It is Pinewood Derby time. I meant to take a picture of B's car before we turned it in today! (After the race they will keep them for several weeks). Last year he won a big ol' trophy, but we have prepared him for less than that this year - although he might do really well. No one really knows-there seems to be no science behind the cars, other than how fast and straight the wheels turn.

B finally got his popcorn prizes (for selling Cub Scout popcorn)! One of the things he got was a really cool little toy cross bow. It shoots the arrows like 45 feet. They are very heavy duty and it makes me nervous when they accidentally swing it my way when it is loaded. They have yet to break something.

The last couple of weeks when I have been taking the boys out on their alone time (date) with me, have been trying to build into their lives. We have focused on doing for others - a random act of kindness thing. When I was with B it was really cold out. We saw a homeless man. I don't like giving money to the homeless but we decided to get him a hot chocolate. It was getting late in the day and the sun was quickly disappearing. So, we swung through a close coffee shop then drove over to give him the drink. B rolled down his window and handed it to the man. As he walked away, I was disappointed. I made the comment to B that the man did not seem very appreciative. Then I caught myself and said that it did not matter what his response was. We did something nice for him and we did not do it to receive anything back. As long as we did what we felt was right, that was all that mattered. I went on to explain to B that there will be people in his life that will not be able to appreciate when a kindness is done towards them and that is okay. Our kindness should not be dependent on what we think we should expect in return. We found a few other 'kind' things to do that evening and as we were heading home, B told me that I was right, it does feel good to do nice things for people. That is when you smile as a parent. They are catching it. How does the saying go - better to be caught than taught? Them seeing you live it out.

JB is progressing with the potty training. He wanted to wear underwear to preschool today for the first time. The teacher said he did great! We are working on several things with his language but one is trying to transition him for the 'me want' to the 'I want'. We are still working on colors - he does not seem to recognize them. The audiologist was recently in the school and tested his hearing. He flat out failed in his left ear. She was able to see the ear tube that appears to have worked its way out of the ear drum and is 'stuck' on the outside of the ear drum. She is assuming that the tube was bouncing everything back and that is what caused him to fail. It so happens that we have a follow up ENT appointment in a week, so will check with the Doctor then to see if he agrees.

A goal for me this year is reading more books. Books that will challenge and encourage me, give me insight and wisdom and sometimes just bring a smile to my face. One such book that I just finished is Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions - by Lysa TerKeurst. (I have also decided when I read a book to take notes so that it is more likely things will stick and good reference points later on). One reason this book interested me is that I found I was at a place of suddenly exploding (or imploding - depending on how you look at it) with the boys and I did not like it. An early theme in the book is that "I have a choice of whether or not to give the other person power over my emotions. When I react by flying off the handle, I transfer my power to the other person." This really made me stop and think as to whether I wanted a 3 year old to be in control of my emotions. It's amazing how I escalate situations when I come unglued.

Another big point in her book is how you need to go from attitude to gratitude. "If _____ is the worst thing that happens to me today, then it is still a good day. Don't look at what is wrong but praise God for what is right. My circumstances don't change, but the way I look at circumstances changes." So, when I have to wash sheets for the third day in a row because of a night time accident, I can at least be thankful that I have a washer and dryer instead of grumbling about the task at hand. This perspective sure makes it easier to face all of the 'inconveniences' of life.

So many other good principles that have really helped to bring a calmer environment into our home. I also know that by my reading more, I am silently encouraging reading more in the boys (of which B will have logged over 20 hours for his school reading log this month).