The Book Chase

Bryan loves to read chapter books to the kids. Ethan loves to read ahead. So Bryan has to hide the book so Ethan won't find it. This has become known as the "book chase." The minute Ethan hears Bryan close the book, he dives for it and Bryan has to be quick. It has become a hilarious game, sometimes involving the boys running outside in the 30 degree weather with no shoes on. We have had to be creative in our hiding places (the bathroom, top shelves, etc.) and Courtney has found it a couple of times, but they love playing the game.

Recently we have decided that the wrestling that accompanies "the chase" is too hard on the books (and we don't want to buy the Library a new book) so we are trying to get a bookmark that Bryan needs to hide.

It's a hilarious game!!

The Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby was a huge success. Ethan's car performed really well. He tied for 5th...with a bunch of other kids. But he did better than last year, which was his goal. So he did it!! And next year he said he wants to take more time and get it to go even faster.

Here is a collage of the pictures I took. I like the photo in the top right corner. The announcer asked if Ethan was praying and I think he probably was.

Finishing Up the Car

Monday night Bryan and Ethan were putting the finishing touches on Ethan's Pinewood Derby car. They had to make some holes in the bottom of the car so the weights could go on there. My dad gave them some bullets to add weight so they had to get holes that would fit the bullets. Ethan drilled the holes while Bryan helped stabilize his arm so they would be straight.

They had a great time making the car!!

Curley Courtney

For some unknown reason, Courtney decided the other day that she wanted to sleep in curlers. O-kay. So we got out the spongie curlers, sprayed her hair and "put up" (as my Grandma used to call it) her hair. She loved it and she had cute curls in the morning. We'll see how long this lasts.

The Tooth

By now you should have figured out that Ethan LOVES to pull teeth, including his own. He came into our bedroom last night (when he should have been sleeping) with a wad of tissue sticking out of his mouth. I couldn't figure out what was going on. He put out his hand and there was a really bloody tooth!!

I took him into the bathroom to try and stop the bleeding and to see if there was any damage done by his extraction procedure. Low and behold, there was a tooth coming up from where the old tooth had been. He was pretty happy with himself.

The tooth fairy did arrive at our house and left Ethan 50 cents for his troubles. He seemed happy with that amount.

Trying to stop the blood:
The new tooth and the old space (this is kind of a gross picture, sorry):

Ethan's Game

Ethan had two games on Saturday at the high school. His team isn't doing too well but Ethan is playing better than he ever has before. In his first game he was fouled and got two free throws. He made both of them!! YEAH!!

Here is the beginning of his first free throw:
Swish:
Ethan is on the left with his arm up wiping off sweat:
The basketball boy:

Silly Courtney

Courtney bites her fingernails and I have tried to get her to stop but nothing has worked. When she quit sucking her thumb she started biting her nails. One of my piano students told me that she used to bite her nails also but then her mom gave her a fingernail file and she hasn't bitten her nails since. So I decided it was worth trying.

At Ethan's basketball game on Saturday Courtney was sitting on the sidelines looking like this: