Everyday Is a Finn Day!

The past two days have been all about Finn.

On Friday, we had the Annual Cub Scouts Cake Auction. The night was super fun, but the lead up was a bit stressful. The theme this year was "Famous Structures of the World." When we asked Finn what structure he wanted to bake his first suggestion was the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai. The "Burj" is the tallest building in the world so Matt quickly ruled that out. Next Finn asked for either the great Pyramid at Giza, the Italian Colosseum and/or the Great Wall of China. After consideration, Matt and I decided on the pyramid. We looked online and found a site that gave step by step instructions on how to create a pyramid cake, but it wasnt as easy as it looked. After several (and I do mean several) boxes of cake mix and lots of protestations, we had something that resembled the Matterhorn at Disneyland. It didnt look good and it didnt look like a pyramid. Matt was angry at me for making him bake the cake in the first place. He wanted to buy a cake and then put something on top of it; I convinced him otherwise. At the end of Thursday night, I was beginning to think that he had been right all along. Maybe we should have just bought something.

Friday morning, I made the executive decision to give the cake a second try. Our kitchen was trashed with dozens of dirty dishes from the night before so I opted not to make a cake, but instead to assemble one. I went to our local store and bought some premade pound cakes, some brownies and a ton extra candy bits. Less than an hour later we had the Colosseum of Italy. When my mom saw the cake for the first time, she mistakened it for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Henceforth, the cake was called The Leaning Colosseum.

Last year Shea and I dropped Matt and Finn off at the meeting, but didnt stay for the cake auction. This year we made it a family affair. The four of us plus my nephew Eli went to the pack meeting and when all was said and done we bought FIVE CAKES. Thankfully we didnt keep them all. One went home with Eli, one went over to my parents house and another was left with some homeless people outside the church. By far, the best part of the night was watching Finn's hysterical method of bidding on cakes. Last year Matt tried to describe to me how enthusiastic Finn became, but I didnt quite understand until I saw it for myself. Finn was a crack up - very exaggerated and totally unyielding in his pursuit of cake. When it was time to bid on the Leaning Colosseum, Finn would not be outbid. He actually got in front of the auctioneer and countered every bid that came in with a threatening finger point and an intense stare. He was soooooo into it and hilarious to watch.


Saturday Finn had a basketball game. He is not the most athletic person, but his friends were playing youth basketball so I reluctantly enrolled him in the program. I was very leery of him playing. He's in the 3rd grade and had never dribbled a basketball before. Finn has historically lacked coordination and sports have not been of great interest to him. In the end, I decided to go for it because he really wanted to play with his friends. He actually begged me to let him play.


I have to give my son props because he is a much better player than I thought he would be. While he is not very comfortable being in possession of the ball, Finn is absolutely tenacious as a defender. He amazes me with his grit, determination and hustle on defense. Today he was all over the other team's high scorer and when Finn was in, he kept that kid in check. Im positive Finn didnt realize what a difference his defense was making, but to me and Matt his effort was commendable. After the first half, Finn told his coach he didnt want to play anymore. Our team is not experienced and we were losing 14 - 4. Finn was very discouraged and you could tell in his face and his deamenor that he was really down. Then, in the beginning of the second half, Finn got hurt and began to cry. He was done and totally defeated, but we gently coaxed him back on the court and he finished the game well.

After todays game, it was so obvious to me that my son lacks confidence. Upon leaving, we talked about doing your best and not giving up. Finn seemed to understand, but I think losing is hard for him. He takes it very personally for some reason. Finn is never going to be a star player, but he's not a bad one either. I have to figure out a way to boost him up and show him that he's doing great. I have to make him understand that he can do anything he puts his heart and mind to. And trust me, that kid has TONS of heart.

Happy Saturday.