Proud of my scout

Did I say I was proud of my scout? I am. Irritated, but still proud. Currently he is trying to emulate the actions of Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) which means he's been getting into all sorts of trouble lately. Not very scout like I'm afraid. Being that it's April Fools Day, I'm afraid to know what he's done today, but I can hope for the best.

We just finished spring break and during that week we finished up a last few requirements for his Bear Badge which means we finished with a month to spare! Yeah! Badge requirements are not one of Ben's favorite things about scouts. Neither is wearing his uniform. Don't let the above photo fool you. If Ben could, he would burn that uniform. He's tried losing certain components of it, but I always prevail to get him mostly in uniform for his meetings. The above photo was taken right before a uniform inspection. It is the best he has looked all year. He won't look this good again until next year's uniform inspection. Sigh . . .

(sarcophagus car is being checked out by a resident dinosaur)

Last month was the Pinewood Derby. Ben did very well. He placed 13th out of the 50+ boys in our Pack. Much, much better than last year. He might have even done better had his mother read the rules and placed his wheels on his car at the correct spacing. Since she did not, they had to remove the front wheels and put them back on according to the correct distance. The car did great placing 1st and 2nd in many heats, until one of those front wheels went flying off. When they placed it back on, the car never won another heat. Not only did it not win, the car would come in so last, everyone would have a donut while waiting for it to finish the race so they could start the next heat. Oh well, there's always next year.

Lest you think Ben did no work on his car, he did. He came up with the idea, sanded the car, painted it, glued the picture on top and then added the shiny top coat. Next year we'll see about putting on those wheels by himself, but I'll tell you, they're hard even for someone who's as handy as I am. We'll enter Ben's car into the fair in August. They have a pinewood derby car division in the Craft and Photography building. We tried to talk Ben into writing "race in peace" on his car, but he wouldn't do it. That's why our pack needs an adult race so I can make my own car. :)
One last photo. Kate is getting bigger! Here she is on Easter morning sitting by her sister Claire's Elmo. The Easter Bunny got Elmo, right after Christmas, for a steal at the grocery store. Bet you didn't know the Easter Bunny shops the sales did you? The dress Kate is wearing was a bit big on her but it had a bunny on it and I couldn't resist. I made it for Ellie when she was 6 months old for Easter. I entered the dress in the fair and it received a blue ribbon! Kate didn't think much about the dress however. She decided to poop all over it not long after this picture was taken.