End of the year Awards

The kids all finished off the year with some great awards. Mom and Dad got to attend several award ceremonies to honor these fantastic kids.

Trevor earned his Block R Award for the 2nd year in a row. To earn this award he had to be involved with a bunch of extra-curricular activities while maintaining good grades. He soared in his academics this year! He earned High Honor Roll all 4 quarters! That is a HUGE accomplishment for our boy!

Logan had a great year in athletics. His coaches were so impressed with him after each season for being consistent as one of the top performing athletes on his team. He was awarded with the Outstanding Runner trophy at the sports awards ceremony. Way to go Logan!

Lizzie had a great year in first grade. In fact, she liked it so much that she never missed a day! We were all so surprised to learn that she had earned Perfect Attendance for ALL 4 QUARTERS. Wow! Good Job Lizzie!

DI CA State Finals 2011

Trevor's group got to compete at the State Finals this year. They originally did not make the cut after Regionals (watch their Regionals performance HERE), but circumstances were altered in our favor and they got to go after all! The kids were stoked at the chance to compete again and show off their stuff.

Trevor and his team knew they'd have to amp up their game at State because they'd be competing against the BEST 17 Junior High teams from the entire state. (Our kids are all 6th graders attending elementary school, but because of their age, they had to compete against teams that are all older than them!) They worked their booties off to prepare for their main challenge. They researched and memorized information about 6 different cultures and prepared 6 differents skits to go with each one. Each skit was only 5 minutes long, but you'd be surprised at just how much preparation goes into those quick 5 minutes.



Here's their mission:

• Create a five-minute Improvisational Skit about a Mission involving a Mythical Creature. This must be done in a five-minute Preparation Time prior to your Presentation at the Tournament.

This skit was THE BEST performance we'd ever seen from these guys. Their level of energy and stage presence was so much more than their first attempt at Regionals. They were really good at Regionals, but at State - they were AMAZING. Enjoy a video of their fabulous performance.

Be on the lookout for these items:
- mythical creature
- facts about mythical creature
- culture
- facts about culture
- 3 "souvenirs"
- 1 "mega prop" made out of 3 souvenirs
- unexpected element (Elder breaks his tooth) and how the team resolves the issue





Logan's team did a compeletly different challenge than Trevor's. They got to build a structure, test it's weight, and prepare an 8 minute skit. No improv elements here. They did a FANTASTIC job at Regionals. They took FIRST PLACE in their event! (Watch their Regionals performance HERE.)

These kids built countless structures and used many gallons of glue to perfect their structure. It all paid off in the end. The structure they took to State held the most weight of any other they built. They also decided to amp up their game because they'd be competing against the top 18 teams from the state of California. They constructed some very cool dual sided backgrounds in addition to their wood/foil props. Their skit contained much humor - it always helps to get those judges laughing. :)



Here was their challenge:

• Design and build a Structure made only of Aluminum Foil, Wood and Glue
• Test how much weight the Structure will hold
• Present a Story about a character that is Foiled
• Integrate team-written Verse and published Verse into your Story

Be on the lookout for these skit elements:
- 2 side trips (ninja powers, dancing)
- 2 verses (one original and one copyrighted)
- the main character getting "foiled"
- props made of wood and/or foil




The main challenge are the ones you see recorded here. There is one more element to Destination Imagination - the Instant Challenge (dun dun dun!). The Instant Challenge is a secret event. (No details can be spoken or shared until after the Global Finals in June. Truly! The team swears an oath and signs their lives away!) The Instant Challenge will either make or break your rank. Let's just say, this year, the State IC's were very difficult for both teams.

Overall:

Trevor's team placed 12th in their event.

and Logan's team placed 6th in their event.

Their main challenges were very good, even better, than much of their competitors. It was quite impressive to see them pull out their best game when it really counted. Everything worked out to everyone's satisfaction in the end. Neither of the teams made it to Globals this year, but we were all ok with that. Both teams gave their absolute BEST performance yet! Coaches, parents, and kids are all happy with the end result.

Trevor Plays Volleyball

Trevor is having a great 6th grade year. This is his last year in elementary school and he is feelin' good about life. He is the old guy on campus. He is focused on his academics and his participation at school. He really is a grown-up compared to all the younger kids.

Trevor is enjoying his last season of elementary school volleyball. He has perfected his serve and is very focused out there on the court. And bonus, he gets to be on the same team as his BFF, Jacob.

(The entire team very much enjoyed all that weather we had last week. Rain + hail = NO PRACTICE or GAMES.)

We don't know if Trevor will continue to play volleyball in Jr. High or High School, but he is happy, confident, and trying hard where he is now. That's everything we hoped for our boy.

2011 DI Regional Awards Ceremony

Here are some pictures of the teams just after they finished their Main Challenges. They were riding so high! Both teams knew they'd done so well in their performances. We knew their positive vibes and enthusiastic mood would be impossible to capture in a photo, but we thought we'd try anyway.

THE SUPER SMART ALAKAZOO AIRHEAD OF DOOM: serious first then a little silliness

THE SEVEN DI WARFS: serious with a side of silly

I don't know about you, but I think I prefer the silly pictures!

Fast forward to the awards ceremony...

Trevor's event was announced first. Now remember, these guys took first place at Regionals and State last year - they went to Tennessee to compete at Globals! AND our elementary school kids were up against all middle school teams because they are in 6th grade. They announced 6th place. 5th place. And a 4th place tie - The Super Smart Alakazoo Airheads of Doom and some other team tied for 4th. The team was shocked. It was the most difficult moment to watch them stand and get their applause knowing that their DI adventure was finished for this year.

Logan's team had the opposite experience. They placed first in their event! FIRST! They were so happy! It was an amazing overwhelming moment - so much so that Aubry started crying because she was so happy! These guys were stoked to wear their fancy new medals AND got to walk away knowing that they'd be moving on to compete at State in April. After seeing the scores the next day we found out that they'd scored highest in their IC and highest in their Main Challenge. Their structure held the most weight and their performance was top notch.

Are they looking proud or what?! It really was an AWESOME moment.

This picture is so out of focus, but it really captures the moment. It was surreal and joyful - do those coaches look happy or what?

This awards ceremony was a most challenging experience as a parent. To watch the older team feel like they lost the competition. Which, of course they did not lose. They took 4th out of 12 Jr. High teams! That is an amazing accomplishment. No matter how many times we try to convince them that they did so well, it still does not give them that 3rd place they were after. And in almost the next moment we had to be enthused and excited for the other child that took 1st place. Talk about a strained moment. We didn't want to rub it in the older team's faces, but we also didn't want to diminish the younger kids' win. Boy, it was rough.

We are so proud of both teams bringing their best to their performances and placing so well in their events.

Destination Imagination State Competition 2011

The season of Destination Imagination is in full swing! Trevor and Logan have been involved in weekly practices, early morning, and after school practices since the teams were aligned last December. This year, there were seven different challenges our teams could choose from (read about them HERE).

THE SUPER SMART ALAKAZOO AIRHEADS OF D O O M: Trevor's team (coached by Aunt Kari & assisted by team parent ME) chose the improvisational "Mythology Mission". This is the team's 3rd year together - it is so refreshing to see these kids work as a team. They are comfortable with each other, themselves, their ideas, and they don't worry about looking like a little bit silly every now and again. If you remember, this team took first place at Regional and State finals last year and went on to compete in Tennessee at Globals.

The video of their regional competition performance is posted below. But first, I wanted to give you a list of all the things that had to be incorporated into their improv so you could be on the look out for the elements they were judged on. Their time ended at the EXACT moment that they finished their skit. It was AMAZING!

1. Mythological Creature (Kappa) + several facts about the creature
2. Culture (Ancient Japan) + several facts about the culture
3. 3 souvenirs
4. combine 3 souvenirs to one great mega-prop
5. Improv Element - how well they incorporate and resolve this element
6. teamwork


It's hard to see or feel in a video just what it was like in that room, but the energy was almost palpable. Those kids were on fire! They knew exactly what then needed to accomplish and they went out there and nailed it! We are so proud!


THE SEVEN DI warfs: Logan's team was coached by Uncle Matt and Jeremy. This is their 2nd year together and are really starting to gel as a team. They chose the structural challenge "verses! foiled again!". Here are all of the elements they were judged on in their skit. I wish they'd been partially judged on their use of humor - they were sooo funny!! Here are all the elements to watch for when you view their video:

1. side trips (karate & dancing)
2. teamwork
3. props made of wood and foil
4. 4 lines of verse penned by the team
5. 4 lines of verse from a published/copyrighted song
6. storyline that involves a character that is foiled

7. structure
a. how much weight it holds
b. the design and use of wood + foil


Watch it again and listen for Lizzie (she was sitting right next to me during filming) singing along and saying the lines with the team. She knew this skit by heart!

This team totally came together to make this performance the best they'd ever done. That structure weighed only 24 grams. 24 GRAMS. Guess how much it held. Take a wild guess. It ended up holding 255 POUNDS! Is that amazing or what?! Yes, they are smaller than the other team, but their energy was just as electric as those older kids. They were so fantastic!

Stay tuned to read about the award ceremony...

kids say the darndest things (grandma too!)

We were watching Lizzie's soccer game. The opposing team had a player that looked like she was 2 years older than the rest of the girls on the field. She kept bowling the girls over without intent the entire game - she just couldn't help it!

Trevor leans over to me and says, "Wow, that girl must eat her green beans."

And my reply? "Yep, Trevor. You're right. I bet she eats all her green beans!"

HA HA HA!! Jeremy and I were rolling!!

♪ ♫ • * ¨ * • . ¸ ¸ ♥ ¸ ¸ . • * ¨ * • ♫ ♪

Mom (Grandma Elizabeth) was telling us about something she'd found online. She is quite the tech savvy gal. She says, "I'll send you a link on Spacebook."

We all look at each other and crack up because she actually meant to say Facebook.

Mom corrected herself and said, "No, I mean, MyFace."

BAH ha HA ha ha! She wasn't even trying to be funny! It was a great moment. Thanks for the laugh mama. :)

Does that not sound like the punchline to a joke?
What do you get when you cross Facebook and MySpace?
SpaceBook and MyFace!

Trevor's Arrow of Light

When Trevor turned 11 years old he entered a new phase of scouting. A special pack meeting was held to honor his accomplishments as a cub scout and celebrate his passage into 11-year old scouts. 11-year old scouts are no longer cub scouts. They are Boy Scouts.

Trevor was awarded his Arrow of Light award at this pack meeting. The Arrow of Light award is the highest award available to Cub Scouts. It requires the Scout to have earned the Webelos Scout badge and eight activity badges. The Arrow of Light award is the only Cub Scout award that can be worn on a Boy Scout uniform.

Along with his arrow of light patch, Trevor was presented with an actual Arrow of Light, made by his dad.

Trevor and his best buddy, Jacob, were both awarded on the same night. After they finished the Arrow of Light ceremony they made the symbolic journey through the tunnel to the new world of Boy Scouts. They were greeted by their new scout leaders on the other side. It was a special moment. A HUGE moment to be more specific. This award was the last one Trevor would receive as a cub scout!

This upcoming year will be full of "lasts and firsts" for our Trevor boy. He is growing up so quickly. We are excited to see him mature and grow, but wish we could hold on to those younger moments just a little bit longer. Since Trevor was a baby, people have been offering the advice, "Enjoy them while they're young. They grow so fast." It is only now that I am finally realizing the brutal truth in that statement that I heard over and over as a young mother.

For now, we will look forward to many more years of scouting in Boy Scouts! Trevor will learn and grow so much in the coming years. We are proud of him for making so many good choices and working so hard to earn this highest award in Cub Scouts.

Congratulations Trevor!!

Trevor's take on "romance"

Yesterday, I came across an abandoned vocabulary card. Trevor had left this 4x6 index card on the desk and I picked it up to return to his binder. I quickly glanced at his work and literally laughed out loud when I read his definition and coordinating sentence. Here is what he wrote:

Romance: a love affair (as taken from the thesaurus)
this was his sentence: Romance is gross.

I like Trevor's added illustration of the guy that looks like he's about to hurl.

Well, we know where Trevor stands on the whole "romance" topic. That's good. Girls should still have cooties in 6th grade. I know the day is not far off when he will change his opinion about all things romantic. Until then, I am quite satisfied with his view, "romance is gross."

Trevor turns ELEVEN!

Trevor's 11th birthday was last month. He had the traditional awesome week-long celebration. Here are some of the fun things he did:

1. Woke up to a birthday party, a pile of presents, and donuts in place of cake

2. Went out to lunch (during school!!) with his best buddies to Panda Express

3. Had a birthday party at McDonald's with the Durans

4. His friend party was a NERF Battle Royale, followed with pizza and a movie at home

It is hard to believe that this boy is 11 years old already! Where has the time gone? We like to measure the kids' height along with their age each year. It gives us a better reality of how much they've grown - physically and in maturity. Check out our measuring board here:

On the morning of his 11th birthday we measured Trevor. He had grown 3 inches in one year! He is officially 5' 1". Good grief! He is only 5 inches shorter than his mama! When did he turn into a person instead of a kid? To prove that Trevor is on his way out of childhood and into adolescence, here is a list of some of Trevor's interests these days:

nerf guns
xbox - halo original game
reading - action packed books and/or fantasy
talking with his buddies
learning how to babysit
11 year old scouts
golf, snow skiing

That list is full of all things boy, for sure, and also things that teenagers enjoy. Seriously, he LOVES reading!

We tried making a deal with Trevor this year. The deal was this: instead of getting older on birthdays, he would age backwards and get younger instead. He's grown up so fast that we want to reverse time to go back to when he was younger. Trevor was not going for it. He would rather be 11 than 9 this year. Bummer!

It is true what they say, "they really do grow up so fast."

shootin' the summer breeze

The boys found a new passion the last few days of summer: BB GUNS!

Don't let those serious faces fool you, they are quite ecstatic to be out there shooting guns to their hearts' content.

At any time of any day these boys could be found in the backyard firing away at random objects found around the home. Note the pulverized soda can they are holding. Cereal boxes, milk cartons, stuffed animals no longer treasured - all became targets.

This BB gun fetish brought some unique backyard challenges. No longer can you walk barefoot unless you are willing to step on those teeny tiny bb's. Those things are everywhere! Ever done that? Well, you won't want to do it again if you have. And, depending on which door you exited, you'd be forced to yell, "CEASE FIRE!" to protect yourself from being hit by a stray bb.

The bb gun fascination will continue for awhile longer. But, like everything else the kids are excited about, will come to an end shortly. Trevor has BB Gun at the top of his birthday wish list. We'll see how long it stays in the #1 position as his late September birthday gets closer and closer. For now we will hear, "ting! ting...ting! ting, ting! ting..." through the afternoons and into the evenings until the daylight is gone.

school days, school days, back to school once more

Trevor's the old man on campus in 6th grade!
Logan's stoked to be an upper-grader in 4th grade!
Lizzie cannot contain her enthusiasm for 1st grade!
Who would've thought it would be so exciting to eat lunch in the cafeteria?

The first day of school began quickly. The kids were up earlier than usual - giddy, excited, and nervous for the day they'd been anticipating since 3 days ago. (Reality never sets in for these kids until it is nearly upon them.) They dressed quickly and got their shoes and socks on in record time. And what beautiful NEW shoes they were!

Jeremy made a delicious first day of school German Pancake breakfast then hopped in the shower while they baked.

Then the smoke alarm went off.

Mass chaos ensued while mama tried to persuade the smoke coming from the oven to go outside.

Jeremy's yelling from upstairs, "WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE!?"
[the smoke alarm continues to screech]
The kids are all yelling simultaneously in response:
"THE OVEN'S BURNING!"
"DAD, IT'S OK!"
"IT'S JUST SMOKE!"

Jeremy yells again because he can't hear a dang thing they're saying, "DO YOU NEED HELP?!?!"
The kids yell back again trying to outdo the volume of the ear piercing smoke alarms:
"THE OVEN'S BURNING!"
"DAD, IT'S OK!"
"IT'S JUST SMOKE!"

Jeremy yells again, "DO YOU NEED HELP?!?!"
The kids finally get that he can't understand when they're all answering him at the same time. They all yell at him in unison, "NO!"

Just then the alarms quit. *Sigh of relief.*

The volume of those smoke alarm were... well... alarming! Oh, the ringing in our ears! No worries, it was only some butter burning off the bottom of the oven that spilled over the side of the pan that caused all that commotion.

The yummy pancakes were eaten in record time. And then lunches were packed while the kids ran outside to take some back to school photos with dad.

We ran out the door (without the carefully prepared lunches! Ah! Completely forgot to pack the lunches INTO the backpacks!) and drove over to the school for the traditional first day of school "parent drop off". There we met up with some of the kids' good buddies and took some more embarrassing pictures before saying our final goodbyes.

All in all it was a great start to the 2010-2011 school year. (- besides that smoke alarm business and forgetting of the lunches.) We can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!

kids say the darndest things

Jackson: Mom, where's my dollar? [actually, he says, "donner" because he still can't say his L's]

Mom: You have to do a job first and then you can have a dollar.

Jackson: No, I don't do job.

Mom: Well then, you can't have a dollar.

Jackson: Ok, I just watch TV. Then I done. And I get donner.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

We're eating lunch in a small San Diego park. Jackson starts chasing the birds and yelling at them to get out of his way and making quite a ruckus.

Trevor: Mom, Jackson is going to wake up all the people from their naps.

Oh, my sweet innocent child! There were about 7 homeless people snoozing on the park benches - he was so concerned that they wouldn't get enough sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackson: Where's Deigo?

Mom: What?

Jackson: Where's Deigo?

Mom: You mean San Deigo?

Jackson: No. Go Deigo Go!

Mom: Jackson, we will not see Diego in San Deigo. Deigo is on TV. San Diego is here!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackson: First we go Sandy. Then we go Eggo.

Mom: What?

Jackson: Sandy Eggo.

Mom: Oh. I see. San Deigo is Sandy Eggo.

Summer Games

Our kids have discovered some new games this summer. It has been fun to see them get excited about new things. It seems like we stick with the same ol' same ol' for so long and it's hard to break away from that. This summer they've all gravitated toward different interests. Here are each of their latest obsessions:

Jackson: CLUB PENGUIN

This little boy can log on to Club Penguin at any time. He has his own penguin, house, puffle, and items he's "purchased" for his living area. He loves playing the games and buying new things for his wardrobe and his igloo.



Logan: FUSION FALL

He is content to spend hours and hours in front of the screen on this game. All I know about this game is that it's made by Cartoon Network and the kids all wanted to try it out after seeing the advertisements between TV shows. He logged on, created a username and password, and hogs the computer all day long




Lizzie: OLD MAID

Lizzie spent some time at Gramma Elizabeth's house this summer. She came home with this "new" card game called Old Maid. (We'd never played this game at our house before and she was sooo excited to teach us something new!) She has taught everyone in the house how to play. She sounds like an expert as she teaches the rules and explains exactly what an old maid is. She looks so cute hiding behind her fan of cards trying NOT to choose the Old Maid from another player's hand.











Trevor: RISK the game of world domination

Trevor discovered this board game at Family Camp this year. All the big boys were playing the game and he got sucked in. He was OBSESSED. They played for hours and hours 2 days in a row trying to conquer the world! When we got home from camp he had to keep playing. We decided it would be a good investment for our family to spend some quality bonding time together so we purchased it from Target. We played 1 game - for 6 HOURS! Oh boy. We had fun, for sure, but wow. It is time consuming! Anyone that will "risk" the time commitment to play this game is welcome to come on over and feed Trevor's need to dominate the world.

Summer Fishin'

Jeremy took the boys up to Pineflat the week after school got out for their first fishing trip of the summer season. They didn't come home with a single fish. Not even a bite. But they did come home with high spirits from a fun outing together. These boys are fishin' fools. No worries, they will have many more opportunities to get that "fish story" this summer.

Cub scout SPORTS day camp

Cub Scout Day camp happened the week after school got out. It is always a highlight for our boys - they LOVE day camp! We were fortunate that camp was located so close to home this year. It was just down the street at our kids' elementary school. This location was fabulous for us and saved us an hour of travel time compared to years past.

The theme for this year's camp was "All American - Sports". The boys enjoyed some awesome opening and closing ceremonies patterned after the Olympics. All of the teams paraded around the amphitheater to light the eternal flame (pictured below) and proudly waved their team flags.

The boys were divided into "teams" as they made their way from station to station. At each station they earned a pin to collect and display on their bright yellow hats. These pins were a hit! Trevor and Logan were so stoked to show off their collections at the end of each day (now those hats have a place of importance pinned up on the walls in the boys' room).

Logan's team was quite enamored with the Lakers (seeing as the last few NBA basketball championship games were being played this week). They (the basketball team) would become the champions - there was no doubt of this. So, naturally, Logan and his boys decided to name themselves the Lakers as well. Here are some great shots of Logan and some teammates on the last day of camp during the final Olympic Games.

Sammy & Logan doing the wheelbarrow races, and Logan with his other buddy Carter

"2,4,6,8,
Who do we appreciate?!
Lakers! Lakers!
GOOOO Lakers!"



Trevor's team named themselves the "Fireballs". Their team cheer was quite awesome - they yelled it loud and proud as they made their way through the camp each day:

"We. Are. The. FIREBALLS!
Yes, we are the best!
We are the Fireballs! - What?!
Yes, we are the best!
We are the Fireballs! - You know!"

I loved watching this team strut their stuff around camp. They are the big boys on campus this year. The old men. The seniors. They are the oldest and the coolest and they knew it. They had the most confident air about them - even as they did their girly cheerleader cheer they didn't care what anyone thought about them. They knew they were awesome and that was all that mattered.

Sadly, this year was Trevor's last. He'll be a big bad 11 year old scout next summer - no more day camp for him.

Trevor and Logan had a blast with the sports theme this year. They played flag football, kickball, swimming, archery, played on the water slides, bounced in the bounce house, crafted catapults from wood, played marbles (with Sis. Davey!), Rocked out to music (with mom! Watch for another blog post on that), raised the flag, earned tons of "dingle dangles", enjoyed buying items from the snack shack each day. and performed skits in front of the entire crowd. These boys did it all this week and enjoyed every minute of it.

Special thanks to Michelle and Nadine for herding our kids around every day all day in the heat. You guys are the best!