Pinewood Derby Race 2012

The annual pinewood derby race never fails to please. After weeks of anticipation, the race was on. Andrew has been so excited all day for the big race tonight. His little yellow Star Wars car was finally on the track for the big race day. After many calculations by the computer and several heats of races, his little car didn't make the top three. However, he did get the Best Dragster award and was pleased with the race overall. The chocolate milkshake afterwards helped him in planning next year's car.

Diagonal Scarf

Another scarf completed. Actually completed this one a month or so ago but never uploaded the photos. It's a beautiful yarn knitted on the diagonal so it's pretty interesting to knit. However, this particular yarn is a little challenging to work with for a beginner. The variations in the yarn itself look great as you knit but don't make mistakes as it's difficult to correct them. Anyway, my scarf collection is growing. Whom to give it to????

March Madness Continues

So my quilting friends-if you aren't playing along with March Madness, you should. I can hardly stand the anticipation and am anxiously awaiting the results each day. All these fabric lines are beautiful but I can't help but have my favorites. Maybe this is the feeling that my husband gets watching LSU football-anticipating who is going to win. It's killing me to wait and yet I almost don't want it to be over. I'm so enjoying seeing all the various patterns and also seeing a bit of what people are able to create and make with these lovely fabrics. If you aren't playing along and want to see some of this year's fabulous fabrics, check it out at http://www.fatquarterly.com/blog.

Once I figure out how to link some of the fabric photos to this site, I will. They are all fantastic so it's going to be hard to pick a winner.

What do you do with your Duplo?

Saw this idea on the Filth Wizard blog and loved it so I commandeered all the Duplo blocks and started writing. It worked okay but was a little wonky. Later on I got a label maker and went to town putting words on all the Duplos. Still have a few Duplos left and am on the hunt for some more. I'm thinking this will help build reading skills with the four year old and the six year old. We've had a lot of fun coming up with silly sentences and adding words to the collection. What's your favorite word?

March Madness-Brackets

My latest addiction is learning to quilt. Along with learning to quilt, you look at lots and lots of beautiful fabrics. If only my budget would accomodate all the lovely fabrics I would like to own. As a genealogy enthusiast, I've often used family tree charts to show the descendant or ancestry of a family. I find this chart very similar. If you would like to play along, check out the fabrics for round one and print your chart at http://www.fatquarterly.com/march-modern-fabric-madness-is-here.html. This will be a great way to see some of the top fabrics for the year. Have fun.

Learning about Seeds

My sweet six-year-old had a project in school to see how a seed develops. We "planted" some seeds in plastic bags with some wet paper towels then recorded how they grew and developed over a ten day time period. He was amazed at how quickly the roots developed then the stems and leaves. His measuring skills may not have been exactly accurate but the rapid growth and development certainly made an impression. He was pleased with the test and has planted a few seeds in our little garden outside.

Tiger Cubs visit the Porterville Recorder

The Tiger Cub Scouts visited the Porterville Recorder for their final requirement for their Tiger badge. Mr. Rick Elkins, editor, provided an excellent tour showing the boys how technology is the way the newspaper is created each and every day. He showed us the various centers where the news is written, the front page is created, classified ads are collected, advertising is purchased and how the newspaper is developed. In Porterville, the newspaper is created online then sent to Visalia for printing then returned to Porterville in the wee hours of the morning for distribution. All papers are delivered by adults these days so there are no longer any newsboys making deliveries. The printing press in Porterville no longer operates. It was originally purchased in the 70's and the cost of upgrading it was more than having the printing done in the neighboring town. Mr. Elkin's also showed us a paper from 1926. It's rather amazing to see how the newspaper has changed since then. Yea for Tiger Cubs completing their final requirement.