Christmas 2010

By mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve everyone had arrived (my parents and Rita and Darrell), and as Sam said, it was time for "the party " to start. The first several hours of the party are taken up by visiting and eating. Since the kids have a hard time containing their Christmas Eve excitement during this time, we decided to break slightly from tradition and give them their Christmas Eve gift early. This year's gift was a Christmas Lego set, which they worked on and gave the adults some peace. We didn't end up finished the Toy Shop until this afternoon, but it looks awesome and will be great as a Christmas decoration in the years to come.
After Christmas Eve dinner, each of the kids played some Christmas songs on the piano.
This was followed by most of us playing a game of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."
Then we each opened a gift - we give the kids new pajamas and Maria gave each adult a knitted creation that she whipped up in the last 48 hours.
Then came the traditional reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with Ben, leaving out cookies and milk for Santa, and off to bed with the kids.
Christmas morning was a flurry of activity, with the kids opening their gifts first, then the adults. The kids each got a mini-DVD player form Santa, and other toys, Lego sets, clothes, and winter outside fun stuff. The adults got the usual boring stuff - clothes, cookware, calendars, and books.
My parents left after lunch on Christmas day, and Rita and Darrell left in the late afternoon. The four of us played with more Christmas gifts, then watched Despicable Me before bed. All in all, another wonderful Christmas for the Kellers.

Cub Scouts & Reindeer & Drama, Oh My!

Last night I took both kids to Sam's Cub Scout Christmas party. I haven't been to a Cub Scout event in over a year - Ben and I have an agreement where he does all things Cub Scouts and I do all things 4-H with Maria. And it seems I really get the better part of the deal since 4-H only meets every two weeks for half of the year, and Cub Scouts meet each week during the school year. Not to mention the camp-outs.

But last night Ben had a basketball game, and since it was the Christmas party, and the craft looked pretty involved, we decided I should take Sam instead of having Gage's Dad take him. And I had mixed feeling about going - I was looking forward to the dinner - I love potlucks - little work with lots of food. I was looking forward to the end result of the craft - I have to say one unseen bonus of Cub Scouts is adding some cool, although very large, holiday decorations to our collection. But the reindeer required wood-working, and my wood working skills are pretty lacking. In fact, I can't think of anything I've ever done in my 40 years of life that could be categorized as "wood-working."

So Sam, Maria and I headed off to the party last night (Maria either had to go to the meeting or the game with Ben, and since her friend Makenna would be at the meeting with her brother, that is what she chose). We enjoyed a delicious dinner, and then the instructions for the craft we given. I was listening closely, most boys weren't listening at all - I guess that's why the parents are there. And its also why, as a teacher, I can't stand Cub Scouts meetings. I was relieved that no sawing was involved, only drilling, using a ratchet (I think that's what it's called) and some nailing. All the pieces were already cut. I prided myself on letting Sam do as much as possible. I also watched other Dads very closely so I would know exactly what Sam was to do. And I will admit that I never said no to helpful hints from some of those Dads.

Sam and I had a great time. He loves to put things together like that - and was so proud for doing everything himself - I only held pieces in place for him (even nails when he had the hammer, which was frightening but I only got hit a few times). When he was done, I took his picture with his reindeer and was thinking about how successful the evening had been. It was time to find Maria and head home.

That's when I learned that Maria and Makenna were making their own reindeer but were a couple of stations behind us. I had been so involved in Sam's craft I figured the girls were off somewhere working in Maria's Christmas puzzle book. But there were extra materials, and so they were allowed to make reindeer as well. My first thought was "Cool, now we'll have a matching pair." My second thought was "I hope Sam's not upset since Scouts is his thing." I was worried that he might feel bad about his reindeer because hers was a little more polished, since she is much older than he is. But he seemed fine so far. He was noticing that other boys were painting mouths on their reindeer, and he was bored, so he decided to paint a big black mouth on his reindeer and outlined it in red. And then 5 minutes later he decided he didn't like it. We tried to wipe it off, but the paint had started to dry, and so I told him to go to the bathroom and get a wet paper towel.

And that's when things started to go wrong. Apparently on the way to the bathroom, the thing that hangs on his shirt, where the boys collect beads for each activity they complete, had come undone and beads had scattered all over the floor. So he came to me in tears, and eventually I was able to figure out what happened - he was crying pretty hard and I couldn't understand him. So we went over to the area where it happened and I could only find 1 bead - he should have had five. Meanwhile, the paint on the deer's mouth, which Sam wants to disappear, is still drying. So I told him we would deal with the beads later and told him to go get that wet paper towel. He was upset but came out of the bathroom with a piece of dripping wet paper towel, which of course lightened the paint but did not take it off. So now he's really upset - he lost his beads and feels like he ruined his deer, which he had been so proud of 15 minutes earlier. I am losing patience and just want to go home.

We ran into Bryan, Makenna and Gage's Dad, who asked me if I would take a picture on my phone of all four kids and their reindeer (you can tell Sam is not very happy in this picture). But he also told Sam the best way to get rid of the paint would be to paint the whole reindeer head at home. So we take the picture and get out of there. Ben had called and wouldn't be home for at least another hour, which meant this reindeer thing was not going to be fixed right then. So I had Ben talk to Sam on the phone and come up with a plan to fix the deer in the morning.

When we got home, Maria gave Sam some beads that she had that were exactly like the ones she had lost, which stopped the tears, finally. Then she asked him if he would like to use her paint to put his name at the reindeer base like she did, and he was happy about that too. So now he was satisfied with the reindeer, and with the promise that Dad would fix the paint problem in the morning, and all was well again. He was in a pretty good mood by the time he went to bed. But boy did I need a drink.

Author Visit

Tonight we stopped at the library after dance to meet the author Margaret Peterson Haddix. She's written a series of books that Maria has read called "The Missing Series." She has also has written the last book in the "39 Clues" series, which is a big hit with many 4th-6th graders. The author went to Miami, and resides in Columbus. we were an hour late due to Maria's dance class, but got there in time to have Maria's book signed and answer one of Maria's question. Andy was there and said the talk was very interesting - it certainly brought a larger crowd than I've ever seen at the library!

Maria's Knitting Projects

Maria has been knitting a lot lately. After knowing how to knit and crochet for almost three years, she has finally started to complete larger projects, both for herself and as gifts for others. Since Thanksgiving, she has been working on two main projects - finishing the baby blanket for her dance teacher Miss Krista, and making little stuffed gingerbread boys/girls. She is making a gingerbread boy/girl for each of her friends and for each of her teachers, both at school and dance, piano, etc. That means she makes one a day, and each one is original in some small way, with the hair bows and buttons being different colors. The gingerbread boys won't have bows, but she hasn't started on them yet. Basically, if Maria is home, she is knitting, and while she's enjoying it, I think she'll be relieved when they're all done. But aren't they cute?

Marysville Christmas Parade

This afternoon was the Marysville Christmas parade. Maria was in the parade with the PAtty Beery School of Dance. This year she got to dress up as one of the Gingerbread girls, which she was very happy about. Last year, she was a toy soldier, and even though both our family and the Smiths went to the parade to see her, we all missed her go by. So this year we made certain we had a good picture before the parade even started. We ended up on the opposite side of the street as last year, though, and Maria anticipated us on the same side. So she was on the opposite side as us in the parade which made taking pictures difficult, once again.

It was very cold today, 30 degrees with wind chills around 20, so we bundled up a lot. Maria tried to guess what she could wear under her costume, and in the end I had to give her my layer of running tights that she could wear under the red striped tights the studio gave her to wear. I also gave her my ear warmer - she chose to bring a hat instead (even though I suggested otherwise), and the hat did not work well under the costume. But that meant I was able to wear her hat, so I wasn't too cold. And Maria was warm enough too, especially since the girls dance routines on the parade route to music pumped from a nearby truck. It even snowed throughout the entire parade, which made is seem very Christmas-y.

After two parades two Sundays n a row, I will be happy to stay warm and cozy and inside next Sunday.

Maria's Christmas Walk Performances

Sam's First Parade

This afternoon Sam walked with his Cub Scout troop in the Milford Center Christmas parade. There weren't many kids who made it - the Sunday after Thanksgiving is a horrible time for a parade with everyone traveling. Maria and I watched - Ben was with his band - but Maria and I parked a couple of blocks away so we could leave as soon as soon as Sam and Ben went by (both were at the beginning of the parade so we didn't have to stay long). And the weather was perfect - sunny with no wind and 40 degrees.

When they got home I asked Sam if he had fun. He said yes, but he apologized for not throwing candy at us since he was on the other side of the road.

Next week Maria dances with her dance class in the Marysville Christmas parade - I just hope the weather is as nice as it was today!

Thanksgiving

We had another great Thanksgiving this year. We were fortunate that everyone could travel to be here with us, including Ben's parents, my parents, and my sister Wendy and her family. The meal turned out great, and Maria did a lot of my cooking this year - the only thing I do with the turkey is lift it for her and pull out the guts. Ben started off the morning running in the Flying Feather 4-Miler, but I chose not to run so I could stay here - I just love our tradition of cooking with my daughter and then watching the parade with both kids. Ben did well, and the very rainy day took a break while the run was going on, which was a huge relief.

We spent the rest of the weekend getting stuff done and having time to relax too. We got the Christmas decorations up Friday, even though Sam had some kind of stomach bug he was able to help some (he never really helps a lot). Saturday we went to see the Harry Potter movie (which was awesome) and out to dinner, and today we watched Ben and Sam in the Milford Center Christmas parade (Ben with the band, Sam with the Cub Scouts). No one really wants to go back to school tomorrow, but time always flies in these short weeks between now and Christmas!

Parent Teacher Conference

Last week we met with Sam's teacher for a parent teacher conference. Sam has been doing well this year, but elementary teachers always have a lot of additional testing information to share - seems like they are constantly having to test kids for some reason at this level. Anyway, Sam is reading very well, and is almost at the level where they should be at the end of the second grade year. What's holding him back is not the reading, but the comprehension, where he sometimes seems to miss the main points of the story. None of this surprised me, as I read with him most evenings and noticed this myself. I think sometimes he just quits paying attention and his mind wanders, and he misses part of the story. He may need to be a person who re-reads to get the main idea, although I'm not certain he'll enjoy the extra work. But he is still doing very well, and she commented on how well he reads out loud with expression (which is something Maria always did well, too).

Sam is also excelling in math, which seems to be his favorite subject (in spite of the tears we sometimes have doing math homework!). His teacher mentioned that not only does he do well, but he is often "creative" at coming up with different ways to solve the problems. That was great to hear since problem solving is such an important life skill - if he could just use this skill when he loses a Nintendo game and "can't find it anywhere"). Plus I've always thought he would probably lean toward a math type career as he gets older - especially with his love of building. But only time will tell.

Behavior-wise, Sam's teacher said following rules is important to him. That he will leave a group of kids if he thinks they are going to get into trouble. He just told me the other day that he hates the way they spilt the classes up for math because now he's in a group where "he's the only one who listens." Probably an exaggeration but I'm glad he is paying attention, at least. I'm just glad he tries to follow the rules, when he was three and four years old I used to wonder if he would be able to control his temper and worried he might be a child who acted out.

Sam can write well, but does not enjoy writing. He will usually write the minimum required, and although what he writes is done well, we would all like to see him write a little bit more. But I think it may be a fairly common boy trait, and as long as he is doing a decent job on what is required, I'm not sure how much I can push him on that. And his spelling is very good - seems to have that natural gift for being a good speller. Which is especially good since I usually forget to go over his words with him before his Friday tests (poor second child - I never forgot when Maria was this age!)

Speaking of Maria, we didn't go to the middle school conferences this time. They do "student-led" conferences, and I feel like she tells us stuff about school at home when she needs to. Not to mention we are down the hall from her teachers - they could find us whenever they needed to if there was something we needed to know. And Ben and I have each been stopped by at least one of her teachers this year so that they can tell us wonderful things about her (which never gets old). So I just didn't see the point of trying to fit a conference in our busy schedules. She did bring her folder home from school and show me everything in it, which is what would have happened at the conference.

Prairie Oaks 5K/10K

Ben and I both ran in a race yesterday - I ran the 5K, and Ben ran the 10K. This is the first time we've raced since school started, and other than running my 14 miles each week on the treadmill, I really hadn't trained for this race specifically - hadn't even run outside in over a month. But Ben loved this race last year, said the trail was beautiful and that the weather is usually cool but nice, so I agreed to do it.

Of course, since I was running, the weather was not what we expected - it was 32 degrees during the entire race (I have a bit of a curse when it comes to racing weather - it's either way too cool, or way too warm). Luckily, Ben had some cold weather running clothes I borrowed, and ended up dressed perfectly for the cold weather. (I don't have my own cold weather running clothes, because I don't plan to run outside in the winter.) Anyway, we got there over an hour early yesterday, checked in, and then sat in the warm car for quite a while. We just kept moving while we were waiting for the race to start, and that kept us warm enough. Once the race started, I didn't really notice the cold, except for my nose running so much.

Andrea Owsley ended up running the race as well, and Doug brought their kids and took pictures, so we have pictures of the race, which was a nice surprise. Andrea and I started off together, but eventually I pulled away. I just set what felt as my usual running pace and tried to maintain it for the entire race. There were some hills, though, which I'm not used to, but I would not let myself walk, no matter what. This is the first time I've raced without any pains in my legs during the last mile. I felt like I ran a good race, but was disappointed when the finish line was in sight and it was already past the 33rd minute - my goal was to beat 32 minutes. (Now I know that my Nike+ distance is far enough off that I just thought I could run faster than I actually can.) So imagine my surprise when I checked the posted times and realized I had won 2nd place for my age group - females 40-49. My official time was 33"35". If I had still been 39, I would have been in the middle of the pack. I picked up my plaque and went back to the finish line to wait with Doug for Ben to finish (the 10K started several minutes after the 5K so I had a little bit of time).

Ben's goal was to beat his personal record and finish in about 45 minutes. But after his warm up run, he told me his legs were a little tight and he wasn't sure he could do it. Unlike me, he has been training for this race pretty intensely. At the 43 minute mark, Doug and I saw Ben turn the corner and race toward the finish, with a very athletic runner right on his heals. We cheered him on and Ben beat that guy - and his personal record by about 2 minutes (still waiting for official times to be posted). After he crossed the line, Ben had to lay down in the grass and got a little sick - I've read about runners vomiting at the end of races but never witnessed it before. So Ben blew away his personal record but it wasn't good enough to win in his age category - even though he was 10th overall, it ended up being 7th in his age division for men 40-49. Those are some serious runners.

Anyway, it was a successful race for both of us - Ben set a new PR, and I got an award even though I didn't set a PR.

Trick or Treat

Sam is a Dementor from Harry Potter, in case you were wondering.

Boo at the Zoo

Frankly, "Boo at the Zoo" was fairly disappointing. Most of the "candy stations" were out of candy and deserted when we got there, so the kids dragged their Trick or Treat bags through the zoo and got one piece of candy. We had the kids eat dinner at the Food Court (we had chili simmering ont the stove for the grown-ups when we got back), and most of their food was old and/or cold. On the upside, the weather was pretty nice and I finally got to see the new polar bear exhibit (the rest of the family saw it in the spring during school field trips). And we spent the evening with good friends. But I think it will be the last time we go to "Boo at the Zoo."

Ben's on T.V.!

Report Cards

MOM!...Phineas and Ferb are Carving Pumpkins

Last night we carved pumpkins. The kids chose Phineas and Ferb as this year's theme - although since Sam wanted his pumpkin to be Perry (or Agent P), Maria decided she wanted her to be Candice, so we didn't actually have any Phineas and Ferb pumpkins. Ben did the drawing and the carving of Sam's, and Maria carved her own using Ben's drawing as a guide. I cleaned the guts out of Sam's pumpkin for him and dealt with all of the clean-up. Sam is pretty grossed out by all things pumpkin - can't even stand the smell - so we pretty much did all of the work on his, but he was thrilled with the results.

Last night was just the first step in an all Halloween weekend. Tonight the Wilson kids are spending the night -we're going to a costume party at Color Me Mine to paint pottery too. Tomorrow night we are headed to Boo at the Zoo with the Smiths, and then Sunday night is Trick or Treat. And the kids have their school parties today. I think they will be tired of wearing their costumes by the time Halloween is actually here!

Another Miami Homecoming

Yesterday was unique for us because we didn't march with the Alumni Band (due to Sam's last soccer game at 8:45), but made it to Oxford in time for lunch and most of the football game. The game was bad (we were getting killed by OU), so shortly after halftime we went to the tailgate area where we all hung out - the kids could play, the adults could talk, and the weather was perfect for being outside. Maria and Sam loved taking care of Elliott Owsley (he's three and so cute!), and got to play with other Miami friends as well. At 5:00, we headed to the Alumni Band reception and had dinner, and watched old videos of our days in the marching band. We were in the car on the way home by 8:00, and got home at 10:00. It was a long day, but a great time.

Family Update

I know I haven't blogged in almost two weeks. I honestly don't know where the time goes. Here's a quick update on what's going on here since I haven't had time to complete any longer posts.

Sam finishes up his soccer season tomorrow. I think his team is 2-2-3 going into tomorrow's game. He has scored several goals this season, and usually plays pretty well. But the season being over means we can sleep in on Saturdays - at least for a month until basketball season starts! Sam is also enjoying Cub Scouts this year - good friend Gage joining has helped a lot. Ben and Bryan (Gage's dad) take turns taking both boys to the meetings, so that helps out the grown-ups' sanity, and it's more fun for the boys to ride together in the car to and from the meetings. Sam is excelling at school, but still rebels during homework sometimes. He can have real trouble focusing here in the evenings, and subtraction facts have tried both my and his patience this week. But he aced his test today with a 98%! And in his spare time, its all about Pokemon. The Nintendo games, the cards, the videos on YouTube, and my favorite, reading the Pokemon handbook to me every night before he goes to bed. This Pokemon stuff is like a whole other world, and he knows a lot about it. Me, not so much.

Maria is busy, busy, busy. She has jazz dance on Monday evenings, XM (Extreme Motion - like a show choir) on Tuesday nights, and Gymnastics on Wednesday nights. Since school started she was elected to Student Council, and has usually a meeting a week. Then she joined middle school choir - 7:15 A.M. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Then this week she started a Gifted and Talented program after school on Wednesdays - right now the focus is reading/writing using the Hunger Game series by Suzanne Collins. After Christmas it's math oriented with a stock market game. Next year we might have to consider all of this after school stuff coming up before we sign her up for so much dance before the school year starts. This year we didn't realize the additional opportunities now that she's in middle school. But she's handling it pretty well, and is doing awesome in school as well. Also, the 6th grade teachers have repeatedly told us how much they like Maria, for a variety of reasons, which is always nice to hear. With all of this activity, she is one very tired girl at bedtime each night.

Ben is suffering through the end of a very trying marching band season this year. Contests are over, but tonight he had to travel three hours (one way!) to a football game, after taking the band to the Circleville Pumpkin show all day yesterday. And now we're in 8th place in our division, meaning that barring any unforeseen circumstances, our football team will go to the play-offs on November 6. But losing that night will be a sure-thing, at least. Ben is also running between 25-30 miles a week, which helps keep him sane, I think, and he has several races coming up in November. And he is enjoying his new car.

I am the support system for all of these busy people. I am having a very enjoyable year at work - just really like my kids this year, and such a change after last year. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time - teaching is so much fun with good kids, and so awful with annoying kids. But after work, I am a typical Mom, taking kids here and there, cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc. The good thing is that each of the kids' activity is the same week to week, so we have a system that works pretty well - Ben does a lot of the running around, too. We still manage to all sit down together for dinner every night other than Tuesday. I also manage to exercise Sunday through Thursday (I give myself Friday and Saturday off). I run Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, my goal being 14 miles each week. On Tuesdays I go to a Zumba class, which is a lot of fun and uses some different muscles than running. I can do most of the steps by now, but not sure I look great doing them! And I still read every day, mainly to escape my crazy life!

Everyone who has grown kids tell us that we'll miss all this craziness when they grow up and move out, so we're trying to enjoy every minute. We're just thankful to have great kids who like being involved in different stuff, and who are pretty fun to be around, as well.

Maria the Triathlete

Yesterday Maria competed in the YMCA's kids triathlon. This was her second year of competition. Last year she took home 2nd place for girls in her age division, so she was looking to medal this year as well.

Unfortunately, she came in 4th place, and only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places receive medals.

They start with a two mile bike race. Maria came in 2nd overall, and the first girl. And she won by a pretty good margin. So she felt really good going into the run.

Last year, Maria won the 1-mile run. She paced herself, while most of the other kids ran fast in the beginning and ended up having to walk during quite a bit of the race. This year, she has even more experience running as she completed her first 5K last month. So she set off at a good pace, and finished her first lap in 5 minutes (the race took two laps). But she was still in the middle of the pack - some of these kids looked like the were experienced athletes. And it was pretty hot out - 85 degrees in the hot afternoon sun. She went faster and did her 2nd half mile in 4 minutes - total 1-mile time was 9'07" - but still finished at least a minute behind the leaders.

So that left it up to the swim. Kids her age had to swim 400 meters - four laps end to end of the pool. And several of the girls her age have swam competitively before- you can tell by the somersault turn they do when they reach the end of the pool. Maria did well, but apparently not well enough to beat the top three girls in her age group. She was disappointed, but got over it quickly.

She still accomplished a lot - ran her best mile ever, and won for girls in the bike race. And to even attempt a triathlon is certainly admirable - we're very proud of her.

And I should mention that Sam scored the first goal in his soccer game yesterday - his team tied 3-3 yesterday.

Yeah...I Got A New Car

So my Honda Element was a great car.  It was durable, it was functional, it had character.  It did have shortcomings, however.  It was kind of sluggish.  The interior wasn't really functional with the cupholders hidden under the armrest and the lack of any storage bins whatsoever were annoying.  There was also the fact that the sunroof was in the back seat....which was great for the kids, but not so much for me.  It was an AWD vehicle too, but I really only used it a few times in its almost 8-year history.  It hauled a lot of stuff too, I must admit.  But now that the kids are a little older and my tastes a little more refined, I went on a quest for a car that truly fit me.

Now my history has been a little mixed.  My first car was a 1972 Ford Pinto that perhaps once went over 65mph with a tailwind.  Then came the original "Robo-Cop" and "MU Seekie" car, the 1987 Ford Taurus.  The transmission was a piece of crap and it barely survived my college years.  My 1993 Civic coupe was a fun little car, but it was, all in all, a $12,000 car.  Functional, but not really fun.  The Element came along in 2003 and suited me well (and some friends/students have told me "I can't imagine you driving something else!") but the time came to move on.

I started looking last year at Hondas again, but nothing really was a good fit.  The Accord was too expensive and also too big IMHO.  The Fit was way to small, and the Insight was cute, but I just couldn't see myself driving a hybrid.  The new CRZ looks amazing, but it was only a two-seater.  So after 17 years as a Honda driver, I started looking at other options.

My kids just LOVE looking for VW Bugs and playing "slugbug" and that's kind of what started me looking at the brand.  I knew a Bug was too cutesy for me so I dug a little further and found the GTI.  It's a hatchback. It's small, but not too small.  It's refined, but not too deluxe.  It's got four doors so the whole family can come along.  After doing some research I found that virtually NO ONE had a bad thing to say about this car.  From the crash safety people to Car And Driver to GQ...everyone liked this car.  I just can't understand why I didn't see more of them on the road.  Perhaps it's because two out of every three cars I see around Columbus are Hondas?  I see lots of Jettas and Golfs, but a very few GTI's...perhaps that's because it only suits certain people.  It was a fit for me the moment I sat in the car.

Anyways, after Maria's triathalon on Saturday, I went to MAG for a test drive and from the moment I sat in the front seat, I knew it was the car for me.  Carbon Steel Metallic paint.  Red trim.  Red and black plaid seats (an homage to the original), 200hp, and an electronics package that satisfies a tech-geek like me.

I've been driving it whenever I can, and even got the family groceries today...the trunk was *just* big enough.  Regardless, this is going to be my car for quite a long time, so I'm glad I did the work to make sure it is a perfect fit.  Wanna go for a ride sometime?

Student Council Representative

Yesterday was the middle school's student council elections. The middle school consists of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. For student council, there are three 6th grade representatives, three 7th grade representatives, and seven 8th grade members (four officers plus three representatives). Maria decided she wanted to run for one of the 6th grade spots. For the election, anyone could run if they filled out the proper paperwork. Twenty 6th graders ran for the three representative positions. Campaigning lasted for a week and each candidate could hang up three posters.

Maria got a late start on her posters since we were so busy last weekend with Sam's birthday and Aunt Evelyn's party that we didn't even get to Wal-Mart to buy the poster boards until that Sunday night. But she worked hard on those posters Monday and Tuesday evening, and had all three hung by Wednesday morning. Her campaign slogan was, "Maria Keller: The Key to New Possibilities" and her posters used both a piano keyboard and actual keys as the artwork. She also varied her theme slightly on all three posters, including "The Key to New Ideas" and "The Key to New Solutions." She came up with all of this on her own, but I did help with the coloring of the posters, which was fun.

The elections were held yesterday, and Maria was one of the three 6th graders elected into office! I think she's a little disappointed that none of her friends made it, so she'll be with a group she doesn't know as well, but I still think it will be a positive experience for her.

Weird, But in a Good Way

Ben and I have been discussing going on a Disney Cruise during spring break for a couple of months. I finally bought the 2011 book on Friday (I was waiting for the new edition to come out), and started reading it yesterday. Today I started looking at available rooms for the cruise and week that we needed - we are very limited as far as our dates go. We knew we wanted the 4-day Bahama cruise, but what we didn't know was that Disney is putting a new boat in the water for the Bahamian cruises starting in January. That means lots of people want to cruise on it soon. And spring break is really popular. So when I got online to look at availability, the cruise we wanted was very full. We needed to book very soon. So I called Disney right away, and most of my evening has been taken up with planning. We ended up in a more expensive stateroom than we wanted, but it was either that or splitting up with one adult and one kid per room, with no guarantee the rooms would even close to each other.

When I got it booked, I posted it on Facebook. About an hour later, I got a Facebook message from Kathy Holthouse - she's married to Ross, who shared an apartment with Ben at college. All four of us were in the band together. And they booked the same cruise last week.

So Kathy immediately called me, and we compared info. We don't know our Deck number yet, but we are in the same type of stateroom and I think we'll be one deck above them. Even better, their daughter is Maria's age, their son is Sam's age. They've met a few times - the girls hit it off, but Sam doesn't remember Ryan. Anyway, the kids only stuff is broken up by age - 5-10 yrs old, 11-13 years old, and 14-17 years old. So I was a little worried about Maria and Sam being separated when the did Kids Only stuff - but now they each have someone they know who will be with them. Kathy and I are each arranging to get in touch with Disney tomorrow so we can be at the same dinner table each night.

We just can't get over how weird this is - Ross and Kathy and us seem to be leading somewhat parallel lives. We didn't keep in close touch for many years after college, but they have been coming to Ben's birthday parties the last two years. This would be one of those cases where Facebook helped us reconnect. Anyway, the parallel lives part - we have kids the same age, we both have the same kinds of cars, we both like to vacation at Kiawah Island and Disney, and they even have the same furniture as we do. They both work at the same place too - they both work at P&G, Ben and I both teach at the same school.

But we're looking forward to this vacation even more now. But we have to wait a while - we leave six months from tomorrow.

GOAL!!!

Sam had an awesome soccer game on Saturday. He was in the zone, and stayed with the ball for most of the game. This level plays 6 on 6, and we have 7 players. But one got sent home for having metal cleats on (only plastic are allowed). That meant we had no subs, and each player had to play the entire game. They did some switching back and forth with defense and offense, which helped the boys rest a little bit, but they were still exhausted by the end of the game.

Sam was in the mood to play. I'm guessing the 10:45 game time helped - our other two games have been at 8:45 and I have to wake Sam up to go to soccer. This week we had a lazy morning before the game. The weather was also perfect - a little cool if you were sitting and watching, but perfect if you were running around the whole game.

So here's the highlights of the game (please remember I have limited knowledge of the game of soccer and pretty much any other sport).

The teams were fairly evenly matched, but our team kept the ball on their half of the field for most of the game. We had several shots that just didn't go in. The score was still 0-0 in the middle of the third quarter when one of their players broke away form the pack and scored a goal. I was afraid our team would become discouraged since they had played so well but just hadn't managed to score. Soon one of our players (and one who usually does not score and can't really run) put a shot in and tied the game 1-1. Then the third quarter ended.

Sam was on offense again during the 4th quarter, and he and all of our boys were looking pretty tired. But the ball still stayed down at their end most of the time, and mid-way through the 4th quarter Sam took a shot and it went in the goal. There was much cheering since this goal caused the blue team (who had yet to win a game) to pull ahead. Sam was pretty pleased with himself, and as always, looked to the sideline to make sure we were watching. Then soon after the kick-off, Sam pulled away from the pack, handled the ball down the field himself (there weren't any other blue players caught up to him yet) and scored again. It was awesome. Now we had a more comfortable lead (3-1), and the game was almost over.

The final score was 3-1, and our Blue Team won their first game. It was pretty exciting, and we were pretty proud parents (and sister). Now let's see if he can keep it up.

Outdoor Education Pictures

I've had a lot of questions about what Maria and her classmates did for three days and two nights at Outdoor Education a couple weeks ago. And all I know is they hiked, did lots of teambuilding types of activities, had campfires, learned about nature, that kind of stuff. On Friday, one of the Dads who was in Maria's group (groups were made up of boys and girls) gave her a CD containing about 40 pictures from the experience. We were so thankful, since Maria did not have much luck with her disposable camera (the only type they were supposed to bring), and we had no pictures of the kids, only pictures of nature (some were pretty good, but still, not the most memorable parts of the experience). So I've included a few of the best pictures here.

Interim Reports

We have two wonderful, hard working kids. Can't ask for more than that.

Sam's interim is simply the print-out from Progress Book. This is the first year he has letter grades in the main subjects.