Oh you poor, pathetic, neglected blog. Here's a summary to catch me up to date.
Pinewood Derby. Um yeah. This actually occurred in January, but I'm too embarrassed to include it in a separate summary, and I must document it for posterity.
1. Gabe designed his own car (Dan cut it out and helped with the big stuff, but the style and paint design are all Gabe). We warned him he might not win any races, so he'd better not whine or cry. Turned out he won every single race and took
FIRST PLACE!!!!!
2. Jake was allowed to design a car too, even though he is not yet a cubscout. Because our pack is so small, the cubmaster thought it would be more fun to have more cars to race, so she invited brothers and dads to participate too. Since Jake was the only brother to make a car, he just raced with cubscouts. Jake only lost two races--one in a heat with Gabe, then the final race (after he won everything in the loser's bracket). He ended up taking
THIRD PLACE!!! It was really great to involve the younger brothers. Unfortunately, we are now subjected to weekly whining: "I'm
NEVER going to be a cubscout! A year is so
LOOOOONG! It's not
FAIR!" And the 100 Years of Boys Scouts celebration patch that one can only earn this year? It's a major thorn in his side and "totally unfair!"
3. Nate was awarded a certificate for being the Best Brother. He really was a great cheerleader for the boys, complete with dance moves and taunting. Some things to look forward to, for sure.
4. Dan felt a little pressed for time to help make all the derby cars in one week, so there were several apologies for his "unfinished" car. Can you guess which one is his? Nevertheless, he soundly won the dads' race by a wide margin. Definitely a pinewood derby to brag about!
My Birthday. I had a birthday on groundhog's day, and yes, I saw my shadow so I'm to blame for these six more weeks of winter. The highlights of my birthday included:
1. Donuts and hot chocolate with girlfriends. Shouldn't every birthday include a boston creme donut?
2. My first prenatal yoga class. I had purchased a 10 class card for regular yoga last fall, but didn't use them all because I got knocked up and felt all yucky and tired. The instructor is crediting my card with private prenatal yoga
in my home. It is awesome and easier than real yoga ;).
3. Dinner with Dan, with a surprise detour to the Apple store for my very own iPhone! Yippee!!! I blame the iPhone for my lack of blogging and leaving comments--it is way too easy to just read blogs at the bus stop or on the sofa.
Jake's birthday. 
Our Jacob turned 7 this year. Since this was an odd birthday, we just did a low-key cake and presents party with family.
Some fun facts about Jake.
1. He's a master Lego builder. Which works nicely since Jake really likes to put them together and Gabe does not. Jake routinely takes apart Legos just to rebuild them, and loves to create his own designs (complete with illustrated instructions).
2. He's a super reader. This first-grader is attending reading group with the second-graders and is finishing chapter books in an evening. Guess it's time to brave the library again this summer.
3. He's a charmer. I remember scolding him about something several years ago and in the middle of my stern lecture, he looked at me and sincerely said "Wow Mom, your eyes are so beautiful." Recently we were scrambling to load into the car to get to the bus stop, with all the usual yelling that seems to always accompany school mornings, and he said "Huh! Mom, I never noticed that your legs are so skinny before!" Clever boy who has learned early that flattery will get you almost everything? Possibly. But I'm still charmed.
4. He is also a master paper airplane builder. Is engineering in his future?
5. After pulling extremely loose teeth out with an electric train and a nerf crossbow (and suggesting we tie his loose tooth to the hitch of the Yukon), Jake has now decided to leave teeth in as long as possible--even when they are barely hanging on and he has to watch what he eats. Dan recently yanked out two teeth with his fingers, since the permanent teeth were halfway up behind the baby danglers.
6. He can't say his "Rs" right. Whenever he says "girl" it sounds a lot like "ghoul."
7. He taught himself to tie real ties. Now that is the only type of tie he will wear to church.
Dan's birthday. Dan had a birthday in February too. We celebrated by taking the boys to Taco Bell for dinner and watching Avatar in 3D. That's the way we roll. And, apparently, this was The Year of the Coats for Dan.
Trip to Texas. For my
older brother's fortieth birthday, all my siblings and parents surprised him by showing up on his doorstep the weekend before his big day. He was stunned and thought we were a crazy group of people from church blowing horns at 10:30 pm on his doorstep. He didn't even recognize his own mother!
Highlights from Texas included:
1. Climbing into the rental car with my sisters and noticing a sticky spot on the seat. "That's okay!" we proclaimed in unison, "I've got wipes in my purse!" Except that not one of the three of us had wipes. It was a kid-free weekend for sure!
2. Touring the
Sixth Floor Book Depository Museum. I don't think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
3.
Sprinkles Cupcakes!!!
4.
Mooyah!5. After a hassle with incompetent housekeeping at the hotel, karma paid those lazy maids back. Well actually, I threw up raisin bran in the sink and couldn't get it to drain.
6.
Texas Land & Cattle filet mignon. Get the brandy sauce. Them Texans really know how to do steak.
7. Sherlock Holmes.
8. Ft. Worth Stockyards. Old Jake.
Riscky's BBQ, including fried pickles. Some really cute $400 cowboy boots I passed up because my feet were swollen.
And I took some great pictures in Texas, but I can't get my memory card to upload. You'll have to use your imaginations. Thanks for sticking with this until the end. Just think how much more fun this would have been in individual posts.
