IS THAT SUPPOSE TO BE A SODA BOX CAR?

For the last few weeks Nicholas has been asking to build a box car. I knew that I could figure out how to build one but felt like this would be a great opportunity for Adam to have some male bonding time with Nick:). This past Saturday, Adam and Nick set off on an interesting adventure that started at The Home Depot. 2 metal rods, 4 tires, a couple of bolts, a few screws and a piece of wood later, they returned to embark on what would end up being a disaster of a box car!

As most of us know it requires a bit more than a few rods of metal and some screws and bolts to make a box car. But Adam being the craftsman that he is thought that he could build one without a pattern or any previous woodworking experience.

Now most box cars have rails, a seat and definitely a steering wheel or some sort of rigged rope that allow the driver to steer the car. Needless to say, and you can tell by the pictures, Nicholas' box card had none of the above! His feet were his brakes if he need to suddenly stop. He was to drop them in between the first and second piece of wood and hope that he didn't break a ankle in the process.

A steering wheel would have come in handy to assist in guiding this one of a kind box car down the driveway. The car automatically veers to the left due to the fact that the front wheels are a slight bit wider than the back wheels. Measuring would have helped fix that, but that would have taken too much time:) Two of the neighborhood kids were over and advised Adam that their dad could soo make a better car than he did! What could Adam say to their honest comments. They were 100% right. He laughed about it and their Dad offered to help build Nick a actual box car.

What I love most about Nicholas is that even thought this box car didn't turn out like he dreamed it would(his exact words) he is proud of it regardless. He still thinks that it is awesome even though everyone who passes by probably wonders, "What on earth is that suppose to be?" As my brother put it so well, "He would be better off in a red wagon!" LOL. Hats off to Adam and for his attempt at his first, but definitely not his last, box car.

District All-Stars

Matthew recently had the opportunity to try out for the All-Star team for his league. There are two teams that are formed once the season comes to an end. There is the district team and the city team. The difference in the teams is that the city team stays at home while the district league travels to others cities trying to qualify for the Little League World Series. It is apparently a pretty big deal here in Texas(Pretty much all sports are a "BIG" deal in Texas) to make the All-Star team. Matthew did his best at the try-outs and then stressed the following days as to whether or not he made the team. His coach told me the following Monday that he was chosen for the District Team but didn't want to announce anything yet because he was the only player from his team to make it. We are awaiting our final game tomorrow and if we win we will clinch first place and our coach will be the all-star coach. He will then be able to take 3 players from our team along with Matthew to the district tournament. This especially means a lot to Matthew because he has had to prove himself over and over with new teams and coaches and his hard work and dedication has paid off! We are so proud of him! Way to go Son!!

Upper Expander$$ Lower Expander$$$Revese Headgear$$$$...

We recently embarked on an adventure to the Orthodontist. I have known for quite some time that this day would come. I knew that our sweet little Nick had a small mouth(by what comes out of it....who would of known!!:) but didn't realize how messed up it really is. Needless to say, there isn't any room for his permanent teeth to come in. These cool pictures can give you a glimpse at what the next 16 months of orthodontics will consist of for Nick.

The above picture allows you to see the crowding of the teeth and the lack of space for his eye teeth to come in. This poor kid has a double cross bite and an under bite. He will have an expander placed in the upper and lower sections of his mouth and he will be wearing headgear at night and while at home to pull his upper jaw forward to correct his under bite. You can imagine how fun that is gonna be for me trying to get him to wear it to bed. The conversation I had with Adam went a little like this, (Aimee) "Nick's mouth is messed up...he has to have an expander on the top and the bottom and he has to wear head gear!..giggle...(Adam)Does he have to wear it to school?" (Aimee) Oh no way!(you think I would allow that to happen?) "Only at night and while at home"(Adam) How much is it going to cost?" (Aimee) $$$$$$$$!!:)

The nice thing about the orthodontics is that Nick has a major sweet tooth so he no longer will be found at any given moment raiding the pantry eating sticky candy. His body is going to go through withdrawals for the first couple of days but our dental bill should improve. Lucky for us Matthews teeth look good so we can hold off on him for the meantime