Kelly Gets a New Do!

Before...

After...

For some time, Kelly has been asking to get her hair cut, and a couple of weeks ago, she actually did it! What do you think? She thought about sending her hair to "Locks of Love" but they require 10" minimum, and she didn't want to shave her head or wait a year. At least she got a nice portable ponytail out of it! Anyhow, the new cut looks great, and it cuts way down on the snarls and tangles she was getting when her hair was long.

Science Olympiad 2009

This was Chris' second year to compete in the Southern California Science Olympiad - the (self-proclaimed by estimate) largest Science Olympiad in these United States! There were 43 elementary schools in the venue, along with numerous Junior and Senior High teams. This year the team was composed entirely of 5th graders, so the bar was set high to bring home a 5th consecutive gold medal for Washington Elementary.

Chris (and Karyna's) first event was "Starry, Starry Night" - a study event which required the 2 of them to know (among other things) - all the planets, all types of celestial bodies in the solar system, about 20 constellations and any major stars within them, eclipses, seasons, the celestial sphere, and more! A tough event, but they came out with a perfect score (30 out of 30)!

Next event was Paper Rockets with Gina. The challenge was to build a paper rocket with just paper and tape in 20 minutes, then launch it with a breath-powered straw to a target somewhere between 3 and 8 meters. After trying several designs in practice, they settled on a very simple design which could be easily constructed. They both landed the rocket on the target plain, which few teams were able to do, thereby earning Washington an additional 30 points!

The most sophisticated of the events Chris participated in was the "Tennis Ball Catapult" along with his friend Dex. They had to build (with some help from the dads) and position the catapult so it could land in a cup 2-4 meters from the launch. Here you see them taking careful aim based on hours of testing to hit the target...

The crack team of judges measure from where the ball first lands to the center of the target. While both the official shots landed in the sandpit, the competition for this event was tough. However, the boys still came away with 20 out of 30 points for the team!

At the end of the day the scores were tallied and the Washington team came away with gold medals - 515 points out of a possible 600 - the 3rd highest point total of all the elementary teams competing! All the kids did great, and they all had a great time to boot!
Way to go, and congratulations!

February Family Update

So, what have we been up to lo these many days?

1. Cleaning up - Once a year for a month we get the "opportunity" to serve our local church by setting up and cleaning up for the snacks and/or potluck we have. The reason this man is smiling is because this was the last wipe before turning the keys over for 11 months! Actually, it's not all that hard, especially since we have such a hard-working team.

Chris has been firing fuzzy green projectiles (aka tennis balls) at 2-4 metres with his friend Dexter in preparation for the Science Olympiad next week. With help from Dex's dad, I think this tennis ball catapult is ready for launch!

Kelly is our gymnast extrordinaire! Her hands are covered with callouses, and she's got more than her share of bumps and bruises, but that's only because she lives on these and the money bars every day at recess. We got to watch her "do her stuff" the other day and got a couple shots.

Finally it was Valentines (the day of love, as Kelly calls it). Stacey (not pictured) broke out her artistic skills to give the kids a couple life-sized cards - complete with real and candy kisses!

Winter Break 2008

So - what have we been up to this winter? Well, it's been busy enough to keep postings down, but the camera is still rolling...

Christmas Eve, our church had a special service. Despite the fact Kelly loves dressing up (on her own), she dreaded dressing up in public as a shepherd. However, once she got up there with the other kids, she had fun. Chris, of course, did it as his duty, but also pretty much had fun.

The next day, we celebrated the coming of Jesus as a human! Hooray! The kids got a couple special treats, including new beanbags and stuffed animals. As per usual, the bean bag boxes lived on many weeks afterwards for various building projects.

For all of 2008, Kelly has been wanting to have a "Restaurant Night" - to turn our house into a restaurant for the neighbors with a real menu with real choices. We (and the neighborhood guests) really had a blast, but boy, it is a lot of work in the kitchen to be a short order cook and dishwasher!! Afterwards we played games with the "customers."

The next day at church we hosted a year-end party for all the kids (random kids photographed). Also, this marked the transition for all our elementary teachers - our 4-6th grade teachers are taking a break, the 2-3rd grade teachers (including Robert!) are "moving up" to 4-6th grade, and the K-2 teachers will now take on a "leaner and meaner" set of K-3rd graders!

Another day, another sleepover - Kelly's best friend Brianna and neighborhood friend Miranda enjoy a jack-in-the-box moment in the beanbag box (see above).

Chris has wanted to get his friends together for a day of world conquest - Risk! A truly incredible games in that everyone had fun, even those who went out early. Part of that was the good nature of the kids playing, part of it was the prizes Stacey had for every player as the went out, and part of it was that the DS's could come on as each player went out! Chris came in third, while the oldest boy, Jediah, was ruler of the world on this day.

We had to get some winter in, even if it was indoors! On New Year's Day, Robert took Kelly with her friend Portia and mom to the Pasadena Ice Arena. Even though it was only a block from the Rose Parade, by 1 PM the throngs of people had cleared, and a cool spin on the ice was a nice change of pace. Kelly did a great job on skates, even though she's only done it a few times. Look out Michelle Kwan!

As always, the time went too quickly, but it was great to have a winter break without going anywhere exotic!

Friend-filled weekend

School's out, so what to day? A weekend of non-stop kid action - Friday night, Chris's friends Max and Camden slept over in the living room while Kelly's friend Brianna slept in the kids room. Pretty much immediately afterwards, on Saturday, we hosted our 4th (or so) annual neighborhood Christmas party with 16 kids (and a few adults) packed into our apartment - relatively few breakages or hurt feelings for that number over 6 hours, remarkably! However, the fun wasn't over yet - Kelly got a second sleepover with her friend Michaela, and Max also crashed here another night. Church Sunday morning was the first rest we got, and it was a really great Christmas sermon.

The Boys

The Girls, night 1

By night 2, we didn't do all the group photos, but here's Michaela!

1st Semester School Awards

The kids are off to a great start this semester. With a lot of hard work and a great result on one final test, Chris made the "Principal's Honor Roll" (4th & 5th graders with only the highest academic standards).


Kelly (in the back row with the big smile and red coupon), meanwhile, continues to excel in her writing, receives the Excellence in Writing award for her class.

Way to go, kids - Keep up the good work!

Nativity - Rocky Peak Style

This year we finally made it to the Rocky Peak Nativity "Back to Bethlehem" - a "recreation of Bethlehem on the night of Jesus's birth". Except for the coldness (which was actually probably pretty historically accurate, come to think of it!) this church does an excellent job of creating a mini 1st Century Bethlehem with Romans, merchants, shepherds, tax collectors, rabbis, singing angels and more! If you live in Southern California and have kids, I would definitely say it is worth the trip. Our kids gave it "2 thumbs up" - besides the history, Chris loved the pistachios and Kelly loved the bread they offered for just a few "shekels"! Entry is free, but they will accept donations.

Look - it really was cold (for Southern Californians, anyhow)

Real donkey, real petting, and real old dude

Nativity

For more information, go to http://www.rockypeak.org/ministryhighlight.asp?ministryHighlight_id=22. The Church at Rocky Peak is located in Chatsworth, CA, near the 118 & 405.