4th Grade Olympics

This morning, the 4th graders had their end of the year Olympics held across the street at the high school track. It was all track and field events so it was right up my ally. I was thrilled to be there to help. I was in charge of the running long jump and that was a very popular event so I was not able to get pictures of every event that Samuel participated in. He chose to do the running long jump (yes it was my station and I still didn't get pictures), the fox tail throw, the 55 meter dash and the 400 meter (HOORAY, that's my boy!)

This event is done so well. It was amazingly organized. They had music for the "parade of athletes" to walk in and out to. They had the Leone timing company there to time all the races (they do all the official half and full marathon timing in the Northeast). Everything happened in a timely manner and everyone had a great time.

Here come the athletes.


You see Sam? Yep, orange coat. It stopped raining for the morning, thank goodness, but it was still a little breezy and cool.


Here's my official long jump helper!



Sam, staying warmed up and waiting for his heat of the 400. I was struck by this picture when I loaded it onto the computer. Seems to me that we have one (or more) of me with that same look of focus and nervousness waiting for my races to start.


A few last instructions before the gun.


I ran the back straight stretch along side Sam on the infield to encourage him and keep him going. He was in last right off the bat but his teacher and I encouraged him to focus on the boy in front of him and low and behold, he passed him around the corner!


Coming in for the big finish. Two things about this picture (I wish is was a video but sometimes I forget that I can do that with my camera).

First....the man behind Sam in the black coat with the umbrella is his amazing teacher Mr. Gates. He has such an unreal connection and heart for Sam, it's unbelievable. He sat in the stands the entire morning, but came down for Sam's 400, ran around the inside of the track cheering him on and gave him a huge high five and a hug when he finished.

Second, if you could have heard the crowd of kids and adults cheering for my little man, you would have teared up. I sure did. In fact just writing about it is making me cry. Mr. Stimson was cheering for him over the loud speaker and I could hardly hear him over the noise the crowd was making. These kids have huge hearts and they are so kind to each other! Simply wonderful.


After all was said and done, they sat in the bleachers to receive their awards. Everyone got a participant ribbon but they also gave out ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each event.





I turned on the video camera just to catch the kids applauding their effort and I caught one of Mr. Stimson's encouraging talks and the way these kids respect him. Notice how he puts the mic down and just talks to the kids, and notice the complete silence they give him.



Did you see the cute boy in the gray sweatshirt in the top row to the right?


Yep, he's mine.


After the ribbons, they all walked out to more music and headed back to their own school for some lunch and learning.


This girl Sam is walking with (and you may have seen her sitting by him in the bleachers) is Gina. She is a sweetheart. She took Sam under her wing today (without being asked by anyone) and made sure he always knew where to go and what was happening next. I overheard him telling her that since he didn't place in the 400, he wished they would give a ribbon for the person who tried the hardest in that race because he would "surely get that award". She came up to me on the walk back and said, "Mrs. Ankeny I'm going to make Sam a ribbon for doing such a good job in his long race."
I am thankful for that little girl!

May Happenings

So now that the snow has melted and cross country ski club has ended, the amazing P.E. teacher, Mr. Stimson, has started the running club. This is a club that he has been running before school every spring for the past 17 years!
There are about 150 of the 3rd and 4th graders that show up for running before school and probably an equal amount of 1st and 2nd graders on their running days. Amazing.
Mr. Stimson is always encouraging to these kids and commending them for getting up early to take care of their bodies and be healthy.

Samuel being the little distance runner that he is, loves this time. He told me that he feels so much better during the days when he runs in the morning. He said it clears his head and helps him to have a better mood all during school. I am so proud of him for recognizing that already, it took me until the last couple of years in high school to notice those benefits.


They start out in the gym and run/walk for their warm up (Sam always runs the entire time).


Then they sit for instructions and stretching (obviously here you can see that a bunch of kids were late this morning).


Then they head out to the track to run their designated number of laps.


It's hard to see, but Sam is almost in the middle of this picture (the boy pulling his shorts up....a continuous problem for the skinny minnie!).
In the middle of June, the weekend before school lets out, there are some fun run races that the high school XC team hosts. Mr. Stimson encourages all the kids to participate in that. Sam will be doing the 1 mile fun run. Jacob is undecided at this point. I think I'll do the 10K. Should be a fun family day!

We also had some great sunny and warm weather the past week, so last weekend the ground was dry enough to till the garden plot.
Jacob is such a helper! It started to rain but he didn't care. He just kept on digging.
Since we tilled, the rain has not stopped so we now have a big mud pit....here's hoping for some sun again so we can plant over Memorial weekend.


Then just for the fun of it, I made a cake last night.

It was a gluten free chocolate cake with belgian malt chocolate frosting and toasted marshmallow filling.
Oh, my it was yummy!


We hardly made a dent in the thing because it was so darn huge. Guess I'll have to make another pot of coffee and have more tonight.

April

How can April be over already and I am now looking at the last half of May? I feel like it was still winter last week (pretty close to reality here really) and now it's coming up on summer. Here is a recap of some of the things that we had happening in April.....


Early on in the month we had a bit of a warm up so we took advantage of the melted snow and went for a hike at Green Lakes (yes the lakes are actually green....something to do with the light reflection off of a special algae that grows on the special fresh water reefs....I don't know). There was a lot of mud and still a good amount of ice on the water but we enjoyed our selves.


It was a beautiful day.


Jacob making his typical 8 year old boy face. I've even caught myself using the line "Your face is going to freeze like that!" Never thought I'd say it but I never really knew how boys were!


Sam as an antelope


Braden eating a stick, again....I don't know.


A few days later it snowed. Sad.


The elementary school held it's annual science fair. This place was CRAZY! I never even made it all the way through the projects because the aisles were so darn packed with people that you couldn't move. Sam researched different types of renewable energy and Jacob worked with two friends on an earthquake project.


They all did great!


Towards the end of the month we had a visit from Nana and Papa (Luke's parents). I seem to go through fazes where I am either really good with remembering the camera or I am really bad. Sad to say, this visit, I was really bad. So sorry! We'll have to get copies from Papa's camera. The boys had a great time playing and we all enjoyed showing them around a little even though the weather did not cooperate much.


Sometimes there are no words for this boy.


The day after Nana and Papa left, Braden hoped on Samuel's bike (with no training wheels) and rode away, having never practiced! We figured he was ready to take the training wheels off of his own bike.


Then the Easter bunny came. Unfortunately this cute little bunny might find itself being thumped on the head by a flying club. That pesky little guy is going to try his best to get into our garden after we plant, I'm sure of it.




To top off the month, I celebrated the birthday that now puts me on the near side of 40. I have to say though 36 doesn't sound too bad to me.
I was never much of a fan of the color pink but having been surrounded by boys and blue and red for so many years now, I am growing quite fond of it. My cake this year was chocolate with strawberry cream filling between the layers and covered with pink buttercream flowers. It was fun to make and more fun to eat!

Up next....May. We are half way through the month and I have a good amount to show you already.

From the Boys This Week

Samuel and Jacob came home from school today with some great test scores again. Really, this is happening every week but I thought this time I would "brag" a little....especially for you grandparents to hear how they are doing.

Samuel is continuing his hard work in writing and math and we, along with his teachers, are seeing some great strides in those areas. He told me the other day that he noticed his handwriting was getting better and it was a lot easier, didn't hurt his hand as much as it used to. But he quickly reminded me that "it is no my favorite thing to do and I still hate it" At least he is doing it right? Science, History and Reading are where he is shining. He brought home, once again, a Vocabulary/reading comprehension test and a Science test today....both of which he scored a 4 on (equivalent of an A). He was very proud of his work and so are we!

Jacob is really taking off in spelling, writing and science. Although his favorite subject is math and he is doing quite well there too. Today he brought home another perfect spelling test. He also brought home a writing assignment that they did in class on St. Patricks Day. It was so stinking cute that I had to take a picture to share with you all.

In case you can't read it, he wrote: "More Precious Than Gold By Jacob Ankeny
We all know that a pot of gold would be pretty exciting but I wouldn't trade my dog for all the gold in the world! She is more precious that gold and she is the best dog. She does anything you tell her to do. Do you have anyone you love that much?"
Isn't that sweet? There really is something about a boy and his dog!

And on to Braden....since he doesn't have any official school work to share with you, I'll just fill you in on his funniness (is that a word?)

It seems like every time this boy gets sick, he gets an ear infection in his left ear. He never shows any of the typical signs like fever or complaining of ear pain. In fact the first few times I didn't even know until his ear drum ruptured and stuff started leaking. I have come to realize that he does in fact show ONE sign of an ear infection.....the number of times that he says "What?" in a day is the key. I find myself repeating absolutely everything to him. And even when I do repeat myself he often misunderstands what I say. Right now is one of those times. Here is a perfect example.
Two nights ago I was fixing dinner. Braden came in and hung his head over the pan and said "whats for dinner?" Clearly by looking in the pan he could tell I was making fried rice but I answered anyway, "Fried rice" He said "What?" I repeated, "Fried rice". He looked at me with the most confused look and said "Why are you making french fries?" I had a good laugh.
I think I should take him in for some antibiotics.

In other news, I am horrible about remembering my camera when I am going places. Today Jacob had a 2nd grade concert at school. The theme was "At the Movies" and they sang a bunch of songs from old and newer movies. It was very cute, but I forgot the camera so you don't get to see it. Sorry. What I really wanted to do was show you how far he has come since his preschool program where he stood front and center, arms stiff at his side, staring at the back wall. He never sang a note, never did a motion, hardly even blinked! Today he was singing and doing all the motions! He even had a speaking part!

I need to just keep my camera in my purse so I don't have to remember it!

More "Cupcake" Pictures

Friday night seems to be a good time for me to post pictures, can you tell. This is my third post tonight!

Last month I posted a few pictures of food that I made for Valentine's Day. I made a different kind of cupcake today that I thought I would show you. Our friend had a baby boy in Jan. but they have been so busy with moving here and the holidays that we (our other friend Amy and I) have not been able to do a baby shower for Joy. We finally got it scheduled for this Sunday. As part of the table decorations, I made these....


They are "cupcakes" made out of burp rags (which I made myself from some super cute printed flannel) and baby socks rolled up and put in small coffee filters. Super cute!


I made two different burp rags. The green one has brown monkeys on it and the blue ones have trucks. They are reversible and frayed around the edges. Sorry I didn't think to take any pictures of them before I rolled them up.

These next two pictures are for my Mom so that she can see how my sewing table looks painted black and how my Hobby Lobby purchase looks in the dining room.

Doesn't the table took a thousand times better? By the way I got those two candle holders on sale at, yep, you guessed it, Hobby Lobby for $5!

What do you think Mom? Don't you think the two big candle sconces I told you about would look good on the sides of it?

Lake Front Property

Did you know we had lake front property?

Apparently if you mix 14 feet of snow with warm-ish weather, and a little bit of rain, the field behind our house becomes a small lake.

The boys had fun the other day exploring the icy edges of it.

There is a "tributary" that runs from our back yard out the the "lake" now.....I'm wondering if as the rest of the snow melts our yard will just become part of the lake? Maybe.

Did you notice I said "as the rest of the snow melts" not "when or if the rest of it melts" I am being positive and hoping that we are on our way to spring. We seem to be in a pattern of one nice day with temps in the low 40's followed by two or three days of snow and wind with temps in the teens and 20's. I'm enjoying those 40's when they come!

Cicero Sock Hop

About a month ago, the boys came home with from school with an announcement that there was going to be a "school dance" on March 3. Really? For elementary school? With a little questioning, I got more details. In the coming weeks the P.E. teachers were going to be teaching them different dances to do at the "Sock Hop". I was curious to see what kind of dances they were learning and how our shy, quiet (in public settings), "I don't like to perform", maybe not so coordinated boys would do with this.
The several times that I was in the building during the following weeks, I could hear songs like The Chicken Dance, The Twist, Cotton Eyed Joe and a little bit of Justin Bieber coming from the gym down the hall.....yikes!

Well the big night finally came. Jacob was very excited.....Samuel not so much.

Above you can see Samuel in the Lowe's NASCAR shirt with Jacob next to him in the green. I have to say, this is only about a quarter of the kids that ended up coming. By the time the dance was in full swing the entire gym was packed. This P.E. teacher, Mr. Stimson (you can see him talking to the kids on the left) has amazing control of the crowd. He is not a loud person and never did I hear him raise his voice, but with a single word he would have complete silence and all eyes on him. Very impressive!


Let the dancing begin! They started out with an M.Y.B. dance (Move Your Body). Freestyle! Hence the Justin Bieber. You should have heard the girls scream when he came on and seen all the boys plug their ears! As soon as the dancing started, Jacob came over and sat at my feet. He was too overwhelmed by the crowd and wanted nothing to do with it. Samuel on the other hand has some moves! He was out there for the entire hour and a half!

They did the Twist, the Cotton Eyed Joe, the YMCA and the Chicken dance (which I got Jacob to stand up and do with me). They did the Electric Slide some square dancing, the Fox Trot and several others.

Here is Samuel behind his friends McKenzie (in the silver) and her brother Kadin (in the yellow). They are the middle two kids of our friends who are part of this church plant with us.


All the kids doing the Limbo. Sam is squatting under the pole at the far left. They would turn the lights out for some of the dances and have strobe lights going so it was hard to get good pictures.

Samuel doing the Twist with McKenzie. She didn't really dance much until they got to the square dancing and the horse and buggy.


Look at that boy in the gray shirt shakin' his booty!


Finally, the square dancing. Samuel and McKenzie headed out to the center of the floor. I followed them and got this quick picture of their backs, then my camera battery died! UGH! I was going to get a video too. I so wanted you all to see him doing some of these fun, social dances, and to get a shot of Jacob actually doing something (even if it was the silly chicken dance). I learned my lesson. Next time it will be fully charged!

There was one time when Mr. Stimson put on a slower song, I think it was Earth Angel. He said "we're going to slow it down a bit..." I wasn't so sure about that. But in elementary school, the girls dance with the girls and the boys sit on the sides (I think the teachers know that).....except for Samuel. He came and got me and I had a very sweet slow dance with my amazing guy!

We came away talking about how much fun we all had. I am in complete awe of Mr. Stimson and the program that he has at this school as well as the respect these kids have for him (and the other teacher Mr. Bigford).
Now they are on to lessons in basketball and each night at dinner when the boys talk about what they learned in P.E. Luke is thrilled because they are REALLY teaching the fundamentals.