Nicky's Reign

This has been quite a couple of weeks for Nicholas! He is a 7 year old 1st grader at Forest Hills Elementary in Noblesville, Indiana. Nicholas is about as kind, sweet and gentle as any child you'll ever meet. (Of course, I can say that since I'm his grandmother!) He joined Boy Scouts this year and really enjoys it. A couple of weekends ago, Nicky raced his car in his very first Pinewood Derby. He and his dad worked on it for weeks. When we would go visit, Nicky was out in the garage with Jason as they sawed, drilled, sanded, painted, etc. We saw a lot of work go into the building of his car. And the results of his hard work.....Nicholas won every race and even broke a track record. Not bad for a first time!!! He also received the "Most Creative" Award. He is a very proud little boy and really loves having a big trophy. (I can't say enough about the time and patience that Jason puts in with these little boys as he guides them along the way. If all dads put in the time and positive energy that he does, we would have a more peaceful, loving world. End of sermon!) Below is the winning car.

Blake isn't in Boy Scouts yet. But how can a little brother be left out of the fun? Blake got to
work on a car also and you'll never guess how he wanted it made: a pirate car of course! He chose the colors and stickers and had fun painting his car. He was able to race it in the race for siblings. Jason said that it didn't win but it still made "darn good time". Good for Blake!

Last Saturday was the final Upward Basketball game for Nicholas. Talk about a positive program!!! Oh my goodness! Nicholas is one of two 1st graders on his team of 2nd graders. He isn't exactly sure about taking a ball away from someone but he has come soooo far since his first game. The score and winning or losing is never mentioned. They just like each child to have fun, feel special and to be able to say that they made a basket. We knew that Nicky hadn't made a basket during the season and the game was coming to a close. The coaches and refs did all in their power to see that Nicky had a chance to score and when he finally did.....lots of cheers went up from the crowd!

Will he do it???????????

It went in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At the end of the game, the team always meets together to get different colored stars as rewards from the coaches. Some of the stars are for being good sports, or having good defense, etc. The coach waited to give Nicky's to him last this week because he got the "blue" star. It was obvious that the coach was so proud of Nicky that as he was about to tell us what the award was for, he got so choked up he couldn't talk. So we don't know what the coach would have said if he could have but I know that it was a powerful moment. It was a definite "grab a kleenex" moment.

"Do you like my shirt JoJo?" asks Blake. "Is everyone cheering for me?????" thinks Lexi.

As if a Pinewood Derby win and making a basket at the game wasn't enough, Nicholas was one of the 1st graders from his school that had his picture selected to be hung during the month of March in the Noblesville Public Library. We went to find it Saturday morning before Tom and I headed back to Goshen. Nicky pointed to the tail of the mouse that is sticking out from behind the leaves. Totally cute!

See the tail?

The library really outdid itself with their art display. There were several schools represented which made us even more proud that Nicky's picture was chosen.

It really has been quite a time for Nicky. We couldn't be more proud of him!