Battle of the Books

Sienna participated in Battle of the Books. It was the first year done at Cherry Hill, but it is a National program. It is for 3rd to 6th graders. The 3rd and 4th graders are given a list of 20 books and the 5th and 6th graders have a different list of 20 books. The students are divided into teams of 3 to 5 students. They split the list up and then they battle it out with a quiz show to see what team remembers the books better.

Sienna was very excited about this and read all the books on the list multiple times in the last four months. She was on a team with 2 other girls from her class: Jill and Gabby. They had some boys from another class, but they dropped out one month before the playoffs. Sienna was glad because they were not reading the books anyway. So the girls changed their names to the Three Musketeers, made up some easy costumes and went to their battles. Sienna was the spokesperson for her team.

The first week they did not eliminate anyone and let the teams practice. The second week, it was single elimination. The Three Musketeers won all their battles and were invited to the final round to determine the first and second place teams with a battle in front of the school. When I asked if Sienna was nervous about the final round, she responded, "No, because both teams get trophies." She didn't need to win, she just wanted a trophy. They did beat the Brain Stormers 103 to 74. She was so excited.

Here are the Musketeers with the principal, Mrs. Hart, and the assistant principal, Mr. Campbell.

Perspective

I got in the car with my friend, Kanani, today and we commented how warm and nice it was. When we looked at the thermometer we read 49 degrees.

We both started laughing.

Shoveling the Neighborhood

My dad has shoveled the neighborhood for years. We tease him that he uses a can of gas for every snow storm because he just keeps going and going. Unfortunately, we have a south-facing driveway so there is always snow there. If you go out to shovel the driveway, it is hard to stop because the neighbors next door, are in their eighties and not doing well. The next house is the same. The third house is actually a friend in his 90s and the fourth is a widowed woman. That takes the whole cul-de-sac. But then skip a few houses and you can go on and on. It makes it that we need to shovel a lot. Here is Caden helping out. Luckily, it was a light snow storm and just a few spots to shovel--of course the driveway, but notice how much has already melted. It went so fast, that Caden moved snow off the grass to shovel more. This was actually a fun day to shovel.

Teacher Swap

Breven and Sienna switched places today and took on the role as the piano teacher. As one was playing, the other would sit in the chair next to the piano and make comments. It made me laugh when I heard, from the other room, Breven say, "Well, you had some pauses, but I will let you go on."

Our practice routine is that they have to play each piece three times. Recently, we have added that if they play the piece perfectly, they only have to play it once. They usually still end up playing the piece three times, but they are motivated to try harder.

When they finished their practicing, they came to the other room and announced that they wanted to do that again tomorrow because they know each other's pieces now. I think, "YEAH!! Anything that helps them want to practice."

End of Baseball Season

This was the second season that Breven has played baseball, but first time doing Coach-pitch. He did a great job and had a lot of fun. Breven was number 14 just like Smokey when he played hockey when he was little. The number was just assigned to him. We did not get to pick it. Breven would hit left handed the first time up to bat and right handed the second time up to bat. Smokey would show him something new and Breven would pick it up very quickly. It was fun to watch, both father and son, be so enthusiastic about playing. Breven liked playing all the positions. He did a great job at catcher. He actually was able to catch some of the pitches. Coach Larry was such a nice man. He smiled and laughed a lot.

Thanks for the fun season.

Magic Mountain

We had some friends treat us to a day at Six Flags Magic Mountain before we left California. It was the first time for Breven and Caden, and Sienna's second trip. It was a fun day, and it was especially great to go with the Nelsons.
I was a little nervous how Caden would react to the log ride. He was getting more anxious as we waited in line, and I almost decided not to go when we got to the front. However, after the last big drop, he said, "AWESOME!!" I'm glad he liked it.
Goliath is Sienna's favorite ride. It has a 255 foot drop and you travel up to 85 miles per hour. She is only 52" tall and most of the big rides require you to be 54". She will probably love the park even more when she grows two more inches. Hopefully, the next trip we can go on Batman together (Cherlynn's favorite ride).
I love how Breven is holding Caden's hand to make sure he feels safe. He is a good big brother.

Before this trip, Breven was not a fan of roller coasters, but he loved it. He even rode it by himself a few times. Its too bad kids grow up too fast.

Thanks Friends!!

Chopped--Family Version

For some reason we like to watch Food Network. If the television is on, Sienna will often ask if we could change the channel to 55. One of our favorite shows is Chopped. If you have never seen it, four chefs are invited to cook three course: appetizer, main course and dessert. They are given a mystery basket with four items that must be used in the dish. After each coarse, the chefs face three judges. The judges eat the food and decide which chef is chopped and does not get to move on. The winner in the last round wins $10,000.

We've tried our own version a few time and love it.

First, a basket is prepared with items and then the kids can pull other things out of the fridge and pantry to complete their dishes. One time we played, the appetizer basket included apples, celery and peanut butter. Naturally, a variations of "Ants on a Log" were constructed. After the allotted time, the chefs have to face the judges to explain what they made. We encourage them to make up a name and explain their steps. Sienna gets into the presentation and decorating her plates. She would often take the sauce and add a smear on the plate for looks.

Even the blender had to be used in a few rounds because they have seen it on the show. One time, Sienna put jelly beans in the blender from the cupboard to make a powder to sprinkle on her crackers.

In the home version, we never chopped any chefs. All chefs moved on to the next coarse. They had a fun time because they felt like they had full reign of the kitchen.

Our Three Little Chefs

Pretend Play

I live in a house with a bunch of actors. This is all pretend sleeping. They played this game for about 30 minutes. When I realized what they were doing I took some pictures, and they all obliged.

Piano Lessons

Today, I taught my last piano lesson and I'm a little sad. It is strange to admit that because seven years ago when I started teaching, I actually had no desire to teach piano. A friend of mine asked repeatedly if I would teach her five-year-old son. I was reluctant because I am not an exceptionally skilled pianist, nor extremely knowledgeable in music theory. However, over the years I have taught 28 students. I've learned a lot about teaching, but I have enjoyed watching my students improve and flourish.

Thank you Didi, for helping me face a fear and take on a new challenge.

Three in a Row

Breven came running in and announced, "I just pulled my tooth out." That makes it that he lost two teeth in the same day, which is very exciting.

His two front teeth have been loose for quite awhile, and one has been hanging in front of the other for about a month. We have been able to see half the roots, but not brave enough to pull it out.

This morning when he woke up, his tooth was missing. We looked in his bed and on the floor, but we did not find a missing tooth. Breven is worried that he swallowed it, and that the tooth fairy will not come. We wrote a note to explain what happened and hoped for the best. With the other front tooth gone, he realized the second front tooth was really loose too, and so he pulled out tonight. Now when you look in his mouth, he has three missing front teeth on the top not just the usual two-front teeth.

A year ago, he lost his first tooth, his right-side incisor, and a permanent tooth has not grown in that spot. When we went to the dentist, we saw that it was the corner of his permanent front tooth that pushed the side tooth out. Now Breven says he has "three in a row, just like tic-tac-toe." He's a poet, and he didn't even know it.--he, he