Dr. Seuss

The theme for the first/second grade assembly this year was Dr. Seuss. Evan practiced singing a bunch of songs for the musical that the kids put on at school today. He wouldn't sing them in front of me because he said I had to come and listen to them sing the songs at the assembly. It had to be a surprise. This morning Evan told me that he was a little nervous about singing in front of all those people. He said most kids were probably a little nervous. How cute is that! He declined a speaking role even though he was asked. When I asked him why, he said he had a speaking role - it was to music. Singing is just speaking to music. Wow - profound. He just wanted to sing - I can relate to that :) Evan was so proud of their assembly when I saw him afterwards. He was smiling ear to ear. Here are a whole bunch of pictures from his assembly this morning. There were lots more and I just couldn't decide which ones to share, so here are a bunch!

The classes filter into the gym one by one and find their seats. Five classes eventually makeup the Dr. Seuss kids.

Here is Evan before the start of the assembly. He is sitting and waiting happily. He couldn't wait for the assembly to start.

Ironically, Michael's fifth grade class was the first to enter the gym, so I went over to take a picture of him and his friends. Michael really didn't want his picture taken, but oh well...

The lights have gone down and the assembly is underway. They start with a Dr. Seuss song. Who knew there were so many songs that went with the Dr. Seuss books.

The teachers/parents made these "titles" for the kids to carry - one per Dr. Seuss book. I believe I counted about 10-12 of the "books."

Evan sang his heart out. He used his hand motions and didn't miss a beat. I had to snap pictures when the spotlight was on him since he was in a dark corner.

The kids brought in a cake in honor of Dr. Seuss' upcoming birthday.

This is a picure from after the assembly. A mob of parents went up to take pictures. There were tons of parents and grandparents in attendance. I'm glad that I could be there for Evan. A few kids were sad that no one came to watch them.

Evan with his teacher.

Here is Evan in his Dr. Seuss outfit. This is the exact same outfit Michael wore in second grade when he did his penguin report and was in the second grade penguin assembly.

One of the other moms was kind and took a picture of Evan and I after the assembly.

Cub Scout Blue and Gold

Our Cub Scout Pack recently had their big Blue and Gold Banquet. Two other moms and myself planned and prepared for the event. Everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Evan was presented his Bear Rank and Michael was presented his Arrow of Light - the highest award a boy can earn in cub scouts. He can wear his Arrow of Light patch on his Boy Scout uniform. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Michael and Grandma Sue

Grandma Judy, Evan & Grandpa Tony

Evan having a good time at the banquet.

Michael brought in the American Flag for the flag ceremony. He's feeling quite proud.

Evan got his Bear Badge that he worked hard to earn and is moving his clip up the ladder.

Michael listens during the arrow of light ceremony.

Michael's den leader presents him with his hard earned Arrow of Light plaque. His den leader made the awards himself.

Matt stand proud with Michael. Earning the Arrow of Light takes a lot of time, dedication, commitment and follow-thru as well as preparation! Michael worked hard to earn this!

The official closing of the Blue and Gold Banquet. The Webelos each read a line for the closing.

Grandpa Tony, Michael, and Grandma Judy

Grandma Sue with Evan

Amy, Michael & Matt

Amy, Evan & Matt

A family scouting picture. Michael will be moving up to Boy Scouts in March. We are very proud of him!

Time flies...

There never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done. It's been more than two weeks since I've updated our blog, so I thought I better get to that. Here are a few pictures that we've taken over the past two weeks. I've not yet downloaded the pictures from our Cub Scout's Blue and Gold onto my computer, so those pictures will be shared later.

As you know, Michael is on the Orca Live Production Crew at Orenco. He rotates between running a mixer and supervising the mixers. Part of the funding for Orca Live comes from the Hillsboro Schools Foundation (HSF). The HSF had a big fundraiser that was held at Nike two weeks ago and they asked the Orca Live crew to come and put on a live production in front of all of the folks who bought tickets at $100 a pop. It was an honor for the HSF to select the Orca Live show to do their show live. Orca Live sent out a crew to film in three locations prior to the event. They filmed stories that involved other schools (mainly High Schools I believe) using grants from the HSF. Those stories were then shown in the Orca Live production at Nike. The theme for the dinner (which cost those in attendance $100 a ticket) was A night at the Movies - Hollywood. So you will see actors in some of Matt's pictures. So, now that I've set it up for you, here are the pictures.

Matt and Michael arrive at the HSF fundraiser at Nike for Orca Live's production.

This is the stage and one of the tables set for dinner. The kids arrived early to practice.

Michael and his fellow crew look over the mixers and cameras and get to work setting up.

See - it's Hollywood night. Many attendees come in tuxedos and formal wear.

The Orca Live crew doing a run thru of their production.

Here are the credits from the show that they just finished running thru - practice.

It was a huge honor for the kids to be invited to this fabulous event. They all pose for pictures by the entryway. They also got a tour of the Tiger Woods building and memoriabilia.

We're live! The event is filled with people and the crew is doing their job.

The same day that Michael went to Nike, Evan had a Cub Scout outing to the Washington County Historical Museum. The Wolves had a great time!

Evan with his completed science fair project. January is always pinewood derby building month along with Evan's birthday and February is always science fair month. It takes several weekends for the kids to do their experiements, type all their data and build their boards. Evan's experiment was which type of cereal absorbs the most milk?

Michael completed his entire science fair project by himself. He typed everything on his own and created his own charts and graphs. He did the cutting and layouts. I even showed him how to use the cricut so he could cut out his title and glue it on. He did a fabulous job.

What we've been up to lately...the boys are doing swim lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays after school. They are still in chess club two Wednesdays a month after school - Wednesdays are busy days for us. Cub Scouts is on Tuesday nights. Michael will be soon moving to Boy Scouts, which will be on Monday nights for him. The boys just finished a wheel throwing class where they got to make lots of fun pottery. We pick up their finished products on Thursday. I've been doing lots of scrapbooking, card making, etc. We held our first CTMH class - making Valentine's with kids for school. We have another card class coming up in two weeks where we'll be teaching paper piecing. Matt leaves for Malaysia tomorrow morning. He has his own blog to keep us all updated on his travels. Email me for the address and I'll be sure to share.

Pinewood Derby Racing

Our Cub Scout Pack's annual Pinewood Derby races were a week and a half ago. The boys worked hard to design their cars, help to cut them out, sand them, paint them, put on decals, and laquer them up for the big race. They worked on their cars over 4 weeks. Evan's car looks a lot like it did last year. We had a hard time convincing him he should come up with some other design. After the results (which you will see later), you'll see why we'll have an even more difficult time next year with this. Michael came up with a really cool design - his car had a hole in the top and three in the sides.

This is Michael's car. You can see the holes he cut into his car. He pained it a shiny metallic silver. We got fun color wheels from the scoutshop this year.

This is Evan's car. He pained it a blue color and then put on his decals. He alternated his wheel color.

Michael holds his car before the race. Once the cars are checked in, you cannot pick them up again unless they are racing.

Evan holds his car. He's convinced it's going to win.

Will built a new track this year with some "assistance" from the Webelos. He, Matt, and Michael are putting the new track together before the race.

Michael's car is up - he's chosen number 47. His car races in four consecutive heats. His car comes in first 3 of the 4 first heats.

Evan's car is going to race now. His car ends up coming in first all of the four heats he races in the first time around. There are 22 cars that race all together.

Mo with his shark car, Michael with his "wholy" racer and Michael E with his derby car. The boys are all Webelos.

The results are in. After lots and lots and lots of racing, Evan's car has come in first, Nicholas' car has come in second, and Kobe's car has come in third. Evan wins a trophy and a pin.

Evan shows off his trophy and his winning car.

Michael wins the fastest in his Den award. He wins a derby pin. He was a good sport since about not winning overall. This is the second year that his brother has taken first place in the overall race. See - maybe he does have something going with the design of his car. Getting him to change it for next year will be even more difficult.

Evan's 8th Birthday

Evan turned 8 on January 22nd. This was a school day. He was so excited to celebrate his birthday at school. I brought cupcakes for the class and they sang Happy Birthday to him. He got to wear this cool hat for the day. He had a great time.

This is Evan sporting his birthday hat he got in school.

Evan does a little dance - maybe it's a birthday dance?

Evan celebrated his birthday party at LaserPort in Beaverton. Here he is with some of his friends and his brother. The kids got to play two games of lasertag as well as lots of video games. We celebrated with a big chocolate chip cookie and ice cream. 11 of his friends came to help him celebrate. They all had a good time.

Here is Evan with his friend Isaac.

The kids are all ready to play Laser Tag!

Michael has a great time playing laser tag with the kids.

Matt even enjoyed himself. Two other dads also played.

Evan with his laser tag pack on - ready to play another game. He'll have to wait until after his big cookie.

We're getting ready to sing Happy Birthday to Evan!

Evan sits and listens while the kids sing Happy Birthday to him.

Evan's friends at his birthday party.

Evan makes a wish and blows out the candles.

Opening presents and reading cards. The other kids watch closely.

Evan gets a helicopter pocket flyer from his friend Gibson.

Evan with his friend, classmate, and scout buddy Tim.

Gibson, Evan, and Carter are ready to do battle in another game of lasertag.

Here Evan is in the lasertag arena. There are no lights on - just blacklights. The flash lights everything up.

After his party at LaserPort, we had a family party back at home. We had pizza schmizza - minus the cheese for Mr. Evan - and yet another big cookie with ice cream. There were presents and singing. He had a very busy, very enjoyable birthday celebrations!