17 Days of Holiday Break - #8

 

One of the Christmas presents were Bumper Balls, inflatable fun.  It didn't take long until kids were rolling around on the ground....a good way to burn some energy.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #8

 

One of the Christmas presents were Bumper Balls, inflatable fun.  It didn't take long until kids were rolling around on the ground....a good way to burn some energy.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #7

 

It was Christmas and Jacob got a new bike and Noah got an Xbox.....

.....we continued to tinker with our monkey bread recipe and almost made it all disappear at breakfast...

.....and the boys showed off just some of the stuff from their stockings.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #7

 

It was Christmas and Jacob got a new bike and Noah got an Xbox.....

.....we continued to tinker with our monkey bread recipe and almost made it all disappear at breakfast...

.....and the boys showed off just some of the stuff from their stockings.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #6

 

Christmas eve included a trip to the annual candlelight service at Hyde Park and.....

.....our annual delivery of cookies throughout the neighborhood.  This year the boys really picked up the pace and really enjoyed it.  This was also the first year we had to pile into the car as some deliveries were just too far for a walk.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #6

 

Christmas eve included a trip to the annual candlelight service at Hyde Park and.....

.....our annual delivery of cookies throughout the neighborhood.  This year the boys really picked up the pace and really enjoyed it.  This was also the first year we had to pile into the car as some deliveries were just too far for a walk.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #5

 

Day five saw a lot of cookies being made and what seemed like an equivalent amount of cookie dough being consumed before making it to the oven.

Their final gingerbread house before it was time to eat it.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #5

 

Day five saw a lot of cookies being made and what seemed like an equivalent amount of cookie dough being consumed before making it to the oven.

Their final gingerbread house before it was time to eat it.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #4

 

Day four of the break saw Jacob lose his front tooth.  He's been working on it for quite sometime and was quite happy with the outcome.  His dentist is hoping to see a few more come out next year.

Later in the day, the car that has survived four other crashes was struck again.  While cruising along on a nice residential street, a Volvo plowed out of their driveway and reverse T-Boned the Altima.  Beyond frustrating.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #4

 

Day four of the break saw Jacob lose his front tooth.  He's been working on it for quite sometime and was quite happy with the outcome.  His dentist is hoping to see a few more come out next year.

Later in the day, the car that has survived four other crashes was struck again.  While cruising along on a nice residential street, a Volvo plowed out of their driveway and reverse T-Boned the Altima.  Beyond frustrating.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #3

 

There have been a lot of footballs in the air over the last few days.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #3

 

There have been a lot of footballs in the air over the last few days.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #2

 

Seemed like a good time to build a gingerbread house....complete with Christmas PJ's.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #2

 

Seemed like a good time to build a gingerbread house....complete with Christmas PJ's.

17 Days of Holiday Break - #1

 

It was off to the green apartments for Noah and Dad for some long overdue landscaping.  We then decided on an ice cream cone and Noah got a lesson in the power of advertising.  While waiting at the drive-thru, we noticed a poster for the Spicy Chicken Bundle (4 spicy chicken sandwiches, 20 chicken nuggets and a large french fries) for $15.  Needless to say, we skipped the ice cream!

17 Days of Holiday Break - #1

 

It was off to the green apartments for Noah and Dad for some long overdue landscaping.  We then decided on an ice cream cone and Noah got a lesson in the power of advertising.  While waiting at the drive-thru, we noticed a poster for the Spicy Chicken Bundle (4 spicy chicken sandwiches, 20 chicken nuggets and a large french fries) for $15.  Needless to say, we skipped the ice cream!

Class Party

 

Noah's class had a small Christmas party at school yesterday and had all kinds of treats including cookies, candy canes, root beer, etc.  To make it even better, they watched the movie 'Home Alone'.  Of course, he came home with an enormous bag of books and computers.  Here we go again....they stayed at school in-session after coming back from Thanksgiving....we'll see what happens in the new year.

Class Party

 

Noah's class had a small Christmas party at school yesterday and had all kinds of treats including cookies, candy canes, root beer, etc.  To make it even better, they watched the movie 'Home Alone'.  Of course, he came home with an enormous bag of books and computers.  Here we go again....they stayed at school in-session after coming back from Thanksgiving....we'll see what happens in the new year.

Tale of the Tape

 

At 10 years and 6 months, Noah didn't quite get 5' but was close at 58".  Jacob came in at 52 3/4"...not too far off of Noah at that same age.  Jacob especially likes the Hemi in the photo above him.  

Tale of the Tape

 

At 10 years and 6 months, Noah didn't quite get 5' but was close at 58".  Jacob came in at 52 3/4"...not too far off of Noah at that same age.  Jacob especially likes the Hemi in the photo above him.  

Chair

 

That chair needed to go for a long time.  The boys were excited to choose this method of disposal.

Chair

 

That chair needed to go for a long time.  The boys were excited to choose this method of disposal.

Pinewood Derby 2020

 

Like all things 2020, Pinewood Derby offered something different this year.  With all the annoying pandemic practices including Zoom, social distancing, masks, remote school and sound bites from some clown name Fauci, we prepared for something different this year by whittling a car.  Jacob, you did a fantastic job and were very focused (amazing the attention span of a young boy with a pocket knife).  Add a little weight, some stain/polyurethane, and sanding of axles and you were ready. The Pinewood Derby was carried via Zoom so we were left to look at another screen.

Jacob, you took the first heat without much competition.  The second heat is where the race literally went off the rails.  As the second heat started, the announcer mentioned that the car in Lane #4 went off the track.  Seemed odd since cars don't much go off the track, especially after running 2.648 seconds in the first heat.  We could not see that on the monitor so we were left confused.  We did not even know if your can was going to be able to finish the races.  Apparently, you car was just fine as you won your final two heats (including a blistering 2.637 second run).  

When it was all over, you didn't place in your den in the top three fastest cars because of the average.  So we had a little discussion about the way things work including everything in life not being "fair", spilled milk, justice, and I'm sure Fauci's name may have come up again too.  Only thing left was to go to Excel and do some analysis.  First, I'm not sure how your car could even get to the finish line in almost 10 seconds, that doesn't seem plausible.  However, the average of your three other heats was faster than Silas average (he took first in your den).  If they had re-run your car, you would have only needed a 2.645 second run to ultimately take first in your den (that would have been real close).  All you would have needed is a 2.746 second run to secure 2nd place in your den (this would have been pretty easy). Your car would have needed to move down the track at 2.61 seconds to secure fastest in the pack (too much of a stretch).  However, we had a good time and learned about pocket knife safety, whittling, and the characteristics of a fast car. 

        

  

Pinewood Derby 2020

 

Like all things 2020, Pinewood Derby offered something different this year.  With all the annoying pandemic practices including Zoom, social distancing, masks, remote school and sound bites from some clown name Fauci, we prepared for something different this year by whittling a car.  Jacob, you did a fantastic job and were very focused (amazing the attention span of a young boy with a pocket knife).  Add a little weight, some stain/polyurethane, and sanding of axles and you were ready. The Pinewood Derby was carried via Zoom so we were left to look at another screen.

Jacob, you took the first heat without much competition.  The second heat is where the race literally went off the rails.  As the second heat started, the announcer mentioned that the car in Lane #4 went off the track.  Seemed odd since cars don't much go off the track, especially after running 2.648 seconds in the first heat.  We could not see that on the monitor so we were left confused.  We did not even know if your can was going to be able to finish the races.  Apparently, you car was just fine as you won your final two heats (including a blistering 2.637 second run).  

When it was all over, you didn't place in your den in the top three fastest cars because of the average.  So we had a little discussion about the way things work including everything in life not being "fair", spilled milk, justice, and I'm sure Fauci's name may have come up again too.  Only thing left was to go to Excel and do some analysis.  First, I'm not sure how your car could even get to the finish line in almost 10 seconds, that doesn't seem plausible.  However, the average of your three other heats was faster than Silas average (he took first in your den).  If they had re-run your car, you would have only needed a 2.645 second run to ultimately take first in your den (that would have been real close).  All you would have needed is a 2.746 second run to secure 2nd place in your den (this would have been pretty easy). Your car would have needed to move down the track at 2.61 seconds to secure fastest in the pack (too much of a stretch).  However, we had a good time and learned about pocket knife safety, whittling, and the characteristics of a fast car. 

        

  

Gaming

 

Where can you find Noah in that hour before bed every night?  One of his favorite things to do.

Gaming

 

Where can you find Noah in that hour before bed every night?  One of his favorite things to do.

Artwork By Jacob

 

He's been doing a lot of Minions as of late and was really happy with this Christmas edition.

Artwork By Jacob

 

He's been doing a lot of Minions as of late and was really happy with this Christmas edition.

Another Hog

 It was a nice evening on Thanksgiving so Dad and Noah thought they would make a trip to the blind. After a number of deer ate most of the corn, a small pack of hogs moved in and scared the deer away.  Noah saw the hogs first and the excitement ensued.  With little time, we got a shot off and dropped the hog and, again, Noah was the first confirm that the hog was down as he was hard to see.  This time the hog was not in a pit of mud so it was much easier to clear this time.  Noah's comment to all of this, "One down and a million to go!".  

Another Hog

 It was a nice evening on Thanksgiving so Dad and Noah thought they would make a trip to the blind. After a number of deer ate most of the corn, a small pack of hogs moved in and scared the deer away.  Noah saw the hogs first and the excitement ensued.  With little time, we got a shot off and dropped the hog and, again, Noah was the first confirm that the hog was down as he was hard to see.  This time the hog was not in a pit of mud so it was much easier to clear this time.  Noah's comment to all of this, "One down and a million to go!".  

Blind

 

One of Jacob's favorite places to spend some time; however, on this night we sure didn't see much of anything but had a good time anyway. 

Blind

 

One of Jacob's favorite places to spend some time; however, on this night we sure didn't see much of anything but had a good time anyway. 

Whittling

 

Since Jacob's den is working on learning to whittle and this just so happens to coincide with Pinewood Derby this weekend, we thought we would take out two birds with one stone.  This may not end up being the most conventional car but he will certainly remember it.  We've been whittling away at this thing and it will get some stain and poly soon.  We are running behind as usual but have to get this thing finished to turn in on Saturday.

Whittling

 

Since Jacob's den is working on learning to whittle and this just so happens to coincide with Pinewood Derby this weekend, we thought we would take out two birds with one stone.  This may not end up being the most conventional car but he will certainly remember it.  We've been whittling away at this thing and it will get some stain and poly soon.  We are running behind as usual but have to get this thing finished to turn in on Saturday.

Explorers Project

 

Noah's been working on his history project that focused on explorers.  Somehow we got to the deadline and had to print out a bunch of material and had no ink in the printer.  No backup cartridges and no going to work to print.  Go to the store and apparently you can't get a printer cartridge anywhere.  Thank goodness Grandma Reeder had ink, we cut that one pretty close.

Explorers Project

 

Noah's been working on his history project that focused on explorers.  Somehow we got to the deadline and had to print out a bunch of material and had no ink in the printer.  No backup cartridges and no going to work to print.  Go to the store and apparently you can't get a printer cartridge anywhere.  Thank goodness Grandma Reeder had ink, we cut that one pretty close.

Hog Hunt

 

We were ready the other week on a beautiful evening to encounter some hogs but settled for some nice conversation and saw very little in the process.

Hog Hunt

 

We were ready the other week on a beautiful evening to encounter some hogs but settled for some nice conversation and saw very little in the process.