how much detail he remembered from the books!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get there as early as we would have liked. The cafe was serving butter beer, and they were all out by the time we got there. (We had some stuff going on at home).We scarfed down a quick sandwich while we walked around for dinner.

We did have a blast, and it is always so much fun to hang out with one kid at a time! It's also such a blast that Connor is getting older now and can share interests! We had a lot of fun. Thanks Connor!

Siobhan is 3!

I cannot believe it, but my baby has turned 3 years old! I always seem to have such a hard time when my babies reach odd numbered ages. Not sure why that is; but 3 just seems so much older than 2; and 5 seems light years away from 4. Strange, I know.

Here's a snapshot of Siobhan at 3 years old:

-she loves to color. She will literally sit for an hour with crayons and a coloring book and color. Not only does she love it, but she's a perfectionist at it. She can color slowly and take her time like nobody's business. She does not scribble.
-She LOVES to dance. She would wear a leotard all day if I let her. She goes to dance class once a week and love it. She dances constantly. It's awesome.
-She has very strict definitions of what's appropriate for boys and what's appropriate for girls. This cracks me up, because she obviously did not pick this up from our home. But, she will adamantly tell you that pink is for girls, blue is for boys and boys do not do ballet. (Don't worry, we're trying to break her of this!)
-She will not wear pants. If I want to put pants on her it can be a physical struggle! She is a skirt wearing/dress wearing diva!
-She is a talker. She will tell you word for word what she did during the day at school. She will also talk with her hands.
-She can turn it on and get when she wants when she wants it. She could get anything she wanted out of her older brother and sister. This makes this behaviorist of a mama pretty frustrated!
-She is a love. She is a snuggler and a lovey girl. She loves to snuggle with a blanket at bed time (blanky blank).
-She is totally excited for pre-school! She is so excited about school. She asks for help in tracing her name and is eager to learn.
-She is loved. Happy birthday dear Siobhan!!

Here are some pictures of her birthday party.

Sitting in the special present opening chair!

Opening a special gift from Connor and Aisling!
A new matching dress from one of her best friends Genevieve!
Thankfully she found some shoes to go with it!
Hooray for princess cakes!

Playing with her friends. This was the first time Siobhan really had friends over.
She was in heaven!

Here is a video of Siobhan enjoying one of her favorite birthday gifts.

(Note the wardrobe change!)

All in all it was a fantastic day. Her godmothers came over for dinner (Siobhan's choice of macaronis and cheese and hot dogs!) and more cake. Of course they also spoiled her with gifts!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!

Connor

Connor's been a bit busy too!

Connor has been working on his personal project for third grade. This is essentially a project where he chose something he wanted to learn more about, and then decided how he wanted to learn about it, and then how he wanted to tell his class about it. A pretty cool concept; although for this step by step mama it was a bit to wrap my head around!

No worries, Connor decided he wanted to learn more about ham radio. Since I can't help him there, he and Al were on their own. (For this control freak mama that was a bit challenging too!) As you can see, he's been interested in this for a while:

(circa 11/2005)

They did some exploration with electricity. We bought Connor a kids' circuit building kit. (This one, in fact). Connor had an amazing time with the kit from the moment we brought it home. It was the perfect thing for his busy and inquisitive mind. He was very excited to build the different circuits, and I think we've found a new toy category for him!
Once he finished exploring, he also needed to figure out what to present. He did some research this morning with Al, and created a great presentation. In fact, it's so great that I don't understand any of it!

I'm proud of the work he did on this. It wasn't without struggle; he's such a stinkin perfectionist! (No idea where he gets that from....) But, in the end I think he did great and learned a lot. I'm also glad he and Al had an opportunity to work together! He's excited to present it tomorrow, so that's great too!

Cake!

Connor had his annual Cub Scout cake bake last night. Last year, when he had this cake bake, he ended up unable to go, because he spent the evening vomiting. But, not to worry, this year he took care of the vomiting the week before the cake bake, so we're in the clear.

The theme for the year was "Big Change Round Up". The cake bake is part of a big fundraiser the Cub Scouts do for The Vermont Children's hospital, and that's the theme. Check it out here. The children's hospital is near and dear to my heart, having taken such good care of my breathless babies... but that's another story.

This story is about cake. Connor did nearly all of the work on this cake himself. He was very proud of the cake, and I am very proud of him!

Cracking eggs.
(The cake was free of eggshells you'll be happy to know!)

Yep, he's turning on the oven.
We may regret this later.
Obligatory bowl licking.
(I promise this happened
after the cake was out of the bowl
Well, most of it did...)
Frosting:
Finished Product:
Proud boy:
Connor's cake at the auction table.
(We bought it back for $10.00.
Something seems wrong about this...)
Dr. Lewis First was there to help kick things off
and auction off the winning cakes. He seems like a really nice guy.
He was able to get someone to pay $80.00 for a cake,
So he's a pretty good money wrangler too.
Of course there was cake eating too.

Connor did a great job. His cake didn't win any prizes (last year he won second place in his den). But, he told me that he was still really proud of his cake. Not bad for the world's biggest perfectionist!