Friday, September 21, 2007

The Flying Tiger


This is the Flying Tiger. They were an American volunteer group that recruited under a secret presidential sanction. They were a fighter group that trained in China and helped fight the Japanese in China before the USA entered WWII. The are credited with destroying 300 enemy aircraft and only losing 12 of their own. The shark faced fighter is among the most recognized planes of WWII. (Edward is dictating this to me over the phone. This is not my writing voice)

My husband is a history buff and miniature war gamer. No, this does not mean he is tiny. it means he reenacts battles throughout history using figures that are miniature. He knows a lot about military history. He and Cullen came up with the idea for the plane together and Edward sketched it out. It has little gun cannons under the wings and we refer to as "exhaust pipes" in case someone at the school is offended by guns. haha Cullen keeps trying to correct us as to what they really are. *eye brows raised*

This was a family project for the Kindergarten children. And it really took the whole family. I scavenged for boxes at the local boutique, going back twice before I got it right. Then on to Wal*mart for the supplies; paints, paper fasteners, a plastic bowl and poster board. The kids and I painted the base of the plane but could not do much more without "the architect" present. Edward's obsessive side came out during this project. Its crazy when you are apprehensive about tracing lines for fear you will not meet the standards set. *wink*
Two late nights later and a lot of problem solving and here is our Flying Tiger.

Today at Cullen's school there will be an official race to show off all the different designs. There is a race official and singer of the national anthem. If the rain hold out it will be great fun. Of course, this could all be ruined for Cullen because of the stress of getting out there and performing, i.e. running. I told him this morning that he had the "best plane ever" and he replied "Well I don't know if its the best plane. Some of my friends have been working on their cars for three days." I told him that is about how long it took us to do his plane. He then said, "Really. Oh I forgot, some of my friends have been working on their cars for six days." I jokingly said, "So have we!" Poor Cullen feels like he never measures up to others. But walking into the school in his plane he was smiling and would catch himself. I know he was proud of what we did as a family. "You can be proud Cullen."

1 comment:

Elysa said...

Cullen, I am SO impressed with your Flying Tiger. Its awesome! And you can tell your daddy that I'm also impressed with his "artist's rendition".

Glad you had a good race. I also heard from Grandmommy that the parade was really great.

Love you!
Auntie Elysa