It's Derby time....

.....and not a lot has changed in the 57 years since the idea of a Pinewood Derby was first introduced. The track is now hooked up to a computer to eliminate the margin of error, unless a little girl reaches onto the track and stops one of the cars. We could have used the ropes tonight to keep the kids away from the track but after one of George's runs was sabotaged, they did agree to re-run it and you guessed it.....he won it. But.....we must ask ourselves.....is winning what is important here? Heck yeh it is. Anytime you put something out there as a COMPETITION for heaven's sake.....it's all about the win....and about building character....and all that other crap and I actually really hate the Pinewood Derby for that reason....someone has to lose and I always hate it when someone has to lose and I especially hated the atmosphere around our house when we were on the losing end whether it be baseball, drill team, reflections and even Pinewood Derby (character building opportunities)

....but we were on the winning end tonight and believe it or not.....to my shock and dismay.....there are websites out there now to give you the edge....can you believe it? DerbyDad4hire.com just FYI.....so don't go into any Pinewood Derby competition without being fully armed.....or you could just rent out Kyle's, I mean George's car. This Dad for Hire thing isn't really a new concept. Back in the day, Scott would call Gilbert into consultation because of his engineering prowess for help building the most aerodynamic cars....did we win back then? Oh yeh...some of the time. Did we build character back then? Uh huh.....some of the time. It makes for a night of fun and family togetherness....so if it takes a little competition to get the action going, I'm in......but I think I'll just sit back and hold the baby and pretend I don't really care who wins. Way to go George, I mean Kyle.

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Another big win in the last few days has been my ability as a grandmother to keep these two sweet little ones alive for 4 days while their mom and dad left town on business. I love the kids but the responsibility weighs heavy on me and I never remember worrying like this as a mother but it's a pleasure to help out where I can and get to know each of my grand children as the little individuals that they are. Scotty and Jakey, you were awesome and it was my pleasure to have you in my home for a few days. I'm glad your mom and dad trusted me. Jake had the opportunity to get acquainted with Heylee, Kyle and JoEllen's newest addition to the family. Welcome Heylee.......