Pinewood Derby

I am not sure if I say how great my husband is often enough. Here is a picture of two of my boys at Will's first Pinewood Derby. They built, painted, and raced the car together. Every time I read something about how important a dad is in the lives of their children I thank God for the man Scott is. He not only provides for his family by working his tail off, but he is always tuned into what they are doing. Whether it is driving two hours to take the boys on a cave exploring trip, buying a tye dye "Dancer's Dad" t-shirt (can't wait to post that pic), or rocking the baby to sleep, he is a number one dad in my book.

They made a yellow and black car. They already are making plans for next year!

Me and the baby girl. Poor thing wasn't feeling well. Daddy and Lukie. He wanted his picture taken with Dad. He can't wait to race cars. But he wants to DRIVE them. Oy!

And because I don't have a picture of Bella at the derby (she was more interested in running in and out of the bathroom!), here is a pre-derby pic. Lunch- hot dogs.

Blessed.

Equivalent

In fifth grade, we teach equivalent fractions. As I teach this, I make sure my kids know that fractions that are equivalent have the same value. Maybe a different name, but the same value. For example, 10/20 has the same value as 1/2. If I eat 4 out of the 8 pieces of pizza(4/8), I still ate 1/2 of the pizza. True story. Different name, same value. Like you can call me Theresa, Mommy, sweetheart, or anything else but I am still me. It is equivalent. The other day I was filling out stuff for free samples on the Internet. (I find it fun) You have to list your life history. Like your name, address, name of first grade teacher, which way you brush you teeth.... Really I shouldn't complain. I am getting a FREE thing of shampoo out of it. One of the questions was relationship status. Quite a few things hit me here at once. #1 Why do you need to know my relationship status for shampoo? #2 Why is marriage always at the bottom of the list? #3 There sure are a lot of options here. and the biggest and most puzzling WHAT?? was how my box was presented.... ____ marriage (or equivalent) Two things here bother me. #1- What in the name of cauliflower (inside 5th grade joke) is equivalent to marriage. If you follow my above example, equivalent mean same value, different name. Dictionary.com says adjective-equal in value, amount, or function. So I repeat, what is equivalent to marriage. In my opinion, nothing. Certainly nothing legally. If Scott wants a half of all my treasures we must be legally bonded to each other. True that with that comes filling differently with taxes, health insurance, and apparently free samples. Nothing spiritually. When I got married, I did not just stand in front of my family and friends and declare how much Scott made my heart fill flop. And oh he did. But I stood before God. I made a covenant to Scott through God. I promised to love him. And all that goes along with it. We became "one flesh." What is equivalent to becoming "one flesh." #2 of my wonderings. Why do I have to share my check mark. Why can't marriage stand on its own. Holy cow, even thinking of separating got its own box! Marriage has seemed to have gotten a bad rap now a days. In ways, I can see why. People have seen so many marriages crash and burn. Many people see a lot of misery between the people that stick it out. Whether they stood in front of a man or woman of God or hit up the JP, people break promises. But I would just like to say, marriage is a blessing. It is my life becoming intertwined to another for better or worse. Sometimes it is better, and sometimes it is for worse. It gives my children a sense of security. It is the both of us standing up and saying "you have me and I have you." And nothing my friends, is equivalent to that.