Scholastic Bowl Meet

Annah's Scholastic Bowl Team had a home meet this afternoon!  After some schedule rearranging, Caeden, Sylvia, and I were able to go.  It was the first meet I've been able to attend, and I thought it was pretty cool!  

At the beginning of the meet, the team captains introduce themselves and have their teammates introduce themselves so the scorekeeper can check their buzzer/light.  

(It was kind of neat that we knew all the kids on the opposing Gibson City team, because we've done ACT shows with them.)

When a question is asked, it is open to anyone to "buzz in" and answer.  If the question is answered correctly, the team then has first option to answer a 4-part bonus question.  If any parts of the bonus question are unanswered or incorrect the opposing team may then try to answer those. 

Annah got to compete on the A Team today, which is mostly 8th graders.  (She's been on the B Team for every previous meet.)

This meet came down to a tie-breaking question, and Ridgeview lost in the end.  It was fun to get to watch Annah compete with her team, and to see how a Scholastic Bowl meet works.  Proud of our girl!

Birthday presents

It was about 8pm when we all got back home after Sylvia's game, but it was time to open some birthday presents!

While wrapping presents, I practiced the re-use part of "Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle" since we were having a bit of a shortage of boxes...

When Frozen is released on March 13, Sylvie will receive a Blu-Ray/DVD.

This is the 3rd collection of books in the Sisters In Time historical fiction series that Sylvia loves!

Frozen soundtrack!!

I don't think she was overly surprised, but she was really excited to receive an iPod Touch.  

Daddy kind of set a precedent when he did the same thing for Annah's 11th birthday, 

but he enjoyed buying this gift for Sylvia too.

Daddy picked out an awesome case!

And a nice screen shield.

No time for cake and ice cream tonight, just off to bed since there's more ISAT testing tomorrow.  It was quite a busy birthday for our 11-year-old!
)

We love our precious Sylvia and are so grateful for the 11 years she has blessed our lives!

A birthday win

It's Sylvia's 11th birthday today! 

 It has been a crazy-busy week.  The kids all have ISAT testing and lots of extra evening activities.  We are trying to balance it all.  

Tonight Sylvia's volleyball team played two games at TriValley.  I canceled two lessons so I could go, since it's her birthday.  I'm glad I did.  They played two hours of volleyball!  They were much better matched with these teams, and the second match of their second game was very close.  

One girl was having a great serving streak, and the coaches took her out after several serves that brought the game  to a tie. After the opposing team finished their turn, one of the (high school girl) coaches made the strange decision (we still aren't sure if it was illegal or not) to put that girl back in as server.  The other coach called us on it, of course.  The parents were kind of looking around, embarrassed, wondering why the coaches had even tried that.  The other team's coach was gracious and allowed the game to finish with another server, and our girls won the match.  So they played and won a third match.  It was very exciting for them.  

Sylvia played well.  

)

Losing but Winning

We returned to Pontiac today so Sylvia's team could play to come in absolutely last place in the tournament.  I'm not sure she read the bracket well enough to know that, but I do think she was disappointed to be benched after a few minutes of play in the first match and no playing at all in the second.  Many parents seem upset about various things with this 5th grade volleyball season, but we have actually appreciated the way it's been run.  Yes, the team has lost every match they've played, but Sylvia has learned a lot, improved, gained confidence on the court, had fun, and grown closer to her teammates.  To us, that is what should be all about!  We don't care if they don't win a single game; it's 5th grade!  They're supposed to be learning. 

The 6th grade team was there to cheer them on, and led them in this chant over and over...

Everything is awesome!

A few weeks ago, we went to see The LEGO Movie on its opening night.  It was really great and funny, and Caeden immediately dubbed it, "The Best Movie EVER!"

He often checks out various LEGO websites, and late last week realized that there were minifigures from the movie available "for a limited time."  He became fairly obsessed with them and worried that if we didn't order some right away that he would never be able to get any.  While we knew that wasn't going to happen, his Daddy did order him some.  He has been waiting all week for them to arrive, and was literally squealing with joy when he opened them tonight!

The girls are helping him enjoy them too.

St. Mary's Tourney

Sylvia's volleyball team played in a tournament tonight in Pontiac.

She has really been enjoying volleyball more.  

In her game earlier this week, she won candy for being the loudest, most encouraging player on the team that night.

This is how Annah and Caeden watch Sylvia's games.  Okay, they do watch when she serves.

She has learned quite a bit and has gained confidence on the court over the season.

Two high school girls have been coaching these 5th graders at most of their games lately.

Sylvia had a good serve!

Sadly, the girls lost both of their games pretty badly tonight. They still have to come back tomorrow to play another.

ISAT Flash Mob

When the kids came home from school today, they couldn't wait to tell me every detail about the awesome flash mob the teachers performed for them when they got to school this morning!  They had spent 3 weeks working on this after school every day!  We are so fortunate to have these teachers who go out of their way to encourage our kids to have fun, be healthy, and work hard!

Caeden's 3rd Grade Field Trip

Caeden's 3rd grade took a field trip to Springfield today to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  I was really happy to be allowed to go as a chaperone.

On the bus, the teachers had a fun trivia game--Lincoln trivia for the kids, who have been studying the 16th president for a month, and trivia about the two third grade teachers for the parents!  (It came out to a tie, so everyone got fruit snacks.)

When you enter the rotunda of the museum, the first thing you notice is the giant facade of the White House as it actually looked while Lincoln was president.

 And the Lincoln family (in wax) is standing in the rotunda to greet guests.

So, of course, every possible combination of group on a trip MUST pose with the Lincoln family!

This is our entire 3rd grade.

Caeden's class, and their teacher, Mr. Harms

Caeden's class, including chaperones

Caeden with a few classmates/friends

 Caeden and me with the Lincolns

A couple of the museum staff greeted us. 

 One lady pointed out that there is a penny in the center of the floor of the museum...significant because President Lincoln is on the penny.

There are two amazing presentations including holograms.  

The first we saw was Ghosts of the Library.

 And inside the Union Theater, we saw Lincoln's Eyes.  Both are fascinating!

Inside the museum, photography is only allowed in the rotunda, and recording of any kind is not allowed.   But, we did tour Lincoln's Log Cabin--a journey through his pre-presidential years.  And, of course, inside the white house are many wonderful exhibits and experiences detailing his presidency.  Since we were with a group of 3 moms and 5 third grade boys, there wasn't a lot of stopping to read and take in information.  However, we did sit through the video progression of the Civil War in 4 minutes and the boys were all astounded by it.

We ate a super speedy lunch at the Subway inside the museum, finished looking around, and hopped back on the bus for the trek back to school.

I'm thankful I was able to go; it is an awesome museum.  I hope we can go back when all the kids are old enough to appreciate learning there.  Caeden says he enjoyed it, but honestly I felt like I was watching him struggle to find a place in with his classmates all day.  He always surprises me though, and later comments on things he learned while I didn't think he was paying attention.  Hopefully that will ring true of this trip too.