My first purchase

Check out my official first "girl" purchase. I dragged Mark to the mall immediately after our ultrasound appointment. Can you tell I'm a little excited? I also bought a big bag of stuff at Old Navy the other day. I assured Mark that I'm officially satisfied......for now anyway :).

I'm not asleep!

Why is it that men can never admit when they are asleep? Is it less "manly" or something? If a man falls asleep when he doesn't intend to does it signify some kind of weakness to himself? I don't get it. I frequently give Mark a hard time because you know...he's getting older and therefore tires more easily these days. He'll usually sit in his chair and quickly close his eyes. After I call his name a few times with no response he'll say "I wasn't sleeping...I'm just resting my eyes". Of course it could just be a case of ...we've been married for a while now and he's just gotten good at tuning out the sound of my voice I guess. But...he could be literally snoring, dead to the world... and then wake up and say "I wasn't asleep!" I try to assure him that it's okay if he was..I mean he works hard, we have 3 crazy rambunctious boys so he has every right to be tired... but he's stubborn and refuses to admit it.

So....I figured I'd just take a picture

But even while snoozing... what a good Dad! I think he had gotten home from work, let the kids climb all over him and then....simply shut his eyes while in the middle of reading "train song" for Tryg.

Note: For the record..he'll tell you he saw me take the picture and he wasn't sleeping!

Derby time

Somehow we missed the whole Derby hype and realized that Dylan had his annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby in like 3 days! And to top it off....poor Dad has to help make 3 cars because there is no way that Luke and Tryg will be okay not having their own race car.

They got right to work cutting, sanding, and painting...

Of course Mark had to read up quickly on all the time tested race secrets and tips regarding how to make your car the fastest on the track. Grandpa Cox emailed his personal race tactics and strategies as well.

Mark managed to get all three cars in working order just in time. Yeah DAD!! Luke and Tryg's cars got the standard 4 wheels and a painted wood body but Dylan's car received a little special attention implementing at least some of those racing tips. Luke enjoyed showing off his version of a "Lightening McQueen" pinewood derby car. It was a madhouse as usual but the boys had a great time.

The night before the race Dylan said his goal was to do better than last year and he ended up with 7th that year (it was his first). I'm always worried about the possible tears that inevitably come to some little cub scout that doesn't win. I just didn't want it to be Dylan.

At first it looked like Dylan was going to take home 4th but apparently two other boys were also in the running for the same place. We had to do somewhat of "race off" and in the end he ended up with a 6th place finish. Bright side...Goal accomplished!

The funny thing is after the official races were over, the little ones got to put their race cars on the track. Mark put a little graphite on Tryg's wheels of his simple wedge shaped car and he ended up beating most of the other cub scouts. How great!! Our little 2 year old probably would have placed 2nd or 3rd with his very simple and un-enhanced car.

Of course he didn't really care...the ice cream was the best part for him.

The boys had a great night and even more fun hanging out with Dad in the days before the race. Hey...at this rate Dylan may end up with a 1st place by the end of his cub scout career :)