If You Build It

Charlie entered a Lego construction contest today. It was sponsored by the National Association of Women in Construction. He competed against 35 other children in 1st through 6th grades. Each child was given 100 assorted Legos and given 1 hour to create whatever they wanted. Charlie designed a crane and demolition site.

He won first place!

Charlie said he thought he might win 3rd place and when they announced the 3rd place winner, and it wasn't him, he was disappointed because he figured he was out of the running completely. When they announced 1st place, they did it by site number, and it took him a few seconds to realize they meant him. He was so surprised and happy.

I actually wept tears of joy when he told me. This is just the bright spot our family needs right now.

Charlie won a $100 savings bond, and will advance to the next level of competition. Grandpa and Pam took our whole family out for a celebratory dinner. We are bursting with pride!

When Life Gives you Lemons

What's worse than backing into someone's car? Backing into your husband's new (to him) car. That's what I did Tuesday. I wonder if the lesson is perspective?

Sam and I made a lemon curd tart from scratch today. We happened to see Ina Garten make it the other night and he wanted to try it. He measured out the ingredients and rolled out the shell. I zested and juiced 4 lemons. Very tasty.

Frosty

We've had temps below zero these last few days. Tonight we stayed warm playing Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge. I love Sam in the background of this picture, rejoicing over sending Scott back to start.

The older they get, the more fun it is to beat them. Hee.

Playing House

Sometimes I feel like I am just pretending to be a mom. Do other women feel that way, too? Does that feeling ever go away? I mean, I have an almost nine year old. I just had my 3rd baby. With my real life husband, I own a house, for crying out loud. And still.

When I was about 9, I went through a phase of drawing these elaborate family portraits. They were always BIG families. I thought 12 kids would be ideal, because then there would be a birthday every month. Ha! I didn't realize then that there was a whole lot more to having children than celebrating their birthdays. And I certainly didn't factor in any other "major life circumstances". Like illness, unemployment, death, laundry. I had this vision of me, with a husband, and a bunch of kids. And we are all smiling. With bangs.

I guess technically Charlie and Sam have bangs. And there is some smiling. But even if you count my lost babies, I'm only up to 7. And I've got my hands full. This whole, pretending to be a mom business, is a lot of work. And it sucks to have to be the grown-up, sometimes. (I mean sometimes it sucks, not sometimes I'm the grown-up. I'm always the grown up, however immature). I wonder if my parents ever worried about screwing me up - because I am terrifed (when my performance is less than perfect) I am scarring my children for life.

Vote Early and Vote Often

Well, we just got back from our doing our (civic) duty. Aw, Sam, it really wasn't that painful.