Pinewood Derby

Last week was our annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. For anyone who has never had the privilege of participating in this boyhood rite of passage, I am here to tell you what you are missing.

1. 1 month to get the car finished, and yet 99.9 percent of the work gets done the night before.

2. Blowdryers running right up until the minute we leave to dry the paint job.

3. 8-year-olds executing feats of engineering around the level of the average M.I.T. student.

4. Fathers insisting that their scout really did most of the work themselves.

5. 30 families crammed around a 20 foot race track.

6. 30 dads discussing the finer points of "bracket-ology."

7. And the noise, oh the noise!

8. 250 lectures...MOM: You need to be a good sport even if you win/lose

9. WINNING CUB SCOUT: niener, niener, niener

10. LOSING CUB SCOUT: tears

11. 2 hours of chaos and pandemonium in order to watch your son's car race exactly twice for a total of 7 seconds.

12. Awards Ceremony..every car gets a certificate..even if it means awarding a prize for "most creative use of duct tape."

13. After the hours of work, and the meaningful award, car and certificate have disappeared--never to be seen again--within 24 hours.

14. Next year we get to make 2 cars.

What will I do when all my little cub scouts are grown? There's nothing quite like the spectacle of grown men competing vicariously through their sons. Despite the madness of the event, I really will miss this someday.

Feline-anthropy

Meet Grendel.

He is loyal, affectionate, and despite the threatening look of his underbite..gentle. I am the sun about which he orbits. He daily aspires to simply lay at my feet. When I say jump, he says, how high. He would throw himself in front of a bullet for me.

And here is Cheezit. He is superior, aloof and infinitely bored. He interacts with me on his terms only. He allows me to feed him and occasionally to pet him.

So why is it, I like the cat so much more than the dog? I guess I'm that girl who always liked the guy who wasn't really interested. Figures.

It also doesn't hurt that the cat is the only other creature in my home who can clean himself.

ADHD Awareness Week

This week CHADD is sponsoring an ADHD awareness week. Raising a child with ADHD is a trial not just because they have special and challenging needs, but also because the mountains of misinformation and misunderstanding that are out there to add an extra staggering burden. When I hear other mothers say things like, "My nephew has ADHD, but really his parents just don't ever discipline him," or "People just use ADHD as an excuse to medicate their children so they don't have to be a real parent," I want to cry. (I have heard both statements verbatim and in other variations more times than I can count.) I try not to be too sensitive, but there is an intrinsic loneliness that is part of my experience. If I told someone my son had Diabetes, they would respond with compassion; often when I mention I'm dealing with ADHD I can feel underlying judgment and cynicism. Can you imagine how you would feel if you said to someone, "My child has asthma," and they responded by saying, "Oh, that is so over-diagnosed?"

So, as a public service to all 3 of you who read my blog, I'm listing a helpful website to hopefully draw attention to this disorder and help you become more informed. Information is power! As many as 1 in 10 children is affected by this, so it wouldn't hurt for us all to learn a little something about it. CHADD is a non-profit organization committed to research, support, and understanding of children and adults dealing with ADHD. Do me a favor and look them up. http://www.chadd.org At the very least, keep an open mind, and try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. And the next time you come across a mom who mentions her struggles with ADHD, offer her support and sympathy without judgment.

Now I will step off the soapbox and return to my regular blog programming.

Finding Myself in the Living History Farm

The canning of peaches is officially behind me now, so I can devote a minute to something else...before I pick up the tomatoes tomorrow.

I still have vacation stories to tell. Shortly after our arrival in Des Moines, my mother-in-law took us to visit the Living History Farm near where she lives. It's an outdoor museum of agriculture that traces the history of farming practices from the earliest Native American settlements through the present day. Okay, I just read my last sentence, and I was asleep with boredom by the end. This place is the very opposite of boring. You walk along a loop of land where they have set up real working farms from different periods of history. There are actors at each place to tell you about their "lives" from other centuries and to provide hands-on opportunities. It's absorbing and fascinating.

In the 1850s farm, this man introduced us to his oxen...and their ear wax. Apparently this was used as an early form of lip balm. My boys especially enjoyed this particular nugget of information.

I was particularly affected by the 1900 Farm.

In 1904 my grandfather was born in Cardiff, Kansas. I have seen pictures of his family's farmstead from this period of time. To come across this tidy little barn and home at a museum in Iowa was both foreign and familiar.

And although I fear coming across as overly sentimental, I somehow felt more connected to both my grandfather.. and to my grandmother who was born 13 years later in Ponca, Nebraska but who must have lived a rural life very much like the one depicted in this faithful simulation.

Here in the parlor of the farmhome, it was hot and humid. I could almost imagine the life of my ancestors as they sat in here on a summer Sunday afternoon, swatting flies.

The kids enjoyed visiting the animals in the barn, and trying out the early farm equipment. We even walked past the stump where the "famers" had beheaded a chicken for their meal that afternoon. It's all very authentic. When we toured the home, the women were in the kitchen washing dishes with water they brought in from the well.

And though I'm grateful to live in a time of dishwashers and drive-throughs, I enjoyed finding myself in my own family past for a day.

And They're Off!

I still have a couple of entries to write about our end of summer marathon trip, but the kids all have started back to school now, and I thought I'd better post while the posting was good.

In other news, the peaches in our trees have started dropping onto the ground so it's back to Canning Season. So, yeah, I'm getting 4 kids back to school in the middle of a sticky peachy mess...I don't really recommend it.

Zachary started junior high last Wednesday.

He has to get up pretty early in the morning so that Dad can drive him at 7:00. This worked out fine for 3 days, and then the novelty wore off. This morning, his alarm went off at 6:30. At 6:45 I came in from my run and it was still going off...he slept right through. Still, he feels like pretty big stuff. It's a new school and he doesn't know a single person, but it hasn't fazed him. Hopefully he'll make some friends and figure out the ropes quickly.

Noah has a brand new teacher in her very first year of teaching. After meeting her at Meet the Teacher Night, I think this will prove to be both good and bad. Boundless enthusiasm...zero experience...you do the math.

Isaac started school 2 days before the rest of the kids. He and Anna both got into a Charter School, so it's a new school for him this year as well. Luckily, he's such a cheerful, easy-going kid that he has blended right into his classroom already. Although he misses his old friends, for now he says he likes this school better. I know many people have very strong feelings about public school/charter school debates so I choose not to address the hot-button topic for now. Anyway, it's only been a week, so I don't have a long enough experience to weigh in yet.

Anna is heading to her 3rd day of Kindergarten this afternoon. She lo-o-o-oves it! She has a hard time waiting all the long hours until after lunch when she can go. As for me. I have been strangely stoic about the whole thing. This has been the only time I have not cried after dropping off a Kindergartner on the first day. I think I've been anticipating this adjustment for so long that it doesn't seem that hard now that it's here. It helps that she's home with me half the day still. Cory called the first afternoon and asked if I was lonely. I told him she's so independent and quiet while she's at home with me, that it really didn't seem any different while she is gone. Maybe that's just because I'm so busy with peaches. And coming straight from vacation to back to school has made the whole experience a little surreal this year. Anyway, it's hard to feel very sad when she is so happy.

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair

When I planned this marathon trip back in the confines of winter, I had one thing on my agenda: the Iowa State Fair. There are, after all, not one but 2 musicals devoted to this event. This is America's Fair; the fairgrounds comprise an entire town. I feel it is the obligation of every patriotic American to shill out large amounts of money for greasy food and spotty rides.

So early on a Monday morning we found ourselves amidst the great unwashed masses (don't be offended, I'm referring to my children and the pigs...on second thought, the pigs were pretty clean).

I'm proud to say that I fully accomplished my agenda for the day:
1. Visit the barns
2. Eat a pork chop on a stick
3. Check out the winners of the Ugly Cake contest
4. Eat something deep-fried
5. Witness the famous marvel that is the butter cow
6. Eat cotton candy

I think it is very important to set and reach lofty goals.


Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all been waiting for...will it be a Guernsey, a Holstein? This year's exhibit is the Jersey cow! I'm sure you all know that the Jersey is not as prolific a milk producer as other cows, but her milk has a very high cream content, making it perfect for ice cream, yogurt and cheese. This message was brought to you by the Iowa Dairy Farmers Association...thank you. (Please ignore my hair...I was fighting the war on humidity. I lost. Actually, I surrendered 20 minutes into our Midwest arrival.)

Once we made it through my formidable list of required activities, we were free to enjoy the rest of the unusually mild summer day. I asked the kids what their favorite things were at the end of the day, and of course they all said, "the rides." There's nothing quite like a $4 merry-go-round ride I guess. Although, I will say that the squeaky, rusty, tilting nature of all carnival rides does lend an aspect of daring rarely seen outside a demolition derby.

Zachary and Noah managed to survive the "Reign of Fire" without losing their deep-fried Snickers bar. It was touch and go there for about an hour.

But over-priced, under-inspected rides aside, there were some other highlights as well.

Anna loved the miniature horse show. She tried to convince me that they were small enough to keep in our backyard; we could just tell the neighbors that we got a new dog.

Isaac enjoyed the Wild West roping show we watched in the afternoon. He stayed afterwards to learn how to spin a lasso. He made a pretty respectable showing for a city kid.

Noah got up close and personal with a variety of animals...cows, pigs, horses...and camels... you know, just the standard farm breeds you come to expect in Iowa.

Zachary enjoyed the chance to practice the bored, unenthusiastic scowl of a teenager.

(Can I just say that my favorite part about this picture is the "do not touch" sign?)

Aunt Kim was worried the butter cow would be a let-down after all the hype, but luckily a cow carved entirely out of butter is totally able to meet all your expectations...and more!

I found myself surprisingly delighted with all the homemade food entries...you know...the pies and preserves. There were rows and rows and rows of different categories! It was all so wholesome...like stepping into the 1950s minus the poodle skirts. Sure wish I could have been on the tasting committee!

Cory fulfilled a life-long ambition of trying a deep-fried Twinkie. It was especially entertaining to listen to his arteries clog.

Grandma found the elusive Iowa State Fair, 2009 pin.

Grandpa ran into his missionaries and was able to get his picture with a giant, stuffed Spiderman.

All in all, a succesful outing.

So in conclusion...

Our State Fair is a great state fair
Don't Miss it don't even be late(state fair is great)
It's dollars to doughnuts at our state fair
It's the best state fair.. in our state

Winter Quarters

In the year 1846, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois. Church leaders hoped to lead the people across the frontier to a new home in the Salt Lake valley of Utah where they would be free to follow the tenets of their faith without persecution. They had hoped to complete the trek in just 4 months; it took them that long just to cross Iowa. They gained permission to establish a temporary winter settlement for two years. This place--near current Omaha, Nebraska--became known as "Winter Quarters." The people, led by their faith worked quickly to construct hundreds of log cabins and sod homes. Despite their courage and efforts, the winter proved to be devastating to the weakened condition of many people. In the 2 years spent in this temporary staging area for the trek to Utah, over 325 people died from starvation and disease. Only a handful of families were left untouched by death.

To tour the Visitors' Center of this historic site was sobering. We struggled to fit my little family of 6 comfortably into a cabin erected in the center that would have been for twice that many people. My children giggled over their struggle to pull a handcart over some rocks. It was funny, but also revealing.

We briefly toured the cemetery and memorial outside the visitors' center. There were so many babies listed on that plaque. So many mothers. And now, that consecrated ground is shadowed by this...

The place where my faith teaches we can unite families beyond death.

Seems fitting.