Following in her sister's footsteps

Jenna auditioned yesterday for the CO Classical All State Choir.  She was very excited but became nervous as soon as she went in the room.  She felt good about her audition.  Her choir director played the piano and said Jenna did very well - one little memory mistake on the lyrics of her solo audition piece.  Jenna said that she messed up the first sight reading part but felt confident about the rest.

You should hear her sing.  She has a beautiful voice.  You should hear her sing with Julia.  Wow.

We won't hear until close to Thanksgiving if she made the cut.  Around 4,000 students from across the state audition, several hundered make the cut.

Here's to following in Julia's footsteps.  Julia made All State her Junior year (only student in her high school that year) and Senior year (scored 98 out of 100 - one of 4 girls to make it in her high school)!

I am proud of her trying!

Better luck next time

The kids tried to influence the weather outcome so they could have a snow day.  They did some silly things last night.

We woke up to this.  School was still on.  The ground was warm enough to keep it from sticking on the roads.  It snowed ALL day.  Tomorrow it will be in the 40's.  Friday it will be in the 50's.

I think I can ... I think I can ...

Flush ice cubes down toilet. CHECK.
Put pajamas on inside out (Kendall giggling while doing so). CHECK
Sleep with a spoon under your pillow. CHECK
Boys are tucked in bed ... dreaming of a snow day.
 Jaley just now opened the freezer and yelled "SNOW SNOW SNOW" into it. 
She is now freaking out that there aren't any more spoons. 

Gotta love their positive thinking!

Snow is to begin falling at 11:00 p.m. tonight and is to continue on until noon tomorrow.  It will most likely be melted by Thursday or Friday (in the 50's and 60's!).  I love CO weather!!!

Oh the weather outside is ...

Delightful!  80 degrees today.

The snow starts tomorrow night.

I welcome the moisture - it will help our grass and trees.  Not sure if I'm ready to be stuck or needing to dig out.  Our driveway is crazy.

Insane with snow.

Spoiled

I saw this and immediately chuckled and thought of my Bama/Grandma.  Oh did she know how to spoil - aka love us. So many fond memories growing up with her visiting us.  Girl's dormitory.  Popcorn and pop parties.  LeMan's Speedway with the quarters she saved.  Sleepovers

... and then moving on to the next generation with my kiddos -  Jaley having sleepovers at her house and eating tons of sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner ... ice cream sandwiches. Make-up parties. Tea Parties. Walks. So many wonderful things. Thank goodness for grandmothers!

'Laxing

What is Fall Break all about?
Readin' and 'Laxing ...

Just ask Kendall.

Late last week I pulled out some early readers that I bought years ago (these books and our Leapster's Letter Factory Game are two of my best investments for early reading).  He picked the early readers up and started reading.   The light clicked over night!!!  Now I can't get him to stop.  He will read for hours like Kerst.

Water needed

Kendall told me that we needed to water Jaley's bonzi tree.

I told him that we didn't need to because it was dead.

He looked at me and said, "At least her pet rock under the tree isn't dead."

Kendall's day

Several things happened today with Kendall.
He fell on the playground and got a fat bloody lip and a bruise on his chin.

Next, E. drew on the back of Kendall's shirt.

Finally, Kendall was "Caught with Character".  This is a reward system at his school.  When a student is caught doing good things, the teacher writes up a ticket/note stating why the student was caught with character.  The student takes the note to the office, receives a gold  "I was caught with character!"pencil and hangs the note up on the "Caught With Character" board.

I asked Kendall what he did to be caught with character.

"I didn't draw on E's shirt to get him back."

I had to chuckle inside.

Hallow-mas

Kendall was super excited to set up Halloween.  He called me on the phone 2 weeks ago in tears telling me that Daddy wouldn't bring down the Halloween buckets.   To keep the peace, John brought down the buckets.  Kerst and Kendall had a blast setting up.
I wake up this morning and I'm in the mood to set up Christmas.  Why?

The boys were excited to find the blanket of snow.  Jaley headed out sledding with the boys in our backyard.  She is such a fun sister!

How much he reads

He's only 10.  5th grade.  He usually has his nose in a book.  Since school started Aug 9, he has read Harry Potter  #7, #3, #5, #2 (yes, in that order).  He is currently working on Fablehaven.  I hope to get him started on Magyk next.

I went to parent/teacher conferences yesterday.  According to his scores on A.R. (Accelerated Reader) tests, his teacher calculated that he is reading 198 minutes a day to achieve his scores and the number or pages/books he has read.  I'm not surprised.  I have a hard time getting him to turn his light off at night!  It has been a little easier getting him to turn the light off with Fablehaven - he doesn't read that book at night ... it is intense.

Kerst.  My bookworm.

How to count

I love hearing all of the fun songs and poems Kendall learns at school.  He has also been counting my ear off. 

Yesterday he asked how to say 102.

"One hundred two"  (you don't say "and" ... as that indicates a decimal point)

"No, One hundred- ee - two"

Kerst jumped in on the conversation and tried to convince Kendall that it is not one hundred-ee two, but one hundred two.

I thought about it for a minute and then it clicked.  He is smart.  It makes complete sense, especially to a 5 year old.

Follow his logic.

Twenty - two
Thirty - two
Forty - two
Fifty - two
Sixty - two
Seventy - two
Eighty -two
Ninety - two
One hundre-ty two

He's so cute!