VPE Upper Primary Poetry Pizzazz

This morning Rich and I were treated to a very special presentation at school. Josh and Matt's classes had a poetry reading event called Poetry Pizzazz. Each child read aloud poems they had written. With Josh and Matt in different classes, I was a bit worried that they might read at the same time, so I emailed the teachers to make sure they wouldn't over lap. They happily obliged.

Rich used one of his precious vacation weeks and is off all week! It was so fun to have him there with us, because it is a rare treat. The readings began at 8 AM, so it was so wonderful to have both of us working together to get the kids off to school, bathe and dress the girls and baby and be there on time- which we happily were.We went into Josh's class first. He was the first student to read. His poem was about Zach. (I typed it up on a previous post.)When he finished his poem, he held up an 8x10 picture of Zach I had printed off and sent in. It was so funny to hear all the adults in the back simultaneously sigh, "Ahhhh." I almost laughed out loud.After Josh's reading, we went next door to Matt's room. He had his entire poetry folder with him, so I was able to read each poem while we waited for his turn. I loved reading this one. It's about my little brother Jeff. I saw the rough draft in his backpack the day before. On the line that listed words about Jeff it said 'teenager' and he spelled medical 'medickle'. So cute. (FYI- Jeff's 26 and married!)Matt read two poems. The first was about Christmas and the second was about friends. He had been nervous the night before, but it didn't show. He did a great job.A few hours later, we came back to eat lunch with the boys. It was the perfect last day of school before Thanksgiving Break!

Piano Recital

Trey participated in his first piano recital tonight. It was held at our church and ten children played their pieces. Trey played Kaleidoscope Colors and When the Saints Go Marching In. He memorized both numbers and did a great job. Trey has been playing for about ten months. Angela Bylund is his teacher. She's been perfect for him. Angela gave out awards at the end and Trey's was 'The Entertainer'. That sums up Trey pretty well.Great job Trey!

When the Saints Go Marching In

Kaleidoscope Colors

Trey in action.

(Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the video. Not sure if you can...)

VPE Family Dinner Night

Tonight brought Veterans Park's second big event of the day- the annual family dinner night. They sold Chick-fil-A box dinners. They held a raffle for each classes gift basket. The science fair projects were on display in the gym and there was a book fair in the library. We made a mad dash in and out since I had to get Matt and Josh to basketball (Rich's the coach and met us at practice) and Trey to his piano recital. We got there fifteen minutes early (unheard of for me....) and were able to see it all in a half an hour. We ate our dinners in the car. We avoided the huge lines that come later in the night, let the kids put a raffle ticket in the box of their favorite basket and got to see Trey's poster. It was perfect. Each class put together one basket. The room mothers pick a topic and then ask the students to donate items. Josh's class put together a sports bag.Matt's was a photography basket. Trey's theme was "A Warm Winter's Night."Matt hoped to win the Lego basket. The girls tossed their tickets into the Barbie one. These pictures alone prove how desperately we need to go to Disneyland/ Disney World. I mean, who gets this excited about the Chick-fil-A cow?We spun the wheel for free food, but I was the only one lucky enough to win the little stuffed cow. I would have rather won more food. At least it made the kids very excited.

Trey's science fair poster.

Now off to basketball and the recital....

Thanksgiving Feast

We got to enjoy Thanksgiving a week early. Veterans Park Elementary held their Thanksgiving dinner today during lunch. The place was packed with parents and grandparents and the food line ran the entire length of the lunchroom. Josh eats lunch first. We waited in line with him and then found a seat at a table next to the front door of the school. Matt's class comes in about five minutes after Josh. We got to sit with both of them because they overlap for a few minutes. Trey came just as Matt was leaving.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Survivor

We had a fabulous combined Young Men and Young Women activity tonight. It was based on the TV show Survivor.

The leaders wore green bandannasWe divided the young men and women into two teams: Alpha (orange), Omega (purple). Each team was then divided into an A and B group.There were five challenges. Balancing on cansEgg walkHopping backwardspie eating (pudding and Cool Whip)and milk chug.The girls were great helpers.Rich picked up Trey from basketball and made it in time to watch some of the action.

Tates Creek Ward Young Men and Women It was a lot of fun from start to finish. Zach agreed.