Morp

Morp was superhero themed this year, so of course Maddie HAD to go.  Plus since it was super casual, and they both love The Flash, she decided to ask one of her best friends, Seth. 

Unfortunately Seth couldn't make it to the pictures part of the evening because he had a soccer tournament.  (This seems to be a pattern of her asking guys who are mostly unavailable because of sports.)  So Maddie was going to try and either do pictures again with Seth, or just photoshop him in, but neither even happened. 

Also half the group was late to get there because when they found out Seth couldn't make it, they decided to recreate the last dance, and find Maddie a balloon.  Maddie was super annoyed, because she knew it would offend Seth, but she made nice for the camera.

They asked me to take pictures at the local Riparian preserve, and they mostly turned out ok, but we were losing light fast, so I'm not super pleased with most of them, especially since it's been a couple of years since I'd really played around with my fancy camera.

Neat Freak

After four kids I finally got a neat freak. 

I finally feel like I've got someone on my side. 

Zach looked at me with pleading eyes the other day while Christopher was yelling at him to pick up his pants.  "Don't look at me.  I'm on his side.  Pick up your pants."

He rearranges the garage, picks things up, nags the other kids so I don't have to... It's great.  One time he even rearranged my pantry.  All the labels were facing forward.

Of course, I confess, there is a slight downside.  I had to tell him not to wash the dishes anymore because he doesn't like hot water, and most of the dishes  were still dirty  weren't quite up to my standard of cleanliness. 

We also have a lot of trouble finding anything we are looking for. 

"Cleaning is easy!  You just hide things!"

The Very LAST Pinewood Derby

Three boys times three years in cubscouts equals a lot of Pinewood Derby cars. 

I guess technically one year we reused a car because we ran out of time, but still...

Our stake boundaries realigned recently, and we got shunted to a new stake, but I love the way they did it.  Instead of leaving it all up to the wards, the stake primary took over, and it was a pretty smooth and painless operation (once the cars were finished and ready to go.)

Zach and Maddie used their shop skills and helped Christopher construct his car.  He was fairly enthusiastic about the whole process, and slammed part of it together all by himself.

I think Christopher ended up getting 4th place over all. 

He didn't qualify for a trophy, but I thought he definitely earned some In n Out.