One day a couple of weeks ago Annalisa decided she was going to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels. And she did! Usually once they make up their mind to learn, that is all it takes...one day. She decided she was tired of everyone else on the block riding without them, and she doesn't like to be outdone, so one day with Daddy outside and she was riding like a pro. Her favorite thing to do is make an 8. She feels like that is a safe thing to do. That same week she also learned how to tie her shoes all by herself. I was very proud of her because that is less work for me now!
On Friday Feb. 9th Cole was in the district Spelling Bee. He was one 
of the youngest there since it was 4th-8th grade. I was disappointed that they grouped 4th graders with 8th graders, but there wasn't much I could do about that. There were about 110 kids there, and they had to take a written exam first. They called out 50 words, and the kids had to write them down. They then picked 32 (I think) of those kids to go on to the oral round. It seemed that all of the kids that made it to the oral round were 6th grade and up (most of them looked like 8th graders!). Cole said he didn't know any of the words-- "they were all Latin and French"--and parents weren't allowed to stay for that portion of the Spelling Bee. The only word he remembered was "surveillance" which is a really tough word. Anyway, we told him how proud we were of him just for making it that far, and he is already looking forward to next year!
On Saturday Feb. 10th Jacob had his 8 year old birthday party. We had about 15 kids
here, and it is the first party I have hosted with people other than family. It was a dinosaur party and we played Pin the Tail on the Dinosaur, Toss the ball in the Dinosaur's Mouth, and had a Dinosaur Pinata as well as Dinosaur Skeleton Rubbings the kids could make. Overall it was a lot of fun, and Jacob got a lot of transformers, which he LOVES!
On Saturday night after Jacob's party Ben and I got to go to a couple's Valentine's Dinner, and we played the newlywed game. There were 4 other couples besides us...they had been married 23, 22 and 8 years (2 couples were 23 years). Ben and I will be married 12 years next month, so anyway none of us were actually newlyweds, but it was still fun, and after a HORRIBLE first round (because Ben didn't answer anything correctly!), we ended up winning the game! It was a lot of fun, and we got to hear a lot of funny stories.
On Sunday Feb. 17th we will be flying back to Texas for Susan and Juan's wedding. We are all excited about the trip and we can't wait for a week of warmer weather!!
of the youngest there since it was 4th-8th grade. I was disappointed that they grouped 4th graders with 8th graders, but there wasn't much I could do about that. There were about 110 kids there, and they had to take a written exam first. They called out 50 words, and the kids had to write them down. They then picked 32 (I think) of those kids to go on to the oral round. It seemed that all of the kids that made it to the oral round were 6th grade and up (most of them looked like 8th graders!). Cole said he didn't know any of the words-- "they were all Latin and French"--and parents weren't allowed to stay for that portion of the Spelling Bee. The only word he remembered was "surveillance" which is a really tough word. Anyway, we told him how proud we were of him just for making it that far, and he is already looking forward to next year!On Saturday Feb. 10th Jacob had his 8 year old birthday party. We had about 15 kids
here, and it is the first party I have hosted with people other than family. It was a dinosaur party and we played Pin the Tail on the Dinosaur, Toss the ball in the Dinosaur's Mouth, and had a Dinosaur Pinata as well as Dinosaur Skeleton Rubbings the kids could make. Overall it was a lot of fun, and Jacob got a lot of transformers, which he LOVES!On Saturday night after Jacob's party Ben and I got to go to a couple's Valentine's Dinner, and we played the newlywed game. There were 4 other couples besides us...they had been married 23, 22 and 8 years (2 couples were 23 years). Ben and I will be married 12 years next month, so anyway none of us were actually newlyweds, but it was still fun, and after a HORRIBLE first round (because Ben didn't answer anything correctly!), we ended up winning the game! It was a lot of fun, and we got to hear a lot of funny stories.
On Sunday Feb. 17th we will be flying back to Texas for Susan and Juan's wedding. We are all excited about the trip and we can't wait for a week of warmer weather!!
