Welcome Pinewood Derby fans...

At today's race, we have Chance placing 3rd (friend from our troop), Zachary Sansing takes 2nd place and wins Best in Show as well, and some other kid we don't know got 1st (nor were we impressed with his car, but we still showed good sportsmanship).

above: unknown boy, Chance, Zack, and unknown 1st place.

2nd place winner

He was very excited with 2nd place, but quickly asked what it takes to make a 1st place car.

And next we have the Webelos I cars for our den. To the average viewer, some of these cars look a little rough. But after the racing takes place, the boys participate in Smash Derby, which is where the cars race towards each other and try to knock the other car off the track. Good fun!

Zachary's car is in the second row, on the far right side, looks like an American flag.

Till next year folks, when we bring you the results, live from Pack 915 Pinewood Derby.

A few funnies...

Zachary said the other night, "Mom, you shouldn't take the word 'butt' in vain." So for a little background information, he recently has been into the 10 commandments. I then ask him, "what do you mean? How can you take the word butt in vain?" He says, "you take the word butt in vain when you say ass." Now let me tell you how hard that was to not laugh. We went right out to Dad to let him know Zachary had picked up one of Daddy's driving words.

Last week when he was playing a chess game on the computer, he looked at a YouTube video of the same game. I expect he was trying to cheat. Anyway, it had "Let's get this party started" playing in the background. He says, "Mom, I can say that at my birthday party!" And that he did. He even sang it and danced a bit. His friends just sat there and smiled. 4th grade seems to be the age when things start to become embarrassing to kids. I say, "let's get this party started!"

Not so much in the way of funny, but more in the way of milestones. So many of you have followed Zachary's journey from non-verbal and other issues to where he is today. After his birthday party on Friday, John and I could not stop talking about how well he did. He talked with his friends about the movie, he got excited about his presents. No less, when he got money, he said he was rich...like Bryan's parents. He laughed with the boys, drove the go carts and bumper cars. They played video games and collected tons of tickets. He had a blast, as did the other boys as well. He looked like the rest of the boys. We were so proud of him. I have the memory solidified in my thinking. Thank you for the years of prayers. We are not out of the woods yet, so don't stop, but we are getting so close. I feel I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. What a great day it will be to celebrate!

It'z party

We had Zachary's party at It'z which was video games, go karts, and bumper cars. We went with a Star Wars invitations, and had buffet pizza and soda's and brought an ice cream cake with Zachary's favorite Cookies and Cream ice cream.

We invited Joseph Otto, Bryan Tran, Nicholas Wilson, and Nathan Davis. We play unlimited video games for an hour, and got Nana and Papa, as well as Granmommy and Pops to help win tickets for Zachary's prize.

Double Digits

He is finally double digits. Zachary has been looking forward to turning 10 for a while. I tried to make the day special by bringing Chic Fa La for lunch and the annual cookie cake to share with his class. Mrs. Otto was so nice to stop the middle of the History test so we could celebrate. And I didn't ask, she told me I could come at 2:10P.

For dinner he did not want to go out. That was a surprise. He did want nachos made the way Lupe's makes them. I did my best, but I'm not sure I'll get hired at Lupe's any time soon.

He has been quite concerned about getting birthday whipping's since we've never done that before. We told him it was tradition and owed him for back-spankings too. So here we are, partaking in our parental right. Ha!

He wanted Star Wars the Complete Saga, and this hot air balloon puzzle. Love those Xmas and after Xmas sales. That is the only thing nice about having a birthday this close to Xmas.

Zachary loves cookies, cake and ice cream. Not big on candy, but has a few favorites. So, I baked some chocolate chip cookies in a bowl and added ice cream right after they came out of the oven. The presentation is not near as cute as my cousin Shelbi would have done, but it sure was tasty!

And here he is at the end of the day, reminding me he is 10! I couldn't get him to smile "gently". He was too excited from the day. Oh well. We will post on the birthday bash next week.

New Year's Eve

What a wonderful New Year's Eve we had this year. I was surrounded by extended family as we brought the new year in. We watched the ball drop at my Uncle Mike's place. I think there were about 25 of us. Zachary was concerned about staying up past 11P. We are normally in bed by 10:30 and do our best to sleep through neighborhood fireworks. I had to convince Zachary this was OK, and most normal celebraters do this. And I have no real good pictures. All of them are action shots and not posed.

The reason my mom's side of the family normally gathers is because of the matriarch of our family, good ole Grandot. And that was the case this time too. Grandot had gone on to be with her Savior on December 28th, with her service on the 31st. We celebrated her life, and though we are left without her temporarily and our hearts are saddened, I find peace in knowing I will see her again. If they have pools in heaven, I expect she is already partaking in a good swim or has found her way to the tennis courts. These were two of her favorite activities.

I love this picture. This is at Jessica's reception in 2006.

On New Year's Eve, we remembered Grandot, but also celebrated in Elfert style. We enjoyed old family movies and played several games of Uno. And thanks to my cousins, I am now officially hooked on 'Words with Friends'.

May God bless each of you and give you a wonderful new year!

Xmas morning

After hanging our stockings (and shoes) to dry from the torrential down pour Xmas Eve, we waited for Santa to deliver the goods. I had problems sleeping because I knew Zachary was excited. His excitement was contagious and is getting better and better each year. Sadly, I expect it will end soon enough as we know several kids that can't hear the Xmas bell.

Zachary got several gifts he was hoping for. I think two of his favorites were Bugle Boy underwear and a family laptop. A buddy of Zachary's wears BB & he had to have them. Santa had a challenging time finding them, but he came through. A little unexpected was a family laptop. Even John was surprised. Zachary went right past it until he realized what it was. Being that it was Xmas, he got plenty of play on it. And now, I don't have to share mine. :)

Here is his letter to Santa, and Santa even left a note for Zack...

Happily playing on the new laptop

My mom got him a U.S. map he wanted.

The best was Lauren's last gift. She had found a coffee table and end table at an antique store. She couldn't afford both, but was telling us about re-staining the coffee table. Anyway, we got her the end table. I had her going all over the house finding clues. This is when she finally saw the table. I love a surprise!

Now for those of you who think my mom doesn't care much for animals, I'm here to show you different. Miracles do not cease to happen. That is Pete snuggled up next to her sleeping. You missed the part where she talked all sweet and was scratching him behind the ears. She is a softy, but I don't expect she will be offering Pete a place to stay next time we go on vacation.

And that was Christmas in a nutshell. We had a nice day with presents and visiting with Mom and Mike. I was so glad they stayed the day. We had a nice steak dinner and ended an exhausting day with a movie at home. I look forward to next year's Christmas celebration, but in the meantime, will keep my eyes on the new born Savior.

Symbols of Christmas

At church these past four weeks, we've talked about some of the symbols of Christmas. Maybe it takes me a while to put things together, but I never thought of it this way.

1. Evergreens remind us of God's never-ending, unchanging love for you and me.

2. The star and light remind us there is hope in a dark world.

3. Gifts remind us that God gave us the ultimate gift of love in His Son Jesus Christ, to transform our lives and use us, then, to transform the lives of others.

4. Nativity Scenes remind us that "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us..."

With all the rush, it is hard to keep focused on what matters. Tomorrow when you are out, take time to reflect on the simple symbols of Christmas and what the day is truly about. Simplify and Enjoy! - that's my motto, and I'm sticking to it. Merry Christmas!