Tubing!

Today we took the kids tubing at Mad River Mountain.  It's becoming a winter tradition - this is the third winter we've gone.  Last winter we went with the Smiths, and tried to make that happen again this year, but we just could not find a date we were all free.  So just the four of us went today.  The weather was perfect - 35 degrees and partly sunny, although it was little too windy.  The snow this year was all man-made, and boy was it fast.  The crowd was light, which is why we go on Sunday mornings, and we made it down the hill 9-10 times before leaving after over two hours.

Time for Change

Last night we learned that the kids' piano teacher is going to stop teaching lessons in April.  This was hard news for us, as both Maria and Sam love Missy, and I'm pretty sure their love (Maria) and like (Sam) of piano playing is due to their teacher.  Missy has made piano playing fun while teaching them the skills they need.  She has always been great at working with our schedule and communicating with Ben and I when needed.  Missy started Maria on piano in the summer of 2005, and Sam started in the summer of 2009, and is the only piano teacher they've had.  I guess what I'm trying to say is we're going to miss her.  A lot.  The kids both shed some tears when we told them this afternoon.  Here is what Missy wrote about them in her email alerting us of this change:

Your kids have been an absolute JOY to teach! That’s what makes this so hard. I just love them to pieces. Maria is hard-working, diligent, with a lot of personal drive. She has turned from a little sweetheart to a beautiful young lady before my very eyes! Sam has fun with piano, as only a little guy can, while having the tenacity and determination of his sister. I look forward to his lesson every week! We laugh and enjoy our time together. Your kids have stolen my heart which makes this really hard.

So tomorrow we start looking for a new piano teacher, and are hopeful that this will be an easy transition for the kids.

Pinewood Derby

Last Sunday was the annual "Scout Sunday," where the Cub Scouts attend and take part in the church service at their home church, which is followed by a cake auction, potluck lunch, and the Pinewood Derby.  It's always a long day, made worse by the fact that its Super Bowl Sunday.  But its gotten more bearable (for us) over the years as Sam (and us) now have friends in the troop, and the boys are all so excited about their Pinewood Derby cars that its cute to watch.  Ben and Sam worked on the car off and on for about a month.  The theme for his car this year was "Wind" (the last two years were "Lightning" and "Fire," always a natural element - he even has his plan for his next two cars).  Sam helped do some of the spray painting this year, and is very involved of how the car looks.  Ben does most of the work to make certain the car runs well.  And Sam always puts a LEGO character on the car - this year it was Sensei Wu, a Ninjago LEGO that impressed many of the other boys. Sam's car made it to the top six cars this year, but only the top three winners get trophies.  Still, that was an impressive finish with almost 50 cars competing, and he was happy. 

Regional Qualifying Speller!

Monday we learned that Maria scored high enough to qualify for the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication Regional Spelling Bee.  She was declared the winner from FMS about a month ago, and that earned her a qualification opportunity which was done here with a teacher online.  She scored 44 out of 50 words, and anyone who scored a 41 or above moved on to the regional competition.  There were 70 spellers who qualified, and these 70 spellers will compete at the regional spelling bee.  The winner of that competition earns an all expense paid trip to Washington DC to compete in the national spelling bee.

The regional competition will be on Saturday, March 10 at OU (unfortunately) and we are making a family trip out of it.  Since it starts at 8:30 a.m., we are going down Friday night and spending the night in a hotel.  The competition is supposed to end around lunchtime, and Ben and I are already registered to run in a 4 mile race late Saturday afternoon, so we are hoping to be back in time for that.

Maria has worked very hard to learn all the words on her study list - hundreds of words.  Her teacher said she has never had anyone "take the initiative to work as hard as Maria did" for this.  Regardless of how she does at the regional competition, we are so proud of her for making it this far.

Basketball Season

Sam is playing basketball again this winter, and even though its his 4th season playing, its been much different this year.  In the kindergarten through second grade league, kids played half-court, with the nets lowered to 8 feet, and very easygoing refereeing.  This year, 3rd and 4th graders play full court, with the nets at regulation height, and two referees per game who call everything.  So it's been quite an adjustment for the younger kids.  Sam has a practice once a week, where the kids learn actual plays instead of just practicing shooting and dribbling skills.  I think its been a good learning experience for Sam, but he, along with the other third graders, are still adjusting to the new pace of these games.  Sam has yet to make a shot during a game, but has improved and even stole the ball from another player last week and dribbled it to the basket.  Even though he didn't make the shot, it was still an awesome play.