Last Week of Cubs

 

The last week ever as a Cub Scout and it's the Pinewood Derby. Last week I put together this shadow box for him to remember his Cub Scouting days. His dad was dreading this event. This is our sixth one. We never do very well. MyMike was hoping they would drop it this year, but they didn't. I reminded him it was his last year ever, then retirement from all Cub duties. So, he and his boy went to work, with the boy's design and his dad's skill with the saw and the drill. They sanded and shaped it together, primed and painted, while munching on treats. . . good bonding time going on down in the basement. I think big brother came down too to help with the work. One morning I came downstairs to find MyMike on the internet looking up tips and suggestions on pinewood derby cars . . . a first. So, last night was the big race. In his shyness and anxiety, MyMike didn't really want to go, but of course, he HAD TO GO, and he got a good seat so he could watch his boy and their car. My boy was pretty calm. He didn't expect much, but there is always hope. For him, part of the joy is just being with his buddies and having a little friendly competiton, though my boy is really not very competitive.

At the start of the race . . . .

Wow, he won that race. (And can I tell you how thrilled I am that I have a camera - and know how to work it this year so that I can actually get a picture of an object in motion without it being so blurry you can't tell what you're looking at - seriously loving that!) Maybe someday I can it without ANY blurriness - we'll see.

It was close, but the little yellow car won every single race!

Here he is with Sis. Pelech. I told her a couple of weeks ago that she is the "Child Whisperer," of our church. She works with the Bear Cub Scouts and every boy that has ever had her has a friend for life. She has the right amount of discipline and love that no child no matter how rebellious can turn away from. She has never been a biological mother but she mothers and nurtures with the very best of them. My boy has a special place in his heart for her. She was sharing in his victory this evening, sitting at the end of the track, just being there for the boys, win, show, or place.

And here he is, receiving his 1st place medal. He and Sis. Pierce go back a long ways. She was his Sunbeam Primary teacher. I remember in the grocery store one afternoon with tears in her eyes she told me about how sweet he was in class, and made me tear up too. That doesn't happen to me a lot in the grocery store, so I remember that day well. She was his teacher again as a five year old which surprised me. Not often do you have the same teacher for a whole year twice, but I already knew how much she loved my boy, so thankfully I watched him go happily to her class and continue to learn. When he was 8 she became his Primary President. She motivated him to learn all his Articles of Faith and he knew that she loved him even when she told him to go back home and try it again next week. She was just released from that calling in December and is now his Cubmaster, and again, part of one of the special memories he'll have of his childhood. I thank the Lord for people who give so much of themselves to bless the lives of others, and especially those who help me raise my children.

One happy boy.