Wax Museum....Dr. Seuss!

Just a heads up....4th grade is a lot of work for parents!! There is no such thing now as a normal, hand written, 1 page book report. Every month the kids are required to read a certain genre of book and then do some crazy book report to retell it to the class. One had to be a game board, the other was a gift box, posters, etc. This last monthes genre was to read a biography and then they would retell their book as part of a wax museum. Seriously! The kids not only had to present their report to classmates, but the entire school as well as parents!

Braxten chose to read about Dr. Seuss. I must say I was surprised by his choice, but it turned out to be very interesting! They kids were required to create a tri-fold poster with at least 10 interesting facts on their subject as well as pictures or other interesting items representing them. They also had to dress up in costume and become the character. Finally, they had to give a 1 minute oral speech in first person, as if they were the character! As you can imagine, this became way more work for the parent than the kids, and yes, I gripped the entire time!!!

They set the "museum" up around the entire school with each child, I think that there is over 80 students, displaying their tri-folds, in costume with a money collection cup in front of them. When anyone would come to their display and place money in the cup, they had to get up and give their "speech"! Again, they had to do this for all the elementary students during school hours and that evening for the community.

I have to say, that evening when we went I was totally suprised not only how much I enjoyed it, but with the students!! There were very few kids that duplicated each other and I learned so much. Most of all, I was impressed at the creativity of the kids and how brave they were to get up and down 300 times and repeat their report, especially to the grown ups! I was also so impressed by how supportive the community was and the enerosity they displayed. All of the money that was raised went to help the Luchin family, who experienced a horrible tragedy just a week prior to the event. I understand that they raised over $2,000!!

Braxten did a great job, he memorized his speach and was totally confident presenting it to anyone, except Tristen, she would make him laugh! Anyway, here are a few photos of Dr. Seuss! By the way, the most interesting fact I learned about him and everyone seemed to enjoy, was that although he wrote numerous children's books, he never had any children of his own because he was slightly afraid of them!

It's been a double double great week!

So in my post earlier this week I mentioned that Tristen was going to be trying her double straight aka double layout on the floor this week. She did it! Unfortunately, I had a rough night with the camera (just using the little digital). The first time one of the coaches walked in front of the camera just as I started to tape so it focused on her, not Tristen. The second video was not her best pass, but at least you could tell it was her and the third time the battery died. Anyway, you will get the idea! She was pretty happy but understands that she has a lot of work before she can include it in a pass. She has become very critical of herself, which is ok as long as she doesn't get to out of hand. Anyway, her she goes....

Double Open on the floor and another medal!

Last night Tristen's tumbling coach wanted her to try and throw a couple of the new skills she has been working on on the floor, rather than into the pit! I was sick to my stomache, but this was her first try!

Piece of cake....

Also, this past Saturday she competed at Weber High School. This is the last meet prior to State so she was really wanting to do well! She looked great and is tumbling really well right now. She placed 1st and was well above qualifing score for Nationals. Hopefully, she can do it next month!

Tristen's New Trick...

So last week Tristen started learning this fun new skill! Her coach was surprised how quickly she started throwing it so well (straight body), but I'm sure it will take her a while to master it. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool!

Food connoisseur...

So, as I was going through pictures from my camera so that I could delete them, I came across several of Tristen eating. We tease her all the time because she eats like a horse. It is unreal what that girl can put away!

I honestly think that she eats more than most grown men. Yet, she doesn't have an ounce of fat on her body. I realize that she tumbles and such, but seriously, how can a little girl eat that much and be so lean?

I try to work out and stay in shape, I really do, but if I were to eat half of what she does I would be a beached whale and even when I was 11 and active I could not have done this.

What I also discovered is that we travel and eat out... A LOT! It is sad that she is a food connoisseur in several different states across the nation!

We have been to Tampa, Houston, San Diego, Disneyland, Las Vegas, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle, Portland and then some for tumbling or cheer events and I think we managed to hit every Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Hard Rock, California Pizza Kitchen, etc.

Also, no trip is complete without Coldstone for "Coffee with Cookie Dough" or Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a "Apple Pie Caramel Apple". Have I created a monster....yes a girl after my own heart!!!

Sleigh rider extraordinaire!

Christmas Eve at Gorgoza Park

Adrianne, the side kick!

Here's to sleigh riding...

Day after Christmas with little buddies Kasin and Kelby...

So yesterday I committed to being a better blogger and I'm really going to try and do that. However, my focus was on Tristen, so I thought it was only fair to spotlight Braxten today.

I have to laugh because he says the funniest things sometimes. He reminds me so much of my Grandpa Ted when he sometime confuses words and such, but then sometimes he just says the most off the wall things. Anyway, he absolutley loves to play baseball football, tumble, wrestle ect, but his real passion is sleigh riding! I swear to you the other night we were talking about little league spring wrestling and he said, "you know, I really think I'll take the spring off, so I can focus on sleigh riding!" No kidding! I don't think there is a kid on earth that loves to sleigh ride more than Braxten. Except maybe his little counterpart Adrianne. They are hilarious. They will go in any weather conditions, snow, sleet, rain...doesn't matter. Adrianne just lives next door and can be on the hill in a matter minutes. As you can see, she isn't afraid of the snow and is willing to try anything. In fact, Braxten will try to sleigh ride down the dirt hill in the summer! He will go with anyone that is willing, big or small, old or young he isn't picky! The more jumps and crashes, the better. Of course, lest we forget that we have to come in the house, sopping wet and frozen and have a big cup of hot chocolate with marshmellows. This is also my favorite time, because I get to enjoy all the play by plays and giggles as they discuss the major air or wipe outs they had! What a kid....

I'm such a horrible blogger....

I have found myself recently bowsing all of the fun blogs of friends and family and it makes me realize what a slacker I am. I thoroughly enjoys observing everyones family happenings and the photos are wonderful. I really wish I was better at it. We are on the go so often and participating in so many things everyone would get sick and tired of hearing the same old thing. My life is crazy busy, but boring and repetative all at the same time.

This past weekend Tristen had her first tumbling competition of the season and the first with her new gym. For those of you who do not know, Tristen moved to the Northern Star Bounders gym in Ogden. She outgrew Head Over Heels and she still had a desire to continue progressing, so we made the big move. She tumbles 3 nights a week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) which is a huge time commitment, but it has been so worth it. She has progressed so quickly and the other athletes and parents have been awesome. It has been so refreshing after struggling with conflict and jealously the entire time she tumbled in Coalville. I think it also took so much pressure off her that it is part of the reason she has really taken off since going there. Anyway, she did great at the meet. She took first in her level and age division and was very competitive with the other athletes at that level and all ages. These videos are not from the competition, but from the "cheer night" 2 nights before. She has 3 different passes and stuck all of her landings at the competion, thank goodness.

Of course, what would a Saturday or any day be if we didn't do Tristen's favorite thing....eat! That girl can put it away. I often tell her she will have to tumble forever to keep up with her eating habits. Really, it is just because I'm so jealous. She can eat anything and a lot of it. We laughed as she was shoving her face...she really can do it. About 30 minutes after eating a huge plateful of spaghetti, she was ready for ice cream, popcorn and the movie and the Panda Express. We limited her to popcorn and pizza at Target, she's incredible! Anyway, I will try to do better at posting and thanks for letting me be part of yours!