Treehouse Fun

When we finished the treehouse last summer, we knew that there would be issues with River wanting to go up to the upper level to play. So ever since we finished it, we've told him that he could play up there when he could climb up to it. 

Needless to say, that restriction didn't last long.

He has a bit of trouble getting back down, but no trouble going up. Though in all honesty, this wasn't completely unexpected. Mr M's parents have a picture of a 2 year old Mr M on the top of a tall dresser. He'd pulled the drawers out and used them as stairs to climb up. So we knew there was a high possibility of at least one of our kiddos following in their daddy's footsteps.

DIY Arrow of Light Awards

We recently had three boys crossover from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Since we're an LDS pack, boys cross over when they turn 11, not all at once in March or whenever the pack decides. This year though, we had three boys turn 11 within a month of each other, so we planned a group arrow of light/ crossing over ceremony.

I've been a slacker in the past and not gotten awards for the boys (we have a tight budget and they're so expensive!), but I decided to get my act together and do something this time. After some googling around, I found an idea here that I felt I could duplicate. We got a scroll saw for Christmas and I was anxious to put it to use.

I will say that this was quite fiddly and had a bit of a learning curve. I haven't used a scroll saw since middle school shop class, so I'm not exactly a pro at it. After ruining one piece of wood I realized that the blade that came with the saw was not appropriate for my project. After a trip to Lowes and some new scroll saw blades (much finer) I was able to do get the detail cuts made.

The problem with scroll saws is that they have an inherent design flaw. You have to remove the blade every time you move to another area, but they don't make it easy to get the blade in and out in a quick and efficient manner.

Between that and the fact that I put off starting this project till a lot later than I should have, I was a bit stressed out. Doing the arrow portion in vinyl would be a lot easier, but not nearly as impressive. I did consider doing that for future awards, but since the rest of our Webelos have their birthdays spread out, I'll only have to do one at a time. And since I know what I'm doing now in relation to this project, it'll be a lot easier.

I found that using wood a little wider than my design, then cutting it down with the table saw once the design was cut, helped give me a little extra wood to hold onto while doing all the detail work.

For the arrow:

• 4" pine craft board (1/2" thick)
• I found a black and white image and printed it out. I then used spray adhesive to keep the paper in place while cutting the design.
• The dimensions of the arrow were dictated by the width of the backer board (a 1"x12" pine board), taking into account the mitred edges. The arrows ended up being about 9-9.5 inches in length and 3" tall.
• After cutting out all the bits with the scroll saw I used my dremel to sand a few rougher spots. If I was more proficient at scroll sawing, I wouldn't need to sand anything, but it turned out pretty good in the end.
• I painted several coats of bright yellow craft paint on the top surface of the arrow.

For the backer board:

• 1"x12" pine board cut to about 15" long. I think it could have been a bit shorter, but didn't decide that until too late.
• I went to a friend's house to use their router and router table to route the edges of each board (a router and router table are definitely on our Christmas list this year!). Since I was borrowing a friend's equipment, I didn't have time to make last minute changes when I thought about changing the dimensions of the boards.
• After routing the edges, I gave everything a quick sanding.
• I attached sawtooth picture hangers to the backs of each board.

Putting it all together:

• 8x10 plexiglass. I put tape over both sides of each corner before drilling pilot holes. The film that's on both sides of the plexi probably would have been enough, but I wanted to make sure the plexi didn't crack.
• I drilled a little way into the wood at the same time that I drilled through the plexi, but only a little way so the upholstery tacks would have a tight fit. After the holes were drilled I removed the tape and film.
• I used wood glue to attach the arrow to the backer board. I used the top strip of tape to line it up properly and more tape to hold it in place while drying. I also stacked heavy books on top to keep everything in place while drying.
• I purchased the arrow of light certificates from our local scout shop. I centered the certificate behind the plexi and pushed the upholstery tacks into the holes in the corners. I was worried about removing the tacks and them becoming too loose, so I didn't insert the tacks until after the certificates had been filled out and signed.

 Final thoughts:

• I wasn't sure how these would turn out and at several points I was seriously doubting that they would turn out at all. Consequently, I didn't take very many pictures, and those I did take don't have the best lighting. I'm rather bummed out now, since even though they're not perfect, and were very fiddly, I am quite happy with how they turned out. Everyone was quite complimentary, so that helps to make all the work worth it :)
• One of the Webelos' fathers found some arrows that were about $42/each. I was able to make these three awards for about $24 total. It did require more work on my part, but for the sake of our budget, it was definitely the right way to go.
• I've got until September to make the next one, so my current goal is get the next one done in plenty of time, without rushing. Hopefully not being so rushed will make my cutting more accurate.

More pictures of another batch of plaques can be found here

8 Months

Ocean continues to be a happy little guy who is lots of fun to have around. He's hitting the age where personality becomes more pronounced and increased mobility brings more freedom. For him, anyway. It brings more worries for Mr M and I.

River was tickling Ocean- what a great picture :)

At the beginning of the month Ocean was combat crawling and face plant crawling and he could almost push himself up into a sitting position. By the end of the month he had progressed to elephant crawling (up on his toes) and full on crawling on his knees. He could only manage a few synchronized movements at a time, but that rapidly increased.

Despite that, he loves exploring and thinks he's a big kid now and tries to keep up with Sunshine and River. Picture little Ocean crawling frantically after Sunshine and River as they walk or run through the room to their next adventure. It won't be long until he actually can keep up with them.

All the wiggling and moving around resulted in Ocean frequently getting stuck under chairs or in corners. Those occasions were invariably followed by cries of frustration as he tried to figure out how to get out of his predicament.

just one of the uncomfortable positions he's found himself in

Crawling gave Ocean the confidence and muscle control to push himself into a sitting position and to try to pull himself up on furniture. Of course he doesn't have great balance and control yet, so he frequently tips over and bumps his head. The poor kiddo is trying to catch up to the number of bruises big brother has gotten.

Ocean loves eating, though he hasn't gotten the hand-eye coordination down yet to feed himself. I've been trying to remember what ages I had Sunshine and River feeding themselves, and I don't remember. I know it was messy..... I just need to get over the mess and let him have at it.

messy food pictures aren't quite so gross in black and white

He doesn't have any teeth yet, but they're moving again (have been for awhile now, off and on). Since he's still breastfeeding I have no problem with him getting his first teeth later rather than sooner.

Ocean now has the distinction of being the youngest of our kiddos to go to the doctor for a non-well-baby check (I'm not counting all his hearing/ENT tests since they're not with our regular pediatrician). Sunshine's earliest sick appointment was when she was 2 or 2 1/2 for an ear infection. River still hasn't been in for a sick appointment. The crud we passed around this past month gave poor Ocean a cough that he couldn't kick. It was bad enough that he was choking up as he coughed. The doctor said he was sounding wheezy (but not infected), so she prescribed an inhaler to help open up his airways. The first few times he used it he just laid there and breathed through the mask, but once he started feeling better he started fighting it. Thankfully the inhaler helped a lot and we only had to use it a few times.

Obstacle Race Recap

wet, muddy, and cold :)

Saturday we participated in an obstacle run. I did the 5k version while Mr M helped the kiddos complete the 1/2 mile kids version. This race was run at the same park that my February 5k was run at, but most of the course was different.

The 5k course had a giant teeter totter, hanging tires (so much harder than tires laying on the ground), over/under ropes, walls to climb, monkey bars, mud crawl, balance beam, hay bales to climb and jump from one to the next, steeplechase pool and jump, and a 100 foot water slide.

It was cold (mid 40's) but sunny, with a breeze that made everything colder, especially once you got wet. Thankfully the wet parts were right at the end of the race.

Lately I've been leaving everyone home while I go run races. It's a lot easier to get out of the house in a timely fashion and we don't have to deal with tired, cranky, cold children. Win-win for everyone.

Since this race had a kids obstacle race and didn't start super early, so we all went to this race and had a lot of fun. Well, I don't think Ocean had much fun since he was in the stroller the whole time, but everyone else had fun. The results haven't been posted yet, but I'm pretty sure River was the youngest participant. Sunshine ran her first race at about the same age he is now, but her first race was a lot shorter.

Sunshine running her first race in January 2009

River running his first race

The kids race was basically the last half mile of the 5k course, but they skipped the balance beam that was right at the start of their race. So they climbed the hay bales and jumped from one to the next. Or swung from one to the next, in River's case.

They also did the steeplechase pool and jump, though I didn't get pictures of that since I was getting in position to take pictures of them coming down the 100 foot water slide.

Sunshine coming down the slide.

River got stuck and stopped sliding half way down, so he stood up and walked the rest of the way. We were all worried he'd slip and fall head over heels, but he made it down in one piece.

Mr M coming down the slide. He took off his sweatshirt and tried to keep it dry by holding it up in the air, but it didn't work- it still got wet.

This 100 foot water slide was just plastic and water from a local fire engine truck with a little soap mixed in, but it was lots of fun. One thing though, this hill that was so fun to slide down was a pain when we had to run up it at the end of the February 5k. What am I saying? I didn't run up it, I walked up it.

Sunshine finished before River, but came back to help walk him through the finish.

The kiddos had fun, but the cold made things a bit iffy at the end when they were soaking wet. Despite getting chilled at the end, we all had fun and look forward to doing this race again. It was a spur of the moment decision to have River run it, so next time we'll plan ahead and make sure he's dressed more appropriately.

I hadn't run since my March 5k two weeks earlier, so once again I was just going into this with the goal of finishing. Yet another round of crud has again put a crimp in my training plans. This round of crud ended up in my lungs, which was lots of fun. Between the lack of training, lung crud, shinsplints (from sprinting into the finish of the 4k walk), and wearing old shoes without orthotics (I didn't want to ruin them in the water portions of the race) I had no expectations. And I knew that the obstacles would slow things down anyway, so I was happy with my 44:06 finish time. My lungs didn't bother me too much and neither did my shins. The softer surfaces of grass, gravel and dirt were a lot easier on my shins than pavement or cement. Overall, I felt pretty good, though the hanging tire obstacle showed me I need to work on my upper body strength. 

Last week I didn't manage any treadmill time since I was feeling crummy. I did manage to hike the same loop we did two weeks ago. There was one uphill portion that had me shaking a bit when I finally got the stroller to the top. Three months of illness has really sapped my strength and endurance, which is so frustrating.

1.21 mile hike + 3.1 mile race= 4.31 miles for the week

7 Races in 2016

Month	Event	Time
January	New Year’s Day 5k	33:01
February	Frostbite 5k	37:37
February	Mud Run	1:35:37
March	4k Walk	33:19
March	March 5k	33:49
March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	1:01:30
March	Obstacle Race	44:06

18 races towards my 40 by 40 goal

	Date	Event	Distance	Event Type
1.	July 2015	4th of July 5k	5k	Pregnant
2.	August	4 Mile Fun Run	4 miles	Road Race
3.	September	All Terrain	5k	Mixed surface
4.	October	Hill Valley Half	13.1 miles	Virtual half marathon
5.	October	Corn Maze 5k	5k	Corn Maze
6.	October	Kilted Trail 5k	5k	Kilted race
7.	November	Trail Half	13.6 miles	Trail Half
8.	November	Turkey Trot	5k	Road Race
9.	December	Veteran’s 5k	5k	Mixed surface
10.	December	Army Virtual Marathon	26.23 miles	Virtual marathon
11.	January 2016	New Year’s Day 5k	5k	Road race
12.	February	Frostbite 5k	5k	Cross country race
13.	February	Mud Run	4.8 miles	Mud run
14.	March	4k Walk	4k	Walk
15.	March	March 5k	5k	Road race
16.	March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	5k	Virtual 5k Walk
17.	March	10 mile race	Not applicable	Water stop volunteer
18.	March	Obstacle Race	5k	Obstacle run